Christian Hugs and Handcuffs for George W. Bush

Hugs were exchanged at the Billy Graham Library during the signing of Bush's new book, Decision Points" released November 9, 2010. As noted, "Billy Graham rarely appears in public these days, but a visit from former President George W. Bush is enough to bring him out. Franklin Graham says his 92-year-old father is as sharp as he's been in the past few years."[1]

About a month after the book signing, in early February 2011, Bush avoided Switzerland because international human rights groups were waiting to arrest him for war crimes he committed, according to Reuters News: "Criminal complaints against Bush alleging torture have been lodged in Geneva, court officials say." Reed Brody of Human Rights Watch told Reuters "He's avoiding the handcuffs."[2] With personal confessions of what are considered international war crimes, George W. Bush is eligible for arrest around the world.

In the very book that G.W. Bush was signing in Billy Graham's presence, Bush defends his belief that water torture is OK. Bush wrote his answer “Damn right” when the CIA asked for permission to waterboard Khalid Sheik Mohammad and other prisoners. Bush signed torture into U.S. war policy 7 February 2002 and according to Time Magazine, this was Bush's "most despicable act."[3] He may go down in history as the "Waterboarder in Chief" for his brutal neocon interrogation ethics. 

While Bush may believe waterboarding is not torture, internationally accepted definitions say otherwise. Consider Webster's definition of torture: 1a: "anguish of body or mind. b: something that causes agony or pain. 2: the infliction of intense pain (as from burning crushing or wounding) to punish coerce or afford sadistic pleasure." People use waterboarding in order to try and coerce a person to confess something. Notice Webster's definitions do not say the permanent physical damage is required in order for something to be considered torture. U.S. Lt. Grover Flint of the Philippine-American War described the intended effects of waterboarding: "His sufferings must be that of a man who is drowning, but cannot drown."[4]

Bush seems to be in hot water. But all of his former cabinet and Obama seem to be liable as well. Obama has confessed his belief that waterboarding is torture, but has not sought to pursue the issue legally. Both The New York Times and The Washington Post confirm that the Obama has authorized the CIA to kill an American citizen, al-Alwaki, without a trial, no matter how far he is from any battlefield.[5] A tortured Guantanamo Bay detainee, Djamel Ameziane, lost a legal battle 8 October 2010 when a federal appeals court ruled that the Obama administration can keep information secret that the prisoner wanted to make public.[6]

Does George W. Bush Deserve Hugs, Handcuffs, Neither, or Both?

As an evangelical Christian, I acknowledge that I'm far from perfect. And I also acknowledge the biblical principle of loving others unconditionally, no matter what. But, as a conscientious U.S. citizen, I can't deny that there is abundant evidence that George W. Bush and many other politicians have committed egregious crimes, both international and domestic, and these crimes need to be legally addressed in order to restore the foundation of the rule of law to the United States.

From a biblical perspective, if a person calls himself a Christian but does not want to address serious sins and crimes, and further shows no signs of remorse, both the New and Old Testaments show a need for some kind of confrontation. In 2 Samuel 12, God led Nathan to David to confront him for his sins. If George W. Bush believes Billy Graham was instrumental in leading him to Christ, Graham seems like he would be an ideal candidate for approaching Bush in a "spirit of meekness" as shown in Galatians 6:1-5. Or the pastor of Bush's church may want to follow the steps of reconciliation outlined in Matthew 18:15-20. If Bush declines to address these crimes and sins, which are against foreigners and every citizen of the United States, the Apostle Paul outlined an approach that may be fitting in 1 Corinthians 5.3-5.

Some Documented Crimes of George W. Bush

Suggested intentions to invade Iraq were announced January 30, 2001, over seven months before the 9/11 attacks in New York, by Bush's cabinet members, almost immediately upon his presidency. The true motive was documented based Paul O’Neill's memoirs:

"Advocating “going after Saddam” during the January 30 meeting, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said, according to O’Neill, “Imagine what the region would look like without Saddam and with a regime that’s aligned with U.S. interests. It would change everything in the region and beyond. It would demonstrate what U.S. policy is all about.” He then discussed post-Saddam Iraq — the Kurds in the north, the oil fields, and the reconstruction of the country’s economy. (Suskind, p. 85)"

Planning oil exploitation occurred behind the scenes: "A full year before Congress authorized military action in Iraq, the State Department undertook a policy-development study called “The Future of Iraq Project.” It worked out a protocol for transferring control of 81% of the undeveloped oil fields in Iraq to American and British oil companies."

