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Peace in the Middle East isn't going to be created by another war or violent act on the other side.

It is not possible to create peace in the Middle East by jeopardizing the peace of the world.

Like most Americans, I hope and wish is that there is a peaceful resolution to the Middle East conflict. Unfortunately, there are extremists on both sides who oppose a peaceful resolution and instead choose violence.

Is there going to be a peace in the Middle East? Not in my lifetime.

Our armed forces will fight for peace in Iraq, a peace built on more secure foundations than are found today in the Middle East. Even more important, they will fight for two human conditions of even greater value than peace: liberty and justice.

Wars such as those which have occurred in Iraq only allow hatred, violence and terror to proliferate.

Of course, violence will not end with our combat mission. Extremists will continue to set off bombs, attack Iraqi civilians and try to spark sectarian strife. But ultimately, these terrorists will fail to achieve their goals.

Reasonable, even intelligent people can, and frequently do, disagree on how best to achieve peace in the Middle East, but, peace must be the goal of our foreign policy tools, whether they be by the stick or by the carrot.

The alternative to peace is war, which will expose everyone to mass casualties, misery and a loss of perspective for many years to come.

Peace does not mean just to stop wars, but also to stop oppression and injustice.