'Before the War' is a collection of articles published on Temenos before the War in Iraq began. These pieces are being re-published to remember where we have been and reflect on where we're going.

Dear President Bush: We are writing to you as members of Soulforce, an interfaith movement committed to ending spiritual violence perpetuated by religious policies and teachings against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and trangender people. As followers of King and Gandhi, we wish to add our voice to the outcry of so many people of faith regarding your Administration's constant attempts to whip this nation into a frenzy, against the people of Iraq. We join our voices to that of the leadership of the Presbyterian Church, the Methodist Church and now the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops all of whom are agreed that there is no justification for a "preemptive war" against the people of Iraq.

We join with the Methodist leadership when they say that "We must as a people and nation recast our personal and national priorities so that God's creation and the needs of the least, the last, and the lost are first in our hearts."

The United States, as a founding member of the United Nations, should not take unilateral military action without the approval of the U.N. Security Council.

We too believe that a pre-emptive war represents a major and dangerous change in U.S. foreign policy; a change that does not reflect the intent of our constitution. We believe that premptive war is synonymous with an act of aggression, and has never been considered a moral or legitimate U.S. policy.

There are still far too many unanswered questions, and because of this, we believe that the United States will not receive support in its attempts to mobilize support for these attacks against Iraq.

Some of these questions are:

1) Is it not true that the intelligence community (including former CIA counter-terrorism chief Vincent Cannistraro) has been unable to develop a case tying Iraq to global terrorism at all, much less the attacks on the United States last year?

2) What effect will it have on the United Nations if members of the international community conform to U.N. rules only when it pleases them? Does this not serve to undermine the U.N.'s work and create animosity toward us by both friend and foe?

We agree with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops when they state, "In our judgment, decisions of such gravity require compliance with U.S. constitutional imperatives, broad consensus within our nation, and some form of international sanction, preferably by the UN Security Council."

We can't help but wonder why we have directed our assault toward Iraq, given that 15 of the 19 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia and that none came from Iraq? Has this become a matter of revenge for past insults? Has this become a personal vendetta? Can this justify the deaths of so many innocent people?

M.K. Gandhi when asked about whether he was a Christian replied that the difference between him and most Christians was that he believed Jesus meant what he said. President Bush you rode a platform that called for people to return to basic traditional values. We implore you to listen to the leaders of your own faith and so many others. Love your enemies. Jesus was very clear about that. Let go of the desire for vengence and seek justice.

Mel White, Executive Director, Soulforce
Kara Speltz, Administrative Coordinator, Soulforce