A time for war.

[Gideon300]

I am bewildered by the antipathy shown to the US/Israel war against Iran. It's not an offensive war. It is defensive. it is also something that should have happened at least 30 years ago.

Iran has been attacking America and Israel, as well as other Western interests, since the revolution in 1979. Yes, the British, French and Americans facilitated the Islamic regime. And paid a price for their folly.

Blaming the West does nothing to resolve the issues. The facts are that Iran is responsible for the deaths of at least 900 US servicemen. Iran has been developing nuclear weapons, in spite of their claims to the contrary. Iran has been shouting "death to America" even while pretending to negotiate.

Every government has a responsibility to protect its citizens. Europe and the UK abdicated that responsibility. The people of Ukraine have paid a terrible price as a result. Putin flagged his intentions years before he illegally annexed Crimea and parts of Ukraine. He did what he said he would do. Hitler announced his intentions well before he started WW2. Everyone needs to take Iran seriously.

Of course, if you live in Australia, well away from the Middle East, you are pretty safe. However, Iranian refugees here have been harassed by IRGC agents. Iran is not a tin pot country led by buffoons. They are murderous psychotics, but they are not stupid. North Korea, Pakistan and India have nukes. South Africa was well on the way until they were talked/bullied/bribed out of it. Ukraine developed some of Russia's nukes. It's not beyond the capabilities of Iran and they will use them if they get them.

..........a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes 3:8. You will note that war precedes peace. If you want a world in darkness, cities smouldering ruins, people utterly shattered then by all means force the war to stop. Of course, you cannot. And that is a good thing.

I was required to study the effects of the atom bombs dropped on Japan, part of my naval duties. Those bombs were tiny compared to what is available today. The destruction was unfathomable and the effects on people horrifying. It was not only the death and injury. it was the shock of such destruction in such a short time.

The world should be prepared to pay the price to stop Iran. Since America and Israel are the primary targets, they should be the main forces in the conflict.

Sure, this is a more sobering assessment than the clown show inauguration of the new Iranian leader. Iran for sure has been shaken. However, the real powers of Iran are not done yet.

 

[ChristRoseFromTheDead]

No, you're a warmonger. Repent of your ungodliness.

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9​

 

[GWH]

I am bewildered by the antipathy shown to the US/Israel war against Iran. It's not an offensive war. It is defensive. it is also something that should have happened at least 30 years ago.

Iran has been attacking America and Israel, as well as other Western interests, since the revolution in 1979. Yes, the British, French and Americans facilitated the Islamic regime. And paid a price for their folly.

Blaming the West does nothing to resolve the issues. The facts are that Iran is responsible for the deaths of at least 900 US servicemen. Iran has been developing nuclear weapons, in spite of their claims to the contrary. Iran has been shouting "death to America" even while pretending to negotiate.

Every government has a responsibility to protect its citizens. Europe and the UK abdicated that responsibility. The people of Ukraine have paid a terrible price as a result. Putin flagged his intentions years before he illegally annexed Crimea and parts of Ukraine. He did what he said he would do. Hitler announced his intentions well before he started WW2. Everyone needs to take Iran seriously.

Of course, if you live in Australia, well away from the Middle East, you are pretty safe. However, Iranian refugees here have been harassed by IRGC agents. Iran is not a tin pot country led by buffoons. They are murderous psychotics, but they are not stupid. North Korea, Pakistan and India have nukes. South Africa was well on the way until they were talked/bullied/bribed out of it. Ukraine developed some of Russia's nukes. It's not beyond the capabilities of Iran and they will use them if they get them.

..........a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes 3:8. You will note that war precedes peace. If you want a world in darkness, cities smouldering ruins, people utterly shattered then by all means force the war to stop. Of course, you cannot. And that is a good thing.

I was required to study the effects of the atom bombs dropped on Japan, part of my naval duties. Those bombs were tiny compared to what is available today. The destruction was unfathomable and the effects on people horrifying. It was not only the death and injury. it was the shock of such destruction in such a short time.

The world should be prepared to pay the price to stop Iran. Since America and Israel are the primary targets, they should be the main forces in the conflict.

Sure, this is a more sobering assessment than the clown show inauguration of the new Iranian leader. Iran for sure has been shaken. However, the real powers of Iran are not done yet.

You're assessment of the need to stop Iran before it was able to attack others with nuclear weapons is spot on.
If it acquired nuclear weapons, every middle eastern nation would want them and the WWIII Armageddon would be upon us.
Some peace that would be!

Unfortunately, fools are unable to understand that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure (cf. the rise of Hitler),
while others seem not to appreciate and even to despise the blessings God provides them, usually via the sacrifice of lives,
reprising the case of Esau (cf. the previous post).

 

[Brasspen]

Iran would have given the nukes to terrorist groups. With full plans on how to build them.

 

[HeIsHere]

No, you're a warmonger. Repent of your ungodliness.

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9​

A little knowledge is a very dangerous thing....... wash, rinse, repeat.
Tiresome.

 

[Gideon300]

No, you're a warmonger. Repent of your ungodliness.

