Dennis Kucinich is Right!

On February 7, 2007, Congressman Dennis Kucinch submitted Department of Peace and Nonviolence Act.

The objective of this legislation is to take the wealth of non-violent power that the United States has, organize that power and intelligence  into a Federal department, and have the leader of that department report to the President as a member of his cabinet. At first, many people  ignore this idea as political rhetoric or folly at  best. Plato’s words  from thousands of years ago ring true with most today. “Only the dead have seen the end of war.” So why then would it be a GOOD idea to have a Department of Peace?

Various peace activist groups (as expected) have formed an alliance to support the Congressman’s effort.

Generally speaking, the idea is that the United States spends $400-500 billion a year waging war. It’s  believed that the same amount of money or less could be used to prevent war. War is a terrible thing, and it should be prevented. Congressman Kucinich and other advocates of a Department of peace believe that Plato is incorrect and that a nation as powerful as the United States can indeed end war (or at least avoid it) by using its superpowers.

What are these superpowers? Clearly the Department of Peace wouldn’t be using nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction. Instead, descriptions of the Department from Congressman Kucinich and  from other advocates suggest that intellectuals can be called together to identify the reasons for violence (be it gang violence, domestic violence, or international crisis), and address these reasons through peaceful efforts. Among these are of course diplomacy, but various forms of aid are also included as are scenario specific. One wouldn’t likely use a jobs training program to prevent a war over nuclear proliferation by a rogue, terrorist-sponsoring regime. However, that very well may exactly  what’s needed to end or prevent a gang war. Conversely, diplomacy, financial aid, financial pressure, or perhaps protests could be used to prevent a war over a nuclear proliferation by a state sponsor of terrorists.

That’s one of the best reasons for a Department of Peace! Congressman Kucinich and other advocates are right on the mark when they point out that America has tremendous energy and resources that-if directed towards the cause of peace-could make a real difference. The innumerable anti-war groups that formed after the September 11, 2001 attacks consist of a vast number of people who would be perfect for such a department.

Imagine, for example, if Democrats and the 8 million opponents of the Iraq invasion who protested against it in January-March 2003 had been flown to Jordan by a Department of Peace so that they could march into Saddam’s Iraq and protest the dictator instead of the liberator? A Department of Peace would take the great anti-war energy, resources, and people and funnel them into a singular direction which would peacefully oppose tyranny.

…And if those 8 million people were killed en masse by this dictator or that terrorist, at least the killer would have been faced peacefully. If they were killed while protesting tyranny then the question over which department to use (Department of Peace or Department of Defense) would be clearly answered, and there’d be no need to debate the need for war. It would have been made clear. Lacking opposition to a war, the United States is unstoppable. Just look at how enraged Americans were after having lost less than 3000 people, and then imagine the vengeance resulting from a dictator’s response to a peace protest. A Department of Peace offers the chance to bring peace where insufficient effort or no effort at all was being made.

A Department of Peace (should its efforts fail) eliminates viable opposition to war and other violence making those efforts infinitely more likely to succeed.

A Department of Peace focuses anti-war, peace activist Americans into an  organization that can finally  march against terrorists and dictators with courage instead of using wars as a political catalysts for venting
alienation and personal frustrations.

Congressman Kucinich is right. America needs a Department of Peace. Volunteers to march against the Al Queda terrorists in Ramadi and Fallujah are lining up already.