Senior British general, a Catholic, laments torture, opposes Iran intervention
August 03, 2012
One of the five British generals who have been honored with the title of field marshal says that “torture is wrong and shouldn't be allowed, and people who torture should be apprehended, with the full force of law applied.”
Baron Charles Guthrie, a convert to Catholicism and author of a book on just-war theory, told the Zenit news agency that “war is a horrible thing, a disastrous thing, but sometimes there are things which are even worse, like genocide, the completely uncontrolled killing of innocent women and children.”
“You want to get the war over as quickly as possible," the 73-year-old retired general added. "You don't want to kill any more people than you have to, and you want to protect people who are not actively engaged in the war, like women and children and non-combatants. But what is a non-combatant? Is, for instance, somebody working in a munitions factory? … You get into very difficult areas; these things aren't black and white at all.”
Guthrie believes that military action against Iran would be “completely wrong” and also opposes military action against the Syrian regime. While the initial fighting in Afghanistan following 9/11 was “morally right,” Guthrie believes that UK forces should have been withdrawn far sooner.
For all current news, visit our News home page.
Further information:
- A Soldier's View of Torture, Just War Principles: Britain's Most Senior Ranking General Considers the Evils of War (Zenit)
- Charles Guthrie, Baron Guthrie of Craigiebank (Wikipedia)
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
