“Only the incompetent wait until the last extremity to use force, and by then, it is usually too late to use anything, even prayer.”

An argument to justify the occupying statist theocracy infesting this land's reasons for their continual wars, rumors of wars and imperialism. Only the hate, power, and war mongers use preemptive force to justify man's inhumanity to man. To the faithless, prayer is an exercise in futility. My personal life's experiences have shown all things are possible through faith and prayer. To the others, such as Mr. Obamunist Goodwrench the assassin, the arm of flesh extended in genocide describes the above quote well.

Apparently Mr. Piper was miffed that Kennedy didn't nuke the Soviets over the Cuba dustup instead of negotiating. His philosophical descendents are still in Congress in the likes of McCain, Graham, et al.

Piper must have known Obama/Syria was on the far horizon.

This quote is either wise counsel to we citizens or an evil excuse for the state.

Hard to rate without the context. Certainly it's better to defend oneself when you can before you get overwhelmed. Then again, force is not always the answer...