2011-03-31 14:23:56

Looking at Libya


As fighting continues in Libya, many are asking whether the international military intervention there is morally justified and what are its implications for the wider region? What is the end game and how is all this likely to impact on the often embattled Christian minorities in the Middle Eastern region? To find out more, Susy Hodges spoke to Harry Hagopian, a consultant on Mideast affairs for the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales.

He believes "the first moral response we had in the West was to stop the violence that could have been on a horrific scale, had the pro-Gaddafi forces managed to enter the city of Benghazi so in a sense, with a U.N. Security Council resolution providing the legal mandate for the protection of the Libyan civilians I think basically what the allied operation did was to prevent what could have been a large-scale massacre."

Hagopian goes on to say that as long as the military operation has "an objective that is proportionate to the needs" ... and if we are convinced that peace would ensue after the war, then not only are we doing something that is legal and moral but we're also coming fairly close, as the U.S. Catholic bishops said in a statement, quite close to our own understanding of the Augustinian principles of a just war."
Listen to the interview: RealAudioMP3









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