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To Make War, Presidents Lie
LewRockwell.com ^ | 1 October 2002 | Robert Higgs

Posted on 10/01/2002 3:13:22 AM PDT by Greybird

When American presidents prepare for foreign wars, they lie. Surveying our history, we see a clear pattern. Since the end of the nineteenth century, if not earlier, presidents have misled the public about their motives and their intentions in going to war. The enormous losses of life, property, and liberty that Americans have sustained in wars have occurred in large part because of the public's unwarranted trust in what their leaders told them before leading them into war.

In 1898, President William McKinley, having been goaded by muscle-flexing advisers and jingoistic journalists to make war on Spain, sought divine guidance as to how he should deal with the Spanish possessions, especially the Philippines, that US forces had seized in what ambassador John Hay famously described as a "splendid little war."

Evidently, his prayer was answered, because the president later reported that he had heard "the voice of God," and "there was nothing left for us to do but take them all and educate the Filipinos, and uplift and Christianize them."

In truth, McKinley's motivations had little if anything to do with uplifting the people whom William H. Taft, the first Governor-General of the Philippines, called "our little brown brothers," but much to do with the political and commercial ambitions of influential expansionists such as Captain Alfred T. Mahan, Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge, and their ilk. In short, the official apology for the brutal and unnecessary Philippine-American War was a mendacious gloss.

The Catholic Filipinos evidently did not yearn to be "Christianized" in the American style, at the point of a Springfield rifle, and they resisted the US imperialists as they had previously resisted the Spanish imperialists. The Philippine-American War, which officially ended on July 4, 1902, but actually dragged on for many years in some islands, cost the lives of more than 4,000 US troops, more than 20,000 Filipino fighters, and more than 220,000 Filipino civilians, many of whom perished in concentration camps eerily similar to the relocation camps into which US forces herded Vietnamese peasants some sixty years later.

When World War I began in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson's sympathies clearly lay with the British. Nevertheless, he quickly proclaimed US neutrality and urged his fellow Americans to be impartial in both thought and deed. Wilson himself, however, leaned more and more toward the Allied side as the war proceeded. Still, he recognized that the great majority of Americans wanted no part of the fighting in Europe, and in 1916 he sought reelection successfully on the appealing slogan, "He Kept Us Out of War."

Soon after his second inauguration, however, he asked Congress for a declaration of war, which was approved, although six senators and fifty members of the House of Representatives had the wit or wisdom to vote against it. Wilson promised this war would be "the war to end all wars," but wars aplenty have taken place since the guns fell silent in 1918, leaving their unprecedented carnage -- nearly nine million dead and more than twenty million wounded, many of them hideously disfigured or crippled for life, as well as perhaps ten million civilians who died of starvation or disease as a result of the war's destruction of resources and its interruption of commerce.

And what did the United States or the world gain? Only a twenty-year reprieve before the war's smoldering embers burst into flame again.

After World War I, Americans felt betrayed, and they resolved never to make the same mistake again. Yet, just two decades later, President Franklin D. Roosevelt began the maneuvers by which he hoped to plunge the nation once again into the European cauldron. Unsuccessful in his naval provocations of the Germans in the Atlantic, he eventually pushed the Japanese to the wall by a series of hostile economic-warfare measures, issued clearly unacceptable ultimatums, and induced them to mount a desperate military attack, most devastatingly on the US forces he concentrated at Pearl Harbor.

Campaigning for reelection in Boston on October 30, 1940, FDR had sworn: "I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again: Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars." Well, Peleliu ain't Peoria. Roosevelt was lying when he made his declaration, just as he had lied repeatedly before and would lie repeatedly for the remainder of his life. (Stanford historian David M. Kennedy, careful not to speak too stridently, refers to FDR's "frequently cagey misrepresentations to the American public.")

Yet many, many Americans trusted this inveterate liar, sad to say, with their lives, and during the war more than 400,000 of them paid the ultimate price.

