Dennis Lamb.

“The enormous gap between what US leaders do in the world and what Americans think their leaders are doing is one of the great propaganda accomplishments.” — Michael Parenti

Gustave Gilbert was the American Military Chief Psychologist, one of two American psychologists, both fluent German speakers, who participated in the Nuremberg trials to provide testimony as to the sanity of the Nazi defendants.

The following is an excerpt from Gustave Gilbert’s 1947 Nuremberg Diary about a conversation he had with Hermann Göring, once Hitler’s designated successor.

“Göring: Why, of course, the people don’t 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 his farm in one piece? Naturally, the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. 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 dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship.

Gilbert: There is one difference. In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars.

Göring: Oh, that is all well and good, but, 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.”

Iran has not been trying to develop a nuclear weapon. Doing so, was – and I stress “was” — against their religion. Weapons of mass destruction were sinful and against Islam based on an edict by the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini, an old fuddy-duddy who thought it wrong – sinful – to use WMD to kill thousands of innocent people, a point of view incomprehensible by Westerners. Sounding almost panicked during a 22 March 2026 interview on the Fareed Zakaria GPS Sunday show, Israel’s top specialist on Iran, Danny Citrinowicz, said that in 2003 Khomeini’s successor, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, issued a fatwa, a religious ruling, prohibiting WMD (thereby formalizing Khomeini’s edict) but now that Khamenei was dead, the fatwa is dead and his son, Mojtaba, as successor will want revenge for the assassination of his father, mother, wife and daughter.

Venezuela likewise was no threat to America. If the reader researches it, s/he will find that Venezuela under Maduro was not sending Fentanyl to the US. But earlier, under Chavez, Venezuela did send free heating oil to America in response to an appeal by Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II to the major oil companies for fuel oil for low-income U.S. families struggling with high energy costs after Hurricane Katrina. Over the years, the program helped around two million Americans in 25 states stay warm during the coldest months of winter by donating more than 200 million gallons of heating oil worth more than $400 million. President Trump’s sanctions on Venezuela effectively halted the program in 2016.

But as Göring said, all you have to do is tell the people they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger.

Dennis Lamb, from Chelsea, Iowa, retired from the CIA in 2002 after serving 30 years in its Directorate of Operations as a case officer and intelligence analyst. All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official positions or views of the US Government. Nothing in the contents should be construed as asserting or implying US Government authentication of information or endorsement of the author’s views.