Verbatim: Feb. 23, 2004

"They're enemy combatants and terrorists who are being detained for acts of war against our country. That is why different rules have to apply." DONALD RUMSFELD, Defense Secretary, explaining the indefinite detention of foreign terrorism suspects in Guantanamo Bay

"I won't dignify your comments about the President because you don't know what you're talking about ... Let's not go there." COLIN POWELL, Secretary of State, responding testily during a congressional hearing when Democratic Representative Sherrod Brown of Ohio referred to allegations that Bush may not have fulfilled his National Guard duty in 1972

"It's important to show that the Republic ... will not let itself be eaten away from within." JEAN-PIERRE RAFFARIN, French Prime Minister, defending France's decision to ban head scarves and other Islamic garb in public schools

"I'm just deeply disappointed that once again we may have to settle for the lesser of two evils." HOWARD DEAN, Democratic candidate for President, on a possible matchup of John Kerry and George W. Bush

"A woman can take care of the family. It takes a man to provide structure, to provide stability." TOM DELAY, House majority leader, in a not-yet-aired TV interview, answering a question about absentee fathers

"I believe it is a very good evening for Cyprus." KOFI ANNAN, U.N. Secretary-General, greeting television viewers in Cyprus, before announcing an agreement between Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders to work toward the reunification of their country by May

"It's acceptable practice to socialize with Executive Branch officials when there are not personal claims against them. That's all I'm going to say for now. Quack, quack." ANTONIN SCALIA, Supreme Court Justice, responding to a question about his duck-hunting outing with Vice President Dick Cheney, a potential litigant in a future Supreme Court case

Sources: Associated Press (3); Washington Post; Agence France Presse; Roll Call; United Nations