"Iraq Far Worse Than Acknowledged"

By Ruth Gledhill,
Religion Correspondent
October 6, 2007
TimesOnline

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has launched a renewed attack on the war in Iraq and called for "urgent attention" to stabilise the country.

Dr Williams, speaking after a visit to Syria last week, said the "terrible damage" wreaked on the region by the war in Iraq was far worse than had so far been acknowledged.

Dr Williams' comments, in an interview with the BBC, came after he met Iraqi refugees in Syria, many of them still in fear for their lives.

Only last month, a new survey claimed that up to 1.2m people might have died because of the conflict.

Dr Williams said any military action against Syria or Iran that would further destabilise the region would be "criminal, ignorant... and potentially murderous folly."

Referring to those who advocate such action, he said: "I can't understand what planet such persons are living on when you see the conditions that are already there. The region is still a tinderbox."