OAKLAND — Oakland is on record opposing a military strike against Iran after the City Council voted unanimously Tuesday on a symbolic resolution calling on Congress to stop the Bush administration from such an attack.

The council's vote came as politicians on the presidential campaign trail and in Washington, D.C., hotly debated whether the military option should be left on the table as the U.S. government tries to ensure that Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.

Councilmember Jane Brunner (North Oakland) said that as she read reports on Iran in newspapers recently, she was reminded of the Bush administration's justification for war in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq five years ago.

It started to feel like deja vu, she said.

Brunner joined Councilmember Nancy Nadel (Downtown-West Oakland) in introducing the resolution.

The Iran vote came at the beginning of an hours-long meeting at which council members were expected to debate whether to ban smoking on city golf courses and to take a key vote on the future development of the former Army Base in West Oakland.

Before the meeting began, a group of about 40 people demonstrated in front of City Hall in favor of the Iran resolution.

"We're really proud of the Oakland City Council for getting this resolution to the table, and we're confident it's going to pass," said Rae Abileah, an organizer with the group CODEPINK.

As people took turns at the microphone, demonstrators held signs reading, "Oakland stands for peace" and "No war in Iran."

About 15 public speakers offered their thoughts on the Iran resolution during the meeting, all of them speaking in favor of it.

Nadel said her office did receive one phone call from someone questioning why the council didn't spend its time filling potholes, rather than passing political resolutions.

Her response?

"All I can say is if we had the billions of dollars that are being wasted on the war, we could fill an awful lot of potholes," she said.


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