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9​

The real peacemakers are currently risking their lives to keep even the naive like you alive. Obviously you know nothing of history. It was the "peacemakers" that allowed the rise of Hitler, which led to WW2. That led to the murders of millions, including Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals and other minorities. Hitler murdered critics, including men of God.

WW2 led to to Russia rearming and recruiting massive armies and airforce. Stalin used his military might to take over Eastern European nations that were rendered defenceless by Germany. Stalin murdered vast numbers of his own people. Perhaps you would prefer to live under that kind of regime. Don't worry, you would not survive for long.

Americans have never had a real war on their own territory. Too many sit back and judge those who defend themselves instead of capitulating to violence. That includes you.

Ungodly? God is a God of war as well as peace. Perhaps that has escaped you. I suggest you come into the real world and check out how God dealt with the enemies of Israel. There is a time for war and and a time for peace. It's in your Bible too.

 

[ResidentAlien]

I have no problem with war if it's necessary. I do have a problem with stupid wars, with not getting congressional authorization first, and not having much of a plan. Their only plan as far as I can see is drop a bunch of bombs and see what happens.

We had a good deal with Iran until Donald ripped it up. He's supposed to be the great dealmaker, why couldn't he get a better deal to replace the one he torched? He didn't even try to negotiate, he sent a couple of his flunkies to negotiate for him.

 

[ResidentAlien]

Who's benefiting financially from the spike in oil prices?

 

[Gideon300]

I have no problem with war if it's necessary. I do have a problem with stupid wars, with not getting congressional authorization first, and not having much of a plan. Their only plan as far as I can see is drop a bunch of bombs and see what happens.

We had a good deal with Iran until Donald ripped it up. He's supposed to be the great dealmaker, why couldn't he get a better deal to replace the one he torched? He didn't even try to negotiate, he sent a couple of his flunkies to negotiate for him.

The supposed deal with Iran that Obama negotiated was never observed by Iran. There were areas in their nuclear facilities where inspectors were not permitted. The Quran allows Muslims to lie if it facilitates the spread of Islam.

There is a strategy. Some people take the time to look into such things. I'm retired, so I have time.

The first steps were to remove as much of the regime leadership as possible. Iran made this much easier by having 40 or so top officials meet in the same place. Israel discovered this and dropped bombs on them. The deaths included Khamenei.

The next step was to destroy Iran's air defences. That has been achieved without one IAF or USAF loss. Iran's navy and airforce has been destroyed already. Iran's flagship drone launching carrier was sunk before it could do any damage.

Iran's missiles are its greatest threat. The IAF and USAF are seeking out and destroying launchers. With no launchers, it does not matter how many missiles Iran has.

There have been more attacks on nuclear development facilities. There was no much left to destroy, but Iran has scratched something together to continue development. However, they do not have to make a true bomb. If enough highly enriched material is assembled, it can be packed around high explosive to make a "dirty" bomb. It spreads highly radioactive material. The half life of that material is about 700 million years. It's no wonder that the FBI is worried about an attack of Los Angeles.

There is a comprehensive strategy to degrade Iran's weaponry and also to disrupt command and control. Iran's rats are fleeing to Canada. Hopefully, they will be charged with crimes against humanity. Somehow I doubt it.

The zealots of the IRGC have yet to capitulate. They will need to be either eliminated or surrender before a civilian administration can take over. Not all of Iran's regular force support the regime. They may start defending the protestors against what's left of the regime forces.

Iran is not a third world country. The people are resourceful, well educated, intelligent and inventive. The tragedy is that so much of that has been used for destructive purposes. Once the regime is gone, Iran can be restored to what it could have been without the Mullah take over.

 

[arlev]

Gideon300 raises some good points - both in his original posting and his follow up. His observations - as far as I know the situation over there - are accurate (although Netanyahu has been banging on about Iran's imminent production of a nuclear threat for a great many years and that claim is wearing a bit thin with me).

But, moving on from that, to comment on the content of many of this forum's posts about the current world situation...

...have you noticed how the New Testament isn't full of griping comments about what was going on in their world? Have you seen that they didn't criticise the Emperor because of his foreign policy?

Yes, John the Baptist did call to account Herod and his marriage because Herod, a Jew, was still bound to the OT Law (Mark 6:17-18, Lev 18:16), more so as an example being the nation's leader - but Paul didn't go around the Empire trying to annul slavery or to demand famine relief from the secular leadership (he did rejoice in it when it came from the church to the church and even organised a collection of it at one point).

What he did do was preach Christ, to call the Church to order under Christ, to expect believers to reflect their new Master in their lifestyle and to urge the Church to look after its own.

If there were problems that needed to be addressed, they were Church ones - he took on false leadership (primarily in the local churches, not the world), false doctrine too, but left the world largely to get on with its own heresies.

He certainly used what the world was doing to preach the Gospel - at Athens, he used an idol to direct the crowds attention to his message (Acts 17:22ff) - but his message of reform of lifestyle came to the Church, not the world (you can't put a legalistic band-aid on a cancerous growth).

I've written elsewhere here recently about the need to be reflections of Christ no matter what circumstances are that come upon us. No matter what the world does, we still have to react with His presence.

