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Antiwar.com
"Your best source for antiwar news, viewpoints, and activities"
"Your best source for antiwar news, viewpoints, and activities"
Truth About War
A project of the American Liberty Foundation
A project of the American Liberty Foundation
Articles
A Bogus Libertarian Defense of War, by Sheldon Richman, Future of Freedom, Oct 2007
Related Topics: Randy E. Barnett, Murray N. Rothbard
Examines Randy Barnett's Wall Street Journal article "Libertarians and the War" and a follow-up at the Volokh Conspiracy blog
"... libertarian principles tell us that any response to a truly unprovoked attack must respect the rights of innocents. Actions that can be expected to harm people not involved in the original attack should be avoided. War must not be an occasion for dispensing with normal moral prohibitions. Those who disagree lose their standing to object to the murder of innocents on 9/11."
Related Topics: Randy E. Barnett, Murray N. Rothbard
Examines Randy Barnett's Wall Street Journal article "Libertarians and the War" and a follow-up at the Volokh Conspiracy blog
"... libertarian principles tell us that any response to a truly unprovoked attack must respect the rights of innocents. Actions that can be expected to harm people not involved in the original attack should be avoided. War must not be an occasion for dispensing with normal moral prohibitions. Those who disagree lose their standing to object to the murder of innocents on 9/11."
A Matter of Conscience, by Sgt. Kevin Benderman, 18 Jan 2005
"... there are no valid arguments for the destructive force of war. People are destroyed, nations are destroyed, and yet we continue on with war ... I cannot tell anyone else how to live his or her life but I have determined how I want to live mine - by not participating in war any longer ..."
"... there are no valid arguments for the destructive force of war. People are destroyed, nations are destroyed, and yet we continue on with war ... I cannot tell anyone else how to live his or her life but I have determined how I want to live mine - by not participating in war any longer ..."
America, meet your leaders, by Harry Browne, WorldNetDaily, 19 Sep 2002
"... we found out that the Pearl Harbor attack was neither 'unprovoked' nor a 'surprise.' ... we discovered that the Vietnamese didn't really fire on American ships in the Gulf of Tonkin ... only later do we discover that what we knew about the war and the enemy was a lie."
"... we found out that the Pearl Harbor attack was neither 'unprovoked' nor a 'surprise.' ... we discovered that the Vietnamese didn't really fire on American ships in the Gulf of Tonkin ... only later do we discover that what we knew about the war and the enemy was a lie."
"Anti-War" Poseurs: All Whine, No Spine, by Terry Michael, RealClearPolitics, 23 Nov 2005
Related Topic: Vietnam War
"Weapons of mass destruction was always a marketing ploy, as admitted to by Paul Wolfowitz, one of the architects of the madness ... Playing on homeland insecurity, the neo-cons ... succeeded in getting the pre-emptive ('we're powerful and can do anything we damn well please') war they so badly wanted."
Related Topic: Vietnam War
"Weapons of mass destruction was always a marketing ploy, as admitted to by Paul Wolfowitz, one of the architects of the madness ... Playing on homeland insecurity, the neo-cons ... succeeded in getting the pre-emptive ('we're powerful and can do anything we damn well please') war they so badly wanted."
Conscience on the Battlefield, by Leonard E. Read, 1981
Related Topics: Government, Liberty, Non-aggression Principle, Personal Responsibility, World War II
Pamphlet written in 1951, during the Korean War, updated with prologue in 1981
"War 'as a means to peace among nations' was then, and remains, a world-wide fallacy. Today, small wars go on in various parts of the globe, and there is the possibility that a big one is in the offing. ... Nonsense? Congress declares war in which millions may be killed. But every one of those legislators would be revolted by the thought of shooting a single innocent man. The nonsense is millions times one!"
Related Topics: Government, Liberty, Non-aggression Principle, Personal Responsibility, World War II
Pamphlet written in 1951, during the Korean War, updated with prologue in 1981
"War 'as a means to peace among nations' was then, and remains, a world-wide fallacy. Today, small wars go on in various parts of the globe, and there is the possibility that a big one is in the offing. ... Nonsense? Congress declares war in which millions may be killed. But every one of those legislators would be revolted by the thought of shooting a single innocent man. The nonsense is millions times one!"
Divestment Works, by Jim Davidson, The Libertarian Enterprise, 21 Jun 2009
Recommends not investing in military and defense-related stocks in order to stop the "death merchants"
"These wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, and elsewhere have brought not only death and destruction, but direct assaults on American civil liberties. Investing in defense stocks is a way of saying, 'I like the fact that the military contractors help the military and the CIA torture prisoners to death. I want less freedom and more authoritarian government.'"
Recommends not investing in military and defense-related stocks in order to stop the "death merchants"
"These wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, and elsewhere have brought not only death and destruction, but direct assaults on American civil liberties. Investing in defense stocks is a way of saying, 'I like the fact that the military contractors help the military and the CIA torture prisoners to death. I want less freedom and more authoritarian government.'"
End Draft Registration!, by Sheldon Richman, 29 Dec 2006
"Rangel says the draft would ensure that unpopular wars would provoke public opposition, as it eventually did in the Vietnam War. ... A far better way to enable people to effectively object to wars is the volunteer army. At the very least, a society with pretensions of freedom should recognize the right of people to abstain from fighting wars they disapprove of."
"Rangel says the draft would ensure that unpopular wars would provoke public opposition, as it eventually did in the Vietnam War. ... A far better way to enable people to effectively object to wars is the volunteer army. At the very least, a society with pretensions of freedom should recognize the right of people to abstain from fighting wars they disapprove of."
