Surely the dumbest statement of all time

[Jarryd_S]

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
Friday October 7, 2005
The Guardian

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.

No words can describe the stupidity of this man.

[Craig]

Meh another anti-George Bush person like 95% people who have expressed their views on this.

Heard it all before.

[Robertinho]

What? Look at the George Bush quote, Craigos..

[andyc]

Now that he's admitted to hearing voices in his head, can we lock him up?

[Linda]

"George, stop making things up."

[Craig]

Originally Posted by Robertinho

What? Look at the George Bush quote, Craigos..

Look even I will admit that those comments raised the eyebrows, but what I am talking about is somebody creating another anti-Bush thread or person so I reacted with a "so what?".

[andyc]

Originally Posted by Craig

Look even I will admit that those comments raised the eyebrows, but what I am talking about is somebody creating another anti-Bush thread or person so I reacted with a "so what?".

Well, it is a pretty bloody stupid statement. When he accidentally called the Iraq war 'a crusade,' he prompted heaps of criticism from Muslims, for obvious reasons, and this is hardly going to help

[FaaipDeOiad]

Right. You have to wonder when you make a reasoned criticism of a public leader and the response of his supporters is "but you're just criticising Bush again". Yeah we are... and that's what you should do if he does something that warrants criticism.

[Burpey]

The best thing about politics is that people criticise their actions constantly, yet they are the ones that got them into office. Especially true with the American public

[Shounak]

Is it just me, or are you being followed around? How stalker-ish..

[age_master]

how is that the dumbest thing ever said

especially considering that not to long ago CC posted something where someone suggested that Aborting black babies would lower crime rates

[Jamee999]

Originally Posted by age_master

how is that the dumbest thing ever said

especially considering that not to long ago CC posted something where someone suggested that Aborting black babies would lower crime rates

It probably would.

[Craig]

Hey I never once said you guys must read or respond to what I type. In fact I couldn't care less if you just ignored what ever I typed.

In fact if Sean read what I said (doubt that he did) he will note that his comments suprised me.

[Craig]

As for the title of this thread I'm sure there have been some pretty dumb statements up there.

[PY]

"A Palestinian official who said the US president had claimed God told him to invade Iraq and Afghanistan says he did not take George Bush's words literally.

Nabil Shaath said he and other world leaders at a Jordan summit two years ago did not believe Mr Bush thought God had given him a personal message."

""President Bush said that God guided him in what he should do, and this guidance led him to go to Afghanistan to rid it of terrorism after 9/11 and led him to Iraq to fight tyranny," he said.

"We understood that he was illustrating [in his comments] his strong faith and his belief that this is what God wanted."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4320586.stm

A bit sensationalistic I reckon, a lot being made of something which no-one has officially confirmed. The Palestinians won't confirm it and the Bush camp are denying all knowledge. I don't think it's particularly outrageous to have a Christian talk of how he feels he's being guided by God.

Granted, he shouldn't say stuff like that especially when there's already unrest with the war and it's origins but he's not exactly known for being the sharpest knife in the drawer.