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Bush did not expect Iraq casualties: Pat Robertson

by sources
WASHINGTON, Oct 20 (AFP) - A leading evangelical Christian supporter of George W. Bush said Wednesday the president told him before the invasion of Iraq last year that he expected no casualties in the war.

The comments to CNN by Pat Robertson sparked an immediate reaction from the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, which challenged Bush to come clean or call the popular television preacher a liar.
http://www.turkishpress.com/turkishpress/news.asp?ID=31267

(CBS) Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson says he warned President Bush before U.S. troops invaded Iraq that the United States would sustain casualties but that Bush responded, "Oh, no, we're not going to have any casualties."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/10/20/politics/main650331.shtml

§transcript
by transcript
PAT ROBERTSON, AUTHOR, "COURTING DISASTER": Well, it's great to see you.

ZAHN: Thank you. I wanted to start off by repeating something you said back in January about the president.

ROBERTSON: OK.

ZAHN: When you said: "The lord has just blessed him. I mean, he could make terrible mistakes and come out of it. It doesn't make any difference what he does, good or bad. God picks him up, because he's a man of prayer and God is blessing him."

Are you suggesting that God wants George W. Bush to win?

ROBERTSON: Well, I just think -- he loves him. I mean, George Bush is a man of prayer. He talks to the lord. He tries to get his direction from the lord.

And, you know, Randall Brooks (ph), who played Annie, said about me some years ago when I was running for president, said, I would rather have a man who believes in a higher power than a man who thinks he is the higher power. And I think that George Bush really is a very Godly person. And I

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: Are you suggesting that John Kerry thinks he has the higher power here? ROBERTSON: John Kerry is swimming upstream on this one as far as his elders in the Catholic Church, I think. They're not too happy with him, what I gather. But I'm not one of the Catholic hierarchy, so I can't say.

But I just think that Bush is a very good man. He's a man of prayer, a man of deep faith. And, to me, that's very admirable.

ZAHN: If you're not a Republican, can you be a Christian?

ROBERTSON: Well, I was a Democrat for about 55 years, so I guess so. You know, the party left us. The Democratic Party went far to the left, I think, and left some of us stranded on the beach, so we went to the Republican Party.

ZAHN: But there are a lot of Christians out there who take umbrage at what you're saying. There is this magazine called "Sojourners" magazine.

ROBERTSON: Oh, yes.

ZAHN: Which, by its admission, is a liberal Christian magazine.

(CROSSTALK)

ROBERTSON: Semi-socialist.

ZAHN: But they're running an ad right now that rebuts your claim that God has taken a side in this election.

They say -- quote -- "We believe that claims of divine appointment for the president, uncritical affirmation of his policies, and assertions that all Christians must vote for his reelection constitute bad theology and dangerous religion."

ROBERTSON: I would never say somebody had to vote for anybody. That would be terrible. I haven't said that.

I just said, I think God's blessing him, and I think it's one of those things that, even if he stumbles and messes up -- and he's had his share of goofs and gaffes -- I just think God's blessing is on him. And you remember, I think the Chinese used to say, you know, it's the blessing of heaven on the emperor. And I think the blessing of heaven is on Bush. It's just the way it is.

ZAHN: Even you have just admitted that the president has made some gaffes.

ROBERTSON: Yes, absolutely.

ZAHN: That he's made some blunders. But, as a Christian, aren't you supposed to admit your mistakes, acknowledge them, and move on?

(CROSSTALK)

ROBERTSON: You better believe it. I admit mine all the time. ZAHN: But the president hasn't done that.

ROBERTSON: He should.

(CROSSTALK)

ZAHN: He's been posed repeatedly in debates, what mistakes have you made? He's been asked that on the campaign trail and he hasn't come up with any.

ROBERTSON: I met with him down in Nashville before the Gulf War started. And he was the most self-assured man I ever met in my life.

You remember, Mark Twain said, he looks like a contended Christian with four aces. He was just sitting there, like, I'm on top of the world, and I warned him about this war. I had deep misgivings about this war, deep misgivings. And I was trying to say, Mr. President, you better prepare the American people for casualties.

Oh, no, we're not going to have any casualties. Well, I said, it's the way it's going to be. And so, it was messy. The lord told me it was going to be, A, a disaster and, B, messy. And before that, I had deep, in my spirit, I had deep misgivings about going into Iraq.

http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0410/19/pzn.01.html
Add Your Comments

Comments (Hide Comments)
by scary
" I just think God's blessing is on him. And you remember, I think the Chinese used to say, you know, it's the blessing of heaven on the emperor. And I think the blessing of heaven is on Bush. It's just the way it is."
by deanosor (deanosor [at] comcast.net)
Can anybody find before the war began or during its beginning days where Pat Robertson had any misgivings to this war? It sounds more like the rats leaving a sinking ship.
by Josiah Hagen (hagen [at] cyc.com)
Look, it's not like anyone of any value was lost in the war. Your average American soldier is a loser that has no chance of making it in business. The only value his life has is to die for a good cause. As for the Iraqis, they're not even worth mentioning.
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