CHICAGO
City Council passes anti-war resolution
By Bill Massey
Chicago
The Chicago City Council, by a vote of 46 to 1, passed a
resolution on Jan. 16 opposing the Bush administration's "go it
alone" policy of war on Iraq. It is the largest city in the
United States to have passed a resolution against the impending
war.
The resolution called for diplomacy, questioned U.S.
unilateral military action and charged that this action would
endanger the lives of U.S. citizens. It went on to charge that
a preemptive and unilateral U.S. military attack would violate
international law and commitments to the UN Charter, and would
isolate the U.S. in the world community.
Many Chicago residents were already astounded when the
Republican governor of Illinois removed all prisoners from the
state's death row. Now, for the City Council to vote a
resolution denouncing the U.S. government's war drive is almost
a surrealistic experience. That is, until you consider some
very important circumstances.
The passage of this resolution reflects the growing lack of
confidence in the Bush administration, even from within the
chambers of the government.
This is particularly true at the level of city and state
governments, where budget deficits are piling up even as the
Bush administration throws billions and even trillions of
dollars down the rat hole of war spending. Every social
program--be it education, healthcare, housing, programs for the
youth or the elderly--is being put on the butcher's table for
the killing.
It's the members of the City Council who will be seen on the
local level as the knife wielders. In better times, they could
live with that, but that was then and this is now.
The resolution pointed out that the war will cost at least
$9 to $13 billion a month, thereby cutting federal programs
that benefit Chicago residents.
For the majority of the City Council members to vote for the
resolution needed the tacit approval of Mayor Richard Daley.
When asked his opinion, Daley said, "Nobody wants war."
The growing economic crisis is eating away at public
confidence in government at all levels. At the same time, there
is a growing antiwar movement reaching into all levels of
society. Without these factors, even this flawed resolution
would not have been brought forward.
The resolution has great weaknesses. It says that if U.S.
troops are sent to war, the City Council will give them its
"unconditional support" in carrying out their tasks, even if
there is disagreement over these tasks. It also supports
inspections of Iraq backed up by "sufficient police force."
The resolution does not prepare people to oppose the war
once it starts. Nonetheless, it's another sign that the
emerging grassroots mass movement that wants jobs, healthcare
and human needs, not war, is having an impact throughout this
society.
Reprinted from the Jan. 30, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyrighted
under a Creative
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