Most Reverend Theodore E. McCarrick, Archbishop of Newark, reflects on the military action taken against Iraq by the United States. Peace on Earth Many of us were troubled by the bombing of Baghdad which began yesterday. There is no question, but that the present Iraqi government is a dictatorial and totalitarian regime which threatens its neighbors and suppresses its own people. The world would probably be a lot safer if Iraq had a different leadership and if its people had a chance to express themselves freely and democratically. The present Iraqi government has had many chances to improve the standard of living for its own people, but has not made use of those opportunities and, sadly as a result of that and the continuing embargo that it invites, many little children and older people have died and more are starving or undernourished. The production of chemical and biological weapons is a horrible path to choose and it seems as if Iraq has chosen that path as it continues to be determined to develop a vast military arsenal including even armaments of nuclear capability. The Catholic Bishops of the United States, served in these matters by their Committee on International Policy which I chair at this time, have spoken out many times on this complex issue. We have condemned Iraqi aggression and its arsenal of destruction and have called for democratic changes in that land. At the same time, we cannot be unmoved by the terrible suffering of the people of Iraq caught as they are in a vise between a reckless government on the one side and an angry world which uses severe embargos and the threat of overwhelming military force on the other. I don't think that anyone has the answer to this dilemma. Bombing will not stop Saddam Hussein nor will it give bread to his starving people. Actually, it will only kill and maim many of them and destroy the civilian infrastructure more and more. For that reason, the decision to bomb is always a grave one and must be made not only according to military strategy, but in keeping with basic moral guidelines as well. Much will be said and written about this decision and the reasons for which it was made. We will all do well to pray both for our service men and women in the war zone and their families at home and also for the innocent children and elderly who are suffering so much in Iraq. We will also be well advised to subject this decision to the norms for a just war that Catholic moral theology has developed over the centuries and brought up to date in the face of the weaponry of today. There are no easy answers, only very hard questions. It is a shame that we must ask these questions of war as we prepare to celebrate the birthday of the Prince of Peace. In the frustration and concern for the lives of many people that we feel and in my prayers for a quick resolution of this conflict I am, as always thinking of you.
Editor's Note: This statement will run as the Archbishop's weekly "Thinking of You" column in the Christmas Edition (Wednesday, December 23, 1998) of the Catholic Advocate.
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