Canada introduces Department of Peace legislation!

by Ted Nunn

Published October 04, 2009 @ 09:03AM PT

Hot off the presses is the following article from the Vancouver Sun about how the Canadian lawmakers are pursuing the idea of creating a Department of Peace. Way to go, Canada! Now, what can the rest of us do to help make this happen? We can start by sending MP Bill Siksay a big "THANK YOU!" at Siksay.B@parl.gc.ca or visit his web page. Read the text of bill C-447 here.

OTTAWA — A federal New Democrat has teamed up with a Liberal to propose the creation of an army of peace professionals within a new federal department to resolve violent conflicts within Canada and around the world.

The idea was introduced through new legislation tabled Thursday by NDP MP Bill Siksay, seconded by Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis. Siksay said the proposed department of peace could change the role of the Canadian military, but not necessarily replace it.

"In a utopian vision of our world, maybe that will be possible some day but certainly we see this as an area that hasn't gotten the attention it deserves," said Siksay at a news conference.

"The inclination to seek a non-violent solution to conflict isn't always the first action that people take in our society and around the world."

Siksay's private member's bill was modelled after a proposal by an advocacy group that suggests Canada needs more trained experts to promote peace in its diplomatic corps as well as in the military.

Bill Bhaneja, a co-chair of the Canadian Department of Peace Initiative, said the proposed department could employ hundreds of professionals who would promote a culture of peace in the government's policies and actions, as well as help to resolve conflicts in a non-violent way.

"These peace professionals would be different from the diplomats and from the soldiers," said Bhaneja. "Right now we have suits and boots on the ground, but we don't have people who are trained to resolve conflicts at the cutting edge where the problem is taking place."

He said his group has also submitted its proposals to the Harper government which replied it was satisfied with existing policies and practices.

Siksay said it was unlikely that the legislation and its proposals would get adopted in the near future in Parliament since it is a private member's bill. Government legislation gets priority for debates in Parliament while opposition bills are debated in order based on a random draw.

But Bhaneja said he was encouraged by recent meetings with Liberals and New Democrats who appear to be more interested by the establishment of a ministry of peace, following other countries such as Nepal, Solomon Islands and Costa Rica.

Veterans For Peace Support the Youth PROMISE Act

by Ted Nunn

Published August 20, 2009 @ 02:42PM PT

At the recent Veterans for Peace convention in College Park, Maryland, Jim Ramelis introduced a resolution for VFP to support the Youth PROMISE act - and it was approved! The below text is from the VFP website:

"YOUTH PROMISE ACT

Whereas Veterans for Peace affirms its responsibility to serve the cause of world peace in its "Statement of Purpose", and

Whereas a bill known as "The Youth Promise Act " has been introduced in the legislature as House of Representatives Bill 1064 and Senate Bill 435 that proposes to reduce violence among our youth in targeted neighborhoods and areas. Violence will be reduced through prevention in positive ways such as after school programs, sports and community activities, by implementing the best policy recommendations from crime policy makers, researchers, practitioners, analysts, and law enforcement officials from across the political spectrum concerning evidence- and research-based strategies to reduce gang violence and crime, and

Whereas many of the neighborhoods where violence is rampant are the same neighborhoods that have Junior R.O.T.C. programs in the schools and are heavily targeted by recruiters, and

Whereas many at-risk youth turn to military service because they have limited options for productive citizenship, and

Whereas the Youth Promise Act seeks to provide at-risk youth with alternative life skills,

Therefore Be It Resolved that Veterans for Peace hereby endorses the Youth Promise Act and strongly encourages chapters and individual members to lobby Congress to request co-sponsor the Youth Promise act (currently H.R.1064 and S.435 in the 111th Congress)

Approved at the 2009 VFP national convention"

Congratulations, Jim, and thanks for helping build a culture of peace!

Walter Cronkite on the Department of Peace Idea

by Ted Nunn

Published August 11, 2009 @ 06:37AM PT

This interview with Walter Cronkite and Congressman Dennis Kucinich was filmed at the Department of Peace conference in September of 2006 in D.C. Mr. Cronkite was a strong supporter of the need for a federal institution focusing on peaceful conflict resolution. He will be missed.

To learn more about the nationwide grassroots campaign for a U.S. Department of Peace, visit The Peace Alliance.

