God Talks To Bush...Or Is It The Cocaine?

[reason]

Matt Maupin died for this man?

Press Releases
God told me to invade Iraq, Bush tells Palestinian ministers

Category: News

Date: 06.10.2005
Printable version

President George W Bush told Palestinian ministers that God had told him to invade Afghanistan and Iraq - and create a Palestinian State, a new BBC series reveals.



In Elusive Peace: Israel and the Arabs, a major three-part series on BBC TWO (at 9.00pm on Monday 10, Monday 17 and Monday 24 October), Abu Mazen, Palestinian Prime Minister, and Nabil Shaath, his Foreign Minister, describe their first meeting with President Bush in June 2003.



Nabil Shaath says: "President Bush said to all of us: 'I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, "George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan." And I did, and then God would tell me, "George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq ?" And I did. And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, "Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East." And by God I'm gonna do it.'"



Abu Mazen was at the same meeting and recounts how President Bush told him: "I have a moral and religious obligation. So I will get you a Palestinian state."



The series charts the attempts to bring peace to the Middle East, from President Bill Clinton's peace talks in 1999/2000 to Israel's withdrawal from Gaza last August.



Norma Percy, series producer of The 50 Years War (1998) returns, with producers Mark Anderson and Dan Edge, to tell the inside story of another seven years of crisis.



Presidents and Prime Ministers, their generals and ministers tell what happened behind closed doors as peace talks failed and the intifada exploded.



Israel and the Arabs: Elusive Peace - Mondays 10, 17 and 24 October, from 9.00 to 10.00pm on BBC TWO.

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Category: News

Date: 06.10.2005
Printable version

[reason]

Hey, how many of you invade countries after "God" tells you to?

Raise your hands.

[Lew]

Reason, I've got to believe that story is a work. At best, a mis-interpretation, at worst, an outright fraud. I'm no Bush mark by any means, but I can't believe he'd say something like that (and I think if he had said it, the mainstream press would have picked-up on it).

If true, I'd totally grant you but I just don't think he said it.

[reason]

George Bush: 'God told me to end the tyranny in Iraq'President told Palestinians God also talked to him about Middle East peace
Ewen MacAskill The Guardian, Friday October 7 2005
Article history

George Bush believes he is on a mission from God, according to the politician Nabil Shaath. Photograph: Charles Dharapak/AP

George Bush has claimed he was on a mission from God when he launched the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, according to a senior Palestinian politician in an interview to be broadcast by the BBC later this month.
Mr Bush revealed the extent of his religious fervour when he met a Palestinian delegation during the Israeli-Palestinian summit at the Egpytian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, four months after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

One of the delegates, Nabil Shaath, who was Palestinian foreign minister at the time, said: "President Bush said to all of us: 'I am driven with a mission from God'. God would tell me, 'George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan'. And I did. And then God would tell me 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq'. And I did."

Mr Bush went on: "And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, 'Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East'. And, by God, I'm gonna do it."

Mr Bush, who became a born-again Christian at 40, is one of the most overtly religious leaders to occupy the White House, a fact which brings him much support in middle America.

Soon after, the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz carried a Palestinian transcript of the meeting, containing a version of Mr Bush's remarks. But the Palestinian delegation was reluctant publicly to acknowledge its authenticity.

The BBC persuaded Mr Shaath to go on the record for the first time for a three-part series on Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy: Elusive Peace, which begins on Monday.

Religion also surfaced as an issue when Mr Bush and Tony Blair were reported to have prayed together in 2002 at his ranch at Crawford, Texas - the summit at which the invasion of Iraq was agreed in principle. Mr Blair has consistently refused to admit or deny the claim.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister, who was also part of the delegation at Sharm el-Sheikh, told the BBC programme that Mr Bush had said: "I have a moral and religious obligation. I must get you a Palestinian state. And I will."

Mr Shaath's comments came as Mr Bush delivered a speech yesterday aimed at bolstering US support for the Iraq war.

He revealed that the US and its partners had disrupted at least 10 serious al-Qaida plots since September 11, including three planned attacks in the US. "Because of this steady progress, the enemy is wounded - but the enemy is still capable of global operations," he said. He added that Islamic radicals had used a series of excuses to justify their attacks, from conflict with the Israelis to the Crusades 1,000 years ago.

"We're facing a radical ideology with unalterable objectives: to enslave whole nations and intimidate the world," he said.

