War Is a Lie (David Swanson) - self publication - 2010 - 367 pages

This is an important book meticulously researched, citing over 300 sources.  Author Swanson was the creator of the website www.afterdowningstreet.org that exposed many of the Iraq war lies when the mainstream media was silent.  He was also the press secretary for Dennis Kucinich during his presidential campaign in 2004.  In this book, Swanson does a good job of outlining the lies that have led to modern wars.  None of the 20th or 21st century presidents are immune from Swanson's attack on their war policies.  It seems that the most difficult obstacle for anti-war authors is the outcome of WWII, aka "The Good War."  Swanson claims that WWII could have been prevented but by 1938, Hitler's march through Europe was inevitable, and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor sealed it.  We can only speculate about what the world would be like otherwise.  I agree that the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were unnecessary as Japan had already lost.  Harry Truman was a mass murderer as was George W. Bush with his preemptive attack on Iraq.  Swanson claims that every U.S. president has blood on his hands.  The war machine is the biggest contributor to the economic problems of the day.  I am in total agreement with Swanson's proposal: "A campaign to defund the war machine can also be a campaign to fund jobs, schools, housing, transportation, green energy, and everything else that should be funded.  Such a two-sided campaign can bring peace activists together with activists for domestic causes.  When that happens in a big enough way, our culture will change, war lies will not seem credible, and war will be a thing of the past."  [JAM 1/3/2011]