by Askia Muhammad
and Eric Ture Muhammad
Staff Writer

WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com)�American people must "open your eyes and stop dancing and playing and partying and drinking and smoking dope while your country is going to hell," the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan warned July 22 at the conclusion of a 9-nation Peace Mission that took him to the Middle East and Africa.

Breaking the mainstream media silence on his recent peace initiative, the Nation of Islam leader gave a detailed report of his travels to the American public at the National Press Club. Speaking from the dais of its main ballroom, flanked by Nation of Islam officials, spiritual colleagues and members of the peace delegation, the Muslim leader enjoyed both cheers and deep reflection from the capacity audience eager to hear what he had to say as well as to look upon his countenance.

He warned America to shoulder her responsibility, to lead a world back to God, morality and vacate her lust for an unjustified war with the Muslim and Arab world. He also said that she should stop focusing on ousting Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and pay more attention to domestic issues, which continue to erode the fabric of American life, leaving a crisis of confidence in the U.S. economy, he said.

"The government cannot make Saddam Hussein or anybody else a boogey man and focus America�s attention on Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein. That�s not going to solve the internal problems in America. There are 15 million Americans that are homeless � 42 million Americans that have no life insurance. Millions of Americans are incarcerated and they have very little education and 30 percent of those graduating from high school are functional illiterates."  President Hussein, he said, is not to blame for any of this. "There are mob attacks and police brutality on Black people, racial profiling, that our president has not spoken against. Saddam didn�t call us no nigger. Saddam didn�t beat us down in the street. Our fight is not in Iraq. Our fight is in the streets of America for justice," he insisted.

He spared no candor, as he spoke of the difficulty of brokering for an end to war in the midst of a resistant Bush administration and an Israeli government that rejected his overtures toward a lasting peace.

"Our peace initiative was two-fold," Min. Farrakhan reported. "First, we wanted to see if we could stop the carnage among the Israelis and Palestinians that we felt, if it continues unabated, could possibly widen the conflict, destabilize the region, and this would not be good for United States interests, nor the interests of Europe and the world," he said.

"I believe that if I were able to go into Israel and the West Bank that I could have gotten an agreement from the Palestinians to accept a moratorium from 90-120 days on this suicide bombing," Min. Farrakhan said. "For there can really not be a peace initiative in the face of an ever-increasing cycle of violence. At the same time, if we had gotten such an agreement, which I believe we could have, then I would have asked Prime Minister Sharon on the base of that agreement, if he would pull his troops and tanks out of the West Bank." He further noted that since the state of Israel was mandated by the United Nations, the world body should also shoulder its responsibility to gain peace in that area. If the sought after non-violent conditions were attainable, the Minister said the United Nations could then under its auspices hold, "a discussion where all the parties who have offered their peace initiatives could sit down and try to work out a basis for a Palestinian state, the cessation of conflict, and the Israelis having secure borders," he said.

"The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has been our champion as Black people here in America for a very long time, To see him go around the world and to be received as a head of state in all these other countries let�s us know that we are not dealing with a want-to-be leader. We�re dealing with a global leader, someone who can represent us on the world scene," said Sister Kamala Muhammad, who traveled along with her family and believers from Buffalo, N.Y.

"I think that people underestimate how much an effort he made," National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) Editor George Curry told The Final Call. "People don�t realize the different levels he has tried to approach the same thing. He has said to Israel, �look, give me a chance to sit down. You might as well try him because nothing else is working," he said. The very fact that he got as far as the Arab countries and called for a moratorium on suicide bombings "and got one, for as long as he was there, speaks volumes to his credibility or currency in that part of the world," Mr. Curry said.

Secondly said Min. Farrakhan, he wanted to unite the Muslim and Arab worlds to say to Mr. Bush in one voice, no, to his plan to assassinate Iraq President Saddam Hussein and bomb the tiny Muslim nation.

"When I first spoke of this (it appeared) that I was singing a solo," Min. Farrakhan reflected on his bid to unite the Muslim and Arab worlds against Mr. Bush�s planned war. "But now, a chorus has come up from the world," he smiled.

