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Dr Kaukab Siddique | Editor-in-Chief Zulhijjah 18,1426/January 19, 2006 #5

[Scroll down to Wilmer Leon's article on Dr. Martin Luther King's famous speeches which the Bush administration pretends, do not exist!]

WAR News:
PAKISTAN: Following the bombing of a Pakistani village by the U.S., anti-U.S. demonstrations began in the tribal areas of Pakistan on January 14. The leader of Jamaate Islami, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, called for nationwide demonstrations to condemn the bombing on January 15. These rallies were a great success and spread to, literally, every city and town in Pakistan. The biggest anti-U.S. protests were held in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Multan.
Qazi Hussain Ahmed has called on General Musharraf to resign or he will be removed by public pressure.
MOST AMAZING PART of the protests was that MQM, a usually pro-General Musharraf and narrowly ethnic grouping based in Karachi, joined the anti-U.S. rallies. MQM leader Altaf Hussain, based in London, telephoned Qazi Hussain Ahmed to ask permission to join the rallies.
Even more amazing, the Muslim League (Q), a party organized by Musharraf to support his policies, joined the opposition rallies and condemned the bombing in the strongest possible terms. In one gathering, ML[Q] warned the U.S. that Pakistan is not Afghanistan or Iraq. If Pakistan is attacked, we will retaliate, they declared.
USA's name is mud in Pakistan. General Musharraf and his U.S. armed forces are isolated. Observers say that the time might be near for Musharraf's removal. Will he go by peaceful means? Few believe that he will go peacefully.
His government is claiming that the U.S. did not tell them of its plans to attack. Sen. McCain, however, said on U.S. TV [MSNBC] that Pakistan was informed of the attack.

IRAQ:
Fighting continues on a daily basis. A total of 2,220 U.S. troops have been killed and 16,300 wounded. After the "elections" of December 15, a total of 68 U.S. troops have been killed.
During the week of January 14-19, three U.S. helicopters were shot down, a Black Hawk, a Kiowa and an Apache. According to a report on NPR, the mujahideen are using an aerial version of improvised explosive devices [IEDs] to bring down the copters.

AFGHANISTAN:
Taliban seem to be on the offensive. On January 15, a Taliban martyrdom operator entered a Canadian military convoy in the Kandahar area. A Canadian diplomat and two Afghan soldiers guarding him were killed and 3 Canadian soldiers and 5 Afghans wounded.
Mullah Omar's message has come out: There will be no talks with Karzai as long as occupation forces are in Afghanistan, he says.. Karzai fears for his life and has urged NATO-U.S. troops not to leave him. [Observers say, Karzai is the first Afghan in all of history to ask non-Muslim anti-Islam forces to stay in Afghanistan.]

Jamaat al-Muslimeen News [3 items]
P.O. Box 10881
Baltimore, MD 21234

Imam Warith Deen Umar Facing State Terrorism

On December 30, Imam Umar's apartment in the Bronx, New York, was attacked and desecrated. On January 6, 2006 his home in Albany, NY, was attacked and police dogs entered his family home.

There is absolutely no reason other than than state terrorism that a distinguished citizen of the country should be treated in this shameful way.
This whole process started when the Wall Street Journal smeared Imam Umar in a front page report. In Ramadan [late last year] the government seemingly obtained a tape of Imam Umar's khutba from Siraj Wahhaj's mosque and during the December 30 incident tried to use it against Imam Umar. [Siraj is a leader of ISNA, America's biggest pro-government Muslim group.]

The government has failed both to intimidate and to provoke Imam Umar. His rights have been violated. He has not broken any law and he has a distinguished record of service.

We urge all Muslims and non-Muslims of conscience to rally to the support of the Imam. This time the government will lose, inshallah. It is time to stop the Zionist abuse of Muslims in this country.

New York Zionist TV Channels Attack Imam Umar.

[Several Jamaat al-Muslimeen sympathizers in NY have reported this.]

New York's TV channels on January 6 attacked Imam Umar. Instead of reporting on what the police was doing in the Imam's home, TV was trying desperately to justify the state terrorism by innuendo connecting the Imam to "guns" and to "approval of 9.11."

