Citizen Power, by Mike Gravel: on War & Peace

US creates threats to our own security by acting out of fear

In Vietnam we have seen that we create the threats to our own security, through our own actions & the commitments our leaders make. By no stretch could the type of government in power in the southern half of a tiny country halfway around the world affect the security of the US or any of its vital interests. By losing sight of the negligible risks to ourselves, by permitting commitments to be made in our name, we became militarily involved. We were our own worst enemy. This is the ultimate threat to the security of a nation, when its own people no longer have confidence in its government.