Archbishop hits out at 'tainted' war on terrorism.Byline: Gareth HughesTHE Archbishop of Wales The Province of Wales in the Anglican Communion was created in 1920, as the Church in Wales, independent from the Church of England (of which the four Welsh dioceses had previously been part). has delivered a stinging attack on the war against Afghanistan. The Most Reverend Most Reverend Noun (in Britain) a courtesy title applied to archbishops Rowan Williams, one of the leading contenders to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury is the main leader of the Church of England and by convention is also recognised as head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The current archbishop is Rowan Williams. , described the West's response to the September 11 events as "an embarrassment". In a book to be published this week, Dr Williams denounces the military action as "morally tainted". Though other clerics have expressed concern about the way the war against terrorism is being conducted, in his book, Writing In The Dust, Dr Williams takes a much stronger line than anyone else to date. Although he condemns the terrorist atrocities of September 11, which happened as he was in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , and the attitudes of Muslim extremists, he says Western leaders have failed to define when the conflict would be over or its exact cause. He writes: "The abolition of terrorism? No doubt, but what possible guarantee could there be that this had been achieved? "It is just possible to deplore de·plore tr.v. de·plored, de·plor·ing, de·plores 1. To feel or express strong disapproval of; condemn: "Somehow we had to master events, not simply deplore them" civilian casualties and retain moral credibility when an action is clearly focused and its goals are on the way to evident achievement. It is not possible when the strategy appears confused and political leaders talk about a war that may last years. "There is a fine line between the crippling of military and aircraft installations and the devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. of an infrastructure with a halfformed aim of destroying morale. He adds: "Combine that with the use of anti-personnel weapons such as clusterbombs and the whole enterprise is tainted." The criticism comes at a particularly sensitive time as Prime Minister Tony Blair has a key role in appointing the next Archbishop of Canterbury. With the Queen's approval, he will choose one of two names passed to him by the Crown Appointments Commission. Last week Dr Williams emerged as first choice of the Church's ruling General Synod. In a survey in a national newspaper, 28pc of clergy and lay members supported his application. Last month, Dr Williams told the Daily Post he believed he could be ruled out of the list of possible successors to Dr George Carey because of the need for the Archbishop of Canterbury to be completely familiar with the workings of the Church of England Church of England: see England, Church of. and the House of Lords House of Lords: see Parliament. . CAPTION(S): WAR OF WORDS: Archbishop of Wales Rowan Williams |
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