Obama Cancelled Syria Strike After Black Pope Said No

NCRonline.org 09.15.2013 A U.S. military strike on Syria would be an "abuse of power" that should be "condemned and rejected," the global leader of the Jesuit order of Catholic brothers and priests has said. "JESUIT FR. ADOLFO NICOL'aS, WHO LEADS THE SOME 17,000 MEMBER ORDER THAT COUNTS AMONG ITS RANKS POPE FRANCIS, ADDS HIS VOICE TO A CHORUS OF CATHOLIC PRELATES AROUND THE WORLD SHARPLY CRITICIZING THE ATTACK IN AN INTERVIEW MADE PUBLIC WEDNESDAY." "With all respect for the people of the United States, I think that a military intervention like the one being planned is itself an abuse of power," states Nicol'as in the interview. "The US has to stop acting and reacting like the big boy of the neighborhood of the world. This leads inevitably to abuse, harassment and bullying of the weaker members of the community." "NICOL'aS, A NATIVE SPANIARD WHOSE SUPERIOR GENERAL ROLE IN THE PAST HAS BEEN REFERRED TO AS THE "BLACK POPE" BECAUSE OF ITS INFLUENCE AROUND THE WORLD, ALSO SAYS SUCH A MILITARY STRIKE WOULD QUESTION THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE UNITED STATES' CHRISTIAN HERITAGE." "Remember that at one point in the Gospel, when the disciples of Jesus could not liberate a young man from an evil spirit, Jesus told them: 'This kind of spirits cannot be driven away if not by prayer and fasting,'" he states. I find it extremely upsetting that a Country that considers itself, at least nominally, Christian, could not imagine other ways of acting that would not be 'military', and, instead, contribute to bring Humanity back to the law of the jungle." Nicol'as' comments were published Wednesday in an online newsletter circulated from the order's headquarters in Rome as part of a short Q-and-A style interview with the priest. Their publishing comes as the U.S. Congress is receiving briefings and updates from the Obama administration, which is seeking congressional approval for a military strike against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's government. Secretary of State John Kerry, a Catholic, is to brief the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee on the matter Wednesday afternoon. In a similar briefing before the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee yesterday, Kerry said U.S. intelligence had evidence "beyond a reasonable doubt" that Assad's government had perpetrated an Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack against rebel forces in the country. full story here