wfn.org | LWF Criticizes 'Coalition of the Willing' Outside UN Framework

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

LWF Executive Committee Criticizes 'Coalition of the Willing'
Outside UN Framework
Call for a Global Disarmament That Includes All Weapons and States

GENEVA, 17 March 2003 (LWI) - The Executive Committee of the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has sharply criticized governments
that are coercing alliances that threaten the integrity and
authority of the United Nations in the current standoff on Iraq.

"We denounce unilateralism and the notions of 'pre-emptive war'
and a 'coalition of the willing outside the UN framework," the
Executive Committee members say in a statement drawn up after
their March 14-15 meeting at the LWF Secretariat here. The
eleven-member committee is chaired by the LWF President, Bishop
emeritus Dr Christian Krause, from Germany, and includes five
Vice-Presidents and a Treasurer, as well as the chairpersons of
the LWF Program Committees.

LWF General Secretary, Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, and Vice-President
for the North America region, Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson, of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, today jointly issued
the LWF statement at a press meeting in Geneva.

The LWF governing body affirms the churches' opposition to the use
of armed force. It stresses that the objective of removing an
unpalatable regime cannot justify the resulting death, injury,
hunger and disease, or the lasting harm that such action would
incur on Christian-Muslim relations in the region and globally.
"The 'just war' criteria*were designed to constrain not to justify
the resort to war," the LWF Executive Committee emphasize. The
critical challenge is to develop criteria for a 'just peace'.

The LWF committee agrees that President Saddam Hussein's regime
should be disarmed of any weapons of mass destruction that it may
possess. But committee members say they do not believe "that all
diplomatic means have yet been exhausted." They note that humanity
is still threatened by such weapons, since arsenals are maintained
by many other states. They call for "global disarmament and the
destruction of all weapons of mass destruction, whoever may
possess them."

The Executive Committee oversees the proper functioning of the LWF
between the meetings of the Council, which meets annually. Other
members of the committee include the Treasurer and chairperson of
the Program Committee for Finance and Administration, Ms Inger J.
Wremer, Norway, and Vice-Presidents Ms Parmata Ishaya, Nigeria;
Rev. Dr Prasanna Kumari, India; General Bishop Dr Julius Filo,
Slovak Republic; and Rev. Huberto Kircheim, Brazil. Other members
include chairpersons of the Program Committees: Bishop Dr Bela
Harmati, Hungary (Communication Services); Rev. Susan E. Nagle,
USA, (Mission and Development); Dr Joachim Track, Germany
(Theology and Studies) and Bishop Dr Samson Mushemba, Tanzania,
(World Service).

The full text of the statement follows:

"A Call to Peace"
Statement by the Executive Committee of the Lutheran World
Federation on the Threat of War against Iraq

Geneva, 15 March 2003

The Executive Committee of the Lutheran World Federation, meeting
in Geneva on 14 and 15 March 2003 to prepare for an Assembly under
the theme 'For the Healing of the World', sends a message of peace
to a world filled with the rumor of war. We call upon those on the
road to war to return to the path of peace.

The peace we proclaim is based in our Christian faith. On 11
September 2002 - on the occasion of the anniversary of the
terrorist attacks on the United States of America - the Council of
the LWF declared that "we believe that our security and hope are
grounded in the Triune God, who creates, reconciles and sustains
all life. Violence, in its many manifestations, is one of the
signs of our broken relationship with God. We are called to
repent, to turn away from violence and back to God. Reconciled
with God and one another, we are called to seek reconciliation,
and work together with those of other faiths for peace and justice
in the world."

Today, we join with the millions of people throughout the world,
of many different faiths, who have expressed their opposition to
war against Iraq, in public demonstrations, statements, letters
and opinion polls. We welcome the many statements by member
churches and ecumenical organizations rejecting a military attack
on Iraq, and the numerous prayer vigils and intercessions for
peace. Political leaders have a responsibility to listen to those
who oppose the policies of war, and not to take refuge behind the
privilege of their office. We particularly deplore the Bush
administration's refusal to meet with religious leaders in the
United States who challenge its policy on Iraq.

Saddam Hussein's regime should be disarmed of any weapons of mass
destruction that it may possess. But we do not believe that all
diplomatic means have yet been exhausted. And even when Iraq is
declared free of such weapons, the threat will still loom over
humanity as a result of the arsenals maintained by many other
states - including those that now demand Iraq's disarmament - and
as a result of the flourishing international arms trade. We call
for global disarmament and the destruction of all weapons of mass
destruction, whoever may possess them.

We affirm the role of the United Nations as the legitimate
authority for adjudicating the resort to armed force in
international relations. The central purpose for which the UN was
created is the maintenance of international peace and security
through collective measures for the prevention and removal of
threats to the peace. It is deeply disturbing that some of the
same states that created this collective security framework in
order to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war"
(preamble, Charter of the United Nations), now threaten its
integrity and authority in their determination to go to war. We
denounce unilateralism, and the notions of 'pre-emptive war' and a
'coalition of the willing' outside of the UN framework.

The issue of the legality of war might be resolved by a Security
Council vote, but for us as churches the morality of the use of
armed force would remain in grave doubt. Our concern is first and
foremost for the innocent victims of any military action in Iraq.
The objective of removing an unpalatable regime cannot justify the
death, injury, hunger and disease that will inevitably be visited
on innocent civilians - as collateral damage in the pursuit of
Saddam Hussein and of the weapons which he is said to possess - or
the lasting harm that the proposed action is likely to do to
Christian-Muslim relations in the region and around the world.
Even before war has started, the cost of the military build-up
already represents a grossly unjust and iniquitous mis-allocation
of resources in a world so full of need.

The 'just war' criteria, so much quoted in the current
international debate, were designed to constrain - not to justify
- the resort to war. Indeed, they stand in clear opposition to a
pre-emptive war for the purpose of 'regime change'. In any event,
the just war theory, which has been part of the Lutheran
tradition, cannot be applied in the context of international
terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. In our day and age, the
critical challenge is to move from 'just war' theory to the
development of criteria for a 'just peace'.

We pray, at this decisive moment, for those who will feel the
consequences of the planned war, in their bodies and in the lives
of their communities. We pray for the soldiers who may be
commanded to put their lives at risk in this dangerous venture,
and for their families. And we pray for the many victims of the
sanctions imposed already for over a decade - so many of them
innocent children.

May the Holy Spirit transform hearts and minds that have hardened
for conflict, and move in our world to overcome the violence that
we do.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 136 member churches in 76 countries representing over 61.7
million of the 65.4 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human
rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission and
development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva,
Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is LWF's information service.
Unless specifically noted, material presented does not represent
positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where
the dateline of an article contains the notation (LWI), the
material may be freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

*	*	*
LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION
PO Box 2100, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
English Editor: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
Tel: (41.22) 791.63.54
Fax: (41.22) 791.66.30
http://www.lutheranworld.org/