No Peace in Our Time

The Israelis and Palestinian leaders are in Annapolis for yet another attempt to find peace in the Middle East. It would be great if we could achieve peace in our time. I would personally love to join in a procession of people burning incense and floating candles down a river as peace swept the world and flowers covered the land and we all joined hands and skipped across a meadow.

That's not going to happen. I probably won't see it in my time. My children may not see it. There's a good chance that my future grandchildren will never see it. In North Korea, some guy was publicly executed by firing squad for making international phone calls. In Russia, Putin is trying to maintain power by having his people have people vote for him at work or be shitcanned. I'm sure I could come up with more if I tried, as there are plenty more petty dictators ready to shoot their people for more power.

Then there is the threat of radical Islam. This is not to be confused with Islam, the religion. Like all religions, Islam is being bent to the will of people who want to use it to rule the world. Christianity did the same during the Crusades. Either way, there are few things worse than killing in the name of God. And right now, radical Islam is trying to do just that.

Consider these other nuggets of news: A Sudanese teacher may get 40 lashes for letting her 6 and 7-year old students name a teddy bear Muhammad. Another girl in Saudi Arabia, a rape victim, was given lashes for being in a car with a man she's not related to, then the penalty was increased because she complained to outside media. There's even a story about some guy with a terror link plotting to blow up a mall here in Ohio. The fact is that these people have a radically different idea of how the world should be. And since it is religious law, there is no middle ground.

So how do we make peace with fanatics? There are two answers to this: Either they make peace with us or we shoot them all dead. It follows then that to get them to want peace, we have to be willing to kill them all. If you need proof of that, ask Japan.

Japan, in World War II, was ready to sacrifice themselves to fight off the Americans. It was the threat of their annihilation by the atom bomb that forced them to surrender. Now they are a great ally. The story of the Cold War was one of making peace through nukes. While the aftermath in the former Soviet Union was not peaceful, a great threat to freedom across the world was wiped out.

Simply put, we have achieved peace through bloodshed. Until everyone else wants to join us to pick daisies and sing 'Give Peace a Chance', we must be willing to buy peace with the lives of our brave soldiers. And, once engaged, we must win.