Strategic Ambiguity Quotes

Confuse the enemy. Keep him in the dark on your intentions. Sometimes what seems a victory isn't really a victory and sometimes a defeat isn't really a defeat. Whether in attacking, counterattacking, or defensive tactics, the idea of attacking should remain central, to always keep the initiative.

The First Law of Politics: Never say anything in a national campaign that anyone might remember.

In general, I think it's an advantage politically to keep people guessing.

Sometimes in politics “yes” means “maybe” and “no” means “if.”

Holding out the olive branch in one hand and displaying in the other than the means of offensive operations

Unpredictability is the greatest asset a leader can have.

Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense.

Campaign manager Eli Gold played by Alan Cumming on "The Good Wife" describing an old maxim in politics, don't commit to a decision before you have to. And that rule appears to have worked brilliantly for Democratic candidate front-runner Hillary Clinton, who has avoided taking a position on the president's trade agenda and has remained out of the ugly public spat with the progressive wing of her party. She has also not taken a position on the Iranian - on the talks.

We keep our nuclear policy somewhat ambiguous because of national security.

If I take refuge in ambiguity, I assure you that it’s quite conscious.

Professional politicians will say anything, and they're always careful to leave themselves room to turn around and do the other.

The West should be tougher on Pakistan. It is trying to play both ends against the middle - to look like the friend of the revolutionaries on the one hand and a friend of the West in the fight against terrorism. It can't be both things.

The U.S. cannot implement a cogent strategy on the world stage if no one is sure whether to take the President seriously.

The ultimate in disposing one's troops is to be without ascertainable shape. Then the most penetrating spies cannot pry in nor can the wise lay plans against you.

We don't discuss this issue [ chemical weapons ] in public because we never said that we have it, and we never said that we don't have it. It's a Syrian issue ; it's a military issue we never discuss in public with anyone.

The genius of you Americans is that you never make clear-cut stupid moves, only complicated stupid moves which make the rest of us wonder at the possibility that we might be missing something.

A good politician doesn't tell you what he's going to do next.

The only way you can be comfortable about Donald Trump's foreign policy, is to think he doesn't really mean anything he says.

The politician is ... trained in the art of inexactitude. His words tend to be blunt or rounded, because if they have a cutting edge, they may later return to wound him.

And finally, and most importantly, the next time we go to war, don't give a specific reason for the war that the left can seize upon and later flog us with it ad nauseam, just do it. Remember, the first rule of Fight Club is that you don't talk about Fight Club.

With politicians, artful evasion is always preferable to the outright lie.

I can therefore say, as a Spartan Ambassador to the King of Persia’s Lieutenant, when asked whether he came with a public commission or on his own account: “If successful, for the public; if unsuccessful, for myself.”

By altering his arrangements and changing his plans, the skillful general keeps the enemy without definite knowledge. By shifting his camp and taking circuitous routes, he prevents the enemy from anticipating his purpose. At the critical moment, the leader of an army acts like one who has climbed up a height and then kicks away the ladder behind him.

Always keep your foes confused. If they are never certain who you are or what you want, they cannot know what you are like to do next.

Does Obama create confusion on purpose?