Churchgoers link gas-guzzling to Iraq occupation

Members of a Winnipeg church recently brought their faith to an Esso station on the city's busiest street. For three days , March 22-24, several members of Hope Mennonite Church fasted and held prayerful, rush-hour protests in front of the gas station, holding signs with messages saying "Esso & Bush: Liberating Iraqi Oil," and "Bush: Freeing the world one oil well at a time." The event coincided with the one year anniversary of the start of the bombing campaign in Iraq.

The Lenten sidewalk witness was inspired by a report by a Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) about human rights abuses related to the detention of an estimated 13,000 to 18,000 Iraqis captured and held by the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority that now rules Iraq.

Citing the call in Isaiah 58 for a fast that "loosens the chains of injustice and unties the cords of the yoke," CPT issued a call for a Lenten fast in support of detainees and their families.

The location for the Winnipeg action was chosen because of what many see as an almost incestuous relationship between U.S. oil interests and President Bush's foreign policy.

Esso's parent company ExxonMobil--the second biggest corporation on the globe, is a heavy financial backer of Bush's Republicans as well as various Washington think-tanks that eagerly advocated for the invasion of Iraq.

The pre-war words of the U.S. Under Secretary for Commerce Grant Aldonas leave little doubt about the links between the Iraq war and oil interests: "(War) would open up this spigot on Iraq's oil."

Larry Goldstein, president of the Petroleum Industry Research Foundation in New York, echoed that sentiment in a January 13, 2003 Wall Street Journal article entitled "Oil firms gauge potential in Iraq: Host of opportunity awaits should war topple Hussein. If we go to war, it's not about oil, but the day the war ends, it has everything to do with oil. Only Saudi Arabia has larger oil reserves than Iraq."

"We're asking Winnipeggers to 'Read Between the Pipelines' and recognize the link between oil consumption and perpetual military campaigns to secure open up this oil supply," said event participant Aiden S. Enns. "You have a corporate Goliath, backed by the largest army in history. That's simply not good news for humanity,"

One member of the group, Lisa Martens, was in Baghdad with CPT during part of the bombing campaign last year. "The oil has been liberated, but thousands of Iraqis are detained without charge, and under demeaning conditions," said Martens.

The CPT report on detainees notes numerous violations of international law, including: detention without charge for indefinite periods of time, denial of access to legal representation, capture of detainees in house raids using excessive force against unarmed civilians, and physical mistreatment including torture. Many family members of detainees have no idea where their loved ones are, or even if they are alive. I guess it's a taste of Guantanamo Bay-style democracy for them," said Martens.

The group wants consumers to question the moral foundation of corporations such ExxonMobil. One of the group's banners, fashioned after Esso's logo, read "Condemned: Moral Repairs Needed."

"We declare Esso condemned because it is unsafe for the global community," explained Martens.

The group believes the faith community must speak out in response to the powerful politico-economic forces converging on Iraq.

Will Braun lives in Winnipeg and works with the Mennonite Central Committee.

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