Press Conference
San Francisco Bay Area Iraq Moratorium Campaign

September 21, 2007

by The Reverend Gregory L. Stewart

Once again, on this day, International Peace Day, we find ourselves standing on the side of love. It seems there are only two places that humankind inhabits these days, either a place of love or a place of fear. America’s unlawful and unwarranted invasion and occupation of the sovereign nation of Iraq betrays the fear that has blinded the Bush Administration and those who support it.

They say we are spreading democracy. I ask, you, does democracy come gift-wrapped in body bags?

Almost eighty thousand Iraqis have died in this crusade to smother the Middle East in western values. Almost four-thousand American soldiers have given their lives in service to their country and in servitude to Big Oil and little minds.

You are NOT spreading democracy, Mr. President. You are spreading fear! That’s why it is time we stand on the side of love!

They say we are combating terrorism. I ask you, where does terrorism really reside?

Does it live in the hearts and minds of Iraqi families whose homes are raided and whose members are raped? Does it dwell in the thoughts and dreams of Iraqi children with missing limbs and broken hearts? With no real enemy to engage, we have tuned our guns on the most vulnerable targets.

You are NOT fighting terrorism, Mr. President. You are embracing fear! That’s why it is time we stand on the side of love.

They say we are making the world safer. I ask you, safer for whom? Safer than what?

I don’t feel more secure knowing the only real weapons of mass destruction are in our hands. I don’t sleep better at night knowing that we bankrupt our coffers to kill Iraqis “over there” while Americans die impoverished right here.

You are NOT making the world safer, Mr. President. You are creating fear. That’s why it is time we stand on the side of love.

I am a religious man. I am a Unitarian Universalist. I know that “perfect love casts out fear.” And if enough of us stand on the side of love, we might just cast out our warmongering king and all the kings men!

In the mean time, let’s cast out any plan that prolongs this war another day, another hour, another minute.

Let’s vote out any politician that only hears the call of special interest groups but fails to hear the cries of those who mourn the dead.

Let’s smoke out those who hide behind the cloak of democracy even as they demonize those they pretend to liberate.

Let’s get out of Iraq. Let’s stand on the side of love. Let’s do it here. Let’s do it now. Amen.