It is important also to consider, that the surest means of avoiding war is to be prepared for it in peace.
It's not just a matter of whether you support Obama or Romney. It's who they have coming with them. I always keep my powder dry, as they say in the military.
Rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him
There is nearly always uh, a process of wanting contingency plans made in the military.
Any army which does not train to use all the weapons, all the means and methods of warfare that the enemy possesses, or may possess, is behaving in an unwise or even criminal manner. This applies to politics even more than it does to the art of war.
Those who prepare for war get it.
We have global interests, potential threats from elsewhere, North Korea, Iran, Taiwan Straits and the like. We must be prepared for any future threat. That is why it is important that this be a transition year, 2006.
Great way to fight a war - be prepared to defend yourself for winning.
Alexander Hamilton realized that warfare was part and parcel of human nature, and it's something we had to prepare for.
If someone's not attacking you that means you're not doing your job effectively.
Always presume that the enemy has dangerous designs and always be forehanded with the remedy. But do not let these calculations make your timid.
Every time we have come to the end of a conflict, somehow we have persuaded ourselves that the nature of mankind and the nature of the world have changed on an enduring basis and so we have dismantle our military and intelligence capabilities. My hope is that as we wind down in Iraq and whatever the level of our commitment in Afghanistan, that we not forget the basic nature of humankind has not changed.
We've got to strengthen our military long-term. We don't know what the world is going to throw at us down the road.
a soldier lives always for the next battle, because he knows that before it arrives impossible changes can occur in his favor.
We have learned that survival cannot be guaranteed by arming after the attack begins-for there is new range and speed to offense.
When it comes to our military, what we have to think about is not, you know just budgets, we've got to think about capabilities.
Our enemies are on every side, so must our armour be.
Our arms must be mighty ... ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction
Nothing is going to hurt this country - not bioweapons, not a nuclear weapon, not a terrorist strike - there is nothing that can hurt us if we stay united and move together and have a vision for moving to the future the right way.
About every year or two, there is a moment of truth where there's some new development in the marketplace, some new technology, some sort of existential crisis. You just have to be vigilant about looking out for those moments.
Military and absolutist regimes are undoubtedly well fitted to get the jump on an unsuspecting or unprepared enemy; but the history of modern warfare proves that they cannot win over representative governments in the long run, provided that people behind those governments have the heart to sustain initial punishment, and both the will and the resources to fight back.
