_______________________________________________________________ | | It is a sin not to oppose it | http://ldsvswar.lege.net/prove_it/ | | | It is a sin not to oppose it | I will prove it to you by the words of the Prophet and by | the words of the President of the United States | http://ldsvswar.lege.net/prove_it/ | by Leif Erlingsson | October 25, 2003 | | | The U.S. coalition's unprovoked invasion of Iraq was an evil | of such magnitude that it is a sin not to oppose it. I will | prove it to you by the words of the Prophet and by the words | of the President of the United States. | | | The cause of peace requires that we oppose -- and not | appease -- the men whose threats otherwise can grow into | global war: | | President George W. Bush: "The cause of peace requires all | free nations to recognize new and undeniable realities. In | the 20th century, some chose to appease murderous dictators, | whose threats were allowed to grow into genocide and global | war. In this century, when evil men plot chemical, | biological and nuclear terror, a policy of appeasement could | bring destruction of a kind never before seen on this | earth." [ George W. Bush's March 17, 2003 Address Preparing | the Nation for War -- | http://legal.lege.net/an_annotated_critique/#appease ] | | | We must renounce war and proclaim peace: | | President Gordon B. Hinckley: "Modern revelation states that | we are to ``renounce war and proclaim peace'' (D&C 98:16)." | [ President Gordon B. Hinckley's April 6, 2003 War and Peace | speech at the Sunday Morning Session of the 173rd Annual | General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of | Latter-day Saints -- | http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-353-27,00.html | ] | | Elder Russell M. Nelson: "As a Church, we must ``renounce | war and proclaim peace.''(D&C 98:16) As individuals, we | should ``follow after the things which make for | peace.''(Romans 14:19)" [ Elder Russell M. Nelson's October | 2002 "Blessed Are the Peacemakers" speech -- | http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-315-13,00.html | ] | | | There never was any evidence that Saddam Hussein was | involved with the September 11th attacks: | | President George W. Bush: "We've had no evidence that Saddam | Hussein was involved with September the 11th." [ President | George W. Bush, September 17, 2003 -- | http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20030917_1736.html ] | | Condoleezza Rice: "We have never claimed that Saddam Hussein | had either direction or control of 9-11." [ Condoleezza | Rice, September 14, 2003 -- | http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20030917_1736.html ] | | | Only to defend our homes and our liberties, our wives and | our children, and so on, are we justified in going to war: | | President Gordon B. Hinckley: "When war raged between the | Nephites and the Lamanites, the record states that ``the | Nephites were inspired by a better cause, for they were not | fighting for . . . power but they were fighting for their | homes and their liberties, their wives and their children, | and their all, yea, for their rites of worship and their | church.''" [ President Gordon B. Hinckley's April 6, 2003 | War and Peace speech at the Sunday Morning Session of the | 173rd Annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus | Christ of Latter-day Saints -- | http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-353-27,00.html | ] | | President Gordon B. Hinckley: "When all is said and done, we | of this Church are people of peace. We are followers of our | Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the Prince of | Peace. But even He said, ``Think not that I am come to send | peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword'' | (Matthew 10:34)" [ President Gordon B. Hinckley's April 6, | 2003 War and Peace speech at the Sunday Morning Session of | the 173rd Annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus | Christ of Latter-day Saints -- | http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-353-27,00.html | ] | | | Only when we are not dealing with peaceful men, can we be | justified in going to war: | | President George W. Bush: "Peaceful efforts . . . have | failed again and again -- because we are not dealing with | peaceful men." [ George W. Bush's March 17, 2003 Address | Preparing the Nation for War -- | http://legal.lege.net/an_annotated_critique/#peaceful ] The | truth is of course that the peaceful efforts indeed did | succeed in disarming Saddam. The ease at which the U.S. | went to Baghdad is proof enough. The truth is that Saddam | didn't allow himself to be provoked (this time) into | throwing the U.N. inspectors out. | | | And who are the peaceful men? Let's listen to President | George W. Bush for a moment: | | President George W. Bush: "F... Saddam. We're taking him | out." [ President George W. Bush, Early 2002 to Senators in | the White House -- http://truthout.org/docs_03/042103I.shtml | ] | | President George W. Bush: "This is a person who has had | contacts with al Qaeda.", "He's got connections with al | Qaeda.", "This is a guy who has had connections with these | shadowy terrorist networks.", "We know