Glorious War!, by Joseph Sobran, The Reactionary Utopian, 31 Aug 2006
Related Topics: George W. Bush, Republican Party
"The popularity of war is intense but brief. Americans will support quick and victorious wars, but after a few months the thrill tends to wear off. ... Being the most devastating of human activities, war would seem to be at the opposite pole from conserving anything. ... few things are more abnormal than war."
Related Topics: George W. Bush, Republican Party
"The popularity of war is intense but brief. Americans will support quick and victorious wars, but after a few months the thrill tends to wear off. ... Being the most devastating of human activities, war would seem to be at the opposite pole from conserving anything. ... few things are more abnormal than war."
Hell-Bent on War: Putin's right: the US is 'plunging the world into an abyss of permanent conflicts', by Justin Raimondo, 14 Feb 2007
Related Topics: Imperialism, Iran
"In a sane world, the economic consequences alone would be a sufficient deterrent to even considering war with Iran. Skyrocketing oil prices, a huge 'correction' in the financial markets, the sudden immiseration of great numbers of people ... As sick of war as the American people are, their leaders never seem to get their fill."
Related Topics: Imperialism, Iran
"In a sane world, the economic consequences alone would be a sufficient deterrent to even considering war with Iran. Skyrocketing oil prices, a huge 'correction' in the financial markets, the sudden immiseration of great numbers of people ... As sick of war as the American people are, their leaders never seem to get their fill."
Immorality, Inc., by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., Mises.org Daily Article, 31 Jul 2006
"War has been called a form of crime on a mass scale, and a particularly egregious form because it comes with the endorsement of elites. For centuries ..., awareness of war's lawlessness led to a consensus that the conduct of war should be restrained by rules ... But in the modern age, all that changed. Civilians became targets. Cities were not spared. Proportionality is not a consideration."
"War has been called a form of crime on a mass scale, and a particularly egregious form because it comes with the endorsement of elites. For centuries ..., awareness of war's lawlessness led to a consensus that the conduct of war should be restrained by rules ... But in the modern age, all that changed. Civilians became targets. Cities were not spared. Proportionality is not a consideration."
Just War, by Murray N. Rothbard, Costs of War, May 1994
Related Topic: Hugo Grotius
"My own view of war can be put simply: a just war exists when a people tries to ward off the threat of coercive domination by another people, or to overthrow an already-existing domination. A war is unjust, on the other hand, when a people try to impose domination on another people, or try to retain an already existing coercive rule over them."
Related Topic: Hugo Grotius
"My own view of war can be put simply: a just war exists when a people tries to ward off the threat of coercive domination by another people, or to overthrow an already-existing domination. A war is unjust, on the other hand, when a people try to impose domination on another people, or try to retain an already existing coercive rule over them."
NATO's Balkans Disaster and Wilsonian Warmongering, Part 1, by Doug Bandow, Future of Freedom, Jul 1999
Analyzes NATO's actions in the Bosnian War in light of the U.S. constitution, the NATO accord and the UN Charter
"Far worse, however, was ... inaugurating war against another sovereign state. In doing so, the president acted unilaterally, without the approval of Congress ... Although the administration seems to believe that all of these requirements are outmoded in today's world, the administration's calamitous bungling in Kosovo illustrates why war should require congressional approval, NATO should remain a defensive alliance, and the UN Charter properly outlaws aggressive war, irrespective of the goodness of the expressed intentions."
Analyzes NATO's actions in the Bosnian War in light of the U.S. constitution, the NATO accord and the UN Charter
"Far worse, however, was ... inaugurating war against another sovereign state. In doing so, the president acted unilaterally, without the approval of Congress ... Although the administration seems to believe that all of these requirements are outmoded in today's world, the administration's calamitous bungling in Kosovo illustrates why war should require congressional approval, NATO should remain a defensive alliance, and the UN Charter properly outlaws aggressive war, irrespective of the goodness of the expressed intentions."
NATO's Balkans Disaster and Wilsonian Warmongering, Part 2, by Doug Bandow, Future of Freedom, Aug 1999
Considers possible justifications for war vis-à-vis NATO's involvement in Bosnia
"... what justifies the United States's taking the extreme step of unleashing death and destruction on another people? Traditionally it has been a military threat against it. Yet Yugoslavia did nothing against America or any of its allies. ... Indeed, the administration did not threaten war to stop human-rights abuses. Rather, it wanted to force compliance with an international diktat ..."
Considers possible justifications for war vis-à-vis NATO's involvement in Bosnia
"... what justifies the United States's taking the extreme step of unleashing death and destruction on another people? Traditionally it has been a military threat against it. Yet Yugoslavia did nothing against America or any of its allies. ... Indeed, the administration did not threaten war to stop human-rights abuses. Rather, it wanted to force compliance with an international diktat ..."
On the English Foreign Policy - Wikisource, by John Bright, 29 Oct 1858
Speech given to the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce
"Therefore, if war has provided you with a trade, it has been at an enormous cost; but I think it is by no means doubtful that your trade would have been no less in amount and no less profitable, had peace and justice been inscribed on your flag instead of conquest and the love of military renown."
Speech given to the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce
"Therefore, if war has provided you with a trade, it has been at an enormous cost; but I think it is by no means doubtful that your trade would have been no less in amount and no less profitable, had peace and justice been inscribed on your flag instead of conquest and the love of military renown."
