By MICHAEL R. BLOOD, Associated Press Writer
Mon Jun 25, 9:45 PM ET
A chaotic debate on the motion echoed political divisions across the country.
Fresno, Calif., Mayor Alan Autry resigned from the conference immediately after the vote, saying the group had made a "grave error" by hastily veering into foreign policy. He predicted troops could be harmed.
But supporters like Stamford, Conn., Mayor Dannel Malloy said the war was draining money from classrooms and municipal services across the country and local governments have "gotten to the boiling point."
"It's time to begin developing a plan to bring the troops home," Malloy said in an interview. "Many people see this as a very important moment in our history."
The resolution was adopted 51-47 after a debate that stalled repeatedly on questions about amendments and parliamentary procedure. At one point, a motion to table the resolution failed.
Conference President Douglas Palmer, the mayor of Trenton, N.J., said he opposed the measure because he feared it would detract attention from the conference's agenda, which included dealing with issues from global warming to clean water.
more By Alister Bull
2 hours, 50 minutes ago
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Violence and infighting among Shi'ites in Basra are a warning that a last ditch U.S. plan to improve security in Iraq is badly flawed, a think-tank said in a report.
"The answer to Iraq's horrific violence cannot be an illusory military surge that aims to bolster the existing political structure and treats the dominant political parties as partners," said the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.
The report, issued late on Monday, said that Operation Sinbad, in which British forces tried to tackle armed militias and support Iraqi security forces in the southern oil-rich city of Basra, offered important lessons to learn from.
<...>
Sinbad initially helped calm Basra, Iraq's second largest city and its economic hub, but violence has since mounted and British forces have come under increasing attack there.
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It said part of the Basra police was under the sway of the Mehdi Army of fiery cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, while the intelligence service was influenced by the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, previously the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), and the Oil Protection Force was controlled by Fadhila.
"Far from being a model to replicate, Basra is an example of what to avoid. With renewed violence and instability, Basra illustrates the pitfalls of a transitional process that has led to the collapse of the state apparatus," the ICG report said.
<...>
The lesson from Basra was that political parties did not respect the law and were part of the problem, the ICG said.
"Basra teaches that as soon as the military surge ends and coalition forces diminish, competition between rival factions will surge," the ICG said.
"Prolonging the same political process with the same political actors will ensure that what is left of the Iraqi state gradually is torn apart... The priority is to confront the power structure ... by insisting on genuine political compromises."
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