“Peace need not be impracticable, and war need not be inevitable.” – President John F. Kennedy

On Memorial Day, it is a perfect time to recognize how, in an age of endless wars, how far we have fallen from Kennedy’s vision.

How many wars since Kennedy’s of time have been truly “necessary” or “inevitable?”

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy didn’t win simply by a show of force. Diplomacy with Khrushchev was key to preventing nuclear war. Tulsi Gabbard writes:

“Today’s warmongers would have us believe that Kennedy was successful because he was the tough guy who went toe-to-toe, staring down Khrushchev…But the truth is that Kennedy was quietly conversing and negotiating with Khrushchev behind the scenes…Their success was rooted in real diplomacy, which requires give and take…Without diplomacy, there can be no peace. Without peace, we cannot be truly free or prosperous.”

While China has prospered and expanded its influence around the world without dropping bombs on anyone, the U.S. has spent trillions in wealth, bankrupting itself, devaluing the dollar to worthless levels, and destroying prosperity. The citizens are increasingly not fooled by the illusion of prosperity their politicians try to force upon them.

“Without any regard for the cost in human lives or taxpayer dollars, Democrat and Republican leaders have stood together, waging one regime-change war after another for decades…[and undermined] our national security and our efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons.”

We’ve discussed before how North Korea won’t give up its nuclear weapons because it didn’t want to be destroyed like Libya and Iraq. We’ve seen how regime change wars fail and unite people against us. And we’ve seen the profound humanitarian disasters these wars, diplomatic failures, and economic sanctions have caused. For example:

“…the foreign policy disaster in Iraq that cost the United States trillions of dollars and the lives of nearly 4500 Americans and another 32,000 wounded…it is estimated that more than one million Iraqi people died because of the war [by 2008]. Many more would die after.”

The failure of diplomacy and the willingness to sacrifice entire nations has destroyed many countries including Syria, Libya, and Ukraine.

It is time we recognize the horrific results of heavy-handed, misguided, American-last foreign policy, both here and abroad. Take heed these words from Tulsi:

“[Politicians] tell the American people, and themselves, that their goal is so honorable and so great that the end justifies the means. If it means killing millions of people in order to ‘save’ them, then that’s what we have to do…If we must destroy the United States — or the world — in order to save it, so be it.

“We are not volunteering to be cannon fodder to fuel the profits of the military-industrial complex. We are not volunteering to be used by insecure politicians who feel the need to start wars and put us in harm’s way just to make themselves feel strong or look tough. We are not volunteering to be used as expendable pawns feeding the insatiable hunger for power and global domination of American politicians who don’t care about our Constitution, our country, or the American people.

“We need leaders who will give up the age-old colonialist mindset that has been used to justify kinetic, economic, and cultural warfare around the world, often under the guise of lofty rhetoric about humanitarianism and spreading democracy, which is really rooted in an arrogant view that we must remake the world in our image — whether people in other countries like it or not…We must respect the sovereignty of other nations just as we expect them to respect our own. Our foreign policy should not be based on isolationism; instead, recognizing that the best way to achieve peace is by building relationships with other countries — not by dropping bombs or enacting crippling sanctions…

“Our leaders must put the American people first…As citizens, as voters, we hold the answers in our hands. Who we choose to lead our country has direct consequences on the question of war and peace. With our voices, and our votes, we must hold corrupt, self-serving politicians accountable and let them know in no uncertain terms that we will not allow them to destroy us, our loved ones, and our home.”