This year, more than most, many people are choosing to spend their Christmas by searching for a haven of peace and tranquility in their homes and families. But we have not been able to do so without a few reminders of the value and the cost of that peace.
I have been struck this year by the relatively tranquil atmosphere of the shopping malls. This is due in some part to a slow economic recovery, which makes us less willing to spend our money. More important, however, is the fact that we have been living for more than a year in unusually interesting times. And with the interesting times far from over — alas — many of us welcome not having to focus, for at least a few days, on the problems and threats of an increasingly hostile outside world. We enjoy turning our attention to our own smaller worlds — to the circle of family and friends, to the pleasures of holiday parties, Christmas dinners, and time spent with loved ones at home.
Savor this enjoyment, and remember it when the holidays are over and we return again to the problems of the outside world — because this is what we are fighting for. I remember seeing a story, about this time last year, about a group of women in the newly liberated Afghanistan who were marching to demand that their new government recognize women’s rights. One of the marchers explained: “This is not about politics. It is about living a normal life.” The opposition was unnecessary and erroneous. The freedom to live a normal life is the ultimate goal of all politics. Our most spirited public debates, our most far-reaching diplomacy, our boldest military strategy, is all employed so that we can enjoy the rewards we experience this week: the tranquil pleasures and private, personal values of home, Christmas gifts, and loved ones.
Yet even as we settle into the Christmas season, we cannot avoid a few reminders of what it will cost to protect the peace and good will we enjoy at home.
The war in Iraq, despite the fact that it has not officially begun, is already a real shooting war. Though the only casualty so far is an unmanned drone, this is not for lack of the Iraqis trying to shoot down live targets. Meanwhile, North Korea sent us a second front for Christmas by opening up its Pandora’s box of Plutonium — a step that will enable it to manufacture multiple nuclear weapons within months.
The truth is becoming increasingly clear. To protect the peace we enjoy over the Christmas season will require war in the new year — not the cautious diplomatic sitzkrieg of 2002, but a war with ambitious aims, bold diplomatic risk-taking, and far-reaching military action.
There are many who will tell us that it is best to do nothing. They think “peace on Earth” will come to us like a gift from Santa Claus — that if we just believe strongly enough, peace will arrive for nothing more than the effort of wishing for it. My own symbol for this mentality is a high school student interviewed shortly after Sept. 11, a girl who affected the air of an “idealist” as she opposed war against the Taliban. When asked what we should do instead of war, she instructed us to “seek wise and peaceful solutions.” This is the same non-answer I have heard repeatedly from older anti-war protesters and pacifist professors; I have noticed that today’s “idealistic” young students will repeat the ideas taught to them by their elders in the same attitude of credulity with which a 6-year-old believes in Santa Claus.
But no foreign policy Santa is going to come to disarm America’s enemies. Peace on Earth will come only through dangerous action to secure it, and good will toward men can only rule once we have defeated the forces whose malice — as recent events demonstrate — cannot be mollified or negotiated away.
That’s why we should take a few moments to remind ourselves that the joy of this holiday season is earned by the courage and foresight we show the rest of the year. We should take a moment, especially, to thank the soldiers who man the front lines of our freedom and security — many of whom will not have the luxury of a Christmas at home.
Most of all, we must make sure that we do not take for granted the happiness of this season — and everything that makes it possible.
