Minute Regarding U.S. Government Plans to Overthrow the Government of Iraq

In the past few months the executive branch of the U.S. government has determined that global military dominance and preemptive use of military power will be its main weapon in its war on terrorism and, more immediately, against Iraq.  The administration has stated its intent to launch a military invasion of Iraq and depose Saddam Hussein, with or without cooperation from other countries, and has not made a clear commitment to seek the authorization of Congress and the approval of the American people for the prospective military invasion.
 
We in the Montana Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) share the global concern about terrorism.  However, because we see that of God in every human being, we oppose the use of war as an instrument of national policy and are convinced that violent responses to terrorism are simplistic, shortsighted and only beget more violence.

There are effective, non-military alternatives to reduce terrorist threats from Iraq and elsewhere.  These include:

• Diplomacy
• Strengthening of international law and cooperation with existing law
• Promotion of regional and international arms control and disarmament initiatives
• Support for human rights
• Increased U.S. assistance for human development
  

While we are opposed to war as a matter of spiritual principle, we see additional reasons why a war against Iraq would be unwarranted and ill-advised.
 

• U.S. interventions in the Gulf War and the subsequent embargo have already been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people.  We are appalled that the U.S. would undertake an act that would cause hundreds of thousands more Iraqi deaths with the stated intent of trying to protect them.
  
• Is it not likely that increased bombing will foster more terrorism?
  
• A preemptive strike will undermine international efforts to reduce acts of terrorism around the world.
  
• War is inherently explosive and unpredictable.  Embarking upon war with Iraq may well lead to destruction and consequences completely unanticipated.
  
• Military strikes by the U.S. against apparent Arab and other terrorists, with attendant civilian casualties, greatly impedes the ability of Arab and other peoples to reflect upon their own contributions to terrorism and how they might wish to address them.
  
• An American military conquest of Iraq may well lead to the disintegration of that country.  Are the American people prepared for a lengthy occupation of Iraq with all the hostility and expense it might involve?
  
• The U.S. cannot deliver to Iraq through military conquest the peace, security, human rights, self-determination and rule of law which the Iraqi people deserve.  The U.S. role must be to working solidarity with the people of Iraq for a more humane society.
  
• Diversion of resources for military purposes sacrifices our ability to provider basic human needs at home and elsewhere.  This, in turn, generates unrest and greater motivation for terrorist activity.
  
• The U.S. has virtually no support for this action from Western and Middle Eastern allies.
  
• Based upon international law, a preemptive strike against Iraq would be illegal.
  

There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein is a brutal dictator whose regime should be replaced with a peaceful government, chosen by the Iraqi people, that respects the human rights of all its citizens.  However, unilateral U.S. military action cannot resolve this matter.  Therefore, we urge the U.S. government to act as a cooperative member of an international community.  Further, we urge our leaders and elected representatives to engage creativity and wisdom to find and implement a myriad of non-military approaches to resolve the crisis in the Middle East, and in so doing to be a beacon of sanity and constructive action for all peoples.