George Orwell Quotes

An aggressive war is the great crime against everything good in the world. A defensive war, which must necessarily turn to aggressive at the earliest moment, is the necessary great counter-crime. But never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime. Ask the infantry and ask the dead.

As soon as one nation claims the right to take preventive action, other countries will naturally do the same. If we go down that road, where are we going?

The preemptive use of force has always been part of international law.

Armed attack has a definition in international law. It means sudden, overwhelming, instantaneous ongoing attack.

Missile strikes - or any other such action - against a sovereign nation is an act of war.

I am not a pacifist and I would back a lawful, coherent and compelling case for the use of military force by the U.K. against Isis.

Declarations of war have never been a constitutional requirement for military action abroad.

This country of ours has committed the most serious act of aggression in its history by engaging in a war of aggression without a declaration of war by Congress.

The purpose of war is to support your government's decisions by force.

There is no more dangerous thing for a democracy than a foreign policy based on presidential preventive war.

The invasion of Iraq was illegal from the start.

Undoubtedly the war with Iraq was a tragedy. I think it was also a crime.

Preventive war was an invention of Hitler. I would not even listen to anyone seriously that came and talked about such a thing.

If we can kill Saddam, we should.

Unless a nation's life faces peril, war is murder.

I am against preventive war because it means measures by the UN against us.

The Bush administration said today there is a lot of support for us to attack Iraq. Exxon, Mobil, Texaco, Chevron, they're all lining up.

We are not at war with Egypt. We are in an armed conflict.

If there is no direct threat why are we invading?

What I've learned, and will try to remember from now on, is that defending your country's credibility is never sufficient reason to fight a war.

What our men and women in uniform are doing is providing for the Iraqi people and other surrounding nations the opportunity to see, to taste and to experience the democracy that equals freedom and ultimately justice.

I have always thought that Israel, as an independent and sovereign nation, had a right to defend itself.

When under attack, no country is obligated to collect permission slips from allies to strike back.

Some in my party threaten to send a message that they don't know a just war when they see it, and more broadly that they're not prepared to use our military strength to protect our security and the cause of freedom.

As a matter of international law, the United States is in an armed conflict with al-Qa'ida, the Taliban, and associated forces, in response to the 9/11 attacks, and we may also use force consistent with our inherent right of national self-defense.