Give Peace a Chance - Petition to create the office of The Secretary of Peace

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[BigSlick]

In this thread I hope to gain support from enough MudFlatters to develop and offer a Petition to the Obama Administration calling for the creation of a Cabinet Post entitled "The Secretary of Peace". 

This concept was talked about in an earlier thread so I cannot claim it as my own - however, my own passion for this concept does drive me to action now.  I hope others here will share this passion.

I would like for this thread to also be used for those who wish to join me in strong opposition to the Oil Wars - and any other war for that matter.  We may need to split the War Opposition aspect into a second thread.

To start with, I ask that those interested in joining this agenda read the words of wisdom I have borrowed below to understand the thesis which drives my passion.

Many forum members know by now of my strong ties to Japan.  The Japanese know first hand the horrors of war and how it can quickly come home to haunt despite a country's rise to the greatest heights of world military power. The ghosts of their racist Asian Hegemony Strategy and subsequent participation -- and ultimate defeat -- in WWII haunt them horribly to this day. 

I apologize for the length of this post. But I also wish to direct all to an address by Daisaku Ikeda given in 2006 that I find exceptionally inspiring.  Please read the enitre article here:

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20060511a3.html

In addition, I want to make a disclaimer, in that Mr. Ikeda is the well-known Bhuddist leader of the the Sokka-Gakkai, perhaps the closest thing you will find to "Evangelical Bhuddism".  I am not affiliated with this group, nor would I even call myself a Bhuddist - I have simply recognized the wisdom of his words in this essay.

Please read, and draw your own conclusions.  At the very least, you will find a thoughtful essay on the horrors of war and the powerful thesis of peace that Mr. Ikeda promotes.

A power to resist the currents of history
 
        “War is the price paid for failed diplomacy.”  These are the words of Arnold Toynbee, the British historian with whom I once conducted and published a dialogue.  This was his rebuttal to Clausewitz’s famous assertion that war is simply diplomacy conducted by other means.

        History is filled with tragic examples of wars that result from diplomatic impasse.  Whether in our local communities or in international relations, the skillful use of our communicative capacities to negotiate and resolve differences is the first evidence of human wisdom.  We cannot allow Japan to repeat the destructive folly of its diplomatic missteps leading up to World War II.

        International relations should therefore not be limited to the political or economic planes.  It is absolutely vital that there be educational and cultural exchanges that enhance mutual understanding between the ordinary citizens of different countries.  This is why I have worked to open a path for young people through dialogue that brings people together in the dimension of their humanity.
 
Read on: A Power to Resist the Currents of History – Daisaku Ikeda
Written for the Japan Times – English language newspaper
May 11, 2006

(bold scripting above by BigSlick)

Regardless of his affiliations, Mr. Ikeda's address gives deep insight into the Japanese cultural psyche and the aftermath of war.  The Japanese are not perfect and their government has recently become quite hawkish again.  However, the Japanese people have learned some hard lessons that some in the USA have not, as evidenced by the 8-year-long National Nightmare of the Bush/Cheney administration.

The election of Barack Hussein Obama proves the thesis of this address  -- that we are not completely disenfranchised, that individual actions DO matter, that compassion and caring CAN triumph over ignorance and cruelty.  Mr. Ikeda is in some ways a visionary, but his vision is actually borne of the mistakes of the past and more importantly, his experience is the product of a harrowing global cycle of war and violence that we are still repeating today. Bush/Cheney would have us trapped in that cycle.  I believe that Barack Obama will attempt to break that cycle and avoid the escalation of violence that has embodied the Bush/Cheney administration.

I believe we can assist President Obama through activism directed at creation of the position of  The Secretary of Peace, to lead a newly-created Department of Peace.  The mission of the Department of Peace will be to provide a balanced approach to decision making regards matters that challenge the peaceful existence of the United States of America, at the Executive level of the US Government -- a balance that is sorely lacking today and has been leaning far too far in the direction of the Department of Defense (which until September 18, 1947, was known as the Department of War).   

Please join me in this activism. YES WE CAN!

[Steve]

Departments are established by Congress, not the president. Which is not to say there couldn't be a presidential initiative to establish a new one.

[BigSlick]

There you go proving what I knew already - that I need help to get this idea to develop from concept to fruition.

[mimi]

Absolutely fabulous idea!!  Do you know that there is a Peace Academy in Minneapolis, Mn.  It is a high school.  Also, I think you might want to contact the Friends Service Committee - Quakers -

This is a movement whose time is long overdue and the demand for a Peace Department needs to resound throughout the country and the world.

