The Rev. Chuck Currie

Government Conspires With Military Analysts For Positive Iraq Coverage

The Iraq War has been opposed since the start by the leadership of the United Church of Christ and religious bodies from the World Council of Churches to the Vatican. But how can our voices compete with this?

"We Can't Just Wish For Peace"

4000 Americans Now Dead In Iraq

Related Link:  What Should Christians Do?

Related Link: NCC laments a ‘disastrous’ war, now entering its sixth year

Video Credit:  Andrew Stelzer

Three Cheers For Protesting Portland Students!

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. - Matthew 5:9 (NRSV)

From OregonLive.com:

Hundreds of Portland-area school students left their campuses and have gathered at the North Park Block to protest the war in Iraq.

"I feel like it was a good thing, and I'll take the consequences if there are any," says Kiana Hamilton, 16, a junior at Wilson High School.

Students are carrying signs calling for peace. "Stop the War." "Five too many." "Honk for Peace." They began marching to the South Park Blocks shortly before 1 p.m., chanting "Peace Now."

Ellie Schmidt, 17, a senior at St. Mary's Academy said of the war "it's based on principles I don't stand for. And it's based on alot of lies."   

The Oregonian's web site promises an update later.

Note to Miss Hamilton:  Nothing the schools can do to you will matter.  Their consequences are meaningless compared to the consequences we all face if we do nothing and fail to stop this war.  All of the students who took part deserve applause for their actions and hopefully big hugs tonight from their parents.

Related Sermon Podcast:  "We Can't Just Wish For Peace"   

Evening Prayer of Hope

On this 19th day of March, 2008, the fifth anniversary of the Invasion of Iraq, we pray with Christians of the Western Churches observing Holy Week:

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
for by your cross and resurrection you have offered us Hope
with its power to reveal signs of your reign
already within and among us:
Reveal the way to Peace in Iraq.

We adore you O Christ and we bless you,
for by your cross and resurrection you have triumphed in Love
with its power to cast out fear
and overcome hatred:
Open the way to Peace in Iraq.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
for by your cross and resurrection you have given us Freedom
to be doers of your Word
to be workers for your Justice
to be healers of your beloved world:
Lead us in the way of Peace in Iraq.

Glory be to the One, who,
working in us,
can do infinitely more
than we can ask or imagine.

To God be glory
in the church and in Christ Jesus
to all generations,
for ever and ever.

Amen

Source

Related Sermon Podcast:  "We Can't Just Wish For Peace"

A Podcast From The Portland Witness For Peace Gathering

Tonight I spoke at the Witness for Peace Gathering held at Portland’s First Congregational United Church of Christ marking the fifth year of the war in Iraq. This was an ecumenical gathering filled with song and spirit. Use the below link to download the podcast of my remarks for your iPod or personal computer.

Download FCCIraq.m4a

(click with the RIGHT mouse button on the hyperlink and choose “Save Target As” and save to your desktop or other folder – once downloaded click on the file to listen).

Representatives from First Congregational UCC, First United Methodist Church of Portland, St. Phillip Neri, and Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon also participated.  Hundreds from churches across the Portland area attended.

Protests are occuring across the nation this weekend calling for an end to the war.

 

This Friday In Portland: Witness For Peace Gathering

This Friday at 7 pm join other Portland-area Christians for a special "Witness for Peace Gathering" calling for an end to the war in Iraq.  The service will take place at First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1126 SW Park Avenue. 

I'll be there with members from Parkrose Community United Church of Christ.  There will be music, opportunities for reflection, and the lighting of candles. This promises to be a moving and spiritual evening.  Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon is a co-sponsor of the gathering.

Click here for more information.

Someone asked me recently why this wasn't an interfaith gathering.  Interfaith events are important - critical, really, in our pluralistic society - and all of us involved with the gathering this Friday are committed to interfaith dialog and worship opportunities.  But on this one occasion we felt it was important to demonstrate the Christian community's nearly unanimous opposition to the war in Iraq and to provide Christians with a chance to gather ecumenically with one another in a show of inter-denominational solidarity. 

We welcome, however, those of other faiths who wish to attend to show their support for our efforts and we lift up in prayer those of all faiths who are working for peace across the globe.

Related Link:  Statement On Iraq From The National Council Of Churches 

Witness For Peace Gathering Set For March 14th In Portland

Dear Friends,

I’m writing to invite you to join me at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Portland (www.uccportland.org) for a special worship service marking five bloody years of war in Iraq. The service will be held Friday, March 14th from 7-8 pm. The church is located at 1126 SW Park Avenue.

Over 4,000 American soldiers have died since the start of the war and human rights groups have estimated that so far nearly 90,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed as a direct result of the conflict (with perhaps as many as 600,000 dying from direct and indirect causes). U.S. military forces do not count civilian deaths.

We have the power to end this conflict.

The rational for invading Iraqi was that the United States needed to stop a dangerous leader who had weapons of mass destruction. This turned out to be a fabrication. In fact, the result of the invasion has been a further destabilization of the region and human rights scandals involving American forces.

At the service on March 14th there will be music, opportunities for reflection, and the lighting of candles. This promises to be a moving and spiritual evening.  Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon is a co-sponsor of the gathering.

Religious leaders spoke out against the invasion. The Vatican and the World Council of Churches were two of the most vocal opponents. Here in the United States the National Council of Churches in Christ USA along with almost every single Christian denomination (with the notable exception of the Southern Baptists) said the U.S. should not invade.

The national offices of the United Church of Christ have joined with others in calling for an end to this war. Recently, over 64,000 members of our denomination joined with our National Officers, Conference Ministers and Seminary Presidents in signing a letter to the President and Congress that said in part:

Today we call for an end to this war, an end to our reliance on violence as the first, rather than the last resort, an end to the arrogant unilateralism of preemptive war. Today we call for the humility and courage to acknowledge failure and error, to accept the futility of our current path, and we cry out for the creativity to seek new paths of peacemaking in the Middle East, through regional engagement and true multinational policing. Today we call for acknowledgement of our responsibility for the destruction caused by sanctions and war, thereby, we pray, beginning to rebuild trust in the Middle East and around the world. Today we call for repentance in our nation and for the recognition in our churches that security is found in submitting to Christ, not by dominating others.

In the name of the Peace of Peace, I ask you to come and to add your voice with a chorus of others calling for peace and justice throughout the world. Some American political leaders have said this war will last another 100 years but we must insist that the violence and the chaos end now. My hope is that all faithful people will join us but I especially hope that those who have not taken a public stand against the war come and do so now. Please also bring your children and other young people. Doing so will be a witness to them as to how you want the world to be.

Your brother in Christ,

The Rev. Chuck Currie

UCC Leaders Arrested Outside White House

See the post on the United Church News Blog.

Today Is The Interfaith Fast to End The War

Today I'm participating with many others in the Interfaith Fast to End The War - another effort to draw attention to the need to end the Iraq War. Why this fast?

FULL POST

George W. Bush's Ordinary Life

Last night the president in another fit of delusion said that we're marching toward progress in Iraq and that "ordinary life is beginning to return."  CNN Iraq correspondent Michael Ware said in response:

."..if the president means by ordinary life, families essentially living locked up in their homes, in almost perpetual darkness, without refrigeration, or perhaps constantly struggling -- struggling for ever more expensive gas to run generators, if he means waiting in their homes, wondering if government death squads will drag them off and torture and execute them, if he means living in sectarian, cleansed neighborhoods where people who were your friends have had to flee, if he's talking about living in communities that are protected by militias, then, yes, life has returned to ordinary."

Maybe that was just what the president meant.  We've simply exchanged one nightmare government in Iraq for another perhaps even more damaging one.  That might be good enough for our president but I had hoped better for America.

UCC Action Alert: Bring the Troops Home 

Senator Obama Questions General Petraeus during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing

You can read the exchange here.

General Petraeus Doesn't Make Bush's Case

Today before Congress General David Petraeus made his case as to why President Bush's plans for Iraq should remain enforce for the foreseeable future.  His audience wasn't sold.  As Think Progress reports, this White House has some trouble telling the difference between reality and wishful thinking.  Consider these myths and the reality behind them:

MYTH #1 -- SECTARIAN DEATHS IN BAGHDAD HAVE DROPPED 75 PERCENT SINCE 2006: In late August, Petraeus told The Australian that "there had been a 75 per cent reduction in religious and ethnic killings since last year." He is expected to make a similar claim today. Yet reports indicate that the Pentagon may be undercounting sectarian deaths. Intelligence analysts who computed "aggregate levels of violence against civilians" for the recent National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) "puzzled over how the military designated attacks as combat, sectarian or criminal." "If a bullet went through the back of the head, it's sectarian," said one senior intelligence official. "If it went through the front, it's criminal." The Pentagon's sectarian violence numbers also exclude Sunni on Sunni violence, Shiite on Shiite violence, and car bombs. In an April interview, Bush attempted to explain his subjective rationale for excluding car bombs: "If the standard of success is no car bombings or suicide bombings, we have just handed those who commit suicide bombings a huge victory." The number of car bombings have actually increased five percent since December. Additionally, the NIE found that conflict levels in Baghdad "have diminished to some extent" because of widespread ethnic cleansing.

MYTH #2 -- SECTARIAN DEATHS REACHED MORE THAN 1,600 IN DEC. 2006: Not only is the Pentagon underreporting recent sectarian deaths, it also raising the number of past incidents in order to make the "reduction" seem more impressive. In March, the Pentagon's quarterly report estimated that in Dec. 2006 -- right before the President announced his escalation -- "there were about 1,300 sectarian slayings across Iraq." But in its June report, "the Pentagon revised the December 2006 death toll to more than 1,600. That change makes the decline to about 600 in April -- after the surge began -- even more dramatic." Much of the Pentagon's data and methodology is classified. Last week, Goverment Accountability Office comptroller David Walker told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that there are "several different sources within the administration" who "do not agree" on levels of violence. He added that he "could not get comfortable" with the way the Pentagon calculated such a steep drop in sectarian violence.

MYTH #3 -- SECTARIAN DEATHS ARE DECLINING ACROSS THE COUNTRY: Despite the government's claim that Baghdad casualties are dramatically dropping, war-related deaths throughout Iraq have doubled compared with last year, rising to "an average daily toll of 33 in 2006, and 62 so far this year." "Bombings, sectarian slayings and other violence related to the war killed at least 1,773 Iraqi civilians in August, the second month in a row that civilian deaths have risen." Additionally, the recent NIE found that over the next six to 12 months, "levels of insurgent and sectarian violence will remain high."

MYTH #4 -- BUSH'S ESCALATION IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PROGRESS IN ANBAR: One of the success stories Petraeus will likely highlight is the reduced violence in the Anbar province, which was once the "heartland" of the Sunni insurgency. Last week, Bush made a surprise visit to the region and used it to argue that the troop buildup should not be cut short. "In Anbar you're seeing firsthand the dramatic differences that can come when the Iraqis are more secure," said Bush. But the administration's policies had little to do with Anbar's progress. As the Washington Post noted yesterday, "The sheik who forged the alliance with the Americans, Abdul Sattar Buzaigh al-Rishawi, traced the decision to fight al-Qaeda to Sept. 14, 2006, long before the new Bush strategy, but the president's plan dispatched another 4,000 U.S. troops to Anbar to exploit the situation. As security improved, the White House eagerly took credit." Last week, CNN correspondent Michael Ware also noted that the Sunni insurgency in Anbar offered to work with U.S. troops -- not the Iraqi government -- to fight al Qaeda in 2003, but the United States rejected the offer. Only "after four years of bloodshed" was the United States "finally ready to accept those terms."

