The Pentagon Wars Quotes
Brig. General Robert Laurel Smith: Are you out of your mind, Colonel? If the Pentagon had their choice of busting us or nailing a Soviet spy, they would choose us in a heartbeat!
Lt. Colonel James Burton: Who exactly is us, General?
Brig. General Robert Laurel Smith: There are some people who work in the Pentagon who are fed up watching billions of dollars thrown away on defective weapons upon which our troops are supposed to stake their lives. People like you, Colonel. We are the enemy!
Lt. Colonel James Burton: To whom?
Brig. General Robert Laurel Smith: To majors who want to be colonels, to colonels who want to be generals, to generals who want that fourth star, you bet we are the enemy! Nobody moves up without getting things done! So what you don't want to be is the one who drops the ball, 'cause if you're the one who drops the ball: no promotion! no star! no cushy job with a contract when you retire!
Lt. Colonel James Burton: Who exactly is us, General?
Brig. General Robert Laurel Smith: There are some people who work in the Pentagon who are fed up watching billions of dollars thrown away on defective weapons upon which our troops are supposed to stake their lives. People like you, Colonel. We are the enemy!
Lt. Colonel James Burton: To whom?
Brig. General Robert Laurel Smith: To majors who want to be colonels, to colonels who want to be generals, to generals who want that fourth star, you bet we are the enemy! Nobody moves up without getting things done! So what you don't want to be is the one who drops the ball, 'cause if you're the one who drops the ball: no promotion! no star! no cushy job with a contract when you retire!
TV Show: The Pentagon Wars
Caspar Weinberger: Frankly, I don't appreciate calls from reporters and congressmen asking me why nothing we are working on works and I can't answer them because the men in charge of developing these systems tell me everything is just peachy.
TV Show: The Pentagon Wars
Major General Partridge: Just because the tests didn't turn out the way Colonel Burton thought they would, was no reason to suspect there was anything devious going on.
Madame Chairwoman: I ask you General, filling the fuel tanks with WATER before a test to check the combustibility of those tanks, that wasn't devious?
Major General Partridge: If the tanks had been filled with fuel, there's a good chance the vehicle would have exploded.
Congressman #1: Isn't that the point?
Major General Partridge: If the vehicle had exploded, we wouldn't be able to run additional tests!
Madame Chairwoman: I ask you General, filling the fuel tanks with WATER before a test to check the combustibility of those tanks, that wasn't devious?
Major General Partridge: If the tanks had been filled with fuel, there's a good chance the vehicle would have exploded.
Congressman #1: Isn't that the point?
Major General Partridge: If the vehicle had exploded, we wouldn't be able to run additional tests!
TV Show: The Pentagon Wars