League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	San Francisco County, CA November 4, 2008 Election
	Proposition U Policy Against Funding the Deployment of Armed Forces in Iraq City of San Francisco Declaration of Policy - Majority Approval Required Pass: 193,407 / 59.25% Yes votes ...... 133,002 / 40.75% No votes See Also: Index of all Propositions

Arguments For Proposition U

Arguments Against Proposition U

In 2004, San Francisco voters declared it "City policy to urge the United States government to withdraw all troops from Iraq and bring all military personnel in Iraq back to the United States." Four years later, the number of troops in Iraq has increased rather than decreased. San Francisco needs to speak out again, even more forcefully. Proposition U sends a message from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. that no further funds should be appropriated for the Iraq war, except for the purpose of bringing our troops home safely. While San Francisco has struggled to fund its schools, meet the health care needs of its citizens, and provide safety on its streets, over $600 billion has been appropriated for the war and occupation of Iraq. It has cost the state of California $68 billion, and the city of San Francisco alone $1.8 billion. And the cost in dollars is but the tip of the iceberg. More tragically, this war has also taken the lives of over 4,000 American soldiers, in addition to tens or even hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. More than 30,000 Americans have been wounded. America's standing throughout the world has plummeted and our economy has gone into decline. We will be paying for this war for decades to come. A majority of both the American and Iraqi people desire the withdrawal of American troops and San Francisco has the opportunity to lead the way in embodying that sentiment in a statement of policy. There is no more time for excuses. There is no more time for delay. Let us not fund another casualty in Iraq. BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW. VOTE YES ON PROPOSITION U! Chris Daly Tom Ammiano Jake McGoldrick Ross Mirkarimi Aaron Peskin Rebuttal to Arguments For Vote No On Proposition U Rather waste City money during tight budget times by creating a telephone book sized voter information pamphlet, these Supervisors should focus on issues that they can affect + crime, the homeless, crumbling streets and poorly maintained parks, to mention a few. This non-binding Declaration of Policy is another symbolic and futile attempt by the most radical of the Board of Supervisors' to affect national security. The result will be the same as their attempt in 2004 — NONE. Speaker Nancy Pelosi along with her Congressional colleagues and the next President will make the decision on military funding. What is certain is that what happens in Washington will not be the cut and run policies advocated by the proponents of this measurer. Vote No On Proposition U San Francisco Republican Party

This is another waste of City money and time. Radical San Francisco Supervisors will not decide on funding for the Iraq war. The President and Congress of the United States will make that decision. San Francisco Supervisors should concentrate on things within their control, such as quality of life and the out of control, bloated budget. Vote No on U San Francisco Republican Party Rebuttal to Arguments Against The invasion of Iraq, based upon groundless allegations of "weapons of mass destruction," initiated without United Nations authorization, and illegal under international law, was intitiated over six years ago. In the estimation of Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, when all of the bills come due, this war and occupation will have cost the American people in excess of $3 trillion. And yet, over all this time, the political structure in Washington, D.C. has proven unable to stop throwing money at it. In a democracy, the people are sovereign. And when our government leads the nation down a disastrous course, we the people have no choice but to speak out and demand that it stop. The time has come for the voters of San Francisco + and every other part of the nation + to say, "Enough! This war will end on the day we stop paying for it." We know peace will not descend upon Iraq on the day the last American soldiers leave + this war has done far too much damage for that. But we know equally well that peace will not come to that land until our troops have left, something that all factions in Iraq agree needs to happen. At that point we can also begin the process of restoring America's standing in the world. Tom Gallagher, Committee to End the War in Iraq Howard Wallace, Vice President for Community Affairs, San Francisco Labor Council Debra Walker, Treasurer, San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee