http://www.salam.org/iraq/sanctions.html
U.S. Bishops' Statement on Iraq
January 20, 1998
President William Clinton
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
We, Bishop Members of Pax Christi-USA and other bishops, are
writing to you to express our profound moral concerns about the
U.S.-led sanctions against the people of Iraq. In conscience, we
urge you to call for the immediate lifting of the sanctions by
the U.N. Security Council, to end all U.S. support for these
sanctions, and to refrain from any military action in the current
dispute.
In 1993, on the 10th anniversary of our pastoral letter,
"The Challenge of Peace," we U.S. Catholic Bishops
issued "The Harvest of Justice is Sown in Peace." In
this document, we acknowledged that "in the aftermath of the
Cold War, economic sanctions have become a more common form of
international pressure....as a means of combating aggression
short of military intervention ... In each case [in which they
have been applied] we have consulted closely with the church in
the country affected and have been guided by its judgment."
In our document, we have enunciated four criteria for the
assessment of the morality of the use of sanctions:
- Concerns about the limited effectiveness of sanctions and
the harms caused to civilian populations require that
comprehensive sanctions be considered only in response to
aggression or grave and ongoing injustice after less
coercive measureshave been tried and with clear and
reasonable conditions set for their removal.
- The harm caused by sanctions should be proportionate to
the good likely to be achieved; sanctions should avoid
grave and irreversible harm to the civilian population.
Therefore, sanctions should be targeted as much as
possible against those directly responsible for the
injustice, distinguishing between the government and the
people ... Embargoes, when employed, must make provisions
for the fundamental human needs of the civilian
population. The denial of basic needs may not be used as
a weapon.
- The consent to sanctions by substantial portions of the
affected population is morally relevant ...
- Sanctions should always be part of a broader process of
diplomacy aimed at finding an effective solution to the
injustice.
We find that after seven years, the sanctions against Iraq
violate these criteria.
Sanctions have taken the lives of well over one million
persons, 60% of whom are children under five years of age. The
1991 bombing campaign destroyed electric, water and sewage
plants, as well as agricultural, food and medical production
facilities. All of these structures continue to be inoperative,
or function at sub-minimal levels, because the sanctions have
made it impossible to buy spare parts for their repair.
This bombing campaign, together with the total embargo in
place since August 1990 was, and is, an attack against the
civilian population of Iraq. Such counter-population warfare has
been unequivocally condemned by the most authoritative teaching
body of the Catholic Church, The Second Vatican Council (1962-
1965).
Independent agencies continue to document the devastating
impact sanctions are having on the civilian population. These
include the United Nation's own World Health Organization (WHO)
and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). In 1996, UNICEF
reported that 4,500 children were dying monthly. Leaders of the
church in Iraq tell us that sanctions must end. For example,
Archbishop Gabriel Kassab, of the southern region of Iraq,
stated: "Epidemics rage, taking away infants and the sick by
the thousands. Those children who survive disease succumb to
malnutrition, which stunts their physical and mental development.
Our situation is unbearable!...We appeal to people of conscience
to work to end the blockade of Iraq...Let it be known that
Resolution 986 (the so-called 'oil-for-food' resolution) has
served to divert world attention from the tragedy, while in some
respects aggravating it."
In fact, only 53% of money received for the sale of oil is
available to Iraq. Thirty percent of the money realized from the
oil revenues is paid to Kuwait, and a sizable amount covers
various costs of the U.N. expenses in Iraq. The food and medicine
for Iraqi children, and the rest of the civilian population, from
Resolution 986, are constantly delayed, largely because of the
extraordinary complexity of the procedures for the implementation
of the resolution.
Mr. President, whatever the intent of these sanctions, we are
compelled by this assessment to judge them to be a violation of
moral teaching, specifically as articulated within the Catholic
tradition. In fact, the sanctions are not only in violation of
the teaching of the Catholic Church, but they violate the human
rights of Iraqi people, because they deprive innocent people from
food and medicine, basic elements for normal life. We call for
the immediate cessation of sanctions against Iraq.
We sincerely hope you will give careful consideration to the
moral issues we have raised. We are willing to work with you in
trying to find a truly just path to peace in the Middle East.
Sincerely yours,
Juan A. Arzube, Former Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles, CA
Victor H. Blake, Bishop of Crooks ton, MN
Joseph M. Breitenbeck, Former Bishop of Grand Rapids, MI
Kevin M. Britt, Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit, MI
Charles A. Buswell, Former Bishop of Pueblo, CO
Charles J. Chaput, OFM Cap, Bishop of Denver, CO
John G. Chedid, Eparch of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles, CA
Matthew H. Clark, Bishop of Rochester, NY
Patrick R. Cooney, Bishop of Gaylord, MI
Thomas J. Costello, Auxiliary Bishop of Syracuse, NY
Nicholas N. D'Antonio, Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans, LA
Joseph P. Delaney, Bishop of Fort Worth, TX
Robert W. Donnelly, Auxiliary Bishop of Toledo, OH
Joseph A. Ferrario, Former Bishop of Honolulu, HI
John J. Fitzpatrick, Former Bishop of Brownsville, TX
Patrick F. Flores, Archbishop of San Antonio, TX
Thomas Gunbleton, Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit, MI
Richard C. Hanifen, Bishop of Colorado Springs, CO
Joseph L. Howze, Bishop of Biloxi, MS
William L. Higi, Bishop of Lafayette, IN
James Hoffman, Bishop of Toledo, OH
Howard J. Hubbard, Bishop of Albany, NY
Raymond G. Hunthausen, Former Archbishop of Seattle, WA
William A. Hughes, Former Bishop of Covington, KY
Ibrahim Ibrahim, Bishop Eparch to St. Thomas the Apostle, MI
Joseph L. Imesch, Bishop of Joliet, IL
Raymond A. Lucker, Bishop of New Ulm, MN
Leroy T. Matthiesen, Former Bishop of Amarillo, TX
John E. McCarthy, Bishop of Austin, TX
Lawrence J. McNamara, Bishop of Grand Island, NB
John J. McRaith, Bishop of Owensboro, KY
Dale J. Melczek, Bishop of Gary, IN
Donald W. Montrose, Bishop of Stockton, CA
Francis P. Murphy, Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore, MD
Michael J. Murphy, Former Bishop of Erie, PA
James D. Niedergeses, Former Bishop of Nashville, TN
William C. Newman, Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore, MD
Gerald F. O'Keefe, Former Bishop of Davenport, IA
Albert H. Ottenweller, Former Bishop of Steubenville, OH
Michael Pfeifer, OMI, Bishop of San Angelo, TX
Kenneth J. Povish, Former Bishop of Lansing, MI
Francis A. Quinn, Former Bishop of Sacramento, CA
James A. Quinn, Auxiliary Bishop of Cleveland, OH
Peter A. Rosazza, Auxiliary Bishop of Hartford, CT
Walter J. Schoenherr, Former Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit, MI
Richard J. Sklba, Auxiliary Bishop of Milwaukee, WI
John J. Snyder, Bishop of St. Augustine, FL
Joseph M. Sullivan, Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn, NY
Walter F. Sullivan, Bishop of Richmond, VA
Kenneth E. Untener, Bishop of Saginaw, MI
Rene A. Valero, Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn, NY
Daniel F. Walsh, Bishop of Las Vegas, NV
J. Kendrick Williams, Bishop of Lexington, KY
Gavaino Zavala, Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles, CA
