Here in Washington, there’s a lobbying group for just about every cause you can think of. But not for those who are anti-peace. Why?

Because there really isn’t anyone who is anti-peace. If you’re doing something in the name of peace, almost everybody wants to support you.

That can be a good thing, but it can also lead to “The Fog of Peace.” That’s a new twist on an old expression. “The Fog of War” means those fighting in a war are unable to see most of the difficulties all around them. With “The Fog of Peace,” people get so caught up in the idea of peace that they can’t see the problems and threats all around them.

Consider the recent debate over the war in Iraq. During the months-long troop buildup, many accused the Bush administration of warmongering. One correspondent e-mailed me in March: “How many people are about to die for this oh-so-just-war?  300,000 to 500,000? Nothing like slaughtering hundreds of thousands of people just because we can, right?” In the New York Times, columnist Nicholas Kristof urged Washington to consider “containment” for Saddam Hussein.

But many of us favored the war in Iraq because we believed it would promote peace. Properly understood, peace is not merely the absence of war. It means actual freedom and opportunity for people.

Under Saddam Hussein, Iraq was a violent and dangerous place. Independent human rights groups estimate Hussein’s government executed as many as 300,000 people over the last 20 years. The mass graves we’ve uncovered support that.

So by overturning a tyrant, we created a situation that may bring real peace. Fighting opened
the door for peace. Peace that would never have come under Saddam.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, the Israelis and Palestinians are following a “roadmap” to peace.
It replaces the failed Oslo agreement, which was itself supplanted by the violence of a second Intifada.

In a meeting with President Bush on June 4, both sides said all the right things. But the proof is in they do next. Will the leaders take the difficult road toward peace? Or was it all just talk? Continued...