[Peace-discuss] Fwd: IRAQ: Text of Antiwar Resolution for City Council (Chicago)

[Jay Mittenthal]

>From: Peter Lems <PLems at afsc.org>
>To: AskAboutIraq <AskAboutIraq at afsc.org>
>Subject: IRAQ: Text of Antiwar Resolution for City Council (Chicago)
>Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2002 19:06:20 -0500
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>
>To: AFSC and COC Folks
>RE: Text of Antiwar Resolution for Chicago City Council
>
>
>This draft was sent to me over the weekend.  It has language that would be a
>great starting point for those of you working on city council resolution.
>
>I hope it is helpful.
>
>Peter
>
>
>*************
>
>City of Chicago, Illinois
>
>Resolution No.____
>
>Introduced by:
>
>REQUESTING THE GOVERNING BODY TO PROTEST THE CONTEMPLATED WAR ON IRAQ
>
>WHEREAS, the citizens of the Chicago and their local elected officials have
>the constitutional right to petition the national government on this matter
>of grave concern to our city, the nation, and the world community, and
>
>WHEREAS, the residents of the City of Chicago hold high the sanctity of
>human life; and
>
>WHEREAS, the residents of the City of Chicago believe that a democratic
>nation should neither be an aggressor nation nor pursue an unjust war; and
>
>WHEREAS the people of the City of Chicago do not believe it is the right of
>one nation to dictate the choices of another nation, however heinous the
>leaders it chooses; and
>
>WHEREAS, former United Nations weapons inspectors, other experts, and world
>leaders have testified that Iraq - unlike North Korea, India, Pakistan, or
>Israel - neither possesses nuclear weapons nor the capacity to produce them,
>and does not pose an imminent threat to the United States; and
>
>WHEREAS, the actions of the Gulf War, the UN sanctions, and continued
>bombing of regions of Iraq have already resulted in the deaths of over
>500,000 people, predominantly Iraqi women, children, and the elderly, yet
>have proven ineffective in accomplishing the removal of Saddam Hussein; and
>
>WHEREAS, a new attack on Iraq will cause tens or hundreds of thousands more
>civilian casualties, as well as military casualties on both sides of the
>conflict; and
>
>WHEREAS, The City of Chicago's 18-25 year old population is likely to be a
>primary source of
>conscription and recruitment for military personnel to fight a war from
>which there is no just cause or result; and
>
>WHEREAS, the cost to the nation, including the City of Chicago, is estimated
>to be more than 200 billion dollars, thus depleting the reserves, harming
>the economy, and resulting in further neglect of education, health care,
>housing, and the infrastructure, as well as other services desperately in
>need of repair or reform; and
>
>WHEREAS no one to date has been able to articulate why war on Iraq is in the
>interest of American citizens; and
>
>WHEREAS, a war with Iraq has been declared by nearly all U.S. religious
>leaders as unjust; and
>
>WHEREAS, many national security experts, including the Director of the CIA,
>state that an attack on Iraq is more likely to result in the use of weapons
>of mass destruction than will a policy of containment; and
>
>WHEREAS, the leaders of most Middle Eastern and Muslim nations warn that an
>attack on Iraq is likely to spur even more animosity toward the U.S. from
>Muslims around the world and fuel even more Islamic radicalism directed
>against us; and
>
>WHEREAS Osama Bin Laden and the al-Qaeda terrorist network remain a serious
>threat to our nation that demands security attention; and
>
>WHEREAS, United Nations' led inspections have been far more effective in
>eliminating weapons of mass destruction than have been all the bombing
>during the Gulf War; and
>
>WHEREAS, a war with Iraq is unneeded, unjust, and poses a real threat to our
>nation and our democratic traditions and rights;
>
>NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO
>hereby voices our opposition to any preemptive strike or act of war
>contemplated by the President and the Congress of the United States, and
>resolves that no war against Iraq be undertaken at any time by the United
>States unless as a response to a direct military attack by Iraq.
>
>BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the governing body reaffirms The Universal
>Declaration of Human Rights and the principles of international law, and
>calls on the Bush administration and our representatives in Congress to
>provide leadership in encouraging peace, democracy, and respect for human
>rights in Iraq and throughout the Middle East.
>
>PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED THIS __day of ______, 2002
>
>Draft-November 26, 2002
>
>Peter Lems
>American Friends Service Committee
>1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia PA 19102
>Tel: 215/241-7170  /  Fax:215/241-7177
>http://www.afsc.org/conscience/Default.shtm