War against Iraq | VOL. 45 * NEWSLETTER * JANUARY 2003 |
Dear Friends of Israel and “Or Tzion”,
Grace to you and shalom from G-d our Father and the Lord Yeshua HaMashiach in Whom you are sanctified and called to be saints together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Yeshua HaMashiach. Blessed be the G-d and Father of our Lord Yeshua, the Father of mercies and G-d of ALL comfort, Who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by G-d1.
Indeed, if not for this comfort, life would be like living in a desert without shade or water, smitten by a consuming sun. But we whose hope is in the Lord take shelter in the shadow of the Almighty and renew our courage in the love and support of His saints!
Before I write this newsletter I want you to understand this: I feel very much like Jeremiah! He was a very unpopular prophet because the messages G-d gave him were very unpopular. Imagine this: your city is besieged by the enemy who wants to take and plunder it, and you inside the city are doing everything to defend yourselves. Then comes this prophet and says, that everyone remaining in the city [Jerusalem] would die by sword, starvation or disease, but anyone surrendering to the Chaldeans would live2. Of course, Jeremiah knew what the reaction would be toward such a message – “This fellow must die. That kind of talk will undermine the morale of the few soldiers we have left, and of all the people too. This man is a traitor.”3
Furthermore, Jeremiah prophesied and wrote the exiles in Babylon to build houses, plant gardens, get married, for their exile would be a long one. Then Shemaiah of Nehelam wrote to the exiles in the name of the Lord (although the Lord had not instructed him), calling Jeremiah a mad man, asking why he was not rebuked and put in stocks and a collar for his message4. And Pashur the priest (i.e. a religious leader) even beat Jeremiah for the words G-d gave him to speak and put him in stocks5.
And I want to complain like Jeremiah did because of the messages the Lord has given me through the years and is giving me now, “For the Word of the L-RD has become for me a reproach and a derision all day long. So I say to myself, ‘I just won’t say anything, I just keep this word to myself.’ But I can’t quit! For then his word in my heart is like fire that burns in my bones, and I can’t hold it in any longer.”6
Therefore I shall now proceed with this letter, fully aware of what the reaction of many of you may be. But I must speak what I have heard, and share what the Holy Spirit has shown, though it does not agree with the words your prophets have spoken to you7.
“War on Terror!” “Dismantling of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction!” “UN resolutions must be implemented!” “Iraq’s non-compliance with UN resolutions necessitates strong action!” “Saddam Hussein’s regime must be replaced with a democratic one!” On and on we hear these “mantras” like drum beats — Boom! Boom! Boom! War is indeed being waged by America’s President, politicians, and Media — on the American people’s mind! Day and night the sound of these drums is heard: “Saddam Hussein is evil! You must go to war against Iraq! Save the world from Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction 8! You must go to war against Iraq!”
And so Americans believe it their duty and obligation to go to war against Iraq! Boom! Boom! Boom — the drums are beating! “September 11th!” “War against Terror!” “Al Quaida – Osama Bin Laden!” “For the safety and security of the United States of America — relinquish your legal rights and rights to privacy! In the name of freedom — waive your freedom! Give up your lives for America!”
Somehow people don’t realize — America is THEM!!!
Horrified at what is happening I prayed for America and the President who claims to be a “Christian” who “loves” Jesus. I reminded the Lord that President Bush had been His choice over Al Gore and Lieberman to re-establish a standard of righteousness and justice in America, and prove a true friend to Israel. Deplorably, he has displayed an appalling double standard, scolding Israel for her war against terrorism while assuring the Palestinians of their state on G-d’s covenanted land! Furthermore, in the name of safety and security he introduced laws that have effectively stripped the American people of their democratic rights. In the name of “September 11th” freedom, equality, justice, and the right to privacy are no longer a reality but rather a “mirage”.
Alarmed, I asked the Lord to explain. How could the man of His choice turn out so wrong? “Remember Saul?” He answered. “I Myself chose Saul to be prince over my people, to be their head as my trustworthy servant. Failing to rely on Me he proved false, and so I rejected him. And this President, whom I favored above his rival, has proven false as well, for like Saul he hearkens to the voice of men and not to my voice.”
“But why does he insist on going to war against Iraq, Lord? Why would he lead America’s soldiers to the slaughter?”
Then I heard the Lord say, “American pharaoh!”
