I have always gone through public life and saying that with respect to political candidates, I always measure each candidate against what I think the country needs at that time, and I will vote for the person I think who is most qualified to serve the nation at that time.

We all hoped in 2001 that we could put in place an Afghan government under President Karzai that would be able to control the country, make sure al-Qaeda didn't come back, and make sure the Taliban wasn't resurging. It didn't work out.

I don't think we handled the aftermath of the fall of Baghdad as well as we might have. But that's now history.

I try to be the same person I was yesterday.

The commander in the field is always right and the rear echelon is wrong, unless proved otherwise.

Look at the world. There is no pure competitor to the United States of America.

Use the formula P=40 to 70, in which P stands for the probability of success and the numbers indicate the percentage of information acquired. Once the information is in the 40 to 70 range, go with your gut.