Pope Francis On Syria: Abandon 'Futile Pursuit' Of Military Solution

[onehandle]

Source: AP



VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis urged the Group of 20 leaders on Thursday to abandon the "futile pursuit" of a military solution in Syria as the Vatican laid out its case for a negotiated settlement that guarantees rights for all minorities, including Christians. In a letter Thursday to the G-20 host, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Francis lamented that "one-sided interests" had prevailed in Syria, preventing a diplomatic end to the conflict and allowing the continued "senseless massacre" of innocents.

"To the leaders present, to each and every one, I make a heartfelt appeal for them to help find ways to overcome the conflicting positions and to lay aside the futile pursuit of a military solution," Francis wrote as the G-20 meeting got under way in St. Petersburg. Francis has ratcheted up his call for peace in Syria amid threatened U.S.-led military strikes following an Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack near Damascus.

He will host a peace vigil in St. Peter's Square on Saturday, a test of whether his immense popular appeal will translate into popular support for his peace message. On Thursday, the Vatican summoned ambassadors accredited to the Holy See to outline its position on Syria, with Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican's foreign minister, noting that the Aug. 21 attack had generated "horror and concern" from around the world.

"Confronted with similar acts one cannot remain silent, and the Holy See hopes that the competent institutions make clear what happened and that those responsible face justice," Mamberti told the 71 ambassadors gathered. He didn't refer explicitly to the threat of military strikes to punish the Syrian regime for the attack. But he said the main priority was to stop the violence which he said risked involving other countries and creating "unforeseeable consequences in various parts of the world."

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/05/pope-francis-syria_n_3872435.html

[proverbialwisdom]

1. Amen. nt

[David__77]

2. The Pope is right on this.

The solution is to apply pressure on all parties to sit for unconditional political talks.

[dipsydoodle]

3. The EU says the same

The European Union has condemned the chemical weapons attack in Syria but says "there is no military solution to the Syrian conflict," placing the body at odds with US president Obama and his attack plan.

"While respecting the recent calls for action, we underscore at the same time the need to move forward with addressing the Syrian crisis through the U.N. process," said European council president Herman Van Rompuy ahead of the G20 summit, Reuters reports.

21 minutes ago here : http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/05/syria-putin-obama-g20-showdown

[Alamuti Lotus]

4. The Pope! How many divisions has he got? *nt

[jakeXT]

6. 110 men - One reinforced company

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_the_Vatican_City

[DallasNE]

5. Can A Voice Of Reason Carry The Day?

It would be wonderful if it did but those voices only seem to come around once every 50 years or so and while Pope Francis may be a top such voice today he still has only been on the world stage a short while so I expect this to fall on deaf ears as Putin seems to harken back to the "good old days" of the KGB and all that entails. World leaders always seem to discount the "unforeseeable consequences" at their own peril and indeed don't even plan that they can happen. Look at Iraq where Rumsfeld was left babbling about "there are things we don't know that we don't know" as if that was some sort of revelation. Besides, so many of the things Rumsfeld didn't know he didn't know were predictable and predicted so he should have known. Kerry may say that Syria is not Iraq and may he may very well be right but what he is laying out is more like Vietnam where Melvin Laird was constantly starting and stopping, in his words, "limited duration, protective reaction" air strikes that never once altered the course of that war -- so Kerry, no more Vietnam's. (I still remember how those 4 words were always like fingernails on a chalkboard). So, Pope Francis, I applaud your sincere efforts here but your words will predictably fall on deaf ears as heels are already dug in so reason doesn't stand a chance. Just look at the history.

[proverbialwisdom]

7. Howard Zinn begs to differ mightily, I'd imagine. nt