by Art Laffin

As the U.S. occupation of Iraq enters its fifth year, the vast majority of the Iraqi people, and a majority of the American people, are demanding an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Still, the Bush Administration remains committed to continuing its occupation. Moreover, the administration is contriving a new threat that mirror’s the lies that were propagated for the Iraq invasion—Iran’s nonexistant nuclear threat—to justify not only remaining in Iraq, but also attacking Iran! The Administration is also asserting unsubtantiated claims that the Iranian government is supplying arms to Iraqi insurgents. Although many in Congress oppose the Administration’s plans for continued occupation, Congress is reluctant to cut off funding for the war because it does not want to be seen as “not supporting the troops.” And many in Congress have been silent about a U.S. attack on Iran. It appears now that the adminstration may be able to pass its proposed Six hundrednthirty dollar billion military budget, or a slightly scaled down budget, which includes supplemental aid for Iraq and Afghanistan.

As the casualties continue to mount for Iraqis and U.S. soldiers, as the violence in Iraq continues to spiral out of control, and as a possible new attack of Iran looms on the horizon, “What would Jesus do?”, is the question Christians must ask. The Gospel mandate is clear: love one another, love your enmies, put away the sword, forgive, blessed are the peacemakers.

Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the Catholic Church response to the occupation has been ambiguous and equivocating. In a December 24, 2004 NCR article I commended the bishops and the Vatican for speaking out against the US invasion of Iraq. However, the bishops have been virtually silent about the war until their statement issued at the November 2006 bishops conference. When I read this statement about Iraq I was deeply saddened. While I commend the bishops for acknowledging the human and economic cost that the war has caused, there was no real acknowledgment of the the unspeakable crimes the U.S. government and military has committed in Iraq. The bishops did not address the fact that, according to The Lancet, a leading British medical journal, an estimated 654,000 Iraqis have died as a direct result of the invasion. It did not address the fact that U.S., as a result of 16 years of U.S. bombings, U.S./UN-led economic sanctions, and now invasion, has destroyed Iraq and caused a total of an estimated 2 million deaths. Moreover, the bishops did not call on the U.S. to repent for these crimes. Rather, the USCCB declared in their statement: “Our nation’s military forces should remain in Iraq only as long as their presence contributes to a responsible transition.”

I ask: How can the U.S., which has committed genocidal war crimes in Iraq, ever bring about a responsible transition in Iraq?

The Catholic Church is complicit in the death and suffering of Iraqis and U.S. soldiers because of its failure to unequivocally condemn this war as illegal and immoral. I agree with Bishop John Michael Botean, who said in a pastoral letter on March 7, 2003, “that any direct participation of this war against the people of Iraq is objectively grave evil, a matter of mortal sin.” Before the invasion, the USCCB should have said that no Catholic soldier should participate in this war, pay taxes to prosecute the war, or make weapons to be used in the war. Just think of how many lives could have been saved if the Church took this prophetic stand! How many deaths will it take till we know that too many people have died? I mourn all the war-dead, Iraqi and U.S, as well as the countless people who have been maimed and injured for life.

Moreover, the bishops did not once in their statement mention the oil politics that was really the driving force for the invasion. It did not mention the war profiteering of the arms industries. It did not mention the profiteerring of companies like Bechtel and Haliburton.

During this Holy Season of Lent, we recall Jesus’ proclamation: “The reign of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel!” Thus Lent is a special time for personal and societal conversion, a time to turn away from the idolatry, violence and evil in our hearts and in our world. It is a time to renew our commitment to do what God requires: to embrace the way of nonviolence, justice and peace.

All life is sacred. It is time to repent for our complicity for the sin of war. Not one more person should suffer or die from U.S. warmaking and military occupation.

It is painfully clear that continuing the U.S. occupation will only result in more death and suffering for the Iraqi people and U.S. soldiers and their families. It is time for all Christians, including church leaders, to speak with a clear, bold and prophetic voice. It is time to call for an immediate withdrawl of all U.S. soldiers, intelligence personnel and private contractors from Iraq and Afghanistan. It is time to cut off all war-funding and close all U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is time to investigate and demand the dissolution of Blackwater, the secret mercenary force hired by the U.S. military in Iraq. It is time for Catholics and for all people of faith and goodwill to unequivocally resist the adminstration’s “long-war” plan and policies of preemptive/preventive warmaking. It is time for the U.S. to renounce its aspirations of empire and global domination and instead seek to build the beloved community.

It is time to call on all soldiers, our brothers and sisters, to refuse orders to fight and kill and to actively support all military refusers and conscientious objectors. (Hundreds have signed “Refuse to Fight-Refuse to Kill” statement. See www.jonahhouse.org)

It is time to make reparations to Iraq and to call for a “surge” in recontructruction funds for Iraq and Afghanistan, with a special proviso that no U.S. contractor profit from such reconstruction.

It is time to demand an end to U.S. threats to attack Iran and instead hold peace talks with Iran. It is time to dismantle the entire U.S. nuclear stockpile as an example to the world that we are serious about nuclear proliferation and abolishing all weapons of mass destruction from the face of the earth.

It is also time to condemn, as morally reprehensible, the sin of torture, and to call for the repeal of the Military Commissions Act, and the closing of the Guantanamo U.S. military prison and all other secret U.S. torture and detention centers.

It is time to work for a just peace in the Middle East and ending the Israeli occupation of Palestine, the root cause of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

It is time to acknowledge complicity in the U.S. oil addiction, embrace an ethic of responsible stewardship, and simplify our life-style.

It is time for all Catholics and Christians to take the Pax Christi “Vow of Nonviolence.”

Encouraging signs of hope abound. More soldiers are protesting the war. Many people are engaging in nonviolent civil resistance actions across the U.S., including at congressional offices as part of the Voices for Creative Nonviolence inspired campaign called “The Occupation Project.” And on March 16, thousands of Christians from across the U.S. came to Washington to pray and act for peace at the White House to call for an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq and 222 were arrested at the White House. On March 17, thousands more protested at the Pentagon. And on March 20, 44 people were arrested on Wall Street.

The reign of God is at hand. Let us renounce and resist the sin of war and become God’s nonviolent peacemakers!

Art Laffin is a member of the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker in Washington, DC.