I was never so glad to be so wrong.

Only a few short days ago it looked to me like the Iraqi war was going badly. And, despite all the optimistic statements I heard coming from the White House and military, I became very concerned.

The media made it worse for me. Not only did most of the media also think the war was going badly, there was a flurry of reports saying the reason was because of misjudgments made by top Bush administration officials (Read about it here).

I guess that's all I needed to set me off. I got angry and upset. And, I'm afraid my commentary that day showed it. In fact, a friend e-mailed me and scolded me a little. He said I shouldn't be listening to the liberal media. He said he didn't believe a word the media was saying, and I shouldn't either.

Guess what? He was right and I was wrong.

Today the media's reporting is so different you'd think it was either a different media, or a different war. Instead of the war plans not working, now the same media is saying the war plans worked brilliantly. I should have known.

It's amazing how quickly things can change. When I wrote that negative commentary, the news from the war was all gloom and doom. As I write today's commentary, not only is Saddam International Airport under American control, its being reported that America troops can enter and leave central Baghdad at will (Read about it here).

Perhaps there is a lesson for me learn here. I'm reminded of some words from president George W. Bush that recently caught my attention. He said, "It's never easy to confront evil." You see, when Bush decided to go to war against Saddam Hussien, he decided to go to war against evil. And, he correctly expected that all the forces of evil in this world would rise up against him.

As Christians, we must keep in mind our uniqueness. The Apostle John tells us the whole world lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19). However, the Apostle Paul also tells us we Christians have been delivered from the evil one's domain, and transferred into the kingdom of God's beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). 

Here's my point: Only the deceiving power of the evil one over his subjects can explain the ongoing Iraqi resistance to their liberation. Even as the American forces are risking their lives to free the Iraqi people from the grip of a wicked tyrant -- to the troops utter amazement -- they're being welcomed with unfounded hatred and suicidal attacks.

However, the evil one's grip on men isn't limited to those who live under the control of earthly tyrants such as Saddam. According to the Bible, the evil one's grip even extends to many who think they live in freedom. Jesus said:

"Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin" (John 8:34 New American Standard Bible).

Fortunately, that's not all Jesus said. He also said:

"If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32).

As I said, only the deceiving power of the evil one can explain why people fight so hard against liberation. Remember, instead of making Him king, the One God sent to liberate the world was crucified by the world.

Now even former Soviet president, Mikhail Gorbachev (Herb photo), is joining in and calling for a stop to president Bush's Operation Iraqi Freedom. According to the report, Gorbachev is demanding an immediate end to the war and he wants the United Nations to be allowed to come in and resolve the crisis (Read about it here).

I don't know whether to laugh, cry or throw-up. Laugh because of the absurd idea of the UN bringing freedom, cry because of the blindness of this noted Nobel Peace Prize winner, or throw-up because of the hypocrisy of his words. Gorbachev was credited for freeing Russia from Communism. But, he's condemning Bush for attempting to do the same for Iraq. 

This is what I think: President Bush was truly right. It's never easy to confront evil. When you do, all the powers of evil in this world will rise up against you. And, when all these evil powers rise up together, it's even easy for Christians to become deceived by the clamor.

I know, because for awhile I was. And, I wrote a negativtive commentary about the war.

But, today, I'm thankful for having a president who wasn't deceived.

And, perhaps tomorrow, so too will the Iraqi people.