9/15/05: Groups Urge War Referendum

Groups Urge War Referendum

Thursday, September 15, 2005
By Steven Elbow The Capital Times

The father of a soldier killed in Iraq was among the first to sign a petition to bring military troops fighting the war there home as soon as possible.

"I'm here to speak for Mark because his voice was silenced on May 26," said Ray Maida, whose son, Mark Maida, was killed by a roadside bomb 30 miles south of Baghdad.

Maida was one of several activists speaking at a press conference Wednesday in front of the City-County Building to announce a ballot referendum that would ask Madison voters next spring if they want to bring U.S. military personnel home now.

The Bring Our Troops Home coalition, a wide-ranging group of nearly 30 political, labor, religious and community activist organizations, is pushing for the referendum, part of a statewide effort being coordinated in at least 12 counties.

The Wisconsin Green Party is spearheading the statewide effort and hopes to have similar measures on spring ballots in Milwaukee, Oshkosh, La Crosse, Green Bay, Racine and rural areas such as Sawyer, Polk and Rusk counties, as well as other locations.

"The idea is that come next April, not just Madison but many areas in the state will be voting on this," said Steve Burns of the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice and a member of the Four Lakes Green Party.

The referendum would give voters a chance to vote yes or no to the question: "Should the United States bring all military personnel home from Iraq now?"

Getting the question on the ballot would take 13,000 signatures in the next 60 days. The rally Wednesday kicked off the signature drive.

Volunteers will be on hand at other events, like the Farmers' Market and local street fairs, to collect signatures.

Burns said the signatures shouldn't be difficult to obtain. He pointed to the increasing casualty count in Iraq and the lack of National Guard troops available to respond to hurricane relief efforts as factors that are turning public opinion against the war.

"Events are really persuading people more than we are," he said.

A diverse collection of about 30 groups has stepped forward to support the referendum, including local churches, AFCME locals representing UW employees, Dane County Democrats, the South Central Federation of Labor, university and high school student activists, the Gray Panthers and others. State Reps. Mark Pocan and Spencer Black also have voiced support, as have City Council members Austin King and Brenda Konkel.

At the press conference, Maida said his son Mark was critical of the war effort. His last journal entry expressed anger at the loss of civilian and military lives in Iraq, people who wouldn't have died "if it hadn't been for the greed of the president and the vice president," Ray Maida said.

Mark's brother Chris Maida, a Marine who served in Iraq and who made it home safely early this year, also spoke.

Other speakers included Tony Castaneda, a radio show host on WORT who is a member of Military Families Speak Out, Bill Franks of the Wisconsin Professional Employees Council, and retired Methodist minister Cecil Findley.

"Our moral obligation is clear. It is to pull out and pull out now," said Castaneda, whose nephew and son served in Iraq.

Burns said organizers for the referendum have been working since spring, when anti-war efforts gained voter support in Vermont. He said he hopes Wisconsin's efforts will spread.

"We hope what we're doing here will really spark activity in other states," he said.