Lloyd Austin

“I have personally pushed Israeli leaders to avoid civilian casualties, and to shun irresponsible rhetoric, and to prevent violence by settlers in the West Bank.”

“Every grenade that we take out of our inventory, that's got to be replaced by something else. Either that type of munition or something better. Now, every time that we draw capability of our inventory and we replace it with something, and those munitions, those weapons are made in the United States of America.”

“Attacks by extremist settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank must stop. And those committing the violence must be held accountable.”

“The United States remains fully committed to the defense of the R.O.K.”

“One of the things that we learned is that you have to really think through next steps.”

“We won't be deterred by dangerous operational behavior at sea or in international airspace.”

“American power, innovation, and values make the U.S. military the strongest fighting force in human history.”

“What we want to make sure happens going forward is that I am not the last African-American secretary of defense, that we create those opportunities in our ranks for African-Americans and Hispanics to rise to the very highest ranks in our military.”

“Galloping advances in technology mean important changes in the work we do to keep the United States secure not just through air, land and sea but also space and cyberspace.”

“We certainly will help defend Israel.”

“We fight to defend human rights, human dignity, human liberty.”

“I do believe that, you know, in the future if the possibility exists, I think Ukraine will seek to once again apply to become a member of N.A.T.O.”

“You know, I spent much of my military career tackling tough issues and formidable adversaries in challenging parts of the world.”

“I think there's always room and opportunities for diplomacy.”

“There are no checks on Mr. Putin. Just as he made the irresponsible decision to invade Ukraine, you know, he could make another decision.”

“Like Hamas, ISIS was deeply embedded in urban areas. And the international coalition against ISIS worked hard to protect civilians and create humanitarian corridors.”

“We fight to defend our democratic ideals.”

“We plan for all contingencies, and we'll be ready for it, for any contingencies.”

“It's my personality. I don't make excuses for that. But I don't think being a private person is necessarily a bad thing.”

“I think any time you construct, you know, plan an operation, you have to account for civilians that are part of that landscape.”