ANSWERS: 9
  • Highly doubtful. First of all, It was either to please daddy or for oil. Second of all, Mr. Bush is far too stupid to know what the term "religion" means. :3
  •   It was a hodgepodge of reasons that kept changing. As Dubya kept changing his direction and focus, his loyal sycophants had to turn on a dime and claim that this new direction was really the direction they had been going all along.   Remember after 9-11, George swore that we would get Osama bin Laden. A few months later, he shrugged and said he didn't really think about Osama much any more. Keep in mind that the bin Laden family were Saudis, good friends of the Bush family. The day after 9-11, when all other domestic and international flights had been canceled, George provided an airliner for his Saudi friends to return to S.A. I suspect that the rest of the bin Laden family persuaded George, "Don't hurt Osama. He's a iittle confused, but he means well."   George once told a group of Palestinian ministers that God had told him to invade Iraq: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&num=20&q=%22God+told+me%22+to+invade+Iraq&btnG=Search   This led me to believe that George was clinically psychotic. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&num=20&q=Bush+psychotic+%22god+told+me%22&btnG=Search   His condition was probably made worse by the booze. http://www.thewe.cc/thewei/&/bellaciao/bush_boozy.jpe   I agree that George really hoped to impress his father, whose wealthy friends had bailed young George out of half a dozen failed business endeavors (failed b/c of mismanagement, just like the war and his presidency).   Other than trying to impress DaDa, I think George actually believed his loyal advisers who told him Iraq's oil would be ours for the taking.  
  • this is the first i have heard about this - sounds fishy to me
  • I'm reading Bob Woodward's excellent book, "Bush at War" at the moment. Woodward had unprecedented access to Bush, White House aides and Administration and Military Staff in researching the book. He relied on a wealth of notes and tapes of actual meetings. So what he presents is not just a compelling story of what unfolded after 9/11, it's an amazingly detailed, accurate picture. It is clear that the Neocons in the Administration, principally Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz; wanted to invade Iraq before Bush was even elected. It's also clear Bush after 9/11 saw himself as placed in the Presidency by God to be a great War President -- to turn back Islamic Fundamentalism. Bush often spoke of divine providence and how God was using him to further His ends. His neocon advisers knew Bush's religious bent and used it liberally to push for a war to topple Saddam. They ramped up this push to a boil when 9/11 occurred. Colin Powell, Condi Rice and the Joint Chiefs were able to temporarily stall the neocon rush to an Iraq war in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 by pointing out that such action would undermine the effort to get the rest of the world engaged in a response to 9/11. It would cripple support from vital Muslim countries in the Middle East. But Wolfowitz was not to be denied. He and his neocon allies knew very well that Bush believed he was on a mission from God, and they used language selling the war as a Godly crusade. So yes, Bush did believe he was doing God's work in toppling Saddam.
  • Well, putting aside the fact that the tone of the article in the link you provided is making the same "bullsh*t" alarm go off that I get every time I get one of those stupid emails forwarded to me that keeps snopes.com busy.... I seriously doubt it. Having studied some interesting historical events, and even having been part of the U.S. military for 20 years myself (Navy), I am well aware the the public RARELY knows ALL the reasons behind many of the actions our government takes, regardless of WHO is in office at the time. Indeed, there are many times where the 'need to know' simply doesn't exist with respect to the public. I do not know, nor will I claim to know, all the myriad motivations, reasons, intelligence, etc. that went into the decision G.W. made to do what he did. Perhaps religious reasons is a part of it, though I rather doubt it...at least with respect to the twist proposed in this article. In the world of politics, it's not RELIGION that drives such actions...it's POWER. Religion implies some kind of altruism. And this is most certainly NOT about that. For me, it is enough to say it's directly related to the 9/11 attacks on American soil by terrorists and those who support them, whatever other reasons there may be. Interesting question, though. +5 <EDIT> By the way, this is the SAME kind of stuff that's been put forth not just for decades under various different historical settings in our country, but for CENTURIES. I can clearly remember the SAME kind of predictions and justifications being made, using much of the same scriptures, when talking about America, the Soviet Union, and China as far back as the 70's while I was in grade school. Funny how those "shocking" Biblical propheies work like that.
