wfn.org | ABCUSA: Weiss Joins in 'Alternative to War for Defeating Saddam

["SCHRAMM, Richard" <Richard.Schramm@abc-usa.org>]

Hussein'  Statement

American Baptist News Service (Valley Forge, Pa. 3/10/03)--Former American
Baptist Churches USA General Secretary the Rev. Dr. Daniel E. Weiss has
joined other members of a recent peace delegation to London in issuing "An
Alternative to War for Defeating Saddam Hussein: A Religious Initiative" as
a response to "eleventh hour" tensions arising from the Iraq crisis and the
threat of imminent armed conflict.

In their statement the leaders note: "The world is desperate for a 'third
way' between war and ineffectual responses--an alternative to war as the way
to defeat Saddam Hussein. If we are to find an effective response to Saddam
instead of a full-scale military assault against Iraq, that 'instead' must
be strong enough to be a serious alternative to war."

Weiss had represented General Secretary the Rev. Dr. A. Roy Medley as part
of the delegation-- organized by the Washington, D.C.-based Christian
organization Sojourners and the National Council of Churches of Christ-that
met Feb.17-18 with British political and religious leaders to discuss the
crisis with Iraq and encourage alternatives to war.  In addition to Weiss,
delegation members included Sojourners Executive Director the Rev. James
Wallis; the Rev. John Chane, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington
D.C.; the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church,
USA; and Bishop Melvin Talbert, ecumenical officer of the Council of United
Methodist Bishops.

Their statement outlines six actions that, they maintain, would provide an
alternative means of both defeating Hussein and avoiding war: 

"It is the eleventh hour, and the world is poised on the edge of war. Church
leaders have consistently warned of the unpredictable and potentially
disastrous consequences of war: massive civilian casualties, a precedent for
preemptive war, further destabilization of the Middle East, and the fueling
of more terrorism.

"Yet the failure to effectively disarm Saddam Hussein and his brutal regime
could also have potentially catastrophic consequences. The potential nexus
between weapons of mass destruction and terrorism is the leading security
issue in the world today. This is the moral dilemma: a decision between the
terrible nature of that threat and the terrible nature of war as a
solution....

"In November 2002, the U.N. Security Council decided that Iraq was in
'material breach' of previous resolutions but gave Iraq 'a final chance to
comply with its disarmament obligations.' Since then, the threat of military
force has been decisive in getting inspectors back into Iraq, putting
pressure on Saddam finally to comply, and in building an international
consensus for the disarmament of Iraq. The Security Council also 'warned
Iraq that it will face serious consequences as a result of its continued
violations of its obligations' if it did not comply.  Yet those 'serious
consequences' need not be war against the people of Iraq. The consequences
should mean further and more serious actions against Saddam Hussein and his
regime, rather than a devastating attack on the people of Iraq.

"On February 18, 2003, a delegation of U.S. church leaders, accompanied by
colleagues from the United Kingdom and the worldwide Anglican Communion, met
with Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Secretary of State for International
Development, Clare Short, to discuss alternatives to war. The following
elements of a 'third way'--an alternative to war--were developed from those
discussions and subsequent conversations among the U.S. delegation.

"1. Remove Saddam Hussein and the Baath Party from power.
"The Bush administration and the antiwar movement are agreed on one thing -
Saddam Hussein is a brutal and dangerous dictator. Virtually nobody has
sympathy for him, either in the West or in the Arab world, but everyone has
great sympathy for the Iraqi people who have already suffered greatly from
war, a decade of sanctions, and the corrupt and violent regime of Saddam
Hussein. So let's separate Saddam from the Iraqi people. Target him, but
protect them.
"As urged by Human Rights Watch and others, the U.N. Security Council should
establish an international tribunal to indict Saddam and his top officials
for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Indicting Saddam would send a
clear signal to the world that he has no future. It would set into motion
both internal and external forces that might remove him from power. It would
make it clear that no solution to this conflict will include Saddam or his
supporters staying in power....  Focusing on Saddam and not the Iraqi people
would clearly demonstrate that the United States' sole interest is in
changing his regime and disarming his weapons rather than in harming the
Iraqi people. It would cause world opinion to coalesce against Saddam's
regime rather than against a U.S.-led war, as is now happening.

