In the 101st Airborne Division headquarters in Mosul, we had a sign on the wall. It was a question that we would ask ourselves before every new operation or policy initiative. It asked: Will this policy or operation take more bad guys off the streets than it creates by its conduct?
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of evaluating the consequences of operations and policies in terms of their effectiveness in reducing harmful elements.
David Petraeus highlights the critical necessity for military and leadership strategy to assess not just the immediate impacts of actions taken, but to consider the broader consequences, particularly how such actions may unintentionally lead to the creation of new threats. This reflective approach encourages leaders to ensure that their initiatives genuinely enhance safety and stability rather than exacerbate issues.
In practice
This quote can be used in a military briefing to emphasize strategic decision-making.
There is nothing I can do to undo what I did. I can only say again how sorry I am to those I let down and then strive to go forward with a greater sense of humility and purpose, and with gratitude to those who stood with me during a very difficult chapter in my life.
I considered our British comrades to rank with the finest men and women of any armed service in the world. And I know that my fellow American soldiers - and those of the other coalition countries under my command - valued very highly the professional expertise, capability, courage, and determination of our British partners on the battlefield.
The idea is to go to bed every night with fewer enemies than you had in the morning.
We periodically note that there are no silver bullets, there are no magic formulas, there's no single action or component of the overall... comprehensive civil-military approach.
At least from a national security standpoint, none of the problems the U.S. and U.K. face will become easier to solve if the U.K. is out of the E.U.; on the contrary, I fear that a 'Brexit' would only make our world even more dangerous and difficult to manage.
When Western politicians propose blanket discrimination against Islam, they bolster the terrorists' propaganda.
If you want to reach the top, don't run over others. Likely, the only way you'll reach the top is to be carried there by others.
It is now, more than ever, necessary that political leaders be outstanding for honesty, integrity and commitment to the common good.
Good leaders reach solutions, and then stop. They do not dare to rely on force.
I can't tell you how much you gain, how much progress you can make, by working together as a team, by helping one another. You get much more done that way. If there's anything the Steelers of the '70s epitomized, I think it was that teamwork.
If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then, you are an excellent leader.
The fact is that a woman who aspires to be chairman of the board - or a member of the House - does so for exactly the same reasons as any man. Basically, these are that she thinks she can do the job, and she wants to try.
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