Verbatim

"I'm just gonna go on a little vacation. I'll be back before you know it."
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS THOMAS TUCKER, U.S. soldier, in a message to his mother just before he was deployed to Iraq in February. The bodies of Tucker and Private First Class Kristian Menchaca, who had been ambushed and kidnapped by insurgents, were found last week

"So long as there is a profit motive for the military, so long as soldiers wake up in the morning thinking their job is to make money instead of participating in national defense, these kinds of abuses will continue."
BRAD ADAMS, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, whose recent report on the Indonesian military's business interests alleges that intimidation and corruption still exist, despite reform efforts

"Clean government is my highest principle."
CHEN SHUI-BIAN, President of Taiwan, in a live television address, rebutting allegations of insider trading and influence peddling involving his aides and family. Opposition legislators have called for Chen to step down over the scandals

"We bought a Mercedes-Benz and they delivered a Santana."
WANG GUANYING, a student at China's Shengda College, where thousands of students rioted last week after discovering that diplomas from the high-priced school would not be in the name of Shengda's more prestigious parent, Zhengzhou University, as expected

"Of course not. I remind them: I am the law!"
ALBERTO GONZALES, U.S. Attorney General, on whether his three sons illegally download music files off the Internet

"Well, I had a stupid income for what I do."
ANGELINA JOLIE, actress, on why she gives one-third of her earnings to charity