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Nine Steps to Peace for Obama in the New Year

Thursday 01 January 2009

by: Deepak Chopra  |  AlterNet

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(Photo: growabrain.typepad.com)

    Steps the incoming president can take to build a peace-based economy.

    The following is a memo to Barack Obama from Deepak Chopra.

    You have been elected by the first anti-war constituency since 1952, when Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected after promising to end the Korean War. But ending a war isn't the same as bringing peace. America has been on a war footing since the day after Pearl Harbor, 67 years ago. We spend more on our military than the next 16 countries combined. If you have a vision of change that goes to the heart of this country's deep problems, ending our dependence on war is far more important than ending our dependency on foreign oil.

    The most immediate changes are economic. Unless it can make as much money as war, peace doesn't stand a chance. Since aerospace and military technologies remain the United States' most destructive export, fostering wars around the world, what steps can we take to reverse that trend and build a peace-based economy?

    1. Scale out arms dealing and make it illegal by the year 2020.

    2. Write into every defense contract a requirement for a peacetime project.

    3. Subsidize conversion of military companies to peaceful uses with tax incentives and direct funding.

    4. Convert military bases to housing for the poor.

    5. Phase out all foreign military bases.

    6. Require military personnel to devote part of their time to rebuilding infrastructure.

    7. Call a moratorium on future weapons technologies.

    8. Reduce armaments like destroyers and submarines that have no use against terrorism and were intended to defend against a superpower enemy that no longer exists.

    9. Fully fund social services and take the balance out of the defense and homeland security budgets.

    These are just the beginning. We don't lack creativity in coping with change. Without a conversion of our present war economy to a peace economy, the high profits of the military-industrial complex ensures that it will never end.

    Do these nine steps seem unrealistic or fanciful? In various ways, other countries have adopted similar measures. The former Soviet army is occupied with farming and other peaceful work, for example. But comparisons are rather pointless, since only the United States is burdened with such a massive reliance on defense spending. Ultimately, empire follows the dollar. As a society, we want peace, and we want to be seen as a nation that promotes peace. For either ideal to come true, you as president must back up your vision of change with economic reality. So far, that hasn't happened under any of your predecessors. All hopes are pinned on you.

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    Deepak Chopra is acknowledged as one of the world's greatest leaders in the field of mind-body medicine. He is the author of over 50 books, including "Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment" and "Ageless Body, Timeless Mind."

  

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Comments

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Amen, but it will not happen

 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 19:28 β€” Anonymous (not verified)
Amen, but it will not happen under capitalism. We need "Equality" (by Edward Bellamy) desperately!

Good start. Remember

 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 20:23 β€” Anonymous (not verified)
Good start. Remember military is only 3 percent of GNP. It's a large percent of federal budget but overall we face many other bigger problems. I do agree with everything said above but unless we address global warming and world energy production, reductions in milatary aren't going to happen because the Pentagon is projecting energy wars a decade from now and building for them. Get to the root of the problem. Our economy is the major problem. It's not comprehensiveable but we put on the line in real dollars more in the past three months to backstop our banks and finance than we did to win WWII. This is big, big stuff. We have to address our Financial meltdown this coming year. Also the auto meltdown. Cuts in Military can come later. The Climate and our Economy are both on life support NOW! We are in denial about these problems. These are as big of problems as this country has ever faced. The last decade poisoned the well of Finance which is now about 25% of GDP. Carbon in the atmosphere is now past the tipping point and the world enviroment will fall off the cliff very soon endangering all life. So come January and February we go to work. War is fought for resources and power, mostly oil and oil wealth. Massive changes must happen or the patient will die.

Seeking PEACE is the goal.

 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 20:28 β€” Anonymous (not verified)
Seeking PEACE is the goal. With all due respect to his intention, his entire article has no positive suggestions. What about education...building schools and getting the citizen involved in building roads and farms and ending poverty. What is spent on war could fund these projects without guns.

It all comes down to whether

 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 20:32 β€” Anonymous (not verified)
It all comes down to whether each of us pays his/her taxes this year. If we do, then with all our progressive ideas and outrage, we are sucked into being as hypocritical as "they" are. \Its also known as (assisted) Moral Suicide.

We need to deconstruct our

 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 20:55 β€” Giovanna Lepore (not verified)
We need to deconstruct our "business as usual". This certainly starts with capitalism but as the great, late Dr. Martin Luther King pointed out, we need a revolution of ideals and, of course, ideas. We can start by making the U.N. the world governing body with an army of real peace keepers and no nation should be permitted to have a standing army.

