Wisconsin Voters Prepare to Weigh In On the War in Iraq

"They say they're supporting the troops, but they're not," said Gillis, 53, a city worker who believes that the troops and the mission are inseparable.

Gillis sees in the Wisconsin initiative an echo of the 1960s protests against the Vietnam War in nearby Madison that helped sour a nation on the war and how it was fought. He said: "We gave up before our mission was accomplished, and we turned around and came home. I don't want to see that happen again."

The passion in some quarters in Watertown is as clear as the writing on the window of lawyer Ronald W. Ziwisky's downtown office and the words sent from Iraq by Army Capt. Jim Leslie, who left his City Council post late last year to serve as a chaplain in the 4th Infantry Division.

"Sent to their death by Osama: 2,189," Ziwisky's window read on a recent day, referring to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"Sent to their death by George: 2,296," referring to the number of American casualties since the Iraq war began.

As the council debated the referendum, Leslie wrote from Forward Operating Base Duke to urge them not to permit the April vote. He said "disagreement is an all-American pastime" but also said passing the measure would comfort the enemy and frustrate U.S. soldiers.

"We had five soldiers killed recently here from an IED," Leslie said, referring to an improvised explosive device. "Soldiers hate war. I saw with my own eyes what war does to soldiers, and I hope never to see it again. Please send us an encouraging referendum or don't send one at all."

The Watertown referendum, like most others in the state, began with the Wisconsin Green Party, which made a pitch to Eiler and her group in October. Drawing on a law from the Progressive Era that sanctioned "direct legislation" in municipalities as a curb on power, activists soon started gathering signatures -- a number equal to 15 percent of the people who voted for governor in the last election.

When the city clerk checked their work, 986 of the 1,000 signatures proved valid, six more than they needed.

The City Council objected, however, voting 5 to 4 that the issue was a federal matter unsuitable for local action. Eiler and fellow members of the Watertown Peace and Democracy Coalition filed suit.

A judge ruled in their favor and ordered the council to approve a resolution on its own or set a referendum. The council approved a citywide vote. But members also voted 8 to 0 to declare their opposition to the referendum.

"Be it resolved," the ballot issue reads, in language that differs slightly among the Wisconsin towns, "the city of Watertown urges the United States to begin an immediate withdrawal of its troops from Iraq, starting with National Guard and Reserves."

Mayor John David said the politics became personal, but he said he mostly hears comments that amount to spoofs, such as the person who collared him at a high school basketball game and said Watertown ought to vote on renaming Minnesota's official state bird, for all the influence the town has over national security policy.

"If it was something that no matter how it turned out, it might do some good, it might be worth discussing," said David, whose office in a Republican town is nonpartisan. "But we're having the discussion, and I'm not sure it's going to do any good. That's the sad part of it."

A number of anti-referendum organizations have established steering committees and Web sites in an effort to defeat the April 4 measures. One site urges "Vote No to Cut and Run" and admonishes readers to "let our troops git 'er done."

Chris Muller, chairman of the La Crosse Republican Party, runs Choosevictory.org, which aims to defeat the antiwar activists at their own game. Like their counterparts to the east, La Crosse council members permitted the referendum but voted 13 to 3 to oppose an immediate troop withdrawal.

"A defeatist attitude is not going to get us anywhere in the world, and it's certainly not going to help our children in the future," Muller said, adding that a yes vote would harm troop morale. "Constantly seeing the negative stuff and not seeing the good that they're doing over there, and having people essentially second-guessing them and their leadership has got to have an effect on them."

That is not how the referendum's supporters see the exercise.

"People always have to lead politicians. Politicians are waiting to see which way the wind is blowing," said Bill Reichertz, who gathered signatures for the petition in Watertown. "The fight is worth it no matter whether we win or lose, because democracy lets people have a vote."