PEACE: WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?
Absolutely Nothing!
I hear a lot of the word "peace" lately, and I hear it in the context that if we would just choose peace that we would have it, if we would just "end the war", we would usher in a time of peace. And the so-called "intellectuals" who embrace this warmed-over 60s pap have the temerity to call people like me "simplistic".
For us, it's not a choice between war and peace, it's a choice between survival and oblivion. Peace means many different things to many different people and that difference determines whose civilization lives, and whose dies. If you don't believe that the situation is at least that dire, then I'm afraid that you have not been paying attention.
To the Islamists, peace means the destruction of the United States as well as Israel and the imposition of global Islamic law. The means to that end is war and that is a choice that they have made. Don't take my word for it, take theirs. Exactly how does one make peace with people whose goal in life is the destruction of your way of life? Are we prepared to give up all we hold dear for peace, or should we think that the central theme around which they have built their life is somehow, negotiable?
Perhaps appeasement is your chosen avenue toward peace. If so, you may not realize that this was the road most traveled up to the morning of 9/11/01 at which time a massive detour sign was erected. It was written in Arabic and began "Allah Akbar". These signs have been erected all over the world since the 1970s and are still being erected on a daily basis. They are written in blood so that their meaning is unmistakable, yet you seem unwilling or incapable of heeding them.
The fact is that peace does not spring from the loins of pacifism and it is not achieved through appeasement. The world is a dangerous place where the unscrupulous prey upon the scrupulous and the unprincipled feast upon the principled and the only way to maintain honor as well as safety is through strength. The one and only reason that this country has enjoyed relative peace and safety within our shores is the terrible price that awaited anyone who dared disturb that peace or threaten our safety. Now that our peace and safety has been disturbed, the price must be paid and those who propose that we discount that price threaten not only our short-term safety but that of generations to come.
Choosing peace when your opponent has clearly and vociferously chosen war is a strategy for fools and unworthy of a great nation. Choose peace if you will, but don't be surprised if you get something far more terrible than war in the bargain.
5 comments:
Have you seen the new symbol that's going around "coexist" on a blue background with a cross, a crescent, star of david and a peace sign. Sort of goes to your point I think.
I just don't think anyone cares anymore, it's 24/7 Paris or Jessica or Brittney...and how did that happen anyway? Who ARE those people?
Yes, I've seen the symbol - it gives me serious warm fuzzies. The sad part is, putting a Crescent adjacent to a Cross and a Star of David probably makes the Islamists seeth more than they usually seethe. Christians and Jews are unclean, don't you know.
One of the points that the jihadists make is that we are steeped in decadence and addicted to tawdry pop culture. Sadly, they are largely right on those points. They also say that we are a paper tiger and it seems that many on the left are determined to prove them right on that point as well.
As for no one caring anymore, my heart wants to counter that but my head cannot find the argument against it. In many ways, I believe that we are victims of our own success. The very concept of struggle is beyond the comprehension of most Americans. 9/11 has become little more than a fading memory and many have convinced themselves that it was not the opening shot in a long struggle for our very survival, but merely an abberation. I think that it makes them more comfortable to live in denial than it does to accept the truth and the media and the entertainment conglomerates are more than happy to play the part of willing accomplices in this delusion.
I don't necessarily believe that we are beyond all hope, but I do feel that nothing less than an EVENT will awaken this country from its slumber. Then again, 9/11 was an awakening, and how long did that last?
Personally, I am sad, sick and terrified when I consider the future. I fear that there may be things on the horizon that will make 9/11 look like a drive-by shooting. Most of those who recognized the threat were roundly defeated in November and replaced by the the "see no evil, hear no evil" crowd and I wouldn't be surprised if some version of "speak no evil" is put in the White House in '08 to make the Triad of Dangerous Ignorance complete.
Gawd it's depressing. Maybe I'll go down to the lobby and see if I can get a copy of People Magazine......Brad....Paris...Agelina...zzzzzzzzzz
Ah Dale, I don't think they see it as an aberration (9/11 and the other terrorist attacks before and since), I think many see it as OUR FAULT, that we did something to deserve it and we need to make amends. That we weren't the victims, we are the world's main predator and the poor oppressed world just struck back at us.
Or they somehow bizarrely blame Bush. That once he's gone all will be well. That is what I'm afraid of. Hillary Clinton as President. Can we really be that far gone as a country?
A very good piece. Thanks.
Saije,
Your note reminds me of a guy on the radio that I have a lot of respect for saying "they don't just have a difference of opinion, they are on the wrong side".
Sadly, I fear that you may be right - abberation may well be giving them far too much credit. The disgraceful statements that Kerry recently made in Davos and the usual pass that he's received from the MSM as well as moderate Democrats (are there any of those left, save Lieberman?)indicate that we may well be that far gone. These people have begun openly cheering for the enemy, seeing that our failure can be spun as their political gain. I, like you, fear that Hillary may well be part of the very dark future that is now being painted. She, like her husband, is a person whose appetite far ouweighs her ability and her patriotism.
We have entered the "peace at any cost" phase with capitulation increasingly becoming a matter of "when" rather than "if". Certainly, there are some brave souls standing athwart the stampede yelling "NO" but one has to wonder as to their chances of being heard over the din created by the "failure is the only option" crowd.
I'm waiting for the light at the end of this tunnel, but I haven't seen it yet.
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