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THIS JUST CAME IN FROM AN IRAQI FRIEND

Read this and rejoice with Jim:

Hi Pastor-

How are you?

I'm doing great this morning/afternoon.

I watched history this morning. I watched the fall of the Saddam regime. This is a great moment in time. I have been waiting for this moment for a long time. I knew this day would come.

God Bless America!!!

Go Bush!!!

Go USA!!!

Go Free Iraq!!!

Proud to be an American,

Jim

Jim is a young businessman who lives in Michigan. He and his family are devout Christians. They once lived under the dreaded dictatorship. Some of their relatives escaped as recently as months ago from Iraq to the United States of America.

Jim and I have communicated frequently since Iraqi Freedom began. He has always kept his faith for if anyone knows what it is like to live under the heel of Saddam Hussein, it is Jim.

And now today! Today he is beside himself with jubilation. His heart is full with thanksgiving to God Almighty. His tongue is full of praise for the United States of America.

One wonders what Daschle and Company think today. What will Walter Cronkite say? And John Kerry and Barbara Streisand and Liz Taylor and Helen Thomas? Will there be mobs rushing the streets in praise of Iraqi Freedom -- in France, Germany, Russia?

I spent some time watching on TV the mammoth Hussein statue come down to the cheers of Iraqis. With me were those who have derided President George W. Bush. They had told me that they just knew that our country would come to ruin because of Mr. Bush. We would all be ready to oust the man because of his policies, particularly his stand in Iraq. On and on they went, knowing full well that I supported the President.

Now as I watched that statue topple, I heard these same people look with excitement at what was happening in Baghdad. Their faces were full. Their smiles were from ear to ear. Their comments, so very interestingly, expressed their amazement at the glowing countenances of Iraqis welcoming the coalition.

Then I thought to myself of how these same people had scowled at me when I mentioned Mr. Bush. They whispered behind my back as to their intense displeasure with the “conservative President.” I held my ground — quietly. There was no need to say any more in defense of Mr. Bush than what I had already said.

But now today I thought to myself, “Is this hypocrisy or what? What is going on here? How can these people be so double-tongued? Just several weeks ago they were ready to shove Bush off our American shores. But now they are praising the work of the US-led coalition.”

Then I thought that no doubt such was taking place throughout the nation — throughout the world. It is fact. It has happened. Those once held in prison camps are liberated. Those who grew up with their mouths clamped shut are now able to speak and shout and sing. Those little children who would have known nothing but more hellish Saddam madness now have a future — freedom.

So those in the USA and around the planet must admit today to the reality of liberty come to Iraq. British Parliament should embrace their Prime Ministry Tony Blair as should every member of the United States Congress embrace President George W. Bush.

These two principled gentlemen held their moral ground. They would not budge in the face of hostile fire. God bless both of them. God reward them with much peace of heart in knowing they defended the defenseless. These two men put down their lives for the imprisoned Iraqis. They, instead of living for opportunistic political gain, lived by what they knew to be right.

So it is that I think again of my friend, Jim, in the Midwest. Tears are streaming down his cheeks. He is embracing his clan. They are dancing around the house. They are overwhelmed by being Americans! They are beside themselves with thanksgiving to God above.

May we rejoice with them. May we stand our principled ground — always. May we sing Hallelujah to the Lord above. May we ever be grateful to the coalition, the governmental leaders and the peoples of this earth who stood alongside what was right.

To quote the US President: “God bless America.”

___________

chap grant

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Current Military News

US Marine Sgt David Sutherland signs autographs for Iraqis on their 250-denomination dinars notes in Baghdad. Cheering crowds of Iraqis welcomed US marines as their tanks and troops poured into the center of Baghdad and the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein collapsed.(AFP/Karim Sahib)

Iraqi people greet advancing U.S. Marines on the way to the center of Iraqi capital Baghdad on April 9, 2003. A senior U.S. commander said on Wednesday that U.S. forces had secured the center of Baghdad and said the combat phase of the Iraqi war would end in a few days' time, at least in the capital and in southern Iraq. REUTERS/Oleg Popov

An Iraqi woman and child greet advancing U.S. Marines on the way to the center of Iraqi capital Baghdad on April 9, 2003. A senior U.S. commander said on Wednesday that U.S. forces had secured the center of Baghdad and said the combat phase of the Iraqi war would end in a few days' time, at least in the capital and in southern Iraq. REUTERS/Oleg Popov

Iraqi Kurds wave banners and U.S. and British flags in the northern Iraqi town of Dohuk April 9, 2003, to celebrate the arrival of U.S. led coalition forces' in Baghdad. Iraqi Kurds shouted for joy and fired in the air on Wednesday after U.S. forces entered Baghdad. 'It's all over in Baghdad,' said 29-year-old Rafiq Baway, who heard the news on satellite TV in the city of Sulaimaniya. He believed it would lead to the fall of Kirkuk, the northern oil hub where Kurds accuse Saddam of expelling Kurdish inhabitants and replacing them with Arabs. REUTERS/Str

A swastika sign is seen on a defaced ceramic tile portrait of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in Basra.(AFP/Odd Andersen

A U.S. Marine covers the face of a statue of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein with a U.S. flag in Baghdad April 9, 2003.