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Resolution Establishing Lexington/Fayette County as a City for Peace
 

With this resolution, Lexington Fayette Urban County Government affirms its commitment to peace. We, as a body, resolve that:

Whereas, the issue of peace embraces the deepest hopes of all peoples and remains humanity’s guiding inspiration,

Whereas, the global crises impel all citizens to work toward converting humanity’s noblest aspirations for world peace into a practical reality for future generations,

Whereas, on September 16, 2004, the General Secretary of the United Nations publicly noted that the invasion of Iraq is an "illegal war," violating the Charter of the United Nations,

Whereas, the invasion of Iraq was a violation of the U.S. Constitution under Article VI,

Whereas, hundreds of thousands of members of the United States Armed Forces have served honorably in Iraq and over 3100 U.S. military personnel have been killed, of which 54 were from Kentucky, and nearly 23,000 U.S. soldiers have been seriously wounded,

Whereas, an estimated 650,000 Iraqi citizens have been killed in this war,

Whereas, the United Nations Refugee Agency estimates that over one million Iraqis have fled to neighboring countries and perhaps as many as 1.5 million are internally displaced,

Whereas, the United States has already been spent $367 billion on this war, of which Kentucky’s share is $2.8 billion and Lexington’s share is $215 million,

Whereas, the war in Iraq is enriching corporations that have ties to this administration, by the granting of exclusive contracts to rebuild infrastructure,

Whereas, the U.S. Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) and the U.S. Government Accountability Office have found evidence of massive waste of taxpayer money by contractors in Iraq,

Whereas, Nobel-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz estimates that the total cost of the war may reach $2 trillion, money needed for peaceful purposes such as education, health care, and public transportation,

Whereas, the U.S. involvement in Iraq appears to be part of long term military plans, including five permanent military bases, that include controlling areas that are rich in precious resources and enforcing the United States’ will anywhere in the world, with little or no provocation,

Whereas, the U. S. occupation of Iraq and our behavior therein have sown resistance to the occupation in Iraq and turned opinion against the U.S. throughout the world,

Whereas, the war has provoked ever more rage among victims of the wars, and has increased the likelihood of further attacks, rather than making us safer,

Whereas, it is critical for the Iraqi people to receive the resources needed to help them recover and rebuild after years of warfare,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council for Lexington Fayette Urban County Government calls for:

• The immediate and orderly withdrawal of all United States military personnel from Iraq, before one more soldier or civilian needlessly dies, concurrent with:

• The United States Government turning over to the United Nations, the League of Arab States and other neutral parties the authority for creating and maintaining a multi-national peacekeeping force, with the goal of providing security and facilitating self governance. Control of this force is to be under the joint command of all participating states, with no one state in control, and with no veto powers granted to any one nation.

• Restitution to be paid to the people and government of Iraq.