Foreign Policy by Bumper Sticker
On my drive home yesterday, I saw the funniest bumper sticker I’ve ever seen. I don’t mean funny-ha-ha in a fraggle rock kind of way either. It was warped, anti-logical, insipid, and ill-informed. Of course, the primary sticker was made worse by its companion piece, but I’ll get to that in a minute.
The sticker that caught my eye said “Peace is Patriotic!” Now, I could go on a 3-day rant about how THAT just ain’t true, but I’m just going to hit the highlights here. Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines a patriot as “one who loves his or her country and supports its authority and interests.” Synonyms include “loyalist, flag-waver, and guerrilla.” The most important of the definition lies in the two words authority and interests. “Peace”, while an admirable goal and to be sure the best environment in which to raise children, does nothing to support authority or defend a nation’s interests. Did peacenik policies avert disaster in the Cuban Missile Crisis? NO. It was JFK’s threats of war that turned the tide. Did “peace” end the cold war, crumble the Berlin wall, and bring forth the collapse of the Soviet Union? No. Did peace keep Hitler at bay? No. If anything, it taught us that appeasement is not the answer unless you want to speak German and aren’t Jewish or a member of some other less-than-desirable demographic. (Just to be clear, I am paraphrasing Hitler’s policies in that last statement, no opinion of mine.) Did peace bring freedom to the United States of America? Again, no.
Patriots are people who defend, fight, bleed, and give their all for the betterment of their nation and their people. To me, anyone can be a patriot so long as they are promoting our nation’s right to be. Those people who make jet fighters, those who sell jeans at The Gap, those who work on Wall Street, and those standing a post at Gitmo or in some forward area are all patriots. Those people are creating the tools to keep us strong, maintaining our dominant global economy, or putting themselves in the line of fire. However…while dissenting is your right as a member of a free people, suggesting that peace is patriotic is drivel. It is much the same as that common call to “Make Love, Not War.” What nonsense. Love doesn’t keep your enemies at bay unless you are infiltrating the bad guy’s inner circle under the guise of some member’s lover…and I call that spying. Spying is an act of …WAR.
We must not forget that we are at war. We didn’t fire the first shots…but we will damn well fire the last. Those who suggest that peace is the answer cannot fully understand our foes. When you live 2000 miles from the site of the first casualties in this war it may be easy to argue that we have no business seeking out terrorists where they hide. However, this is nothing but self-delusion. Americans are everywhere in the world. Freedom is more than a state of mind. It is a vicious and unending struggle. You can’t stop fighting for freedom, lest you wake up one day and realize you aren’t free. We are at war. We must protect our very right to exist. Our foe sends children (and I don't mean 20-year-old adults) to die in order to end our lives. You can’t stop this sort of tactic with “love” or “peace”. Peace is not patriotic, no matter what the bumper stickers say. We fight for the right of peace.
I warned you that I could go on all day.
What makes the first bumper sticker more bizarre was its companion, namely “Kerry-Edwards 2004.” Now, I follow politics closer than most, but I’m not what you’d call an expert. However, even I know that John Kerry voted in support of military action in Iraq. And since then, he has stated that even now, knowing what he knows now, he would still go into Iraq. How does that fit in with the policy of peace? It doesn’t. If peace is the underlying mantra of your life, Howard Dean is your man. You can still write him in, you know.
It is this sticker that makes me believe that some people are just reacting emotionally and are forgetting their history. We must remember, if you don’t indicate to others that you are willing to fight to keep what you have…they won’t hesitate to try to take it from you. This is true on the playground, true in life, and true on the world stage.
I wish for world peace too, but tempered with sanity and reason. Twelve years of sanctions didn’t bring the Iraqi people peace and our pilots patrolling the no-fly zones would attest to no peace for them either. I would like to close by quoting a chick flick starring Sandra Bullock called "Miss Congeniality". In the interview phase of the competition she is asked what she wants and she says, “World Peace…and tougher penalties for parole violators.” There is no peace without war. And there can be no freedom without struggle.
Bumper Stickers are a poor source for foreign policy pointers, I guess.
Labels: John Kerry