He conceded that al-Qaida, led in Iraq by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and other insurgents had gained ground in Iraq but the US would not leave until security had been established. "Some observers also claim that America would be better off by cutting our losses and leaving Iraq now. This is a dangerous illusion, refuted with a simple question: Would the United States and other free nations be more safe, or less safe, with Zarqawi and Bin Laden in control of Iraq, its people, and its resources?" Mr Bush asked.

About this articleClose This article appeared in the Guardian on Friday October 07 2005 on p1 of the Top section. It was last updated at 07:28 on October 07 2005.

[reason]

June 30, 2003


The Revelation of St. George
"God Instructed Me to Strike Saddam"
By CHRIS FLOYD

So now we know. After all the mountains of commentary and speculation, all the earnest debates over motives and goals, all the detailed analyses of global strategy and political ideology, it all comes to down to this: George W. Bush waged war on Iraq because, in his own words, God "instructed me to strike at Saddam."

This gospel was revealed, appropriately enough, in the Holy Land last week, through an unusual partnership between the fractious children of Abraham. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz was given transcripts of a negotiating session between Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and faction leaders from Hamas and other militant groups. Abbas, who was trying to persuade the groups to call a ceasefire in their uprising against Israeli forces, described for them his recent summit with Ariel Sharon and George W. Bush.

During the tense talks at the summit, Bush sought to underscore the kind of authority he could bring to efforts at achieving peace in the Middle East. While thundering that there could be "no deals with terror groups," Bush sought to assure the rattled Palestinians that he also had the ability to wring concessions from Sharon. And what was the source of this wonder-working power? It was not, as you might think, the ungodly size of the U.S. military or the gargantuan amount of money and arms America pours into Israel year after year.

No, Bush said he derived his moral heft from the Almighty Himself. What's more, the Lord had proven his devotion to the Crawford Crusader by crowning his military efforts with success. In fact, he told Abbas, God was holding the door open for Middle East peace right now--but they would have to move fast, because soon the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe would have to give His attention to something far more important: the election of His little sunbeam, Georgie, in 2004.

Here are Bush's exact words, quoted by Haaretz: "God told me to strike at al Qaeda and I struck them, and then He instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you help me, I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them."

You can't put it plainer than that. The whole chaotic rigmarole of Security Council votes and UN inspections and Congressional approval and Colin Powell's whizbang Powerpoint displays of "proof" and Bush's own tearful prayers for "peace"--it was all a sham, a meaningless exercise. No votes, no inspections, no proof or lack of proof--in fact, no earthly reason whatsoever--could have stopped Bush's aggressive war on Iraq. It was God's unalterable will: the Lord of Hosts gave a direct order for George W. Bush to "strike at Saddam."

And strike he did, with an awesome fury that rained death and destruction on the mustachioed whore of Babylon, with a firestorm of Godly wrath that consumed the enemy armies like so much chaff put to the flame--and with an arsenal of cruise missiles, cluster bombs, dive bombers and assault helicopters that killed up to 10,000 innocent civilians: blasted to pieces in their beds, shot down in their fields and streets, crushed beneath the walls of their own houses, boiled alive in factories, ditches, and cars, gutted, mutilated, beheaded, murdered, women, children, elders, some praying, some wailing, some cursing, some mute with fear as metal death ripped their lives away and left rotting hulks behind. This was the work of the Lord and His faithful servant, whom He hath raised high up to have dominion over men.

And this is the mindset--or rather, the primitive fever-dream--that is now directing the actions of the greatest military power in the history of the world. There can be no doubt that Bush believes literally in the divine character of his mission. He honestly and sincerely believes that whatever "decision" forms in his brain--out of the flux and flow of his own emotional impulses and biochemical reactions, the flattery and cajolements of his sinister advisers, the random scraps of fact, myth and fabrication that dribble into his proudly undeveloped and incurious consciousness--has been planted there, whole and perfected, by God Almighty.

And that's why Bush acts with such serenity and ruthlessness. Nothing he does can be challenged on moral grounds, however unethical or evil it might appear, because all of his actions are directed by God. He can twist the truth, oppress the poor, exalt the rich, despoil the earth, ignore the law--and murder children--without the slightest compunction, the briefest moment of doubt or self-reflection, because he believes, he truly believes, that God squats in his brainpan and tells him what to do.

And just as God countenanced deception on the part of Abraham, just as God forgave David for the murders he ordered, just as God blessed the armies of Saul as they obliterated the Amalekites, man, woman and child, so will He overlook any crime committed by Bush and his minions as they carry out His will. That's why Bush can always "do whatever it takes" to achieve his goals. And by his own words to Abbas, we see that he places his election in 2004 above all other concerns, even the endless bloodshed in the Middle East.

