SPECIAL FEATURE
From the Editor of ADVENTIST REVIEW

WAR AND PEACE IN IRAQ
By William G. Johnsson

For months it has loomed as inevitable, now it is here--war with Iraq. The peace seems anything but inevitable.

As I write the war has begun: bombs are falling, missiles hurtling through the air. The tanks roll, ground forces follow.

Men and women are dying; more will die. Some will be American, British, and Australian military personnel. Some are Iraqi soldiers and airmen.

Many will be civilians. Some will be children.

I hope and pray that the war will not last long. I would be happy, dear reader, for it to be over before you read this message, but I fear it will not. The longer the conflict rages, the heavier the toll of battered bodies and ruined minds and widows and widowers--and orphans. And the greater the mayhem, the rubble, the devastation, and the sense of despair that comes with every war.

The guns at last will fall silent, but what will the peace be like? That is the question. Wars are fought, supposedly, to make life safer; will the peace be safer or less safe than before?

This war polarized much of the world. To a lesser extent it polarized the United States (of America) itself and even Seventh-day Adventists.

The "Adventist Review", as the paper for Seventh-day Adventists in more than 200 countries, offers a perspective rooted in our Adventist heritage. It ministers hope to all in all circumstances.

First, Adventists see Iraq in different light from the editors of "Time", "Newsweek", or any secular magazine. When we look at the map of Iraq, we see not only Baghdad, Al Basrah, and Kirkuk; we see Babylon south of Baghdad where Daniel and his companions witnessed for God; further south we notice Ur, which Abram left at the call of God. In the north we see Nineveh, the city to which the reluctant prophet Jonah was sent with a saving message. We see the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers and their fertile valleys that spawned the Babylonian and Assyrian empires familiar to us in the Old Testament Scriptures.

Saddam Hussein, whose removal is a goal of this war, sought to capitalize on Iraq's ancient heritage. He endeavoured to unite the fractious elements of the nation--Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds--under dream of the golden past of Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar.

Adventists see Iraq differently for another reason. Brothers and sisters in the faith--fellow Seventh-day Adventists--live and worship in Iraq. We have three congregations in the country, one in the city of Nineveh. In Baghdad about 200 members meet in a church striking for its architecture; the growing congregation added 45 members in the past five years. Adventists cannot look on Iraqis as "the enemy" or terrorists simply because they are Iraqis.

But more than the above, Adventists are a people of peace. We believe in change and work passionately for change, but change that comes about through transformed lives. We believe that love is the most powerful weapon in the universe; that grace, not guns, alone changes the world for a bright future.

Adventists confess as Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ, He who refused to call heaven's armies to His defense, who said: "All who take the sword perish by the sword" (Matt. 26:52, R.S.V.). >From our earliest history we Adventists have officially advocated a stance of non-combatancy in times of war. We support government, but our ultimate loyalty is to God, whatever that may cost us. Some Adventists choose to bear arms, and are involved in this war; also to them we minister and extend prayers.

At this time of crisis let us pray for leaders who face decisions of grave import, whose yea or nay may bring destruction and death to thousands. Heavy is the load they bear. Let us pray fervently for them, whether they support the war or oppose it, whether we agree with the stance they took or disagree.

The peace will come. Of what sort it will be remains a question, but it will come. When the bombs cease falling and no more bullets or rocket shells fly by, there will be work to do--plenty work.

Rebuilding broken cities. Rebuilding broken lives.

You can be sure we'll be there. Adventists will be there. This is what we are about--new beginnings, hope, a bright future. A future that begins on this earth but reaches its climax in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Until then, keep praying.