“If you look at the Gulf War or new military technologies, they are moving towards cyberwars. Most video-technologies and technologies of simulation have been used for war. For example, video was created after the Second World War in order to radio-control planes and aircraft carriers. Thus video came with the war. It took twenty years before it became a means of expression for artists.” IfsWorldYearsLooksMeanHas BeensWarMovingUsedArtistOrderTechnologyMilitaryExampleExpressionTwentiesRadioVideoPlanesWar Of The WorldsWorld War ISecond World WarAircraftSimulationCarrierGulf WarAircraft Carriers Author:Paul Virilio
“For the US, the Kosovo War was a success because it encouraged the development of the Pentagon's 'Revolution in Military Affairs' (RMA). The war provided a test site for experimentation, and paved the way for emergence of what I call in Strategie de la deception 'the second deterrence'.” WayWarMilitaryRevolutionDevelopmentTestsAffairDeceptionSiteExperimentationEmergencePentagonKosovoDeterrence Author:Paul Virilio
“I believe that the military-industrial complex is more important than ever. This is because the war in Kosovo gave fresh impetus not to the military-industrial complex but to the military-scientific complex. You can see this in China.” BelieveImportantWarI BelieveMilitaryComplexesChinaImpetusMilitary Industrial ComplexKosovo Author:Paul Virilio
“If we look at the Gulf War, the same is also true. Indeed, my work on the logistics of perception and the Gulf War was so accurate that I was even asked to discuss it with high-ranking French military officers. They asked me: 'how is it that you wrote that book in 1984 and now it's happening for real?' My answer was: 'the problem is not mine but yours: you have not been doing your job properly!'” IfsLooksBookWarRealProblemJobsAnswersMilitaryMinesPerceptionHappeningsOfficersAccurateRankingGulf WarLogistics Author:Paul Virilio
“Realistically speaking, Ayn Rand should not have opposed the antidraft movement and supported the Vietnam War effort - in effect, she supported military conscription.” ShouldWarEffortEffectsMilitaryMovementVietnamVietnam WarConscription Author:Murray Bookchin
“The basic problems facing the world today are not susceptible to a military solution.” WorldWarProblemTodayPeaceMilitarySolutionsAnti WarAntiwarWorld TodaySusceptibleIdahoPresidents DayHorror Of War Author:John F. Kennedy
“As Commander in Chief, I will maintain the strongest military in the world, keep faith with our troops and go after those who would do us harm. But after a decade of war, I think we all recognize we've got to do some nation building here at home, rebuilding our roads, our bridges and especially caring for our Veterans who sacrificed so much for our freedom.” ThinkingWorldWarHomeNationsMilitaryBuildingCaringHarmDecadesChiefsBridgesStrongestTroopsVeteranCommandersRebuildingKeep The FaithNation BuildingOur TroopsCommander In ChiefOur Veterans Author:Barack Obama
“There is a residual sense for me, having grown up in the early '70s, that I did not know I had, which was a sense that the military are different than I. Because there was such a divide between the military world - and there still is, because there's no draft - and the civilian world is one of the rotten harvests of the Vietnam War, was this sort of bifurcation of America in that way.” KnowsWorldWayStillsDifferentWarAmericaMilitaryDividesVietnamHarvestCiviliansRottenVietnam WarResidualBifurcation Author:Stephen Colbert
“I realized how little I knew about my own country. I had grown up in the suburbs and, after college, I moved out of the country, so I didn't really know the place well. When I started following soldiers and their families back home, it provoked a lot of the questions about who we are as a nation, questions I realized couldn't be explored through the more limited framework of looking at the military at war and at home.” KnowsWellsLittlesWarCountryHomeNationsMy OwnMilitaryCollegeMovedSoldierFollowingI RealizedWho We AreFrameworkBack HomeSuburbsProvoked Author:Peter van Agtmael
“I saw courage both in the Vietnam War and in the struggle to stop it. I learned that patriotism includes protest, not just military service.” WarStruggleSawsMilitaryPatriotismProtestVietnamVietnam WarMilitary ServiceGood Patriotic Author:John F. Kerry
“The reality of Canadian history is that we've been willing to do the important things the world demanded of us: fighting in World War II, in Korea, in the Balkans, where we were involved in offensive military operations, and in Afghanistan, where we have made disproportionate contributions.” WorldMadeImportantWarRealityFightingMilitaryWillingInvolvedImportant ThingsOperationsWar Of The WorldsContributionAfghanistanWorld War IiWorld War IOffensiveKoreaBalkansMilitary OperationsCanadian History Author:Chris Alexander
