The U.S. spent years and years and billions of dollars to build the Iraqi army only to watch it collapse and hand over so many of its weapons. Richard Engel More Quotes by Richard Engel More Quotes From Richard Engel Fences and walls can be effective and even soothing, at least for those who build them. Richard Engel soothingwallfence Were all bloggers and punks and rebels with cameras. There is absolutely no respect for career journalists anymore. Richard Engel rebelcamerascareers I dont look for good-news stories or bad-news stories. Richard Engel news-storiesgood-newslooks Putting a bomb in a dumpster or putting it with a timer by a race, it is not the kind of - similar to the attacks that we've seen where people open fire with assault rifles and things like that. Richard Engel racefirepeople Hezbollah and the government are only two of 18 political factions in Lebanon, most of them armed. There are militant Christian groups, Palestinian radicals, al-Qaida, Druze militias and even armed bands of Marxists still operating in Lebanon. Richard Engel governmentchristiantwo The Syrian border town of Qa'im was the main gateway Islamic radicals used to go to Iraq. Syria became the passageway for extremists from Egypt, Libya, Afghanistan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and other Muslim nations to fight a jihad against American forces in Iraq. Richard Engel egyptislamicfighting I think war should be illegal. Richard Engel shouldwarthinking Everest has a special place in all of our imaginations. For centuries, Everest was a little bit like the moon. It was the place where everyone wanted to go. Empires wanted to be able to say that they were the first to put a climber on top of Everest. So when a tragedy happens up on that mountain, I think it has a global resonance. Everybody's heard of Everest. Everybody knows what Everest is and what it means, and the significance. Richard Engel moonmeanthinking Every child is taught if you try to please everyone, you end up upsetting everyone. Richard Engel upsettryingchildren Osama bin laden organized an attack that was carried out against the United States, New York, Pentagon, and the other aircraft, with 19 attackers, 19 guys with box cutters. An attack that's probably cost almost nothing. Richard Engel united-statesguynew-york Shaped like Texas, but twice as big, Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world. It exports almost nothing - mostly just cotton, gold and livestock - and doesnt have enough money to import much of anything, either. Richard Engel texasgoldcountry How can you claim infallibility and claim that in these 114 [drone] strikes there was just one mistake -- one person killed that was a civilian -- and at the same time say, 'Well, we don't really know how many people were killed or who they were, but we know they weren't civilians'? I don't know how you can do that. Richard Engel dronesmistakepeople Based on the people l've spoken to, I think the impression is: Is America safer from Al Qaeda? Yes. Is America weaker as a nation because we have overspent and over-focused on Al Qaeda? Yes. I think that would be the conclusion that people seem to have come to and that I tend to agree with. Richard Engel americapeoplethinking A lot of Iran's empowerment is a result of the war in Iraq. Richard Engel iraniraqwar Insurgencies are easy to make and hard to stop. Only a few ingredients need to combine to create an insurgency; like oxygen and fire, they're very common and mix all too often. The recipe is, simply, a legitimate grievance against a state, a state that refuses to compromise, a quorum of angry people, and access to weapons. Richard Engel angryfireeasypeople Anyone who follows the Middle East and Islamic world in general can't deny it is often a very violent place, that a band of instability now stretches from Algeria to Pakistan. Richard Engel placepakistanbandworld The Muslim Brotherhood is a fundamentalist group. Richard Engel muslimgroupbrotherhood In popular Egyptian and regional culture, women are seen as weak, easy victims to temptation in the same way Eve couldn't resist that shiny apple in the Garden of Eden. Richard Engel womengardencultureway 9/11 was a terrible, horrific, tragic day. Richard Engel dayhorrifictragicterrible When I first arrived in Baghdad in January 2003, I thought I would soon rent a house and envisioned myself swimming in the Tigris to cool off after reporting in the city the caliphs called Madinit al-Salam, the City of Peace. A year later, I realized I wouldn't be taking any midnight dips - Madinat al-Salam no more. Richard Engel citymyselfcoolpeace
