"This war does not remotely qualify as a 'just war'," said Bossie, "because the United States is not under imminent threat." Bossie cited statements from the Vatican declaring that the U.S. war on Iraq would be a "crime against peace" and would merit "the vengeance of God."
Soldiers participating in this war are at grave risk of sin, Bossie stated.
Asked by a reporter if his opinion would change if Iraq used chemical weapons against U.S. troops, he said it would not. "In that case, Iraq would be using the weapons as a defense against invasion."
Bossie said it was his pastoral duty to give this warning. "When I served in the U.S. military, maintaining and servicing nuclear weapons, and later worked on their development in the private sector, no priest ever counseled me about the morality of what I was doing," he said. Chaplains in the armed forces "must look to their own consciences" in counseling the troops, "but they should be guided by the teachings of the church."