Tom Lehrer Quotes

Enemies are necessary for the wheels of the U.S. military machine to turn.

We must use all the tools of American power in resolving disputes, including diplomacy. And we must have sufficient congressional debate and oversight before ever putting another U.S. solider in harm's way.

Very near the heart of all foreign affairs is the relationship between policy and military power.

If the United States were attacked by rockets from one of our neighboring countries, we would be a lot tougher on them than Israel has been on the Palestinians. When we were attacked, we sent an army abroad and took over Afghanistan from the Taliban.

The world has nothing to fear from military ambition in our Government

Keep America strong. Strong in our values, strong in our economy, and strong in our military might. We hope to never have to use our military strength, but the world counts on a strong America to keep the worst actors from doing the worst things.

We are committed to peace but we will defend our borders with full might.

Judge candidly what a wretched figure the American empire will exhibit in the eye of other nations, without a power to array and support a military force for its own protection.

War on terrorism defines the central preoccupation of the United States in the world today, and it does reflect in my view a rather narrow and extremist vision of foreign policy of the world's first superpower, of a great democracy, with genuinely idealistic traditions.

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.

So I think that our foreign policy, the president's strong and principled leadership when it comes to the war against terror and foreign policy is going to be an asset.

When I decide who to vote for as president, I ask myself who will be best for America and for the world. An important component of my answer involves my assessment of the candidate's willingness and ability to protect Israel's security, since I strongly believe that a strong Israel serves the interests of the United States and of world peace.

I am the commander in chief of the United States armed forces, and Iraq is gonna have to ultimately provide for its own security.

A president cannot sit on his hands and be seen as passive in the face of ruthless action by a foreign dictator.

A government without the power of defense! It is a solecism.

I certainly don't like a label that suggests I believe that the military is the solution to most of the world's problems.

What a country calls its vital... interests are not things that help its people live, but things that help it make war.

Our national aims can be realized only by military means. The matter needs no further elaboration or interpretation.

Power alone is respected and ... in order to gain peace, the United States has no alternative but to wield it

You help us pay for the war we’ll fight; we’ll launch it while you’re asleep at night. We don’t need friends all around the world; We’ll buy our friends with our flag unfurled, And spread our arms on a global scale To show the world that we still prevail. Oh, we’re not leaders inspiring peace, But we’re in power as the world’s police. So pay your tax for our little war, And we’ll not ask for any more. This year!

Apparently, the United State's threatening other nations is protected under the 1st Amendment.

What's the point of having this superb military your always talking about if we can’t use it?

Do we really want a world in which every country feels entitled to attack any other that might someday threaten it?

No nation has ever ridden to superpower status except on a tide of war and that includes the United States.

You have repeatedly asserted that you and the German people have no desire for war. If this is true there need be no war. Nothing can persuade the peoples of the earth that any governing power has any right or need to inflict the consequences of war on its own or any other people save in the cause of self-evident home defense.