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Brit Bishop Sorry for 'Praising' Taliban

Venner: Remarks were 'incredibly insensitive'

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 15, 2009 3:48 AM CST

(Newser) – A British bishop has apologized for suggesting that the Taliban have some admirable qualities. Stephen Venner, the newly appointed bishop to Britain's armed forces, had warned against portraying the Taliban as pure evil and said their "conviction to their faith and their sense of loyalty" could perhaps be admired, the Independent reports. The remarks were "incredibly insensitive," Venner now admits and stresses that he believes the Taliban's tactics are indeed evil.

"The way that the Taliban are waging war in Afghanistan is evil, both in their use of indiscriminate killing and their terrorizing of the civilian population," Venner said. "No religion could condone their actions." The bishop said he hoped to be able to continue in his current role, although lawmakers accusing him of "giving comfort and succor to our enemies" have called for his resignation.

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Stephen Venner was recently appointed as the Anglican bishop to Britain's Armed Forces. (Wikipedia)

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Long-lasting peace will not be achieved without both defeating the Taliban militants and, over time, by encouraging them to forsake the path of war and to be involved in the future of Afghanistan. - Bishop Stephen Venner

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 3 comments

bewilderbeast

Dec 15, 2009 11:05 AM CST

I disagree. What he said was sensible (no side is pure evil). What he has now said is typical one-sided talk which is what gets us into wars to start with. Bush's talk of "the axis of evil" should have said "we are guilty of some evil, too" - but of course that wouldn't do, would it? How do we start wars unless we can portray the other side as all evil (so we can get our young cannon fodder to go singing to the grave)?

stuck-in-paris

Dec 15, 2009 10:20 AM CST

what is he thinking. He needs to be replaced.

thephat

Dec 15, 2009 3:19 AM CST

Power likes one sided thinking, but one sided thinking does not reinforce power. If you can't find admirable traits in your enemy, then your head is in the sand. If you head is in the sand, you will not see your enemy coming.

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Taliban • Britain • Church of England • bishop • Afghanistan war • Stephen Venner

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Brit Bishop Sorry for 'Praising' Taliban