“My evaluation of President George W. Bush is nothing personal. He's a lovely person. Sadly, I believe he will be remembered for taking us into war unnecessarily at the cost of thousands of American lives, injuries to tens of thousands of our troops, and trillions of dollars to our economy - enormous costs to our reputation, and undermining the capability of our military to protect us. That, I think, will be the overwhelming issue for which his presidency will be remembered: extensive damage to our country.” ThinkingBelievePersonsWarCountryI BelievePresidentEconomyIssuesMilitaryCostProtectDollarsLovelyEnormousReputationOur CountryRememberedDamageInjuryOverwhelmingCapabilityTroopsPresidencyAmerican LifeEvaluationOur TroopsUnderminingPresident George W BushLovely Person Author:Nancy Pelosi
“People say, oh we just need charismatic leaders to continue on to Mars. Now we've gone to the moon, of course Mars is next. No. Mars was never, of course, next. It is next if you think we went to the moon because we're explorers, but if you know we went to the moon because we were at war then we're never going to Mars. There's no military reason to do it, to justify the expenditure.” PeopleIfsThinkingKnowsNeedsWarReasonCoursesNextLeaderGoneMilitaryMoonJustifyMarsExplorersExpendituresCharismatic Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson
“I would love to see more investment to help our veterans. Donald Trump is talking about investing in the military - I imagine he wants to invest on the war side, but what we really need is to take care of our veterans, and invest in the VA hospitals, provide better mental health treatment, and help them find housing. That is a stain on America for all of us - Republican and Democrat.” WantNeedsWarHelpingCareAmericaSidesTalkingImagineMilitaryTrumpRepublicanMental HealthDemocratInvestmentInvestingTake CareTreatmentHospitalsVeteranHousingStainsOur Veterans Author:Nina Turner
“Everything, everything in war is barbaric... But the worst barbarity of war is that it forces men collectively to commit acts against which individually they would revolt with their whole being.” MenWarWholeForcePeaceWorstMilitaryCommitTeamworkAntiwarWorld War IRevoltPeace WarNo WarBarbaricBarbarityAgainst War Author:Ellen Key
“Bill Clinton kept funding Star Wars. He took the biggest military budget to Congress in history. He routinely bombed Iraq, and he kept the barbaric sanctions in place. He's really played his part. The George W. Bush gang has taken it just a little further.” LittlesWarStarsTakenMilitaryBillsClintonCongressIraqBudgetsGangFundingSanctionsBarbaricMilitary Budget Author:John Pilger
“American imperialism has suffered a stunning defeat in Indochina. But the same forces are engaged In another war against a much less resilient enemy, the American people. Here, the prospects for success are much greater. The battleground is ideological, not military. At stake are the lessons to be drawn from the American war in Indochina; the outcome will determine the course and character of new imperial ventures.” PeopleWarCharacterCoursesForceEnemyGreaterMilitaryLessonsDefeatDetermineOutcomesEngagedStakesVentureImperialismIdeologicalResilientProspectsStunningBattlegroundAmerican ImperialismAmerican WarIndochina Author:Noam Chomsky
“In the military we also learn principles of war which also work in a corporate setting: How do you concentrate as much of your force as possible on a critical point and take a risk elsewhere? In business that translates into focusing your investment on marketing, sales, or R&D, whichever will give you the greatest return.” GivingWarForcePrinciplesRiskMilitaryReturnInvestmentMarketingCriticalSettingSettingsCorporateElsewhereTranslate Author:Colin Powell
“I think in many ways, the Spanish Civil War was the first battle of World War II. After all, where else in the world at this point did you have Americans in uniform who were being bombed by Nazi planes four years before the U.S. entered World War II? Hitler and Mussolini jumped in on the side of Francisco Franco and his Spanish nationalists, sent them vast amounts of military aid, airplanes, tanks - and Mussolini sent 80,000 ground troops as well - because they wanted a sympathetic ally in power. So I think it really was the opening act of World War II.” ThinkingWorldWayYearsFirstsWellsWarWantedSidesFourMilitaryAmountBattleAidsOpeningPlanesWar Of The WorldsCivil WarAlliesWorld War IiFour YearsAirplaneWorld War ITroopsUniformsNaziTanksSympatheticFrancoSpanish Civil WarFrancisco Franco Author:Adam Hochschild
“I have been around military technology people a lot because of my role in virtual reality I've seen weapons from conception to implementation. And there is an extraordinary gadget lust that drives the military. So it's possible that war is just the ultimate expression of creativity.” PeopleHas BeensWarRealityRolesCreativityTechnologyMilitaryExpressionWeaponsUltimateExtraordinaryLustConceptionVirtual RealityGadgetsImplementation Author:Jaron Lanier
“We seem to know that international wars tend not to stop with their formal "peace treaties." We seem not to have thought enough about the difference between the large official events of political and military history and their overflow both into recognized effects and into the lives of unofficial people who suffer them.” PeopleKnowsWarEnoughSeemsPoliticalSufferingDifferencesEffectsMilitaryEventsInternationalOfficialsFormalTreatiesOverflowMilitary HistoryPeace Treaties Author:Wendell Berry
