THE JAMAICA Council of Churches has voiced its opposition to the growing threat of war against Iraq, while supporting the United Nations' view that any action taken should be the result of proper investigation and consensus.
"We affirm the position of the United Nations in sending in arms inspectors," the Council said, in expressing the view that there is a need to receive more convincing evidence that Iraq is linked to the Al Qaeda terrorist network, and is in possession of weapons of mass destruction, before going forward.
The Council conceded that Iraq had been responsible for the misuse of its power against its more vulnerable neighbours, but expressed concern about what, it considers, "the questionable and premature manner" in which some have committed themselves to war.
"Notions of the sovereign right of any single nation, however powerful, to declare war, is untenable," the Council said.
It also pointed out that "the notion of the right to a pre-emptive strike and the creation of a regime change in Iraq which is not initiated by the people of Iraq" would set a dangerous precedent.
In the statement signed by its president, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Howard Gregory, Anglican Bishop of Montego Bay, the JCC suggested that a deeper look has to be taken into the relationship between economic interests in Iraqi oil reserves and the motivating force behind the war intent, as well as into the extent to which religious differences between the western mindset and the Muslim world view are an issue.
In reflecting on recent international wars, in which there have been heavy civilian casualties, the Council also pointed out that a war against Iraq is likely to cause an immeasurable toll on human life.
President of the United States, George W. Bush, on Thursday urged the UN to join in disarming Iraq. He was speaking at the White House one day after Secretary of State Colin Powell presented what the United States considers damning evidence of Iraq's lack of compliance to UN resolutions on disarmament.
The Jamaica Council of Churches is an umbrella grouping of Christian denominations across the island.