Amen, and we have to make it

 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 21:07 β€” radline9 (not verified)
Amen, and we have to make it happen. This is the opportunity we have been given. Think it, project it, work for it, conger it up if you have to, and do not say it will never happen, or it never will. Capitalism has already failed. It needs socialism to stay alive, and we will work that to change the world. I want to thank Deepak Chopra for this message and for for helping me make a change in my attitude.

I think Mr Chopra is on the

 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 21:29 β€” Solar Bill (not verified)
I think Mr Chopra is on the right track. I do not believe we will have any meaningful change in this country until we change the election system. We need to make it illegal for special interests to give money to our Representatives. As long as they get money they will not be our Representatives, they will represent those that give them money. The military industrial complex is fully interwoven into our government this way. To get any change we have to stop the money flow.

These wonderful points are

 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 21:33 β€” Honey Judith Rubin (not verified)
These wonderful points are SO related to the current frontier of human consciousness in which we see ourselves (rightly) as having the power to create what we really want. As more people create an intentional focus on what they DO want, our dialogues can be dedicated to our individual and shared highest thoughts and can bring this wonderful world to its next level of understanding the relationship between freedom/liberty and "response"-ability (the ability to CHOOSE which guidance system to follow when at the crossroads of decision). Dr. Chopra has again laid out with clarity and simplicity, ideas born of his own commitment and desire to have the spiritual principles guiding our decisions. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Liked this.

 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 21:36 β€” matt (not verified)
Liked this.

Yes we do! Together we can

 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 21:55 β€” Radixx (not verified)
Yes we do! Together we can make these steps happen. First we need to end the fear of our brothers and sisters in other lands. There is a better, peaceful way. We start caring for one another, truly helping each other day by day, in the little things.

Bravo! Mr. Chopra. It most

 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 22:01 β€” Anonymous (not verified)
Bravo! Mr. Chopra. It most certainly can happen. All Obama has to do is say "yes" and take the necessary steps. I'm sick and tired of the defeatist attitude. It's time for everyone to come from a place of enlightenment. Then we will know peace.

Right on but lets make #10

 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 22:15 β€” Number Nine (not verified)
Right on but lets make #10 cutting all rents and mortgages here by 50% unless you can afford to pay more. Who would be hurt? It just make our money worth something, by being able to have some fun with it. TRY IT for a year, and with an end to The Drug War, crime may disapear for we will finally know someone up in power cares

A good idea, and I support a

 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 22:25 β€” Robert R. Holt (not verified)
A good idea, and I support a lot of it, but in several ways I think it would have been more likely to succeed in getting more than a passing glance if more realistically approached. I believe that the first step we request Pres. Obama to take is to task his Defense Secretary with to stop the waste in the present Pentagon budget. That means a top-to-bottom reorganization of the way money is handled, to make it transparent and accountable, like that of any good business. It is an outrage and scandal that the Pentagon can't give an account of what has been done with at least a billion dollars of past appropriations! It seems probable that a lot of that would not survive the light of public scrutiny if exposed. Second, review EVERY category of expenditure dispassionately to see if it is affordable under current budgetary stringency, deals with a realistic threat that cannot be better countered by non-military means (e.g., diplomacy), and meets ordinary scientific standards if a technology. Third, order a newly formulated mission statement for the DOD, which (a) begins with a careful, realistic, probabilistic assessment of all dangers currently and predictably facing the US, in the pooled judgment of a variety of experts on world affairs, including but not limited to the military; and (b) does not make anachronistic and unrealistic assumptions (e.g., that we are in an arms race with an implacable competing superpower, that a weapons system for which there is no plausible use should be continued just because a lot of money has already been spent on it or it exists). Third, recognize that negotiation and other forms of nonviolent conflict resolution have a better track record of success against many of the above-identified dangers than massive violence, and reframe the long-range plans of the DOD accordingly. Fourth, in planning the scaling back of military bases, give serious consideration to their provocativeness and their impact on host countries, which may outweigh any likely usefulness to us. Fifth, in all the above reconsiderations, give full weight to the legality or illegality of present policies, many of which directly violate provisions of treaties solemnly entered into and which have the same status in US law as the Constitution.