Ph.D. In Cell: Difficulties in Raising Bond Money

Dr. Kifah al-Jayyousi's bond application was accepted but the amount is so large that he has not been able to collect the whole amount yet. In spite of community support, he is still short by $16,000. Persons of good will who can contribute are urged to send donation and/or loans to this address:

Kifah Jayyousi trust account
c/o William W. Swor, attorney
3060 Penobscot Building
645 Griswold St.
Detroit, Michigan 48226

ISLAM in AMERICA:

Working for the Government Under Cover of Islam?
The Case of Siraj Wahhaj who Helped Put Dr. Omar 'Abdel Rahman in Prison for Life. Evidence that Siraj is Irresponsible and helps the Zionists.

[New Trend Special Investigative report.]

It's not news that the U.S. government tries to recruit Muslims to spy on other Muslims. What's news is that self-styled Muslim "leaders" openly say that that they want to work for the government and in the same breath claim that they are Islamic or Muslim.

We had the case of ISNA-AMC "activist" Abdur Rahman al-Amoudi who admitted [in writing] that he was working for the government, and used cash from the State Department to buy the conscience of Muslims.

The most important case of a Muslim helping the regime to punish a Muslim is that of "Imam" Siraj Wahhaj. It's important to identify the anti-Islam activities of Siraj Wahhaj. Under the U.S. Constitution, he has the right to help the government. Under the same Constitution, we have the right to point out that Siraj's activities negate Islam and that he has breached the TRUST of the Muslim community. Remember that we have nothing personal against Siraj and we want him to live in peace, but not in the guise of an Islamic Imam.

Here are the facts: Siraj has deeply infiltrated the Muslim communities of America. He and his friends, like Mauri Saalakhan and Imam Talib, take an interesting line in their defense of Siraj Wahhaj. Firstly, they don't want Siraj to speak for himself, which in itself is a violation of Islam. The Qur'an says:
"No bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another." [6:164]

Then they say, Siraj said what he had to say because he was in court under oath and he had to say what the Shaikh said. That's a big lie in itself because Siraj made a statement about the Shaikh without providing any verifiable source for his information. Where did he hear the Shaikh say anything like that? What date was it? Nothing! Siraj did not provide any proof. He simply made a statement which helped the PROSECUTION, although he was a defense witness.

The question arises: Was Siraj Wahhaj speaking the truth because he was under oath or is he a liar who is in the habit of helping the Zionist Jews with his lies. I am of the opinion that he is a liar and helps the Jews. Here is my evidence:

In the Wall Street Journal of October 24, 2003, Paul Barrett published an extensive interview with "Imam" Siraj Wahhaj in which he glorified Siraj as a leader of Muslims and a charismatic figure. Bear in mind that the Wall Street Journal is the capitalist wing of America's Jewish power structure. Previously, the same writer atacked Imam Warith Deen Umar in the Wall Street Journal and destroyed his career. [WSJ also spawned Asra Nomani.]
This is what the WSJ reports Siraj Wahhaj as saying about Shaikh Omar 'Abdel Rahman while the Shaikh was allegedly speaking to a gathering in Siraj's mosque:
"Shaikh suggested that Muslims rob banks to benefit Islam. Imam Wahhaj says he interrupted to point out that there were convicted felons in the audience, and the Shaikh, laughing, retracted the remark."

Notice the most obvious lie in Siraj's statement. He forgot that Shaikh Omar 'Abdel Rahman DOES NOT KNOW ENGLISH. There was no way the "convicted felons" in the audience could have known what he was saying.

Liar that Siraj Wahhaj is, he does not realize how strict the Shaikh is about Islamic Law [Sharia]. For instance, the Shaikh does not want Muslims living in America to eat meat from animals not properly slaughtered [zabiha] under Islamic Law. To claim that such a man would preach the robbing of banks is nothing but character assassination. It's back biting about a helpless prisoner whom the Zionists have buried alive.

Why did Siraj have to talk such nonsense to a WSJ reporter? This was not the court of law and there was no pressing need to talk about Shaikh Omar who is a prisoner and cannot answer Siraj Wahhaj.. The ISNA leader was obviously out to destroy the reputation of the Shaikh. He wanted to help the Jews against a man who is a Ph.D from Al-Azhar, knows the entire Qur'an and Sahih Bukhari from memory, and is an expert on Fiqh. Siraj Wahhaj told a Jewish paper, the WSJ, that this man of Allah, this saintly worshiper of the Creator, was so low down that he was teaching the Muslims of America to rob banks.

Siraj Wahhaj's story, for which he provided no verifiable evidence, evidently fits right into the U.S. government's conspiracy theory against Shaikh Omar 'Abdel Rahman.

