National Security: Peacemakers

In the sixth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount, that is near Tabgha, on the western side of the Sea of Galilee. Very quickly, he enumerates the Beatitudes to the dispossessed. One of these captures the idea of peace, rather than war: “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.” Matthew was the only apostle who recorded his eye-witness account into the first Gospel. John’s (also an eye-witness) later Gospel does not address the Sermon on the Mount because it was already covered in the earlier synoptic gospels. Say what you will about or against Donald Trump, he is a peacemaker. Simply put, to him, war is bad for business and that is his life’s background. He is particularly disgusted with protracted “forever wars” with no end in sight, like Afghanistan (2001-2021) Let’s examine the evidence. In the first Trump Administration (2017-2021), not only did America stay out of wars, but no new wars were begun. You might countermand by saying he destroyed ISIS, but I’d give him a pass because the ISIS Caliphate was murderous and very destructive, and Trump put an end to them. Elsewhere, the world was a peaceful place before the crazy Covid happening. Covid paved the way for Joe Biden to capture the 2020 election, and then a relatively peaceful world quickly fell apart, starting with our withdrawal from Afghanistan four years ago in August of 2021. America withdrew from our (too) long war in Afghanistan, with our tail between our legs, and the Taliban filled the void before the final plane took off. The “Graveyard of Empires” swallowed another. Our ignominious withdrawal was seen by our enemies as a sign of weakness. Chief among the enemies, Vladimir Putin, saw this as an opportunity to reestablish the Soviet empire by gobbling The Ukraine and launched his assault in February of 2022, more than three years ago. The Ukrainians valiantly fought back and achieved a bloody stalemate, somewhat akin to the Western Front in World War I. The Biden Administration provided weapons to the Ukrainians in metered doses, trying to ‘keep the lid’ on the pressure cooker. There was no solution or end in sight. Meanwhile, the Iranian nuclear program went into overdrive when Biden lifted the sanctions that Trump had imposed. Then, there was the terror attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, that witnessed 1200 innocent Israelis slaughtered and more than 200 kidnappings. Now, nearly two years later, the war in Gaza continues. Another Iranian proxy, the Houthi rebels, joined in with attacks on Red Sea shipping. And now, the historical rebound. Donald Trump was reelected in late 2024 and took office just a half year ago. On the foreign policy front, he is bound to rectify the messes that Biden left behind. Already, within six months, he has brokered six peace agreements largely using economic sanctions and tariff threats to stop fighting in Central Africa (Congo-Rwanda); Southeast Asia (Cambodia-Thailand); and Central Asia (Azerbaijan-Armenia and India-Pakistan). In order to halt the Iranian nuclear program, he ordered the incredible bombing mission of their underground enrichment plants, which has setback Tehran’s nuclear ambitions by at least two years. He halted the threat to Red Sea shipping by attacking the Houthi offensive systems and they cried ‘uncle.’ Two remaining conflicts must end in eastern Ukraine and Gaza. Most of Trump’s current efforts are centered on the Russia-Ukraine conflict begun by Russia’s invasion. To that end, on Friday, he convened an unusual bi-lateral summit in Alaska with the Russian president. The last American president to meet with Putin was … Donald Trump, during his first administration. A ceasefire did not happen but as a result, the Ukrainian president and seven other European leaders are meeting in the White House this afternoon. Pray that their negotiations will be successful. Some of you might be saying now, ‘No way evil Trump is a child of God.’ Theologically, that is untrue. We are all made in the likeness of God and are inheritors of His kingdom. Sometimes we stray away from that promise, some more than others. Regardless, we are all God’s children … even Donald Trump. War is a terrible thing. I know from personal experience. It leads to death and destruction. On the other hand, peace is the natural state of affairs. I hope and pray that Trump’s efforts, along with our European partners, including England, France, Germany, Italy and Finland will bring the parties together and lead to a lasting peace with security guarantees for Ukraine that will stave off future aggression. “Blessed are the peacemakers” and their goals.