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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (80646)	3/9/2003 6:18:14 PM
From: Doc Bones	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

For Bush, War Defines Presidency Response to Iraq Reflects Convictions Bill, I'm not stalking you, but I again took away something different from that Washington Post piece, reflected in these excerpts: *********** Bush has come to view his leadership of post-9/11 America as a matter of fate, or of God's will. He has said the country is "called to defend our nation and to lead the world to peace," and he often says the mission is to extend liberty, "God's gift to every human being in the world." With that assumption, it is almost impossible to imagine Bush confining the war on terrorism to al Qaeda. Instead, he quickly embraced the most sweeping foreign policy proposal his most hawkish advisers had developed -- a vision of American supremacy and preemption of emerging threats -- and that policy leads inexorably to Iraq, and beyond. ... But some historians and strategists say the true explanation is deep in Bush's psyche, and that confidence in his momentous decision is consistent with his character, which draws sharp lines between good and evil, black and white. Bush's religious devotion encourages such distinctions. Bush implies but does not directly assert that he is doing God's work. Still, those who share his religious beliefs say it is natural to assume that Bush believes he is divinely inspired. "It seems as if he is on an agenda from God," said Jim Cody, a Tennessee Christian broadcaster who was at a convention of religious broadcasters Bush addressed last month. "The Scriptures say God is the one who appoints leaders. If he truly knows God, that would give him a special anointing." ... There is also evidence that Bush's confidence has been interpreted abroad as bullying. Osman Faruk Logoglu, the Turkish ambassador to the United States, said in a meeting last week with Washington Post editors and reporters that the administration needlessly complicated the effort to gain use of Turkish territory in a war on Iraq. "They always insisted on an early answer, on an immediate answer," he said. "Had they been perhaps more relaxed and had they given more latitude in terms of time, the [Turkish] government would have found it easier." washingtonpost.com ************ Another great irony for Israel: that a huge source of support for them now consists of Evangelical Christians who want to bring on the Biblical prophecy of the last days, in which the Jews either convert or are destroyed. Other big ironies: That the idea of advanced Westerners taking over more primitive peoples lands - colonialism - was thriving and viewed as an improving thing when the concept of Israel took hold in the 19th Century, whereas when Israel was created, colonialism was dying and regarded as many people as the great evil. (Though Israel's creation was different from conventional colonialism.) That the fiercest defenders and expanders of Israel, the religiously Orthodox, were bitterly opposed to the foundation of Israel: The chosen people were supposed to wait for the messiah to lead them to Zion. Doc@didGodappointClinton.wow p.s. "We're on a mission from God." - The Blues Brothers "With God on our side." - Bob Dylan