The velvet revolutions or gentle revolutions in the fall of 1989 swept through Eastern Europe with practically nothing more than people peacefully joining together. The massive solidarity of the velvet revolutions toppled all of the former Soviet dictatorships and eventually toppled the Soviet Union as well.

No one saw this coming, no governmental intelligence community predicted it, in fact their were no predictions or indications from any source.

The largely bloodless political upheaval began in Poland, continued in Hungary, and then led to a surge of mostly peaceful revolutions in East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria. Romania was the only Eastern-bloc country to overthrow its communist regime violently and execute its head of state.

The Berlin Wall, the symbol of oppression and ruthless control for decades collapsed during this time frame.

Before this event I remember as a young Navy SEAL traveling to the Phillipines and witnessing the events that preciptated the peoples revolution in 1986.

In 1983, opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Jr. was assassinated at the Manila International Airport upon his return to the Philippines after a long period of exile. This coalesced popular dissatisfaction with Marcos and began a succession of events, including pressure from the United States, that culminated in a snap presidential election in February 1986. The opposition united under Aquino’s widow, Corazon Aquino.

The official election canvasser, the Commission on Elections (Comelec), declared Marcos the winner of the election. However, there was a large discrepancy between the Comelec results and that of Namfrel, an accredited poll watcher. The allegedly fraudulent result was rejected by Corazon Aquino and her supporters. International observers, including a U.S. delegation, denounced the official results. Gen. Fidel Ramos and Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile withdrew their support for Marcos. A peaceful civilian-military uprising, now popularly called the People Power Revolution, forced Marcos into exile and installed Corazon Aquino as president on February 25, 1986.

These velvet revolutions can also be traced as far back as the John F. Kennedy years when he peacefully turned back the Soviet Union during the Cuban missile crises in October of 1962. This peacefully averted what many believed was going to be the end of the world through nuclear holocaust. I believe the power of many people desiring a peaceful outcome or velvet revolution helped this disaster to be avoided. Following Kennedy’s assacination and the US entering the Viet Nam war another velvet revolution formed with the American youth peace movement.

April 30, 1969 - U.S. troop levels peak at 543,400. There have been 33,641 Americans killed by now, a total greater than the Korean War.

July 8, 1969 - The very first U.S. troop withdrawal occurs as 800 men from the 9th Infantry Division are sent home. The phased troop withdrawal will occur in 14 stages from July 1969 through November 1972.

Woodstock Music & Art Fair (informally, Woodstock or The Woodstock Festival) was a music festival, billed as “An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music” The Woodstock festival on 15-18 August of 1969 I believe generated enough positive energy for peace to cause a tipping point in the war.

After the concert, Max Yasgur, who owned the site of the event, saw it as a victory of peace and love. He spoke of how nearly half a million people filled with possibilities of disaster, riot, looting, and catastrophe spent the three days with music and peace on their minds. He states that “if we join them, we can turn those adversities that are the problems of America today into a hope for a brighter and more peaceful future…

May 4, 1970 - At Kent State University in Ohio, National Guardsmen shoot and kill four student protesters and wound nine.

In response to the killings, over 400 colleges and universities across America shut down. In Washington, nearly 100,000 protesters surround various government buildings including the White House and historical monuments. On an impulse, President Nixon exits the White House and pays a late night surprise visit to the Lincoln Memorial and chats with young protesters.

April 30, 1975 – At 8:35 a.m., the last Americans, ten Marines from the embassy, depart Saigon, concluding the United States presence in Vietnam.

As often happens with countries we have been at war with Viet Nam is now a top tourist destination. We have the capacity to forgive and forget past differences. If only we could learn to do that before the fighting starts.

Today we are faced with yet another war in a different place. As the war in Iraq winds down I can gaurantee you it will soon be a top tourist site. I have visited many of the sites in Iraq during my time protecting US officials, including Babylon and people are going to want to see these places in the near future. The war in Afghanistan is now heating up and the world is faced with a threat the likes of Nazi Germany. Currently the Taliban/Al Qaeda extremist group has been allowed to consolidate and regroup in the isolated and mountainous border area of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The International Security Assistance Force consisting of NATO and American troops along with the Pakistan Military on the other side of the border, have the extremists bottled up and will probably mount the typical offensive in the spring of 2010. This time needs to be different. I feel that we are at a turning point as a collective and if we focus our attention on solving this problem it will happen next year.

I am a big proponent of turning our soldiers from war making warriors to peaceful warriors. This will be a transition process and will not happen quickly. Just as it took the Viet Nam war several years to wind down from the Woodstock tipping point it will also take time for us to move to a peaceful solution in this current conflict. But just as the Berlin Wall and the rest of the Eastern block and Soviet Union quickly fell so to can the end of war throughout the world happen.

We can do it as a collective but only if we are united in numbers. We owe it to all the brave men and women who are doing their best to end this war. Love and people power as we have seen over the last couple of decades is gaining power and momentum. A strong intent  and unified collective thought of unconditional love and peace can work miracles. Are we ready? We are completely capable if we intend it.