War and Peace

War does not keep the peace...

A recent letter to the Editor in a local newspaper had the subject "War is what keeps the peace". How on earth can anyone state, or much less believe, that war is what keeps the peace? In reality war is the antithesis to peace. The writer uses the argument that "It's pay me now or pay me later". The writer also states "In the five and one half years since 9/11 we have not been attacked, thanks to the aggressive actions of this administration." The initiation of the war in Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and I believe most readers now accept that as fact. What is so disheartening is also the fact that terrorism has only worsened around the world since our (the US) invasion of Iraq. This is substantiated by the significant increase in the number of terrorist attacks around the world since our invasion. If a cause and effect relationship were to exist one may surmise that our attack may have been a causative or contributing factor. I, for one, believe that the attack of Iraq has only served to exacerbate worldwide terrorism. The bottom line is that war never keeps the peace but only serves to enflame the emotions of those impacted by it. If we are going to survive in the future we had better find other ways to achieve peace. War is not one of them nor is it a viable alternative.