he's got ties with | al Qaeda.", "We know that he's had connections with al | Qaeda.", "He's had connections with shadowy terrorist | networks like al Qaeda.", "We know that he has had contacts | with terrorist networks like al Qaeda.", "This is a man who | has had contacts with al Qaeda.", "This is a man who has had | al Qaeda connections.", "He's had contacts with al Qaeda.", | "This is a man who has got connections with al Qaeda." [ | http://uggabugga.blogspot.com/2002_11_03_uggabugga_archive.html#84038908 | ] ...despite the U.S. intelligence's own skepticism of such | a claim. [ October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate -- | http://why-war.com/resources/files/read.php?id=50 and | http://why-war.com/resources/files/nie_excerpts.html . | | President George W. Bush: "The regime...has aided, trained, | and harbored terrorists, including operatives of al Qaeda." | [ George W. Bush's March 17, 2003 Address Preparing the | Nation for War -- | http://legal.lege.net/an_annotated_critique/#trained ] | | President George W. Bush: "We know that Iraq and al Qaeda | have had high-level contacts that go back a decade ... after | September the 11th, Saddam Hussein's regime gleefully | celebrated the terrorist attacks on America." [ George W. | Bush, October 7, 2002 -- | http://whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/10/20021007-8.html | ] (The glee is easily understood when we recall the | unprovoked U.S. bombing of Baghdad in December 1998 and | other attacks. [ http://legal.lege.net/no_fly_zones/ or | http://ldsvswar.lege.net/the_facts/#facts.zones ]) | | President George W. Bush: "I have also determined that the | use of armed force against Iraq is consistent with the | United States and other countries continuing to take the | necessary actions against international terrorists and | terrorist organizations, including those nations, | organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, | committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on | September 11, 2001." [ George W. Bush, March 21, 2003 | Presidential Letter from the President to the Speaker of the | House of Representatives and President Pro Tempore of the | Senate -- | http://whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030321-5.html | ] | | President George W. Bush: "You can't distinguish between al | Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the war on terror." [ | George W. Bush, September 25, 2002 -- | http://usembassy.state.gov/tokyo/wwwhse1735.html ] | | President George W. Bush: "The battle of Iraq is one victory | in a war on terror that began on September the 11, 2001 -- | and still goes on." [ George W. Bush, May 1, 2003 -- | http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/9-11_saddam_quotes.html | ] | | | REMEMBER, The cause of peace requires that we oppose -- and | not appease -- the men whose threats otherwise can grow into | global war. | | We must renounce war and proclaim peace. | | There never was any evidence that Saddam Hussein was | involved with the September 11th attacks, even President | George W. Bush has admitted to that fact in public. | | There never was any evidence that Saddam Hussein in any way | might attack the United States. | | | But there ARE evidence that at least SOMEBODY has al-Qaida | ties: | | Bush himself -- believe it or not -- is the one that really | have the al-Qaida ties. Just think `Bandar Bush'. Perhaps | you didn't follow that reference? William Bunch explains: | ``19. What is in the 28 blacked-out pages of the | congressional Sept. 11 report? It's not a total mystery. | Everyone has acknowledged that the pages contain highly | embarrassing information about links between the Sept. 11 | hijackers and the government of Saudi Arabia, America's | supposed ally in the Middle East and home to the world's | largest oil reserves. One of those officials is said to be | Saudi ambassador Prince Bandar, whose wife, Princess Haifa, | indirectly funded at least two of the Sept. 11 terrorists | during their time in San Diego. The prince is so close to | the Bush family that he's known, incredibly, as "Bandar | Bush." This week, Time reports that just after the Sept. 11 | attacks, when U.S. commercial airspace was still closed to | our citizens, Bush allowed a jet to stop at 10 U.S. cities | to pick up and fly home 140 prominent Saudis, including | relatives of bin Laden. A new must-read book by | investigative reporter Posner - "Why America Slept" - takes | the conspiracy to the highest of levels of the Saudi | government. He says a top bin Laden lieutenant, Abu | Zubaydah, who was captured in March 2002, stunned | investigators when - allegedly given the "truth serum" | sodium pentothal - fingered three top Saudis. They were | Prince Ahmed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz, the Westernized | owner of 2002 Kentucky Derby winner War Emblem; Prince Turki | al-Faisal bin Abdul Aziz, the kingdom's longtime | intelligence chief, and Prince Fahd bin Turki bin Saud | al-Kabir. The most incredible part of the story is what | happened next. In an eight-day period in late July 2002, | Prince Ahmed died at age 43 from a heart attack, Prince | Turki died in a car crash and Prince Fahd "died of thirst." | Coincidence? What do you think?'' [ Why Don't We Have | Answers To These 9/11 Questions?, by William Bunch / | bunchw@phillynews.com, Thursday, September 11, 2003 | (Philly.com) | http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/local/6742902.htm | http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/local/6742902.