November 12, 2019

Video: Who Should Win the Nobel Peace Prize?

The American military, which has routinely made the world a more peaceful place.

If the Nobel Peace Prize was given out to people who truly made the world a more peaceful place, one group would win every year: the United States military—the US Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines.

Now, you may be thinking, how can you award a peace prize to a group whose purpose is to fight wars? Fair question. I’ll tell you how: because the reason we are free, the reason anyone on earth today is free, is ultimately thanks to the US military.

They saved the free world from German domination in the First World War. They saved the free world from Japanese and German fascism in the Second World War. They saved the free world from communism in the Cold War. And they’re saving it now.

That might sound like an exaggeration, but only because they’ve protected us for so long. National security—the protection of citizens from an external foe—is not a given; far from it. It’s the product of the hard work of American military men and women who stand guard 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, every year. And, they’ve been doing so for as long as any of us can remember.

The First World War, the Second World War, the Cold War, the Korean War, both Iraq Wars, the Afghan War—these were all conflicts that the US tried to avoid. But they were wars that the US fought not only for itself, but for good, decent and free people everywhere.

Where the US military was not ultimately victorious—the Vietnam War—50 million people were deprived of freedom of speech, of assembly, of press, of travel, and of religion. As many as two million were brutally imprisoned and murdered.

The only reason South Korea isn’t an open-air concentration camp like its northern neighbor is because America came to South Korea’s defense nearly 70 years ago. To this day, we still have 30,000 troops stationed there to protect the free South from the unfree North.

And it’s not just the open conflicts the American military resolves; it’s the not-wars—all the conflicts that were never fought because our adversaries feared the consequences of American military involvement.

Let’s put it this way: The reason Iowa soybeans can be shipped from Seattle to Shanghai, or coffee from Colombia to Cleveland is because the American military—specifically, the Navy—stands guard over the world’s shipping lanes. Block those lanes and the price of everything skyrockets, and international commerce grinds to a halt.

Like it or not, the US military has been, and remains, as close to a global sheriff as exists on planet Earth—on the beat, keeping the peace.

Don’t believe me? Ask yourself this very simple question: What if China disarmed? Or Iran? Or North Korea? Or Russia? Think the world would be a better or worse place? The question answers itself.

Now, imagine if America disarmed. Think China stays out of Taiwan or Hong Kong? Iran out of Israel? North Korea out of South Korea? Russia out of eastern Europe? And those are just state actors. Islamists would quickly return, bolder and more vicious than ever.

In short, new conflicts would spring up and old ones reignite all over the world. Freedom would be in retreat every single day.

That’s the dystopian future of a world without the US military. And that’s because across the globe for the last 100 years and more, the bad guys have been thwarted—not only by the American military, of course. But in every major conflict, American military force has been decisive.

That’s why when you meet a veteran, someone who served in the Armed Forces, you should thank them. We have even set aside a special day for it: Veterans Day.

Not Memorial Day. That’s for those who lost their lives fighting for America and for freedom.

Veterans Day is different. It’s for all those who risked their lives so that we could keep ours.

If that’s not worthy of a thank you, what is?

So this year, put out a flag, call a veteran, someone who honorably served in the US military—maybe your dad or mom or uncle, or family friend, and thank them.

Let them know that you know that you are in their debt.

We have been in their debt for so long, it’s easy to take what they did—what they risked and what they sacrificed—for granted.

We shouldn’t.

Veterans Day is meant to remind us. This year, don’t forget.

I’m Pete Hegseth, U.S. Army Major, for Prager University.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.