Pentagon Whistle-Blower on the Coming War With Iran, by Karen Kwiatkowski, 27 Feb 2007
Related Topic: Iraq
"... history is full of examples of bald-faced lies being told to sell particular agendas. Often times those agendas include war making, certainly in Vietnam they did, under LBJ and a few other presidents. ... So politicians and their politically appointed military leaders will lie, historically do lie when it has to do with making war, particularly making a war that they want."
Related Topic: Iraq
"... history is full of examples of bald-faced lies being told to sell particular agendas. Often times those agendas include war making, certainly in Vietnam they did, under LBJ and a few other presidents. ... So politicians and their politically appointed military leaders will lie, historically do lie when it has to do with making war, particularly making a war that they want."
Preventing Opposition to War, by Sheldon Richman, 13 Apr 2007
Related Topic: The State
"War can be highly useful to this cause because in time the taxpayers may begin to catch on to the scam that drains their wealth. If they can be made to fear that an external enemy threatens their safety, they will happily trust their rulers with more power and money and ignore the occasional overt corruption. Nothing better serves this purpose than a foreign war."
Related Topic: The State
"War can be highly useful to this cause because in time the taxpayers may begin to catch on to the scam that drains their wealth. If they can be made to fear that an external enemy threatens their safety, they will happily trust their rulers with more power and money and ignore the occasional overt corruption. Nothing better serves this purpose than a foreign war."
Rambo Was A Chump: John Kerry Should Be Ashamed of Vietnam Service, by Ted Rall, 27 Aug 2004
Related Topics: Iraq, Vietnam
"Serious people and historians know that Kerry was right the first time around. Like Iraq, Vietnam was an ill-conceived, doomed war that wasted countless lives for no good reason, launched by a president who lied about a Cold War threat (the absurd "domino theory") that simply didn't exist."
Related Topics: Iraq, Vietnam
"Serious people and historians know that Kerry was right the first time around. Like Iraq, Vietnam was an ill-conceived, doomed war that wasted countless lives for no good reason, launched by a president who lied about a Cold War threat (the absurd "domino theory") that simply didn't exist."
Rings of War, by Charley Reese, 1 Jan 2007
"... the problem with undeclared foreign wars. The great majority of Americans are excluded from participation. Politicians start wars, and politicians are the only ones who can end them. The fewer people involved in the war, the less pressure there will be on the politicians to end it. That leaves them free to posture on either side of the issue without actually doing anything."
"... the problem with undeclared foreign wars. The great majority of Americans are excluded from participation. Politicians start wars, and politicians are the only ones who can end them. The fewer people involved in the war, the less pressure there will be on the politicians to end it. That leaves them free to posture on either side of the issue without actually doing anything."
The Abominations of War: From My Lai to Haditha, by Cindy Sheehan, 5 Jun 2006
Related Topics: George W. Bush, Haditha Massacre, Iraq War (2003)
"War, under any circumstance, is not a 'core value' of humanity; in fact, it is the ultimate failure of humanity. War turns our mostly normal American youth into wanton murderers who have lost their own humanity and love of others. Haditha in this war and My Lai in another disgusting war were unfortunately not aberrations. War is the abominable aberration."
Related Topics: George W. Bush, Haditha Massacre, Iraq War (2003)
"War, under any circumstance, is not a 'core value' of humanity; in fact, it is the ultimate failure of humanity. War turns our mostly normal American youth into wanton murderers who have lost their own humanity and love of others. Haditha in this war and My Lai in another disgusting war were unfortunately not aberrations. War is the abominable aberration."
The Bright Side of War, by Sheldon Richman, 24 May 2004Related Topics: Claude Frédéric Bastiat, Broken Window Fallacy
Comments on a Washington Post article on the economic benefits of the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
"... the idea that war creates prosperity is emphatically not true. ... The real cost of the war is the wealth we are compelled to forgo. ... Even truly defensive wars entail destruction, not production."
The Endless War on Terrorism, by Jacob G. Hornberger, 1 Sep 2004
"In declaring that the war on terrorism can never be won, President Bush should have also mentioned that, coincidentally, the big beneficiary of all this is the federal government, because its power continues to grow and grow and grow under perpetual war."
"In declaring that the war on terrorism can never be won, President Bush should have also mentioned that, coincidentally, the big beneficiary of all this is the federal government, because its power continues to grow and grow and grow under perpetual war."
The Failed Attempt to Leash the Dogs of War, by Bart Frazier, Future of Freedom, Dec 2006
Related Topic: Standing Armies
"Not only does warfare cost a country in terms of lost lives, it also has detrimental effects on the economy and society itself. ... Since 1950, the military has been deployed 71 times to 42 countries and U.S. soldiers have died in 17 operations in 16 countries with more than 98,000 U.S. dead and more than 279,000 wounded."
Related Topic: Standing Armies
"Not only does warfare cost a country in terms of lost lives, it also has detrimental effects on the economy and society itself. ... Since 1950, the military has been deployed 71 times to 42 countries and U.S. soldiers have died in 17 operations in 16 countries with more than 98,000 U.S. dead and more than 279,000 wounded."
The Justice and Prudence of War: Toward A Libertarian Analysis, by Roderick Long, Mises.org Daily Article, 20 Sep 2006
Related Topics: Libertarianism, Non-aggression Principle
"... a consistent libertarian theory of warfare must apply the same prohibitions and permissions to governments and private individuals alike. ... A libertarian analysis of war must take into account not only the actual conduct of warfare but also the means of supplying the war machine."