This is the opinion of every

 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 22:25 β€” Habib (not verified)
This is the opinion of every American expressed and the wish of the government of the U.S. But it is impossible to achieve with the current psyche of the American political class which fears that its sustenance is predicated on serving the interest of Israel and its powerful US lobby machine.

Deepak Chopra for new Obama

 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 22:25 β€” dr wu--I'm just an ordinary guy. (not verified)
Deepak Chopra for new Obama cabinet position: Secretary of Peace! This new position entails veto power over the War Cabinet members--Gates and Clinton. Ditto for chief of staff Emanuel. Starling facts: we spend more for war than the rest of the world combined. We have nearly 1000 foreign military bases, We have 1 million people in prison (the highest per capita total in the world.) In short we are champs at making a killing off killing and locking people up. Probably this will all change when our empire falls--due to being broke, lack of positive spirit, peaking oil and leadership that is truly Roman. (inept) So it all went. But all in all, Deepak for Secretary of Peace!

In Truth, there is only one

 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 22:58 β€” Carl Forsberg (not verified)
In Truth, there is only one step that is absolutely necessary for mankind that must be realized by every human being on this planet. That realization is simply this. We as a human race are all parts of what God is, the very God in whose image and likeness we are created. We are like parts a hologram of what God is. We are not just his children, or mere creations, but are totally and absolutely as much a part of what God is, as totally as our hand is part of our own body, and as that same hand is part of the other hand and our feet and the very hair on our head. This is unequivocally who and what we are in our relationship to God, to all animals and and to the earth itself, as all is part of that same God of which we are and always have been. When this fact is known and fully understood, we will realize that to harm another person or thing is the act of harming ourselves. When this is recognized for the fact and the Truth that it is, War will cease, because the real war we need to fight is our own ignorance. This is the one and greatest step that is needed for all mankind. And without this singular realization, there can never be peace, because it must start within everyone of us – The realization of WHO AND WHAT WE TRULY ARE.

AMEN!!! Also, create a

 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 23:11 β€” Anonymous (not verified)
AMEN!!! Also, create a Cabinet Level Department of Peace with graduating funding levels to reach Defense spending levels within eight (8) years!

Hooray for Deepak to bring

 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 23:17 β€” Dudley Evenson (not verified)
Hooray for Deepak to bring home the truth of what needs to happen for peace to occur in our world. We are hopeful that President Obama with his infinite wisdom and openness will do his best to implement some of these suggestions. We as a nation need to roll up our sleeves and work together to support those kinds of initiatives and work in our local communities to take down the barriers that race, class and prejudice keep us from have peace in our towns and cities. We are doing it in our own ways celebrating 30 years of PEACE THROUGH MUSIC. Blessings, Dudley and Dean Evenson http://www.soundings.com

The ending of the military

 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 23:24 β€” Evil (not verified)
The ending of the military industrial complex is a given or at least should be. The money going to this waste is far beyond that amount claimed by those saying it is a small portion of the GNP. This because the not reported earnings, the "black" contracts, and the secondary spending bills which have soaked the American populace through the years, go un0noticed and unreported for the most part. Even the CIA facebook manages to overlook some of this spending. The economic impact of the MIC would be positive still if those companies taking tax dollars were also putting them back into the system. Rather, the top level executives are hoarding using various methods of avoiding paying them, the corporations themselves are avoiding paying taxes by working for the MIC (which is a tax loophole in itself) this being just one example. For those who will argue that the largest use of money in the US government is for the bureaucracy, of course they are correct. The government will always want that forth branch to benefit despite the creation of nothing of discernable value.. And this too should be cut back. But reducing both of these monsters, quick like a bandaid, while wonderful in metaphor would be nothing but painful for a nation with it's highest unemployment since the nineteen thirties. So both of these need trimming, slowly and carefully. And each one of these jobs can justify themselves. So it must be done by someone who is willing to be cruel in order to save this nation. And yes, most of the money should go towards education. But education is a local system right now. The pay rates for educators are based on local living expenses, the schools themselves are controlled in curriculum and type of educators by local school boards. Until the federal government takes a more active role in education, creationism, along side the equally probable Flying Saghetti Monster theory, will continue to be a possible educational moment for our students. Making the end product of that education nearly as worthless as the idea of the Americans of today being willing to take part in WPA like projects. But education and the methods of bettering this nation is a different debate.

Chopra you are amazing,

 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 23:39 β€” Darrell (not verified)
Chopra you are amazing, thank you very much my friend. Obama has a very important role, may he use these kinds of ideas as his fuel.

