I. Message Ideas to Choose From (see www.fciw.org for full text, cities with similar resolutions, etc.)
The war in Iraq IS a local issue!
1) Cost to local community: According to the National Priorities Project, local taxpayers’ share of the over $500 billion cost of the war exceeds $206 million. That money would buy an awful lot of Dial-a-Ride services, affordable housing, health care, education, and other critical social needs. Instead, it is gone forever, and our children and their children will be paying for this war for years to come.
2) Diversion of National Guard: This war is straining our military and diverting our National Guard to the Middle East. When twisters recently destroyed communities in neighboring Kansas, their Governor complained of the inadequate response because so many Kansas Guard troops were in Iraq. When Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, thousands of Guard troops and their equipment were bogged down in Iraq, unavailable to help. What happens if a natural disaster strikes us? 3) Impact on local families: Fort Collins and Larimer County residents serving in the military have fought, been wounded and died in Iraq, and veterans have come home to inadequate care. Frequent and extended tours of duty put severe strain on families, which will only increase as the war escalates.
4) Fort Collins City Councils have often addressed national issues: Like other local governments, our City Council has weighed in on national issues on many occasions. Only four years ago, the council debated a resolution to support this war. They have taken up the issues of global warming, the Patriot Act, a nuclear weapons freeze, MX missile deployment, apartheid in South Africa, nuclear test ban treaties, and the persecution of the Bahai minority in Iran. Is the war in Iraq less important than those issues?
The war is a foreign policy disaster for us and a humanitarian disaster for Iraq!
1) The reasons given for the commencement of this war have proven false in all regards – Iraq posed no threat to us, had no ties to al-Qaeda, and no involvement in September 11.
2) The war in Iraq, now in its sixth year (longer than WWII or the US Civil War) has caused (a) the deaths of more than 4,000 American soldiers and up to 1 million Iraqis (b) the physical and psychological wounding and disabling of more than 25,000 American soldiers and of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis (c) millions of Iraqi have become refugees having to flee their homeland and (d) the destruction of the homes, communities, and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis as well as the often irreparable disruption of families here at home because of the sacrifice American military personnel have been called to make.
3) The recent troop surge has temporarily reduced violence levels, but has led to no political reconciliation, which was what it was designed to do. We are no closer to a solution now than before.
4) Whatever the shifting justifications given for the war, there is no good we can achieve by staying to get shot at by both sides in a civil war. The presence of the US occupation force itself is one of the main things fueling the violence and insurgency. Reconciliation and rebuilding cannot begin until we withdraw.
The City Council has a moral responsibility to act!
1) Those who urge the council to avoid the issue say we should talk to the federal government instead. We have been talking to them in every way possible! Our own Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave took six years to even pretend to listen. Congress appears to be caving in to the President’s demand for a blank check for an open-ended war despite polls showing two-thirds of Americans want the war to end.
2) As the level of government closest to the people, the council should support the community it represents in lobbying the federal government for a new course. A city council resolution carries much more weight than an individual citizen’s voice.
3) In times of great moral crisis, silence is not neutrality, it is passive acceptance of the status quo. It is the war itself that is divisive, not attempts to end it. Grassroots pressure ended the Vietnam War, and it will end this one too. The Fort Collins Iraq Withdrawal Resolution is one small step in the right direction.
Please email or fax your Letter To The Editor to the following newspapers:
Email: opinion@coloradoan.com. Fax 224-7899
Word limit: 250. Published daily, accepts 1 letter per person per month. Opinion Editor: Kathleen Duff
Email: letters@fortcollinsnow.com Fax
484-0449
148 West Oak St., Suite D, Ft. Collins CO 80524. Phone: 484-1116
Word limit: 250. Published each Tuesday. Deadline: Friday 5 p.m. Editor: Greg Campbell.
email: csunews@lamar.colostate.edu. Fax 491-5267
Collegian, Lory Student Center , Box 13, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523.
Phone 491-6160. Word Limit: 250 (Use 12-point type). Published Monday through Friday during school.
E-Mail: info@northfortynews.com or info@fossilcreekcurrent.com
3101 Kintzley Court, Unit J, LaPorte, CO 80535. Phone 221-0213
Editor:
JoAn Bjarko
Email: fcforum@verinet.com. Fax 493-9291.
120 W. Olive, Suite 209, Fort Collins, CO 80525. Phone 493-8870. Editor John Kirsch.
Rocky Mountain Chronicle
Email: Letters@rmchronicle.com. Fax 493-4679
III. Tips and Pointers for Writing your Letter
¨ Go for the heart. Emotion combined with information is much more persuasive than dry facts. The purpose is to persuade, not educate. “People don’t care what you know until they know you care.”
¨ Shorter simple letters are more likely to be read. Summarize the reason for your letter up front. It is likely that readers won't read beyond your first sentence or two.
¨ Write in plain, simple language. Keep sentences short. No need to get fancy with big words. Write as if you're telling a story across the fence to your neighbor.
¨ Don't try to cover everything. Stick to one or two concisely presented concepts. Choose from our content ideas in Part I or come up with your own.
¨ Be positive. The tone of your letter will affect how people receive your message
¨ Send your letter via fax or e-mail in order to get it in sooner.
¨ Include your home & work phone numbers, email address, and mailing address. These will not be printed; they are merely to confirm who you are.
¨ Please contact Eric Fried if you have questions: 214-4548 or ericfried@comcast.net.