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| A letter to President Bush from Voices in the Wilderness | ||
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CHICAGO Faith-based communities, sponsored by Voices in the Wilderness, a campaign to end the economic sanctions against Iraq, have delivered a letter to President Bush urging an immediate end to economic sanctions on Iraq. Ten major faith-based groups and thirty prominent leaders of religious and humanitarian communities have co-signed the letter. It emphasizes their opposition to fundamentals of US policy toward Iraq during a critical juncture in US negotiations at the UN. Signers include Pax Christi USA), Baptist Peace Fellowship, American Muslim Council, Methodist Federation for Social Action, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Episcopal Peace Fellowship, Sisters of Charity, and nine Catholic Bishops. Over the last ten years religious groups have consistently opposed the economic sanctions on moral grounds because they have failed to achieve peace in the region and have imposed death and suffering on innocent civilians. The letter represents the concerns of hundreds of thousands of people who have campaigned to end the economic sanctions. The letter applauds President Bush's willingness to work with faith-based communities. Yet it states "If the Iraqi people are to enjoy the fundamental human rights to education, housing, health care, employment, adequate food, and culture, we must look now toward a post-sanctions commitment to facilitate large-scale investments of public and private monies desperately needed to rehabilitate Iraq's shattered economy." The US supported UK proposal currently under negotiation in the UN Security Council forbids foreign investment in Iraq. Speaking of the nearly eleven-year-old sanctions on Iraq last month, Pope John Paul II said, "As the embargo [on Iraq] continues to claim victims, I renew my appeal to the international community that innocent people should not be made to pay the consequences of a destructive war whose effects are still being felt by those who are weakest and most vulnerable."An accompanying letter to White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Director, John Dilulio, urges him to seek an end to the economic sanctions and encourage fair relations with Iraqi people. While the Faith-Based and Community Initiatives office was created to focus on domestic concerns, the signers believe that U.S. policy toward Iraq does affect American people. Spending on the maintenance of sanctions and our massive troop presence in the region diverts funds that could be used to help relieve the suffering endured by poor people here in the U.S. The letter to Dilulio also expresses concern that the present policy erodes U.S. credibility as a nation that respects the core teachings of tolerance and love that are the center of so many faiths. Rabbi Douglas Krantz, of Congregation B'nai Yisrael in Armonk, NY, recently witnessed first hand the devastation wrought on ordinary Iraqis by sanctions and bombardment when he visited Iraq as part of a delegation of religious leaders. Rabbi Krantz says he signed the letter to Bush because, "The sanctions are immoral and ineffective." While there is a current proposal being debated by the Security Council that would allow an increased flow of commodities, it does not address the urgent and devastating humanitarian situation in Iraq. By only allowing commodities into the country, "smart" sanctions will fail to address Iraq's massive unemployment, hyper-inflation, widespread poverty and failing infrastructure.Stressing the importance of faith-based initiatives, President Bush has urged the faithful to exercise compassion. The signers urge President George Bush to realize his moral responsibility to Iraqi people who have suffered under the US led sanctions and bombing. They invite President Bush to align himself with religious leaders and communities who advocate actions and policies rooted in love of neighbor and love of enemy. THE FOLLOWING SIGNERS ARE AVAILABLE FOR COMMENT: Sign-on Letter for faith-based, humanitarian and human rights organizations Dear President Bush, The current policy, while imposed in the name of the United Nations, is incompatible with the spirit and wording of the UN Charter and the UN Declaration of Human Rights. It is in violation of the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit the targeting of civilians during warfare. It is widely recognized that economic sanctions can be a deadly form of warfare. UNICEFÂ reports estimate that 4,500 children under age five die every month as a result of the economic sanctions. We are concerned about the children and young people in Iraq today, who will continue to pay a price long after the sanctions are gone because of the damage done to the social infrastructure, particularly the educational system. The sanctions have isolated and alienated the next generation of Iraqi leadership, thereby suggesting even more difficult communication in the years ahead. If the Iraqi people are to enjoy the fundamental human rights to education, housing, health care, employment, adequate food, and culture, we must look now toward a post-sanctions commitment to facilitate large-scale investments of public and private monies desperately needed to rehabilitate Iraq's shattered economy. The