GLENDALE — The war in Iraq and foreign policy are among the top issues for candidates running against incumbent Adam Schiff for the 29th Congressional District seat on Nov. 7.
"I want to end the war and bring the troops home," said Bill Paparian, a former mayor of Pasadena and a member of the Green Party.
He is running against Schiff, a Democrat; Linda Llamas, of the Peace and Freedom Party; Libertarian Jim Keller; and Republican William Bodell.
The 29th Congressional District includes Glendale, Burbank and Pasadena.
"The reason I came out of political retirement, and I was happily retired, is I have three sons of military service age," Paparian said. "If we continue down the path we are on, we are going to have to return to compulsory military service."
Paparian criticized Schiff's track record with the war and said that the congressman is only now shifting his thoughts on the situation in Iraq — a point activist Llamas also stressed.
"You have to look at the money spent, the time spent and the lives lost, and you have to look at what that money could do here," she said, adding that war funds could be better used for things like health care, raising the minimum wage and schools.
But Schiff, who was elected in 2000, defended his record and said he has been working hard to bring change to the course of the war.
"[We need to] change course in Iraq so that our young people are not continuing to face the dangers they facing there in what has tragically become a civil war," Schiff said. "How we change our strategy is important, and part of that is to draw down our troops. I think having such a long military presence in Iraq is fueling the insurgency."
A change in foreign policy could also ease the unrest in that country, said Keller, who produces educational media at Caltech.
"The international community has made it very clear they are willing to take over peace-keeping in Iraq as long as we are not in charge," he said. "We should really take them up on that."
But better foreign policy can't stop there, Paparian said.
"What's eclipsed [the war] and become a more important issue — and the Israeli aggression against Lebanon brought it to the forefront — has to do with the control of American foreign policy by Israeli lobby."
He said the country's foreign policy is under control of Israeli lobbyists, and that needs to stop.