MYTH #5 -- AL QAEDA IN IRAQ IS 'PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE': In July, Bush referred to al Qaeda 95 times in a single speech, claiming the war in Iraq has become the central front in the fight against al Qaeda (AQ-I). Echoing Bush, Petraeus recently argued that al Qaeda is "public enemy number one" in Iraq, and will likely make a similar claim to Congress this week. But in a new report, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) notes that attacks from al Qaeda are only a small percentage of the violence in Iraq, criticizing the Bush administration's statistics and noting that this false reporting on AQ-I has increased since Bush's "surge" began. "Increasingly in 2007, U.S. commanders have seemed to equate AQ-I with the insurgency, even though most of the daily attacks are carried out by Iraqi Sunni insurgents," concluded CRS.

Send a message telling our American leaders it is time to leave Iraq.

Bush To America: Pass The Bottle

Like a hardcore late stage alcoholic deep in denial the president cannot tell the difference between his fantasy life and reality. Exhibit A from CNN:

WASHINGTON (CNN) — When President Bush made a surprise visit to Iraq last weekend, he made clear he was pleased with what he saw.

"The security situation is changing," Bush told reporters during the visit. "There's more work to be done. But reconciliation is taking place."

But according to the Sydney Morning Herald of Australia, the president gave a more-to-the-point assessment to Australia Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile. "

We're kicking ass," Bush said to Vaile Tuesday, according the Herald, after the deputy prime minister inquired about his trip to Iraq.

They’ll greet us as liberators.

Mission Accomplished.

We’re kicking ass.

Pass the bottle.

Related News:  7 More US Troops Killed in Iraq

Urgent: Prayer Surge For Peace

ACTION ALERT FROM SOJO.NET

Next week, Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, will report to Congress on the troop "surge," in which the Bush administration has escalated the war in Iraq by sending an additional 20,000 American combat troops.

As people of faith, we believe in the power of prayer to soften the hardest of hearts and open the way to peace and reconciliation. So, as General Petraeus testifies, we're planning to match his surge with one of our own–20,000 prayers for Congress to bring an end to this war.

Click here to share your prayer with Congress–let them know that you're praying for their courage and wisdom to end this war.

We are at a critical moment, as the House and Senate decide on our nation's continued involvement in Iraq amidst a frenzy of swirling accusations and partisan rhetoric.

But while the Bush administration has frequently abused the language of scripture to justify this disastrous war, a growing number of Christians from across the theological and political spectrum are coming together to oppose it.

And our nation's political leaders are listening–in fact, we've spoken to several members of Congress who are considering reading a selection of your prayers for peace into the Congressional Record.

Like many of you, I've opposed this war from the start, and together we've raised a prophetic voice against it–marching in the streets, writing letters, and much more.

We'll continue to do all of that, but I believe it will also take faith to end this war. It will take prayer to end it. It will take a revolution of love to end it, because this endless war in Iraq is based ultimately on fear, and the Bible tells us that only perfect love will cast out fear.

Will you be a part of this surge of prayer for peace? Click here to let your Senators and Representative know that you're praying for them.

In times such as these, we ought to remember the words of the Apostle Paul:

Do not worry about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

Blessings,

Jim Wallis and the rest of the team at Sojourners/Call to Renewal

P.S. To reach 20,000 prayers by next week, we'll need your help. Can you share this message with 10 of your friends, family, and congregation members, asking them to join us in this campaign?

Related Post:  A Podcast Sermon: War Is Contrary to the Will of God

Bush's Iraq Legacy: Women Prostituting To Feed Children

Remember how we were going to "liberate" the people of Iraq from their brutal dictator?

Now the people of Iraq live in worse and more violent conditions than ever before.  As many as 600,000+ civilians have died since the U.S. invaded the nation to search for non-existent weapons of mass destruction and to punish the Iraqi regime for ties to the 9/11 terrorists - ties that turned out to be lies put out by the Bush White House to build a case for war.

Just last night we heard that the suicide rate among U.S. troops is at the highest point in 26 years.

Today CNN reports on the growing number of Iraqi women turning to prostituion to feed their children:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The women are too afraid and ashamed to show their faces or have their real names used. They have been driven to sell their bodies to put food on the table for their children -- for as little as $8 a day.

"People shouldn't criticize women, or talk badly about them," says 37-year-old Suha as she adjusts the light colored scarf she wears these days to avoid extremists who insist women cover themselves. "They all say we have lost our way, but they never ask why we had to take this path."

A mother of three, she wears light makeup, a gold pendant of Iraq around her neck, and an unexpected air of elegance about her.

"I don't have money to take my kid to the doctor. I have to do anything that I can to preserve my child, because I am a mother," she says, explaining why she prostitutes herself.

Anger and frustration rise in her voice as she speaks.

"No matter what else I may be, no matter how off the path I may be, I am a mother!"

This is the legacy of George W. Bush and his war in Iraq.  May God forgive us all.

Note to President Bush: Your Soldiers Are Killing Themselves

Today brought new horrors out of Iraq.  As predicted by many, the U.S. invasion has been disastrous. 

And the impact on American troops has been a nightmare.  The Washington Post reports tonight on a new report documenting a dramatic increase in suicides among U.S. forces:

WASHINGTON -- Army soldiers committed suicide last year at the highest rate in 26 years, and more than a quarter did so while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a new military report.

The report, obtained by The Associated Press ahead of its scheduled release Thursday, found there were 99 confirmed suicides among active duty soldiers during 2006, up from 88 the previous year and the highest number since the 102 suicides in 1991 at the time of the Persian Gulf War.

The president has maintained that American troops are needed to protect Iraq's "democratic" government.  But it becomes clearer each day that our invasion and continued military presence does nothing to improve the situation.

Related Link: United Church of Christ Action Alert Calling for End to Iraq Conflict 

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Holds Churchwide Assembly

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - a full communion partner with the United Church of Christ - held their Church-wide Assembly this week and among their decisions was one related to gay and lesbian clergy.  NPR reports:

A national assembly of Evangelical Lutherans urged its bishops Saturday to refrain from defrocking gay and lesbian ministers who violate a celibacy rule, but rejected measures that would have permitted ordaining gays churchwide.

Still, advocates for full inclusion of gays were encouraged, calling the resolution a powerful statement in support of clergy with same-gender partners. 

This will be the story that makes all the headlines but there were other important decisions as well -  including the adoption of a new statement on the Iraq War:

CHICAGO (ELCA) -  The highest legislative assembly of the 4.8 million member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America declared its opposition to "any escalation of the war" in Iraq and called upon the U.S. government to "take immediate and comprehensive steps to end the violence and establish a peaceful, stable, and just society in that country."

The resolution, passed with no discussion and by a vote of 874 to 78, also urged Lutherans to engage in "moral deliberation about the situation in Iraq and the policies and actions of the government of the United States of America in relation to them" and urged expanded concern for military personnel and their families. Lutherans should also make their views known to members of Congress, the resolution said.

The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 6-11 at Navy Pier's Festival Hall. About 2,000 people are participating, including 1,071 ELCA voting members.

Click here for information on other issues the ELCA considered.

Bring Them Home!

From The Washington Post:

BAGHDAD, Aug. 7 -- Iraq's political crisis deepened Monday as five more ministers withdrew from cabinet meetings, delivering a major blow to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's fractured unity government and efforts to reconcile Iraq's warring parties.

Hours earlier, a truck bomb in a Shiite village near the northern city of Tall Afar killed 31 people and wounded scores more, striking an area that was once hailed by President Bush and U.S. military commanders as an oasis of stability, following U.S. operations against insurgents there. Six children were among the dead, police said.

The U.S. military also announced the deaths of nine American soldiers, including four killed in an explosion Monday in volatile Diyala province, where U.S. forces are engaged in a major offensive against Sunni insurgents. The blast injured 12 other U.S. soldiers, the military said in a statement.

One soldier was killed by a sophisticated roadside bomb in west Baghdad on Monday, and another was killed during combat in eastern Baghdad on Sunday, the military said. Three soldiers were killed Saturday when a roadside bomb struck their convoy south of Baghdad, the military announced Tuesday.

Bring Them Home!

United Church of Christ Action Alert: Sign the Petition to End the Iraq War

A History Lesson For George W. Bush

This was the first story I heard on NPR this morning:

U.S. military officials have lost track of at least 110,000 AK-47 rifles and 80,000 pistols sent to help Iraqi security forces fight insurgents, according to a federal report.

It appears that some of these lost weapons are now being used to kill civilians and to fight U.S. military personnel. 

Not only has President Bush created one of the most unstable military situations in a generation but the incompetence of his government has helped to arm people intent on killing Americans.

Just today I picked up John Dominic Crossan's God & Empire: Jesus Against Rome, Then and Now.  Check out this paragraph from a discussion about the Roman Empire:

Augustus knew the difference between war and diplomacy.  He understood about a river too far.  He settled for imperial boundaries on the Rhine, not the Elbe, and for imperial limits on the Euphrates, not the Tigris.  He also learned another vital lesson, this one from Arminius: when you train and arm tribal forces to fight for you, they can use that knowledge to fight against you as well. (pg. 27)

How does that old saying go?

"Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it."

Action Alert: Call for an End to the Bloodshed: Sign the Petition to End the Iraq War

House Vote To End Iraq War Important Step

We can be proud this week by the vote taken in the U.S. House of Representatives to require an end to the failed Iraq War.

Speaker Pelosi was right to call for a new direction in Iraq because the policy followed by the Bush Administration has done nothing but to increase the risk of terrorism, and caused too many civilian and military deaths.

It is time to end the war. 

Al-Qaeda Is Gonna Get You

Every television news program is carrying the same story this week: we are at risk for another terrorist attack. Information from the intelligence community has confirmed that Al-Qaeda remains a clear and present danger to the America people. The Washington Post reports:

Six years after the Bush administration declared war on al-Qaeda, the terrorist network is gaining strength and has established a safe haven in remote tribal areas of western Pakistan for training and planning attacks, according to a new Bush administration intelligence report…

U.S. intelligence has proven faulty at best but few would seriously doubt that Al-Qaeda wants to do serious harm to our nation and will do so if given the opportunity.

Only the villains behind Al-Qaeda can be held responsible for the violence they wage but President George W. Bush’s policies have allowed Al-Qaeda to grow and remain a serious threat.

In a survey of national security experts conducted by the Center for American Progress it was report that:

More than two-thirds of the experts believe that Iraq is not the central front in the war on terrorism and 88 percent think that operations in Iraq are undermining U.S. national security….

The Bush administration’s misguided tactics in the fight against global terrorist networks are making the United States a more dangerous place. Eighty-two percent of the experts expect another 9/11-scale attack on the United States sometime in the next decade, and 83 percent believe that the Taliban, Hamas, and Hezbollah have all strengthened over the past year. An overwhelming 91 percent urge the United States to dramatically increase pressure on Pakistan, which many believe will become the next Al Qaeda stronghold. The United States needs to turn its attention away from Iraq if it hopes to contain these terrorist groups.

If we are attacked again it would represent a failure of colossal proportions on the part of President Bush. The war in Iraq has only further destabilized the world and allowed terrorist networks to grow.

Pete Domenici Abandons Bush On Iraq

Another Republican jumps ship:

WASHINGTON, July 5 — Support among Republicans for President Bush’s Iraq policy eroded further on Thursday as another senior lawmaker, Senator Pete V. Domenici of New Mexico, broke with the White House just as Congressional Democrats prepared to renew their challenge to the war.

