Cardinal says force could be used against IS

THE CARDINAL Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, this week tacitly endorsed the use of military force against Islamic State militants in Iraq.

The cardinal, pictured right during a visit to Christian refugees in Erbil in northern Iraq last weekend, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday that the use of military force was “regrettable” but that IS must be driven out to restore stability to the region.

Asked if he backed airstrikes the cardinal said: “There is no way Islamic State is going to walk away without being forced to do so.”

But he warned the international community not to consider overthrowing IS as “job done”, and said the majority of those forced from their homes wanted to return. It was a theme he returned to later in the day when he told a press conference that Iraq would never flourish in the aftermath of the Islamic State onslaught unless its Christian communities were re-established.

He said that without the immense richness of the region’s ancient Christian traditions, regenerated areas in the country  risked becoming “extended housing estates”. The cardinal visited five centres for displaced Christians and one for Yazidis.