Who asked 'em?

Baltimore City Council calls for Iraq pullout.

[C]ouncil members have been derided in the past for dabbling in issues over which they have no influence. They have previously passed resolutions demanding the right of self-determination for the Lithuanian people, condemning slavery in Mauritania, criticizing the repression of the Ahmadiyya religious movement by the Pakistani government, and calling for the end of violence in Northern Ireland and apartheid in South Africa.

Before last night's meeting, which was marked by a somber, serious tone, council members did little to deflect derision from critics by engaging in an often glib luncheon debate about their action.

At one point during the council's lunch yesterday, members debated the word immediate, as if the resolution would force the U.S. military into a dilemma of having to leave Iraq right away.

Spector said her support could depend on the word immediate. The resolution's co-sponsor, Mary Pat Clarke, said she knows a withdrawal would "take a while," but that "it must begin."

Don't you just love it when cities have their own foreign policy?