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."
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