Monday 24 Mar 2003

BLOOD POURED AT U.S. CONSULATE IN AUCKLAND

Today two Christians, a Dominican priest and a
member of the Catholic Worker movement, made a cross
with their own blood on the floor of the U.S. Consul's
office, after reading to him the attached statement.

For further information contact:

Peter Murnane O.P., ph 303 3852

Nicholas Drake, Catholic Worker, ph 846 4896



WHY WE OFFER OUR BLOOD

Statement To the US Consul, by Peter Murnane O.P.,
and Nicholas Drake, Catholic Worker.

March 24th, 2003

Mr. Berry, we thank you for your generosity in
allowing us to meet with you today. We are here as
Catholic Christians, to address you as Consul of the
United States of America for our city, Auckland, New
Zealand.

We have family in Iraq: Dominican sisters and
friars communicate with us regularly; but you too have
family in Iraq. Every human being, of whatever race,
is your brother or sister, as they are ours.

We come to speak to you about your country's
invasion of Iraq. We deplore it as an immoral and
criminal act .The crimes attributable to your
government against that country - 2 million Iraqi
dead, the country's economy and infrastructure
destroyed - dwarf the many and serious crimes of
Saddam Hussein, the worst of which were supported by
your government.

This war has gone on for 12 years. In 1991 your
government specifically targeted basic infrastructure:
hospitals, water treatment plants, and electricity
stations. Sanctions have denied food and medicine to
civilians. By 1997 your government had claimed around
2 million Iraqi lives.

Your military used, and is now using again,
Depleted Uranium munitions, which are causing an
epidemic of cancer and birth defects, and will
continue to kill for thousands of years. They are a
terrible weapon of mass destruction.

It is simply lying to say that the massive death
and suffering caused by your government's actions are
the unfortunate side effect of benign policies. The
predictable consequences of one's actions are not
‘accidental'. Rather, the atrocities that your
government has visited upon the people of Iraq reveal
that whatever the motives of the U.S. government might
be, human suffering is irrelevant to them.

Mr. Berry, by continuing to work for the U.S.
government in this capacity, you are actively
supporting imperialism and genocide. We urge you and
the rest of the Consulate staff to resign in protest
at your government's actions. Some people working in
crucial positions for the United Nations, and for
other governments, have already done so.


We cannot stand by as your government, against
the majority of world opinion, once more unleashes
weapons of mass destruction upon the people of Iraq,
and prepares to take direct control of a sovereign
state.

Jesus Christ teaches us never to spill other
people's blood for ourselves, but rather to offer our
own blood for others.

Your government is spilling great quantities of
blood on the soil of Iraq. Therefore:
+ In solidarity with those people whose blood you are
shedding, and
+ To make present to you the consequences of the US
war, and
+ As a covenant of our opposition,
We now make the sign of the cross with our blood
on the floor, in this outpost of the United States of
America.

Peter Murnane, Dominican friar
Nicholas Drake, Catholic Worker