Episcopal Press and News

EPF Letter Criticizes 'Victory Celebrations'

Episcopal News Service. June 12, 1991 [91143W]

In a letter to President George Bush released by the Episcopal Peace Fellowship (EPF), 60 Episcopalians have registered their opposition to "victory celebrations" to mark the end of the war in the Persian Gulf. "We mourn the tragic misuse of financial and human resources in such an event," the letter said. "The needs of human beings... are too great for us to spend millions of private and public dollars on a military parade. We contemplate this 'celebration' and see housing, health care, and education go begging yet one more time." Signers of the letter called attention to the thousands who died in the war, and the pollution of lands and water in the Middle East as a result of the war. Although the letter expressed gratitude "for the safe return of most of the men and women of the U.S. armed forces," it asserted that "no war is 'a job well done.'"