In time of peril, like the needle to the loadstone, obedience, irrespective of rank, generally flies to him who is best fitted to command.
Anyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war.
But if Saddam had been in a position credibly to threaten America or any of its allies, or the coalition's forces, with attack by missiles with nuclear warheads, would we have gone to the Gulf at all?
Nothing is easy in war. Mistakes are always paid for in casualties and troops are quick to sense any blunder made by their commanders.
In the days and in the years that are to come we shall work for a just and honorable peace, a durable peace, as today we work and fight for total victory in war. We can and we will achieve such a peace.
Be polite; write diplomatically; even in a declaration of war one observes the rules of politeness.
So man's proneness to engage in war is still a fact. But wisdom born of experience should tell us that war is obsolete.
France frightens no one; it no longer even has the means to intimidate: it's beginning to horrify, and that is all.
The fact that most of the time human beings put the truth about the nature and risks of the nuclear war out of their minds because it is too painful and therefore not "acceptable", does not alter the nature and risks of such war. The device of "rejection" may temporarily cover up anxiety, but it does not bestow peace of mind and emotional security.
We are committed to the proposition that principles of morality and considerations for our own security will never permit us to acquiesce in a peace dictated by aggressors and sponsored by appeasers. We know that enduring peace cannot be bought at the cost of other people's freedom.