White House denies Bush God claim

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.'"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4317498.stm

"President Bush said to all of us: 'I'm driven with a mission from God.

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Sorry TM, everyone knows that was actually Fox TV's "Dog the Bounty Hunter" that said that...

Well, it's common knowledge that only the BEEB, NYT and raving Moonbats believe Bush actually made those statements.

Surprised the B-Fly hasen't locked onto this one yet...

"Only" the NYT and the BBC. I see... well, it's true that NYT lost credibility over all that liquid manure Judith Miller printed, right? Not to mention the treasonous stuff. Oops, wait, that was helping the Bush administration, wasn't it? I get so confused. So is the NYT reliable or not?

I don't know if Bush actually made the statements that some foreign government's officials heard him make (maybe they were confused, too), but I do know (it was printed in the German press- presumably they can't ALL be wrong?) he asked Brazil's head of state if he had "a lot of black people" there like he had back home.

At least the White House has the good sense to deny it, just as the Canadian government and German governments have in the past denied statements by some of their government ministers to the effect that Bush was an incompetent Nazi or something like that. I bet no one's had to deny all these different things about American presidents ever before!

"Steven"

Steven - most stories are picked off the wire. So all it needs is one person to spout rubbish and next thing its printed all over the world. Do you honestly think GWB would tell that to a palastinian or not to mention anyone?

Right...

And I used to think The Gent was bad with the 'conspiracy' tripe spouted in MSM.

Good points, Brit...

For all you Bush-Haters - put this in your Bong and smoke it:

Palestinian Spokesliars and the BBC

The BBC really is off the rails this time; a new documentary will claim that George W. Bush said God told him to invade Afghanistan and Iraq, and to give the Palestinians a state.

The BBC’s sources?

Professional Palestinian liar Nabil Shaath and Holocaust-denying Palestinian “president” Abu Mazen: White House denies Bush claimed divine inspiration.

The White House has denied that US President George W. Bush said God told him to invade Iraq and Afghanistan, as a new BBC documentary is expected to reveal.

“That’s absurd. He’s never made such comments,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Thursday.

The documentary series set to be broadcast later this month in Britain claims Bush made the claim when he met Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and then-foreign minister Nabil Shaath in June 2003.

He also told them he had been ordered by God to create a Palestinian state, the ministers said.

Shaath, now the Palestinian information minister, said: “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’,” said Shaath.

Abbas, who was also at the meeting in the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheikh, recalled how the president told him: “’I have a moral and religious obligation’”.

“’So I will get you a Palestinian state."

Link

The truth about God and George

By Simon Freeman

A senior Palestinian who said that George W Bush claimed to be on first-name terms with God stood by his comments today but conceded that President was using a figure of speech.

Nabil Shaath told the BBC that in June 2003 he heard Mr Bush tell Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Prime Minister: "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."

The White House quickly issued a terse denial last night dismissing the Palestinians Information Minister's comments as: "absurd." Scott McClellan, a spokesman, said that Mr Bush, although a devout Christian, "never said that".

Mr Shaath, whose interview was recorded for Israel and the Arabs: Elusive Peace to be broadcast this month, today stood by his recollection of the meeting but accepted that the statement had not been meant literally.

"It was really a figure of speech (by Bush). We felt he was saying that he had a mission, a commitment, his faith in God would inspire him ... rather than a metaphysical whisper in his ear," he said.

Mr Bush, once quoted as saying: "I believe that God wants me to be president", is a devout Christian and makes no secret of appealing to God for strength, but denies using God to justify his decisions.

Mr Abbas also recalled today how the President told him: "’I have a moral and religious obligation... so I will get you a Palestinian state.’"

Mr Bush launched an impassioned attack on Islamic militants during a speech in Washington yesterday, accusing them of seeking to "enslave whole nations" in an empire stretching from Spain to Indonesia.

Mr Bush's alleged comments have provoked anger among religious groups.

Andrew Blackstock, director of the Christian Socialist Movement, said: "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."

A BBC spokesman said the content of the programme had been put to the White House but it had refused to comment on a private conversation.

Last month, senior figures in the Church of England questioned America’s sense of "moral righteousness" in its foreign policy.

The bishops of Bath and Wells, Oxford, Coventry, and Worcester, said in their report on countering terrorism: "There is no uniquely righteous nation. No country should see itself as the redeemer nation, singled out by God as part of his providential plan."

The truth about God and George

Source?

Link?

Steven - most stories are picked off the wire. So all it needs is one person to spout rubbish and next thing its printed all over the world. Do you honestly think GWB would tell that to a palastinian or not to mention anyone? 

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Actually, yes. He's not the sharpest knife (or even the sharpest spoon) in the drawer- and could you please tell me a major disaster (PR or otherwise) for which a high-ranking Bush administration official has yet been fired? What accountability?