Fwd: Chicago, other cities demand US withdrawal

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/19/AR2005111901183.\

html

 

Cities Show All Politics Is Local by Weighing In on Iraq

 

By Peter Slevin and Chris Cillizza

Sunday, November 20, 2005; A04

 

The Chicago City Council may not have much say in when U.S. troops come

home from Iraq. But that does not mean it has nothing to say.

 

The city is one of 67 around the country that have passed resolutions

calling for U.S. withdrawal, in hopes that they can help start a

groundswell that will force the hand of the Bush administration and

Congress.

 

Others include Chapel Hill., N.C.; Gary, Ind.; dozens of towns in Vermont;

and, perhaps no surprise, such famously liberal municipalities as

Berkeley, Calif., and Cambridge, Mass. The resolutions typically call on

the U.S. government " to commence an orderly and rapid withdrawal of United

States military personnel from Iraq, " while also shipping nonmilitary aid

" necessary for the security of Iraq's citizens and for the rebuilding of

Iraq. "

 

The efforts are being pushed by the D.C.-based Institute for Policy

Studies, which sponsored the prewar " Cities for Peace " campaign that

helped rally 165 cities to oppose the 2003 invasion. Director John

Cavanagh, pointing to polls that show growing public frustration with the

Iraq war, said that " we're at a fascinating tipping point. "

 

" The Iraq story has become much more central than any of us would have

predicted in defining how the people in power govern and what their values

are, " Cavanagh said. " I can imagine a majority within a year to 18 months

that would vote to cut off the money for the war. That is a goal. There

are different ways to end the war, but that's the one that feels

clearest. "

 

How far the effort goes remains to be seen. Cavanagh is the first to

concede that cities alone cannot make foreign policy.

 

The Chicago resolution, passed in September, took note of the death toll,

as well as the strain on U.S. military, National Guard and Reserve units.

It cites the war's cost -- upward of $200 million -- and argues that

Chicago's portion could have paid for Head Start for 238,056 children for

one year or 31,147 public school teachers for a year. It also charges that

the treatment of prisoners has inflamed anti-American passions and

increased the terrorist threat to U.S. citizens.

 

After the Sacramento City Council voted 8 to 1 for a " rapid and

comprehensive " withdrawal on Nov. 1, members received hundreds of

threatening e-mails saying things such as " You should be hanged " and " Hope

your children are beheaded. " The e-mails mostly came from out of state.

Lawmakers Guilty by Association?