  • Only if the god he worshipped was Mammon.
  • G.W. often said he heard the voice of god. At least something was rattling around in his head. Bin Laden had the same reason for doing what he did. Bin Laden is responsible for 3000+ on 9-11 plus was the inspiration for hundreds more deaths. Bush killed hundreds of thousands on his first go, not to mention the thousands of American soldiers that died. In total, probably hundreds of thousands, maybe more than a million people died because these guys heard god. I say we shoot the next guy that says he heard god, it would sure keep the death toll down. Who is this god anyway and why does he hate us?
  • all Biblical aside and just benevolence...HUSSEIN needed to be taken out of society, just like Hitler ...all these evil men....Bin Laden also, but these tyrannical evil should not be allowed to do their own or others as such ....it human decency all the way around ...just got too many indecent humans who care nothing of other men/people....i dont care what has been said ,what he said, i think it was just ...for the people of Iraq, for all other countries, he had done his evil long enough in this world.... religious reasons.oil reasons, helping Kuwait, whatever....He did the RIGHT THING.... at least for BIBLICAL reasons he was not trying to be an elevated peacemaker that has not sense enough to know u cannot deal with EVIL FORCES/ENEMIES such as these people are....duh!!!
  • My take? Credible and disturbing. First, please understand - no way am I criticizing the man's belief in God. That's his business. The thing that's made me uneasy for the last 8 years has been the President of the United States' involvement with religion - a very conservative, politically powerful, religion and its leaders. Leaders who preach a literal interpretation of the prophecies in Daniel and Revelation. Their exclusionary version of Christianity embraces End Times, the Rapture - and glorifies an ever-impending Apocalypse. In case you wonder why I'm familiar with the subject, I was raised on it. But that's a different story. Now, to anyone who dismissed the allegations in the alternet article as just more liberal media nonsense or conspiracy theorizing, please consider the following: 1) "Associations between George W. Bush and rapturist fundamentalism should at least give citizens pause" “Their beliefs are bonkers, but they are at the heart of power: U.S. Christian fundamentalists are driving Bush’s Middle East policy,” wrote George Monbiot in The Guardian on April 20, 2004. Commenting earlier on this possibility, Charles Colson, an evangelical commentator and former Nixon aide, said in the March 10, 2003, issue of U.S. News and World Report, “Some wonder if the president might be influenced by evangelical teachings that envision an end-of-the-world battle between Israel and its enemies. It would be dangerous for a president to take a particular theology like that and apply it to world events.” Grave church-state separation issues obviously would arise as well." "A third dispensationalist who influenced Bush was Dr. Tony Evans, a Dallas preacher and a founder of the Promise Keepers movement. According to Dr. Martin Hawkins, Evans’ assistant pastor, Evans taught Bush "how the world should be seen from a divine viewpoint." And Bush says in his book, A Charge to Keep, that he has been “spellbound” listening to Evans’ sermons." http://www.celticguitarmusic.com/Mland_Rapture.htm 2) Seattle Times, Sept 2004 "Bush's Fundamentalism: the President as Prophet http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2002043481_domke23.html 3) "The Influence of Dispensationalism on Bush's Foreign Policy" Joan Didion in the New York Times Review of Books, about what she sees as the frightening and crazy foreign policy views of the religious right: Mr. Bush & the Divine http://planetpreterist.com/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=1582 4) Bush's friend, Tim LaHaye and his political activism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_LaHayehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_LaHaye 5) Excerpt from Rolling Stone, 1/28/2004 "According to Tim LaHaye, the Apocalypse is now" [very interesting, long, but the whole article is worth the read] "It might seem unlikely that the commander in chief would take his marching orders directly from on high -- unless you understand the views of the Rev. Timothy LaHaye, one of the most influential leaders of the Christian right, and a man who played a