Warc condemns the war in Iraq

March 20 2003

The following statement was issued today by Rev. Dr Setri Nyomi, general secretary of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches.

We speak today out of deep sadness and regret: regret that the force of international public opinion did not, in the end, dissuade the United States administration and its few remaining allies from embarking on a war that will bring suffering, misery and death to many thousands in Iraq and, perhaps, elsewhere.

We reiterate our view, stated on February 21 and shared by countless Reformed and other churches throughout the world, that this war, undertaken without even the cover of UN authorization, is immoral and illegal. To use a traditional term, it is sin.

We condemn unreservedly this war of aggression, and we condemn the unilateral and imperial mentality that lies behind it. No nation, however powerful, may act on the world stage simply as it pleases. Nor may it treat with contempt the opinions of its own citizens.

A unipolar world in which a superpower offers us the choice of being with it or against it is morally and politically unacceptable. We remind President George W Bush and his administration that the gospel choice is to be for or against Christ.

We congratulate the majority of governments represented on the UN Security Council for their refusal to be bullied, bribed or intimidated into supporting war, and we call on the UN General Assembly to discuss at the earliest date this open and unashamed flouting of international law.

The challenge now facing the world’s peoples and governments is to reassert the authority of the UN and the binding force of the UN Charter. We demand that the aggressor states cease their attacks immediately.

The task facing our churches, now more than ever, is to pray and make their voices heard in protest. May God have mercy on us all.