“We cannot continue asking our troops to sacrifice indefinitely while the Iraqi government is not making measurable progress,” said Mr. Domenici, a six-term senator who has been a steadfast supporter of the president.

Thus Mr. Domenici joined a growing number of Republican voices in opposition to the war just as Senate Democratic leaders are readying plans to put the political and policy focus back on Iraq next week.

Pretty soon the only member of the Senate still supporting President Bush’s war will be Joe Lieberman.

Together We Can End The War

Posted on People Of Faith For Barack

Richard Lugar, Republican Senate Leader, Breaks With President Over Iraq

Another Republican broke ranks today with President Bush over the war in Iraq. This time it was Richard Lugar, the well-respected U.S. senator from Indiana.

Mr. President, I rise today to offer observations on the continuing involvement of the United States in Iraq. In my judgment, our course in Iraq has lost contact with our vital national security interests in the Middle East and beyond. Our continuing absorption with military activities in Iraq is limiting our diplomatic assertiveness there and elsewhere in the world. The prospects that the current “surge” strategy will succeed in the way originally envisioned by the President are very limited within the short period framed by our own domestic political debate. And the strident, polarized nature of that debate increases the risk that our involvement in Iraq will end in a poorly planned withdrawal that undercuts our vital interests in the Middle East. Unless we recalibrate our strategy in Iraq to fit our domestic political conditions and the broader needs of U.S. national security, we risk foreign policy failures that could greatly diminish our influence in the region and the world.

Lugar is the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

His speech hit the Bush White House hard. The Washington Post reports:

The harsh judgment from one of the Senate's most respected foreign-policy voices was a blow to White House efforts to boost flagging support for its war policy, and opened the door to defections by other Republicans who have supported the administration despite increasing private doubts.

Sen. George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio), a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, sent a letter to Bush (today) urging the president to develop "a comprehensive plan for our country's gradual military disengagement" from Iraq. "I am also concerned that we are running out of time," he wrote.

Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), a member of the Armed Services Committee, praised Lugar's statement as "an important and sincere contribution" to the Iraq debate.

Republican defections from the president as we enter the 2008 elections are no surprise. President Bush is about as popular as Richard Nixon was before his forced resignation from the presidency. Those of us who opposed the war from the start could look at today’s developments and argue that these defections are natural for politicians such as Warner, who like many other Congressional republicans faces a difficult re-election campaign, and who see the president’s evaporating support as evidence of their own electoral weakness.

But tonight I’m abandoning my own natural political cynicism and will simply be happy that each day more and more Americans understand that a terrible mistake was made that continues to cause chaos and the unnecessary deaths of both Americans and Iraqis.

It is time to end the war.

United Church Of Christ Leaders Call For End To Iraq War

Leaders in the United Church of Christ called today again for an end to the Iraq War. United Church News reports:

Just as they were beginning to celebrate the UCC's diamond jubilee, delegates and visitors to the 26th General Synod heard a call for an end to the war in Iraq and for the end to what was termed "the arrogant unilateralism of preemptive war."

At the opening session of the historic meeting in Hartford, Conn., the UCC's five-person Collegium of Officers presented a pastoral letter that had been signed also by the chief executives of the denomination's regional conferences and the presidents of the seminaries. The letter included a confession that "too often the church has been little more than a silent witness" to the deaths of thousands of Americans and tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis.

The delegates and visitors interrupted the reading of the letter with a standing ovation and afterwards voted to add the name of the General Synod. Delegates were invited to add their names as individuals. And as the Rev. Linda Jaramillo, told a packed news conference, all across the nation members of the UCC who were watching the Synod on live streaming video would have a chance to sign the letter as well.

Here’s the letter:

Along with thousands of United Church of Christ members and supporters, I call for an end to the war in Iraq, an end to our reliance on violence as the first, rather than the last resort, an end to the arrogant unilateralism of preemptive war.

I call for the humility and courage to acknowledge failure and error, to accept the futility of our current path, and I cry out for the creativity to seek new paths of peacemaking in the Middle East, through regional engagement and true multinational policing.

I call for acknowledgement of our responsibility for the destruction caused by sanctions and war and a beginning to rebuild trust in the Middle East and around the world.

I call for repentance in our nation and for the recognition in our churches that security is found in submitting to Christ, not by dominating others.

I will join protest to prayer, support ministries of compassion for victims here and in the Middle East, cast off the fear that has made all of us accept the way of violence and return again to the way of Jesus. Thus may bloodshed end and cries be transformed to the harmonies of justice and the melodies of peace. For this I yearn, for this I pray, and toward this end I rededicate myself as a child of a loving God who gives "light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

Click here to add your name.

Christians across the globe have been nearly united in opposing the invasion of Iraq since the start and in calling for a quick end to the invasion after it was undertaken. Out of all the major Christian denominations world-wide only the Southern Baptists in the U.S. have openly supported the war.

"Catholic Groups Call on President to Heed Pope’s Iraq Message"

As the failed and immoral war in Iraq continues to rage religious leaders continue to call for an end to the conflict. Today American Roman Catholic leaders issued a new statement calling on President Bush to change direction in Iraq:

Washington, D.C. - Catholics United for the Common Good and NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, today called on President Bush to use his upcoming meeting with Pope Benedict XVI to begin formulating a new policy for peace in Iraq. The meeting, to be held on Saturday at the Vatican, comes some two months after the pope expressed grave concerns about the humanitarian crisis the war sparked, calling Iraq a country “torn apart by continual slaughter as the civil population flees.”

The Iraq War began after President Bush ignored the pleas of Pope Benedict's predecessor, Pope John Paul II, who urged the U.S. to seek alternatives to armed conflict and called the decision to go to war “a defeat for humanity.”

“President Bush owes an unequivocal apology to our pope, to Catholics around the world, and most importantly to the Iraqi people and others directly affected by the tragedy of this unjust war,” said Chris Korzen, Executive Director of Catholics United for the Common Good. “The president's arrogant and self-serving policies in the Middle East have proven a total affront to human life and dignity, the fallout of which will continue to be felt for generations to come.”

The president has stated that he is “ready to listen” to the pope during this weekend's meeting. Many Catholics hope this signals a change of course in the Bush administration's handling of the war, and in the quality of its engagement with the broader world.

“While we can't turn back the clock to 2003 and undo the ill-fated decision to invade Iraq, our nation can take steps to repair some of the damage, and set Iraq on a more hopeful course,” said Sister Simone Campbell, Executive Director of NETWORK. “President Bush must stop obstructing the end to the war that Catholics and millions of citizens around the world are praying for. This means that the Administration must vigorously support the Iraqi government in convening a comprehensive peace conference including all factions in Iraq, pursuing regional and international diplomacy and supporting the development of an economic renewal by Iraqis and for Iraqis.”

Both NETWORK and Catholics United are calling on President Bush and Congress to engage this broader vision for peacebuilding when they revisit the war funding question later this month. The Congressional leadership has pledged to continue to push legislation this summer that would bring a responsible end to the war.

“Right now, the crisis in Iraq is the most important issue facing U.S. Catholic voters,” said Korzen. “Our lawmakers must provide real leadership and real solutions to bring an end to the war, or face serious consequences in the upcoming elections.”

I deeply admire the Roman Catholic leadership for their continued prophetic voice on issues of war and peace and hope President Bush listens to their words and to the pleas for peace from other religious bodies such as the World Council of Churches.

Related Post:  War Is Contrary to the will of God

Testimony from The Rev. Chuck Currie Before Portland City Council In Support Of Returning American Veterans

This afternoon the Portland City Council will consider a resolution (put forward by all five members of the Council) welcoming home veterans from the Iraq War and offering support for all those having difficulty reintegrating after deployments. I have been asked to give testimony at the hearing. Below are my prepared remarks:

Testimony from The Rev. Chuck Currie

Before Portland City Council In Support Of Returning American Veterans

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Members of the Council:

My name is Rev. Chuck Currie. I currently serve as the interim minister of Parkrose Community United Church of Christ and live in Portland’s Grant Park neighborhood.

Today I am here to offer support for the resolution before council welcoming back returning veterans from the Iraq War.

Twenty-one years I began working at a shelter in Portland called Baloney Joe’s. Each day we served hundreds of individuals suffering from acute mental illness, people who had lost their jobs because of the declining timber industry, those battling alcohol and drug addictions, and veterans who severed our nation in the Armed Forces only to be abandoned to the streets.

The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans reports:

In addition to the complex set of factors affecting all homelessness -- extreme shortage of affordable housing, livable income, and access to health care -- a large number of displaced and at-risk veterans live with lingering effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and substance abuse, compounded by a lack of family and social support networks.

No one should be homeless in the richest nation on earth. But Americans have a special burden to ensure that those who have served the nation are not left without services and support. Tragically, after the Vietnam War our veterans were simply cut loose and many ended up in shelters like Baloney Joe’s. Our shelter, which received only limited government support, operated counseling programs, a medical center, a jobs program, and SRO housing centers in Old Town. We were so unpopular in serving this population that Mayor Frank Ivancie once famously said in the early 80s he’d rather wed his garden then visit Baloney Joe’s. As many as one-third of the people we served were Vietnam veterans.

You would have thought a lesson had been learned by the way Vietnam veterans had been treated but already veterans from Iraq are ending up in shelters and we have seen the shameful way veterans in medical facilities like Walter Reed have been treated. “While an estimated 500,000 veterans were homeless at some time during 2004, the VA had the resources to tend to only 100,000 of them,” reported The Christian Science Monitor in a 2005 article chronicling the increase of veterans from Iraq seeking emergency shelter.

The General Assembly of the National Council of Churches adopted a statement last year that read it part:

We urge our government to give meaningful support to U.S. troops. This meaningful support includes: bringing active and reserve forces home from this war; providing soldiers still in harm's way with adequate armor to protect them from gunfire and explosive devices; giving earned benefits to veterans, especially injured veterans, of this war in which they have valiantly served; and honoring the sacrifice made by those who have died in this war by making adequate provision for surviving family members and creating a withdrawal plan that brings such sacrifices to an end.

War is contrary to the will of God and we are called to be peacemakers. We are also called to be a compassionate people concerned with the “least of these” in society. I urge all Portlanders to do everything in our power to avoid the mistakes of the Vietnam era and to welcome home our veterans with open arms.

Memorial Day 2007

No matter what you think about the Iraq War we all pause as citizens this Memorial Day to remember those Americans who have given their lives in service to their nation.

Click here to visit CNN’s site chronicling the lives lost to date.  It is important for us to remember that these Americans are more than just numbers in a casualty count but were real people with families and loved ones left behind.

As an Oregonian, I give special thanks to those from my state who have died.

“This Memorial Day gives us a chance to reflect on the Oregonians who are currently serving our country overseas,” said Governor (Ted) Kulongoski. “As we keep our soldiers serving abroad in our thoughts and prayers, we should also take a moment on this day to honor the countless Oregonians who have served our country with such dedication and courage and made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.” 

My prayers are with all the families grieving losses this Memorial Day and with those seeking to end this conflict so that no more Americans or Iraqis perish.  These best way to honor Americans in Iraq would be to bring them home.

Obama On Iraq Funding Bill: In His Own Words

Senator Barack Obama voted yesterday against the new funding bill for the Iraq war - one that does not set firm deadlines for ending the conflict.  In his own words: 

“This vote is a choice between validating the same failed policy in Iraq that has cost us so many lives and demanding a new one.  And I am demanding a new one.”

