George W. Bush effectively ignored peace protesters, but how will he fend off a movement to start a new US government?

John Hagelin, a particle physicist and 2000 presidential candidate, has begun to advocate the establishment of a US peace government.

"Our peace government is meant to advise the existing government," Hagelin tells Observer. "Our desire is to prevent war, if possible."

Hagelin, who was the Natural Law Party's presidential candidate, acknowledges he may be too late to stop military action in Iraq, but he says his government has long-term objectives.

"One of the things I have been involved with is stress management on a societal scale," he says. "In principle, if I could wave a magic wand and organise a group of a couple of thousand meditators in that part of the world, it's conceivable that the dynamic in Iraq would shift enough that support for Saddam Hussein would end."

Hagelin, who holds a doctorate in physics from Harvard, is an expert in transcendental meditation. Once a professor at Stanford, he moved in 1983 to Iowa's Maharishi University of Management, which was founded by an Indian mystic.

In addition to encouraging large groups to meditate, Hagelin says his government will also push for developing sustainable agriculture and preventive medicine.

He says he is seeking scientists and educators in every state to occupy "cabinet-level positions" in the peace government.

Lest someone thinks he will be a head of state who governs from a distance, he is ready to go to Iraq and lead meditation groups. "In theory I would go," he says, but adds that since transcendental meditation can be taught in a few days, "I don't have to go. I'd rather see something more permanent."