Peace Protests

In free countries why do individuals protest for peace? Would these same people protest raped women to stop rape? These actions are logically equivalent.

It is always difficult when one loses a family member: as a society we should never take lightly the loss of any of our military members. Families suffer the most when war is waged. Men and women who fight in wars often return home jaded by their experiences; sometimes, they do not return at all. If you are human and feeling, your heart can't help but go out to these individuals with broken lives.

On the other hand, does the fact that we are losing military members change the fact our nations have been attacked. Will protesting for peace stop terrorists from flying planes into our buildings? Would begging for peace from nations under attack stop bombs from being detonated in the Chechnya school or on Spanish buses? It seems that all to often we humans respond first with our emotions, with out fully considering the ramifications of our actions.

Let's put this into perspective, would you try to stop a bully from bullying kids by asking the bullied kid to be peaceful? Prior to WWII this very kind of reckless reasoning was rampant: Peace at all costs-- to the cost of millions of lives. Don't the protesters for peace see that sometimes we must indeed fight for peace, as ironic as it sounds, or we will be backed into corner where all our freedoms including peace are exterminated. I think it was best put by Kenny Rogers in his song "Coward of the County": " Now please don't think I'm weak, I didn't turn the other cheek, and Papa, I sure hope you understand:
Sometimes you gotta fight when you're a man."

So if peaceful nations are attacked do we always have to pick up our ball and go play somewhere else, or is there a time when it is appropriate for us to stand up and say, "NO MORE!"