"I am very pleased that the Arab and Muslim world is beginning to speak with one voice on this issue. And I thank God that He gave us that desire to speak out regardless to the consequences," he said. During the news conference he informed the press that Kuwait took a position against war with Iraq if the United Nations themselves did not press for an encounter. The Minister called on the Saudi government to also voice their position on the U.S.-led effort. "America is too great and powerful a nation as the only remaining super power to do that which would destroy her credibility as any type of moral authority," he said. He also warned that such aggression on the part of the U.S. would be unwise, improper, and would place the United States in direct opposition to God.

Forty-nine of the 50 U.S. states are currently facing drought, Min. Farrakhan said. "Rivers are drying up leaving fish stinking on the banks in the dry, parched mud. Cattle are dying by the thousands under snow and intense heat. Wind, rain, snow, hail, storms, floods and soon earthquakes," Min. Farrakhan said are actually "mercies coming to the greatest nation on earth to make you humble yourself and say, �wait a minute, maybe we should examine our policies. Maybe we should be a better nation, a more just nation.� "

The Minister briefed the audience on his visit to Durban, South Africa where we witnessed the birth of the African Union.

"It is regrettable that such a significant event (African Union) in the affairs of Africa, and Africans wherever they are in the Diaspora, got so little attention in the American media. There were only a handful of Africans in the Diaspora attending such a significant, historical event," he lamented. "This must not be because the idea of an African Union or the United States of Africa did not start on the African continent with Kwame Nkrumah and Gamel Abdul Nasser. That idea started in the Diaspora with Marcus Garvey, W.E.B. DuBois, C.L.R. James. And then it was taken by Kwame Nkrumah and Gamel Abdul Nassar and others on the African continent," he said. He commended Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi for seeing the validity of Africa�s 53 independent states uniting, stating that independently they "would not be able to compete in a time of globalization. Africa would be left out totally unless Africa found a way to unite the best of itself to compete," he said.

He told of hias travels into Zimbabwe and educated the press gathered into on the ground realities facing the Zimbabwean people. He also chastised Black congressional leaders for passing any legislation in the name of helping Africa that seeks to sanction Zimbabwe as well.

The Farrakhan Peace Mission traveled to Qatar, Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Egypt.  He informed the press that prior to the news conference, he spoke with Assistant Secretary of State William Burns. He said that he briefed him on his encounters abroad and offered a written report for United States Secretary of State Colin Powell as well as Mr. Burns to review.

In closing comments, the Minister again, addressed the mischief of the United Press International (UPI) attempting to paint him he said as an enemy of America. He believes however, that history, once recorded will vindicate him.

"In the end history has rewarded Dr. King," Min. Farrakhan said of the famed civil rights leaders views against the war in VietNam. "We have taken this anti-murder, anti-war stance, not because we wish to be popular and not because we need to be unpopular but because we desire the United States to be right. And no matter what we suffer from being called unpatriotic and even having our lives threatened, I believe like those who took a right position, in the past, history will also be kind to us," he said.

"Min. Farrakhan�s trip was a commendable effort.  We need him to stand up for us and say these things.  This was a very good speech.  I heard him speak before in Havanna.  I love him and his work," said Fernando Garcia-Bielsa, First Secretary of the Cuban Interests Section.

"It is God�s will that we reconcile and atone and don�t use violence to solve our problems," commented Rev. Michael Jenkins, president, Family Federation of World Peace.  "The Minister�s tour has brought these issues to the world stage and religious leaders are talking about it.  Our fundamentalist religious teachings are to love our enemy and do right unto those who would spite us.  This is the work of God and Minister Farrakhan�s mission was a success," he said.

"I just thought I would come by and see for myself what the minister had to say," D.C. resident Marshall Tate, told The Final Call. "I feel like I�m a real American now because I see that I have a duty to stand up for what�s right when I see a problem.  You can�t believe everything you read in the paper.  Those people lied on the Minister and that�s not right.  People need to hear this man for themselves and get the for real truth," he said.