Bernie Sanders' disappointing pro-war record

Recall that over the 8 years of Clinton Time, Iraq was bombed an average of once every four days.

Even though Sanders markets himself as an “independent socialist,” in fact, he has rarely dissented against the Democratic Party orthodoxy, especially when it comes to military intervention. That should permanently settle the notion of whether Bernie is a real Democrat. With the blood of 500,000 Iraqi children on his hands, surely Sanders has already won the “Humanitarian Warrior Seal of Approval,” which leaves us with only one haunting question: Was it worth it, Senator Sanders?

Jeffrey St. Clair, Blood Traces: Bernie’s Iraq War Hypocrisy

Jesus is the prince of peace; Christians are supposed to follow him 24/7

"It honestly has just astounded me in the last three decades how many good Christian kids have, without a flinch of conscience, marched off to fight in Afghanistan or Iraq or elsewhere. I don’t think they got the memo about what the Sermon on the Mount actually says on things like non-violence, love, forgiveness, non-resistance, loving enemies and the like. Jesus intended for his followers to imitate his own behavior, not that of Caesar and his legions. 

If only for the sake of putting the emphasis on the right syllable, Christians ought to be going out of their way to distinguish themselves from their more bellicose neighbors and friends. They ought to be setting a better example of the more excellent way of loving one’s neighbors, even one’s enemies, and I’m pretty sure when Jesus said love your enemies he didn’t mean love them to death at the point of a gun. 

 For me this means three things at the personal level: 1) I can’t serve in the military, except perhaps as a medic or maybe a chaplain, although I am not even sure that might not be too much of a compromise; 2) it means I must spend my life on positive Gospel tasks, not negative destructive ones. My focus and life style and views must be entirely different from that of perhaps the majority of Americans on these matters; 3) it means that I must support those Jesus says are blessed— the peacemakers." 

 Ben Witherington III, "The Prince of Peace - Part One"

Saying Lincoln Freed the Slaves is Like Saying Obama Ended the War in Iraq

Saying Lincoln freed the slaves is like saying Obama ended the war in Iraq.

Truth be told...

...Lincoln never thought blacks to be equal and once said that if he could "save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it."

Myth #1: Lincoln invaded the South to free the slaves. Ending slavery and racial injustice is not why the North invaded. As Lincoln wrote to Horace Greeley on Aug. 22, 1862: "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and it is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it"
Congress announced to the world on July 22, 1861, that the purpose of the war was not "interfering with the rights or established institutions of those states" (i.e., slavery), but to preserve the Union "with the rights of the several states unimpaired."

Myth #3: Lincoln championed equality and natural rights. His words and, more important, his actions, repudiate this myth. "I have no purpose to introduce political and social equality between the white and black races," he announced in his Aug. 21, 1858, debate with Stephen Douglas. "I, as well as Judge Douglas, am in favor of the race to which I belong having the superior position." And, "Free them [slaves] and make them politically and socially our equals? My own feelings will not admit of this. We cannot, then, make them equals."
In Springfield, Ill., on July 17, 1858, Lincoln said, "What I would most desire would be the separation of the white and black races." On Sept. 18, 1858, in Charleston, Ill., he said: "I will to the very last stand by the law of this state, which forbids the marrying of white people with Negroes."

 Lincoln supported the Illinois Constitution, which prohibited the emigration of black people into the state, and he also supported the Illinois Black Codes, which deprived the small number of free blacks in the state any semblance of citizenship. He strongly supported the Fugitive Slave Act, which compelled Northern states to capture runaway slaves and return them to their owners. In his First Inaugural he pledged his support of a proposed constitutional amendment that had just passed the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives that would have prohibited the federal government from ever having the power "to abolish or interfere, within any State, with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by the laws of said State." In his First Inaugural Lincoln advocated making this amendment "express and irrevocable."

Lincoln was also a lifelong advocate of "colonization" or shipping all black people to Africa, Central America, Haiti--anywhere but here. "I cannot make it better known than it already is," he stated in a Dec. 1, 1862, Message to Congress, "that I strongly favor colonization." To Lincoln, blacks could be "equal," but not in the United States.

...And President Obama lobbied the Iraq government to stay in longer but got booted out.

The last U.S. troops left Iraq in December 2011, while Barack Obama was president, but the “status of forces agreement” that governed the departure of U.S. troops was actually negotiated between Iraqi and U.S. officials in late 2008, under the auspices of President George W. Bush.  In fact, none other than the Huffington Post actually pointed out that as president, Obama was actually interested in keeping troops in Iraq past the agreed-upon 2011 deadline, explaining that “the president ultimately had no choice but to stick to candidate Obama's plan -- thanks, of all things, to an agreement signed by George W. Bush.” Just six months before the Bush deadline, Obama tried to foist 10,000 U.S. troops on the Iraqis past 2011.

So Republicans and Democrats are being disingenuous when they say these men did these things.

Sequester impacts reinforces fact we should end the wars

From the Weekly Standard:

According to the House Armed Services Committee, the 2011 Budget Control Act (the law that imposed both spending caps and sequestration) will force the Marine Corps to shrink by 25 percent--from 202,000 Marines to 145,000. What's more, "by the end of calendar year 2013, less than half of our ground units will be trained to the minimum readiness level required for deployment," Marine Corps commandant James Amos testified to Congress this month.

