Archbishop Desmond Tutu

The Nobel Peace Prize winner, Archbishop Desmond Tutu urged Obama to apologize to the world for the Iraq Invasion on behalf of American people. If not done, he fears this will destroy the good will that Obama has got in the president’s election campaign. He added that it would be “wonderful” if Mr. Obama do such an apology.

In an article to BBC News, he calls Mr Obama’s presidential election an “epoch-making event that filled the whole world with hope that change is possible”. He points how the sympathy that got generated across the globe in support of America after 9/11 was vanished as a result of the allegations about the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. He warns Obama that the same thing will happen to the goodwill he earned, if he disappoints.

Tutu urges Obama and the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, to act quickly to build bridges with other countries and to listen what they say.

He also criticized UK government’s role in the so-called ‘war on Terror’ by pointing out that by closely co-operating with US, the country’s stand has been suffered in rest of the world. He also added that the November’s election had helped America to turn its image on its head after seven lean years, but UK still missing what he calls the “redeeming Obama factor” to restore the UK’s perception abroad.