Given a choice Americans will vote for the candidate who promises peace.
President Johnson's legendary 1964 Daisy commercial helped create the impression Senator Goldwater would lead us to war. Johnson won the election and then lead us into a land war in Asia.
Woodrow Wilson's in 1916 created the 20th century template for American participation in war. His successful campaign slogan was "He Kept Us Out of War". The War to End All Wars had been going on for over two years. Machine guns, and trench war had given defense advantages over offense, but military tactics still favored frontal assault.
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The prospect living with rats and trench foot while artillery shells fell then charging fortified machine gun nests through clouds of poison gas was not appealing to those who would have to do it. Wilsons antiwar stance was considered a major factor in winning crucial western states in the election.
Within a month of President Wilson's second inauguration America declared war on Germany. It is impossible to say what would have happened had America not entered the war. When we entered the war Russia was quitting the war, French troops were mutinying, and the German people were starving from the effects of the British Naval blockade. The actual result was a century of carnage. The war was not ended but suspended. Three decades later it was resumed with targeting of population centers and new advanced weaponry.
Leaving out the Korea War - It's hard to see how the southern half of Korea would be better off under the rule of the Kim family. We can see the same pattern in Vietnam with President Johnson tagging his opponent as a warmonger, and President Nixon basing his campaign on a non existent secret plan to end the war while pursuing it until his military forces were no longer able or willing to fight. President Bush, Iraq enough said.
Our Presidents have intelligent men. The have risen to the top of their profession. They must be bold men to even want the most dangerous job in the history of the United States. Egberto Willies makes a powerful argument that corporate interests benefit from continued war. However Presidents lead us into war. I lean toward the idea that these people see themselves as men of action who must do something and rather than be seen as impotent non actors.
We cannot fix Syria. It's a damn shame. If we want to send a message, declare Assad to be a war criminal, but it must be obvious that there is no choice before we start making large explosions in another country. It is not. Please call and write your Senators and Representatives to have the courage not to kill.