Author Archives: Doug Fuda

About Doug Fuda

Doug Fuda is a Catholic returnee. He lives in Roslindale, MA and he runs a Boston CAM Meetup.

U.S. interventions must end

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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.

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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.”

Seek the Truth

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As the September 11 anniversary approaches, I am glad that Cammy has recently brought up the topic of “what really happened that day.” It is possible that the unfolding catastrophe in the Middle East may lead to something good. Perhaps millions of Americans will finally demand a serious, far-reaching investigation of 9/11.

We know there was a coverup and that the government obstructed the investigators. My hypothesis is simple: if there had been a full, unobstructed investigation by trustworthy and determined people, the Islamic State crisis would not exist today.

Have you heard about the “28 pages?” Here’s a link:

28 Pages.org

Regardless of what you think about what “we” should do about ISIS, I think all Catholics, and all Americans of good will, can agree that this information needs to be declassified. Perhaps once this barrier is breached, we can move on further to demanding a full and truthful investigation of 9/11.

I hereby nominate Ron Paul to organize and lead that investigation:

Ron Paul on 9/11

 

Sanctuary! American Catholics should offer help.

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from Doug Bandow at Forbes:

“America should offer sanctuary to those escaping ISIL’s depredations. The disappearance of Christians, who predate Muslims, from the Middle East is a historic, cultural, and personal tragedy accelerated by Washington’s counterproductive war-making. The administration could airlift refugees out as well as drop in supplies. But a relief operation should not become an excuse for turning America into a belligerent.”

from America Helped Make the Islamic State by Charles Davis:

“ ‘Be that as it may, professor, what do we now?’ a concerned citizen might ask. ‘Do we let people die because you hate America?’

Well, friend: there is a genuine humanitarian crisis in Iraq and, since it helped create the disaster that is now unfolding, the United States does have a duty to help out. But—and this is really important, guys—bombing Iraq has never once made the situation there better. It has actually made things a lot worse, leading to body counts beyond the most committed jihadist’s wildest dreams (while creating loads of new jihadists, the presence of which can be cited to justify the next intervention).

The absence of a good answer to a problem like ISIS is not a good reason to embrace a snake-oil cure that has proven time and again to be worse than the disease. The US military is not a humanitarian organization, nor should it be expected to behave like one. If America wants to help, it should offer those fleeing the violence in Iraq the ability to seek refuge in the United States—and promise those who stay behind that it will never ever bomb them again.”

from Luke, Chapter 10:

“But a certain Samaritan being on his journey, came near him; and seeing him, was moved with compassion. And going up to him, bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine: and setting him upon his own beast, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day he took out two pence, and gave to the host, and said: Take care of him; and whatsoever thou shalt spend over and above, I, at my return, will repay thee.”

 

A Time for Catholic Action

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The 2003 U.S. invasion not only destroyed Iraq, but also destroyed Christianity in Iraq. American Catholics have a special obligation to offer assistance to Christians in that part of the world.

It is not enough for American Bishops to urge the U.S. government to provide “humanitarian aid.” The Bishops need to lead the charge for a nationwide Catholic campaign to open the gates for tens of thousands of Iraqi, Syrian and Middle Eastern Christians who should be granted asylum and resettled in America. The Bishops should ask the 60 to 70 million American Catholics to contribute time and money and to organize massive relief and assistance for refugee families at the parish level.

Here are a couple articles that pull no punches about our responsibilities in the matter:

– – from France, Friend Of Iraqi Christians by Rod Dreher:

“And what of our nation, whose previous government did so much to ruin the lives of Iraq’s Christians? Why is Washington silent? Is their no room in our country for Christians whose families have been in Iraq for nearly 2,000 years — until the US invasion caused the condition that led to their exile?

Ours is a big country, filled with well-off and not-so-well-off churches that would surely be willing to help resettle and support these refugee families. In my little Louisiana town, I bet we could put together enough support from the parish’s churches to support an Iraqi Christian refugee family. As a Christian and an American, it is a matter of shame to me that France, which did not participate in the war that has resulted in the destruction of Iraqi Christianity, a secular nation where relatively few people go to church, is opening its doors to these displaced and persecuted Christians.