So what new crimes will the Lord have to countenance to keep His appointed servant in power?

Chris Floyd is a columnist for the Moscow Times and a regular contributor to CounterPunch. He can be reached at: [email protected]

[reason]

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worl.../09/2003275089

Bush transcript: `God told me to end tyranny in Iraq'

DRIVEN: An excerpt allegedly taken from a June 2003 interview between Palestinian officials and the US president will be the subject of a television series

AP, JERUSALEM AND THE GUARDIAN, LONDON
Sunday, Oct 09, 2005, Page 7
"I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, `George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan.' And I did. And then God would tell me, `George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq.' And I did."

attributed to George W. Bush, US president

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday denied an account by another Palestinian official of a meeting with US President George W. Bush, in which Bush is cited as saying he believed that God told him to go to war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

A statement in Abbas' name released by his office said that an excerpt from an interview with Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Shaath due to be broadcast by the British Broadcasting Corp in which Shaath described a meeting with Bush in June 2003 gave a "completely false" account.

In the interview for the series "Israel and the Arabs." Shaath described the meeting, at which he said Abbas was present.

"President Bush said to all of us: `I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, `George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan.' And I did. And then God would tell me, `George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq.' And I did," Shaath said.

Bush went on: "And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, `Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East.' And, by God, I'm gonna do it."

Bush, who became a born-again Christian at 40, is one of the most overtly religious leaders to occupy the White House, a fact which brings him much support in middle America.

Soon after, the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz carried a Palestinian transcript of the meeting, containing a version of Bush's remarks. But the Palestinian delegation was reluctant publicly to acknowledge its authenticity.

"This report is not true," the Abbas statement said on Friday. "I have never heard President Bush talking about religion as a reason behind the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. President Bush has never mentioned that in front of me on any occasion and specifically not during my visit in 2003."

The BBC persuaded Shaath to go on the record for the first time for a three-part series. Israel and the Arabs: Elusive Peace will be broadcast in Britain on Oct. 10, 17 and 24, and in its entirety on PBS in the US.

Religion also surfaced as an issue when Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair were reported to have prayed together in 2002 at his ranch at Crawford, Texas -- the summit at which the invasion of Iraq was agreed in principle. Blair has consistently refused to admit or deny the claim.

Mahmoud Abbas, who was also part of the delegation at Sharm el-Sheikh, told the BBC that Bush said: "I have a moral and religious obligation. I must get you a Palestinian state. And I will."

Shaath's comments came as Bush delivered a speech on Thursday aimed at bolstering US support for the Iraq war.

"We're facing a radical ideology with unalterable objectives: to enslave whole nations and intimidate the world," he said.

He conceded that insurgents had gained ground in Iraq but the US would not leave until security had been established.

"Some observers also claim that America would be better off by cutting our losses and leaving Iraq now. This is a dangerous illusion, refuted with a simple question: Would the United States and other free nations be more safe, or less safe, with Zarqawi and Bin Laden in control of Iraq, its people, and its resources?" Bush asked.
This story has been viewed 3925 times.

[reason]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_obje...name_page.html

BUSH: GOD TOLD ME TO GO TO WAR
From Ryan Parry, Us Correspondent, In New York 7/10/2005
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Have your say on What are you talking about? in our Forums
News picturesGEORGE BUSH claims God told him to invade Afghanistan and Iraq and create a Palestinian state.

At a meeting with Palestinian leaders he is reported as saying: "I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me 'George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan'. And I did.

"And then God would tell me 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq'...and I did."

"And now again I feel God's words coming to me 'Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security and get peace in the Middle East'. And by God I'm gonna do it."

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The outburst is revealed by former Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath in a new BBC2 series.

He says it happened when he and new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas met Bush in June 2003 in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Abbas says Bush told him: "I have a moral and religious obligation. So I will get you a Palestinian state."

The BBC said the claims were put to the White House but it refused to comment on a private conversation. Meanwhile Bush claimed yesterday that Islamic militants seek to "enslave whole nations and intimidate the world".

He told the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington: "The militants believe that controlling one country will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow all moderate governments in the region and establish a radical Islamic empire that spans from Spain to Indonesia.

Elusive Peace: Israel and the Arabs is on BBC2 at 9pm on October 10, 17 and 24.

[reason]

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea...0051006-6.html


Press Briefing by Scott McClellan
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

Q Have you ever heard the President say that God told him to invade Afghanistan and Iraq and --

MR. McCLELLAN: No, and I've been in many meetings with him and never heard such a thing.

