Follow Up To The Iraq Forum, October 11, 2005

On October 11, 2005 the Orange County Democrat Party presented a public forum titled "How Do We Get Out of Iraq?" at the Chapel Hill High School Auditorium in Chapel Hill, NC. Discussing this critical and nationally divisive issue was:


 * David Price, US Congressman, Fourth District, NC


 * Sarah Shields, UNC Professor of History, Islamic Civilization


 * Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst, spanning administrations from John F. Kennedy to George H. W. Bush. He now works for Tell the World, the publishing arm of the Ecumenical Church of the Savior.


 * Bruce Jentleson, former Director of the Terry Sanford Institute, Chair of Department of Public Policy Studies, Duke University

The goal of the OCDP Public Issue Forum is to educate citizens and our Representative to the House in the North Carolina Fourth Congressional District about the alternatives for withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, focusing on realistic scenarios and their consequences and to provide a forum for public discussion of this critical foreign policy issue.

=Price's Position During The Forum=

The Iraq Forum on October 11, 2005 demonstrated the discrepancy between Representative Price and his constituency on the issue of pulling the troops out of Iraq on a set timetable. Representative Price has changed his position since August from believing in “put[ting] forward a strategy for success” in Iraq and for moving [it] decisively toward self-defense and self-rule” to, in October, believe that “we need to begin leaving Iraq” by adopting an “exit strategy” (which he never defined except for clarifying that it should not include a timetable for withdrawal). Price is moving toward the position of his constituency, but he is still not there.

=Accomplishment of the Forum=

The OCDP is succeeding twofold: dragging Representative Price to the constituency position, though he is still not completely there, and demonstrating that Representative Price is attuned more to constituents who are alien to the 4th district ( the later remains a question ).

=Price's Reluctance in Endorsing H.R. 55= Furthermore, Representative Price said that he does not support  H.J. Res. 55 “Requiring the President to develop and implement a plan for the withdrawal of United States Armed Forces from Iraq, and other purposes.”  Representative Price’s issue with the resolution is the requirement to implement the policy that states: “establishing a plan for the withdrawal of all United States Armed Forces from Iraq limited only by steps to ensure the safety of such Armed Forces.”  He objects, as if we were a benevolent force in Iraq to start with  --in other words if we don’t state “safety of Iraqis” than the resolution is weak! Did I misunderstand this?

=OCDP's Stand on Withdrawing Troops From Iraq=

The “Bring the Troops Home Resolution” adopted by the Orange County Democrats on April 9, 2005 clearly states “that the Orange County Democratic Party Urges the U.S. Government to immediately begin withdrawal of U.S. troops on a firm timetable; to aggressively pursue internationalization of peacekeeping, security and redevelopment efforts in Iraq; and to work to ensure that the emerging Iraq Government has full sovereignty over its political and economic policies.”

=Who does Price Represent?=

The forum on Iraq was not attended by the democratic left of Orange county: it was attended by the Orange County Democrats. The question remains as to who Representative Price is representing on this very significant issue. Is the Orange County Democratic party really an outlier of the 4th district?

=Follow Up To The Forum=

Find out if Price is Representing the 4th district
We know that he doesn’t represent Orange County. Do Wake, Durham and Chatham Counties have resolutions for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq? Do these county’s parties represent their constituents as well as Orange does?

Iraq Forum Durham
What would the atmosphere of an Iraq forum be like in Durham?

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