The Lord did not elaborate any further, but left me to discover what He meant.
And this is what the Holy Spirit gave me to understand: like the Pharaoh of Moses who turned a deaf ear to the counsel of his wise men and to Moses’ request, “Let my people go!”, so has President Bush Jr. turned a deaf ear toward the voices of warning. Egypt paid a high price for Pharao’s stubborness. What price will America have to pay for Bush’s fixation? Is it really about Saddam’s “weapons of mass destruction;” about the “war against terror,” and about “safety and security for America?” Or are these reasons “excuses” to induce the American people to go to war, while the “hidden agenda” is the vast oilfields of the Middle East, the strategic landmass between the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean, and the control of an area effecting world politics and world markets?
It certainly looks like another step toward the establishment of a one world government.
Despite his faith in Jesus Christ, Bush Jr. has proven unable to resist the forces [hidden in the shadows of financial and corporate powers and secret meetings of the nations’ mighty ones] coming to bear upon him. He has compromised as king Saul had done, and did not turn to G-d for guidance and counsel. The power of the American presidency has gone to his head and hardened his heart. He is obsessed with going to war against Iraq to overthrow Saddam.
Bush, as G-d’s man, was to establish a faithful alliance with Israel, thereby effecting a reversal of several judgments pending over America. He has failed in this mission as king Saul with Amalek, and is determined to attack Iraq, the land the rivers Euphrates and Tigris divide 9, and create a power base in the Middle East militarily.
11 Cor. 1:2-3; 2 Cor. 1:3-4 2 Jer. 21:8-9 3 Jer. 38:2-4, Living Bible 4 Jer. 29:5-6, 24-28 5 Jer. 20:1-2 6 Jer. 20:8-9 7 see Jer. 28:1-4, 10-11 8 Does the U.S. have no weapons of mass destruction? Besides her nuclear power, does she not have the most devastating chemical and biological weapons imaginable? Did she not use the H-bomb on Japan? Has the world nothing to fear from America’s weapons of mass destruction??? 9 Mesopotamia: land between the rivers; name given by the Greeks. From THE ANCIENT MIDDLE EAST: The Tigris and Euphrates River Valley: MAP: from “Euphrates River History,” a Bryant College project. Bloodshed at the Euphrates River
Page 2But there is more to calling Bush Jr. the American “Pharaoh” than I thought. In 2 Chronicles 35:20-22 Pharaoh Neco believed that G-d commanded him “to make haste” in going to war against the house of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. (Similarly, President Bush Jr. is also convinced of his divine mission to conquer the house of Saddam Hussein who believes himself to be heir of Nebuchadnezzar).
When Hitler came to power and began his campaign for world dominion and the systematic genocide of the Jewish people, several assassination attempts were made. All failed and Hitler died ultimately by his own hand. Hitler had an evil mission and until it was accomplished, he could not be killed. For as harsh as this word is, without the Nazi Holocaust there would still be no State of Israel. It was the Nazi Holocaust that catapulted the Jewish people out of exile back into their own Land to build again a sovereign nation.
Saddam Hussein also believes to have a mission (one of which is the rebuilding of Babylon [see endnote “m”]) and now no one will succeed with eliminating him until it is completed. G-d had given the world with the Gulf war a chance to put a stop to it before it would be too late, a chance which was not fully realized. And now is not America’s “appointed season” to come against Saddam Hussein a second time, for the whole matter is one of timing just as it is written in Ecclesiastes 3:1, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”
Similarly, when the children of Israel were to go up against the nations to drive them out of the promised land, they failed to do it (and suffered the consequences for it), just as the Gulf-war allies failed to drive Saddam Hussein from power (and the Iraqi people have suffered the consequences until now). After the Israelites realized their mistake they wanted to go up, but that time Moses said, “Don’t go ahead with your plan or you will be crushed by your enemies, for the L-RD is not with you.” But they went ahead anyway and suffered heavy losses10.
Turning to Jeremiah 45, we find that G-d commanded Jeremiah to prophesy against Pharaoh Neco (whom G-d allegedly had commissioned) however, and by the Euphrates river at the fortress city of Charchemish – a strategic crossing-place from North Mesopotamia into North Syria – Neco was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BCE11.