Makes total sense!

 Thu, 01/01/2009 - 23:40 β€” Hanno Pinder (not verified)
Makes total sense!

Let's start by turning the

 Fri, 01/02/2009 - 00:45 β€” Anonymous (not verified)
Let's start by turning the Pentagon into a housing project for homeless vets.

Just as the issue of peace

 Fri, 01/02/2009 - 00:47 β€” Rob (not verified)
Just as the issue of peace is moving under the banner of an expanding global consciousness, so is the issue of capitalism.

These nine steps are crucial

 Fri, 01/02/2009 - 01:15 β€” Kitty (not verified)
These nine steps are crucial and are also achievable. Though the instruction will be derided as "naive" and "unrealistic", it's based in the purest of truth and reality.

If everyone everywhere

 Fri, 01/02/2009 - 01:28 β€” Dennis Walker (not verified)
If everyone everywhere starts each day with love in their heart, certainly peace will ensue. There can't be peace without love because violence and war is seeded in fear and hate. Sounds simplistic, but I believe this truth. So, start your day with love in your heart and let your day, week, month, year and life unfold in love. Peace will be one of many dividends of a more loving humanity.

We have two cabols that

 Fri, 01/02/2009 - 01:51 β€” Anonymous (not verified)
We have two cabols that wield inardinate influence on our government, the military-industrial complex and the law enforcement-prison comples. That latter keeps the drug war going. I predicted to a friend who supported Obama early on, that he would not end the IRaq war. Even though he was against it from the beginning, he would, when assuming the presidency, be surrounded by people who want to keep both these wars going. The lobbiest for Halliburton, Boeing etc have the money to station people in DC to make their care every day. Myself, I can't play in this league. Letter after letter against the war has fallen on deaf ears. Letters to the two TX senators asking them to end the war go unanswered.

It is a message we all are

 Fri, 01/02/2009 - 02:24 β€” Fran (not verified)
It is a message we all are hoping for, to create a safe world for our children and our grandchildren. War is outdated and barbaric. We are all in this world together and it is our responsibility to get along. None of us is more important than people from other countries where they speak a different language, have different color skin, live a different culture and pray to a different supreme being. Let us remember that we are all each others' sisters and brothers. Our challenge is to live with love and compassion; it is not always easy, but it is the only way!

My hero, Rep. Dennis

 Fri, 01/02/2009 - 02:29 β€” Vegan4peace (not verified)
My hero, Rep. Dennis Kucinich introduced House Resolution 3760 in September 2005. This bill would create a Cabinet-level Department of Peace and Nonviolence that embodies a broad-based approach to peaceful, non-violent conflict resolution at both domestic and international levels. The Department of Peace and Nonviolence would serve to promote non-violence as an organizing principle in our society, and help to create the conditions for a more peaceful world. To read more, go to Rep. Kucinich's website at http://kucinich.house.gov/issues/issue/?IssueID=1564.

As long as there is war

 Fri, 01/02/2009 - 02:42 β€” Friend (not verified)
As long as there is war inside of me, there is war in the world. Take the finger pointing "out there" and turn it right back. This is how the world truly changes.

Be careful. Idealism serves

 Fri, 01/02/2009 - 02:51 β€” Anonymous (not verified)
Be careful. Idealism serves a weak kneed agenda. But I respect the work of Depak Chopra. It takes generations for change. These ideals will take enormous amounts of talent to pull off. I agree it's worth every effort to try. The People will have to speak up. Unfortunately the American public is not sympathetic to Peace. The media can be the Juggernaut for this Peace and Idealism to take place, but they're more concerned with spreading the Bible or a Bullet as the answer. And the same corporations that own the media do not tolerate dissent well. Those actions of our fathers, the carrot and stick, can be transformed only after the same fairy tales(god and and heaven as reward) given to us since our childhood(my country right or wrong) are exposed as having no rational. This a small Planet. We, as citizens of One Earth need to look from afar back at this small living gift we have.

Absolutely, but this country

 Fri, 01/02/2009 - 05:07 β€” Anonymous (not verified)
Absolutely, but this country has been brainwashed by generations of Republican and media propaganda, telling us how much we need to defend ourselves against the evil "bad guys" out there. Can you imagine how they will savage Obama if he tries to do this? First, we need to gain more equal coverage in the media and fix the economic system, and then this can happen. But, it definitely SHOULD happen. If Obama doesn't do it, who else will?

