Remember the Soldiers, But Never Forget the Lies That Sent Them to Die

Patriotism Hijacked: Honoring the Dead to Excuse the Deceit

Every November, we’re told to “thank a veteran” and “honor their sacrifice.” Fine. But let’s not stop there. Let’s ask why they had to make that sacrifice in the first place. Bovard opens his piece with the Veterans Day rituals of 2018, highlighting how President Trump and other leaders gathered in Paris to mark 100 years since the end of World War I.

Trump talked about the “noble peace” that American soldiers died for. But as Bovard rightly points out, that peace was shattered almost as soon as the ink dried on the Treaty of Versailles. Why? Because the treaty itself—driven by political conniving and economic punishment—planted the seeds for World War II. It wasn’t a peace treaty. It was a time bomb.

 

This is the pattern. Glorify the war, bury the truth, and repeat.

Woodrow Wilson: The Original War Fraud

Let’s go back to World War I. President Woodrow Wilson ran for reelection in 1916 under the slogan, “He kept us out of war.” Months later, he dragged the country into the bloodiest conflict in human history up to that point. Why? He said it was to “make the world safe for democracy.”

What he actually did was suspend the Constitution. Wilson unleashed one of the most aggressive campaigns of domestic repression in American history. He jailed dissenters. He censored newspapers. He proposed internment camps for “alien enemies.” Over 100,000 Americans died in that war. Another 500,000 perished from the Spanish flu that followed—spread globally thanks to war mobilization.

And what was the result? Not democracy—but chaos. Lenin rose in Russia. Mussolini in Italy. Hitler in Germany. Wilson’s “idealism” laid the foundation for the very dictators we’d soon fight again.

A Century of War, Built on Lies

Bovard’s piece moves chronologically through American history, and each example reinforces the same brutal point: U.S. wars are almost always launched under false pretenses.

The Mexican-American War (1846):

President James Polk claimed that Mexican troops had “shed American blood on American soil.” He never provided evidence. That war gave us Texas, California, and much of the Southwest—but it also sowed division that helped lead to the Civil War.

The Spanish-American War (1898):

We entered that war after the USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor. Blame was immediately placed on Spain—without evidence. Later investigations cast doubt on the whole story. President McKinley promised not to annex territory—but did exactly that, launching a brutal occupation of the Philippines that killed hundreds of thousands.

World War II (1940):

FDR promised Americans “your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars.” Then he maneuvered the country into WWII—secretly agreeing to Stalin’s control over Eastern Europe. Yes, Hitler had to be stopped. But in the process, we handed half the continent to another monster. That wasn’t “freedom.” It was just a different brand of tyranny.

Vietnam: The War to Avoid Embarrassment

By the 1960s, you'd think America would’ve learned. But no. Lyndon Johnson massively escalated the war in Vietnam using a manufactured incident in the Gulf of Tonkin. Congress gave him sweeping powers based on this staged event.

What were we fighting for? Publicly, to stop communism. Privately, as a 1965 Pentagon memo admitted, the real goal was to “avoid a humiliating U.S. defeat.” Nearly 60,000 Americans died—not for victory, but to protect the egos of liars in Washington.

This is important. Reputation became more important than reality. That's a dangerous place for any country to be.

Afghanistan and Iraq: Lies for the Modern Era

Fast forward to 2001. America is still bleeding from 9/11. The government responds by invading Afghanistan to root out Al Qaeda. Once Bin Laden and his lieutenants slipped away, the mission shape-shifted: now we were going to nation-build. We’d bring democracy to Afghanistan.

Two decades and $2 trillion later, the Taliban is back in power. The elections we funded were riddled with fraud. The government we propped up collapsed in weeks. So what exactly did those soldiers die for?

In Iraq, the deception was even worse. We were told Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. He didn’t. Then we were told we’d bring democracy. Instead, we fueled a civil war and empowered Iran.

Let me be clear: thousands of Americans were killed. Tens of thousands were maimed. Trillions of dollars vanished. And the region is more unstable today than it was in 2002.

The True Cost: Soldiers Used, Abused, and Forgotten

Bovard closes with one final indictment: Politicians don’t care about the soldiers they praise. He’s right.

• When four U.S. troops were killed in Niger in 2017, most members of Congress had no idea we even had troops there.
• Walter Reed Army Medical Center was left in rat-infested disrepair in 2007. Where were the veterans' champions then?

These are not isolated cases. They reveal a systemic truth: Our political class sees soldiers as tools—not as human beings.

And let’s not forget: while these soldiers bled, defense contractors made billions. Politicians collected campaign donations. The war machine rolled on.

War, Money, and the Machinery of Control

If you’re still under the illusion that these wars were about “freedom,” let me bring it full circle.

Endless war fuels everything the political elite depends on.
It justifies surveillance.
It justifies money-printing.
It justifies military expansion and the erosion of civil liberties.

Every dollar spent on war is a dollar created out of thin air by the Federal Reserve, handed to defense contractors, and billed to future generations through inflation and debt.

That’s the racket. War isn’t just fought on foreign soil—it’s waged here at home, against your savings, your rights, and your freedom.

What Real Patriotism Looks Like

You want to honor the troops? Then do this:

• Stop voting for warmongers.

• Resist the next military “emergency.”

• Question every justification for foreign intervention.

And most importantly: protect your money and your freedom from the system that profits from lies.

Next Steps: Protect Yourself Before the Next Crisis

The political machine that lied about war is lying about your money, too. The same people who sent Americans to die for oil and optics are now inflating your savings away, criminalizing dissent, and building the digital rails for the next great confiscation.

You need to prepare. That means pulling your head out of the mainstream news cycle and getting information from people who see the system for what it is.

1. Download Bill Brocius’ free guide – “7 Steps to Protect Yourself from Bank Failure.”
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2. Read Bill’s book – “The End of Banking As You Know It.”
   It lays bare how the Federal Reserve, debt-based money, and military spending are connected—and how to get your money out of the blast zone.
3. Join the Inner Circle Newsletter – just $19.95/month.
   Bill’s team breaks down macro events before they reach CNBC. Learn how wars, policy shifts, and banking instability are engineered—and how to front-run the chaos.

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Final Word: History Is Warning Us—Loud and Clear

Bovard’s article is not an insult to the military. It’s a warning to all of us.

History doesn’t repeat—but it does rhyme. And right now, the same con artists who lied us into Vietnam and Iraq are whispering about new threats in the South China Sea, Iran, Eastern Europe, and even the “war on domestic extremism.”

Don’t fall for it. Not again. Not ever.
Honor the soldier. But never forget the lie.

— Eric Blair, Dedollarize News