Stephanie Martin of Hamlin helps unfurl a Patriots for Peace banner in front of Rep. Shelley Moore Capito's office in Kanawha City on Thursday, the same day the Council of Churches called for a U.S. military pullout from Iraq. Photographer: Chip Ellis

The West Virginia Council of Churches released a resolution Thursday urging Congress "to withdraw all U.S. military troops and bases from Iraq."

The Rev. Dennis Sparks, director of the state Council of Churches, said the resolution was released after the announcement that more than 2,000 U.S. troops have been killed, and more than 15,000 wounded, in the Iraq war.

"The time has come to question the president and our congressional policies that continue to foster terrorist insurgency at a huge cost to our soldiers and their families, and to the Iraqi people themselves," Sparks said.

"We agree with ... our senior senator from West Virginia, when he said on the Senate floor, ÔToo much blood has been spilled already.'

"Like Sen. Robert C. Byrd, we offer our deepest sympathies to the brave men and women who have given their lives in selfless dedication to serve our nation," Sparks said.

The resolution also states that the Council of Churches "holds in our prayers the people of Iraq, the U.S. troops and international troops and humanitarian workers in Iraq, the leaders of Iraq and the United States, and all others affected by this war."

The council includes 14 Protestant denominations with a combined membership of nearly 600,000.

Patriots for Peace also held a noon rally Thursday in front of the office of Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., in Kanawha City. Capito voted for the war in Iraq.

The banner listed 2,000 names of U.S. soldiers who have died in the Iraq war. Photographer: Chip Ellis

More than 100 people attended the event. Some held the group's ever-lengthening "Wall of Remembrance" banners listing the names, hometowns and dates of death for all 2,000 American soldiers killed in Iraq.

Capito's offices were locked and no one answered the door during the rally.

"No one in the military ever thought people against the war were against the troops," said Marine Cpl. Dan Wyatt, who attended the event.

Wyatt questioned Bush administration plans to "sustain" the war. "Sustain this war for what? To honor the people killed? How does it honor them to get more people killed?"

Wyatt, 29 and living in Hurricane, served two tours of duty in Iraq with a 1,200-person battalion. In his first eight-month tour in 2003, two soldiers were killed and 50 were wounded. In his second seven-month tour in 2004, 27 soldiers were killed and 201 were wounded.

"We were in all the big fighting. We were in Baghdad when they pulled the statue of Saddam down," Wyatt said. "I don't know how people can say things are improving."

A mother with a son in the military attended the rally. "Do you know what it is like to worry about a loved one in the military every day?" she asked. "This [Bush] administration is not sacrificing anything.

"We are for the soldiers, but not the war," said the woman, who asked not to be identified by name. "Our country is headed in the wrong direction."

In a statement released on Thursday, Capito said, "The United States should never waiver in fighting terrorism. We are dealing with people who want to destroy our way of life.

"If we do not destroy their ability to function as terrorists, terrorism is going to be here in the United States in all forms and fashions. Stabilizing countries like Iraq and Afghanistan give terrorists one less place to build networks of hate and plot against the free world....

"I am committed to this fight," Capito said. "The president made it very clear that this fight will not be won overnight. This fight will take time and it will test our resolve. As a leader, I will not waver to terrorists."

Patriots for Peace tried to deliver a letter to Capito on Thursday, asking her to "make a public statement to your constituency that you were mistaken in following the President and the false information that you received about Iraq that caused you to support launching an invasion of Iraq."

The letter, signed by Carrie Swing, president of Patriots for Peace, also asked Capito to stop claiming there is any link between the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Iraq.

"You continue, despite evidence to the contrary, to make this misleading connection when you speak publicly," the letter stated.

To contact staff writer Paul J. Nyden, use e-mail or call 348-5164.

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