Former Bishop of Oxford Richard Harries 'not opposed to bombing campaigns in principle'
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Version 0 of 1. The former Bishop of Oxford has said Britain should not bomb Syria yet - but that he is "not opposed to the bombing campaigns in principle". In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Sunday programme, Lord Richard Harries said the proposed aerial bombing campaign against Isis did not meet several of the criteria for a "just war" in Christian thought. He said there were six broad principles a war must meet in order to be seen as morally just in the eyes of Christianity. He said the first three - surrounding whether the war was for a "just cause", had the "right intentions" and was subject to "confident authority" - the UN passed a resolution sanctioning the removal of Isis using "all necessary force" - were "easily met". But "the final criteria" had not been fulfilled, he argued. He said all other options to defeat Isis had to be attempted, there had to be a reasonable chance of success and that there the "principle of proportion" existed - they had to be sure "more good than evil will come out of this". He said the UK had an obligation to support France in the wake of attacks by militants claiming to be part of Isis, also known as Daesh. "Let’s be quite clear, military force will need to be used in the end and it is more than likely there will be a bombing campaign," he said. "But it’s all very vague. What coalition force is going to put together to take territory and how is it going to hold it? Until those conditions have been met it does not meet the criteria for a just war. "I’m not opposed to bombing campaigns in principle but what we do know about these Daesh people is that they are very good at melting away into the civilian population." His comments attracted criticism on Twitter with Lord Harries’ lack of opposition to war in principle labelled "unchristian". It came as thousands took to the street of London in a protest organised by the Stop the War Coalition to demonstrat against the proposed bombing campaign. A House of Commons vote on the issue is expected next week. |