wfn.org | NCCCUSA LEADERS STATEMENT ON U.S. POLICY TOWARD IRAQ

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
Contact: Carol J. Fouke, NCC, 212-870-2252
Internet: carol_fouke.parti@ecunet.org

NCC9/13/96                        FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A STATEMENT OF CONCERN

In the face of present tensions between the United
States and Iraq and the continuing possibility of
U.S. air strikes, we as leaders in the National
Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
presently meeting in Geneva as participants in the
Central Committee of the World Council of Churches
strongly urge the U.S. government to pursue a course
of military restraint and multilateral diplomacy.
We believe U.S. actions always should be taken in
the context of longstanding commitments to the
family of nations, the International Rule of Law and
the well-being of all peoples.

We have no sympathy for the policies of the present
government of Iraq.  Its aggressiveness cannot be
ignored.  We have worked for finding a formula to
allow humanitarian aid to address the enormous
hardships of the Iraqi people.  The oil for food and
medicine agreement must not be lost.  Again,
President Hussein has risked his own people, and our
government's responses to his actions must not make
us complicit in such human suffering.

The commitments of the United States in this and
other settings have regularly been informed by
international counsel, broadly recognized standards
for the uses of military power and the intent and
spirit of U.N. Security Council resolutions.  We
urge continued observance of these commitments.

There is little doubt of the U.S. capacity to strike
or of the will to do so.  However, those who exploit
the need for reprisal or play upon a sad but popular
thirst for U.S. military action must also be
challenged.  Even as we urge our President to pursue
a policy of restraint and international
accountability, which we believe to be the moral
course, we reject any urging to trust only in muscle
and might.

Further we must once again speak on behalf of the
hapless victims of the hostility of nations.  We
voice our insistence that U.S. actions as well as
the actions of other nations be informed by the
consequences for all who may be caught in the
potential violence and for their families, involving
in this instance Kurds, Iraqis, American military
personnel and other potential victims.  As people of
faith, we offer our sympathies, support and prayers.

We urge all governments, including our own, to
pursue a course of discernment, diplomacy and
cooperation that will both protect human life and
embody the responsible uses of power.  We believe
this is the moral course.

Bishop Melvin Talbert
United Methodist Church
President, National Council of Churches

Joan Brown Campbell
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
General Secretary, National Council of Churches

Bishop Vinton Anderson
African Methodist Episcopal Church

Kathryn Bannister
United Methodist Church

Bishop Edmond Browning
Episcopal Church

Paul Crow, Jr.
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Maxine G. Garrett
Moravian Church (Northern Province)

Wesley Granberg-Michaelson
Reformed Church in America

Philip Jenks
American Baptist Churches

Mac Charles Jones
National Baptist Convention of America

Leonid Kishkovsky
Orthodox Church in America

Janice Love
United Methodist Church

Kathy Magnus
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Donald Miller
Church of the Brethren

Albert M. Pennybacker
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Bruce Robbins
United Methodist Church

Paul Sherry
United Church of Christ

C. Douglas Smith
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Eugene Turner
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Angelique Walker-Smith
National Baptist Convention U.S.A. Inc.

Daniel E. Weiss
American Baptist Churches
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