The Devil, I Mean, GOD Made Me Do It…

"You see, heh-heh, I've got a special porpoise in life, heh-heh."

Does anyone really doubt this happened (other than Scott McClellan, I mean)? Or, more importantly, is anyone really surprised? Others still say I’m a pessimist in my concerns of a looming theocracy in the next few decades, but little red flags like these keep reminding me that the possibility for such a political potential is still ever-present… Jage

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House has denied that US President George W. Bush said God told him to invade Iraq and Afghanistan, as a new BBC documentary is expected to reveal.

The documentary series set to be broadcast later this month in Britain claims Bush made the claim when he met Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and then-foreign minister Nabil Shaath in June 2003.

He also told them he had been ordered by God to create a Palestinian state, the ministers said.

Shaath, now the Palestinian information minister, said: "President Bush said to all of us: 'I'm driven with a mission from God'".

"'God would tell me, 'George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan'.

"'And I did. And then God would tell me, 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq... ' And I did'.

"'And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, 'Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East'. And by God I'm gonna do it'," said Shaath.

Abbas, who was also at the meeting in the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheikh, recalled how the president told him: "'I have a moral and religious obligation'".

"'So, I will get you a Palestinian state.'"