After the recent disclosure of how Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld used biblical passages as part of the war briefings for President George W. Bush, GQ magazine has an even more disturbing account: Bush lobbied French President Chirac that the war in Iraq was foretold in the bible and told that it was the final struggle with Gog and Magog.
The magazine quotes French sources as saying that Chirac was so confused by the conversation that he reached out to Thomas Römer, a professor of theology at the University of Lausanne to try to figure out what Bush was talking about. This report is supposedly confirmed in Chirac’w own book.
According to the report, Bush lobbies Chirac in 2003 with quotations from the Book of Revelation and told him that the Biblical creatures Gog and Magog were at work in the Middle East and how they must be defeated. The bible states:
7. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, :8. And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Gog is known to dwell to the north of Israel.
Evangelicals and Bible literalists often discuss the battle foretold by prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 38 and 39 as key to the 1000 reign of Christ — working on the precise timing indicators from the Bible to plan ahead.
The report says that Bush told Chirac that the fight in the Middle East was “willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people’s enemies before a New Age begins.”
For the full story, click here.
And I DISagree…
None of ‘Us’ with a capital ‘u’ has remained silent since Day 1
– 9/11/01…
Not to worry. Those of us who were paying attention then, are still ‘on it’ now and have been all along – especially since 2002.
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(CBS) CBS News has learned that barely five hours after American Airlines Flight 77 plowed into the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was telling his aides to come up with plans for striking Iraq — even though there was no evidence linking Saddam Hussein to the attacks.
That’s according to notes taken by aides who were with Rumsfeld in the National Military Command Center on Sept. 11 – notes that show exactly where the road toward war with Iraq began, reports CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin…
“…It was 12:05 p.m. when the director of Central Intelligence told Rumsfeld about the intercepted conversation.
Rumsfeld felt it was “vague,” that it “might not mean something,” and that there was “no good basis for hanging hat.”
In other words, the evidence was not clear-cut enough to justify military action against bin Laden.
But later that afternoon, the CIA reported the passenger manifests for the hijacked airliners showed three of the hijackers were suspected al Qaeda operatives.
“One guy is associate of Cole bomber,” the notes say, a reference to the October 2000 suicide boat attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, which had also been the work of bin Laden.
With the intelligence all pointing toward bin Laden, Rumsfeld ordered the military to begin working on strike plans. And at 2:40 p.m., the notes quote Rumsfeld as saying he wanted “best info fast. Judge whether good enough hit S.H.” – meaning Saddam Hussein – “at same time. Not only UBL” – the initials used to identify Osama bin Laden.
Now, nearly one year later, there is still very little evidence Iraq was involved in the Sept. 11 attacks. But if these notes are accurate, that didn’t matter to Rumsfeld.
“Go massive,” the notes quote him as saying. “Sweep it all up. Things related and not.”
“In 2003 while lobbying leaders to put together the Coalition of the Willing, President Bush spoke to France’s President Jacques Chirac.” “Bush wove a story about how the Biblical creatures Gog and Magog were at work in the Middle East and how they must be defeated.” – Clive Hamilton
This meeting would have to have take place prior to the Iraq invasion, which was March 20, 2003. I think Mr. Hamilton has stated the wrong year.
Could it be May 26, 2002 in Paris, France?
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/05/20020526-2.html
Chirac does not visit Washington in 2002, but does in September and November of 2001. 2001 is to early to be assembling the ‘Coalition of the Willing’.
Laugh or cry George Magog Bush needed war in the most urgent way, absurd.
Jill,
Mr. Greenwald’s columns are necessary reads. They often take a lot of effort to read and then to follow-up with all of the excellent links. Although this blawg is my favorite, I get more in-depth knowledge of the law from Greenwald’s site, although the lack of additional discussion here is largely predicated on Professor Turley’s full schedule and 3 Greenwalds could not match one Turley. The Turley/Greenwald combination is unbeatable.
Instead of Chris “Tweety-bird” Matthew’s Show on Sunday, I would like a Turley & Greenwald Constitutional Hour explaining how the U.S. Constitution affects our daily lives while they debated current issues and discussed the Rule of Law.
GWLSM,
I agree, indefinite detention makes all of us less safe. That statement about “first they came for so and so and I didn’t say anything and then they came for me while nobody was left to speak up” is corny but true. If we don’t speak up now while there’s still a chance, we will lose all of it. Glenn Greenwald’s column today mentions that there is mounting opposition to this idea. Russ Feingold has said it’s not Constitutional. I hope GG is correct, we should not remain silent, compliant “citizens” while our civil rights are being gutted.
So here we are, on Memorial day, listening to the rhetoric of how much we appreciate our troops for fighting an absolutely unnecessary war after a week of listening to Cheney defend this war as he attacks President Obama for making the country less safe. Combine that with the new language coming from the White House, “indefinite detention” and truly, I am sickened.
And it all comes from a half-wit preppie who was ladled from one vat of privilege to another his entire life, and whose delusions about power, control and domination come from hooking up with a war mongering profiteer acting as shadow president.
