A few hours ago I was released from jail with the Reverend Roy Bourgeois MM and more than 60 others including several Nobel Peace Prize winners, major US religious leaders and directors of various human rights organizations. We were arrested, charged and presented a May court date for "protesting without a permit," while expressing our opposition to the tragic war afflicting the people of Iraq.

Our group of national leaders was organized by Pax Christi USA and we gathered in prayer outside the whitehouse, believing the right to peaceably assemble is protected by the constitution. Unfortunately this right has withered away and we were carted away to jail. We prayed at the whitehouse because the Bush administration continues an unpermitted 12 year genocide against the people of Iraq.

The international community has not granted the Bush administration a permit to destroy Iraqi homes or contaminate their water. The Pope and the Dalai Lama refuse to grant a permit for the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Nor today, as a citizen of this country can I not permit this unlawful administration to continue to harm the children of Iraq.

In front of the whitehouse today I was arrested while praying - in my heart I thought of the tens of thousands of children killed in this past decade by US government led sanctions and US government inacted bombings - and then I thought of my two month old son Jonah. With children dying daily, I will continue to raise my voice against the unlawful acts of a criminal administration, whether my actions be permitted or not, as the lives of children, as the life of my child hang in the balance.

Eric M. LeCompte, SOA Watch Outreach Director