(The) chain of command has failed over the years, obviously, for a lot of reasons.

Foreign policy is all about a universe of bad decisions, imperfect decisions; every situation is different. The dynamics, the atmospherics, the people, the pressures, the geopolitical realities shift.

I think this is the biggest lesson a president or any of us who has responsibility to govern have to learn: There are always consequences to actions that you take. There are consequences to inaction.

It is easy to get into war, not so easy to get out.

Peace comes through dealing with people. Peace doesn't come at the end of a bayonet or the end of a gun.

This current government in Iraq has never fulfilled the commitments it made to form a unity government with the Kurds, the Sunnis and the Shia. We have worked hard with them within the confines of our ability to do that but we can't dictate to them.

Iraq was a war of choice, like Vietnam.