Related Topics: Libertarianism, Non-aggression Principle
"... a consistent libertarian theory of warfare must apply the same prohibitions and permissions to governments and private individuals alike. ... A libertarian analysis of war must take into account not only the actual conduct of warfare but also the means of supplying the war machine."
The Most Dreaded Enemy of Liberty, by James Madison, Letters and Other Writings of James Madison
The Myth of War Prosperity, Part 1, by Anthony Gregory, Future of Freedom, Dec 2006
Related Topics: Broken Window Fallacy, World War II
Review of Depression, War, and Cold War: Studies in Political Economy by Robert Higgs
"Hawks will sometimes argue that ... a war will give a much-needed boost to production and thus bolster the economic health of the country. Leftist cynics will also sometimes say war benefits the economy ... Such naive reactions to spending due to war ... are perfect examples of what ... Bastiat described as the broken-window fallacy."
Related Topics: Broken Window Fallacy, World War II
Review of Depression, War, and Cold War: Studies in Political Economy by Robert Higgs
"Hawks will sometimes argue that ... a war will give a much-needed boost to production and thus bolster the economic health of the country. Leftist cynics will also sometimes say war benefits the economy ... Such naive reactions to spending due to war ... are perfect examples of what ... Bastiat described as the broken-window fallacy."
The non-debate on the war, by Terry Michael, The Washington Times, 25 Aug 2005
"We're not getting that honest debate. Instead, those who control access to mainstream media are telling a quiet, corrupting lie when they allow the Bush administration and 'opposition' congressional Democrats to engage in Amish-style shunning of those who advocate immediately ending the war."
"We're not getting that honest debate. Instead, those who control access to mainstream media are telling a quiet, corrupting lie when they allow the Bush administration and 'opposition' congressional Democrats to engage in Amish-style shunning of those who advocate immediately ending the war."
The Real 'Existential Threat': War with Iran augurs a global conflict, by Justin Raimondo, 30 Mar 2007
Related Topics: Democratic Party, Iran
"The coming war with Iran will not end until the entire region is aflame – with the fire spreading to three continents, and beyond. Is this the price the world is willing to pay to put an end to the 'existential threat' to Israel? Or will our rulers pause, before plunging into an abyss, to ask: what about the existential threat to the rest of the world?"
Related Topics: Democratic Party, Iran
"The coming war with Iran will not end until the entire region is aflame – with the fire spreading to three continents, and beyond. Is this the price the world is willing to pay to put an end to the 'existential threat' to Israel? Or will our rulers pause, before plunging into an abyss, to ask: what about the existential threat to the rest of the world?"
The War System and Its Intellectual Myths, by Murray N. Rothbard, Harry Elmer Barnes: Learned Crusader, 1968
Related Topics: Cold War, Democracy, Foreign Entanglements, Japan, Military Industrial Complex, George Orwell, Right Against Unreasonable Searches and Seizures, World War II
Originally titled "Harry Elmer Barnes as Revisionist of the Cold War"
"In the war mythology, the Enemy is never hesitant, never confused, never human, never fearful of us attacking him or of precipitating destructive war, and above all never ready to negotiate honestly to try to lessen tensions or to work out mutually satisfactory means of living in peace."
Related Topics: Cold War, Democracy, Foreign Entanglements, Japan, Military Industrial Complex, George Orwell, Right Against Unreasonable Searches and Seizures, World War II
Originally titled "Harry Elmer Barnes as Revisionist of the Cold War"
"In the war mythology, the Enemy is never hesitant, never confused, never human, never fearful of us attacking him or of precipitating destructive war, and above all never ready to negotiate honestly to try to lessen tensions or to work out mutually satisfactory means of living in peace."
War Loses, Again, by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., 8 Nov 2006
"More than three years ago, George Bush unleashed the dogs of war on Iraq, perhaps hoping that he would take his place among the 'great' war presidents. ... It's been more than 50 years since war immortalized a president, and yet they keep trying. The dogs of war didn't build freedom and democracy in Iraq, or bring justice or peace. Rather, they came right back and ravaged the Republican Party in the election of 2006."
"More than three years ago, George Bush unleashed the dogs of war on Iraq, perhaps hoping that he would take his place among the 'great' war presidents. ... It's been more than 50 years since war immortalized a president, and yet they keep trying. The dogs of war didn't build freedom and democracy in Iraq, or bring justice or peace. Rather, they came right back and ravaged the Republican Party in the election of 2006."
Warring as Lying Throughout American History, by James Bovard, Future of Freedom, Feb 2008
Related Topics: American War Between the States, Gulf War, Ronald W. Reagan, World War II
Recounts how U.S. Presidents and their administrations since James Polk have lied about wars, from start to finish
"Presidential deceits on foreign policy have filled cemeteries across the land. ... Lying and warring appear to be two sides of the same coin. Unfortunately, many Americans continue to be gullible when presidents claim a need to commence killing foreigners. It remains to be seen whether the citizenry is corrigible on this life-and-death issue."
Related Topics: American War Between the States, Gulf War, Ronald W. Reagan, World War II
Recounts how U.S. Presidents and their administrations since James Polk have lied about wars, from start to finish
"Presidential deceits on foreign policy have filled cemeteries across the land. ... Lying and warring appear to be two sides of the same coin. Unfortunately, many Americans continue to be gullible when presidents claim a need to commence killing foreigners. It remains to be seen whether the citizenry is corrigible on this life-and-death issue."
