Quit the Big Talk: We Want Peace, Not War

"We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the world - no longer a Government of free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of small groups of dominant men."

Woodrow Wilson, one of the greatest, most honorable, and virtuous thinkers in American history said this of our nation ninety years ago, some time after America's exit from World War 1. He wanted to devise a League of Nations, a means of peaceful, diplomatic unity and closeness between all of the countries of the world (eventually this would become the U.N.), and he watched the majority of his plans fail miserably because of lack of American interest.

Woodrow Wilson had his flaws. But he was right. And his statement is more relevant now then ever before in American history.

I write a few weeks after John McCain gave his Foreign Policy speech in Los Angelas, and though what he said was cleverly crafted and verbally eloquent, I can't help but see in him what Woodrow Wilson must have seen in the politicians of almost a century ago.

American intervention in the rest of the world is not going to help anyone. Intervention, especially with scattered interests in mind, only helps to cause chaos and death. This happened during Kissinger and CIA's involvement in Operation Condor in Latin America, and when America intervened and was defeated in Vietnam and Korea.

I'm not a genius. I am not politically correct most of the time. But I can see quite flawlessly, and I know that this world does not need a Great Protector state to observe and put forth agenda, and to pressure those nation's which don't share similar political philosophies into warfare or submission. What we need is a history lesson, not more fighting.

Of course, in the case of Iraq, I think that things, in some sense, have changed for the better. But for the sake of metaphor, it is possible for things to get better even when there is an initial wrong that has occurred.

For instance, let's say a thief breaks into your house. A smart thief, with a lot of power (like America), but who, regardless of his personal qualities, still doesn't belong in your house. Maybe he can help you fix some things, like tell you to pick up your laundry off the floor or take off your shoes so you don't make a mess in the house, and you can appreciate that. But you still may not want him there, because it is your house, not his.

Saddam Hussein, an American ally in the time before the Persian Gulf War (yeah, I bet you didn't that could be possible), did this when he invaded Kuwait. And we kicked him out.

Now, we invaded Iraq. And I think we should leave before someone else forces us to, or before things get bad enough to force even the Heads of State to want the troops home.

Two weeks ago an 80 year old man, and former Army officer, Don Zirkel was arrested for protesting the Iraq War. He wore a simple shirt that said, "4,000 troops, 1 million Iraqi's dead. Enough", and the cops put handcuffs on his wrists, placed him a wheelchair, and escorted him to a police station where he was charged with criminal trespassing and resisting arrest. Just, for being in a mall, and wearing a shirt with the truth, with blatantly clear facts, written on it.

America needs to stop being the helper in a bully's body, and start being the helper, period. Make sure you guys, as Americans, make that obvious at the polls, and in the ballot box later this year. Or else, peace will be unachievable.