Who is Siraj Wahhaj? He is a CENTRAL LEADER of the pro-government organization known as ISNA [so-called Islamic Society of North America]. ISNA works closely with the FBI and endorses all of President Bush's policies and keeps quiet about all of the President's atrocities. Of course ISNA has the right to work closely with the FBI but does it have the right to call itself Islamic? The Qur'an says: NO. The Prophet, pbuh, says: NO. The Sahabah say: NO. All the great scholars of Islam say: NO. There cannot be cooperation with oppressors under the banner of Islam.

"And incline not to those who oppress, or the Fire will touch you; and you have no protectors other than Allah, nor shall you be helped." [11:113]

Siraj Wahhaj is no ordinary supporter of ISNA. He has been, for years, ISNA's central Shoora member. He is not known to have opposed ISNA on anything. In fact, reports are that he says ISNA is following the Sunnah of the Prophet, pbuh. [Astaghfirullah!] Not surprisingly, Siraj's photo appears every now and then in ISNA's publicity material which portrays him as an Islamic leader (!), just about as Islamic as ISNA's Secretary General Syed Syeed.

If Siraj Wahhaj is a genuine Muslim and fears Allah, what stops him from apologizing to the Muslim Ummah for helping to imprison Dr. Omar 'Abdel Rahman? Let's suppose that he is not an agent of the government, deliberate or not-so-deliberate, is it not possible for him to make a mistake? We all make mistakes. Why not admit it?

WHO IS TRYING to BUILD UP SIRAJ WAHHAJ?

Instead we find Siraj's minions like Mauri Saalakhan trying to build up Siraj as a leader, trying to compare him to Imam Jamil al-Amin! Some kind of ego worship is involved here. Siraj Wahhaj ignored the historic rally in support of Imam Jamil just before the Millions More Movement. Then Mauri Saalakhan tried to denigrate the rally itself.

Next we need to look at Siraj Wahhaj's source of income.

[We urge Siraj to apologize to the Muslims. Dr. Omar 'Abdel Rahman, great scholar of Islam, propbably the greatest living scholar of Islam, is languishing in a U.S. prison cell, cut off from the entire world. Siraj Wahhaj, Abdur Rahman al-Amoudi (another ISNA agent) and other collaborators helped to bring about this tragic situation.]
[To be continued.]

Puerto Rican Leader Was Shot by U.S. Forces and left to Die a Slow Death

[Major atrocities by the U.S. are hidden from the American people. This happened months back and was censored by all TV channels but was broken by a foreign source.]

GRANMA INTERNATIONAL
Havana. September 26, 2005
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2005/septiembre/lun26/40fbi.html

FBI let Puerto Rican independence fighter bleed to death

SAN JUAN, September 25.—The leader of the underground Puerto Rican People's Army (EPB-Macheteros), Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, bled to death virtually killed – due to lack of medical attention after being hit by a bullet in his right clavicle, it was confirmed today in this capital.

Dr. Héctor Pesquera told Prensa Latina that "the FBI let him bleed to death," after being shot by a sniper brought in from the United States.

Pesquera, spokesperson for the Hostosiano National Independence
Movement (MINH), took part in the autopsy last night in the capital's Forensic Science Institute, during which it was confirmed that the body of the EPB-Macheteros leader only revealed one bullet wound.

Pesquera assured PL that evidently, the FBI tactic was not to intervene so that "Comandante Ojeda Ríos would bleed to death through lack of medical attention."

"The bullet penetrated the top part of the right clavicle, crossed his lung and exited from his back, where it lodged in the bullet-proof vest that he was wearing," stated the doctor.

The death of Ojeda Ríos happened last Friday in the western municipality of Hormigueros, after he was surrounded by a contingent of 300-plus agents, including 20 snipers brought in from Virginia (United States).

The 72-year-old leader, who used a pacemaker, was in Hormigueros to celebrate the Grito de Lares, when the independence movement recalls the proclamation of the first Republic of Puerto Rico on September 23, 1868.

U.S. Ally in South Asia Carries out Severe Repression of Muslims.

Thai PM says missing lawyer dead
Thailand's prime minister has said a Muslim human rights lawyer who went missing in 2004 may have been killed by government officials.

PM Thaksin Shinawatra also said that an ongoing investigation into Somchai Neelaphaijit's disappearance suggested more than four officials were involved.

A court on Thursday jailed one policeman but acquitted four others for illegally detaining Mr Neelaphaijit.

