Skip to content
quotesby

'We know that in Basra and in the other cities the people do not want to repeat the experience of 12 years ago where they rise up against Saddam and then they're slaughtered. But before we take care of the killers that are left behind in those cities, we've got to take care of the regime. It's almost like cutting off the head of the snake and then the rest of the body will go.'

Paul Wolfowitz#10

WarStrategyLeadershipViolence

WhatsApp (opens in a new tab)X (opens in a new tab)

About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker argues that removing the regime will naturally resolve the threat of local violence, comparing it to cutting off a snake's head.
In plain terms
He believes killing the regime will stop the violence without needing to clean up every city.
What can you take from it?
Decapitating leadership is presented as a complete solution for instability.

Where it applies

  • war planning
  • foreign policy analysis
  • conflict resolution

Putting it to work

  • assess leadership impact
  • evaluate intervention risks
  • analyze conflict root causes

Questions to consider

  • Does removing a leader solve conflict?
  • What happens after a regime falls?

Another view

This view ignores the likelihood of power vacuums and continued insurgency.

More from Paul Wolfowitz

  1. 'There's definitely a rule in the Convention against humiliating prisoners and I'd have to see exactly the interview to see whether that in itself violated the…

    Permalink to quote #9

  2. 'This word imminent keeps coming up. The President never said that there was an imminent threat.' --February 6, 2004 on the Roger Hedgecock Show [3]

    Permalink to quote #11

  3. 'There's a lot of money to pay for this. It doesn't have to be U.S. taxpayer money. We are dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstructio…

    Permalink to quote #8

Related quotes

  1. It is a fact that under equal conditions, large-scale battles and whole wars are won by troops which have a strong will for victory, clear goals before them, h…

    Georgy ZhukovGeorgy Zhukov quote #1

  2. It is only for those to employ force who possess strength without judgment; but the well advised will have recourse to other means. Besides, he who pretends to…

    XenophonXenophon quote #1

  3. Major, we didn't take Washington, but we scared Abe Lincoln like hell.

    Jubal Anderson EarlyJubal Anderson Early quote #1