IN THEORY:Reflections on war in Iraq

To mark the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, many religious groups have organized protests across the country. Those involved with a mass protest in Washington on Friday called on President Bush and Congress to withdraw troops from Iraq. What are your thoughts about the war on this anniversary?

I've been opposed to this war from the beginning. I grieve for the families of those who have given their lives or been wounded. I support activities that support our troops, but I do not support this war. I believe as a result of this war, terrorism has increased, innocent people have been killed, and our country is needlessly divided.

This war is a classic example of a dominator leadership model that has alienated us from the world. It is beyond me how our current administration justifies its behavior. Daily, I pray that a new approach will be found that can accomplish a peaceful conclusion and bring our troops home. There are no easy answers or quick fixes. Both parties must work together to end it as soon as possible.

Our first responsibility is to make peace, not war!

PASTOR JIM TURRELL

Center for Spiritual Discovery

Costa Mesa

Many a would-be conqueror has set his sights on the Middle East, only to have his ambitions covered by the shifting sands. The Crusaders at the Horns of Hittim, Napoleon at the Battle of the Nile, the British at Kut and the Nazis at El Alamein met devastating defeat. Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, Sassanids and many others attempted conquest, but their confidence proved illusory and evaporated as a desert mirage. President Bush sallied forth in the tradition of those who aspired to remake the region in the image of a dominant power. As a presidential candidate, Bush inveighed against nation-building. How much more futile and fatal to embark on a campaign of nation-creating!

For that is the goal of this war. Tribes, factions and clans that battled for centuries in intra-Muslim blood feuds have never coalesced into a nation. To suppose that American firepower can prevail over entrenched enmity and to imagine that democracy will flourish in a culture more amenable to authoritarianism is to stumble in a hashish haze.