Rumsfeld Quoted Bible on War Briefings

[HuskyCaucasian]

Odd source, but this is from GQ-

On the morning of Thursday, April 10, 2003, Donald Rumsfeld’s Pentagon prepared a top-secret briefing for George W. Bush. This document, known as the Worldwide Intelligence Update, was a daily digest of critical military intelligence so classified that it circulated among only a handful of Pentagon leaders and the president; Rumsfeld himself often delivered it, by hand, to the White House. The briefing’s cover sheet generally featured triumphant, color images from the previous days’ war efforts: On this particular morning, it showed the statue of Saddam Hussein being pulled down in Firdos Square, a grateful Iraqi child kissing an American soldier, and jubilant crowds thronging the streets of newly liberated Baghdad. And above these images, and just below the headline "secretary of defense", was a quote that may have raised some eyebrows. It came from the Bible, from the book of Psalms: “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him…To deliver their soul from death.”

 

This mixing of Crusades-like messaging with war imagery, which until now has not been revealed, had become routine. On March 31, a U.S. tank roared through the desert beneath a quote from Ephesians: “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” On April 7, Saddam Hussein struck a dictatorial pose, under this passage from the First Epistle of Peter: “It is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.”

 

And we wonder why the middle east hates us.

 

These cover sheets were the brainchild of Major General Glen Shaffer, a director for intelligence serving both the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the secretary of defense. In the days before the Iraq war, Shaffer’s staff had created humorous covers in an attempt to alleviate the stress of preparing for battle. Then, as the body counting began, Shaffer, a Christian, deemed the biblical passages more suitable. Several others in the Pentagon disagreed. At least one Muslim analyst in the building had been greatly offended; others privately worried that if these covers were leaked during a war conducted in an Islamic nation, the fallout—as one Pentagon staffer would later say—“would be as bad as Abu Ghraib.”

Edited May 17, 2009 by Athomeboy_2000

[Texsox]

Odd source, but this is from GQ-

 

 

And we wonder why the middle east hates us.

 

And why do we hate them? Do you really believe if we changed the rhetoric to "we are killing you because of a non-secular belief that you are evil and trying to destroy us" they will like us?

[HuskyCaucasian]

And why do we hate them?

exactly.

[Texsox]

exactly.

 

People hate us because we are KILLING them.

[BigSqwert]

People hate us because we are KILLING them.

And meddling in their affairs.

[Texsox]

Do you think some of the men and women who are getting shot at, and whose lives are being threatened everyday in war, pray? The old phrase "there are no atheists in foxholes" comes to mind. Why anyone would think that people's belief systems would stop at some point up the military ladder is silly. And we have soldiers praying to a wide range of deities. We have reasonable freedoms of religion is this country. Our soldiers can practice almost any religion they freely choose. The fact that it is usually Christian is a reflection of our country and the men and women of our military. I would find it intolerable to stop those men and women, and their leaders, by restricting them from practicing their religion; especially in light of the life or death situation our country has placed them in.

[Texsox]

And meddling in their affairs.

 

That to. Except for the part were we send them billions in aid to protect our interests. That sort of meddling at least rents us some love

[BigSqwert]

You can personally pray to whichever deity you want but we shouldn't have military leaders quoting text from the bible to troops.

[Texsox]

You can personally pray to whichever deity you want but we shouldn't have military leaders quoting text from the bible to troops.

Whether you believe in a deity nor not, the advice, counsel, and wisdom contained in religious texts, from all religions, is valuable. To ignore that, does more harm than allowing it.

 

The quotes are, and among other things, wisdom and thoughts from previous generations. Would it be ok to quote other people's thoughts if they were atheists? Can we quote Plato but not Jesus? Quote Socrates but not the Buddha? Doesn't make sense.

 

Any other speech you care to stop? Shall we eliminate Chaplains from our service? Shall we stop our soldiers from witnessing to each other? Only allow atheists into the military?

I believe we should ban all atheist from ever speaking to balance this out.

[BearSox]

^^^ All I can say is.... owned.

[Balta1701]

Whether you believe in a deity nor not, the advice, counsel, and wisdom contained in religious texts, from all religions, is valuable. To ignore that, does more harm than allowing it.

 

The quotes are, and among other things, wisdom and thoughts from previous generations. Would it be ok to quote other people's thoughts if they were atheists? Can we quote Plato but not Jesus? Quote Socrates but not the Buddha? Doesn't make sense.

 

Any other speech you care to stop? Shall we eliminate Chaplains from our service? Shall we stop our soldiers from witnessing to each other? Only allow atheists into the military?

I believe we should ban all atheist from ever speaking to balance this out.

Really tex...do you honestly see this and believe it fits the description you just wrote? That they're sharing 'wisdom from previous generations"?

 

 

[lostfan]

Holy s***, who released those with classification markings on them?

[Reddy]

Whether you believe in a deity nor not, the advice, counsel, and wisdom contained in religious texts, from all religions, is valuable. To ignore that, does more harm than allowing it.

 

Well then I'd hope we include quotes from those other religions you're speaking of as well. Oh wait, we didn't - only Christian ones.

 

The quotes are, and among other things, wisdom and thoughts from previous generations. Would it be ok to quote other people's thoughts if they were atheists? Can we quote Plato but not Jesus? Quote Socrates but not the Buddha? Doesn't make sense.

 

When talking about affairs of the state then YES! Of COURSE you could quote Plato but not Jesus - separation of Church and State. I hate to use that phrase cuz it's bandied about so much, but it pertains here. You're not going to have people getting offended by Plato quotes. And I don't think you could base a war off Plato quotes.

 

Any other speech you care to stop? Shall we eliminate Chaplains from our service? Shall we stop our soldiers from witnessing to each other? Only allow atheists into the military?

