Kowabunga

No sane person wants war. Not even those who have trained for it. Sometimes, though, war is necessary. That's the important difference.

The Peaceniks chant "War is not the answer!" Or they scream "War hasn't solved anything!" Yet, sometimes, war is the answer and has solved the problem.

Problem: taxation without representation. Solution: The American Revolution. Result: The greatest nation on Earth came into being, a shining beacon of liberty.

Problem: the Abolitionist movement in the U.S. and slavery in the South. Solution: The Civil War. Result: No more slavery in the United States. The price: Heavy, paid for in the blood of Americans.

Problem: Nazi occupation of most of Europe, the extermination of millions, pogrom against the Jews, the Holocaust. Solution: WW2. Result: occupied Europe freed and the holocaust ended. D-Day alone took the lives of thousands of American, British and Canadian soldiers.

It can be argued that those who desire war are evil, power-hungry, megalomaniacs. Some examples of that would be H!tl#r, Stalin, the Taliban, and Saddam Hussein. There are many things that these men have in common: totalitarian regimes; mass murder; waged war on their neighbors.

Sane men recognize the need for conflict with such demons, for the good of mankind: FDR, Churchill, JFK, Reagan, W.

Fools believe that evil can be appeased: Neville Chamberlain is the prime example, and many leader's in the Democratic Party in the U.S. today.

Some say our battlecry should be "Give Peace a chance!" Sure, why not. No SANE person wants war. However, once peace fails to remove the threat, then it is time to use force to eliminate it.

Teddy Roosevelt once said: "Speak softly and carry a big stick." If ever we truly need a battlecry, that would be my vote.