[Peace-discuss] Fwd: Ann Arbor City Council Votes For Anti-War Resolution

[manni at snafu.de]

Forwarded Message:
> To: portside at yahoogroups.com
> From: portsideMod at netscape.net
> Subject: Ann Arbor City Council Votes For Anti-War Resolution
> Date: Wed, 04 Dec 2002 01:43:46 -0500
> -----
> By Christopher Johnson, Daily Staff Reporter
> Michigan Daily - December 03, 2002
> 
> http://www.michigandaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2002/12/03/3dec4b98b
> fdfc?in_archive=1
> 
> Voices arguing against the nation's movement toward war found a
> sympathetic audience at the Ann Arbor City Council meeting last
> night. Joining 21 other cities, including Washington and Detroit, the
> council voted 7-1 in favor of a resolution against war with Iraq.
> 
> Councilwoman Heidi Cowing Herrell (D-3rd Ward) pitched the proposed
> resolution as a means to support local representatives in higher
> government who oppose the war.
> 
> "This is a question that concerns the whole nation," she said. "If we
> go to war there will be economic impacts on our community. There will
> be members of our community who will serve in the armed forces."
> 
> The City Council received a large audience - a couple hundred
> community members - for the vote. Attendees filled every spot on the
> benches, parading signs of protest against the progression toward
> war. Several participants presented arguments decrying the
> possibility of war, urging the council to take action.
> 
> Stephen Boyce, an Ann Arbor resident who said he participated in the
> Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War and the war on drugs, described the
> senselessness of initiating a conflict with Iraq. "I've come to the
> humble conclusion that the whole foul lump is not worth the life of a
> single American citizen," he said. "There is nothing in this war that
> will help our people. There is nothing in this war that will expand
> our democracy."
> 
> The new resolution presents several reasons for averting war, such as
> the loss of life on both sides of the conflict, the diversion of
> local tax money outside the community, the potential change in
> national policy toward preemptive strikes in other cases and the
> opposition presented by Ann Arbor's elected officials in Congress.
> 
> "It is the people who are not in agreement at this time that we are
> trying to convince and the majority of (those who serve in) Congress
> that did not oppose unilateral action," Herrell said.
> 
> Most council members, including Margie Teall (D-4th Ward), expressed
> an emphatic approval of the resolution.
> 
> "These are voices that need to be heard, and if we can be that
> avenue, I encourage it and support it," she said.
> 
> Joan Lowenstein (D-2nd Ward) supported the proposal, but cautioned
> against continued resolutions regarding national policy. "I think the
> City Council can provide moral support in resolution," she said. "But
> our power to use resolution should be used sparingly."
> 
> Mike Reid (R-2nd Ward), who cast the lone dissenting vote opposing
> the resolution, said Iraq presents too significant a problem for the
> federal government to leave unchecked.
> 
> "We would be remiss if we expect actions in Iraq and the export of
> terrorism has not affected our day-to-day lives," he said. "If we
> yield to the temptation of picking out one issue here, we will fall
> into the problem of addressing all of them."
> 
> 
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