War, the God That Failed, by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., 15 May 2004
Wartime Attacks on Civil Liberties, by George C. Leef, Future of Freedom, Dec 2005
Related Topic: Freedom of Speech
Review of Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime: From the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism by Geoffrey R. Stone
"If it is true ... that war is the health of the state, it is equally true ... that war is the sickness of individual liberty. The state always menaces its people with an array of orders, prohibitions, and confiscations, but never so much as in times of war, when it can count on widespread support for all measures said to be necessary to ensure victory."
Related Topic: Freedom of Speech
Review of Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime: From the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism by Geoffrey R. Stone
"If it is true ... that war is the health of the state, it is equally true ... that war is the sickness of individual liberty. The state always menaces its people with an array of orders, prohibitions, and confiscations, but never so much as in times of war, when it can count on widespread support for all measures said to be necessary to ensure victory."
What People Believe, by Charley Reese, 20 May 2006
"The millions killed in all the wars were nobodies as far as the leaders who sent them into war were concerned. They were cannon fodder. They all shared in common the fact that their political leaders were willing to sacrifice them for greed or ego. ... The dead are known only to the people who loved them."
"The millions killed in all the wars were nobodies as far as the leaders who sent them into war were concerned. They were cannon fodder. They all shared in common the fact that their political leaders were willing to sacrifice them for greed or ego. ... The dead are known only to the people who loved them."
Without the State, No Troops to Support, by Jeremy Weiland, 6 Mar 2007
Related Topic: The State
"'Support the troops' is a failsafe mechanism designed not to stop wars but to conserve the power to wage war another day. Oil, terrorism, and dictators are just peripheral issues, after all, compared to the bedrock goal of preserving faith in the power and sanctity of our government. The only thing worse than losing a war is losing the right to wage war."
Related Topic: The State
"'Support the troops' is a failsafe mechanism designed not to stop wars but to conserve the power to wage war another day. Oil, terrorism, and dictators are just peripheral issues, after all, compared to the bedrock goal of preserving faith in the power and sanctity of our government. The only thing worse than losing a war is losing the right to wage war."
Would You "Support the Troops" in Bolivia?, by Jacob G. Hornberger, 27 Dec 2006
Related Topic: Standing Armies
"Where is the morality of killing people who have never attacked the United States and who have done nothing worse than try to defend their country from a wrongful invader? Where is the morality in killing in 'self-defense' when you don't have a right to be there killing people in the first place?"
Related Topic: Standing Armies
"Where is the morality of killing people who have never attacked the United States and who have done nothing worse than try to defend their country from a wrongful invader? Where is the morality in killing in 'self-defense' when you don't have a right to be there killing people in the first place?"
Beware Income-Tax Casuistry, Part 2, by Sheldon Richman, Future of Freedom, Sep 2006
Related Topics: Taxation
"The United States got its first income tax during the War Between the States, again demonstrating that war harms ordinary people in more ways than militarily. During any war government becomes an especially voracious consumer of the people's resources and dissent is stifled or suppressed."
Related Topics: Taxation
"The United States got its first income tax during the War Between the States, again demonstrating that war harms ordinary people in more ways than militarily. During any war government becomes an especially voracious consumer of the people's resources and dissent is stifled or suppressed."
Charles Johnson on his Many Publications, Libertarian Feminism and Anarchic Individualism, by Anthony Wile, The Daily Bell, 29 Apr 2012
Related Topics: Charles W. Johnson, Voltairine de Cleyre, Mary J. Ruwart
"I am opposed to war – whether by the U.S. or by any other government. I think ... the most powerful, most vicious, and most violent States on earth are those that have gone to war. ... I think that these wars ... are just like all the other wars that the U.S. Government has engaged in – brutal acts of mass murder, perpetuated by a senseless and unjust demand for global political control."
Related Topics: Charles W. Johnson, Voltairine de Cleyre, Mary J. Ruwart
"I am opposed to war – whether by the U.S. or by any other government. I think ... the most powerful, most vicious, and most violent States on earth are those that have gone to war. ... I think that these wars ... are just like all the other wars that the U.S. Government has engaged in – brutal acts of mass murder, perpetuated by a senseless and unjust demand for global political control."
Graydon Carter Shows How Bush Makes Lies Seem True, and Just What We've Lost on Bush's Watch, BuzzFlash, 29 Sep 2004
Related Topics: Graydon Carter
"There's probably nothing more serious that you can do as a leader than to take your country into war. And to take your country into war on a bone pile of false assumptions, without any clear sort of strategy for maintaining the country after you've taken it over, or managing it toward a democratic state, is irresponsible."
Related Topics: Graydon Carter
"There's probably nothing more serious that you can do as a leader than to take your country into war. And to take your country into war on a bone pile of false assumptions, without any clear sort of strategy for maintaining the country after you've taken it over, or managing it toward a democratic state, is irresponsible."
How Much Do You Know About Liberty? (a quiz), The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty, Jun 1996
Related Topics: Liberty, U.S. Bill of Rights, Entrepreneurship, John Hancock, Abraham Lincoln, Right to Trial by Jury
A 20-question quiz (with answers) on various topics of liberty in the history of the United States
"Which three twentieth-century presidents promised to keep America out of war—but maneuvered in? ... Woodrow Wilson (1916), Franklin Roosevelt (1940), and Lyndon Johnson (1964) all promised the American people to stay out of war, then maneuvered in."
Related Topics: Liberty, U.S. Bill of Rights, Entrepreneurship, John Hancock, Abraham Lincoln, Right to Trial by Jury
A 20-question quiz (with answers) on various topics of liberty in the history of the United States
"Which three twentieth-century presidents promised to keep America out of war—but maneuvered in? ... Woodrow Wilson (1916), Franklin Roosevelt (1940), and Lyndon Johnson (1964) all promised the American people to stay out of war, then maneuvered in."
