Antiwar Movement Quotes

“I absolutely refuse to associate myself with anyone who cannot discern the essential night-and-day difference between theocratic fascism and liberal secular democracy, even less do I want to engage with those who are incapable of recognizing the basic moral distinction between premeditated mass murder and unintentional killing.”
― Christopher Hitchens, Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left

“My quarrel with Chomsky goes back to the Balkan wars of the 1990s, where he more or less openly represented the "Serbian Socialist Party" (actually the national-socialist and expansionist dictatorship of Slobodan Milosevic) as the victim. Many of us are proud of having helped organize to prevent the slaughter and deportation of Europe's oldest and largest and most tolerant Muslim minority, in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in Kosovo. But at that time, when they were real, Chomsky wasn't apparently interested in Muslim grievances. He only became a voice for that when the Taliban and Al Qaeda needed to be represented in their turn as the victims of a "silent genocide" in Afghanistan. Let me put it like this, if a supposed scholar takes the Christian-Orthodox side when it is the aggressor, and then switches to taking the "Muslim" side when Muslims commit mass murder, I think that there is something very nasty going on. And yes, I don't think it is exaggerated to describe that nastiness as "anti-American" when the power that stops and punishes both aggressions is the United States.”
― Christopher Hitchens

“First Afghanistan, now Iraq. So who's next? Syria? North Korea? Iran? Where will it all end?' If these illegal interventions are permitted to continue, the implication seems to be, pretty soon, horror of horrors, no murderously repressive regimes might remain.”
― Daniel Kofman, A Matter of Principle: Humanitarian Arguments for War in Iraq

“There is a noticeable element of the pathological in some current leftist critiques, which I tend to attribute to feelings of guilt allied to feelings of impotence. Not an attractive combination, because it results in self-hatred.”
― Christopher Hitchens, Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left

“Nothing in Chomsky's account acknowledges the difference between intending to kill a child, because of the effect you hope to produce on its parents (we call this "terrorism"), and inadvertently killing a child in an attempt to capture or kill an avowed child murderer (we call this "collateral damage"). In both cases a child has died, and in both cases it is a tragedy. But the ethical status of the perpetrators, be they individuals or states, could not be more distinct... For Chomsky, intentions do not seem to matter. Body count is all.”
― Sam Harris, The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason

“There was a time in my life when I did a fair bit of work for the tempestuous Lucretia Stewart, then editor of the American Express travel magazine, Departures. Together, we evolved a harmless satire of the slightly driveling style employed by the journalists of tourism. 'Land of Contrasts' was our shorthand for it. ('Jerusalem: an enthralling blend of old and new.' 'South Africa: a harmony in black and white.' 'Belfast, where ancient meets modern.') It was as you can see, no difficult task. I began to notice a few weeks ago that my enemies in the 'peace' movement had decided to borrow from this tattered style book. The mantra, especially in the letters to this newspaper, was: 'Afghanistan, where the world's richest country rains bombs on the world's poorest country.'

Poor fools. They should never have tried to beat me at this game. What about, 'Afghanistan, where the world's most open society confronts the world's most closed one'? 'Where American women pilots kill the men who enslave women.' 'Where the world's most indiscriminate bombers are bombed by the world's most accurate ones.' 'Where the largest number of poor people applaud the bombing of their own regime.' I could go on. (I think number four may need a little work.) But there are some suggested contrasts for the 'doves' to paste into their scrapbook. Incidentally, when they look at their scrapbooks they will be able to re-read themselves saying things like, 'The bombing of Kosovo is driving the Serbs into the arms of Milosevic.”
― Christopher Hitchens, Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left

“Some peaceniks clear their throats by saying that, of course, they oppose Saddam Hussein as much as anybody, though not enough to support doing anything about him.”
― Christopher Hitchens, Christopher Hitchens and His Critics: Terror, Iraq, and the Left

