Donald Rumsfeld Quotes
They will do more whether we do what we're doing or whether we don't do what we're doing. And the idea that you could appease them [terrorists] by stopping doing what we're doing or some implication that by doing what we're doing we're inciting them to attack us is just utter nonsense. It's just - it's kind of like feeding an alligator, hoping it eats you last.
United States, Department of Defense. "DoD News Briefing - Secretary Rumsfeld." 5 Sept. 2006.
Islamic extremists had killed thousands on Russian citizens and military men in Chechen, one of the states in Russia. At the time--before 9-11--Americans in the homeland had never been attacked by Islamic religious extremists as the Russians had. Some Americans were very critical of the Russians for using force and troops to deal with the terrorists and urged Putin to negotiate. This was Putin's reply. It was taken by many Americans as an unnecessarily hard line then. After 9-11, however, American views towards negotiations with terrorists generally resembled Putin in this quotation. Many Americans then developed much more sympathy with the Russian position on terrorism inside Russia.
Donald Henry Rumsfeld is a retired American politician. Rumsfeld served as Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under Gerald Ford, and again from January 2001 to December 2006 under George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the second-oldest person to have served as Secretary of Defense. Additionally, Rumsfeld was a three-term U.S. Congressman from Illinois (1963–69), director of the Office of Economic Opportunity (1969–70), counsellor to the president (1969–73), the United States Permanent Representative to NATO (1973–74), and White House Chief of Staff (1974–75). Between his terms as Secretary of Defense, he served as the CEO and chairman of several companies.