"2. Enforce coercive disarmament.
"a. Military enforcement. Removing Saddam must be coupled with greatly
intensified inspections to fully enforce all U.N. Security Council
resolutions that relate to Iraq since the 1991 Gulf War. Inspections
have shown progress--the agreement by Iraq to destroy its Al Samoud-2
missiles is significant. But rather than simply increasing the number of
inspectors, inspections must be conducted more aggressively and on a
much broader scale. The existing U.S. military deployment should be
restructured as a multinational force with a U.N. mandate to support and
enforce inspections. The force would accompany inspectors to conduct
extremely intrusive inspections, be authorized to enter any site, retaliate
against any interference, and destroy any weapons of mass destruction that
it found. A more coercive inspections regimen should also include the
unrestricted use of spy planes and expanded no-fly and no-drive zones.
"b. Strengthen the arms embargo. The current system for preventing Iraq from
acquiring prohibited weapons must be strengthened by a more effective
monitoring system and the installation of advanced detection technology on
Iraq's borders. At present there is no international monitoring of
commercial crossings into Iraq from Jordan, Syria, Turkey, and other
neighboring states. The use of advanced monitoring and scanning technology
along with sanctions assistance missions on the borders would significantly
improve the capability to monitor borders and prevent illegal arms
shipments.

"3. Foster a democratic Iraq.
"The United Nations should begin immediately to plan for a post-Saddam Iraq,
administered temporarily by the U.N. and backed by an international armed
force, rather than a U.S. military occupation. An American viceroy in an
occupied Iraq is the wrong solution. A true democratic opposition must be
identified and developed, rather than simply identifying forces who would
contribute to a U.S. invasion. An internationally directed post-Saddam
administration could assist Iraqis in initiating a constitutional process
leading to democratic elections.

"4. Organize a massive humanitarian effort now for the people of Iraq.
"The 1991 Gulf War, the following decade of sanctions, and the corrupt
regime of Saddam Hussein have caused immense suffering for the people of
Iraq. In recent days, U.N. humanitarian agencies have begun evacuating
personnel in light of an impending war. Rather than waiting until after a
war, U.N. and nongovernmental relief agencies should significantly expand
efforts now to provide food, medical supplies, and other humanitarian
assistance to the people of Iraq. Focusing on the suffering of the Iraqi
people, and immediately trying to relieve it, will further help to protect
them from being the unintended targets of war. It also helps to further
isolate Saddam Hussein from the Iraqi people by contrasting the world's
humanitarian concern with Saddam's indifference toward his own people.
Humanitarian aid deliveries must be protected, if necessary, by a U.N. force
under Security Council mandate.

"5. Recommit to a 'Roadmap to Peace' in the Middle East.
"The road to peace in the Middle East leads not through Baghdad, but through
Jerusalem. The United States, United Kingdom, and other European Union
nations must address a root cause of Middle East conflict by committing to a
peace plan resulting in a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel
and Palestine. It should guarantee a Palestinian state by 2005 while
guaranteeing the safety and security of Israel. This would show the clear
political and moral link between the deeply rooted and unresolved Middle
East crisis and the larger war on terrorism, including the Iraq issue.

"6. Reinvigorate and sustain the 'war against terrorism.'
"The international campaign against terrorism has succeeded in identifying
and apprehending suspects, freezing financial assets, and isolating terror
networks--most recently with the arrest of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. But it is
in danger of being disrupted, both by acrimony and by lack of attention, as
the world focuses on the impending conflict with Iraq. Most significant, a
war against Iraq will fuel anti-American animosity in the Arab world, where
cooperation in the war on terror is most needed.

"It is five minutes before midnight, as Martin Luther King Jr. might have
put it. Unless an alternative to war is found, a military conflagration soon
will be unleashed. A morally rooted and pragmatically minded initiative,
broadly supported by people of faith and people of good will, might help to
achieve a historic breakthrough and set a precedent for decisive and
effective international action in the many crises we face in the
post-September 11 world."

General Secretary Medley praised the delegation's work:  "As Christians we
must always first seek diplomatic solutions to crises that threaten to
engulf us in armed conflict.  It is indeed the eleventh hour in the Iraq
situation, and this urgent proposal provides a compassionate yet practical
process for addressing both oppression and justice, short of war.  I also
appreciate the call to see the Israel-Palestine question as focal to Middle
East peace.  I thank Dan and his colleagues for their intense work over the
past month; this has been a notable effort in Christ-centered peacemaking.
I pray that it will be gratefully received and implemented by those who will
make the ultimate momentous decisions regarding diplomacy and war."

K/2003ABNS/03ABN37

American Baptist News Service: Office of Communication, American Baptist
Churches USA, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851; (800)ABC-3USA x2077
/ (610)768-2077; fax: (610)768-2320; www.abc-usa.org;
richard.schramm@abc-usa.org