Yes, all you who are American, please leave Iraq immediately so that this country may heal it's wounds.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

The Bush administration rejects the idea that the war in Iraq has driven young Arab men into the arms of al-Qaida. But if you believe the young men themselves, the administration is wrong.

At a Baghdad jail for prisoners who have attacked U.S. forces, everyone — to a man — says it was the U.S. occupation of Iraq that drove them to violence. And they are not alone. Across the Middle East and South Asia, the same story can be heard in Internet cafes, mosques, safe houses and prisons.

“The U.S. says this war is part of the global war on terrorism,” Saedi Farhan, an Iraqi engineer who took part in an attack on U.S. forces, said in a weekend interview with NBC News. "But people here say that the war has increased fanaticism and brought terrorism to Iraq."

I personally agree with the notion that the US invasion of Iraq has increased fanaticism and brought terrorism to Iraq and I am fully convince the US needs to get out of Iraq immediately.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen

As a Cardinal, the new pope was a staunch critic of the U.S. led invasion of Iraq. On one occasion before the war, he was asked whether it would be just. "Certainly not," he said, and explained that the situation led him to conclude that "the damage would be greater than the values one hopes to save."

"All I can do is invite you to read the Catechism, and the conclusion seems obvious to me…" The conclusion is one he gave many times: "the concept of preventive war does not appear in The Catechism of the Catholic Church."

Even after the war, Cardinal Ratzinger did not cease criticism of U.S. violence and imperialism: "it was right to resist the war and its threats of destruction...It should never be the responsibility of just one nation to make decisions for the world."

Yet perhaps the most important insight of Ratzinger came during a press conference on May 2, 2003. After suggesting that perhaps it would be necessary to revise the Catechism section on just war (perhaps because it had been used by George Weigel and others to endorse a war the Church opposed), Ratzinger offered a deep insight that included but went beyond the issue of war Iraq:

"There were not sufficient reasons to unleash a war against Iraq. To say nothing of the fact that, given the new weapons that make possible destructions that go beyond the combatant groups, today we should be asking ourselves if it is still licit to admit the very existence of a 'just war'."In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen

this article states that some members of the iraqu goverment are calling for the removal of the "mercinaries" that are owned by the company "blackwater".

The united states should NOT be using private security forces ... one of thier many mistakes.

and as far as pope benedict again you have found no quote that supports you claim he currently advocates immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops. 

Honestly I don't think he is naive enough to believe such an action prudent.  I don't think we should ever have gone into the country , but now that were there we have to do right over the wrong that we did.

What you fail to understand is that if iraqu collapses the whole mideast could melt down into WWIII with iran attacking isreal and iraqu drawing in sudan and sadi arabia.  how long do you think it would take packastan to get involved drawing in india and bangladesh.  with it's oil shipments under attack and thier supplies shut off the super power would have to intervene, china and russia allied to Iran and the u.S allied to sadia arabia. 

We need to ensure iraqu is stable enough that after we leave there is not a civil war.  Even if it means deviding the country up and given parts of it autonomy and other parts of it to iran , turkey ect.

A civil war in that area is NOT an acceptible outcome.

And we haven't even talked about the consequence for the civilains living in the middle east.

fishman, While you are figuring out how to kill more people in Iraq, Pope Benedict calls for immediate peace. Read the article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article2636117.ece

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen

Dspencer, No I am not kidding. More people in Korea and Vietnam died at the hands of American military during USA occupation of those countries than after the US left both to fend for themselves. As soon as the US left both Korea and Vietnam, the healing began and the people came together to form a cooperative working arrangement once again. During American occupation also crime by drug,sex and alcohol was also at an all time high. After the Americans left, both countries resumed decent moral behavior from the depravities inflicted by the Americans.I was in Vietnam, my oldest brother in Korea, we both have eyes and ears.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen

PtR, You miss my point entirely. Whether they live or whether they die is up to them. Both countries prospered following the US exit. Nations have the right to define thier own identity without American Imperialism using invasive destructive tactics. The USA has no right to interfere. Pope Bendict XVI has stated recently that the USA has no business nor right to intervene in any society without express approval and accompanyment of the United Nations. The world is becoming more aware of aggression and the USA is considered an agressor already. If you are Catholic, that is the position of the Vatican. If you are not Catholic, then I dont know what your are doing on the CE forum.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith, has also commented that the concept of preventive war does not appear in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  He said:

'One cannot simply say that the catechism does not legitimise the war? But it is true that the catechism has developed a doctrine that, on the one hand, does not exclude the fact that there are values and peoples that must be defended in some circumstances; on the other hand, it offers a very precise doctrine on the limits of these possibilities.'
Refer: www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=25413

http://www.zenit.org/article-20802?l=englishDIALOGUE-TAURAN Aug-7-2007 (660 words) xxxi

Iraqi Christians were safer under Saddam, says Vatican official

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Although Iraq has a democratic government, Iraqi Christians were safer and had more protection under former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, said the future head of the Vatican's interreligious dialogue council.

