In the earlier days of the occupation, the event most responsible for shattering the pro-war view in U.S. public opinion was the graphic revelation of the Abu Ghraib tortures. The anti-war movement rightly linked the tortures to the war and occupation.

For some "representatives" of the anti-war movement to now turn around and curry favor with power by inviting the City of Chicago's foremost torture enabler, Richard M. Daley, to speak at a peace event, strikes many of us as hypocrisy of a very high order, something which also serves to severely diminish the peace movement's reputation in many quarters, and hence something we want to dissassociate ourselves from.

It's precisely the sort of tone-deaf action which alienates many African American activists away from a predominately white peace movement. For all the organizers' talk about the "diversity" and "breadth" of O27 Chicago endorsers, it's hardly accidental that there is not a single, prominent African American anti-police brutality leader among them. I saw one person passing out O27 literature at a West Side anti-police brutality rally in August. If that flyer had clearly mentioned that Daley was an invited speaker to O27, I think that person would have had a rough time of it there. Chicago police shoot and kill civilians at a per capita rate 4X that of New York City, according to the latest available statistics. People were in no mood to be nice to Da Mare, or anyone who fronted for him, after yet another police killing.

It's recently been revealed that Daley's lawyers have spent in excess of $20 million in your tax money to mount a series of stalling actions in federal court to avoid a settlement or trial in four of the key Jon Burge cases. When O27 reps talk about the cost of the war abroad to social programs here at home, they should ALSO factor in the cost of the war at home to things like our crumbling mass transit system, health care, schools, etc.