Adam Blosser is the pastor of Drakes Branch Baptist Church, in Drakes Branch, Virginia, and blogs at One True Joy.
My heart is heavy this morning as I consider the current situation in Iraq. It is a mess no matter which way you slice it. It really doesn’t matter whether you supported President George W. Bush’s initial action to invade Iraq. It really doesn’t matter if you supported President Obama’s decision to withdraw troops from Iraq. This is a mess, and the United States is right to act.
I often find myself torn in situations like this. I do not like that America has often taken the role of world police in various situations around the globe. I do not like that we continue to borrow from China in order to send money to countries that hate us. It seems that whenever there is conflict in the world, you can bet the Unites States will pick a side and fund it.
I voted for Ron Paul in the 2012 Republican primary. I would like to cast my ballot for Rand Paul in the 2016 Presidential Election. That is, if he doesn’t stick his foot in his mouth regarding this current crisis in Iraq. If he does, I will be forced to question his ability to govern this country, and likely will not support his candidacy.
I typically despise America’s interventionist tactics. In this case, however, someone has to do something. When two countries or two groups within a country are fighting, we should keep our nose out of it. When people are being systematically run out of their homes and murdered with no means of defending themselves (i.e. the Holocaust), justice demands we act.
History has not looked kindly upon those who did nothing as Hitler systematically evicted people from their homes and placed them in concentration camps. Many Jews and others were tortured and killed, and as any honest person would have to admit, not enough was done to stop the terror.
It is easy to look back on the Holocaust and wonder, “Why wasn’t something done to stop these atrocities?” It’s easy to become slightly self-righteous in thinking we would have done something had we had the ability to do so.
Well, here is our chance. Christians are being run out of their homes. Men, women, and children are being beaten, tortured, and killed in Iraq by the terrorist group ISIS, which stands for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. While we as individuals cannot hop on a plane and put a stop to this genocide, our government has the ability to defend the helpless.
I am reminded of a well-known quote often attributed to Edmund Burke:
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
I applaud the actions of President Obama thus far. President Obama has authorized air strikes to stop these Islamic militants. The U.S. has also been dropping humanitarian aid to those trapped on a mountaintop in Iraq. You can read more about these efforts here (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/08/07/iraq-christian-villages-flee/13710265/).
President Obama said in a speech Thursday night, “Today, America is coming to help.” Thank you, Mr. President. We are all tired of the constant conflict in the Middle East. I know that you were hesitant to get involved in more conflict in Iraq. I have those same feelings. However, we cannot run from a situation where we have a moral imperative to act just because we are tired of conflict.
I am praying for the President and his advisers. I am praying for those trapped on this mountaintop in Iraq and others who may still be fleeing. I am even praying for these Islamic militants as they are not yet beyond the reach of God’s saving hand. I ask you to join me. May we not be guilty of forgetting about this tragedy just because we find ourselves physically on the other side of the world.
Amen.
Also, please be aware and make others aware of the following petition:
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/help-christians-mosul-and-iraq-who-are-part-modern-day-holocaust/S0cLfXZg
I have not kept up with the news the last days or two, so I don’t know if perhaps this petition is no longer need or not – I pray that the US will take action regardless. However, the least that we can do is take 10 seconds to sign this petition.
Adam Blosser, There will never be peace in the middle east, There was no peace in the past, there is no peace in the present, nor will there be peace in the future. There are too many radical groups that hate one another. We simply cannot keep fighting without destroying ourselves as a country. Oil was the reason we were in Iraq in the first place. We were not there to save anyone. Oil will be the reason if we have boots on the ground again. It will not be to rescue the Christians. I look back and think about… Read more »
Jess, my only reason for introducing some of my political views was to demonstrate that I am not typically a fan of the U.S. inserting itself in every conflict that arises around the world as some are.
The point of the post is to say that the current situation in Iraq, regardless of how we got to this point, requires action on the part of the U.S. We must defend the helpless. Justice demands it.
Adam,
I agree that something needs to be done.
For the likes of me I will never understand how anyone could defend a party that supports killing unborn children and making a mockery of marriage. I also can find no biblical warrant for having government take property from one person to give to another. I am not saying all republicans are good or christian but I do not see how anyone who claims the cause of Christ can be a democrat.
One thing to keep in mind is that the main people suffering right now are not Christians. The Yazidis have thus far born the brunt of ISIS terror. They are a peculiar religion, their own thing, neither Christian nor Muslim. Many of the reported atrocities thus far have been at their throats, yet many Christians speak as though Christians are the only one suffering. That comes across as, at best, misinformed and at worst implies that Christian concern is only roused when Christians suffer. ISIS is killing anyone who gets in their way. Many Christians were able to flee before… Read more »
Chris, I was unaware that one had to address all of the suffering in the world in order to be able to address one area of suffering in the world. Seeking to discredit someone because they focused on one issue rather than every issue they could have possibly addressed is one of the oldest tricks in the book. Your anti-Christian bias shines through in your comment. Sad.