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp | ]). | | | And we must indeed confront and hold accountable the | terrible forces of evil for their actions -- be they | "friend" or foe. | | President Gordon B. Hinckley: "The terrible forces of evil | must be confronted and held accountable for their actions. | This is not a matter of Christian against Muslim." [ | President Gordon B. Hinckley's October 2001 The Times in | Which We Live speech at the General Conference of the Church | of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- | http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-225-27,00.html | ] | | | And while our respective national leaders have access to | greater political and military intelligence than do the | people generally: | | President Gordon B. Hinckley: "As citizens we are all under | the direction of our respective national leaders. They have | access to greater political and military intelligence than | do the people generally." [ President Gordon B. Hinckley's | April 6, 2003 War and Peace speech at the Sunday Morning | Session of the 173rd Annual General Conference of the Church | of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- | http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-353-27,00.html | ] | | | And while it presently was adjudged to be the case that | Saddam and Iraq threatened the United States: | | President Gordon B. Hinckley: "In the course of history | tyrants have arisen from time to time who have oppressed | their own people and threatened the world. Such is adjudged | to be the case presently, and consequently great and | terrifying forces with sophisticated and fearsome armaments | have been engaged in battle." [ President Gordon B. | Hinckley's April 6, 2003 War and Peace speech at the Sunday | Morning Session of the 173rd Annual General Conference of | the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- | http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-353-27,00.html | ] | | | The truth is of course -- as was well understood in most | parts of the world well before the March 2003 war -- that: | | The simple truth is that wrong impressions helped support | Iraq war, as this very thorough scientific study amply | illustrates: Misperceptions, The Media and The Iraq War, | October 2, 2003 Report by PIPA/KN -- | http://propaganda.lege.net/misperceptions/ . President | Gordon B. Hinckley is of course right, our respective | national leaders have access to greater political and | military intelligence than people generally do. And he is | also correct in that it presently was adjudged (i.e. | officially pronounced) to be the case that Saddam was the | one that threatened the world. In his speech, he made clear | that if this was the case, the war was righteous. But as | was generally understood in most of the world even before | the war started, this was never the case. The United States | was virtually the only major country of the world that | `misperceived' this fact. In most other countries peaceful | men renounced war and proclaimed peace. Even most | governments renounced war and proclaimed peace. Again, this | was not information readily available to people generally in | the United States, just as President Gordon B. Hinckley | said; ``our respective national leaders have access to | greater political and military intelligence than people | generally do''. [ http://propaganda.lege.net/misperceptions/ | ] | | | The truth is of course that Saddam and Iraq never threatened | the United States, but that the United States indeed | threatened Saddam and Iraq. | | The truth is also that the United States and her allies | aided, trained, and harbored the 9/11 terrorists, including | operatives of al Qaeda. (President George W. Bush: "The | regime...has aided, trained, and harbored terrorists, | including operatives of al Qaeda." [ George W. Bush's March | 17, 2003 Address Preparing the Nation for War -- | http://legal.lege.net/an_annotated_critique/#trained ]) | They received their flight training in Florida. Should | Florida then be targeted? They received their money from | Saudi Arabia, should Saudi Arabia then be targeted? Those | who assisted the terrorists received help from the President | of the United States to leave the country when noone else | was permitted to fly. -- Maybe Florida and Saudi Arabia | and the President of the United States should be targeted, | but why then was Afghanistan and Iraq targeted? It's true | that al-Qaida had bases in Afghanistan -- and in Pakistan, | by the way. But why is it that the war in Afghanistan has | already killed more Afghanistan civilians than 9/11 did | Americans? Where is the justice in this? Why wasn't | Afghanistan's and the Taliban's offer to hand over the | terrorists accepted by the United States? All Afghanistan | asked