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The world is being driven to war — possibly nuclear war — by current leaders who want their citizens to believe that there are no other options. This is patently not true. Let us explore first principles to understand that there always are other alternatives.

There is No Such Thing as Fate

Events are driven by human action alone. At any time, a man can choose to take a different direction. The same is true of nations, because nations are driven by the actions of men, and men can choose to take a different course at any time. Do not believe those who say otherwise. Even at this late date in the course of the Middle Eastern war, men can choose simply to stop and take a different course.

There Is Such a Thing as Law, Both National and International

At the present time, America's president mistakenly believes that he alone holds the power to decide whether or not America will go to war. This is patently wrong. Only Congress holds that power. Previous Congresses may have passed resolutions granting the president war powers, but those resolutions are unconstitutional. Congress does not have the legal power to abrogate its constitutional authority to another branch of government, and the president does not have the legal power to accept it. Both branches of government have acted unconstitutionally. Furthermore, it is an established international legal principle that no nation has the legal right to wage preemptive war against another nation. Nations have only the legal right to wage a defensive war. Of course, one can see that — under this principle — there is no such thing as beginning a just war. In all wars either one or both sides are violating international law.

Sovereign States Have the Right to Prepare for Their Own Defense as They See Fit

This is the bedrock foundation of sovereignty. This does not mean that statesmen need not take the likely reactions of other nations into account. But no nation needs the approval of another nation to decide what is in its own best defensive interest. Thus, waging preemptive war on Iran to prevent it from arming itself with nuclear weapons is illegal in international law. Israel and other nations may not like it, but Iran has the legal right to do so and no nation has the legal right to prevent it from doing so other than using persuasion or some negotiated quid pro quo.

Balance of Power Works

For over forty years, the US and the USSR deterred nuclear war by building retaliatory defensive capabilities that would deliver unacceptable destruction on the other in the event of a first strike. On an historical note, the main reason that President Kennedy insisted that the USSR not put missiles in Cuba was that such an action would negate the Mutually Assured Destruction doctrine (MAD); i.e., such missiles could deliver a first strike that would not allow the US sufficient time to retaliate. The crisis was resolved when the USSR said that it would remove its missiles from Cuba if the US removed its missiles from Turkey. President Putin has stated many times that Russia cannot allow Ukraine to join NATO for the same reason. Ukraine is so close to Russia's seat of government that Russia might not have sufficient time to retaliate from a NATO first strike.

Israel Can Deter Iran Now

Military intelligence revealed many years ago that Israel has at least twenty nuclear weapons with the ability to deliver unacceptable damage were it the target of an Iranian preemptive first strike. Like it or not, Israel has violated international law with its unilateral actions.

The world can step back from the cliff of nuclear war by recognizing the above first principles. The failure to do so is a catastrophe, wherein leaders blatantly value personal "glory" or hatred above the interests of mankind — and our peaceful coexistence.