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Churches take Iraq war concerns to Kofi Annan
Episcopal News Service
Issue:
Section:
2003-079-3
Posted: Thursday, April 10, 2003
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An ecumenical delegation has met with United Nations General Secretary Kofi Annan to stress the importance of getting humanitarian aid to Iraqi civilians trapped inside the expanding war zone.
The Rev. Marian McClure, director of the Worldwide Ministries Division (WMD) of the Presbyterian Church (USA), was the spokesperson for the delegation that included representatives from Church World Service (the relief arm of the National Council of Churches), the Quakers, the Anglicans, the Lutheran World Federation and the Presbyterian Church (USA). The seven-member delegation said it also spoke on behalf of the United Methodist Church and the Mennonites.
According to the Presbyterian United Nations Office, humanitarian agencies are having a hard time obtaining licenses to operate inside Iraq. The US military is apparently making those decisions instead of a UN-umbrella group, as has been the case in the past. Some relief agencies are remaining on the Kuwaiti side of the border, while others inside Iraq are having difficulty getting to the places they're needed. No coordinating authority was established before the war began, the PCUSA UN Office said. The US military is delivering some assistance, rather than allowing neutral organizations to do so, sources in the region say.
Reading from a prepared text, McClure told Annan: 'We believe that our humanitarian involvement is especially important given that this war is too often misunderstood as a conflict between Christians and Muslims. Please continue working to establish the conditions for all NGOs, including faith-based ones, to reach the vulnerable citizens of Iraq.' In addition to access, the delegation raised four other issues: protection of civilians; human rights monitoring; rapid coordination of rebuilding efforts in Iraq at war's end and insistence that it's not too late to cease hostilities and resume inspections and negotiations.
The delegation also cautioned that Iraqis should not bear the primary financial burden of relief or reconstruction. Specifically, McClure said, the 'Oil for Food' program should not be used to finance Iraq's reconstruction. Iraq's resources, the delegation said, should be controlled by Iraqis, citing biblical warnings against 'keeping what belongs to another.'
'A lot of us feel moral anguish about a number of things having to do with this war, including real concern for the life-long trauma experienced by both combatants and civilians,' she said, stressing that ordinary Iraqis have already suffered greatly under 10 years of economic sanctions. 'But there is a real concern for civilians,' she said.
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