The lawyer's wife Angkhana and human rights groups denounced the verdict.

Mr Neelaphaijit was last seen at a Bangkok hotel in March 2004, and rights groups fear he was killed because of his criticism of police conduct in the south of the country, where there is an ongoing Muslim insurgency.

Mr Thaksin said that prosecutors would file a new case, possibly as soon as next month.

He said a special team from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) was now working on murder charges, based on circumstantial evidence gathered since the original trial began.

"I know that Somchai is dead, and more than four government officials were involved, but witnesses and evidence are still being collected," Mr Thaksin was quoted as telling the French news agency AFP.

None of the suspects at the first trial were tried for murder, only illegal detention and robbery.

Mr Thaksin did not say if the new charges would be filed against the same people as before, or against other government officials.

Southern insurgency

Somchai Neelaphaijit's disappearance and his subsequent trial have put Thailand's treatment of human rights under the spotlight.

Rights groups maintain that the 52-year-old lawyer was kidnapped and killed by police officers, because of his vocal criticism of the Thai security services' handling of the unrest in the south.

The authorities in southern Thailand are battling a long-running insurgency by Islamic separatists, which has led to the deaths of more than 1,000 people in the past two years.

In the months before his disappearance, Mr Neelaphaijit had defended Muslim suspects in connection with violence, and went missing soon after claiming some of his clients had been tortured.

What the New Generation is not Told about Dr. Martin Luther King:
Replace "Vietnam" with "Iraq" in his speeches to see relevance.

by Wilmer Leon, Ph.D [Exclusive to New Trend.]

[Excerpted from his radio program "On With Leon.]
[Dr. Leon quotes from King's speeches which are being kept away from America's new generation.]

I am truly convinced that Dr. King, his sacrifice, his vision, and all that he stood for has permeated the American psyche just as the likes of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln since yesterday I saw that one of the major mattress stores, Mattress Discounters or Mattress Warehouse is having a Martin Luther King weekend sale. Go over there, get your sleep on, save 20%. Fulfill the dream, live the dream, buy a mattress. You know you have made it in America when barons of capitalism incorporate you into the process of making money. Yes, America, we have overcome!

Dr. King was born January 15, 1929 and assassinated on April 4, 1968. He would be 77 years old now if the forces of evil had not cut him down. Yes, the forces of evil, those internal terrorists who hate what we stand for, our quest for freedom, liberty, and equality.
It took 15 years to create the federal Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday. Congressman John Conyers, Democrat from Michigan, first introduced legislation for a commemorative holiday four days after King was assassinated in 1968. After the bill became stalled, petitions endorsing the holiday containing six million names were submitted to Congress.
Conyers and Rep. Shirley Chisholm, Democrat of New York, resubmitted King holiday legislation each subsequent legislative session. Public pressure for the holiday mounted during the 1982 and 1983 civil rights marches in Washington.
Congress passed the holiday legislation in 1983, which was then signed into law by President Ronald Reagan.
I've thought and thought about what to present today. Who to present today? How to discuss Dr. King in a manner that will not bore you, a manner that is new and fresh. The question that comes to mind is "Is Dr. King relevant today?" If so, how?
I believe that Dr. King has been compromised. It is comfortable for America to remember Dr. King as a dreamer and a visionary. I am sure that Monday you will hear President Bush hailing Dr. King as a great American because of his dream, his vision, his quest for a day when children can live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Let's not forget that Dr. King was assassinated for that Dream. Yes, the forces of evil, those internal terrorists who hate what we stand for, our quest for freedom, liberty, and equality killed Dr. King for demanding that America live up to its ideals, live up to its values and morals.

