It was 12 years ago last week the US sent troops to fight in Iraq. What do we know now about the war that we didn’t know then?
- It will ultimately cost many multiples of the $50B that was originally estimated. Currently, the tab is $1T and that is according to government funny math.
- Untold innocent people have lost their lives.
- The goodwill the US had built up after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 has now reversed course as the sentiment of many foreigners has become antagonist towards the US.
- No one, not even the most ardent opponents of the War in 2003 could have estimated how long we’d continue the war, how much it would cost, how little it would accomplish and how significant the unintended consequences would be.
- The Presidential administration at the time lied from top to bottom in order to obtain “buy-in” from the US populace in justifying military action against a country that really had very little to do with the 9/11 attacks.
I want to focus on the 5th and final bullet point. The fact is that we now know the Bush 43 administration deliberately misled the nation about the situation in Iraq in order to justify the war.
Former President Bush claims to be a follow of Christ. And here is what the book of Proverbs, written by King Solomon, has to say about the topic of dishonesty:
Proverbs 6: 16 – 19
There are six things which the Lord hates,
Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:
Haughty eyes,
A lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood,
A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that run rapidly to evil,
A false witness who utters lies,
And one who spreads strife among brothers. (emphasis mine)
Throughout this list, dishonesty is not mentioned once, but twice. It is uttered in the same list as killing innocent people (which the War in Iraq has certainly accomplished). And this list is not things God doesn't care for or just assume people don't do - these actions are called an "abomination" to the Lord. Then, should we be at all surprised that a military effort that was founded on deception be entirely unsuccessful - dare I say tragic. While we can debate whether the War was justifiable, there is no debate that the War has failed to deliver according to anyone’s expectations prior to the invasion.
As more candidates declare their run for Presidency or any other public office, it is obvious what we need in our elected officials above everything else is integrity. The media will focus on all sorts of things but since they are void of integrity themselves, they certainly won’t make this a topic of focus. Sure FOX will point out the Democrats' lies and MSNBC will point out the Republicans' lies but niether party nor their media puppets will hold themselves accountable.
But we as Christians must be different. We have to demand unwavering integrity from all our elected officials. We have to hold them accountable and when they decieve or "spin" or massage the truth, we need to react by finding a new candidate. Because if a candidate is going to claim our Faith than he is acting on behalf of our God and we cannot allow him or her to act dishonestely. Only a person with unwavering integrity will be able to change the direction our nation is headed and anything short of it will be just more of the same.