Portland has passed the resolution calling for the withdrawal of our troops from Iraq. Of course, I was there for the vote, but here’s a snippet from one of the victory emails:
By unanimous vote, the Portland City council adopted our resolution to bring
the troops home from Iraq and fund human needs!A “standing room only” crowd witnessed moving testimony from more than 50 people who made the case for the resolution. Those testifying included military families, veterans and Iraqi-Americans, labor and faith group leaders, youth and students and those who work on health care, education, housing, homelessness, environmental justice and other human needs issues. The presenters made a strong case for the many local impacts of the war on the Portland community and why we need to speak up as a city for peace.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this campaign–those who signed the petition, gathered signatures, volunteered, spread the word and showed up for the hearing. This was truly a group effort and it showed!
Portland has spoken: now we have to make sure our federal officials act on behalf of our wishes to bring the troops home from Iraq and to change our policies to reflect Portland’s priorities.
So, now I have to focus on Congress. I think I only reach about 250 people or so: we signed up about 150 people in person, plus we dropped fliers in various public places, made about 100 buttons, and I know that we generated online sign-ups as well. I think it’s going to take longer than I thought to reach 1,000, which is also fine because now I’m thinking I don’t want to stop until the troops are withdrawn anyway and we have started paying reparations… this may be a while.
So, stay tuned… next stop: activating our wonderful Oregon congressional delegation to withdraw the troops and correct so much of what we’ve done wrong to the people of Iraq.