"The White House is completely disconnected from reality. It's like they're just making it up as they go along. The reality is that we're losing in Iraq."
-- Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska)

More than 1700 American soldiers have died in Iraq.

Tens of thousands more have been severely injured both physically and psychologically, with many more deaths and much suffering endured by the Iraqi people besides.

Enough is enough.

Period.

It's time for Rep. John Sweeney and Rep. Sue Kelly to work with Rep. Maurice Hinchey, Sen. Chuck Schumer, and Sen Hillary Clinton to pass the bipartisan Homeward Bound Act now without further delay: House Joint Resolution 55, co-sponsored by Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), and Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), and dozens of other members of Congress (Sen Russ Feingold (D-WI) has introduced similar legislation in the Senate).

The Homeward Bound Act requires the Administration to announce no later than December 31, 2005 a plan for the withdrawal of United States Armed Forces from Iraq, and to begin bringing our troops home no later than October 1, 2006-- to begin the end of the war in Iraq.

Jones, Paul, Hinchey, Kucinich, and many others have put partisan considerations aside to come together on this-- call Congress at (888) 355-3588 and the White House at (800) 321-8268 to make this reality.

Contact our County Legislature at 486-2100, CountyLegislators@co.dutchess.ny.us, or CountyLegislature@co.dutchess.ny.us to ask them to pass this resolution below to push Congress on this (the fourth one we've submitted calling for this since last April-- when four Americans were strung up on that bridge in Fallujah).

[They should at the very least allow this resolution on to the agenda for Committee Day in August, if not sooner.]

For more information, see DutchessPeace.org; Rep. Maurice Hinchey's office in Kingston can be reached at 331--4466.

Thanks.

Joel Tyner
Dutchess County Legislator, D. #11
Clinton/Rhinebeck
324 Browns Pond Road
Staatsburg, N.Y. 12580
Interactive Blog at MidHudsonAlliance.com
joeltyner@earthlink.net
(845) 876-2488

p.s. Thanks to Medea Benjamin's "Celebrating Independence in Era of Empire" essay for much of the wording for resolution below.
[CommonDreams.org/views05/0703-25.htm]

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A BIPARTISAN PLAN FOR OUR TROOPS TO BE HOMEWARD BOUND FROM IRAQ

WHEREAS, in a Gallup Poll taken in early June, nearly six in ten Americans polled want at least a partial withdrawal to begin; according to the Gallup News Service, "most Americans are favoring a partial or complete withdrawal of U.S. troops in Iraq, and for the first time, a majority say they would be upset with the president if he decided to send more troops; this comes at a time when basic support for the war is as low as it has been since the war began...since last October, at least half of Americans have consistently said the war was not worth it," and

WHEREAS, the war has obligated each American taxpayer for over $2,000 already, not including interest payments; the $200 billion we're spending on the war in Iraq could have provided health care to over 46 million Americans, affordable housing to almost 2 million families, or renewable energy for some 360 million homes, according to the organization National Priorities, and

WHEREAS, our nation was founded on a determination to be free of domination by the British empire; the Declaration of Independence proclaimed the need to fight the War of Independence against Britain because King George III had "kept among us standing armies" that committed intolerable "abuses and usurpations," and

WHEREAS, today it is our government whose standing army is committing abuses and usurpations in foreign lands; today it is our government that is in the business of empire-building; George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison all warned that the invasion and occupation of other lands would turn America into precisely the sort of empire against which they had so recently rebelled; Thomas Jefferson stated in 1791 that, "We should have nothing to do with conquest," and

WHEREAS, in 1821, then Secretary of State John Quincy Adams warned that if America went abroad in search of "monsters to destroy, the fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force"; while she might become the dictatress of the world, he predicted, "she would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit", and

WHEREAS, Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) has stated that "Brigadier General Donald Alston, the chief U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said recently that 'this insurgency is not going to be settled...through military options or military operations; it's going to be settled in the political process'; with that political process now reaching its maturity, and with the number of trained Iraqi security forces increasing daily, it is perfectly reasonable for the American military presence in Iraq to, at some point, begin to decrease," and

WHEREAS, according to Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), "Conservatives across the spectrum from Robert Novak to Patrick Buchanan to the godfather of modern conservatism, William F. Buckley, have come to a similar conclusion; in fact, on May 6th Buckley wrote: "The day has to come, and the advent of that day has to be heralded, when we say that our part of the job is done as well as it can be done...It is an Iraqi responsibility to move on to wherever Iraq intends to go," and

WHEREAS, according to Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), "Clearly, we are giving Iraqis every reasonable chance for a democracy, but at some time in the near future, the ultimate fate of Iraq will, and should, rest in the hands of the Iraqis; we will continue to support them in their efforts, but we cannot forever be depended upon as the primary defense force in Iraq, nor can we compromise the ability of our armed forces to adequately respond to the other emerging threats that endanger America," and

WHEREAS, Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) originally supported the war; he is the Congressman who advocated the renaming of French Fries "Freedom Fries" in the House cafeteria in response to the French government's unwillingness to go along with American wishes when the war was accelerated in March 2003; Rep. Jones has stated he began to have a change of heart after attending the funeral of one of his constituents, a Marine killed in action in Iraq: "I am troubled by the past...We need to take a fresh look at where we are and where we are going," and

