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Blogger Callout
Australia

Shalom responds to my blogger callout with a rare entry on thoughts and feelings about US and Australian involvement in Iraq.

I still feel incredibly sad that this war has actually started. I have not wanted to blog about it much over the past few days. This was not a case of ignoring it and hoping it would go away. I was sad for many things, and particularly because Australia has been committed to the war with very little opportunity for public opinion to be heard, let alone noted.

She grieves the lack of Austalian public input into the countries decision and casts a skeptical eye on media coverage.

Martin Roth queries why there has been so much opposition to this war and yet not as much given to events in Africa. I think this is a fair comment. I think the answer lies in somethng I was thinking about in all the publicity given to the shuttle disaster. Publicity and propaganda in an affluent country aids press coverage and therefore public reaction to tragedy. I grieve for the events he mentions and pray for those involved. It does not lessen my opposition to the way this war was engineered. It does not make me any less opposed to the fact that this is done without UN sanctions. This fact makes me uneasy. Who will be the next to follow this precedent?

Shalom also refuses the label of anti-American that so many of us outside the US find ourselves having to fend off, and looks at pragmatic public acceptance.

In Sydney, there seems to be some acceptance of the war now. Not an openhearted acceptance, but rather it is an acceptance that we now have to make the best of things, since Australia is involved in the fighting. I believe that there is support for the Australians there, even if there is no support for why they are there. There does not seem to be jubilation at early victories and advances, just a wish that this would soon be over and our troops brought quickly home. I have been praying for all concerned, both coalition and Iraqis.

Anyone else? Africa, Russia, Italy….?

Leighton Ford asks three questions after a meeting with US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and others in Washington a few months ago.

Although I appreciated being invited to the session, I left troubled. Certainly Saddam Hussein has wrought great evil against his own people and others, greater perhaps than most of us realize. Yet I was not convinced that the connection between Iraq and terrorism was clear enough to justify war.

In the weeks since I have wrestled with the question of this war, and its moral defensibility. I had thought of writing an open letter to the president. But he has more than enough advice! So instead I write this to you, as young pastors, evangelists, and mission leaders to ask you to confront honestly and prayerfully three questions that we who follow Jesus should be asking of ourselves and those we lead.

Question #1: What is the moral justification for a “pre-emptive” war?

Question #2: What effect will war have on fellow believers in other parts of the world?

Question #3: What war is most worth fighting?

Jordon Cooper posts Ford’s full article.

HourEleven editor William Holzer has posted his Shorthand roundup for the past week.

Journalists in Iraq
Six journalists have been killed this week in Iraq. The1999 Freedom House report says media deaths have increased dramatically in the past decade.

I’m going to give a personal opinion here. I have no problem with media travelling with troops. In the current conflict, there is a blend of independents in Iraq and area as well.
A human face needs to be put on the men and women in uniform, and reports to date indicate there has been no censorship by military brass.
Classified information is clearly stated in daily briefings.
If war correspondents are unaware of extreme risk upon arrival in a region, the learning curve is terribly quick. Some are enamoured with military terminology and technology, but to date, most of the coverage of ‘embedded’ journalists I’ve seen has provided the human element I found lacking in 1991.
Journalism remains in the top 10 most stressful jobs, domestic or foreign.
Having said that I am familar with a couple of journalists covering Iraq, and I grieve the loss of American, French, Australian and British media this past week, and extend my condolences to their families.

China
UNICEF says that smuggling of females in China is a serious problem with their latest report estimating a half million girls sold a year. Tens of thousands of girls are abandoned.
This has once again been brought to world attention today when 28 babies were found in suitcases on a bus travelling in the Guangxi province in south west China.