Obert C. Tanner quote.

From 1960, yet, change a few words and you could relate to it today.

“It is not known for certain that the communists will attack at the first opportune moment. Millions of Americans claim they know this to be true, but they really do not know. … No one can be absolutely certain about the future, a vast unknown time into which no man’s got has ever trod. No one should claim to know more than he does, in fact, know.
“To assume the inevitability of imminent attack from the communist nations creates conditions that are full of danger to peace, not the least of which is that it produces a sense of futility, and working for peace becomes a meaningless effort. Also, if war is expected as a certainty, that very expectation will help bring it about. Thoughts precede actions and help determine what actions will be. We often say that a man finds what he is looking for; so, too, many a nation finds what it expects as unavoidable. In addition, if war is inevitable, then any peace effort can be regarded as dangerous to war preparation. This attitude is common among millions of Americans today. Indeed, a short time ago, the very use of the word ‘peace’ created suspicion in many audiences. Even today those who work for peace are considered unrealistic, soft on communism, or possibly unconscious allies of the communist cause.”