Former US presidential candidates rally against ‘war machine’

Hundreds of protesters gathered in Washington, DC for the ‘March Against the War Machine’ rally, with a number of prominent speakers from across the political spectrum calling on the US government to end its military support for Ukraine in favor of diplomacy, and slash the Pentagon budget to address numerous domestic issues.

The anti-war event held at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday marked almost one year since the start of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine, and featured a wide range of public figures, journalists and former politicians, including several US presidential hopefuls.

Former US Congresswoman and presidential candidate, Tulsi Gabbard, addressed the crowd of several hundred people with a reminder of what caused her to run in 2020, and how there was “no other candidate willing to talk about… the dangers where this new Cold War and nuclear arms race would eventually lead.”

“And so here we are. Two short years later what I warned about then is now a reality. This proxy that we are fighting against Russia right now could turn at any moment into a direct conflict between the United States/NATO and Russia,” she said, warning that “anyone with a little bit of common sense” knows that a Cold War can at any moment turn into a hot war against a nuclear-armed country.”

“And here is the insanity of it all: we have talking heads on TV, we have politicians, we have very powerful people here in the United States and all around the world speaking with a straight face… about ‘how we gonna fight and win’… as if such a war could ever be won. It cannot be won,” she stated.

Whether intentional or accidental, there is only one destination for such war, and that is a nuclear holocaust.

Former Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein called for slashing the Pentagon’s enormous budget, arguing in her speech that even the “$100 billion we are spending to support war in Ukraine” could help mitigate a whole range of domestic problems.

“This murderous military spending consumes resources desperately needed here at home: by 70,000 people who die each year for lack of health insurance; for a half million homeless people on any given night out in the street; for 33 million marred in student debt; a 100 million in medical debt, 22 million impoverished children and on and on.”

Former Congressman, Dennis Kucinich, who fought for the Democratic nomination in 2004 and 2008, cited a bombshell report by Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh to demand accountability from the US government.

“In blowing up the Nord Stream pipeline, this government… has used illegal and unconstitutional means to destroy the energy resources needed to protect millions of people in Europe during the winter, and then to profit from its illegal actions by selling energy to Europe at a four to six times markup,” Kucinich said.

We know what each of you did… we will not rest until you are held accountable by Congress, by the International Criminal Court, and by the American people at the next election.

Kucinich added that the US government’s “greatest talent is to craft misinformation and disinformation to subvert the media and misuse it as an instrument to incite fear and hatred among our people, exciting partisan divisions at home through cross-politics, and stirring ancient hatreds abroad through lies, deceit, false flag operations and provocations which profane the very essence of democracy.” 

READ MORE: US responds to Nord Stream sabotage allegations

Veteran US Congressman and former US presidential candidate, Ron Paul, claimed to a round of cheering applause that a “simple” way to stop the wars is to “end the Fed!” – and to not send people to war unless they vote for it.

“If you can't print the money, you can't collect taxes by debasing the currency and stealing the wealth from the people, unnerving the middle class and the poor because that's who really pays for this, you couldn't have a war…”

"Why do the people go to war?” Paul said. “If you think you should have war – have a vote and make sure that the vote is carried out by the people between 18 and 24. This is the group that gets punished the most.”