We are better to leave the world to follow whichever path it chooses - sure, we can comment on them, but don't tell them what to do or think that they can do anything other than make a complete mess of it (although God will work together for good for the benefit of His followers - Romans 8:28-30).

There's enough wrong amongst those men and women who profess a relationship with Christ for us to be going on with. Our calling is to preach the Gospel and establish the Church in Truth.

We can 'watch and pray' what goes on - but watch and gripe? Watch and tell the world what to do?

That's not our calling.

 

[ResidentAlien]

There was no imminent threat. If there truly was an imminent threat, they could've gone to Congress and gotten authorization. It's hard to get authorization when you go to Congress and say Donald woke up this morning and felt like attacking Iran; or, we want to start Armageddon so Christ can return. Is Iran a menace? Of course they are. But if Donald is the king dealmaker, where's the deal?

 

[ResidentAlien]

Donald says it'll be time for the war to be over when he "feels it in his bones." What a strategist. I feel safer.

 

[timf]

Rom_13:4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

 

[ResidentAlien]

Rom_13:4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

I agree, but being a "minister of God" doesn't put you above the law or the Constitution. The US is governed by laws, not a monarchy.

 

[GWH]

I have no problem with war if it's necessary. I do have a problem with stupid wars, with not getting congressional authorization first, and not having much of a plan. Their only plan as far as I can see is drop a bunch of bombs and see what happens.

We had a good deal with Iran until Donald ripped it up. He's supposed to be the great dealmaker, why couldn't he get a better deal to replace the one he torched? He didn't even try to negotiate, he sent a couple of his flunkies to negotiate for him.

You are one of the naive flunkies, not understanding that the deal with Iran was allowing them to develop nuclear weapons able to strike USA. Please stop believing the fake news. Add Newsmax and even Fox to your sources.

 

[GWH]

Gideon300 raises some good points - both in his original posting and his follow up. His observations - as far as I know the situation over there - are accurate (although Netanyahu has been banging on about Iran's imminent production of a nuclear threat for a great many years and that claim is wearing a bit thin with me).

But, moving on from that, to comment on the content of many of this forum's posts about the current world situation...

...have you noticed how the New Testament isn't full of griping comments about what was going on in their world? Have you seen that they didn't criticise the Emperor because of his foreign policy?

Yes, John the Baptist did call to account Herod and his marriage because Herod, a Jew, was still bound to the OT Law (Mark 6:17-18, Lev 18:16), more so as an example being the nation's leader - but Paul didn't go around the Empire trying to annul slavery or to demand famine relief from the secular leadership (he did rejoice in it when it came from the church to the church and even organised a collection of it at one point).

What he did do was preach Christ, to call the Church to order under Christ, to expect believers to reflect their new Master in their lifestyle and to urge the Church to look after its own.

If there were problems that needed to be addressed, they were Church ones - he took on false leadership (primarily in the local churches, not the world), false doctrine too, but left the world largely to get on with its own heresies.

He certainly used what the world was doing to preach the Gospel - at Athens, he used an idol to direct the crowds attention to his message (Acts 17:22ff) - but his message of reform of lifestyle came to the Church, not the world (you can't put a legalistic band-aid on a cancerous growth).

I've written elsewhere here recently about the need to be reflections of Christ no matter what circumstances are that come upon us. No matter what the world does, we still have to react with His presence.

We are better to leave the world to follow whichever path it chooses - sure, we can comment on them, but don't tell them what to do or think that they can do anything other than make a complete mess of it (although God will work together for good for the benefit of His followers - Romans 8:28-30).

There's enough wrong amongst those men and women who profess a relationship with Christ for us to be going on with. Our calling is to preach the Gospel and establish the Church in Truth.

We can 'watch and pray' what goes on - but watch and gripe? Watch and tell the world what to do?

That's not our calling.

No, we are NOT "better to leave the world to follow whichever path it chooses".
We are better to thank God for the USA founders who provided the world the blessings of liberty including freedom to worship Him.
We are better to do our part in building on that foundation by being salt and light to the world rather than not resisting Satan's evil attempt to conquer it and enslave us. God works for good through His followers who do NOT leave the world to follow Satan.

 

[ChristRoseFromTheDead]

Add Newsmax and even Fox to your sources.

None more blind than those who think they see.

 

[arlev]

No, we are NOT "better to leave the world to follow whichever path it chooses".

Show me that calling in the New Testament.
Our calling is to go into the World and proclaim the work of the Christ.

 

[ChristRoseFromTheDead]

...have you noticed how the New Testament isn't full of griping comments about what was going on in their world? Have you seen that they didn't criticise the Emperor because of his foreign policy?

Big difference between an appointed Emperor of an empire and a constitutional democratic republic. In the latter the people are the government and can criticize whatever they want about the people they elect to represent their interests and will. When elected officials take the authority entrusted to them by the people and give it to outside interests, like let's say the beast, then they have betrayed their oath.

 

[GWH]

Show me that calling in the New Testament.
Our calling is to go into the World and proclaim the work of the Christ.

You answered your own demand but did not show yourself where it says "that calling" in the NT!