I think the point that we all agree upon is that we have to engage with Russia.

When it came to the Vietnam War, Mr. McNamara was an early advocate of escalation but came to realize the flaws in the American approach earlier than many of his colleagues. Yet in public, he continued to defend the war.

Silence in the face of atrocity is not neutrality; silence in the face of atrocity is acquiescence.

We need to find means for cooperation.

We need to deter the Palestinians in any way we can.

Re-examining our reasoning is not something that has come naturally to American statesmen.

You've got to deploy serious political assets around a plan [in Darfur]. And the George W.] Bush administration has never had a plan. Ever. The Europeans don't want to do anything, saying, "The Americans are in charge of that." And in fact the Americans are in charge of naming it and bringing these resolutions every few weeks to the Security Council.