You are here
Bishops suggest apologising to Muslim leaders for Iraq war
By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent
THE TELEGRAPH
LONDON (9/19/2005)--The Church of England should arrange a meeting with Muslim leaders to say sorry for the Iraq war, a group of senior bishops suggests today.
In the absence of a Government apology, a "truth and reconciliation commission" involving religious leaders could be formed to apologise for the West's "errors", the bishops say in a new report.
The report, "Countering Terrorism: Power, Violence and Democracy Post 9/11", was written by a working group of the Church of England's House of Bishops, chaired by the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev Richard Harries.
The bishops say that to pull out of Iraq without a stable democracy being in place would compound the misery for the Iraqi people, but to stay would suggest collusion with a "gravely mistaken" war.
If such collusion is a necessary evil, there needs to be a degree of public recognition of the West's responsibility for the present situation, the report argues. It highlights a "long litany of errors" in the West's handling of Iraq, including its support of Saddam Hussein over many years, its willingness to sell him weapons and the suffering caused to Iraqis by sanctions. It adds that the invasion appears to be "as much for reasons of American national interest as it was for the well-being of the Iraqi people".
As the Government was unlikely to offer an apology, a meeting of religious leaders would provide a "public act of institutional repentance".
END
