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Rumsfeld's Pentagon Published Bible Verses on Top-Secret Intel Reports

Posted by Ali Frick, Think Progress at 10:23 AM on May 18, 2009.


The cover sheets featured inspirational Bible verses printed over military images.
rumsfeldsvegali

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In a lengthy article on Donald Rumsfeld’s rocky tenure as Defense Secretary, GQ published never-before-seen cover sheets from top-secret intelligence briefings produced by Rumsfeld’s Pentagon. Starting in the days surrounding the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the cover sheets featured inspirational Bible verses printed over military images, “and were delivered by Rumsfeld himself to the White House” to the president, “who referred to America’s war on terror as a ‘crusade,’” GQ writes. Below are some examples of the Bible quotes (view the images here):

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.” [The quote appears over an image of a tank at sunrise]

Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” [The quote appears over an image of a soldier in Baghdad]

“It is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.” [The quote appears over an image of Saddam Hussein]

Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, The nation that keeps faith.” [The quote appears over an image of tanks entering an Iraqi city]

GQ’s Robert Draper writes that when colleagues complained to the Pentagon official who came up with the cover sheets, he replied, “‘my seniors’ — JCS chairman Richard Myers, Rumsfeld, and the commander in chief himself – appreciated the cover pages.”

Digg!

Tagged as: pentagon, rumsfeld, bible

Ali Frick is a Research Associate for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.


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Bible quotes over a picture of a tank. Ya huh.
Posted by: Ghoulman on May 18, 2009 10:41 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
... no inconsistency there Rummy! Right? Hello? Is this thing on???

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No better
Posted by: laoma on May 18, 2009 10:45 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
than the taliban or al-qaida...in fact, the Christian Taliban have proven themselves to be more treacherous, dangerous, murderous, anf fanatical than any of the ghosts they are fighting.

Purge the traitors! Imprison and/or hang the scum.

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» RE: No better Posted by: Dak
THIS IS SO DISGUSTING!
Posted by: Quannah on May 18, 2009 10:49 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I urge everyone to take a look at these images. It's so disgusting on so many levels!

These I found particularly disturbing:

The verse from I Peter 2:15 written over a photo of Saddam Hussein...

"It is God's will that by doing good, you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men."

and...

The verse from Isaiah 6:8 superimposed over a photo of US soldiers in Iraq, kneeling and praying in their uniforms and with their weapons...

"Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?
Here I am, Lord, send me."

Rummy figured out that Bush would eat this shit up with a fucking spoon! He duped the stupid Fundie president with this propaganda in order to get what he wanted.

This is sickening.

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» RE: THIS IS SO DISGUSTING! Posted by: blitzmesser
» RE: THIS IS SO DISGUSTING! Posted by: Quannah
» RE: THIS IS SO DISGUSTING! Posted by: rinthy
» RE: THIS IS SO DISGUSTING! Posted by: peacefullaim1
» RE: THIS IS SO DISGUSTING! Posted by: Quannah
» RE: THIS IS SO DISGUSTING! Posted by: peacefullaim1
» RE: THIS IS SO DISGUSTING! Posted by: Quannah
I've got a Bible verse for the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld cover sheet
Posted by: pelican beak on May 18, 2009 11:11 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
"Only a simpleton believes what he is told! A prudent man checks to see where he is going. A wise man is cautious and avoids danger; a fool plunges ahead with great confidence." (Pr 14:15-16)

That belongs over THEIR picture.

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» I've got another one: Posted by: CanuckKid
» RE: The Truth About Panetta Posted by: Sister_Lauren
Religion is the opiate of the masses, indeed.
Posted by: pelican beak on May 18, 2009 11:19 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
What I said.

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Time, perhaps, to move on
Posted by: sawdust on May 18, 2009 11:26 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I grew weary of this story and its feigned surprise and indignance 30 minutes after I first read it. America has been obsessed with Judeo-Christian scripture verses for decades.Rummy just proved he has really, really bad taste and no sense of political decorum.

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» RE: Time, perhaps, to move on Posted by: peacefullaim1
Separation of church and state?
Posted by: badkitty on May 18, 2009 12:08 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I guess this was/is a foreign concept to our Department of Defense leadership. At least we know our military isn't defending our ideals, as if their actions didn't tell us that already.

