NEWS: 28/11/02
WAR AND RUMOURS OF WAR
"Racking up" excuses for a war
With the deadline for an Iraqi declaration on its weapons
programme fast approaching, the Bush administration is meticulously
preparing the "case" for war. The administration
had earlier prophesied (and is of course hoping) for a failure
by Iraq to comply with the UN resolution passed earlier this
month. So for the next two weeks, administration officials
will continue to hammer away at what they see as constituting
"material breach" of the resolution.
The process has already begun, according to Ivo Daalder,
a foreign-policy analyst at the Brookings Institution in Washington
who served in President Clinton's National Security Council.
"The administration has a clear strategy under which
it is racking up the allegations of failure to comply, starting
with the no-fly zones, and thereby raising the threshold for
cooperation," Mr Daalder said. "What has [the administration]
worried is that they won't get out of the inspections early
on anything that's a clear violation to press the need to
go to war … So what they're trying to do is build a record."
Catholic opposition to the war
Church leaders throughout the world have been almost unanimous
in their opposition to the warmongering against Iraq, with
the US Catholic bishops being among the most insistent that
a war under current circumstances "would not meet the
strict conditions in Catholic teaching for overriding the
strong presumption against the use of military force".
According to Bruce Duncan of the Yarra Theological Union
in Melbourne, "For the first time in the history of western
liberal nations, the Churches are, in effect, declaring that
this is not a just war."
"The bishops have a duty to invoke their moral authority
to guide Catholics on an issue of such gravity … This
is especially so since the Church in its history has been
deeply involved in efforts to prevent killing, particularly
of the innocent, and has played a central role in the development
of the 'just war' tradition in the West."
Meanwhile, the Catholic aid agency Caritas warned that a
war on Iraq would have enormous human consequences and must
be avoided at all costs.
"The horrendous burden of twelve years of sanctions
and trade embargo's has left the people of Iraq highly vulnerable,"
said Julian Filochowski, the Caritas Internationalis representative
who headed a recent delegation to Iraq. "In the end,
a war on Iraq will be devastating for the Iraqi people."
ACMICA to focus on anti-war efforts
With the campaign against the agenda of the WTO over for
now, ACMICA members are focusing their attention on the immoral
war against Iraq.
One of their first commitments have been to sponsor and help
with the Walk Against the War rally on 30 November, which
is expected to attract tens of thousands of people with well
known speakers and performers including John Pilger, Bishop
Pat Power, Judy Davis, and Leonardo's Bride.
As a strategic focus, ACMICA is committed to a campaign of
unmasking the war agenda, establish a coherent Christian response
to the war preparations, and mobilise Christians against the
war. Anyone interested in joining ACMICA in this campaign
is encouraged to contact Minh Nguyen on 0403 181 586 or peace@acmica.org.
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