Portland City Council Resolution
Urging Cessation of Combat Operations in Iraq
and the Return of US Troops
(Proposed, draft as of August 14, 2006)

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, families in the United States have paid a heavy price for the U.S. involvement in Iraq, with the deaths of more than 2,500 U.S. troops, and the wounding and disabling of more than 17,000 U.S. military personnel; and

WHEREAS, the war and occupation have also cost an estimated minimum 100,000 Iraqi civilian deaths, including many men, women and children who simply found themselves "in the wrong place at the wrong time" in this ill-conceived conflict; 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 $300 billion has been appropriated by Congress to fund military operations and reconstruction in Iraq, 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 $370 million spent by Portland taxpayers on the war and occupation in Iraq could have provided one year's Head Start for nearly 50,000 Portland children; or one year's medical insurance for almost 223,000 Portland children; or one year's salary for over 6,000 public school teachers in Portland; or more than 3,600 additional housing units in Portland, or over 18,000 four year scholarships at public universities in Oregon, according to the National Priorities Project; and

WHEREAS, many labor unions throughout the country, including the Oregon AFL-CIO on October 16, 2005, have called for the rapid return of U.S. troops from Iraq; 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, in going to war, the President failed to meet the conditions imposed by Congress, including demonstration that diplomatic or peaceful means alone would not protect the national security of the United States; 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 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, Iraq reconstruction has primarily benefited U.S. companies; and Iraqis justifiably fear that the U.S. will remain an ongoing presence in Iraq through the establishment of permanent military bases; and

WHEREAS, polls, including a survey in Iraq commissioned by the British military in September 2005, found that 82 percent of Iraqis "strongly oppose" the continuing presence of coalition troops; 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 our moral authority, and inflamed anti-American passions in much of the world; and

WHEREAS, polls show that increasing numbers of American people oppose the war; 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, dismantle U.S. military bases in Iraq, relinquish control of Iraq's economy and provide the necessary financial compensation and resources for Iraqis to rebuild Iraq; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the City Council of Portland urges Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski and all Oregon local, state and national elected officials to support rapid withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and to oppose deployment of Oregon national guard troops to Iraq; 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 and Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski.