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To avoid war in Iran, start in Madison

An editorial  —  7/15/2008 5:15 am

The Iraq war has many costs: millions of Iraqis displaced, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed, tens of thousands of Americans permanently maimed, thousands of Americans killed.

Additionally, there is the direct cost to states such as Wisconsin, counties such as Dane, cities such as Madison, Middleton, Monona and Stoughton, villages such as Cross Plains and McFarland, towns such as Vermont, Dane and Burke. The steering of hundreds of billions dollars from the federal treasury to war profiteers and misguided missions has squeezed funding for local infrastructure, social services and community development programs.

And another unwise and unnecessary war with Iran would create dramatically greater costs for the world, the Middle East and southern Asia, the United States as a whole and communities right here in Wisconsin.

The Bush administration's machinations to gin up a war with Iran, while every bit as transparent in their absurdity as the administration's machinations six years ago to gin up a war with Iraq, are an issue not just for Congress but for local government.

In Washington, members of Congress should reject steps toward war with Iran, such as a House resolution -- H. Con. Res. 362 -- that urges the use of U.S. Navy forces to blockade Iran. Three Wisconsin representatives, Republican Paul Ryan and Democrats Ron Kind and Steve Kagen, are co-sponsoring this exceptionally wrongheaded measure. They should get a lot more serious about what is, after all, a life and death issue -- and that seriousness should lead them to pull their co-sponsorships.

In Wisconsin, communities should follow the lead of cities across the country that have begun passing resolutions encouraging the Bush/Cheney administration and members of Congress to support diplomatic engagement and smart global responses rather than moves to make war with Iran.

To learn more about concerns regarding a possible war with Iran, attend a town hall meeting on the issue Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Room B1-A/D at Lowell Hall, 610 Langdon St., on the University of Wisconsin campus. Among those speaking with be Joe Elder, a UW sociology professor who was born in Iran; historian Allen Ruff; and Bonnie Block, a veteran peace and justice advocate who visited Iran in 2005 with a delegation from the Fellowship for Reconciliation.

An editorial  —  7/15/2008 5:15 am