Department of Peace

Convert the Peace Corps into Department of Peace

This Memorial Day, as most every day, I pray for a Department of Peace.

Yes, a formal, cabinet-level government body, equal in stature to the Department of Defense. It would be seriously funded and empowered with the mission to develop and implement our national alternative “economic war plan”.

The Department of Peace would be charged with ending our profiting from war by creating alternatives, such as leading our national economy toward a “sustainable energies” and infrastructure renewal economy.

My hope is that by adopting a Peace Economy we will finally cleanse ourselves of our addiction to killing and maiming for profit.

Among the words recently written to Mr. Trump and signed by 76 retired admirals, generals and diplomats, I found these:

“As national security professionals with extensive careers in the U.S. armed forces and diplomatic service, we have witnessed first-hand how quickly disputes can spiral out of control.”

“The lack of direct communication between U.S. and Iranian political and military leaders during a time of heightened rhetoric only increases the possibility of a miscalculation resulting in unintended military conflict.”

It’s not likely that Mr. Trump will incur a Saul-like-epiphany on his way to his Mar-a-Lago mansion and gulf club, thereby overcoming his ego. Nor is it likely he will push aside his war criminal, National Security Advisor's career-long drive for war with Iran of his

Further, for political reasons it is unlikely that our war-addicted society will transform itself for the sake of what is good and humane. Throughout history it never has. No society has. There has always been immense profit in war.

But, today, due to technological advances in sustainable energies and the obvious need to rebuild our infrastructure, immense profit is waiting for the taking. We no longer need to make more bombs and bullets to create more wealth for the wealthy.

That is why I am optimistic we can achieve what no other society has ever achieved: creating an alternative economy and thereby taking the profit incentive out of war.

We can start by converting the Peace Corps into the Department of Peace.

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP ON U.S. TENSIONS WITH IRAN

Dear Mr. President,

"We write to you to express our deep concern with the current escalation with Iran in the Arabian Gulf.  The mutual animosity between the United States and Iran, the accelerated deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 bombers to the region, and reports of Iranian preparations for attacks on U.S. military and diplomatic facilities are highly concerning and make for a potentially deadly confrontation.  A war with Iran, either by choice or miscalculation, would produce dramatic repercussions in an already destabilized Middle East and drag the United States into another armed conflict at immense financial, human, and geopolitical cost."

"As national security professionals with extensive careers in the U.S. armed forces and diplomatic service, we have witnessed first-hand how quickly disputes can spiral out of control.  The lack of direct communication between U.S. and Iranian political and military leaders during a time of heightened rhetoric only increases the possibility of a miscalculation resulting in unintended military conflict.  Washington and Tehran are talking past each other and taking actions the other views as dangerously provocative at best and the beginning of forceful action at worst."

"We were heartened by your reported desire to avoid war with Iran in favor of other tools, including common-sense diplomacy."  -more-