Department of Peace Conference, 3-5 February 2006
Dr. Dorothy Maver, Executive Director of the Peace Alliance, a dear ally and friend of PDA, is inviting people from across the United States to a two day conference in Washington for educational workshops and then direct lobbying members of our Congress to establish a Department of Peace. The two days of education and activism will be the Third through the Fifth of February, 2007. This is an excellent chance for us all to interact with religious, political, educational and conflict resolution leaders and joining with Rep. Kucinich, along with Deepak Chopra and Marianne Williamson (two international best selling authors and world-celebrated thinkers) and people from faith, justice, peace, and activist communities in this conference, the culmination of which will be reintroduction of the Dept. of Peace legislation on the House Floor!
A Dept. of Peace is not a new idea, but was introduced during debate on the original US Constitution and the concept of peaceful conflict resolution and arbitration has been a hallmark of recent human civilization, dating from at least 500 BCE in India. The Department of Peace would also include a Peace Academy and address domestic issues such as teaching nonviolent conflict resolution to our children and youth, and addressing such longstanding problems as domestic violence (particularly towards women and children), gang and drug violence, as well as international issues.
The Peace Alliance and its allies include a wide range of individual legislators such as Dennis Kucinich, Maxine Waters, Barbara Lee, Bernie Sanders, and organizations as diverse as the Catholic Pax Christi USA, Amnesty International, American Muslim Voices and the Jewish group Tikkun!
A Dept. of Peace would only be about 2% of the present US DOD budget…2% for peace and conflict resolution rather than wars of choice and further financial engorgement of the military-industrial complex President Eisenhower warned us of in 1961 upon leaving office. Rep. Kucinich has introduced this legislation twice before, and it has never got out of committee, much less been debated on the Floor of the US House of Representatives. However, the people in theory are represented by our Congress, but only by making our feelings known, can Congress be educated and hopefully swayed in the establishment of a new model of conflict resolution and we the people will rest securely in the knowledge that noone bears us collective ill will and consequently address all the other pressing issues that face us such as: alternative and renewable energy, environmental stewardship, tackling Global HIV, and the other problems in the world which war does not solve, but aggrandize them.
By peace, we free ourselves and our resources for the advancement of ourselves, our progeny, and the present as well as our future heritage as members of the human community. Please contact your legislators in Congress and urge them to cosponsor or at least vote for a Dept. of Peace in this 110th Congress.
January 10, 2007 at 4:38 pm
There are good points in your article. Please allow me to point out what you are up against and supplement your perspective with some information:
I am a 2 tour Vietnam Veteran who recently retired after 36 years of working in the Defense Industrial Complex on many of the weapons systems being used by our forces as we speak.
If you are interested in a view of the inside of the Pentagon procurement process from Vietnam to Iraq please check the posting at my blog entitled, “Odyssey of Armaments”
http://rosecoveredglasses.blogspot.com/2006/11/odyssey-of-armaments.html
The Pentagon is a giant, incredibly complex establishment, budgeted in excess of $500B per year. The Rumsfelds, the Administrations and the Congressmen come and go but the real machinery of policy and procurement keeps grinding away, presenting the politicos who arrive with detail and alternatives slanted to perpetuate itself.
How can any newcomer, be he a President, a Congressman or even the new Sec. Def.Mr. Gates, understand such complexity, particularly if heretofore he has not had the clearance to get the full details?
Answer- he can’t. Therefore he accepts the alternatives provided by the career establishment that never goes away and he hopes he makes the right choices. Or he is influenced by a lobbyist or two representing companies in his district or special interest groups.
From a practical standpoint, policy and war decisions are made far below the levels of the talking heads who take the heat or the credit for the results.
This situation is unfortunate but it is absolute fact. Take it from one who has been to war and worked in the establishment.
This giant policy making and war machine will eventually come apart and have to be put back together to operate smaller, leaner and on less fuel. But that won’t happen until it hits a brick wall at high speed.
We will then have to run a Volkswagen instead of a Caddy and get along somehow. We better start practicing now and get off our high horse. Our golden aura in the world is beginning to dull from arrogance.