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Father No Longer Out for Revenge in Iraq

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posted on Mar, 20 2006 @ 11:13 AM
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Father No Longer Out for Revenge in Iraq

By CHARLES J. HANLEY, AP Special Correspondent 2 minutes ago

AL-ASAD, Iraq - In the desert chill, on the lonely nighttime roads of
Iraq, Joe Johnson looks out over his machine gun and thinks of Justin. It was on Easter morning 2004 that a chaplain and a colonel appeared on Joe and Jan Johnson's Georgia doorstep with the news. Justin, the boy Joe had fished and hunted with, the soldier son who'd gone off to Iraq a month earlier, was suddenly dead at 22, killed by a roadside bomb planted in a Baghdad slum.


Today it's Joe who mans the M-240 atop a Humvee, warily watching the sides of the road, an unlikely Army corporal at 48, a father who came here for revenge, a Christian missionary on a crusade against Islam, and a man who, after six months at war, is ready to go home.

"I shouldn't even have come," he now says. And if he leaves bloody Iraq with no blood on his hands, he says, that's fine, too.

YAHOO


Please visit the link provided for the complete story.


Pretty powerful and makes you think of the 'unseen' casualties of Iraq. The mental anguish that our soldiers face. The moral questions such a conflict raises. For years we will be dealing with, or at least I hope we are dealing with the psychological casualties of this conflict.



posted on Mar, 30 2006 @ 09:54 AM
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The thing that strikes me about this story is that he was a Christian Missionary, and then sought revenge. I'm no theologian, but I always picture Christ like one of those people who went into unintegrated diners in the sixties.

It would be a white only restaurant, the black cats would sit there calmly as the whites poured ketchup over their heads. Peaceful resistance, which seems to me, takes much more character than armed resistance.

I know there are Christian soldiers, marching as to war, and the Bible tells us:

.Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. Eph 6:10-17 (NIV)


But there is also the old Chinese proverb of "When one seeks revenge, first dig two graves."

Most importantly, this 'war against terror' I believe can only be won by understanding. One heart at a time. I think this man's story can be a lesson to all, on both sides.

EDIT: Spelling ketchup is difficult.

[edit on 30-3-2006 by curme]



posted on Mar, 30 2006 @ 10:02 AM
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Well i hope he gets ripped to shread too. Maybe they can give him a piece of land next to his invading son so they can both travel to hell together.



posted on Mar, 30 2006 @ 10:10 AM
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Dang cuz...thems harsh words. You must be Iraqi?

Care to share your views without the sadistic tone?



posted on Mar, 30 2006 @ 10:18 AM
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Originally posted by HiddenReality
Well i hope he gets ripped to shread too. Maybe they can give him a piece of land next to his invading son so they can both travel to hell together.



Harsh words indeed.

It's interesting that some who call themselves peace loving are the most vicious of all.

Opinions gracefully expressed are ok, wishing ill to befall someone is not.
Regardless of who you are or who you think you are.



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