Vatican backs military force to stop IS 'genocide'

The Vatican's diplomat to the United Nations in Geneva has called for military force to be deployed in the battle to halt the Islamic State (IS) from committing genocide in the Middle East, reports Crux.

In an interview with Crux, Italian Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, said, “We have to stop this kind of genocide... Otherwise we’ll be crying out in the future about why we didn’t so something, why we allowed such a terrible tragedy to happen.”

Whilst “a coordinated and well-thought-out coalition to do everything possible to achieve a political settlement without violence” was needed, the Archbishop went on to add, “but if that’s not possible, then the use of force will be necessary.”

He also stated that “the use of force to stop the hands of an aggressor” was necessary in the Middle East, where IS has been accused of carrying out a genocide against Christians and other minorities.
 
“It will be up the United Nations and its member states, especially the Security Council, to determine the exact form of intervention necessary,” he said, “but some responsibility [to act] is clear.”

Also see our earlier posts:

Russian Foreign Minister accuses Islamic State of genocide (05 March 2015)

IS is committing genocide, Iraq tells UN Security Council (19 Feb 2015)

Kurdish prime minister vows to work towards international recognition of Yezidi genocide
(06 Jan 2015)

Islamic State militants committing genocide says UN official after visiting Yazidi displacement camp (22 Oct 2014)

Kurds warn of genocide by IS in North-West Syria (19 Sep 2014)

UN monitors call for action to stop 'genocide' of Yazidis (12 Aug 2014)

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