“next to of course god america i
love you land of the pilgrims’ and so forth oh
say can you see by the dawn’s early my
country ’tis of centuries come and go
and are no more what of it we should worry
in every language even deafanddumb
thy sons acclaim your glorious name by gorry
by jingo by gee by gosh by gum
why talk of beauty what could be more beaut-
iful than these heroic happy dead
who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter
they did not stop to think they died instead
then shall the voice of liberty be mute?”

He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water

—e. e. cummings

Versions of this speech were certainly intoned yesterday from sea to polluted sea, with (doubtless) the canard the Americans are “a peace-loving people.” Since we are about to head into another crazy-making season of political campaigns, it would be wise to keep the following list of America’s wars—conflicts, that is, involving American (Colonial or National) soldiers. As you can see, we have been at war since the beginning, only managing to shoehorn in a period of peace now and then, during most of which we were taking a breather to prepare for further war. Certainly any American born after 1940 has never lived in a country at peace. Maybe it’s time to make a clear, specific commitment to ending our wars of Empire a precondition for giving any politician our votes. In any case, here is the list, with links for anyone curious as to why we spent blood and treasure on this or that adventure: