This week, John Bolton begins his tenure as National Security Advisor, replacing Army Gen. H. R. McMaster and reshaping an administration that must respond to national security threats across the spectrum. In response to Bolton’s appointment, some critics have argued we should be alarmed, terrified, and even horrified. In an interview with USA Today, Former [ Read More ]
Last week, President Trump appointed John Bolton as his third national security adviser in 14 months, continuing a shake-up that underscores the President’s recent about-face on national security. Having campaigned as a non-interventionist, he now has one of the most hawkish security teams in generations. Who is John Bolton, and will he excel as national [ Read More ]
In an interview with the Washington Post on August 8, Baptist pastor Robert Jeffress stated that “God has endowed rulers with full power to use whatever means necessary—including war—to stop evil,” and that “God has given Trump authority to take out Kim Jong-un.” Is Jeffress right? Has God given President Trump the authority to “take [ Read More ]
On April 4, an attack on a Syrian town in Idlib province left more than 80 people dead. The evidence makes clear that Sarin gas was used, non-combatants were targets, and Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad ordered the attack. Four days later, the United States responded to Assad’s actions by launching nearly 60 cruise missiles at [ Read More ]
The United States’ war footprint is growing in the Middle East, a shift that began during the Obama administration and is continuing under President Trump. As Ben Hubbard and Michael R. Gordon noted yesterday, the United States has increased its local forces in Syria, supported an urban offensive in Mosul, and is increasing the number [ Read More ]
The early years of the twenty-first century have been rife with war and threats of war. Jihadist-related deaths have increased from an average of roughly 2,500 innocents per year from 2001 to 2006 to an average of more than 28,000 per year in 2014-2015. ISIS continues its deadly attacks and genocidal missions across Africa, Asia, [ Read More ]
No Christian—and for that matter, no “soldier worth his salt” (as General Schwarzkopf put it)—will proclaim himself to be “pro-war.” We desire peace. And yet we disagree on how to achieve the peace we desire.
At one end of the spectrum, pacifists refuse to participate in wars of any kind, for any reason. At the other end of the spectrum, crusaders seek final peace by waging war on behalf of an ideal. In the middle of the two views are just war proponents. Unlike pacifists, they are willing to wage war, but unlike crusaders, they are not willing to do so to achieve ideological perfection.
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The United States must immediately wage a more comprehensive and wholehearted war against ISIS in Iraq, Syria, and Libya, and wherever ISIS might be found. Terrorist events of recent weeks remind us that the longer we wait to launch a full-fledged assault, the more our nation and its allies will suffer and the more our [ Read More ]