quiet but pivotal role in putting George W. Bush in the White House. [LaHaye is the author of the "Left Behind" series] LaHaye's books, and his quirky interpretation of biblical prophecy that stands behind them, revolve intensely around Iraq, because LaHaye believes that Armageddon will be unleashed from the Antichrist's headquarters in Babylon. Since the 1970s -- when Iraq began a reconstruction project on the ruins of the ancient city, near Baghdad -- LaHaye has said that Saddam Hussein is carrying out Satan's mission. In 1999, LaHaye wrote that Saddam is "a servant of Satan," possessed by a demon, and that he could be "the forerunner of the Antichrist." Ultimately, says LaHaye, before Christ can return to Earth, Iraq, led by the Antichrist, must engage in a world-shaking showdown with Israel. Of course, there have always been preachers on the margins of the religious right thundering on about the end of the world. But it's doubtful that such a fanatic believer has ever had such a direct pipeline to the White House. Five years ago, as Bush was gearing up his presidential campaign, he made a little-noticed pilgrimage to a gathering of right-wing Christian activists, under the auspices of a group called the Committee to Restore American Values. The committee, which assembled about two dozen of the nation's leading fundamentalist firebrands, was chaired by LaHaye. At the time, many evangelicals viewed Bush skeptically: Despite his born-again views, when he was governor of Texas, Bush had alienated many of the state's Christian-right activists for failing to pursue a sufficiently evangelical agenda. On the national level, he was an unknown quantity. That day, behind closed doors, LaHaye grilled the candidate. He presented Bush with a lengthy questionnaire on issues such as abortion, judicial appointments, education, religious freedom, gun control and the Middle East. What the preacher thought of Bush's answers would largely determine whether the Christian right would throw its muscle behind the Texas governor. When the meeting with Bush ended, LaHaye gave the candidate his seal of approval. For Bush, it was a major breakthrough, clearing the decks for hundreds of leaders of the Christian right, from TV preachers and talk-show hosts to Bible Belt pulpit pounders, to support the Bush-Cheney ticket in 2000. "Bush went into the meeting not totally acceptable," recalls Paul Weyrich, the grandfather of the religious right, who has known LaHaye for thirty years. "He went out not only acceptable but enthusiastically supported." "LaHaye professes no knowledge of whether President Bush buys into his views. "I have seen nothing from this president that would indicate that he is influenced one way or the other by my prophesy teaching," he says. But for Bush, an emotional, evangelical president who has repeatedly described the struggle against Saddam as a conflict between good and evil, LaHaye's views resonate with his. And though it's not known whether Bush has read any of the Left Behind books, he is a regular consumer of writing by other evangelists. Just recently, according to Falwell, Bush called a well-known born-again author, Rick Warren, to say he and Laura Bush had loved reading his new book, The Purpose Driven Life. Asked whether Bush is in accord with the End Times views of LaHaye, Falwell says, "My guess is that his views would differ very little, but that's conjecture." Jenkins, LaHaye's co-author, says only, "Every Christian ought to be happy that we have someone in the White House who says he believes what we do." But the idea that Bush, in going to war against Iraq, might have been moved not by politics but by an apocalyptic vision is terrifying to some. Last October, the Rev. C. Welton Gaddy of the Interfaith Alliance wrote a formal letter to Bush, saying, in part, "Please assure the American people that you are not developing foreign policy on the basis of a fundamentalist biblical theology that requires cataclysm in Israel in order to guarantee the return of Christ." So far, he has not received an answer, and the White House didn't return calls from Rolling Stone asking whether the president has read Left Behind." http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/5939999/reverend_doomsday/ As I stated earlier, I believe the aIternet piece contains credible information. What I've tried to do in this answer is present other credible information as evidence to back up my belief.

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