Q Are you aware of the -- there's a BBC broadcast tonight that's quoting the Palestinian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister as saying that they were in a meeting with the President in June of '03, and there are some very detailed quotes here, saying that the President said to them, "God told me, 'George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan,' and I did," and then "God told me, 'George go and end the tyranny in the Iraq'" and so forth and so on?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, that's absurd. He's never made such comments.

Q Were you in the meeting when that took place?

MR. McCLELLAN: I've been in meetings with him with President Abbas; I didn't travel on that trip, if you're talking about to Jordan. But I've been in many meetings with the President with world leaders where he's talked about this.

Q So you don't know about the June '03 meeting?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I checked into that report and I stand by what I just said.

[reason]

White House denies Bush God claim



Programme excerpts
The White House has dismissed as "absurd" allegations made in a BBC TV series that President Bush claimed God told him to invade Iraq.
"He's never made such comments," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

The comments were attributed to Mr Bush by the Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath in the upcoming TV series Elusive Peace: Israel and the Arabs.

Mr Shaath said that in a 2003 meeting with Mr Bush, the US president said he was "driven with a mission from God".

Holy war?

"President Bush said to all of us: 'I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan. And I did, and then God would tell me, George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq... And I did.

"'And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East. And by God I'm gonna do it.'"

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who attended the meeting in June 2003 too, also appears on the documentary series to recount how Mr Bush told him: "I have a moral and religious obligation. So I will get you a Palestinian state."

The TV series charts recent attempts to bring peace to the Middle East, from former US President Bill Clinton's peace talks in 1999-2000 to Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip this year.

It seeks to uncover what happened behind closed doors by speaking to presidents and prime ministers, along with their generals and ministers.

The BBC Two series, Israel and the Arabs: Elusive Peace will be broadcast on Mondays from 10 October at 2100 BST.

[reason]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...100801094.html

Interpretation of Bush's Comments Reignites Debate

By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 9, 2005; Page A12

Once again, a private conversation between President Bush and Palestinian leaders two years ago has come back to bedevil the White House.

Despite the dubious nature of Bush's reported words -- which the White House insists have been mischaracterized -- the latest account asserting that Bush once claimed a divine mandate to wage war in Afghanistan and Iraq has spawned headlines around the globe, in newspapers and over the Internet. Commentators have been especially ruthless in Europe, where Bush's born-again Christianity is viewed with suspicion.


The story has its roots in a meeting in June 2003, when Bush attended back-to-back summits in Egypt and Jordan to launch a peace plan for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The BBC will broadcast a documentary this week in which a senior Palestinian official alleges that Bush privately suggested that he invaded Afghanistan and Iraq on the orders of God.

" 'God would tell me, 'George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan,' " then-Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath recounted as Bush saying in June 2003. " 'And I did, and then God would tell me, 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq' . . . And I did.' "

Bush allegedly went on to say that God had now told him to "go get the Palestinians their state."

White House press secretary Scott McClellan strongly denied that Bush said those words, dismissing that interpretation as absurd. Shaath on Friday told the BBC's Arabic Service that he did not take Bush's comments literally but thought they merely reflected Bush's strong religious faith.

This is not the first time this conversation has spawned controversy. Shortly after the summits took place, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz obtained the minutes of a Palestinian meeting in which then-Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas recounted the session with Bush. Haaretz provided a translation of Bush's words into English that was remarkably similar to the BBC account.

An Arabic speaker at The Washington Post, however, translated the words differently after receiving the original Arabic from Haaretz. Instead of "God told me," The Post's translation had Bush saying he was inspired by God.

"God inspired me to hit al Qaeda, and so I hit it," Bush said, according to The Post account. "And I had the inspiration to hit Saddam [Hussein], and so I hit him. Now I am determined to solve the Middle East problem if you help. Otherwise the elections will come, and I will be wrapped up with them."

Bush frequently speaks of his faith and trust in God. The translation from Bush's words in English into Arabic for the Palestinians, and then back to English again appears to have distorted the tenor of his words.

In fact, Abbas, now president of the Palestinian Authority, gave the BBC a different version of Bush's words. Abbas recalled that Bush said: " 'I have a moral and religious obligation. So I will get you a Palestinian state.' "

According to the minutes, one of Bush's main points appeared to be that he had a limited time frame to devote his political capital to the issue before the 2004 presidential campaigns went into full swing.

Indeed, only a few months later, the peace plan stalled when Abbas quit as prime minister. The administration devoted little time to the issue until this year -- after Bush was reelected.

<font color="#CC6600" size="1">[ June 12, 2008 03:25 PM: Message edited by: The Big Sexy ]</font>