Minute
Opposing War with Iraq and Sanctions Against Iraq
Special Called Meeting for Worship with a Concern
for Business
At
Baltimore Monthly Meeting of Friends, Stony Run, a specially
called Meeting for Worship with a Concern for Business was held
Ninth Month Eleven, 2002, at 8:30 P.M. The meeting opened with
a period of silent worship.
Elizabeth DuVerlie presented a revision of the Minute that came
before the 9-02 Meeting. The revision has simplified the Minute
in several ways and has been modified in an attempt to make
its arguments clear and factual. The Meeting approved the following
Minute:
Along
with many others, we of the Religious Society of Friends are
deeply troubled by the evastating impact of the ongoing UN
sanctions on the civilian population of Iraq. We are equally
concerned about the Bush administration's apparent plans to
take military action against the Iraqi leadership and about
the tragic consequences of such actions, not only for the Iraqi
people but also for other nations in the region and for the
United States itself. Our opposition to sanctions and to military
intervention in Iraq is based in our belief, in continuity with
Friends' historical Peace Testimony, in the value of seeking
nonviolent solutions to conflict. We believe that war against
Iraq is no way to reduce the threat of weapons of mass destruction,
reduce terrorism, or bring to justice those involved in the
attacks of 9/11. We are especially concerned about the following:
Economic
Sanctions
UNICEF
estima09/06/2005 1990 more than 500,000 children have died through malnutrition,
impure water and other sanctions-related causes. Between 1990
and 2000 Iraq suffered the worst change in mortality levels
among children under five of any of the 188 countries surveyed
(UNICEF survey), with rates in Iraq more than doubling during
the decade. Yet the sanctions are not causing the Government
of Iraq to be more favorably disposed to UN arms inspection.
Rather, they are serving as a collective form of punishment
on the people of Iraq. We hold that attitudes of justice and
compassion are basic to all human interaction. We believe the
sanctions are immoral and urge that the United States call for
lifting the UN economic sanctions without conditions.
Arms
Inspections
On
the question of UN arms inspections in Iraq, by 1998 UNSCOM
(the UN arms inspection agency) had destroyed virtually all
the missiles and weapons of mass destruction Iraq then had in
its possession. While it is conceivable that some rebuilding
has occurred, many experts consider it unlikely that any rebuilding
is significant. We believe the United States should support
the UN Secretary General's efforts to negotiate a return of
arms inspection teams and to define the terms for completing
the arms inspection.
Regime
Change
We
are particularly alarmed at President Bush's drumbeat for regime
change in Iraq and inclination to use military force to achieve
that change. We oppose the use of military force in Iraq. A
war in Iraq would mean loss of many innocent Iraqi civilians
as well as loss of life of both Iraqi and US forces. Iraq has
not engaged in military action against its neighbors since the
invasion of Kuwait in 1990, and none of Iraq's immediate neighbors
support an attack on that country. The United States is virtually
alone in advocating regime change by outside intervention in
Iraq. We believe it would be a dangerous precedent for a country
unilaterally to force another country to change its government.
We respect and promote world law and worldwide standards of
justice.
"No-Fly
Zones." The US/UK-enforced "no fly zones"
in Iraq, which are not authorized by the United Nations, involve
missile attacks on Iraqi radar sites resulting in the deaths
of many non-combatants and destruction of civilian property.
A consequence of this practice is that Iraq has little incentive
to cooperate with weapons inspections. We believe this practice
should be stopped.
Unilateral
Military Force. We are concerned that our
government, in addressing international conflicts, is increasingly
reliant upon military force, and that it acts unitaterally and
in defiance of the opinion of world leaders and world public
opinion. Multilateral diplomacy, the United Nations, and international
law are given perfunctory consideration or none at all. The
United States has refused to be a party to many critical international
agreements on human rights, the environment, and arms control.
We believe the United States should be a leader, not a laggard,
in pressing for multi-lateral diplomacy and actions to achieve
international peace and security and respect for human rights.
These are the principles upon which the United Nations was founded.
As Friends we favor peaceful methods of conflict resolution
and international exchange. We ask that the United States act
in greater unity with international law and diplomacy and with
greater concern for peace and stability in the world.
This
minute, developed and passed by the Baltimore Monthly Meeting
of Friends, Stony Run, in Baltimore, Maryland, is being brought
before Baltimore Yearly Meeting to convey the concerns shared
by some 4,500 Quakers in Maryland and parts of Virginia and
Pennsylvania.
OTHER
QUAKER STATEMENTS & LETTERS
Reviewed:
09/06/2005
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