As a veteran of the Vietnam era and a dedicated peace worker I’m always skeptical of the government’s rationale for war. War’s only profiteers are the workers and owners of the military armaments production facilities. The shifting reasons for our going to War in Iraq boggle the imagination. It was WMD to start and building a Middle Eastern democracy is in there somewhere but the real reason we’re there I’m relatively sure is that we can’t live at peace. Much of our economy and governance is based on perpetual war. Just the other day President Bush’s “War Czar” proclaimed that a draft should be on the table. A draft really makes sense I’ll have to admit as long as there is perpetual war.
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Herman Goehring was a warmonger without peer. He’d be at home here in America.
“Naturally the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”–Herman Goehring