During the buildup to the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, who will become head of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue Sept. 1, had criticized the U.S. government's plan of preventative war and said a unilateral war against Iraq would be a "crime against peace."

In a recent interview with the Italian magazine 30 Giorni, the cardinal said his early criticisms had been prophetic.

"The facts speak for themselves. Alienating the international community (with the U.S. push for war) was a mistake," he said in the magazine's Aug. 10 issue. A copy of the interview was released in advance to journalists.

He said an "unjust approach" was used to unseat Saddam from power, resulting in the mounting chaos in Iraq today.

"Power is in the hands of the strongest -- the Shiites -- and the country is sinking into a sectarian civil war (between Sunni and Shiite Muslims) in which not even Christians are spared," he said.

Christians, "paradoxically, were more protected under the dictatorship," he said.

Cardinal Tauran is a longtime veteran of the Vatican's diplomatic service and a specialist in international affairs. He was Pope John Paul II's "foreign minister," the official who dealt with all aspects of the Vatican's foreign policy from 1990 to 2003.

He said his new appointment as head of the interreligious dialogue council carries "great responsibility" but that he also sees it "as a new chapter in my service to the Holy See." The cardinal will be responsible for overseeing the Vatican's dialogue efforts with representatives of non-Christian religions, including Islam.

His June 25 appointment alleviated concerns that Pope Benedict XVI's temporary merger of the presidencies of the Vatican's interreligious dialogue council with the Pontifical Council for Culture indicated a downgrading of the Vatican's interfaith efforts.

ref: www://catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0704487.htm

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen

Ipioch, Here is the link to the story:http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=25740

From the Vatican www.vatican.va : 

SUMMARY:

VATICAN CITY, OCT 11, 2007 (VIS) - Today in the Vatican, Benedict XVI 

  "Their sacrifice," he added, "reminds us that no cost is too great for persevering in fidelity to the truth. Regrettably, in our contemporary pluralist world some people question or even deny the importance of truth. Yet objective truth remains the only sure basis for social cohesion. Truth is not dependent upon consensus but precedes it and makes it possible, generating authentic human solidarity.

  "The Church - always mindful of the truth's power to unite people, and ever attentive to mankind's irrepressible desire for peaceful coexistence - eagerly strives to strengthen concord and social harmony both in ecclesial life and civic life, proclaiming the truth about the human person as known by natural reason and fully manifested through divine revelation."

  "The destruction of human embryos, whether to acquire stem cells or for any other purpose, contradicts the purported intent of researchers, legislators and public health officials to promote human welfare. The Church does not hesitate to approve and encourage somatic stem-cell research: not only because of the favorable results obtained through these alternative methods, but more importantly because they harmonize with the aforementioned intent by respecting the life of the human being at every stage of his or her existence."

  Pope Benedict concluded his remarks by recalling how "the promotion of human dignity also summons public authorities to ensure that young people receive a sound education. ... It is incumbent upon governments to afford parents the opportunity to send their children to religious schools by facilitating the establishment and financing of such institutions. ... Catholic and other religious schools should enjoy the appropriate latitude of freedom to design and implement curricula that nurture the life of the spirit without which the life of the mind is so seriously distorted."

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ARCHBISHOP MIGLIORE: U.N. PEACE-BUILDING COMMISSION

VATICAN CITY, OCT 11, 2007 (VIS) - Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations in New York, yesterday addressed the 62nd Session of the U.N. General Assembly which is deliberating upon the theme of the "Peace-building Commission (PBC)."

  "The Holy See," said the archbishop speaking English, "warmly welcomed the creation of the PBC, as a response to the need for greater coherence and coordination of international peace-building efforts in post-conflict situations."

  In closing, he encouraged the PBC to continue "in the pursuit of its challenging task of helping to rebuild individual lives and entire countries ravaged by war. It shall have fully achieved this task when development, peace and security and human rights will finally be interlinked and mutually re-enforcing in a country which has known the devastation of armed conflict."

DESS/PEACE-BUILDING/UN:MIGLIORE                                  VIS 071011 (140)

The Pope is clearly calling for UN resolution to the US invasion of Iraq. The US government in George Bush refuses to listen to calls for peace and withdrawal.

 In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen