“The people of Afghanistan should know that America is not their friend and that America's war and peace with all other countries are based on its own interests.”

— Ali Meshkini

Tehran Hosting Intifada Confernce http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iran/2002/20-030602.html March 2002.
2002

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Ali Meshkini 7

Iranian ayatollah 1922–2007

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“I believe in an America that is on the march — an America respected by all nations, friends and foes alike — an America that is moving, doing, working, trying — a strong America in a world of peace. That peace must be based on world law and world order, on the mutual respect of all nations for the rights and powers of others and on a world economy in which no nation lacks the ability to provide a decent standard of living for all of its people.”

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America

1960, Address at Convention Hall, Philadelphia
Context: In short, I believe in an America that is on the march — an America respected by all nations, friends and foes alike — an America that is moving, doing, working, trying — a strong America in a world of peace. That peace must be based on world law and world order, on the mutual respect of all nations for the rights and powers of others and on a world economy in which no nation lacks the ability to provide a decent standard of living for all of its people. But we cannot have such a world, and we cannot have such a peace, unless the United States has the vitality and the inspiration and the strength. If we continue to stand still, if we continue to lie at anchor, if we continue to sit on dead center, if we content ourselves with the easy life and the rosy assurances, then the gates will soon be open to a lean and hungry enemy.

“America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests.”

Henry Kissinger (1923–2023) United States Secretary of State

Henry Kissinger: The White House Years, quoted from Dinesh D'Souza: What's so great about America http://books.google.com/books?id=tFcDN5D1SLQC&pg=PA164&dq=kissinger+america+friends+only+interests&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=50&as_brr=0&ei=_UCDSs7YA6fuygTH3LTiCg&hl=sv#v=onepage&q=kissinger%20america%20friends%20only%20interests&f=false. This echoes Lord Palmerston's words: "We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual".
1980s

“I now know all the people worth knowing in America, and I find no intellect comparable to my own.”

Margaret Fuller (1810–1850) American feminist, poet, author, and activist

As reported by Ralph Waldo Emerson in Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli (1884) Vol. 1, Pt. 4.
Of this comment Perry Miller states "the fact is that at Emerson's table she was speaking the truth." "I find no intellect comparable to my own" in American Heritage magazine, Vol. 8, Issue 2 (February 1957) http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1957/2/1957_2_22.shtml.

“America has never fought a war against a democracy, and our closest friends are governments that protect the rights of their citizens. No matter how callously defined, neither America's interests — nor the world's — are served by the denial of human aspirations.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

2009, Nobel Prize acceptance speech (December 2009)
Context: There has long been a tension between those who describe themselves as realists or idealists — a tension that suggests a stark choice between the narrow pursuit of interests or an endless campaign to impose our values around the world.
I reject these choices. I believe that peace is unstable where citizens are denied the right to speak freely or worship as they please; choose their own leaders or assemble without fear. Pent-up grievances fester, and the suppression of tribal and religious identity can lead to violence. We also know that the opposite is true. Only when Europe became free did it finally find peace. America has never fought a war against a democracy, and our closest friends are governments that protect the rights of their citizens. No matter how callously defined, neither America's interests — nor the world's — are served by the denial of human aspirations.

“America and Afghanistan are now allies against terror. We'll be partners in rebuilding that country. And this evening we welcome the distinguished interim leader of a liberated Afghanistan, Chairman Hamid Karzai.”

George W. Bush (1946) 43rd President of the United States

2000s, 2002, State of the Union address (January 2002)

“Generally speaking, America is not keen on independent countries. America is not keen on people's freedom. America is keen on countries that completely surrender themselves and act according to America's demands.”

Hassan Rouhani (1948) 7th President of Islamic Republic of Iran

"Exclusive Interview with Iranian Adviser" http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=132082&page=1&singlePage=true, ABC News, (September 12, 2002)

“The American administration is trying to achieve any gain in the shadow of the embarrassment hitting it because of its failures in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine after the failure of Israel's war on Lebanon and the retreat of America's project in the region.”

Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah (1935–2010) Lebanese faqih

"Senior Shiite Cleric Says U.S. Desperate" Forbes 7 August 2007

“America betrays its friends. It sets them up and betrays them. I’d rather be America’s enemy.”

Ahmed Chalabi (1944–2015) Iraqi politician

Dexter Filkins, " Where Plan A Left Ahmad Chalabi http://select.nytimes.com/gst/tsc.html?URI=http://select.nytimes.com/preview/2006/11/05/magazine/1154652190060.html&OQ=_rQ3D1Q268tpwQ3DQ26emcQ3DtpwQ26pagewantedQ3Dprint&OP=7b29a451Q2Fvqfdv_gQ20KK_vmQ20fuQ5EfqvVQ2FQ2FJvQ7DQ7DvQ2FevTQ7CpQ7CQ5CQ5EQ7BfvQ7DQ7DeGJeVQ7DyQ2FQ2FJQ2F!i_TQ3C", New York Times Magazine, November 5, 2006.

“Americans must know that we're putting the American people first again on trade, on immigration, on foreign policy. The jobs, incomes and security of the American worker will always be my first priority. No country has ever prospered that failed to put its own interests first. Both our friends and our enemies put their countries above ours and we, while being fair to them, must start doing the same. We will no longer surrender this country or its people to the false song of globalism. The nation-state remains the true foundation for happiness and harmony. I am skeptical of international unions that tie us up and bring America down, and will never enter America into any agreement that reduces our ability to control our own affairs.”

Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America

2010s, 2016, April, Foreign Policy Speech (27 April 2016)

“The peace we seek in the world is not the flimsy peace which is merely an interlude between wars, but a peace which can endure for generations to come.
It is important that we understand both the necessity and the limitations of America's role in maintaining that peace.
Unless we in America work to preserve the peace, there will be no peace.
Unless we in America work to preserve freedom, there will be no freedom.”

Richard Nixon (1913–1994) 37th President of the United States of America

1970s, Second Inaugural Address (1973)

“The people of Afghanistan should know that America is not their friend and that America's war and peace with all other countries are based on its own interests.”

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Ali Meshkini 7

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