Youth PROMISE Act Close to Reality - 228 House cosponsors!

by Ted Nunn

Published July 17, 2009 @ 10:32AM PT

The grassroots campaign to garner support for H.R. 1064 - the Youth PROMISE act - continues to build momentum. The number of co-sponsors has risen dramatically since the bill was first introduced in February, climbing to 228 cosponsors as of this writing. This total includes 18 Republicans, so even Conservatives recognize the value of evidence-based programs that are tailored to meet the needs of local environments to address the root causes of youth violence. Dealing with the root issues at the front end will save a lot of tax money compared to dealing with the after effects of violence.

On July 15, there was a hearing on H.R. 1064 in the Crime Subcommittee (part of the House Judiciary committee). Several expert witnesses spoke in favor of the legislation and offered detailed explanation about why we have every reason to expect the approaches offered by the Youth PROMISE act will be effective at reducing violence where other legislation has failed. You can read a summary account of the hearing on DoPeace, the social networking site for peacebuilding activists.

Because of the extensive bipartisan support for H.R. 1064, and because of the positive hearing in the Crime subcommittee, it looks like the next step for the bill is to get a recommendation from the Judiciary committee and then to the House floor for a vote. This will likely occur after the summer recess, so look forward to more activity in the fall. It a very exciting time for the grassroots!

If you haven't already done so, please visit Change.org to learn about the Youth PROMISE bill and to send a letter to your elected officials asking for their support. The more support we can get going into the Fall legislative session, the more likely H.R. 1064 will become law in the 111th Congress!

Declaration of Independence from Violence

by Ted Nunn

Published July 04, 2009 @ 07:45AM PT

On this day in 1776, our country's forefathers declared independence from the tyranny of the British monarchy and launched this shining example of democracy. However, somewhere along the way, the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" has morphed into a society based on violence and a winner-take-all mentality. The history of our democracy is filled with one tragic period of war followed by another, with all-to-brief interludes to reload. When school children are taught about our nation's history, the focus is mainly on learning about our glorious wars. Isn't this telling our children that violence is the best, if not only, means to resolve our differences?

Certainly, if we look at the fact that the U.S. has by far the largest per capita incarceration rate in the world, one might conclude that a large portion of our population missed the part in school about how your pursuit of happiness cannot infringe on mine. But wait! That presumes that there is a teaching in school about how to live peacefully with each other! Some schools may have such a curriculum, but most do not. We teach are kids the three R's, but leave out the most important "R" - rightdoing.

So where should people learn a sense of right-and-wrong and how to be civil if not in school? Some people will learn this in their religious communities, but they are also likely to learn about "us vs. them" and the concepts of "just war" and punishment for sinning. Many will argue that children should learn how to get along from their parents. But what about children whose parents are abusive? Those children will learn how to bully to get their way or how to be submissive, and the cycle of violence continues.

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of the violence. Several years ago, on the eve of the second invasion of Iraq, I pulled my head out of the sand and became painfully aware of the level to which violence has spread throughout our culture. I cannot go back to ignoring it, so I'm compelled to do something about it. This Independence Day, I renew my personal Declaration of Indepence from Violence, maintaining that all people are created equal and endowed with the unalienable right to live peacefully with neighbors, both domestic and foreign.

Signed,
Ted Nunn
Columbia, MD

What is Real National Security?

by Wendy Greene

Published June 29, 2009 @ 06:54PM PT

"Security is not Defense; Defense does not equal security."

The concept was far from new to me. What was different was who was saying it.

Lt. Col. Shannon Beebe, former Senior Africa Analyst in the Office of the U.S. Army Deputy Chief of Staff, Intelligence, is considered one of the nation's leading thinkers on the concept of human security. He spoke as part of a panel discussion at the April 2009 Conflict Prevention and Resolution Forum held at John's Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C.

"Security is not kinetics-based, state-focused, tank, plane, gun, defense budget-centric types of issues," he continued. "It is not about kinetics; it is about conditions—conditions that create creeping vulnerabilities that we do not see as threats."

Beebe's words were the exclamation point on the panel's discussion about shifting our international security strategies toward a more balanced "3D" approach using diplomacy, development and defense.

Moderated by Eastern Mennonite University's Lisa Schirch, director of the 3D Security Initiative, the panel also included Reuben Brigety, II, director of the Sustainable Security Program at the Center for American Progress; and Barak Salmoni, full political scientist at the RAND Corporation.

Reminding us his remarks were not an official Department of Defense presentation but a compilation of his own personal reflections, Beebe added, "I would contend that today's strategic security narrative fails at identifying and understanding the challenges of the 21st Century."

