The US Department of Peace?

[Bullet1987]

Sounds awkward doesn't it...but believe it or not, there is such a thing many people in Congress are pushing for...

http://www.thepeacealliance.org/">The Peace Alliance

It's a big issue for Dennis Kucinich, and there's a link on this above that you can click to see all of the co-sponsors. So far, no real big names have committed to it. Barack Obama, who I support adamently, could really show his belief in a new era of politics by supporting this bill though. I'm going to post a blog probably tomarrow that will say the same thing. You could make the argument that it would create more redtape politics though. But Barack Obama and someone else (who's name escapes me) supported the creation of an independent ethics committee within Congress (obviously feeling the ethics reform bill passed only patched up the problem instead of fixing it...like he said in his announcement speech).

I really support the idea of a DOP, but I can also envision us living without one.

[DonkeyInChinaShop]

1. You mean the Secretary of State?

:shrug:


The majority of what they do is keep peace last time I checked.

[Syrinx]

2. really silly idea

That's what the State Department is supposed to be. You're just not supposed to appoint a bunch of war-loving imbeciles to run that department.

[Bullet1987]

3. It doesn't just deal with war

I was watching a clip of Kucinich and he was talking how when he worked in the Clinton administration and there was this push to attack Bosnia, many Congressman and people in the White House got into a "war fever" and that there was never a balanced view of things.

[Bullet1987]

4. Read the FAQ....

http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/53/68/">Peace Alliance FAQ

Q: Does a Department of Peace duplicate the Department of State?

A: No.

First, the Department of State handles only international matters, while the Department of Peace will operate both domestically and abroad. Second, the State Department deals exclusively with other "States," i.e. recognized governmental entities. While such an approach was adequate throughout most of the post WWII era, there is obviously now a greater need to deal creatively, if not diplomatically, with non-state agents. The Department of State plays an important and pivotal role in American diplomacy, and nothing in this legislation would change that. The Dept. of Peace, however, will augment the efforts of the Department of State, as well as the Department of Defense. Its work will go beyond “intelligence-gathering,” to a pro-active search for non-violent solutions.

We should be as sophisticated in the ways we wage peace as we are in the ways we wage war. Former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, speaking of his leadership during the Viet Nam War, said, “We knew nothing about Vietnamese religion, psychology or culture – and we had no one to tell us.” With a Department of Peace, that would never be the case. This department would be actively involved in studying the most human aspects of conflict, and applying ways to resolve them peacefully.

[DonkeyInChinaShop]

5. We have an established United Nations these days...

and much more of an international outlook thanks to international trade and the Internet. Robert McNamara's own shortcomings as Secretary of Defense in the 60's are not reason enough to create a Department of Peace.

[Bullet1987]

6. What does this have to do with the '60's?

And the UN is an international body that deals with international affairs. A DOP would also deal with domestic issues.

[DonkeyInChinaShop]

8. LOL, you tell me what it has to do with the 60's

You are the one quoting McNamara.

I understand where they are going with the ideas on the Department of Peace website. I too agree that human feelings have not evolved while technology has to a great extent. Our knowledge of science has far exceeded our leaps in treating each other with equality. However, I think this should be a think tank, not a tax payers funded bureaucracy. I don't think government agencies can teach people to love one another. On the most practical basis, the Department of Peace would become a lighting rod and something for Republicans to score easy political points off of. It would be so underfunded that it would be a waste of money.

[Syrinx]

7. I stand by my opinion

Can you imagine a Department Of Peace staffed by Bush appointees? It would be the same bunch of neo-con war profiteers that currently inhabit the State Department. Adding a new bureaucracy won't change anything. The USA needs to elect leaders that are committed to waging peace. It won't help anything to keep electing the same corporate drones to the presidency, and to Congress, and expect that we can change anything by creating a new office that does whatever the corporate donors ask for. That's exactly the problem, not the solution. We, desperately, need to wean our government off the corporate teat. Bring the government back to the people. Don't create another predatory bureaucracy to mask the problems. Solve the problems once and for all. Public funding for elections. Ban the legal concept of corporations equal humans.

[Bullet1987]

9. ...

DonkeyInChinaShop: That text under the link is from the website...

[sandnsea]

10. We have an Institute of Peace

"The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, nonpartisan, national institution established and funded by Congress."

By act of Congress, the United States Institute of Peace has secured an extraordinary site in Washington, D.C. for its permanent headquarters facility.

The headquarters will serve the American people, the federal government, and the international community as a national center for research, education, training, and policy development on issues of international conflict prevention, management, and resolution.




http://www.usip.org/

[Bullet1987]

11. Does.

...the IOP have any real power?

[sandnsea]

12. Does

the State Dept have any real power? Depends on the President and how its used. We have an Institute of Peace and most people don't even know it. People who are interested in whatever they think a Dept of Peace could accomplish, might start by promoting what the Institute of Peace is actually doing.