Of Bush's Iraq Delusion and Obama's Dilemma

As if non-existent weapons of mass destruction, a bogus link between Saddam Hussein and 9/11, Halliburton's bottom lines, and "he tried to kill my dad" weren't bad enough reasons for invading Iraq, now comes the revelation that Old Testament luminaries Gog and Magog also helped George Bush justify the war. In 2003, Bush told French President Chirac that Gog and Magog were operating in not-so-covert fashion throughout the Middle East and that it was incumbent upon Bush -- with France's help -- to oppose them. This story has been circulating for a couple of years under the media's radar (lots of room under the media's radar!), but has recently been more widely publicized after the story appeared in Chirac's memoirs, published earlier this year. Reportedly, Chirac was bewildered by Bush's fanaticism and superficiality, which in turn led to the genesis of "freedom fries" once France refused to join the tag team.

This amazing story poses a dilemma for President Obama. Politically-based lies, however destructive, are part of the game. But once Gog and Magog stomp into the mix, the game changes. These are two of the scariest names in the entire Bible! Alone they don't do much: "Hello, I'm Magog and I'll be your waitperson tonight" isn't bad, even a little effete. Together, though, Gog and Magog resound with the authority of a trochaic dimeter, the four hard "Gs" clanging like metal weapons, the "Ma-" sound radiating forth with mantric authority. Gog and Magog. True to their names, they are serious Biblical bad-asses. How bad? Bad enough to scare the former "most powerful man in the world".

Specifically, Bush told Chirac that "Gog and Magog are at work throughout the Middle East...This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people's enemies before a New Age begins". I wonder which intelligence source got the first photos of Gog and Magog at work? According to the Bible, it shouldn't have been difficult to spot them.

Ezekial, Chapter 38, begins with the prophecy that God will wipe the floor with "Gog, of the land of Magog" when Gog invades Israel with a great host. The connection to the modern Middle East was not Bush's alone - it is a staple of fundamentalist screeds, even down to identifying Gog's lands of Rosh, Meschech, and Tubal with Russia, Moscow and Tibilisi. In Chapter 39, the Lord trash-talks right up in Gog's face: "I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand...I will give thee unto the ravenous birds..."

By the time of the Revelation of John of Patmos, the last book in the New Testament, Gog and Magog are not just a local problem but global, and are identified explicitly with Satan. Their armies will gather from "the four quarters of the earth" and of course, they will be "devoured" by God's own fire.

Well, there you have it -- a perfect blueprint for conducting foreign policy. Historical and literary merits aside, Gog and Magog are taken quite literally as prophecy by modern fundamentalists. It does amaze me that Bush actually thought citing Gog and Magog to Chirac was a deal-clincher. We do know that Donald Rumsfeld constantly fed Bush Biblical passages to stoke his commitment to the war, and that he intended this as psychological manipulation, not merely scriptural inspiration. Amazing! In 2003, the President of the United States saw himself as God's anointed, chosen to do battle against Gog and Magog and the minions of Satan. In other words, all the deaths, destruction, environmental degradation, blows to the U.S. economy, corruption, tearing apart of families in Iraq and our own country -- all was fueled by a demented vision of the world and buttressed by Biblical passages that some of us, at least, believe may be outdated as guides to current events.

So why is this a dilemma for President Obama? Because we are still wallowing in Bush's mire, and we might well be forgiven for doubting whether the President will ever get us out of Iraq, much less Afghanistan, despite his pledge to have all but 50,000 troops out by September, 2010 and everyone home by December, 2011. One of Bush's legacies is the placement of religious fanatics throughout the Pentagon, not only in positions of top command, but among those \rising through the ranks for years to come. Bush did not operate in a vacuum, other than the one between his ears. The religious milieu that stoked his fires has enormous financial and political resources. It is not unlikely that within the Pentagon and other key U.S. agencies, the spectres of Gog and Magog still stalk, along with the conviction that we are divinely pledged to wage war against them.

If back-room interests helped propel us into war, their calculations are still current. The United States has dozens of bases in Iraq, many of them "permanent", including the Green Zone, home to the biggest, baddest, most expensive embassy in the world. In the era of peak oil, the oil wars are not going away; very likely they will be joined by Mid-East water wars. Oil and water. Not quite the ring of "Gog and Magog" but dangerous nonetheless. Add in the President's lack of support among Congressional Democrats, the impact of returning soldiers on unemployment, a fanatical military faction, etc., and the prospects for leaving Iraq soon do not seem so promising.

But now we know that one of the war's supporting pillars is a religious vision that at best is delusional and at worst cynical manipulation by the handlers of a mentally unstable president (Bush Jr.). One cannot pursue a policy based on such impulses without calling it to accounts and re-examining every assumption upon which it rests. And at any time, an outbreak of violence, a major failure of the Iraqi government, or a collapse of our Afghan policy could delay our withdrawal.

We've wrecked Iraq and destabilized the Middle East as efficiently as Gog and Magog could have wished, and still President Obama evokes images of Iraq and Afghanistan becoming self-secured, cohesive nations with our continued intervention. The longer President Obama avoids confronting the perverse legacy of the war, the more distorted will be our decisions, the more fruitless our strategy. At some point, he has to stop playing the cautious politician and take a stand against policies rooted in the absolutist, fatalistic, apocalyptic, end-of-the-world belief system embraced by our previous president. A good start would be prosecuting those responsible for the Bush/Cheney torture policies. The President might also tell American people that our current situation is not simply a political problem with palatable solutions, but a serious threat to our own national interests that require dramatic policy reversals. Until President Obama redefines the premises that led us to war, he is in danger of following the same delusional road that George Bush blazed in his self-envisioned pursuit of Gog and Magog.

