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Resolution
The Select Board of Amherst, Massachusetts, hereby issues a special proclamation for peace occasioned by the war in Iraq.
Whereas, this proclamation reaffirms the resolution against a pre-emptive U.S. military attack of Iraq adopted by the Amherst Town Meeting on January 29, 2003,
Whereas, on September 16, 2004, the General Secretary of the United Nations pointed out to the world that the invasion of Iraq is an "illegal war," violating the Charter of the United Nations,
Whereas, the invasion of Iraq is also a violation of the U.S. Constitution under Article VI,
Whereas, the orders and contracts of the Coalition Provisional Authority must be rescinded because they violate the Iraq Constitution, the 1906 Hague Regulations, the Geneva Conventions and the U.S. Army's Code of Land Warfare by authorizing the sale of all Iraqi assets, public or private, to foreign firms and the transfer out of the country of all profits,
Whereas, the war in Iraq has therefore become, in part, a struggle by the Iraqi people for the right to self-determination and for control of their country's resources,
Whereas, in terms of percentage, the estimated 20,000 Iraqi citizens killed to date in this war equals the deaths of 224,000 United States citizens,
Whereas, over 1000 U.S. military personnel have been killed, over 7000 wounded,
Whereas, over $150 billion has already been allocated to fight this war at a cost of $20 million to Amherst taxpayers,
Whereas, it is critical for others to assist the Iraqi people to self-rule and to receive resources to help them recover and rebuild after years of warfare,
Therefore, be it resolved that the federal government should take immediate steps to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq and bring our remaining troops safely home, and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the Town Clerk send a copy of this resolution to our congressional delegation and to the president of the United States.
Signed on this day . . . . .
Speech in support
Speech Delivered by Gerry Weiss to the Town of Amherst in support of action to bring the troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan
September 2004
"In January of 2003, the Amherst TM passed a resolution opposing a preemptive military attack on Iraq. That preemptive attack occurred less than 2 months later. Every assertion of that resolution remains true to this day. Nothing has changed; the war was wrong and it remains wrong. It was and is being waged illegally and for reasons that don't exist. This war is killing thousands of people and maiming ten's of thousands more - soldiers, men, women and children. It is bankrupting our economy; it is killing our youth and promising us another generation of physically and emotionally wounded veterans. It was the duty of our town government to tell our Federal government what we thought of their plans before this war was waged; it is now our responsibility to tell them that what they are doing now is wrong. The resolution we passed in January of '03 seems to lead us to this moment.
I've been told that protesting the war is not supportive of our troops; that protesting endangers the troops and lowers their morale. I think there are many ways to show support of human beings.
This war is beginning to unravel from inside the military. More and more soldiers are questioning what they are doing in Iraq. More and more soldiers are seeing how wrong this war is and are speaking out about it. The GI Rights Hotline, a hotline set up to help military personnel know their legal rights is now getting over 3000 calls a month from GI's, most of them wanting to know how they can get out of the military. One way we can support them is to let them know that we know they are right to question their leaders. We can let them know that their concerns, their outrage, their grief are warranted. This resolution offers this type of support; and in doing so we'll support the work of Iraq Veterans Against the War, Bring Them Home Now (a campaign of military families, veterans, active duty personnel and reservists), Military Families Speak Out and Veterans Against the Iraq War.
Supporting our government to keep doing what they are doing does not, in my mind, support our troops. It puts them in harms way every minute of every day. To quote former president Theodore Roosevelt, 'To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally reprehensible to the American public.'"
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