The goal of the Iraq war was to bring overarching change to the middle east. To change the hostility between nations with deep seeded hatred for each other. We now have an occupation there, in a war that doesn’t make sense, and doesn’t really put us in any better position than we were in the first place, because now we are financially sunk because we’ve borrowed billions of dollars to fund this war.
In WWII, our country made sacrifices to fund the war, we banded together, we fought the enemy, it was long, and grueling, but we won. Everyone felt the weight of the war. The whole country was united in bearing the burden.
With the Iraq war, that’s not the case. Instead we go about our lives, watching the war on TV, not even too interested any more because we’ve seen it for so long. We complain about high gas prices, the high cost (economically and environmentally) of energy, and bicker about the solutions. All the while, we are going deeper and deeper in debt to fund a war hardly anyone understands, and most people disagree with.
We’re not going to change the middle east, because we haven’t stopped to consider the cost. It’s that same “Great White Hope” mentality that I abhor in the mindsets of American churches that want to send a team to whatever foreign country, save souls, then come home and everything is fine.
The truth of the matter is that the change must come from inside people, then inside governments, then nations. That is not a goal that can be achieved militarily, no matter how hard we try.
In the way of Missions, I do believe that Jesus Christ is the answer to the world’s problems. The solution to war is forgiveness, to hatred peace and so on. Where I disagree with the American mindset is to set small, unrealistic timetable and expect results. We can’t expect results in that manner, nor can we expect those types of results in Iraq. We have to realize what that change would really mean, and how long it would really take.
The overarching question is, can we afford it? And, is it really making us safer — in the long run?