Eleventh-Hour Initiative Could Have Prevented War

On February 18, 2003, a delegation of U.S. church leaders, accompanied by colleagues from the United Kingdom and the worldwide Anglican Communion, met with Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Secretary of State for International Development, Clare Short, to discuss alternatives to war.

Following this meeting with Tony Blair, the delegation outlined a "third way" to remove Saddam Hussein from power without killing innocent people. The plan called world leaders to:

1. Indict Saddam Hussein for his crimes against humanity and send a clear signal that he has no future in Iraq, setting into motion the internal and external forces that could remove him from power and bring him to trial at the International Court in The Hague. History has shown, as with Slobodan Milosevic, that this can help bring down a criminal regime.

2. Pursue coercive disarmament with greatly intensified inspections backed by a U.N. mandated multinational force.

3. Foster a democratic Iraq through a temporary post-Hussein U.N. administration, rather than a U.S. military occupation.

4. Organize a massive humanitarian effort through the U.N. and nongovernmental relief agencies for the people of Iraq now, rather than only after a war.

5. Commit to implement the "roadmap" to peace in the Middle East, with a clear timetable toward a two-state solution that guarantees a Palestinian state and a secure Israel by 2005.

6. Re-invigorate and sustain international cooperation in the campaign against terrorism, rather than having it disrupted by a divisive war against Iraq that intelligence officials believe will likely lead to further attacks.

As war approached, the 6-point plan became a clear alternative to war and drew serious attention at the highest levels of the British government, U.N., Congress, and even the State Department.

The plan also was featured in an op-ed in The Washington Post and as a full-page ad in five British newspapers.

Had there been more time, a credible alternative to war might have been found. Regrettably, on March 17, 2003, President Bush closed the door on diplomacy and war began 48 hours later.

Our work is only beginning. Get informed and get involved!

• Watch, pray, and act for peace with Sojourners
• Read the complete text of the 6-point plan
• See the complete text of the print advertisement
• Read the press release, "A Final Appeal"
• Read "There is a Third Way" by Jim Wallis and John Chane
• Get more perspective from Sojourners Editor-in-Chief Jim Wallis