One of the toughest battles in intelligence is combating conventional wisdom. — Robert M. Gates Copy Share Image
And so the greatest of American triumphs... became a peculiarly joyless victory. We had won the Cold War, but there would be… — Robert M. Gates Copy Share Image
I will always be an advocate in terms of wars of necessity. I am just much more cautious on wars of choice. — Robert M. Gates Copy Share Image
“The Department of Defense is structured to plan and prepare for war but not to fight one.” — Robert M. Gates Copy Share Image
“we had our hands full with the wars we were already in without looking for new ones.” — Robert M. Gates Copy Share Image
If Iraq and Afghanistan have taught us anything in recent history, it is the unpredictability of war and that these things are… — Robert M. Gates Copy Share Image
Well, what I've said is that the war in Iraq will always be clouded by how it began, which was a wrong… — Robert M. Gates Copy Share Image
“It was one thing for the country and much of the executive branch of government not to feel involved in the war,… — Robert M. Gates Copy Share Image
I've been very sensitive for a long time to the repeated pattern, during economic hard times or after a war, of the… — Robert M. Gates Copy Share Image
“the command and control “is ugly, but it works on the ground.” Actually, it didn’t. This problem would not fully be resolved… — Robert M. Gates Copy Share Image
Future U.S. political leaders, those for whom the Cold War was not the formative experience that it was for me, may not… — Robert M. Gates Copy Share Image
“The historian Max Hastings wrote in his book Inferno that “it is characteristic of all conflicts that until enemies begin to shoot,… — Robert M. Gates Copy Share Image
No policy has proved more successful in making friends for the United States, during the cold war and since, than educating students… — Robert M. Gates Copy Share Image
“The worst of these comments came in mid-April from the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, who said in a press conference, “This… — Robert M. Gates Copy Share Image
Every time we have come to the end of a conflict, somehow we have persuaded ourselves that the nature of mankind and… — Robert M. Gates Copy Share Image
And so the greatest of American triumphs... became a peculiarly joyless victory. We had won the Cold War, but there would be no parades. — Robert M. Gates Copy Share
“I was seething. I told him that “the clock is ticking” and that our patience with their lack of political progress was running out.… — Robert M. Gates Copy Share
Some people have said, in so many words, that I'm kind of wooly-headed in believing that the Iranians would see not having nuclear weapons… — Robert M. Gates Copy Share
“Obama was the fourth president I had worked for who said outright that he wanted to eliminate all nuclear weapons (Carter, Reagan, and Bush… — Robert M. Gates Copy Share
I had no concerns - I had no reason to have concerns based on what was available to me about North's contacts with the… — Robert M. Gates Copy Share
“The passage of fourteen years had led to another significant change in the international environment. As I told Bush 43 and Condi Rice on… — Robert M. Gates Copy Share
I've been very sensitive for a long time to the repeated pattern, during economic hard times or after a war, of the United States'… — Robert M. Gates Copy Share
I don't know General Michael Flynn well, but it's hard for me to believe anybody would allow themselves to be blackmailed by the Russians… — Robert M. Gates Copy Share
I had no difficulty as Secretary of Defense moving from the Bush administration to the Obama administration. — Robert M. Gates Copy Share
The United States has been a global power since late in the 19th century. — Robert M. Gates Copy Share
My one concern is that Hu Jintao may overestimate how much power China has in Pyongyang. They have - they do have influence, and… — Robert M. Gates Copy Share
“Soon after the raid was over, the White House released the now-famous photo of all of us watching the video in that small conference… — Robert M. Gates Copy Share
