The secretary of defense under cover of the vice president's office.

Not versed in international relations and not too much interested in them either.

This started from the very beginning when David Addington, the vice president's lawyer, was a staunch advocate of allowing the president in his capacity as commander in chief to deviate from the Geneva Conventions.

If you are a military man you know that you just don't do these sorts of things because once you give just the slightest bit of leeway there are those in the armed forces who will take advantage of that.

If you are a military man, you know that you just don't do these sorts of things, ... they have to do what they have to do to get it.

If we leave precipitously, ... we will (have to) mobilize the nation, put 5 million men and women under arms and go back and take the Middle East within a decade.

A de facto civil war.

I would say that we have courted disaster in Iraq , in North Korea , in Iran .

Katrina gives us no confidence, ... I am 10 times more worried about what happens to civil liberties after that attack.