When there happens to be a weapon of mass destruction suspect site in an area that we occupy and if people have time, they'll look at it.

When starting at the bottom, be willing to learn from those at the top.

Keep your sense of humor. As General Joe Stillwell said, 'The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind'.

Most of the 50 or so invitations you receive each week come from people inviting the President's Chief of Staff, not you. If you doubt that, ask your predecessor how many he received last week.

In 2003, at the time I made my "Old Europe" comment, the center of gravity in NATO and Europe had long since shifted to the East. With the former Warsaw Pact countries joining NATO, the alliance has a different mix today. Some people were sensitive about my comment because they thought it was a pejorative way of highlighting demographic realities. Apparently they felt it pointed a white light at a weakness in Europe - an aging population. Europe has come some distance since World War II in becoming Europe.

There is no question but that when one is engaged militarily that there are going to be unintended loss of life.

We know where they are. They are in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad.