Military Review English Edition March-April 2015 | Page 92

(Photo by Sgt. David Turner, Multi-National Division–Center)

Chaplain (Maj.) Ibraheem Raheem, Multinational Corps–Iraq, delivers a sermon for Muslim soldiers during a service 29 August 2008 at
Camp Victory, Iraq. Raheem, one of only six Muslim chaplains in the Army at that time, was the only one deployed in Iraq.

these same goods and services through neutral humanitarian organizations that allow for their procurement
without signaling political commitments.45 In regions
that are predominantly Christian, the involvement of
Christian NGOs in this form of humanitarian work
might be unproblematic. But perceptions of the neutrality of Christian NGOs—especially those that evangelize—cannot be assumed in predominantly Muslim territories where religion is a salient source of distinction
between opposing forces. Add to this the weakening of
the boundary between aid and evangelism—particularly
evangelism accompanied by force of arms—and the
perception that aid is impartial and independent of U.S.
objectives becomes threatened.
The complex relationship between war, aid, and
evangelism will likely remain inherent in future conflicts. Throughout American history and for many
Americans today, religion provides a sense of identity
as well as a basis for a Wilsonian foreign policy that
sees it as America’s duty to spread its values throughout the world. One of these values is the promotion
of human rights that Americans and the West more
broadly conceive of in terms of individual rights, as
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opposed to community or collective rights. Irrespective
of American views, different societies will come to
different answers regarding the question of what rights
they recognize to exist. In an era where international
tension is growing on the issue of whether religious freedom outweighs state sovereignty, we conclude with the
question, does the fracturing of the Westphalian system
portend promise or peril?

Possibilities for Peace: Promise or
Peril?
Given the lack of clarity th at exists currently in the
moral and legal justifications for international interventions on behalf of religious freedom, what principles
should the strategic planner and military officer consider in approaching religion’s role in executing American
foreign policy? The foregoing analysis leads us to three
broad conclusions:
Religious liberty is America’s greatest moral
argument to the world. Rooted in the championing of
religious freedom in the founding era, America recognizes in its laws and customs that freedom of conscience
is a basic human right, even if this right was not always
March-April 2015  MILITARY REVIEW