“We must fund our troops.  But we owe them something more.  We owe them a clear, prudent plan to relieve them of the burden of policing someone else's civil war.  We need a plan to compel the Iraqi people to reach a political accommodation and to take responsibility for their own future.  It's time to change course.”

“I opposed this war in 2002 precisely because I feared it would lead us to the open-ended occupation in which we find ourselves today.”

“This President has led us down a disastrous path and has arrogantly refused to acknowledge the grim reality of this war, which has cost us so dearly in lives and treasure.”

“After he vetoed a plan that would have funded the troops and begun to bring them home, this bill represents more of his stubborn refusal to address his failed policy.”

“We should not give the President a blank check to continue down this same, disastrous path.”

“With my vote today, I am saying to the President that enough is enough.  We must negotiate a better plan that funds our troops, signals to the Iraqis that it is time for them to act and that begins to bring our brave servicemen and women home safely and responsibly.”

We need thinking like this in the White House.

And So The War Goes On

The U.S. House of Representatives voted this afternoon to continue funding the war in Iraq without setting any deadlines for ending the conflict. Now more Americans will die and more Iraqis will die and nothing will be the better because of it. We find ourselves in an endless cycle of war and death and our political leaders cannot find a way out.

So let me restate here a plan for ending the war that I have endorsed that is being advanced by The Rev. Tony Campolo, Rabbi Michael Lerner and many other religious leaders:

First, we propose that American and British troops be replaced by an international police force composed of those who better understand the Iraqi culture. Leaders in Saudi Arabia proposed such a solution almost three years ago. Americans and Brits are not only devoid of any grasp of the language and the religion of the Iraqi people, but are defined by many Muslims as a Christian army that has invaded a sacred Islamic land. Our army’s presence is perceived by many in the Muslim world as a rebirth of the medieval crusades.

Second, we propose that the United States appropriate $50 billion to rebuild the towns and cities that the invasion of Iraq has left in shambles. This would be a small price to pay, considering the $2 billion we are presently spending every week in order to keep this war going.

Third, we propose that our president go before the United Nations and ask the world to forgive America for what we have done to Iraq, and how we have set back efforts for world peace. He should point out that he is asking forgiveness on behalf of almost all Americans – because we overwhelmingly lent support to the invasion of Iraq some four years ago. He should further point out that our original intentions were good! We Americans were told that we were invading in order to remove the threat of what we thought were Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

Repentance of this kind is necessary because we need to re-establish our moral standing in the world, and confessing wrongdoing is a start for doing that. It is not weakness to admit that we did wrong, especially when the whole world knows that we did. Now is the time for us to live out that verse from 2 Chronicles 7:14, which reads:

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

If you are willing to support this proposal, go to www.tikkun.org/iraqpeace. You will find an expanded version of this proposal there, along with an opportunity to sign on with us. Do it now, because time is short and the days are filled with evil (Ephesians 5:16).

Across the globe religious leaders – including the Vatican, the World Council of Churches and most national protestant and orthodox bodies – opposed the war from the very beginning. We have to keep working to bring peace because the Republicans and Democrats in Congress seem unable to imagine anything but war.

Most U.S. Troops Say Iraqi Noncombatants Don't Deserve Dignity, Respect

Americans and others across the globe have been horrified each time new allegations of human rights abuses against detainees or civilians in Iraq by U.S. forces surface.

Religion & Ethics Newsweekly reports that American forces hold a dim view of the people they are there to, in President Bush's words, liberate and protect.

The Pentagon has released the findings of a survey of what soldiers and Marines in Iraq think is right and wrong. The report says more than a third of the troops approved of torture in certain situations. Most would not turn in a buddy who mistreated Iraqi civilians, and only around 40 percent said Iraqi noncombatants should be treated with dignity and respect.

Click here for the full story.

In our war-time rhetoric we have dehumanized the Iraqi people.  It should come as no surprise then that American troops hold such views.  And in a war where it is difficult to tell which side the civilians are on - and in most cases it is not the American side - it must become easy at some levels to forget that all people are entitled to basic human rights and protections.  This failed war - one that was never moral to begin with - creates new and more frightening ethical dilemmas with each passing day.  Those that sent our American troops to Iraq have much to answer for.

Mission Accomplished In Iraq? Wishful Thinking.

Today marks the 4th anniversary of President George W. Bush’s declaration that major combat operations had ended in Iraq under a banner that read “Mission Accomplished.” A more realistic slogan for the president’s banner would have been “Wishful Thinking.”

Today The Washington Post reported:

The deaths of more than 100 American troops in April made it the deadliest month so far this year for U.S. forces in Iraq, underscoring the growing exposure of Americans as thousands of reinforcements arrive for an 11-week-old offensive to tame sectarian violence.

Over 3,300 Americans have now been killed in Iraq and as many as 600,000 civilians have lost their lives.

National Public Radio reports today that the armed forces have to accept higher numbers of high school drop outs and ex-cons to meet recruiting goals.

Terrorism is on the rise.

The United States Congress will present legislation today to the president that requires the U.S. to start a withdrawal from Iraq by October 1. The president (whose popularity has fallen to as low as 28% in recent polls) has promised to veto the legislation.

Religious leaders across the globe have been calling on the U.S. to leave Iraq.

The Rev. Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches USA, said this spring:

Leaders from Christian churches and other faith traditions sought peaceful solutions before the March 19, 2003 invasion. A delegation went to Iraq in December 2002. They met with government officials and prayed with Iraqi Christians.

At the same time 46 religious leaders, many from the member communions of the National Council of Churches USA (NCC), representing millions of faithful Americans, sought a meeting with President Bush to discuss the threat of war. Exactly two weeks before the invasion a letter from the White House stated the president's schedule would not permit such a meeting.

The leaders of nearly every major religious body in the U.S. had spoken out against the Iraq war. The NCC delegation called such a preemptive war, immoral, illegal and theologically illegitimate.

It is the life and ministry of Jesus Christ that prompted our stand then and compels us now to reiterate the continued prosecution of this war is immoral. It should be ended as quickly as possible. Our troops should be brought home and cared for in decent military hospitals to repair their broken bodies and damaged minds.

Our churches will offer our returned soldiers safe places to soothe their souls. Our churches will offer millions of dollars to relief agencies to help rebuild Iraq and comfort the innocent victims of a war they did not ask for. Our churches will continue to pray for peace. And we will pray for forgiveness and seek repentance for our nation for the unnecessary deaths and destruction caused to God’s family.

Pray for our country to have the wisdom to end the occupation of Iraq and pray for the world to have the wisdom to seek peace in the wake of so much destruction and death that has been caused by terrorists and nation-states alike. Lord have mercy.

"Religious Leaders Propose a Way Out of Iraq"

The Rev. Tony Campolo and Rabbi Michael Lerner are proposing a way to end the war in Iraq. Campolo writes on God’s Politics:

First, we propose that American and British troops be replaced by an international police force composed of those who better understand the Iraqi culture. Leaders in Saudi Arabia proposed such a solution almost three years ago. Americans and Brits are not only devoid of any grasp of the language and the religion of the Iraqi people, but are defined by many Muslims as a Christian army that has invaded a sacred Islamic land. Our army’s presence is perceived by many in the Muslim world as a rebirth of the medieval crusades.

Second, we propose that the United States appropriate $50 billion to rebuild the towns and cities that the invasion of Iraq has left in shambles. This would be a small price to pay, considering the $2 billion we are presently spending every week in order to keep this war going.

Third, we propose that our president go before the United Nations and ask the world to forgive America for what we have done to Iraq, and how we have set back efforts for world peace. He should point out that he is asking forgiveness on behalf of almost all Americans – because we overwhelmingly lent support to the invasion of Iraq some four years ago. He should further point out that our original intentions were good! We Americans were told that we were invading in order to remove the threat of what we thought were Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

Repentance of this kind is necessary because we need to re-establish our moral standing in the world, and confessing wrongdoing is a start for doing that. It is not weakness to admit that we did wrong, especially when the whole world knows that we did. Now is the time for us to live out that verse from 2 Chronicles 7:14, which reads:

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

If you are willing to support this proposal, go to www.tikkun.org/iraqpeace. You will find an expanded version of this proposal there, along with an opportunity to sign on with us. Do it now, because time is short and the days are filled with evil (Ephesians 5:16).

I’ve added my name to the list of endorsers and encourage you to do the same.

MLK & Iraq

This video on Iraq (which I found on the WW website) uses the words from Rev. King's Riverside sermon on Vietnam with images from the current conflict. It is powerful.

Related Link: A Podcast Sermon: War Is Contrary to the Will of God

Congressman Earl Blumenauer: Vote "Important Set Back" To White House

Democrats in the House rounded up the necessary votes today for their $124 billion bill to fund the war in Iraq. The good news: the bill comes with a date certain for leaving Iraq (August 2008) and extra funding to support returning veterans. That’s progress. Republicans, of course, stuck with the president and his calls to stay the course in a war that has failed by every measure. But I still wish the bill had been voted down (though for much different reasons than the Republicans). $124 billion for another year of war is largely wasted money. Regardless, the Speaker and the Democrats in the House deserve credit for moving the debate in the right direction. U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer faxed me a handwritten note today (in response to a letter I sent earlier this week) in which he said voting for the bill was the only way to “end the madness” unleashed by Karl Rove and George W. Bush. The Oregon congressman wrote that the vote today will prove to be “an important set back” to the White House. The president promises to veto the bill (if the Senate were to side with the House and send the bill for a signature). We are fortunate to have people in charge of Congress that share our goal of ending the war and bringing stability to the Middle East.

Note To Earl Blumenauer: John Lewis Is Right

MoveOn.org are other progressives are supporting the Iraq Accountability Act.  From MoveOn's e-mail alert this morning:

85 percent of MoveOn members want to work to pass Speaker Pelosi's plan for Iraq. Today, we have to get to work. This vote is going to be incredibly close and it'll be one of the most important ones of the year. Every member of Congress should hear from their constituents today.

The critical piece of this plan is that it sets a timeline for withdrawing our troops from Iraq—it sets a date certain to end the war. President Bush doesn't want to set a deadline to exit Iraq1—his policy would strand our troops in the middle of what has become a religious civil war.

But MoveOn.org and the Speaker are wrong.

U.S. Congressman John Lewis is right:

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) a staunch pacifist, civil rights icon and part of the House leadership team, says his philosophy of non-violence will not allow him to vote for the Democrats’ Iraq spending bill.

“In matters of foreign policy, violence and war is obsolete. The money is there to support a continuation of the war,” Lewis said in a brief interview with The Hill. “I just cannot do it.”

Lewis’s position, announced late Monday from the House floor, leaves House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) without his senior chief deputy whip as Democrats head into the closest vote of the 110th Congress.

In his floor speech, Lewis said that “as an individual committed to a world of peace with itself, I will not and I cannot in good conscience vote for another dollar or another dime to support this war.”

War is contrary to the will of God. The House leadership might be taking a politically wise (or politically possible) stand but they are not advancing the cause of peace far enough – no matter how good their intentions. So if you write your congressman tell them to vote with John Lewis.  Tell them to work for peace (which you can do on the FaithfulAmerica.org website).

That’s what I did when I wote U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer today .

A Podcast Sermon: War Is Contrary to the Will of God

Thousands of Oregonians took to the streets of downtown Portland this afternoon in a peaceful march protesting the Iraq War. Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon was one of the co-sponsors. The march started in the South Park Blocks as the bell at Portland's historic First Congregational United Church of Christ rang out.

Earlier this morning at Parkrose Community United Church of Christ our readings included Isaiah 2:5-11, Matt 5:9 and Romans 12:9-21 as we noted the fourth anniversary of the war during worship.

