OPINION
6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2017
Founded in 1873
HEIDI WRIGHT, Interim Publisher
JIM VAN NOSTRAND, Editor
JEREMY FELDMAN, Circulation Manager
DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
CARL EARL, Systems Manager
OUR VIEW
No room in military
for discrimination
or intolerance
I
magine that your son enlists in the Marine Corps. Imagine that
weeks later, you are told that he died. And because you are not
given the whole story, you call your member of Congress.
That is what happened to the parents of Raheel Siddiqui.
Last Friday, Pvt. Siddiqui’s drill instructor, Gunnery Sgt. Joseph
Felix, was sentenced to 10 years in prison by a military jury.
Siddiqui, 20, a Pakistani-American from Taylor, Michigan, was
one of three Muslim recruits abused by Felix. He hurled himself
to his death after what the jury decided was mistreatment by Felix
that included slapping Siddiqui and calling him a terrorist, accord-
ing to the Associated Press. The government did not charge Felix
with any crime directly related to Siddiqui’s death, instead convict-
ing him on abuse charges.
The Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island has long been
the scene of other hazing incidents. Decades ago, a drill instruc-
tor marched his platoon into a creek at night. Some of the recruits
drowned.
The Felix trial shows that the Marines have since drawn clearer
lines between what instructors can and cannot do, said Michael
Hanzel, a former Navy attorney who attended the proceedings at
Camp Lejeune.
“This generation now, there’s things that I think that we’re
much more focused on … in this trial, it’s calling people names
based on their religion and targeting people based on their reli-
gion,” said Hanzel, now a private attorney specializing in mili-
tary law. “I don’t think anyone would say that was acceptable ever,
but it probably was not prosecuted in the past the way it would be
now.”
The crimes committed by Felix raised an alarm beyond the
boundaries of Parris Island for two reasons. First, he targeted vic-
tims based on their religious beliefs. Second, he raised the bar on
cruelty in the recruit barracks. His peculiar penchant was to order
a recruit to enter an industrial-size clothes dryer, close the door and
start it. He also commanded recruits to choke each other, punched
them in the face or kicked them to the ground, among other abuses.
“He wasn’t making Marines. He was breaking Marines,” prose-
cutor Lt. Col. John Norman told the jury.
When U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell took up the cause of the
Siddiqui family’s search for justice, other members of Congress
told her not to make waves about Marine Corps recruit training.
She defied that conventional wisdom.
In addition to prison, Sgt. Felix is now a private, and he will
receive a dishonorable discharge.
Implementing sweeping change in the military takes leader-
ship from the top down, and even then it doesn’t happen overnight.
When President Harry Truman desegregated the armed forces
in 1948, he encountered entrenched resistance from the almost
entirely all-white officer corps. He had to forcibly retire the sec-
retary of the Army for his refusal to
enforce the presidential executive
There is
order. President Dwight Eisenhower
absolutely
later desegregated military schools,
hospitals and bases. The last all-
no excuse
black unit wasn’t abolished until
for religious
1954.
As a result of Truman’s bold,
intolerance
historic move, nonwhite soldiers,
and hatred
Marines, airmen and sailors today
in the ranks.
have more leadership opportunities
and advancement potential than the
private, corporate world offers to minority employees. His order
called for equal treatment without regard to race, color, religion or
national origin, and as a result our armed forces have become the
nation’s greatest meritocracy.
There is absolutely no excuse for religious intolerance and
hatred in the ranks. American Muslims are fighting and dying
for this country, and deserve to be treated with the same respect
as their comrades. After Siddiqui’s March 2016 suicide, a hazing
investigation led to charges against Felix, five other drill instruc-
tors and the training battalion’s commanding officer. Eleven others
faced lesser discipline.
As we endure a presidency that is painfully ambivalent on mat-
ters of racial bigotry, it is necessary for other leaders to draw the
line between what is OK and what is not — between right and
wrong.
The superintendent of the Air Force Academy, Lt. Gen. Jay
Silveria, exhibited such leadership earlier this year, when he
denounced — in no uncertain terms — alleged bigotry against
blacks at the academy’s preparatory school.
“If you demean someone in any way, you need to get out,”
he said in a speech to cadets. “If you can’t treat someone from
another race, or different color skin, with dignity and respect, then
you need to get out.”
The allegations later turned out to be untrue, but Gen. Silveria
stood by his message last week.
When the voices making such declarations are in military uni-
form, the message carries extra weight.
Monarch habitat restoration
benefits farmers, environment
By ROBERT GIBLIN
For The Daily Astorian
ooking like small, flying
black, orange and yellow
stained-glass windows,
monarch butterflies
are prized for
their beauty, and
as a symbol of
biodiversity and
the need to protect
ecosystems.
Due to a variety
of challenges, however, monarch
butterfly populations have declined.
Collaboration among farmers,
homeowners and other landowners
will be crucial in helping to restore
populations of monarchs and other
pollinators.
There are many complex reasons
for monarch population declines,
including loss of breeding habi-
tat, weather and climate change,
predators, pathogens and parasites,
and less overwintering habitat in
Mexico.
Monarchs need places to eat, live
and reproduce during their yearly
journey from Mexico, to as far north
as Canada. To survive the migration,
they need two kinds of nourishment
— nectar and milkweed. Monarchs
consume nectar from a variety of
flowers, while milkweed provides
shelter for the butterflies’ eggs and
nourishment for their caterpillars.
