Living in Peace

We make war that we may live in peace.

Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics

This is Rememberance Day in Canada. Today we remember those who gave up their lives for our freedom. I think of my dad today and his brothers as well as others whose children I know. They gave up alot living in terrible conditions, going for days without sleep or decent food, wondering if the next battle would be their last.

My dad didn't like to talk much about the war. I noticed this was pretty common among the veterans. I guess it brought back too many bad memories. There were some good times too though. Dad liked to talk about the time he spent in Holland. He said that the Dutch people treated them like their own and he had many warm memories of them. I believe the Dutch people still hold a special place in their hearts for Canada.

Will we ever have peace? One only has to pick up the newspaper, watch the TV news or check any number of Internet sources to know that we are far from having a peaceful world. Conflicts continue in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Sudan, Thailand, Colombia, Pakistan, Sudan, Congo, and the Philippines, Meanwhile, peace has broken out in Nepal, Chechnya and Burundi. After four years of ceasefire, war has broken out again in Sri Lanka. In all these countries, civil war is the main cause of conflict.

The Bible tells us that there will never be peace until Jesus returns to create his kingdom on Earth. Men's hearts can not be mended without divine intervention. We are called to be peacemakers but our selfish "I" centered nature wins out too often. We can make a difference but we can't fix it all, only God can.

Below is a list of wars currently going on in our world as listed by the StrategyPage.com.

AFGHANISTAN
Taliban are fighting back more vigorously, but without much success. Independent minded tribes, warlords and drug gangs remain a greater threat to peace, prosperity and true national unity than the Taliban.

ALGERIA
Islamic rebels fading away, but a general uprising a threat because of dissatisfaction with the old revolutionaries that refuse to honor election results or share power.

ANGOLA
Main rebel group (UNITA) defeated, but some smaller ones have appeared to fight over oil wealth.

BALKANS
The Greater Albania Movement is driven by part time Albanian nationalists, full time gangsters and a growing number of Islamic radicals. Bosnia continues to attract Islamic terrorists.

CENTRAL ASIA
Dictators brew rebellion by suppressing democrats and Islamic radicals.

CHAD
Unrest and rebellion is brewing, spurred on by a three month mini-war with Sudan in mid-2006. More unrest is caused by refugees from tribal battles in Sudan.

CHINA
The confrontation with Taiwan continues, as do hostilities with neighbors, separatists, dissenters and ancient enemies. China speeds up modernization of its armed forces.

COLOMBIA
After over three decades, leftist rebels losing support, recruits and territory. Leftist demagogue in Venezuela threatens to support rebels, but has not done much yet.

CONGO
Multiple tribal and political militias, plus an increasing number of bandits, continue to roam the countryside. Peacekeepers and army action have reduced the the size of these violent groups, but not eliminated them.

INDIA-PAKISTAN
Kashmir is but one of many rebellions that beset the region. But India and Pakistan have nukes, making escalation a potential catastrophe. Recent peace talks have lowered the possibility of war, but both sides continue an arms race. Pakistani Islamic radical groups continue to support terrorism in India and Afghanistan.

INDONESIA
Separatism, pirates, Islamic terrorists and government corruption create a volatile situation that is slowly calming down.

IRAN
Minority of Islamic conservatives have veto power over the majority of reformers. The supply of peaceful solutions is drying up. After that comes another revolution. Half the population consists of ethnic minorities (mainly Turks and Arabs), and these groups are getting more restive and violent. Meanwhile, the Islamic conservatives are determined to build nuclear weapons.

IRAQ
Sunni Arab minority tries to make peace with the majority Kurds and Shia Arabs. But Sunni Arab Islamic radicals still back terrorism attacks against government and Shia Arabs (who are considered heretics). Many Sunni Arabs are fleeing the country.

ISRAEL
Jewish and Palestinian radicals continue to confront peacemakers. The Palestinian people got tired of terrorism and are trying to work out a peace deal with Israel. Iran backed Islamic radicals in Lebanon have dragged Lebanon into a war with Israel.

IVORY COAST
The north and the south fight over money, religion and power.

KOREA
After half a century, North Korea continues to destroy its economy to maintain armed forces capable of invading South Korea.

KURDISH WAR
Kurds continue 5,000 year struggle to form their own country.

LIBERIA
Chaos, collapse and tired of fighting. There is peace, but no prosperity.

MICRONESIA
Several "failed states" (countries with populations that cannot govern themselves) are found here.

NEPAL
Radical communist rebels still struggle to overthrow a popular monarchy. An alliance with political parties threatens to greatly reduce the powers of the monarchy, while reducing the violence level.

NIGERIA
Too many tribes, too much oil money and too much corruption creates too much violence. The tribes in the major oil producing region (the Niger Delta) are getting organized, and a lot more violent. The northern Moslems want more control over the federal government (and the oil money).

POTENTIAL HOT SPOTS
Various places where the local situation is warming up and might turn into a war.

PHILIPPINES
Islamic minority in the south wants it's own country, and expulsion of non-Moslems. Communist rebels in the north fight for social justice and a dictatorship.

RUSSIA
Rebuilding and reforming the Soviet era armed forces continues. The war against gangsters and Islamic radicals in Chechnya has been one, but the Islamic radicals continue to operate in other parts of the Caucasus.

RWANDA & BURUNDI
War between better organized and more aggressive Tutsis and more numerous Hutu tribes. It's been going on for centuries.

SOMALIA
A failed state. It was never a country, but a collection of clans and tribes that fight each other constantly over land and other economic issues. Attempting to establish a new government, while an Islamic movement tries to put the entire country under the rule of Islamic clergy and Islamic law.

SRI LANKA
Tamil minority (19th century economic migrants from southern India) battles to partition the island. A long ceasefire ends and fighting has resumed.

SUDAN
Moslems in the north try to suppress separatist tendencies among Christians in the south. Complicated by oil fields in the south, and Moslem government attempts to drive Christians from oil region. Battles over land in the west pit Arab herders against black Sudanese farmers. Both sides are Moslem, but the government is backing the Arabs.

THAILAND
Moslems in the south have a different religion than most Thais, and are different ethnically as well (they are Malays). Islamic radicalism has arrived, along with an armed effort to create a separate Islamic state among the few million people in the area.

UGANDA
Religion and tribalism combine to create a persistent rebellion in the north, which was aided by Sudan. But now the northern rebels have been worn down, and the unrest is just about done with.

WAR ON TERROR
International terrorism has created a international backlash and a war unlike any other.