Let's talk about peace...'Click.. Click.. Bang.. Bang..'! Strong arm peace doesn't work.

I invite you as well as 4 others from our neighborhood to my house. We have a common interest, so I have asked you all over to discus it. You see, we have a gang problem in the area in which we live. Two of us have ties to these gangs. Two of us live in the midst of the gangs with no ties, and two of us live on the edge of the problem areas, but other then that no interaction with the gangs. You and I are the two who have no interaction with the gangs, but live so close that we feel the effects everyday. This is a serious discussion on what we are going to do about a growing problem. We came into this discussion on equal terms and are working with a common goal in mind, peace. Midway through the meeting one of the gang affiliated neighbors becomes clear they want us to overlook certain things pertaining to our effort. They also make know that they think we need to take action and do things that may or may not help us all. We want peace and have been told that this meeting is the only way to attain it. We reach an impasse, when you and I notice one of the affiliated neighbors takes something out of his coat, and places his hand under the table. We soon hear a ’CLICK… CLICK’. Without a change in expression the neighbor with the gun under the table says” We are all working for the same thing, but we can’t take force of the table….’!

I use this story to put a perspective on a peace process in which starts with force as an incentive. If I was told that ’peace’ was the common goal, but if I didn’t play ball so to speak, I would be shown the business end of a Tomahawk missile. I would have serious issues with this. Even if I really wanted peace, I would question the motivations of others in the process. Would I defy the process just to show I am not going to be ‘strong armed’ into deciding in favor of the cause? Although without doubt the cause may be in my best interest. Would I agree in the face to face, only to go on an even harder line mentality upon returning home? What about the people who live in these areas? Would they go along with peace if they knew they had no choice? I think at this point everyone understands the stakes involved. I wonder if flexing our military muscle has become an exercise in inflating our badly damaged ego. Does it really serve a purpose to place military force on the table of peace before we even sit down? It makes no sense to me and seems as though:
a. Force is implied to sabotage the process because peace isn’t really the motive.
b. Force is implied because we have become so fearful post 911, we have to cling to war in order to feel safe.
c. Force is implied because we are completely void of understanding foreign policy that doesn’t involve force.
d. Force is implied because we have become such a close minded, fearful, hypocritical, society that we know nothing but force to settle our differences.

Time will tell what happens with the Pres. Obama’s foreign policy. I respect what he is trying to do. They say “no American president has ever said these things in the middle east before”. It’s about time! I respect the fact that he is not staying safe, thinking about his second term. Politics has become so much about maintaining power for as long as possible. If Pres. Obama waited until he was re-elected to a second term as President to go forward with a major roll out of a new foreign policy. Maybe something happens between now and then that makes it impossible or at least much less possible to make something good happen? The time is NOW to make something happen. I think at great risk to Obama’s political future, he has the intention of the well being of people from all over the world.

I am not jaded into thinking that there are not elements in the world that would bring harm to the people in America or other free societies. Today it seems our greatest risk comes from a lone suicide bomber. Someone who could disrupt the peace policies we are trying to move forward on. Tragically it seems that people like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Dick Cheney are counting on this lone attack. In my mind they are actually provoking the attack by projecting the very thing that would destabilize America. This is a different topic though.

In conclusion I applaud the steps Pres. Obama is taking, attack or no attack. Taking the force out of the peace process may leave us as Americans feeling vulnerable, but is a true step towards the peace this world desperately needs.