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CURRENT
ISSUE: June 4, 2007
VOL.
45, NO. 11Oakland,
CA
Military archbishop offers critical look at U.S. in Iraq
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| Capt. Patrick Van Kirk holds his son Michael while
talking with Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien of the U.S. Archdiocese
for the Military Services, April 11, outside the chapel on the U.S.
Army base in Friedberg, Germany. Van Kirk had recently returned from
Iraq. CNS PHOTO/CINDY WOODEN |
BROOKLYN,
N.Y. (CNS) -- At this stage in the Iraq War, the United States “must
honestly assess what is achievable in Iraq using the traditional just-war
principle of ‘probability of success,’ including the probability
of contributing to a responsible transition,” said Archbishop Edwin
F. O’Brien.
The U.S. and its allies “also have a grave responsibility, even
at a high cost, to help Iraqis secure and rebuild their nation,”
unless the conclusion is reached that “a responsible transition
is not achievable,” he said.
The archbishop, who heads the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services,
made the comments in a Memorial Day pastoral message to Catholic men and
women in the U.S. armed forces. He delivered the same message at a packed
session May 25 during the 2007 Catholic Media Convention in Brooklyn.
The archbishop told his convention audience that he was not speaking with
“any special insight or experience” of what has gone on in
Iraq or in Afghanistan, but said he is in contact with many who are engaged
in the conflicts there.
He used the first part of his talk -- and his letter -- to review the
four major statements on the war issued by U.S. bishops; the first was
released in September 2002 and the most recent was issued in January of
this year.
The 2002 letter,
signed by then-Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, the U.S. bishops’ president
at the time, urged President George W. Bush to “step back from the
brink of war,” warning that a pre-emptive military strike on Iraq
was unjustified.
The bishops’
most recent statement – dated Jan. 12 and issued by Bishop William
S. Skylstad of Spokane, the current president – said every U.S.
action or policy in Iraq “ought to be evaluated in light of our
nation’s moral responsibility to help Iraqis to live with security
and dignity in the aftermath of U.S. military action.”
It said benchmarks for progress toward such a transition include “minimally
acceptable levels of security; economic reconstruction to create employment
for Iraqis; and political structures and agreements that help overcome
divisions, reduce violence, broaden participation and increase respect
for religious freedom and basic human rights.”
These statements, along with what the Vatican has said in opposition to
the war, provide a moral framework for discussing the current situation
in Iraq, Archbishop O’Brien said.
Raising grave moral questions about U.S. involvement in Iraq is in no
way questioning the moral integrity of those in the military, he said.
Archbishop O’Brien said he feels that Bush and other administration
officials have taken the Catholic bishops seriously and “appreciate
our evenhandedness. ... Condemnation is not what we’re about.”
Unfortunately, what many Catholic leaders and others predicted would happen
in Iraq – the chaos and the difficulties of consolidating peace
-- has come true, he said.
What was missing at the outset of the war was a comprehensive blueprint
to administer and restore Iraq after Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was
deposed, Archbishop O’Brien said.
The archbishop argued against pulling out of Iraq now, and said the U.S.
must look at what is achievable. He added that military personnel feel
that Americans at the grass-roots level still support them.
He thinks there is still a chance to have a free Iraq and see democracy
spread through the region.
Archbishop O’Brien compared the Iraq situation to the Vietnam War.
He was an Army chaplain in the early 1970s and served a year in Vietnam.
The U.S. was gaining the upper hand there, he said, until the Tet offensive
conducted by the North Vietnamese. Technically, it was a failed military
action but it was a turning point in the war.
During a question-and-answer session after the archbishop’s address,
one member of the audience argued that the American people were conned
into getting into the war. Another said many opponents of the war feel
the decision to invade Iraq was advanced by a small group of neoconservatives
who wanted to get their hands on Iraq’s vast oil supplies.
Archbishop O’Brien disagreed with both notions.
He said that “reasonable people can disagree” about the war.
He said he could see why some might feel the nation was conned because
there is a great deal of skepticism about the war, but added, “I
don’t think there was bad will on the part of the government”
in deciding to go to war.
