Iran deal: diplomacy sure beats war

Re Iranians take to streets to cheer nuclear

agreement, April 4 How moving to know that people in Iran want peace and justice as do we here. As UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says, “Over the longer term, the biggest threat to terrorists is not the power of missiles, it is the politics of inclusion.”

Of course we want to help the people being terrorized by ISIS and other groups. But when we choose war, we squander resources that could be put to much better use. Indeed, when we attack enemies, we just add to the killing, and can’t help but kill innocent people. Our attacks add to the feelings of despair, fear and anger and the widespread perception of unbearable injustice, which fuel the fire of terror.

Communicating in ways that build trust and foster the rule of law is a much better way of promoting peace than military attacks with ill-defined, unattainable goals. Looking at the results of our interventions in the Middle East, how could we possibly think it makes sense to continue with more attacks? Mary Groh, Kitchener As Tony Burman wrote: “History is replete with self-serving politicians eager to show off their manhood by sending other people’s children to die in their name. They are all around us now, including here in Canada.”

Yes, you can count on these leaders to stand behind our troops, most of them a long way behind, and you might even find one or two cowering in a closet. Patrick Furey, Toronto Re Canada is wired for war, Letters April 4 All the talk about returning to peacekeeping, while laudable, is unrealistic in the Middle East. For peacekeeping to work, it takes both sides to want peace in the first place and then some help maintaining it. ISIS is only interested in imposing its brutal vision of an Islamic state on the region and will never be a viable partner in any peace initiative.

I am not interested in seeing any blue berets being beheaded as the extremists have done with humanitarian workers, westerners and unbelievers. Fraser Steele, Toronto