“Actually, the phrase "national security" is barely used until the 1930s. And there's a reason. By then, the United States was beginning to become global. Before that the United States had been mostly a regional power - Britain was the biggest global power. After the Second World War, national security is everywhere, because we basically owned the world, so our security is threatened everywhere. Not just on our borders, but everywhere - so you have to have a thousand military bases around the world for "defense."” WorldWarStatesReasonUsedUnitedUnited StatesSecurityMilitaryThousandBasesDefenseAround The WorldBordersPhrasesWar Of The WorldsBritainThreatenedNational SecuritySecond World War1930sMilitary Bases Author:Noam Chomsky
“Today, we have a powerful military that serves as a deterrent, but the enemy we have today is not like World War II, where you sign a piece of paper and the war is over. Today they're not in uniform. In my time we knew what the enemy looked like, we knew his weapons systems and such. Today, your cab driver may be the person, you have no idea. I don't know how we got into this fix, but we're there.” KnowsWorldMayPersonsIdeasWarTodayPowerfulEnemyKnow HowPiecesMilitaryPaperWeaponsNo IdeaWar Of The WorldsMy TimeDriversWorld War IiWorld War IUniformsCabDeterrentCab Drivers Author:Daniel Inouye
“Inside the White House there were always extreme amounts of doubt about whether they should be escalating in Afghanistan. In fact, most of the president's advisers said, "This is probably not going to work." A lot of people in the military said, "This is probably not going to work." If the thumbnail version of the Iraq war was that George W.Bush lied about mass destruction weapons, the thumbnail version of Barack Obama's war in Afghanistan is that the generals pushed him into a war he didn't want to fight.” PeopleWarFightingHouseDoubtMilitaryDestructionBarackAfghanistanGoing To WorkLiedIraq War Author:Michael Hastings
“The military sensed weakness, exploited it and played Barack Obama. Obama's foreign policy has been consistently hawkish despite this reluctant warrior schtick that he pulls. But at the end of the day a reluctant warrior is still a warrior. Look at the drone strikes, the tripling of the war in Afghanistan, and now Libya. I'm convinced that had Obama been in the Senate in 2003 he would have voted for the Iraq war. He's clearly easily convinced by his advisers and the Pentagon.” WarMilitaryPolicyWeaknessWarriorBarackAfghanistanForeign PolicyConsistentlyIraq War Author:Michael Hastings
“Gore Vidal, Glenn Greenwald, Noam Chomsky, talk about how the U.S. became a national security state after World War II. Essentially there's this bipartisan foreign policy elite who've been calling the shots for the last few decades and they're clearly still in control regardless of how clownish or absurd they demonstrate themselves to be. There's no shaking their orthodoxy. To me it was the most depressing thing, these full-scale military interventions firsthand for a number of years, seeing how quickly we can get involved in another war with very little debate.” WorldWarSecurityMilitaryPolicyDebateAbsurdWar Of The WorldsWorld War IiForeign PolicyWorld War IDepressingNational SecurityGet InvolvedShakingMost Depressing Author:Michael Hastings
“When President Bush sees America, he sees only a military superpower. I see a moral and idealistic beacon. Mr. Bush may talk about democracy all he wants, but it is not democracy to wilfully disdain and heap scorn on world opinion. We do not command moral leadership by starting pre-emptive wars.” WorldWarPresidentMoralOpinionDemocracyMilitaryScornPresident BushSuperpowerDisdain Author:John F. Kerry
“Declarations of war have never been a constitutional requirement for military action abroad. The United States has used force abroad more than 130 times, but has only declared war five times - the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, the Spanish-American War, and World Wars I and II.” WorldWarActionMilitaryWar Of The WorldsWorld War IDeclaration Author:John Yoo
“Congress has created and funded a huge peacetime military that has substantial abilities to wage offensive operations, and it has not placed restrictions on the use of that military or the funds to support it, because it would rather let the president take the political risks in deciding on war. If Congress wanted to play a role in restricting war, it could - it simply does not want to. But we should not mistake a failure of political will for a violation of the Constitution.” WarPoliticalPresidentAbilityMistakeSupportRiskMilitaryConstitutionFundOffensive Author:John Yoo
“The military played polo. Polo, really, started as a game to train for war.” WarMilitaryTrain Author:Nacho Figueras
