Ivory Tower Out of Touch Clerics: 1

Secular Messianic Realpolitik Caesar: 0

“On March 5, 2003, Pope John Paul II sent the Italian Cardinal, Pio Laghi, to intervene with President George W. Bush and ask him not to invade Iraq and overthrow Saddam Hussein, but the US leader rejected the appeal claiming he was ‘convinced it was God’s will'” — When Bush put John Paul II’s letter on the side table without opening it.

“Cardinal Laghi told Bush that three things would happen if the United States went to war, the source recalled. First, it would cause many deaths and injuries on both sides. Secondly, it would result in civil war. And, thirdly, the United States might know how to get into a war, but it would have great difficulty getting out of one.”

I made the mistake of trusting all the bushwah about how “Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.” Turns out there was plenty of doubt and that draft-dodging war criminals like Richard Cheney are not the best people to apply to for honesty.  I have since learned my lesson on who to trust for a sober assessment of just war doctrine: something the Iraq War failed on every count.  Last decade, I made one world-historical blunder (along with thousands of others that aren’t geo-political in nature).  I will endeavor during this decade to not repeat that by listening to the Church and not to self-serving pols, left or right.