Saddam Hussein and his regime are a real
threat to his own people, neighbouring countries and the world. How are
we to respond to that threat? The aim is to ensure that Iraq stops
internal repression, abandons weapons of mass destruction, and respects
the legitimate role of the UN. But Christians believe this must be done
consistently with moral principles, political wisdom and international
law. War should be the last resort after all other efforts fail. A
pre-emptive attack on Iraq by one or two countries without UN authority
would be illegal, unwise and immoral.
ILLEGAL Iraq has not attacked or directly threatened
the USA, nor is it clear that its weapons of mass destruction pose an
immediate threat. It has not clearly been implicated in the attacks of
September 11th. International law only allows a country to go
to war in self defence following an armed attack.
UNWISE To attack Iraq without authorisation from the
UN would set a very dangerous precedent. Many nations in Europe and the
Arab world strongly oppose such a war. It would make the whole Middle
East even more unstable. It would increase extremism and violence,
increasing the likelihood of terrorism. The US could very well win a
battle against Iraq and lose the campaign against terrorism. (Jim
Wallis, Peter Price). It has yet to be thought through what kind of
‘regime change’ there is likely to be in Iraq. Years of occupation,
investment and international co-operation would be required, in the same
way as was promised for Afghanistan but is not yet being delivered.
IMMORAL It is likely that a war against Iraq
will involve massive air attacks and street warfare. Tens of thousands
of civilians could be killed. The proposed campaign does not seem to
match the principles of ‘just war’ theory: ie that for a war to be
just
it must be waged with lawful authority (which
is dubious if a campaign has no UN endorsement),
there must be proper cause, good reasons for
the war (which may be slender if weapons of mass destruction are
not found);
every effort must be made first to resolve the
dispute by peaceful means;
war must not unleash more evils than are
already being endured;
there must be a reasonable chance of success;
there must be due respect for non combatants
and the environment
Presbytery Resolution of 4 February 2003
In light of the current threat of war against Iraq
and in solidarity with those of all faiths who seek a just peace in the
Middle East, the Presbytery of Dublin and Munster of the Presbyterian
Church in Ireland wish the Irish government to know:
that we strongly support continuing efforts to
create a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the growing crisis
surrounding compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1441, and
that, as part of that solution, we believe the UN weapons inspectors
now in Iraq should be given the time and support they need to complete
their task to their own satisfaction;
that we understand pre-emptive war to be an
unacceptable instrument of foreign policy, not least according to just
war theory, and that we fear, in this particular case, that it would
lead to unimaginable destruction in the entire region of the Middle
East;
and that we urge our government to endorse these
two principles as determinative of its own policy.
It should be noted that there is a Christian
community including Presbyterian churches in Iraq (5% of the population)
which has a fair measure of freedom and toleration.
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