The National Council of Churches and two Muslim groups said they will provide humanitarian aid to Iraq, but they do not want it to be interpreted as condoning the war

Christian Century, April 19, 2003

* The National Council of Churches and two Muslim groups said they will provide humanitarian aid to Iraq, but they do not want it to be interpreted as condoning the war. The general secretaries of the NCC, the Islamic Circle of North America and the Islamic Society of North America said in a joint statement that they were "deeply saddened" by the war and pledged to help relieve humanitarian concerns in Iraq.

"That we do this is not in any way an acquiescence to or affirmation of this war, which we continue to view as an unjustified, unwise and preemptive rather than necessary course of action," the March 24 statement said. "We provide humanitarian aid as an expression of our shared commitment to all God's people," said the NCC's Bob Edgar, the Islamic Circle's Naeem Baig and the Islamic Society's Sayyid Muhammad Syeed.