"It was still dark. I dressed in that darkness. When I was ready I grabbed an MRE (meal ready to eat) and got in the truck. The targets were three houses where RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) attacks had come from a few days before. Sitting there listening to the briefing I let my mind wander and said a prayer. 'Just one more day, God, let me live one more day and we will go from there ... ' It was the same prayer I said every day.
"There were different people to meet each day. There were some who would kill you if they could ... you could see the hate in their eyes. I also met people who would have given me everything they owned ... so thankful because we had rid them of Saddam.
"After the briefing we convoyed to the raid site. I was to go in directly after the military police who would clear the buildings. The raid began without a hitch. I was inside the courtyard of a house questioning a woman when I heard gunfire. Ducking next to the stone wall I yelled at the woman to get inside.
"When the gunfire stopped I peeked around the front gate. I saw a soldier pulling rear security who was still aiming his M249 machine gun at a black truck off in the distance. His was the weapon I had heard.
"I ran up and overheard the captain asking what had happened and why this soldier had opened fire. The soldier answered that he had seen a man holding an AK-47 in the back of the black truck. I was among the four, including the soldier who had fired, selected to go check on that truck.
"We were out of breath when we got to the gun-truck nearest to the black civilian truck. There were four Iraqis walking towards us from the black truck. They were carrying a body, a small boy no more than 3 years old. His head was cocked at the wrong angle and there was blood. So much blood. The Iraqi men were crying and asking me WHY?
"Someone behind me started screaming for a medic. It was the young soldier who had fired. He screamed for a medic until he was hoarse. A medic came just to tell us what we already knew: The boy was dead.
"I stood there looking at that little child, someone's child just like mine, and seeing how red the clean white shirt of the man holding the boy was turning. Then I realized I was speaking to them, speaking in a voice that sounded so very far away. I heard my voice telling them how sorry we were. My mouth was saying this but all my mind could focus on was the hole in the child's head. The white shirt covered in bright red blood. I couldn't stop looking even as I kept telling them how sorry we were.
"I can still see it all to this day. There were no weapons found and we accomplished nothing besides killing a child. I stayed as long as I could, talking to the man holding the child. I couldn't leave because I needed to know who they were. I wanted to remember. The man was the child's uncle, minding him for his father who had gone to the market. They were carpenters and what the soldier who had fired on the truck had seen was one of the Iraqi men standing in the truck bed, holding a piece of wood.
"Before I left I saw the young soldier who had killed the boy. His eyes were unfocused and he was just standing there, staring off into the distance. My hand went to my canteen and I took a drink of water. That soldier looked so lost, so I offered him a drink. In a hoarse voice he quietly thanked me.
"Later that day we were filling out reports about what we had witnessed. The captain who had led the raid was angry: 'Well, this is just great! Now we have to go give that family bags of money to shut them up ... '
"A family had just lost their beautiful baby boy, and this man is worried about having to pay for a family's grief and sorrow.
"To this day I still think about that raid, that family, that boy. I wonder if they are attacking us now. I would be. If someone took the life of my son or my daughter nothing other than my own death would stop me from killing them. I still cry when the memory hits me. And I cry when I think of how very far away I am from my family. I am not there, just like the boy's father wasn't there. I have served my time. I have my nightmares. I have enough blood on my hands. Just let me be a father, a husband, a daddy again.
-Sgt. Zachary Scott-Singley
It is stories such as these that display a heart being filled with light through its own grief. Wisdom has been borne in at least one heart this day. Let us turn to the grief that still lives within us, lest the fingers that are wrapping themselves around so many voices in this land of fear squeeze shut.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Sunday, June 12, 2005
The Vanquished Know War
"The vanquished know the essence of war – death. They grasp that war is necrophilia. They see that war is a state of almost pure sin with its goals of hatred and destruction. They know how war fosters alienation, leads inevitably to nihilism, and is a turning away from the sanctity and preservation of life. All other narratives about war too easily fall prey to the allure and seductiveness of violence, as well as the attraction of the godlike power that comes with the license to kill with impunity." - Hedges, Chris. "What Every Person Should Know About War"
nonviolent jesus
nonviolent jesus
Thursday, June 02, 2005
What Drives the Torment?
"The prisoner, a slight, 22-year-old taxi driver known only as Dilawar, was hauled from his cell at the detention center in Bagram, Afghanistan, at around 2 a.m. to answer questions about a rocket attack on an American base. When he arrived in the interrogation room, an interpreter who was present said, his legs were bouncing uncontrollably in the plastic chair and his hands were numb. He had been chained by the wrists to the top of his cell for much of the previous four days.
Mr. Dilawar asked for a drink of water, and one of the two interrogators, Specialist Joshua R. Claus, 21, picked up a large plastic bottle. But first he punched a hole in the bottom, the interpreter said, so as the prisoner fumbled weakly with the cap, the water poured out over his orange prison scrubs. The soldier then grabbed the bottle back and began squirting the water forcefully into Mr. Dilawar's face.
"Come on, drink!" the interpreter said Specialist Claus had shouted, as the prisoner gagged on the spray. "Drink!"
At the interrogators' behest, a guard tried to force the young man to his knees. But his legs, which had been pummeled by guards for several days, could no longer bend. An interrogator told Mr. Dilawar that he could see a doctor after they finished with him. When he was finally sent back to his cell, though, the guards were instructed only to chain the prisoner back to the ceiling.
"Leave him up," one of the guards quoted Specialist Claus as saying.
Several hours passed before an emergency room doctor finally saw Mr. Dilawar. By then he was dead, his body beginning to stiffen. It would be many months before Army investigators learned a final horrific detail: Most of the interrogators had believed Mr. Dilawar was an innocent man who simply drove his taxi past the American base at the wrong time.
The story of Mr. Dilawar's brutal death at the Bagram Collection Point - and that of another detainee, Habibullah, who died there six days earlier in December 2002 - emerge from a nearly 2,000-page confidential file of the Army's criminal investigation into the case, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times.
Like a narrative counterpart to the digital images from Abu Ghraib, the Bagram file depicts young, poorly trained soldiers in repeated incidents of abuse. The harsh treatment, which has resulted in criminal charges against seven soldiers, went well beyond the two deaths.
In some instances, testimony shows, it was directed or carried out by interrogators to extract information. In others, it was punishment meted out by military police guards. Sometimes, the torment seems to have been driven by little more than boredom or cruelty, or both." - "In U.S. Report, Brutal Details Of 2 Afghan Inmates' Deaths", New York Times, May 20, 2005
"You cannot be too gentle, too kind. Shun even to appear harsh in your treatment of each other. Joy, radiant joy, streams from the face of him who gives and kindles joy in the heart of him who receives. All condemnation is from the devil. Never condemn each other. We condemn others only because we shun knowing ourselves. When we gaze at our own failings, we see such a swamp that nothing in another can equal it. That is why we turn away, and make much of the faults of others. Instead of condemning others, strive to reach inner peace. Keep silent, refrain from judgement. This will raise you above the deadly arrows of slander, insult and outrage and will shield your glowing hearts against all evil." -- St Seraphim of Sarov
A voice from a saner world. What strikes the tone of self-knowledge is the sentence, "We condemn others only because we shun knowing ourselves." The gloating self-satisfaction on the faces of the soldiers in the torture photos is a mask that must be pierced. No, they are not happy and proud of what they have done, though the media ring it boldly for the next decade. Nor are we proud of our silence and compliance. Let us pray that the chill which holds us in its grip, the cold smiles, the tinny laughter like ice pellets on a car roof, will melt with the breath of the Holy Spirit and rouse the poor to cry out to the Lord.
Mr. Dilawar asked for a drink of water, and one of the two interrogators, Specialist Joshua R. Claus, 21, picked up a large plastic bottle. But first he punched a hole in the bottom, the interpreter said, so as the prisoner fumbled weakly with the cap, the water poured out over his orange prison scrubs. The soldier then grabbed the bottle back and began squirting the water forcefully into Mr. Dilawar's face.
"Come on, drink!" the interpreter said Specialist Claus had shouted, as the prisoner gagged on the spray. "Drink!"
At the interrogators' behest, a guard tried to force the young man to his knees. But his legs, which had been pummeled by guards for several days, could no longer bend. An interrogator told Mr. Dilawar that he could see a doctor after they finished with him. When he was finally sent back to his cell, though, the guards were instructed only to chain the prisoner back to the ceiling.
"Leave him up," one of the guards quoted Specialist Claus as saying.
Several hours passed before an emergency room doctor finally saw Mr. Dilawar. By then he was dead, his body beginning to stiffen. It would be many months before Army investigators learned a final horrific detail: Most of the interrogators had believed Mr. Dilawar was an innocent man who simply drove his taxi past the American base at the wrong time.
The story of Mr. Dilawar's brutal death at the Bagram Collection Point - and that of another detainee, Habibullah, who died there six days earlier in December 2002 - emerge from a nearly 2,000-page confidential file of the Army's criminal investigation into the case, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times.
Like a narrative counterpart to the digital images from Abu Ghraib, the Bagram file depicts young, poorly trained soldiers in repeated incidents of abuse. The harsh treatment, which has resulted in criminal charges against seven soldiers, went well beyond the two deaths.
In some instances, testimony shows, it was directed or carried out by interrogators to extract information. In others, it was punishment meted out by military police guards. Sometimes, the torment seems to have been driven by little more than boredom or cruelty, or both." - "In U.S. Report, Brutal Details Of 2 Afghan Inmates' Deaths", New York Times, May 20, 2005
"You cannot be too gentle, too kind. Shun even to appear harsh in your treatment of each other. Joy, radiant joy, streams from the face of him who gives and kindles joy in the heart of him who receives. All condemnation is from the devil. Never condemn each other. We condemn others only because we shun knowing ourselves. When we gaze at our own failings, we see such a swamp that nothing in another can equal it. That is why we turn away, and make much of the faults of others. Instead of condemning others, strive to reach inner peace. Keep silent, refrain from judgement. This will raise you above the deadly arrows of slander, insult and outrage and will shield your glowing hearts against all evil." -- St Seraphim of Sarov
A voice from a saner world. What strikes the tone of self-knowledge is the sentence, "We condemn others only because we shun knowing ourselves." The gloating self-satisfaction on the faces of the soldiers in the torture photos is a mask that must be pierced. No, they are not happy and proud of what they have done, though the media ring it boldly for the next decade. Nor are we proud of our silence and compliance. Let us pray that the chill which holds us in its grip, the cold smiles, the tinny laughter like ice pellets on a car roof, will melt with the breath of the Holy Spirit and rouse the poor to cry out to the Lord.
Magic Markers into Tattoos
An Iraqi man has his forehead marked with "K2"
"That picture where that unnamed man’s furrowed forehead is marked "K2" by the marine captures the fundamental process of dehumanization that you will find if you scratch the surface of all major 20th century atrocities. That man is no longer a man for those soldiers: he is a detainee, a number, a representation of the enemy, of the people who shoot at them, the people who they hate, people who they are scared of, people that aren’t people. He can be blindfolded, marked, humiliated before his heartbroken family, taken away at will.
Once you cross that line, some of those soldiers will eventually abuse, torture and kill some of those “non-people.” This isn’t even an indictment of American culture, rather, this is the fundamental lesson of a bloody century: dehumanization is the first step towards atrocity. The particular way in which we do this may be influenced by our culture --and where else have you seen such a pornographic interest in the victims-- but we are hardly unique or immune. In fact, reading about that very disturbing account of Dilawar’s death in Bagram, Afghanistan published last week in the New York Times made me think that we seem to have arrived somewhere between Chile and Argentina during the military dictatorships in terms of systematization of the torture.
The question facing us is whether we will stop before magic markers turn into tattoos." - Under the Same Sun, May 25, 2005
Come, consider the works of the Lord,
the redoubtable deeds he has done on the earth.
He puts an end to wars over all the earth;
the bow he breaks, the spear he snaps.
He burns the shields with fire.
"Be still and know that I am God,
supreme among the namtions, supreme on the earth!"
The Lord of hosts is with us:
The God of Jacob is our stronghold."
"That picture where that unnamed man’s furrowed forehead is marked "K2" by the marine captures the fundamental process of dehumanization that you will find if you scratch the surface of all major 20th century atrocities. That man is no longer a man for those soldiers: he is a detainee, a number, a representation of the enemy, of the people who shoot at them, the people who they hate, people who they are scared of, people that aren’t people. He can be blindfolded, marked, humiliated before his heartbroken family, taken away at will.
Once you cross that line, some of those soldiers will eventually abuse, torture and kill some of those “non-people.” This isn’t even an indictment of American culture, rather, this is the fundamental lesson of a bloody century: dehumanization is the first step towards atrocity. The particular way in which we do this may be influenced by our culture --and where else have you seen such a pornographic interest in the victims-- but we are hardly unique or immune. In fact, reading about that very disturbing account of Dilawar’s death in Bagram, Afghanistan published last week in the New York Times made me think that we seem to have arrived somewhere between Chile and Argentina during the military dictatorships in terms of systematization of the torture.
The question facing us is whether we will stop before magic markers turn into tattoos." - Under the Same Sun, May 25, 2005
Come, consider the works of the Lord,
the redoubtable deeds he has done on the earth.
He puts an end to wars over all the earth;
the bow he breaks, the spear he snaps.
He burns the shields with fire.
"Be still and know that I am God,
supreme among the namtions, supreme on the earth!"
The Lord of hosts is with us:
The God of Jacob is our stronghold."
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
The Revolt of Christianity
"As Christians we are called to be peacemakers, and to initiate war only as a last resort. We believe your administration has launched an unjust and unjustified war in Iraq."
"We pledge fidelity to Jesus Christ, offering our hearts and lives to do God's work in God's world."
"While recognizing God as sovereign over individuals and institutions alike, we understand that no single political position should be identified with God's will."
"As Christians we are called to actions characterized by love, gentleness and concerns for the most vulnerable among us. We believe your administration has fostered intolerance and divisiveness and has often failed to listen to those with whom it disagrees." -- An open letter to President George W. Bush from concerned faculty, staff and emeriti of Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Imagine the grief in God's heart at the deliberate attempts, sanctioned at the highest levels of the Bush administration, as demonstrated by documents released to the ACLU, to break Moslem's relationship with the God of us all. Women deliberately attempted to "defile" men so that they would be unable to pray. What does it mean when Christians are silent in the face of attempts to destroy a man's relationship with God so that he might reveal "terrorist" secrets? When we try to break a man's relation with God in order to weaken him and make him more maleable, we commit one of the gravest spiritual evils and weaken our own relationship, perhaps irreparably.
Can we still hear the words of Vatican II? "The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself, merciful and all-powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth (5), who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes great pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God. Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. They also honor Mary, His virgin mother; at times they even call on her with devotion. In addition, they await the day of judgement when God will render their deserts to all those who have been raised up from the dead. Finally, they value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting." - Nostra Aetate, 3.
Those who are defiled are our brothers in Christ. Let us pray that they will be protected from those who attempt so foolishly to break their relationship with God. And let us not only pray, but speak out. Every Christian has the unbreakable obligation to raise their voice against torture and the blasphemy against the human soul that is so embodied. To do less is to fail in our duty to our brother. Join the revolt of truth!
"We pledge fidelity to Jesus Christ, offering our hearts and lives to do God's work in God's world."
"While recognizing God as sovereign over individuals and institutions alike, we understand that no single political position should be identified with God's will."