Adam,
That’s funny, considering how critical I’ve seen Christians act against anyone who doesn’t mention those three Israelis who died or the Christians *cough*Yazidis*cough* suffering in Iraq. But please note that my comment touched on them all whereas the post focused only on one – and presented the situation as though they were the only ones distressed in Iraq.
Chris, what would your suggestion be in how Israel should respond to rockets fired daily at civilian populations? I simply cannot see any other nation responding any differently than Israel has, and most would not warn said civilians exactly where the attack was coming. No easy answers anywhere in the world right now
There were warnings given and I thought that a good move until two further considerations. First, Gaza is not that big and Israel has a fence around the whole thing. Doesn’t do much good to warn about bombs falling when there aren’t many places to run to be completely clear of them. Second, it’s clear that the warnings were limited. Ie, Israel didn’t warn the schools and hospitals and mosques before dropping bombs. As for what should they do, no doubt that’s the tricky problem. But I think it would have been worth their while to defer as long as… Read more »
What should they do? Not sin…and this is the best way I know of how to go about it during war.
Just War Theory (Jus in bello – principle of distinction/discrimination).
It’s utterly horrible to wage war and hide behind civilians. Maybe its worse to know your enemy does that and pull the trigger anyways.
Chris, of the thousands of rockets fired in to Israel, every one of them was fired with the intent to kill civilians. Does the fact that Israel is far better at waging war than Hamas really matter? Seems to me the smart move would be for Hamas not to attack an enemy they cannot defeat. Nor dig tunnels to abduct and kill civilians. But Hamas is not smart, it is fanatical, as are all of the factions in the Middle East right now. Syria is off the front pages, really has been, but the carnage there is horrifying. IS is… Read more »
Hamas is not smart.
Israel is also not smart.
It is not smart to bomb a region knowing the large majority of those killed are civilians when the enemy in your sights has not been very successful at killing yours.
Jeff, Just War Theory tells us, as a Christian people (who may have to go to war) when to do so and HOW to do it. How to keep legitimate war from becoming illegal murder. The principle of discrimination (distinction) says that certain non-combatants should not be considered as legitimate targets. This would include children and others who find themselves in the situation not-of-their-own-doing. Ending the war quickly would not be a legitimate excuse. What is Israel’s sin? Accepting the deaths of civilians as necessary collateral damage. What would I have them do? More “iron dome” technology. Expand the blockade.… Read more »
Chris, so your advice to Israel would be just sit there, grab the lawn chairs, fire up the still, place a few bets, and let those rockets coming against you fly? The Iron Dome has been effective, but not perfect. Missiles get through. What about when one hit’s a school in Israel? Can they defend themselves then? What of those Hamas fired at a nuclear plant? What if? Would you just leave the tunnels and simply tell the citizens, “better be careful.” Tell them, “We know an enemy that has sworn to drive us in to the sea has illegal,… Read more »
I’ve been in that region several times, with the Jewish folks, as well as the Palestinians. Bottom line… they both hate each other very, very much. There is a great difference though. The Jews are willing to not fight, but their goal is segregation and limiting the amount of land to those they are segregating (Palestinians for now). The other side is a bit different,…. they want the land and they want their enemy dead, and they are willing to fight in any manner necessary to get these things accomplished. Israel better continue to neutralize their foe, or the foe… Read more »
Chris Johnson, I have no doubt of the hate that exists. I also know it’s been widely reported that of the Palestinians who actually live in Israel, many don’t want the 2 state solution. They have far more freedom in Israel than they would have in a Palestinian state. Until the last several years, those living in Israel had been accepted by and large as they functioned as law abiding citizens. Clearly the driving factor here is religion. Those who recognize Israel as having a legitimate claim to land back Israel. Thoses whose religion does not, do not, and as… Read more »
Jeff, pragmatism isnt the best way to conduct a war and still have some resemblance of ethics. You do believe that some sort of ethic still applies to warfare dont you? If not, I dont think we can continue this discussion.
I’ve stated my position.
Israel has every right to defend itself. I believe the best course of action would be to (1)Continue/strengthen the blockade, (2)Increase iron dome system’s capability, (3) Destroy tunnels when you can do so without accepting non-combatants as a legitimate target.