Re-establishing milkweed is
essential to restoring the population
of monarchs, but it has long been
considered a nuisance for farmers
and gardeners alike. Milkweed can
be devastating to crop yields and
may be toxic to some livestock if
ingested. Gardeners often treat the
plant like an invasive species. For
years, milkweed was classified as
a noxious weed in some areas and
its control was required by local or
county laws.
In response to a 2014 petition to
list the monarch under the Endan-
gered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service has begun the pro-
cess of evaluating monarch conser-
vation measures, including evaluat-
ing volunteer habitat conservation
efforts in agriculture, to assess the
impact toward ensuring long-term
recovery and resilient monarch
populations.
Farmers, ranchers and other
landowners already are engaged in
conservation initiatives focused on
water quality, erosion control, wild-
life and pollinator habitat. These
efforts demonstrate that continuing
innovation in agricultural practices
can reduce environmental impacts,
increase crop productivity and be
compatible with monarch conserva-
tion efforts.
Farmers need to maintain good
cropland, but they are in a great
position to help restore monarch
L
U.S. Geological Survey
Clatsop County, along with the rest of Oregon, is included in the nat-
ural range of the monarch butterfly. Local farmers and homeowners
can play a part in helping this charismatic insect survive.
Monarchs face many
challenges on their long
migratory journey. Agriculture
can play a key role in helping
these important pollinators
reach their destination, but
farmers can’t do it alone.
habitat. The time to act is now.
Farmers and other land manag-
ers should begin establishing or
expanding monarch habitat in the
fall of 2017 and spring of 2018.
Milkweed can be established in
many niches on the agricultural
landscape, including conservation
lands, grazing lands, rights-of-way,
field margins and yard and garden
areas. In some cases, solutions may
be as simple as adjusting mowing or
weed control practices to avoid time
periods when monarch eggs and cat-
erpillars are present.
Other land expanses, such as
road and utility corridors or rights-
of-way, also may be suitable for
monarch habitat.
Many states and organizations
offer information and volunteer reg-
istries for farmers and other land-
owners to enroll pollinator habitats
and to share best management prac-
tices that will allow monarch hab-
itat to survive. Along the monarch
flyway, state wildlife agencies have
been tasked to develop manage-
ment plans that encourage conserva-
tion plans in ways that make sense
locally or regionally. These state and
local efforts should include input
from farm organizations and agri-
businesses, which are uniquely posi-
tioned to support management prac-
tices that will result in sustainable
monarch populations.
Federal government agencies,
such as the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Fish and Wildlife Ser-
vice and the Natural Resources Con-
servation Service also are cooper-
ating to align programs and rules to
foster monarch habitat restoration.
The Farm Service Agency has
enrolled more than 124,000 acres in
the Conservation Reserve Program
pollinator practice. FSA and NRCS
are providing grants and incentives
to implement practices to encourage
establishment of pollinator habit.
Monarchs face many challenges
on their long migratory journey.
Agriculture can play a key role in
helping these important pollinators
reach their destination, but farmers
can’t do it alone. Nor should they
have to.
Robert Giblin is a freelance
writer, speaker and consultant on
agriculture and food issues and pol-
icies. This column appears cour-
tesy of the American Farm Bureau
Federation.
WHERE TO WRITE
• U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici
(D): 439 Cannon House Office
Building, Washington, D.C., 20515.
Phone: 202- 225-0855. Fax 202-225-
9497. District office: 12725 SW Mil-
likan Way, Suite 220, Beaverton, OR
97005. Phone: 503-469-6010. Fax
503-326-5066. Web: bonamici.house.
gov/
• U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D): 313
Hart Senate Office Building, Wash-
ington, D.C. 20510. Phone: 202-224-
3753. Web: www.merkley.senate.gov
• U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D):
221 Dirksen Senate Office Building,
Washington, D.C., 20510. Phone:
202-224-5244. Web: www.wyden.
senate.gov
• State Rep. Brad Witt (D): State
Capitol, 900 Court Street N.E., H-373,
Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-
1431. Web: www.leg.state.or.us/witt/
Email: rep.bradwitt@state.or.us
• State Rep. Deborah Boone (D):
900 Court St. N.E., H-481, Salem,
OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1432.
Email: rep.deborah boone@state.
or.us District office: P.O. Box 928,
Cannon Beach, OR 97110. Phone:
503-986-1432. Web: www.leg.state.
or.us/ boone/
• State Sen. Betsy Johnson (D):
State Capitol, 900 Court St. N.E.,
S-314, Salem, OR 97301. Telephone:
503-986-1716. Email: sen.betsy john-
son@state.or.us Web: www.betsy-
johnson.com District Office: P.O.
Box R, Scappoose, OR 97056. Phone:
503-543-4046. Fax: 503-543-5296.
Astoria office phone: 503-338-1280.
• Port of Astoria: Executive
Director, 10 Pier 1 Suite 308, Asto-
ria, OR 97103. Phone: 503-741-3300.
Email: admin@portofastoria.com
• Clatsop County Board of Com-
missioners: c/o County Manager, 800
Exchange St., Suite 410, Astoria, OR
97103. Phone: 503-325-1000.