<A HREF="http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/ethics/war/buddhism.shtml">Click here: BBC - Religion & Ethics of War</A> 

Buddhism and violence
Buddhism, like the other great faiths, has not always lived up to its 
principles - there are numerous examples of Buddhists engaging in violence 
and even war: 
in the 14th century Buddhist fighters led the uprising that evicted the 
Mongols from China


in Japan, Buddhist monks trained Samurai warriors in meditation that made 
them better fighters 


In the twentieth century Japanese Zen masters wrote in support of Japan's 
wars of aggression. For example, Sawaki Kodo (1880–1965) wrote this in 1942: 
> "It is just to punish those who disturb the public order. Whether one kills 
> or does not kill, the precept forbidding killing [is preserved]. It is the 
> precept forbidding killing that wields the sword. It is the precept that 
> throws the bomb."

In Sri Lanka the 20th century civil war between the mostly Buddhist Sinhalese 
majority and the Hindu Tamil minority has cost 50,000 lives.    
    
    


 


They hang the man and flog the woman
That steal the goose from off the common,
But let the greater villain loose
That steals the common from the goose. 

Constant apprehension of war has the same tendency
to render the head too large for the body.  A standing military 
force with an overgrown executive will not long be safe. 
companions to liberty.  -- Thomas Jefferson


"America is a quarter of a billion people totally misinformed and disinformed 
by their government. This is tragic but our media is -- I wouldn't even say 
corrupt -- it's just beyond telling us anything that the government doesn't 
want us to know." 

Gore Vidal