Comments

[codelu8]

I loved this post too. Having some perspective of ancient and historical references and its influence in current policy and leadership is enlightening. Reading Naomi Klein's 'The Shock Doctrine-The Rise of Disaster Capitalism' has opened my eyes wider than I would have imagined. Rather than the idea that our leader was driven by revenge, and the power hungry maniacal delusions of his mind, she has outlined a cogent explanation for the destruction of Iraq-money. The war has generated massive fortunes for the chosen few. And it will not stop there. Read about the "Chicago School" and the theory of "economic orthodoxy". This foundation of economic theory has developed into a paradigm that has not changed much with the changing of the guard. It is not only applied to other countries, but is alive and thriving in our own economic calamity. What do you think?

[saintsdemons]

It's Ironic that Bush would worry about "The War of Gog and Magog" because
according to Biblical prophesy the Islamic Nations would need to form
an alliance against Israel. Can anyone imagine the Muslim world cooperating
enough with each other to form an alliance?

[MSB]

I'm so completely sick of religion directing any of our policies. Before long I think atheists should just stop paying taxes - that is about 18% of Americans - a MUCH larger minority than those which have exercised a great deal more influence in our political system.

The Bible is a BOOK. It is an amalgam of authors and choices of what to include which spans hundreds of years. Some of the stories are not unique, some are meaningless outside of the time they were written and include symbolism and numerology. All are written by people, and much has been translated and re-translated numerous times.

To embrace this single book as completely unique (and divine) is nonsensical. I am amazed by how little thought many folks have put into the plausibility of their beliefs. I especially love that folks will listen to OTHER folks about what it takes to have 'faith' - AND be willing to pay a fee for such advice. What a tremendous racket.

[stick458]

"destabilized the Middle East?" That's equivalent to cops "destabilizing the ghetto!" This is insane. Every, everyone, believed that Iraq had WMD. It now is a fledgling democracy. Last time I checked, the only other one was Israel.

[JWheels]

I knew the WMD claim was a lie from day one.

[stick458]

Why didn't you tell the dems?

[MSB]

Complete nonsense.

Talk about revisionist history and wishful thinking.

[Barton Kunstler, Ph.D. - Huffpost Blogger]

Perhaps you should ask a "ghetto" resident whether or not they believe the police have stabilized their neighborhood or not. The destabilization we've engendered is so obvious one can only advise you to consider the current condition of Iraq (fledgling democracy? is this satire?), Afghanistan, and Pakistan). And not everyone believed Iraq had WMD - including many members of our CIA and the weapons inspectors.

[BocaMom]

Remember your promise, Mr. President. Bring home our troops! And let's use that money to get everyone
back to work!

[LizM]

We have to remember that the only presidential candidate back then who intimately understood what will be required to bring the troops home was Vice President Biden. As long as he is in a position to help effect a responsible withdrawal of US troops without leaving a failed and fragmented state in their wake, I don't think that we have too much to worry about.

[Barton Kunstler, Ph.D. - Huffpost Blogger]

I wish I had your faith in Biden. I don't see evidence that his campaign position is being adopted as policy - likewise with President Obama's. Biden's hawkish rhetoric on Iran also undermines, for me, any idea that he will devise a peaceful solution to our Mideast presence. Hope I'm wrong.

[mcmchugh99]

I think he's going to continue the Bush Junior foreign policy, but with nicer speeches.

[campsilver]

We are so deeply mired in the Military Industrial Complex and our economy depends on it; how do we even begin to dismantle it. And the rights complaint about taxes being raised; how about that large sucking sound of tax dollars flying out of our coffers to fight yet another war which could help fund healthcare. I am agog.

[Aaror]

Hey, just because the military is larger than the entire rest of the US government doesn't mean the military is too large. We need to spend more on the military than the rest of the world combined because we have to be able to defeat the military of a third world nation if we want to...

[Sinick]

I loved this post!

Thanks for the 60-second Biblical lesson. No doubt, the Bible remains firmly seated as the greatest piece of collaborative fiction ever penned by man____ (purposely missing "kind")!

[Barton Kunstler, Ph.D. - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks! The collaboration took place not just over decades or centuries, but millennia, with Genesis, for instance, borrowing liberally from Sumerian creation myths dating back at least to 3000 B.C.

[LizM]

I don't think that there is much of a chance that President Obama will follow the "same delusional road that George Bush blazed...". Not so long as Vice President Biden is blazing the way forward on the Iraq file.

[carlonero]

This is what happens when a leader uses crackpot "religion" to justify his actions--and the "religious" disorder becomes a reality. We have become, in effect, the same sort of evil we claimed to right against from 1941-1945.

Nice work, W. May you join Hitler and Stalin in hell.

[mfelder]

While I agree that the President must Re-define our role in Afganistan, I think pulling out now or anytime soon would have grave national security implications for the United States. The war in Iraq was a mistake. But Afganistan is a different story. Until Pakinstan is capable of providing security for its own country we run the risk of pulling out and allowing the Taliban to move into Pakistan, overthrow its government and secure the Nuclear weapon and use them to attack the US. I don't think we should take that risk.

[Barton Kunstler, Ph.D. - Huffpost Blogger]

Definitely a major concern - but one can argue that our military presence in Afghanistan has undermined Pakistan's stability, along with other aspects of our Pakistan policy. I agree that there's different approaches possible to effecting a rapid withdrawal of troops - but we seem to be headed in the opposite direction without any real dialog about alternatives. I still am very glad Obama is president, but he seems to be caught up in the wheels of a terrible machine with immense momentum. We need to shift our thinking significantly if we are to redirect its energies.