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SAN FRANCISCO – As the U.S. Congress wrestles with the president’s bid for military authority to strike Iraq, San Francisco supervisors Monday voted to say no to such action at this time. 

Supervisor Mark Leno’s resolution, which passed 8-2, calls such a prospect “premature” since the United Nations Security Council has yet to deliberate on its stance. 

The resolution states that the City and County of San Francisco urges the U.S. Congress to oppose military action “until the latest Iraqi offer to permit weapons inspections takes its course, the Bush administration obtains the cooperation of key allies in Europe and the Middle East, the U.N. Security Council authorizes military action under international law, and until the administration presents compelling evidence of an imminent threat to the United States.” 

Leno noted that U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, has been privy to classified security briefings because of her leadership position in the House of Representatives and commented recently that she has not been persuaded that the Middle Eastern nation poses a nuclear threat to the United States. 

Supervisors Gavin Newsom and Tony Hall voted in the minority Monday, while Supervisors Tom Ammiano and Aaron Peskin were listed as cosponsors.