Not sure if this has ever been brought up (I tried a search), and I didn’t know where else to put this, since it doesn’t really fit in the other forums, so I’ll just start this off with a random “George Bush sucks” comment so it’ll stay in the Pit.
On to the quote.
“Of course, the people do not want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to the farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don’t want war . . . that is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it is a democracy or a fascist dicatorship or a parliament or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.”
-Hermann Goering (Luftewaffe commander, second in command of the Third Reiche)