I believe we should ban all atheist from ever speaking to balance this out.

 

Tex you confuse me sometimes. Usually you're so level headed, but what are you talking about? The individual soldiers should be able to do whatever they want - but to include Christian quotes on each war-related memo gives the idea that this is a religiously-based war which is wholy NOT ok in America. These aren't just quotes used in a speech, they're repeated Christian ideals attached to the official documents having to do with a flippin' WAR. Why do you find that ok?

[kapkomet]

Well then I'd hope we include quotes from those other religions you're speaking of as well. Oh wait, we didn't - only Christian ones.

 

 

 

When talking about affairs of the state then YES! Of COURSE you could quote Plato but not Jesus - separation of Church and State. I hate to use that phrase cuz it's bandied about so much, but it pertains here. You're not going to have people getting offended by Plato quotes. And I don't think you could base a war off Plato quotes.

 

Tex you confuse me sometimes. Usually you're so level headed, but what are you talking about? The individual soldiers should be able to do whatever they want - but to include Christian quotes on each war-related memo gives the idea that this is a religiously-based war which is wholy NOT ok in America. These aren't just quotes used in a speech, they're repeated Christian ideals attached to the official documents having to do with a flippin' WAR. Why do you find that ok?

You are FLAT OUT wrong on this point. But no matter what I say regarding this point, no one will believe me anyway. So whatever.

[Chet Lemon]

The quotes are, and among other things, wisdom and thoughts from previous generations.

 

Instead of retrieving quotes from previous generations, the Secretary of Defense should have made sure there were enough soldiers, ample body armor, post-war strategies, and a legitimate connection between Iraq and the 9/11 hijackers.

[Reddy]

Instead of retrieving quotes from previous generations, the Secretary of Defense should have made sure there were enough soldiers, ample body armor, post-war strategies, and a legitimate connection between Iraq and the 9/11 hijackers.

[kapkomet]

Instead of retrieving quotes from previous generations, the Secretary of Defense should have made sure there were enough soldiers, ample body armor, post-war strategies, and a legitimate connection between Iraq and the 9/11 hijackers.

Can't disagree with this.

 

[HuskyCaucasian]

I think the point being missed here, and the reason I posed this is that when you do stuff like this, you run the risk of making it seem like it's a holy war or a crusade. Especially if it were ever seen by the enemy who already believe it's some sort of a Islam extermination war. It's a great recruiting tool for terrorists.

 

It's not the religion, it could have been Jewish or ancient Egyptian for all i care. It's the fallout from it.

[Heads22]

You are FLAT OUT wrong on this point. But no matter what I say regarding this point, no one will believe me anyway. So whatever.

 

On an official government document, there should never be a religious quote, piece of scripture, etc. used in that manner. It gives the portrayal that we have a Christian justification for this war, anyways.

[BigSqwert]

Whether you believe in a deity nor not, the advice, counsel, and wisdom contained in religious texts, from all religions, is valuable.

Please explain how this quote would be valuable in any way to a U.S. soldier who happens to be Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Atheist, etc:

 

“Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him…To deliver their soul from death.”

 

[Rex Kickass]

All this does is reinforce the view you previously had.

[Balta1701]

Please explain how this quote would be valuable in any way to a U.S. soldier who happens to be Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Atheist, etc:

 

“Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him…To deliver their soul from death.”

The issue here is not whether this has meaning to a soldier, or whether they should be more careful in case things ever leak...the reason why this should bother people is what it says about the personality of the people making the decisions and the decisions they make.

 

To adopt Tex's metaphor...there may be no atheists in foxholes...but I'm not sure I want the guy next to me jumping out and charging forwards in to a hail of bullets because he feels God is going to protect him.

 

These covers aren't designed to encourage people to find solace in their faith, or comfort, or strength, whatever. Look at them...they're made by people who believe they're fighting a religious war and they can be arrogant, cocky, etc., because God is on their side, not on the enemy's. God could not let them make mistakes because he's on their side. "Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." They're fighting their war with God at their backs, and there can be no doubt that everything they do is right and justified because God supports them.

 

If things go poorly, they don't need to worry or change strategy; God will bring them success. If things aren't going well, any action is justified because it is in the service of God. A leader seeking solace in religion, or praying a decision is correct or finding wisdom in the words of a deity, this is not. A group of leaders believing their decisions are guided by God and thus they can do no wrong...

[Texsox]

On an official government document, there should never be a religious quote, piece of scripture, etc. used in that manner. It gives the portrayal that we have a Christian justification for this war, anyways.

 

It would seem that being tolerant of others practicing their religion would be better than denouncing against all religions. Instead of portraying a Christian justification, we would portray an atheistic justification for war. I'm not certain that those that we bomb will feel any better.

 

The best course of action is respecting everyone's philosophy or religion. I have no problem sitting respectfully while someone quotes from the Koran or other teachings. I find inspiration in other people's faith as well. We may not be praying by name to the same deity or deities, but we may.

 

People, fight wars. Some people are men and women of faith, others are not. We do not allow the government to dictate one religion like some countries. Showing the world that we embrace a wide variety of faiths is more powerful than rejecting all religion.

[Texsox]

Please explain how this quote would be valuable in any way to a U.S. soldier who happens to be Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Atheist, etc:

 

"Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him…To deliver their soul from death."

 

Perhaps not valuable at all. Not certain why they would be harmed either while the 60 or 70% who profess faith may find encouragement. I have no problem sitting respectfully by while other people profess their faith, I enjoy finding commonalities. I'll even enjoy a good atheist inspiration speech about evolving from slime and becoming worm food in the end.

[mr_genius]

And I don't think you could base a war off Plato quotes.

 

oh i'm sure they could