Wounded nation needs to cry, mourners told - smh.com.au
...
Within the Anglican Church of Australia, tensions are emerging over comments made by the Anglican Primate, Archbishop Peter Carnley, on Friday in Perth.

"Given the bombing of Afghanistan and the dispersal in disarray of al-Qaeda and Taliban forces, and Australia's high-profile support of President George Bush's stance in relation to a possible war on Iraq, it was surely only a matter of time before Australian lives were sacrificed in some form of retaliatory action," he said.

His suggestion that Australia's close links with the United States may have prompted the attack was rejected by the US Ambassador to Australia, Tom Schieffer.

Mr Schieffer said it was not a question of opting to be "on or off" the terrorists' list.

Terrorists struck for their own reasons and without warning, he said.

The Anglican Diocese in Sydney was also distancing itself from Dr Carnley's comment yesterday. The Bishop of South Sydney, Robert Forsyth, said the Primate was expressing a personal view.

"These are not the views of the Anglican Church and he does not speak for the Anglican Church in Australia," he said.