President Bush and many others like him will stay focused on that vision, focused on that Dream. They will try and sell you that dream, as the major mattress stores, Mattress Discounters or Mattress Warehouse, one of those places is having a Martin Luther King weekend sale. Go over there, get your sleep on, save 20%. Don't wake up to deal with your nightmare, stay focused on the dream, enjoy your mattress.
On Dr. King Day, President Bush and his minions will focus on the dream, not your reality. You won't hear President Bush talk about Beyond Vietnam: A Time To Break Silence or as others have called it To Atone for Our Sins and Errors in Vietnam. Oh, no. He will never quote a line from that speech. The reality is too stark, too real and relevant for America. Let's stay lost in the Dream.
In Let Nobody Turn Us Around: Voices of Resistance, Reform, and Renewal the editors of this volume Manning Marable and Leith Mullings, write, "though Martin Luther King, Jr. is frequently remembered for his 'I have a Dream' speech at the 1963 March on Washington, in the last several years of his life his politics moved to the left and he began to focus greater attention on entrenched patterns of economic exploitation inside U.S. society. America, he said, needed a "revolution in values," and on many occasions he suggested that there must be a fundamental change in the way that society was organized.
Staying with Marable and Mullings, "In the aftermath of the creation of the holiday, there has been a tendency within popular culture to concentrate almost exclusively on this pre-1966 public career. This is not only historically dishonest, but an attempt to 'mainstream' King to conform to the more conservative standards of the current period."
As I stated earlier, it allows the George Bushs of the world to sell you the dream.
Before I get into some other things, allow me a few minutes to analyze the Dream Speech.
The "dream" reference in the speech, as it has been portrayed, twisted, and taken out of context comes in the middle of the speech. The speech actually opens with Dr. King the realist saying in the second paragraph "...we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition." I say again, to dramatize an appalling condition. That was no dream, it was real! It was our reality in America in 1963! He refers to the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence as a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. Dr. King the pragmatist refers to the guaranteed unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Dr. King says "It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check - a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds.'

Will President Bush talk about this aspect of the I Have A Dream Speech ? I think not. This the actual pretext upon which the Dream is based. Nobody wants to discuss this fact today. The dream for a day when children can live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character, had to be stated as a goal, a vision, a dream, because the reality for African Americans or Negros (as we were still called back then) was stark and so far removed that vision that it could only be a dream.
Dr. King went on to say that they gathered on that spot on that day "...to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy."

Those are the words of a revolutionary, not a dreamer!

Dr. King prophecies "There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundation of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges."

I say again, shake the foundation of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges? Again, these are the words of a revolutionary not a dreamer! Talk about conviction, Mr. President, talk about staying the course, Mr. President. That's what we call true resolve.
He goes on for five more paragraphs before he gets to "I have a dream."
Dr. King was correct then and it proves to be prophetic now.

We must face the tragic fact that based on the actions in Florida and Ohio, and the unethical, immoral and unconstitutional actions of the United States Supreme Court that the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American Democracy; our votes were stolen! It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promise of one-man, one-vote.

Is Dr. King relevant today? If so, how? Read "Nonviolence and Racial Justice" 6 February 1957 Chicago, Ill.

"It is commonly observed that the crisis in race relations dominates the arena of American life. This crisis has been precipitated by two factors: the determined resistance of reactionary elements in the south to the Supreme Court's momentous decision outlawing segregation in the public schools, and the radical change in the Negro's evaluation of himself While southern legislative halls ring with open defiance through "interposition" and "nullification," while a modern version of the Klu Klux Klan has arisen in the form of "respectable" white citizens' councils, a revolutionary change has taken place in the Negro's conception of his own nature and destiny. Once he thought of himself as an inferior and patiently accepted injustice and exploitation. Those days are gone."

This is very important because Dr. King is now discussing the fundamental element of revolution, a people deciding for themselves that their circumstance must change. True revolution begins with a change of mindset, a shift in ones perception of ones-self in the context of that individuals (or group of individuals) reality.

"The first Negroes landed on the shores of this nation in 1619, one year ahead of the Pilgrim Fathers. They were brought here from Africa and, unlike the Pilgrims, they were brought against their will, as slaves. Throughout the era of slavery the Negro was treated in inhuman fashion. He was considered a thing to be used, not a person to be respected. He was merely a depersonalized cog in a vast plantation machine. The famous Dred Scott decision of 1857 well illustrates his status during slavery. In this decision the Supreme Court of the United States said, in substance, that the Negro is not a citizen of the United States; he is merely property subject to the dictates of his owner.
Living under these conditions, many Negroes lost faith in themselves. They came to feel that perhaps they were less than human. So long as the Negro maintained this subservient attitude and accepted the 'place' assigned him, a sort of racial peace existed. But it was an uneasy peace in which the Negro was forced patiently to submit to insult, injustice and exploitation. It was a negative peace. True peace is not merely the absence of some negative force--tension, confusion or war; it is the presence of some positive force--justice, good will and brotherhood."

