Speaking of wise words from the past (see preceding post), here's an excerpt from a speech given in the Canadian House of Commons on the eve of World War II by J.S. Woodsworth.
"I would ask: did the last war settle anything? I venture to say that it settled nothing; and the next war into which we are asked to enter, however big and bloody it may be, is not going to settle anything either. That is not the way in which settlements are brought about.
"While we are urged to fight for freedom and democracy, it should be remembered that war is the very negation of both. The victor may win; but if he does, it is by adopting the self-same tactics which he condemns in his enemy..."
Mr. Woodsworth was roundly denounced as a traitor and a coward, and Canada joined the Allies (more than two years before the Americans did, let it be remembered) in the war against the Axis. Oops...almost wrote "Axis of Evil".
So we had World War II and we won that. Since then we've had Korea, the Six Days War, Vietnam, the Gulf, and now Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention any number of UN "police actions" and "peacekeeping expeditions". But has anything been settled? Have freedom and democracy triumphed? [That's enough rhetorical questions. ed.]
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