UUA Representatives Return from Iraq: Trip focused on "the unintended consequences of war"

Elementary School, Baghdad	Delegation prays with Orthodox Bishop in Baghdad	Meeting With Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz
All photographs by Robin Hoecker. Click here to view the complete set of her photo albums from Iraq

(Boston, Jan. 16, 2003) A thirteen-member interfaith delegation which included two Unitarian Universalists returned on January 3 from a compelling trip to Iraq as the United States edges closer to war with that country. The delegation, sponsored by the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S. (NCC) and hosted by the NCC's counterpart in the Middle East, was led by the Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar, General Secretary of the NCC and a United Methodist minister, along with representatives of the United Methodist Church, United Church of Christ, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Episcopal Church and the Unitarian Universalist Association along with an Iraq expert from Georgetown University.

Robin Hoecker and the rolling hills of Amman.

Keyhole view through doorway

View from Bagdhad

Boy with artwork.

Robin Hoecker with Elementary School Artwork.

"Down, Down, USA" in Bagdhad

The Rev. Dr. John Buehrens, former president of the UUA and currently minister of the First Parish in Needham, MA, represented UUA President Bill Sinkford on the trip and was joined by Ms. Robin Hoecker, an intern in the UUA's Washington, D.C. Office for Advocacy and Witness. Ms. Hoecker, a photojournalist, documented the trip with the images you see on this page.

Terming preemptive war immoral, illegal and theologically illegitimate, the group contended that a war against Iraq would result in widespread suffering and death for innocent people and would make the U.S. less secure, not more secure. "Ours is a religious and not a political delegation," emphasized Dr. Edgar at a closing news conference on January 3. "We came as humanitarian inspectors, not weapons inspectors."

The visit was life-changing for Hoecker, as she reflects in her notes from the trip: "I was amazed by the juxtaposition of life and death, of vibrancy and suffering, of happiness and despair. I was surprised to see how clean and developed Baghdad was. I imagined it to be in rubble, dirty, with potholes everywhere, and people scurrying around in fear. I found Baghdad to be very pleasant, with wide avenues, tall buildings, buses, cars, and people going about daily life like in any other city. (But in the hospitals,) I saw the reality of those statistics we hear so often -- that 500,000 Iraqi children have died prematurely since the start of the sanctions in 1990. I saw a baby with its deformed spine protruding through the skin of its back, another with a melon shaped sac of skin growing from its head to contain the brain fluids. The mothers look sorrowfully through the plastic of the incubators as the doctors explain how they have seen a sharp increase in birth defects since the mid-1990's, due to malnutrition of the mothers."

Dr. Buehrens, former President of the UUA, said, "I wish people could have seen us on New Year's Eve at a potluck supper in an evangelical church in Bagdhad. If Americans in conservative communities thought they would be dropping bombs on children singing praise songs to Jesus, they might think more about the human face of the Iraqi conflict, and not just about their leader (Saddam Hussein)..."

Buehrens continued, "The indifference of so many Americans to foreign policy in general is the biggest thing that we are up against...the default position of Americans with regard to foreign policy, is isolationist...we don't tend to think about the wider world and our relations in it. It's the biggest flaw in our policy making. So I encourage us to talk to Middle America, and to argue about consequences, and then to recognize that such a war is immoral: there is no justification for this war policy -- religiously, theologically, ethically -- but first, we need to talk about the consequences. And it's the responsibility of religious leaders to help people engage in civil discourse on these matters."

Hoecker concluded, "I wanted to bring attention to the Iraqi people who are the real victims in this situation, no matter how you look at it. They are suffering under the strict sanctions that have resulted in a drastic increase in infant mortality. That affects not only the children who die, but the families and parents they leave behind. The Iraqi people are suffering under the oppressive rule of a dictator, with few viable alternatives. And they will be the ones who will suffer during the fighting if an invasion occurs.

"I went on this trip because I feel that my generation has the most at stake," Hoecker said. "We will be the ones fighting this war on the ground, and we will be the ones facing the consequences and backlash in the future. This war is putting the dreams of young people like me, both American and Iraqi, at stake. And I went because I agree with Einstein's statement that 'Peace cannot be achieved through force, it can only be achieved through understanding.' I went to see with my own eyes and listen with my own ears and I have learned so much, especially about the stereotypes that Americans have about that part of the world. I am trying to build that understanding across cultures, because understanding is the foundation for peace. "

Participants on the trip to Iraq were:

• Dr. Bob Edgar, General Secretary, National Council of Churches (U.S.A.) and a United Methodist minister; New York City
  
• Dr. Huw Anwyl, Minister, United Church of Christ, Laguna Niguel, Calif.;
  
• Rev. Ray Buchanan, President, Stop Hunger Now and United Methodist Minister, Raleigh, N.C.
  
• Rev. Dr. John Buehrens, former president, Unitarian Universalist Association, and minister, First Parish in Needham, Mass. Rev. Buehrens also is a special assistant to the secretary general of the World Conference on Religion and Peace.
  
• Rev. Dr. Robert Evans, Executive Director, Plowshares Institute, Presbyterian Pastor, Simsbury, Conn.
  
• Ms. Robin Hoecker, Legislative Assistant, Unitarian Universalist Association, Washington, D.C.
  
• Dr. Victor Makari, General Assembly staff, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Louisville, Ky
  
• Don Mosley, co-founder of Jubilee Partners, Comer, Ga.
  
• Ms. Virginia (Ginger) Paul, Episcopal Church, Executive Committee, Shreveport, La.
  
• Dr. Samer Shehata, Assistant Professor of Arab Politics, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
  
• Bishop Melvin Talbert, Ecumenical Officer, The United Methodist Church, Brentwood, Tenn.
  
• JamesWinkler, General Secretary, General Board of Church and Society, United Methodist Church, Washington, D.C.
  
• Ms. Amy (Kalee) Kreider, Fenton Communications, Washington, D.C. (media liaison).

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