“Do you realize how many people of this country have been educated, have grown up, who have been taught that, yeah, we're at risk and there's a lot of people that want to blow us up and don't like us. But we are to blame. That's what they've been taught. We are to blame, 'cause there was slavery, because we've stolen all these goods and resources from other countries. We have imposed our way of life on them! We've sent our military around, and we've conducted wars on their territory and so forth.” PeopleWarCountryRealizingRiskMilitaryBlameSlaveryBlowEducated Author:Rush Limbaugh
“I think war and armed conflict is always the last of all the options you have on the table. I think you try to avoid that at all costs. Sometimes it's unavoidable. That's the lesson of World War II. I think the other lesson of the last 50 or 60 years, however, is that, the stronger the U.S. military, the stronger our defense capabilities, the stronger the chances for peace are.” ThinkingWorldTryingWarSometimesChanceMilitaryConflictStrongerWar Of The WorldsWorld War IiCapabilityWorld War I Author:Marco Rubio
“Since the first Gulf War in 1991, the Chinese have been increasing their military budget roughly by 11 percent a year on average. There's no way that China will be able to sustain that sort of military expenditure. And then the most important reason is because of its population changes.” ImportantWarReasonMilitaryChineseGulf War Author:Howard W. French
“The United States military is undoubtedly the world's finest. It's also far and away the most generously funded, with policymakers offering U.S. troops no shortage of opportunities to practice their craft. So why doesn't this great military ever win anything? Or put another way, why in recent decades have those forces been unable to accomplish Washington's stated wartime objectives? Why has the now 15-year-old war on terror failed to result in even a single real success anywhere in the Greater Middle East?” WarRealOpportunityWinningMilitaryTerrorAccomplishFinestWar On Terror Author:Andrew Bacevich
“Are there any military actions that the president of the United States may not order on his own authority? If so, what are they? Bit by bit, decade by decade, Congress has abdicated its assigned role in authorizing war. Today, it merely rubberstamps what presidents decide to do (or simply stays mum). Who does this deference to an imperial presidency benefit? Have U.S. policies thereby become more prudent, enlightened, and successful?” WarTodayActionPresidentSuccessfulMilitaryPolicyAuthorityEnlightenedMum Author:Andrew Bacevich
“After 9/11 we were prepared to use military force. We were prepared to go after not only the terrorists, but those who sponsor terror and provide sanctuary and safe harbor for them. We were prepared to use our intelligence assets the way we would against an enemy that threatened the United States itself, to put in place, for example, things like the Terror Surveillance Program and to have a robust interrogation program on detainees. Those are the acts you take when you feel you're at war and that the very existence of the nation is threatened.” WarExistenceEnemyMilitaryProgramTerrorTerroristInterrogation Author:Dick Cheney
“There is reason to say that negotiations with the North Koreans are not easy, they may not succeed, but they may be a way of getting to where we want to get to, limiting the capability of the North Koreans to do harm to us and our allies without the use of military force and without the risk of a major war in Northeast Asia.” WarReasonEasyRiskMilitarySucceedCapabilityNegotiationNorth KoreaKoreanNorth Korean Author:Robert Gallucci
“Conservatives believe that we need to defeat radical Islam not because we want war but because ISIS and other radical Islamist are enemies of peace and that's why we need a president, who in which under whom the best intelligence agencies in the world will find terrorists and the best military in the world will destroy them. And if we capture them alive, a president that will bring them to the United States. A president that will grant them a court-appointed lawyer, a president that will send these terrorists where they belong, to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.” WorldBelieveWarPresidentEnemyMilitaryIslamDefeatLawyerTerroristRadical Author:Marco Rubio
“I've always had the fantasy of doing a boot camp for a military film, at some point. I've always wanted to know what the experience is like, to feel that mounting pressure of going off to war and needing to be so present and physically aware of your body because you ultimately need to fight for your life and for your country.” WarCountryFilmFightingFantasyMilitary Author:Seth Gabel
“I voted against the war in Iraq. I voted against the first Gulf War. I think war is the last resort - the last option of a great military power like us. I think that we need to focus on building coalitions. Yes, ISIS must be destroyed. But it should be destroyed by a coalition of Muslim nations on the ground with the support of the United States and the other major powers in the air and in training the troops there.” ThinkingWarSupportFocusMilitaryBuildingTrainingGulf War Author:Bernie Sanders
