Saddam and al Qaeda Are Not Allies

THE NEW YORK TIMES, Oct. 1—Mideast expert Daniel Benjamin, former member of the National Security Council, wrote in the Oct. 1 New York Times that Saddam Hussein, for all his unsavory and cruel activities, has never been an ally of the terrorist organization al Qaeda.

Like other fundamentalist Muslim sects, al Qaeda is dedicated to overthrowing secular despotisms such as Saddam's. Benjamin argued that attacking Iraq “would not be a continuation of the war against terror but a deviation from it.”

While Saddam is eager to obtain weapons of mass destruction, Benjamin argued, there is no evidence to show he is inclined to hand them over to elements he cannot control, such as Islamic terrorists who might be as likely to use them against him as against the United States.

However, Benjamin concluded, if Saddam were about to be removed from power—and likely hanged from a lamppost by angry Iraqis—then he “might break the taboo on giving terrorists weapons of mass destruction. Moreover, as images of the United States attacking another Muslim nation are beamed throughout the Middle East and South Asia, many will take it as confirmation of Mr. bin Laden's argument that America is at war with Islam.”

Health Providers Can Refuse to Fund Abortions

REUTERS, Sept. 25—Last week the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill strengthening “conscience clauses” that allow health plans and hospitals to refuse to offer abortions without any state or federal penalty Reuters news source reported.

The Abortion Nondiscrimination Act passed with a majority of Republicans voting for it and most Democrats opposing it, according to Reuters. The bill, if passed by the Senate and signed by the president, would protect Catholic hospitals that have merged with secular health care companies, which are now under heavy pressure in several states to offer abortions.

‘St. Francis’ Opera Opens in St. Francisco

ASSOCIATED PRESS, Sept. 26—Olivier Messaien, an avant-garde 20th-century composer, was also a fervent Catholic. His grandest work, “St. Francois d'Assise,” is one that is rarely performed, perhaps because it lasts five hours and requires a 97-piece orchestra and a score that weighs 25 pounds.

But the San Francisco Opera last month premiered the piece to great audience enthusiasm and glowing reviews, according to Associated Press.

“This company has never undertaken this kind of challenge,” said Conductor Donald Runnicles to Associated Press. “Just the size, the dimensions. This has galvanized the company.áWe all feel like evangelists.”

Runnicles worked with German director Nicolas Brieger, who at first declined the task. “It was my prejudice,” Brieger said, “I thought, ‘I have nothing to do with this Catholic world.’ I had left this Church. When they offered it to me I said, ‘No.’ Donald said, ‘Wait. Listen. Take your time.’”

Brieger now says he is proud to have been part of presenting such a unique, accomplished piece of music. The opera follows the life of St. Francis, including his conversion, his mystic experiences and his reception of the stigmata, or wounds of Christ.