All of the Republican presidential candidates save one, Rep. Ron Paul, confirmed they were in favor of continuing the War in Iraq in Wednesday night’s Republican presidential debate.
In contrast, the Durango City Council — after a vigorous hometown debate Tuesday night — voted 3 to 1 to ask Washington officials to withdraw from Iraq. They joined with more than 300 other cities and counties across the U.S. in supporting a troop withdrawal from Iraq.From the Durango Herald:
Council chambers were full with more than 65 in attendance, along with an overflow crowd of about a dozen in the lobby. There were times when people were in tears, and occasionally strong applause broke out during the two hours of public testimony.
The speakers, who included veterans from World War II, the Vietnam War, the first Gulf war and the Iraq war, addressed two issues. Did the Durango City Council have the authority to speak on behalf of its residents about the war? And should they support it or be against it?
Other speakers thanked the councilors for providing a place where residents could come to discuss the issue and were in favor of their passing the resolution.
“If not for small local governments like this one, there never would have been an American Revolution,” Fort Lewis College professor Byron Dare said.
Mayor Doug Lyon was the only dissenting vote.
“Nobody asked me about the war in Iraq when I ran for City Council,” he said. “I figure they didn’t ask me because they didn’t care. I didn’t think people wanted me to mess with that stuff.”
About a dozen Colorado cities and counties have passed similar resolutions opposing the war — including Boulder, Denver, Crested Butte, Pitkin County, Ridgway, San Miguel County, Silver Plume and Telluride.
Coming up Sept. 15: anti-war and pro-impeachment rallies. Let us know the location of your local event-write lrobinson@ColoradoConfidential.com.