Use the below link to download the podcast of my sermon - War Is Contrary to the Will of God - for your iPod or personal computer.

Download ParkroseIraq.m4a

(click with the RIGHT mouse button on the hyperlink and choose “Save Target As” and save to your desktop or other folder – once downloaded click on the file to listen).

(There are more pictures of the march below the fold)

My Sermon This Sunday: “War Is Contrary To The Will Of God”

This Sunday (March 18th), my sermon topic will be “War Is Contrary To The Will Of God” at Parkrose Community United Church of Christ (105th and NE Wygant). The service begins at 10 am.

This week marks the 4th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Hundreds of thousands have died since then and the region has been left in chaos. The invasion was opposed by the Vatican and the World Council of Churches and here at home the National Council of Churches USA helped led opposition to the war. Jesus calls on us to be peacemakers but our government has chosen a different, more destructive path.

Last fall the National Council of Churches issued a statement that read in part:

“….united together as the National Council of Churches USA, we call upon the U.S. Government to recognize that the continued presence of occupying forces has not provided meaningful security for Iraqi citizens and only exacerbates escalating violence, and begin an immediate phased withdrawal of American and coalition forces from Iraq with a timetable that provides for an expeditious final troop withdrawal. And we further call upon our government to link this withdrawal plan to benchmarks for rebuilding Iraqi society, since the reconstruction of infrastructure, the restoration of essential services, and a foundation for economic growth are necessary to nurture Iraqi hopes for a stable future, and to steps to meet the security concerns of all Iraqis, including the more vulnerable, smaller ethnic and religious communities.”

I will join protesters later in the day in downtown Portland calling on the U.S. to withdrawal troops from Iraq.

Oregon Anti-War Rally Set For March 18th

NEWS RELEASE (reprinted from

www.pdxpeace.org )

NEW LOCATION for March 18th Rally, March and Peace Action Camp
Stop the War, Bring the Troops Home Now! Rally at South Park Blocks

PORTLAND—On the 4th anniversary of the Iraq War, Oregonians will come together in a mass mobilization to Stop the War and Bring The Troops Home Now! After meeting with city and police officials on Tuesday, February 27, the event organizers are moving the location of the rally and action camp from Pioneer Courthouse Square to a larger space at the South Park Blocks to accommodate the large crowds anticipated by the city.

The rally and action camp at south park blocks will be combined with a march through downtown Portland. The action is being planned by a coalition of diverse organizations representing students, veterans, military families, faith communities, labor unions and peace and social justice groups and is connected to a national day of action promoted by the national coalition, United for Peace and Justice.

Peace Action Camp (Noon – 5 p.m.):
The Peace Action Camp will provide opportunities for all ages to take action to end the war.
DRAW:   children’s art for peace
WRITE: letters to Congress to defund the war
SPEAK: youth speak-out against war
ACT:       learn about nonviolent direct action

Rally & March  (1:30 p.m.):
Rally speakers will include:
Raed Jarrar, an Iraqi writer and activist who coordinated the first door-to-door survey of Iraqi civilian casualties.
Darrell Anderson, Iraq Veterans Against the War.
Military families from Military Families Speak Out-Oregon.

Plus live music, giant puppet theater, additional speakers and more!

Where:  NEW LOCATION! South Park Blocks, (SW Madison St. and Park Ave.) Portland
When: Sunday, March 18, 2007
12:00 – 5:00 p.m. Action Camp
1:30 March and Rally
Advance interviews with speakers and organizers are available.
For more information visit www.pdxpeace.org .

March 18 Mobilization is co-sponsored or endorsed by the following organizations:
Alliance for Democracy, American Association of University Professors-PSU Chapter Executive Council, American Federation of Teachers Local 3571 (PSU), American Federation of Teachers Local 2277 (PCC), American Friends Service Committee, American Iranian Friendship Council, Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights, Bridgeport United Church of Christ, Central Lutheran Church - Social Ministries/Lutherans for Justice in the Holy Land, Christ the Healer United Church of Christ, CODEPINK Portland, Columbia River Fellowship for Peace, Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House*, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, Episcopal Peace Fellowship, Freedom Socialist Party*, Friends of Sabeel, Greater Vancouver Interfaith Association, Interfaith Alliance, International Socialist Organization, Iraq Veterans Against the War - Portland Chapter, Jobs with Justice, Latino Network, Laughing Horse Books, Living Earth, Metanoia Peace Community United Methodist Church, Methodist Federation for Social Action, Micah's Village, Military Families Speak Out - Oregon, Mirador Community Store, Oregon PeaceWorks, Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, Oregonians Against the War, Palestine Lebanon Emergency Action, Pax Christi, Peace Action Committee of the First Unitarian Church, Peace and Social Concerns Committee of the Multnomah Monthly Meeting of Friends, People o Faith for Peace, Portland Alliance, Portland Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Portland Central America Solidarity Committee (PCASC/CBLOC)*, Portland Students for a Democratic Society, Radical Women*, Recruiterwatch PDX, Rethinking Schools, Rural Organizing Project, SEIU Local 49, September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, Sister Spirit, Sisters of the Road, St. Luke Lutheran Peace and Justice Group, Students for Unity at Portland State University, Students United for Nonviolence at Portland State University, United Tualatin Methodist Church, United Voices Youth Program, Vancouver for Peace, Veterans for Peace Chapter 72, Washington County Peace Vigil, Whitefeather Catholic Worker Peace Community, Yamhill Valley Peacemakers and more.   * endorsers
See pdxpeace.org for updates.

House Vote On Iraq A Moral Question

Oregon Congressman Has Big Iraq Plans

This week the United States House of Representatives began debate on a non-binding resolution which would express the House’s opposition to President Bush’s decision to escalate America’s military involvement in Iraq. Here is how the resolution reads (right from the Speaker’s website):

(1) Congress and the American people will continue to support and protect the members of the United States Armed Forces who are serving or who have served bravely and honorably in Iraq; and

(2) Congress disapproves of the decision of President George W. Bush announced on January 10, 2007, to deploy more than 20,000 additional United States combat troops to Iraq.

This is not the resolution I would have wanted. My ideal resolution would have involved sending the president and vice-president to Iraq where they could take personal charge of the chaotic situation they themselves created. But we rarely live in the ideal world.

So I’ll take this resolution as a first and long overdue step in bringing this war to a conclusion.

I admire those Republicans who in the debate over this resolution are bucking their party and putting principle before partisan gain.

Have you sent your member of a Congress a letter or e-mail asking that they oppose the president’s escalation? If not, do it today. Just click here.

Has anyone heard word yet on how your House member will vote? Are you happy with their position?

In a related story U.S., Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) (pictured above) is working on a plan to get all our troops out of Iraq.  Click here for more.

Iraq War Is An Affront To God

In the long nightmare that has been Iraq there have been more defeats than victories in the fight to bring a war that should never had been fought to an end.

But today there was a small but important victory that should be remembered. From The Washington Post:

A day after President Bush pleaded with Congress to give his Iraq policy one last chance, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee rebuffed him by approving a nonbinding resolution declaring his troop increase in Iraq to be against "the national interest."

That the war in Iraq has been “against the national interest” I have no doubt.

I also believe that this war is an affront to God who has called God’s people to be peacemakers (Matthew 5.9 NRSV) and to be the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in (Isaiah 58:12 NRSV). Instead we have been the instigators of violence and destruction. Lord have mercy.

Religious Groups Speak Out Against More Troops For Iraq

Statement of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA
on the build up of more U.S. troops in Iraq

President George W. Bush has ordered a “surge” in troops in Iraq, ostensibly to help quell sectarian violence and stabilize Baghdad. This escalation of troop presence is likely only to result in an escalation in American and Iraqi deaths. Thus the call for more troops is morally unsupportable. 

Particularly in the wake of the barbaric execution of Saddam Hussein – an act that reflects not the ideals of democracy and justice, but rather mocks them – and an act that promises only to breed more violence, as only a violent act can – one would think that the United States would immediately seek to bring about a change of policy.  Sending more troops is not a change in policy, nor is it even a change in strategy; it is more of the same.   

Certainly a change in policy was what the November election results were all about.  And certainly a change in policy was the bottom-line recommendation of the Iraq Study Group (ISG), a collection of men and women chosen for their collective expertise and wisdom.  Instead, the president has chosen to ignore both the electorate and the ISG.   

Given a chance to build broad consensus on a change of policy under the cover of the ISG Report, we have the makings of yet another divisive debate on whether or not the U.S. should put more lives in harm’s way.  It seems that we are fated never to learn an important lesson of the Vietnam era - that U.S. leadership in the world does not depend on the continuation of failed policies - a lesson that became crystal clear during our recent funeral recollections of President Gerald Ford and his leadership.   

It is time for moral strength, not military power, to take precedence in the U.S. plan for Iraq.   

It is time to recognize the failure of a military policy that is not promoting freedom, not ending terrorism, not building up the Iraqi nation, not bringing security to the region, and not making the world safer. 

It is time - and here we agree with the president - to insist on political benchmarks for the Iraqi government, and to provide reconstruction aid to the Iraqi people, if it is not already too late.  But the benchmarks must be achievable, and this time the disbursement of aid must be transparent.   

It is time to enter into respectful negotiations with those countries in the region that can exert influence on Iraq; to attend to the central issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and to lead the United Nations Security Council in enforcing restrictions on arms proliferation in the region. 

And above all, it is time, not to send more troops, but to start bringing our troops home.   

The “surge” as recommended by the president is immoral.  What we do not need is an assertion of more military strength.  What we need is the strength of basic moral conviction.   

We make this statement in the spirit of the message last November from our member churches meeting in their annual General Assembly whose theme was, “...for the healing of the nations.” (Revelation 22:2).

Statements by the faith community
on the "surge" of troops to Iraq 

John H. Thomas
General Minister and President
United Church of Christ

Pastoral Letter in Response to
The President’s Call for More Troops in Iraq

January 11, 2007

The growing violence in Iraq, the enormous suffering being experienced by the citizens of Iraq, and the anguish of countless American families who have lost beloved sons and daughters to death and horrific injury calls for profound lament and repentance, not for stubborn commitment to the unilateralism and militarism that has been the hallmark of our failed policy in Iraq.  That is why the President’s speech is not only politically disappointing, but morally deficient as well.  The deceptions and arrogance which launched a war that brought Iraq to this place of pain and anguish and that have alienated the United States from so many of its friends must be acknowledged as more than strategic mistakes; they must be confessed as the core of the immoral justification for a war that failed to meet the criteria for a just war and that, as a result, cannot achieve the goals of a just peace.   

People of faith are not and must not be naïve.  The reality of evil is very much a part of our world.  It is evil that must be restrained.  The bipartisan Iraq Study Group recognized this and called for a diminishing but more strategic military force to be joined by a new and aggressive regional diplomacy that would press all in the region – our friends and enemies alike - to take responsibility for the evil they condone or in which they are complicit, and to join together across ideological and national interests to restrain the violence that threatens all.  Such an approach lacks the seductive appeal of a grand “war on terror,” the morally convenient but suspect naming of an “axis of evil,” or the notion of an epic ideological battle between the forces of democracy and oppression.  Instead it requires a much more honest view of the world that calls for coalitions that are real rather than illusory.  It requires the humility to acknowledge that we cannot impose our solutions by military force alone, and the courage to take initiatives even with partners we find threatening. 

