(The
A p ril 13, 2011
^Inrtlanh (Observer
Page 7
Message to Barrack: Make Love Not War
their eyes. What is unfolding achieved through war expendi­
now in Libya is a tragic replay of tures such as jet engines, rocket
what has gone before. Wars are propulsion, plastics and other
costly and extremely expensive, synthetics, and television and
but don’t count on Obama or radar. Medical breakthroughs,
A m erica’s military apparatus including sulfadrugs, penicillin,
leaving Iraq or Afghanistan and quinine, were consequences
anytime soon.
of war.
The military industry that
The “no-fly zone” over Libya
co n tro ls W ash in g to n , and could end up costing the West­
Obama as well, wants wars. ern coalition more than $ 1 billion
W ars mean profits and the if the operation drags on more
more wars the merrier the profi­ than a couple of months. The
teers. The term “military-indus­
trial com plex” refers to policy
and monetary relationships be­
tween governm ents, national
armed forces, and the industrial
se c to r th at su p p o rts them .
Blacks are rarely top players in
these relationships which include in itia l c o st o f e lim in a tin g
political contributions, political M uam m ar G addafi's air de­
approval for defense spending, fenses will likely to be between
lobbying to support bureaucra­ $400 million and $800 million.
cies, and beneficial legislation The expense of patrolling the
and oversight of the industry.
no-fly zone once it is likely to be
The world spends over $1.5 $30 million to$100milliona week.
trillion yearly on military expen­
President O bam a’s decision
ditures and the U.S. accounts to participate in striking Libya
for 47 percent of those expendi­ has already cost U.S. taxpayers
tures. To be fair, wars have well over $200 million, but al­
helped A m eric a’s ad v a n ce­ though Obama is in bed with a
ments. Advances in technology coalition of former colonialists in
and scientific research were the invasion of this African coun­
History has a
habit of
repeating itself
by
W illiam R eed
Blacks who be­
lieve Barack Obama
can do no w rong
w ould grim ace at
Texas Congressman
Ron Paul calling him "a war
monger.” Paul would infuriate
the Obama faithful further in
saying: “The military industrial
complex is firmly entrenched in
Washington and Barack Obama
is one of their guys.”
Like those who occupied the
Oval Office before him, Presi­
dent Obama is overly influenced
by the military industrial com­
plex. Their business is war, and
military industry people are in
line with Obama’s going to Libya.
Every time a Tomahawk cruise
missile blows up a building in
Libya (and everyone inside it),
Raytheon makes $ 1.5 million.
History has a habit of repeat­
ing itself. Unfortunately, not
enough people pay attention to
obvious parallels right before
try, Obama still has a 95 percent
approval rating among African
Americans.
There is no anger or agitation
am ong A fric an A m erican s
against President Obama and a
Congress that should be ending
the wars we were already in, or
against our military leaders start­
ing new ones, such as Libya.
With Obama leading the pack,
black Americans are part and
parcelof imperialists’ actsagainst
< One would think that two
horrendously expensive military
disasters would be enough for this
president and his advisers.
I
to war with represent 13 percent
of world military spending.
For all his campaign criticism
of the Bush Administration’s
fo re ig n p o lic y , O bam a is
seamlessly continuing the goals
of neo-conservatives to perma­
nently reshape the American
definition of “national security”,
and bullying of Third World coun­
tries.
Through it all, African Ameri­
cans are right behind Obam a’s
war machine. They take com­
fort in the fact these current
actions are based on lofty goals
shared by U.N. Secretary Gen­
eral Ban Ki-moon and other
“coalition” members.
However, this strategy consti­
tutes a disservice to American
taxpayers. What are the Obama
fanatics going to say when the
people who make up the peace
and justice conscious movement
in this country stand up and say:
“We don’t endorse military inter­
vention by Britain, France, Italy,
NATO or any other colonial
forces in the name of ‘humanitar­
ian assistance’ in Libya?”
Arabs and other people of color
the U.S. is “warring against”.
One would think that two hor­
rendously expensive military di­
sasters would be enough for this
president and his advisers. After
all, we're already spending $1
million per soldier, per year in
Afghanistan, and will spend close
tohalf-a-trillion dollars. Whether
under Bush or Obama, the U.S.
accounts for 47 percent of world
William Reed is a national
m ilitary expenditures. The p olitical com m entator and
former colonialists w e’ve gone media entrepreneur.
Slowly but Surely, the Economy Improves
Campaign
pledge
delivered
by
J udge G reg M athis
President Obama has taken a
lot of flack from Republicans for
his “failure” to create jobs and
get m illions of unem ployed
Americans back to work. To
hear his critics tell it, the Presi­
dent has done little to nothing in
the way of job creation.
H ow ever, recent statistics
from the Department of Labor
paint a different picture, one that
shows the President has kept
his word and that, slowly but
surely, Americans are find-
ingjobs.
More than 200,000 jobs
were created in February and
March 2011 - the most jobs
created over a two month period
since 2006. Big cities, which
need jobs the most, are fairing
very well.
According to the Department
of Labor, more than 75-percent
of A m erica’s 372 cities reported
lower unemployment rates in
February 2011. Among those
cities that saw a drop in unem­
ployment claims are Los Ange­
(rihserucr
Established 1970
USPS 959-680
4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211
les, New York and Miami.
This is good news for African
Americans, who primarily live in
large cities and struggle to find
work more than other ethnic
groups during economic reces­
sions, and for the nation as a
whole. Continued job growth -
no matter how slowly it happens
- is a sign that our economy is,
indeed, rebounding.
President O bam a recently
launched his bid for re-election.
With Republicans, and even
some Democrats, constantly tak­
ing shot at his presidency, Obama
is in for what will arguably be
one of the hardest fought cam­
paigns of his political career.
One of his key messages on
the campaign trail should be that
his approach to job creation is
working. Republicans, with all
their spin and fear mongering,
will try to convince the voting
public that there are no jobs and
that America is worse off than it
was in 2008.
President Obama has the data
to prove that he delivered on one
of his biggest campaign prom­
ises. He has to make sure that
his messaging rises above the
conservative noise and that he,
despite push back from political
opponents, he is working in the
best interest of the average
American.
At the same time, elected of­
ficials at both the national and
state levels must continue to
ramp up job creation efforts.
Re-election or no, getting
Americans back to work is one
of this country’s top priorities.
Those in power should make
sure they are doing everything
possible to ensure that the un­
employment rate continues to
fall.
Greg Mathis is a form er
Michigan District Court judge
and current syndicated televi­
sion show judge.
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