The reason we've always had a civilian in that job [Secretary of Defence] is because we really believe that it is policymakers who ought to control the military and not have the military control the military.

Red lines are kind of political arguments that are used to try to put people in a corner.

I don't usually comment on columnists' ideas of what I'm thinking. That's a dangerous game to get into.

The president is out there today trying to talk about health care, and the reality is nobody cares about what he's saying on health care because this news is consuming everything. No president could tolerate that or should tolerate it.

Iran is isolating itself from the rest of the world.

My impression is that Putin feels that he can basically manipulate the West to do what he ultimately wants to achieve, and that he feels he's gotten away with it so far, and that all he has to do is basically play the same game.

I don't engage in hypotheticals.