Prelude to War

Following September 11, 2001, Iraq became an obvious target of the Bush administration in the war against terrorism in order to "remove the Hussein regime and to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction." President Bush, while trying to secure U.N. backing for war against Iraq, prepared for a go-it-alone-as-necessary, pre-emptive strike.

Religious opposition to the war was broader and deeper than in the past. Various denominations and religious traditions, as well as 100 Christian ethicists, released statements expressing opposition to war. Alternatives to war -- including a regime change without bloodshed --were presented.

Pope John Paul II, calling the war unjust and immoral, exhorted the world community to address the root causes of injustice and terrorism. Sojourners founder, Jim Wallis, was one of the religious leaders who prepared an eleventh-hour initiative that might have prevented war.

After months of negotiations and deal-making, U.S. efforts to secure U.N. backing for war on Iraq failed; war began on March 19, 2003, with a surgical strike to remove the Iraqi leadership. While major bombing has stopped, the peace seems less possible than ever.

Cost of U.S. Occupation of Iraq

The U.S. occupation in Iraq has

• Left U.S. soldiers unprepared and vulnerable (thousands more have been killed since President Bush declared "mission accomplished" than prior to that)
• Brought guerilla warfare and an increased level of insecurity
• Destroyed much of the infrastructure -- electricity, water systesm, roads -- of major cities and created a high level of unemployment

Thousands of civilian deaths were preventable. A key statement in Bush's State of the Union was false. No weapons of mass destruction have been found. Former Chief weapons inspector David Kays' Congressional testimony (January 2004) -- that no WMDs exist in Iraq and likely did not exist in Iraq during the U.S. run-up to war -- undermined the credibility of the administration, which was further damaged by testimony from Richard Clark that raised questions about Bush's handling of 9/ll and the war in Iraq. An independent commission, established to study U.S. Iraqi war intelligence, released a scathing report in March 2005.

The U.S. cost of the Iraq war is close to $350,000,000 per day. Could tax dollars be better spent? The National Priorities Project has prepared an interactive page to determine the trade offs for individual communities.

Thousands of civilians, many of them children, have died in Iraq; deaths increased dramatically since the invasion. Four million Iraqis regularly cannot buy enough to eat, and 70 percent of Iraqis lack adequate water supplies, according to a July 2007 report released by Oxfam. One in five Iraqis have been displaced.

The photos of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison shocked and angered people across the world. Such images have greatly undermined U.S. credibility and efforts to bring stability in Iraq, despite the transfer to Iraqi sovereignty.