The President’s course ignores this, calling for unilateral troop escalation in a place where additional troops have, in the recent past, simply escalated the violence, and for a growing reliance on the Iraqi government that has been far too complicit in the volatile sectarian politics that continues to fuel the violence and undermines the capacity of U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces to restrain it.  It is a course that fails to provide a credible challenge to other regional players, including Syria and Iran, to take responsibility for ending the violence, and it reinforces the unhealthy image of the United States as an occupying army and the Iraqi government as a subservient client state.  It is a course that places more American daughters and sons, including members of our own churches, in harms way.  While the call for additional resources for rebuilding Iraq is something we should affirm, assuming more stringent Congressional oversight to avoid the abuse and profiteering of the past, in response to the main elements of the President’s new course, it is time for people of faith to say “no!”

As we approach the annual observance of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we are challenged by words he spoke forty years ago at the Riverside Church in New York City when he broke the silence about the war in Vietnam.   

We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today.  We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.  In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late.  Procrastination is still the thief of time.  Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity. . . .  Over the bleached bones and jumbled residue of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words:  “Too late.”  There is an invisible book of life that faithfully records our vigilance or our neglect.  “The moving finger writes, and having writ moves on. . . .”  We still have a choice today:  non-violent coexistence or violent co-annihilation.   

The war in Iraq which has so preoccupied us at the expense of meaningful attentiveness to the tragedy of Darfur, the unresolved conflict between Israel and Palestine, and the crushing poverty faced by so many in the world, confronts people of faith with the urgency of today.  It is the urgency of a prophetic imagination that offers a vision of the world far richer than the one we have been offered, a future secured by aggression and greed.  And we are called to the urgency of prayer – prayer for the people of Iraq, prayer for our own soldiers and their families, especially those who grieve, prayer for the church and in particular for the small and vulnerable Christian community in Iraq, prayer for our leaders that they may listen with humility and act with wisdom.  Thus may history not judge us, “too late,” and may the oft sung words of the first preacher who graced the pulpit where King spoke inspire:  “Cure your children’s warring madness, bend our pride to your control.  Shame our reckless, selfish gladness, rich in things and poor in soul.  Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the facing of this hour, for the facing of this hour.”   

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church

Presiding Bishop's response to President Bush's speech on Iraq

While I welcome President Bush's recognition that the situation in Iraq is unacceptable, I am deeply saddened by his failure to address peacemaking in the context of the whole region. It is a mistake to view Iraq only through the prism of terrorism. Others have pointed out that the road to peace goes through Jerusalem, not Baghdad. In order to bring peace to the Middle East, not just Iraq, and the land we Christians call holy, there must be a comprehensive regional plan that culminates in a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians. Our country must engage diplomatically not only the U.N., European Union and Russia, but all the nations in the Middle East, including Iran and Syria. Diplomacy, built on a foundation of mutual respect and interest among people of good will, not more troops, can bring an end to this tragic conflict. We continue to pray for our soldiers and their families, as well as for all the people of the Middle East, seeking God's wisdom in the search for peace with justice,
for shalom and salaam.

Stanley J. Noffsinger
General Secretary
Church of the Brethren General BoardNEWS
Baptist Leaders Oppose U.S. Troop 'Surge'

Bob Allen
01-11-07 

Rabbi David Saperstein
Director, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
January 11, 2007

In 2005, the Union for Reform Judaism passed a resolution critical of the War in Iraq.  We spoke out because the prophetic tradition, so central to American Jewish life, calls on us to address the great moral issues of our day. And no issue raises more urgent and challenging moral considerations for our nation (even while affecting particular Jewish concerns from the war on terrorism to stability in the broader Middle East region) than does the war in Iraq.

Our 2005 resolution called for the beginning of the withdrawal of American troops, the development of a clear exit plan and an expansion of efforts to strengthen and stabilize Iraqi democracy and rebuild the nation's infrastructure. The failure of the President in his speech last night to lay out any kind of exit strategy is a major disappointment. The nation and our troops deserve to hear a clear plan. The announced expansion runs counter to our resolution's call for a reduction of troops and to the wide array of policy and military experts who have raised doubts about this strategy. While the President's plan for additional troops is intended to enhance the stability of Iraq that we know is essential, we remain skeptical of the President's assumptions and are concerned that the deployment may well have a destabilizing effect and will delay the process of Iraqis taking on greater responsibility for their fate.

We do, however, commend key parts of the President's proposal that affirm our resolution's approach: intensifying training of Iraqi troops and police, strengthening political democracy, expanding the rebuilding of Iraq's infrastructure, and enhancing U.S. bi-partisan cooperation in confronting terrorism.  All these long overdue steps are vital to strengthening Iraq and to a successful effort to curtail terrorism.

Statement in Response to President Bush’s Speech about the War in Iraq

January 12, 2007

As Christians, we are called to continually give witness to Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, who called us to love our enemies. Last summer, in July 2006, the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference made a resolution about the war in Iraq that is even more applicable today. 

As the highest authority in the Church of the Brethren, the Annual Conference voted to affirm our denomination’s historic and living witness that all war is sin. As disciples of Christ and members of one of the three Historic Peace Churches, we resolved that we cannot ignore the death, destruction, and violence of the war in Iraq.

The message of Jesus “to love your enemy,” from the Gospel of Matthew 5:44, is inconsistent with military action. Jesus’ words instead move us toward peaceful methods, diplomacy, moral suasion, nonviolent sanctions, and international cooperation to address violence and aggression.

War demeans and brutalizes all its participants. Military combatants and support personnel as well as innocent civilians, including women, children, and the infirm, are being killed and maimed. Military intervention in Iraq has triggered wave after wave of brutal acts of terrorism. In addition, the enormous expense of the war is a disastrous drain on the resources that are so desperately needed to relieve suffering at home and around the world.

The Church of the Brethren has called on its members to pray and give witness to the sin of violence, and has petitioned the federal government of the United States, the United Nations, and other nations and groups to seek peace by taking action to bring troops home from Iraq. 

Also, we have called on religious leaders from all faiths who preach violence to consider the things that truly make for peace. The wisdom of the scriptures, in the book of Jonah, provides direction: “Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence” (Jonah 3:8). 

Now, in response to the points the President is seeking, these statements by the Church of the Brethren are reaffirmed. Furthermore, we reiterate the church’s prayerful call upon the global community to formulate and actively implement a nonviolent, just plan that will bring peace and security to Iraq and all its people.

A. Roy Medley
General Secretary
American Baptist Churches USA

We continue to believe that a just and sustainable peace in the Middle
East and a cessation of Middle-East based terrorism cannot be addressed
by military force alone.  We urge President Bush to use every diplomatic means possible to bring peace, including dialogue with Syria and Iran, as he has been urged to do by US religious leaders and a wide range of present and past government officials.  We also believe that Iraq and terrorism cannot be dealt with in isolation from the issues related to the Israeli/Palestinian dilemma.  We again urge our government to use its influence to bring the necessary parties to the table to address how both Israelis and Palestinians can live in  recognized and secure nations. 

In his speech to the nation on January 10, President George W. Bush announced plans to send more than 21,000 U.S. troops to Iraq. Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, issued a statement in response to the speech, which we feature here.

Included with the statement is a reflection by Vernon Broyles on previous General Assembly actions about the conflict in Iraq. Broyles is volunteer Representative for Public Witness for the Office of the General Assembly.

Statement by The Reverend Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick
in response to President George W. Bush’s speech on January 10, 2007
regarding Iraq military strategies

In 2004, the 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) made a clear judgment “that the invasion of Iraq has been immoral, unwise and illegal.” While it also clearly affirmed our support for the troops and the right of people of conscience to disagree with that judgment, it was clear in its opposition to the war in Iraq. We believe that history has borne out the wisdom of the General Assembly’s action.

The General Assembly also expressed the conviction that in looking toward the future, the U.S. Government must assume responsibility to participate in the reconstruction of Iraq, but that such a reconstruction effort should be shared with the international community under the leadership of the United Nations. It further stated that in that process, further military deployment should be avoided as much as possible.

In light of these clear convictions, we view with grave concern the proposal of the President to send over 21,000 additional troops to Iraq. We urge the administration, instead, to give serious attention to the counsel of our General Assembly, other religious communities, and the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, to seek the stabilization and reconstruction in Iraq through other means.

January 11, 2007

Response to Iraq strategies outlined by President Bush on January 10, 2007 reflecting previous actions of the General Assembly:

The 216th General Assembly (2004) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) concurred in the judgment of many critics “that the invasion of Iraq has been unwise, immoral and illegal.” Since that time, the number of deaths of U.S. military personnel has risen above 3,000 and it is estimated that more than 100,000 U.S. personnel have been physically and psychologically maimed by their involvement in the war—with their families suffering the “collateral damage.” Iraqi dead are numbered in the tens of thousands, and the toll of daily violence on the general Iraqi population is incalculable. Many now insist that the fruit of the current strategy is, in fact, civil war.

No sign of an end to the violence is in sight. In the face of the worsening internecine strife in Iraq and the continuing failure of U.S. military policy to ameliorate the situation, the presenting dilemma is how to find a way out, short of total disaster.

Widespread agreement exists among much of the U.S. military leadership that “success” by any measure is not attainable by simply continuing strategies that have been employed thus far. That includes previous efforts to increase U.S. military presence in particularly troublesome parts of Baghdad and other areas. These “surges” have been unable to quell the violence in any sustained fashion, whether it be inter-ethnic killing or actions opposition to the occupation.

What the President is now proposing can hardly be interpreted as anything short of an escalation of the current conflict. He acknowledges that in the “short term,” there will be continuing, perhaps increased, bloodshed, especially as that involves giving our troops a “green light” to invade areas like Sadr City—a guarantee of sustained, house-to-house fighting and further alienation of much of the poor Shiite population.

Even more ominous is the President’s repetitious “good versus evil” rhetoric with regard to Syria and Iran. “We’ll interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria, and we will seek out and destroy the networks that are providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq.” He threatens to put a stop to support from those two parties by the use of force at a time when the clear wisdom of the Iraq Study Group and many others is that no movement toward a lasting peace is possible without diplomatic contact with these two parties. This threat is even more disturbing in the face of informed speculation that the administration may have given its blessing to Israel to use its own nuclear capability, at some point in the future, against Iran’s suspected nuclear programs.

Even with clear acknowledgement by the President that Iraq must take on major responsibility for their future and his providing some “benchmarks” for measuring their willingness to do so, his overall strategy looks, in large measure, to be “more of the same” with regard to military strategies for the “pacification” of Iraq.

The President declared, “America’s commitment is not open-ended.” What he did not offer was any hint as to how long our own men and women might be placed at risk; however, earlier hints from the White House suggest that the “surge” in U.S. troops is hardly a short-term escalation. Indeed, The White House press secretary went so far as to say that the outcome of this strategy should not even be assessed for at least two years, a long time for U.S. personnel to continue to be at risk in a war that has already lasted longer than the U.S. involvement in World War II.

Our General Assembly recognizes that in assessing the justification for military action, traditional Just War Principles may be considered. Among those most salient in this situation is the criterion requiring that such actions must have a reasonable chance of success. At the moment, many doubts exist, especially among military strategists, as to the ability of the President’s “surge” strategy to meet that criterion. In fact, strong proponents of a “surge” such as Senator McCain argue that even the 21,000 additional “boots on the ground” promised by the President is insufficient to accomplish that mission.

The General Assembly has expressed its deep concern for those who are serving at great cost in this conflict. The assembly has called for adequate pastoral care for them and their families as well as for adequate logistical support and protection. While that support should not be abridged in any way, it does not follow that new financial resources should be allocated to place several thousand other men and women in the cauldron of violence in which injury and death will come, as the Administration has acknowledged.

