# The burden of peace > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "The burden of peace," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-burden-of-peace/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *John Kiriakou's rule for asymmetric wars — that in any lopsided military conflict most of the burden of making peace falls on the superior military force, which will have to make most of the concessions — together with his rejection of unconditional surrender as a war aim.* - **The rule:** 'In any kind of lopsided military conflict, most of the burden of making peace falls on the superior military force' - **The consequence:** The stronger party has to make most of the concessions - **Applied to:** Israel and Hamas, July 2025 - **On unconditional surrender:** 'I would have never agreed with the policy'; he believes it prolonged the Second World War - **Why it no longer works:** 'Nobody ever admits that they were defeated' **The burden of peace** is a rule [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) applies to asymmetric conflicts, stated in July 2025 in answer to the objection that any demand on Israel should be matched by a demand on [Hamas](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/hamas). ## The rule *"In any kind of lopsided military conflict, most of the burden of making peace falls on the superior military force,"* Kiriakou says. The stronger party *"is going to have the advantage"*, and therefore *"they're going to have to make most of the concessions"* if a ceasefire is the object.[1][2] He applied it to a negotiation he considered already dead. There were, he said, no peace talks — the United States had walked out and they *"weren't accomplishing anything anyway"* — and there was *"no chance"* of a settlement *"because the Israelis aren't serious."*[3][1] ## Against unconditional surrender Kiriakou anticipates the counter-example: the end of the Second World War. He rejects it. *"I never — I wasn't there, but I would have never agreed with the policy of unconditional surrender. I think it dragged World War II on much longer than it needed to."*[2] In any case, he argues, the model no longer describes how wars stop. *"Those days are gone. That's just not how conflicts end anymore."* What happens instead is the pattern [Saddam Hussein](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/saddam-hussein) set: *"you go hide in your spider hole. You leave weapons behind and then an insurgency pops up."* And whatever the outcome, *"nobody ever admits that they were defeated."*[4] ## What negotiating actually takes Against the shuttle diplomacy of the [Henry Kissinger](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/henry-kissinger) era, and Philip Habib's in the 1980s, Kiriakou grants the practitioners their diligence whatever else may be said of them — Kissinger *"certainly was a hardworking dude"* who *"went back and forth all the time"* — and describes ending a complicated war between states as an arduous, prolonged process that had not begun in Gaza at all.[5] He also notes a point of agreement between the belligerents that rarely survives translation to the United States: the Israelis themselves accept the Hamas health ministry's casualty figures, and it is *"only the Zionists in the United States who pretend like they're not true."* His own view is that the figures are an undercount.[6] ## See also - [Hamas](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/hamas) - [Famine in Gaza](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/gaza-famine) - [Henry Kissinger](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/henry-kissinger) - [Saddam Hussein](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/saddam-hussein) - [Hostages and prisoners](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/hostages-and-prisoners) ## Sources 1. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-07-25), at 23:26. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RypVxybJzHo&t=1406s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-07-25-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 2. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-07-25), at 23:57. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RypVxybJzHo&t=1437s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-07-25-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 3. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-07-25), at 21:50. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RypVxybJzHo&t=1310s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-07-25-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 4. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-07-25), at 24:29. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RypVxybJzHo&t=1469s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-07-25-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 5. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-07-25), at 22:21. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RypVxybJzHo&t=1341s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-07-25-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 6. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-07-25), at 22:54. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RypVxybJzHo&t=1374s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-07-25-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-burden-of-peace/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt