Advance Praise for War No More
“Do you think that humankind can ever eliminate war? David Swanson makes perhaps as good an argument as can be found. Think of the death penalty. Once considered critical to our security, the death penalty is now universally considered optional and widely considered archaic, counter-productive, and shameful. To an even greater extent, this has been the fate of slavery. Why should war not suffer the same destiny?” —William Blum, author
“David Swanson does it again. Yet another tour de force against war and for peace. This book is required reading for everyone in the peace movement. As Swanson argues, we must abolish war before war abolishes us. There will be no war criminals tribunal after World War III. Swanson’s book is a beacon of hope to a frightened, paralyzed humanity.” —Francis A. Boyle, professor
“War No More reminds us that war abolition can be as successful as was slavery abolition—once we recognize that wars are made by societies that tolerate war, and that wars can be avoided by a cultural rejection of war. As long as Americans feel helpless about their ability to have an impact on the U.S. government, wars will continue, but Swanson’s book and his life are antidotes to American helplessness.” —Bruce E. Levine, author
“I am always impressed and inspired by David’s prolific energy and I admire his unwavering opposition to all war, not just the ones started or continued by Republicans. In War No More, David once again lays out an impeccable case for abolishing war as a tool of Empire.” —Cindy Sheehan, author and peace activist
“Living in the most militarized culture on earth, we can get trapped into thinking that our choices are limited to going to war or doing nothing. In War No More, Swanson completely destroys this deadly myth. He convincingly, passionately shows there are many options available to our enormously creative minds once we decide war is not an option of last resort—it is no option at all. —Mike Ferner, former president, Veterans For Peace
“The ideas in this book have truly opened up a new way for me to think about war; or, to be more specific, ending it.” —Sean McCord, playwright
“David Swanson writes like he talks; that is to say, in clear, sharp language that gets to the root of the issue, but in a very personal way...as if you are having a one-on-one conversation with him. As a natural follow-on to Swanson’s previous books about war, War Is A Lie, and When the World Outlawed War, he brings us to the logical next step: ending war. Swanson shows us that abolishing war is not unfathomable, but that it will take more than just a change in mindset; it will take real action and real work—a movement. Count me in.” —Leah Bolger, former president, Veterans For Peace
“Long ago, abolitionists caused huge discomfort. They still do. The work of David Swanson is in the vital spirit of William Lloyd Garrison, who had a clear answer when a friend urged him to keep more cool because he seemed on fire. ‘I have need to be all on fire,’ Garrison replied, ‘for there are mountains of ice around me to melt.’ Swanson’s new book War No More generates an abundance of heat and light. It will serve as a powerful blowtorch for efforts to abolish war.” —Norman Solomon, author
War No More
The Case for Abolition
by David Swanson
With a Foreword by Kathy Kelly
Charlottesville, VA
First edition—2013
Also by David Swanson
Tube World (2012)
The Military Industrial Complex at 50 (2011)
When The World Outlawed War (2011)
War Is A Lie (2010)
Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency
and Forming a More Perfect Union (2009)
The 35 Articles of Impeachment (Introduction, 2008)
• • •
©2013 David Swanson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means, including mechanical, electric, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Swanson, David, 1969 Dec. 1-
War No More: The Case for Abolition
Book design by David Swanson
Photo by Scott Strazzante, Chicago Tribune
First Edition / September 2013
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-1990-9
We do not care-
That much is clear.
Not enough
Of us care
Anywhere.
We are not wise-
For that reason,
Mankind dies.
To think
Is much against
The will.
Better-
And easier-
To kill.
—Langston Hughes
FOREWORD
I lived in Iraq during the 2003 Shock and Awe bombing. On April 1st, about two weeks into the aerial bombardment, a medical doctor who was one of my fellow peace team members urged me to go with her to the Al Kindi Hospital in Baghdad, where she knew she could be of some help. With no medical training, I tried to be unobtrusive, as families raced into the hospital carrying wounded loved ones. At one point, a woman sitting next to me began to weep uncontrollably. “How I tell him?” she asked, in broken English. “What I say?” She was Jamela Abbas, the aunt of a young man, named Ali. Early in the morning on March 31st, U.S. war planes had fired on her family home, while she alone of all her family was outside. Jamela wept as she searched for words to tell Ali that surgeons had amputated both of his badly damaged arms, close to his shoulders. What’s more, she would have to tell him that she was now his sole surviving