for was some proof! | | | We must indeed confront and hold accountable the terrible | forces of evil for their actions. | | And it is beyond reasonable doubt, for informed, thinking | people, where the terrible forces of evil are to be found. | [ The Ideology of American Empire -- | http://ideology.lege.net/ and Backyard terrorism | http://ideology.lege.net/backyard_terrorism/ . | Or even The Hidden History of the United States -- | http://uscrisis.lege.net/hiddenhistory/#expose | [this link added 11 Nov 2003] ] | | | Some correspondents have tried to argue with me that like | when Nephi was constrained by the Spirit that he should kill | Laban, President George W. Bush have been constrained to | conquer Iraq. | | It is an interesting argument. But while Nephi did not | retrieve his family's fortune, President George W. Bush and | his staff has huge personal economical interests to defend | in Iraq. That and the fact that he has lied repeatedly to | the whole world and to his own people about the reasons for | the war(s) [ | http://ldsvswar.lege.net/the_facts/#facts.20lies | http://ldsvswar.lege.net/the_facts/#facts.40lies | http://legal.lege.net/an_annotated_critique/ ], makes it | extremely difficult to have any confidence whatsoever in his | motives. Also, recall that the Prophet did not condone a | war to conquer Iraq, but only a war to defend the United | States from attack. (``The Nephites were inspired by a | better cause, for they were not fighting for . . . power but | they were fighting for their homes and their liberties, | their wives and their children, and their all, yea, for | their rites of worship and their church.'') | | | If indeed God has told Bush to conquer Iraq and other | places, I'd like to hear about it from God or from the | Prophet. But the fact is that I haven't. Have you? | | However, the conclusion remains the same, we must indeed | confront and hold accountable the terrible forces of evil | for their actions! And the responsibility to find out what | is right is ours -- we cannot blame anyone else (in the | words of George W. Bush, ``it will be no defense to say, "I | was just following orders"'' [ George W. Bush's March 17, | 2003 Address Preparing the Nation for War -- | http://legal.lege.net/an_annotated_critique/#orders ]). The | Prophet has, however, a more forgiving attitude: "I believe | that God will not hold men and women in uniform responsible | as agents of their government in carrying forward that which | they are legally obligated to do." [ President Gordon B. | Hinckley's April 6, 2003 War and Peace speech at the Sunday | Morning Session of the 173rd Annual General Conference of | the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- | http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-353-27,00.html | ] Perhaps God will not hold men and women responsible -- | but George W. Bush is right when it comes to human law. War | crimes are international crimes, and giving support to this | may be a crime punishable in the ICC (International Criminal | Court). [ http://legal.lege.net/ , | http://legal.lege.net/military_necessity/ ] (While it's | true that the U.S. has done it's best to sabotage the ICC in | order to prevent it's citizens to be tried for war crimes | there, the ICC still has strong support in many parts of the | world, and considerable U.S. threat of military force might | be necessary for your release, should you be captured and | tried abroad.) The rest of the world is not as forgiving of | war crimes as the United States usually is. This is a | factor to consider, once you are convinced that just maybe | you are not a solider for God but for Mammon. | [ Blood Money by William Rivers Pitt | http://truthout.org/docs_03/022803A.shtml or | http://truthout.org/docs_03/printer_022803A.shtml ] | | | So, with the words of both the worldly and the | ecclesiastical President, we must conclude that it is a sin | not to oppose this evil. | | Or, to borrow some words from a favorite prophet of mine, | Brigham Young on standing up to unjust and illegal mandates, | even from the United States: "If we will stand up as men | and women of God, the yoke shall never be placed upon our | necks again; and all hell cannot overthrow us, even with the | United States to help them. It is not pleasant to the | natural feelings to be obliged to talk in this manner about | fellow-citizens with whom we have been reared; but when they | act like the Devil, it is impossible for us to bow to their | unjust and illegal mandates without becoming as corrupt as | they are. It is an honour to resist the wicked; and my name | will be had in honour, and so will Joseph Smith's, and so | will your names, for not bowing to their iniquitous doings." | [Journal of Discourses, Vol.5, p.332, Brigham Young, October | 7, 1857] People and families do suffer under the | oppression of the unjust and illegal mandates, even from the | United States. This link hints at some of the problems many | Americans are having presently: | http://marchforjustice.com/10.03.AAA.MASRelease.php . | | And, if all this discourages us, take comfort together with | me -- the Lord God knows that I need the comfort -- in these | wonderful words