May 13, 2015
Page A7
Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views of the
Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and
story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com.
O PINION
Being Accountable for Our Military Interventions
Americans
must accept
responsibility
J ARED K EYEL
The
United
States must ac-
cept responsibili-
ty for the damage
its military ac-
tions have caused
and
recognize
there are alternatives for the
future.
In the nearly decade and a
half since the Sept. 11, 2001
attacks, the U. S. has invad-
ed Afghanistan and Iraq, car-
ried out bombing campaigns
throughout the Middle East,
and launched special opera-
tions strikes throughout the
world.
These policies are non-par-
BY
tisan. Many military actions
begun under George W. Bush
have continued and intensi-
¿HGXQGHU%DUDFN2EDPD7KH
CIA-led drone wars in Paki-
stan, Somalia, and Yemen are
a key component of Mr.
Obama’s administration
and the use of U.S. Special
Forces has exploded in re-
cent years, deploying to
134 countries in 2013.
The consequences of
these actions are immense.
In the words of 13-year-old Ye-
meni, Mohammed Tuaiman,
U.S. drone strikes have “turned
our area into hell and continu-
ous horror, day and night, we
even dream of them in our
sleep
Mohammed, like his father
and brother, was later killed
by an American drone. Four-
teen-year-old Zubair Ur Reh-
man, whose grandmother was
killed by a U.S. drone strike in
3DNLVWDQWROG¿YHPHPEHUVRI
Congress in 2103, “I no longer
love blue skies. In fact, I like
gray skies; the drones cannot
À\ZKHQWKHVNLHVDUHJUD\´
Physicians for Social Re-
VSRQVLELOLW\WKH$PHULFDQDI¿O-
iate of Nobel Peace Prize-win-
ning International Physicians
for Prevention of Nuclear War,
recently released a report that
estimates at least 1.3 million
people have died as a result of
the U.S. invasions and occupa-
tions of Iraq and Afghanistan
and the violent spillover into
Pakistan.
U.S. policies have not
brought stability to countries
such as Afghanistan or Yemen
and as the rise of the Islam-
ic State in Iraq and Syria has
shown, U.S. military actions
KDYH IDQQHG WKH ÀDPHV RI WHU-
rorism, not extinguished them.
There is no doubt that many
Americans believe our military
interventions are undertaken to
help others around the world.
Unfortunately, the reality is far
different. From Afghanistan to
Libya, our military interven-
tions have left broken lives
and nations in ruins. It may be
surprising to some Americans,
but a 2013 Gallup poll of 65
countries saw the United States
at the top of the list of greatest
threats to world peace.
We as Americans need to
take that perception seriously
and accept responsibility for
the enormous human suffer-
ing our wars and interventions
have caused.
Most Americans have a gen-
uine desire to help and not hurt
others around the world. We
can work to alleviate the inju-
ry we have already caused by
providing more support for
emergency humanitarian aid
and refugee protection and re-
settlement, more funding to al-
low the societies we have torn
apart to rebuild themselves,
and by engaged, multilateral,
diplomacy to try to end ongo-
ing violence.
We need to push our govern-
ment, no matter which party is
currently in power, to live up
to our obligations under inter-
national law and end the perva-
sive use of military force. We
have relied on military means
too widely and too belligerent-
ly and it is time to chart a dif-
ferent course.
Jared Keyel has a back-
ground in International Rela-
WLRQV DQG 0LGGOH (DVWHUQ $I-
fairs and currently works with
refugees, asylum-seekers, and
immigrants in Chicago, and
is syndicated through PeaceV-
oice.
%DOWLPRUH5LVLQJ:RPHQDWWKH)URQWOLQHIRU-XVWLFH
I applaud these
female leaders
LQWKH¿JKW
M ARC H. M ORIAL
Marilyn Mosby was
VZRUQ LQWR RI¿FH DV
Maryland state’s attor-
ney for Baltimore City
in January of this year
at the Baltimore War Memorial
Plaza building. Before unseat-
ing the incumbent, Gregg Ber-
nstein, for the job, the 35-year-
old had never held an elected
RI¿FH
Five months later, the city’s
newly-minted, top prosecu-
tor—the youngest chief pros-
ecutor in any major American
city—returned to the steps of
the War Memorial Plaza to an-
nounce charges, including mur-
der, manslaughter and assault,
DJDLQVWVL[SROLFHRI¿FHUVLQWKH
unwarranted death of Freddie
Gray—simultaneously emerg-
ing into the national spotlight as
an advocate for those demand-
ing police accountability and an
adversary for those who would
protect the status quo.
