wfn.org | ABCUSA: Leaders Issue 'A Call to Stop the Rush to War'

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

American Baptist News Service (9/11/02)--American Baptist Churches USA
General Secretary A. Roy Medley and 36 other international Christian leaders
have issued a statement urging "diplomatic means in active cooperation with
the United Nations" as an alternative to "the apparent rush to war" with
Iraq. 

The leaders, from U.S., Canadian and British churches, issued their
statement, "A Call to Stop the Rush to War," at the recent Central Committee
meeting of the World Council of Churches in Geneva.  The text follows:

"As representatives and participants from the United States, British and
Canadian churches meeting at the Central Committee of the World Council of
Churches, we have heard and share the concern of those of other nations
about the apparent drift towards military confrontation in Iraq.

"As the calls for military action to remove Saddam Hussein from power in
Iraq have grown louder, we call for restraint. We are concerned about the
situation in Iraq. We believe that the Iraqi government has a duty to stop
its internal repression, to end its threats to peace, to abandon its efforts
to develop weapons of mass destruction, and to respect the legitimate role
of the United Nations in ensuring that it does so. But we also believe that
the international community is weakened and respect for law undermined when
national governments act individually rather than collectively to secure
these goals. We have watched with growing alarm as the United States
government has become increasingly unilateral in its approach to foreign
affairs, and has failed to heed the advice and counsel of friends and
allies.

"Although both the U.S. and U.K. governments have claimed that they have
evidence that Saddam Hussein is building up weapons of mass destruction,
they have so far refused to make that evidence public. This undermines
democratic government by depriving the U.S. Congress and the U.K. Parliament
of the ability to make a considered judgment regarding the justification for
war. Furthermore, the United Nations Charter does not permit states to
engage in pre-emptive war. We therefore urge our governments to pursue this
matter through the United Nations Security Council: In particular, we urge
that Saddam Hussein's offer to re-admit U.N. Weapons Inspectors be accepted.

"Our knowledge of and links with church partners in the Middle East and our
unity in Christ with Christians there make us very sensitive to the
destabilizing potential of a war against Iraq for the whole region. There is
no support among the Arab nations for such a war and very little support in
Europe and elsewhere. Christian-Muslim relations would be further harmed by
such a war, and the possibility of such an action triggering direct military
confrontation in Israel cannot be ignored. Further, the forces of extremism
and terrorism would be strengthened rather than diminished.
	
"As Christians, we are concerned by the likely human costs of war with Iraq,
particularly for civilians. We are unconvinced that the gain for humanity
would be proportionate to the loss. Neither are we convinced that it has
been publicly demonstrated that all reasonable alternative means of
containing Iraq's development of weapons of mass destruction have been
exhausted. We call upon our governments to pursue these diplomatic means in
active cooperation with the United Nations and to stop the apparent rush to
war. 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God'"
(Matthew 5:9).

02ABN133

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