October 23, 2006

On Election Day, voters in some communities across the state will be able to weigh in on the following non-binding question on the ballot: Shall the representative from this district be instructed to vote in favor of a resolution calling upon the President and Congress of the United States to end the war in Iraq immediately and bring all United States military forces home from Iraq?

Historically, non-binding resolutions addressing international issues have not been debated on the floor of the Massachusetts House and Senate. Massachusetts, it is argued, does not have a foreign policy.

However, whatever the fate of the question on November 7, citizens I represent in the 15th Middlesex district (where this question is on the ballot) have a right to know my sentiments on the war, sentiments which Congressman Markey and Senators Kennedy and Kerry certainly know, even in the absence of formal action by the state legislature.

Our President led us to war on the false premise that Iraq was in possession of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. He invented – and still perpetuates – a false link between these alleged weapons and 9-11. He either doesn’t or can’t understand, although his and our intelligence agencies certainly do, that the war he launched on a lie has created a new and energized generation of Islamic radicals and has compromised, not enhanced, our safety.

Our President, an alleged fiscal conservative, has brought us a war that is costing us billions of taxpayer dollars. He has driven us from the nation’s greatest budget surplus in history to our deepest deficit. His spending on the war, coupled with a tax policy that shifts the burden more and more to the middle class and the poor, has meant that this war is being paid for disproportionately by those who can least afford it, citizens whose critical public services are being cut so that the military budget can grow.

Our President, a "family values" guy, has broken up families across the nation, sending husbands, wives, sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters to face the living death of an ill-begotten war and, in far too many instances, death itself.

Our President, "a uniter, not a divider," has caused great divisions in the country, divisions which he cynically exploits by questioning the patriotism of anyone who dares to question him or his administration.

Our President, while exploiting the rhetoric of strength, has given our allies pause and our enemies a cause, squandering international sympathy and a rare moment of unity within this nation in the wake of 9-11.

Our President’s homeland security policies have eroded hometown security, with fewer police officers and firefighters – our first line of defense – on the streets today than when he took office.

Our President has attacked and seriously compromised time-honored civil rights and civil liberties in the name of a false sense of security.

Our President, while preaching "law and order," has repeatedly and unabashedly imposed his own will and interpretation of the law on the will and action of the Congress and even the Supreme Court. He has run roughshod over hallowed rights enshrined in our Constitution and international law, including but not limited to habeas corpus and the outlawing of torture.

Our President actually lost the 2000 election, and look at what we have lost since then: Thousands of lives, our economic vitality, our moral compass, our standing in the community of nations, our respect for basic rights and the orderly making of law, our fundamental commitment to social justice. And, to add insult to injury, we’ve become more vulnerable and less safe on his watch.

Our President should have been impeached, not re-elected. But, in a democracy, the blame for his egregious failures of leadership rests on us. We need to simultaneously honor and pray for our men and women in uniform and impeach their Commander in Chief. I want our soldiers home and I want my country back.