My focus: "by the end of calendar year 2013, less than half of our ground units will be trained to the minimum readiness level required for deployment." The wars should come to a quick close anyway so that deployment is effectively not a problem. There is no problem here if that simply means troops will have to take longer to be deployed in an environment where there services aren't needed.

I could see the worry about 57,000 Marines losing their jobs, and going on the federal dole in the absence of employment. But they would've been on the dole anyway, albeit for a longer time, if they stayed in the military.

Drudge: Where Are The Policeman Of The World?

Spectator: 'We are living through an anomalous period of peace'

War has historically been humanity’s biggest killer. But in most of the world today, a generation is growing up that knows little of it. The Peace Research Institute in Oslo says there have been fewer war deaths in the last decade than any time in the last century. Whether we are living through an anomalous period of peace, or whether the risk of nuclear apocalypse has proved an effective deterrent, mankind seems no longer to be its own worst enemy. We must bear in mind that things can fall apart, and quickly. Germany was perhaps the most civilised nation in the world in the 1920s. For now, though, it is worth remembering that, in relative terms, we have peace in our time.

Why 2012 was the best year ever || The Spectator

Pat Buchanan: Is Mitt being neoconned into war? - Conservative News

“No option would be excluded. Gov. Romney recognizes Israel’s right to defend itself and that it is right for America to stand with it.”

What does “stand with” Israel, if she launches a surprise attack on Iran, mean? Does it mean the United States will guide Israeli planes to their targets and provide bases on their return? Does it mean U.S. air cover while Israeli planes strike Iran?

Pat Buchanan: Is Mitt being neoconned into war? - Conservative News

The President’s Private War by Andrew P. Napolitano -- Antiwar.com

Against citizens of a country that we are not at war with, President Obama has done the following:

In his three-plus years in office, Obama has launched 254 drones toward persons in Pakistan, and they collectively have killed 1,277 persons there. The New America Foundation, a Washington think tank that monitors the presidential use of drones in Pakistan, estimates that between 11 and 17 percent of the drone victims are innocent Pakistani civilians. So much for Brennan’s surgical strikes. So much for Holder’s due process.

The President’s Private War by Andrew P. Napolitano -- Antiwar.com

Video: Panetta: Iran not trying to build a nuke

We should therefore quit buying into the war propaganda.

Yes, Governments Do Lie To Those They Govern

On the recent Iranian terror plot, the writers at the Daily Kos express some skepticism about Hillary Clinton's very telling question regarding the believability of the foiled plot. If you missed it, Hillary said: "The idea that they would attempt to go to a Mexican cartel to solicit murder-for-hire to kill the Saudi ambassador, nobody could make that up, right?"

The Daily Kos Responds: "Wrong, Hillary. Somebody Could Make That Up To Start a War With Iran. Remember Curveball?

The Daily Kos isn't the only outlet who expressed some skepticism on the matter.

Monthly Review expresses major doubt on the matter as well. They are more forthright.

Sure they could, Madam Secretary. You could. So could the same people who lied to us about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction, ties to al-Qaeda and responsibility for 9/11. You guys lie all the time. That's your job.

Iran hasn't attacked another country in more than 200 years. Its government works day and night to improve its relations with its mainly Muslim neighbors. But as ludicrous as the assassination plot charge is, it comes at a very serious time.

Video: War Is Better Than Ron Paul, Say (Many) Progressives

On War, Obama Has Been Worse Than Bush - Anthony Gregory - Mises Daily

On War, Obama Has Been Worse Than Bush - Anthony Gregory - Mises Daily

The War in Somalia?

Another war?

U.S. drone targets two leaders of Somali group allied with al-Qaeda, official says

The Hill Poll: Majority says military involved in too many places - TheHill.com

So Americans are shifting closer to Ron Paul's views.

The Hill Poll: Majority says military involved in too many places - TheHill.com

Video: Ron Paul - Sanctions are an act of WAR

As the war in Libya goes on, and the Obama administration positions itself to impose economic sanctions on Syria, we have to look at what economic sanctions really are: acts of war.



And why don't we look at this from the other side? What if China decided to impose economic sanctions on us? How many goods and services would we be without?

Video: "In The Muslim World This Is 'Americans Killing Muslims' AGAIN!"

Video: The Phony Case for Presidential War Powers

Impeach Barack Obama? Why Not.

Several important figures in the libertarian movement have stepped in and opined on the President's justification of his sending the U.S. military to attack Libya. All these essays were written before tonight's speech. The third essay wasn't even written this year.

Here are three important essays:

1. Impeach Barack Obama by John Walsh
2. The Phony Arguments for Presidential War Powers by Thomas Woods
3. The Case for Impeachment of President Barack Obama by David Lindoff

Lew Rockwell: No Wonder Obama Got the Nobel Peace Prize

Lew Rockwell on Facebook:

No wonder Obama got the Nobel peace prize from the Norwegian politicians. He has abolished war! From now on the US will only kill boatloads of people and spend vast amounts of your money on “kinetic military actions.”

My Article has been bumped to 'Feature' Status

My. My. How 24 hours, additional content, and editing will elevate you.

Should Obama Be Impeached for War Crimes?