"As Christians we are called to actions characterized by love, gentleness and concerns for the most vulnerable among us. We believe your administration has fostered intolerance and divisiveness and has often failed to listen to those with whom it disagrees." -- An open letter to President George W. Bush from concerned faculty, staff and emeriti of Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Imagine the grief in God's heart at the deliberate attempts, sanctioned at the highest levels of the Bush administration, as demonstrated by documents released to the ACLU, to break Moslem's relationship with the God of us all. Women deliberately attempted to "defile" men so that they would be unable to pray. What does it mean when Christians are silent in the face of attempts to destroy a man's relationship with God so that he might reveal "terrorist" secrets? When we try to break a man's relation with God in order to weaken him and make him more maleable, we commit one of the gravest spiritual evils and weaken our own relationship, perhaps irreparably.
Can we still hear the words of Vatican II? "The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself, merciful and all-powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth (5), who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes great pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God. Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. They also honor Mary, His virgin mother; at times they even call on her with devotion. In addition, they await the day of judgement when God will render their deserts to all those who have been raised up from the dead. Finally, they value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting." - Nostra Aetate, 3.
Those who are defiled are our brothers in Christ. Let us pray that they will be protected from those who attempt so foolishly to break their relationship with God. And let us not only pray, but speak out. Every Christian has the unbreakable obligation to raise their voice against torture and the blasphemy against the human soul that is so embodied. To do less is to fail in our duty to our brother. Join the revolt of truth!
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Impunity
"The world is soaked with mutual blood. When individuals commit homicide, it is a crime; it is called a virtue when it is done in the name of the state. Impunity is acquired for crimes not by reason of innocence but by the magnitude of the cruelty." -- St Cyprian of Carthage, To Donatus, chapter 6
"A U.S. Army captain forced an Iraqi detainee to dig his own grave and then ordered troops to pretend to shoot the detainee in one of several mock executions described in investigative documents released Tuesday by the Army...Included in the documents were reports of other mock executions, a homicide and the description of an incident in which a soldier allegedly goaded a prisoner by holding up the Jewish Star of David symbol while threatening other Arabs in the room...Two days later, the platoon came across a father and his sons loading metal onto a truck at the ammunition factory. After detaining the Iraqis, a soldier recounted, the sergeant asked the father, "Which one do you want to die?" รข€” referring to the man's sons.
Several soldiers said they recalled the sergeant taking one of the sons around the corner of a building and firing a shot.
'I yelled to him but he either ignored me or didn't hear me and proceeded with the boy around the building. We heard a single shot,' one sworn statement read.
When asked why he did not inquire what happened after he heard the shot, one soldier answered, 'The less I know, the faster I go home.'
Yancey's commanding officer, a colonel whose name was also blacked out, wrote, 'I do not see a requirement to tarnish [Yancey's] record for life with a federal conviction and dismissal at a general court-martial.' -- "Mock Executions of Iraqi Detainees Cited by Army", Los Angeles Times, May 18, 2005.
The powers that be know well the magnitude of the cruelty that induces an information vaccuum that sucks truth from our minds and compassion from our hearts. Or so it would appear as inanity drones on in the face of unspeakable cruelty. Or maybe it's just that we all feel, "The less I know, the faster I go home." Let us pray that we will not go home, but that we will grow hearts.
"A U.S. Army captain forced an Iraqi detainee to dig his own grave and then ordered troops to pretend to shoot the detainee in one of several mock executions described in investigative documents released Tuesday by the Army...Included in the documents were reports of other mock executions, a homicide and the description of an incident in which a soldier allegedly goaded a prisoner by holding up the Jewish Star of David symbol while threatening other Arabs in the room...Two days later, the platoon came across a father and his sons loading metal onto a truck at the ammunition factory. After detaining the Iraqis, a soldier recounted, the sergeant asked the father, "Which one do you want to die?" รข€” referring to the man's sons.
Several soldiers said they recalled the sergeant taking one of the sons around the corner of a building and firing a shot.
'I yelled to him but he either ignored me or didn't hear me and proceeded with the boy around the building. We heard a single shot,' one sworn statement read.
When asked why he did not inquire what happened after he heard the shot, one soldier answered, 'The less I know, the faster I go home.'
Yancey's commanding officer, a colonel whose name was also blacked out, wrote, 'I do not see a requirement to tarnish [Yancey's] record for life with a federal conviction and dismissal at a general court-martial.' -- "Mock Executions of Iraqi Detainees Cited by Army", Los Angeles Times, May 18, 2005.
The powers that be know well the magnitude of the cruelty that induces an information vaccuum that sucks truth from our minds and compassion from our hearts. Or so it would appear as inanity drones on in the face of unspeakable cruelty. Or maybe it's just that we all feel, "The less I know, the faster I go home." Let us pray that we will not go home, but that we will grow hearts.
Friday, May 13, 2005
The Army that Sends War Demons Fleeing
"And as we by our prayers vanquish all demons who stir up war, and lead to the violation of oaths, and disturb the peace, we in this way are much more helpful to the kings than those who go into the field to fight for them. And we do take our part in public affairs, when along with righteous prayers we join self-denying exercises and meditations, which teach us to despise pleasures, and not to be led away by them. And none fight better for the king than we do. We do not indeed fight under him, although he require it; but we fight on his behalf, forming a special army — an army of piety — by offering our prayers to God." - – Origen, Against Celsus, Book 8, Chapter 73 [Celus, a pagan, had written a critique of Christians]
"The main hospital in al-Qaim was reportedly attacked during the fighting, according to local doctors. US forces say they believed insurgents were hiding inside. Eight people were reported to have been killed inside the building by the hospital's deputy director.
"The hospital was the main place for us to receive our patients and now we have set up mobile medical posts between houses to treat injured civilians that have been increasing since the fighting started. We don't have any medical supplies, as the ones we had were in the hospital," Mustafa al-Alousi, deputy director of the hospital, told IRIN" - "People flee al-Qaim as fighting continues", IRIN, May 12, 2005.
Who will join the Holy Spirit's army of prayer? Let us join with Father John Dear and pray for those who murder patients in hospitals, ripping terrorists from their IVs, while the corporate media chimes its lazy, unthinking hymns. Let us first vanquish the devil that lives beneath our skin. If anyone wonders where this urge to kill comes from, consider our own fierce love of comfort and the hatred that flares whenever anyone makes finger signs at it. Are we honest enough to admit that we love our lives in this world? That we trust in the power of this country more than the power of God? Where is the one who can set us free from this power?
"The main hospital in al-Qaim was reportedly attacked during the fighting, according to local doctors. US forces say they believed insurgents were hiding inside. Eight people were reported to have been killed inside the building by the hospital's deputy director.
"The hospital was the main place for us to receive our patients and now we have set up mobile medical posts between houses to treat injured civilians that have been increasing since the fighting started. We don't have any medical supplies, as the ones we had were in the hospital," Mustafa al-Alousi, deputy director of the hospital, told IRIN" - "People flee al-Qaim as fighting continues", IRIN, May 12, 2005.
Who will join the Holy Spirit's army of prayer? Let us join with Father John Dear and pray for those who murder patients in hospitals, ripping terrorists from their IVs, while the corporate media chimes its lazy, unthinking hymns. Let us first vanquish the devil that lives beneath our skin. If anyone wonders where this urge to kill comes from, consider our own fierce love of comfort and the hatred that flares whenever anyone makes finger signs at it. Are we honest enough to admit that we love our lives in this world? That we trust in the power of this country more than the power of God? Where is the one who can set us free from this power?
Saturday, May 07, 2005
The Power of Prayer
"No one of us fights back when he is apprehended, nor do our people avenge themselves against your unjust violence though numerous and plentiful. Our certainty of the vengeance which is to come makes us patient. The harmless give way to the harmful; the innocent acquiesce in the punishments and tortures certain and confident that whatever we suffer will not remain unavenged, and that the greater is the injury of the persecution, the more just and serious will be the vengeance for the persecution. Long ago divine Scripture laid down and said: ‘Vengeance is mine, I shall repay, says the Lord,’ and let the Holy Spirit again warn us saying: ‘Say not: I will avenge myself on my enemy, but wait in the Lord so that He may aid you.’" - St Cyprian of Carthage, To Demetrian, Chapter 17
Report from a soldier in the Army Reserve stationed in Iraq: "Guys in my unit, particularly the younger guys, would drive by in their Humvee and shatter bottles over the heads of Iraqi civilians passing by. They'd keep a bunch of empty Coke bottles in the Humvee to break over people's heads...Mr. Delgado said he had witnessed incidents in which an Army sergeant lashed a group of children with a steel Humvee antenna, and a Marine corporal planted a vicious kick in the chest of a kid about 6 years old. There were many occasions, he said, when soldiers or marines would yell and curse and point their guns at Iraqis who had done nothing wrong...Mr. Delgado confronted a sergeant who, he said, had fired on the detainees [at Abu Ghraib]. "I asked him," said Mr. Delgado, "if he was proud that he had shot unarmed men behind barbed wire for throwing stones. He didn't get mad at all. He was, like, 'Well, I saw them bloody my buddy's nose, so I knelt down. I said a prayer. I stood up, and I shot them down.'" - "From Gook to Raghead", Bob Herbert, New York Times, May 2, 2005.
Which god answered this soldier's prayer? Without standing in judgement, which as Cyprian exhorts us, must be forever surrendered to God, it seems to be the same god that Mr. Bush consulted before committing 100,000 Iraqis to an agonizing death. The same god that proclaims the duty of torture when his victims dare to resist full spectrum dominance.
Let us begin to offer reparation for the victims of our consumerist frenzy. We are the guilty ones and we are the ones that the world is looking to for mercy from the steel whips of vengence on those even the perpetrators admit are innocent. And pray for Kevin Benderman, whose application for conscientious objector status was denied and who faces many years in prison for refusing to kill more Iraqis. And be sure to include the soldiers described above in your prayers. As Cyprian put it, "Say not: I will avenge myself on my enemy, but wait in the Lord so that He may aid you."
Report from a soldier in the Army Reserve stationed in Iraq: "Guys in my unit, particularly the younger guys, would drive by in their Humvee and shatter bottles over the heads of Iraqi civilians passing by. They'd keep a bunch of empty Coke bottles in the Humvee to break over people's heads...Mr. Delgado said he had witnessed incidents in which an Army sergeant lashed a group of children with a steel Humvee antenna, and a Marine corporal planted a vicious kick in the chest of a kid about 6 years old. There were many occasions, he said, when soldiers or marines would yell and curse and point their guns at Iraqis who had done nothing wrong...Mr. Delgado confronted a sergeant who, he said, had fired on the detainees [at Abu Ghraib]. "I asked him," said Mr. Delgado, "if he was proud that he had shot unarmed men behind barbed wire for throwing stones. He didn't get mad at all. He was, like, 'Well, I saw them bloody my buddy's nose, so I knelt down. I said a prayer. I stood up, and I shot them down.'" - "From Gook to Raghead", Bob Herbert, New York Times, May 2, 2005.
Which god answered this soldier's prayer? Without standing in judgement, which as Cyprian exhorts us, must be forever surrendered to God, it seems to be the same god that Mr. Bush consulted before committing 100,000 Iraqis to an agonizing death. The same god that proclaims the duty of torture when his victims dare to resist full spectrum dominance.
Let us begin to offer reparation for the victims of our consumerist frenzy. We are the guilty ones and we are the ones that the world is looking to for mercy from the steel whips of vengence on those even the perpetrators admit are innocent. And pray for Kevin Benderman, whose application for conscientious objector status was denied and who faces many years in prison for refusing to kill more Iraqis. And be sure to include the soldiers described above in your prayers. As Cyprian put it, "Say not: I will avenge myself on my enemy, but wait in the Lord so that He may aid you."
Friday, April 29, 2005
Saturday, April 23, 2005
The Army that Sheds No Blood
"If a loud trumpet summons soldiers to war, shall not Christ with a strain of peace issued to the ends of the earth gather up his soldiers of peace? By his own blood and by his word he has assembled an army which sheds no blood in order to give them the Kingdom of Heaven. The trumpet of Christ is his Gospel. He has sounded it and we have heard it. Let us then put on the armour of peace." - Clement of Alexandria, Protrepticus XI, 116.
God has armed us with the weapons of peace: open hearts, song, and nothing to protect because all is his gift. We must reach deep to find the sword-points dipped in water, by which we can quench the fire of war.
One of those who has perhaps discovered the waters of mercy is Haj Ali, the prisoner who appears in the most famous Abu Ghraib torture photo, the man in the black hood with wires trailing from his fingers standing on the crate. In a PBS interview, he describes what sustained him, "I put my faith in God. Our strength and our resistance come from our faith in God, especially a person who considers himself not guilty and he is the object of abuse and punishment. There were others who couldn't resist [the torture], and they gave up names of innocent people to trade for their release from prison. But God gave us the strength, and we believe in God. For a truly faithful man, God gives the person the great strength to be patient to endure the pain, abuse and insults that we were subjected to. But keep in mind that not all people are equal in their tolerance. As I told you, there were people who judged others." - "Haj Ali's Story", NOW, April 29, 2005 (http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/hajali.html).
Indeed there are people who judge others. Who in their Christian righteousness judge that Iraqi lives are not worth a gallon of gas in an American Hummer. May we rediscover the faith that sustains our victims and pray that God may forgive our indifference to their torment. Where are the soldiers of peace?
God has armed us with the weapons of peace: open hearts, song, and nothing to protect because all is his gift. We must reach deep to find the sword-points dipped in water, by which we can quench the fire of war.
One of those who has perhaps discovered the waters of mercy is Haj Ali, the prisoner who appears in the most famous Abu Ghraib torture photo, the man in the black hood with wires trailing from his fingers standing on the crate. In a PBS interview, he describes what sustained him, "I put my faith in God. Our strength and our resistance come from our faith in God, especially a person who considers himself not guilty and he is the object of abuse and punishment. There were others who couldn't resist [the torture], and they gave up names of innocent people to trade for their release from prison. But God gave us the strength, and we believe in God. For a truly faithful man, God gives the person the great strength to be patient to endure the pain, abuse and insults that we were subjected to. But keep in mind that not all people are equal in their tolerance. As I told you, there were people who judged others." - "Haj Ali's Story", NOW, April 29, 2005 (http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/hajali.html).
Indeed there are people who judge others. Who in their Christian righteousness judge that Iraqi lives are not worth a gallon of gas in an American Hummer. May we rediscover the faith that sustains our victims and pray that God may forgive our indifference to their torment. Where are the soldiers of peace?
Dies Irae and Marla Ruzicka
In the end perhaps that part of our heart that lives in God will be given a crystal clear vision of our lives and we will render judgement on ourselves and that judgement will be binding. All those who had to die and suffer because of our neglect, because we chose to let the days run on in distraction, our lips firmly wrapped around the nozzle of corporate media, they will hold out their arms to us, but be unable to gather us in just as we were too busy to bother about the war in Iraq. If not for the lives of those such as Marla Ruzicka, who dropped all posturing of the left or right, and died trying to bring help to our "collateral damage", perhaps this judgement would already have come. The hour is late.
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Benedict XVI on War
"There were not sufficient reasons to unleash a war against Iraq. To say nothing of the fact that, given the new weapons that make possible destructions that go beyond the combatant groups, today we should be asking ourselves if it is still licit to admit the very existence of a 'just war.'"
- Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, May 2, 2003.
Hope flashes in these words from a man devoted to precision of thought. May he lead us to love life in all its flourishes and will the death of nothing that he has made. May Jesus give us the strength to disarm our hearts.
- Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, May 2, 2003.
Hope flashes in these words from a man devoted to precision of thought. May he lead us to love life in all its flourishes and will the death of nothing that he has made. May Jesus give us the strength to disarm our hearts.
Saturday, April 16, 2005
Burning Flesh
It has now been documented that the U.S. used illegal incendiary weapons in the November assault on Fallujah. See the article by the Iraq Analysis Group: http://www.selvesandothers.org/article9437.html The outrage among Catholic bishops in the United States has been deafening, as I'm sure you're aware.
