Dave posted a blog item entitled "Nuclear Options", earlier today and I found myself writing a very long reply. So I opted to stop and compose a new blog item.

I think many of us get caught up in the concept of war and peace, too much. We all want peace, but peace is not the goal we should be striving for. I think our goals should be "survival" and "freedom", in that order.

Peace is simply a state of being, and a temporary one at that. Peace doesn't last forever. It walks hand-in-hand with war. War is inevitable, that is fact, and it has always been that way for as long as Man can remember. That's why we shouldn't make eternal peace a goal. It's just something we enjoy when we get it.

It's just like that every individual will find themselves having to fight, either with fists or with attorneys. You can't escape that fact. You can either stand and fight, or run away. Either way, someone is going win that fight, and will walk away with a reward.

So, it's not a matter of avoiding wars, it's a matter of winning them. It's not a matter of peace, but a matter of survival. I think we Americans get way too comfortable with the quality of life we have. The terrorist attacks reminded many of us that we can't remain comfortable. Unfortunately, there are still other Americans who didn't get that memo.