Bush predicted no troop deaths: ally

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http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/10/ ... click=true

Bush predicted no troop deaths: ally
By Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
October 22, 2004

George Bush has suffered an embarrassing rebellion from the ranks, with the founder of the conservative Christian Coalition saying the President had serenely assured him that, "Oh, no, we're not going to have any casualties" in the invasion of Iraq.

In an interview with CNN, Pat Robertson described a conversation with Mr Bush shortly before the war in which Mr Robertson voiced his fears for US troops. "I warned him about this war," Mr Robertson said. "I had deep misgivings about this war, deep misgivings. And I was trying to say, 'Mr President, you had better prepare the American people for casualties'."

However, he said that Mr Bush had replied: "Oh, no, we're not going to have any casualties."

Mr Robertson, a former marine who competed for the Republican presidential nomination in 1988, borrowed a quotation from Mark Twain when he said Mr Bush looked "like a contented Christian with four aces". "I mean, he was just sitting there like, 'I am on top of the world'," Mr Robertson said.

"The Lord told me it was going to be A, a disaster, and B, messy," he continued, adding that he wished that Mr Bush would acknowledge his mistake.

Democrats pounced on the chance to make Mr Bush contradict the televangelist, who is a prominent supporter.

"Is Pat Robertson telling the truth when he said you didn't think there'd be any casualties, or is Pat Robertson lying?" Mike McCurry, a spokesman for John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate, asked on the campaign trail in Waterloo, Iowa.

"Of course the President never made such a comment," said Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary.

Karl Rove, Mr Bush's chief political adviser, said that he had attended the meeting in question between Mr Bush and Mr Robertson in Nashville in February last year.

He said that he had not heard those remarks. "I was right there," Mr Rove said.

The rare criticism from Mr Robertson, who otherwise remains an ardent supporter of the White House, was not the only criticism by those claiming proximity to Mr Bush.

Six of his relatives have created a website called bushrelativesforkerry.com dedicated to his defeat. "Because blood is thinner than oil," the front page says. "Please don't vote for our cousin."

The six are all descendants of Mary Bush House, sister of Prescott Bush, founder of the dynasty and George W's grandfather. None has had contact with the President, although a few knew his father, the first president Bush.

They accuse their cousin of gross arrogance, a misplaced sense of entitlement and failing to live up to Christian values.

"As much as I'd like to vote for a relative running for president, I just can't," writes Hilary House.

But the family feud is unlikely to have anything near the impact of the criticism from a figure with Mr Robertson's influence on the Christian right.

He has voiced doubts about the war in the past, but his speaking out now - less than a fortnight before polling day - may be a setback for a Republican election strategy that hinges on turning out 4 million evangelical Christians who stayed at home in 2000.

On Wednesday Mr Robertson did not back away from his comments, but confirmed he continued to support Mr Bush.

Come on Kerry, "it's a slam dunk"!

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