WASHINGTON, Jan. 13, 2011 – If Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today, would he understand why the United States is at war?
Jeh C. Johnson, the Defense Department’s general counsel, posed that question at today’s Pentagon commemoration of King’s legacy.
In the final year of his life, King became an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War, Johnson told a packed auditorium. However, he added, today’s wars are not out of line with the iconic Nobel Peace Prize winner’s teachings.
“I believe that if Dr. King were alive today, he would recognize that we live in a complicated world, and that our nation's military should not and cannot lay down its arms and leave the American people vulnerable to terrorist attack,” he said.
I call BS. Dr. King preached non-violence, and would not have succumbed to the fear-mongering that resulted in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that still are ongoing today.
My post from a year ago on Dr. King, which in my humble opinion, gets it right.
My visits to Atlanta, wherein I made it a priority to visit the National Park Service site dedicated to Dr. King, are among the most poignant and important things I have ever done. I can't wait until Mister Tristan (the human being, not the blog) and his two cousins are old enough to understand.
Then we make a road trip to Atlanta, like a pilgrimage.
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