WHEREAS, the vast majority of Iraqis consider the U.S. presence as an army of occupation, not liberation; last spring, in a poll of more than 3,000 Iraqis for USA Today, 71 percent said the U.S. soldiers were occupiers and 57 percent said that U.S. troops should leave immediately; most alarmingly, more than 50 percent said that, in some circumstances, attacks on U.S. troops were justified, and

WHEREAS, now in Iraq highly sophisticated explosive devices are being tested on our brave soldiers with devastating result; we have lost over 1700 American soldiers there, and tens of thousands severely injured both physically and psychologically, with many deaths and much suffering endured by the Iraqi people besides, and

WHEREAS, costs have been substantial for the deployment of the New York National Guard in Iraq, including injuries and trauma for the troops, as well as hardships on families and employers here in Dutchess County; our communities have been placed at risk due to the deployment of essential public safety personnel; extended deployments leave our area without its full contingent of troops in times of emergency or natural disaster and also threaten the long-term viability of the New York National Guard as enlistment and re-enlistment rates decline, and

WHEREAS, two years of war in Iraq has radically changed the lives of America's citizen soldiers, who used to have one of the best deals around; reservists and Guard members who signed up in peace time and expected part-time training in exchange for an array of benefits now make up an increasing part of the total force in Iraq and Afghanistan, peacekeeping duties in Kosovo and Bosnia and homeland security missions, according to the Poughkeepsie Journal on February 13th, and

WHEREAS, the National Guard, which is unique because it serves federal and state missions, has seen its responsibilities expand to include overseas missions and new homeland security assignments; the dual role means more soldiers are being activated, with more than 50 percent of the National Guard's 457,000 Army and Air members overall getting activated between the Sept. 11 attacks and June 2004, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a November report, according to the Poughkeepsie Journal on February 13th, and

WHEREAS, the activations after Sept. 11, the most for the National Guard since World War II, are longer and sometimes in a maddening pattern; some troops have been deployed for several months, then come home, only to be quickly redeployed; that can wreak havoc on their lives at home, troop advocates say; repeated activations have also put a strain on the resources of the reserves, as units are picked apart to fill voids in deployed or active duty units and used or outdated equipment is not replaced, according to the Poughkeepsie Journal on February 13th, and

WHEREAS, a recent C.I.A. report warned that since the US invasion, Iraq has become what Afghanistan was under the Soviet occupation, only more so: a magnet and training ground for Islamic extremists, who will eventually threaten other countries; Iraq wasn't a breeding ground for terrorists before we went there, and

WHEREAS, all indications are that the foreign terrorists now infesting Iraq are there on the sufferance of a homegrown insurgency that finds them useful for the moment but that, brutal as it is, isn't interested in an apocalyptic confrontation with the Western world; once we're no longer targets, the foreign terrorists won't be welcome; the longer we stay in Iraq, accidentally killing tens of thousands of civilians, we create more people who swear vengeance against America, and

WHEREAS, if the Iraqi government knew that our support had an expiration date, it would both look to its own defenses and, more important, try harder to find a political solution to the insurgency; the presence of American forces in Iraq is making our country less safe, and it is wrong to keep our troops in harm's way; it's time to start winding down the war, and therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Dutchess County Legislature hereby requests that Congress pass and our President sign into law "Homeward Bound", House Joint Resolution 55, co-sponsored by Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), and Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY); "Homeward Bound" requires the Administration to announce not later than December 31, 2005 a plan for the withdrawal of United States Armed Forces from Iraq, and to begin bringing our troops home not later than October 1, 2006, to begin the end of the war in Iraq, and be it further

RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution be sent to County Executive William Steinhaus, Representative Sue Kelly, Representative John Sweeney, Representative Maurice Hinchey, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator Charles Schumer, and President George W. Bush.

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Supporting documentation:

Rep. Hinchey's June 28th statement in response to Bush's speech on Iraq
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ny22_hinchey/morenews/062805iraq.html

"Celebrating Independence in Era of Empire" by Medea Benjamin
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0703-25.htm

Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) Statement on Iraq
http://jones.house.gov/html/content.cfm?id=401

Rep. Kucinich (D-OH): June 29th Iraq Withdrawal Bill Critical and Timely
http://www.kucinich.us/archive/report/display.php?r=37&d=2005-06-29+14\%3A47\%3A01

Rep. Kucinich (D-OH): Homeward Bound Act Gaining Steam
http://www.kucinich.us/archive/home/display.php?src=k_20050616_ubzrjneq.cuc

"June 2005: Phase II of the Anti-War Movement" by Medea Benjamin
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0620-20.htm

"Even Bush's G.O.P. Allies are Breaking Ranks" by Robert Scheer
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050704&s=scheer0721

"DeJa Vu in Iraq" by Derrick Jackson
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0701-25.htm

"Millionaires and War" by Chuck Collins [of http://www.faireconomy.org ]
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0701-21.htm

The Progressive's Matthew Rothschild re: Bush's last speech
http://progressive.org/?q=mag_wx062905

"Troops Part Time No More" by Kathianne Boniello [2/13/05 Poughkeepsie Journal]
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/deployment/stories/lo021305s2.shtml

"Bring the Troops Home" by Matthew Rothschild [2/05 Progressive]
http://www.progressive.org/feb05/com0205.html

24 Members of Congress Calling on Bush to Bring Troops Home [1/26/05]
http://www.afsc.org/iraq/news/2005/01/resolution-to-bring-troops-home.htm