In Toronto, U.S. bishop says Republicans leaving party over Iraqi war

Published: 2004-03-01

TORONTO (CNS) -- Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton of Detroit told a Canadian audience President George W. Bush's administration is "desperate," and middle-class Republican voters are turning away from their party because of the war in Iraq. Speaking at the University of St. Michael's College in Toronto Feb. 26, the peace-activist bishop who has visited Iraq eight times since the Persian Gulf War more than 10 years ago said Americans are upset because they have been lied to about the justification for going to war in Iraq. "No weapons of mass destruction were found," Bishop Gumbleton said. "We were lied to. People are profoundly concerned." Bishop Gumbleton said that in affluent suburbs outside Detroit and Chicago where he is used to speaking to audiences of about 100 he has recently spoken against the Iraqi war and occupation to audiences of 500 or more people.

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