Praise God! The End of the Iraq War! Praise God and continue to pray.

Greetings,

            Saturday, December 17, 2011 at approximately 11:35 pm EST the last United States troops left the country of Iraq, crossing into Kuwait as the sun rose over the desert.

            Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise God all creatures here below, praise God above ye heavenly hosts, praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.  Amen.

            Amen!  And again I say Amen! 

            Recently I was asked to compare the Viet Nam war and the Iraq war.  Obviously, the war in Viet Nam cost us some ten times the deaths and injuries of the Iraq war, along with a whole lot more in expenses when you adjust for inflation.  However,  However, if you have read my e-mails you are aware of my objections to the war in general and to how the war was being conducted in particular.  I won’t rehearse all of that now.  Suffice to say, regardless of the crass and blatantly political reasons for the withdraw from Iraq, the good news for this Holy season is that the war in Iraq is now ended.  U.S. Embassy personnel and their protectors and military personnel working with the Iraqis on certain projects number about 15,000, and we will certainly keep them in our prayers, but after some eight years and nine months, the war is over.  Assessing if we accomplished anything worthwhile will have to wait a while.  We will continue to pray that it may be so. 

            We certainly will continue to pray for the families of those who died in their country’s service, and for all of those who suffered terrible injuries and must now somehow put their lives back together.  We will pray for all of the service personnel and their families who now must return to civilian life, that they may find meaningful employment, and be able to take care of their families. 

            We will also continue to pray and work for peace and justice in Afghanistan and all of the other parts of the world where our forces are facing violence and are endeavoring to be “peacekeepers.”  May they all come home very soon.  We will continue to pray for our politicians and leaders that regardless of their political party and their desire to be re-elected, they way choose to walk in the way of justice and peace, in the Way of Jesus the Christ, whether they acknowledge that Way or not. 

            But today we celebrate the end of a war.  Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!

Yours & His,

DED