“As one Israeli said, "It's a big mistake for Israel to say it 'won' the war, when there was no war. There were no battles...no military enemy in the field."” WarMistakeEnemyMilitaryBattleIsraeliBig Mistake Author:Norman Finkelstein
“The Russians and the Chinese have been making enormous investments in the military. We have the smallest Navy since 1916. We have the lowest number of troops since the end of the Second World War. We've got to work with Congress, and Donald Trump will, to rebuild our military and project American strength in the world.” WorldWarMilitaryInvestmentChineseWar Of The WorldsLowestNavySecond World War Author:Mike Pence
“Because I didn't see war in Iraq through the partisan lens that seems to dominate a lot of the perspective today with Fox News on the one side and MSNBC on the other, I didn't see it as Democrats good, Republicans bad. I saw it as a situation where the United States is a force that engages in these military operations around the world, and it's the job of journalists to provide the American people with information they can use to make informed decisions.” PeopleWorldWarTodayDecisionSituationMilitaryPerspectiveRepublicanDemocratJournalist Author:Jeremy Scahill
“This Iraq war has been the most "privatized" war in America's history. It has seen the most extensive use of contractors. The contractors have increased the costs; but they have been necessary - the military simply could not have done it on their own. we would have had to increase the size of the military. But the George W. Bush Administration wanted America to believe that it could have a war, essentially for free, without raising taxes, without increasing the size of the armed forces.” BelieveWarDoneMilitaryTaxesIraq WarArmed ForcesContractor Author:Joseph Stiglitz
“The unraveling that I experienced much earlier in the Vietnam war than many people think, was due to the immediate foxhole experiences. But once I got back home and began to follow the war on TV and in the press I began to see this enormous con game - I can't think of any other word for it - that government and the military was foisting on the American people, especially on the young men of my generation, and even worse, the young men of my generation who weren't particularly economically or intellectually privileged.” PeopleThinkingMenWarHomeMilitaryVietnam War Author:Philip Caputo
“As a soldier, I've served with the most brave people in an institution that's built on integrity, honor, and duty. This is why I'm working very hard to support Senator Bernie Sanders - not only to get through the Democratic primary, but also to win the presidency. He is the only candidate on both sides who understands the cost of war, who has that foresight to keep our country safe, and who will make sure that our military power is not being when and where it shouldn't be.” PeopleWarCountryWinningSupportMilitaryDutyHonorIntegrityBraveDemocraticSoldierForesight Author:Tulsi Gabbard
“The poster art over the years, art with social critique in it, has always been on class war theme. It's been trying to make that point - that we are larger than they are. They may have guns and pepper spray and helicopters and F16s and the whole U.S. military on their side, but when it comes down to it, we still have the numbers.” TryingArtWarMilitaryGunCritiquePosters Author:Eric Drooker
“We've never had to confront a really nationalistic American government since the War of 1812. But if it ever happened, it would be trouble for us. Such a government would be prepared to use trade as a club in dealing with us - one of many, if it decided to take American power out for a walk around the block. I don't mean military occupation or anything like that, but a desire for unquestioning adherence to whatever the nostrum of the day happened to be. That's rather scary. We've never had to deal with an American president who was completely a wing-nut.” MeanWarDesirePresidentTroubleMilitaryTradeScaryBlockBe PreparedAmerican GovernmentAmerican President Author:Robert Bothwell
“The American financial and military commitment really only kicks in with Korea. Not that Korea was the real game for the Americans; their real fear was that this was just the prelude to a second Korea in Germany. We now know from the Soviet archives that the last thing Stalin was going to do was start a war in Central Europe. The Americans didn't know that, and it was the fear that he might which transformed NATO from a sort of shell game into a real military alliance. That total commitment basically transformed the Marshal Plan into military aid.” WarRealMilitaryCommitmentFinancialAidsSovietNato Author:Tony Judt
“All leaders must be good communicators. But let's be clear, communications is not the same as oratory. Let me give you an example. General George C. Marshall was an exemplary public servant and military officer. He helped mobilize our nation for the Second World War and helped lay the foundation for peace as Secretary of State. He communicated through words, but more loudly through his actions.” WorldGivingWarActionLeaderMilitaryCommunicationLet MeBe GoodServantWar Of The WorldsSecretarySecond World War Author:John Baldoni