A biography for Norman Schwarzkopfhasn’t been written yet.
“Generals aren't in the business of commenting on the correctness or incorrectness of the President's decisions. Anybody who thinks he should be able to do that ought to be fired on the spot.”
“You can't help but... with 20/20 hindsight, go back and say, 'Look, had we done something different, we probably wouldn't be facing what we are facing today.'”
“I've got to tell you what, the soldier doesn't fight very hard for a leader who is going to shoot him, okay, on his own whim. That's not what military leadership is all about.”
“I prided myself on being unflappable even in the most chaotic of circumstances.”
“When the Normandy Invasion was planned, a very specific strategic objective was given, and that strategic objective was the basis upon which the plan for the Normandy Invasion was derived.”
“I like to say I'm not a hero.”
“First of all, Saddam did not win the war, even though he says he did, I mean, you know, that's a joke and everybody in the world knows it.”
“I can't even begin to visualize myself as a five-star general... When I think of the people who are five-star generals, I can't even see myself standing in their shadow.”
“I may have made my reputation as a general in the Army and I'm very proud of that. But I've always felt that I was more than one-dimensional.”
“I hate war. Absolutely, I hate war.”
“To be an effective leader, you have to have a manipulative streak - you have to figure out the people working for you and give each tasks that will take advantage of his strength.”
“I do not want to be a pawn in a political campaign.”
“In a recent interview, General Norman Schwartzkof was asked if he thought there was room for forgiveness toward the people who have harboured and abetted the terrorists who perpetrated the 9/11 attacks on America. His answer..."I believe that forgiving them is God's function. Our job is simply to arrange the meeting.”
“But I would defy anyone to go back over the years and tell me anyone whose career I've ruined, anyone whom I've driven out of the service, anyone I've fired from a job.”
“The Patriot missile is a point defence missile. Point defence means that you put the missile at a location to defend a very specific target such as an airfield, a supply dump or a headquarters.”
“He is neither a strategist nor is he schooled in the operational arts, nor is he a tactician, nor is he a general. Other than that he's a great military man.”
“Hey, I'm not a politician. I'm a ham. I love to give speeches.”
“Moving into an unoccupied village when there's no opposition, I don't call that a military victory.”
“Good generalship is a realization that... you've got to try and figure out how to accomplish your mission with a minimum loss of human life.”
“What people don't understand is this is something that we only have in America. There is no other country in the world where the ordinary citizen can go out and enjoy hunting and fishing. There's no other nation in the world where that happens. And it's very much a part of our heritage.”