On the one hand, City Council President Michael Flaherty is right: the city council has more immediate, local matters to attend to than the now-imminent war in Iraq.

However, the council president and some of his colleagues are missing a beat by refusing to allow the council to consider a resolution calling on President Bush to find another way- short of war. Whether you agree with the use of force against Iraq or not, let there be no doubt: there will be profound and far-reaching consequences in our city, our neighborhood. First and foremost, the lives of Dorchester men and women preparing to ship off to the Middle East- and the livelihoods of thousands more who will be left behind here at home- are at stake.

Secondly, there are extreme economic consequences to President Bush's war plans, many of which will be left squarely in the laps of Mayor Menino, President Flaherty and our other elected leaders. Untold billions are expected to be spent in the Iraqi campaign, funds that could have helped bolster our homeland defenses, such as police and fire departments and medical staff. Instead, we face the very real prospect of layoffs in those same departments, which are so vitally important to us even in peacetime. Perhaps that is why similar governing bodies in cities across the country, including Chicago, have weighed in on the issue, most choosing to send a message of caution to President Bush. It is imperative that we, through our elected leaders, make our feelings on war and peace known to the administration now, not at some undetermined time after war begins.

Last week, Councillors Felix Arroyo, Rob Consalvo and Chuck Turner introduced a resolution against going to war- and it is altogether appropriate that they do so in their capacity as representatives of constituents who will be impacted by such a decision. To paraphrase an old axiom, 'Now is the time for all good men to come to the aide of their country.'

You shouldn't have to wear a Congressman's pin to engage in a public debate over our nation's path towards war. Indeed, it is the one issue that should transcend the rigid boundaries of our local political customs. When should we consider war a local issue? When we have to expend city funds to buy memorial plaques to adorn our street signs?

Each Memorial Day, Dorchester is served a somber reminder of the costs of war to our community. We meet in a cemetery, where hundreds, perhaps thousands of local people are interred, people who died fighting in foreign wars and on southern battlefields. They died honorably, waging just wars against enemies that threatened our way of life.

But, we don't have to wait until May to know what may lie ahead for our soldiers. In today's edition, we have a front-page reminder of the continuing bravery of our community and others like it here in Boston. Let's not forget for a moment that the lives of real people, our neighbors and our neighbors' children, are on the line in this fight. We owe it to them to make damn sure it's worth the risk.