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--------- Begin forwarded message ---------- To: "OPCTJdiscuss" <OPCTJdiscuss@yahoogroups.com> Subject: [OPCTJdisc] FWD: City Council Letter to Bush on Absence of WMDs Date: Sat, 12 Jul 2003 10:49:18 -0500 Below is a text copy of a letter to President Bush that was signed by 30 members of the Chicago City Council yesterday. A list of the aldermen who signed the letter follows. The letter asks the President to reveal to the nation the evidence on which his claims of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction were made. I asked 47 aldermen to sign the letter. Seventeen aldermen declined to do so. Two aldermen (Thomas Murphy, 18th Ward and Billy Ocasio, 26th Ward) were not in attendance, and I did not have an opportunity to speak with Alderman George Cardenas (12th Ward). A copy of a press release follows the list of signatories. Alderman Joe Moore 49th Ward, City of Chicago July 9, 2003 The Honorable George W. Bush The White House Washington, D.C. 20500 Dear Mr. President: As members of the Chicago, Illinois, City Council, we are writing to express our grave concern about the failure thus far to uncover weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Last January, our City Council expressed the concerns and views of many of our constituents when we adopted a resolution against a pre-emptive attack on Iraq unless it was shown that Iraq posed an imminent threat to our nation or its allies. One hundred sixty-four other cities, towns and villages passed similar resolutions. The alleged existence of such weapons of mass destruction provided the principal justification for your decision to wage war against Iraq. On October 7, 2002, you told an audience in Cincinnati, Ohio that Iraq "possesses and produces chemical and biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons." Similarly, Vice President Cheny asserted in a speech on August 26, 2002, that "there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction." Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld said on "Face the Nation" on March 24, 2003, that "[w]e have seen intelligence over many months that they have chemical and biological weapons, and that they have dispersed them and that they're weaponized and that, in one case at least, the command and control arrangements have been established." Similar statements were made by other members of your Administration in the months preceding the war. But as of this date, no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq. Many claims, such as those about Iraq's nuclear program, have proven to be false. Other evidence your Administration claimed to possess has not been verified. As the elected officials closest to the people, we are keenly aware of the cost this war has imposed on our city and nation. Lives were lost and disrupted, and billions of taxpayer dollars were spent to eliminate the alleged threat posed by Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction. Our brave young and women were sent into harm's way to eliminate this alleged threat. We respectfully request that you to reveal to the nation the evidence on which your claims of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction were made. Sincerely, Joe Moore (49th Ward) Michael Zalewski (23rd Ward) Manuel Flores (1st Ward) Michael Chandler (24th Ward) Madeline Haithcock (2nd Ward) Daniel Solis (25th Ward) Dorothy Tillman (3rd Ward) Walter Burnett (27th Ward) Toni Preckwinkle (4th Ward) Ed Smith (28th Ward) Leslie Hairston (5th Ward) Ariel Reyboyras (30th) Fredrenna Lyle (6th Ward) Ray Suarez (31st Ward) Todd Stroger (8th Ward) Carrie Austin (34th Ward) Anthony Beale (9th Ward) Rey Colon (35th Ward) Theodore Thomas (15th Ward) Vi Daley (43rd Ward) Shirley Coleman (16th Ward) Thomas Tunney (44th Ward) Latasha Thomas (17th Ward) Helen Shiller (46th Ward) Arenda Troutman (20th Ward) Gene Schulter (47th Ward) Howard Brookins (21st Ward) Mary Ann Smith (48th Ward) Ricardo Munoz (22nd Ward) Bernard Stone (50th Ward) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Ald. Joe Moore Thursday, July 10, 2003 773-338-5796 CHICAGO ALDERMEN URGE BUSH TO COME CLEAN ON IRAQ Thirty Chicago aldermen, constituting a majority of the Chicago City Council, today signed a letter to President Bush urging him to reveal to the nation all the evidence on which his claims of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction were made. The unprecedented letter came on the heels of a White House admission that a prewar claim about Iraqi uranium purchases was false. The City Council letter to the President noted that the "alleged existence of such weapons of mass destruction provided the principal justification for your decision to wage war against Iraq." The letter went on to note that "as of this date, no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq. Many claims, such as those about Iraq's nuclear program have proven to be false. Other evidence your administration claimed to possess has not been verified." "It's long past time for the President and his administration to come clean about the alleged existence of weapons of mass destruction," said Ald. Joe Moore (49th Ward), the drafter of the letter. "In the view of a growing number of Americans, the weapons of mass destruction have become 'weapons of mass disappearance,'" Moore observed. The Chicago City Council in January overwhelmingly adopted a resolution against a pre-emptive attack on Iraq unless it was shown that Iraq posed an imminent threat to our nation or its allies. The letter to President Bush represents the latest example of growing public outrage against the Bush administration's apparent duplicity on the Iraq war. "As members of the City Council, we are the elected officials closest to the people," Moore noted. "All of us detect a growing sense of public betrayal about the war. Many lives were lost and billions of dollars were diverted from pressing needs at home to eliminate the alleged threat posed by Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction. And yet, the Bush administration has not produced any evidence that these weapons ever existed," Moore said. --------- End forwarded message ---------- ________________________________________________________________ The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER! Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today! _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk