In looking at paragraph 2309 of the Catechism (the elements of the "just war" doctrine"), I'm inclined to think that the Vatican is being a little ignorant in its opposition to a possible U.S. military preemptive strike against Iraq.

"[Archbishop Renato Martino] recalled the Vatican's opposition to the 1991 Gulf War, saying: 'Everyone knows the way it turned out. War doesn't resolve problems. Besides being bloody, it's useless,' he said."

Uh, if I recall, not only did the Gulf War last less than six months, but we got Sadaam's tyrannical fat a** out of Kuwait. How can the Archbishop say that no problems were resolved and it was a useless endeavor? I suppose if there was one mistake about the war, it's that we didn't immediately go after Sadaam back in Iraq. However, if we did, the coalition we had built for the mission in Kuwait probably would have fallen apart. And then Clinton came into office...