News Brief

Church report urges non-military strategy against terror

-27/4/04

Failure to find non-military means of tackling terrorism has made the world an even more dangerous place, says a report to next month's General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

"Those who argue that violence only begets violence are often labelled naÔve and foolhardy," says a supplementary report by the Kirk's Church and Nation Committee, "however it has been our political leaders who have shown naivety in key aspects of their response to international terrorism."

It is ironic, says the report, that while Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden were never allies before the war, "it is likely that forces supportive of al-Qaeda are currently fighting side by side with the remnants of the Baathist regime."

The report asks the General Assembly to call for a full, public inquiry into the decision of the UK Government to join the United States in launching an attack on Iraq, "recognising that the war took place without the authority of the UN, that weapons of mass destruction have never been found in Iraq and that thousands of innocent people have lost their lives as a result of the war." (Deliverance 1)

It also condemns the holding of prisoners without trial at Belmarsh prison and urges the British Government to increase diplomatic efforts to have the remaining UK prisoners freed from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (Deliverance 6)

The report offers an overview of the debate on Iraq "to help the Church understand one of the most critical issues facing the world at this time".

Treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay "casts as stain on a nation founded on the principles of justice, freedom and equality for all under the law" the report states. "Prisoners should be given full legal rights and access to lawyers followed by trials which conform to the normal rules of USA law," it adds.

Iraq's people are among the most indebted in the world with each citizen now owing creditors about ,000 (about £6,000). Iraqi debt - believed to be about 0 billion - is not repayable, says the report, and if it were, it would require the transfer of all the country's oil revenue for the next 20 years.

The report commends the Government for its "constructive diplomatic policy" on Iran, Syria and Libya. "There is tragic irony in the fact that Libya had a nuclear weapons programme which could have posted a real danger to the world but the situation has been dealt with diplomatically. It seems extraordinary that Iraq was attacked when it appears to have had no weapons of mass destruction and did not pose a significant danger".

While commending the efforts of police and security services "who work tirelessly to try to prevent a terrorist attack" it remains the committee's view that "aspects of the so-called war on terror by political leaders have been grossly mishandled and have played into the hands of terrorists".

A completely new look is needed at the relationship between vulnerability and security, the report says, as it involves implications for governments' policies and for Christians on living in an uncertain world, and examining attitudes to life, death, risk, uncertainty, existence and faith.

"We need always to look from the perspective and place of the poor, the weak and the victims" it concludes.

"Until their daily experience of total vulnerability impinges properly on the consciousness of the rich and the strong, security will be a dream and the search for it in danger of becoming a nightmare."