Reports 1995-1998 Edited by Dwain C. Epps

Statement on US missile attacks

Issued in Geneva, 4 September 1996

We call upon the United States to cease immediately these attacks. Iraq's violations of Security Council decisions cannot be condoned, but the appropriate response to these violations should not be determined by a single power in selective consultation with other governments. It is the responsibility of the Security Council to consider in open debate how to respond.

The World Council of Churches has repeatedly condemned the use of armed force in international relations. It is therefore our hope that this matter will be brought back to the appropriate forum for debate, and that the means of negotiation and non-violent forms of pressure will be used to obtain compliance.

Minute on US attacks on Iraq

Adopted by the Central Committee, Geneva, 12-20 September 1996.

sanctions are by definition coercive and that they often inflict additional suffering on affected populations, particularly the most innocent, for example, children;

The World Council of Churches is deeply concerned about the successive missile attacks undertaken by the United States of America on targets in Iraq during the past forty-eight hours. They are indefensible on moral grounds, questionable in terms of international law, and establish dangerous new precedents for the use of arms of war by an external power to enforce compliance of another state with established international norms of behaviour and resolutions of the United Nations Security Council. We fervently hope that the United States will not pursue these actions.

Iraq's violations of Security Council decisions cannot be condoned, but the appropriate response to these violations should not be determined by a single power in selective consultation with other governments. It is the responsibility of the Security Council to consider in open debate how to respond.

The World Council of Churches has repeatedly condemned the use of armed force in international relations. It is therefore our hope that this matter will be brought back to the appropriate forum for debate, and that the means of negotiation and non-violent forms of pressure will be used to obtain compliance.

A STATEMENT OF CONCERN

In the face of present tensions between the United States and Iraq, with the continuing possibility of U.S. air strikes, we as leaders in the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. presently meeting in Geneva as participants in the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches strongly urge the U.S. government to pursue a course of military restraint and multilateral diplomacy. We believe U.S. actions should also 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.

We have no sympathy for the policies of the present government of Iraq. Its aggressiveness cannot be ignored. We have worked on finding a formula to allow humanitarian aid to address the enormous hardships of the Iraqi people. The oil for food and medicine agreement must not be lost. Again, President Hussein has risked his own people, and our government's response must not make us complicit in such human suffering.

The commitments of the United States in this and other settings have regularly been informed by international counsel, broadly recognized standards for the use of military power and the intent and spirit of UN Security Council resolutions. We urge continued observance of these commitments.

There is little doubt of the U.S. capacity to strike or of the will to do so. 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. Even as we urge our President to pursue a policy of restraint and international accountability, which we believe to be the moral course, we reject any urging to trust only in muscle and might.

Further we must once again speak on behalf of the hapless victims of the hostility of nations. We voice our insistence that 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. As people of faith, we offer our sympathies, support and prayers.

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. We believe this is the moral course.