Monthly Archives: October 2014

U.S. interventions must end

Another call for repentance by American Catholic foreign policy expert William Pfaff:

“I make the following argument: The United States must understand that a grave crisis of Islamic civilization is overtaking the Middle East, which can only be resolved by the Muslims themselves. The United States bears a terrible responsibility for having created this crisis with its (and Israel’s and the Europeans’) military and political interventions since 1948. Nothing can be done by the West that will solve this crisis in our generation. We must withdraw, and observe this tragedy with pity — and repentance for what we have so arrogantly and casually done.”

Where are the American Bishops? Has a single one pointed out the evil nature of the U.S government’s role in all this and urged American Catholics to avoid complicity?

America must repent, and Catholics should lead the way.

Some Catholics are urging the U.S. government to go all out to prevent “genocide” in the Middle East and to crush the Islamic State with military force. They are making a serious mistake. Catholics need to debate among themselves and reflect on this crisis, not blindly follow the lead of the same authorities who bear a huge responsibility for creating this disaster in the first place.

Here is a new editorial from the New Oxford Review which can help us to think about this terrifying situation in a responsible manner:

The Blood Crying Out from the Ground

Please consider these important points from the article:

“Yes, we Westerners are struggling with a case of war fatigue. But averting our eyes and covering our ears won’t alter the fact that we bear direct responsibility for the sufferings currently being visited upon the Iraqi people — including the very vulnerable Iraqi Christians.”

“Rather, the Christian comes as a sacrifice, prepared to make a holocaust of himself in martyrdom, following the example of James Foley. It is easy to demand that others fight our wars for us. The harder, more necessary task is to stand up in the fray and call for peace.”

“As we grapple with how best to respond, we would do well to reflect on our role in creating the crisis currently afflicting Iraq. It is time we as a nation put on sackcloth and sat in ashes, time we fasted and prayed, beat our breasts and cried out to our Lord and our fellowman for forgiveness, and resolved never to repeat our errors.”