Mr. President, that message was as compelling then as it is today, and I believe it is clearly directed to you too.
The decision you face is not an easy one, and I do not mean to suggest otherwise. But there are moments when a leader, like Joshua of old, must “be strong and of good courage” (Joshua chap. 1), and not shy away from doing what must be done.
In the case of Iran, there can be no room for retreat or for shrinking back from the task at hand. The stakes are simply too great.
Iran can and must be stopped, and the only way to do so is through the use of military force. Diplomacy and resolutions are a smokescreen, and you know as well as I do that they will not slow Iran’s steady drive toward obtaining a nuclear arsenal. Only the long and powerful arm of the United States, flexed with all its might, can and will be able to do the job.
Sure, the critics and the naysayers will try to tear you down, just as they have been doing since you the day you were elected. They will heap scorn on you, call you a warmonger and worse, and denigrate you and your family for many, many years to come.
But please don’t allow them to deter you or to drive you to despair. Don’t let them drown out that still, small voice within, the one that reaches into each of our hearts and calls out every day: “I am the Lord, and there is none else” (Isaiah chap. 45).
Mr. President, you know as well as I do that history’s final verdict is not written by academics, nor is it determined by the opinion-mongers at The New York Times.
The one and only verdict – the one that really, truly counts – is the one that is penned in Heaven, by He Who gave each of us life. It is to Him, and Him alone, that we will all have to answer.
In just over two years you will leave office. In the greater scheme of things, I am convinced that your legacy will depend largely on the decisions that you make in the coming few months about what to do with Iran.
I urge you, I plead with you: don’t walk out of the White House in January 2009 without having stopped Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Don’t leave the fate of Israel and the Jewish people hanging in the balance.
Remember the promise that God made to Abraham in Genesis chap. 12: “I will bless those that bless you, and those that curse you I shall curse.”
Note that when it comes to standing by Israel and the Jewish people, there is no middle ground. God delineates two categories, and two categories only: those who bless Israel, and those who curse it.
You are in a unique position to bless Israel, and through it, all of humanity, by removing the nuclear sword from the hand of the Persian executioner.
The same God Who spoke, and said, “Let there be light,” and there was light, surely expects you to do nothing less.
I will be praying for you, as will many others, and I hope that you take this message to heart.
Be strong, be strong, Mr. President, and through you, may we all be strengthened.