Kweisi Mfume

Though his partnership with President Lyndon B. Johnson had yielded some of the most transformative pieces of legislation in American history, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. chose to stand against the very president he had supported and campaigned for when his conscience called on him to oppose the war in Vietnam. When he spoke out against the war, he knew the great political cost he would incur. The rupture that followed between him and Johnson would never be reconciled.

“The bombs in Vietnam explode at home,” he told a crowd of 100,000 protesters who’d marched from Central Park to the United Nations, “[and] they destroy the hopes and possibilities for a decent America.”

Yes, the cost was moral. But the preacher made clear that it was economic as well. King warned that the war would devour Johnson’s ambition for a Great Society, consuming the resources meant to relieve poverty here at home. “While the anti-poverty program is cautiously initiated … billions are liberally expended for this ill-considered war,” he said. “The security we profess to seek in foreign adventures we will lose in our decaying cities.”

King’s warning unfortunately bore out. The war engulfed what remained of Johnson’s presidency, and his vision for a Great Society never achieved the height of his ambition.

When a bill to pour billions into financing Israel’s military came across Congressman Kweisi Mfume’s desk, Israel’s military offensive in Gaza had claimed a death toll of over 70,000 people, as reported by local health authorities and acknowledged as broadly accurate by the Israeli military. Half of that number was women and children. The wounded were estimated to be close to 170,000 people, a figure validated by a recently retired Israeli military general.

Despite this staggering death toll, H.R. 7006 allocated $3.3 billion toward Israel’s military, alongside extending $9 billion in loan guarantees for Israel. The bill imposed no new conditions on that funding. Meanwhile, it defunded several United Nations bodies involved in human-rights oversight related to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. Mfume voted yes on the bill. H.R. 7006 passed and was incorporated into the federal budget.

The next month, Israel and the United States launched the war in Iran.

In the time since, we have spent $25 billion in the conflict with Iran. Lawmakers estimate the toll of the war may be as much as double that when the damage to bases and military equipment is fully accounted for. Americans are feeling the strain of the war at the gas pump, where prices have risen to $4.48 a gallon, a punishing 40% climb from where they were this time last year. The long-term impact on our economy will be severe. One leading war economist projects the total cost will reach $1 trillion.

When Americans find themselves once again embroiled in a war in the Middle East with no easy exit, it is fair, necessary even, to scrutinize the role of interest groups that seem to prevail over the public opinion and steer our representatives to cast votes that defy both conscience and consequence.

Zealots like Bobby Zirkin who say it is “divisive” to speak to these concerns can safely be dismissed. Zirkin, the former chair of Democrats for Hogan, a group formed explicitly to campaign against now Sen. Angela Alsobrooks on the basis of this issue, also called Sen. Van Hollen “pro-Hamas” for his opposition to the genocide in Gaza. It is fair to say Zirkin is far removed from how the Democratic electorate feels about this issue.

Harder to overlook is the fact that since the war began, donations from AIPAC and its network of donors have formed the single largest source of campaign donations for our congressman. To say that his subsequent vote to rubber-stamp financing for Israel’s military project is independent from the significant funding he has drawn from this interest group stretches credulity.

We are told that raising these questions distracts from the issues that matter, such as rising costs, persistent crime and the condition of our city. King taught us that these challenges cannot be separated from the decisions we make about war. King’s break with Johnson was not about refuting his historic contributions. He simply understood that a nation that spends freely on conflict will always struggle to invest fully in its people. We must follow that example and speak truth to power, even when it is uncomfortable. I profoundly respect the congressman. But on this issue, respect cannot mean silence.

Mark Conway is a Baltimore City councilman and a Democratic U.S. House candidate for Maryland’s 7th Congressional District.