In the [BBC2 Goodbye to Canterbury] programme, Dr Williams also spoke of his opposition to the Iraq war in 2003. Once war had broken out, and troops were on the ground, Dr Williams decided not to “sound off from a distance”. He had tried to focus the debate on what an exit to the war would look like, “what would justice after the war look like”, which left him “satisfying nobody. . . People who think you ought to be swinging behind the Government are disappointed; people who think you ought always to be making loud and clear noises about global ethics will be disappointed.
“But I still think it’s a path worth treading, because the important thing about Archbishops speaking in public is, I believe, they shouldn’t ever be speaking in ways that have no cost, when other people are paying a price.”