 Why not us?

What is wrong with us?”

– – from “Conservatives” Silent on the Genocide of Christians in the Middle East by Christopher Manion:

“Christian leaders in Iraq have put the blame for these atrocities squarely on George W. Bush and his invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003.

Half a million Christians have fled Mosul. Any who remain will be slaughtered.

Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako, head of Iraq’s Catholic Church, says that the invasion did what Moslems couldn’t do in 1500 years: destroy Christianity in Iraq.

Thus, Republicans are afraid. If they acknowledge the genocide, they fear that people will remember that it was their war that led to it. So they are silent.

Democrats are too busy attacking Christianity in the U.S.

So both parties, corrupt to the core, are silent on this holocaust.”

 

 

Should Catholics be the “new isolationists?”

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Here are three articles by some very conservative Catholics who oppose any further U.S. military involvement in Iraq.

– from Hands Off Iraq by John Zmirak:

“Any war which we launched to meddle in the Middle East would fail at least one criterion for a just war: It would have no solid prospect of success. It would be as futile as Guy Fawkes’ bombing of Parliament, or a vigilante attack on an abortion clinic.

Because it would be unjust, it would be sinful. And so Christians should oppose it — on principle.”

– from Make Congress Vote On War by Pat Buchanan:

“Rand Paul is right. If Barack Obama wants to take us into a new war, with air attacks and drone strikes, or with ground troops, he has a constitutional duty to get Congress to authorize that war.

And if Congress does authorize a new war, at least the voters will know whom to be rid of this November.”

– from Another Pointless War? by Judge Andrew Napolitano:

“There is a lesson in this, and it reveals the power of religious fanaticism when resisted by unprincipled political force…

But the American military-industrial-neocon complex wants more war. We must resist them. We should gather all Americans in Iraq, take what moveable wealth is ours and come home — and stop searching the world for monsters to destroy, as that will end up destroying us.”

In 2002, Amr Moussa, then-secretary general of the Arab League, warned that the coming invasion of Iraq would “open the gates of hell.”

Now this “prophecy” is being fulfilled with a vengeance, and it is a good bet that the worst is yet to come. It is evident that the “unprincipled political force” of the U.S. government, which employed a vicious divide and conquer strategy to destroy Iraq and which is chiefly responsible for opening those gates, needs to be restrained from any further murderous interventions abroad. Catholics can play an important role in advocating a “new isolationism” or non-interventionism for the government which represents us. Hopefully that might also lead to a period of introspection and true repentance in this country for the evils committed in the name of “Americanism” at home and abroad.

On a more serious note

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Speaking of the New Oxford Review, and given the latest portentous and even apocalyptic events in Iraq, I’d like to mention the folks at NOR as being on my list of “real Catholic heroes of the Iraq War.” For years they condemned the war in no uncertain terms, even though I’m sure it alienated many of their very conservative and pro-military readers. Here’s a sample:

“Let’s be honest — and, yes, we realize that many conservative Catholics don’t want to know the unvarnished truth: It turns out that our soldiers died and suffered to set up a training ground for Islamic terrorists in Iraq. Bush has it backwards: The U.S. is creating many more terrorists in Iraq than it is eradicating.”

from What Does the Pope Know About World Affairs?

You’ll have to pay a couple bucks to read the whole article but I highly recommend it. Better yet, get a subscription.

For me personally their website was very influential because once I became acquainted with some of their powerful writings against the war, I began to explore their vast online archives on all things Catholic. They, along with others, helped to bring me back, with “a twitch upon the thread.”

 

Paths of Glory

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Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/20211

Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/20211

As the U.S. government prepares to wage all out war (“intense and sustained,” as John Kerry has put it) in Iraq again, let’s hope and pray that Catholic young men, and all young men, will decline the invitation to get involved in this diabolical enterprise. Here’s an article that may prompt reflection and introspection.

The Faceless Men