[Source: BusinessWeek Online, Friday, March 7, 2003,
"Bush, the Bible, and Iraq," by Stan Crock.]

March 7--{BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE} WARNS THAT BUSH'S DRIVE
FOR IRAQ WAR IS BASED ON ARMAGEDDON PROPHESIES.
.
Considering that {BusinessWeek} is one of the most mainstream of
the popular business journals, the story is likely to have a
strong impact on Middle America's business community.

The article reviewed the Darbyite belief in a final battle
of Armageddon, leading to the return of Christ and a
thousand-year reign of peace, and noted that Bush's campaign
speeches, written by fundie Michael Gerson, are peppered with
secret messages to his fundamentalist constituents.

"It's true that a President sending political messages to a key constituency
isn't the same as a President basing a strategy on a messianic
vision," author Stan Crock wrote. "But European geopolitical
strategists with long ties to the U.S.--people who can't be
dismissed as nut jobs--are convinced that religious beliefs are
the primary motivation for the Bush Administration."

While not fully agreeing with this assessment, Crock warned,
"The problem is that even as the President's words strengthen his
ties to his political base at home, they corrode relations with
important elites and publics abroad. Unless you understand the
religious undercurrents at work in the current crisis," he
concluded, "you can't fully appreciate the resistance of
America's allies as the U.S. tries to build a consensus for
attacking a devilishly clever leader in Iraq."

[Source: NYT/WaPO, 3/7/2003]

BUSH HAS HIS CHICKENHAWKS,
BUT DEM LEADERS ARE JUST PLAIN CHICKEN!

In statements made on March 6, Sen. Nancy Pelosi said
the case for war has not been made to the American people, the UN
Security Council, nor to the world community, but neither Pelosi
nor Sen. Tom Daschle want debate reopened on a war resolution.
Instead, Sens. Daschle and Frist agreed to floor time today for
Senators to speak on Iraq.

The Congressional Black Caucus wrote to Bush asking to meet
to discuss Iraq, while Sens. Corzine and Levin sought
postponement of entire budget consideration until the
Administration provides an estimate of the cost of war.
Similarly, the {Washington Post} says that Democrats are
afraid of a repeat of the political penalty they paid for Gulf
War I, where they were seen to oppose what appeared to be a
successful military campaign, so they are pointing to the war
beyond Iraq, such as North Korea--them's dumb clucks.