By David Swanson

If I’m going to properly confess my sins, I’ll need to start at the beginning. In the beginning were the campaign promises, and let’s just say that only flies and loyal partisans could stand the smell of them.

“I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank.” Thus read more

By David Swanson

Andrew Bacevich’s new book, “Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War,” is a good summary of the past 65 years’ worth of war thinking in Washington, D.C. “Prior to World War II,” he writes, “Americans by and large viewed military power and institutions with skepticism, if not outright hostility. In the wake of World War II, that changed. An affinity for military might emerged as central to the American identity.” read more

The United States today may be the planet’s greatest ever war maker, but the wars are fought, the bases maintained, and the weapons manufactured against the will of the majority of U.S. citizens. We express our opposition to wars openly in ways that could not be done at all until around 1880, and in so doing we almost certainly prevent more war making and limit the tactics our government can employ. In fact, if wars were still fought in the way the U.S. Civil War was fought, with armies read more

By David Swanson

On Tuesday evening, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill already passed by the Senate that funds a $33 billion, 30,000-troop escalation in Afghanistan. The vote was 308 to 114. What could the good news possibly be?

The first good news is that, while we had no more than 35 congress members who would vote against war funding a year ago, or perhaps 55 when it was an easy vote with no pressure, we’ve now got 114. That’s serious progress. That’s a far read more

By David Swanson

To hear some activist bloggers, we only lobby because we are sure of swift victory or want to express our inner feelings. I think that neglects the most significant and effective strategy for lobbying: Pressuring Congress in order to produce a record of who stands where under pressure in order to use that for and against candidates in the next election and then come back and win. We need people on record. And, yes, we have to unelect the ones on record for the wrong thing, even read more

Here's where the hypocrisy hits the highway.  On July 1st, 162 congress members voted to require a withdrawal plan and end date for the occupation of Afghanistan, and 100 voted to fund only withdrawal, no continuation of war, while 25 voted to simply stop dumping any money into this war. 

Now all of them must vote yes or no, probably on Tuesday, on whether to fund a major escalation of the war in Afghanistan.  You won't hear anyone mention it, but read more

LILA’s next show…
please listen in or log on
How to Listen

Monday morning at 7 on CONNECT THE DOTS on KPFK fm (90.7 in LA. 98.7 Santa Barbara) or log on to:
http://archive.kpfk.org/parchive/index.php?shokey=ctd

Host: Lila Garrett
Guests:

PAUL MAZURSKY, film maker (An Unmarried Woman, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Moscow on the Hudson) covers the evolution of movies, our world, and Amnesty International (he’s on the Exec. Board). A fun 20 minutes with a great film maker.

DAVID SWANSON, read more

By David Swanson

This coming week, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on $33 billion for war. A majority of Americans opposes this, but a sizable minority of Americans supports it. No one who supports it can be aware of any of the following six facts.

1. For many months, probably years, at least the second largest and probably the largest source of revenue for the Taliban has been U.S. taxpayers. We are giving the Taliban our money instead of investing it in useful things read more

  For today's Five Dollar Friday, I've given $5 to NNOMY.    

By David Swanson

The most massive and brutal crime committed on this planet during the past decade has been the invasion and occupation of Iraq. And we’re seeking to wash the blood off our hands without so much as an “Out, damn spot!” Nowadays “looking forward, not backward” is supposed to take care of everything, even as the crimes continue. What that takes care of is the leading perpetrators who begin to sense that the coast is clear and creep out of their holes read more