wfn.org | Military restraint toward Iraq urged

[DISCNEWS.parti@ecunet.org]

September 23, 1996
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
September 23, 1996
Cliff_Willis.parti@ecunet.org
     
96b-82
     
     GENEVA, Switzerland (WCC) -- Four Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ) representatives to the World Council
of Churches' Central Committee, signed a recent statement by
the U.S. National Council of Churches expressing concern
about U.S. attacks on Iraq.

     During a Sept. 18 morning session in Geneva, Central
Committee members cited a Sept. 13 NCC statement on Iraq and
called on all nations to "respect the territorial integrity
of Iraq."

     The earlier NCC statement urged the U.S. government to
"pursue a course of military restraint and multilateral
diplomacy" in regard to any continuing actions on Iraq.
"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," according to the statement.

     While offering "no sympathy" for the present Iraqi
government, the NCC expressed concern that the humanitarian
aid for its people and "the oil for food and medicine
agreement must not be lost. Our government's responses to
his actions must not make us complicit in such human
suffering. 

     "There is little doubt of the U.S. capacity to strike
or of the will to do so," the statement continued. "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. 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."

     The Central Committee also voiced approval of a WCC
press statement, issued Sept. 4, which called the U.S.
attacks against Iraq "indefensible on moral grounds."

     "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 . . . this is the moral course." 

     Disciples signing the NCC statement were the Revs. Joan
Brown Campbell, NCC general secretary; Paul A. Crow, Jr.,
president, Council on Christian Unity; Albert M.
Pennybacker, NCC; and Douglas Smith, Geneva, Switzerland.
 
                           - 30 -

DISCNEWS - inbox for Disciples News Service, Office of Communication,
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), PO Box 1986 Indianapolis, IN 46206,
tele. (317) 635-3100, (DISCNEWS) Wilma Shuffitt, News and Information
Assistant; (CLIFF WILLIS) Cliff Willis, Director of News and Information;
(CURT MILLER) Executive Director