The Iraq War

As we celebrate the birthday of one of our great civil rights leaders it is appropriate to reflect upon his words and mission. On April 4, 1967 Martin Luther King, Jr. gave a speech. It was a speech that called Americans to action. It was a speech whose message is particularly appropriate in these troubled times. It was not his speech entitled "I have a dream" though the essential truths of that vision still call us. It was a different message that the Reverend King shared on that day in April.

He said; "A time comes when silence is betrayal. And that time has come for us in relation to Vietnam."

"The truth of these words is beyond doubt, but the mission to which they call us is a most difficult one. Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover, when the issues at hand seem as perplexed as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict, we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty; but we must move on."

We are called today to move on. Vietnam remains a painful legacy. Many of us remain perplexed by its lessons. Many of the issues that confused us in Vietnam now confront us in Iraq. We want to support the men and women who protect our freedoms, serving overseas, but we question the policy that has put them into harms way. We want to be patriotic, but we have trouble supporting a policy based on false pretenses and one which has no clearly defined resolution.

The Reverend King was right, it is not easy for us to oppose our government's policy in a time of war, yet we must do so. This administration has led us into conflict in Iraq based on erroneous assumptions. There were no weapons of mass destruction and Iraq did not have connections to Al-Qaida. That is the plain and simple truth.

Having failed to prove its claims for its rationale in initiating the War, this Administration has invoked our patriotism to prolong our involvement in Iraq. It claims that we are now there to defend democracy. Such claims are intellectually bankrupt.

Democracy cannot be imposed upon a people under threat of military occupation. The Administration would do well to reflect that the essential element of a democracy is freedom of choice. That element cannot exist within the framework of a military occupation. We fool ourselves if we believe that we will make Iraq a free republic by continuing to occupy it. That is one lesson from Vietnam which must be clear to all of us.

If we are not in Iraq because of a need to secure the world from weapons of mass destruction; or a need to combat terrorists; or an ability to create democracy in Iraq, then even under this Administration's tortured logic, there is no reason for us to be there.

The Reverend King's call to break the silence, not only demands that we speak out, but that we take action to end American involvement in Iraq.