Is Peace Passé

Anyone alive in the 1960s, 1970s, or 1980s, can recall how often American Presidents were obsessed with achieving peace in international conflicts. Throughout the Vietnam War, LBJ was constantly floating one peace offer after another to the North Vietnamese, only to be rebuffed by the Communists. In fact, Johnson’s on-again, off-again approach to the war was largely responsible for the eventual American defeat and subsequent debacle that saw South Vietnam overrun by Hanoi.?

During the 1970s, Richard Nixon saw his calling as being that of the “Great Peacemaker.” It was a focus that dominated his administration, to the detriment of domestic policy. Nixon was determined to achieve a lasting peace with the major Communist powers in Moscow and Beijing, end the Vietnam War, and also end the continuous cycle of war and bloodshed in the Middle East. To that end, Nixon’s National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger became an international globetrotter and celebrity as he logged thousands of miles in his so-called “shuttle diplomacy.”

And, although he was elected in 1980 with a reputation of being a trigger-happy cowboy, Ronald Reagan recognized that peace is best achieved through strength and undertook a massive military buildup. However, it was a military buildup aimed at eventually negotiating with our enemies not blowing them up. Not unlike his Republican predecessor Nixon, Reagan too sought the peaceful demise of the Soviet bloc and a new era of friendly relations with Moscow. Hence, his steely determination to pursue his diplomatic entente with Gorbachev ( over the objections of his conservative critics ) which finally ended in the fall of the Berlin Wall and the liberation of Eastern Europe in 1989 and 1990. For all his anti-Communist rhetoric, Reagan was extremely cautious in the use of military force and never saw it as a first resort to any international conflict. He spent countless hours – as did President Nixon—in trying to secure withdrawals, disengagements, ceasefires and the like throughout the Middle East and other war-ravaged parts of the planet.

However, with the rise of the Bushes, Clintons and Obamas?-- and their neoconservative handlers --?peace became passé. Suddenly, every global problem could only have a military solution, whether it be the Persian Gulf War, the war in Serbia, the invasion of Iraq, the decapitation of the Qaddafi regime in Libya, or now the war in Ukraine. Diplomacy became a thing of the past. It was now the era of “regime change” where American blood and treasure is expended around the world to topple governments the ruling elites in Washington and Brussels dislike. NATO suddenly found a post-Cold War mission in Afghanistan and Iraq saw itself bombed almost daily throughout the 1990s while American drones attacked Somalia. In 1999, Bill Clinton bombed Serbia for 78 days without permission or authorization from Congress. Yet, Serbia had done nothing to us. Clinton had invaded Haiti just five years earlier because he didn’t like their government. For years now, the U.S. has been trying to overthrow the Assad government of Syria which is a secular regime that protects Christians while opposing radical Islam. In 2014, we initiated the overthrow of the elected government of Ukraine because the new President dared to want peace with Putin.

Donald Trump was elected – in part – to end the insanity of what he called “never-ending wars.” In his four years in office, the United States did not engage in a new war and began pulling out of the old wars, like Afghanistan and Syria. He refused to authorize bombings if he was told there could be significant civilian casualties and succeeded in authoring the Abraham Accords which led to peace treaties between Israel and several Arab states. Trump did not believe in war as a first or second or third resort, but as a last resort, which is as it should be. Trump rejected the neocon agenda of perpetual war and endless U.S. intervention abroad. As such, he made himself the mortal enemy of the military-industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us of in his 1961 Farewell Address. As a military man himself, Ike understood the greed and avarice of the defense contractors and their desire to continue fueling the war machine for permanent profit.

Now, of course, under the senile puppet Joe Biden, the warmongers are back in charge and the Russia-Ukraine war is their latest target. This is a war that would never have happened under President Trump and had it occurred, Trump would have worked feverishly with Putin and Zelensky to achieve a negotiated settlement before thousands died. However, the Biden regime has no interest in peace in Ukraine. That’s why it has been egging on Zelensky from day one, shipping him billions of dollars of aid and military equipment and getting thousands of innocent people killed despite the fact that no serious military observer believes Kiev can prevail over nuclear-armed Moscow. To encourage a people to fight and die in a futile war when a negotiated settlement could be achieved is criminal. Yet, that is what Biden’s policy is and it’s no different from what George W. Bush or Bill Clinton would have done.?

It’s all about enriching the defense establishment, justifying bigger budgets for the Pentagon, diverting the American public’s attention away from inflation and open borders to Vladimir Putin, and propping up corrupt foreign governments. And, Ukraine is ranked as the most corrupt government on the planet. It is neither democratic nor free. Zelensky suppresses the media and jails his political opponents. His militias massacre innocent people ( especially ethnic Russians ) and he – a Jewish man – embraces radical Nazi paramilitary forces.

Yet, Ukraine is of deep importance to the Deep State. From the Clintons to the Bidens, from laptops from hell to $80,000 monthly retainers from Burisma, the globalist cartel is heavily invested in Ukraine. The bodies are buried there and so are the secrets. It is the playground for the ruling class where oligarchs and billionaires rip off the people and line the pockets of corrupt Western politicians like Joe Biden. It is also the flashpoint for World War III, if we aren’t careful.

If the United States and NATO continue acting as co-belligerents in this war, how long can one expect Putin not to strike back and retaliate at some point? The peace proposals are on the table. Everyone knows what Putin wants: no NATO membership for Kiev, neutrality, and independence for the heavily-Russian eastern regions of the country. Where are the diplomats? Where are the peace missions? Where are the Paris peace talks? Where is the UN??As Churchill said, it’s better to “jaw, jaw, jaw than war, war, war.”?

?

The elites don’t want this war to end. And, that’s why it hasn’t. And that’s why it seems -- in today’s world -- that peace has indeed become passé.

?

Dr. James Veltmeyer is a prominent La Jolla physician and author of “Physician on a Mission: Dr. Veltmeyer’s RX to Save America.”He was voted "Top Doctor" in San Diego?County in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2019.