|
|
|
The military policy of the United States is defensive, not offensive.
America will go to war only in defense of the Nation, and no
other nation need maintain a ship or a soldier as protection
against a war of aggression instituted by the United States.
America desires no territory belonging to other peoples. She
seeks only self-preservation and the privilege of self-determination
in peace with all the nations of the earth. Safety from external danger is the most powerful dictation of national conduct. - Hamilton. The genius and character of our institutions are peaceful * * * and the power to declare war was not conferred upon Congress for the purposes of aggression or aggrandizement, but to enable the General Government to vindicate by arms, if it should become necessary, its own rights and the rights of its citizens. - United States Supreme Court. |
