Resolution
June 18, 2002
The following is a true copy of a Resolution adopted by the Executive Council at its meeting on June 10-13, 2002 in Durham, New Hampshire, at which a quorum was present and voting.
Resolved, that Executive Council, meeting in Durham, New Hampshire June 10-14, 2002, opposes unilateral military action against Iraq for the sole purpose of overthrowing the regime of Saddam Hussein, and supports efforts to implement UN resolutions on weapons inspections and military sanctions rather than the use of force to address the problem, and be it
Resolved, that appropriate copies of this resolution be distributed by the Office of Government Relations.
Council, in its resolution after the September 11 attacks, urged the United States government to "promote the eradication of terrorism through justice and reconciliation abroad". An attack on Iraq at this time is more likely to inflame anti-U.S. passions in the Middle East and elsewhere. In the same resolution after September 11, Council cautioned "that the U.S need not be at war while pursuing the full force of justice against those who committed this crime against humanity". Pursuing a course of justice against the perpetrators while also pursuing reconciliation based on human rights and alleviation of poverty with aggrieved countries is more likely to result in a peaceful, secure world. The Church already opposes Iraqi sanctions that cause suffering among the Iraqi people.
The Rev. Rosemari G. Sullivan
Secretary of the Executive Council and the Domestic
and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant
Episcopal Church in the United States of America
