Paul S. Graham

“Why, of course, the people don’t want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship . . . the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.”

Hermann Goering, Nazi Reischsmarshall and Luftwaffe Chief

Goering was sentenced to death at the Nuremberg Tribunals for crimes against humanity, but committed suicide, just hours before his execution, on Oct. 15, 1946. Source: Snopes

“I don’t have to tell you the story, the link between Afghanistan and the attacks of 9/11, the oppression and brutality endured under the Taliban and the risk that terrorism will come home if we don’t confront it here.”

– Prime Minister Stephen Harper, addressing the troops in Kandahar, Afghanistan, May 23, 2007. Source: Government of Canada

“Some have argued that confronting the threat from Iraq could detract from the war against terror. To the contrary; confronting the threat posed by Iraq is crucial to winning the war on terror. When I spoke to Congress more than a year ago, I said that those who harbor terrorists are as guilty as the terrorists themselves. Saddam Hussein is harboring terrorists and the instruments of terror, the instruments of mass death and destruction. And he cannot be trusted. The risk is simply too great that he will use them, or provide them to a terror network.”

President George W. Bush, speaking at the Cincinnati Museum Center, Oct. 7, 2002. Source: White House News Releases

“Iran is today the world’s leading state sponsor of terror. It sends hundreds of millions of dollars to extremists around the world while its own people face repression and economic hardship at home. Iran’s actions threaten the security of nations everywhere. So the United States is strengthening our long-standing security commitments with our friends in the Gulf and rallying friends around the world to confront this danger before it is too late.”

George Bush, once more the warpath, this time in Abu Dhabi, Jan. 15, 2008. Source: The Telegraph