These are Jeremiah’s words, revived once again by the Holy Spirit:
“Advance, O horses, and rage, O chariots! Let the warriors go forth: men of Ethiopia and Put who handle the shield, men of Lud, skilled in handling the bow (U.S./European alliance with Arab nations in this war?). That day is the day of the Lord G-D of hosts, a day of vengeance, to avenge Himself on His foes. The sword shall devour and be sated, and drink its fill of their blood.”
“For the Lord G-D of hosts holds a sacrifice in the north country Yet Israel the Lord G-D of hosts promises :
by the river Euphrates.”12“But fear not, O Jacob my servant, nor be dismayed, O Israel; for lo, I will save you from afar, and your offspring from the land of your captivity… Fear not, O Jacob, my servant, says the Lord, for I am with you. I will make a full end of all the nations to which I have driven you, but of you I will not make a full end…”13
Israel’s divinely designated northern boundary is the Euphrates, and its southern one the river of Egypt (which I don’t think is some tiny creek, but the Nile, the only “river of Egypt”). At both rivers G-d’s judgments are stored up14 O. And now America goes and stirs up a hornet’s nest — judgments at the river Euphrates.
But I was in a quandary: on the one hand the Holy Spirit clearly warned15 about going to war against Iraq — on the other I kept seeing war and much bloodshed, because G-d does not let the nations that defy His oath regarding the Land of Israel go unpunished. Hence, I seemed to be getting two contradicting messages, until I realized: the Holy Spirit’s warning is meant specifically for the United States!
Every event has its appointed time. However, it can be delayed or precipitated, either willfully or inadvertently. Whatever the case, the consequences may prove disastrous, in this case for the “merchants of Tarshish” alias United States of America, should she go to war against Iraq. The year 2003 is a year of “destiny,” of tremendous changes for the Body of Messiah as well as for many nations, in particular in the Middle East. The prophecy of Ezekiel 38/39 is looming over us all, foremost over Israel!
After Lyndon B. Johnson, American Presidents16 have defied G-d’s oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob concerning the inheritance of the Land, insisting on dividing it up for the creation of a Palestinian State. Likewise beginning with Gamal Abdul Nasser, Egypt’s first President following the overthrow of King Faruk, Egyptian Presidents have defied G-d’s oath by trying to destroy – or at least divide – Israel17.
Though prayer may not change President Bush’s mind about going to war against Iraq, pray that your sons and daughters won’t be sent there! And should that prayer not prevail and they must go, then pray Psalm 91 and that they will be sent to Israel to stand with her against possible attacks! Your prayers on behalf of your sons and daughters, your fathers, husbands, brothers will be far more effective! Pray that the Arab nations won’t prove turn-coats and unite against America. However, should they do this, pray that it be unto them as is written in Psalm 83:13-18. For they are ALL members of the Arab League, in league against G-d and Israel (verses 1-8). Fast and repent for the American governments U who have favored dividing up G-d’s own Land18 and His city, Jerusalem, in order to satisfy the Arabs’ demand which says, “Let us take possession for ourselves of the pastures of G-d”19 for a Palestinian State. Fast and repent and THEN pray! It is not a matter of one million intercessors or 91 days, although I would like to say with Jeremiah, “Amen! May your prophecies come true! I hope the L-RD will do everything you say…”20
However, the word that the Lord gave Jeremiah for the people at that particular time of crisis was: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes; they speak visions of their own minds… ‘Listen to the dream I had last night,’ they say. And then they proceed to lie in My Name.’”21
This present crisis is a matter of national repentance, such as Niniveh did!!! Fasting, putting on sackcloth and ashes! But how will a nation, indoctrinated by the beating of incessant propaganda drums, see the need for national repentance?
May G-d give the Church in America true prophets! May G-d give her prophets who speak the truth that saves and not generic utterances of their own minds! The Church needs champions of Truth who love not their lives unto death! May G-d rebuke those false prophets who speak, “Thus says the Lord!” when He did not speak to them.
G-d does not wish your loved ones to perish in this war He did not ordain for America! But your leaders incite you to go to war, and your prophets give you wrong counsel that does not save nor protect. It is not one million who pray for 91 days that saves22, but national repentance led by ALL churches nationwide, in perfect agreement, being of one heart, mind and purpose! It is the unity of the Body of Christ in America that is the will of G-d which saves. Then the intercession of even one man such as Elijah could turn things around. Does the Church have such a man?
