4th February 2003

This message has been circulating among members of the Council of the Military Christian Fellowship of Australia http://www.mcf-Australia.com .

It is written by:

Major General (Retired) Reverend Ian Durie CBE, Executive Chairman, Association for Christian Conferences, Teaching and Service (Accts) Military Ministries International http://www.acctsmmi.com

Bio:

Ian Durie was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1964. He served in Europe, in Central America, in the Falklands, and in the Gulf War. He commanded the Artillery Regiment in the Commando Brigade Royal Marines, and the Divisional Artillery of 1st (UK) Armoured Division in the Gulf War. He completed his service as Director Royal Artillery in 1996. Always a Christian from boyhood, an active member of the British Officer’s Christian Union for many years, and involved with Accts MMI since 1990, he took early retirement to attend theological college, was ordained in September 1998, and is currently assistant minister in a church in south London. He became Honorary and part time Chair of the Accts MMI Council in 1998. He is married to Janie and has a married daughter and 2 grandchildren.

Below is the text of a message from MAJGEN the Rev Ian Durie, of the UK:

Dear Friends,

I have a great burden, as no doubt many of you have, over discovering the will of God in relation to the situation in Iraq, and the urgent need to ensure Iraq’s compliance with the requirement to disarm. My chief concern is that there is a rush to war, and as those of us who are military men must know such large troop deployments carry with them an almost inevitable need to use them before they get stale (is it imaginable that they could be withdrawn without being used, short of a major capitulation by the Baghdad regime?). Yet we do not see unequivocal statements of the Governments’ (US & UK) consideration of all the necessary conditions for Just War. This is a critical week as the PM meets the President, and Colin Powell prepares to address the Security Council next Tuesday. I have recently written to the incoming Chief of General Staff. The letter has been seen by Gen Mike Walker, the outgoing CGS on his last day in office, and will be seen by Mike Jackson, the incoming CGS on Monday – and should (if Mike Jackson is of the same mind as his predecessor) be drawn to the attention of the Secretary of State for Defence. I have also written to the Prime Minister (though whether that has got anywhere near him, I doubt), using the line that we need to be sure that we don’t send our troops to war without public support, and that means making the case, and making the case means meeting the conditions for Just War. The text of that letter is as follows:

“27th January 2003

Dear Prime Minister, [i.e. Tony Blair!]

I am writing to express my serious concern at the prospect of sending British troops to war without proper public support. This is in stark contrast to the 1990-91 situation (where I commanded the Divisional Artillery Group in 1st (UK) Armoured Division on Desert Storm). I am now a minister in the Church of England, and I also do quite a lot of work on the rules of war and the morality of war from a Christian standpoint – among other things updating the Just War criteria for asymmetric operations. So that those bits of the Church that are not inherently pacifist have some proper criteria against which to make judgement and guide their flocks (and frankly, in spite of quite a large number of instinctive pacifists, there are not many coherent pacifists once they’ve thought the issues through).

In the present climate I am very concerned, then, at the prospect of sending British forces to war without significant support from the British public. I should like to make the following points, which I believe are important to win public support, and which incidentally chime in with the Just War criteria, which matter seriously to those like me.

The first concern is that the evidence for Justice of the Cause is currently unconvincing. While I personally have little doubt that Iraq illegally possesses or is in the process of acquiring a variety of highly dangerous weapons sufficient to constitute Just Cause, I assume, if this is the case, there is good intelligence to confirm it. If so, risks to intelligence sources notwithstanding, production of sufficient evidence to convince the public is essential. If intelligence sources are too delicate to expose, then the weapons inspectors will have to do the job (suitably guided by Western intelligence). It is not enough for the Government to say, ‘We know Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. Trust us’ for reasons of doubt over the motives on the part of USA at least.

And there is serious public misgiving, as you must also be well aware, over American motives – ranging from the oilfields issues to revenge, and a muddle over the claimed potential links to Al Qaida and the ‘War against Terrorism’. Until Just Intention is clarified in people’s minds, suspicion over motive will continue to be a major issue.

To go to war too soon, and without a second UN resolution (apart from evident and obvious sheer bloody-mindedness by, say, France in the Security Council) risks charges of lack of Proper Authority and it not being demonstrably Last Resort – both are important issues to the thinking public!

Next, and still very seriously, there is the whole question of minimising Collateral Damage and ensuring that Iraqi civilian lives are demonstrably valued and protected as far as possible, in contrast to the impression many people have of the conduct of some operations in Afghanistan.

Finally, what is the desired End State? Can such a Success be achieved? Will the people of Iraq and the world (given the very serious potential damage to Arab/Islamic relations with the West) be better off after a conflict? Have the Americans got a workable plan to introduce a long-term stable government into such a fractured country, and are they prepared to stay there until it is achieved? And how, without giving priority to a peace settlement in Palestine/Israel will they deflect generations of hatred, and the threats to democracies that will arise from that? I think for many people in this country, the biggest issue of all is that the world may be worse off after Sadam Hussein is toppled than before unless these doubts are properly and publicly addressed.

Overall, Sir, there are some very serious issues here that the Government needs to address if we are to avoid sending our forces into war without public support, and you need to do something about it at the very least for their sake.”

I believe that the last issue is the most difficult to achieve (and those who know of what is going on in Afghanistan will understand the implications of this) – please let us continue to use our prayers to discern the will of God, and to use any influence that we have to draw our concerns to those in authority.

Hope this is helpful,

Ian

Ian Durie

Executive Chairman Accts Military Ministries International

http://www.acctsmmi.com