George W. Bush Verses Saddam Hussein
Every time I watch the war in Iraq on TV I am reminded of a great contrast between George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein. It is not just that one is committed to democracy and the other is a practicing dictator or that one is a committed Christian and the other is a practicing Muslim. It is more fundamental than that. Recently, a former church member invited my wife and me to spend a few days near Mammoth. While we were there, we wandered into a book store that had a “sale table.” The price got my attention—one dollar each! As I browsed through the bargain books, I found one entitled Out of the Ashes, the Resurrection of Saddam Hussein by Andrew Cockburn and Patrick Cockburn (HarperCollins Publishers, 1999). Given all the books I would like to read, I would not normally have bought such a book, especially at the retail price of $26, but the price and the titles of a few of the chapters overwhelmed me.
The book is about what happened to Saddam Hussein after the Gulf War. It also gives background material on Hussein. For example, it claims that in September 1979, soon after he seized power in Iraq, he said, “What is politics? Politics is when you say you are going to do one thing while intending to do another. Then you do neither what you said or what you intended. That way, no one could predict what you were going to do” (p. 7).
That is the way some politicians practice politics and that is the way some people live their lives. Their words and actions do not match their intentions.
Contrast that with George W. Bush. Whatever else can be said about his political views, his policies, and his decisions, it appears that he is at least attempting to tell us what his intentions are and he does what he says.
When I see the war on TV, I see war, but I also see something else. I am reminded that it is real time TV of a war! I see imbedded reporters with the troops. That practice must have been approved at the highest levels of the administration. It is hard to imagine that it was not approved by the man at the top. It has never been done before in the history of warfare!
What a contrast! On the world stage at this moment in history are two figures bigger than life. Out of the mouth of one spills who knows what and out of the mouth of the other pours his truthful intensions.
Actually, all of us have a struggle with intending to do one thing and doing another (Rom. 7:15, 19). As a result of the battle that is within us, we are not just guilty, we are wretched (Rom. 7:24). Thank God, there is deliverance “through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom.7:25). “To be spiritual minded is life and peace” (Rom. 8:6). So let us set our minds on the things of the Spirit (Rom. 8:5), that is, the Word of God (1 Cor. 2:10-13) and walk according to the Spirit and not the flesh (Rom. 8:1, 4).
© G. Michael Cocoris, 3/29/2003
The book is about what happened to Saddam Hussein after the Gulf War. It also gives background material on Hussein. For example, it claims that in September 1979, soon after he seized power in Iraq, he said, “What is politics? Politics is when you say you are going to do one thing while intending to do another. Then you do neither what you said or what you intended. That way, no one could predict what you were going to do” (p. 7).
That is the way some politicians practice politics and that is the way some people live their lives. Their words and actions do not match their intentions.
Contrast that with George W. Bush. Whatever else can be said about his political views, his policies, and his decisions, it appears that he is at least attempting to tell us what his intentions are and he does what he says.
When I see the war on TV, I see war, but I also see something else. I am reminded that it is real time TV of a war! I see imbedded reporters with the troops. That practice must have been approved at the highest levels of the administration. It is hard to imagine that it was not approved by the man at the top. It has never been done before in the history of warfare!
What a contrast! On the world stage at this moment in history are two figures bigger than life. Out of the mouth of one spills who knows what and out of the mouth of the other pours his truthful intensions.
Actually, all of us have a struggle with intending to do one thing and doing another (Rom. 7:15, 19). As a result of the battle that is within us, we are not just guilty, we are wretched (Rom. 7:24). Thank God, there is deliverance “through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom.7:25). “To be spiritual minded is life and peace” (Rom. 8:6). So let us set our minds on the things of the Spirit (Rom. 8:5), that is, the Word of God (1 Cor. 2:10-13) and walk according to the Spirit and not the flesh (Rom. 8:1, 4).
© G. Michael Cocoris, 3/29/2003