US Troops Told Iran War Is God's Plan

Note: While the US president has broad authority to launch military action without a formal declaration of war, Congress, by law, must be notified within 48 hours of hostilities beginning. 

US military commanders have been invoking extremist Christian rhetoric about biblical “end times” to justify involvement in the Iran war to troops, according to complaints made to a watchdog group. 

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) say they have received more than 200 complaints from service members across all branches of the armed forces, including the marines, air force and space force. 

One complainant, identified as a noncommissioned officer (NCO) in a unit that could be deployed “at any moment to join” operations against Iran, told MRFF in a complaint viewed by the Guardian (March 03, 2026) that their commander had “urged us to tell our troops that this was ‘all part of God’s divine plan’ and he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the Book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ”. 

“He said that ‘President (Donald) Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth’”, the NCO added. 

The NCO’s complaint was filed on behalf of 15 troops, including eleven Christians, one Muslim person and one Jewish person. The complaint was first shared by MRFF with Jonathan Larsen, an independent journalist.

At the All England Open Badminton Championships 2026 – the 116th edition of badminton’s oldest and most prestigious tournament – Malaysia's Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan brushed aside South Korea's Lee Seo Jin-Lee Yeon Woo 21-14, 21-14 in the round of 16 yesterday to progress to the quarterfinals.

On Wednesday, in the round of 32, the Malaysian women's doubles pair had powered past Japan's Chiharu Shida-Arisa Igarashi in straight sets 21-19, 21-13.