Town Hall Meeting on Iraq Focuses on Costs to Montgomery County
County Executive Isiah Leggett moderated a Town Hall meeting September 22 in Germantown that addressed the costs to Montgomery County of the war in Iraq and introduced a new County Council resolution authored by Council member Valerie Ervin. The Town Hall Meeting was cosponsored by 15 community organizations and attended by some 200 people.
Mr. Leggett spoke in support of the resolution, as did Council members Duchy Trachtenberg and Marc Elrich, along with sponsor Valerie Ervin.
The resolution makes two key demands: (1) that the U.S. government immediately commence a humane, orderly and complete withdrawal of U.S. military personnel from Iraq; and (2) that the Maryland General Assembly and the Governor limit the deployment of the Maryland National Guard outside of the State of Maryland to situations in which they are lawfully called into service under a valid and continuing authorization from Congress.
A nationally-renowned economist, Professor Brendan O'Flaherty of Columbia University, discussed the financial costs of the occupation to Montgomery County, many of which, he stated, will be felt in years to come and will be borne by our children, limiting their futures in profound ways.
Karen Dolan, a Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, discussed reasons that local governments have an obligation to take principled stands on issues that deeply affect their constituents, even in the absence of legislative authority. She cited applicable Constitutional provisions and historical examples.
Commenting on the current national economic crisis, Dr. O'Flaherty noted that the combination of the war costs and the looming financial bail-out will be devastating, and the longer the U.S. maintains a large presence in Iraq, the worse it gets, given the current military "burn rate," which is even higher now that it was a year ago. The estimated total costs of the war, he said, are somewhere between two and four trillion dollars. That amount of money equals the cost of about one-fourth of all the housing in the U.S.
Mr. Leggett emphasized that his own war experience in Viet Nam impelled him to do everything in his power to bring this war to a speedy conclusion, and he sees the proposed resolution as an important stand by Montgomery County's elected officials to hasten the end of the occupation of Iraq.
Ms. Ervin's personal history also gives impetus to her support for the resolution, she said. She explained that her father died five years ago from long-term effects of Agent Orange, to which he was exposed in Viet Nam. She commented, "This resolution is the most important thing I will do in my service on the Council. "
Three Council members have so far committed to cosponsor the Resolution: Ervin, Elrich, and Trachtenberg. County Council President Mike Knapp has said that he will block the Council from voting on the resolution through his agenda-setting responsibility.
County Council members pointed out that all e-mails sent to Mr. Knapp also go to all other Council members. Thus, e-mails in support of the resolution can be sent to Mr. Knapp at Councilmember.Knapp@montgomerycountymd.gov.
Cosponsoring organizations of the Town Hall Meeting are PeaceAction Montgomery, Montgomery College Global Peace and Justice Studies Program, Pax Christi Montgomery, Progressive Maryland, Montgomery County Government Employees Organization, Montgomery County NAACP, Hispanic Democratic Club of Montgomery County, DC Region Veterans for Peace, Social Justice Committee of UUCR, Progressive Neighbors of Montgomery Countyy, Network of Spiritual Progressives of MD, Montgomery County Progressive Alliance, RRUUC Peace Action Task Force, Episcopal Peace Fellowship (MD/DC), and Maryland United for Peace and Justice.
Click here to read the draft resolution and here for a Montgomery Gazette story on the Town Hall Meeting.
