GROUND ZER0, New York, N.Y.--May 17, 2004 -- History is riddled with puzzles, and the greatest of them all is the piece that fits between "war" and "peace."

      In 410 B.C. playwright Aristophanes made the dilemma between war and peace simple.   In his play, Lysistrata, he mocked war's insanity by having the women refuse to have sex with the men until they vowed to end their thirst for war.   Sex was his "missing" link between "war" and "peace."
       Fast forward to the 19th Century and stop at 1869.   Here we find Russian author Leo Tolstoy publishing 365 Chapters that comprise his "War And Peace" epic, a modern version of the struggle for power between classes.
  

    Now, in the 21st Century, we still struggle to define war and peace, even as we load the breeches of our canons and sharpen the edges of our bayonets.
       It seems to me, after living through nearly two generations of life, that the missing piece of the puzzle between war and peace is "vigilance."
       War is a meaningless word, just as peace is.   They are words that can be spun about by whomever is in charge of the dictionary that particular moment.   
       Are we at war, for example, with Iraq?   
       Our critics say we are, be we deny that.   We are at "war" with "terrorism," we boast--that faceless, nameless, nefarious shadow that flits in and out of nations such as Iraq, or Afghanistan, or Pakistan, who is perhaps massing power in North Korea, or Iran, thus allowing us to chase him with abandon, avoiding the common Rules of Engagement and Geneva Convention protocols.
        In other words, the euphamastication of "war" turns the justification for fighting it into mush, creates quagmires that suck and pull and make those who fight, or allege to fight, "just wars," appear to be monsters, equal to the monsters they seek to destroy.

          The mess created by the words "war" and "peace" is the lack of benchmarks for the two words.   War means ultimately anarchy of human principles, for all war involves the destruction of human life, often wantonly, commonly with abandon.   Bombs and bullets cannot distinguish between the combatant and non-combatant, no matter how "smart" their technology.    A child running between two armed forces will be cut down in the crossfire, a sad tragedy referred to as "collateral damage."
       Peace offers an equal degree of confusion.    Some say that "Peace" is the time between "wars."   It is the "lull in the storm."    In other words, "Peace," like "War," is nothing more than one of the peaks of a see-saw, as fragile as the wings of a butterfly, and has a life span equal to the madness of the next dictator or oppressor who seeks to expand his or her ego to consume all those within the scope of his Fear, Intimidation and Complacency.
       America is facing that dilemma today between "peace" and "war."    Many want the U.S. to withdraw as quickly as possible from Iraq, justifying our retreat with many points of logic.  "Why let Americans die?"   "Why fight an illegal war, one that the world does not sanction?"   "Let Iraq rule itself!"  
        Huddling in isolation, of course, is not a solution to the problems of "war" or doesn't  provide any nation such as the United States or others with any security from its wrath.   Nine Eleven proved that.  No matter how "peaceful" a nation may attempt to be, there will always be those who will or can attack that peace and threaten the security of the children, the innocent.  Terrorism is that example.
        Terrorism is and always has been the root of war, its tap root.   Over the eons of human existence countless googles of thoughts and words and opinions have been cast on the subject, trying to reveal the shroud that disguises the missing link, the puzzle piece, the keystone between "war" and "peace."
        It can all be summed up today on a simple bumper sticker:  WAR IS THE ABSENCE OF VIGILANCE!   
        And, its counterpart:  PEACE IS THE PRESENCE OF VIGILANCE!
        Now, the question is:  What is Vigilance?
        On this website, amidst the nearly two million (2,000,000) words written within it since Nine Eleven is a smattering of the answer.    The complete answer will be unveiled by the actions of parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, cousins, uncles, aunts, loved ones and citizens who ultimately subscribe to the Pledge of Vigilance.
         When human beings are committed to fight Fear with Courage, to trump Intimidation with Conviction, and to quash Complacency with Right Actions that benefit the Children's Children's Children, then Vigilance will overpower Terrorism.
         Huge barriers will be created not out of castle concrete, but in the minds and the wills of humans to confront the Beast of Terror who forms his strength in all of us when we let our guards drop, and become "victims" to his cunning and baffling power to make us cower and shrug and allow others to dictate our self-worth, our children's self-worth, our society's self-worth, our nation's self-worth, and our global community's self worth.     

          As long as parents refuse to accept the duty of human evolution, and that is to allow a child to build defenses against his or her Fear, Intimidation and Complacency by not educating that child on how to battle his or her own Beast of Terror, then our world will continue to be torn between "war" and "peace."  Our children will continue suffer the pains of their own demons, many of them becoming their victims and living their lives thinking they aren't "good enough," "loved enough," "worthy enough," "smart enough," "privileged enough" and then take up arms to fight those who are "oppressing them."
         Vigilance is the key.
         It is the missing piece of the puzzle.
         You can add it to your puzzle.   You can bridge the gap today.   Just take the Pledge of Vigilance, or write your own.  Vow to it.   And start the process of insuring your children's, and their Children's Children's Children security.

       

May 16--Ripping The Fabric Of The Flag Over Iraq

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