Bush and Bible Prophecy

Clive Hamilton in a post at Counterpunch asserts that French President Jacques Chirac has confirmed stories that Bush believed he was fulfilling end-times Bible prophecies when he launched the war in Iraq. Here's an excerpt:

Bush believed the time had now come for that battle [the Apocalyptic battle of Gog and Magog], telling Chirac:

"This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people’s enemies before a New Age begins".

The story of the conversation emerged only because the Elysée Palace, baffled by Bush's words, sought advice from Thomas Römer, a professor of theology at the University of Lausanne. Four years later, Römer gave an account in the September 2007 issue of the university's review, Allez savoir. The article apparently went unnoticed, although it was referred to in a French newspaper.

The story has now been confirmed by Chirac himself in a new book, published in France in March, by journalist Jean Claude Maurice. Chirac is said to have been stupefied and disturbed by Bush's invocation of Biblical prophesy to justify the war in Iraq and "wondered how someone could be so superficial and fanatical in their beliefs".

In the same year he spoke to Chirac, Bush had reportedly said to the Palestinian foreign minister that he was on "a mission from God" in launching the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and was receiving commands from the Lord.

If this story is true, then it clearly demonstrates how dangerous it is for Americans to trust politicians who lack the wisdom and prudence to separate their contemporary foreign policy from their peculiar interpretations of biblical prophecy.