Posted by Lilly from ? (160.129.27.22) on Tuesday, November 05, 2002 at 11:56AM :
Did I ever mention that I played a gig for a reception for the Archibishop of Canterbury w/ my all female Celtic/folk group (I was on fiddle, mandolin, & a bit of vocals)? It was this guy's predecessor, but he was cool (like the guy mentioned here is), too! :) I remember how my girls & me were playing on this stage & all the faculty/administrative people from my old college (Univ. of the South in Sewanee, TN) were milling about chit-chatting. One man was standing in front of the stage, sometimes alone, listening to us intently. Later on we heard it was the Archibishop himself, & he really dug our playing!!! Yay, Archibish! :)
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Tuesday, November 5, 2002
Telegraph/UK
Archbishop Warns West of Nuclear Conflict Over Iraq
by Jonathan Petre
War against Iraq could escalate into a nuclear conflict and risk the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the Middle East, Dr Rowan Williams, the next Archbishop of Canterbury, warns today.
In his strongest criticism yet of military action, Dr Williams says that a pre-emptive strike against Saddam Hussein could "rapidly and uncontrollably spiral down into chaos."
In an article in The Telegraph, he adds that to ignore the fears of people in the area would leave the West open to the criticism that it was behaving like a colonial power.
His comments are unlikely to endear him to Downing Street, which is engaged in delicate negotiations over the wording of a new resolution on Iraq expected to be debated at the United Nations this week.
Government officials have already privately voiced their irritation at the anti-war rhetoric of Church of England bishops and Dr Williams, who was selected for the post of Archbishop by Tony Blair.
Making his first public statement since the retirement last Thursday of his predecessor, Dr George Carey, Dr Williams recognizes that the Iraqi regime is "brutal and violent". However, pre-emptive action against Saddam could "undermine the society of states" and destabilize other parts of the world, a dangerous prospect when a number of countries have weapons of mass destruction.
"The exact calculation of what weaponry might be employed by a cornered Saddam Hussein is uncertain; and so is the retaliation that might then be provoked in the region from its sole nuclear power, Israel," he says.
An attack by the West is likely to "risk the lives of hundreds of thousands in a region that could rapidly and uncontrollably spiral down into chaos. We also jeopardize any authority we might have to appeal for restraint in other situations on the basis of international law."
The moral issue is whether the West is the best judge of the needs of the region, especially when that judgment appears to overrule local concerns.
The Archbishop has been a consistent opponent of war against Iraq since he signed a declaration in July which described it as "illegal and immoral". On the day of his appointment later that month he pledged to continue asking "awkward questions". Dr Carey has also been an outspoken critic of action against Iraq.
The United States is expected to present a revised version of its draft resolution on Iraq to the UN within days.
Mr Blair and President George W Bush have been pressing for a tough resolution which would allow the West to take military action the moment Saddam frustrated the work of weapons inspectors.
But they are believed to have softened their language after Russia and France argued that a second resolution would have to be framed and debated for war to have a UN mandate.
Saddam said yesterday that Iraq would take the new resolution "into consideration" if it was not merely a pretext for an American strike on Baghdad.
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2002
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-- Lilly
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