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If I had the fortune to be in the same room with Rumsfeld, Bush, Cheney, Feith, Wolfowitz, Rice, et
Posted by: thekidde on May 18, 2009 12:20 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
al and a rifle with sufficient bullets for each, I would shoot them as traitors in a millisecond. I served as a combat infantryman in Vietnam while Bush was getting his un-earned 2d Lts. bars pinned on by his asshat daddy. I went to OCS and got 6 months of kickass training and schooling in how to be a real leader - you go with 'em asshole, you don't just send them. This country needs to rid itself of this evangelical, right wing, corporatist neocon scourge or it's all over - and shouting won't help.

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Stupidity...
Posted by: frank69 on May 18, 2009 12:42 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The stupidity of the entire Bush regime knows no bounds. Rumsfeld is just the tip of the stupidity brigade.
Soon you'll find that nobody voted for stupid Bush. Mark my words, it'll happen sooner than you may think.

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Whose side is god on?
Posted by: hilaryuk on May 18, 2009 1:11 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Years ago I read a science fiction story where Earth was fighting alien invaders. Both sides thought their god was on their side. Eventually, a soldier priest got behind enemy lines and spied on them worshipping. He was somewhat surprised to find that they seemed to worship the same god as Earth, and was even more shocked to find that god actually appeared to them. Not only that, he told that that he had decided that they, the aliens, most deserved to win the war.

I suppose the message is to put not your faith in gods - you don't know which side they're rooting for.

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» RE: Whose side is god on? Posted by: Sister_Lauren
SO I'VE BEEN WRONG ALL THIS TIME
Posted by: VZEQICVA on May 18, 2009 1:14 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
He's really a nice guy after all. Why do the bastards hide behind religion? Meantime, I guess he's shopping for a good lawyer. ANNA

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» RE: SO I'VE BEEN WRONG ALL THIS TIME Posted by: peacefullaim1
How corrupted have we become?
Posted by: Aquinas on May 18, 2009 1:56 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Whenever I come to grips with the real extent of the corruption which these neocons have perpetrated on our Republic, as well as the illegal intrusion of their god crap into every facet of our government, I'm more and more convinced that only a violent revolution will straighten out this nation of ours. Jefferson was so right when he opined that we need a bloody revolution every so often, to counter the ambition and greed of the scum that eventually rises to the top and who like to be called "elite".

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When I see....
Posted by: LTBROWN on May 18, 2009 3:27 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
misfits like this and the whole teabagging, neocon, Rush fanatic, enemy of my enemy is my friend wingnuts, putting up bible verses and "i believe in God", as jusification for evil, it really makes me question rather or not the bible was a hoax to keep certain people from rising up and bashing the brains out of these type of devils. There were people from my family, hang, by "Good God fearing Christians" [so they proclaimed as they put the ropes around the necks of my Monarchs]. So I'm already shy on religion. I can't just walk lock step behind a pastor or anyone else, claiming God said for them to do some deed. I'm waiting to hear God say, "Go ye to Iraq and Afganistan. and thou shalt kill all who YOU BELIEVE ARE TALIBAN." After that happens, I'm all in.

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» RE: When I see.... Posted by: peacefullaim1
no surprises
Posted by: blitzmesser on May 18, 2009 8:15 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The religious images don't surprise me at all.
I expected them to be there. That tells us something, doesn't it?
Idiots follow doctrines of their superiors without questioning them.
(With that I mean that all professional soldiers are sad fools with a diminished brain, including their "leaders"... whatever their names are.
All idiots. War mongers.
Remember: we are in the 21st century. I was hoping for an advancement in human consciousness.)Yah, dream on.

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Bush told us it was a crusade years ago, duh they have been trying to kill me
Posted by: Sister_Lauren on May 19, 2009 2:49 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
And nobody minded as long as it was Islamic people that were being killed.

I know it for a fact, my neighbors said so, it was the 'good christian' thing to do. They were quite willing to have me killed too. Look it up, the rhetoric is all there.

Plus, there is the fact we killed a million people FOR THEIR RELIGION. It is kind of hard to ignore the reality of murderous intentions when they are actually killing people.

I was listening to my neighbors, they were all gung ho to kill Islamic people, even after I told them I was one.

If you don't think that is terrorism, you have been paying way too much way attention to Joshua Holland and his silly debasing of our shared 'facts'.

There are zionist sympathizers everywhere, including him, and they want to kill us all off so as to have everything just for them.

I would not be a bit surprised to find out he is jewish. Why?

