Chiến tranh muôn năm, đả đảo hoà bình

Sáng nay đến phiên mình đọc diễn văn 5 phút ở hội Toastmasters. Mình chọn đề tài “Make war, Not peace” ngược với khẩu hiệu khi xưa “make love, not war”. Hôm nay, lần đầu tiên mình đọc về một đề tài lịch sử, khác  với mọi khi, thường là kể tếu lâm một tí. Được mọi người khen và bầu “best speaker”.

Đề tài này mình đã từng viết như cô động lại nên có nhiều điều, chỉ nói phớt qua khiến người Mỹ không rõ. Nhất là giới trẻ sinh sau đẻ muộn. Lúc đầu mình viết dài hơn nhưng từ từ cắt gọn bớt.

Tải lại đây cho ai tò mò đọc.

Speech Draft: Make War, Not Peace

My fellow Toastmasters,

When President Eisenhower left office, he didn’t brag about victory. He gave us a warning: beware the military-industrial complex. He knew that once war becomes an industry, peace becomes the enemy.

We didn’t listen.

John F. Kennedy tried to resist the war machine. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, his advisors wanted to bomb Cuba, to unleash nuclear fire. Kennedy said no—and he saved the world. He wanted to pull America out of Vietnam. He signed the order. Twenty-four hours later, he was dead in Dallas. And the war machine rolled on.

Lyndon Johnson sent 2.5 million Americans to Vietnam. Fifty-two thousand never came home. The rest returned broken. Our soldiers carried outdated rifles while their enemies carried Soviet and Chinese weapons. Who profited? Not the soldiers. Not the families. But the defense contractors sure did.

And when Vietnam ended, the wars didn’t stop. After 9/11, the Pentagon already had a shopping list: Afghanistan. Iraq. Libya. Syria. Yemen. Somalia. Iran. Seven nations. One after another. Not for democracy. For oil. For power. For money.

Afghanistan cost us twenty years and trillions of dollars. Iraq bled us dry. Libya and Syria collapsed into chaos. Yemen became a graveyard. And today, it’s Ukraine.

Billions of U.S. tax dollars are shipped overseas—not for peace, but for weapons. While Americans can’t afford food, rent, or healthcare, there’s always money for another war. Europe plays both sides—supporting Ukraine while still buying Russian oil on the cheap. They get energy. We get debt. Ukrainians get the graves.

Let’s tell the truth: War is America’s business model. Peace doesn’t fill the pockets of Lockheed Martin. Peace doesn’t raise Raytheon’s stock price. Peace doesn’t buy a politician his campaign. War does.

We are addicted to war. Addicted to bombs, to invasions, to enemies real or imagined. Napoleon’s endless wars bankrupted France. And we are marching down the same path.

Eisenhower tried to warn us. Kennedy tried to stop it. Both were silenced. And today, America has chosen war over peace.

So I ask you: How much longer will we accept it? How many more billions will we burn? How many more sons and daughters will we bury?

Because if we don’t stand up now—if we don’t say enough—then America won’t just be making war abroad. We will be making war on our own future.

God bless America 

Mình để ý người Mỹ hay chấm dứt bài diễn văn bằng God Bless America nên bắt chước.

Sơn đen nhưng tâm hồn Sơn trong trắng, nhà Sơn nghèo dang nắng Sơn đen 

Nguyễn Hoàng Sơn