Therefore, unless there be a concerted national effort by the Body of Christ in America according to Joel 2:12-17, America is heading for war against Iraq by the end of January, early February 2003. The aftermath of this war won’t be anything like the Gulf war of the early 90th. G-d favored that war and gave instructions how to wage it successfully23. General Schwarzkopf followed that strategy, and there would have been no need to war against Saddam again, for the Lord let Iraq fall into the Gulf-war allies’ hands like a ripe plum — but President Bush Sr. would not take it.
Now the Lord gives America only this instruction — “Do not go to war against Iraq for I will not be with you this time!”
10 Numbers 14:9, 42-45 11 Ezekiel 30:20-26 12 Jeremiah 46:9-10 [RSV] 13 Jer. 46:27-28 [RSV] 16 Except for Ronald Reagan 17 President Mubarak [as did Pres. Anwar Sadat] also insists on dividing up the Land of Israel; dividing – for the creation of a Palestinian state. U Lest this call to repentance be misunderstood it is necessary for me to clarify the matter: it is impossible for an individual citizen, or for many citizens, to “repent” of the sins of government as one repents for one’s own sins. The pattern of effective “repentance” acceptable to G-d on behalf of one’s own nation and government is given us by Daniel, in ch. 9:1-19. Daniel made this prayer after he learned of G-d’s jugment upon Jerusalem. Likewise, the saints must first confess the sins of the U.S. governments and ask for forgivenesss before they can make effective supplication and intercession on behalf of America. Perhaps G-d will hear and give America a government that will draw His blessings rather than incur His curse. 18 Joel 3:2 19 Psalm 83:12 20 Jer. 28:6 LB 21 Jer. 23:16, 25 size=”-1″>LB 22 The prophets who declared that one million intercessors or 91 days praying Psalm 91 could turn this around — what happens if the # of intercessors should fall short of one? Would the intercession then not be effective? And if some pray only 90 days instead of 91, will their praying have been in vain? 23 See https://www.ortzion.org/images/shamir_ltr.html PHOTO: from web page of NAOMI F. MILLER, Senior Research Scientist, Museum Applied Science Center for Archaeology, University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104; Page “Euphrates River” . The Intifada and New Elections in Israel and the PA
page 3January new elections in Israel and at the PA! Labor Primaries! Likud Primaries! Arik Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel and head of the Likud Party, leads in Israeli polls! Amram Mitzna, newly elected head of the Labor Party, leads in the Palestinian polls! Arafat is pleased! Erekat is pleased! The whole PA is pleased with Mitzna!
Why?
Because Mitzna declared publicly that his first act in office – should he become the new PM – would be the dismantling of Jewish settlements next to Gaza, followed by the dismantling of ALL Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria! Mitzna will negotiate with Arafat regardless of terror attacks! And he will give Arafat his Palestinian State whether he wants it or not!
Mitzna, a former career soldier who led Israeli soldiers into battle against the enemy, is worse than Rabin and Barak combined!
Should Mitzna denude Judea and Samaria of Jewish settlements, the Jewish State of Israel would no longer exist! Israel would have become indefensible! After an Arab assault, we would cease to exist!
However, the Word of G-d clearly promises that the returned children of Israel shall not be uprooted out of the Land of Israel ever again24. Rather, the settlements of Judah will set ablaze the nations round about, having victory over the enemy even before Jerusalem25!
The birth pangs are getting worse!
On November 28, 2002, in Mumbassa, Kenya, a handheld missile was launched against an Israeli aircraft full of Israeli tourists. The missile barely missed the airplane. Immediately afterwards a car bomb exploded in front of the Paradise Hotel, killing 6 (2 Israeli children included) and injuring many. The Paradise Hotel was Israeli owned and its guests were mainly Israelis.
The war on Jewish lives, especially on Israeli citizens, is now in its third year! The war for wresting Israel from the Jews and making it a Philistine/Arab state is intensifying — and Israel is alone! I am alone! We are alone!
Yeshua was also alone when He hung from the cross! For where were the many thousands He had healed? Where was the widow of Nain with her son whom Yeshua had raised from the dead? Where was the rich man whose little daughter the Lord had revived? Where were the lepers the Lord cleansed; the deaf, the blind, the dumb, the lame, to whom the Lord gave hearing, sight, speech and the strength of their legs? Where were the demoniacs He had set free, and the thousands He had fed? Where were the apostles, all His disciples, and the sisters Mary, Martha and their brother Lazarus, raised from the dead after four days???
