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Posted on 01/22/2003 8:18:19 PM PST by ironwill
Council passes anti-war resolution
Boulder reverses earlier decision to avoid Iraq statement
By Greg Avery, Camera Staff Writer
January 22, 2003
Boulder's City Council on Tuesday formally expressed opposition to a United States-led war with Iraq, reversing its skepticism about such a declaration last fall.
Responding to a growing push by hundreds of people around the city — peace activists, students, business owners, religious leaders, elementary school teachers and others — the council voted 7-2 in support of a resolution urging diplomacy instead of war.
Boulder joined a growing list of at least 42 cities around the country that have passed similar anti-war statements.
With so many cities — including traditional non-activist municipalities such as Chicago and Baltimore — expressing opposition to a conflict, the peace resolutions could get the federal government's attention and help avert a war, said Mayor Will Toor.
"I believe that together all of those statements will make a difference," Toor said.
The vote came after a weekend in which protesters around the world took to the streets urging peace.
Activists, most from the Boulder-based Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center, crowded council chambers to the point that the city fire department asked that people standing in the aisles watch the hearing from a television in the lobby. More than 40 people spoke to the council, all but four of whom favored passing an anti-war resolution.
Many mentioned the increased surveillance in America and bellicose statements of the federal government since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as evidence that the country's administration is out of control.
"Our government is on a power trip without a chaperone," said Naropa student Sydney Gressel.
They argued that military action in Iraq is unjustified and would have massive humanitarian, economic and environmental consequences that would impact Boulder. A war in Iraq, they said, would be about oil, not about international security.
"It's inconceivable to me that my country would go kill thousands of people to get one man who's not a threat," said Gary Ball, a peace center activist. "We need you to speak for us."
In October, Councilman Spense Havlick asked the council to formalize a city opinion opposing war with Iraq, saying it would amplify the opinion most frequently being expressed on Boulder's streets.
At that time, a majority of the council opposed his idea. Councilman Gordon Riggle said it was an inappropriate use of city staff and wasn't a matter for the city government. Instead, five council members sent personal letters to the president and Colorado's congressional delegation opposing the war.
Since that time, the council has received more than 150 messages urging it to change its mind. The country has also sent tens of thousands of soldiers to the Persian Gulf in preparation for war.
A labor council representing 22 union chapters in the Boulder area also adopted an anti-war stance Tuesday, joining the earlier actions of a coalition of Boulder faith groups.
The peace center proposed a resolution condemning war in Iraq in strong terms, saying it would endanger hundreds of thousands of lives, cost each U.S. state $2 billion on average and create more sympathy around the world for terrorism against Americans.
Toor proposed an alternative resolution encouraging peace that included a preamble detailing allegations of murderous and hostile behavior by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Carolyn Bninski, head of the Peace and Justice Center, said that she appreciated the council's action but was disappointed the resolution included a list of things used by the Bush administration as reasons for going to war, which she thought weakened the statement.
"You don't compromise when millions of people's lives are at stake," she said.
Councilman Tom Eldridge voted against the Iraq resolution, saying a bully sometimes needs to be fought to be stopped and that he worried most about Saddam Hussein getting a nuclear weapon.
Riggle also voted against Tuesday's anti-war resolution, restating his opinion that foreign relations are to be handled by the federal government.
Tuesday's resolution is not unusual. Taking stands on foreign and domestic issues has long been a part of Boulder government.
In the '70s, Boulder's council passed resolutions opposing war in Indochina and urging Congress to speedily impeach then-president Richard Nixon. In the mid-1980s, officials banned city investments in Apartheid-era South Africa, declared support for an international ban on nuclear weapons testing and proclaimed Boulder a nuclear-free zone.
Both the City Council and the Boulder County Board of Commissioners passed resolutions opposing the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
More recently, the council has passed resolutions barring the city from investing in World Bank bonds, expressed opposition to the government of Burma and was the first city to join a lawsuit against two federal government agencies claiming they are contributing to global warming.
Contact Greg Avery at (303) 473-1307 or averyg@dailycamera.com.
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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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And all this time I thought that Berkeley was the only American city with a foreign policy...
STOP THE WAR! BOULDER, COLORADO, DOESN'T SUPPORT IT!
Bump from Colorado Springs
If there's any peacenik protests there, I'd be tempted to FReep 'em.
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