April 2006

Neo-Conned! (Vol. 1) and Neo-Conned! Again (Vol. 2)

By D.L. O'Huallachain and J. Forrest Sharpe

Publisher: IHS Press

Pages: 447

Price: $25.95

Review Author: Dale Vree

Do true conservatives, Catholic conservatives, and other Catholics support the war on Iraq? Going by these two volumes, they don’t.

The first volume is dedicated to Just War principles. In this volume you will find articles by Pat Buchanan, Joe Sobran, Tom Fleming, Paul Gottfried, our own James Hanink, Edward Peters, Keith Fournier, John Rao, Paul Likoudis, and Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani. Of particular interest are: “Might Is Not Right: Why ‘Preventive War’ Is Immoral” by Fr. Juan Carlos Iscara, “Epistemic Inadequacy, Catholic Just-War Criteria and the War in Iraq” by Thomas Ryba, and “Iraq: Sovereignty and Conscience” by James Hanink.

The second volume is about the illegality and injustice of the war on Iraq. You will find articles by Robert Fisk, Justin Raimondo, Claes G. Ryn, Robert Hickson, and Mark and Louise Zwick. Of particular interest are: “Neoconservatives, Israel, and 9/11: The Origins of the U.S. War on Iraq” by Stephen Sniegoski, “A Real Hijacking: The Neoconservative Fifth Column and the War in Iraq” by Justin Raimondo, and “The Iraq War and the Vatican” by Mark and Louise Zwick.

IHS Press is a Catholic publisher, and these volumes show that Catholics are able to place their Faith above whatever country they happen to live in. German Catholics have been blasted for not doing enough to oppose Hitler’s wars, and Pope Pius XII has been implicated, rightly or wrongly. Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) opposed the invasion of Iraq, and a good number of American orthodox Catholics did so too.

When the history of the war on Iraq is written, those neocon Catholics who supported it will be held up to ridicule, discrediting the Catholic Faith. Ah, but there were other Catholics who opposed the war, many of whom appear in these two volumes, who bring credit to our Catholic Faith.