[BigSlick]

Well, guess what?

Creation of the Department of Peace had already been proposed in HB 3760 by Congressman Dennis Kucinich et al. in July, 2001 (pre-9/11, go figure)  and again in September of 2005.

http://kucinich.house.gov/UploadedFiles/HR%203760%20Department%20of%20Peace%20and%20Nonviolence.pdf

There is an organization called the Peace Alliance which supports HR 808 (also a Kucinich sponsored bill) and appears to be almost identical to HB 3760.   The website is very pretty and looks like it might actually be getting some sponsorship/funding.

http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/278/23/

There's a fellow who has proposed this just yesterday on the website On/Day/1 and he's Alaskan!

http://www.ondayone.org/user/4002

And there is a WWII vet named Lee Van Voorhis in Marlborough, MA who has recently made the proposal and gotten a write up in his local paper as well.

http://www.wickedlocal.com/marlborough/news/x1197776393/WWII-vet-urges-Secretary-of-Peace

Even as early as 1916 the New York Times reports on a proposal by Dr. Abraham Jacobi, an early president of the American Medical Association and the first founder of a Children's Clinic in the United States.

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9B07E4DF1439E233A25750C2A9679C946796D6CF&oref=slogin

In addition, the Secretary of State has traditionally been considered the keeper of the Peace.

Some holders of this office have not really embraced this role, however, such as John Foster Dulles, as evidenced in his idealogical conflicts with Harold Edward Stassen during the Eisenhower Administration.

http://jch.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/41/4/721

The appointment of Colin Powell as Secretary of State in 2001 was prophetic in that a decorated and widely recognized military hero would be installed immediately prior to 9/11. 

Imagine, if we had also had a Secreatary of Peace, would history be any different?

Maybe, maybe not.  But it wouldn't have made things any worse.

[BigSlick]

Absolutely fabulous idea!!  Do you know that there is a Peace Academy in Minneapolis, Mn.  It is a high school.  Also, I think you might want to contact the Friends Service Committee - Quakers -

This is a movement whose time is long overdue and the demand for a Peace Department needs to resound throughout the country and the world.

Mimi, thanks, I'll be looking up the Peace Academy as well!

[pj]

Powell would have upheld the oldest tradition had he had the leadership to support State/Peace as inter-twined obligations of office, in my opinion.
Perhaps he'd take that new Sec. of Peace office if he felt there was a chance he could actually use his experience/knowledge to actively seek the stated objective.
But I think his heart is more aligned in Education...but who knows, our world is full of possibilities now!

[BigSlick]

I agree, Powell wasn't allowed to give peace a chance. 

I feel for him and wish he had been in that position under better circumstances, like without Rumsfeld as SoD. Or no 9/11.  Rumsfeld put the SoD back in time to pre-1947 when it was just SoWAR and unfortunately 9/11 validated his parking ticket for much too long.

Powell would have made a better Secretary of Defense from the beginning and Rummy could/shoulda/woulda been head of the CIA, deep in the shadow-world where he belongs.

But who would have been a good SoState out of the Bush/Cheney crowd?  I can't think of a single one of 'em with actual diplomatic skills.

To tell the truth, I can't say I'd ever consider picking Colin Powell for Secretary of Peace though.  I'll have to think that idea over for a while.

While we're at this, let's also go back and swap Bush out for Al Gore....there's a HUGE shoulda/coulda/woulda.....

[Forty Watt]

How do you perceive this differing from the United States Institute of Peace that is already in existence.  I'm presuming that a Secretary of Peace would have a different/broader mandate...?

"The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, nonpartisan institution established and funded by Congress. Its goals are to help prevent and resolve violent international conflicts, promote post-conflict stability and development, and increase conflict management capacity, tools, and intellectual capital worldwide."

http://www.usip.org/

[BigSlick]

Basically, the difference would be one of authority.

By creating an actual Department of Peace, and assigning the Secretary of Peace a seat on the President's cabinet in a posting of similar standing to the Secretary of Defense, thus, we would have a formalized authority representing the best interests of the USA through Peace as their primary goal while participating in day-to-day workings of the US Government's Executive Branch.

The USIP is a non-profit organization like many others and has no such authority.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE INSTITUTE
Sec. 1704. (a) There is hereby established the United States Institute of Peace.
(b) The Institute is an independent nonprofit corporation and an organization described in
section 170(c)(2)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The Institute does not have the power
to issue any shares of stock or to declare or pay any dividends.

