Moral criteria for the war against Iraq:

Q: Among those who oppose the war, there seem to be two different positions: on one side, pacifism, especially among leftist groups, which seems to be more an anti-American political posture -- they condemn the United States, but they have never condemned a Milosevic or a Fidel Castro, for example -- and on the other the Church. Could you clarify what the peace-making function of the Church is, and whether it is related to the pacifism mentioned earlier?

Peris Cancio: I think it is absolutely pertinent to make this distinction.

A certain naive manipulating and self-interested pacifism simplifies the roots of the conflict. It does not keep the threat of international terrorism sufficiently in mind. It promotes a demagogic and unjust anti-Americanism, and is highly complacent with some dictators who advocate a philo-Marxist ideology.