Peace Department

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Aug 19, 2008 | by Letter to the Editor

Your editorial published on Aug. 4 claims that the creation of a Department of Peace (HR 808) is "Feel-good silliness." Your editorial misinforms your readers because it assumes the Department of Peace (DOP) conflicts with existing governmental structures. It does not.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will only be solved through peaceful and diplomatic solutions.

In addition, if the U.S. government had a DOP before the invasion of Iraq, we might not have invaded, as other efforts to resolve the conflict peacefully could have prevailed.

Some may ask why the State Department could not be the force driving negotiation and peaceful alternatives.

The State Department's duty is to represent the foreign policy of the administration. The DOP's duty would be to advise the president, secretary of state and secretary of defense about matters of international significance and how to resolve the matter in a peaceful way through diplomacy and trained mediators.

The DOP also would have jurisdiction over local matters of peace and justice. It would work to eliminate gang violence, teach tolerance and conflict resolution through the schools, monitor domestic and international arms manufacturing and regulate weapons of mass destruction within the United States and abroad.

Mary Alice O'Connor

Walnut Creek

O'Connor is with the Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center.