Military Chaplains as Peace Builders: Embracing Indigenous Religions in Stability Operations

To help illustrate the vital role military chaplains can play as peace builders, let's begin by examining a fictional but plausible scenario. The US intelligence community is surprised to learn that a fundamentalist religious group calling itself the "Sword of Allah" has seized control of both weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their delivery systems in the moderate Islamic Republic of Korastan. The Korastani military is a probable source of aid from sympathizers within its ranks. The longsuspected possession of nuclear materials and delivery capability of Korastan has been confirmed independently through both Department of State and Department of Defense (DOD) contacts with Korastani government officials.