MISPLACED PRIORITIES

WHEREAS, President Bush initiated a pre-emptive war against Iraq based on faulty and manipulated intelligence resulting in the death of over 1800 young Americans and thousands of Iraqis, the mutilation of thousands more on both sides, the expenditure of over $200 billion to fight a war that has been badly mismanaged and has created ill will towards the United States throughout the world, and

WHEREAS, President Bush has focused so much attention and money on Iraq and the so-called “war on terror” that he has left this country virtually defenseless against natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, tornados and earthquakes, and even the gigantic centralized bureaucracy know as the Homeland Security Agency was unable to mount a rapid and appropriate response when challenged by the awesome Hurricane Katrina, thus calling into question our ability to respond to a sudden massive attack by terrorists, and

WHEREAS, this administration’s sluggish and inadequate response to the ravages of Hurricane Katrina exposed a surprising inability to protect our citizens in time of crisis and calls into question President Bush’s priorities to concentrate all efforts on waging war abroad and terrorist attacks at home rather than a broader based investment to strengthen our society,

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the California Democratic Party calls upon the President and Congress to wind down American military efforts in Iraq so that our government can concentrate its energies and treasure on rebuilding the areas damaged by the hurricane and once again invest in our national infrastructure and strengthen our education system so that there will be opportunities for the many poor Americans -- exposed so graphically during the evacuation of New Orleans -- to recover from the effects of generations of deprivation and racism and to at last really have a chance to partake of the American Dream.

Approved by SCCDCC Executive Board, September 15, 2005