10/24/05: Sign petition against the war - Madison Capital Times

Editorial: Sign petition against the war

The Capital Times - 10/24/05

When Madison area state legislators added their names to the petitions to place an anti-war referendum on the city's April ballot, state Rep. Mark Pocan said he simply wanted to send "a message to Washington to bring the troops home."

That's the bottom line of the whole referendum drive.

The effort to get Madison to go on record in opposition to the continued occupation of Iraq by U.S. forces is not an attack on the troops who are serving in that country. Rather, it is an acceptance of responsibility by citizens who, like those soldiers in Iraq, have a duty to serve their country.

The responsibility of soldiers is to carry out the mission to which they are assigned by their commanders.

The responsibility of citizens in a democracy is to determine what that mission should be, and to express an opinion about it.

Wars are fought in the name of the American people. They are paid for by the American people. And they are experienced by the American people whose loved ones, co-workers and neighbors become casualties on the fields of battle, or sometimes - in the cases of those who suffer from combat-related physical and mental disabilities - years after the fighting is done.

Soldiers, even when they know a war is unwise, unnecessary or unwinnable, cannot declare the fight to be finished. They remain on the ground in the distant land to which they have been dispatched until the order comes to pack up and head home.

In the United States, that order is supposed to come from the civilian commander of the military, the sitting president, who in turn is supposed to consult with the elected members of Congress. Those officials are accountable to the American people, and it is by sending messages to them that the American people can influence the direction of U.S. policies.

Before the Iraq war began, millions of Americans contacted the White House and the Congress and counseled against taking military action.

They were listened to by some members of Congress - 133 members of the House and 23 members of the Senate, including Democrats, Republicans and independents, voted against giving President Bush the authority to order the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Since the invasion, dozens of additional members of the House and Senate have expressed reservations about the mission. But the Congress remains, for the most part, a bit player in this drama. Many members of the House and Senate prefer to avoid taking the bold stance of calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. That's despite the fact that key military commanders and civilian officials have suggested that the continued U.S. presence in Iraq is actually making the country more unstable while fostering hatred of America and increasing the threat posed to Americans by terrorists.

Referendum votes in communities around the country provide a critical vehicle for signaling to members of Congress that they must do more than merely critique the president's management of a failed war. They must take an active role - as only a few, such as U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., have - in seeking to get U.S. troops out of the line of fire and out of the quagmire.

Of course, the Madison referendum, like others that are planned in communities around the state, will be advisory in nature. But the advice that citizens give regarding this war can be influential, particularly on thinking members of Congress - such as U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis.; U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse; and U.S. Rep. Tom Petri, R-Fond du Lac - who need to join Feingold in promoting the development of a withdrawal timeline.

That signal can only be sent if the referendum is held, however. And that will only happen if citizens sign the petitions that are being circulated to put the measure on the ballot. The petition drive in Madison has already collected an impressive 11,000 signatures, but another 5,000 are needed by mid-November to ensure that the measure will qualify for the ballot. This is the right time for citizens to do their duty by signing up to send a needed anti-war message.