Lawrence Rita Quotations

We're going to take a look at the entire scope of our responsibilities in the Department of Defense and determine what is it that we can or should be doing better, differently, more of, less of.

We're getting more intelligence that's allowing us to stop more of these things, find more of them. So we're learning from them (the insurgents) and the enemy is learning from us, and it's going to be that way for as long as there is an insurgency.

We altered the rotations of units during the January election. And I think it's perfectly plausible to assume we'll do the same thing for this election,

We're always looking to see if there are modifications that might be needed to the procedures

The fact is we said we'd proceed on commissions. Hicks is up. And we're going to proceed. And if we're asked not to proceed or ordered not to proceed (by a court), then we won't. That's the plan,

Obviously, a lot has happened since the last Quadrennial Defense Review. The senior leadership of this department has established terms of reference for the ongoing Quadrennial Defense Review to look at a lot of activities, try and learn from what has happened since the last Quadrennial Defense Review, try and analyze various options, and come to some conclusions about how we're organized.

I think it's likely he (Casey) will give some kind of an assessment on where we stand post-election and what his thinking is. I can't say that it will include a recommendation. I just don't know that.

It could be more. It could be less.

The allegations were serious and the issue is a serious one. The inspector general concluded that it was much ado about nothing, that the individuals that had made the allegations couldn't substantiate their allegations, and everybody moved on. That matter was thoroughly vetted, and it's closed.

That's the kind of exchange you want to have with a country that has not been that transparent.

We'll have a lot of flexibility to be able to let the forces stack on top of one another during the rotation (of troops in and out of Iraq) so that we can have a greater capability during key points.

We're not trying any harder or less to find bin Laden than we've been doing since 9/11. It's a tough problem, and we have a lot or resources dedicated to it.

The overall level of Afghan and coalition security forces in the country is growing.

You guys really want the definitive answer and so do we. The difference is, that takes understanding facts, and we have tried to uncover facts over the last week.

We see an adversary that ... continues to develop some sophistication on very deadly and increasingly precise standoff-type weapons.

Is there a way to define a threshold, or an anticipated threshold, above which a different set of relationships would kick in? ... That's a good question. It's only been two weeks, so don't expect us to have the answers. But those are the kinds of questions we need to be asking.

Is there a pattern? Certainly, in recent weeks three helicopters have gone down. Nothing has been ruled in or out in any of those three cases yet.

The secretary doesn't feel this is push back. He feels it's an important clarification.

The soldiers were advised as to the issues they should expect to discuss, and decided among themselves who would speak to each issue as it may arise,

The tension that the commanders feel between heavy presence and lower footprint is something they're measuring all the time.

So they've reviewed the standard operating procedures to see if perhaps we could have been more careful in those cases.

That's not a good way to determine how good or bad things are going - by (counting) how many things are exploding.

There's a lot of people who know that that's an obvious question

As we have already said, the troop reduction will be based on conditions, and one of the important conditions is this election, which will be the latest in a series of political developments.

As you continue to either close or turn over these bases, it's just self-evident that there would be some reduced need for the American presence in those areas,

it's a decision the Uzbek government has to make as to whether or not we would continue to operate from that.

The next step in the process is that the president will decide whether or not he's going to send it to the Congress as is,

On behalf of these fine young men and women, we certainly regret any perception that they were told what to say. It is not the case.

In July, he had one assessment. He has an assessment now that could still result in what he said earlier, it could result in no change, it could result in more.

If somebody comes back to me and says there's nothing wrong with the Department of Defense paying journalists, I'll say, 'Even if there's nothing wrong, does it make sense ?

He's presented a variety of alternative approaches that could occur after the election, but again it's all based on waiting to see how it goes and waiting and watching as we continue to hand over responsibility to the Iraqis,

General Casey could determine after the elections that, I want more, for whatever reason, ... and then he'll get more.

If he can promote from within, or bring somebody in who's been part of the operation in some other capacity, he likes to do that,

For the next election (in December), it wouldn't surprise me to see it go right back up to 160,000 again.