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Bush thinks he’s doing God’s work

By Khalid Hasan

WASHINGTON: President George Bush believes that by going to war in Iraq he is doing God’s work, according to those who know how the president’s mind works.

It also appears, according to Bush aides that the president made up his mind about Iraq in the early days after September 11. “September 11 gave him a never-again sense,” one senior aide told the Washington Post. “He never wants to stand again before another pile of rubble. He’ll err on the side of being overly vigilant.”

One reason for Bush’s confidence comes from the conviction he’s on the right course, says Richard Perle, a former Reagan administration official who leads a Pentagon advisory board.

The president’s sense of certainty flows not so much from the intelligence that he has access to, but because deep in his psyche, he “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.”

According to Jim Cody, a Tennessee Christian broadcaster who was at a convention of religious broadcasters Bush addressed last month, “It seems as if he is on an agenda from God. The Scriptures say God is the one who appoints leaders. If he truly knows God, that would give him a special anointing.” Cody’s friend, Steve Clark of the Faith Baptist Tabernacle in Jamestown, Tennessee, concurs that “Divine Providence” has a role in Bush’s actions. “At certain times, at certain hours in our country, God has had a certain man to hear His testimony. Those close to Bush say he takes comfort from prayer, but not policy.”

A friend of the president, Brad Freeman told the Washington Post, “It certainly gives him inner strength and conviction. It’s his religion, but also it’s just his makeup. He’s always been a firm believer in making a decision, once he knows the facts, and sticking with it. He admires leaders who have overcome adversity by finding their life’s mission, much as he has gone from drinking too much to building a new world architecture. Asked during the presidential campaign to name his favourite book, Bush cited ‘The Raven,’ a 1930 biography of Sam Houston who went from being a drunk to the become the father of Texas.

One academic has said that Bush’s preference is for binary, black-and-white logic, which has led some to wonder whether the administration has thought through the far-reaching consequences of an Iraq war. “I don’t think it’s in their nature to be grand conceptualisers,” says the academic who teaches at the Johns Hopkins University.

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