Land letter
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The Land Letter was a letter sent to President George W. Bush by evangelical Christian leaders on October 3, 2002 which outlined their theological support for a just war pre-emptive invasion of Iraq. The letter was written by Richard D. Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. It was co-signed by Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries, Bill Bright, chairman of Campus Crusade for Christ, James Kennedy, president of Coral Ridge Ministries, and Carl D. Herbster, president of the American Association of Christian Schools.
The letter outlined how, in the opinion of the letter writers, a pre-emptive invasion of Iraq met the criteria of traditional 'just war' theory:
- such an action would be defensive
- the intent is found to be just and noble. The United States does not intend to 'destroy, conquer, or exploit Iraq'
- it is a last resort because Saddam Hussein had a record of attacking his neighbors, of the 'headlong pursuit and development of biochemical and nuclear weapons of mass destruction' and their use against his own people, and harboring Al Qaeda terrorists
- it is authorized by a legitimate authority, namely the United States
- it has limited goals
- it has reasonable expectation of success
- non-combatant immunity would be observed
- it meets the criteria of proportionality—the human cost on both sides would be justified by the intended outcome
It should be noted that many Christian leaders did not agree with these arguments. See Opposition to the Iraq War.
