Wisconsin towns vote for immediate withdrawal from Iraq

[azndndude]

A WISCONSIN MANDATE TO BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!!!
April 5, 2006

Great news out of Wisconsin:

Sixty-one percent of voters say it's time to bring the troops home! Please read our update on the troop withdrawal victory, sign the VotersforPeace peace pledge, and join Liberty Tree today.

Liberty Tree has been a critical part of the troop withdrawal effort since the get-go. We provided effective legal counsel on the drafting of the troop withdrawal initiatives. We assisted local organizers in overcoming resistance from local government officials who tried to block the initiatives from going to a vote. And we are working with grassroots activists across the country who have followed the Wisconsin vote and want to bring the war to ballots in their communities.

Click here to support the organization that supports the anti-war movement!


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LOCAL DEMOCRACY IMPACTS U.S. FOREIGN POLICY

Wisconsin voters overwhelmingly voted “yes” yesterday in a statewide plebiscite on immediate US withdrawal from Iraq. The statewide vote, conducted in 32 cities, villages, and town across the Midwestern state, was 61% for withdrawal from Iraq; 24 of the 32 cities, or 75% of them, voted for withdrawal.

Before Tuesday, some 76 US city and town governments had passed troop withdrawal resolutions. Wisconsin’s vote on Tuesday was different in that it involved a direct vote of the people. The Wisconsin vote on withdrawal was enabled by the state’s direct legislation law, which guarantees Wisconsinites the right to initiate legislation at the municipal level.

“Will this mandate for peace have an impact on US policy? You bet it will,” says Liberty Tree's Ben Manski, who provided legal counsel for the troop withdrawal campaign. “It’s one thing when a city council passes a resolution advising Congress; it’s another when the people themselves issue a mandate to their representatives, instructing them to end the occupation of another country.”

In the spring of 2005, the Wisconsin Green Party initiated the troop withdrawal campaign, building a multi-partisan coalition of peace advocates around the state. By autumn, petition drives were underway in scores of municipalities. Initially, a few local city officials attempted to interfere with their constituent’s right to engage in direct legislation. Recourse to courts of law and public opinion resulted in success for every local petitioning effort.

The use of direct legislation and the plebiscite to put a check on hawkish politicians has a rich history in the United States. Wisconsin direct legislation law, enacted in 1911, had long been championed by Governor, and then Senator, Fighting Bob La Follette, a leading opponent of US entry into World War I. Similarly, Senator Jeanette Rankin supported the use of direct legislation to oppose that war, and the national Progressive Party was nearly successful in its advocacy of a constitutional amendment to relocate the power to declare war from Congress to a national vote of the people.

Thanks for Tuesday's victory go to many people and organizations - particularly the Wisconsin Green Party, Wisconsin Network for Peace & Justice, VotersforPeace.US, Veterans for Peace, Military Families Speakout, Progressive Democrats of America, many local organizations, and Attorney David Austin, who assisted in the litigation efforts.

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?pid=74614

[flamingyouth]

1. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2208681