I don't accept the way you characterize our military operations. We have to suppress the Taliban. If they attack us with rocket grenades and mines and everything else, we have to deal with them. This is not a peacekeeping operation. We can't just go around and put our hands up and say, “Please stop”. They don't follow the rules. They will throw suicide bombers against us. They will use conventional warfare and IEDs against us. Our battle group has to deal with all these things, and it is absolutely necessary while the Taliban is at the current level of activity.
On October 25th, 2006. See this statement in context.