Stop, Drop and Roll

09 July 2007 | Alameda City Council | John Knox White

Last Tuesday night, the City Council discussed the idea of bringing a resolution to bring the troops home from Iraq. A little bit like holding a meeting to discuss holding a meeting, the issue in front of the council was whether or not to debate a resolution to call for the troops to come home or not. Theoretically, there was going to be no discussion about the merits of the resolution, more a discussion about whether the issue should come forward at all.
A number of speakers from the public showed up, about evenly split for and against the idea. These speakers included Dick Rutter, who essentially read the guest opinion piece that ran in the Alameda Sun last week, and an Iraqi war veteran, who proudly showed off his purple heart and went on to essentially cry “traitor” at anyone who would question the president or his war.
I’ve had a number of conversations with people from around town, some supported the war early on, others didn’t. In my small sample, there seems to significant concern about what’s happening over in Iraq and the fact that almost nobody in Washington (Congress or the executive branch) is doing anything about it..
Some city’s, ahem….Berkeley….ahem, seem to eagerly jump into taking positions on national politics, passing resolutions denouncing or supporting various positions and policies. After a while, it all gets a little decadent, though. However, occasionally, there are issues that have a major national and local impact in which our elected officials in Washington, DC or Sacramento aren’t listening to the people they serve. At times like these, it seems only to make sense for communities to speak through their local councils in an attempt to say “Hey, this matters to us and you need to start doing something about it.”
I don’t think that Alameda’s council, all by itself, is going to cause that to happen. But other council’s may be emboldened by the actions of cities like Alameda and then the trickle becomes a stream, becomes a river, etc. There are times when that which is not the “proper” way to get things done, becomes the only way to get things done.
This idea that the council has no business raising its voice on an issues directly related to its citizens seems a bit extreme and short-sighted: whether they be in reserves and in or headed to Iraq, whether it be the effect on financial negotiations over Alameda Point, whether it be federal disaster response in the event of an earthquake or other disaster.
Nobody cried foul when the city council passed resolutions about the federal housing money fiasco that nearly cost hundreds of Alamedans their homes. That was federal policy created by the Bush administration. The city council looks after the well-being of its citizenry, and if it feels it has the support of the community for moving forward on a resolution regarding the Iraq war, then they should do so.
I would also hope that this notion that concern over the war is at odds with supporting the troops who are fighting it be set aside quickly. The resolution proposed by Councilmember Frank Matarrese clearly spells out the city’s support of and thanks to the troops who put their lives in harms way in defense of their country. They have little say in what action they become involved in, and deserve our gratitude. Those who hide behind the idea that criticism of the policy of war is a direct criticism of the troops involved damn us to complete acquiescence to the positions of the president without ever having the voice to criticize his/her actions. Not only is this true in this war, but all future wars and military actions as well. To accept the idea that there should be know public critique of the President, is to give over all power to that office. If you want to defend the war, go for it, it’s a fair position to hold, but those standing up and saying no position should be taken based on such a position being offensive to the troops are trying to have things both ways. They either want to sound as if they oppose the war while not having to take a position publicly or they support the war and are making terrible arguments in supporting their cause.
Alamedans should reach out to the council and let them know how they feel on this issue as it moves forward. Feel free to send an email to the entire council via this handy gmail account: alamedacitycouncil@gmail.com