Protocol III of the 1980 UN convention on ’Weapons Which May Be Deemed To Be Excessively Injurious Or To Have Indiscriminate Effects’ states that:
It is prohibited in all circumstances to make any military objective located within a concentration of civilians the object of attack by air-delivered incendiary weapons.
"Residents who survived the attack reported seeing incendiary bombs used in the city. Abu Sabah, who lived in the Julan district of Fallujah which witnessed some of the heaviest attacks, said:
"They used these weird bombs that put up smoke like a mushroom cloud... then small pieces fall from the air with long tails of smoke behind them."
He said that pieces of these strange bombs explode into large fires that burn the skin even when water is thrown on the burns.
"Usually we keep the gloves on," said Army Capt. Erik Krivda, of Gaithersburg, Md., the senior officer in charge of the 1st Infantry Division’s Task Force 2-2 tactical operations command center. "For this operation, we took the gloves off."
Some artillery guns fired white phosphorous rounds that create a screen of fire that cannot be extinguished with water. Insurgents reported being attacked with a substance that melted their skin, a reaction consistent with white phosphorous burns.
Kamal Hadeethi, a physician at a regional hospital, said, "The corpses of the mujahedeen which we received were burned, and some corpses were melted." - "U.S. Drives into the Heart of Fallujah", San Franscisco Chronicle, Nov. 10, 2004.
Unfortunately, some of our Christian leaders chose to ignore burning human beings alive to focus on the dangers of stem cell research.
Let us pray that our blindness, which becomes more willful with each passing hour, will be healed before we forget what sight is.
Protocol III of the 1980 UN convention on ’Weapons Which May Be Deemed To Be Excessively Injurious Or To Have Indiscriminate Effects’ states that:
It is prohibited in all circumstances to make any military objective located within a concentration of civilians the object of attack by air-delivered incendiary weapons.
"Residents who survived the attack reported seeing incendiary bombs used in the city. Abu Sabah, who lived in the Julan district of Fallujah which witnessed some of the heaviest attacks, said:
"They used these weird bombs that put up smoke like a mushroom cloud... then small pieces fall from the air with long tails of smoke behind them."
He said that pieces of these strange bombs explode into large fires that burn the skin even when water is thrown on the burns.
"Usually we keep the gloves on," said Army Capt. Erik Krivda, of Gaithersburg, Md., the senior officer in charge of the 1st Infantry Division’s Task Force 2-2 tactical operations command center. "For this operation, we took the gloves off."
Some artillery guns fired white phosphorous rounds that create a screen of fire that cannot be extinguished with water. Insurgents reported being attacked with a substance that melted their skin, a reaction consistent with white phosphorous burns.
Kamal Hadeethi, a physician at a regional hospital, said, "The corpses of the mujahedeen which we received were burned, and some corpses were melted." - "U.S. Drives into the Heart of Fallujah", San Franscisco Chronicle, Nov. 10, 2004.
Unfortunately, some of our Christian leaders chose to ignore burning human beings alive to focus on the dangers of stem cell research.
Let us pray that our blindness, which becomes more willful with each passing hour, will be healed before we forget what sight is.
Saturday, April 09, 2005
John Paul II on Abu Ghraib
Somehow the U.S. main stream media seemed to miss the following statement by John Paul II during the Abu Ghraib crisis:
"From all continents come endless, disturbing information about the human rights situation, revealing that men, women and children are being tortured and their dignity being made a mockery of. ... It is all of humanity which has been wounded and ridiculed," John Paul II said.
"From all continents come endless, disturbing information about the human rights situation, revealing that men, women and children are being tortured and their dignity being made a mockery of. ... It is all of humanity which has been wounded and ridiculed," John Paul II said.
Saturday, April 02, 2005
The Sacrament of Nonviolence
"The Eucharist is the sacrament of non-violence!" - So pronounced the man who was appointed by Pope John Paul II to be Preacher to the Papal Household during the Lenten reflections before his death. Far from being a justification of violence, the Eucharist is God's absolute No to violence, as Father Cantalamessa says, "the modern debate on violence and the sacred thus helps us to accept a new dimension of the Eucharist, thanks to which God’s absolute 'no' to violence, pronounced on the cross, is kept alive through the centuries." - 3rd Lenten Sermon by Father Cantalamessa, March 11, 2005 (Zenit.org)
May the Pope look down on this battered earth and call upon our Lord to let nonviolence master our hearts. I place all my weapons at your feet, O Lord. In Christ's sacrifice the bond between the sacred and violence is forever broken. In the same way, Lord, let my weapons break.
May the Pope look down on this battered earth and call upon our Lord to let nonviolence master our hearts. I place all my weapons at your feet, O Lord. In Christ's sacrifice the bond between the sacred and violence is forever broken. In the same way, Lord, let my weapons break.
Faces of Integrity: Pope John Paul II
"Violence begets violence," he said. "War must always be considered a defeat: a defeat of reason and of humanity." He argued that world leaders should seek to root out the primary causes of terrorism, "especially misery, desperation and the emptiness in hearts." - "Pope Opposes Military Response to Terrorism", Sept. 8, 2004.
How many Catholics know that the Pope spoke out against war in general and against the Iraq war specifically in the last year of his holy life? That he made peace among nations one of the most consistent themes of his papacy?
Just before the illegal Iraq invasion, he made the following impassioned plea, ""NO TO WAR"! War is not always inevitable. It is always a defeat for humanity. International law, honest dialogue, solidarity between States, the noble exercise of diplomacy: these are methods worthy of individuals and nations in resolving their differences....,
And what are we to say of the threat of a war which could strike the people of Iraq, the land of the Prophets, a people already sorely tried by more than twelve years of embargo? War is never just another means that one can choose to employ for settling differences between nations. As the Charter of the United Nations Organization and international law itself remind us, war cannot be decided upon, even when it is a matter of ensuring the common good, except as the very last option and in accordance with very strict conditions, without ignoring the consequences for the civilian population both during and after the military operations." - "Address to the Diplomatic Corps Accredited to the Vatican", Jan. 13, 2003.
Please pray that our Holy Father's longing for peace will bear abundant fruit as he enters the heavenly homeland. Let us hope that the voice that was so often muffled by media silence on earth will grow loud in the hearts of those who loved the Pope.
How many Catholics know that the Pope spoke out against war in general and against the Iraq war specifically in the last year of his holy life? That he made peace among nations one of the most consistent themes of his papacy?
Just before the illegal Iraq invasion, he made the following impassioned plea, ""NO TO WAR"! War is not always inevitable. It is always a defeat for humanity. International law, honest dialogue, solidarity between States, the noble exercise of diplomacy: these are methods worthy of individuals and nations in resolving their differences....,
And what are we to say of the threat of a war which could strike the people of Iraq, the land of the Prophets, a people already sorely tried by more than twelve years of embargo? War is never just another means that one can choose to employ for settling differences between nations. As the Charter of the United Nations Organization and international law itself remind us, war cannot be decided upon, even when it is a matter of ensuring the common good, except as the very last option and in accordance with very strict conditions, without ignoring the consequences for the civilian population both during and after the military operations." - "Address to the Diplomatic Corps Accredited to the Vatican", Jan. 13, 2003.
Please pray that our Holy Father's longing for peace will bear abundant fruit as he enters the heavenly homeland. Let us hope that the voice that was so often muffled by media silence on earth will grow loud in the hearts of those who loved the Pope.
Friday, April 01, 2005
Faces of Integrity: Kevin Benderman
“Killing, the act of it, in any circumstance, is negative. It can’t help but bring negative feelings into a person’s mind. When someone faces his conscience and realizes just how negative he has become, looks deep and admits the reasons, the change is amazing.
“When that person acts on his conscience, and makes a decision to live for life and to seek peaceful solutions to difficult situations even when it goes against the current “norms” of society, it’s a positive change. It is scary for people who still believe that there is a justification for war to face someone who has become positive in their thought process. People who still can’t see the power in turning away from violent solutions will continue to question someone who can. That is what is happening now. Kevin has made a conscious choice to “study war no more.” He has made a statement for himself, and his speaking out about it threatens those who believe war is the answer,” she said." - "Benderman Courts-Martial Moves Forward", Voices in the Wilderness, April 1, 2005.
Saturday, March 26, 2005
The Christian Response to War
Come, think of Yahweh's marvels,
the astounding things he has done in the world;
all over the world he puts an end to wars,
he breaks the bow, he snaps the spear,
he gives shields to the flames.
"Pause a while and know that I am God,
exalted among the nations, exalted over the earth!"
Psalm 46:8-10
The costs of the Iraqi War are $157.8 billion and counting -- the money that could have been spent, for instance, to insure 94.5 million children for one year or provide four-year scholarships at public universities for 7.7 million students." - Furuhashi, "How Do We Resist This Ruinous War?", CounterPunch, March 25, 2005.
We must stand with Jesus Christ, the defeated one. Our leader is not the Arnold Schwartzenegger of the moment, rather "there was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him, nor appearance that would attract us to him." (Isaiah 52:19). Each in his or her own place can begin to do the small things that put an end to violence, in ourselves first, and then among the nest of lies that become bullets in the flesh of the innocent. Among the defeated, all are welcome, anyone can speak a word that deflates the myth, that pokes holes of silence into the ranting beast. Since we are defeated, we need not waste our substance in dreams that keep the voice of violence alive in us. Out of truth comes true hope. Out of defeat the ability to see truth.
"Every person of conscience in the United States right now should be putting everything into ending the war on Iraq. The US military is killing thousands of human beings, wounding thousands, traumatizing infants and children, destroying families, destroying cities. This is not one issue among many. This is an emergency to which we must not become adjusted and numb. This is life and death. People are murdering in our name.
Anger and vengeance are being nurtured by actions we are allowing to occur. We are encouraging international armament and militarism by failing to restrain our government. We are allowing the world to move closer to nuclear disaster, a catastrophe that looms more urgently than global warming." "Peace in Iraq Now", Progressive Democrats of America, March 15, 2005.
Saturday, March 12, 2005
The Fate of Humanity
"When war, as in these days in Iraq, threatens the fate of humanity, it is ever more urgent to proclaim, with a strong and decisive voice, that only peace is the road to follow to construct a more just and united society." -Pope John Paul II
The following report from Fallujah by Guiliana Sgrena may well have something to do with why the U.S. may not have wanted her to leave Iraq alive: "This month of November will be remembered as one of the bloodiest of the occupation. Since the beginning of the month, which is not yet finished, 109 Marines have been killed, a figure already greater than that of the earlier attack on Fallujah, last April. But it is above all the Iraqis who are paying the highest tribute : 2,085 killed in the attack according to the information given out by Iraqi Security Minister Quassim Daud, without specifying the number of civilians. The problem, says the Minister, is that of identification, as many of the victims were not carrying documents. But many observers say that the problem is that many of the bodies were unrecognisable because they were so carbonised that the use of napalm was suspected. At the same time as the victim count from Fallujah, more disturbing news is arriving from Oslo in the form of the report of an investigation conducted by the Iraqi Health Ministry, in conjunction with the Norwegian FAFO Institute for applied international studies and UNDP, into the health of Iraqi children. The report states that since the beginning of the war (March 2003) the number of Iraqi children under the age of 5 suffering from acute malnutrition has doubled, passing from 4 to 7.7%. Further, over 400,000 are suffering from chronic diarrhoea and protein deficit." - Il Manifesto, March 10, 2005.
Let us pray for the children of Iraq. May they be wiser than those who have burned the flesh of those whose human needs they could not understand, who use chemicals to destroy the faces that will one day gaze on them, perhaps with forgiveness. Let us beg God for this forgiveness for ourselves and them.
Saturday, March 05, 2005
Little by Little
The war in Iraq will one day be the glass cabinet case of why violence fails. Just as intelligence agents of discretion disavow torture as unreliable, so pre-emptive war, along with war in general, will one day be consigned to the desperate measures of the incompetent. The Church, despite the silence of so many bishops, has stared from this abyss with an eagle's eye. When the madness ends in shame and amnesia, she will call to her lost sons with healing in her wings.
The words from Pacem in Terris ring out like Elijah, "We would remind such people that it is the law of nature that all things must be of gradual growth. If there is to be any improvement in human institutions, the work must be done slowly and deliberately from within. Pope Pius XII expressed it in these terms: 'Salvation and justice consist not in the uprooting of an outdated system, but in a well designed policy of development. Hotheadedness was never constructive; it has always destroyed everything. It has inflamed passions, but never assuaged them. It sows no seeds but those of hatred and destruction. Far from bringing about the reconciliation of contending parties, it reduces men and political parties to the necessity of laboriously redoing the work of the past, building on the ruins that disharmony has left in its wake.'"
How much damage is left to be undone? "Read the searing account of Dr Salam Ismael, who took aid to Fallujah in January. He describes the ordeal of a 17-year-old girl, Hudda Fawzi. Her father opened the door to US marines who shot him and a friend dead, then shot her elder sister, having beaten her senseless, then destroyed the family's furniture. Wounded people were dragged from their homes and run over by tanks; a clinic was destroyed by missiles. 'It became clear to us,' Ismael wrote, 'that we were witnessing the aftermath of a massacre, the cold-blooded butchery of helpless and defenceless civilians.' It is not surprising that the Blair government has refused Ismael fresh permission to visit and speak out in Britain. His testimony, and that of many other reliable witnesses, is known and feared. Last April, the US command agreed that it may well have slaughtered as many as 600 people in Fallujah." - "Protecting a Regime with Blood on its Hands", John Pilger, The New Statesman, March 4, 2005.
Another prophet wrote words which should be chiseled on the walls of Abu Ghraib, "Whatever is opposed to life itself, such as any type of murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia, or wilful self-destruction, whatever violates the integrity of the human person, such as mutilation, torments inflicted on body or mind, attempts to coerce the will itself; whatever insults human dignity, such as subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children; as well as disgraceful working conditions, where people are treated as mere instruments of gain rather than as free and responsible persons; all these things and others like them are infamies indeed. They poison human society, and they do more harm to those who practice them than to those who suffer from the injury. Moreover, they are a supreme dishonor to the Creator". Gaudium et Spes, 27.
God forgive us our silence, the harm we have written in our souls and the souls of those we have allowed to be tormented while we refused to listen.
The words from Pacem in Terris ring out like Elijah, "We would remind such people that it is the law of nature that all things must be of gradual growth. If there is to be any improvement in human institutions, the work must be done slowly and deliberately from within. Pope Pius XII expressed it in these terms: 'Salvation and justice consist not in the uprooting of an outdated system, but in a well designed policy of development. Hotheadedness was never constructive; it has always destroyed everything. It has inflamed passions, but never assuaged them. It sows no seeds but those of hatred and destruction. Far from bringing about the reconciliation of contending parties, it reduces men and political parties to the necessity of laboriously redoing the work of the past, building on the ruins that disharmony has left in its wake.'"
How much damage is left to be undone? "Read the searing account of Dr Salam Ismael, who took aid to Fallujah in January. He describes the ordeal of a 17-year-old girl, Hudda Fawzi. Her father opened the door to US marines who shot him and a friend dead, then shot her elder sister, having beaten her senseless, then destroyed the family's furniture. Wounded people were dragged from their homes and run over by tanks; a clinic was destroyed by missiles. 'It became clear to us,' Ismael wrote, 'that we were witnessing the aftermath of a massacre, the cold-blooded butchery of helpless and defenceless civilians.' It is not surprising that the Blair government has refused Ismael fresh permission to visit and speak out in Britain. His testimony, and that of many other reliable witnesses, is known and feared. Last April, the US command agreed that it may well have slaughtered as many as 600 people in Fallujah." - "Protecting a Regime with Blood on its Hands", John Pilger, The New Statesman, March 4, 2005.