Yesterday I was at the grocery store and saw a car with a bumper sticker that read “I’ll keep my guns, money and freedom and you can have the change”
So far no one has taken anyone’s guns but what does this guy think? that a bumper sticker on his car will keep his civil liberties intact? Will the vigilance of the right wing talk radio crowd keep them free? Their paranoia? If that guy feels less free today than he felt 6 months ago it isn’t because Obama was elected or because the economy crashed. It’s because when we go to the airport we have to submit to unreasonable searches if we want to get on the plane. Americans were only too happy to comply, thinking that the loss of a few freedoms was worth our safety and the truth is we are not any more or less safe than we were on 9/10. No one thinks twice about going into a mall or book store or a pizza joint. At least the guy was diving a Prius.
“indefinite detention” is thing that makes me feel less safe. It leads me to believe that just about anyone can be picked up and questioned and thrown into what amounts to a concentration camp with no access to legal counsel or a trial. Places like Gitmo are concentration camps. Maybe there is no forced or slave labor going on inside their walls but people are being held for their beliefs, not because that have committed any crimes, but because perhaps they may commit a crime in the future.
Anybody a fan of the Anne of Green Gable series? Gog and Magog, the ceramic dogs with green dots are real.
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Sorry, we’re NOT adopting any more dogs…
Our latest soon-to-be working pair of Anatolian Shepherd puppies is IT – for a long, long, long-long time.
What a handful! Cute and so much fun, but ‘Whew’…
Luckily, we have help and much of it comes from ‘our’ previously, now communal, other eight (8) dogs – thanks so very much… {;o
Although I’m not surprised by this, it continues to yield evidence that Bush and his gang were swayed in a way that was extremely dangerous in the world’s quest to find meaning for itself.
Basing untold policies that effect BILLIONS of people on writings of fairy tales is a sobering thought. Jill puts it very well from the book “The Late Great Planet Earth”. As an ‘agent’, Bush clearly believed and ‘ruled’ the US as if he were the final arbiter…scary folks…
Oooooooooh..
Confirmed in Chirac’s OWN BOOK. Wow, must be TRUE…..LOL.
I bet this will be NUT BALL MSNBC TV headlines for the next 3 days.
I think the saddest part about this is that, as more evidence comes to light, Bush increasingly looks like someone that can get suckered just by someone peppering requests to him with Biblical overtones. Consider Rummy’s memos, or Bush’s quotes lauding Putin after their meeting with him wearing a strategically placed cross around his neck. I think Hitchens has revealingly asked if anyone has ever seen Putin wearing that thing again.
Anybody a fan of the Anne of Green Gable series? Gog and Magog, the ceramic dogs with green dots are real.
http://www.uoguelph.ca/atguelph/06-09-13/featuresarchives.shtml
‘Gog’ and ‘Magog’ are now the preferred possible names for our next breeding pair of pigs OR goat which will eat, almost, anything.
Thanks, JT… 😉
I believe Bush’s scenario is from a book called: “The Late Great Planet Earth”. It isn’t the first time in history that millennialists have started wars because they believed the end was near and wanted to help it along. It is horrifying and ironic that bush and jihadists share so many beliefs in common. They all believe the end is near, that they are the agents of god on earth, and they are willing to kill and order other people to die for their beliefs. The armaegedon worldview intrinsically devalues human life. It is a cult of death.
Former Fed,
I may not have phrased it like you did, but I have to agree with your posting. This former President was not only damaged by his past, he was damaged by an overreliance in his religous beliefs. If Chirac’s story is true, and it seems to match Bush’s use of the term Crusade early on in the buildup and war, he took us to war and over 4,000 US soldiers died to reconcile Bush’s belief that the New Age was near. That must be comforting to the families and friends of loved ones who died fighting his fairy tale.
What did anyone expect from a born-again christian whose mind was damaged from a stuporous alcoholic and cocaine past. God was the only place his feeble mind could turn since he could not confront the realities of life except as bolstered by the fantasies of mind-altering chemicals and those crutches quit working. Religion is the worst mind-altering opiate of all, given its insidious ability to induce the death and destruction based on words whispered, “Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling…”
No wonder 9/11 happened; the Muslims must have thought that if anyone as stupid as Bush could be elected president, the USA was ripe for invasion; they were very right since Bush et al. stupidly ignored all of the “intelligence;” furthermore, one must be somewhat intelligent to understand intelligence and also not blinded by unyielding faith in an anthropomorphic ghost.
Still not surprised by this. However, I remain surprised that this man was elected twice.
I wonder if Rummy preached that doctrine via a memo to him, or whether he read it from the annals of Jefferson Davis, who once said:
“It is a damn poor mind that can figgur but one way to spell a word” …
http://blogdredd.blogspot.com/2009/05/book-of-bowser.html
Gog and Magog? Sound like characters from Lord of the Rings!
so bush’s handlers got him to believe this was a war for religion.
this is so ridiculous, i don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“…You get witch-hunts and wars
When church and state hold hands…”—from “Tax Free” by joni mitchell
Dear Professor Turley:
I just wanted to thank you for all your comments regarding the torture mess. Yours is a voice of sanity. For the life of me, I cannot understand why your President doesn’t appoint a special prosecutor and then just step out of the way.
What will they do I wonder if Cheney ends up in a Spanish prison.
Keep at ’em
Regards,
Boog