Among FDR's many political acolytes was a young congressman, Lyndon Baines Johnson, who eventually and, for the world, unfortunately, clawed his way to the presidency. As chief executive, he had to deal with vital questions of war and peace, and like his beloved mentor, he relied heavily on lying to the public. In October 1964, seeking to gain election by portraying himself as the peace candidate (in contrast to the alleged mad bomber Barry Goldwater), LBJ told a crowd at Akron University: "We are not about to send American boys 9 or 10,000 miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves."

In 1965, however, shortly after the start of his elected term in office, Johnson exploited the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, itself based on a fictitious account of an attack on US naval forces off Vietnam, and initiated a huge buildup of US forces in Southeast Asia that would eventually commit more than 500,000 American "boys" to fight an "Asian boy's" war.

Some 58,000 US military personnel would lose their lives in the service of LBJ's vanity and political ambitions, not to speak of the millions of Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians killed and wounded in the melee. Chalk up another catastrophe to a lying American president.

Now President George W. Bush is telling the American people that we stand in mortal peril of imminent attack by Iraqis or their agents armed with weapons of mass destruction. Having presented no credible evidence or compelling argument for his characterization of the alleged threat, he simply invites us to trust him, and therefore to support him as he undertakes what once would have been called naked aggression.

Well, David Hume long ago argued that just because every swan we've seen was white, we cannot be certain that no black swan exists. So Bush may be telling the truth. In the light of history, however, we would be making a long-odds bet to believe him.

Robert Higgs is senior fellow in political economy at the Independent Institute, editor of The Independent Review, and author of Crisis and Leviathan and numerous scholarly and popular articles on Congress.

Copyright © 2002 LewRockwell.com


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
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To: palmer
Of course they won't use the word occupy, it has too many negative connotations.

Or maybe it's because we don't want to occupy Iraq. Duh.

Somalia?

The starving millions wanted and needed us there. The warlords were the only ones who wanted us to leave, so that they could continue to use the food aid to hold the poewr of life and death over the populations. That's hardly an example of the US being an unwanted imperial power. Are you always this disingenuous?

Firing randomly at our planes flying over his country is not "murderous".

That adjective is modifying his actions against his citizens and his neighbors, not the firing on overhead flights.

If they are all that murderous, we need to stay out of that area, not get more involved.

So you're simply a coward who would prefer to watch tyrants and murderers slaughter millions of people? Well, I'm glad that the current administration is not so callous, craven, or enabling.

Unless, of course, there is evidence of support of 9/11 hijackers or an imminent threat like a long range missile. That's all I care about, not murderous pasts

All the evidence and fore-warning in the world will not prevent a missile attack or another 9-11-01. Only destroying those who would consider such actions will. Saddam openly and happily admits that he wants weapons that will accomplish that kind of destruction. He has defied resolutions for a decade in pursuit of that goal. He is the most likely person to be stupid enough (in his bid for heroic immortality in the eyes of Muslims everywhere) to actually use them on innocent people, as evidenced by his past. This does not mean that every nation that has or builds WMD's is a target. It does mean that every nation with a militant dictator who dispenses death as a personal hobby, invades innocent neighbors for material gains, and threatens the US with his words and defiant actions should and WILL become one.

61 posted on 10/01/2002 11:40:33 AM PDT by Teacher317
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To: fporretto
I trust that, in Professor Higgs's case, it's a matter of sincere misunderstanding rather than an attempt to deflect war through obfuscation and deceit.

Thank you. I hope so. He sounds like an intelligent man. Intelligence is not the only precursor to being correct, sadly. This one is common sense, and a lot of professors -and even more shocking, FReepers - don't seem to have that.

Sigh. Been guilty of that myself a time or twice.

