Iraq situation unacceptable: U.S. Catholic bishops

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. Catholic bishops Tuesday described the situation in Iraq as "unacceptable and unsustainable," and urged the Bush administration to pull out American troops in a responsible way as quickly as possible.

The bishops also warned of dangerous divisions in U.S. society created and exacerbated by the war.

"The dangerous political stalemate in Iraq that blocks national reconciliation finds a parallel in our own nation. We are alarmed by the political and partisan stalemate in Washington," the bishops said in a statement approved at their semi-annual meeting in Baltimore.

They criticized both pro and anti-war adherents, saying the former did not recognize the real failures of U.S. policy in Iraq and the need for change while the latter disregarded the probable human costs of an immediate U.S. troop withdrawal.

"These two forms of denial have helped contribute to partisan paralysis," the bishops said.

The statement echoed many themes the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have sounded in earlier pronouncements.

Drafted by Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane, Washington, the conference president, and approved by the bishops at the meeting, the statement said the United States needs a new bipartisan approach based on honest and civil dialogue.

The bishops said the United States should work with Syria and Iran among other nations to bring stability to Iraq and should always try to minimize further Iraqi losses.

At Tuesday's meeting the bishops elected Cardinal Francis George of Chicago as the group's president for the next three years, to succeed Skylstad. George had served as the group's vice president for the last three years, a post which traditionally precedes the presidency.

(Reporting by Michael Conlon; editing by Andrew Stern)