Department of Peace

I am going to attend the 3rd Conference of Department of Peace to be held in Washington DC on Sep 10-12. I wrote a short speech of solidarity even though there is very little chance that I can speak at the conference. But I would like you to know such a wonderful initiative is taking place right now in the USA.
Please check the website:
The Peace Alliance and Foundation - Phone: 802-272-5504
www.thepeacealliance.org/

Dear Americans for Peace,

This is the most important conference in all of history. The American people are going to establish a Department of Peace that will spread a culture of peace instead of a culture of war: a new direction that will make non-violence the organizing principle at every level of your government.

Congratulations! What a great idea! I express my support with all my heart.

Coming from Japan, where two atomic bombs were exploded 60 years ago, I know that war is neither sustainable nor healthy for any living thing. In the past, there was a time when Japan was an aggressive empire. At that time Japan didn't care about the suffering of other Asian people! We took the land and the resources of our neighbors and killed many without a second thought.

However, after our defeat in WW2 we wrote a new constitution, a Peace Constitution, which denounced war as means of conflict resolution forever. I am proud of Article 9 in the Japanese Constitution. Thanks to this clause, our Self Defense Forces haven't killed a single person in the 60 years since WW2. Not only that, none of our service men and women have been killed in war. We have never participated in war since Article 9 was made law.

But now our troops have been sent to Iraq, in violation of our Constitution.This is solely because of the strong pressure put upon Japan by the US government. Our Prime Minister Koizumi listens to your president more than to the people of Japan and this is the reason why I am here today.

There is now pressure coming from the USA for Japan to change our peace constitution and to join in the militaristic ways of the US. We do not want to send our forces overseas. They are only for our self defence and should never be sent outside of Japan. Our international contribution can and should only be in the areas of medicine, environment, education, technology and economy.

The world is looking at America to see if she can spread real freedom and democracy for all. Not with guns, but with care, not with fear but with love, for all the people of the earth.

The world is awaiting for such a leader, to stand up in your country and lead the US and the world out of the martial quagmire it is now in.

I would like to tell you that you have such a leader here already! His name is Dennis Kucinich!

I wish to thank Dennis Kucinich and his many supporters for taking the initiative to create the Department of Peace. The impact of the Department of Peace will have for humanity will be without compare. Ending war will create a new era never before seen in the history of this planet.

I am working in Japan to create a Ministry of Peace as well. Let us inspire other countries to join us in this dream for a better world.

I look forward to working with all of you in the coming years until we can make war a thing of the past.

Thank you.

Yumi Kikuchi, Founder, Global Peace Campaign
co-author of the book ‘Dennis Kucinich - President of Peace for America‘ (Published in Japanese)