Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America
Speech in Columbus, Ohio (27 February 2008)
2008
“I was a vocal opponent of the George W. Bush Administration's decision to invade Iraq, a strategic blunder made worse by slapdash execution. As we have seen, this star-crossed action took our eye off the ball in Afghanistan, breathed new life into a moribund al Qaeda, and enhanced Iranian influence in this critical region - all outcomes which damaged both the United States and our ally Israel.”
How to Secure Israel: Demilitarized land for peace is the key to a settlement (April 2008)
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Merrill McPeak6
United States Air Force general 1936Related quotes
“Will an Iraq war make our Al Qaeda problem worse? Not likely.”
Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011) British American author and journalist
A Long Short War: The Postponed Liberation of Iraq (Plume, 2003) [published in the United Kingdom as Regime Change]; quoted in "The Genocidal Imagination of Christopher Hitchens" http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/seymour261105.html by Richard Seymour, Monthly Review (2005-11-26): On the 2003 invasion of Iraq <br class="br">2000s, 2005
“Al-Qaeda is still the biggest threat for Iraq and the region.”
Nouri al-Maliki (1950) Prime Minister of Iraq
As quoted in "Only 'one in five Iraqis' has confidence in coalition" http://www.24dash.com/news/57/18079/index.htm (March 2007), 24Dash.
John McCain (1936–2018) politician from the United States
During an official visit in Amman, Jordon, making a statement and then being corrected by Senator Joe Lieberman http://web.archive.org/web/20080324115205/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gtqD_x9yYIuq_7S2dimSjMV5qRmg (18 March 2008) <br class="br">2000s, 2008
James Carville (1944) political writer, consultant and United States Marine
October 2006 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2006/oct/6/20061006-120023-9171r/
George Soros (1930) Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist
Speech at the National Press Club (2004)
Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America
2010s, 2016, July, (21 July 2016)
“And so we went to war against al Qaeda to protect our citizens, our friends, and our allies.”
Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America
2011, Remarks on death of Osama bin Laden (May 2011)
Context: On September 11, 2001, in our time of grief, the American people came together. We offered our neighbors a hand, and we offered the wounded our blood. We reaffirmed our ties to each other, and our love of community and country. On that day, no matter where we came from, what God we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family.
We were also united in our resolve to protect our nation and to bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice. We quickly learned that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al Qaeda — an organization headed by Osama bin Laden, which had openly declared war on the United States and was committed to killing innocents in our country and around the globe. And so we went to war against al Qaeda to protect our citizens, our friends, and our allies.
George Soros (1930) Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist
Why We Must Not Reelect President Bush (2004)
Context: President Bush inadvertently played right into the hands of bin Laden. The invasion of Afghanistan was justified: that was where bin Laden lived and al Qaeda had its training camps. The invasion of Iraq was not similarly justified. It was President Bush's unintended gift to bin Laden.