The headline of your Aug. 22 news story, "Envoy: Iraq can be fixed," is misleading. The article gives the opposite impression.

The central statement reads, "Shadowed by the violence, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, co-author of a highly anticipated report to Congress next month, said Washington's blueprint for reconciliation was insufficient "to win back control of Iraq." This was framed by paragraphs that detailed a Shiite massacre of a Sunni family in their home south of Baghdad, and the terrible suicide bombing that killed as many as 500 in northern Iraq last week.

Iraq can't be fixed - not by us. We have to first repent of the violent reaction of war, to the prime national security problem that dictated this war - our dependency on Iraq's oil. The world knows this was the reason for the U.S. invasion and continued occupation of Iraq. This greed for power over black gold, however, proved a disastrous Midas touch. Diplomacy and economic interdependence are the only lasting solutions to this ongoing conflict for the earth's increasingly scarce natural resources.

As a Catholic, I am encouraged by the rising concern of the U.S. church. A July 17th letter from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to Congress, proclaimed: "Too many Iraqi and American lives have been lost. Too many Iraqi communities have been shattered. Too many civilians have been driven from their homes."

The bishops called for "a responsible transition to bring an end to the war in Iraq." May a bipartisan leadership in Washington heed this request and begin to put away the sword of technical military might.

The sword will not fix Iraq; international interventions can help a bad situation. May we at home be inspired to answer the Christian call to be peacemakers. Violence and death to protect life has never truly worked in all of human history.