The War

I've been having some big paradigm shifts in my thought recently. I remember, like most of you, where I was on 9/11. Eric Noll passed me in The Village at JMU and told me to go turn on the TV because a plane had flown into the Twin Towers. I didn't believe him until I saw it on the TV. A man named Osama was the mastermind. And America went after him hard for a little while, which I think was a good thing. But then there was a shift.

The Iraq War. I also remember when the US decided to attack Iraq. Shock and Awe, it certainly was and we got an up close view of it thanks to the media. I never really had any doubts about the war. I figured this was the War on Terror. Saddam was a bad guy like Osama and it would be a good thing if we got rid of him as well.

Recently, however, I have begun to question whether we should really be at war. Why is it America's job to get rid of Saddam? There are many of bad people in this world, but is it America's job to police them all. I will give Pres. Bush the benefit of the doubt that he truly believed there were weapons of mass destruction. But even so, should America have felt threatened by this. Russia had nuclear weapons, but we didn't go to war with them. What makes one dictator worthy of feeling the power of America's military strength and another not?

On top of this, I'm understanding more the reality of the horrors of war. Real people die, lots of them. When we bomb a city, of course we intend to minimize civilian casualties. But the result, nevertheless is someone's wife or child or grandparent is killed. As Christians, we need to affirm that war should be avoided unless every last single attempt to stop it has been exhausted. War is sometimes needed. The just war principle is a good guideline. But did the Iraq War qualify? Had America been attacked by Iraq or was it Osama bin Laden that attacked? What would have been the outcome if the church would have sent 300,000 missionaries instead of the US sending that number of troops? Any thoughts?

This video affirms the support of our US troops, but wishes that they were back at home with their families.