Inflation and War Finance, by Ron Paul, Ron Paul's Texas Straight Talk, 29 Jan 2007
Related Topics: Inflation
"If every American taxpayer had to submit an extra five or ten thousand dollars to the IRS this April to pay for the war, I'm quite certain it would end very quickly. The problem is that government finances war by borrowing and printing money, rather than presenting a bill directly in the form of higher taxes. When the costs are obscured, the question of whether any war is worth it becomes distorted."
Related Topics: Inflation
"If every American taxpayer had to submit an extra five or ten thousand dollars to the IRS this April to pay for the war, I'm quite certain it would end very quickly. The problem is that government finances war by borrowing and printing money, rather than presenting a bill directly in the form of higher taxes. When the costs are obscured, the question of whether any war is worth it becomes distorted."
I Resign From the Mont Pelerin Society, by Paul Craig Roberts, 21 Aug 2008
Related Topics: Mont Pelerin Society
Explains Roberts' rationale for resigning from the Society
"The US strategic objective ... will lead to war, the destruction of liberty and perhaps life on earth. This gratuitously insane neoconservative foreign policy is one that will lead to nuclear war. It stands in total contradiction to the alleged values of the Mont Pelerin Society. As every great libertarian and the founding members of the MPS acknowledged, war is the greatest enemy of liberty."
Related Topics: Mont Pelerin Society
Explains Roberts' rationale for resigning from the Society
"The US strategic objective ... will lead to war, the destruction of liberty and perhaps life on earth. This gratuitously insane neoconservative foreign policy is one that will lead to nuclear war. It stands in total contradiction to the alleged values of the Mont Pelerin Society. As every great libertarian and the founding members of the MPS acknowledged, war is the greatest enemy of liberty."
Killing Iraqi Children, by Jacob G. Hornberger, 19 Jun 2006
Related Topics: Iraq War (2003)
"Some would argue that such 'collateral damage' is just an unfortunate byproduct of war. War is brutal. People get killed in war. ... Such claims, however, miss an important point: U.S. military forces have no right, legal or moral, even to be in Iraq killing anyone. ... Don't forget that aggressive war was punished as a war crime at Nuremberg."
Related Topics: Iraq War (2003)
"Some would argue that such 'collateral damage' is just an unfortunate byproduct of war. War is brutal. People get killed in war. ... Such claims, however, miss an important point: U.S. military forces have no right, legal or moral, even to be in Iraq killing anyone. ... Don't forget that aggressive war was punished as a war crime at Nuremberg."
Libertarianism and the War: Over at Cato Unbound, it's Cato unhinged, by Justin Raimondo, 2 Apr 2007
Related Topics: Libertarianism
"At no time other than war is it more readily apparent that states are agencies of aggression, and that this represents a human evil. On other occasions, governments and their apologists may dress up the consequences of state action as somehow beneficial or just, but making this statement while surveying a battlefield is a difficult task."
Related Topics: Libertarianism
"At no time other than war is it more readily apparent that states are agencies of aggression, and that this represents a human evil. On other occasions, governments and their apologists may dress up the consequences of state action as somehow beneficial or just, but making this statement while surveying a battlefield is a difficult task."
Machiavelli and U.S. Politics, Part 4: War, by Lawrence M. Ludlow, 22 Aug 2005
Related Topics: Politics
"The writer Gore Vidal, however, has made up for this oversight. In his book Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace Vidal lists 201 U.S. military operations that took place between the victory over Japan in 1945 and the attacks of September 11. The list was compiled by the Federation of American Scientists. Think of it: 201 conflicts since 1945."
Related Topics: Politics
"The writer Gore Vidal, however, has made up for this oversight. In his book Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace Vidal lists 201 U.S. military operations that took place between the victory over Japan in 1945 and the attacks of September 11. The list was compiled by the Federation of American Scientists. Think of it: 201 conflicts since 1945."
No More Great Presidents, by Robert Higgs, Mises.org Daily Article, 19 Feb 2007
Related Topics: United States Presidents, Grover Cleveland, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, George Washington
"... a remarkable correlation: all but one of the presidents ranked as Great or Near Great had an intimate association with war, either in office or by reputation before taking office. ... In contrast, of the eleven presidents ranked as Below Average or Failure, all but one ... managed to keep the nation at peace during their terms in office ..."
Related Topics: United States Presidents, Grover Cleveland, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, George Washington
"... a remarkable correlation: all but one of the presidents ranked as Great or Near Great had an intimate association with war, either in office or by reputation before taking office. ... In contrast, of the eleven presidents ranked as Below Average or Failure, all but one ... managed to keep the nation at peace during their terms in office ..."
Statement on the Iraq War Resolution, by Ron Paul, 14 Feb 2007
Related Topics: Iraq War (2003), Terrorism
Speech before the U.S. House of Representatives
"Special interests and the demented philosophy of conquest have driven most wars throughout history. Rarely has the cause of liberty, as it was in our own revolution, been the driving force. In recent decades our policies have been driven by neo-conservative empire radicalism, profiteering in the military industrial complex, misplaced do-good internationalism ..."
Related Topics: Iraq War (2003), Terrorism
Speech before the U.S. House of Representatives
"Special interests and the demented philosophy of conquest have driven most wars throughout history. Rarely has the cause of liberty, as it was in our own revolution, been the driving force. In recent decades our policies have been driven by neo-conservative empire radicalism, profiteering in the military industrial complex, misplaced do-good internationalism ..."
