"Thank you, ambassador. I now recognize the Human representative."
Ambassador Li rose to speak to the Council of the Orion Alliance.
"I would like you to consider this saying: 'Peace requires strength'. We normally think of it as meaning that, in order to be at peace, you must be strong enough to discourage anyone from attacking you. But in the present situation, I invite you to consider another meaning.
"Our enemy, the Draikau Hegemon, has done terrible things. The destruction of Carana and the massacre of the population of Harxar are two of the worst. They are unforgivable. Unforgivable!"
A roar of agreement swept through the Council chamber.
Ambassador Li continued more quietly, "In response, we fought back as fiercely as we could. And we did our own terrible things. We destroyed Aarara and massacred the population of Hhorthoar. Those also are unforgivable."
The Council chamber was absolutely silent as the Ambassador's words hit home.
"You see," Li said, "the problem with war is not just that it is such a drain on the economy. It is not just that so many people die. It is that we become people who will do terrible things.
"War has its own logic. Revenge has a great deal of momentum. It is easy to just continue to fight, to pay the price one more day, and one more, and one more. It is easy to continue the cycle of revenge, doing a terrible thing, and another, and another.
"It is easy to continue. It is much harder to stop. As I said, peace requires strength.
"You may say to me, 'If we stop, they will not be punished for what they did, and they should be punished.' That is true. But we also are becoming people who deserve to be punished for things we have done. If there is ever to be peace, some who deserve punishment - who deserve vengeance - will not receive it. But if we continue, many more things that deserve vengeance will be done, by both sides.
"We have received a proposal to end the fighting. The front line becomes the recognized border. This proposal will not bring back the dead, but it will prevent any more from dying. It will not reverse the terrible things that were done, but it will stop more terrible things from being done.
"There is a chance for peace. Do we have the strength to take it, to put war aside, to stop the cycle of vengeance?"
There was silence in the Council chamber. Ambassador Li sat down. No one else rose to speak.
Then the chair called for a vote on the peace proposal.