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Land told Christianity Today that the operation has moral ends. "Our goal is not to kill the Iraqi people. Our goal is not to impose a government on the Iraqi people. Our goal is not to conquer and subjugate the Iraqi people," Land says. "Our goal is to remove a really atrocious, war-crimes-committing dictator who terrorizes and enslaves his own people."

Rich Cizik, the National Association of Evangelicals' vice president of government affairs, told CT that Hussein's involvement with Al Qaeda provides ample justification for attack. However, other qualifiers must precede invasion. For example, he says, Congress needs to ratify the decision. This, along with building a coalition of allies, would signify proper authority.

If Congress or other nations do not approve of a U.S. strike, it may be a sign that it is not the moral option. Gushee told Christianity Today that ensuring that U.S. actions have the best motives is necessary to maintaining the nation's character. "I like thinking that I live in a nation that exercises its tremendous power with moral restraint," he says. "Even though we were horribly victimized on September 11, our character as a nation is still relevant. We can't just do whatever we feel like doing in response to what was done to us."

Todd Hertz is assistant online editor of Christianity Today.

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September (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46