Author name: davidswanson

By Jack Shalom, October 22, 2022

As wars rage all around us, one war, WW II, still stands as the exemplar for the Good War. But is that a useful or accurate designation? And if not, why does that view still have such an outsized influence in the national discourse? I spoke with David Swanson who has written a book called Leaving World War II Behind which challenges the notion of WWII as the Good War.

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By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, October 16, 2022

There’s probably not a corner of the Earth lacking talented, creative, and wise composers of lyrics for songs. It’s unfortunate that no nation has been able to locate any of them to assist with its national anthem.

Of course, I’m unfamiliar with many artistic genres and most languages. I read most anthem lyrics in translation. But the best ones seem to be the shortest, and their primary recommendation seems to be their length.

Here are read more

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, October 13, 2022

Global NGO World BEYOND War sought to rent four billboards in front of NATO headquarters in Brussels with messages of peace. These were small billboards at train stops. Here is the image that we sought to use:

The U.S.-based organization Veterans For Peace has partnered with us on this campaign. We’ve successfully rented a read more

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, October 7, 2022

I’ve just read In Search of Monsters to Destroy by Christopher J. Coyne. It’s published by the Independent Institute (which seems dedicated to untaxing the rich, destroying socialism, and so forth). The book begins by citing as influences both peace advocates and rightwing economists.

If I had to rank the reasons I want to abolish war, the first one would be avoiding nuclear holocaust, and the second would be investing in socialism instead. read more

The Nobel Committee has yet again awarded a peace prize that violates the will of Alfred Nobel and the purpose for which the prize was created, selecting recipients who blatantly are not “the person who has done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses.”

With its eyes on the news of the day, there was no question that the Committee would find some way to focus on Ukraine. But read more

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, October 6, 2022

(Note: Together with several other people, I sent this note to the Washington Post, asking for a meeting with their editorial board and criticizing their atrocious reporting on Ukraine. They declined to meet and suggested we send an op-ed. I send them an op-ed and they complained that I’d referenced read more

By the undersigned, October 5, 2022

To the Editorial Board of the Washington Post

We would like to request at your convenience a brief in-person or online meeting to discuss Ukraine.

We have not been able to find in your pages any opposition to weapons shipments or advocacy for ceasefire and negotiation — despite the recent advocacy for just that by 66 nations at the United Nations, and the support for it by various governments around the world since February.

We have not seen in your paper any read more