Peace is not the Absence of Conflict

There is talk of peace and what it will take to achieve it - some say all we have to do is get out of Iraq and things will fall into place just like they did when we left Vietnam.

Of course that is faulty thinking as we broke our word to South Vietnam when we went there. We said we will help defend that country from the communist north. We went back on our word and left them to their fate. Tens of thousands died in the take over of the south and hundreds of thousands died in Cambodia.

Many are calling for negotiations with the neighbors of Iraq - Iran and Syria. Both have indicated they want to destroy Iraq as a democracy, take it over for it's oil reserves and use it as a base for terrorists in the middle east and against Israel. Where do you start to negotiate?

There is a saying that I think fits the times ,"Pease is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it."

It's a new war, like none we have ever fought before. The consequences or retreat and surrender will doom many generation to come in this country and all of western culture.

There can be no other way but to stay the course, no matter how long it takes.