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 comprehen-
sive sanctions be considered only in response to aggression
or grave and ongoing injustice after less coercive measures
have 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 Crookston, 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
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