I don't care what the Pope thinks (especially after Iraq).
The Church's
Just War Doctrine lays the responsibility for the decision to go to war on the shoulders of government leaders. (They'll have more information than religious leaders and the general public). All papal statements and official catechetical documents state this. Even the U.S. Bishops official pronouncements agree with this.
However that doctrine lays out strict conditions that must be met.
The pope is thus left in the position of:
1 - working/arguing/cajoling all parties towards the biblical goal of peace, and
2 - praying/questioning that the conditions for a just war are met.
He is never in a position to "bless" a decision to go to war. That isn't his role.
You also have the problem of the media not, uh, "understanding" the larger context of the pope's messages, and thereby communicating it inaccurately.
See for example:
War in the Gulf (Iraq). What the Pope Really Saidhttp://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/879895/posts
The pope never excluded war in Iraq from the arc of practicable and just decisions. However, you wouldn't know it given the reporting.
Pope: "War is never just another means...for settling differences between nations"
Press: "War is NEVER Just."
Pope: "Let us not permit a human tragedy to become a religious catastrophe"
Press: "Pope Warns of Religious Catastrophe"
Pope: urges day of fasting to remind people of the suffering endured by Iraqis
Press: "Pope Steps Up Anti-war Crusade With Fast"
This is underscored by the fact that misguided (left-wing nutjob) religious
were constantly petitioning him to come out clearly against the war.
JPII ignored them.
I can't stress this enough:
NEVER rely on the secular media to accurately report on what is said by Rome. Even the Catholic media gets it wrong sometimes.
Blessings,