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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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