PARIS, Oct 15, 02 CWNews.com– France’s Catholic bishops warned on Tuesday that an attack on Iraq would destabilize the Middle East and that it would be illegal in any case.
The bishops’ conference issued a statement questioning whether Iraq is an urgent military threat and said all peaceful means should be pursued before resorting to violence. “A clash between an Arab country and the United states would reinforce the arguments of the ideologues of Islamic radicalism to stir up the hostility of crowds that are lost and misinformed about the West (abusively identified with the United States) and its values of democracy and tolerance,” it said. “A war would widen the gulf that has already opened up between our people and those of that region … a gulf that strengthens the feeling that the big powers use a double standard to implement United Nations resolutions in the area.”
The bishops’ objections were similar to those voiced last month by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, president of the Italian bishops’ conference, who said that a strike on Iraq would have “unacceptable human consequences and grave destabilizing effects on the entire Middle East region.”
While advising caution, the French bishops’ statement noted Iraq had violated human rights at home and international law abroad but said a resort to arms could not be justified unless it qualified as a legitimate defense of the countries being attacked. “Up until today, the information available does not allow us to say these conditions…have been met,” it said.
However, US intelligence sources have consistently made allusion to connections between Iraq and the 9/11 terrorists and Iraq’s aid to terrorist plots against the United States in general.
