desmond-tutu_web.pngINDIANAPOLIS (AP) – South African anti-apartheid leader Desmond Tutu is praising Americans for being skeptical of a military attack on Syria. The retired Anglican archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize winner told a Butler University lecture crowd Thursday night that salutes Americans for learning lessons from what he called the immoral 2003 invasion of Iraq.

The Indianapolis Star reports (http://indy.st/1d9sBbG) Tutu suggested dropping food instead of bombs.

The 81-year-old Tutu began his speech by asking for moments of silence to mark the anniversaries of the Sept. 11 terror attacks and the Sept. 12, 1977, police custody death of South African black student leader Steve Biko.

Butler and the neighboring Christian Theological Seminary also announced creation of The Desmond Tutu Center to promote leadership in social justice and reconciliation.