Another prophet wrote words which should be chiseled on the walls of Abu Ghraib, "Whatever is opposed to life itself, such as any type of murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia, or wilful self-destruction, whatever violates the integrity of the human person, such as mutilation, torments inflicted on body or mind, attempts to coerce the will itself; whatever insults human dignity, such as subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children; as well as disgraceful working conditions, where people are treated as mere instruments of gain rather than as free and responsible persons; all these things and others like them are infamies indeed. They poison human society, and they do more harm to those who practice them than to those who suffer from the injury. Moreover, they are a supreme dishonor to the Creator". Gaudium et Spes, 27.
God forgive us our silence, the harm we have written in our souls and the souls of those we have allowed to be tormented while we refused to listen.
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Over My Dead Body
'"Over my dead body are they going to make me go back."
"I knew he was having dreams, nightmares," Lisset said. "He would wake up at night really sweaty."
On Dec. 6, he showed up for work, his uniform pressed, his boots polished. He sang cadence.
That night, he was found hanging in his barracks. Sgt. Curtis Greene, 331st Signal Company, was 25.
...The study found that 72 percent of soldiers reported their unit's morale was low; it found that mental health workers there felt untrained to treat combat stress.
Because of these barriers to getting care, many experts believe the number of soldiers in Iraq suffering from combat-related psychological problems is far greater than one out of six.
"...Lisset said he had nightmares and couldn't sleep. He cried easily, but avoided talking about Iraq.
"He just said it was ugly, and that you don't know what it's like until you're there," she said. "He always said he wouldn't wish it on his worst enemy."
When the evening news reported deaths in Iraq, he would weep and ask her to turn off the TV.
"He really cried, like it was someone he knew," she said. "He'd say that we shouldn't be there. He always wanted to know why we were there."' - "Over My Dead Body", St. Petersburg Times, Feb. 14, 2005. (http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0214-09.htm)
In the words of Stan Goff, "...we are empty and incapable of truly connecting to people any more, and maybe we can go for months or even years before we fill that void where we surrendered our humanity..."
Each time we kill we surrender a piece of our humanity. The myth that tells us we should do it doesn't matter. It's the same now as it was 5000 years ago. Each murder, no matter how noble the lie for which it was committed, eats into our soul and steals a part of your being.
Genesis 4:10: 'And He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground. So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.'
"God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being." Catechism, 2258.
"What made you establish man in so great a dignity? Certainly the incalculable love by which you have looked on your creature in yourself! You are taken with love for her; for by love indeed you created her, by love you have given her a being capable of tasting your eternal Good." Catechism, 356.
By love, each Iraqi was created. God loves each of us with an eternal love. What curse shall we bring on ourselves by destroying what God loves? Perhaps the curse which Sgt. Curtis Greene discovered when he looked at the dark streak in his soul. The fundamental lie is that we can murder with impunity. No "war on terror" or "surgical operation" can make it right. Ever. But we must never forget his mercy.
Saturday, February 12, 2005
The Millstone
"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea." - Mark 9:42
Lord, let my heart not be a millstone around the necks of those who want to come to Christ.
Before reading the following story, cast your memory back to a time when you might have tried to speak with someone of another faith about Jesus and his healing power. Then imagine that person in the following situation, at the same time recalling the documented fact that most of those at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib were simply devout Muslims who found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Gitmo Soldier Details Sexual Tactics
- ABC News, Feb 12, 2005 (http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=451856&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312)
"In another case, Saar describes a female military interrogator questioning an uncooperative 21-year-old Saudi detainee who allegedly had taken flying lessons in Arizona before the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Suspected Sept. 11 hijacker Hani Hanjour received pilot instruction for three months in 1996 and in December 1997 at a flight school in Scottsdale, Ariz.
"His female interrogator decided that she needed to turn up the heat," Saar writes, saying she repeatedly asked the detainee who had sent him to Arizona, telling him he could "cooperate" or "have no hope whatsoever of ever leaving this place or talking to a lawyer.'"
The man closed his eyes and began to pray, Saar writes.
The female interrogator wanted to "break him," Saar adds, describing how she removed her uniform top to expose a tight-fitting T-shirt and began taunting the detainee, touching her breasts, rubbing them against the prisoner's back and commenting on his apparent erection.
The detainee looked up and spat in her face, the manuscript recounts.
The interrogator left the room to ask a Muslim linguist how she could break the prisoner's reliance on God. The linguist told her to tell the detainee that she was menstruating, touch him, then make sure to turn off the water in his cell so he couldn't wash.
Strict interpretation of Islamic law forbids physical contact with women other than a man's wife or family, and with any menstruating women, who are considered unclean.
"The concept was to make the detainee feel that after talking to her he was unclean and was unable to go before his God in prayer and gain strength," says the draft, stamped "Secret."
The interrogator used ink from a red pen to fool the detainee, Saar writes.
"She then started to place her hands in her pants as she walked behind the detainee," he says. "As she circled around him he could see that she was taking her hand out of her pants. When it became visible the detainee saw what appeared to be red blood on her hand. She said, 'Who sent you to Arizona?' He then glared at her with a piercing look of hatred.
"She then wiped the red ink on his face. He shouted at the top of his lungs, spat at her and lunged forward" so fiercely that he broke loose from one ankle shackle.
"He began to cry like a baby," the draft says, noting the interrogator left saying, "Have a fun night in your cell without any water to clean yourself."
This was done to a man so that he could not receive strength from God to resist temptation. What is the name for those who do such things?
"I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." - Luke 18:14
"Scandal is an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil. The person who gives scandal becomes his neighbor's tempter. He damages virtue and integrity; he may even draw his brother into spiritual death. Scandal is a grave offense if by deed or omission another is deliberately led into a grave offense." Catechism, 2284.
Be still my heart. Lord, love sometimes fades in me when I think of those willing to torture your children. How must it grieve your heart to see us when we seek to tear others away from your strength and the hope that burns within them? I pray that those who do such things will open their hearts to you and put away their instruments of torture. I also pray that those who lead your flock will have the courage to speak your word clearly so that your confused children may turn away from sin.
Lord, let my heart not be a millstone around the necks of those who want to come to Christ.
Before reading the following story, cast your memory back to a time when you might have tried to speak with someone of another faith about Jesus and his healing power. Then imagine that person in the following situation, at the same time recalling the documented fact that most of those at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib were simply devout Muslims who found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Gitmo Soldier Details Sexual Tactics
- ABC News, Feb 12, 2005 (http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=451856&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312)
"In another case, Saar describes a female military interrogator questioning an uncooperative 21-year-old Saudi detainee who allegedly had taken flying lessons in Arizona before the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Suspected Sept. 11 hijacker Hani Hanjour received pilot instruction for three months in 1996 and in December 1997 at a flight school in Scottsdale, Ariz.
"His female interrogator decided that she needed to turn up the heat," Saar writes, saying she repeatedly asked the detainee who had sent him to Arizona, telling him he could "cooperate" or "have no hope whatsoever of ever leaving this place or talking to a lawyer.'"
The man closed his eyes and began to pray, Saar writes.
The female interrogator wanted to "break him," Saar adds, describing how she removed her uniform top to expose a tight-fitting T-shirt and began taunting the detainee, touching her breasts, rubbing them against the prisoner's back and commenting on his apparent erection.
The detainee looked up and spat in her face, the manuscript recounts.
The interrogator left the room to ask a Muslim linguist how she could break the prisoner's reliance on God. The linguist told her to tell the detainee that she was menstruating, touch him, then make sure to turn off the water in his cell so he couldn't wash.
Strict interpretation of Islamic law forbids physical contact with women other than a man's wife or family, and with any menstruating women, who are considered unclean.
"The concept was to make the detainee feel that after talking to her he was unclean and was unable to go before his God in prayer and gain strength," says the draft, stamped "Secret."
The interrogator used ink from a red pen to fool the detainee, Saar writes.
"She then started to place her hands in her pants as she walked behind the detainee," he says. "As she circled around him he could see that she was taking her hand out of her pants. When it became visible the detainee saw what appeared to be red blood on her hand. She said, 'Who sent you to Arizona?' He then glared at her with a piercing look of hatred.
"She then wiped the red ink on his face. He shouted at the top of his lungs, spat at her and lunged forward" so fiercely that he broke loose from one ankle shackle.
"He began to cry like a baby," the draft says, noting the interrogator left saying, "Have a fun night in your cell without any water to clean yourself."
This was done to a man so that he could not receive strength from God to resist temptation. What is the name for those who do such things?
"I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." - Luke 18:14
"Scandal is an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil. The person who gives scandal becomes his neighbor's tempter. He damages virtue and integrity; he may even draw his brother into spiritual death. Scandal is a grave offense if by deed or omission another is deliberately led into a grave offense." Catechism, 2284.
Be still my heart. Lord, love sometimes fades in me when I think of those willing to torture your children. How must it grieve your heart to see us when we seek to tear others away from your strength and the hope that burns within them? I pray that those who do such things will open their hearts to you and put away their instruments of torture. I also pray that those who lead your flock will have the courage to speak your word clearly so that your confused children may turn away from sin.
Sunday, February 06, 2005
Welcome, Fr. McCarthy!
Due to the helpful direction of Fr. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy, I have identified two Catholic bishops that have the courage to speak out strongly and publicly about the illegal U.S. war in Iraq. First, we'll report on Bishop John Michael Botean.
Let's first establish the context. According to "Your Catholic Voice" on Feb. 16, 2004, "In the time from the terrorist attacks on the United States to the war in Iraq, the Bush administration adopted a new foreign policy that most Vatican officials found they could not agree with on principle. Cardinal Ratzinger bluntly stated that preventative war was incompatible with the Catechism, with many Vatican officials suggesting that waging such a war with Iraq would then be illegal." (http://www.yourcatholicvoice.org/index.php?id=article&article=713)
There are many other such statements, several originating with the Holy Father himself, some of which we have referenced in this blog. Due to the hints of Fr. McCarthy, I have uncovered much more Church material toward this war in Iraq which I will be commenting on over the next few weeks.
However, to give honor where it is due, here is an excerpt from a statement by Bishop John Michael Botean, the head of the Romanian Catholic eparchy (diocese) of St. George in Canton, Ohio on March 18, 2003: "The bishop declared with 'moral certainty' that the proposed attack on Iraq "does not meet even the minimal standards of the Catholic just-war theory."
"Bishop Botean acknowledged that the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2309) identifies public authorities as the final judges of whether military action is justified. But he argued that "the nation-state is never the final arbiter or authority for the Catholic of what is moral." An unjust law or order should not be obeyed, he observed."
The article goes on: "This is not a bishop functioning as a political lobbyist, nor is it a bishop simply giving good advise to his people, nor is it a bishop functioning as a theological disputant with anyone inside or outside his Church. This is a bishop declaring to those who are actively one with him by Baptism and by faith in Christ and His Church, that as the final authority in matters of faith and morals in their Community, this war is intrinsically evil and therefore morally impermissible for them."
"Please be aware that I am not speaking to you as a theologian or as a private Christian voicing his opinion, nor by any means am I speaking to you as a political partisan. I am speaking to you solely as your bishop with the authority and responsibility I, though a sinner, have been given as a successor to the apostles on your behalf. I am speaking to you from the deepest chambers of my conscience as your bishop, appointed by Jesus Christ in his Body, the Church, to help shepherd you to sanctity and to heaven. Never before have I spoken to you in this manner, explicitly exercising the fullness of authority Jesus Christ has given his Apostles “to bind and to loose,” (cf. John 20:23), but now “the love of Christ compels” me to do so (2 Corinthians 5:14). My love for you makes it a moral imperative that I not allow you, by my silence, to fall into grave evil and its incalculable temporal and eternal consequences."
"Therefore I, by the grace of God and the favor of the Apostolic See Bishop
of the Eparchy of St. George in Canton, must declare to you, my people, for
the sake of your salvation as well as my own, that any direct participation
and support of this war against the people of Iraq is objectively grave
evil, a matter of mortal sin. Beyond a reasonable doubt this war is morally
incompatible with the Person and Way of Jesus Christ. With moral certainty I
say to you it does not meet even the minimal standards of the Catholic just
war theory." - CWNews.com, Mar. 18, 2003 Read the complete article at http://cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=20142
Let us pray for those whose hearts have been so blinded by violence and propaganda that they no longer hear the voice of our Mother.
Let's first establish the context. According to "Your Catholic Voice" on Feb. 16, 2004, "In the time from the terrorist attacks on the United States to the war in Iraq, the Bush administration adopted a new foreign policy that most Vatican officials found they could not agree with on principle. Cardinal Ratzinger bluntly stated that preventative war was incompatible with the Catechism, with many Vatican officials suggesting that waging such a war with Iraq would then be illegal." (http://www.yourcatholicvoice.org/index.php?id=article&article=713)
There are many other such statements, several originating with the Holy Father himself, some of which we have referenced in this blog. Due to the hints of Fr. McCarthy, I have uncovered much more Church material toward this war in Iraq which I will be commenting on over the next few weeks.
However, to give honor where it is due, here is an excerpt from a statement by Bishop John Michael Botean, the head of the Romanian Catholic eparchy (diocese) of St. George in Canton, Ohio on March 18, 2003: "The bishop declared with 'moral certainty' that the proposed attack on Iraq "does not meet even the minimal standards of the Catholic just-war theory."
"Bishop Botean acknowledged that the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2309) identifies public authorities as the final judges of whether military action is justified. But he argued that "the nation-state is never the final arbiter or authority for the Catholic of what is moral." An unjust law or order should not be obeyed, he observed."
The article goes on: "This is not a bishop functioning as a political lobbyist, nor is it a bishop simply giving good advise to his people, nor is it a bishop functioning as a theological disputant with anyone inside or outside his Church. This is a bishop declaring to those who are actively one with him by Baptism and by faith in Christ and His Church, that as the final authority in matters of faith and morals in their Community, this war is intrinsically evil and therefore morally impermissible for them."
"Please be aware that I am not speaking to you as a theologian or as a private Christian voicing his opinion, nor by any means am I speaking to you as a political partisan. I am speaking to you solely as your bishop with the authority and responsibility I, though a sinner, have been given as a successor to the apostles on your behalf. I am speaking to you from the deepest chambers of my conscience as your bishop, appointed by Jesus Christ in his Body, the Church, to help shepherd you to sanctity and to heaven. Never before have I spoken to you in this manner, explicitly exercising the fullness of authority Jesus Christ has given his Apostles “to bind and to loose,” (cf. John 20:23), but now “the love of Christ compels” me to do so (2 Corinthians 5:14). My love for you makes it a moral imperative that I not allow you, by my silence, to fall into grave evil and its incalculable temporal and eternal consequences."
"Therefore I, by the grace of God and the favor of the Apostolic See Bishop
of the Eparchy of St. George in Canton, must declare to you, my people, for
the sake of your salvation as well as my own, that any direct participation
and support of this war against the people of Iraq is objectively grave
evil, a matter of mortal sin. Beyond a reasonable doubt this war is morally
incompatible with the Person and Way of Jesus Christ. With moral certainty I
say to you it does not meet even the minimal standards of the Catholic just
war theory." - CWNews.com, Mar. 18, 2003 Read the complete article at http://cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=20142
Let us pray for those whose hearts have been so blinded by violence and propaganda that they no longer hear the voice of our Mother.
Saturday, January 22, 2005
Loving Our Enemies
As anti-war Christians, we must not make the mistakes of many of the Vietnam-era protesters. To love our enemies means not to undermine their moral fervor. We must respect the idealism of those who justify war by using an appeal to bringing democracy and freedom to the world. There is a world of difference between showing the means to the end to be morally flawed and casting aspersions on the ideal itself. The mistake of the Vietnam protests was to promote a nihilistic cynicism that brought all ideals into question. Let us take the opposite path this time and give honor to what is real in the idealism of our opponents, while doing everything possible to magnify the dissonance between those ideals and the means they use to carry them out.
