Public Hearings on Iraq 2003 Action of Immediate Witness

WHEREAS the Bush administration has presented distorted and incomplete evidence to the American people, Congress, and the United Nations regarding the national security threat posed by Iraq;

WHEREAS this evidence included forged documents alleging an attempt by Iraq to purchase uranium in Niger and Secretary of State Colin Powell’s presentation to the United Nations on Iraq’s “weapons of mass destruction” that was used to justify military action;

WHEREAS recent information in the media reveals that the current United States Administration subverted the analysis and presentation of intelligence on Iraq, resulting in distorted and incomplete evidence about the threat Iraq presented to the United States;

WHEREAS questions surrounding the reliability of our intelligence on Iraq may make it difficult for other nations to support future actions to confront terror;

WHEREAS the United States Senate Intelligence Committee is currently holding “closed-door” hearings to examine the accuracy and integrity of intelligence information used to justify the attack on Iraq; and

WHEREAS public access to information and governmental disclosure of procedure and policy is critical to the survival of our democracy and to the credibility of our moral and political influence abroad;

THEREFORE the 2003 General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association calls upon the United States Congress to conduct open bi-partisan hearings to examine the moral and legal justification for the invasion of Iraq. As Unitarian Universalists committed to the search for truth and the integrity of the democratic process, we call for this immediate action.