Bush: God made me do it

George Bush has finally come clean about why he took the decision to invade Iraq. According to a Palestinian politician, Mr Bush said that he was commanded by God to invade Afghanistan and Iraq - and that God had also charged him with finding a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. In many ways, Mr Bush's claims are something of a relief. I find it a relief because it means that either Mr Bush has startlingly poor judgement, which really just vindicates everything I thought about him; or it illustrates that he is a callous liar who holds nothing sacred when it comes to achieving his personal goals - something I also believed about him.

Politically, Mr Bush has made a mistake. he seems to have strayed onto territory that his advisors have done well to keep him away from. The evangelical claptrap may well work on middle-America (and I'm not even sure of that...) - but it will cut less ice abroad. It also puts further pressure on his allies. I.E Tony Blair.

Will Tony Blair claim that he too was visited by God? I don't believe that Mr Blair has much faith in anything except himself, but now it seems that he too was simply doing God's bidding. The thing is that Mr Bush may be able to stand up and say hogwash like 'God made me do it', but Tony Blair can't. This isn't because we don't respect religious belief in England. It's because a man should always be personally responsible for his own actions, and that he should control his urges, rather than his urges controlling him. Also, we don't traditionally like evangelical pomposity very much. Which is probably why we're better at doing business and winning wars than the Americans... but I digress.

This guy puts it better than me:

"History is littered with examples of people doing the most bizarre and sometimes wicked things on this basis," said Andrew Blackstock, director of the British-based Christian Socialist Movement. "If Bush really wants to obey God during his time as president he should start with what is blindingly obvious from the Bible rather than perceived supernatural messages.

"That would lead him to the rather less glamorous business of prioritising the needs of the poor, the downtrodden and the marginalised in his own country and abroad.

"When we see more policies reflecting that, it might be easier to believe he has God on his side. And more likely that God might speak to him."

Amen to that.