Peace and War

David Swanson writes in a guest column for Informed Comment

The Neoconservatives, despite wandering in the wilderness after their Iraq debacle, are trying to keep the dream of serial wars in the Middle East alive. Freedom Watch and the Foundation for Democracy in Iran sponsored a National Press Club event on November 17, in which former CIA director James Woolsey, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, and former UN ambassador Alan Keyes demanded war on Iran.

There’s little reason to believe that read more

11.15.10 Best-selling non-fiction author David Swanson talks with Coy about his upcoming book War is a Lie. The coversation covers a range of topics including the history of war in America, the alleged lies of the Bush Presidency, and what President Obama needs to do to handle today’s ongoing wars. Swanson’s book will be available Monday, November 22nd.

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“Activist David Swanson is well respected in the anti-war community as a man who walks his talk in a bold, committed, solid way, that he is a principled leader. Now we must add to that list of credentials authorship of an important, destined to be classic book. ‘War Is A Lie‘ addresses the web of lies, the taboo subjects, the false claims, the mythic messages that are hollow and empty and it lays waste to them. Swanson’s book is a (I’ve read more

By David Swanson

Wednesday night I led a discussion following a screening of “The Tillman Story” at the Naro Cinema in our nation’s most heavily militarized town, Norfolk, Va., where almost half the economy is military. What an incredible tragedy that film relates!

Pat Tillman was so good, so decent, so brave, and of such misguided integrity that what happened to him is excruciatingly painful to watch. For all the politicians’ talk about the troops, the troops, the troops, read more

David Swanson: War is a Lie

“War is a poor chisel to carve out tomorrow.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

Hampton Roads is military land.

Half of the Hampton Roads economy is defense related. Given the fact that the armed services permeate this region to its very core, you would think that discussions on the propriety of our military’s actions would be plentiful.

However, we see just the opposite here. Stickers that read “Give war a chance” or “I love jet noise” thrive in Hampton Roads, which comes as no surprise as the military built this region. Something about biting read more

At 11 a.m. on the 11th day of the 11th month, make a toast to Armistice Day, the official end of World War I, a war the United States fought in for less time than President Obama and the 111th Congress have kept the fighting going in Afghanistan and Iraq. Armistice Day is a better name for the day than Veterans Day because it honors both veterans and peace, our primary duty being to cease producing more veterans, a policy that would make us better able to provide a decent life for veterans and read more

By David Swanson

The Washington Post’s David Broder thinks more war will bring us more jobs. Unlike in Germany, where the president was forced out of office earlier this year for suggesting that war in Afghanistan could benefit the German economy, Americans don’t seem to have serious moral qualms about slaughtering human beings for no good reason. We’ve got three significant wars read more

The candidates don’t want to talk about it, let’s make it an issue when President Obama visits Charlottesville to campaign for Tom Perriello this Friday!

Friday Oct. 29
4:30-7:30
In front of the Charlottesville Pavillion on the Downtown Mall (700 E. Main St. Charlottesville, Va)

Bring a sign, we’ll have a few extra but we’ll need more!

Come early and craft a special t-shirt to wear inside the campaign rally, especially if you plan on being heard at that rally!
(wear read more

The Pentagon spent $50,000 of our money to buy up the first edition of “Operation Dark Heart” by Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer and destroy every copy. The second printing has lots of words blacked out. Wikileaks claims to have a first edition, but hasn’t shared it. However, reading the bleeped-through version reveals plenty.

Shaffer and others in the military-spying complex knew about U.S. al Qaeda cells and leaders before 9-11 and were prevented from pursuing the matter. Shaffer read more

Remarks at George Mason University, Fall for the Book, September 23, 2010. (Video available 9-24-2010 at http://warisacrime.org)

Thank you for being here and skipping the Pledge to America event in Sterling.

I’m going to try to be brief because I tend to be very long-winded answering questions, so I’ve learned to leave time for that. It may sound, as I speak, like I’m giving an overview of a lot of topics, so please keep in mind any that you want to ask questions about or raise read more

By David Swanson

Lies aren’t used just to start wars, but also to escalate them, continue them, and even reduce or end them. And we got a pile of war lies from the president Tuesday evening.

Obama claimed the war on Iraq was initially a war to disarm a state. Really? And then “terrorist” Iraqis attacked our troops in their country. Yet if they had done that in our country, I suspect they would still be the terrorists. And then it became a civil war which we were innocently read more