U.S. has made it clear that it will never tolerate human rights abuses within Iraq, nor will it allow Iraq to threaten its neighbors with weapons of mass destruction. Regarding the former, let us accept that the best way to help a society move toward more democratic governance is to strengthen its education, communication, and social service systems, and help to build a strong and well educated middle class. Concerning efforts by the Government of Iraq to acquire weapons of mass destruction, we recommend an embargo on weapon sales to Iraq and to its neighbors, thus averting rather than exacerbating a regional arms race. That would bring our military sanctions framework into compliance with Article 14 of the UN Security Council Sanctions Resolution 687, which sets a regional goal of "establishing in the Middle East a zone free of all weapons of mass destruction and all missiles for their delivery" and the objective of a global ban on chemical weapons. We thus recommend that economic sanctions be terminated, and that the U.S. help facilitate the capital investment required to enable the Government of Iraq to rebuild the country's degraded oil production equipment, and its electrical generating capacity so essential for potable water, sanitation, and health care. Likewise capital is needed for all the other sectors of the economy, including transportation, agriculture, industry, education and technology. We believe that fair and peaceful relations will allow the US to draw Iraq into playing a positive role in international affairs. Through negotiation and diplomacy, let us demand that Iraq improve its human rights record and end violations, that it institute arrangements for the Kurds to be a culturally identifiable but integrated and prosperous part of the country's economy, that it rebuild its relationship with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and others in the region on the basis of mutual respect for the national sovereignty of each nation. Mr. President, Secretary of State Colin Powell listened to leadership of Arab
League states during his recent travel and earned approval as a deft
diplomatic negotiator. We ask you to take a courageous step in listening to
the urgent pleas issued by faith-based groups, humanitarian and human rights
NGOs, and numerous editorial writers for an end to the punitive sanctions
against Iraq. White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
Director: Mr. John Dilulio We are members of a campaign to end the economic sanctions against Iraq. Many of the individuals and groups with whom we work approach this endeavor as part of their faith based witness. We have written a letter to President Bush expressing our concern about his administration's future policies toward Iraq. Ten major faith-based groups and thirty prominent leaders of religious and humanitarian communities have co-signed the letter, along with many individuals and groups from all over the country. We want President Bush to know that numerous adherents to various faiths, here in the U.S., find that an end to the economic sanctions and a search for fair relations with Iraqi people coheres with their fundamental faith beliefs. We will be quite grateful for your help in emphasizing to the President how grave the statistics are regarding civilian suffering in Iraq. The African word amachi comes to mind, a word you referred to in a recent talk. Who knows what spiritual awakening beckons us, through the children of Iraq, who are directly afflicted by the economic sanctions. Most of these children were not even born when the Gulf War was fought and sanctions were first initiated. The letter to President Bush was posted on our website and sent to various groups on March 11 2001. Each day, more correspondence arrives with requests that we add the senders' names. Additionally, numerous major faith denominations and coalitions of denominations in the U.S. have expressed dismay at the present policy toward Iraq. Vigorous statements have been issued by the National Council of Catholic Bishops, the National Council of Churches, the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church, the American Friends Service Committee, the Mennonite Central Committee, the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church, the American Muslim Council, and the Council on American Islamic Relations. Several other faith-based groups will be presenting President Bush with their own letters in the near future. Your advice about ways to further pursue dialogue regarding peacemaking initiatives between U.S. people and Iraqi people will be most welcome. We understand that your office was created to focus on domestic concerns. U.S. policy toward Iraq does affect U.S. people, given that our consumption of oil has so much bearing on Middle East policy. What's more, our expenditure of energy and funds to maintain a troop presence in the region and to continue the illegal no-fly zones has direct bearing on many people involved in the U.S. military and diverts funds that could be used to help relieve the suffering endured by poor people here in the U.S. We're also concerned that the present policy erodes U.S. credibility as a nation that respects the core teachings of so many faiths: love your neighbor and love your enemy. Thank you for your consideration of this letter. Sincerely, Leah Wells, Kathy Kelly |