"Militarism means a domination of the military man over the civilian, an undue emphasis on military needs, policies, spirit, values and ideals. . . "Militariness means a readiness to defend one's country's interests by force of arms, the acceptance of the military profession as honourable and necessary. Only a complete pacifist could validly condemn militariness. Others, aware that wars are facts of life, however unpleasant, would agree that every nation has to cultivate some militariness."
Peter Phillips. The Tragedy of Nazi Germany
"Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes. And armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended. Its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds, are added to those of subduing the force of the people. The same malignant aspect in republicanism may be traced in the inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war . . . and in the degeneracy of manners and morals, engendered by both. No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare."
James Madison, April 20, 1795
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KNOWLEDGE IS POWER! ЗНАНИЕ - СИЛА!
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - American soldiers on Friday sealed off the village where Saddam Hussein was born and ordered adults to register for identity cards, while insurgents mounted a series of harassing attacks on U.S. military and Iraqi government targets in the northern city of Mosul.
Starting around midnight Thursday, U.S. soldiers, Iraqi police and civil defense forces moved into Uja, a small dusty village about 10 miles southeast of Tikrit.
Soldiers stretched concertina wire around the perimeter of the village and established checkpoints. Residents over the age of 18 will be required to have registration cards to move in and out of the village, U.S. officers said.
TWO US soldiers who marched down the aisle with Iraqi brides are to face a court martial.
"They've been formally charged with disobeying an order - no fraternising with the Iraqi people," said Vicki McKee, mother of one of the soldiers. Her son, Sergeant Sean Blackwell, 27, married a English-speaking Iraqi physician, 25, in August.
They exchanged vows during a double ceremony with Blackwell's friend Corporal Brett Dagen, 37, and another Iraqi doctor in her mid 20s.
Both women had been working with US troops.
"How could they go to Iraq and not be friendly and fraternise?" Mrs McKee told the New York Post.
Moscow - President Vladimir Putin said that Russia will reserve the right to launch preventive strikes if other countries continue using force without United Nations approval.
Speaking to Italian journalists in remarks posted on the Kremlin website Tuesday, Putin reaffirmed Russia's belief that using military force must always be authorised by the United Nations.
But, he added: "If the principle of the preventive use of force is established in international practice, in the practice of international life, Russia reserves the right to act similarly to defend its national interests."
FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - The Jawal family was one of the few in this flashpoint town who liked the Americans -- until U.S. F-16 jets dropped 500-pound bombs near their home.
"We used to have hopes of the Americans after they removed Saddam (Hussein). We thought they would deliver on their promises," said Khatoun Jawal.
"We liked them until this weekend. Why did they drop bombs near us? Some of my children were so scared they fainted."
A U.S. military source said F-16 fighter-bombers dropped three 500-pound bombs near Falluja, west of Baghdad, on Sunday after unspecified attacks on U.S. troops.
