Mennonite Weekly Review

The death of Tom Fox, a Quaker working with Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq, has refocused the eyes of the church on the volatile situation in Iraq.

When President Bush spoke at the American Enterprise Institute less than a month before launching the war against Iraq in March 2003, he said a U.S.-led military invasion would bring democracy to Iraq and would be the first step toward peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well.

Three years later, Saddam Hussein is on trial and elections have been held. But Iraq is in shambles. Bombings kill dozens almost daily as sectarian violence rises. By conservative estimates, between 33,600 and 37,750 Iraq civilians have been killed since the war began. Electricity and oil production have yet to return to prewar levels.

More than 2,300 U.S. soldiers and 200 coalition troops have died in Iraq since 2003.

The United States already has spent nearly $250 billion for the war in Iraq. And Congress has given the green light to spend tens of billions more.

Congress initially earmarked $20 billion for rebuilding Iraq’s infrastructure, but much of that amount has been re-routed for security. Many reconstruction projects will not be completed.

Iraq is a powerful reminder that war does not create the space for democracy to flourish.

Even as Iraq crumbles, hostile rhetoric and ominous threats between the United States and Iran are on the rise.

Recently, the Bush administration issued an updated version of its three-year-old “National Security Strategy of the United States,” which set the framework for a pre-emptive war with Iraq. Rather than admitting the Iraq war was ill-conceived, the revised strategy reaffirms the U.S. right to take “anticipatory action” to defend itself against perceived threats. It also names Iran as the single greatest challenge to U.S. security.

For its part, the Iranian government threatens to retaliate with harm if the United States harms Iran.