Benedict's predecessor stood fast against the great threat of his time, avoiding obvious appeals for politically correct actions.
Fell short? Benedict wasn't commenting on any particular policy; he was giving voice to the universal lament over the senseless violence that pervades that country, and offering the only prescription that will eventually end it. Withdrawing or leaving troops has nothing to do with what will eventually have to happen there. With or without US troops.
I'm "prejudiced" against the leader of my faith like I'm prejudiced against the politics of another noteworthy Catholic, John Kerry.
It would be a mistake to compare the public pronouncements of the pope with that of a politician. A politican is going to cater to his constituents and hold positions that oppose his rivals for the sake of...well...to demonstrate a difference. Any moral component will take a back seat to those criteria. It is especially evident in the case of a man like Kerry.
On the other hand, the pope will always start from a moral dimension, and will speak in terms of an authentic Christian witness. He will not be pandering to any particular constituency, nor is he creating a paper trail that will assure his viability in his next quest for a temporal position of political power. Those distinctions are extremely important to keep in mind.
Benedict's predecessor stood fast against the great threat of his time, avoiding obvious appeals for politically correct actions.
John Paul, like Benedict now, is outside the PC constructs. Our political projections shouldn't be misapplied to the pontiffs. Their point of view, and those views are consistent with one another, derive from the magesterial dictum that all humans share an intrinsic dignity and right to life that shouldn't be abbrogated. That might come into conflict with our national impulses, our materialistic bents, and our all-too-human-thus-flawed desire for justice...even vengeance, but our Christian sense should be perfectly comfortable when these men speak as they do.