Rick Lynch Quotes

"Now is not the time for the Iraqi government to take specific action against the militias. It's going to be worked over time."

"This was the first use of the Iraqi air force,"

"We will continue this mission for as long as it takes... and leave a sizable and credible force to deter the terrorists,"

"The government of Iraq has decided that they won't accept militias on the street. The government of Iraq has decided that the Mahdi militia is out there, and shouldn't be out there."

"We're studying very hard where this technology is coming from and what we can do to combat that technology,"

"We have a very deliberate process on how we work with those detainees,"

"Our soldiers on the scene use an established rule of engagement ... In this case, our soldiers took the appropriate action,"

"We've got to applaud every day the courage and commitment of the Iraqi people. They're doing what they're doing for ... Iraq at great risk and great personal sacrifice."

"The Iraqi government, at the point of crisis, decided to impose certain emergency measures. They relied on the Iraqi security forces to implement those measures."

"There are indeed militias, and the Iraqi law wants to integrate those militias into the Iraqi security force or disband those militias. Some of them did that, some of them still have displaced loyalties that have joined the Iraqi security forces ... and they could conduct the same kind of thing that we saw in that particular event."

"We wanted to take advantage of not only our ability to offer lower prices on our name brand products but also to harness the power of the internet which allows people easy online access to ordering 24 hours a day."

"Again, thats blown out of proportion. Those young men and women were expressing their opinion. If you come over and talk to the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines we have on the ground her in Iraq today, they are very proud of what they're doing. They're protecting freedom and our way of life and they're proud of that fact and they will express their opinion when asked. Every visitor that comes over that talks to our soldiers leaves with a positive assessment. And those soldiers yesterday were giving their opinion."

"In law enforcement, there's a time when you have to disassociate yourself from tragedy because if you can't, it'll destroy you, ... There's a point in an investigation where you're still working on it, but you have to keep things in perspective or you won't make it to retirement."

"These spikes of violence are predictable around certain critical events that highlight the progress of democracy, ... Remember, democracy equals failure for the insurgency. So there has to be heightened awareness now as we work our way toward the referendum."

"What we're seeing across Iraq is that the police forces are indeed gaining capability and gaining public confidence. They continue to grow in not just quantity, but in quality and capability."

"We are seeing a confident Iraqi government using capable security forces to calm the storm."

"Based on intelligence that we recovered over the last 36 hours, an operation was planned and conducted, and those three hostages were rescued. I'm happy to report all three are in good condition."

"Again, that’s blown out of proportion. Those young men and women were expressing their opinion. If you come over and talk to the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines we have on the ground her in Iraq today, they are very proud of what they're doing. They're protecting freedom and our way of life and they're proud of that fact and they will express their opinion when asked. Every visitor that comes over that talks to our soldiers leaves with a positive assessment. And those soldiers yesterday were giving their opinion."

"None of those service members were coached as to what to say."

"have the ability to pick the time and place of their choosing ... They have used swarm tactics and conducted a complex attack against civilians and Iraqi police officers."