Gospel Prism

My friend, whose husband is about to be deployed to Irq, recently asked me, “So what do you think about Iraq now? Are you in favor of the war?” I didn’t have time to answer her question then, so I’ll answer it now.

When the war first broke out, I was against it even though so many were for it. I remember having a conversation with three of my church members who were for the war (which was the prevailing thought at the time), expressing my concerns. I thought it seemed ad hoc that the United States would be willing to take down the evil regime of Saddam Hussein, but fail to consider all of the other evil regimes that it failed to take down (such as Idi Amin’s Uganda, Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, Kim Jong Il’s North Korea, etc.). What seemed to be driving President Bush’s motive was not necessarily good and evil, and not even the press of Iraq’s impending nuclear armament, but I must admit that I had a sneaky suspicion (the conspiracy side within me) that Mr. Bush was still sore over Iraq’s involvement on the attempted assassination of his father in Kuwait. Regardless of whatever motive there truly was (oil, revenge, etc.), I felt at the time that the UN Inspectors deserved more time than the US was willing to give it.

But once the US did go in, I have felt strongly that it needed to finish the job. So in this way, I am contra most people in this country when it comes to Iraq. When everyone was for the war, I was against it. Now that the war is being fought, I believe the US has the responsibility to actually make things right. An early withdrawal could endanger national security (giving Al Qaeda a safe haven) much more than ever before. Leaving now would be more than merely signifying that America can’t handle struggles, it would fail to live up to a responsibility that the US took on, whether everyone agrees with the premise of going in in the first place or not.

Finally, Iraq is improving. The media doesn’t seem to report much about its progress. But it is improving. Even Spiegal, the German news magazine and far from a pro-Iraq publication, notes that there is a bright future ahead.

However, there is one sad note regarding the whole war. In what is merely a sidebar in the report, the author writes: “Bassim Dencha, 32, one of the few Christians remaining in Iraq and the co-owner of Baghdad’s finest supermarket, has developed a supply line from Syria.” There used to be thousands of Christians in Iraq because of the special protection Saddam Hussein gave them as a minority. Now under Shiite control, Christians have been persecuted fiercely in the new Iraq, which certainly needs to be addressed by the Bush Administration.

Iraq matters because God cares about His people in Iraq who are suffering.
Iraq matters because leaving it leaves it vulnerable to Al Qaeda.
Iraq matters because the US made the mess and is responsible for cleaning it up.
Iraq matters because as the former birthplace of Abraham (Ur is in Iraq), it has historical significance.
Iraq matters becasue there will be Iraqis who we will worship with in Revelation 5.