And again, this is the law that I gave unto mine ancients, that they should not go out unto battle against any nation, kindred, tongue, or people, save I, the Lord, commanded them,
And if any nation tongue, or people should proclaim war against them, they should first lift a standard of peace unto that people, nation, or tongue;
And if that people did not accept the offering of peace, neither the second not the third time, they should bring these testimonies before the Lord.
Then I, the Lord, would give unto them a commandment, and justify them in going out to battle against that nation, tongue or people.(Doctrine and Covenants 98: 34-36)
War has been on the minds of many people lately. We are reaching our 10th year of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and have entered a new war in Libya. The people of this nation, for the most part, are weary of war and want this era to come to a close.
It can be argued that we were justified in going to war in Iraq and Afghanistan because of the actions of terrorists on September 11, 2001. We entered these wars as retribution toward that terrorist organization.
This past month, we have seen what can be called a victory in that we have taken out the al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. Yet we remain in both Iraq and Afghanistan. If World War 2 is any indicator of what we are to expect, we will have troops stationed there for many decades to come. (more…)