As U.S. warplanes continue to bomb Baghdad, churches of all denominations in Bismarck and Mandan are offering guidance to assist congregations in dealing with the escalating conflict. The advice given by a guest speaker to the more than 50 in attendance at the Bismarck Baptist Church on Sunday was to "let your lives be human shields of prayer."

Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Jeff O'Leary, a Fox News consultant on war from Washington D.C., came to North Dakota to speak at Child Evangelism Fellowship annual banquets in Dickinson and Bismarck. When Bismarck Baptist Church Pastor Dan Burnett heard O'Leary was in town, he invited him to speak during the Sunday morning services.

"The road to freedom has always been through killing zones and the currency has always been blood," O'Leary told the congregation on Sunday.

Avoiding war and keeping peace at all cost isn't viable, O'Leary said. He berated those opposing war and the president including actors, actresses and musicians. Among those he mentioned were Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, who said to a London audience that she was ashamed that the president of the United States was from Texas, and Jessica Lange, who spoke out against Bush in Madrid, Spain.

"I'm here because soldiers are sacrificing their lives, not Sheryl Crow or the Dixie Chicks," O'Leary said. "Without the brave there would be no land of the free."

O'Leary said the Dixie Chicks told their fans that the worst thing that could happen is war, but he believes that it would be worse to let the Iraqi people live under a regime where 5,000 children a month are dying from malnutrition and preventable diseases. The Iraqi people who have escaped are not opposed to the war and nor would those who lived under Joseph Stalin or Nero, he said.

"Who is going to buy freedom for people in chains? People like you and me who are willing to sacrifice," O'Leary said.

During his 22-year career in the Air Force, O'Leary faced terrorism while serving as a peacekeeper in Israel during the Gulf War and survived a Iraqi missile barrage and a cafe bombing while evacuating civilians. His experiences in the Middle East and expertise led to his work as a military analyst for FOX News on terrorism and Middle East politics and culture.

O'Leary is the author of "Taking the High Ground: Military Moments with God" and plans to release a new book "Brave Hearts under Red Skies: Stories of Faith under Fire." O'Leary also helped start several orphanages and churches in India.

O'Leary will speak again at 6:30 p.m. today at the Ramkota Hotel in Bismarck for the Child Evangelism Fellowship annual banquet.

(Reach reporter Mike Albrecht at 250-8261 or cops@ndonline.com.)