Pope Benedict's Approval?

Pope Says World Must Intervene If Nations Do Not Protect Human Rights

Pope calls on UN to do more to stop abuse of human rights

"In his first speech to the international body, the Pope offered a strong endorsement of action by powerful countries to alleviate suffering. While insisting that diplomatic efforts to preempt conflict should be the focus of such efforts, he also suggested that military force, within the rules of the UN, could be justified.

“Every state has the primary duty to protect its own population from grave and sustained violations of human rights, as well as from the consequences of humanitarian crises, whether natural or man-made. If states are unable to guarantee such protection, the international community must intervene with the juridical means provided in the United Nations charter and in other international instruments.”

The Pope insisted that national sovereignty could not be used as a defence by repressive states to prevent international action.

“The action of the international community and its institutions . . . should never be interpreted as an unwarranted imposition or a limitation of sovereignty. On the contrary, it is indifference or failure to intervene that do the real damage,” he said."

Does this mean the Pope approves of the invasion of Iraq? Both Blair and Bush cited the terrible oppression of the Iraqi people by Saddam Hussein as one of the justifications for the invasion, and I don't know how else one can "intervene' than to actually go into the country and use force.