Pax Christi USA questions U.S. policy in Afghanistan

Social justice news
July 2002

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Pax Christi USA questions U.S. policy in Afghanistan
On a the same day American military authorities admitted that an "errant bomb" had killed scores fo Afghans celebrating at a wedding party, members of Pax Christi USA called into question the Bush administration's commitment to promoting peace and stability in countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan. They say U.S. policy in the region is too driven by its interest in capturing Osama bin-Laden and destroying the Al-Quaeda terrorist network. On July 1, the Pax Chrisit USA members were discussing their findings from a recent fact-finding mission to Afghanistan.

Marie Dennis, Vice President of Pax Christi International, stated that Pax Christi's criticism of U.S. policy in the region was not particularly focused on the ongoing bombing campaign in Afghanistan, "but on the inconsistency, 'ad-hoc-ness,' and shallow self-interest that led the U.S. to repeatedly renege on commitments to South Asia and fail to play the positive leadership role required by its super power status."

Dennis was joined by Dave Robinson, national coordinator of Pax Christi USA, and Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, co-founder of Pax Christi USA and bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit, on an interfaith delegation of religious leaders to Afghanistan organized by Global Exchange, a human-rights organization based in San Francisco. The delegation concluded on June 29.

The delegation to Afghanistan took place during the loya jerga, an assembly of representatives of the Afghani people called together to help define Afghanistan’s political future. “The loya jerga could have been an important step in helping to stabilize this country that has been racked by war and extreme poverty,” said Robinson. "However, the U.S. support for the admittance of Afghan warlords into the process—warlords who threaten the security of the common people of Afghanistan—created real divisiveness and assured that questions of human rights would take a back seat to the US military campaign against suspected terrorists in the region."

The delegations to both countries included meetings with Muslim and Christian religious leaders, including Bishop Joseph Coutts of the Roman Catholic diocese of Faisalabad, Pakistan. The delegations met with numerous international relief agencies, political and economic organizations, and Afghani families who lost loved ones in the U.S.-led bombing campaign. Goals of the delegations included building bridges between faith communities in the US and in Afghanistan and Pakistan; gauging the impact of the war on terrorism in the region, including its impact on the confrontation between India and Pakistan; and ascertaining more information on the status of Christians in Pakistan.

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