George W. Bush publicly announced and authorized the invasion of Iraq based on the deception of a WMD threat, and the profiteering by Cheney and Halliburton has been well documented in hindsight. In addition to oil resource control, the no-bid contracts and "cost plus" billing arrangements ensured massive profits. The war was premeditated, unprovoked, and was begun without any evidence of WMD. This was illegal according to international protocol.

In authorizing torture, George W. Bush violated the Geneva Convention, ignored the U.S. "Federal Torture Act" Title 18 United States Code, Section 113C, and usurped the UN Torture Convention. He violated the constitutional rights of U.S. citizens by imprisonment without a trial, by simply declaring untried suspects as "enemy combatants."[7]

Bush authorized illegal spying on U.S. citizens by the NSA without seeking warrants in violation of Title 50 United States Code, Section 1805. Illegal wiretapping is a felony under the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act punishable by five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Bush also violated the Fourth Amendment's guarantee of protection against unreasonable search and seizure.[8]

President George W. Bush swore to uphold the U.S. Constitution in his inauguration but committed treason in secretly working to undermine the sovereignty of the United States. Without the knowledge or approval of Congress, G.W. Bush sent a team, including Donald Rumsfeld, to a North American Forum September 12-14, 2006, the purpose of which was to dissolve U.S. borders.[9] G.W. Bush was in step with the basic plan of his father, George H.W. Bush, who signed Executive Order 12803 on April 30, 1992, for the sale of U.S. infrastructure to foreign interests.[10] And George W. Bush renewed China's Favored-Nation Trading Status, despite egregious human rights violations:  "However, since last June's massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators in Tian An Men Square by the "butchers of Beijing," the Bush Administration has nervously pursued a policy of reconciliation with China's totalitarian leadership."

  

Ron Paul has begun to put some of the Bush crimes on the official record. On 26 January 2011, Paul entered official testimony in the U.S. Congressional record how George Bush. Sr. lied to the American people at the onset of the Gulf War in 1990. Paul outlined how the policy of lying has led to our present governmental crisis and the need for addressing corruption.[11]

Morals from the Dark Side

The illegal torture program begun by the Bush administration has its roots in a relativistic belief that the end justifies the means. In other words, it's OK to break laws as much as you want to, as long as the results work out for the best. The film "Taxi to the Dark Side" is named after a quote from Bush's right-hand man, Dick Cheney, from shortly after September 11, 2001:

"We also have to work, though, sort of the dark side, if you will...That’s the world these folks operate in, and so it’s going to be vital for us to use any means at our disposal, basically, to achieve our objective."[12]

Upon receiving the Oscar award for 2008 Best Documentary Film, the director of "Taxi to the Dark Side" Alex Gibney, had this to say: "This is dedicated to two people who are no longer with us, Dilawar, the young Afghan taxi driver, and my father, a navy interrogator who urged me to make this film because of his fury about what was being done to the rule of law. Let’s hope we can turn this country around, move away from the dark side and back to the light." An investigation into the death of Afghan taxi-driver, Dilawar, at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan in 2002, found that Dilawar had been repeatedly kicked and punched and was chained to the ceiling of his cell for days before he ended up dying.

The basic Neocon philosophy of "the end justifies the means" seems to create corrupt and pathological liars. On 23 December 2010, the Associated Press reported how Nigeria dropped legal prosecution for bribery charges against Dick Cheney and Halliburton after they offered to pay an agreed-upon lump sum of $250m to Nigerian officials. Apparently, George W. helped with some phone calls. Did he try to negotiate the bribe down a bit? Anti-corruption lawmakers in Nigeria were infuriated because Cheney, Bush, and Halliburton are setting them back in their cause.[13] No matter what Neocons may say, history shows they are relativists who would be willing to use patriotism, Christianity, and any other means in order to achieve their goals.

The Cremation of Care

One thing many republican-honoring evangelicals don't seem to be interested in is the connection between the Bush family and the occult. A photo from a 1992 Bohemian Club yearbook shows both Bush presidents at a speaker's podium and Newt Gingrich, who says he is presently considering a run for the presidency in the Republican party. The cartoon captions were added by me but the underlying photo is from an actual Bohemian Grove yearbook. The played-up, political hype between the conservative-republican right and the liberal-Democratic left is revealed for what it is when you see the list of political guests who visit the Bohemian Grove.