The General Assembly has made clear that in such conflicts, there must be an effort to involve the community of nations—most important, the United Nations—as an agent through which the various parties may be brought together to find a way beyond the sectarian violence and to begin the process of rebuilding. In 2004, the 216th General Assembly urged the U.S. Government “to move speedily to restore sovereignty to Iraq, to internationalize the reconstruction efforts without penalty to those nations that chose not to endorse the U.S.-led invasion, and to recognize the United Nations as the body most suitable to facilitate the transition to peace, freedom, and participatory governance in Iraq.” 

In summary, the strategies announced by President Bush run counter to the carefully crafted advice of the Iraq Study Group, and a great many of the U.S. military commanders from whom the President, earlier, promised to take his signals about military deployments. They also run counter to the moral, ethical, and familial concerns of millions of Americans that surfaced in recent elections. It is time for the U.S. Congress, in whatever ways available to it, to tell the President “No!” to further escalation of the conflict by the United States.

Baptist leaders contacted Thursday by EthicsDaily.com disagreed with President Bush's plan to send more U.S. troops to Iraq.

"The situation in Iraq is unacceptable to the American people--and it is unacceptable to me," the president said in a 20-minute speech on Wednesday. "Our troops in Iraq have fought bravely. They have done everything we have asked them to do. Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me."

Bush committed 21,500 additional American troops to Iraq. The plan would increase the U.S. troop presence from the current 132,000 to 153,500 and cost $5.6 billion. Congress has already spent more than $350 billion in the war, and more than 3,000 Americans have lost their lives.

The president faces stiff opposition from Democrats in Congress and a few Republicans. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, a presidential hopeful in 2008, said he does not believe more troops is the answer. Others considering running for the GOP nomination, like Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, support the "surge."

Baptist leaders contacted by EthicsDaily.com agreed.

"President Bush has been wrong too often to be trusted now with yet another plan for victory in Iraq," said Robert Parham, executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics. "He no longer has the confidence of the American people, most of whom oppose sending more troops to Iraq. He lacks the support of most Democrats and a growing number of Republican leaders. Yet he burrows blindly ahead in the darkness with little sense of where he is going and no appreciate that the nation is not following him."

Roy Medley, general secretary of American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A., said a just and sustainable peace in the Middle East cannot be addressed by military force alone. He urged Bush to "use every diplomatic means possible to bring peace, including dialogue with Syria and Iran, as he has been urged to do by U.S. religious leaders and a wide range of present and past government officials."

"Sending 20,000 additional troops is like putting a band-aid on a wound that requires a tourniquet," said Bruce Prescott of Mainstream Oklahoma Baptists. "American military force cannot resolve the political and religious differences that divide Iraqis. Prolonging this misguided war is doing nothing more than creating deeper divisions within our own country."

Alistair Brown of BMS World Mission said most Baptists in Great Britain have been against the war from the start, and a majority of the population wants the UK to move toward a strategic troop withdrawal. The U.S. move takes the military presence in the opposite direction. 

"Not many things are fixed by hitting them harder," Brown said. "And many Brits feel that President Bush's planned troop surge for Iraq is an attempt to bring peace by hitting the military problem harder."

Gary Nelson, general secretary of Canadian Baptist Ministries, said in a meeting with youth directors from all the conventions and unions in that nation most of their reaction is "disappointment--wishing and wondering why bridges of peace cannot be built rather than continued violence."

"Greater numbers of troops means greater chaos," Nelson said. "It is time to take Jesus' words seriously 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.'"

Brown said increasing troop levels will be perceived in Iraq as an increased invasion by the Christian West, creating danger for Christians around the world. "We stay strong in prayer," he said, "longing for a lasting peace soon and a chance to build a new, stable Iraq."

"The biblical witness tells us that when a blind man leads he stumbles into a ditch," said Parham. "That's why those with sight lead those who are blind. And now is the time, for the sighted Christian community to provide clarity about a way forward. We must offer the moral message that violence only begets more violence. Sending more troops will beget more violence. More violence is not an acceptable moral path. An acceptable path is more talking with our real and perceived adversaries, seeking the common ground of less violence."

Parham said the president's surge plan falls short of meeting historic Christian rules of a just war. 

"First, a surge does not provide a reasonable hope for success," he said. "It only prolongs the failed war. Winning the war is a myth. Second, a surge does not ensure non-combatant civilian immunity from war. It only escalates in a civil war the number of deaths and disfigurements. Third, a surge increases the war's costs, which already outweigh the original goals for the war."   

Medley said Iraq and terrorism cannot be dealt with in isolation from the Israeli/Palestinian problem. "We again urge our government to use its influence to bring the necessary parties to the table to address how both Israelis and Palestinians can live in recognized and secure nations," he said.

National Council Of Churches: No More Troops

The Rev. Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches USA, made remarks today about the president’s call for more troops in Iraq. Ekklesia reports:

"This escalation of troop presence only promises to guarantee an escalation in American and Iraqi deaths", says the Rev Dr Bob Edgar of NCCUSA today. The council brings together mainstream American denominations with a combined membership of 45 million.

He continued: "Particularly in the wake of the barbaric execution of Saddam Hussein - an act that reflects not the ideals of democracy and justice, but rather mocks them - and an act that promises only to breed more violence, as only a violent act can - one would think that the United States would immediately seek to bring about a change of policy. Sending more troops is not a change in policy, nor is it even a change in strategy; it is more of the same…"

"It is time for moral strength, not military power, to take precedence in the US plan for Iraq.

"It is time to recognize the failure of a military policy that is not promoting freedom, not ending terrorism, not building up the Iraqi nation, not bringing security to the region, and not making the world safer.

"It is time - and here we agree with the President - to insist on political benchmarks for the Iraqi government, and to provide reconstruction aid to the Iraqi people, if it is not already too late. But the benchmarks must be achievable, and this time the disbursement of aid must be transparent."

Click here for the full story.

"Rev. John Thomas responds to proposed U.S. military escalation in Iraq"

The Rev. John H. Thomas, United Church of Christ General Minister and President, released the following pastoral letter in response to President Bush's Jan. 10 address calling for an escalation in the number of U.S. troops in Iraq:

The growing violence in Iraq, the enormous suffering being experienced by the citizens of Iraq, and the anguish of countless American families who have lost beloved sons and daughters to death and horrific injury calls for profound lament and repentance, not for stubborn commitment to the unilateralism and militarism that has been the hallmark of our failed policy in Iraq.  That is why the President’s speech is not only politically disappointing, but morally deficient as well.  The deceptions and arrogance which launched a war that brought Iraq to this place of pain and anguish and that have alienated the United States from so many of its friends must be acknowledged as more than strategic mistakes; they must be confessed as the core of the immoral justification for a war that failed to meet the criteria for a just war and that, as a result, cannot achieve the goals of a just peace.

People of faith are not and must not be naïve.  The reality of evil is very much a part of our world.  It is evil that must be restrained.  The bipartisan Iraq Study Group recognized this and called for a diminishing but more strategic military force to be joined by a new and aggressive regional diplomacy that would press all in the region – our friends and enemies alike - to take responsibility for the evil they condone or in which they are complicit, and to join together across ideological and national interests to restrain the violence that threatens all.  Such an approach lacks the seductive appeal of a grand “war on terror,” the morally convenient but suspect naming of an “axis of evil,” or the notion of an epic ideological battle between the forces of democracy and oppression.  Instead it requires a much more honest view of the world that calls for coalitions that are real rather than illusory.  It requires the humility to acknowledge that we cannot impose our solutions by military force alone, and the courage to take initiatives even with partners we find threatening.

The President’s course ignores this, calling for unilateral troop escalation in a place where additional troops have, in the recent past, simply escalated the violence, and for a growing reliance on the Iraqi government that has been far too complicit in the volatile sectarian politics that continues to fuel the violence and undermines the capacity of U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces to restrain it.  It is a course that fails to provide a credible challenge to other regional players, including Syria and Iran, to take responsibility for ending the violence, and it reinforces the unhealthy image of the United States as an occupying army and the Iraqi government as a subservient client state.  It is a course that places more American daughters and sons, including members of our own churches, in harms way.  While the call for additional resources for rebuilding Iraq is something we should affirm, assuming more stringent Congressional oversight to avoid the abuse and profiteering of the past, in response to the main elements of the President’s new course, it is time for people of faith to say “no!"

As we approach the annual observance of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we are challenged by words he spoke forty years ago at the Riverside Church in New York City when he broke the silence about the war in Vietnam.

We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today.  We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.  In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late.  Procrastination is still the thief of time.  Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity. . . .  Over the bleached bones and jumbled residue of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words:  “Too late.”  There is an invisible book of life that faithfully records our vigilance or our neglect.  “The moving finger writes, and having writ moves on. . . .”  We still have a choice today:  non-violent coexistence or violent co-annihilation.

The war in Iraq which has so preoccupied us at the expense of meaningful attentiveness to the tragedy of Darfur, the unresolved conflict between Israel and Palestine, and the crushing poverty faced by so many in the world, confronts people of faith with the urgency of today.  It is the urgency of a prophetic imagination that offers a vision of the world far richer than the one we have been offered, a future secured by aggression and greed.  And we are called to the urgency of prayer – prayer for the people of Iraq, prayer for our own soldiers and their families, especially those who grieve, prayer for the church and in particular for the small and vulnerable Christian community in Iraq, prayer for our leaders that they may listen with humility and act with wisdom.  Thus may history not judge us, “too late,” and may the oft sung words of the first preacher who graced the pulpit where King spoke inspire:  “Cure your children’s warring madness, bend our pride to your control.  Shame our reckless, selfish gladness, rich in things and poor in soul.  Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the facing of this hour, for the facing of this hour.”

Statement On Bush Iraq Plan

Tonight the president announced his plan to escalate the conflict in Iraq by sending additional U.S. troops. His plan flies in the face of advice offered by prominent U.S . military leaders and has the clear potential of worsening the humanitarian crisis that has exploded since the initial U.S. invasion. Religious leaders have called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops linked with benchmarks for rebuilding Iraqi society and I reaffirm my support for that position. Like Christians across the world – from the Vatican to the World Council of Churches – I remained convinced that the president's policies have created a deep moral crisis and that escalation of the war will create further chaos. Furthermore, I endorse calls in Congress to withhold funding from the administration that would be used to pay for additional troops in Iraq. The Prince of Peace calls on us to reject war and to seek justice and we have not done enough to answer that call.

Link: Listen to my 9/10/06 sermon dealing with Iraq

Update

Action Alert from the United Church of Christ Justice & Witness Ministries

On Wednesday, January 10, President Bush outlined his new strategy for the war in Iraq.  The strategy includes a proposed escalation in U.S. troop levels in Iraq, up to 20,000 additional troops, to serve for an unspecified length of time.  The President is also expected to recommend increased spending for economic development in Iraq as part of a job development program.

Many voices from across the political spectrum are expressing opposition to the troop escalation as an answer to the growing sectarian division in Iraq.  As people of faith, and members of a Just Peace church, it is critical to add our voices to the call to oppose a troop increase in Iraq.

In the House and Senate, bipartisan efforts are underway to oppose the President’s proposed strategy for Iraq.  They reflect the assessment of a number of current and retired military generals who have stated that an increase in U.S. troops, particularly absent other initiatives, would be counterproductive.

