Rumsfeld's Crusade...Onward Christian Soldiers!
May 23rd 2009 17:24
It was no secret that George Bush thought that God had directed him to be president, and to wage war in the name of God. Now it comes out that not only was Mr. Bush's mindset such, but that it was encouraged and manipulated by Rumsfeld and probably Dick Cheney too.
When the news came out last week in a report in GQ Magazine that Rumsfeld often delivered the memos to President Bush himself, it raised some alarms, but not nearly as much as it should. What the memos amounted to was nothing less than trying to make the waging of war in Iraq come off as a Christ sanctioned Crusade. At that point the differences between going to war as a Christian Crusade or an Islamic Jihad are mere semantics.
The briefings, known as Worldwide Intelligence Updates, usually centered on war action from the day before and were seen by very few people until GQ broke the story. Now the pictures are widely available. Go to the page Really Long Link to view a slideshow of the briefing pages.
You will find quotes from the bible like "Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps the faith," from the book of Isaiah. It appears over a photo showing an American tank rolling under the crossed swords over a road in Baghdad.
Several show soldiers praying, with religious cheer leading in the form of biblical quotes above, including "Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed."
There are a few that focus on the fall of Baghdad, with in-your-face and gloating quotes like a rather rambling tome taken from the book of Daniel that talks about God numbering the days of a kingdom and then dividing it.
They all play to theater, some more obvious than others. A bit from Joshua says "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." The quote appears over a highway sign with an arrow showing the direction to Baghdad. Funny, I thought troops were supposed to be under the command of generals and the president, not the "LORD."
I think it's important to consider how such overt reference to religious warfare looks not only to our enemies, but to our allies. Even more, it's important to think about what it says to us about us. Are we, as a nation, going to be mired in the old thought of religion versus religion? Or will we finally move from the simplicity of religious adolescence as a society into the maturity of secular leadership?
When the news came out last week in a report in GQ Magazine that Rumsfeld often delivered the memos to President Bush himself, it raised some alarms, but not nearly as much as it should. What the memos amounted to was nothing less than trying to make the waging of war in Iraq come off as a Christ sanctioned Crusade. At that point the differences between going to war as a Christian Crusade or an Islamic Jihad are mere semantics.
The briefings, known as Worldwide Intelligence Updates, usually centered on war action from the day before and were seen by very few people until GQ broke the story. Now the pictures are widely available. Go to the page Really Long Link to view a slideshow of the briefing pages.
You will find quotes from the bible like "Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps the faith," from the book of Isaiah. It appears over a photo showing an American tank rolling under the crossed swords over a road in Baghdad.
Several show soldiers praying, with religious cheer leading in the form of biblical quotes above, including "Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed."
There are a few that focus on the fall of Baghdad, with in-your-face and gloating quotes like a rather rambling tome taken from the book of Daniel that talks about God numbering the days of a kingdom and then dividing it.
They all play to theater, some more obvious than others. A bit from Joshua says "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." The quote appears over a highway sign with an arrow showing the direction to Baghdad. Funny, I thought troops were supposed to be under the command of generals and the president, not the "LORD."
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Comment by samaritan
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I'm going to ignore the terms 'simplicity of religious adolescence' and 'maturity of secular leadership'. Because if I discuss them, I'll be here all day. Let's just say I disagree with them.
But I would like to share one of my favourite quotes from Abraham Lincoln.
The reason I like this quote so much is it's a strong reminder that we can't just make our own plans and expect God to go along with them. Instead, we need to make sure we're following God's plans.
Now perhaps I'm wrong, but it often seemed as though Bush had decided to have a war and hire God as a recruit #albeit a very powerful one#. Instead of asking God whether he actually wanted a war at all.
Samaritan
Comment by Morgan Bell
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can i also throw a bit of general racism in there? i think some white christians (im thinking some evangelicals from the square states of the usa) erroneously think the word "christian" is synonymous with "white", and its become a bit of a "civilised" vs "heathens"/"barbarians" type dealio