God Speaks Through Bush, Again
I don't know why I was so distracted yesterday that I missed the flap over whether George Bush told Arab leaders that God told him to fight in Afghanistan, invade Iraq and create a state for Palestinians.
The source of this tidbit is Nabil Shaath, Palestinian deputy prime minister, and someone I used to talk to during Intifada II's flowering in the Spring of 2002. Shaath holds a Ph'd from Wharton as well as a law degree from Penn, and we would reminisce about Philadelphia when we weren't talking about all the people getting killed around us.
He told the BBC in a three-part documentary to be broadcast later this month:
"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 comments, Shaath said, came at an Israeli-Palestinian summit at Sharm el-Sheikh, an Egyptian resort, in June 2003.
White Spokesman Scott McClellan, yesterday denied the conversation took place as reported.
"No, that's absurd. He's never made any such comments." While McClellan wasn't at the summit, he told reporters he had checked out the claims and "I stand by what I just said."
Our brother PNI blogger, Attytood, dug up corroboration of sorts from the Haaretz newspaper, which has Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas quoting President Bush this way:
"God told me to strike at al Qaida 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."
The Times of London today has Shaath backing and filling a bit. He says it was Bush speaking figuratively.
"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.
The Times of India, meanwhile, reports that Britain is appalled and only marginally amused.
Most people do not believe half of the information coming from the Whitehouse these days. What is most disturbing is most believe the president is capable of speaking in that manner.