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Statement on Iraq September 2004

In March 2003, Quakers recorded our belief that the invasion of Iraq would undermine relations between Muslims and the West. And so events proved. Violence begets violence.

Now, over 21,000 people have been killed there, with uncounted Iraqi casualties, all human beings whose lives we value equally with ours. The cycle of violence increases.

Measures to support and rebuild Iraq politically and economically were neglected, and the adoption of Saddam Hussein-like brutality and torture negates the invaders' humanitarian claims. We are ashamed and grieved by the abasement of the standards claimed by the West.

The purported aim to eliminate weapons of mass destruction rings hollow whilst we retain such weapons ourselves. We hope, therefore, just as it has done by increasing international aid, that our Government will demonstrate constructive leadership at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Conference next year. 
International trust, damaged by the war, must be rebuilt, and can hardly be achieved without an internationally supported solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict. Global insecurity presents difficult dilemmas and we realise that we do not have all the answers. We pray that political leaders on all sides will learn for the future.

Signed for Britain Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, September 2004

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Last updated: 3 September 2004