Whose life would be on my hands as the commander-in-chief because I, unilaterally, went beyond the international law, went beyond the stated mission, and said we're going to show our macho? We're going into Baghdad. We're going to be an occupying power - America in an Arab land - with no allies at our side. It would have been disastrous. We don't gain the size of our victory by how many innocent kids running away - even though they're bad guys - that we can slaughter. ... We're American soldiers; we don't do business that way.

Trying to eliminate Saddam, extending the ground war into an occupation of Iraq, would have violated our guideline about not changing objectives in midstream, …

Even though I'm a tranquil guy now at this stage of my life, I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the identity of o…

We're going to keep trying to strengthen the American family. To make them more like the Waltons and less like the Simpsons.

'I think in this case international law stood in the way of doing the right thing.' (2003)

[Q: can you conceive of any form in which you might support American military action taken, like the President's justification, in anticipation of an imminent …

...in fact, the war against Iraq is continuing. And it's continuing now by the means which the administration described as contemptible and useless, when they …