Because, the jews are out to kill me.

It is a big group effort to distort and hide the truth, plus discredit and eliminate 'truthers'.

Joshua has been a big part of it. I consider it a conspiracy to commit war crimes including treason, but then MY life has actually been threatened over and over again, Joshua just hears about it and calls me names.

And dismisses it. He thinks he is so brave, and so much smarter than me!

I was suicidal so many times, did it inspire him to do any homework?

No, his preconceived opinions were enough truth for him, so I now get to say he is CIA all the way, one of the terrorists. They control the media, you know.

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» RE: Oh I know that Posted by: Sister_Lauren
» RE: Supreme court ruling Posted by: Sister_Lauren
Bastardizing Religious Teachings
Posted by: Purple Girl on May 19, 2009 5:14 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Will the Religious Right begin to see how bastardizing their Faith with political agendas is not only blashpemy but heretical?
Have they yet to understand that the radical Terrorist groups with their Gov't enablers also adhere to the concept of 'Guns & God'?Are they Ready to reclaim their Religions from the nefarious goals of the State and the mere mortals who manipulate and control it?
The Religious Right has not had as much effect on the State as the State has had on their religious beliefs. when you are willing to ignore 'Thou Shall not Kill' just to secure more oil, or seek Revenge. Doesn't that also mean they have also 'Coveted' and failed to 'Turn the other Cheek'?
Wasn't their blind faith in the aims of the Bushies very much the Warning about 'Deceivers'.
The Faithfuls have not only been used and abused- they have been Betrayed.
Stick with the teachings of the Books and be leary of those who misconstrue them for their own goals, and ambitions

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Jesse Ventura - smack down of Elisabeth Hasselbeck on torture
Posted by: Sister_Lauren on May 19, 2009 7:01 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
All those years in the ring have left him able to box. Totally worth watching, is he running for president?

Jesse Ventura schools The View’s Elisabeth Hasselbeck on torture

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Lying is one thing; to exploit the Bible another
Posted by: Razional Thinker on May 19, 2009 8:21 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Luke 6:31 "Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.

Romans 13:8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

Galatians 5:14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." (NASB ©1995)

************I don't believe any of these verses were followed or quoted by Rumsfeld!!!!! And is there not another verse that says something like "remove the log from your own eye before trying to remove the speck from your brother's."? ....(I am not very knowledgeable of the Bible but I did pick up somethings along the way.) Like another poster, I am so sickened by Rumsfeld's actions.

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This is bad, but...
Posted by: AgnosticPriest on May 19, 2009 9:06 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
...the fact that our troops are actively handing out 1000's of bibles to Muslim civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan is a great deal more disturbing to me. All with the blessing of our newly appointed General (who happens to be an Evangelical Christian, from what I understand). But we never hear about this in MSM.

Think Press story


Yahoo Answers story

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» RE: This is bad, but... Posted by: salamah
Neocon Jesus Freaks
Posted by: john2007 on May 19, 2009 9:20 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The neocon-Jesus freaks that backed Bush are just as dangerous as the Taliban. The fact that we are seeing new evidence of how they influenced and enabled our fascist war impulses should put us on high alert because they are still out there. The only way to kill a religious fanatic is with a stake through the heart.

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caronome
Posted by: Bayardtom on May 19, 2009 11:05 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It boggles the mind to think of what else these idiotic, arrogant religious fanatics have doen to our country and the world. It will take generations to undo the harm and malice they perpetrated on us all.

If this doesn't convince the lily livered members of Congress and the White House that something has to be done about indicting and prosecuting the whole Bush administration then we are all doomed!

Harry Reid, Traitor Pelosi and the rest of Congress - wake the hell up! Do you all have any idea the depth of anger that prevails in this country about the lack of leadership in Congress and the White House? If there is not movement in government to impeach, indict and prosecute these criminals, there will be another war in this country only this time it will be internal and against the people in government who have failed us all.

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"Thou shalt not bear false witness"
Posted by: surfreality on May 19, 2009 12:43 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
would've been a good one... or even better yet: "Thou shalt not kill".

Imagine: cherry picking The Bible to justify a blitzkrieg. It is the mirror image of Jihadists envoking Allah just before they detonate a suicide vest or ram a truck ( or fly a jet ) into a building...

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eeeeewwww
Posted by: pitipua on May 19, 2009 6:00 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
ewww ewww ewww!

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