--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I had 16 other prisons that I needed to…" description: "\"I had 16 other prisons that I needed to pay attention to, and we did. And I had 3,400 soldiers who were depending on me to take care of them, and I did..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b25/janis-karpinski-24986_attention_i-had-16-other-prisons-that-i-needed-to_2916956.png" --- # I had 16 other prisons that I needed to pay attention to… ![“I had 16 other prisons that I needed to pay attention to, and we did. And I had 3,400 soldiers who were depending on me to take care of them, and I did.” quote by Janis Karpinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b25/janis-karpinski-24986_attention_i-had-16-other-prisons-that-i-needed-to_2916956.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b25/janis-karpinski-24986_attention_i-had-16-other-prisons-that-i-needed-to_2916956.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b25/janis-karpinski-24986_attention_i-had-16-other-prisons-that-i-needed-to_2916956.png) > “I had 16 other prisons that I needed to pay attention to, and we did. And I had 3,400 soldiers who were depending on me to take care of them, and I did.” [Janis Karpinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-karpinski/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Managing multiple crises and large responsibilities demands focus, delegation, and perseverance. **In simple terms:** Handling many tasks needs focus and perseverance. Key Takeaway Prioritize and trust your team. Themes leadership responsibility crisis management Mood determined serious Type advice motivational When to use this quote - military operations - business management - emergency response Key Concepts delegation focus military command Questions to Reflect On - How do you maintain stamina under pressure? - What delegation strategies work best? A Different Perspective High pressure can cause burnout without self‑care. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/care/) [Prison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prison/) [Prisons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prisons/) [Soldier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soldier/) ## Related quotes > [Prisons are needed only to provide the illusion that courts and police are effective. They're a kind of job insurance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/prisons-are-needed-only-to-provide-the-illusion-that-courts-and/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [There was a military police brigade with over 3,400 soldiers getting ready to go home because their mission - prisoner-of-war operations - was finished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janis-karpinski/there-was-a-military-police-brigade-with-over-3-400-soldiers-getting/) [Janis Karpinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-karpinski/) > [Shortly after we arrived in Baghdad, we had another conversation with the ambassador. He said that he wanted us to give him the timeline,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janis-karpinski/shortly-after-we-arrived-in-baghdad-we-had-another-conversation-with/) [Janis Karpinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-karpinski/) > [If we try to 'protect ourselves', our nation-states begin to look like prisons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/if-we-try-to-protect-ourselves-our-nation-states-begin-to-look-like/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [Are the prisons overpopulated, or is the population over-imprisoned ?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/are-the-prisons-overpopulated-or-is-the-population-over-imprisoned/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [It appears that the murder rate inside prisons is ten times higher than that outside prisons. It must be due to all those Kalashnikov…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-cooper/it-appears-that-the-murder-rate-inside-prisons-is-ten-times-higher/) [Jeff Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-cooper/) > [Prisons where people can't even work is the worst punishment you can think of. And I don't think we should put all convicts in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/prisons-where-people-can-t-even-work-is-the-worst-punishment-you-can/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [Keeping them behind bars does little to reduce crime, but it does a lot to tear apart families, our prisons and our jails are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/keeping-them-behind-bars-does-little-to-reduce-crime-but-it-does-a/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [There are worse prisons than words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/there-are-worse-prisons-than-words/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) > [There's no straight line between closing the mental institutions and filling the prisons but there is some sort of relationship. And it's hard to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-moskos/there-s-no-straight-line-between-closing-the-mental-institutions-and/) [Peter Moskos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-moskos/) > [Obama and the Democrats were so critical of what Bush did, the interrogations, the secret prisons, Guantanamo and all of that, and even the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/obama-and-the-democrats-were-so-critical-of-what-bush-did-the/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [Challenging schools to treat their students as customers with a choice, instead of inmates serving time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-warlick/challenging-schools-to-treat-their-students-as-customers-with-a/) [David Warlick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-warlick/) > [We need to have more second chance programs. I'm glad that we're ending private prisons in the federal system; I want to see them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/we-need-to-have-more-second-chance-programs-i-m-glad-that-we-re/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [You can look at the West Bank. Cities are like prisons. They can be closed quickly by the Israeli forces, and everything stops in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hassan-nasrallah/you-can-look-at-the-west-bank-cities-are-like-prisons-they-can-be/) [Hassan Nasrallah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hassan-nasrallah/) > [The federal prison population increased by almost 800 percent between 1980 and 2013, often at a far faster rate than the Bureau of Prisons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-yates/the-federal-prison-population-increased-by-almost-800-percent-between/) [Sally Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-yates/) ## More by Janis Karpinski > [The mission statement was ordered, and it sent the 800th MP Brigade, effective the first of July, up to Baghdad. I joined my brigade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janis-karpinski/the-mission-statement-was-ordered-and-it-sent-the-800th-mp-brigade/) [Janis Karpinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-karpinski/) > [I was ordered not to go out to Abu Ghraib after dark early on, because Abu Ghraib was extremely dangerous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janis-karpinski/i-was-ordered-not-to-go-out-to-abu-ghraib-after-dark-early-on-because/) [Janis Karpinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-karpinski/) > [The war was declared over - the end of major combat operations - in May 2003. Release procedures got under way immediately; reducing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janis-karpinski/the-war-was-declared-over-the-end-of-major-combat-operations-in-may/) [Janis Karpinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-karpinski/) > [If they conducted a raid in this room, you'd all be policed up. They'd take all of you to Abu Ghraib and turn you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janis-karpinski/if-they-conducted-a-raid-in-this-room-you-d-all-be-policed-up-they-d/) [Janis Karpinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-karpinski/) > [And shortly after that, when I try to get access to those soldiers, to ask them what in the world was going on, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janis-karpinski/and-shortly-after-that-when-i-try-to-get-access-to-those-soldiers-to/) [Janis Karpinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-karpinski/) > [Shortly after we arrived in Baghdad, we had another conversation with the ambassador. He said that he wanted us to give him the timeline,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janis-karpinski/shortly-after-we-arrived-in-baghdad-we-had-another-conversation-with/) [Janis Karpinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-karpinski/) > [There was a military police brigade with over 3,400 soldiers getting ready to go home because their mission - prisoner-of-war operations - was finished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janis-karpinski/there-was-a-military-police-brigade-with-over-3-400-soldiers-getting/) [Janis Karpinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-karpinski/) > [That policy was abandoned very quickly, and the military police were tagged with the responsibility of conducting training, which they did. We were not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janis-karpinski/that-policy-was-abandoned-very-quickly-and-the-military-police-were/) [Janis Karpinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-karpinski/) > [We need to fix this. It hasn't been done yet because there's still a reluctance to admit that there was even a problem -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janis-karpinski/we-need-to-fix-this-it-hasn-t-been-done-yet-because-there-s-still-a/) [Janis Karpinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-karpinski/) > [The vast majority of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, even after interrogation, had no further intel value whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janis-karpinski/the-vast-majority-of-prisoners-at-abu-ghraib-even-after-interrogation/) [Janis Karpinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-karpinski/) > [Military intelligence interrogators, however, their goal is to get information, to save lives, to stop the war, to find Saddam - whatever the information…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janis-karpinski/military-intelligence-interrogators-however-their-goal-is-to-get/) [Janis Karpinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-karpinski/) > [The day after the prison was transferred to the military intelligence command, they had an entire battalion - 1,200, 1,500 soldiers - arrive at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janis-karpinski/the-day-after-the-prison-was-transferred-to-the-military-intelligence/) [Janis Karpinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-karpinski/) > [If you are charged with this responsibility of enhancing interrogations, or using soldiers to enhance interrogations to find Saddam, and you're above the law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janis-karpinski/if-you-are-charged-with-this-responsibility-of-enhancing/) [Janis Karpinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-karpinski/) > [Military police know what to do, they know the Geneva Conventions, and their objective is to provide a safe, secure, fair environment for prisoners…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janis-karpinski/military-police-know-what-to-do-they-know-the-geneva-conventions-and/) [Janis Karpinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-karpinski/) > [I thought that that mission and the mission of taking care of those soldiers were my priorities, and I stand by the same today.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janis-karpinski/i-thought-that-that-mission-and-the-mission-of-taking-care-of-those/) [Janis Karpinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-karpinski/) [Explore all 23 Janis Karpinski quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janis-karpinski/) ## More Attention quotes > [It appears to me that one great cause of our difference in opinion on subjects which we often discuss is that you have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/it-appears-to-me-that-one-great-cause-of-our-difference-in-opinion-on/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [People pay far too much attention to the television and they're quite literal in some ways. At the beginning, when I was playing very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ardal-o-hanlon/people-pay-far-too-much-attention-to-the-television-and-they-re-quite/) [Ardal O'Hanlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ardal-o-hanlon/) > [Television, radio, social media. The 24/7 news cycle plows forward mercilessly on our desks, in our cars and in our pockets. Thousands and thousands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-prince/television-radio-social-media-the-24-7-news-cycle-plows-forward/) [Joseph Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-prince/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/our-inventions-are-wont-to-be-pretty-toys-which-distract-our/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [What people don't normally know about us is the hustle is very real, and it's sorely driven a lot by how we consider ourselves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lzzy-hale/what-people-don-t-normally-know-about-us-is-the-hustle-is-very-real/) [Lzzy Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lzzy-hale/) > [For me, the term "psychotherapy" is limiting. It implies that we work with mind and emotions, but excludes the body and pays scant attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-diamond/for-me-the-term-psychotherapy-is-limiting-it-implies-that-we-work/) [Jed Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-diamond/) > [When you approach something to photograph it, first be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence. Then don't leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minor-white/when-you-approach-something-to-photograph-it-first-be-still-with/) [Minor White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minor-white/) > [I'm writing about real things. Real people. Real characters. You have to believe what I write about is true or you wouldn't pay any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-reed/i-m-writing-about-real-things-real-people-real-characters-you-have-to/) [Lou Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-reed/) > [ I went to a mosque in Philadelphia with \[my wife\] in December 24, 1999. And we we went to this mosque in Philly, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahershala-ali/i-went-to-a-mosque-in-philadelphia-with-my-wife-in-december-24-1999/) [Mahershala Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahershala-ali/) > [The Harvard Business Review recently had an article called 'The Human Moment,' about how to make real contact with a person at work: ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/the-harvard-business-review-recently-had-an-article-called-the-human/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [Let us thank God heartily as often as we pray that we have His Spirit in us to teach us to pray. Thanksgiving will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-murray/let-us-thank-god-heartily-as-often-as-we-pray-that-we-have-his-spirit/) [Andy Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-murray/) > [Enlightened people live in very charged states of attention, with a tremendous power circuiting through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/enlightened-people-live-in-very-charged-states-of-attention-with-a/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [We must have a welfare system that we can afford, which will mean giving greater attention to directing the welfare program toward its primary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-portillo/we-must-have-a-welfare-system-that-we-can-afford-which-will-mean/) [Michael Portillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-portillo/) > [The director's job should give you a sense of music without drawing attention to itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-hackford/the-director-s-job-should-give-you-a-sense-of-music-without-drawing/) [Taylor Hackford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-hackford/) [Browse all 10,153 Attention quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I had 16 other prisons that I needed to pay attention to, and we did. 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