A Christian American expat living in New Zealand is teaching an Iraqi Christian refugee how to read English. The Iraqi Christian finds it hard to believe that the so much of the damage done to Iraq was done by American Christians. The article is worth reading.
About three days late, the western media have caught up with events in Iraq. Many of the articles show maps of Iraq with numerous arrows going from West to East. The Iraqi army will struggle to retake much of the ground that has been lost, because ISIS has the support local Sunni communities. Some of the towns were actually taken by local Sunni militias, not ISIS. The Syrian government will not be able to recover territory taken by ISIS, now it has access to better weapons. US air strikes would be mostly a waste of time. This is an urban-based rebellion, so airstrikes would produce civilian casualties, which would strengthen support for ISIS. The ISIS rebellion may establish a new state straddling Eastern Syria and Western Iraq. This Islamic state will become a hotbed for terrorist activity and a thorn in the flesh for the nations of Europe, just across the Mediterranean Sea. The area controlled by the rebels is mostly desert and sparsely populated. However, it will be joined to Saudi Arabia, its financial sponsor. The people of the United States will wake up and realise that the Saudis are paymaster of violent groups all over the world. ISIS will not be able to conquer Baghdad and the Shia controlled areas of Iraq. The Shia militias that became very powerful during the Iraq war will get involved again to protect their interests. Most of the oil currently being pumped out of Iraq comes from oil fields in south of the country and goes out through the port of Basra, which are not threatened. The ISIS rebels will gain control of some of the oilfields around Mosul. Most of these are not currently producing oil and the pipelines out of the area are shut down. They might be able to develop them with Saudi help. The Kurds, who are well organised militarily, will move in and get control of many of the oil fields in northern Iraq. They have already taken the disputed city of Kirkuk, which gives them control of the super-giant oil field to the East of the city. The Iranian influence in Iraq will be strengthened by these events. The US will need Iranian help to constrain the ISIS movement, so will make and uneasy peace with Iran. Iraq could be smaller, but Iran will be stronger. These events will appear to be a victory for the Saudis, but will end in disaster for them. ISIS will eventually threaten the corrupt rulers of Saudi Arabia, with who they will have a common border. At some time in the future, the United States will decide that it has to invade the ISIS controlled region from the north, but this will make the situation worse.
These reflect the current situation, but they do not reflect the longer term thrust of history in the Middle East. The real map has arrows going out from Iran, North South and West.
The biblical prophet Daniel received a vision for a long time into the future (Dan 8). He saw a two-horned Ram, standing beside a canal from the Euphrates River, and butting West, North and South. Daniel was told that this Ram is the Prince of Persia (Iran).
This vision has been being fulfilled since the Iranian revolution in 1978. The failure of Iraq war left a regime sympathetic to Iran in control of Iraq. The ISIS move from Syria west into Iraq will not stop the fulfilment of this vision. The Prince of Persia will continue to thrust West and South.
God has allowed the Prince of Persia to re-emerge to accomplish his purposes. The Beast of Revelation emerges in response to this powers shift. The Prince of Persia will also be a catalyst to the events that bring about the downfall of the Terrible Beast.
In the short term, the events will seriously change the geopolitical situation in the Middle East:
For the king of the North will muster another army, larger than the first; and after several years, he will advance with a huge army fully equipped (Dan 11:13)
Another recent good read was David Finkel’s book called The Good Soldiers.
This book tells the story of a battalion of soldiers sent to Baghdad during the early stages of the surge. It illustrates the horror and futility of war. Most of the soldiers were not killed or injured in actual battle, but by IEDs that destroyed their Humvees while out on patrol. Injuries were often horrendous and permanent. It all seemed a bit pointless, but most believed they were serving their nation.
The soldiers did not see to have a clue who their enemy was or what they were fighting for. Their commanders did not understand the various factions operating in Iraq, so they did not know whether they were fighting against Sunni insurgents opposing the Iraqi government or Shia militia ethnically cleansing the city, or both.
This is not way to run an empire.
I have just listened to Kris Vallotton talking about leadership (Serpents and Doves) at Bethel Church in Redding CA. Using Daniel as an example, he said, If you don’t have real signs and wonders, you will end up with picket signs.
That was good. Kris then talked about how Christians are called to influence nations and transform cultures. I really like the way he is getting stirred up about the Kingdom of God and is moving away from Jesus is Coming tomorrow escapism. He has some good great insights, even if he sometimes confuses the Kingdom of God with American culture. I am not too worried about that, because he is a man who listens to God and has a heart to go where he leads. He will eventually get there.
Kris has one important thing right.Great leaders understand that real change can only take place when people are transformed from inside out, not from the outside in.