The Freedom
What American heart does not thrill to hear the following words: "Because we have acted in the great liberating tradition of this nation, tens of millions have achieved their freedom. And as hope kindles hope, millions more will find it. By our efforts we have lit a fire as well, a fire in the minds of men. It warms those who feel its power; it burns those who fight its progress. And one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our world." - George W. Bush, inauguration speech, Jan. 20, 2005.
The fires that burn in Iraq are not fires of the mind. One fire is the fire of fear: "Ah the freedom. Look, we have the gas-line freedom, the looting freedom, the killing freedom, the rape freedom, the hash-smoking freedom. I don't know what to do with all this freedom." -Akeel, a 26 year old Baghdad resident on life in the new Iraq.
It is precisely the mind that is absent. All other fires burn brightly. The fire of phosphorus which melts human skin and water intensifies. Easy it is to feel the thrill of the rhetoric and let that mythology airbrush away the faces of those murdered in Fallujah, blood-soaked children whose parents were killed at a checkpoint because nobody thought that soldiers in Iraq would need to know Arabic, or armless girls struck by precision-guided missles. How many sincere converts to democracy have been made by smart bombs and napalm?
What is the fundamental principle that is being violated here? The means and the end must be in conformity with each other. If you wish to promote freedom, you must use the tools of freedom - education, open debate, and freely-formed associations. The tools of coercion can only achieve conformity through fear - a direct contradiction of the goal. You can bomb the world to pieces, but you can't bomb it into peace, or democracy.
The fires that burn in Iraq are not fires of the mind. One fire is the fire of fear: "Ah the freedom. Look, we have the gas-line freedom, the looting freedom, the killing freedom, the rape freedom, the hash-smoking freedom. I don't know what to do with all this freedom." -Akeel, a 26 year old Baghdad resident on life in the new Iraq.
It is precisely the mind that is absent. All other fires burn brightly. The fire of phosphorus which melts human skin and water intensifies. Easy it is to feel the thrill of the rhetoric and let that mythology airbrush away the faces of those murdered in Fallujah, blood-soaked children whose parents were killed at a checkpoint because nobody thought that soldiers in Iraq would need to know Arabic, or armless girls struck by precision-guided missles. How many sincere converts to democracy have been made by smart bombs and napalm?
What is the fundamental principle that is being violated here? The means and the end must be in conformity with each other. If you wish to promote freedom, you must use the tools of freedom - education, open debate, and freely-formed associations. The tools of coercion can only achieve conformity through fear - a direct contradiction of the goal. You can bomb the world to pieces, but you can't bomb it into peace, or democracy.
Sabbatical
Dear readers of Nonviolent Jesus,
Due to the continuing crimes of the U.S. and others in Iraq, I have decided to make a change in my life's direction. The silence of the last few weeks has been intentional because I feel that the God-inspired response to this attack on God's compassion is to fill myself with the teachings of the Church regarding the honor to be accorded to the human person. Thus armed, I will return to this blog shortly, as the war expands in ever-widening circles and the desire to dominate flares up in forgetful hearts. "Be not afraid." Also, I would greatly appreciate it if you would forward your thoughts/criticisms about the blog and it's current direction. Pray for me.
Due to the continuing crimes of the U.S. and others in Iraq, I have decided to make a change in my life's direction. The silence of the last few weeks has been intentional because I feel that the God-inspired response to this attack on God's compassion is to fill myself with the teachings of the Church regarding the honor to be accorded to the human person. Thus armed, I will return to this blog shortly, as the war expands in ever-widening circles and the desire to dominate flares up in forgetful hearts. "Be not afraid." Also, I would greatly appreciate it if you would forward your thoughts/criticisms about the blog and it's current direction. Pray for me.
Saturday, January 01, 2005
War Crimes Documentation
Journalists and activists have now demonstrated direct violations of the Geneva Conventions in the attack (still ongoing) on Fallujah from November to the present. Over the next few weeks, I will be collecting and presenting the evidence of these crimes for those in the Catholic Peace community who care about such matters. Needless to say, the silence of the U.S. Church hierarchy has been nothing less than deafening. MADRE, an international women’s human rights organization, has begun the process of denounciation. See http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/1210-01.htm for a listing of the known crimes so far. The list declares a desperate reversion to the most inhuman tactics of the Vietnam war. As a committed peace activist, my job over the next several weeks will be to find documentation for each of these breaches so that Pax Christi members can use this evidence to pursue those responsible for these atrocities in the court of God's law if no other courts will take the case. Will you join me in this effort? If anyone knows of breaches and has hard evidence for them, please send your information to me at brcoll[at]houston.rr.com. Please don't let us be silent in the face of crimes being carried out in our name.
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
War Crimes in Fallujah
"'The first time you get shot at from a building, it's rubble," [Capt. Paul]Fowler told his platoon leaders. ''No questions asked."
Suspected enemy buildings were to be ''cleared by fire" before troops entered. ''No boots on the ground unless you're looking for body parts," Fowler said.
Guerrillas kept attacking the Iraqi troops as they tried to hold the hospital. A row of houses nearby was nearly demolished. ''We're just cleaning up the trash," Fowler said." - Reports from the Battle of Fallujah, November, 2004.
"To attain the good of peace there must be a clear and conscious acknowledgment that violence is an unacceptable evil and that it never solves problems. "Violence is a lie, for it goes against the truth of our faith, the truth of our humanity. Violence destroys what it claims to defend: the dignity, the life, the freedom of human beings'" - Message for the World Day of Peace, 2005, John Paul II.
Suspected enemy buildings were to be ''cleared by fire" before troops entered. ''No boots on the ground unless you're looking for body parts," Fowler said.
Guerrillas kept attacking the Iraqi troops as they tried to hold the hospital. A row of houses nearby was nearly demolished. ''We're just cleaning up the trash," Fowler said." - Reports from the Battle of Fallujah, November, 2004.
"To attain the good of peace there must be a clear and conscious acknowledgment that violence is an unacceptable evil and that it never solves problems. "Violence is a lie, for it goes against the truth of our faith, the truth of our humanity. Violence destroys what it claims to defend: the dignity, the life, the freedom of human beings'" - Message for the World Day of Peace, 2005, John Paul II.
Saturday, December 11, 2004
Christian Leadership
"The Americans shot every boat on the river because people were trying to escape Fallujah by the river. They shot all the sheep, any animal people owned was shot. Helicopters shot all the animals and anything that moved in all the villages surrounding Fallujah during the fighting.
He said that none of the roads into Fallujah, or around Fallujah were passable because anyone on them was shot. 'I know one family that were all killed.'" - Iraq Dispatches, Dahr Jamail, Dec. 9, 2004.
"The figures for ’collateral damage’ that are emerging are unacceptable in a society that prides itself on civilised values.
It is essential that immediate aid is delivered to the most vulnerable in Fallujah and that long-term assistance is guaranteed for the rebuilding of the homes and infrastructure that have been obliterated.
Secondly, we need to acknowledge that huge numbers of Iraqi Muslims, and in particular those from the Sunni Triangle, increasingly regard the current military action as a war between religions.
The battle for Fallujah began on one of the holiest days on the Muslim calendar, the day when the giving of the Koran is celebrated." - Fallujah Civilian Deaths Not Acceptable, Say Bishops, Scotsman, Nov. 16, 2004.
We are still awaiting word from any of our readers with similar statements from Catholic bishops. The Red Cross estimates that as many as 6000 were killed in the attack on Fallujah. Those with sufficient stomach can see photographic evidence of U.S. efforts to liberate Iraq at http://dahrjamailiraq.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album28&page=1.
Where are the Christian voices to cry out with the people of Iraq in saying, "Iraq is burning with wrath, anger and sadness…the people of Fallujah are dear to us. They are our brothers and sisters and we are so saddened by what is happening in that city." - Iraq Dispatches, Dahr Jamail, Dec. 8, 2004.
Dear Lord, give us the gift of sadness and wrath. Leave us not to stew in our distractions while our means are spent to murder families, that "sign and image of the communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #2205) in their homes. Open our eyes to see brothers and sisters rather than insurgents and terrorists.
He said that none of the roads into Fallujah, or around Fallujah were passable because anyone on them was shot. 'I know one family that were all killed.'" - Iraq Dispatches, Dahr Jamail, Dec. 9, 2004.
Precision-Guided Missiles
Anglican bishops speak out:
"The figures for ’collateral damage’ that are emerging are unacceptable in a society that prides itself on civilised values.
It is essential that immediate aid is delivered to the most vulnerable in Fallujah and that long-term assistance is guaranteed for the rebuilding of the homes and infrastructure that have been obliterated.
Secondly, we need to acknowledge that huge numbers of Iraqi Muslims, and in particular those from the Sunni Triangle, increasingly regard the current military action as a war between religions.
The battle for Fallujah began on one of the holiest days on the Muslim calendar, the day when the giving of the Koran is celebrated." - Fallujah Civilian Deaths Not Acceptable, Say Bishops, Scotsman, Nov. 16, 2004.
We are still awaiting word from any of our readers with similar statements from Catholic bishops. The Red Cross estimates that as many as 6000 were killed in the attack on Fallujah. Those with sufficient stomach can see photographic evidence of U.S. efforts to liberate Iraq at http://dahrjamailiraq.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album28&page=1.
Where are the Christian voices to cry out with the people of Iraq in saying, "Iraq is burning with wrath, anger and sadness…the people of Fallujah are dear to us. They are our brothers and sisters and we are so saddened by what is happening in that city." - Iraq Dispatches, Dahr Jamail, Dec. 8, 2004.
Dear Lord, give us the gift of sadness and wrath. Leave us not to stew in our distractions while our means are spent to murder families, that "sign and image of the communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #2205) in their homes. Open our eyes to see brothers and sisters rather than insurgents and terrorists.
Saturday, November 27, 2004
The Rights and Duties of Man
"Dr. Sami al-Jumaili described how US warplanes bombed the Central Health Centre in which he was working at 5:30 am on November 9. The clinic had been treating many of the city's sick and wounded after US forces took over the main hospital at the start of the invasion. According to Dr. al-Jumaili, US warplanes dropped three bombs on the clinic, where approximately sixty patients--many of whom had serious injuries from US aerial bombings and attacks--were being treated.
Dr. al-Jumaili reports that thirty-five patients were killed in the airstrike, including two girls and three boys under the age of 10. In addition, he said, fifteen medics, four nurses and five health support staff were killed, among them health aides Sami Omar and Omar Mahmoud, nurses Ali Amini and Omar Ahmed, and physicians Muhammad Abbas, Hamid Rabia, Saluan al-Kubaissy and Mustafa Sheriff." - Miles Schuman, "Falluja's Health Damage", The Nation, NOv. 24, 2004.
In 1948, the United States distinguished itself as leader of the free world by signing "The American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man", a declaration adopted by the members of the OAS. It was the world's first international human rights instrument of a general nature, predating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by more than six months. The guiding spirit of the document can be read from it's initial statement: "All men are born free and equal, in dignity and in rights, and, being endowed by nature with reason and conscience, they should conduct themselves as brothers one to another."
Among it's provisions:
Article I. Every human being has the right to life, liberty and the security of his person.
Article V. Every person has the right to the protection of the law against abusive attacks upon his honor, his reputation, and his private and family life.
Article XI. Every person has the right to the preservation of his health through sanitary and social measures relating to food, clothing, housing and medical care, to the extent permitted by public and community resources.
Please read and respond to the full story with complete documentation and legal citation at http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7966. And please consider joining with Humanitarian Law Project / International Educational Development (HLP/IED) and San Francisco-based Association of Humanitarian Lawyers (AHL) against the United States, along with Veterans For Peace who have endorsed the petition.
Dr. al-Jumaili reports that thirty-five patients were killed in the airstrike, including two girls and three boys under the age of 10. In addition, he said, fifteen medics, four nurses and five health support staff were killed, among them health aides Sami Omar and Omar Mahmoud, nurses Ali Amini and Omar Ahmed, and physicians Muhammad Abbas, Hamid Rabia, Saluan al-Kubaissy and Mustafa Sheriff." - Miles Schuman, "Falluja's Health Damage", The Nation, NOv. 24, 2004.
In 1948, the United States distinguished itself as leader of the free world by signing "The American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man", a declaration adopted by the members of the OAS. It was the world's first international human rights instrument of a general nature, predating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by more than six months. The guiding spirit of the document can be read from it's initial statement: "All men are born free and equal, in dignity and in rights, and, being endowed by nature with reason and conscience, they should conduct themselves as brothers one to another."
Among it's provisions:
Article I. Every human being has the right to life, liberty and the security of his person.
Article V. Every person has the right to the protection of the law against abusive attacks upon his honor, his reputation, and his private and family life.
Article XI. Every person has the right to the preservation of his health through sanitary and social measures relating to food, clothing, housing and medical care, to the extent permitted by public and community resources.
Please read and respond to the full story with complete documentation and legal citation at http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=7966. And please consider joining with Humanitarian Law Project / International Educational Development (HLP/IED) and San Francisco-based Association of Humanitarian Lawyers (AHL) against the United States, along with Veterans For Peace who have endorsed the petition.
Friday, November 26, 2004
License to Kill
"In comments reported by the UN information network Irin, spokesman Muhammad al-Nuri said the Red Crescent believed more than 6,000 people may have died in the fight for Falluja." - "Aid reaches Falluja's citizens", BBC News, Nov. 27, 2004.
"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." Isaac Asimov, Salvor Hardin in "Foundation"
In the words of a Bush aide: "'We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.'"- David Suskind, "Without a Doubt", New York Times, Oct. 17, 2004
Do not pile boasting upon boasting:
keep proud words far from your mouth,
for the Lord is the God of all knowledge
and the judge of all actions.
The bow of the mighty is broken,
and the weak are clothed in strength.
Those who fed well must hire themselves out, for bread;
but the hungry are hungry no longer.
The barren woman has given birth to many;
but she who had many sons is left desolate.
- 1 Samuel 2
"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." Isaac Asimov, Salvor Hardin in "Foundation"
In the words of a Bush aide: "'We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.'"- David Suskind, "Without a Doubt", New York Times, Oct. 17, 2004
Do not pile boasting upon boasting:
keep proud words far from your mouth,
for the Lord is the God of all knowledge
and the judge of all actions.
The bow of the mighty is broken,
and the weak are clothed in strength.
Those who fed well must hire themselves out, for bread;
but the hungry are hungry no longer.
The barren woman has given birth to many;
but she who had many sons is left desolate.
- 1 Samuel 2
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Medical Personnel Tied and Beaten
"The wounded and sick must be collected and cared for by the party to the conflict which has them in its power. Medical personnel and medical establishments, transports and equipment must be spared." - International Committee of the Red Cross.
"They [Al-Jazeera] report today that Asma Khamis al-Muhannadi, a doctor who witnessed the U.S. and Iraqi National Guard raid the general hospital, said, 'We were tied up and beaten despite being unarmed and having only our medical instruments.'
She said the hospital was targeted by bombs and rockets during the initial siege of Fallujah, and troops dragged patients from their beds and pushed them against the wall.
She continued on, "I was with a woman in labor," she said. "The umbilical cord had not yet been cut. At that time, a U.S. soldier shouted at one of the [Iraqi] National Guards to arrest me and tie my hands while I was helping the mother to deliver. I will never forget this incident in my life." - " Dogs Eating Bodies in the Streets of Fallujah", Dahr Jamail, Nov. 16, 2004.
