Wapo reports:
Wisconsin Voters Prepare to Weigh In On the War in Iraq
Even though Watertown is described as conservative the report says that the war opposition group had little problem gathering close to 1000 signatures out of the 23,000 residents. The city council didn't want to put the measure on the ballot, but the courts said they had to.
There are two issues here that we have found coming up over and over.
(Continued on the flip)
- Is it truly a problem for our troops that we want them out of harms way and away from a never ending impossible situation? They have a letter from one soldier complaining about the referendum giving "aid and comfort to the enemy".
- The authors of the referendum said they wanted to give a voice to the folks who had no voice. Opponents of the referendum talked about the divisiveness of the issue. Is there a price to be paid for exercising our free speech and should not both sides have to pay some of the toll? Most of the folks wanting to solidify behind the war have no skin in the game, no folks in the military. Shouldn't they at least pay the toll of truth telling? For instance, the true cost of the war, over and above the trillion in debt is 2296 in American Lives and a huge number of wounded in both mind and body, plus at least over 100,000 Iraqis.