Press Release

For Immediate Release

Costs of the Iraq War, in LA terms:

Los Angeles City Council Votes on Resolution Weighing Local Impact of The War

Los Angeles, Tuesday, October 16, 2007: On Tuesday, The Los Angeles City Council will be voting on whether to make Los Angeles the largest city in the United States to pass a resolution calling for an end to the Iraq War.

Costs of the Iraq War –

The greatest cost of the Iraq war has been in human lives lost and shattered. The great majority of those lives have been Iraqi, but even here in Los Angeles, the tragic consequences have been felt. Over 100 servicemen and women from the greater LA area have been killed; many hundreds more have been injured.

The Iraq war’s financial costs is measured in numbers so large as to be almost incomprehensible. A resolution pending before the City Council makes the costs of the war more real. The share of the war’s costs borne by just the residents of Los Angeles now runs to 7 million per month. This would be enough to simultaneously do all of the following: add 3000 new officers to the police force, hire 40,000 additional teachers, provide health insurance for 330,000 children who now have no coverage, and maintain supportive housing for 15,000 mentally disabled homeless persons.

Why should the Los Angeles City Council be getting involved? Because of the very first principle of the American democracy, that the people should petition their government for redress of grievances. This costly, unnecessary, and seemingly endless war, launched by the Bush administration on false pretenses, is harming the citizens of Los Angeles. By passing this resolution, the City Council helps articulate the lack of public support for the war. This resolution, and the similar resolutions passed by over 200 other localities (including Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia) will encourage those in Congress who have a direct role in national decisions to find a way to end the war and will open the door to addressing real, local problems.

End The War LA –

End The War LA is a group of community activists and organizers whose name defines its purpose: to build a local voice in opposition to the war in Iraq, and thereby to help bring a rapid end to that needless war before the damage to both countries is beyond repair. Our membership comes from all parts of Los Angeles, and includes

engineers, teachers, lawyers, doctors, social workers, therapists, librarians, clergy, artists, and many more.

A Press Conference will follow this historic vote. Veterans, City Council Members and many others will join community activists from End The War LA to speak. Please contact Brian Joseph at 323.810.4681 or endthewarla@gmail.com for details.

a good attempt to con the people that this paper is official, yet it lacks a seal and a link to LA's official website.