They all stood far off26! All of them feared to stand with the Lord Who suffered on their behalf! Of the many thousands Yeshua had blessed and helped only the apostle John (the youngest of all the apostles), Yeshua’s mother Miriam and her sister; Mary Magdalene and Mary, the wife of Cleopas27 stood by His cross. One man and four women!
And a little further away, but still recognizable, stood women – mentioned in the eternal Gospel records by name: Mary the mother of James and Joseph, the mother of the sons of Zebedee (i.e. of James and John), and Salome28!
Where were the men???
Today Yeshua stands forsaken once again. For where are the many millions who claim Him as their Savior? Who claim Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as their patriarchs? Where are the millions who claim “co-inheritance” in the Kingdom of G-d, and “fellow-citizenship” with us Jews in the commonwealth of Israel? Where are they who believe they shall rule with Yeshua from Jerusalem? W H E R E ???
24 Amos 9:14-15 25 Zechariah 12:6-7 26 Luke 23:49 27 John 19:25 28 Mt 27:55-56; Mk 15:40; Image of “The Crucified” by “MessianicArt.com” The Tabernacle of David establish in steadfast Love – Isaiah 16:5
page 4 All we can see in Israel since this Intifada began is a very tiny remnant of believers coming to Israel to demonstrate their support, such as “Women Aglow”. They are courageous women who were featured on Israeli news because they came to demonstrate their love and support of Israel and its Jewish citizens! These women – and the attendees of the “Feast of Tabernacles” celebration organized by the International Christian Embassy – were noted and appreciated in all of Israel!
Now I weep! I weep for the heartbreak, grief and sorrow of our people! I weep for the lies and slander spread abroad via the Media! I weep for the cowardice and callousness of the majority of Christianity! I weep for the many people who called themselves my “friends” and assured me of their abiding love, but whose friendship nor love has endured, except for a few!
The apostle Paul knew the same sorrow, for from among the many fellow servants he had known and loved only one – Timothy – stood with him like a son with his father. All others forsook Paul for the love of this world29. Yeshua was lied about, slandered and falsely accused, as was His bond slave, the apostle Paul. Israel is lied about, slandered and falsely accused, and I am sharing the same lot. For Yeshua’s defense only Nicodemus30 stood up, and for Israel’s only a few Christian ministries and a courageous remnant of believers!
Then the Lord spoke into my weeping over the cowardice and faithlessness of these millions of so-called “co-heirs” and “fellow-citizens,” saying that their recompense was waiting for them. Because of it my work among them was not finished, but I must continue sounding the alarm, speaking the Truth in their hearing, warning them, calling them in His Name, that they may yet escape what is written in Revelation 21:8:
“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolators and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death.”31 The Lord pointed out to me that the cowardly and faithless are mentioned first, even before the murderers and immoral, because they were lacking in faith and trust in G-d. And without faith it is impossible to please G-d32!
The Lord furthermore reminded me that those who stand not with Israel are ultimately not standing with Him! And those who cravenly lack in courage, passively looking on instead of standing actively with Israel are partners with those who curse Israel, and will share in their lot.
Beloved, for 20 years I have shared and taught pertaining to your place as fellow-citizens within the commonwealth of Israel, and exhorted and warned concerning indifference and passivity33 with regards to your fellow-citizenship. I have written great volumes of letters, and my teachings were recorded and freely distributed to all who requested them. The four books the Lord gave me to write have been edited, re-edited and polished some more and await the Lord’s next move. And the web site of “The Electronic Tabernacle”34 is enjoying ever more visitors, many of them returning regularly. My e-mail boxes are bursting with inquiries and notes of appreciation and thanksgiving, although once in a while hate mail appears among them. Untiringly I have tried to bring you back, to restore you to the roots of your faith, to the original doctrine, teachings and understandings of the apostles and early disciples. And I warned you about those who would try to entrap you – Gentilizers as well as once again Judaizers – to rob you of both the riches of your salvation and of your freedom.
When the Lord brought me into active ministry in 1982, we who taught how the former Gentiles are made co-heirs and fellow-citizens with Israel, were still rather few. Today many carry the same message! There are a great number of trustworthy sources informing you about the events in Israel (most of these sources are mentioned and linked in the Or Tzion newsletters35), even in light of prophetic Scriptures. G-d has raised up faithful messengers to warn and prepare you, teach and gird you up for the days ahead, lest you get caught unawares in the net of the great deception that is closing in on the nations without them realizing it.
