Desmond Tutu [R] & Nelson Mandela
HONG KONG, China (CNN) — The global “war on terror” can’t be won if people are living in “desperate” conditions, Archbishop Desmond Tutu told CNN.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu says “war on terror” will be thwarted by poverty, disease and ignorance.

“You can never win a war against terror as long as there are conditions in the world that make people desperate — poverty, disease, ignorance, et cetera,” the Nobel laureate said.

Tutu is in Hong Kong, where he is due to give a lecture on conflict resolution, reconciliation and forgiveness.

He said the disparity between the rich and poor in parts of the world causes instability and insecurity, but added that he was hopeful the relationship between the two was becoming clear.

“I think people are beginning to realize that you can’t have pockets of prosperity in one part of the world and huge deserts of poverty and deprivation and think that you can have a stable and secure world,” he said.

The former head of South Africa’s Anglican church is an advocate of reconciliation, and he often speaks out against violence and is a frequent critic of human rights abusers.

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Tutu also discussed with CNN the military junta in Myanmar, formerly Burma. Tutu described the rulers of that southeastern Asian county as “a military dictatorship that is running dead scared of a woman.”

He was referring to fellow Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, a leading dissident and pro-democracy activist there. Aung San Suu Kyi’s politics have led to her being held in varying degrees of detention off and on since 1989.

“The fact of the matter is she has nothing except her moral authority,” said Tutu, adding that he believed recent street protests against the junta could signal an end to military rule.

Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his vocal opposition and leadership against South Africa’s apartheid system — a government-sanctioned policy of racial separation which ended in 1994.

REFERENCES:

[1.] The Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation: http://www.tutu.org/

[3.] South Africa’s post-apartheid struggle

[2.] Tutu on Ronald Reagan: Counterpoint to the Reagan legacy: “Immoral, evil, and totally un-Christian.” — These were the words of Bishop Desmond Tutu, spoken on Capitol Hill at a US committee hearing in late 1984. It was just after Reagan’s easy re-election. Tutu had just been awarded the Nobel peace prize for his non-violent struggle against apartheid in South Africa. Throughout the United States, a rising number of Americans were calling for American companies to stop doing business there.

“In my view, the Reagan administration’s support and collaboration with it is equally immoral, evil, and totally un-Christian . . . You are either for or against apartheid and not by rhetoric. You are either in favour of evil or you are in favour of good. You are either on the side of the oppressed or on the side of the oppressor. You can’t be neutral.” — Desmond Tutu

P/S – ReTHUGlican Stalwart Ronald Reagan was not moved! Read More

[3.] Rabble-Rouser for Peace: The Authorized Biography of Desmond Tutu

REVIEW: “This book gives remarkable insights into how Tutu’s spiritual worldview and discipline molded him into the preeminent religious leader in South Africa’s struggle against racism and a passionate advocate of human rights internationally.” — Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States and Nobel Peace Laureate.