Again, the USIP does not have any formal authority within the processes of the US Government.

Sec. 1705. (a) The Institute may exercise the powers conferred upon a nonprofit corporation by
the District of Columbia Nonprofit Corporation Act consistent with this title, except for section
5(o) of the District of Columbia Nonprofit Corporation Act (D.C. Code, sec. 29-1005(o)).

The USIP is a great organization and does wonderful things.  I by no means wish to denigrate their accomplishments.  It's just not the same however, as having a stronger voice in the actual implementation of Government.

[mimi]

Just remember - "YES WE CAN'!

[Forty Watt]

Basically, the difference would be one of authority.

Thanks for the explanation.  My heart is with the project.  However, if the policy of any given administration is not geared towards the preservation of peace, I'm not sure whether a new bureaucracy would make a difference.

I need to think more about this. 

[pj]

I agree, Powell wasn't allowed to give peace a chance. 

To tell the truth, I can't say I'd ever consider picking Colin Powell for Secretary of Peace though.  I'll have to think that idea over for a while.

While we're at this, let's also go back and swap Bush out for Al Gore....there's a HUGE shoulda/coulda/woulda.....

Hi BigSlick,
perhaps a person who has ordered men/women into and through combat might provide a unique perspective to a Sec of Peace position. He wasn't pre-selected into the rank of General, he earned it...through service, just like any enlisted person has to.
Gore is one of my "sins", well actually Bush jr. was the sin; I voted for him. At the time I just felt a bit mad at Clinton, liked jr's message of "bringing change...working across aisles...moral values...etc" boy what a foolish old lady I was then!  
Perhaps that mistake is what drove me to become politically active this cycle 

[BigSlick]

Well, we are funding such bureacracy already in the form of the USIP, but we are just not placing authority in this organization, and I wonder whether we are requiring any responsiblity/accountabilty for the goals they set for themselves.  

The USIP may actually be a good organization to co-opt into creation of the infrastructure for this Cabinet organization.  It looks like there is some potential for evolution here.

[BigSlick]

Hi BigSlick,
perhaps a person who has ordered men/women into and through combat might provide a unique perspective to a Sec of Peace position. He wasn't pre-selected into the rank of General, he earned it...through service, just like any enlisted person has to.

Point taken there PJ.  He certainly knows what the consequences of losing the peace can bring.

[pj]

Re: USIP funding

perhaps that will be one of the "line by line" audit changes Obama promised. The premise is good, the funding has been established, but as you pointed out it may not be effectively "producing", and if I understood the campaign promises correctly under-producing projects would be addressed if the original goal/vision was appropriate; what's more appropriate than peace right now?
There's a website a young man has started to let people suggest and/or vote on issues they feel are important for Obama to address asap...I forget it now, have you heard of it?

[BigSlick]

There's a fellow who has proposed this just yesterday on the website On/Day/1 and he's Alaskan!

http://www.ondayone.org/user/4002

Is this the one?  I think its called On/Day/1 ........

[pj]

Hey,
I like that ondayone site...would it be impolite to ask if you're stirling? If so forgive me..I'm new with internet-etiquette

I found the site I was trying so hard to remember though...check it out

http://whitehouse2.org/

[BigSlick]

Hey,
I like that ondayone site...would it be impolite to ask if you're stirling? If so forgive me..I'm new with internet-etiquette

I found the site I was trying so hard to remember though...check it out

http://whitehouse2.org/

No worries, I am not Stirling  but he's gotta be a cool kid. 

Thanks for the link above, I haven't been to that site yet.

I am very grateful for all such contributions to this thread.

[pj]

I checked out the "create department of peace" on that whitehouse2 website...and endorsed it; we'll see what comes from post-election activism 
some people there had mentioned Kucinik (sp ?) out of Ohio to lead in a cabinet position resulting from such a deptartment...
I only know he is a very good advocate for veterans, but nothing else...I'll try and check him out in the next day or two
do you know anything about him, is someone like him more along the lines of who you think would be good?
I didn't know it but there is also a group on Obama's website advocating for this cabinet level department, did you that?
Obviously you have me completely hooked on this idea, it has appeal for my pacifist side and even makes sense to the hawk side. No, I'm not confused...armed conflict just isn't a black/white issue for me
'night, talk to you soon