I believe we've... we've worked very hard with the Iraqis to build a better place ever since the fall of Saddam's government.

You know as well as I do that counterinsurgency is a very nuanced type of military operation.

But the key shift in focus will be from counter-insurgency operations to more and more cooperation with Iraqi security forces and to building Iraqi security capacity.

We'll try to include Iraqi officers in our staffs. We will do everything we can to empower Iraqi security forces to stand up on their own and operate where they can alone.

So, these political activities will create friction in and of themselves, and in this environment of friction there'll be additional violence.

But clearly the fact that we've gone from zero Iraqi security forces on duty in May to up to 200,000 today is an enormous accomplishment, but it's not enough.

Morale is good; troops are confident; leaders are capable.

And so I think that if the person has the funds, the network, and the equipment to do this, and also the experience, which is the key factor, then they can be quite deadly.

You don't build a new power plant in the United States overnight. It takes years to build.

Everybody needs to understand that I learned Arabic from the United States Army as a second language. I never spoke it at home.

Undoubtedly, there are members of the former regime that are cooperating in some fashion and then there are extremists that are within Iraq that are cooperating with them.

Democracy means the opportunity to be everyone's slave.

During the first 13 centuries after the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, no one thought of setting up a creche to celebrate Christmas. The pre-eminent Christian holiday was Easter, not Christmas.

Daphne Guinness was amazingly comfortable in her skin, and she has an amazing collection in fashion that I wish I could just touch.

It is only the darkness in our own hearts that will defeat us, in the end.

Art is the means by which we communicate what it feels like to be alive.

You can't eat fish. It's 6,000 parts DDT per million all over the world, not counting radiation.

Ennui is the desire of activity without the fit means of gratifying the desire.

I support all people on earth who have bodies like and unlike my body.

Herein lies the heart and soul of the nations. Their right to be free men, Their desire to live in peace, Their courage to seek out truth, Herein lies the Sword of Shannara.

I never know what the hell I'm writing about, I never know what the next thing I'm writing about is, I never have a plan.