Those challenges, Beebe explained, include a "multi-polar" world that is inherently more unstable than the old "bipolar" structure of USA vs. USSR; economic globalization that remains uneven (the ramifications of which, he noted, we still don't fully understand); and the instantaneous nature of technology that allows a Somali-born cab driver in New York to know more about enemy movements in his home country than the CIA knows.

As I listened, I wished I could teleport into the room Republican strategist Sheri Jacobus, a regular on the cable news talking head circuit who diminished, demeaned and discounted the idea of a Department of Peace during an interview segment I shared with her and an equally ill-informed Democratic pundit on CNN Headline News's Jane Velez-Mitchell show. The Department of Peace is based on addressing the issues Beebe laid out and would facilitate much of what he said was needed.

"We have a Department of Peace," she’d said. "It's called the Pentagon."

I wondered if her mind would open to the same issues I was articulating when she heard them from Lt. Col. Beebe.

"Folks, we have to understand, this has untethered our traditional 20th Century security system," he continued, "This is not about the Department of Defense; this is about more of a collective effort, about asking the first order question: What is security for the 21st Century?"

Affirming remarks made by Brigety, who focused on the need to restructure government bureaucracy, not just throw more money into the same dysfunctional system, Beebe noted, "Our bureaucracies have become so calcified, so ossified, so set in 20th Century types of ways…that we're failing to see to see what I call 'creeping vulnerabilities'--these things we do not see as threats."

Beebe brought those vulnerabilities home, challenging us to consider the last time the United States was threatened by a mosquito, dirty water, or someone living on less than a dollar a day as we are now.

"These are not going to be won at the point of a gun," he said. "These are not going to be won with $2 billion fighters. These are not going to be won with multi-trillion dollar military-industrial complexes building new weapon systems. This is also not going to be done by the Department of Defense alone."

He shared results of a study conducted at the request of the Army Chief of Staff in which they asked Africans to describe the greatest threats to stability in Africa. The top four answers were the need for reform in the security sector (military, police, and judicial systems), climate change, poverty and health.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm here to tell you today that we don't have a tank or a plane that will counter that," Beebe emphasized.

Preventing the need for military action is, no surprise, Beebe's priority. As he reminded us, it's the one who must fight the war who wants most to avoid it. He challenged everyone to have the courage to ask tough questions:

"Is it possibly the case that we are creating more terrorists than we can possibly kill?" he said. "Is it possibly the case that we are allowing these conditions--these creeping vulnerabilities--to grow unnoticed along these strategic seams until they are a kinetic-type of threat [requiring military action]?"

So if this uniformed, Iraq war veteran, active duty Army officer gets it, many of his peers get it, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates gets it, and the President gets it, what's the problem?

The problem is Congress and the American people don't get it.

Asked how we might structure the workload in this new "3D" paradigm, Brigety responded that this seemingly daunting challenge is actually the easy part.

"The harder problem is convincing the American public there is more to security so they'll get Congress to do something," he explained. "Until we change that, we won't get these [non-defense] efforts resourced."

No one need look past the outcry at plans to cut the F-22 fighter to understand just how true his statement was.

In the face of our own ignorance, obstinance and partisan fear-mongering, how are we to move beyond the outdated systems, structures and beliefs that block us from understanding that human security--not just for Americans, but for everyone--is the only thing that will truly keep us safe?

Beebe offered one possibility: we must get beyond our mistrust of one another--military and civilian, contractor and bureaucrat, activist and politician, liberal and conservative, Republican and Democrat--and create the language that can bridge our seeming differences.

"We have to shift our thinking for the 21st Century," Beebe said.

Watch the video of the speakers' remarks. Beebe is the last speaker.

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Youth PROMISE - 56 new Cosponsors in June (so far!)

by Ted Nunn

Published June 18, 2009 @ 10:16AM PT

If you're into civic activism, this is really thrilling to watch!

The Change.org community is continuing to have a huge impact on the Youth PROMISE act! The concerted effort to lobby Representatives in the House since the Youth PROMISE act (H.R. 1064) was first introduced has lead to some very encouraging results. In the month of May, 31 new co-sponsors signed on, bringing the total number of cosponsors to 115 at the end of May. Already in June, 56 new cosponsors have signed on, bringing the total to 171! This represents 39% of the House - the tipping point is 50%, or 218 cosponsors. So, we need at least another 47 cosponsors. If your Representative does not yet support H.R. 1064, (check out thomas.loc.gov and search on bill "H.R. 1064" to find out) please send them a note via Change.org and ask that they do so.

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