Mankind has been at war in some way or another since the fall of man in the garden of Eden (Gen3) and to date we are unable to escape the news on a daily basis reporting some form of war being at home or abroad.
However, 13 years after the invasion of Iraq and toppling of the dictator Saddam Hussain, the report concerning the legality and morality of the war has been published in an effort of addressing the loss of 179 British troops and many more Iraq citizens. A total of seven years in writing, the Chilcot report into the Iraq War has finally been published and released at 11am on Wednesday July 6th 2016 at a staggering cost to March 2015 of ÂŁ10.3million.
The Iraq Inquiry was set up in 2009 and chaired by Sir John Chilcot aimed at looking at the decision making process that eventually led to the invasion of Iraq.
The depth and comprehensiveness of the report is that 12b volumes and a total of 2.6million words (three times as long as the complete works of Shakespeare) with its summary page being a total of 150 pages and a cost ÂŁ767 each (but free online).
According to The Week magazine, it states that, War had been waged before it was a last resort and it was based on flawed intelligence, said Chilcot. He also criticised Blair’s autocratic style of leadership and said planning for the post-war period had been “wholly inadequate”. The Week magazine continues and writes the most damming line that has been presented in the media stating that, The report brought to light some previously private communications between Blair and US president George W Bush, including Blair’s promise: “I will be with you, whatever.”
It is arguably agreed that the Bush administration had one of the worst ever foreign policy administration which, aligned with Blair’s assurance was undoubtedly a recipe for disaster. Nonetheless in spite of Blair’s emotional plea of innocence and that he was acting on the information available at the time, there are those who have called for him to be tried for initiating an illegal war which in the end destabilised the world and did not find any weapons of mass destruction.
Jesus when give parables states “Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?” Luke 14:31
Whilst the world may seek peace, the reality is that utopia of peace is a mere fantasy where evil exists. Martin Luther King Jr wrote, “Peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal”
The question then at hand is How then does this broken world on so many spheres find peace? The answer is simply by seeking God and through doing so we find peace which is confirmed in Proverbs 16:7 “When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”
This week in an effort for peace, let us pursue God and in so doing we will find in within ourselves and throughout the world.
As a result, let us pray for our leaders and governments to do so likewise and bring an end to the war if at all possible.