Some have asked about my trip to France and what’s the story about Annelore’s “family book of generations?” The whole, detailed Praise Report is at <https://www.ortzion.org/images/praise.html>
In 1966 my mother told me the story of the family book of generations: When the Nazis came to power in Germany my grandmother took my mother out of school and went into hiding. While hiding my mother was filled with traumatic fear of discovery. One day her father came visiting her. He told her and grandmother to be seated, then very solemnly put on his phylacteries and prayer shawl. Standing in front of mother, he kissed the book he had brought with him, spoke a prayer, opened it and said: “My daughter, that you may know that you have no reason whatsoever to be ashamed of your Jewish identity and heritage I will read to you now from this book. For this book is the evidence that your family is older and nobler than the oldest and noblest royal houses of Europe. May it help you carry your head high and not be dismayed or ashamed of your heritage, for your father’s house dates back to king David, being of the Wise Stock36 of Solomon.”
He read for a long time, names after names after names. When he closed the book he told mother and grandmother that he would be joining family in Holland and take this book with him, guarding it with his life. But should he fall into the hands of the Nazis he trusted that G-d would then guard and keep the book.
In 1979 the Lord mentioned the book for the first time, saying that He has kept it just as He had done with the Dead Sea scrolls. He told me to look for it, and I have been gathering and putting together the puzzle pieces ever since. I learned that my grandfather had gone to France and been arrested and interned in camps there and then shipped off to Auschwitz. In September 2002 I went to France a second time to look for the book, in obedience to the Lord. Although the book was not recovered then, new and vital information came forth that requires follow-up, as well as documents which will stand in any court of law. A court order may be required to retrieve the book from France.
Twenty years ago, the Lord proclaimed that I would win a court case, apparently in two goings, as Prophet Chuck Flynn proclaimed legal victory twice.
G-d first closed the gap between my grandfather and me to establish my lawful rights as the only living grandchild and heir of my maternal grandfather. Not even the Chief Rabbinate in Israel can refuse me my rights clearly laid down in Torah37.
Hence, with all the new information, addresses and documents I trust that the Lord will finally lead me to the book’s whereabouts. May He cause it to come into my [family’s] lawful possession at His appointed time, for which I covet your faithful prayers.
May the Lord guard, keep, shield and protect you this new year of 2003, bless and prosper you and preserve you in safety and health even if the times turn evil. And may your light shine brighter and brighter that by your brightness those lost in darkness may find their way into G-d’s salvation.
Yours in Yeshua,
29 Ph’pp 2:20-21; 2 Tim. 1:15; 4:10; 30 John 7:50-51 32 Hebrews 11:6 33 Obadiah 10-11, 15 34www.ortzion.org 35www.ortzion.org/newslettrs.html 37 Numbers 27:5-8 The Story of how the Presidency of George W. Bush Veered Terribly off Course
page 1END NOTES of Newsletter # 45 For five reasons I am placing this report about McClellan’s book as endnote to newsletter # 45:- 1. Because McClellan’s statements about the propaganda campaign launched by Bush to get America to agree to go to war in Iraq is based on fact. We all remember those propaganda “mantras” sounding almost day and night.
- 2. The confusion, uncertainty, false claims, lack of proper preparation for this invasion and its successful conclusion that characterizes the war in Iraq stands confirmed by the generals who served there.
- 3. His statement that the Iraq war was not necessary agrees with what the Lord said, “Do not go to war against Iraq because I will not be with you.” It was not the right time for it. The Lord warned that the States would stir up a “hornets nest” O leading to a bloody aftermath.
- 4. The President was not open and honest with the American people; referring frequently to 9/11, Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction (which were never found) and the “axis of evil”, he misled the people into believing that it was for America’s safety and security, as well as America’s duty to fight terrorism.
- 5. McClellans’s statement that the presidency of George W. Bush veered terribly off course agrees with G-d’s words Who compared George W. Bush’s veering off course with that of King Saul. Bush had been G-d’s choice like Saul who eventually went off course and followed after men and their wrong counsel, as did President Bush.
