Good News Monday

I wanted to start off the week with some good news, and these stories certainly fill the bill -- even though they report good news about a bad war. Added plus: the first item comes from the city where I was born and raised:

From the Chicago Independent Media Center:

Chicago City Council Votes 29-to-9 for Iraq Pullout
CHICAGO (September 15, 2005) -The Chicago City Council Wednesday passed a resolution demanding the removal of US troops from Iraq. Passing by a Council vote of 29 to 9, with 12 abstaining or not voting, the resolution urges 'the United States government to immediately commence an orderly and rapid withdrawal' from Iraq. In addition to the death and suffering of the war, the resolution stressed that 'Chicago residents' share of monies appropriated for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan now exceeds $2.1 billion.'

Disapproval Growing: According to the latest CBS News/NY Times Poll, almost 60% of Americans disapprove of the way Bush is handling Iraq, while 63% are "uneasy" about his decisionmaking ability regarding the war. Also, 50% now believe we should not have invaded Iraq, with 75% saying Bush has no clear plan for getting out of Iraq and 90% saying cuts to domestic programs should not be used to pay for the war. Wow.

Even Bill Clinton is now down on the war:

Breaking with tradition under which US presidents mute criticisms of their successors, Clinton said the Bush administration had decided to invade Iraq "virtually alone and before UN inspections were completed, with no real urgency, no evidence that there were weapons of mass destruction."

The Iraq war diverted US attention from the war on terrorism "and undermined the support that we might have had," Bush said in an interview with an ABC's "This Week" programme.

Too bad his wife didn't vote against the war and he didn't make theses criticisms when they might have had some power to stop the war. I guess he watches the polling closely, eh?

THIS JUST IN: More good news:

L. Dennis Kozlowski, the former CEO of Tyco International Ltd., and former Tyco finance chief Mark Swartz were sentenced Monday to up to 25 years in prison for stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from the company.L. Dennis Kozlowski, the former CEO of Tyco International Ltd., and former Tyco finance chief Mark Swartz were sentenced Monday to up to 25 years in prison for stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from the company.