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Some Day, a Department of Peace
by James Glaser January 19, 2010 This Thursday the Navy's hospital ship, the USNS Comfort, with 1,000 medical personal is scheduled to arrive in Haiti. That will be day ten after the earthquake struck that had devastated that country. Our Navy has only two hospital ships, the Comfort and the USNS Mercy. Really, if you think about it, our military is not into "comfort" or "mercy." Our military is designed to kill the enemy. Sending a military hospital ship from the Department of Defense, while a good thing to do, is not really the best message. We and the Haitians would be better served with a hospital ship from an American Department of Peace. I know, it is a hard concept to consider, that we should have a Department of Defense and a Department of Peace at the same time, but in truth, that is exactly what we need. Right now much of the world fears us. Why? Because of our military and what that military has been doing for the last 60 years. Our Department of Defense is in all reality the Department of Offense. We keep telling the world that we are bringing peace and democracy to the countries we attack, but by the time we are done, tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of the innocent civilians of those countries are dead, and more than that are maimed or displaced from their homes. Is it any wonder that so much of the world fears and hates us? So, what do Haitians think when American troops come to help them? Here is what the French think? This from the UK Telegraph 18 January 2010:
I imagine most Haitians think the same. After all, the United States occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934. After that we have sent our troops in many times trying to shape the Haitian government the way we wanted. What would you think if a foreign power sent in armed troops, an aircraft carrier filled with attack jets, and stopped medical personal, search and rescue workers, and disaster relief supplies form coming into the country so that 12,000 of their troops could land first? What kind of troops are going to Haiti? That would be the Marines and the 82nd Airborne Division. (Those are combat troops.) That choice would make me think the United States was starting an occupation. How about you. The problem is that the world does not trust us, and I guess I don't blame them. When you are in trouble and help arrives carrying a gun, red flags start going up in your mind. No matter how good our troops are, they scare people, and they scare people because that is what they are trained to do. That brings me back to the Department of Peace. Sure we might have the best of intentions in sending 12,000 to 15,000 troops into Haiti, and we probably have no desire to occupy that country, but with our history, the rest of the world isn't going to look at this move the way we do. America needs to change our reputation. Yes, it is nice that we are sending a hospital ship, but it is still the military's hospital ship, and people look at any military and think of bombing and killing. America needs a different look. We need somebody to represent America who does not instill fear in the people we are trying to help. We need a Department of Peace that can be called on when we want to help people in trouble and let the world know at the same time that we have no ulterior motives. We need people who are recognizable as Americans, and also recognizable as people who are filled with compassion for those in need. At one time America had Hospital ships that went around the globe visiting poor countries with the latest medical facilities free of charge. That kind of help bought America a lot of friends. Who knows, we might still do that, but that kind of help is overshadowed by the dead and wounded seen on the nightly news coverage of our almost constant wars someplace on this globe. One hospital ship visiting one port is not going to overcome the continuous stream of bad news coming from our attempts to spread democracy with a gun. We need the goodness of America out there in front, and it needs to be seen on the nightly news more often than our military, no matter how victorious they may be. The Department of Peace could be a start in that direction. A Department in our government whose sole purpose is to do good in the world. A department that answers the call for help no matter where on the globe that help is needed. Here is how Congressman Dennis Kucinich sees it being set up:
America needs to lead by example if we want other nations to live in peace with us. Trying to change the world with a gun has not worked, and I don't think it ever will. If the world sees that we think enough of the concept of peace that we are willing to open a department of our government to prove it, they might start believing in us again. And if the world sees that we can help other nations without sending in armed troops, we might just get somewhere in our desire to have a peaceful world. |
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