The Ecclesia Collective

John and Betsy Mustol hang out with the Collective from time to time, being quiet encourager’s of the GLOCAL teach-in’s, teaching us theology and how to bake bread amongst other things. In the wake of the 5th anniversary of the Iraq invasion and the death of over 4,000 American soldiers, we asked John to share his thoughts with us.

This month marks the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by the United States and its coalition allies. After five years, almost 4,000 American soldiers have died, some 29,000 have been wounded, and hundreds of billions of dollars spent. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi men, women, and children have been killed and wounded, and millions have been displaced. American prestige in the world is at a low point. Over this past year, violence has decreased in Iraq, but it is unclear why. The “surge” has probably helped. Contrary to President Bush’s policies of preemptive violence and pugnacity, General Petraeus and other military leaders in Iraq have implemented policies of negotiation and reconciliation with local insurgent factions, groups, clans, and tribes that have probably been helpful. In any case, I thank God for this improvement in what remains a highly unstable and unpredictable situation. I pray things will continue to improve.

All reasonable people now recognize that our decision to invade Iraq was a grave error. In light of that, confession and repentance are in order. But short of that, we need, at least, a clear and rational policy in Iraq and the Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc. As we enter this, the sixth year of the Iraq War, (and the seventh year of the Afghan War), I encourage everyone to write your political representatives to encourage them to work for peace and for the timely, just, and responsible withdrawal of all foreign forces from Iraq (and Afghanistan) as soon as practicable. We must clearly state our intention to leave Iraq as soon as we are able. I encourage you to write editorial comments in newspapers and magazines.

I urge people to carefully consider the coming election this fall. We desperately need radical changes in policies that will return the United States to leadership in the world morally as well as militarily and economically. We need to shift from a policy of unilateralism and belligerence to a policy of dialog, cooperation, and negotiation – something like what General Petraeus is doing in Iraq. We need a leader who is willing to talk with our real or perceived enemies – and not just talk to them but also listen to them. Jesus said love your enemies. At the very least, that means we should listen to them and try to understand them.

We who name Jesus as Lord should be agents of peace in this world. As Mirsoslav Volf wrote in his landmark book, Exclusion and Embrace, “This is what Jesus Christ asks Christians to do. Assured of God’s justice and undergirded by God’s presence, they are to break the cycle of violence by refusing to be caught in the automatism of revenge.” We are to love our enemies, to effect “costly acts of non-retaliation” which may become the seeds of peace. I encourage you to speak out and continue to pray for justice and peace in this broken world.