wfn.org | Bombing could worsen Iraqi misery, church leaders say

["Barb Powell"<powellb@ucc.org>]

      TITLE:  UCC/CC(DOC) Bombing could worsen Iraqi people's misery,
      church leaders warn
      Feb. 17. 1998
      
      Office of Communication
      United Church of Christ
      Hans Holznagel
      (216) 736-2214
      holznagh@ucc.org
      On the Web: www.ucc.org
      
      Office of Communication
      Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)                      
      Clifford L. Willis
      (317) 635-3113, ext. 207
      cwillis@oc.disciples.org
      On the Web:  www.disciples.org
      
         Bombing could worsen Iraqi people's misery
      and still not stop Saddam, church leaders warn
                                       
           CLEVELAND --  Acknowledging the suffering of Iraqis under the
"horrible regime" of Saddam Hussein, the leaders of two North American
mainline Protestant churches today (Feb. 17) nonetheless urged President
Clinton to consider alternatives to military force --  for the sake of those
same Iraqi citizens.
            Iraq's people have also been "victims of a murderous regime of
economic sanctions that has already claimed the lives of over a
half-million Iraqi children, for lack of food, medicine and potable water. 
Bombing Iraq will only make their lives more miserable," wrote the Rev.
Paul H. Sherry of Cleveland, president of the United Church of Christ, and
the Rev. Richard L. Hamm of Indianapolis, general minister and president
of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
            Their comments appear in a letter that was faxed to Clinton today.
            In addition, Sherry and Hamm are among the religious leaders who
have signed on to a statement from the National Council of Churches
opposing any bombing of Iraq.
            The United Church of Christ, with national offices in Cleveland,
has 1.5 million members and more than 6,000 local churches in the United
States and Puerto Rico.  The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), with
general offices in Indianapolis, has more than 900,000 members and more
than 3,900 congregations in the United States and Canada.  In both
denominations, local churches and members are free to hold opinions that
differ from statements made by officers and national bodies of the two
churches.
      
      #    #    #
                                 
[EDITORS: Here is the full text of a letter sent to President Clinton today
by the Rev. Paul H. Sherry, president of the United Church of Christ, and
the Rev. Richard Hamm, general minister and president of the Christian
Church (Disciples of Christ).]
         
      "We write to you as you ponder the use of military force against Iraq. 
We urge restraint.  We entertain no illusions about the nature of the Iraqi
regime.  This is, indeed, a regime that has ruthlessly violated the basic
human rights of many of its own citizens; a regime that has already used
poison gas against Iranian adversaries and against its own Kurdish
population; a regime that invaded and occupied the sovereign nation of
Kuwait. 
      "It is, however, our vocation as church leaders not only to condemn the
wrongdoing of tyrants, but also to speak on behalf of those who are
rendered voiceless and without advocates in the corridors of power, in this
instance the people of Iraq.  The Iraqi people have not made the fateful
decisions that now make them the potential targets of a devastating air
attack.  Nor were they involved in any meaningful way in the earlier
decision to invade Kuwait.  It seems that the role assigned to them by their
own government and by the international community is the role of victims,
victims of the horrible regime of Saddam Hussein, and victims of a
murderous regime of economic sanctions that has already claimed the
lives of over a half million Iraqi children, for lack of food, medicine and
potable water.
      
      "Bombing Iraq will only make their lives more miserable, and will in
the process provoke the anger of other Middle Easterners who see Iraq,
once a self-sufficient and advanced Arab country, now reduced to what
one UN observer team called a 'pre-industrial state.'  Nor is it clear that
such bombing will, in fact, affect Iraq's capacity to produce or deploy
weapons of mass destruction.  Iraq must, we agree, be brought into
compliance with UN resolutions calling for the elimination of these
weapons, but we would urge that diplomacy among other Arab states be
given a chance.
      
      "It has been our experience that tyranny's most potent enemy is
freedom.  The continued imposition of non-military sanctions on Iraq has
thus far served only to strengthen the internal position of Saddam Hussein,
while increasing the misery of his people, and denying them contact with
the outside world.  We would urge you to consider alternatives to the
current policy of isolating Iraq, beginning with a relaxation on restrictions
on the importation of humanitarian goods.
      
      "Our prayers are with you, Mr. President, as you make this critical
decision."

       [EDITORS:  Sherry and Hamm are available for interviews, as is Dr.
Dale Bishop, a former Columbia University professor who is the Middle
East specialist for the Disciples and the UCC.  To arrange an interview,
phone the contact persons at the top of this release, or phone Dr. Bishop in
New York City at (212) 870-2831.]