Peaceful Ends
One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek but a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means.
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1968
Dr. King’s admonition to us about peace underscores a point that JK has made many times about the solution to the conflicts in Iraq and elsewhere, and that is that it is a political solution, not a military solution. I went searching for the source of Dr. King’s quote so that I could view it in context and found that it was part of a chapter, commonly called “The World House” chapter in a book, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?, published in 1968 by Dr. King.
1968—a time when so much upheaval and conflict existed including Vietnam. Dr. King’s wisdom appears remarkably fresh in light of current events.
The stages of history are replete with the chants and choruses of the conquerors of old who came killing in pursuit of peace. Alexander, Genghis Khan, Julius Caesar, Charlemagne and Napoleon were akin in seeking a peaceful world order, a world fashioned after their selfish conceptions of an ideal existence. Each sought a world at peace which would personify his egotistic dreams. Even within the life span of most of us, another megalomaniac strode across the world stage. He sent his blitzkrieg-bent legions blazing across Europe, bringing havoc and holocaust in his wake. There is grave irony in the fact that Hitler could come forth, following nakedly aggressive expansionist theories, and do it all in the name of peace.
So when in this day I see the leaders of nations again talking peace while preparing for war, I take fearful pause. When I see our country today intervening in what is basically a civil war, mutilating hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese children with napalm, burning villages and rice fields at random, painting the valleys of that small Asian country red with human blood, leaving broken bodies in countless ditches and sending home half-men, mutilated mentally and physically; when I see the unwillingness of our government to create the atmosphere for a negotiated settlement of this awful conflict by halting bombings in the North and agreeing unequivocally to talk with the Vietcong—and all this in the name of pursuing the goal of peace—I tremble for our world. I do so not only from dire recall of the nightmares wreaked in the wars of yesterday, but also from dreadful realization of today’s possible nuclear destructiveness and tomorrow’s even more calamitous prospects.
Before it is too late, we must narrow the gaping chasm between our proclamations of peace and our lowly deeds which precipitate and perpetuate war. We are called upon to look up from the quagmire of military programs and defense commitments and read the warnings on history’s signposts.
One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek but a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means. How much longer must we play at deadly war games before we heed the plaintive pleas of the unnumbered dead and maimed of past wars?
President John F. Kennedy said on one occasion, “Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind.” Wisdom born of experience should tell us that war is obsolete.
[...]
We have ancient habits to deal with, vast structures of power, indescribably complicated problems to solve. But unless we abdicate our humanity altogether and succumb to fear and impotence in the presence of the weapons we have ourselves created, it is as possible and as urgent to put an end to war and violence between nations as it is to put an end to poverty and racial injustice.
Almost 40 years later, Dr. King’s words are as true today as they were in 1968.
During his trip to various countries in the Middle East last December, JK made several comments including this answer during an interview with David Gregory (transcript | video) which reinforce the point he’s made so often and which Dr. King so eloquently underscored in his book. <!GREGORY: More troops would not do enough in your estimation to shore up Baghdad and at least give the Maliki government a fighting chance?
KERRY: Not without a fundamental political resolution. I think you could put 100,000 troops and you’re going to up the casualties, up the stakes, increase the violence and not get a resolution.
The fundamental resolution that I’ve heard in every country I’ve been to
- I’ve been to Egypt -I met with President Mubarak; I’ve been to Jordan- met with King Abdullah yesterday; we’re here in Syria today; going to Israel from here; I was in Lebanon yesterday -everywhere people are saying, “You’ve got to have a comprehensive political reconciliation process.” And we’re here to explore whether that can be broader than it’s been in the past and we think it can.[...]That is the key, not troops. More troops will not resolve the problem of Iraq. And you won't end the violence. What'll happen is you'll create a larger, more prominent target in the absence of the kind of political solution that's needed.[...]
But nothing is going to resolve Iraq without this fundamental political reconciliation. You have a divide between Sunni and Shia. And you have criminal elements. You have ex-Baathist elements. You’ve just got an enormous historical cultural problem. And the only way to overcome it is with major assistance from outside countries and from us, to get that political resolution.
As JK pointed out during his interview with Alex Chadwick on NPR’s Day-To-Day program ( transcript | audio ):
Ronald Reagan talked to Gorbachev. Richard Nixon sent Kissinger to talk to the Chinese. We need to engage. This is too dangerous a world not to.
JK’s reference to Reagan and Nixon highlights an understanding that seems to have been forgotten by the current administration. An understanding that Reagan himself stated in another quotable quote:
Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.
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“JK’s reference to Reagan and Nixon highlights an understanding that seems to have been forgotten by the current administration.”
It has also been forgotten by the democratic leadership of Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid. It bringing the war spending bill to a vote which is nothing but a blank check for this president and his troop escalation, the democratic leaders have betrayed those of us who were led to believe that the democratic leadership would fight for a change in direction in Iraq. That is what they campaigned on in 2006. What Pelosi and Reid have done is indefensible and wrong. In bringing this bill to a vote democrats have all but abandoned the principles of diplomacy which Speaker Pelosi seemed to promote in her recent Middle East trip.
The Speaker said the administration would be held accountable, yet all she has done is to bow down to President Bush and his failed policy in Iraq. Majority Leader Reid said on the Senate floor just before the vote that democrats would never surrender but that is exactly what he did with this bill. Pelosi’s and Reid’s actions truly beg the question, are they in favor of this war? Do they support this troop escalation? Because that is exactly what their actions say. Actions speak louder than words and their actions say that they stand with the president on the Iraq war. Their actions say that they don’t care what 60% of the American people say that they want deadlines for troop withdrawals. We need new leadership in Washington that will not be afraid to stand up to a policy that is wrong and that is failing.
Dear Sir,
I would like to voice my opinion regarding the present political situation in Bangladesh:
Never in my 33 years life, have I heard that a passport is issued in Bangladesh without spending some “extra” money. So, when we were planning to bring my mother-in-law to come to the US to stay with us for few days and applied for her passport, we were prepared to pay something ‘extra’ to the passport officer if he insisted. Well, to our extreme surprise, the officer came to their house just in the date he was supposed to be, collected all the information and without wasting any time doing bargaining or hassling, left my in-laws house and my mother-in-law received the passport within just few days. During the same period of time, my mom also applied for an extension for her passport and she received the extended passport within 3 days before the scheduled date. These are the just a couple of examples of what our nation are passing through now-a-days and as you can see, at the relief of millions of people, we probably did not have such a good time after the liberation war in 1971.
Therefore the recent efforts to put pressure on the Caretaker Government by the US senators concerns me great deal. I am also concerned whether they are really getting the correct picture of the country’s present state or not. It makes me frightened to think that the corrupt politicians’ traditional “lobbying” approach are getting momentum slowly and are able to persuade the US lawmakers to put pressure on the present government, so that the government would loose its track from the path of reforms.
I also wonder whether the leaders of our major political parties, (maybe “dynasty” would be a better word), are being guided correctly by the people around them. To be honest, no one except the politicians is worried about the banned political situation today; rather, millions of people are actually relieved to have the caretaker government and we consider this government as a blessing to our beloved country. Here is just one other example of what these politicans really are: http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/05/31/d7053101011.htm
Therefore, my humble request to you and the other 14 US senators is that, please, for the people’s sake; do not listen to these politicians, majority of whom are extremely corrupt, and based on their complain or persistent efforts, please do not put pressure on the caretaker government to change its mission to reform the country. The turnaround of the country has already started and we do not want to go back and be ruled by these corrupt leaders. These politicians have misled us in past 35 years and will mislead again. They will do whatever it will take for them to do to save them, because their core existences are at stake today.