 November/December 2000 (XXXVIII 5) |
Editor's Note: The following minute was approved by Chester Quarterly Meeting on April 30 and by PYM Interim Meeting on June 22. It was to be sent to Monthly Meetings with a request that they act on it at the local level.
hroughout its history the Religious Society of Friends has consistently opposed war as an instrument of national policy. For this nation or any group of nations to continue to wage war against a smaller, weaker adversary long after it has been defeated is doubly offensive to Friends' beliefs.
Today, nine years after the official end of the Gulf War, The United Nations Security Council continues to maintain economic sanctions against Iraq, with devastating consequences for that country, in terms of lives lost, economic dislocation, and undermining of the social and political fabric. Too many people have died as a result of the sanctions. The health care and educational institutions of Iraq are in a state of chaos, and family structure has been undermined, further endangering the children and creating a lost generation. Just as the government of the United States has been a primary force in keeping the sanctions in place, it can use its influence to end them. We call upon Friends to seek an end to this senseless and brutal course of action.
Information on this subject is available from the American Friends Service Committee on the World Wide Web at www.afsc.org or by contacting Peter Lems, AFSC program assistant for Iraq, at 215-241-7170 or e-mail plems@afsc.org
Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:19 AM