On the five year anniversary (if it may be called that)
of the war in Iraq, President Bush commented on two
significant events – first, the fact that the war in Iraq
had reached the five year point, and second, the fact
that the number of US military deaths had reached
4,000.
In his remarks recognizing those two events, the
president called the war in Iraq, "noble, necessary,
just." He has so often been forced to the defensive
mode by public opinion, domestic and international,
that two benchmarks of this nature, occurring at the
same time, might well have been expected to produce
a strong defensive statement. And that was about as
strong as any such statement could be.
"Just." Possibly. If the only alternative were to allow
Saddam Hussein to remain in despotic power, holding
the people of Iraq in abject subservience, then it was
probably a just war. Saddam Hussein is gone. He has
been captured by American forces, tried and executed
under Iraqi law. But it can be argued that the war goes
on, even after its just cause has been resolved.
"Necessary." Again, possibly so. Iraq, through the
intransigence of Saddam Hussein, had ignored and for
an extended period of time had refused to comply with
the several resolutions of the United Nations. There is
some grounds for the decision that war was the only
way to bring him, and Iraq, into conformity with what
we consider to be the "civilized world."
"Noble." Ah, there’s the major difficulty. How does
"war" – any war – become "noble?" Once war consisted
of two opposing forces fighting to the death with
stones and clubs. Then with spears and arrows. Then
with guns and cannons. Now with air craft equipped
with guided missiles, poison gas and nuclear bombs.
The same "bottom line" applies through the ages –
war is "to the death."
How can it be noble to commit to death the lives of
any nation’s young men – and women? Not often can
the term "noble" be applied to war. In recent years the
genocide in Rwanda comes to mind. 500,000 human
beings slaughtered, while the United Nations and the
rest of the "civilized world" stood by and did nothing.
Four years after that genocide, Bill Clinton, as the
Commander in Chief of the US Armed Forces, issued
what has been called the "Clinton apology" and
acknowledged his failure to deal with the situation in
Rwanda. There was not then, and has never been, a
formal apology for the inaction of the United Nations,
the United States and the rest of the world community.
That might well have been a "noble" war, if it had ever
occurred.
Or the current situation in Darfur in the Sudan, where
in the past few years similar genocide has killed an
estimated 400,000 Sudanese, with 2.5 million suffering
forced displacement. Again, the "civilized world" has
completely failed, and the slaughter continues. Who
will make the acknowledgment of failure, or perhaps
apologize on behalf of the United Nations, or even the
United States? That, too, might have been considered a
"noble" war, had it ever occurred.
There is a deplorable tendency to treat the reports of
military fatalities almost as numbers on the score board
of an athletic contest. But those numbers do exist. They
are real. In Iraq, in 5 years, there have been 4,000 US
military fatalities. How would today’s anti-war protesters
carrying their placards in the streets and spraying fake
blood on their faces, or camping in protest near President
Bush’s home, have coped with what we older Americans
remember of the 300,000 US military deaths in the 4
years of World War II, or the 35,000 US military deaths
in the 3 years of the Korean conflict, or the 50,000 US
military deaths in the 9 years of the Viet Nam war?
Giving one’s life in defense of one’s country is a noble
act, and each US military death should be so respected.
Whether or not a war which resulted in those deaths was
"noble" is something for historians to decide.
As Christians, our source of authority and guidance, the
Bible, is not bereft of mention of warfare – spiritual and
military. In the synoptic gospels – Matthew, Mark and
Luke – Jesus speaks of warfare (military, not spiritual)
prior to the time of His return. "When you hear of wars
and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed ... nation will
rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom ..."
(Mark 13: 7,8 NIV) And Jesus spoke of military war in
defining the responsibility of being His disciples, "Or
suppose a king is about to go to war against another
king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether
he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one
coming against him with twenty thousand?" And Jesus
even explained diplomacy as a possible solution, "If he
is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is
still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace."
(Luke 14, 31-32 NIV)
But Paul took the concept of military war into the realm
of spiritual conflict, "For though we live in the world,
we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we
fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the
contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets
itself up against the knowledge of God..." (II Cor. 10: 3-5
NIV) And in his letter to Timothy, he advised the younger
man, "Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the
eternal life to which you were called ..." (I Tim. 6: 12 NIV)
For those of us who can only observe from a distance
the conflicts between nations or ideologies, our recourse
must be to pray for Almighty God to guide the decisions
of those in temporal power with respect to the nobility,
necessity and justice of any future military conflict, any
future war.
More about the author
The Evangelical Viewpoint is pleased to present this
new series of essays by Dr. Jerry Beavan, in which he
offers mature discussions of important elements of
the Christian faith, with the goal of helping Christian
believers to live the Christian life more effectively.
At age 89, he already has a lifetime of experiences in
Christian ministry, as a graduate theologian, as a
professor in college and seminary, and as a world
traveler involved in government relations at high
levels, here in America and around the world. The
late Dr. Jerry Falwell referred to him as "one of
God's giants and modern patriarchs." Dr. Billy
Graham said of him, "Jerry Beavan is the architect
of world evangelism as we know it today." Now
living in "active retirement" on America's Pacific
coast, although physically impaired, he is using his
writing skills, via the internet, to help other believers
gain a better understanding of their Christian faith.
He is the author of several works, including his recent
volume, ""A Handbook of Applied Christianity."
