The General Board of the Presbyterian Church which met in Belfast on Thursday 3 April has encouraged its members to pray "for a swift conclusion to the war in Iraq," and expressed its belief that humanitarian relief and later reconstruction must be "carried through with generous and long term commitment."
These resolutions were passed following a Church and Government Committee report to the Board which, while supportive of the military personnel, their families and military chaplains involved in the war, expressed reservations but the action currently being undertaken.
Commenting on the Attorney General's advice to the British Government that United Nation's Resolution 1441 was sufficient to justify military action, the Church and Government Committee report argued that had it (Resolution 1441) been intended to be interpreted in that way "it is unlikely that it would have been passed."
Highlighting the serious fracturing of relationships within the United Nations, NATO, the European Community and the UK, and reminding the last General Board of its own resolution which identified force "only as a last resort", the Committee report stated the opinion that,
"a. the threat of force was causing Saddam Hussein to give some co-operation to the UN inspectors;
b. the United Nations' inspection Programme, while not without difficulties, had not run its course;
c. after long, patient and partially successful containment there was then unseemly haste in marshalling large armies in the region and a consequent, almost inevitable, rush to war;
d. all alternatives to war had not been exhausted;
e. a widespread international coalition of support for military action was highly desirable but does not exist;
f. this war is fraught, in its execution, with extreme danger to the armed forces involved and to the civilian population of Iraq and, in its possible consequences, in making a dangerous situation even more dangerous as it may strengthen militant Islamic forces and weaken moderate ones;
g. whatever our convictions about the rightness or otherwise of this war we should express our prayerful concern for service personnel and their families and to military chaplains;
h. the current humanitarian concerns and the later reconstruction of the country must be carried through with a long term and generous commitment, along with the rebuilding of fractured internal and international relationships as well as seriously addressing the Israeli/Palestinian conflict."
Finally commenting on the decision to allow USA military aircraft the use of Shannon Airport, the committee commented that "as Ireland owes much to the USA and has such close connections and long term interests, it was deemed to be a pragmatic decision taken in Ireland's long term interests."
The Board agreed the following resolutions:
That the General Board call upon the members and congregations of the Presbyterian Church to pray for a swift conclusion to the war in Iraq, and expresses its sympathy to the relatives of those who have been killed and its prayerful concern for service personnel, their families and the military chaplains.
That the General Board believes that the current humanitarian concerns and the later reconstruction of Iraq must be carried through with long term and generous commitment, along with the rebuilding of fractured internal and international relationships as well as seriously addressing the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
Issued by Stephen Lynas, Presbyterian Information Services. Info@PresbyterianIreland.org
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