Though G.W. was strong against partial-birth abortion, there seems to have been a severe lack of conscience in many other areas. Perhaps it's not coincidental that the Bush men have been regulars at the pagan Bohemian Grove meeting in California. The Druid-like "Cremation of Care" ceremony at Bohemian Grove celebrates the searing of the conscience through the burning of a human effigy in sacrifice to a 40 foot stone idol. In order to really get a feel for what goes on there, it helps to see a video of the Cremation of Care ceremony, as secretly recorded by Alex Jones in a film clip, The Cremation of Care - Enhanced Footage, and read the transcript, linked here.[14]

On August 17, 2000, Time Magazine asked George W. Bush if it bothered him that he had joined the nefarious society Skull and Bones as a young man. His response: "No qualms at all. I was honored."[15] No qualms? No regrets in 2000? The public was led to believe G. W. became a born-again Christian in 1985 based on Bush's ghost-written autobiography A Charge to Keep. Why would a true Christian have no regrets about joining an occultic group that is based

Author Alexandra Robbins has documented that initiates of Skull and Bones: "During initiation, which involves ritualistic psychological conditioning, the juniors wrestle in mud and are physically beaten" and "this stage of the ceremony represents their "death" to the world as they have known it. They then lie naked in coffins, masturbate, and reveal to the society their innermost sexual secrets. After this cleansing, the Bonesmen give the initiates robes to represent their new identities as individuals with a higher purpose." Initiates are promised lifelong rewards and blackmail in order to keep personal secrets of the group, as Bush himself describes:

"My senior year I joined Skull and Bones, a secret society, so secret I can't say anything more," Bush wrote in his 1999 autobiography, A Charge to Keep. 
There are many occult aspects of the Skull and Bones that a true converted Christians would renounce. And an article by Graig Unger at Salon Magazine outlines the many contradictions in the Bush Christian conversion accounts.

Bush's main conversion experienced is vaguely summarized in the autobiographical book: "He (Billy Graham) led me to the path, and I began walking." But when Bush's ghostwriter, Mickey Herskowitz, interviewed Bush about the words of Graham that helped lead G.W. to his conversion, Herskowitz was shocked: "He (Bush) couldn't remember a single word that passed between them."[16]

When Billy Graham was asked about the episode by NBC's Brian Williams, his response was also surprising: "I've heard others say that [I converted Bush], and people have written it, but I cannot say that," Graham said. "I never feel that I in any way turned his life around." And then there is the testimony by evangelist Arthur Blessit in his journal from April 3, 1984, a year before the Graham encounter: “A good and powerful day. Led Vice President Bush's son to Jesus today. George Bush Jr.! This is great! Glory to God."[17]

After his two alleged Christian conversions, surprisingly, Bush showed no mercy in allowing a woman in Texas to be executed in 1998 after becoming a reformed, born-again Christian in a Texas jail and marrying the Christian pastor who visited the prison. Pat Robertson told 60 Minutes in an interview if Bush "lets this sweet woman of God die, he's a man who shows no mercy." The complex details of the event and how Bush actually mocked the woman before her death can be found in the article "Clearing Up the 'Karla Faye Tucker' Episode."[18]

  

The International Call for Justice

Because George W. Bush blatantly broke international laws regarding war and torture, the international community is continuing to seek his prosecution. In 2004, a group of lawyers from Tokyo prepared a formal tribunal and found U.S. President George W. Bush guilty of war crimes.[19] Bush, in an admission of guilt, passed a bill in 2006 to try and insulate himself and his coworkers from the long arm of the law, as noted in the report, "Bush Seeks Retroactive Immunity From US War Crimes Prosecution."[20]

Both Americans who love their country and international citizens who understand the basics of natural law realize the illegality of presidents writing pardons for themselves and their cabinet members. On 26 October 2007, Donald Rumsfeld was charged for the fifth time with direct involvement in torture. He made a hasty exit out of Paris France where the human rights groups filed the papers.[21] In 2008, Vermont towns Brattleboro and Marlboro approved a measure that would instruct police to arrest President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for "crimes against our Constitution" if they ever set foot there.[22]

On March 17, 2009, John Boncore, also known as Splitting the Sky, attempted to make a citizens arrest of Bush in Canada. Prior to the civilian arrest action, the group Lawyers Against the War asked Canadian officials to bar entry of Bush, or arrest him and try him, as they desire to do in Switzerland. Canadian Law prohibits people suspected of any involvement in torture, war crimes or crimes against humanity from entering Canada for any purpose. When Bush arrived, it was Boncore who was arrested, not Bush. But Boncore did achieve more than the entire U.S. judicial system has so far, an opportunity to present his case against George W. Bush in a court of law.