62 posted on 10/01/2002 11:44:18 AM PDT by .30Carbine
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To: .30Carbine
I agree with your sentiments whole-heartedly.
63 posted on 10/01/2002 11:47:16 AM PDT by hchutch
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To: Petronius
When the United States and other European countries tried to placate Hitler, putting off going to war with Germany. Many more lives certainly were lost than if the U.S. would have gone against Hitler sooner.
64 posted on 10/01/2002 11:48:51 AM PDT by LaGrone
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To: Greybird
how that issue connects, unmistakably, with Iraq

The president could have nuked every Arab capitol in hot blood by noon Sep 12, but he didn't. It could have been done, and justifiably. After Sept 12, that kind of retribution was no longer justifiable as it would have been deliberate in cold blood. Instead, the president is engaged in finding and eliminating all those enemies while doing as little other damage as possible. That includes Iraq now first on the list, and it is a long list. This will go until every item on the list is checked off. There is at least 2 more years of this to go, and possibly 30 years. It might be noted that Congress wants this done.

65 posted on 10/01/2002 11:50:50 AM PDT by RightWhale
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To: hchutch
A little too much coffee this morning. (;

Thanks, buddy.

66 posted on 10/01/2002 11:57:05 AM PDT by .30Carbine
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To: talk2farley
Ever read about the secondary explosions on the Lusitania? Our neutral country was shipping munitions to the English, risking innocent civilian lives, while an inhumae blockade starved the German people.
67 posted on 10/01/2002 12:00:38 PM PDT by JohnGalt
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To: Teacher317
...Saddam's murderous past, his two invasions of neighboring countries, his open threats against the US, his firing on US and UK forces, his payments to the families of suicide-bombers, his harboring of known terrorists (Abu Nidal ring any bells?), his acceptance of terrorist training camps in Iraq, and his history of using WMD's on innocent civilians...

Nice to see you again, Teacher.

68 posted on 10/01/2002 12:00:54 PM PDT by .30Carbine
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To: patriciaruth
Don't say that to Buzz or he will punch you in the face.
69 posted on 10/01/2002 12:05:33 PM PDT by Feiny
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To: .30Carbine
Some of us are just a little suspicous of the folks who created Saddam (Rumsfeld, Pearle, Wolfowitz amongst a hundred others including many others who facilitated the Saddam Regime) in the 1980s telling us that he is now the next Hitler and oh, he had something to do with 9/11.
70 posted on 10/01/2002 12:05:33 PM PDT by JohnGalt
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To: Greybird

71 posted on 10/01/2002 12:08:56 PM PDT by Poohbah
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To: fporretto
You are overlooking what has been consistent criticism from the Right that the folks who created Saddam-- from Rumsfeld and Co. on through Senators who covered for BCCI, or in Hillary's case, sat on the board of a company actively and illegally doing business with Iraq-- are now telling us that he is the next Hitler.

Do you see a problem with this kind of politics and the absurdity of going to war over WMD (or was it 9/11)? What did these idiots think was going to happen when they gave a blood thirsty dicator a bankroll and load of weapons?
72 posted on 10/01/2002 12:14:25 PM PDT by JohnGalt
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To: JohnGalt
Thank you. Eternal vigilance is required.

That being said, I submit that it is my president's job to protect my borders,
and I firmly believe that is what President Bush is trying to do.

73 posted on 10/01/2002 12:22:42 PM PDT by .30Carbine
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To: Teacher317
Or maybe it's because we don't want to occupy Iraq. Duh.

Whether we want to or not, we will have to or leave the country to be divided between the Kurds and Shiites. Kurdish power will lead to wars with Turkey and Shiite power will strengthen Iran.

That's hardly an example of the US being an unwanted imperial power.

Sorry, I misunderstood your question. You are right about Somalia. Examples of imperialism are smaller Arab countries like Bahrain. Larger ones tend to have more popular support, but the smaller ones are clearly U.S. puppets.

So you're simply a coward who would prefer to watch tyrants and murderers slaughter millions of people? Well, I'm glad that the current administration is not so callous, craven, or enabling.

Those tyrants are usually a by-product of a sequence of wars starting with WWI. Some tyrants start as necessary evil allies (e.g. Osama), others rise up in the chaos caused by war (e.g. Cambodia). There's no chance that Iraq will stay glued together without some tyranny especially considering the outside forces like Iran who would like to see it ripped apart.

