Donald Rumsfeld Time Quotations

Think ahead. Don't let day-to-day operations drive out planning.

I wish we could say ... that this is a time for peaceful remembrance, that we were gathering today to commemorate a danger that had long since past, ... ... But we cannot. The enemy, though seriously weakened and continuously under pressure, continues to plot attacks and the danger they pose to the free world is real and present.

My hope is that they do get it done in good time and to the extent it requires adjustments later, obviously that can be done,

Over time, it would be nice if NATO developed counter-terrorist capabilities, which don't exist at the present time as a NATO function. They do exist within NATO countries,

We have agreed to the findings and recommendations to strengthen our alliance and achieve strategic objectives, ... Now is the time to move forward with the transformation of our alliance.

Control your own time. Don't let it be done for you. If you are working off the in-box that is fed you, you are probably working on the priority of others.

there are certain things taking place from the air and things from time to time being coordinated with the ground.

We're not going to rule out anything, but we don't have any plans at the present time to use U.S. forces in that way,

The United States has a long relationship with the Philippines, ... Some time back, I signed understandings that we would provide some training and assistance to the Philippine government ... to deal with the terrorist problem that they have.

While there is no one model that is perfect for every nation at every time in its development, a look across the globe suggests that societies that tend to encourage more open markets and freer systems are societies where the people are enjoying the greatest opportunities,

Australians and Americans share convictions as strong and independent people. And at this time our two countries could not be closer in our common values and attitudes towards the challenges the free world faces,

are widely available and do have the ability to shoot down a helicopter, and from time to time, this happens.

The president, the secretary of defense and the combatant commanders are never more than a minute or two away from a secure phone. ...Very, very senior people are able to address a matter in real time and ask the right questions and make the right judgments,

We've decided that it's time to shift our posture in Europe and Asia and around the world and move from static defense, which does not make much sense today, to a more deployable and usable set of capabilities,

I have not seen the tape. I do not know if that is on the tape.. whether or not he was dead or alive when whatever took place did take place, ... It seems to me that one ought to be willing to allow some time to pass over something like this so that the people who are looking at these things can come to some conclusions.

It's impossible ... to defend in every location against every conceivable kind of attack at every time of the day or night,

A very smart weapon, a good weapon might work 85 to 90 percent of the time. The rest of the time it doesn't work right. Now that's a very good percentage, ... But it means that there is one out of 10 that is not going to do what it was intended to do.

The Iraqi people who are involved in this process are relatively new to the political process. It will take them some time I suspect.

We have to expect that global terrorist networks that we know are trying to get these weapons will in fact be successful at some time in the future,

It's based on unit cohesion, ... The principle is that -- in the event there is something that requires a unit to be involved in, and people are in a personal situation where their time was ending -- they put a stop-loss on it so cohesion is maintained.

If every time two or three people disagreed we changed the secretary of defense of the United States, it would be like a merry-go-round.

I can't think of a time when the relationship has been closer or more constructive,