by the same wonderful man, when he explains | that it's imperative that we learn to think -- and think | independently -- or we can never be saved: "Now those men, | or those women, who know no more about the power of God, and | the influences of the Holy Spirit, than to be led entirely | by another person, suspending their own understanding, and | pinning their faith upon another's sleeve, will never be | capable of entering into the celestial glory, to be crowned | as they anticipate; they will never be capable of becoming | Gods. They cannot rule themselves, to say nothing of ruling | others, but they must be dictated to in every trifle, like a | child. They cannot control themselves in the least, but | James, Peter, or somebody else must control them, They never | can become Gods, nor be crowned as rulers with glory, | immortality, and eternal lives. They never can hold | sceptres of glory, majesty, and power in the celestial | kingdom. Who will? Those who are valiant and inspired with | the true independence of heaven, who will go forth boldly in | the service of their God, leaving others to do as they | please, determined to do right, though all mankind besides | should take the opposite course. Will this apply to any of | you? Your own hearts can answer. Do you know what is right | and just, as well as I do?" [From a discourse ``The | Privileges And Blessings Of The Gospel'' delivered by | President Brigham Young at the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake | City, February 20, 1853. (Journal of Discourses, Volume 1, | p.312-313, Brigham Young, February 20, 1853.)] | | | Now go and find out what is true, and be true! | | | Leif Erlingsson | Hägerstens Församling, | Stockholms Södra Stav, | Sverige | October 25, 2003 | | _ _ _ | | About the word ``adjudged'', that was used by the Prophet to | describe the way things were generally perceived in the | United States: The Prophet may have borrowed the word from | James E. Talmage in Jesus the Christ, Ch.34, p.639 - p.640, | where it says that ``they had adjudged Jesus worthy of | death.'' That is, it didn't say that Jesus _was_ worthy of | death. Nay, it said that they had "formally pronounced" or | "officially pronounced" Jesus to be worthy of death. In | like manner -- not making any other comparisons with Christ | -- when President Gordon B. Hinckley says that ``In the | course of history tyrants have arisen from time to time who | have oppressed their own people and threatened the world. | Such is adjudged to be the case presently, and consequently | great and terrifying forces with sophisticated and fearsome | armaments have been engaged in battle.'' -- then he is | simply stating what the whole world already knows, that the | official story [of the U.S. government and the coalition of | the willing] is [was!] that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant who | threatens the world. This is important because of what | President Hinckley is _not_ saying. Technically, President | Hinckley is _not_ saying that Saddam Hussein threatens (or | threatened) the world. Which saves the day for our faith -- | at least for my faith -- because it has been well known in | most parts of the world at least since March 2003 -- before | the land-war really started in Iraq -- that Saddam Hussein | did indeed _not_ threaten the world with weapons of mass | destruction (WMD). The Prophet is not a liar, and therefore | one must be very careful not to say that he condoned the | war. On the contrary, he spoke against the war. Perhaps | inspired by John Taylor, Third President of The Church of | Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who cautioned that ``You | who have made yourselves acquainted with the political | structure and the political intrigues of earthly kingdoms, I | ask, whence did they obtain their power? Did they get it | from God? . . . Go to any power that has existed upon | this earth, and you will find that earthly government, | earthly rule and dominion, have been obtained by the sword. | It was the sword of men that first put them in possession of | this power. They have walked up to their thrones through | rivers of blood, through the clotted gore and the groans of | the dying, and through the tears and lamentations of | bereaved widows and helpless orphans; and hence the common | saying is, "Thrones won by blood, by blood must be | maintained." By the same principle that they have been put | in possession of territory, have they sought to sustain | themselves the same violence, the same fraud, and the same | oppression have been made use of to sustain their | illegitimacy. . . . -- JD, 1:223-225, April 8, 1853.'' | [The Gospel Kingdom, selections from the Writings and | Discourses of John Taylor, Third President of The Church of | Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, p.315.] | | _ _ _ | | | A version of the present article suitable for email can be | downloaded here: | http://ldsvswar.lege.net/prove_it/prove_it.txt | | Additional reading: | http://ldsvswar.lege.net/resources/ Resources | | © 2003 Leif Erlingsson -- see | http://ldsvswar.lege.net/copyleft.html | |______________________________________________________________