1/25/06 As Citizens Speak Against Iraq War, Washington Will Have To Pay Attention, by Joy First

Dear Editor: I want to thank the Monona City Council for passing the resolution proposed by Doug Wood to get the referendum on the ballot in Monona to bring our troops home and bring an end to the illegal and immoral war in Iraq.

The council did the right thing. Twenty-three volunteers collected 570 signatures from citizens of Monona who want the opportunity to voice their opposition to the war.

One alderperson said that having this resolution on the ballot will not do anything to stop the war. I strongly disagree with her. It is the power of the people that makes this country strong. We must claim that power by speaking out against the war.

Though voting to bring the troops home in and of itself will not stop the war, I believe that when almost 30 municipalities in Wisconsin vote to bring the troops home it will send a strong message to Washington that cannot be ignored.

But we have to do more than vote in April to bring the troops home. It takes all of us speaking out in different ways that adds up to a powerful movement to stop the war.

We should not be there. We are occupiers in Iraq, and 82 percent of Iraqis want us out of their country. The majority of Americans also want the war to end. We don't liberate people by killing 30,000 to 100,000 of their citizens. This war is making the world less safe every day. Not one more person should die in this war. Not one more dollar should be spent.

Each and every person who sees the insanity of this war must speak out. We need to march in the streets, write letters to Congress and the president, protest at military recruiting stations and government offices, hold candlelight vigils and participate in acts of nonviolent civil resistance.

We need to talk to our neighbors, our friends and our families about why this war is wrong -- speaking out loud and clear. All of these actions add up and will raise the consciousness of others. Soon the powers in Washington will not be able to ignore us.

Thanks to the City Council for giving the people of Monona a way to speak out against the war. Please vote in Monona and other communities across the state to bring our troops home now. If you live in a community where the referendum to bring the troops home will not be on your ballot, please contact the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice at www.wnpj.org to find out how you can work to get this on the ballot in your community for the November election.

Let us all continue to speak out ever more loudly and clearly against the war in Iraq. We must not stop until our sons and daughters are safe at home and we are providing support to Iraq to rebuild their war-torn country.

As Martin Luther King said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Let us not remain silent. Each voice is a cry in the wilderness for peace that cannot be ignored.