<p>"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.
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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.’”</p>
<p>I’m sure you are willing to believe anything that someone says about GWB - as long as it makes Bush look bad. Something tells me that the Palestinians did just a wee bit of exageration/stretching of the truth/lieing with this “quote”.</p>
<p>I wonder what your view of Lincoln is who made a “pact” with God regarding the battle at Antietam that if it turned out well for the Union that he would sign the Emancipation Proclamation. I guess if it’s done in the 19th century it is OK and you are still eligible for Best President of All Time awards, but if you are even rumored to do it in the 21st century you are a whacko.</p>
<p>“omnipotent”? I doubt it very much. But putting words into other people’s mouths seems to be your forte. Is that what “scared” people resort to. </p>
<p>And, while I haven’t had a chance to read the entire speech from yesterday, what I have read and seen sound bites from was right on target - finally naming our enemy versus his tactic as what we are fighting.</p>
<p>What is scary about Bush’s comments are their specificity. We’ve had many a past president who claims allegiance to God. Some were even evangelicals. Carter comes to mind. I’ve had the sense, though, that previous presidents used their religion in a more general philosophical way. </p>
<p>I find it truly shocking that a president would use such an excuse for an outright invasion, not to mention wholesale meddling on another continent.</p>
<p>It is also strange that the press has not picked this up. I wonder if “god channeling” has become mainstream? Bush is still impervious? The source is suspect?</p>
<p>Note the absence of ANY comment from the White House.</p>
<p>Finally, it is curious to note that in other settings, such as our courts, using god as an excuse for killing is often a good prelude to an insanity plea. Yet GWB gets a free pass!!!</p>
<p>I really, really hate to play devil’s advocate here, but, in fairness, what we have is a claim that he said this. Unless there’s further proof, it’s basically hearsay, isn’t it?</p>
<p>“Finally, it is curious to note that in other settings, such as our courts, using god as an excuse for killing is often a good prelude to an insanity plea. Yet GWB gets a free pass!!!”</p>
<p>Ah, that is because it is not okay to kill an indivdual who only represents himself, but it IS okay to kill any number of idividuals who represent a country, if that country is our enemy – real or imagined.</p>
<p>The scary thing about power, such as the president’s, is that the person with it can act on his or her ‘imagination’ – and get away with it if he/she is smart enough.</p>
<p>The question is how can Bush be that smart?! On the surface he appears not to be. But is something else working in his favor here, maybe something subliminal?</p>
<p>He has always reminded me of the school yard punk, who is only smart enough to convince the school bully to do his bidding, while everyone else sees through him but is scared to oppose him because they fear some horrible fate if they do.</p>
<p>That is the kind of ‘smarts’ a free people can live without.</p>
<p>There may be a reason for Bush’s lack of "smarts’ w/r/t Katrina. Rove was out of commission.</p>
<p>A quote from NY Daily News:</p>
<p>“There were not only logistical and bureaucratic troubles but, astonishingly for the Bush White House, political snafus. Maybe there’s a simple explanation: Karl Rove’s kidney stones.
Washington insiders have been buzzing that President Bush’s guru-in-chief - often called “Bush’s Brain” - has been suffering from the painful urinary-tract malady for the past couple of weeks, causing him to miss some key Katrina strategy sessions.
I’m told that the 54-year-old deputy White House chief of staff - who apparently was feeling well enough yesterday to travel outside the nation’s capital - visited the hospital, possibly twice, to relieve his agony since Labor Day…”</p>
<p>Of course, Bush’s genius is that he has managed to surround himself with a whole slew of schoolyard ‘chums’…but wait a minute, that is not genius it is an inherited trait!!</p>
<p>It is said that God appears in different guises and forms.
It is also said that evil appears in different guises and forms.</p>
<p>The good news is that kid’s consolidation stafford loan came in today. Save some money today. Further I was organizing the loan files and happen to glance at the “Master Promisory Note: Rights and Responsibilies.” Undergraduate students can borrow upto $23,000 if certain, easy, conditions are met. This means that I don’t have use as much PLUS moneys and an approximate savings to kid and his parents of at least $1100 over the life of the loan.</p>
<p>I wonder how he differentiates the two?
Oh, Well.</p>
<p>I guess you failed to notice the BBC reports where these same three people have now retracted their statements. It’s all over the news over here, BBC, ITV, CNN International. How could you have missed it CGM? Selective reporting again?</p>
<p>The Truth remains unburdened–and uninterrupted–by the pronouncements of terrorists and those romantically inclined to embrace and caress their disingenuous plight; dont expect humble retractions in these quarters.</p>