Nice try, Dr. Chopra, but

 Fri, 01/02/2009 - 14:52 β€” Mary (not verified)
Nice try, Dr. Chopra, but you are addressing us ordinary citizens who can have zero effect in directly influencing the gov't., which, after all, has nothing but contempt for us, viewing us as feed lot animals. Remember the old '60s slogan "what if they gave a war and nobody came?" I need to know how to implement "what if they gave a culture and nobody came?" I think I mean that nothing can change until the majority of us refuse to participate in the current sick culture of the USA. I think we all need to emulate Helen and Scott Nearing who dropped out, became subsistence farmers, refused to be wage slaves, made no money so paid no taxes, and lived into their late 90s in clean peace. Like the Nearings, we need to stop feeding this evil culture. Mary

While we must reduce the

 Fri, 01/02/2009 - 16:37 β€” Anonymous (not verified)
While we must reduce the military budget, it will put many Americans temporarily out of a job. If we first sell our over seas bases, we will minimize job loss.

Isn't peace what we all

 Fri, 01/02/2009 - 18:28 β€” Anonymous (not verified)
Isn't peace what we all want? Does any mother or father really want to send their child to war? Of course not. It's time to stop the war mentality and start a peace mentality. Can we do this? Yes we can!

It's just plain wrong to

 Fri, 01/02/2009 - 22:08 β€” johndoraemi (not verified)
It's just plain wrong to assume that Obama was elected to bring peace, or that he even wants to. His statements have been militaristic and bellicose. His foreign policy agenda is nearly identical to Bush. Obama was put in place to change the face of imperial aggression -- and little else. If you want real change dump the Democrats and the Republicans, and build a viable third party from the ground up. The delusional Democrats always forget how the Democratic party supports the atrocities they rail against. They need to wake up (as Nader has been trying to shake them from their catatonic slumber for some time now, only to be demonized for telling the truth). http://crimesofthestate.blogspot.com/

Come on, Deepak, stop

 Sat, 01/03/2009 - 09:07 β€” Peter Edler (not verified)
Come on, Deepak, stop dreaming! You want to throw a lot of money into a lot of new agencies and projects - all to promote peace. Even if this had the slightest chance of succeeding in the US, which it doesn't, where would you get the people to manage and staff these efforts? How many peace experts are there in the US? 5,10, a hundred? Like democracy, peace cannot be created or imposed, it evolves. You yourself say we're addicted to weapons and war. That addiction in the US has evolved over a long period of time, say since WWII, some 60 years. So we've got a 60-ton monkey on our back. And you're gonna wave a magic wand and make us kick that habit 'cold turkey'? Think again, Dr. Chopra, and then some more. I'd hate to see you end up on a street corner railing against Johnny Barleycorn. Pete Edler Stockholm

Certainly it is worth the

 Sat, 01/03/2009 - 16:19 β€” Jim Larsen (not verified)
Certainly it is worth the effort to at least stop funding the production of weapons that have little value in today's world. Regularly, congressional earmarks are responsible for funding useless or outdated armaments the military doesn't want just because a factory exists in a congressman's district and a corporation has funded his campaign. Stopping these earmarks and providing financial incentives to manufacture something useful to society can bring about much needed change.

I am trying to resist the

 Sat, 01/03/2009 - 17:17 β€” Anonymous (not verified)
I am trying to resist the idea that Obama is just a new face for imperialism but the evidence is beginnin to mount up against him very fast. I will still continue to give him the benefit of the doubt at this point until he takes office later this month. One thing I know that eventually these international criminals will make a mistake and do themselves in. The question is when and how long will it take.

It would be good for

 Sat, 01/03/2009 - 21:55 β€” heartinmotion (not verified)
It would be good for humanity to realize that the President of the United States of America is a reflection of our people. Therefore, whatever he represents, represents our people. It is also good to remember that it is we the people who must make the effort to make the changes for a harmonious way of life, Each one of us has the responsibility to do and make a difference with the CHANGES WE MUST GO THROUGH with kindness and consideration that whatever one does to himself, he does to every one else. We are all inter-dependent of one another. We all need to make the effort to focus on what we can do as individuals to make a difference...we are the people of the United States that can make a difference for the rest of the world for world peace..OBAMA as our leader has the ability and presence to instill and inspire each one of us a nation of people to work together, regardless of our differences for the good of the whole nation. He is not the one who will save our country, EACH ONE OF US MUST DO OUR PART ....TO LIVE IN HARMONY WITH THE EARTH AND ONE ANOTHER.

