Letter to Editor
by Robert M. Weir
published by Kalamazoo Gazette on the opinion page, Tuesday, July 22, 2008

I am a local volunteer in the national campaign to establish a Cabinet-level Department of Peace and Nonviolence in the U.S. federal government. People sometimes ask, “Don’t we already have a Department of Peace; that is, the Department of Defense?”

Actually, the Department of Defense web site states, “The mission of the Department of Defense is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of our country.”

To “deter war” is good. To create peace is better. Peace is more than the absence of war. Peace comes from talking, listening and understanding another person’s point of view, even that of perceived “enemies.”

Having the military forces to “protect the security of our country” is good. However, the Bush Administration, including former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, deployed our nation’s military forces to attack Iraq and Afghanistan, thus creating war and jeopardizing our nation’s security—a violation of the Department of Defense mission.

I believe that, had there been a strong Secretary of Peace in the U.S. Cabinet prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, that war—now an occupation—would not have occurred. Considering that George Bush has proudly declared himself to be a “war president,” my hope might be pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking, but clearly the Secretary of Defense was not a voice of peace—and a Secretary of Peace would have been.

Plus, the Department of Peace and Nonviolence will work to create a paradigm of peace and true human security within our country, communities and schools, which is an issue the Department of Defense does not address—except through the National Guard, too many of whom are deployed and fighting in Iraq.

So, is the Department of Defense a Department of Peace? No. The purpose of the Department of Defense is national defense. The purpose of a Department of Peace is international and internal peace. There is a difference. And we need both.

If you agree, contact your U.S. congressperson and ask him/her to support House Resolution 808, the legislative bill to establish a U.S. Department of Peace and Nonviolence. Find out more at www.thepeacealliance.org and www.dopmichigan6th.org.