Thou Shalt Not Murder

Click on the picture obove to read Bill Clinton's reasons for removing Saddam from Power in 1999

Genesis 9:6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man."

Saddam Hussein is the first world leader in modern times to have brutally used chemical weapons against his own people. His goals were to systematically terrorize and exterminate the Kurdish population in northern Iraq, to silence his critics, and to test the effectiveness of his chemical and biological weapons. Hussein launched chemical attacks against 40 Kurdish villages and thousands of innocent civilians in 1987-88, using them as testing grounds. The worst of these attacks devastated the city of Halabja on March 16, 1988.

Exodus 21:12 "Anyone who strikes a man and kills him shall surely be put to death."

Saddam's regime purposefully mixed mustard gas and nerve agents to magnify their initial and long-term effects. Mustard gas, a blistering agent, affects membranes of the nose, throat, and lungs. Nerve agents such as sarin, tabun, and VX attack eyes and respiratory tracts. Chemical weapons contaminate the food and water supplies, soil, and animal populations.

5,000 civilians, many of them women, children, and the elderly, died within hours of the attack. 10,000 more were blinded, maimed, disfigured, or otherwise severely and irreversibly debilitated.

Immediate Medical Effects in Halabja

Chemical Weapons Used

Death by asphyxiation

Skin burns and blisters

Impaired vision, blindness

Breathing difficulty, respiratory shutdown

Vomiting, diarrhea, digestive shutdown

Neurological disorder

Convulsions, coma

Thousands died of horrific complications, debilitating diseases, and birth defects in the years after.

Long-term Medical Effects

Permanent blindness

Disfigurement

Respiratory, digestive, and neurological disorders

Leukemia, lymphoma, and colon, breast, lung, skin, and other cancers

Increased miscarriages and infertility

Severe congenital malformations and other birth defects

Iraqi soldiers in protective gear returned to Halabja to study the effectiveness of their weapons and attacks. They divided the city into grids, determining the number and location of the dead and extent of injury. Halabja helped Saddam Hussein gauge the ability of his chemical agents to kill, maim, and terrorize population centers.

"Iraqi government troops would be surrounding the attack site and they would have chem-bio suits on...included would be doctors and interested observers...they would go in and find out how many people were dead...and how many survived. What ages ...did men, women or children or the elderly suffer more? From there they would shoot the survivors and burn the bodies... " -Dr. Christine Gosden, Liverpool University, who has developed treatment and research programs for Halabja survivors The proceeding information can be found here

Exodus 21:14 "But if a man schemes and kills another man deliberately, take him away from my altar and put him to death."

Leviticus 24:17 "‘If anyone takes the life of a human being, he must be put to death."

Why Is War Againt Saddam Not Wrong?

Romans 13:2-5 "Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience."

For the Saddam Defenders:
Psalm 82:2 "How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked?"

Proverbs 31:8-9 "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy."

Proverbs 20:26 "A wise king winnows out the wicked; he drives the threshing wheel over them."

Matthew 18:10 "See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven."

Exodus 20:13 "You shall not murder."

Proverbs 16:12 "Kings detest wrongdoing, for a throne is established through righteousness."

Proverbs 25:5 "remove the wicked from the king’s presence, and his throne will be established through righteousness."

Sometimes War is right and just.
Revelation 19:11 "I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war."

Saddam killed 5000 of his own people with Mustard Gas in one town alone. He killed millions over the 20 some years he was in power. It is not wrong to remove him from power. Less Iraqi's will die because they did.