Adam, yes, we’ll probably have to agree to disagree. When your enemy fights with no morality and no ethics and puts their own civilians in intentional harms way for PR purposes and “ethical war dictates” you just sit back and let your enemy attack you, I do not and cannot agree with that. Basically, you just outlined a formula where terrorists can use human shields and as a result, no one can do anything to combat them. And ho9nestly, when was the last “ethical war?” War is the worst of humanity. In every war their have been acts of barbarism,… Read more »
Jeff,
That is hardly an accurate assessment of the situation. Hamas is like the toddler hiding behind his sister while swinging at an adult. He may land a blow or two but is not a serious enough threat to justify taking out the sister to get at the perpetrator.
You want Israel to kill hundreds of civilians and children in order to get a few militants who have shown they are not very good at being militants.
Jeff, I guess we can disagree. I just believe there is a huge difference between (1)accepting that tragedy occurs during war and (2) knowing the likelihood of this, giving the go ahead and sanctioning it.
I just want to get you to make something clear for me, so we can have it here in public for posterity.
You believe that when it comes to war, it is acceptable to target innocent civilians or non-combatants (including women, children, old folks) if it furthers the mission objective and brings the conflict to a swifter conclusion.
A “yes” or “no” would do just fine.
Alan, how do you answer that with a yes or no when you refuse to acknowledge that Hamas is intentionally surrounding their weapons and tunnels with their own civilians? According to this strategy the US should have invaded Japan in WW II to make it fair and assure both sides would lose maximum casualties. Their is only one object to war, defeat your enemy with as few of your own casualties as possible. That has been the strategy of every war, except the ones Israel’s enemies wage. Israel’s enemies are start a hopeless fight and insure as many of their… Read more »
Jeff, I’ll acknowledge it. So answer, yes (you agree) or no (you disagree). I’ll even change it a little to put in the part about them being used as human shields…and yes, dropping the atom bomb on civilians is a sin, and it’s also sin to call something “evil” good and something “good” evil.
You believe that when it comes to war, it is acceptable to target innocent civilians or non-combatants (including women, children, old folks) who are being used as human shields, if it furthers the mission objective and brings the conflict to a swifter conclusion.
Yes or no
Adam G.,
The premise of your question is faulty.
Israel is neither targeting nor deeming acceptable the deaths of civilians. What they are doing (Hamas) is a war crime using civilians and the like as shields.
Chris Roberts…
“Hamas is like the toddler hiding behind his sister while swinging at an adult. He may land a blow or two but is not a serious enough threat to justify taking out the sister to get at the perpetrator.”
Don’t forget that the toddler has a rocket launcher and is strapped with a suicide bomb that will soon blow up the schoolyard or shopping mall.
Hamas is HARDLY an enemy that Israel can afford to ignore.
My point is that for all Hamas wants to destroy Israel, they aren’t very good at it. They want to be Rambo but they are all toddlers. They need to be stopped, but not by blowing up the civilian majority around them.
Israel gives notice to communities (enough so they can get out, but not enough for Hamas to move their stuff) that are being used by Hamas as shields that they strikes are coming. I am not sure another country in the world would do that if they were being actively attacked from bases “hidden” in those locations. I truly think Israel has shone tremendous restraint over the years when dealing with the attacks and plans to eradicate them by all the enemies that surround them…and especially with Hamas. Have Israel done stupid, over reactionary stuff from time to time…but by… Read more »
Chris Roberts,
I think there is no civilian majority, they are all soldiers. I saw the young children on the news shouting death to Israel.
I am fairly Pro Israel most of the time, but I really do think that Chris Roberts has been very even handed and fair in his assessment of the situation.
Tarheel, They have given some notice before some strikes to a people living in a densely populated area surrounded by a fence. Where are they supposed to go to escape the bombs? And how does it do them any good those times when Israel gives no notice? As for Hamas moving their stuff, they are masters at hiding and their launchers are made to be mobile (literally little more than sticks stuck in the ground at an angle). I don’t think they have any problem with mobility. That makes it puzzling to me those times when Israel has given advance… Read more »
True..civilians are dead…but that is fault of the war criminals in Hamas who are using them for shields and not the (essentially) self defending Israeli’s. Israel has been more than restrained over the years and camels back has been broken. If Chicago and Milwaukee were getting systematically hit by rockets to the tune of dozens a day by the Canadians how long do you think we should take that before retaliating…and once we do how is it that anyone objectively can call us the aggressor? You used a toddler example…well how about this one. If I swear your destruction and… Read more »
Tarheel, your analogy would be a little more accurate if it went like this… “If I swear your destruction and over a series of years every day walk up to you and attempt to punch you three times in the face, but because of your superior martial arts skills you block them and I rarely ever land a punch…and each time you decide to walk away because I usually hide behind my wife and kids, and knowing my cowardice and desiring to seek peace you enlist other people to help you hammer out a compromise…mainly for the sake of my… Read more »
Adam, I hope that most, if not all Christians side with you in your conclusion. That being to pray for our government. Praying for ALL (as you stated) who are trapped on the mountain tops whether that be Christians, *cough*Yazidis*cough* (as Chris stated), or others. Praying for those who ascribe to the ISIS beliefs, that by God’s grace they would be saved. Far to often we as Christians walk on eggshells when it comes to political issues but I for one am glad that you wrote this post. If anything it should encourage other believers to pray, not argue with… Read more »
Adam, I agree that we (as a capable nation) should (with prudence) defend the defenseless. But…they say the devil’s in the details. What would you have the U.S. government do? More food/water/medical aid? More airstrikes? Actually send americans to fight and die…again? Humanitarian aid is a band-aid over a hatchet wound. Airstrikes alone against strong defenses are very limited in their effect. If we send combat troops you can bet on mission creep. Remember when we supported the “northern alliance” with airstrikes when we ran the taliban out of Afghanistan the first time (same sad song). It only worked with… Read more »
Also, me must be aware of the fear-peddling rhetoric that can be rampant in the midst of tragedies like this. Chaos is opportunity for some folks and all sides have their salesmen.