“Those who deserve war medals are only those who did not take up arms in war and never resorted to violence!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“When war begins somewhere, the attacking party is guilty; but if the war is going on, then both sides are guilty because when it comes to war the only thing that matters is that the killings stop immediately and if surrender is going to stop the killing then it has to be done! It is unacceptable for the present generations to die for the freedom of the next generations because to live is the right of every generation! Surrender is not defeat, you can surrender and continue the war with non-violent methods!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Come, come and sit beside me and watch the Sun and Sunflowers toast each other and perceive that peace is just a drink away from the eternity.”
― Bhuwan Thapaliya

“Peace will claw its way out, anyhow.
War cannot bury it forever.”
― Bhuwan Thapaliya

“If you take shelter in a cabin in the woods while everyone else is fighting, everyone will call you a coward, not knowing that you are afraid not of dying but of killing, that you are fleeing from the war just to protect your humanity!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“I’m scared. I’m scared of the dawn. I’m scared of dusk. I’m scared of anything in between. I’m scared of everything. I’m waiting for peace. Then I know, I won’t be scared of anything.”
― Bhuwan Thapaliya

“Peace isn’t
dead and buried.
It is only in a coma.
It will spring to life
again soon.
Very soon”
― Bhuwan Thapaliya

“Peace never came. Maybe we’d never wanted it from inside. We need geopolitical drama, we need commotion, we need a divide-and-rule policy, and we need to sell weapons and ammunition. We need profit. Who needs peace?”
― Bhuwan Thapaliya

“If a commander can achieve a victory in a war by keeping all his own soldiers alive and without killing the enemy soldiers, that is a real victory! Is such a victory possible? No, it's not possible, that's why there is never victory in war, and if there is, it is only the victory of death!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“War is a crime of mass murder; deciding on war is a crime; the war industry is a crime; participating in war is a crime; working in the war industry is a crime; warmongering is a crime; everything related to war is a great crime!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Let there be no unnecessary expenditure of power. Let there be flowers.”
― Bhuwan Thapaliya

“Peace is one thing we all want and the thing we all need. But the problem is that we spend lots of time waiting for the war to stop instead of taking steps to end it.”
― Bhuwan Thapaliya, Our Nepal, Our Pride

“We can transform ourselves and the world around us. It's up to us to make it happen. We are capable.”
― Bhuwan Thapaliya

“There is no greater joy than peace.”
― Bhuwan Thapaliya

“If we can ignite peace inside us, we can ignite it anywhere.”
― Bhuwan Thapaliya

“I no longer believe that we can change anything in the world by war. How many more wars do we need? How many deaths? How many rapes? How much destruction? How much pain? I don't believe we can’t change anything through peace.”
― Bhuwan Thapaliya

“You're proud of your country's history, aren't you? How many countries have you conquered, how many countries have you brought to their knees, how many lands have you annexed to yourself! Do you know what you're bragging about? How many people you've killed, how many lives you've destroyed, that's exactly what you're bragging about! You boast of barbarism, primitiveness and evil! Your soul is ugly!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“There has never been a war that did not lead to a graveyard, and anyone who starts something that does lead to a graveyard is the lowest of the low!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“There is only one way to be a hero in a war: Not to kill anyone! There is only one way to emerge from a war as a human being: To put down the weapon given to you! This is the only honourable behaviour for both sides fighting each other!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“War—whether waged with weapons or tariffs—brings only loss. Civilization thrives on cooperation, not conflict.”
― Bhuwan Thapaliya

“Everyone knows how to start a conflict; it's a lesson we're subtly taught everywhere. But how often are we taught to cultivate peace? How often do we truly learn to nurture it?”
― Bhuwan Thapaliya

“Don't take sides in a war! If no one takes sides in a war, that war will end immediately! Wars continue because you take sides and support your side!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“When the world roars in anger, let peace be your quiet answer.”
― Bhuwan Thapaliya