Jim Wallis: How Many Deaths Will It Take 'Till We Know...?

I thought this was a clear and passionate column by Robert Parham for EthicsDaily.com – a strong evangelical Christian voice. I strongly urge you to read the entire commentary. What do you think of his argument?

How many more American troops and Iraqi civilians must die before America's churches speak a prophetic word to President Bush that violence only begets more violence and more violence is not an acceptable path forward?

How long before American Christians practice the Christianity of the one called Prince of Peace, who told his followers that peacemakers were the children of God and one disciple to put away his sword? How long, O God, how long?
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President Bush's answer is more spilled blood, more wasted treasure.

The Bush administration is reportedly pushing for a massive surge in troops, an undefined "short-term" increase of as many as 30,000 troops, to achieve an undefined mission in a nation locked in a civil war.

Bush, who often said he would increase troop levels if commanders asked for more armed forces, now appears to be pressing military leaders to ask for more troops.
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Surging troop levels violate three of the time-honored rules of a just war. First, a surge does not provide a reasonable hope for success. It only prolongs the failed war. Winning the war is a myth. Second, a surge does not ensure non-combatant civilian immunity from war. It only escalates in a civil war the number of deaths and disfigurements. Third, a surge increases the war's costs which already outweigh the original goals for the war.

Now is the time for churches to speak with moral clarity, as moral surge protectors, from a reckless escalation of the Iraqi war.