Sometimes symbolic victories are all that are available, and thus are worth winning.
U.S. out of Iraq, now! What's the point of prolonging our inevitable withdrawal?
A City Council committee on Monday weighed in on the war in Iraq, hearing emotional testimony on both sides of the issue before advancing a resolution calling for an “orderly and rapid” withdrawal of American troops. If the full council approves the measure, Chicago would be one of the first big cities in the country officially to urge the federal government to end the war, said Ald. Joseph Moore (49th), a lead sponsor of the resolution, already endorsed by 40 of the council's 50 aldermen. The council will consider the measure Wednesday....
A similar resolution was passed in an 8-1 vote by the Evanston City Council late Monday. About 150 people overwhelmingly in favor of the measure crowded the council chambers, where aldermen voted on the measure at 11:30 p.m. Monday.
Jordan Lome, with a local group called Neighbors for Peace, said before the council meeting that “people are here because they want to speak out on the war and against the [Bush] administration. These are regular people with regular voices.”
...
“Enough is enough,” Ald. Ann Rainey (8th), who supported the measure, said before the meeting. “Over 1,800 lives lost for a reason I'm not certain of. That's why I am supporting it.”Chicago's council from time to time has voiced its opinion on national and international issues. Before the start of hostilities in Iraq, it voted 45-to-1 to oppose an invasion.
The council's Human Relations Committee, which considered the resolution, has received a letter of support from Cindy Sheehan, the anti-war activist and mother of a soldier who died in Iraq.
Another mother, Ginger Williams, whose son is an Army lieutenant serving in Iraq, told the committee that she wants Chicago “to send a message” to politicians in Washington who have sent young people to war without ever having served themselves.
Some people say that while troops are in combat “everybody has to shut up,” Williams said. “Well, this mother doesn't have to shut up.”
