Peace and War

"Blood and Oil" an Important Film to See and Share

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“Blood and Oil” is a very, very well made film that will show you something new even if you already know that – as Dubya admits – the United States is addicted to oil, even if you know the deal that FDR cut with the king of Saudi Arabia on February 14, 1945 (and have already seen the film footage of them meeting on a US ship accompanied by the king’s slaves and astrologers), even if you know the openly oily basis of the Truman Doctrine, the Eisenhower Doctrine, the read more

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If the Opposite of Pro Is Con, Then the Opposite of Progress Is …

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By David Swanson

Why is Congress ranked right below Dick Cheney in popularity?

Because nobody has yet polled on the popularity of pond scum.

The day before Congress tossed the Fourth Amendment, and literally five minutes after they took out a $163 billion loan on behalf of my unborn grandkids to kill Iraqis and U.S. troops for another year, I had to give a speech at a university in Milwaukee about peace, impeachment, and elections. I started like this, before breaking the news about what Congress read more

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Do Democrats Like Peace?

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By David Swanson

In the forthcoming “Savage Mules: The Democrats and Endless War,” Dennis Perrin argues that the Democratic Party (at least its elected officials, if not its loyal voters) is a party of war. I have some significant disagreements with Perrin, which I’ll come to below, but here is roughly the way this story goes:

Democratic presidents took us into two world wars, Korea, and Vietnam. A Democratic Senate authorized the war on Iraq. Jackson and Van Buren were ethnic read more

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Invisible Victims

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By David Swanson

Tom Engelhardt’s website TomDispatch.com is a wonderful source of news and analysis (and would be if I’d never written for it!), but there’s something to be said for books. Nobody has yet invented a blog that the reader can underline, circle, scribble in the margins of, turn down the corner of the page on, or give to someone as a present wrapped in colored paper. And there’s a lot more than that to be said for “The World According to TomDispatch: read more

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GI Bill and UI Bill: Grand Illusion with Unintended Irony

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By David Swanson

I would support a GI Bill if Congress were to pass one and send it to the President.

I oppose from the bottom of my soul and with every fiber of my being the near universal pretense (OK, universal except for me) that Congress is about to do just that.

Congress is NOT. What Congress is considering sending to the President is a GI AMENDMENT. It says the same things about providing education for veterans as what everybody tells you is in the “GI Bill” but it comes read more

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7 Million Quarts of Blood for Oil: No More!

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By David Swanson

An editorial cartoon in newspapers today shows a Democratic donkey shouting before the war that it’s just about cheap oil, and complaining now that there’s no cheap oil. So, donkeys are stupid. Q.E.D.

Or, could it be that the positions prior to and during the war, of various groups have been as follows:

Peace activists and Dennis Kucinich: The war is for control of the oil, plus profits for oil companies, as well as permanent bases, profit from “reconstruction,” read more

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Three Good Reasons Not to Fund Another Year in Iraq

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By David Swanson

The House is stalling, but don’t be fooled. Don’t let your guard down. Don’t relax. They still intend, possibly next week, to dump the hard earned pay of your as yet unborn descendants into funding another full year or more of occupying Iraq, paying for the occupation well into the next Congress and presidency, plus enough in interest payments to China that we could have, with the same amount of money, provided clean water and basic nutrition to everyone on read more

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Kucinich Shows How To Block Attack on Iran

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By David Swanson

A recent poll found that a full 7 percent of Americans want to attack Iran: http://dontattackiran.org But 93 percent agreement and a dollar won’t even get you a Metro ride in Washington, D.C. The Congressional Progressive Caucus held a press event on Tuesday and publicly urged the Bush Administration to engage in diplomacy, which is sort of like asking a mule to dance in the ballet. We’ve read more

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Kucinich Makes Case for War Crimes Prosecution

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By David Swanson

If George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are ever impeached, they will certainly be prosecuted and convicted for war (and other) crimes. If they are not impeached, they may still be eventually convicted, but it won’t be as easy. Court rooms are not scientific laboratories sealed in a vacuum. What happens in a criminal’s society matters, and “My people never impeached me” is a defense that has to be taken seriously.

If Bush is impeached, or if even a serious read more

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