The observation of the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. elicits panegyrics from all sides sharing his vision and his healing message. What should not be forgotten by President Obama, as President Bush readily forgot in the proclamation of the national holiday, was Martin Luther King's adamant opposition to war, which he forcefully and courageously expressed in a speech on April 4, 1967, "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence," delivered at Riverside Church in New York City. Arguing that there was "an obvious ... connection between the war in Vietnam and the struggle I, and others, have been waging in America," he called for "radical departures from the destruction of Vietnam." His lamentation and exhortation in that speech was to go "beyond our nation's self-defined goals and positions" and "to speak for those it calls enemy, for no document from human hands can make these humans any less our brothers."
Martin Luther King Jr., Nobel Peace Prize winner, would have been as adamantly opposed to the devastation inflicted by our preceding administration on Iraq, both on Iraq civilians and on American soldiers and their families at home. His message obviously did not reach President Bush in 2003. It is still very timely and much needed to be heard and heeded by the Obama administration pursuing new warfare in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Otherwise, the Proclamation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day is an empty rhetorical gesture.
EDWARD A. TIRYAKIAN
Durham