Hence, while there will be blogs expressing opinions from one end of the spectrum to the other, it is because of these five points that I decided to place this rather exhaustive article as an endnote.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Ex-spokesman McClellan blasts Bush administration in book
By Mike Allen, Politico.com
Former White House press secretary SCott McClellan writes in a surprisingly scathing memoir to be published next week that President Bush “veered terribly off course,” was not “open and forthright on Iraq,” and took a “permanent campaign approach” to governing at the expense of candor and competence.Among the most explosive revelations in the 341-page book, titled What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception (Public Affairs, $ 27.95):
- McClellan charges that Bush relied on “propaganda” to sell the war.
- He says the White House press corps was too easy on the administration during the run-up to the war.
- He admits that some of his own assertions from the briefing room podium turned out to be “badly misguided.”
- The longtime Bush loyalist also suggests that two top aides held a secret West Wing meeting to get their story straight about the CIA leak case at a time when federal prosecutors were after them — and McClellan was continuing to defend them despite mounting evidence they had not given him all the facts.
- McClellan asserts that the aides – Karl Rove, the president’s senior adviser, and I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the vice president’s chief of staff – “had at best misled” him about their role in the disclosure of former CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity.
A few reporters were offered advance copies of the book, with the restriction that their stories not appear until Sunday, the day before the official puclication date. Politico declined and purchased What Happened at a Washington bookstore.
The eagerly awaited book, while recounting many fond memories of Bush and describing him as “authentic” and “sincere,” is harsher than reporters and White House officials had expected.
McClellan was one of the president’s earliest and most loyal political aides, and most of his friends had expected him to take a few swipes at his former colleague in order to sell books but also to paint a largely affectionate portrait.
Instead, McClellan’s tone is often harsh. He writes, for example, that after Hurricane Katrina, the White House “spent most of the first week in a state of denial,” and he blames Rove for suggesting the photo of the president comfortably observing the disaster during an Air Force One flyover. McClellan says he and counselor to the president Dan Bartlett had opposed the idea and thought it had been scrapped.
But he writes that he later was told that “Karl was convinced we needed to do it — and the president agreed.”
“One of the worst disasters in our nation’s history became one of the biggest disasters in Bush’s presidency. Katrina and the botched federal response to it would largely come to define Bush’s second term,” he writes. “And the perception of this catastrophe was made worse by previous decisions President Bush had made, including, first and foremost, the failure to be open and forthright on Iraq and rushing to war with inadequate planning and preparations for its aftermath.”
McClellan, who turned 40 in February, was press secretary from July 2003 to April 2006. An Austin native from a political family, he began working as a gubernatorial spokesman for then Gov. Bush in early 1999, was traveling press secretary for the Bush-Cheney 2000 campaign and was chief deputy to Press Secretary Ari Fleischer at the beginning of Bush’s first term.
“I still like and admire President Bush,” McClellan writes. “But he and his advisers confused the propaganda campaign with the high level of candor and honesty so fundamentally needed to build and then sustain public support during a time of war… In this regard, he was terribly ill-served by his top advisers, especially those involved directly in national security.”
In a small sign of how thoroughly McClellan has adopted the outsider’s role, he refers at times to his former boss as “Bush,” when he is universally referred to by insiders as “the president.”
McClellan lost some of his former friends in the administration last November when his publisher released an excerpt from the book that appeared to accuse Bush of participating in the cover-up of the Plame leak. The book, however, makes clear that McClellan believes Bush was also a victim of misinformation.
The book begins with McClellan’s statement to the press that he had talked with Rove and Libby and that they had assured him they “were not involved in. …the leaking of classified information.”
At Libby’s trial, testimony showed the two had talked with reporters about the officer, however elliptically.
“I had allowed myself to be deceived into unknowingly passing along a falsehood,” McClellan writes. “It would ultimately prove fatal to my ability to serve the president effectively. I didn’t learn that what I’d said was untrue until the media began to figure it out almost two years later.
“Neither, I believe, did President Bush. He, too, had been deceived and therefore became unwittingly involved in deceiving me. But the top White House officials who knew the truth – including Rove, Libby and possibly, Vice President Cheney – allowed me, even encouraged me, to repeat a lie.”
McClellan also suggests that Libby and Rove secretly colluded to get their stories straight at a time when federal investigators were hot on the Plame case.
