Col. Pat Lang spoke on The Crocker/Petraeus Report: What Does it Really Mean? (video) At the University of Virginia’s Miller Center on October 3, 2007. Well worth the hour to watch it. Sorry I didn’t take the time to go over and meet him.
He also offered a few comments on Iran. In assessing the nuclear threat, he suggested something that the Intelligence community failed to do on the question of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq:perform a programmatic analysis. A through programmatic analysis would not just ask if Iran has a nuclear weapons program. It would ask, when it will test, and when it will have the weapon mounted on a delivery system. Lang suggests that this will be a matter of years. If this is the case – and I hope that this time the administration is asking this question – there is time before a military attack will be required.
Lang observes that the administration already has all the legal authority it needs to attack Iran. Let me ask, as I did on August 22, 2005, where are the bishops and theologians? We have politicians busy posturing on pro-choice vs. pro-life, gay marriage, etc. Can’t someone ask them how they reconcile the Bush doctrine of pre-emptive attack with the just war criteria of last resort and legitimate authority? Unfortunately, there is no reason to change my August 2005 statement:
My guess is that the Bishops will ignore the question – being busy with topics such as 1) who should decide whether a politician should receive communion; 2) whether or not Harry Potter is a threat to children’s faith; 3) closing parishes in order to pay for their dereliction of administrative duty; and 4) changing the language of the Mass.
Am I being too harsh?
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