http://thegospelcoalition.org/article/factchecker-is-isis-beheading-children-in-iraq
As bad as I hate to say this I will, the helpless has always been the casualties of war. We can weep all we want but it doesn’t change this fact. Any country that wants to survive will fight against it’s attacker. Israel has a right to defend herself and put a stop to the attacks. I think Israel has a right to walk in, take over, and set up another government. The same way we did in Iraq. I just hope Israel shows more intelligence about it than we did in Iraq. I think we should help the Christians… Read more »
Jess,
This is what Chris is talking about. Help the Christians in Iraq? How about helping the innocent and helpless in Iraq, regardless of their religion?
Bill Mac,
Many times the only way to help the innocents is to occupy the country, what I mean by this is to take total control. This is what communist countries do, not the US.
I don’t dispute that, but how does that square with your “help the Christians in Iraq” statement?
Bill Mac,
I think we should airlift them out and if they want to go back let them go at their own risk.
Jess,
What is your logistical strategy for airlifting hundreds of thousands of people and providing for them while they are away from their homes?
I’m thinking/hoping Jess means Help the Christians -and other non-combatant people groups being persecuted -in Iraq. But he hasn’t said it yet.
Clark: No, I’m pretty sure he’s talking about only helping Christians.
Chris Roberts,
Airlift only the Christians out, only if they want to go. Let the Iraq government do their part. Maybe we could help arm the right groups to fight against ISIS if there is such a thing as a right group.
I do know this country has had enough war, I think it’s time to rest a while.
Jess,
If you ever run for office, I am most definitely voting for the other guy.
So Jess, you are saying that America should go to Iraq, save only the Christians by removing them from the country, and possibly arming everyone else. Presumably if those non-Christians who are being persecuted are able to defeat ISIS, at great loss of life and property no doubt, then the Christians can re-enter the country. And you think this should be American policy in Iraq?
Yep!
Try using that story when you are evangelizing lost people. I’d be interested in seeing how that goes.
Using non-Christians as cannon-fodder for the benefit of Christians. Unbelievable.
Bill Mac,
Are you saying you would rather have another war? More American lives lost for a country that is just going to destroy themselves fighting. Unbelievable.
Of course I don’t want another war. But your idea of only rescuing Christians is just astonishing. I cannot begin to imagine: 1. How the US could possibly justify that as a policy, and 2. How that view even remotely is compatible with Christianity.
The damage such a policy would do to people’s view of America and Christianity would be incalculable.
Are you worried about American lives being lost or only Christian American lives being lost?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Arab_members_of_the_Knesset
Here is a link to Arab (Even Muslim Arabs!) members of the Knesset past and present. My point? Would the Palestinian National Authority allow Jews in their governing body?
Why is this significant?
“The Palestinians have never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity” Abba Eban
LYDIA,
there are problems on both sides, not just on the Palestinian side . . . take a closer look at the history
Bill Mac,
All I’m saying is that we can no longer be involved in Iraq. We shouldn’t be involved in Syria. We shouldn’t be involved in Afghanistan, or declare war on Iran. I don’t want China to own Kentucky.
But Jess, that isn’t all you are saying. Go back and read your comments.
We’ve made a mess in Iraq. Don’t we share some responsibility for cleaning it up?
I’m not sure what China and Kentucky have to do with this.
Bill Mac,
First of all, we borrow money from China, we are in debt to China. I would hate to owe them any more than what we do. This is what I meant by China owning Ky.
We have no responsibility to clean Iraq up. Let their oil money do that.