by Gouda » Wed Sep 27, 2006 10:48 am
How's this for a moment of enlightenment?<br><br>******************<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Dalai Lama: Too many lives lost in Iraq</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>By LAURA KURTZMAN, Associated Press Writer Tue Sep 26, 8:52 PM ET<br><br>LONG BEACH, Calif. - <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>The Dalai Lama said Tuesday that violence in Iraq has cost too many lives and soured his view of the U.S.-led war.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>The Tibetan spiritual leader initially reserved judgment on the conflict, saying it would only become clear with time whether the invasion was a good idea.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>"At the early stage I felt, and also I expressed, 'Too early to say, to judge.' But now, things not very positive," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "Now in Iraq — too many killings."</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>To restore relations between the Muslim world and the West, he said, both sides should get to know each other.<br><br>"Close contact creates clear understanding," he said. "Then suspicion, fear may not find much room. Even some disagreement doesn't matter."<br><br>The Dalai Lama was in Long Beach to address a women's conference presided over by California first lady Maria Shriver. <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>He also met privately with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>The Dalai Lama said he has distilled his personal beliefs to a simple phrase: "My religion is kindness."<br><br>He would not comment directly on the furor aroused in the Muslim world after recent remarks about Islam by<br>Pope Benedict XVI, but the Dalai Lama warned against the misuse of religion to foment social divisions.<br><br>"Mischievous people often use religious faith for their own interests and create conflict," he said. "We have to look at the real message of all these traditions."<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/dalai_lama_iraq;_ylt=Akh6ElybkJbh6rd.B61cTaOMwfIE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3NmxuamZjBHNlYwNyaGw-">news.yahoo.com/s/ap/dalai...NlYwNyaGw-</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>