September 21 has been celebrated as The International Day of Peace since 1981. This year, the Secretary General of The United Nations has called for disarmament and an end to the stockpiling of weapons of mass destruction. His 100 day worldwide campaign ends on Monday, September 21 with a loud and clear statement, “We must disarm! We must have peace!”Violent conflict continues to rage throughout the world. There are wars from Afghanistan to Sri Lanka to Sudan. Our focus on the loss of soldiers and their injuries reveals only part of the tragedy. Innocent civilians, the elderly, men, women and children are the most common victims. Boys and girls continue to be recruited as child soldiers. Rape is used as a way of destroying communities. These people cry out for our protection. They have no hope for an escape from poverty and no way of improving their lives until we rise up to the challenge of peace.
This year is the seventieth anniversary of the start of World War II. We said “Never Again” in 1945. It is the ninetieth anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles after World War I. We proclaimed that it was the “war to end all wars”. Now is the time to recommit to those ideals and promises. Twenty-one white doves were released into the sky at the Kabul headquarters of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan on Wednesday. The Peace Bell is ringing at the UN in New York. My hope is that these symbols of our resolution to change might send out the message that it is time to stop the violence and bloodshed. The time is now.