On the night of her swearing
in, Mosby was joined by a host
BY
of dignitaries, including her
husband, Baltimore City coun-
cilman Nick Mosby—who rep-
resents the West Baltimore area
that has been the back-
drop to the protests over
Gray’s
death—along
with her two daughters.
Baltimore Mayor Steph-
anie Rawlings-Blake also
sat among the evening’s
guests and, in a speech,
advised Mosby that, “Public
service is not just a job, it’s a
calling and it is a privilege.”
Mosby’s calling to public
service was born of tragedy
and tradition. When Mosby was
14, her 17-year-old cousin was
mistaken for a drug dealer and
shot and killed near her home.
She often credits her cousin’s
murder as the reason why she
decided to become a prosecutor.
She also comes from a
¿YHJHQHUDWLRQORQJOLQHRIODZ
HQIRUFHPHQW RI¿FLDOV %RWK RI
her parents, an aunt, four un-
cles and her grandfather—who
was a founding member of the
¿UVWDVVRFLDWLRQRIEODFNSROLFH
RI¿FHUV LQ KHU KRPHWRZQ RI
Massachusetts—were police
RI¿FHUV
Growing up in a family of
cops, Mosby knows the good,
JRRG SROLFH RI¿FHUV FDQ GR LQ
our communities. She indicted
VL[ SROLFH RI¿FHUV QRW DQ HQ-
tire force. Her actions are not
anti-cop; they are pro-police
and law enforcement account-
ability. She assured the pub-
lic—and the nation—that her
administration is, “committed
to creating a fair and equitable
justice system for all. No mat-
ter what your occupation, your
age, your race, your color or
your creed.”
Like any major American
city, Baltimore has its assets
and its challenges. Its mayor,
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, has
been at the frontline, grappling
with the deeply entrenched
challenges of the city left in her
charge since replacing a former
mayor, who resigned under
charges of corruption, then be-
LQJHOHFWHGWRKHU¿UVWIXOOWHUP
as mayor in 2011. She has been
touched by the almost inescap-
able violence that stems from
these challenges when in 2002,
she found her brother covered
in blood and nearly decapitat-
ed by a sword that was used
during a carjacking in front of
her house.
In her 2014 State of Black
America essay, Mayor Raw-
lings-Blake painted a bleak
picture, noting that in Balti-
more city, more than 1 in 5 Af-
rican-American adult residents
live in poverty, while 1 in ev-
ery 3 African-American chil-
dren and teens are also living
in poverty. She warned that,
“Poverty is a deep-rooted ill,
permeated with inequity, and it
will take a focused, concerted
assault on all fronts to excise it.
We must think outside the box,
and be bold as we confront the
challenges that lie in our path. I
DPFRPPLWWHGWRWKH¿JKW´
Mayor Rawlings-Blake—
the daughter of the legendary
Howard “Pete” Rawlings, the
¿UVW $IULFDQ $PHULFDQ WR EH-
come chair of the Appropria-
tions Committee in the Mary-
land House of Delegates—has
made her name on the national
stage. She is only one of two
black female mayors of the 100
largest cities in the country.
She currently serves as secre-
tary of the Democratic Nation-
al Committee and is vice presi-
dent of the U.S. Conference of
Mayors.
But she is grabbing our at-
tention today, not for her im-
pressive resume, but for her
XQÀDJJLQJFRPPLWPHQWWR³WKH
¿JKW´LQ%DOWLPRUHIRUHTXDOLW\
and justice. As she promised in
a recent press conference, “As
mayor, I will be relentless in
changing the culture of the po-
lice department to ensure that
everyone in our city is treated
equally under the law.”
1RZWKDWWKHVL[RI¿FHUVLQ-
volved in the death of Freddie
Gray have been charged, the
SURVHFXWRU¶V RI¿FH ZLOO SUHV-
ent its case to a city grand jury
that will consider the charges
and decide whether to indict.
At the same time, the Depart-
ment of Justice—now being
led by another African-Ameri-
can woman, Loretta Lynch—is
also conducting an investiga-
tion into the case and into the
Baltimore Police Department.
I applaud these women,
and all women—and men—
ZKR DUH ¿JKWLQJ IRU MXVWLFH
for Freddie and, by extension,
for us. I applaud these leaders
as they claim their place in
the pantheon of black female
¿JKWHUVZKRKDYHWUDGLWLRQDOO\
played a key role in our na-
tion’s struggle for equality and
justice—for all.
Marc H. Morial is president
DQG FKLHI H[HFXWLYH RI¿FHU RI
the National Urban League.