If there's ever an example that military power alone cannot be successful in Afghanistan, I think it was the Soviet experience.
Robert M. GatesRead
I will always be an advocate in terms of wars of necessity. I am just much more cautious on wars of choice.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of being cautious about entering conflicts unless absolutely necessary.
Robert M. Gates highlights the differentiation between wars that are essential for survival or protection ('wars of necessity') and those that are entered into by choice. He expresses a sense of responsibility and caution regarding the latter, advocating for careful consideration before engaging in conflicts that do not meet a critical need.
Themes
WarNecessityChoiceCautionAdvocacy
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about military intervention at a conference on international relations.
More from Robert M. Gates
All quotes βIn my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should 'have his head examined,' as General MacArthur so delicately put it.
Robert M. GatesRead
No president is well-served by groupthink or by everybody singing from the same sheet of music they think he's on.
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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' essentially unilaterally disarming.
Robert M. GatesRead
If Iraq and Afghanistan have taught us anything in recent history, it is the unpredictability of war and that these things are easier to get into than to get out of, and, frankly, the facile way in which too many people talk about, 'Well, let's just go attack them.'
Robert M. GatesRead
There is no international problem that can be addressed or solved without the engagement and leadership of the United States and everybody in the world knows that, its just fact of life. So sometimes I think we could conduct ourselves with a little more humility.
Robert M. GatesRead
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