This quote is true and really important. Unfortnately Kris used the situation in Iraq to illustrate his teaching in this way.The Iraqi war taught us the hard way that displacing an evil dictator is not nearly as hard as replacing him. We overthrew Saddam in thirty-seven days and declared victory on a battleship, but we have spent several more years and the lives of countless soldiers trying to establish democracy in a country that has only known tyranny for hundreds of years… Often people who are liberated after being controlled all their lives do not know how to behave in culture of freedom and soon create another prison for themselves.
The first sentence of this quotation is true, but the rest of the quotation is quite patronising. Saying that the Iraqi people have not thought for a hundred years is unfair. I am sure they did a lot of thinking about what they wanted in place of Saddam Hussein. Some of their thinking is obvious.
We underestimated the nature of transformation. We thought that if we freed the people of Iraq, they would act free and they would want government that gave them choices. What we did not realise is that when people live under tyranny for generations, they know no other way. We underestimated what happens when a tyrant runs a country and people don’t get to think for hundreds of years. And suddenly you release people into governing themselves for themselves by themselves,
Kris tends to equate democracy and freedom. Democracy emerges out of the Judeo Christian ethic, which values freedom above religion and highly esteems religion over control. The highest core value of democracy is a freedom that transfers power from a dictatorship to the people. The greatest challenge of freedom is teaching people who lived in virtual slavery how to make healthy choices for themselves by themselves. Free citizens are given the right and the responsibility to make up their own minds, to decide who is going to lead them and to vote for laws that will guide their society.
Freedom is not the same as democracy. Hitler was elected to power in a democracy. In a tribal culture, democracy destroys freedom by giving one tribe dominance over all others. America has democracy, but is losing freedom as people look to the government to free them from the credit crunch. Many Americans will choose political slavery for the sake of economic prosperity.
Kris then makes this great statement. You can bomb people into submission, but people are actually changed from the inside out. You do not transform people by scaring them into a new behaviour. The greatest battle is not being fought in the streets of Baghdad, but is being waged on the battlefield of men’s hearts. The future of Iraq will be determined by the culture that is cultivated inside the souls of people.
Unfortunately, because the American military and political leadership assume they know best, they want to graft American democracy into Iraq. I suspect that they are incapable of helping the Iraqis develop a culture of government that will work in their environment.
Kris does understand the keys to changing culture. When you love your enemies, you destroy your enemies. We went into Iraq, and capture Iraq, but we have not captured their hearts yet. The battle for Iraq or Afghanistan will not be won on the streets of their cities. The real battle is on the road to their hearts.
Having said this he still supports the war in Iraq, presumably because he thinks it necessary to protect America from terrorism (which is surprising given that the 9/11 was mostly organised in Hamburg Germany).
Kris ends with four strategic keys. Here are three. We can stand strong in integrity without putting it on everyone else. Daniel did not make the king eat vegetables. He did not mock meat eaters. You can keep your own convictions and be a message instead of preaching a message that is not really a message at all.
Good stuff. Let’s start doing it.
You can honour people without agreeing with them. When people know you value them, you can influence them.
The world has heard our message. They are waiting for us to become it.
Daniel rocked ancient Babylon. He did not beat them with military might. Instead four boys tore down Babylon from the inside out.
What was wrong with the barefooted reporter who threw his George Bush. He seemed to think that America invaded Iraq to improve the lives of the Iraqi people. If he was a serious journalist, he would know that the purpose of the war was to allow Americans to sleep peacefully at night and to make the world safe for American business interests in the Middle East.
Where did he get the idea that the deaths of thousands of Iraqi women and children is something to be concerned about. Surely he knows that the American military does not count civilian casulties. These towelheads and hajiis were going to hell anyway.
The guy just does not get it. He has lost his shoes; he is luck he still has his marbles.
According to reliable media reports, George Bush visited Iraq over the weekend. A spokesperson confirmed that the President Bush was looking for a site to build the presidential library which will house the documents, artifacts, gifts of state and museum exhibits related to his life and career. He said,The President has gone off the idea of building a library in Texas, as it would be to vulnerable to terrorist attacks by unemployed auto workers. Now that the war has been won, Iraq is one of the safest places on earth to live, so it is the ideal place to build a Presidential Library. The other advantage is that prices on commercial land are sharp and Iraq is handy to the Bush Family oil interests in the Middle East.
A report that Mr Bush has made an offer on a presidential palace overlooking the Euphrates River could not be confirmed.
In my view, the war in Iraq is an unjust war. The goal of preventing another terrorist attack on the United States simply just not justify the cost of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi casulties, let alone all the other costs.
Many people believe that the US must defend itself against terrorism in the Middle East, but this is also a mistake at that tactical level.
