Kos believes in the pragmatism of war, and denounces those who think war is "inherently bad."
The question for those of us who do oppose war is: what's the active alternative?
Gandhi described the "Shanti Sena" or nonviolent army as a full substitute for war, and a Muslim named Badshah Khan put it into practice. He organized 80,000 Nonviolent Soldiers to oppose the British occupation of the northwest frontier province of then-India. Please see this article and let me know what you think:
http://www.calpeacepower.org/0101/muslim_ghandi.htm
At its height, Khan's Khudai Khidmatgars [nonviolent soldiers] numbered more than 80,000....
On April 23rd, 1930, the British arrested Khan and a mass demonstration filled the main square of Peshawar to protest his arrest. In a moment of panic, British-led troops began firing into the crowd. "When those in front fell down wounded by the shots, those behind came forward with their breasts bared and exposed themselves to the fire one after another, and when they fell wounded they were dragged back and others came forward to be shot at. This state of things continued from 11 till 5 o'clock in the evening." An estimated two to three hundred Pashtun were killed. One regiment of soldiers refused to fire on the unarmed Pashtun and were court-martial and sentenced to long prison terms.
The British were exremely repressive against the Pashtuns, and yet, the commitment of Khan's troops held. The fact that many of the British soldiers refused to fire demonstrates the persuasive power of nonviolence to rehumanize and convert the opponent, something violence could never accomplish.
Matthew Taylor
co-editor, PeacePower magazine
student of Nonviolence and Conflict Transformation
University of California, Berkeley
also see: http://www.mettacenter.org