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Why can’t the world follow the Pope’s lead?

Categories: Articles:Peacemaking | Published: 20/10/2014 | Views: 1935
War is rather like alcohol—it goes to people’s heads. Not long ago the House of Commons had an emergency debate about IS, the Muslim terror group which has taken large parts of Iraq and Syria. Over 500 MPs voted for bombing. Only just over 40 voted ‘No’. Pope Francis’s wise words were not noticed or heeded. Take the issue to the UN Security Council, said he, and let the UN find ways of dealing with IS. The UN has been marginalised for years by major powers adopting military solutions. Military solutions look like a quick fix but usually make matters worse. (Bruce Kent, NJPN Universe column)

The United States and Britain have already started bombing. Yet, with our joint unhappy record of military intervention in that region, they are not the best countries to deal with the IS problem.

What will we do when we see a captured RAF crew, paraded on TV, and threatened with execution?

If I were an IS leader, paranoid about the ‘wicked West’, I would want the British and the Americans to get quickly involved. That might be, in IS thinking, the perfect way of getting more of the Muslim world on their side.

Thank God, therefore, for our Pope. He did not rule out military action as a last resort if authorised by the United Nations – but last resort means just what it says.  Read More here

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