FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 22, 2002
CONTACT: New Haven Green Party, John Halle 203-785-9258
New Haven, CT - At its regular meeting last night, the New Haven Board of Aldermen passed a resolution opposing military intervention in Iraq. The resolution was submitted by Green Party Alderman John Halle and passed by a margin of 24 to 2 with one abstention.
The passage of the resolution has special significance because New Haven is the home city of one of the leading supporters of military intervention, Senator Joseph Lieberman. Growing dissatisfaction with Lieberman's stand on military intervention was apparent from protests greeting his recent trip to New Hampshire. It is believed that eroding support in his home state could hinder Lieberman's presidential ambitions.
The resolution made specific note of the disproportionate representation of poor and minority youth in the military and the likelihood that citizens of New Haven's poor neighborhoods would suffer casualties in the event of a ground war. "They will be doing the fight and the dying," Halle noted during the debate on the resolution. "It won't be kids from Greenwich and New Canaan." (Greenwich and New Canaan, CT are two of the nation's wealthiest cities.)
When Halle initially submitted the resolution, New Haven's representative to the US Congress, Rosa DeLauro was on record as in support of the authorization of the use of military force. Under pressure from a strong challenge from Green Party Congressional Candidate Charles Pillsbury, DeLauro was forced to reverse her position, joining with 122 house Democrats opposing a pre-emptive strike against Iraq.
New Haven joins progressive California cities including Santa Cruz, Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco as well as Ithaca, NY and Kalamazoo, MI in expressing grassroots anti-war sentiment. An anti-war resolution coming before the Boulder, CO was defeated. New Haven appears to be the first major East Coast city to pass a resolution opposing the war.
New Haven is also the birthplace of President George W. Bush.
More Information:
http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=20288
http://www.newhavenregister.com/site/news.asp?brd=1281