David Swanson

David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is director of WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson’s books include War Is A Lie and When the World Outlawed War. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org. He hosts Talk Nation Radio. He is a 2015, 2016, 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee.

Yes, Dubya, Now I Miss You

“I miss the days when unconstitutional mass surveillance, or mass deportations, or the rewriting of laws by presidents was illicit and scandalous. Now these things are generally accepted.”

David Swanson
By David Swanson
In this June 16, 2012 file photo, former President George W. Bush smiles as he takes in a baseball game in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

When George W. Bush made the case for attacking and destroying the nation of Iraq, he made claims that, if true, would have justified nothing. And he proposed as evidence for those claims fraudulent, implausible, and even ridiculous pieces of information. But he was expected to produce evidence. There was no assumption that he should simply be

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ISIS And U.S. Weaponry: At Home And Abroad

The same politicians who claim they’d like to restrict U.S. gun sales have flooded the world markets with the weaponry of mass slaughter.

David Swanson
By David Swanson
Islamic State group militants hold up their flag as they patrol in a commandeered American in Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo)

When someone commits mass murder in the United States and is tied, however significantly, to a foreign terrorist group, there remains a section of the U.S. population willing to recognize and point out that no ideology, fit of hatred, or mental derangement can do the same damage without high-tech weaponry that it does with it. Why does this

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U.S. State Department: Don’t Hurt ISIS

So many enemies, so little logic.

David Swanson
By David Swanson

The U.S. State Department does not want the government of Syria to defeat or weaken ISIS, at least not if doing so means any sort of gain for the Syrian government. Watching a recent video of a State Department spokesperson speaking on that subject might confuse some U.S. war supporters. I doubt many residents of Palmyra, Virginia, or Palmyra,

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CIA On Trial In Virginia For Planting Nuke Evidence In Iran

The CIA drew up plans for a key part of a nuclear bomb (what a CIA officer on Wednesday described in his testimony as “the crown jewels” of a nuclear weapons program), inserted flaws in the plans, and then had a Russian give those flawed plans to Iran.

David Swanson
By David Swanson

The reactor building of Iran's nuclear power plant is seen, at Bushehr, Iran,  750 miles (1,245 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, in this Sunday, Feb. 27, 2005, file photo. Photo: Vahid Salemi/AP Since Tuesday and continuing for the coming three weeks, an amazing trial is happening in U.S. District Court at 401 Courthouse Square in

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Why Risk Prison To Protest Drone Murders? An Activist Explains.

Judging from my email box in recent years — which often differs on this question with such sources of knowledge as my television or the New York Times — the conscience of our country lies somewhere near Syracuse, New York.  Here’s an email from an activist named Judy Bello, for example: “Breaking news: “MaryAnne Grady-Flores […]

David Swanson
By David Swanson

Judging from my email box in recent years -- which often differs on this question with such sources of knowledge as my television or the New York Times -- the conscience of our country lies somewhere near Syracuse, New York.  Here's an email from an activist named Judy Bello, for example: "Breaking news: "MaryAnne Grady-Flores was convicted in

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Public Health Experts Identify Militarism As Threat

Not only does militarism generate genocide rather than preventing it, but the distinction between war and genocide is a very fine one at best.

David Swanson
By David Swanson

A remarkable article appears in the June 2014 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.  (Also available as free PDF here.) The authors, experts in public health, are listed with all their academic credentials: William H. Wiist, DHSc, MPH, MS, Kathy Barker, PhD, Neil Arya, MD, Jon Rohde, MD, Martin Donohoe, MD, Shelley White, PhD, MPH,

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There Was A Method To The Post 9/11 Madness

To your average educated careful consumer of U.S. news media, our militarism looks like ad hoc reactionary responses. A crisis flairs up here. We “intervene” there. An irrational foreign dictator threatens the peace over yonder. We get into wars because we have no choice, and then continue them because ending them would be somehow even […]

David Swanson
By David Swanson
september 11th

To your average educated careful consumer of U.S. news media, our militarism looks like ad hoc reactionary responses. A crisis flairs up here. We “intervene” there. An irrational foreign dictator threatens the peace over yonder. We get into wars because we have no choice, and then continue them because ending them would be somehow even worse than

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