US Embassy asked Vatican about Iraq in Sept. 2011

This WikiLeaks cable is interesting for two reasons.



First, as Will Shields (@sliceouttaluck) pointed out on Twitter, the cable indicates how some members of the Vatican responded to the question of military retaliation in the wake of 9/11.   The cable suggests that it wasn't religious ethics, but "geo-political concerns" that weighed most heavily in the Vatican's deliberations. 

Second, as I later tweeted, I think the most interesting thing about the cable is that it strongly suggests the Vatican had been asked to give an opinion on retaliation against Iraq for the attacks of 9/11 as early as 9/26/11.  This cable is evidence that the Bush administration seriously contemplated the invasion of Iraq in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.  Here the key passage from the cable:

C O N F I D E N T I A L VATICAN 005095
SIPDIS
DEPT. FOR EUR/WE (MENNUTI), S FOR CRAIG KELLY
FROM EMBASSY VATICAN/MESSAGE NO. 164/01
E.O. 12958: DECL: 9/26/11
TAGS: PREF PREL VT

SUBJECT: TFUS01: VATICAN POSITION ON RETALIATION AGAINST TERRORISTS

REF: (99) ROME 2196

CONFIDENTIAL

PAGE 02 VATICA 05095 281347Z
(U) CLASSIFIED BY DCM MERANTE FOR REASONS 1.5 (B) AND (D).

¶4. (C) HOWEVER, UNCONDITIONAL SUPPORT FOR POSSIBLE U.S. MILITARY ACTION IS NOT UNANIMOUS IN THE VATICAN AND WOULD NOT BE. EMBASSY HAS LEARNED THAT DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER (WHO IS NOTED FOR HIS PRO AMERICAN POSITIONS) HAS SAID PRIVATELY THAT NAVARRO-VALLES WENT ""TOO FAR"" IN HIS STATEMENTS. YET, FOREIGN MINISTER TAURAN IN PRIVATE CONVERSATION WITH AMBASSADOR RECENTLY HAS IMPLIED A RESIGNATION THAT HE BELIEVES THE U.S. WILL BE TAKING MILITARY ACTION SOON. ALTHOUGH MOST MEMBERS OF THE VATICAN FOREIGN MINISTRY WOULD BE PERSONALLY SUPPORTIVE OF AGGRESSIVE RETALIATION, OFFICIAL VATICAN POSITIONS WILL BE BASED ON VATICAN GEO-POLITICAL CONCERNS. IN THIS SPECIFIC CONFLICT, IRAQ IS FOREMOST IN THEIR CALCULATIONS. ANY RETALIATION WHICH MIGHT INCLUDE IRAQ WOULD LESSEN THE VATICAN'S POSITIVE NEUTRALITY. THE VATICAN IS FIRMLY CONVINCED THAT ANY REGIME WHICH REPLACES THE CURRENT ONE WILL NOT BE AS SUPPORTIVE OF THE LARGE IRAQI CATHOLIC POPULATION. IN ADDITION, EVEN IF POSSIBLE MILITARY ACTION IS DIRECTED ONLY AGAINST AFGHANISTAN, THE VATICAN IS GREATLY CONCERNED WITH A BACKLASH AGAINST CATHOLICS (AND OTHER CHRISTIANS) LIVING IN EGYPT, SYRIA, IRAQ, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES, AND LEBANON.

The phrasing, "even if possible military action is directed only against Afghanistan," suggests that the possibility of a broad program of retaliation for the attacks of 9/11 -- most likely to include Iraq -- was foremost in the minds of some US diplomats in September 2011.