I quote from the column:
And whether you believe that the U.S. attack on Iraq is the result of innocent lapses in intelligence, the opportunity to seize control of Iraq's oil, or-as The New Yorker magazine chillingly reported--a mandate from God to President Bush to force democracy on the Middle East, there is little doubt that this ill-conceived war is depleting resources that are badly needed at home.
What I believe Marcia is referring to is that now-infamous BBC 'crockumentary' where Nabil Shaath, a Palestinian negotiator, made the following statement:
Mr Shaath said that in a 2003 meeting with Mr Bush, the US president said he was "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."
So...speaking of God, let's use our God-given common sense and re-read the above quotes. Do you honestly think that George Bush really said this? Even if you think he thinks this way--would he be stupid enough to say this to Nabil Shaath and Mahmoud Abbas? (And if he is THAT stupid, how could he possibly be the criminal mastermind that 'duped' the Congress, Senate, American people and THE WORLD into attacking Saddam Hussein? Can't have it both ways, folks. But I digress.)
Apparently, to liberals opposing the war, it is okay to just make stuff up. To characterize this as a revelation from The New Yorker Magazine is blatantly misleading. I did an archive search on The New Yorker Magazine website and I can't find anything related to this story. I don't doubt her word that The New Yorker reported on the BBC story, but apparently, they did not have any independent 'scoop' on this topic.
So what? Maybe Marcia just failed to attribute the source of her comment incorrectly. And if that's all there was to it, it would just be sloppy research. But wait, there's more.
Of course, the White House flatly denied that Bush made these remarks. But since leftist Democrats and anti-war Liberals have called Bush an inveterate liar, I guess they value the word of a Palestinian negotiator more highly than that of the President of the United States.
But would they take the word of another Palestinian? One that was actually in the same meeting? If you had followed this story at all, you would know that Abbas, who was in the meeting, flatly denied that Bush made any such remarks.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has denied an account by another Palestinian official of a meeting with US President George Bush in which Bush is cited as saying he believed that God told him to go to war in Afghanistan and Iraq.
A statement in Abbas's name released by his office said an excerpt from an interview with Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Shaath due to be broadcast by the BBC in which Shaath described a meeting with Bush in June 2003 gave a "completely false" account.
In the interview for the series, Israel and the Arabs, Shaath described the meeting, at which he said Abbas was present.
"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,'" Shaath said.
"This report is not true," the Abbas statement said today. "I have never heard President Bush talking about religion as a reason behind the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. President Bush has never mentioned that in front of me on any occasion and specifically not during my visit in 2003."
Shaath could not be reached for comment.
From an AP report quoted in The Sydney Herald (Of course, this got about as much coverage in the U.S. mainstream media as my Aunt Martha's funeral).
And even Shaath backed away somewhat from his remarks in an October 7, 2005 interview with the BBC, headlined "Bush God Comments 'Not Literal'".
But in an interview for the BBC Arabic service on Friday, he said the president - who had just announced an end to hostilities in Iraq, was merely expressing his heartfelt commitment to peace in the Middle East.
"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."
Despite this, the BBC chose to run the 'documentary' anyway. Do a Google search on "Bush God Iraq War BBC". It will give you goosebumps. This out-and-out lie from the Palestinians has been circulate all around the world. And apparently accepted as truth.
So, Marcia swallows it all, hook, line and sinker. Again, can we really blame her? Unless she was motivated to really question the story and do some further research, can we blame her for being duped by the story? Maybe, maybe not. But The Journal Sentinel has a responsibility, if not to its readers, then to its stockholders, who have to be appalled at dwindling circulation numbers, to vet the information contained in columns that they run.
In addition, I find it laughable that the mainstream media continues to knock the internet and the bloggers as being 'unreliable'.
And I wonder. If you can't attack the war strictly on its merits, then I guess you are reduced to just making stuff up. Ironic that this is what liberals are accusing the Bush administration of doing in the run-up to the war.
I think it is about time that American citizens, regardless of our feelings about the war, start demanding truth from our news sources. If we accept a press that is no longer 'free', but bound by their own ideology, we are on a slippery slope. A free, accurate and reliable press is a linchpin of democracy.
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