Gould 0738 wrote:
To be more precise...

"God told me to strike at al-Qaida and I struck them, and
then He instructed me to strike at Saddam"

That is pretty extreme, if Bush said it.
Sure this isn't an urban legend?
Do you have a cite?

It would be pretty frightening if we are going to war
not in response to actual strategic requirements but because our President
believes he is hearing divine voices.




A number of cites, including this one from the WashPost, which questions
the credibility of the statement, but...if you enter the statement in
google, you'll come up with a plethora of hits.

Road Map in the Back Seat?

By Al Kamen

Friday, June 27, 2003; Page A27

Imagine our surprise Wednesday to read in the Israeli paper Haaretz
(online), that Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Abu Mazen, meeting
recently with militants to enlist their support for a truce with Israel,
said that, when they met in Aqaba, President Bush had told him this: "
God told me to strike at al Qaeda and I struck them, and then he
instructed me to strike at Saddam [ Hussein], which I did, and now I am
determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you help me I
will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus
on them."

So who needs to find WMD or a link with al Qaeda when the orders come
from The Highest Authority?

Two calls to the White House for clarification went unreturned, but
colleague Glenn Kessler did some digging. The Haaretz reporter, Arnon
Regular, read what the paper said were minutes of the Palestinians'
meeting to Kessler and another colleague, who is an Arabic speaker.

The Arabic-speaking colleague's translation, was this: "God inspired me
to hit al Qaeda, and so I hit it. And I had the inspiration to hit
Saddam, and so I hit him. Now I am determined to solve the Middle East
problem if you help. Otherwise the elections will come and I will be
wrapped up with them."

Even then, there's uncertainty. After all, this is Abu Mazen's account
in Arabic of what Bush said in English, written down by a note-taker in
Arabic, then back into English.

But one thing seems consistent: The election season is going to be a
huge distraction from the Road Map, something the White House has always
insisted would not be the case.