"They [Al-Jazeera] report today that Asma Khamis al-Muhannadi, a doctor who witnessed the U.S. and Iraqi National Guard raid the general hospital, said, 'We were tied up and beaten despite being unarmed and having only our medical instruments.'
She said the hospital was targeted by bombs and rockets during the initial siege of Fallujah, and troops dragged patients from their beds and pushed them against the wall.
She continued on, "I was with a woman in labor," she said. "The umbilical cord had not yet been cut. At that time, a U.S. soldier shouted at one of the [Iraqi] National Guards to arrest me and tie my hands while I was helping the mother to deliver. I will never forget this incident in my life." - " Dogs Eating Bodies in the Streets of Fallujah", Dahr Jamail, Nov. 16, 2004.
Saturday, November 20, 2004
Where are the Bishops?
"As hostilities continue in Falluja and elsewhere, every day seems to bring news of yet another act of utter contempt for the most basic tenet of humanity," said Pierre Kraehenbuhl, the ICRC's director of operations.
"Like any other armed conflict, this one is subject to limits, and they must be respected at all times," he added.
The Red Cross has issued a statement in which it can barely hide its anger, says the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva." "Red Cross hits out at Iraq abuses", BBC, Nov. 19, 2004.
"Actions deliberately contrary to the law of nations and to its universal principles are crimes, as are the orders that command such actions. Blind obedience does not suffice to excuse those who carry them out. Thus the extermination of a people, nation, or ethnic minority must be condemned as a mortal sin. One is morally bound to resist orders that command genocide." Catechism of the Catholic Church, para. #2313
"Like any other armed conflict, this one is subject to limits, and they must be respected at all times," he added.
The Red Cross has issued a statement in which it can barely hide its anger, says the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva." "Red Cross hits out at Iraq abuses", BBC, Nov. 19, 2004.
"Actions deliberately contrary to the law of nations and to its universal principles are crimes, as are the orders that command such actions. Blind obedience does not suffice to excuse those who carry them out. Thus the extermination of a people, nation, or ethnic minority must be condemned as a mortal sin. One is morally bound to resist orders that command genocide." Catechism of the Catholic Church, para. #2313
Denial of Water to Iraqi Cities
"Water supplies to Tall Afar, Samarra and Fallujah were cut off during US attacks during the past two months, affecting up to 750,000 civilians. This appears to form part of a deliberate US policy of denying water to the residents of cities under attack. If so, it has been adopted without a public debate, and without consulting Coalition partners. It is a serious breach of international humanitarian law, and is deepening Iraqi opposition to the United States, other coalition members, and the Iraqi government." - "Denial of Water to Iraqi Cities", Cambridge Solidarity with Iraq, November 10, 2004. Please read the fully documented report at the following URL: http://www.casi.org.uk/briefing/041110denialofwater.pdf.
We can hear these voices in our hearts. The voices of those dying of disease from sewage-saturated waters - hearts eaten by despair, the impossible burden of fighting on in the face of blind and relentless American brutality. Ordinary people swept up into an incomprehensible fate - if you listen carefully, you can hear the cry for peace.
Where are the voices of the bishops who wrote the following in 1993: "Noncombatant Immunity: civilians may not be the object of direct attack, and military personnel must take due care to avoid and minimize indirect harm to civilians;" - The Harvest of Justice is Sown in Peace, November 17, 1993, National Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Where are the voices of those who wrote in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph #2314: "Every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God and man, which merits firm and unequivocal condemnation."
We can hear these voices in our hearts. The voices of those dying of disease from sewage-saturated waters - hearts eaten by despair, the impossible burden of fighting on in the face of blind and relentless American brutality. Ordinary people swept up into an incomprehensible fate - if you listen carefully, you can hear the cry for peace.
Where are the voices of the bishops who wrote the following in 1993: "Noncombatant Immunity: civilians may not be the object of direct attack, and military personnel must take due care to avoid and minimize indirect harm to civilians;" - The Harvest of Justice is Sown in Peace, November 17, 1993, National Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Where are the voices of those who wrote in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph #2314: "Every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God and man, which merits firm and unequivocal condemnation."
Sunday, November 14, 2004
War Crimes in Fallujah
"Starvation of civilians as a method of combat is prohibited. It is therefore prohibited to attack, destroy, remove or render useless for that purpose, objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population such as food-stuffs, agricultural areas for the production of food-stuffs, crops, livestock, drinking water installations and supplies and irrigation works." - Article 14 of the second protocol of the Geneva Conventions
On 16 October the Washington Post reported that:
"Electricity and water were cut off to the city [Fallujah] just as a fresh wave of strikes began Thursday night, an action that U.S. forces also took at the start of assaults on Najaf and Samarra."
"Residents of Fallujah have told the UN’s Integrated Regional Information Networks that they had no food or clean water and did not have time to store enough to hold out through the impending battle. The water shortage has been confirmed by other civilians fleeing Fallujah, Fadhil Badrani, a BBC journalist in Falluja, confirmed on 8 November that the water supply has been cut off.
In light of the shortage of water and other supplies, the Red Cross has attempted
to deliver water to Fallujah. However the US has refused to allow shipments of
water into the Fallujah until it has taken control of the city." - "Denial of Water to Iraqi Cities", publication of Cambridge Solidarity with Iraq, November, 2004.
Two fundamental Catholic moral principles regarding the conduct of armed conflict are:
"1) Noncombatant Immunity: civilians may not be the object of direct attack, and military personnel must take due care to avoid and minimize indirect harm to civilians;
2) Proportionality: in the conduct of hostilities, efforts must be made to attain military objectives with no more force than is militarily necessary and to avoid disproportionate collateral damage to civilian life and property;" - "The Harvest of Justice is Sown in Peace", National Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1993.
In solidary with the people of Iraq, I pray that our bishops will raise their voices in protest at this blatant violation of Catholic teachings on restraint during war.
On 16 October the Washington Post reported that:
"Electricity and water were cut off to the city [Fallujah] just as a fresh wave of strikes began Thursday night, an action that U.S. forces also took at the start of assaults on Najaf and Samarra."
"Residents of Fallujah have told the UN’s Integrated Regional Information Networks that they had no food or clean water and did not have time to store enough to hold out through the impending battle. The water shortage has been confirmed by other civilians fleeing Fallujah, Fadhil Badrani, a BBC journalist in Falluja, confirmed on 8 November that the water supply has been cut off.
In light of the shortage of water and other supplies, the Red Cross has attempted
to deliver water to Fallujah. However the US has refused to allow shipments of
water into the Fallujah until it has taken control of the city." - "Denial of Water to Iraqi Cities", publication of Cambridge Solidarity with Iraq, November, 2004.
Two fundamental Catholic moral principles regarding the conduct of armed conflict are:
"1) Noncombatant Immunity: civilians may not be the object of direct attack, and military personnel must take due care to avoid and minimize indirect harm to civilians;
2) Proportionality: in the conduct of hostilities, efforts must be made to attain military objectives with no more force than is militarily necessary and to avoid disproportionate collateral damage to civilian life and property;" - "The Harvest of Justice is Sown in Peace", National Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1993.
In solidary with the people of Iraq, I pray that our bishops will raise their voices in protest at this blatant violation of Catholic teachings on restraint during war.
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Grief and Prayer
I have been unable to post for several days while the U.S. writes another tragedy in the blood of this endlessly suffering people. Henri Nouwen reminds us that grief is a way to compassion, and grief has seized my heart in these last few days, as I sit helplessly while those acting in my name carry out a slaughter that is not only immoral, but ultimately inane. Already it is clear that the effect of this manuver has been to spark rebellions in dozens of other cities, to create a potent symbol and rallying cry for those fighting for their country.
As Americans, we often stigmatize grief as weakness. The strong should shake off grief and carry on with the battle, our culture shouts at us. But shaking off grief is often the refusal of a precious gift. In the words of Henri Nouwen, "Grief asks me to allow the sins of the world - my own included - to pierce my heart and make me shed tears, many tears, for them. There is no compassion without many tears. If they can't be tears that stream from my eyes, they have to be at least tears that well up from my heart. When I consider the immense waywardness of God's children, our lust, our greed, our violence, our anger, our resentment, and when I look at them through the eyes of God's heart, I cannot but weep and cry out with grief...This grieving is praying. There are so few mourners left in this world. But grief is the discipline of the heart that sees the sin of the world, and knows itself to be the sorrowful price of freedom without which love cannot bloom. I am beginning to see that much of praying is grieving. This grief is so deep not just because the human sin is so great, but also - and more so - because the divine love is so boundless." - Nouwen, Henri. The Return of the Prodigal Son. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
As Americans, we often stigmatize grief as weakness. The strong should shake off grief and carry on with the battle, our culture shouts at us. But shaking off grief is often the refusal of a precious gift. In the words of Henri Nouwen, "Grief asks me to allow the sins of the world - my own included - to pierce my heart and make me shed tears, many tears, for them. There is no compassion without many tears. If they can't be tears that stream from my eyes, they have to be at least tears that well up from my heart. When I consider the immense waywardness of God's children, our lust, our greed, our violence, our anger, our resentment, and when I look at them through the eyes of God's heart, I cannot but weep and cry out with grief...This grieving is praying. There are so few mourners left in this world. But grief is the discipline of the heart that sees the sin of the world, and knows itself to be the sorrowful price of freedom without which love cannot bloom. I am beginning to see that much of praying is grieving. This grief is so deep not just because the human sin is so great, but also - and more so - because the divine love is so boundless." - Nouwen, Henri. The Return of the Prodigal Son. New York: Doubleday, 1992.
Saturday, October 30, 2004
100,000 Dead - Civilians Predominate
"But God cannot leave the crime unpunished: from the ground on which it has been spilt, the blood of the one murdered demands that God should render justice." - "The Gospel of Life", Chapter 1:9, John Paul II, March 25, 1995.
"US General Tommy Franks is widely quoted as saying “we don’t do body counts”. The Geneva Conventions have clear guidance about the responsibilities of occupying armies to the civilian population they control. The fact that more than half the deaths reportedly caused by the occupying forces were women and children is cause for concern. In particular, Convention IV, Article 27 states that protected persons “. . . shall be at all times humanely treated, and shall be protected especially against acts of violence . . .”. It seems difficult to understand how a military force could monitor the extent to which civilians are protected against violence without systematically doing body counts or at least looking at the kinds of casualties they induce. This survey shows that with modest funds, 4 weeks, and seven Iraqi team members willing to risk their lives, a useful measure of civilian deaths could be obtained. There seems to be little excuse for occupying forces to not be able to provide more precise tallies. In view of the political importance of this conflict, these results should be confirmed by an independent body such as the ICRC, Epicentre, or WHO. In the interim, civility and enlightened self-interest demand a re-evaluation of the consequences of weaponry now used by coalition forces in populated areas." "Mortality before and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq:
cluster sample survey", Lancet, Oct. 29, 2004.
"Am I my brother's keeper?" - Cain
"We cannot but think of today's tendency for people to refuse to accept responsibility for their brothers and sisters. Symptoms of this trend include the lack of solidarity towards society's weakest members-such as the elderly, the infirm, immigrants, children- and the indifference frequently found in relations between the world's peoples even when basic values such as survival, freedom and peace are involved." - "The Gospel of Life", Chapter 1:8, John Paul II, March 25, 1995.
"Each of the Iraqi children killed by the United States was our child. Each of the prisoners tortured in Abu Ghraib was our comrade. Each of their screams was ours. When they were humiliated, we were humiliated. The U.S. soldiers fighting in Iraq - mostly volunteers in a poverty draft from small towns and poor urban neighborhoods - are victims just as much as the Iraqis of the same horrendous process, which asks them to die for a victory that will never be theirs." - Arundhati Roy, Transcript of Speech given August 16, 2004 in San Francisco (http://www.democracynow.org/static/Arundhati_Trans.shtml)
"US General Tommy Franks is widely quoted as saying “we don’t do body counts”. The Geneva Conventions have clear guidance about the responsibilities of occupying armies to the civilian population they control. The fact that more than half the deaths reportedly caused by the occupying forces were women and children is cause for concern. In particular, Convention IV, Article 27 states that protected persons “. . . shall be at all times humanely treated, and shall be protected especially against acts of violence . . .”. It seems difficult to understand how a military force could monitor the extent to which civilians are protected against violence without systematically doing body counts or at least looking at the kinds of casualties they induce. This survey shows that with modest funds, 4 weeks, and seven Iraqi team members willing to risk their lives, a useful measure of civilian deaths could be obtained. There seems to be little excuse for occupying forces to not be able to provide more precise tallies. In view of the political importance of this conflict, these results should be confirmed by an independent body such as the ICRC, Epicentre, or WHO. In the interim, civility and enlightened self-interest demand a re-evaluation of the consequences of weaponry now used by coalition forces in populated areas." "Mortality before and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq:
cluster sample survey", Lancet, Oct. 29, 2004.
"Am I my brother's keeper?" - Cain
"We cannot but think of today's tendency for people to refuse to accept responsibility for their brothers and sisters. Symptoms of this trend include the lack of solidarity towards society's weakest members-such as the elderly, the infirm, immigrants, children- and the indifference frequently found in relations between the world's peoples even when basic values such as survival, freedom and peace are involved." - "The Gospel of Life", Chapter 1:8, John Paul II, March 25, 1995.
"Each of the Iraqi children killed by the United States was our child. Each of the prisoners tortured in Abu Ghraib was our comrade. Each of their screams was ours. When they were humiliated, we were humiliated. The U.S. soldiers fighting in Iraq - mostly volunteers in a poverty draft from small towns and poor urban neighborhoods - are victims just as much as the Iraqis of the same horrendous process, which asks them to die for a victory that will never be theirs." - Arundhati Roy, Transcript of Speech given August 16, 2004 in San Francisco (http://www.democracynow.org/static/Arundhati_Trans.shtml)
Saturday, October 16, 2004
Massacre in Iraq
Seymour Hersh: "I got a call last week from a soldier -- it's different now, a lot of communication, 800 numbers. He's an American officer and he was in a unit halfway between Baghdad and the Syrian border. It's a place where we claim we've done great work at cleaning out the insurgency. He was a platoon commander. First lieutenant, ROTC guy."
"It was a call about this. He had been bivouacing outside of town with his platoon. It was near, it was an agricultural area, and there was a granary around. And the guys that owned the granary, the Iraqis that owned the granary... It was an area that the insurgency had some control, but it was very quiet, it was not Fallujah. It was a town that was off the mainstream. Not much violence there. And his guys, the guys that owned the granary, had hired, my guess is from his language, I wasn't explicit -- we're talking not more than three dozen, thirty or so guards. Any kind of work people were dying to do. So Iraqis were guarding the granary. His troops were bivouaced, they were stationed there, they got to know everybody..."
"They were a couple weeks together, they knew each other. So orders came down from the generals in Baghdad, we want to clear the village, like in Samarra. And as he told the story, another platoon from his company came and executed all the guards, as his people were screaming, stop. And he said they just shot them one by one. He went nuts, and his soldiers went nuts. And he's hysterical. He's totally hysterical. And he went to the captain. He was a lieutenant, he went to the company captain. And the company captain said, "No, you don't understand. That's a kill. We got thirty-six insurgents." - Seymour Hersh, Interview, Oct. 8, 2004
"The citizen is obliged in conscience not to follow the directives of civil authorities when they are contrary to the demands of the moral order, to the fundamental rights of persons or the teachings of the Gospel. Refusing obedience to civil authorities, when their demands are contrary to those of an upright conscience, finds its justification in the distinction between serving God and serving the political community. "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." "We must obey God rather than men"" - Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph #2242
"It was a call about this. He had been bivouacing outside of town with his platoon. It was near, it was an agricultural area, and there was a granary around. And the guys that owned the granary, the Iraqis that owned the granary... It was an area that the insurgency had some control, but it was very quiet, it was not Fallujah. It was a town that was off the mainstream. Not much violence there. And his guys, the guys that owned the granary, had hired, my guess is from his language, I wasn't explicit -- we're talking not more than three dozen, thirty or so guards. Any kind of work people were dying to do. So Iraqis were guarding the granary. His troops were bivouaced, they were stationed there, they got to know everybody..."