The trial ensued in June 2010 and Boncore's attorney collected evidence, including the award-winning documentary film "Taxi to the Dark Side" and writings by David Ray Griffin, among others. In short, the Canadian judge ended the legal proceedings after two days and required Boncore to make a $1,000 donation to a charity and pay a $50 surcharge as conditions of his probation. And so no true justice has been served against George W. Bush for the time being.[23]
On 19 January 2010, in the Hague, Netherlands, George W. Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, Condoleezza Rice, and Alberto Gonzales were charged for “extraordinary rendition” activities, which essentially means kidnapping and torture. About 100 prisoners were rendered and abused in European prisons and this broke EU laws against torture.[24] On 7 January 2011 in Spain, papers were filed by the Centre for Constitutional Rights against the "Bush Six," according to the Guardian.[25] Benjamin B. Ferencz, an American lawyer who prosecuted Nazi criminals for war crimes, believes George W. Bush should be tried as a criminal for the illegal initiation of the present Iraq War. Nazis from WWII are still being hunted because there is no statute of limitations on war crimes.

As far as long-term globalist goals are concerned, the Bush family has advocated subservience to the U.N. for the sake of world government:

“We have before us the opportunity to forge, for ourselves and for future generations, a New World Order. A world where the rule of law, not the law of the jungle, rules all nations. When we are successful–and we will be–we have a real chance at this New World Order. An order in which a credible United Nations can use its peacekeeping forces to fulfill the promise and vision of its founders.” —George H.W. Bush, March 21, 1991

Conclusions and Questions

As an American overseas missionary, I've noticed the opinion of America has fallen over the years. When the first Iraq War broke out, most Americans, including myself, believed we went to war because Saddam Hussein committed torture and mass murder and we had something better to offer the people, freedom, and democracy. But, as Ron Paul pointed out, the launching of the Gulf War in 1990 was actually based on fraud and over the past twenty years we've seen the suicide rates our troops reach record highs because we are performing the very crimes we supposedly went to alleviate, the torture and murder of innocent civilians.

Whistleblowers, such as Bradley Manning, are in prison for simply leaking out the truth while elite criminals protect each other with impunity. Judas-goat presidents undermine the U.S.Constitution and continue to implement a police state. The most effective means for reducing the threat of terrorism against the United States is not a police state, but peaceful reform.The animosity against the U.S. would be drastically reduced if those complicit in torture and other war crimes were tried by the U.S. justice system.

The spiritual and political relationships between Bush and Graham seem to embody some of the main paradoxes of Christian culture and society today in the U.S. While I admire the vast work the Graham family has done to share the gospel, they don't seem to realize the extent to which they have been used as political pawns. I wonder if the Grahams considered why the press was not allowed to ask any questions in their library when G.W. Bush was signing his book. I wonder where the nearest "free-speech zone" was and if Franklin or Billy realize free-speech zones were the brain-child of the Bush administration shortly after 11 September 2001.

I wonder if the Grahams and other prominent evangelicals really believe torture is OK, as long as we are the ones doing it. I wonder if they have ever looked into the Skull and Bones and the Bohemian Grove involvement of their favorite politicians. The image presented by the press is that George W. Bush is a good ol' boy Christian. And this image is propped up by many Christians who are perhaps not filling in the blanks or who are in a state of denial. One advantage I have of living overseas for 10 years is the ability to view the United States from outside of the U.S. mass-media bubble.The image of the Bush-Graham book signing of Decision Points and the Neocon / Christian quiz were created to help the Christian community to ask some deep questions. It seems we were conned by the neocons into supporting anti-Christian values and policies. The record shows that George W. Bush was actually more interested in defending the secrets of his lifelong occult affiliations rather than defending the U.S. Constitution. 

  

Only God knows the heart of George W. Bush and whether or not he is a true Christian. But Matthew 7.20 gives us very basic advice on this question: "You will know them by their fruits." The fact is, G.W. Bush never joined a local church fellowship the eight years he served in the White House[26] and he has shown no public signs of remorse for his occult activity and crimes. I have not seen any evidence the Graham family has really sought to understand the Bush Dynasty and their actions over the past 20 years. It may be the Grahams need to consider their own "decision points" at this time with regard to backing G.W. Bush unequivocally. A close look at history and his life suggest that he's been a faux Christian for the sake of political expediency. Ephesians 5.11 states "Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them."(NIV) 

(On February 17, 2011, I sent Billy Graham's organization, BGEA, an email asking 1) If they disagreed with any of the historical, documented facts in this article and 2) Why they endorse an alleged criminal. The reply was a standardized form letter with a pitch to buy a Billy Graham book. All things considered, this isn't very surprising. George W. Bush did not attend Billy Graham's memorial funeral service and spends most of his time at home painting pictures. Because there is no statute of limitations for war crimes, Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Europe are still threatening to arrest U.S. government personnel that had been involved in inflicting, approving, and overseeing waterboarding and other forms of 'enhanced interrogation' during the Bush presidency.) 

