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President
John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963.
In his historic Commencement Address, “A Strategy
for Peace,” given at American University on June
10, 1963, Kennedy speaks of genuine peace:
“Too many of us think it
is impossible. Too many think it is unreal. But that
is a dangerous, defeatist belief. It leads to the
conclusion that war is inevitable -- that mankind
is doomed -- that we are gripped by forces we cannot
control. We need not accept that view. Our problems
are man-made. Therefore, they can be solved by man.
And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human
destiny is beyond human beings. Man's reason and spirit
have often solved the seemingly unsolvable -- and
we believe they can do it again.”
Kennedy’s speech revealed his
vision of global peace and security, and was described
by former United Nations Under-Secretary General Jayantha
Dhanapala, as “desperately needed today as horrifying
TV images of war with its catastrophic civilian casualties
transfix us and advocates of peaceful multilateral disarmament
are dismissed, in a misguided mood of triumphalism,
as Utopian idealists.”
Proclaiming war to be a last resort,
President Kennedy
- called for the pursuit of pragmatic
peace through diplomacy and urged for understanding
between nations through increased contact and communication;
- expressed faith in multilateral efforts
through the strengthening of the United Nations, enabling
it to be a more effective “instrument of peace”;
- believed in developing a genuine
world security system capable of resolving disputes
on the basis of international law thus creating conditions
under which arms can be abolished; and
- deemed the arms race as a misallocation
of resources that should instead go to combat ignorance,
poverty and disease.
To mark the 40th anniversary of his
assassination, make a difference and TAKE ACTION TODAY.
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Urgent Actions - Urge Bush to Learn from JFK's vision of Global Peace