The Inspiring Legacy of Anti-War Conservatism

The American Conservative ^ | May 2025 | Brandon Buck

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Throughout the early Cold War, conservatives in Congress—including Republicans—opposed American entanglements in the Middle East, drawing on an earlier noninterventionist consensus that valued restraint overseas and fiscal prudence at home.

Conservative Republicans presented a vocal bloc of opposition to the Eisenhower Doctrine, which expanded American influence in the Middle East, ostensibly to counter Soviet influence and fill the vacuum left by the departure of the European colonial powers. One such dissenter was Iowan Representative H.R. Gross, one of the most fiscally conservative congressional members in history.

Dissenting Republicans voiced similar critiques during the American response to the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Citing concerns over expanding executive authority, burdens to the taxpayer, and the threat of American entry into the conflict, 28 House Republicans (joined by 36 House Democrats) opposed House Resolution 11108, a bill that provided Israel with over $2 billion in security assistance in the wake of that war.

Gross, again, was among those leading the dissent. On the House floor, he attacked President Nixon for his unilateral actions during the height of the crisis and the bill itself for affording the president sole authority to turn loans into grants. He invoked the costs of the Vietnam War and warned that the upcoming bill was another example of “a spineless, irresponsible Congress [that] delegates its powers to a President.”

These principled strains of conservative opposition, despite their long pedigree, were snuffed out by the political turmoil of the mid-1970s.

In the wake of the Global War on Terror, the noninterventionist tradition they drew upon have regained traction, including within the base of the Republican Party.

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TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: 123oclock4oclockzot; americafirst; antiwar; conservatism; hrgross; mullahloversonfr; multiplenicks; pseudoconservatives; randspam

[CondoleezzaProtege]

[Uncle Miltie]

The inspiring “Division of Conservatism at Every Juncture”, by Condi the Soros-esque Troll!

[spintreebob]

The Republican Party has always been a coalition of differing opinions and priorities.
Libertarian Republicans were against “Foreign Entanglements” and against “World Government” and “Big government”.

Constitutional Republicans weren’t so small government as they were literal in their interpretation of the Constitution and thus alleged to be “living in the 18th century”.

Capitalist Free Market Republicans were “pragmatic” in that they allegedly wanted to make the world safe for Capitalism.

Then there were the progressive Republicans and the mixed economy Republicans.

Then there were the opportunist Republicans that had no ideology other than winning.

Then there were the confused Republicans who heard One side speak and swallow that line....the hear the other side speak and swallow that line.

Then there were the lonely Republicans that just wanted a place to belong...Their grandaddy was a Republican... Republican was in their family line.

[xenia]

I am so done with the Republican vs Democrat etc. All I want is to know the truth about what is going on without the political spin.

I don’t believe what the candidates tell us anymore at election time so we vote for them. What a disappointment most of the people I have voted for became once elected. The list is long.

We’ve been played for so long by both sides. Truth.

[Brian Griffin]

WIKI

During the October 1973 Yom Kippur War, with the initial surprise breakthroughs on both northern and southern borders by Arab armies, the alarmed Defense Minister Moshe Dayan told Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir that “this is the end of the third temple.” He was warning of Israel’s impending total defeat, but “Temple” was also the code word for nuclear weapons. Dayan again raised the nuclear topic in a cabinet meeting, warning that the country was approaching a point of “last resort”. That night Meir authorized the assembly of thirteen nuclear weapon “physics packages” to arm Jericho I missiles at Sdot Micha Airbase, and F-4 aircraft at Tel Nof Airbase, for use against Syrian and Egyptian targets. The range on the Jericho 1 is sufficient to strike major cities such as Damascus and Cairo from secured launch locations. They would be used if absolutely necessary to prevent total defeat, but the preparation was done in an easily detectable way, likely as a signal to the US. U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger learned of the nuclear alert on the morning of October 9. That day, in keeping with his deal and warning that prevented a preemptive Israeli attack on gathering Arab armies, President Nixon ordered the commencement of Operation Nickel Grass, a U.S. airlift to replace all of Israel’s material losses. Anecdotal evidence suggests that Kissinger told Sadat that the reason for the U.S. airlift was that the Israelis were close to “going nuclear”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jericho_(missile)#Jericho_II

[Olog-hai]

I cannot recommend to your notice measures for the fulfillment of our duties to the rest of the world without again pressing upon you the necessity of placing ourselves in a condition of complete defense and of exacting from them the fulfillment of their duties toward us.

The United States ought not to indulge a persuasion that, contrary to the order of human events, they will forever keep at a distance those painful appeals to arms with which the history of every other nation abounds.

There is a rank due to the United States among nations which will be withheld, if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness. If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known that we are at all times ready for war. …

— George Washington, Fifth Annual Address to Congress, 12/03/1793

The phrase “anti-war conservatism” is an oxymoron. Not to mention, the opposite of “anti-war” is not “pro-war” especially if by the latter term violent expansionism (of the kind favored by Marxists) is meant.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliance with any portion of the foreign world.

George Washington

Farewell Address to the People of the United States, 1796

[Olog-hai]

It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore—let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them. …

Just making sure things are not taken out of context. Particularly, the meaning of “permanent alliance” does not mean that all alliances must be temporary especially when fruitful; it seems more to me that one must be wary of alliances with formerly enemy nations in particular.

[Olog-hai]

Not to mention that quote from Washington’s farewell address certainly is not particularly an anti-war expression.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

And that's the awakening a lot of conservatives like myself, a Condi Rice fan, have had. Our foreign entanglements are not fruitful, not blessed, but: TOXIC, asymmetrical, codependent, and above all:

🩸BLOODY🩸

On that note, George Washington wrote this about war in a personal letter to his private secretary, David Humphries in 1785:

My first wish is to see this plague to mankind banished from off the Earth, and the sons and Daughters of this world employed in more pleasing and innocent amusements, than in preparing implements and exercising them for the destruction of mankind...

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Instead of going to Mars, we have invaded the Middle East.

Whatever you think of Peter Thiel, he made a great assessment of the moral cost of our foreign policy back at the 2016 RNC.

Look at the decay of our towns and cities. Especially in the Rust Belt. Consider our veterans and the appalling apathy towards them on the part of the very politicians who sent them into battle in the first place. Consider the decline of our space program. Our national priorities are totally misplaced!

That's why George Washington told David Humphries, "My first wish is to see this [war] plague to mankind banished from off the Earth, and the sons and Daughters of this world employed in more pleasing and innocent amusements, than in preparing implements and exercising them for the destruction of mankind."

America. First.

[Olog-hai]

That does not nullify anything he said in the Fifth Annual Address to Congress. He knew, as a believer in God and the Bible, that war could not be wished away but only be banished by divine power ultimately.