From our Founding Fathers to Donald Trump, we have been warned about unjust and unwise wars. Here is our First Chief Justice on the subject, in Federalist #4:
"... it need not be observed that there are pretended as well as just causes of war.It is too true, however disgraceful it may be to human nature, that nations in general will make war whenever they have a prospect of getting anything by it; nay, absolute monarchs will often make war when their nations are to get nothing by it, but for the purposes and objects merely personal, such as thirst for military glory, revenge for personal affronts, ambition, or private compacts to aggrandize or support their particular families or partisans. These and a variety of other motives, which affect only the mind of the sovereign, often lead him to engage in wars not sanctified by justice or the voice and interests of his people."
Among those other motives are: a means for an unpopular President to gain public support, a way to shame critics during a time of crisis, and a way of expanding Presidential power. The black film Wag the Dog explored the first of these motives, in which a fake war is invented to distract the public from a looming sex scandal just before a Presidential election. (Here is a report from the Sun.co.uk: "REPORTS have emerged that US intelligence agencies were investigating the existence of more than one sordid tape allegedly involving President-elect Donald Trump.
BBC foreign correspondent Paul Wood claimed CIA sources had indicated to him last year that they had been informed of tapes in both Moscow AND St Petersburg." Here is a report from the NYDailynews 6 months ago: "The latest tale in the flood of sordid allegations against Donald Trump involves sex-and-cocaine parties supposedly hosted by the billionaire at his posh Plaza Hotel.
Here is Trump himself: "I'm automatically attracted to beautiful -- I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.
Bush: Whatever you want.
Trump: Grab 'em by the p*ssy. You can do anything."
Here is the Chicago Tribune, commenting on Trump's falling approval ratings:
"The only thing that could get Trump out of this slump is a war. I'm not saying that's what the president wants, but I fear it could be where we're headed.
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