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| Fifth Column |
| Berkeley City Council votes to demand bombing halt |
| 2001-10-17 |
On a "close" vote of its City Council, Berkeley last night became the first city in the nation to call for a halt to the U.S.-led bombing of Afghanistan. The bitterly fought decision took place in front of a bank of TV cameras and an emotion-filled, packed council chamber, where some people waved American flags and others held "Stop the War" signs. Dumbocracy in action... The 5-to-4 vote followed what Mayor Shirley Dean termed "serious death threats" among the thousands of e-mails and phone calls that have poured into the city. "Drop dead" is not a death threat. It's a sentiment. Councilwoman Dona Spring, who sponsored the move, said she wanted to spare innocent Afghan civilians. She also said in an interview that the military campaign that began Oct. 7 "will breed more terrorism and create more instability in the Middle East (and) particularly Pakistan, which has nuclear weapons." Pakistan is not in the Middle East. It has approximately 24 nuclear weapons. Sparing innocent Afghan civilians allows them to live long enough for the Taliban to kill them for violation of the finer points of religion. Her resolution said the United States should "work with international organizations" in "bringing to justice all of those complicit in last month's violent attack." When was the last time the International Cops arrived and carted off a mass murdering terror mastermind? Show us how it works. Have them pick up Abu Nidal. On a companion resolution by Spring, six council members voted to "condemn the mass murder of thousands of people on Sept. 11" in the suicide plane attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. That was very pious of them. The rest of us are as geniuinely touched by their sincerity as the Council is affected by the mass murder of thousands of our fellow citizens. The anti-bombing vote split on partisan lines. The council's five-member leftist majority voted for it; its four centrist members bravely abstained. A "centrist" in Berkeley is a tiresomely leftist loon anywhere else. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |