Verbatim

"Nobody likes war. It creates a sense of uncertainty in the country." PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH, after acknowledging that he was spending some of the "political capital" gained from his 2004 re-election on the Iraq war

"Soldiers are not supposed to be soft and cuddly." MICHAEL J. SMITH, U.S. Army dog handler who was sentenced last week to six months behind bars for using his Belgian shepherd to "soften up" prisoners at the Abu Ghraib facility in Iraq

"This could be the beginning of the end." JOSE LUIS RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO, Spanish Prime Minister, after the Basque separatist group ETA, which has killed more than 800 people over the past 40 years in its quest for Basque independence, announced a permanent cease-fire

"I performed jihad and killed Americans! Why should I stand up in front of you?" LOUAI AL-SAKKA, alleged al-Qaeda operative who is on trial for orchestrating the 2003 Istanbul bombings, after refusing to stand to address the judge in a Turkish courtroom last week

"They would do well to spend less time on propaganda." CHRISTOPHER HILL, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, in response to a statement from North Korea's Foreign Ministry that said a "pre-emptive strike is not the monopoly of the United States"

"My husband walked up to the commanding officer smiling and with flowers in hand. Before he started talking, the officer ordered attack." IRINA KOZULINA, wife of Belarus' opposition leader and former presidential candidate Alexander Kozulin , who was seized by riot police after leading thousands in what appeared to be a peaceful protest of the country's recent election results

"Under no circumstances would I ever have anyone fired for having breasts that were too large." BILLY JOEL, pop singer, responding to accusations from a dancer in a production of his hit Broadway show Movin' Out that she was fired because of her ample bosom

Sources: AP (2); New York Times; Washington Post; USA Today; TIME; New York Daily News