Pope expected to tell Bush he is wrong on Iraq: Vatican

AFP ^ | May 13, 2004

[Shermy]

ROME (AFP) - Pope John Paul (news - web sites) II is expected to warn President George W. Bush when the two men meet on June 4 that his policy in Iraq is wrong and the actions of US troops are damaging efforts to bring religions closer together, a senior Vatican official revealed.

Cardinal Pio Laghi said the US-led occupation force in Iraq should be replaced by "a multinational presence which is not dominated by those who wanted and fought the war."

It was not enough for a military force in Iraq not to be under US command, "it must not even give the impression that it is," he said Thursday.

Laghi was the pope's envoy to Washington last year in a fruitless attempt to persuade Bush not to invade Iraq against the wishes of the majority of the United Nations and its 15-member Security Council.

Referring to revelations this month of torture and humiliating mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers, the cardinal asked "how is it possible to remain in Iraq if these abuses continue?"

Laghi said he liked the United States and "could not have imagined that this madness was possible". He said he was "astonished" at the behaviour of US troops and called for "all light to be shed on this affair, justice to be done and guarantees given so it does not happen again."

Bush is due to meet the pope on June 4 before travelling to France for ceremonies commemorating the 60th anniversary of the allied landings on the Atlantic coast on June 6, 1944, which began the liberation of Europe from Nazi occupation.

Laghi said Bush had been very anxious to see the pope and had changed his schedule to make the meeting possible, but said he did not think the president wanted to make political capital out of it before the election due to take place in November.

"If ever there were a difficult time to ask for an audience with the pope it is now," he said.

The cardinal said he also expected the pope to tell Bush that his policies in the Middle East in general were not helping the cause of peace.

"We must above all build cultural understanding between peoples and I do not believe that our American friends are doing that," he said.

"Bombing mosques, going into holy places, putting women soldiers in contact with naked men shows a lack of understanding of the Muslim world which I can only call surprising," he said.

"We must build bridges with Islam, not dig trenches between us," he went on. "And we must give top priority to the Israeli-Palestinian question, which is the root cause of terrorism."

The pope would tell Bush that "the fight against terrorism must not be purely repressive and punitive but must also proceed from the elimination of its causes, which are rooted in injustice."

Bush and the pope have met twice before, but the June 4 audience will be their first since the start of the war in Iraq.

[Shermy]

Ping.

[GraniteStateConservative]

Has the Pope sent Vatican troops to Iraq for peacekeeping purposes?

: )

[BlueLancer]

"We must build bridges with Islam..."

The only bridge I would build for Islam is the one to ford the River Styx ... making it easier for them to enter Hell.

200 years from now, I want their children's children's children's children
to cower and cringe in fear whenever they hear the sounds of jet engines overhead
because their legends tell of fire from the sky.

I want them to hide in dark caves and holes in the earth,
shivering with terror whenever they hear the roar of diesel engines
because the tales of their ancestors talk about metal monsters
crawling over the earth, spitting death and destruction.

I want their mothers to be able to admonish them with
"If you don't behave, the Pale Destroyers will come for you",
and that will be enough to reduce them to quivering obesience.

I want the annihilation to be so complete that their mythology
will tell them of the day of judgment when the stern gods from across the sea
.. the powerful 'Mericans .. destroyed their forefathers' wickedness.

(Original created by BlueLancer ... 13 September 2001)
(Thanks to HiJinx for the accompanying pictures)

Kill them all ... nits make lice.
(COL Chivington, Sand Creek)

[Just mythoughts]

Pure unadulterated "babel".

[gilliam]

Laghi was the pope's envoy to Washington last year in a fruitless attempt to persuade Bush not to invade Iraq against the wishes of the majority of the United Nations and its 15-member Security Council.

Laghi should have just referred to them as 'the bribed'.

[olde north church]

"We must build bridges with Islam, not dig trenches between us," he went on. "And we must give top priority to the Israeli-Palestinian question, which is the root cause of terrorism."
No, we shouldn't dig trenches, we will be digging graves.
That would be the consequence of building bridges with islam.

[AngieGOP]

The Pope can voice his opinion. If everyone listened to the Pope there would be no abortions, no murders, no child abuse, etc. With all due respect he can say anything he wishes because as far as I am concerned he is only infallible when it comes to Church doctrine, not politics.

[gilliam]

The vatican has no troops. They hire Swiss guards.

[DB]

If only we'd put a happy face on evil, evil would play nice...

[tessalu]

The Pope holds no high moral ground, and his pedophile priests have disgraced him, and he does not even know it.

[No Blue States]

""And we must give top priority to the Israeli-Palestinian question, which is the root cause of terrorism."

What a crock of BS. Pure evil is the root of Terrorism. The pope should sthu.

[NJ_gent]

"If everyone listened to the Pope"

If everyone listened to the Pope, I'd be writing this in German.

[Shermy]

"And we must give top priority to the Israeli-Palestinian question, which is the root cause of terrorism."

Kashmir? Bali? Chechnya? Saudi? Iraq? Iran? Afghanistan? Karbala? Madrid?

I haven't seen a "root causer" spout off in a while. Even AQ has no inclination to ever spout this nonsense.

In fact, I can only find two of them left:

1. Cardinal Laghi

2. Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi.

At least Abdullah has this going for him - he's semi-senile and scared for himself. What's Cardinal Laghi's excuse?

[FreedomSurge]

Catholics out there. Why is the pope trying to get closer to the Muslims instead of converting them?

Does anyone know?

[rhombus]

Excuse me? I would say that beheadings, mass murder with airplanes, and the taking of hostages shows a lack of understanding of the cvilized world which I can only call surprising. Does the pope have any comments about the wrongness of beheading? How about the wrongness of illegal oil deals with genocidal maniacs? Huh? Huh? (sound of Italian crickets chirping) No wonder there was a reformation.

[BibChr]

...and that will carry a lot of weight, since the Pope has shown himself such a shrewd commentator and advisor on international affairs and political ethics.

Dan

[rintense]

Big deal.

[Just mythoughts]

I can't explain it, I guess he would rather have the Saddams of the world continue butchering the "FREE" world.

It sure is not biblical, so do have to question his motives. Maybe he was on the "oil" list.