A Conservative is a fellow who is standing athwart history yelling 'Stop!'
William F. Buckley, Jr.Read
One can't doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed - different plans have to be made. And the kernel here is the acknowledgement of defeat.
Interpretation
The United States' goals in Iraq have not been achieved, and new strategies must be developed that accept this reality.
William F. Buckley, Jr. points out that the American efforts in Iraq have not met their intended objectives, highlighting the need for a reassessment and new plans moving forward that recognize the current situation as a defeat. This admission is critical for learning from past mistakes and adjusting future actions to better align with reality.
In practice
This quote could be used in a discussion about foreign policy during a political debate.
A Conservative is a fellow who is standing athwart history yelling 'Stop!'
Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could.
I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University.
One must bear in mind that the expansion of federal activity is a form of eating for politicians.
I would like to take you seriously, but to do so would affront your intelligence.
You cannot paint the Mona Lisa by assigning one dab each to a thousand painters.
Powerful government tends to draw into it people with bloated egos, people who think they know more than everyone else and have little hesitance in coercing their fellow man. Or as Nobel Laureate Friedrich Hayek said, "in government, the scum rises to the top".
Bad government is the natural product of rule by those who believe government is bad.
It is of the nature of war to increase the executive at the expense of the legislative authority.
Let there be an end to the arrogance of the big powers who miss no opportunity to put the rights of the people in question. Africa's absence from the club of those who have the right to veto is unjust and should be ended.
We expected, I expected to find actual usable, chemical or biological weapons after we entered Iraq. But I have to accept, as the months have passed, it seems increasingly clear that at the time of invasion, Saddam did not have stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons ready to deploy.
People talk about smart sanctions and crippling sanctions. I've never seen smart sanctions, and crippling sanctions cripple everyone, including innocent civilians, and make the government more popular.
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