As students of a Jesuit, Catholic university, everything we do must come from a commitment to peace and justice — towards the greater glory of God.

This is why I oppose a war on Iraq, along with the Bishops of the United States, the U.S. provincials of the Society of Jesus, and the Pope.

It comes down to this: from everything I have heard from Bush and his advisors, I have not been the least bit convinced he is concerned about social justice or the American service people and Iraqi men, women, and countless children who will die in droves come war.

Scott Ritter, former U.N. weapons inspector, has made clear that when he left Iraq, it had little if any ability to make war on anyone, and since the Gulf War, oppressive sanctions that have left half a million children dead ensured that Iraq remained inconsequential — militarily, politically, and economically.

As Bill Quigley and others who have been to Iraq will tell you, this is not a country ready for war, and any war on its own soil will bring tremendous death and destruction.

But what about terrorists?

There is no proven link between Al-Quaeda and Iraq and about as much relation between Palestinian terrorists and Iraq as there is between those same terrorists and countless other Arab states.

But those states give us oil, so they’re OK.

And U.S. safety?

A war with Iraq would bring countless U.S. women and men to the desert to die while enflaming anti-American sentiment in Arab nations and Al-Quaeda networks around the world.

Contrast that to a system of deterrence, which worked against Moscow and, as we tell everyone, will continue to work against North Korea, which does have the bomb.

So why a real live war with Iraq, which has the second most oil in the world?

Well, Dick Cheney was there only a few years ago representing his oil company, and U.S. oil companies are already secretly divvying up the spoils.

I’m told it’s really about the good of the Iraqi people. And, even if there are civilian deaths involved – which is a gross violation of the Church’s “just war” policies — that might be a war

I’d support.

But the famous examples of Japan and Germany as successful models of U.S. regime change are more the exception than the rule.

Even a quick read of Latin American, African, Southeast Asian, and Mid Eastern history reveal the more than 20 unsuccessful governmental changes motivated primarily by U.S. interest and resulting in countless deaths and, often, totalitarianism.

Is Saddam a bad man? Certainly.

But, as Amnesty International points out, more Iraqis would suffer in a war with Iraq and the resultant chaos than continue to suffer today.

As workers for democracy in Iran demonstrate today, totalitarianism will always die on its own.

We need to talk about this war, and I encourage people to tell me if they disagree.

But I want to make clear that our discussion, as representatvies of Jesuit, Catholic university, must come from a desire for peace and justice rather than global domination or revenge.

It’s a fair criticism that last week’s forum — which, by the way, was not planned by LUCAP — was one-sided, and should not have been advertised as neutral.

Still, as John Paul II wrote, “War is not always inevitable. It is always a defeat for humanity.”

Because we are part of a Jesuit, Catholic community, we are by necessity on one side, and it must not be the side of defeat, of violence and power and greed.

We are at all times called to be on the side of love, of hope and peace and truth.

This decision is not an abstraction. What side are you on?