All the evidence and fore-warning in the world will not prevent a missile attack or another 9-11-01. Only destroying those who would consider such actions will. Saddam openly and happily admits that he wants weapons that will accomplish that kind of destruction. He has defied resolutions for a decade in pursuit of that goal. He is the most likely person to be stupid enough (in his bid for heroic immortality in the eyes of Muslims everywhere) to actually use them on innocent people, as evidenced by his past. This does not mean that every nation that has or builds WMD's is a target. It does mean that every nation with a militant dictator who dispenses death as a personal hobby, invades innocent neighbors for material gains, and threatens the US with his words and defiant actions should and WILL become one.

I agree with your last part with one caveat. That militant leader will have to provoke the US the way Saddam has. The ones who don't go that far will get off scott free, especially once we have spent our capital on Iraq.

74 posted on 10/01/2002 12:22:51 PM PDT by palmer
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To: JohnGalt
You'll get no argument that supporting Saddam was a stupid move on our part... for many reasons... but why do you stand in the way of those fine folks trying to correct that mistake?
75 posted on 10/01/2002 12:24:17 PM PDT by Teacher317
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To: Petronius
Are you suggesting, contrary to this article, that dishonesty has _never_ been a feature of our involvement in wars? Are you serious?

If it has in the past, why not be skeptical now? Shouldn't we learn from history? Oh, that's right: it _never_ repeats!

No..not at all. What I asked was "what lies were told to get us into the Gulf War."

The whole implied point of this article as I see it is to spread the ill conceived notion that ALL presidents lie. We can therefore assume that "W" has lied since he is a president and presidents lie.

I reject that notion and think that each situation and each president must stand on it's/his own merits. I don't not consider Bush Sr. a lier and I do not consider Bush Jr. a lier.

Now, if you want to talk about Roosevelt, Johnson, Clinton, Kennedy, et al, well, that's a whole different story.

76 posted on 10/01/2002 12:27:16 PM PDT by evad
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To: .30Carbine
Your post is exatly what I mean. If what you are saying is true, the first thing Bush should have done is seal the borders and throw out dangerous suspects. Instead, he proposed to invade Iraq (just as Pearle/Wolfowitz/Kritsol had been pushing for over 6 years now) over WMD.

To me, the disconnect is so striking, that it is no wonder the 'Right' has conjured up anti-American leftists as the boogeyman in this scenario rather than tackle the far more significant fact that there was not one resignation, one demand for a resignation, or one dismissal from our trillion dollar central intelligence aparatus over 9/11-- and yet that is the aparatus who is claiming Saddam is the next Hitler. Rather the whole thing is the fault of Saddam and the minimum wage baggage handlers.
77 posted on 10/01/2002 12:30:11 PM PDT by JohnGalt
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To: All
What the critics of the invasion plan don't realize is that the world is now on a final course...whether this final course results in the victory of the U.S. or its defeat remains to be seen, but sadly there is no turning back.

Right now, the critics are waking up to the fact that for the last 20 years, "Satan" (or whatever you want to call "evil") has been working hard to drive the world into another World War, and "he" (or "it", again, whatever you call the evil) has succeeded in setting this course, and preventing its reversal. And only now are the critics concerned.

This concern should've been around when the U.S. funded Ossama's war against the U.S.S.R., or when Iran took U.S. hostages. We never should have supported radical Islam in any form, nor should we have tolerated any mistreatment of our citizens, when the first few heads of the now massive hydra which is fundamental Islam started to grow.

It's too late to put the genie back in the bottle, so to speak; it's time to right our own mistakes. It's time to kill the hydra. This will cost lives on both sides, and many will suffer. But again, it's too late to do anything else.

I think September 11th proved that.
78 posted on 10/01/2002 12:33:04 PM PDT by FourtySeven
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To: Teacher317
Fine folks?

Where were the high level resignations over the grossest acts of incompetence (i.e. 9/11 intelligence failures) in the history of our country?




79 posted on 10/01/2002 12:33:35 PM PDT by JohnGalt
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To: FourtySeven
This kind of Armegedon logic is the non-sense that caused Europe to commit collective suicide in 1914.
80 posted on 10/01/2002 12:34:52 PM PDT by JohnGalt
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