Presbyterian Peace Fellowship calls for
"no war against Iraq" and for "nonviolent ways of dealing
with this international crisis because of the words of Jesus."
[9-13-02]
We have just received the following statement by the
Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, in which they endorse the following
statement by the Fellowship of Reconciliation, "No
War With Iraq."
You might want to check out the Peace
Fellowship website, too.
The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship endorses the following statement by
the Fellowship of Reconciliation, "No War With Iraq."
We are compelled to call for no war against Iraq, one
that would really be an expansion of the current bombings, and for the
end of the economic sanctions against Iraq, and for nonviolent ways of
dealing with this international crisis because of the words of Jesus:
"Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be
called the children of God. "
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love
your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, 'Love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you.'"
"All who take the sword will perish by the
sword."
The apostle Paul builds upon these words when he says,
"Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is
noble in the sight of all."
We do not cite these passages as mere proof-texts, but
we see them as exemplifying the whole nonviolent life of Jesus and the
early church. By their life and their words we are compelled to find a
better way than escalating into a full scale, massive war the bombing
that has taken place for many years .
Furthermore, we find the proposed war to be in
violation of the Just/Justifiable War Theory that is generally accepted
among churches, and also in violation of the criteria for military
intervention as adopted by the PC(USA) General Assembly in the 1998 Just
Peacemaking statement.
Rather than escalating the war, we call for serious
efforts to have inspectors return to Iraq as a part of an agreement to
end economic sanctions We also call for the implementation of United
Security Council Resolution 687 that deals with a nuclear-free zone in
the Middle East, and for the implementation by all parties, beginning
with the United States, of all international agreements dealing with the
control or elimination of chemical and biological weapons.
We pledge ourselves to be faithful in prayer for a
just peace, and to do all we can to influence our government to pursue
policies that will reduce the threats of war and the weapons of war, and
that will lead to nations finding nonviolent, diplomatic means of
managing and resolving conflict. We invite others to join us in this
same commitment.
In the event that our government chooses the course of
full-scale war, we commit ourselves to expressing our disapproval by
nonviolent actions in the hope of heeding Jesus' call that we be, not
warmakers, but peacemakers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NO WAR WITH IRAQ!
A Statement by the US Fellowship of
Reconciliation
August 16, 2002
The imminent possibility of a new war threatens the
people of Iraq and the world. It is a war planned by the United States
that would continue more than twelve years of economic and military
violence that has decimated the Iraqi economy and physical
infrastructure.
Despite the opposition of the international community,
including many of America's European political allies, and ambivalent
voices within the Bush administration itself, it is clear that
militaristic, pro-war advocates in the administration are planning a
massive, unilateral attack against Iraq. Such attacks would involve
American air, naval, and ground forces and would certainly result in
massive civilian and military casualties, including US military
casualties that would far exceed the death toll of the last Gulf War.
These preparations for new war and aggression against
Iraq take place in the context of continued economic sanctions that have
already killed more than one million Iraqi civilians since 1990. They
take place despite the efforts made by the United Nations and other
international bodies to negotiate the resumption of weapons inspections
in Iraq within the framework of international law and respect for the
human rights of the Iraqi people.
This renewed warfare is planned even though Iraq has
made no threat to attack the United States, and has not been proven to
be in complicity with those who did so last September 11th.
This threat of war takes place without the permission
of the United States Congress, the Security Council of the United
Nations, and certainly without the consent of the international
community dedicated to conflict resolution through nonviolent means.
This threat of war violates all standards of
international law. And more importantly, it violates the basic right of
the Iraqi people, and all people, to live in peace and security.
This call for new war is an affront to the world
community and to respect for human life. It guarantees huge profits for
the war machine at the expense of the death and suffering of untold
people in the Middle East region and the United States. It is motivated
not by the stated desire for "democracy" in Iraq, but by the
greed of an economic system driven by profit and the consumption and
control of natural resources all around the globe. The development of
alternative sources of energy, not war, should be a top priority of U.S.
policy makers.
A new war against Iraq cannot, and must not, happen.
And the Fellowship of Reconciliation calls on the global community and
upon all those who respect the rule of law over the rule of force, to do
everything possible to nonviolently oppose it.
Instead of more U.S. bombs and missiles dropped on
their villages and cities, we believe that the Iraqi people need clean
water, food, electricity, medicines, housing, and the basic implements
of civilized life denied to them by more than decade of sanctions.
Instead of threatening war, we call upon the U.S., and
the United Nations, to welcome Iraq back into full membership in the
international community, and to end the years of economic warfare that
have crippled Iraqíís population while creating no meaningful change
in its government. Such a change in international policy must take place
within the context of our continued call for disarmament in the Middle
East region and throughout the world. And in place of security based on
coercion and intimidation, we call upon the responsible powers in the
government of the United States to harness our collective and creative
power to resolve international disputes without resorting to massive
violence. We can best assure the elimination of any weapons of mass
destruction in Iraq - real or imagined - by working for disarmament
throughout the Middle East as well as in this country.
The government of the United States represents itself
as a government "of, by and for the people". The people
therefore must speak out, organize, and oppose the violence of renewed
war.
And we demand that our resources, and our children,
will not be sacrificed to corporate greed nor to the machinery of the
war system.
War will never guarantee the removal of weapons of
mass destruction from any place in our world; indeed, the threat of war
is a weapon of destruction itself.
It is only when threats are replaced by principled
negotiations, and violence is replaced by nonviolence, that the people
of Iraq, and the U.S., will live in greater security, dignity, and
harmony with each other and the world.
Neither the security of the United States nor the
security of Iraq can be enhanced by violence. War is not the answer. We
must join together, in the spirit of nonviolent transformation, to make
sure that war in the new millennium will cease to be a possibility.
Contact:
Ibrahim Abdil-Mu'id Ramey (disarm@forusa.org)
Hossein Alizadeh (iraq@forusa.org)