References

1. Telegram News Canada: Former president George W. Bush in North Carolina for book-signing at Billy Graham Library, December 20th, 2010 http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Canada%20-%20World/Arts/1969-12-31/article-2057553/Former-president-George-W-Bush-in-North-Carolina-for-booksigning-at-Billy-Graham-Library/1

2. Reuters: Bush's Swiss visit off after complaints on torture,

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/05/us-bush-torture-idUSTRE7141CU20110205

3. Time: The Bush Administration's Most Despicable Act,

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1870319,00.html

4. Waterboarding.org: Is Waterboarding Torture? http://waterboarding.org/torture_definition

5. The World Can't Wait: Confirmed: Obama Authorizes Assassination of U.S. Citizen, http://www.worldcantwait.net/index.php/home-mainmenu-289/6265-confirmed-obama-authorizes-assassination-of-us-citizen

6. The Guardian: Court rejects Gitmo detainee appeal over secrecy, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/9302959

7.Charges and Evidence: Impeachment of George W. Bush, http://www.impeachforpeace.org/evidence/

8. Oh my News: Bush's Impeachable Offenses, Part 2 http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?no=340571&rel_no=2

 9.  Vive Le Canada, Deep Integration Planned at Secret Conference Ignored by the Media, http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article/print/132553106

10. The American Presidency Project, Executive Order 12803 - Infrastructure Privatization, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=23625#axzz1RzHrg2Rw
 11. Infowars: Ron Paul Enters Evidence of Bush War Crimes in Congressional Record, http://www.prisonplanet.com/ron-paul-enters-evidence-of-bush-war-crimes-in-congressional-record.html 

12. America at War: Cheney’s “dark side” Quote, (Originally16 September 2001,  Meet the Press, live interview), http://afpakwar.com/blog/archives/576

13. The Independent: Nigeria drops Halliburton bribery charges http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/nigeria-drops-halliburton-bribery-charges-2167608.html

14. Anomalies Network: Cremation of Care Transcript, http://communities.anomalies.net/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=158320#Post158320

15.  Counter Punch: Is the President's Soul in Jeopardy?: An Evangelical Christian Looks at Bush's Skull and Bones Initiation, http://www.counterpunch.org/alper11262005.html

16. Salon: How George Bush really found Jesus, http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/11/08/house_of_bush

17. The Official Website of Arthur Blessitt: The Day I Prayed with George W. Bush to Receive Jesus! http://blessitt.com/?q=praying_with_george_w_bush

18. The Daily Kos: Clearing Up the "Karla Faye Tucker" Episode, http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/8/28/154043/126

19. The Japan Times: Citizens find Bush guilty of Afghan war crimes, http://search.japantimes.co.jp/member/member.html?nn20040314a5.htm

20. NoGW: Bush Seeks Retroactive Immunity From US War Crimes Prosecution, http://www.nogw.com/download/2006_bush_seeks_immunity.pdf

21. On Visit to France, Donald Rumsfeld Hit with Lawsuit for Ordering, Authorizing Torture, http://www.democracynow.org/2007/10/26/on_visit_to_france_donald_rumsfeld 
22. Reuters: Vermont towns vote to arrest Bush and Cheney, http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/03/05/us-usa-politics-vermont-idUSN0454699420080305

23. 911 Truth: Citizen's Arrest of Alleged War Criminal George W. Bush in Canada: Trial Underway, http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20100310155337373

24. Free Republic: International Criminal Court Complaint Filed Against Bush, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2433582/posts

25. The Guardian: Bringing the 'Bush Six' to Justice, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/jan/06/george-bush-torture
26. Tribes: Empty pew: Why Doesn't W go to church? http://dems.tribe.net/thread/577ea6b9-9ff9-4753-a5ec-02fa2062d86b

Photos are used for non-profit and educational purposes. Images created under fair-use laws for artistic parody.


(article edited June 23, 2011)

Tags: globalism and treason, Bush motive for Iraq War, Bush authorized torture, war crimes of George W. Bush, Bush's occult connections, why G.W. Bush is a member of the swamp,Bush Waterboarder in Chief

Related :

Why Christians Oppose Torture and the NDAA

On 9/11, Gallup Polls Show People Waking Up

The Civil Rights Movement in Reverse: Who's Next?