The War Prayer

www.midwinter.com ^ | 1923 | Mark Twain

[CubicleGuy]

Blessed are the peacemakers...

[Pay now bill Clinton]

Mark Twain bump

[Cogadh na Sith]

I know I am supposed to read this and realize all the folly of war and quail at the prospect of the truth and realize the evils of my ways...

But, I really really like that war prayer--but not in the way it was intended. I like it as an actual war prayer. I pray that God gives us the strength and will to do all of the above and more.

Maybe it should even be updated for the modern age:

"O lord, bless the guidance systems of our missiles and bombs and should the need ever come, give us the heart and will to bless them with your cleansing fires from the heart of the atom--that they will sin no more."

Amen and amen.

[xJones]

The innocent people in the WTC and the Pentagon were shredded, burned, murdered. Should we just sit by and say, "Thank you, sir. May I have another?"

[It's me]

No but, we should pray that the other side does not suffer much.
Yes, I pray we that do win but, those that lose, will most certainly suffer.
There are those in Iraq that do not want war. I pray that their suffering will be minimal.

God help us all.

[MadameAxe]

bump

[CubicleGuy]

Oh, now you've done it...

[CubicleGuy]

Are we prepared to mete out the same punishment to the citizens of Iraq, even though they had nothing to do with 9/11?

[tet68]

God of our fathers,
known of old.
Lord of our far flung battle line.
Beneath whose awefull hand we hold,
dominion over palm and pine.
O Lord, we beseech thee, protect us in the coming onslaught.
amen.

[marron]

God be with the boys as they execute your will, as they confront evil, as they destroy those who hate you, as they free those who thought you had forgotten them, as they put their lives and earthly bodies between the torturer and his victims, as they risk all they have for people they will never know, expecting nothing in return except a shower and a hot meal.

Faith is not simply believing. Faith is something you do. Faith is courage in motion. The men who are on the ground, right now, hiding in holes in the sand, approaching strangers in dark places, praying unspoken prayers not just for their lives, but for their missions, these are men of faith.

Sometimes, faith wears boots and has a Glock strapped to his leg.

[Cogadh na Sith]

Faith is not simply believing. Faith is something you do. Faith is courage in motion. The men who are on the ground, right now, hiding in holes in the sand, approaching strangers in dark places, praying unspoken prayers not just for their lives, but for their missions, these are men of faith.

That's really good. I like that a lot.

[NMC EXP]

It was believed afterward that the man [blessed peacemaker] was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.

Regards

J.R.

[xJones]

God help us all.

Amen to that.

But it is important to realize that a few truly evil people exist. It isn't wrong to defend ourselves from maniacs like Saddam. Innocent people on all sides will be hurt, and that's always the tragedy of war. We didn't start this war, it was brought to us, and not brought by innocent people like the average Iraqis. Iraqi people are scared to pieces of Saddam, and he's killed a lot more of them than Americans ever will. Hopefully, the war will be over quickly and Iraqis can have the chance to choose their own destiny.

Unfortunately, that has never been the history of the Middle East. Our biggest problem will be getting the hell out of that place afterwards

[CubicleGuy]

Our biggest problem will be getting the hell out of that place afterwards.

I think our biggest problem is those who would convince us that it's our business to go charging in there in the first place.

[Destro]

I don't mind the war. What troubles me is that the congress no longer matters in declaring war.

[CubicleGuy]

Romans 12:17-21:

17. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
18. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
19. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
20. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
21. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

I think that one's pretty good, myself.

[DWPittelli]

Are we prepared to mete out the same punishment to the citizens of Iraq?

No, we are liberating the people of Iraq from a leader who has killed millions of the citizens of Iraq, Kuwait and Iran. We are not punishing them, although necessarily some will die at our hands -- hopefully few who are not shooting at us, and almost certainly fewer than Saddam has killed and would likely kill in the future if he stayed in power.

It is our business for a number of reasons. Most notably, we are still at war with the "government" (defacto) of Iraq. Saddam's thugocracy signed a cease-fire 12 years ago. They have utterly failed to follow it. So the ceasing ceases soon.

[xJones]

All right, let's say we let Saddam go. The Iraqis will have to continue to put up with him and his very disfunctional family. That's not our business and we can't solve our own problems, let alone theirs. But Saddam is funding a lot of terrorists that are interested in attacking America and in very unpleasant ways. That is our business. Saddam is just a follow-up to cleaning out the terrorist network that threatens our country. Nobody cared a flip about the Middle East untill it was rather dramatically brought to our attention when the planes were hijacked.

[CubicleGuy]

What troubles me is that the congress no longer matters in declaring war.

A responsibility the fine Congresspeople and Senators are seemingly more than happy to hand off to someone else.

As Rich Little used to say when doing his Richard Nixon impression, "I'll take the responsibility. Just not the blame."

[DWPittelli]

I don't mind the war. What troubles me is that the congress no longer matters in declaring war.

The Congress, by 3 to 1 margins in both houses, approved "force" (i.e., acts of war) to overthrow Saddam. This is more than was done in most other wars fought by this country. And indeed, if you insist that a declaration of war must contain the word "war" then no nation has declared war in over 50 years.