It came out in a paper in the U.K. last month. I didn’t see much coverage here, but I thought the news to be rather significant. Let me quote a couple of paragraphs from the article:
Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, codenamed Curveball by German and American intelligence officials who dealt with his claims, has told the Guardian that he fabricated tales of mobile bioweapons trucks and clandestine factories in an attempt to bring down the Saddam Hussein regime, from which he had fled in 1995.
“Maybe I was right, maybe I was not right,” he said. “They gave me this chance. I had the chance to fabricate something to topple the regime. I and my sons are proud of that and we are proud that we were the reason to give Iraq the margin of democracy.”
How many times will history have to repeat itself before we are convinced? When humans go to war, we don’t have all the facts. The citizens, those called upon to lay down their lives, don’t have all the facts. In this case, even those calling for war didn’t have the correct information.
I continue to marvel that people who complain about putting their tax dollars in the hands of the government seem so willing to put the lives of their sons and daughters in the very same hands. We don’t trust them with our money, but we trust them with our children.
Even when time and time again we find out that what we thought we knew about the reasons for fighting turns out to be a mirage. A deadly mirage.
Wars are fought on lies and deceit. I for one want to have no part of it.
Pretty bold talk for a guy living in Texas and surrounded by military installations… I’m with you bro!
I was living in Searcy, Arkansas when the war in Iraq broke out. I remember talking to a girl who was entering into her junior year. She was considering becoming a missionary to Brazil when she graduated but was upset because her Christian parents were very against the idea of moving to a foreign country to be a missionary. Yet her parents were praising her older brother’s decision to join the Marines which almost guaranteed that he would do a tour in the Iraq war.
Why do Christians trust their children to the government but will not trust them to God for the sake of God’s mission?
Grace and Peace,
Rex
I will refrain from taking up too much comment box space by quoting the entire song, but below are some selected lyrics from Jackson Browne’s song “Lives in the Balance” (1986) which remains sadly relevant to the points that you make in this post.
You might ask what it takes to remember
When you know that you’ve seen it before
Where a government lies to a people
And a country is drifting to war
But who are the ones that we call our friends
These governments killing their own?
Or the people who finally can’t take any more
And they pick up a gun or a brick or a stone
There’s a shadow on the faces
Of the men who fan the flames
Of the wars that are fought in places
Where we can’t even say the names
They sell us the president the same way
They sell us our clothes and our cars
They sell us everything from youth to religion
The same time they sell us our wars
I want to know who the men in the shadows are
I want to hear somebody asking them why
They can be counted on to tell us who our enemies are
But they’re never the ones to fight or to die
I think we miss a very important point in U.S. history. Americans love war. We have war colleges, ROTC at most campuses in the U.S. we have had wars since 1860
continueously with every generation born fighting in some major war. Was is profitable, war creates jobs, war creates expanding territories, war expands religious beliefs upon the conquered. Wars control world population. Wars put people is subjugation. the people who run wars don’t put their sons in harms way. Wars are placed on the backs of the young and the poor…….In the opinion of the powers of the government. War is good for America…..
Every action we take in life is based upon limited information, some of which will (very likely) be lies and deceit.
What other actions should we abstain from until we have complete knowledge?
Nick,
I would think that any action that puts others’ lives in danger should be entered into with extreme caution.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer
Tim, I don’t think the article you quote proves your point in your post. First, the fellow claims that he lied to American and German intelligence agents but now he’s telling the truth. Sure and we are to believe him this time? Second, if his is telling the truth this only proves that Bush (and his administration) thought he had proof (this fellow’s and other evidence) that Hussein did have WMD. This is why the mainstream America press isn’t picking up on this because they know it will only be good for Bush. Third, Bush consulted with his staff, went to the UN, asked Congress for permission and got it. There was no rush to war. I’m not saying I’m in favor of what Bush did only that the article doesn’t prove anything about Bush and Iraq other than he (Bush) thought he had good reason to invade and this article proves only that someone down the road lied. That lie wasn’t the only piece to the puzzle. Fourth, if Hussein didn’t have WMD why didn’t he complain loudly to the world’s media (and they didn’t like Bush) that America was picking on little old him. But he didn’t. The article really didn’t prove anything.
I don’t like war and Americans don’t like war either. Heavenbound was only partially correct. Americans were isolationists when WWI & WWII broke out. Only a military action against America in each case caused them to get involved. The American people nor Congress voted to go into Vietnam. President Kennedy sent troops in an advisory capacity. President Johnson expanded the war. President Nixon got us out. It is some politicians who like war and some businesses but not America as a whole.
I do believe that God controls all governmental authority but does give some authority for governments to protect their citizens (Romans 13:1-7). Sometimes countries go to war to protect their citizens and sometimes to protect their allies. Unfortunately wars don’t always go the way the military wants it to go. Still Bush’s record should reflect that he made the decision honorably based on what he thought was reliable intelligence.
Bob,
I don’t know that Romans 13 gives license to wage war, especially a war dedicated to “regime change.”
I’m not questioning whether or not Bush did what he thought was right or what was in the best interests of his country.
What I’m saying is that Christians should think long and hard before entrusting their lives or their children’s lives to the military. We have been deceived and will be deceived. People talk about making their own moral decisions even when in the military, but how can they when they don’t have the facts?
I think that’s why the Bible teaches that Christians are to be people of peace, not of war.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer
I didn’t say that Romans 13 gives a country a license to wage war. I said I think it gives a country limited authority to protect its citizens, sometimes that means entering into a war or conflict of some kind. Of course each country and leader will be held accountable by God for their decisions and actions.
It was my understanding that the Bush administration was taking us into Iraq because they believed Hussein to be a threat to our security and the security of our allies (namely Israel) due to WMD. They believed that they had the evidence of Hussein’s intentions. Of course so did President Clinton and a host of other Democrats. Hussein had also demonstrated his aggressiveness by attacking Kuwait years ago. He refused to honor the negotiated treaty to let weapons inspectors in Iraq. This situation warranted a regime change.
We have a long history of an honorable military. We may not have been perfect but we are vastly superior to many countries in terms of honor. I don’t see the connection between your claim that we shouldn’t entrust our children to the military and the article in the Guardian. Who has deceived us?
I know that we have different viewpoints about the military in our fellowship (and others) but I believe that John the Baptist gives tacit approval to being in the military (Luke 3:14). I don’t know if the soldiers were Jewish or Roman but I do believe that John is saying that if soldier comports himself with godly honor he can serve.
I agree that we Christians are about peace. Christians should never organize and fight on behalf of our Lord. America as a country however does have limited authority to protect its citizens.
My problem is there’s nothing in the Bible about “protecting your citizens” by invading other nations. That’s why Romans 13 tends to be misused regarding war.
You haven’t been talking about caution here, Tim – you’ve been talking about abstinence. So you didn’t actually answer my question :)
Nick,
I guess I’d have to say any action where we allow others to control whether or not we will take the life of another human being. Is that better?
If you are going to take a job where you are going to be asked to take someone’s life, then I think you need to demand complete knowledge before accepting such assignments. Taking another’s life is an extreme act, as I think the Bible clearly shows. If I’m going to allow someone else to decide when and where I am going to do that, I need to know that those people have a good reason.
Again, I find people to be very trusting of the government where military action is concerned and not so much when other governmental activities are involved.
Grace and peace,
Tim
The position that no one should ever kill anyone else for any reason (the simple extension of a ‘complete knowledge’ requirement) is an extreme one, but it isn’t without its merits.
If we really believe that the last enemy to be defeated is death, we would be more hesitant to partner with it in so many ways.
You’re really pushing me out of my comfort zone – good work! :)