White House denies Bush God claims
James Sturcke
Friday October 7, 2005
A senior White House official has denied that the US president,
George Bush, said God ordered him to invade Afghanistan and Iraq.
A spokesman for Mr Bush, Scott McClellan, said the claims, to be
broadcast in a TV documentary later this month, were "absurd".
In the BBC film, a former Palestinian foreign minister, Nabil
Shaath, says that Mr Bush told a Palestinian delegation in 2003
that God spoke to him and said: "George, go and fight these
terrorists in Afghanistan" and also "George, go and end the
tyranny in Iraq".
During a White House press briefing, Mr McClellan said: "No,
that's absurd. He's never made such comments."
Mr McClellan admitted he was not at the Israeli-Palestinian
summit at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in June 2003
when Mr Bush supposedly revealed the extent of his religious
fervour.
However, he said he had checked into the claims and "I stand by
what I just said".
Asked if Mr Bush had ever mentioned that God had ordered him into
Afghanistan and Iraq, Mr McClellan said: "No, and I've been in
many meetings with him and never heard such a thing."
The claims are due to be broadcast in a three-part BBC
documentary which analyses attempts to bring peace to the Middle
East.
Mr Shaath, the Palestinian foreign minister in 2003, claims Mr
Bush told him and other delegates that he was spoken to by God
over his plans for war.
He told the film-makers: "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.'"
The Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, who attended the June 2003
meeting as well, 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."
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
that brings him much support in middle America.
"History is littered with examples of people doing the most
bizarre and sometimes wicked things on this basis," said Andrew
Blackstock, director of the British-based Christian Socialist
Movement. "If Bush really wants to obey God during his time as
president he should start with what is blindingly obvious from
the Bible rather than perceived supernatural messages.
"That would lead him to the rather less glamorous business of
prioritising the needs of the poor, the downtrodden and the
marginalised in his own country and abroad.
"When we see more policies reflecting that, it might be easier to
believe he has God on his side. And more likely that God might
speak to him."
The TV series, which starts on Monday, charts recent attempts to
bring peace to the Middle East, from the 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 said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1587122,00.html
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Bush is a Christian. Get over it!
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