Stop the Cannon Fodder, by Charley Reese, 27 Jan 2007
Related Topics: Children, Iraq
"Individual soldiers who survive combat often come home to realize that all of the horrific and heroic actions they took don't mean anything. Vietnam, for example, is ruled by a communist government. Nobody but a historian even remembers what World War I was all about, much less the 10 million young men who died fighting it. World War II and Korea are likewise fading from public memory."
Related Topics: Children, Iraq
"Individual soldiers who survive combat often come home to realize that all of the horrific and heroic actions they took don't mean anything. Vietnam, for example, is ruled by a communist government. Nobody but a historian even remembers what World War I was all about, much less the 10 million young men who died fighting it. World War II and Korea are likewise fading from public memory."
That Death Toll, by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., 21 Jun 2006
Related Topics: Iraq War (2003), George W. Bush
"Before the 19th century ... Soldiers were direct employees of the sovereign, and there were limits on their numbers. ... Today, mobilization in war is total, and all citizens are expected to pay the price. The sovereign believes there is no price too high because the regime itself does not bear the liability. Death is just a number."
Related Topics: Iraq War (2003), George W. Bush
"Before the 19th century ... Soldiers were direct employees of the sovereign, and there were limits on their numbers. ... Today, mobilization in war is total, and all citizens are expected to pay the price. The sovereign believes there is no price too high because the regime itself does not bear the liability. Death is just a number."
The Anatomy of the State, by Murray N. Rothbard, 1974
Related Topics: The State, U.S. Bill of Rights, Albert Jay Nock, Franz Oppenheimer, Property
Examines several attributes of the State, including how it maintains and grows itself and how it deals with other States
"... a war between rulers was converted into a war between peoples, with each people coming to the defense of its rulers in the erroneous belief that the rulers were defending them. ... it was not too long ago that the mass of subjects regarded wars as irrelevant battles between various sets of nobles."
Related Topics: The State, U.S. Bill of Rights, Albert Jay Nock, Franz Oppenheimer, Property
Examines several attributes of the State, including how it maintains and grows itself and how it deals with other States
"... a war between rulers was converted into a war between peoples, with each people coming to the defense of its rulers in the erroneous belief that the rulers were defending them. ... it was not too long ago that the mass of subjects regarded wars as irrelevant battles between various sets of nobles."
The Iraq War Crash: Stock market takes a dive - along with the prospects for peace in the Middle East, by Justin Raimondo, 2 Mar 2007
Related Topics: Iraq War (2003), American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, China, Inflation
"Resources that might otherwise be engaged in the peaceful production of consumer goods are diverted and frozen in the form of fighter jets, aircraft carriers, and cluster bombs, whose only product is death. What characterizes war, aside from the mass death and horror, is sheer waste."
Related Topics: Iraq War (2003), American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, China, Inflation
"Resources that might otherwise be engaged in the peaceful production of consumer goods are diverted and frozen in the form of fighter jets, aircraft carriers, and cluster bombs, whose only product is death. What characterizes war, aside from the mass death and horror, is sheer waste."
The Rocky Road of American Taxation, by Charles W. Adams, Mises.org Daily Article, 15 Apr 2006
Related Topics: Taxation, Samuel Adams, American Revolutionary War, Canada, Thirteen Colonies, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Private Property, Right Against Unreasonable Searches and Seizures, Voting
Adapted from the author's For Good and Evil: The Impact of Taxes on the Course of Civilization
"Did the term 'common Defence' mean that military expenditures could only be made for defense? That is, no funds for aggressive wars? ... In The Federalist, No. 34, Hamilton said they were embarking on a 'novel experiment in politics, of tying up the hands of government from offensive war, founded on reasons of state ...'"
Related Topics: Taxation, Samuel Adams, American Revolutionary War, Canada, Thirteen Colonies, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Private Property, Right Against Unreasonable Searches and Seizures, Voting
Adapted from the author's For Good and Evil: The Impact of Taxes on the Course of Civilization
"Did the term 'common Defence' mean that military expenditures could only be made for defense? That is, no funds for aggressive wars? ... In The Federalist, No. 34, Hamilton said they were embarking on a 'novel experiment in politics, of tying up the hands of government from offensive war, founded on reasons of state ...'"
Two-dimensional libertarianism, by Anthony Gregory, Rational Review, 30 Sep 2004
Related Topics: Libertarianism
"... the World's Smallest Political Quiz asks no questions about, and the Nolan Chart plots no answers concerning ... war! ... What makes libertarians libertarians is that we recognize that all liberties relate to each other. ... it really is a one-dimensional model -- Liberty on one end, power on the other."
Related Topics: Libertarianism
"... the World's Smallest Political Quiz asks no questions about, and the Nolan Chart plots no answers concerning ... war! ... What makes libertarians libertarians is that we recognize that all liberties relate to each other. ... it really is a one-dimensional model -- Liberty on one end, power on the other."
Why I Am An Anarchist, by Caleb Johnson, The New Hampshire Free Press, 12 Mar 2008
Related Topics: The State
Contrasts the general public view of anarchism with the reality of national governments and their actions
"Every war that has ever been fought was created and nurtured by states. War, that great scourge of mankind, can only exist among states. ... Would hundreds of thousands of young men, merely on their own initiative, have armed themselves to the teeth and journeyed to Iraq to torture, kill, and terrorize? No, to accomplish that great evil they needed a state to tell them that it was alright to do what they would otherwise find repugnant."
