Today's song is King Of Pain by The Police, released in 1983.

Peace is often considered to be an elusive condition. Sometimes war is conducted in an effort to establish peace. War does have it's place and is waged until the reasons for war no longer are worthwhile pursuing.

Diplomacy also has its place, when the duration of diplomatic efforts are short and enforceable. I have yet to witness in my life where last-ditch diplomacy avoided an intense war. The longer diplomacy goes on without resolve, the worse the inevitable war that follows.

My philosophy is to be effective and unyielding during war against the real antagonists, not just the proxies. Peace will follow.

Allowing war to run its full course ironically often is the short-cut to peace. Many countries have become free and peaceful after war. I always consider the example of Japan and understand that once they were a warring country, but war brought them humiliating defeat. Since the end of World War II, they are one of the most docile countries on the Earth. The lessons of that dramatic turn-around should not be lost to history.

Don