Do you think President Bush, VP Cheney and Secretary of State Rice understand that they can not bring peace to the Middle East at the barrel of a gun? Peace will only come with the presence of some positive force--justice, good will and brotherhood.
Continuing with Dr. King, "the determination of Negro Americans to win freedom from every form of oppression springs from the same profound longing for freedom that motivates oppressed peoples all over the world. The rhythmic beat of deep discontent in Africa and Asia is at bottom a quest for freedom and human dignity on the part of people who have long been victims of colonialism. The struggle for freedom on the part of oppressed people in general and of the American Negro in particular has developed slowly and is not going to end suddenly. Privileged groups rarely give up their privileges without strong resistance. But when oppressed people rise up against oppression there is no stopping point short of full freedom. Realism compels us to admit that the struggle will continue until freedom is a reality for all the oppressed peoples of the world."

This is why the Palestinians will not be defeated, this is why the US can't win in Iraq. The oppressed peoples in Iraq, Palestine, and yes, Iran (if the US is foolish enough to go in there) will struggle until the freedom by their definition is achieved.
"Hence the basic question which confronts the world's oppressed is: How is the struggle against the forces of injustice to be waged? There are two possible answers. One is resort to the all too prevalent method of physical violence and corroding hatred. The danger of this method is its futility. Violence solves no social problems; it merely creates new and more complicated ones. Through the vistas of time a voice still cries to every potential Peter, "Put up your sword!" The shores of history are white with the bleached bones of nations and communities that failed to follow this command. If the American Negro and other victims of oppression succumb to the temptation of using violence in the struggle for justice, unborn generations will live in a desolate night of bitterness, and their chief legacy will be an endless reign of chaos."

How does this apply to people of color in America today, but how does this apply to the people of the Middle East who view America's invasion of their country as renewed oppression? Is Dr. King still relevant? If so, how?

When President Bush and Secretary Rice quote Dr. King, do you think they will refer to the speech Dr. King gave in LA in 1967?
The Casualties of the War in Vietnam 25 February 1967
Los Angeles, Calif.
"In these days of emotional tension when the problems of the world are gigantic in extent and chaotic in detail, there is no greater need than for sober-thinking, healthy debate, creative dissent and enlightened discussion."

Do you think today that the problems of the world are gigantic in extent and chaotic in detail?
If I change Viet Nam with Iraq, do you think this makes any sense today?

Contuining with Dr. King "I would like to speak to you candidly and forthrightly this afternoon about our present involvement in Viet Nam (Iraq). I have chosen as a subject, "The Casualties of the War In Viet Nam (Iraq)." We are all aware of the nightmarish physical casualties. We see them in our living rooms in all of their tragic dimensions on television screens, and we read about them on our subway and bus rides in daily newspaper accounts. We see the rice fields of a small Asian country being trampled at will and burned at whim: we see grief-stricken mothers with crying babies clutched in their arms as they watch their little huts burst forth into flames; we see the fields and valleys of battle being painted with humankind's blood; we see the broken bodies left prostrate in countless fields; we see young men being sent home half-men--physically handicapped and mentally deranged. Most tragic of all is the casualty list among children. Some one million Vietnamese children have been casualties of this brutal war. A war in which children are incinerated by napalm, in which American soldiers die in mounting numbers while other American soldiers, according to press accounts, in unrestrained hatred shoot the wounded enemy as they lie on the ground, is a war that mutilates the conscience. These casualties are enough to cause all men to rise up with righteous indignation and oppose the very nature of this war."

The physical casualties of the war in Iraq are not alone the catastrophies. The casualties of principles and values are equally disastrous and injurious. Indeed, they are ultimately more harmful because they are self-perpetuating. If the casualties of principle are not healed, the physical casualties will continue to mount. The principles of civil liberties, right to privacy, true democracy in America are no longer valid.

One of the first casualties of the war in Iraq was the Charter of the United Nations. In taking armed action against Saddam, the United States clearly violated the United Nations charter which provides, in Chapter I, Article II (4)
"All members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations."
and in Chapter VII, (39)
"The Security Council shall determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression, and shall make recommendations or shall decide what measures shall be taken... to maintain or restore international peace and security."

It is very obvious that our government blatantly violated its obligation under the charter of the United Nations to submit to the Security Council its charge of aggression against North Viet Nam. Instead we unilaterally launched an all-out war on Asian soil. In the process we have underminded the purpose of the United Nations and caused its effectiveness to atrophy. We have also placed our nation in the position of being morally and politically isolated. Even the long standing allies of our nation have adamantly refused to join our government in this ugly war. As Americans and lovers of Democracy we should carefully ponder the consequences of our nation's declining moral status in the world.
As many of you know that "A Time To Break Silence" is one of my favorites and the speech that I believe was the straw that broke the camels back. This was the speech that let the US government know that Dr. King had to go. He was assassinated a year to the day that this speech was delivered.
Again, replace Vietnam with iraq.

Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence

By Rev. Martin Luther King
4 April 1967

Since I am a preacher by trade, I suppose it is not surprising that I have seven major reasons for bringing Vietnam (Iraq) into the field of my moral vision. There is at the outset a very obvious and almost facile connection between the war in Vietnam and the struggle I, and others, have been waging in America. A few years ago there was a shining moment in that struggle. It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor -- both black and white -- through the poverty program. There were experiments, hopes, new beginnings. Then came the buildup in (Iraq) and I watched the program broken and eviscerated as if it were some idle political plaything of a society gone mad on war, and I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like (Iraq) continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such."

Is Dr. King relevant today? If so, how? So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such. Why was the response to Katrina so slow and ineffective? Where are the precious limited resources that the people in the Gulf region need and why can't this government deliver them? The programs to deliver aid to the people in the Gulf region are broken and eviscerated as if theywere some idle political plaything of a society gone mad on war. I know that America can't or won't invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of this region and its poor so long as adventures like Iraq continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube.

"This is the message of the great Buddhist leaders of Vietnam. Recently one of them wrote these words:
Each day the war goes on the hatred increases in the heart of the Vietnamese and in the hearts of those of humanitarian instinct. The Americans are forcing even their friends into becoming their enemies. It is curious that the Americans, who calculate so carefully on the possibilities of military victory, do not realize that in the process they are incurring deep psychological and political defeat. The image of America will never again be the image of revolution, freedom and democracy, but the image of violence and militarism."

What has France said, Germany, Russia about America today? Do the peoples of Africa and Europe truly believe that America is now the land of the free and home of the brave?
"If we continue, there will be no doubt in my mind and in the mind of the world that we have no honorable intentions in Vietnam (Iraq). It will become clear that our minimal expectation is to occupy it as an American colony and men will not refrain from thinking that our maximum hope is to goad (Iran) into a war so that we may bomb her nuclear installations. If we do not stop our war against the people of (Iraq) immediately the world will be left with no other alternative than to see this as some horribly clumsy and deadly game we have decided to play."

In today's Washington Post, "Bush Warns Against Nuclear-Armed Iran."
"Meanwhile we in the churches and synagogues have a continuing task while we urge our government to disengage itself from a disgraceful commitment. We must continue to raise our voices if our nation persists in its perverse ways in Vietnam. We must be prepared to match actions with words by seeking out every creative means of protest possible."
Where are the black ministers of the mega churches in today's Vietnam? Bought off by the conservatives with Faith Based Initiative Monies?
"These are the times for real choices and not false ones. We are at the moment when our lives must be placed on the line if our nation is to survive its own folly. Every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest."

To demonstrate the lineage in Black revolutionary thought, this line takes us back to Henry Highland Garnett in 1843

"Let Your Motto Be Resistance when he states: "...In the name of God, we ask, are you men? Where is the blood of your fathers? Has it all run out of your veins? Awake, awake: millions of voices are calling you! Your dead fathers speak to you from their graves. Heaven, as with a voice of thunder, calls on you to arise from the dust. Let your motto be resistance! Resistance! RESISTANCE! No oppressed people have ever secured their liberty without resistance. What kind of resistance you had better make, you must decide by the circumstances that surround you, and according to the suggestion of expediency."

Again, Dr. King said "Every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest.
There is something seductively tempting about stopping there and sending us all off on what in some circles has become a popular crusade against the war in Vietnam. I say we must enter the struggle, but I wish to go on now to say something even more disturbing. The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit, and if we ignore this sobering reality we will find ourselves organizing clergy- and laymen-concerned committees for the next generation. They will be concerned about Guatemala and Peru. They will be concerned about Thailand and Cambodia. They will be concerned about Mozambique and South Africa. We will be marching for these and a dozen other names and attending rallies without end unless there is a significant and profound change in American life and policy. Such thoughts take us beyond Vietnam, but not beyond our calling as sons of the living God."

Do ya think President Bush, VP Cheny, or Secretary Rice will be quoting this line from Dr. King? If not, why not?

2006-01-19 Thu 20:22:22 cst
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