Related Topics: The State
Contrasts the general public view of anarchism with the reality of national governments and their actions
"Every war that has ever been fought was created and nurtured by states. War, that great scourge of mankind, can only exist among states. ... Would hundreds of thousands of young men, merely on their own initiative, have armed themselves to the teeth and journeyed to Iraq to torture, kill, and terrorize? No, to accomplish that great evil they needed a state to tell them that it was alright to do what they would otherwise find repugnant."
Will the Democrats Become Part of the Problem?, by Paul Craig Roberts, 10 Nov 2006
Related Topics: Democratic Party, September 11, 2001, Israel
"... the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ... were illegal. Those responsible must be held accountable. The American prosecutors of the Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg emphasized ... that Germany's crime was not in losing the war but in starting it. Under the Nuremberg standard, to launch a war of aggression is a war crime. It is punishable with a death sentence."
Related Topics: Democratic Party, September 11, 2001, Israel
"... the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ... were illegal. Those responsible must be held accountable. The American prosecutors of the Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg emphasized ... that Germany's crime was not in losing the war but in starting it. Under the Nuremberg standard, to launch a war of aggression is a war crime. It is punishable with a death sentence."
Wilson in the Mirror, by John M. Peters, 23 May 2006
Related Topics: Woodrow Wilson, George W. Bush, Foreign Entanglements
"Also common to the agendas of Presidents Wilson and Bush, is an unending commitment to warfare to achieve their stated goals. ... Wilson was adamant that 'There can be no compromise.' ... Bush described his war on terrorism as 'a task that does not end.' ... 'Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other we have ever seen.'"
Related Topics: Woodrow Wilson, George W. Bush, Foreign Entanglements
"Also common to the agendas of Presidents Wilson and Bush, is an unending commitment to warfare to achieve their stated goals. ... Wilson was adamant that 'There can be no compromise.' ... Bush described his war on terrorism as 'a task that does not end.' ... 'Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other we have ever seen.'"
Interviews
The Economic Costs of Going to War: Transcript: Bill Moyers Talks with Lew Rockwell, NOW with Bill Moyers, 7 Mar 2003
Related Topic: Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
Related Topic: Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
Cartoons
Long War, Inc., by Mark Fiore, 1 Mar 2006
The Clarity of our War Strategy ..., by Tom Toles, The Washington Post, 23 Jul 2006
The White House - Today's Time, Temperature and ..., by Ben Sargent, 22 Oct 2004
Books
Defend America First: The Antiwar Editorials of the Saturday Evening Post, 1939-1942
by Garet Garrett, Bruce Ramsey (Introduction), 2003
by Garet Garrett, Bruce Ramsey (Introduction), 2003
- ISBN 0870044338
: Paperback, Caxton Press, 2003
Give War a Chance: Eyewitness Accounts of Mankind's Struggle Against Tyranny, Injustice, and Alcohol-Free Beer
by P.J. O'Rourke, 1992
by P.J. O'Rourke, 1992
- ISBN 0679417133
: Audio cassette, Random House Audio, 1992
- ISBN 0517166194
: Hardcover, Random House Value, 1996
- ISBN 0517195429
: Hardcover, Random House Value, 1997
- ISBN 0802140319
: Paperback, Grove Press, Reprint edition, 2003
Omnipotent Government: The Rise of the Total State and Total War, by Ludwig von Mises, 1944
Related Topic: Germany
Electronic text available at the Mises Institute
Related Topic: Germany
Electronic text available at the Mises Institute
- ISBN 0870000691
: Hardcover, Crown Pub, 1969
- ISBN 0910884153
: Paperback, Libertarian Press, Reprint edition, 1985
On The Law Of War And Peace, by Hugo Grotius, 1625
Electronic text (translated by A. C. Campbell in 1814) available at the Constitution Society's Liberty Library of Constitutional Classics
Electronic text (translated by A. C. Campbell in 1814) available at the Constitution Society's Liberty Library of Constitutional Classics
- ISBN 1419138758
: Paperback, Kessinger Publishing, 2004
The Failure of America's Foreign Wars
by Jacob G. Hornberger (Editor), Richard M. Ebeling (Editor), The Future of Freedom Foundation, 1996
by Jacob G. Hornberger (Editor), Richard M. Ebeling (Editor), The Future of Freedom Foundation, 1996
- ISBN 0964044757
: Hardcover, Future of Freedom Foundation, 1996
- ISBN 0964044765
: Paperback, Future of Freedom Foundation, 1996
Videos
HOWARD ZINN: "Holy Wars", by Howard Zinn, Democracy Now!, 11 Nov 2009
Related Topics: American Revolutionary War, American War Between the States, World War II
Talk given at Boston University, discussing the American "Holy Wars": the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and World War II
Related Topics: American Revolutionary War, American War Between the States, World War II
Talk given at Boston University, discussing the American "Holy Wars": the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and World War II
How Major U.S. Neo-imperialist Wars End, by Robert Higgs, 6 Jun 2008
Speech given at the Future of Freedom Foundation's 2008 conference "Restoring the Republic: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties"
Speech given at the Future of Freedom Foundation's 2008 conference "Restoring the Republic: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties"
War as Government Program, by Sheldon Richman, 3 Jun 2007
Speech the Future of Freedom Foundation's conference "Restoring the Republic: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties"
Podcasts
The Health of the State, by Ralph Raico, The Lew Rockwell Show, 17 Aug 2008
Lew talks with Raico about war, U.S. foreign policy, the role of Commander in Chief and related topics
Lew talks with Raico about war, U.S. foreign policy, the role of Commander in Chief and related topics