Christian Century: Powell presses UN as churches resist war

Are the growing mainline Protestant trumpet calls to avoid a preemptive military strike against Iraq mere background noise for the Bush administration? The White House quickly brushed off a late January appeal by 46 church leaders, mostly clergy of the president's United Methodist Church, shortly before Secretary of State Colin Powell pressed a skeptical UN Security Council to disarm the evasive Saddam Hussein regime.

Powell's methodical presentation February 5 of the U.S. case regarding Iraq's chemical and biological weapons and that country's apparent pursuit of nuclear capabilities met, at least initially, with resistance from France, Germany, China and Russia. European nations, like many of their church leaders, have sought more time for UN inspection teams in light of feared chaos in the Middle East and humanitarian disasters should war ensue.

Saying that Baghdad's denials represent a "web of lies" and that Iraq has already defied UN resolution 1441, Powell indicated that prolonged inaction would allow Hussein to wreak his own havoc in the region at a time "of his own choosing." British Foreign Minister Jack Straw, seconding Powell's arguments, said Hussein is "gambling that we will lose our nerve rather than enforce our will."

Perhaps reflecting a strategic shift of the antiwar movement to the European continent, General Secretary Bob Edgar of the National Council of Churches flew to Berlin to attend a meeting February 5 of European church leaders. Edgar has become the de facto point man of U.S. church protests through joint statements and, more recently, television interviews. The former Democratic congressman also planned talks in Paris, Moscow, Rome and London.

Only hours before Powell addressed the Security Council, the Berlin meeting issued its statement. "We appeal to the Security Council to uphold the principles of the UN Charter which strictly limit the legitimate use of military force," said church leaders from ten European countries. They argued that military force is an "inappropriate means to achieve disarmament of any Iraqi weapons of mass destruction" and that UN weapons inspectors need to be given the time to complete their work.

They also called on Iraq to "comply with binding UN resolutions," destroy any weapons of mass destruction, cooperate with UN weapons inspectors and guarantee human rights for all its citizens. "The people in Iraq must be given hope that there are alternatives to both dictatorship and war," the statement said.

The Berlin session was convened by the Geneva-based World Council of Churches and hosted by the Evangelical Church in Germany, Germany's main Protestant body. In Britain, the new archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has warned against war despite the strong support given to the U.S. by Prime Minister Tony Blair. In Sweden, Lutheran Archbishop K. G. Hammar has described a possible war against Iraq as "immoral and unwise."

In France, Marcel Manoel, leader of the Reformed Church, called on French President Jacques Chirac to "resolutely support" peaceful means of dealing with the conflict. Chirac has called for time for the weapons inspectors to carry out their work in Iraq, but France is also reported to be sending an aircraft-carrier to the eastern Mediterranean.

Meanwhile, two major U.S. black denominations issued separate protests on January 23. "Mr. President, we must confess that we fail to see the rush to war as a rational expression of the compassionate conservatism that you promised the country at the beginning of your administration," wrote Presiding Bishop Gilbert E. Patterson and board members of the Church of God in Christ in a letter to Bush. About 500 delegates to a board meeting of the Nashville-based National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., said they "firmly believe that nonviolent social change and international peacemaking are the most desired methods to address any and all infractions of Iraq against the United Nations resolutions."

Church leaders favoring the Bush administration's policies have been relatively quiet. But on January 31 the Episcopal bishop of Virginia, whose diocese includes the Pentagon and counts Secretary of State Colin Powell as a member, defended the U.S. moves. Said Bishop Peter Lee, addressing his diocesan convention: "In a fallen world, we understand that one of the responsibilities of international leadership is to name the threats to peace and to participate in removing them, by diplomacy if necessary, by measured, necessary force as a last resort."