You realize that when most people use that cliche they aren't saying, "no war ever". They just generally mean you should avoid war if possible and invest more in constructive activities and less in destructive. As with most cliches the language is totalizing in a way the sentiment is not.

Personally I am very nearly a pacifist. But I still support a strong defense (but an actual focus on defense which is far from what we have now). So I may employ this cliche from time to time but meaning we should lean away from our first strike and global capabilities. Not that we should abandon having any military altogether. There are some who feel that we should but they are very few and far between.