By these words shall they be remembered...

“Just remember, if you break it, you own it.”

Colin Powell to Bush 43 when warning Bush of the consequences of invading Iraq.

The so called Pottery Barn rule was referenced by Bob Woodward in his book, The War Within, on page 48: “’'You are the one who is going to have to pick up the pieces and put it back together again. And it’s not going to be easy to do,” said Powell.

Powell added on another occasion, “You are going to be the proud owner of 25 million people.” He told the president, “You will own all their hopes, aspirations, and problems. You'll own it all.”

“It’ll be a slam dunk.”

George Tenet in describing his certain view that Iraq, under Saddam Hussein, had weapons of mass destruction and the evidence soon would be obvious.

"I can't imagine anyone here wanting to spend another $30 billion to be there for another 12 years."

Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy Secretary of Defense testifying before House subcommittee on Iraq, February 28, 2003

“The cost of the Iraq war will be about $4 Billion, and most of it can be paid for by the Iraqi’s from their oil revenues.” (Later, Wolfowitz elaborated.) “There's a lot of money to pay for this. It doesn't have to be U.S. taxpayer money. We are dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction, and relatively soon."

Paul Wolfowitz in congressional testimony, March 27, 2003

“Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.”

Bush 43, standing on the deck of the USS Lincoln aircraft carrier with “Mission Accomplished” sign behind him, May 1, 2003.

“So?’

CHENEY: On the security front, I think there’s a general consensus that we’ve made major progress, that the surge has worked. That’s been a major success.

RADDATZ: Two-third of Americans say it’s not worth fighting.

CHENEY: So?

RADDATZ So? You don’t care what the American people think?

CHENEY: No. I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls.

Comment from Cheney in ABC interview of March 2008 with Martha Raddatz. President Bush added, “So what?” when he was interviewed by Raddatz this week.

“So what?”

BUSH: One of the major theaters against al Qaeda turns out to have been Iraq. This is where al Qaeda said they were going to take their stand. This is where al Qaeda was hoping to take–

RADDATZ: But not until after the U.S. invaded.

BUSH: Yeah, that’s right. So what? The point is that al Qaeda said they’re going to take a stand. Well, first of all in the post-9/11 environment Saddam Hussein posed a threat. And then upon removal, al Qaeda decides to take a stand.

Comment from Bush 43, Dec. 15, 2008, in interview with ABC’s Martha Raddatz:

That’s right, Bush said, “so what?” I wonder what the mothers of the young men and women who died in his “so what?” war are thinking today? I’m confident it is not, “So what?”

Finally, we shall never forget this one:

"Waterboarding was appropriate."

"It (waterboarding) was appropriate -- and I supported it. I think the results speak for themselves."

Comment of VP Cheney on ABC's Good Morning America, Dec. 16, 2008, ignoring historical precedence that waterboarding is a war crime.