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RESOLUTION No.
Urges Cessation of
Combat Operations in Iraq and the Return
of US Troops (Resolution)
WHEREAS, the Portland City Council
supports the men and women deployed in
Iraq, and honors the memory of those who
have lost their lives in the war; and
WHEREAS, U.S. involvement in Iraq has
resulted in the deaths of more than
2,800 U.S. troops, and the wounding and
disabling of more than 21,000 U.S.
military personnel to date; and
WHEREAS, the costs of the call-up of
Oregon National Guard members for
deployment in Iraq has been significant,
as reckoned in lost lives, combat
injuries, psychic trauma, disruption of
family life, financial hardship for
individuals, families and businesses,
interruption of careers and damage to
the fabric of civic life in many Oregon
communities; and
WHEREAS, the war and occupation have
also cost as many as 600,000 Iraqi
deaths, including men, women and
children, according to an October 11
study by published by the British
medical journal the Lancet; and
WHEREAS, countless more Iraqis have
been maimed, traumatized and wounded, or
have suffered the destruction of homes,
schools, sanitation and water treatment
plants, hospitals and the environment;
and
WHEREAS, more than $343 billion has
been appropriated by Congress to fund
military operations and reconstruction
in Iraq to date, rather than to fund
desperately needed education, health
care, housing, nutrition and other
social services in the United States,
and humanitarian assistance abroad; and
WHEREAS, the more than $419 million
spent by Portland taxpayers to date on
the war and occupation in Iraq could
have provided one year's Head Start for
nearly 56,000 Portland children; or one
year's medical insurance for more than
250,000 Portland children; or one year's
salary for over 7,000 public school
teachers in Portland; or more than 3,700
additional housing units in Portland, or
over 20,000 four year scholarships at
public universities in Oregon, according
to the National Priorities Project; and
WHEREAS, the Oregon AFL-CIO, in
October, 2005 in convention, approved a
resolution including, "...because there
can be no more rapid return than now,
the Oregon National Guard be immediately
returned to their homes and families and
that the health care benefits they
receive while serving their country be
continued upon their return home as long
as they have no other source of equally
comprehensive health care benefits," and
WHEREAS, in October 2002, the United
States Congress adopted a Joint
Resolution to authorize the use of
United States Armed Forces in Iraq on
the basis of imminent threat of attack
by Iraq, possession of weapons of mass
destruction by Saddam Hussein and the
role of Saddam Hussein in the 9/11
attacks on the United States, all of
which have subsequently been disproved;
and
WHEREAS, the war and continued
occupation have resulted in the
devastation of Iraq's physical and
social infrastructure and led to
widespread and continuous resistance to
US occupation that threatens the lives
of Iraqi civilians, and the men and
women who compose the ranks of U.S. and
other occupying forces; and
WHEREAS, the presence of United
States forces in Iraq and the alleged
torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib,
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and other
facilities have diminished the moral
authority of the United States, and
inflamed anti-American passions in much
of the world; and
WHEREAS, the people of Iraq should
not be further punished for the
miscalculations of the government of the
United States, and it should be finally
and clearly acknowledged that only a
greater measure of international
cooperation can create safety and
security in Iraq; and
WHEREAS, 65 percent of people in the
Portland area disapprove of the way
President Bush has handled the war in
Iraq according to a September 2006
Oregonian/KATU poll;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, That
the Council of the City of Portland, on
behalf of the people of Portland urges
the United States government to
immediately commence an orderly and
rapid withdrawal of United States
military personnel from Iraq; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the
Council of the City of Portland calls
upon the President of the United States
and the United States Congress to take
the conciliatory steps necessary to
restore the standing of the United
States in the eyes of the world, protect
national security, and induce the
cooperation necessary to help bring
safety and security to the people of
Iraq as drawdown of American troops
commences; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the
financial resources used to prosecute
the war be redirected to address the
urgent needs of the most vulnerable
portions of our population, including
education, health care and full benefits
for returning veterans; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a
suitable copy of this resolution shall
be sent to George W. Bush, President of
the United States, the members of the
Oregon Congressional delegation, the
Oregon State legislature and Oregon
Governor Ted Kulongoski.
Adopted by the Council:
Commissioner Randy Leonard
Sara Petrocine :sp
November 30, 2006
Gary Blackmer
Auditor of the City of Portland
By:
Deputy |
