We need your help in making

Lexington/Fayette County

the next City for Peace! 

The Central Kentucky Council for Peace and Justice, representing 32 social justice, peace, and environmental organizations, asks that the LFUCG Council join peaceful communities across the United States in becoming a City for Peace.

If you’d like to see Lexington/Fayette County become a City for Peace, please encourage your Council member to support a City for Peace Resolution. Ask that the draft resolution provided below be used as a starting point for discussion.

Establishing Lexington/Fayette County as a

City for Peace (DRAFT RESOLUTION)

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

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

Whereas, 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 affirmed 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 United States Constitution under Article VI;

Whereas, hundreds of thousands of United States servicemen and women have participated in the occupation of Iraq, in which over 4083 have sacrificed their lives (as of May 2008), of which 63 were from Kentucky;  30,000 U.S. soldiers have come home seriously wounded; and 30 percent experience serious mental health problems within three or four months of returning home;

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

Whereas, the United Nations Refugee Agency estimates that over two million Iraqis have fled to neighboring countries and 2.3 million are internally displaced;

Whereas, the United States has already approved and spent $600 billion on this war, of which Kentucky’s share is $4 billion and Lexington’s share is $300 million;

Whereas, the war in Iraq is enriching corporations that have ties to this administration, via contracts for security, intelligence, reconstruction, and other services, and the United States Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) and the 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 $3 trillion, money needed for peaceful purposes such as education, health care, and public transportation;

Whereas, the United States’ involvement in Iraq appears to be part of long term military occupation, including 75 major military bases, controlling areas that are rich in precious resources and enforcing the will of the United States anywhere in the world, with little or no provocation;

Whereas, the United States’ occupation of Iraq and our behavior therein have sown resistance to the occupation and turned public opinion against the United States throughout the world;

Whereas, the war has provoked ever more rage among its victims 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; and

Whereas, opinion polls indicate that the majority of Americans want to see the war end.

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/or other neutral parties the authority for creating and maintaining a multi-national peacekeeping force in Iraq, 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.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council calls for:

• A free and open international bidding process in all future awards of contracts for reconstruction or for other goods or services within Iraq, with preference given to Iraqi businesses.

• Full benefits and support for our veterans, when they return home.

• This Resolution to be sent to the Kentucky Congressional Delegation and President George W. Bush.

Please call today to encourage your Council member to support a City for Peace Resolution. Ask that the draft resolution provided be used as a starting point for discussion.

 Mayor: Jim Newberry, 258-3100, mayor@lfucg.com

Vice Mayor: Jim Gray, 258-3202, jgray@lfucg.com

At-large: Linda Gorton, 258-3200, lgorton@lfucg.com

At-large: Chuck Ellinger II, 258-3212, cellinge@lfucg.com

District 1: Andrea James, 258-3216, ajames@lfucg.com

District 2: Tom Blues, 258-3200, tblues@lfucg.com

District 3: Dick DeCamp, 258-3222, dickd@lfucg.com

District 4: Julian Beard, 258-3200, jbeard@lfucg.com

District 5: Dr. David Stevens, 258-3200, davids@lfucg.com

District 6: Kevin Stinnett, 258-3225, kstinnett@lfucg.com

District 7: K. C. Crosbie, 258-3200, kcrosbie@lfucg.com

District 8: George Myers, 258-3203, georgem2@lfucg.com

District 9: Jay McChord, 258-3215, jmcchord@lfucg.com

District 10: Don Blevins, 258-3200, dblevins@lfucg.com

District 11: Peggy Henson, 258-3218, phenson@lfucg.com

District 12: Ed Lane, 258-3221, edlane@lfucg.com

  Updated 8/14/08