Missile strikes criticized

They are joined in that reaction by Cardinal John J. O'Connor of New York, who has questioned whether the missile attacks were morally justified.

The August 20 attacks were launched, according to the U.S., in retaliation for the bombing of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and in an effort to deter further acts of terrorism.

Jeanne Fletcher, a member of Pax Christi-North Country, questioned how the United States could use violence in retaliation for terrorism.

"How can we tell other people to not do acts like this when we're the first to strike?" she asked. "Pax Christi rejects war, preparations for war, and every form of violence and domination. It advocates for primacy of conscience, economic and social justice, and respect for creation. That's my stand, too."

Fred Boehrer, of the Catholic Worker Community in Albany, agreed that the U.S. actions will do little to prevent further violence. On hearing about the bombings, "I was very sad because I don't think terrorism will be prevented by further terrorist acts," he told The Evangelist.

The recent events, he said, show how much terrorism is a cycle that the U.S. is a part of. Media reports indicated that Osama bin Laden, the Saudi millionaire linked to the terrorist bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa on August 7, once received aid from the U.S. during the former Soviet Union's war with Afghanistan.

"He was the leader of the Afghan rebels who benefitted from U.S. aid," Mr. Boehrer said. "The cycle has come full circle."

He encouraged people to look at their definition of justice. "Many people define justice as revenge," he said. "Revenge is antithetical to Jesus' witness of peace. Revenge perpetrates the cycle of violence."

Self-examination

"Most people's common sense tells them that there is a difference between aggressive and defensive actions," she said. "We have to be open and honest. What begins as defensive can become aggressive."

In dealing with terrorism, though, Ms. DiTommaso said there are no easy answers. "There is a difference between acting defensively and initiating aggressive action. That is the basic premise of the just war tradition," she stated. "At the same time, I'm not sure the just war tradition applies when addressing terrorism."

To Cardinal O'Connor, however, just war principles remain applicable to unconventional forms of warfare such as terrorism/anti-terrorism. Even responses to unjust attacks must be governed by ``the principle of proportionality,' he said.

``Do we have the moral right to launch even the most technically accurate deadly weapons over civilian-occupied areas if there is a reasonable possibility that any of those weapons might go awry and fall into a civilian population?' he asked.

Other responses

She asked whether the U.S. could have cut off supplies for making the chemical weapons, or if waiting would have put more people at risk since bombing the factory could have released the chemicals.

She said the U.S. showed it was concerned about lives lost. "Our government did bomb at night to minimize casualties," she said.

Questions justice

"At first, U.S. officials said nerve gas was being made there," he said. "The next day, they said it was not actually nerve gas but a chemical used to make it. Then it was said it was actually a precursor to a chemical used for nerve gas but not necessarily used for it. It was much more clouded than people were originally led to believe."

Mr. Boehrer also was not pleased with the media's coverage of the lives lost as a result of the bombings. "When the U.S. fired cruise missiles in Afghanistan, several landed in Pakistan," he said. "This was reported on National Public Radio, but not in the local papers. There were few mentions of the number of people killed."

U.S. role

Ms. DiTommaso encouraged Catholics to look at the role they play in the rise of terrorism. Bin Laden, she said, is upset by the U.S. presence in the Middle East, especially his homeland of Saudi Arabia.

"Why is the U.S. in Saudi Arabia? The oil," she said. "The oil is necessary because of our consumer lifestyle. There is a lack of stewardship of creation. There is a lot of decadence in our culture."

She also encouraged people to look at the U.S. with the eyes of people from other cultures. "Other people who live a village existence with no opportunity to do their own thing see our society as corrupt," she said. To them, "it is morally good to obliterate this evil."

She said that people also need to have an understanding of what makes people fanatics. Ignorance, poverty, change occurring too rapidly to be integrated and religious beliefs can all breed fanaticism.

Moral question

Cardinal O'Connor called for moral planning as well as policy and military planning.

``I would hope that if our government has not yet done so, it would appeal to scholars of the moral dimensions of warfare to offer their analyses of what we seem to be about as a nation,' he said. ``Americans deserve no less, nor do the peoples of the world, including those who currently consider themselves our enemies.'

(09-03-98) [[In-content Ad]]