“There is only one moment during the leak episode that I am reluctant to discuss,” he writes. “It was in 2005, during a time when attention was focusing on Rove and Libby, and it sticks vividly in my mind. …Following (a meeting in Chief of Staff Andy Card’s office) … Scooter Libby was walking to the entryway as he prepared to depart when Karl turned to get his attention. ‘You have time to visit?’ Karl asked. ‘Yeah,’ replied Libby.
“I have no idea what they discussed, but it seemed suspicious for these two, whom I had never noticed spending any one-on-one time together, to go behind closed doors and visit privately. …At least one of them, Rove, it was publicly known at the time, had at best misled me by not sharing relevant information, and credible rumors were spreading that the other, Libby, had done at least as much…”
“The confidential meeting also occurred at a moment when I was being battered by the press for publicly vouching for the two by claiming they were not involved in leaking Plame’s identity, when recently revealed information was now indicating otherwise. I don’t know what they discussed, but what would any knowledgeable person reasonably and logically clonclude was the topic? Like the whole truth of people’s involvement, we will likely never know with any degree of confidence.”
McClellan repeatedly embraces the rhetoric of Bush’s liberal critics and even charges: “If anything, the national press corps was probably too deferential to the White House and to the administration in regard to the most important decision facing the nation during my years in Washington, the choice over whether to go to war in Iraq.”
“The collapse of the administration’s rationales for war, which became apparent months after our invasion, should never have come as such a surprise. … In this case, the ‘liberal media’ didn’t live up to its reputation. If it had, the country would have been better served.”
Decrying the Bush administration’s “excessive embrace of permanent campaign approach to governance,” McClellan recommends that future presidents appoint a “deputy chief of staff for governing” who “would be responsible for making sure the president is continually and consistently committed to a high level of openess and forthrightness and transcending partisanship to achieve unity.”
“I frequently stumbled along the way,” McClellan acknowledges in the book’s preface. “My own story, however, is of small importance in the broad historical picture. More significant is the larger story in which I played a minor role: the story of how the presidency of George W. Bush veered terribly off course.”
Even some of the chapter titles are brutal: “The Permanent Campaign,” “Deniability,” “Triumph and Illusion,” “Revelation and Humiliation” and “Out of Touch.”
“I think the concern about liberal bias helps to explain the tendency of the Bush team to build walls against the media,” McClellan writes in a chapter in which he says he dealt “happily enough” with liberal reporters. “Unfortunately, the press secretary at times found himself outside those walls as well.”
The book’s center has eight slick pages with 19 photos, eight of them depicting McClellan with the president. Those making cameos include Cheney, Rove, Bartlett, Mark Knoller of CBS News, former Assistant Press Secretary Reed Dickens and, aboard Air Force One, former press office official Peter Watkins and former White Housse stenographer Greg North.
In the acknowledgments, McClellan thanks each member of his former staff by name.
Among other notable passages:
- Steve Hadley, then the deputy national security adviser, said about the erroneous assertion about Saddam Hussein seeking uranium, included in the State of the Union address of 2003: “Signing off on these facts is my responsibility. … And in this case, I blew it. I think the only solution is for me to resign.” The offer “was rejected almost out of hand by others present,” McClellan writes.
- Bush was “clearly irritated, …steamed,” when McClellan informed him that chief economic adviser Larry Lindsey had told The Wall Street Journal that a possible war in Iraq could cost from $ 100 billion to $ 200 billion: “‘It’s unacceptable,’ Bush continued, his voice rising. ‘He shouldn’t be talking about that.'”
- “As press secretary, I spent countless hours defending the administration from the podium in the White House briefing room. Although the things I said then were sincere, I have since come to realize that some of them were badly misguided.”
- “History appears poised to confirm that most Americans today have decided: that the decision to invade Iraq was a serious strategic blunder. No one, including me, can know with absolute certainty how the war will be viewed decades from now when we can more fully understand its impact. What I do know is that war should only be waged when necessary, and the Iraq war was not necessary.”
- McClellan describes his preparation for briefing reporters during the Plame frenzy: “I could feel the adrenaline flowing as I gave the go-ahead for Josh Deckard, one of my hard-working, underpaid press office staff, …to give the two-minute warning so the networks could prepare to switch to live coverage the moment I stepped into the briefing room.”
- “‘Matrix’ was the code name the Secret Service used for the White House press secretary.”
McClellan is on the lecture circuit and remains in the Washington area with his wife, Jill.
Capitol News Company, LLC.TM All rights Rserved.
Share this story.