wfn.org | Episcopal PB and church leaders call for end of Iraq embargo

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99-146

Griswold joins church leaders in call for end to embargo of Iraq

by James Solheim

     (ENS) Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold joined 23 other top 
American religious leaders in signing a letter to President Bill 
Clinton, asking him to lift the nine-year economic embargo of 
Iraq.

     "We have long been deeply concerned by clear evidence that 
the embargo against Iraq is contributing to falling living 
standards and life expectancy," said the September 27 letter 
written by Bishop Craig Anderson, former dean of the General 
Seminary in New York and now head of St. Paul's School in New 
Hampshire. He is completing a two-year term as president of the 
National Council of Churches.

     "By almost every measure--such as malnutrition, child 
mortality and overall morbidity--the situation of most Iraqi 
civilians has deteriorated markedly" said the letter. It cited a 
United Nations report that concluded, "The gravity of the 
humanitarian situation of the Iraqi people is indisputable and 
cannot be overstated."

     Pointing to what it called "a deepening social and 
humanitarian crisis," the letter said, "The scale of this 
suffering requires a prompt, effective response." As a result of 
the sanctions imposed following the Gulf War, "the economy of 
Iraq has virtually collapsed."

     Admitting that "the embargo is by no means the sole cause of 
the continuing suffering of the Iraqi people," the church leaders 
contended that the Iraqi government's callous responses to the 
needs of its people "do not relieve the international community 
of its responsibility to end the dreadful suffering caused by the 
embargo. The international community cannot pursue its legitimate 
goal of eliminating Iraq's weapons of mass destruction by 
threatening the lives and livelihood of innocent people. 
Continuing to do so effectively punishes the Iraqi people for the 
misdeeds of an authoritarian regime over which they have no 
control."

     The letter called for lifting "restrictions on normal trade 
in civilian goods" but "retaining appropriate political sanctions 
and a strict embargo on military-related items." It advocated 
"fresh thinking and new approaches" in dealing with Iraq's 
determination to "retain weapons of mass destruction." It 
underscored the goal of "establishing in the Middle East a zone 
free of weapons of mass destruction."

--James Solheim is director of News and Information for the 
Episcopal Church.