"They were a couple weeks together, they knew each other. So orders came down from the generals in Baghdad, we want to clear the village, like in Samarra. And as he told the story, another platoon from his company came and executed all the guards, as his people were screaming, stop. And he said they just shot them one by one. He went nuts, and his soldiers went nuts. And he's hysterical. He's totally hysterical. And he went to the captain. He was a lieutenant, he went to the company captain. And the company captain said, "No, you don't understand. That's a kill. We got thirty-six insurgents." - Seymour Hersh, Interview, Oct. 8, 2004
"The citizen is obliged in conscience not to follow the directives of civil authorities when they are contrary to the demands of the moral order, to the fundamental rights of persons or the teachings of the Gospel. Refusing obedience to civil authorities, when their demands are contrary to those of an upright conscience, finds its justification in the distinction between serving God and serving the political community. "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." "We must obey God rather than men"" - Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph #2242
Saturday, October 09, 2004
The U.S. Violates International Law
"... it is now clear that Iraq had in fact disarmed in compliance with security council resolutions. One of the tragic ironies of the decision to invade Iraq is that the Iraqi WMD declaration required by security council resolution 1441, submitted by Iraq in December 2002, and summarily rejected by Bush and Blair as repackaged falsehoods, now stands as the most accurate compilation of data yet assembled regarding Iraq's WMD programmes (more so than even Duelfer's ISG report, which contains much unsubstantiated speculation). Saddam Hussein has yet to be contradicted on a single point of substantive fact. Iraq had disarmed; no one wanted to accept that conclusion." - Guardian, Oct. 9, 2004
In contrast with Iraq's compliance with the U.N. resolution 1441, Kofi Annan stated that the US-led invasion of Iraq represented a violation of the UN charter and international law.
"From the very dawn of civilization, developing human communities sought to establish agreements and pacts which would avoid the arbitrary use of force and enable them to seek a peaceful solution of any controversies which might arise. Alongside the legal systems of the individual peoples there progressively grew up another set of norms which came to be known as ius gentium (the law of the nations). With the passage of time, this body of law gradually expanded and was refined in the light of the historical experiences of the different peoples.
This process was greatly accelerated with the birth of modern States. From the sixteenth century on, jurists, philosophers and theologians were engaged in developing the various headings of international law and in grounding it in the fundamental postulates of the natural law. This process led with increasing force to the formulation of universal principles which are prior to and superior to the internal law of States, and which take into account the unity and the common vocation of the human family.
Central among all these is surely the principle that pacta sunt servanda: accords freely signed must be honoured. This is the pivotal and exceptionless presupposition of every relationship between responsible contracting parties. The violation of this principle necessarily leads to a situation of illegality and consequently to friction and disputes which would not fail to have lasting negative repercussions. It is appropriate to recall this fundamental rule, especially at times when there is a temptation to appeal to the law of force rather than to the force of law.
...In the necessary fight against terrorism, international law is now called to develop legal instruments provided with effective means for the prevention, monitoring and suppression of crime. In any event, democratic governments know well that the use of force against terrorists cannot justify a renunciation of the principles of the rule of law. Political decisions would be unacceptable were they to seek success without consideration for fundamental human rights, since the end never justifies the means." - John Paul II, World Day of Peace, 2004.
Crucial though justice might be, it is not sufficient to maintain a civilization worthy of human dignity, "For this reason I have often reminded Christians and all persons of good will that forgiveness is needed for solving the problems of individuals and peoples. There is no peace without forgiveness! I say it again here, as my thoughts turn in particular to the continuing crisis in Palestine and the Middle East: a solution to the grave problems which for too long have caused suffering for the peoples of those regions will not be found until a decision is made to transcend the logic of simple justice and to be open also to the logic of forgiveness.
Christians know that love is the reason for God's entering into relationship with man. And it is love which he awaits as man's response. Consequently, love is also the loftiest and most noble form of relationship possible between human beings. Love must thus enliven every sector of human life and extend to the international order. Only a humanity in which there reigns the “civilization of love” will be able to enjoy authentic and lasting peace."- John Paul II, World Day of Peace, 2004.
"And if peace is possible, it is also a duty!" - John Paul II, World Day of Peace, 2004.
In contrast with Iraq's compliance with the U.N. resolution 1441, Kofi Annan stated that the US-led invasion of Iraq represented a violation of the UN charter and international law.
"From the very dawn of civilization, developing human communities sought to establish agreements and pacts which would avoid the arbitrary use of force and enable them to seek a peaceful solution of any controversies which might arise. Alongside the legal systems of the individual peoples there progressively grew up another set of norms which came to be known as ius gentium (the law of the nations). With the passage of time, this body of law gradually expanded and was refined in the light of the historical experiences of the different peoples.
This process was greatly accelerated with the birth of modern States. From the sixteenth century on, jurists, philosophers and theologians were engaged in developing the various headings of international law and in grounding it in the fundamental postulates of the natural law. This process led with increasing force to the formulation of universal principles which are prior to and superior to the internal law of States, and which take into account the unity and the common vocation of the human family.
Central among all these is surely the principle that pacta sunt servanda: accords freely signed must be honoured. This is the pivotal and exceptionless presupposition of every relationship between responsible contracting parties. The violation of this principle necessarily leads to a situation of illegality and consequently to friction and disputes which would not fail to have lasting negative repercussions. It is appropriate to recall this fundamental rule, especially at times when there is a temptation to appeal to the law of force rather than to the force of law.
...In the necessary fight against terrorism, international law is now called to develop legal instruments provided with effective means for the prevention, monitoring and suppression of crime. In any event, democratic governments know well that the use of force against terrorists cannot justify a renunciation of the principles of the rule of law. Political decisions would be unacceptable were they to seek success without consideration for fundamental human rights, since the end never justifies the means." - John Paul II, World Day of Peace, 2004.
Crucial though justice might be, it is not sufficient to maintain a civilization worthy of human dignity, "For this reason I have often reminded Christians and all persons of good will that forgiveness is needed for solving the problems of individuals and peoples. There is no peace without forgiveness! I say it again here, as my thoughts turn in particular to the continuing crisis in Palestine and the Middle East: a solution to the grave problems which for too long have caused suffering for the peoples of those regions will not be found until a decision is made to transcend the logic of simple justice and to be open also to the logic of forgiveness.
Christians know that love is the reason for God's entering into relationship with man. And it is love which he awaits as man's response. Consequently, love is also the loftiest and most noble form of relationship possible between human beings. Love must thus enliven every sector of human life and extend to the international order. Only a humanity in which there reigns the “civilization of love” will be able to enjoy authentic and lasting peace."- John Paul II, World Day of Peace, 2004.
"And if peace is possible, it is also a duty!" - John Paul II, World Day of Peace, 2004.
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
The Right to Command
"An Army Reserve staff sergeant who last week wrote a critical analysis of the United States' prospects in Iraq now faces possible disciplinary action for disloyalty and insubordination. If charges are bought and the officer is found guilty, he could face 20 years in prison. It would be the first such disloyalty prosecution since the Vietnam War.
The essay that sparked the military investigation is titled "Why We Cannot Win" and was posted Sept. 20 on the conservative antiwar Web site LewRockwell.com. Written by Al Lorentz, a non-commissioned officer from Texas with nearly 20 years in the Army who is serving in Iraq, the essay offers a bleak assessment of America's chances for success in Iraq." - Salon.com, Sept. 29, 2004
"Since the right to command is required by the moral order and has its source in God, it follows that, if civil authorities pass laws or command anything opposed to the moral order and consequently contrary to the will of God, neither the laws made nor the authorizations granted can be binding on the consciences of the citizens, since 'God has more right to be obeyed than men.' Otherwise, authority breaks down completely and results in shameful abuse. St. Thomas Aquinas teaches: 'Human law has the true nature of law only in so far as it corresponds to right reason, and in this respect it is evident that it is derived from the eternal law. In so far as it falls short of right reason, a law is said to be a wicked law; and so, lacking the true nature of law, it is rather a kind of violence.'" - Pacem in Terris, paragraph #51
Only Civilians Killed
"As Falluja residents pick up the pieces after two days of US air and artillery strikes, a city official is saying that all the casualties in the attacks were civilian residents.
Mahmud al-Jarisi, Falluja city commissioner, told Aljazeera that sections of the city that faced US military positions had been evacuated and the neighbourhoods recently targeted were in the heart of Falluja and crowded with civilians." - Al Jazeera, Sept. 27, 2004
"Drawing a parallel between U.S. tactics in Iraq and Israeli actions in the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, President Ghazi Ajil Yawer said the U.S. strikes were viewed by the Iraqi people as "collective punishment" against towns and neighborhoods." - Continued U.S. Air Strikes Draw Criticism, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 29, 2004
"Section I. Provisions common to the territories of the parties to the conflict and to occupied territories
Art. 33. No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.
Pillage is prohibited.
Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited."
- Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 33, 1949. This treaty has been in effect in the U.S. since 1960.
Under the 1949 Geneva Conventions collective punishments are a war crime. Article 33 states: "No protected person may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed," and "collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited."
"By collective punishment, the drafters of the Geneva Conventions had in mind the reprisal killings of World Wars I and II. In the First World War, Germans executed Belgian villagers in mass retribution for resistance activity. In World War II, Nazis carried out a form of collective punishment to suppress resistance. Entire villages or towns or districts were held responsible for any resistance activity that took place there. The conventions, to counter this, reiterated the principle of individual responsibility. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Commentary to the conventions states that parties to a conflict often would resort to "intimidatory measures to terrorize the population" in hopes of preventing hostile acts, but such practices "strike at guilty and innocent alike. They are opposed to all principles based on humanity and justice."
"Wherefore, a civil authority which uses as its only or its chief means either threats and fear of punishment or promises of rewards cannot effectively move men to promote the common good of all. Even if it did so move them, this would be altogether opposed to their dignity as men, endowed with reason and free will. As authority rests chiefly on moral force, it follows that civil authority must appeal primarily to the conscience of individual citizens, that is, to each one's duty to collaborate readily for the common good of all." - Pacem in Terris, paragraph #48
Saturday, September 25, 2004
The Torture Continues
"American legal investigators have discovered evidence of abuse, torture and rape throughout the US-run prison system in Iraq. A Michigan legal team meeting with former detainees in Baghdad during an August fact-finding mission gathered evidence supporting claims of prisoner abuse at some 25 US-run detention centers, most of them so far not publicly mentioned as being embroiled in the Iraq torture scandal..."
"During an interview with Alomari and attorney Shereef Akeel, TNS reviewed documentation the men accumulated covering 53 separate cases of former detainees alleging gross mistreatment at the US-run prisons in Iraq. All of the witnesses have been vetted, said Akeel, their presence at various detention centers corroborated by official, US military-issued paperwork and identification information. Some of the plaintiffs allege US captors committed severe abuses against them as recently as this summer, challenging the widely-held assumption that the military has put an end to the violations." New Standard News, Sept. 25, 2004.
The explanation for this behavior may be found partly in the recently released report by James Schlesinger, described in the New York Review of Books as follows, "Policies and practices developed and approved for use on Al Qaeda and Taliban detainees [in Afghanistan and Guantรกnamo] who were not afforded the protection of the Geneva Conventions, now applied to detainees who did fall under the Geneva Conventions' protections." - New York Review of Books, Mark Danner, Oct. 7, 2004.
Who makes the decision about which human beings have rights and which do not? Which Iraqis deserve the protections of common humanity and which do not?
"The human person is also entitled to a juridical protection of his rights, a protection that should be efficacious, impartial and inspired by the true norms of justice. As Our Predecessor Pius XII teaches: "That perpetual privilege proper to man, by which every individual has a claim to the protection of his rights, and by which there is assigned to each a definite and particular sphere of rights, immune from all arbitrary attacks, is the logical consequence of the order of justice willed by God."" - Pacem in Terris, paragraph #27
Perhaps, John XXIII can throw some light on why the Iraqis so stubbornly resist our benevolence: "Men all over the world have today--or will soon have--the rank of citizens in independent nations. No one wants to feel subject to political powers located outside his own country or ethnical group." - Pacem in Terris, paragraph #43.
"Authority comes from God alone."
"During an interview with Alomari and attorney Shereef Akeel, TNS reviewed documentation the men accumulated covering 53 separate cases of former detainees alleging gross mistreatment at the US-run prisons in Iraq. All of the witnesses have been vetted, said Akeel, their presence at various detention centers corroborated by official, US military-issued paperwork and identification information. Some of the plaintiffs allege US captors committed severe abuses against them as recently as this summer, challenging the widely-held assumption that the military has put an end to the violations." New Standard News, Sept. 25, 2004.
The explanation for this behavior may be found partly in the recently released report by James Schlesinger, described in the New York Review of Books as follows, "Policies and practices developed and approved for use on Al Qaeda and Taliban detainees [in Afghanistan and Guantรกnamo] who were not afforded the protection of the Geneva Conventions, now applied to detainees who did fall under the Geneva Conventions' protections." - New York Review of Books, Mark Danner, Oct. 7, 2004.
Who makes the decision about which human beings have rights and which do not? Which Iraqis deserve the protections of common humanity and which do not?
"The human person is also entitled to a juridical protection of his rights, a protection that should be efficacious, impartial and inspired by the true norms of justice. As Our Predecessor Pius XII teaches: "That perpetual privilege proper to man, by which every individual has a claim to the protection of his rights, and by which there is assigned to each a definite and particular sphere of rights, immune from all arbitrary attacks, is the logical consequence of the order of justice willed by God."" - Pacem in Terris, paragraph #27
Perhaps, John XXIII can throw some light on why the Iraqis so stubbornly resist our benevolence: "Men all over the world have today--or will soon have--the rank of citizens in independent nations. No one wants to feel subject to political powers located outside his own country or ethnical group." - Pacem in Terris, paragraph #43.
"Authority comes from God alone."
Saturday, September 18, 2004
Solidarity with the Iraqi People
"The bodies of 30 people killed in Zoba were brought to Falluja general hospital as well as 40 wounded," Dr Ahmad Khalil said earlier in the day, adding that many of the victims were women and children.
Khalil also said two Iraqi women were killed and eight other people wounded in another raid on Falluja.
The US military called the attack a "precision strike and destroyed a terrorist compound known to be used by the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi", a Jordanian suspected of heading a network linked to al-Qaida." Al-Jazeera, Sept. 17, 2004.
"In Haifa Street last week, US helicopters fired twice into a crowd, killing 13 people, while claiming that they had come under anti-aircraft fire. But footage of the moments before the rockets struck, killing the al-Arabiyah satellite television correspondent, proved that there was no gunfire." The Independent, Sept. 19, 2004.
The Iraqis are our brothers and sisters, our wives and our children. This cannot be proclaimed too loudly or too often. In the words of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph #1941: "Socio-economic problems can be resolved only with the help of all the forms of solidarity: solidarity of the poor among themselves, between rich and poor, of workers among themselves, between employers and employees in a business, solidarity among nations and peoples. International solidarity is a requirement of the moral order; world peace depends in part upon this."
