Turks blast Pope on eve of arrival (demands for apology over Crusades)

The star - European Bureau ^ | 11/27/06 | The Star

[pandoraou812]

Well we have a lot in agreement then. I just hope and pray that the Pope will be safe during his trip. Thank you for all the information you have given me.

[Rurudyne]

Thank you. ^.^

[NCSteve]

"pre-emptive retribution" is a contradiction in terms.

You should go back and read the context of the discussion thread you jumped into. It was being used in terms of the idea of "getting them before they get us."

In the case of Iraq...

I find it both amusing and annoying that so many people here feel the need to turn every discussion of Asia Minor or the Middle East into an apologetic for the Bush Administration's adventurism in Iraq. It has nothing to do with the discussion at hand. The issue in this article is the Pope's trip to Turkey.

[Saveaplant_Eatavegan]

I apologize that the crusades weren't sooner. That we let the Christian Middle East and North Africa be terrorized for 400 years. That we allowed millions of innocent people to be murdered by cultish sadists. That we didn't respond until after a diverse part of the world became homogenized where the people were forced to speak, dress, and follow one culture, and forced to acknowledge only one religion.

If we acted sooner, the world would be a safer place today.

[Rurudyne]

"If we acted sooner, the world would be a safer place today."

Said Churchill to Chamberlin.

People who unjustly fashion themselves as good (like the DNC does) are the ones who usually forget that if evil men won't let you have peace then it is in your best interest to give them war, sooner than later and to such a degree that they will for a long time thereafter shutter at the thought of it.

[red irish]

First place I thought of was San Francisco!

[truemiester]

We will apologize for the Crusades when you give back Constantinople, the Levant, Egypt and Lybia. Back to the Christian world from which it was wrenched by force.

[colorado tanker]

They also owe and apology to what the did to Hagia Sophia, and especially the priceless mosaics they destroyed.

[Kozak]

Another demanded he apologize for wars from the Christian crusades to Iraq.

Right after you central asian scumbags pack up and go back to the "stans" and give anatolia and Constantinople back to the people who lived there for thousands of years before you invaded.

[Mark Felton]

the Pope is incredibly concerned about Muslim agression and the Islamic takeover Western civilization. It will be part of his agenda.

Iraq dominates any meaningful discussion of Mid East hodtilities. It skews the perceptions and policies of both sides, the Turks and the Pope.

The dominating issue of the Iraq war is the validity and necessity of the war, and will further modulate the tone and attitudes of both parties.

Thus the validity of the war is of paramount concern to both parties.

I absolutely do not apologize for the war on behalf of Congress who are responsible for the war. Bush cannot choose to go to war.

Its a shame you get so defensive when justification is given for the Iraq war.

That people would choose to put blinders on and ignore the overriding context of the Popes visit to Turkey would be like discussing the Pope visiting Poland in 1943 without mentioning WWII or the NAZI's.

[NCSteve]

That is one of the most arrogant and ridiculous assertions I've heard so far, and that's saying a lot.

Iraq dominates any meaningful discussion of Mid East hodtilities. It skews the perceptions and policies of both sides, the Turks and the Pope.

What an utter load of subjective nonsense. I expect that the hateful pronouncements of the President of Iran and the conflicts between Israel and its various enemies is of as great a concern, if not moreso than US adventurism in Iraq. I can tell you with a certainty that the weight of centuries of Christian-Muslim hostilities is of far greater concern to him than the transient geo-political fizzle that is the US occupation of Iraq.

I absolutely do not apologize for the war on behalf of Congress who are responsible for the war. Bush cannot choose to go to war.

Don't be ridiculous. The bushbots and the neocons seem to be running from this ill-advised action faster than rats from a sinking ship. Your pitiful attempt at throwing the blame at Congress is utterly hilarious.

The only context in which Christianity is even remotely involved in the US action in Iraq is an evil one. The poor simpletons who believe they can hasten the eschaton are doing Satan's work if they think they can use this to establish the Kingdom of God. You can spin all you like, but the Pope (the current and previous) was and still is unequivocally opposed to our attack on and invasion of Iraq.

I repeat, you are on the wrong thread. The sooner you realize that everything discussed here is not about justifying Iraq, the sooner we can all move along to something far more important and meaningful.