Voters to speak out on Iraq war
Communities put troop withdrawal question on ballot
By Karen Lincoln Michel
Press-Gazette Madison bureau,
kmichel at greenbaypressgazette.com
MADISON - In a grass-roots effort reminiscent of the 1960s, nine local municipalities have joined 23 other Wisconsin cities, towns and villages in asking voters on Tuesday whether they support immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq.
The Door County communities of Egg Harbor, Ephraim, Forestville, Sister Bay and Sturgeon Bay, along with the Kewaunee County communities of Algoma, Casco, Kewaunee and Luxemburg, have placed on their Tuesday ballots a nonbinding, advisory referendum that urges the United States to pull out its troops from Iraq, beginning with the National Guard and Reserves.
It's an anti-war question that hasn't been posed to Wisconsin voters since the city of Madison raised a similar referendum question on the Vietnam War in 1969.
"What's different between now and '69 is that in '69 it was Madison alone," said Steve Burns, program coordinator for the Wisconsin Network for Peace of Justice, whose group has helped organize the effort that originated with the Wisconsin Green Party. "What's really different now is seeing it in these 31 other communities (other than Madison), some of which are in counties that voted for Bush in 2004."
Like the movement in the 1960s, today's advocates of military withdrawal hope their political maneuvering will capture the attention of federal lawmakers, force political candidates to take a decisive public stand on the issue, educate the public about the war and rally support for their cause.
But that's where the similarities end between the two eras.
Scott Furlong, professor of public and environmental affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, said the anti-war movement of nearly four decades ago was "much more vocal," was larger and more widespread across the nation.
"Here you're seeing discontent through public opinion polls, which is quite a bit different than going out and marching and the like," said Furlong, referring to recent national polls that suggest growing dissatisfaction among Americans for how the war is being handled. "Trying to get support for a referendum is more or less trying to work within the system."
Supporters say they have no idea about the outcome of Tuesday's referendum, which is being taken up by 32 municipalities from as far north as Hayward, as far west as La Crosse, throughout the central part of the state and to suburban Milwaukee.
"Our intention is after April 4 to assess where we're at," Burns said. "In places that weren't able to get it on the ballot in time for April, we will really push and see if they can get this on the ballot in November, regardless of how the election turns out."
Jill Bussiere, the Wisconsin Green Party's 8th Congressional district representative to the national party's coordinating council, said the dissatisfaction for the war cuts across many spectrums in Wisconsin.
She said people of different faiths - Catholics, Jews and Muslims - have joined their anti-war movement along with a mix of members of various political parties and average voters.
"It's grown because it's grassroots," Bussiere said.
Joe Viau of Kewaunee opposes the referendum for various reasons, saying that Americans should allow the Bush administration to carry out the war effort.
"Those people are in the know and we should let them make the final decision," Viau said in a telephone interview.
Viau made his position known Thursday night at a public forum about the war referendum held in Kewaunee and sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Kewaunee County.
Viau, who is self-employed and semiretired, also said the media presents a skewed version of what's happening in the war zone.
"If the news was reported on everything in Iraq instead of just all the bad stuff you see, I think people would have a different impression of what's going on," Viau said.
He was one of about four people at the forum who oppose the referendum, he said, out of an estimated crowd of 30.
Wayne Rabas of Kewaunee said he'll vote for the referendum, despite his opposition to the wording.
"I can't say I support an immediate withdrawal," he said . "I would say within a year to 14 months."
Rabas said too many American troops have been killed, injured and maimed in the war, and too much money has been spent on the conflict in a country that cannot decide on a government to lead its people.
"I think it's time for the Iraqi people to stand on their own two feet," said Rabas, a 71-year-old retiree who also spoke at the forum.
Mimi Robbins, a forum organizer and member of the Kewaunee County league, said she is glad that voters are talking about an issue that will be before them on Tuesday.
"They're thinking about the issues and being an informed citizenry, which is what the league is hoping for," Robbins said.
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