Precision becomes an obscenity when it strikes the lives of the innocent. According to the Geneva conventions, "The Parties to the conflict shall, to the maximum extent feasible:
(a) Without prejudice to Article 49 of the Fourth Convention, endeavour to remove the civilian population, individual civilians and civilian objects under their control from the vicinity of military objectives;
(b) Avoid locating military objectives within or near densely populated areas;
(c) Take the other necessary precautions to protect the civilian population, individual civilians and civilian objects under their control against the dangers resulting from military operations."
In the words of the U.S. Catholic Bishops: "We must begin with a commitment never to intentionally kill, or collude in the killing, of any innocent human life, no matter how broken, unformed, disabled or desperate that life may seem...This same teaching against direct killing of the innocent condemns all direct attacks on innocent civilians in time of war." - "Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics", U.S. Bishops, 1998
Please pray for our brothers and sisters in Iraq. May the U.S. turn to the God who sees the worth and dignity of every human person, the sacredness of all human life.
Khalil also said two Iraqi women were killed and eight other people wounded in another raid on Falluja.
The US military called the attack a "precision strike and destroyed a terrorist compound known to be used by the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi", a Jordanian suspected of heading a network linked to al-Qaida." Al-Jazeera, Sept. 17, 2004.
"In Haifa Street last week, US helicopters fired twice into a crowd, killing 13 people, while claiming that they had come under anti-aircraft fire. But footage of the moments before the rockets struck, killing the al-Arabiyah satellite television correspondent, proved that there was no gunfire." The Independent, Sept. 19, 2004.
The Iraqis are our brothers and sisters, our wives and our children. This cannot be proclaimed too loudly or too often. In the words of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph #1941: "Socio-economic problems can be resolved only with the help of all the forms of solidarity: solidarity of the poor among themselves, between rich and poor, of workers among themselves, between employers and employees in a business, solidarity among nations and peoples. International solidarity is a requirement of the moral order; world peace depends in part upon this."
Precision becomes an obscenity when it strikes the lives of the innocent. According to the Geneva conventions, "The Parties to the conflict shall, to the maximum extent feasible:
(a) Without prejudice to Article 49 of the Fourth Convention, endeavour to remove the civilian population, individual civilians and civilian objects under their control from the vicinity of military objectives;
(b) Avoid locating military objectives within or near densely populated areas;
(c) Take the other necessary precautions to protect the civilian population, individual civilians and civilian objects under their control against the dangers resulting from military operations."
In the words of the U.S. Catholic Bishops: "We must begin with a commitment never to intentionally kill, or collude in the killing, of any innocent human life, no matter how broken, unformed, disabled or desperate that life may seem...This same teaching against direct killing of the innocent condemns all direct attacks on innocent civilians in time of war." - "Living the Gospel of Life: A Challenge to American Catholics", U.S. Bishops, 1998
Please pray for our brothers and sisters in Iraq. May the U.S. turn to the God who sees the worth and dignity of every human person, the sacredness of all human life.
Saturday, September 11, 2004
September 11 Reflection
"NO TO WAR"! War is not always inevitable. It is always a defeat for humanity. International law, honest dialogue, solidarity between States, the noble exercise of diplomacy: these are methods worthy of individuals and nations in resolving their differences. I say this as I think of those who still place their trust in nuclear weapons and of the all-too-numerous conflicts which continue to hold hostage our brothers and sisters in humanity. At Christmas, Bethlehem reminded us of the unresolved crisis in the Middle East, where two peoples, Israeli and Palestinian, are called to live side-by-side, equally free and sovereign, in mutual respect. Without needing to repeat what I said to you last year on this occasion, I will simply add today, faced with the constant degeneration of the crisis in the Middle East, that the solution will never be imposed by recourse to terrorism or armed conflict, as if military victories could be the solution. And what are we to say of the threat of a war which could strike the people of Iraq, the land of the Prophets, a people already sorely tried by more than twelve years of embargo? War is never just another means that one can choose to employ for settling differences between nations. As the Charter of the United Nations Organization and international law itself remind us, war cannot be decided upon, even when it is a matter of ensuring the common good, except as the very last option and in accordance with very strict conditions, without ignoring the consequences for the civilian population both during and after the military operations." - Pope John Paul II, Address to the Diplomatic Corps, January 13, 2003.
Military victories are never the solution. When they are pre-emptive they signal a heightened state of chaos which moves directly counter to the spirit of life. September 11 is a time to remember what makes our world sane and full of bright possibility, which the Pope clearly enumerates in the address quoted above:
1) Respect for law. Law binds by allowing nations to act with mutual respect, recognizing the dignity of each party. Pre-emptive strikes in defiance of international law arrogate an unfounded authority which negates the dignity of those for whom the battle is supposedly fought. In the words of the Pope, "Life within society – particularly international life – presupposes common and inviolable principles whose goal is to guarantee the security and the freedom of individual citizens and of nations. These rules of conduct are the foundation of national and international stability. Today political leaders have at hand highly relevant texts and institutions. It is enough simply to put them into practice. The world would be totally different if people began to apply in a straightforward manner the agreements already signed!"
2) "NO TO SELFISHNESS"! In other words, to all that impels man to protect himself inside the cocoon of a privileged social class or a cultural comfort which excludes others. The life-style of the prosperous, their patterns of consumption, must be reviewed in the light of their repercussions on other countries...Selfishness is also the indifference of prosperous nations towards nations left out in the cold. All peoples are entitled to receive a fair share of the goods of this world and of the know-how of the more advanced countries."
Not only do nations not have the right to protect their cocoons by appropriating the resources of other nations, but their real responsibility is to mend a lifestyle that requires such protection.
"Love for the poor is incompatible with immoderate love of riches or their selfish use:
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have killed the righteous man; he does not resist you." - Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph #2445.
War is always a defeat for humanity. Those who cannot see its true nature testify to an inner deadness induced by comfort and privilege. Specifically, it is the spiritual death which Pilate enunciated when he said, "What is truth?"
Military victories are never the solution. When they are pre-emptive they signal a heightened state of chaos which moves directly counter to the spirit of life. September 11 is a time to remember what makes our world sane and full of bright possibility, which the Pope clearly enumerates in the address quoted above:
1) Respect for law. Law binds by allowing nations to act with mutual respect, recognizing the dignity of each party. Pre-emptive strikes in defiance of international law arrogate an unfounded authority which negates the dignity of those for whom the battle is supposedly fought. In the words of the Pope, "Life within society – particularly international life – presupposes common and inviolable principles whose goal is to guarantee the security and the freedom of individual citizens and of nations. These rules of conduct are the foundation of national and international stability. Today political leaders have at hand highly relevant texts and institutions. It is enough simply to put them into practice. The world would be totally different if people began to apply in a straightforward manner the agreements already signed!"
2) "NO TO SELFISHNESS"! In other words, to all that impels man to protect himself inside the cocoon of a privileged social class or a cultural comfort which excludes others. The life-style of the prosperous, their patterns of consumption, must be reviewed in the light of their repercussions on other countries...Selfishness is also the indifference of prosperous nations towards nations left out in the cold. All peoples are entitled to receive a fair share of the goods of this world and of the know-how of the more advanced countries."
Not only do nations not have the right to protect their cocoons by appropriating the resources of other nations, but their real responsibility is to mend a lifestyle that requires such protection.
"Love for the poor is incompatible with immoderate love of riches or their selfish use:
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have killed the righteous man; he does not resist you." - Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph #2445.
War is always a defeat for humanity. Those who cannot see its true nature testify to an inner deadness induced by comfort and privilege. Specifically, it is the spiritual death which Pilate enunciated when he said, "What is truth?"
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
$1.7 Trillion?
"To begin with, $151 billion can pay for health care for 23 million uninsured Americans; or housing stipends for 27 million homeless people in this country; or a year's salary for 3 million new elementary school teachers; or more than 678,000 new fire engines.
The international impact of that kind of money is even more breathtaking. That same $151 billion could feed half the hungry people in the world for two years and provide clean water and sanitation for the entire developing world and fund a comprehensive global AIDS program and pay for childhood immunizations for every child in poor countries that constitute the global South.
The United States instead chose to invade Iraq to depose a tyrant who posed little danger to the United States or to the world." - "The Price of Imperial Folly", Phyllis Bennis, July 15, 2004
"$1.7 trillion to be spent on Iraq in the next decade, according to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences report by the Committee on International Security Studies (CISS)." - "One Thousand and One", William Rivers Pitt, Sept. 8, 2004
"Spending enormous sums to produce ever new types of weapons impedes efforts to aid needy populations; it thwarts the development of peoples. Over-armament multiplies reasons for conflict and increases the danger of escalation." - Catechism, paragraph #2315
The international impact of that kind of money is even more breathtaking. That same $151 billion could feed half the hungry people in the world for two years and provide clean water and sanitation for the entire developing world and fund a comprehensive global AIDS program and pay for childhood immunizations for every child in poor countries that constitute the global South.
The United States instead chose to invade Iraq to depose a tyrant who posed little danger to the United States or to the world." - "The Price of Imperial Folly", Phyllis Bennis, July 15, 2004
"$1.7 trillion to be spent on Iraq in the next decade, according to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences report by the Committee on International Security Studies (CISS)." - "One Thousand and One", William Rivers Pitt, Sept. 8, 2004
"Spending enormous sums to produce ever new types of weapons impedes efforts to aid needy populations; it thwarts the development of peoples. Over-armament multiplies reasons for conflict and increases the danger of escalation." - Catechism, paragraph #2315
Monday, September 06, 2004
Protecting Civilian Lives
"That civilians are being killed by US troops is not in doubt. In a pool of blood on a hospital operating room floor yesterday, doctors were battling to save the life of six-year-old Ali Hussain - shot in the belly.
"He had gone to buy an ice cream," said his mother, 23, watching the laboured breathing of her unconscious son. "He had just made it back to the front door when soldiers in an American tank started firing. They did not even stop as we tried to carry him inside." - Telegraph, August 12, 2004.
"Among others, the following types of attacks are to be considered as indiscriminate: An attack by bombardment by any methods or means which treats as a single military objective a number of clearly separated and distinct military objectives located in a city, town, village or other area containing a similar concentration of civilians or civilian objects; and
(b) An attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated." - Protocol Additions to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, 51(5)
"The Americans can never win us back now. The Americans are frightened of ordinary Iraqi people, that is why they hate us. We are frightened of them, that is why we hate them. In such a situation we can only see death and more deaths. We are begging the Americans to leave.'" -Telegraph, 12 August 2004.
"Justice will bring about peace;
Right will produce calm and security."
- Isaiah, 32:17
"However, it is one thing to wage a war of self-defense; it is quite another to seek to impose domination on another nation. The possession of war potential does not justify the use of force for political or military objectives." - Gaudium et Spes, 79.
Currently, Iraqis civilians are dying by the hundreds. Please keep them in your prayers.
"He had gone to buy an ice cream," said his mother, 23, watching the laboured breathing of her unconscious son. "He had just made it back to the front door when soldiers in an American tank started firing. They did not even stop as we tried to carry him inside." - Telegraph, August 12, 2004.
"Among others, the following types of attacks are to be considered as indiscriminate: An attack by bombardment by any methods or means which treats as a single military objective a number of clearly separated and distinct military objectives located in a city, town, village or other area containing a similar concentration of civilians or civilian objects; and
(b) An attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated." - Protocol Additions to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, 51(5)
"The Americans can never win us back now. The Americans are frightened of ordinary Iraqi people, that is why they hate us. We are frightened of them, that is why we hate them. In such a situation we can only see death and more deaths. We are begging the Americans to leave.'" -Telegraph, 12 August 2004.
"Justice will bring about peace;
Right will produce calm and security."
- Isaiah, 32:17
"However, it is one thing to wage a war of self-defense; it is quite another to seek to impose domination on another nation. The possession of war potential does not justify the use of force for political or military objectives." - Gaudium et Spes, 79.
Currently, Iraqis civilians are dying by the hundreds. Please keep them in your prayers.
Saturday, September 04, 2004
Human Dignity
The measure of a culture is the extent to which it promotes human dignity. Material success is meaningless, or rather the quantity of goods and services can only be of importance in a civilization where respect for human dignity irradiates all work. Otherwise increasing productivity and technological innovation is not only worthless, but corrupting.
"The authenticity of each human culture, the soundness of its underlying ethos, and hence the validity of its moral bearings, can be measured to an extent by its commitment to the human cause and by its capacity to promote human dignity at every level and in every circumstance." - Message of His Holiness John Paul II for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace, January 1, 2001
"The authenticity of each human culture, the soundness of its underlying ethos, and hence the validity of its moral bearings, can be measured to an extent by its commitment to the human cause and by its capacity to promote human dignity at every level and in every circumstance." - Message of His Holiness John Paul II for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace, January 1, 2001
Targeting Civilians
"At least 20 people, including children, have been killed and as many wounded after US air strikes on the Iraqi city of Falluja, local police and medical sources say." - Al Jazeera, September 1, 2004
"This principle has an immensely important consequence: an offense against human rights is an offense against the conscience of humanity as such, an offence against humanity itself. The duty of protecting these rights therefore extends beyond the geographical and political borders within which they are violated. Crimes against humanity cannot be considered an internal affair of a nation...In no kind of conflict is it permissible to ignore the right of civilians to safety." - Message of His Holiness John Paul II for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace, January 1, 2000
According to news reports, "Two houses were destroyed late on Wednesday when a US fighter jet fired two missiles at the town's residential district of Jabal, some 65km west of Baghdad...'Most casualties were old men and women and children', al-Dulaimi said.
Saif al-Din Taha of the Falluja general hospital told Aljazeera that all the overnight wounded were ordinary civilian families. Confirming that children are amongst the dead, he said it was difficult to identify the corpses as 'the bodies are torn to pieces'." Air strikes on houses in densely populated neighborhoods cannot avoid killing innocent civilians. According to the Protocol Additions to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, "In the conduct of military operations, constant care shall be taken to spare the civilian population, civilians and civilian objects. " Protocol I, art. 57(1) In addition, "Those who plan or decide upon an attack shall... Take all feasible precautions in the choice of means and methods of attack with a view to avoiding, and in any event to minimizing, incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects;" Protocol I, art. 57(2)
The good of the human person must take precedence over every other consideration. Both those who use civilians as human shields and those who recklessly disregard the potential loss of human life are to blame. Let us pray for both, but most of all for those women, children, and old people who are paying with their lives and limbs.
"This principle has an immensely important consequence: an offense against human rights is an offense against the conscience of humanity as such, an offence against humanity itself. The duty of protecting these rights therefore extends beyond the geographical and political borders within which they are violated. Crimes against humanity cannot be considered an internal affair of a nation...In no kind of conflict is it permissible to ignore the right of civilians to safety." - Message of His Holiness John Paul II for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace, January 1, 2000
According to news reports, "Two houses were destroyed late on Wednesday when a US fighter jet fired two missiles at the town's residential district of Jabal, some 65km west of Baghdad...'Most casualties were old men and women and children', al-Dulaimi said.
Saif al-Din Taha of the Falluja general hospital told Aljazeera that all the overnight wounded were ordinary civilian families. Confirming that children are amongst the dead, he said it was difficult to identify the corpses as 'the bodies are torn to pieces'." Air strikes on houses in densely populated neighborhoods cannot avoid killing innocent civilians. According to the Protocol Additions to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, "In the conduct of military operations, constant care shall be taken to spare the civilian population, civilians and civilian objects. " Protocol I, art. 57(1) In addition, "Those who plan or decide upon an attack shall... Take all feasible precautions in the choice of means and methods of attack with a view to avoiding, and in any event to minimizing, incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects;" Protocol I, art. 57(2)
The good of the human person must take precedence over every other consideration. Both those who use civilians as human shields and those who recklessly disregard the potential loss of human life are to blame. Let us pray for both, but most of all for those women, children, and old people who are paying with their lives and limbs.
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