"Constructive politics, [Archbishop Leo Boccardi] said, is at the service of peace to which the entire international community must be committed, not only in the Middle East, but in the whole world as well." [3]
Killing is probably not what the Nuncio had in mind when he spoke of constructive politics, but throughout history many of those with the power to kill with impunity had killed.
Saddam Hussein is dead. Muammar Gaddafi is dead. Regimes had changed. Are the countries that directly or indirectly consented to these killings proud of the results?
Update on Iraq (dated December 31, 2019) from a fundraising organization [4]:
Iraq is at a crossroads. One path leads to the hopeful, democratic vision of Iraq’s youthful majority as we’ve seen expressed by mass rallies in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square and across Iraq. The other path leads to the continued violence, dysfunction, and corruption of autocratic rule. [Emphasis original.]
And now, at this fateful hour, the belligerent actions of President Trump and Tehran’s hardliners threaten to turn Iraq into a battlefield of their own zero-sum game, shortchanging the Iraqi people from a genuine opportunity to determine their own future.
Update on Libya (dated January 3, 2020) from reliefweb [5]:
Addis Ababa, 3 January, 2020: The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, is deeply concerned at the deterioration of the situation in Libya and the continuing suffering of the Libyan people.
The various threats of political and military ingerence in the internal affairs of the country increase the risk of a confrontation, whose motives have nothing to do with the fundamental interests of the Libyan people and their aspirations for freedom, peace, democracy and development.
No heed is paid to this commandment from God [6]:
Thou shalt not kill.
And no heed is paid to these words of Christ [7]:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
Therefore, these prophetic words are not from some fantasy [8]:
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. [Emphasis added.]
Behind these killings and all other killings were people. What excuses can they have in front of God as they begin to tremble while peering into the abyss of Hell? This can be one: "Satan made me do it." How well will that go over with God when each one is given Free Will?
Everyone is God's child. Nobody, except God, has the right to rule on matters of life and death. "'Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.'" [9]
(Returning to things secular, those who are interested in an iconoclast's analysis of Iran can read David Stockman's article entitled The Donald Is Now America's First Own Assassin. [10] David Stockman described himself as "the ultimate Washington insider turned iconoclast." [11])
[1] https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-01/pope-francis-united-states-iran-solemaini-crisis-holy-see.html
[2] https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/02/middleeast/baghdad-airport-rockets/index.html
[3] https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-01/pope-francis-united-states-iran-solemaini-crisis-holy-see.html
[4] https://enablingpeace.org/help-make-2020-a-better-year-for-iraq/
[5] https://reliefweb.int/report/libya/statement-chairperson-regarding-situation-libya-3-january-2020
[6] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+20%3A13&version=KJV
[7] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+12%3A30-31&version=NIV
[8] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+24%3A6%2CRevelation+6%3A3-4&version=NIV
[9] http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/8/, 7.
[10] https://original.antiwar.com/david_stockman/2020/01/03/the-donald-is-now-america-firsts-own-assassin/
[11] https://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/about-david-stockman-and-contra-corner/
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