
Contents
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INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION
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12.I. LYING AND DECEPTION IN ORDER TO CREATE A JUSTIFICATION OR PRETEXT FOR WAR 12.I. LYING AND DECEPTION IN ORDER TO CREATE A JUSTIFICATION OR PRETEXT FOR WAR
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12.I.1. Hearst and the Spanish American War 12.I.1. Hearst and the Spanish American War
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12.I.2. Franklin Roosevelt and World War II 12.I.2. Franklin Roosevelt and World War II
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12.I.3. Lyndon Johnson and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution 12.I.3. Lyndon Johnson and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
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12.II. ANOTHER CASE: GEORGE W. BUSH, DICK CHENEY, AND THE IRAQ WAR OF 2003 12.II. ANOTHER CASE: GEORGE W. BUSH, DICK CHENEY, AND THE IRAQ WAR OF 2003
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12.II.1. Claims About Iraq's “Weapons of Mass‐Destruction” 12.II.1. Claims About Iraq's “Weapons of Mass‐Destruction”
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12.II.2. Claims about the Connection between Iraq and Al Qaeda 12.II.2. Claims about the Connection between Iraq and Al Qaeda
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12.II.3. The Falsity of the Claims about Iraq's Weapons and its Connections with Al Qaeda 12.II.3. The Falsity of the Claims about Iraq's Weapons and its Connections with Al Qaeda
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12.II.4. Reasons to Think that Some of the Claims about Iraq's Weapons and Ties to Al Qaeda Constituted Lying or (Attempted) Deception 12.II.4. Reasons to Think that Some of the Claims about Iraq's Weapons and Ties to Al Qaeda Constituted Lying or (Attempted) Deception
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12.II.5. Lying and Deception about Other Matters Related to the Iraq War 12.II.5. Lying and Deception about Other Matters Related to the Iraq War
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12.III. A CASE OF LYING/DECEPTION TO AVOID WAR? 12.III. A CASE OF LYING/DECEPTION TO AVOID WAR?
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12.IV. A MORAL ASSESSMENT OF (SOME OF) THE CASES 12.IV. A MORAL ASSESSMENT OF (SOME OF) THE CASES
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12.IV.1. Lyndon Johnson 12.IV.1. Lyndon Johnson
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12.IV.2. Bush and Cheney 12.IV.2. Bush and Cheney
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12.IV.3. Over‐optimism as a Major Cause of Wars 12.IV.3. Over‐optimism as a Major Cause of Wars
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12.IV.4. Franklin Roosevelt 12.IV.4. Franklin Roosevelt
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12.IV.5. Acheson, Dulles, and Eisenhower 12.IV.5. Acheson, Dulles, and Eisenhower
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ENDNOTES ENDNOTES
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12 Lying and Deception about Questions of War and Peace: Case Studies
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Published:April 2010
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Abstract
This chapter examines cases in which political leaders and public figures told lies or engaged in deception as a pretext for fighting wars. The examples given here include William Randolph Hearst, Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, George W. Bush, and Dick Cheney. The chapter devotes particular attention to the case of Bush and Cheney and argues that they lied and attempted to deceive the public. Although this claim will strike many readers as obvious, it has not been adequately defended by those who make it. The journalists, public officials, and commentators who have accused Bush and Cheney of lying and deception do not offer careful definitions of lying and deception, much less a careful application of those definitions to the cases at issue. Certain features of my definition of lying are salient in these cases and help to show that Bush and Cheney lied and attempted to deceive the public – they strongly warranted the truth of claims that they knew were open to serious doubts. In most of these cases, lying and deception led to disastrous consequences and were morally wrong. However, the chapter argues that Franklin Roosevelt was morally justified in his lying and deception in order to aid Britain during the early stages of WWII. The chapter also discusses cases in which Dean Acheson, John Foster Dulles, and Dwight Eisenhower may have engaged in lying and deception in order to avoid wars. These also seem be to cases of justifiable lying/deception.
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