Synod of the Diocese of Sydney motion on War against Iraq

At its meeting yesterday, Tuesday 15th October, the Sydney Synod passed a motion concerning war against Iraq. No dissent was expressed to the motion.

The Synod called on the Federal Government to ensure that Australia’s peacekeeping obligations in the Asia Pacific region are unaffected by any commitment of military assistance to the Middle East. The synod also called on the government “not to deploy Australian troops in combat against Iraq unless all possible diplomatic strategies aimed at a just and peaceful solution have been exhausted.

The complete text of the motion runs as follows:

War Against Iraq

This Synod,
While recognising the complexity of issues involved in consideration of any possible war against Iraq;
that there is usually sensitive and confidential information known only to political leadership and unreported in the public media;
that the regime of Saddam Hussein is cruel and oppressive to the people of Iraq,
and that Saddam Hussein has consistently defied UN Security Council resolutions,

Nonetheless calls upon the Prime Minister and Federal Government

i) to ensure that Australia’s peacekeeping obligations in the Asia Pacific region are unaffected by any commitment of military assistance to the Middle East

ii) to continue to support diplomatic and UN activities, especially through comprehensive and unimpeded investigations of UN Weapons’ Inspectors, with a view to restraining the stockpiling of chemical and biological weaponry in Iraq, and its acquisition of nuclear weapons, and also in seeking a just and peaceful solution to any threat of warfare in the Middle East,

iii) not to deploy Australian troops in combat against Iraq unless all possible diplomatic strategies aimed at a just and peaceful solution have been exhausted; and
Synod also calls upon all Christians to pray to Almighty God, the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace

i) to give our political leaders wisdom humbly to weigh these complex matters with care for the good of all;

ii) to grant the end of suffering and strife for the Iraqi people; and

iii) graciously to bring real and lasting peace to the Middle East and to the world.

CONTACT: 
Margaret Rodgers 9265 1507 (w) 0411 692 499 (m)