These ideas are noteworthy,

 Sun, 01/04/2009 - 16:08 β€” John Appleseed (not verified)
These ideas are noteworthy, but will take generations to implement. The masses are mere fodder for the ultra-wealthy, who really call the shots for the course of world societies. Their callousness fosters resentment, which manifests as nut-case jihadists, hell bent for revenge. Obama will find the entrenched methodology of Washington difficult to change. He will be dealing with the second Great Depression and the revision of the economic structure; war will be difficult to rationalize while people starve in America. Get out of Iraq and Afghanistan and every other foreign country - we need to emphasize our own rebuilding and need to do it fast!

One never thought that it

 Sun, 01/04/2009 - 22:44 β€” RV1937 (not verified)
One never thought that it was possible to even make these as suggestions for consideration, let alone, see them implemented. Can you convert a man-eater into a vegetarian?

Wake up Americans! raising

 Mon, 01/05/2009 - 19:58 β€” Anonymous (not verified)
Wake up Americans! raising our consciousness is the only way to stop being ememies with our own species. To be aware of all life around us and the place of humans in this NOW is the only way to evolve into the stewards of this incredable gift of a living planet that maintains us, nourishes us, sustains us, and recycles us to continue this fantastic and creative holy process. WE must introduce all children and ignorant adults to the magic and mystery that supports all life on this precious female Earth.

Obama will be constrained

 Mon, 01/05/2009 - 22:29 β€” JSD (not verified)
Obama will be constrained from what he can do by that which every other government has always had to pay attention to, politics. He may agree with all of Mr. Chopra's steps, and wish to take the lead towards them as far as he can, but political realities demand, first of all, that he appear supportive of a strong military. No Democrat can afford not to do this. Secondly, he will have to look beyond the fight against terrorism to future threats. It's instructive to realize that world-wide wars are never anticipated to be what they become. In this sense, the Cold War can be seen as a third world war of the U.S. and allies against the Soviets and her allies: a world war fought by and against proxy combatants whose major engagements were Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan. It will probably never be called World War III; it differed so remarkably from World War II. So too with the fight against terrorism. It appears ridiculous to declare a war against a combatant tactic, but since it is a world-wide conflict with terrorism being its pervasive feature, we may miss its historical significance because of the use of the word 'war.' We need another defining term then so as to comprehend its kinship with other world-wide conflicts in the past. Obama and other leaders in the world will be occupied with terrorism in all likelihood for quite some time, probably for as long as there is misery and hopelessness to combine with a religion like jihadist Islam. Then again, maybe this (my) way of thinking is altogether too fatalistic, and, indeed, world peace is possible along the lines that Mr. Chopra contemplates. We couldn't hope for anything better.

"We have arrived at a point

 Thu, 01/08/2009 - 04:59 β€” UG Krishnamurti (not verified)
"We have arrived at a point where you cannot destroy your adversary without destroying yourself. So it is terror, and not the love and brotherhood that have been preached for centuries, that will help us to live together. But this has to percolate to the level of human consciousness."

Dear President Obama, The

 Fri, 01/09/2009 - 03:22 β€” David Rothauser (not verified)
Dear President Obama, The atomic bomb is mankind's foremost common denominator. It's invention and development was the greatest act of terror ever unleashed upon the human race. Our survival depends upon the abolition of nuclear weapons. See the past use of atomic bombs as an ugly lesson. Observe the present nuclear threat as enlightening. May the future abolition of nuclear and depleted uranium weapons be our salvation. Please join me in my work to abolish nuclear weapons and all weapons of mass destruction. One idea that might add fuel to our quest for a nuclear free world is that Article Nine of the Japanese constitution forbids them to go to war. In effect they have not gone to war for 64 years. The same is the case for Germany. Ironically we designed the post WW II Constitution for Japan, why not add an Article Nine amendment to our own Constitution, thereby creating true leadership towards the abolition of nuclear weapons, not only among nuclear proliferation industrial states, but also among states and organizations who are developing nuclear weapons because they fear the super powers will soon use them? Now is our time to act. As Shakespeare's Hamlet says to the players, "Suit the action to the word, the word to the action, with this special observance; that you overstep not the modesty of nature." With this spirit, Mr. President, may we move into the future of non-proliferation.