"Could we have prevented in 100% certainty? I don't think anything is that certain. However, we would have had a very, very good chance for preventing it"
About this Quote
The wording also betrays the environment she’s talking from. “Prevented it” is deliberately vague, a placeholder for an event too politically radioactive (and often legally sensitive) to name. That vagueness is not evasiveness so much as a signal: constraints are in play, clearances and gag orders hovering just offstage. The repetition - “very, very” - is the only emotional leak in an otherwise measured statement, the moment the professional mask slips and urgency shows through.
As a public servant, Edmonds isn’t selling outrage; she’s establishing credibility while indicting process. The subtext is institutional: agencies prefer deniability to accountability, and after catastrophe, the argument shifts from “what happened” to “what can be proven.” Her line refuses that retreat. It frames prevention not as fantasy but as a probability squandered, turning uncertainty into an accusation the system can’t comfortably audit away.
Quote Details
| Topic | Decision-Making |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Edmonds, Sibel. (2026, January 15). Could we have prevented in 100% certainty? I don't think anything is that certain. However, we would have had a very, very good chance for preventing it. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/could-we-have-prevented-in-100-certainty-i-dont-152283/
Chicago Style
Edmonds, Sibel. "Could we have prevented in 100% certainty? I don't think anything is that certain. However, we would have had a very, very good chance for preventing it." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/could-we-have-prevented-in-100-certainty-i-dont-152283/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Could we have prevented in 100% certainty? I don't think anything is that certain. However, we would have had a very, very good chance for preventing it." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/could-we-have-prevented-in-100-certainty-i-dont-152283/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.