Sen. Kennedy (D-MA) has proposed legislation to block troop escalation in Iraq without congressional debate and approval.  Sen. Kennedy cited the fact that the case for war upon which the Congress authorized the President’s action in 2003 does not reflect what is now known to be true:  there were no weapons of mass destruction stockpiled in Iraq, and alleged ties between Iraq and al Qaeda have not been discovered.

The President’s proposed troop increase dismisses the message from the majority of American voters in the November 2006 elections, calling for a change of direction in Iraq.  Escalating U.S. military involvement in Iraq will not bring peace and stability to that conflict-torn country.  Greater emphasis must be placed on renewed diplomatic initiatives and stronger efforts to rebuild the country’s economic and social infrastructure.

To date, over 3,000 U.S. soldiers have died in the Iraq War, tens of thousands have come home severely wounded and traumatized, families have been shattered.  Untold numbers of Iraqis have died or have been wounded in the fighting, and they remain caught in the grip of terror, violence and economic desperation.

We need a better strategy in Iraq.  An escalation of  troops is not the answer.  Contact your members of Congress and urge them to oppose the President’s troop surge plan.  To send a fax or e-mail message to your members of Congress click www.UCCTakeAction.org/nomoretroops .

Rebuild Iraq Before Leaving

Everywhere you go the talk is about the "surge" - a proposal under consideration by the White House to dramatically increase U.S. troops in Iraq to stem the tide of chaos (the "McCain doctrine" says John Edwards).  Our newly installed House and Senate leadership have appropriately condemned the proposal.   

But I reject out of hand any suggestion that American troops be hastily withdrawn.  Whether or not we like it - and I don't - we are in Iraq and we created the mess.  We have to do whatever we can and spend whatever it costs to help rebuild Iraqi society.  We cannot, as the U.S. did at the conclusion of the 1991 Iraq War, simply withdraw and allow the humanitarian crisis there to escalate.  Multinational troops will be needed in Iraq for many years to help with basic security.  Hopefully, other nations will contribute more if they see evidence the U.S. is willing to adjust policy. 

It was the height of political stupidity not to follow-up the invasion of Iraq with a Marshall-type plan for putting the nation back together.   

This fall the National Council of Churches USA released a pastoral letter calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops but wisely linked any such move to the rebuilding of Iraq.

...we call upon the U.S. Government to recognize that the continued presence of occupying forces has not provided meaningful security for Iraqi citizens and only exacerbates escalating violence, and begin an immediate phased withdrawal of American and coalition forces from Iraq with a timetable that provides for an expeditious final troop withdrawal.  And we further call upon our government to link this withdrawal plan to benchmarks for rebuilding Iraqi society, since the reconstruction of infrastructure, the restoration of essential services, and a foundation for economic growth are necessary to nurture Iraqi hopes for a stable future, and to steps to meet the security concerns of all Iraqis, including the more vulnerable, smaller ethnic and religious communities. (Emphasis added)

We know what happens when powerful nations invade and then abandon countries where the economy and the infrastructure are destroyed.  Think Afghanistan post the Soviet Invasion.  Or dust off your old history books and remember how Hitler and the Nazis where able to turn Germany's humiliation and devastated economy into an opportunity to gain power. 

Progressives who fought to stop this war from ever happening (the good guys) need to start better articulating a vision for how to bring this war to a close without causing even more harm to the Iraqi people.  The letter from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to President Bush never mentions rebuilding Iraq.  Our obligation to Iraq cannot simply end with the withdrawal of troops.

Christian Leaders React With Concern Over Hussein Execution

 

At church today we prayed for Saddam Hussein because Christians are called to pray even for our enemies.  Hussein was a vicious tyrant whose crimes against humanity were many and he was an enemy to all who love peace and worship God - Muslim, Christian and Jew alike.  He helped to perpetuate a cycle of violence that finally consumed even him.  Global religious leaders from the Christian faith, however, have reacted to his brutal execution with concern.

The Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia, general-secretary of the World Council of Churches, released a statement saying:

At the death of Saddam Hussein, our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Iraq. We pray to God to grant this suffering nation the mercy, justice and compassion that it has long been denied. We hope against hope for an end to fear and death that marked Saddam Hussein's rule and that continue now from other hands.

That a leader has been held responsible for one of his crimes is significant. However, the World Council of Churches is opposed to the death penalty. Each taking of a person's life is a part of a larger tragedy and nowhere is this more apparent than in a land of daily killings.

We pray that those who hold power in Iraq now and in the future will create a new heritage of government for its people. May Iraq's leaders pursue reconciliation and mutual respect among all its communities. May Iraq's people be freed from violence and demagoguery, and be able to live where power is held to account and shared under the rule of law. May all parties and all authorities in Iraq now work to stay the hands of any that are tempted to use violence for political gain and all who put themselves above the law.

Iraq and its neighbours need peace, the peace that comes with justice for all.

Ekklesia reports a similar reaction came from the Vatican:

Speaking for the Holy See, Father Federico Lombardi told Vatican Radio that "every capital execution is a reason for sadness even when it involves a person who has been convicted of serious crimes".

He added that "the killing of the perpetrator is not the way to rebuild justice and to reconcile society. Rather the opposite, there is the danger that the spirit of revenge will be fuelled and new violence will be sown."

Today the 3,000th U.S. casualty since the invasion was confirmed.  It is possible that over 600,000 Iraqi civilians have now been killed.  How many more will have to die before the futility of this crusade is recognized? 

"Saddam Hussein Put to Death"

Press Release from Human Rights Watch

(New York, December 30, 2006) – The execution of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein following a deeply flawed trial for crimes against humanity marks a significant step away from respect for human rights and the rule of law in Iraq, Human Rights Watch said today.

Human Rights Watch has for more than 15 years documented the human rights crimes committed by Hussein’s former government, and has campaigned to bring the perpetrators to justice. These crimes include the killing of more than 100,000 Iraqi Kurds in Northern Iraq as part of the 1998 Anfal campaign. 

“Saddam Hussein was responsible for massive human rights violations, but that can’t justify giving him the death penalty, which is a cruel and inhuman punishment,” said Richard Dicker, director of Human Rights Watch’s International Justice Program. 

The Iraqi High Tribunal sentenced Saddam Hussein and two others to death in November for the killing of 148 men and boys from the town of Dujail in 1982. The tribunal’s statute prohibits, contrary to international law, the possibility of commuting a death sentence. It also requires that the execution take place within 30 days of the final appeal. 

Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances. Increasingly, governments are abolishing the death penalty in domestic law. 

“The test of a government’s commitment to human rights is measured by the way it treats its worst offenders,” said Dicker. “History will judge these actions harshly.” 

A report issued in November 2006 by Human Rights Watch identified numerous serious flaws in the trial of Hussein for the Dujail executions. The 97-page report, “Judging Dujail: The First Trial Before the Iraqi High Tribunal,” was based on 10 months of observation and dozens of interviews with judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers. 

The report found, among other defects, that the Iraqi High Tribunal was undermined from the outset by Iraqi government actions that threatened the independence and perceived impartiality of the court. It outlined serious flaws in the trial, including failures to disclose key evidence to the defense, violations of the defendants’ right to question prosecution witnesses, and the presiding judge’s demonstrations of bias. 

Hussein’s defense lawyers had 30 days to file an appeal from the November 5 verdict. However, the trial judgment was only made available to them on November 22, leaving just two weeks to respond. The Appeals Chamber announced its confirmation of the verdict and the death sentence on December 26. 

“It defies imagination that the Appeals Chamber could have thoroughly reviewed the 300-page judgment and the defense’s written arguments in less than three weeks’ time,” said Dicker. “The appeals process appears even more flawed than the trial.” 

At the time of his hanging, Saddam Hussein and others were on trial for genocide for the 1988 Anfal campaign. The victims, including women, children and the elderly, were selected because they were Kurds who remained on their traditional lands in zones outside of areas controlled by Baghdad. Hussein’s execution will therefore jeopardize the trial of these most serious crimes.

Related Post:  Saddam Hussein Captured

Related Post:  Death Does Not Bring Justice

The Iraq Study Group Report, A Response by the National Council of Churches USA

Statement from the National Council of Churches USA

The National Council of Churches USA urges President George W. Bush to heed the recommendations in the Iraq Study Group Report. While no set of recommendations can right all of the wrongs evolving from the Iraq war, this report does lay groundwork for an end to the war that all sides can find acceptable. The president, as well as the newly-elected Congress, needs to understand the opportunity presented by this report.

The recommendations in the Iraq Study Group Report generally resonate with recommendations made by church leaders through the NCC. In "Pastoral Message on the Iraq War" issued at its November general assembly, the NCC called for a withdrawal of US troops, benchmarks for rebuilding Iraqi society, and steps to meet the security concerns of all Iraqis, including the more vulnerable, smaller ethnic and religious communities.

The Iraq Study Group Report likewise calls for a draw-down of US forces, as well as milestones for Iraqi national reconciliation, security, and governance. While the NCC would have liked to have seen more specificity with regard to a timetable for withdrawal, the fact that the Report redefines the mission of US troops in such a way that makes room for their withdrawal by early 2008 is a step in the right direction. Indeed, the Report’s suggestion of such a withdrawal, even coupled with an increase in the number of troops assigned to the training of Iraqi forces, is a realization that the occupation of Iraq is an ever-deteriorating situation and therefore must end.

The NCC commends the Iraq Study Group Report for its encouragement of multilateral engagement in addressing the situation in Iraq, a move also called for by the NCC's "Pastoral Message." The Report's recommendation that such engagement would include diplomatic initiatives with Iran and Syria, as well as involving the United Nations and other international partners, is consistent with other statements made by the NCC in recent months and years. Also consistent with the NCC's viewpoint is the Report's conclusion that the situation in Israel / Palestine is integrally related to the situation in Iraq, and indeed that a solution to the Israeli - Palestinian conflict is central to the solution of all problems in the Middle East.

In its "Pastoral Message," the NCC lamented the lapse in US moral leadership "as it pertains to our country's justification and conduct of this war in Iraq." The Iraq Study Group Report enables the US to take a step in reclaiming this moral leadership, by stating: "Because of the role and responsibility of the United States in Iraq, and the commitments our government has made, the United States has special obligations." The path our country takes in meeting these obligations can only be determined if we find consensus, as is hoped for in this Report. It is the view of the NCC that this Report offers the best opportunity at this time in our nation's history to find such consensus.

For information, please contact Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos, Associate General Secretary for International Affairs and Peace, at 212-870-3422, or tkireopoulos@ncccusa.org.

U.S. Churches To Bush & Congress : Bring Troops Home

The General Assembly of the National Council of Churches USA voted today to call on the president and the Congress to end America's involvement in Iraq:

In the months preceding the United States' invasion of Iraq, leaders of member communions within the National Council of Churches USA, along with Roman Catholic and other Church leaders worldwide, expressed the conviction that the war with Iraq was not warranted, even as our country was involved in what was termed by the U.S. Government as a global "war on terror."  Since that time, many justifications have been given for this war:  the need to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction; the desirability of planting a new democracy in the Middle East; the need to destroy a major base for terrorism; and Iraq's connection to the 9/11 attacks against America.

All of these justifications have been revealed as false or ill-considered.  For this reason, the National Council of Churches USA repeats its call that this war must be brought to an end.

"Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA has been the leading force for ecumenical cooperation among Christians in the United States. The NCC's member faith groups -- from a wide spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African American and Living Peace churches -- include 45 million persons in more than 100,000 local congregations in communities across the nation," according to NCC's website.

The United Church of Christ is a member of the council.

The rest of the statement is below: