Article Entry
18 May 2009
Comments:13
Intelligence Reports Adorned with Biblical Quotes
Added by USGIF Category: Daily Intelligence Brief
Nobody would ever think that a men’s magazine would break a story about religion invading the defense and intelligence arena, and that is exactly what happened with GQ Magazine posted a story and slide show about how, in 2003, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and other senior defense officials during the early days of the war in Iraq in 2003 received intelligence reports from the Pentagon adorned with biblical quotations. Well, the story has caught on like wildfire and with NY Times, USA Today and many other major news organizations covering the story — giving GQ full credit for breaking the story.
GQ also connected with Lawrence Di Rita, the Pentagon spokesman during Mr. Rumsfeld’s time as secretary of defense. He noted that he had no recollection of the biblical briefs, and doubted that Rumsfeld would have tolerated the quotes, much less shared them with President Bush. The magazine reported that some Pentagon officials were concerned that if these cover sheets were leaked it could make it seem like the war was religiously driven.
What do you all think about this?
Tags: Defense, Intelligence Community, Intelligence Reports, Intelligence Reports with Biblical Quotes, Pentagon Intelligence Reports and Religion, Rumsfeld and biblical quotes
From Linked-In:
I don’t think its as bad as the Israeli Rabbis telling the Israeli infantry that they are fighting a holy war against Gentiles and providing them literature to that effect. Here’s a link.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israelis-told-to-fight-holy-war-in-gaza-1650616.html
From Linked-In:
Since I spend a great deal of time in jihadi social networking sites and see what is being produced there, I think it is asinine for any government official especially concerning the subject matter at hand to apply any verses from any holy book on any government document much less one that advocates crusader mentatilities.
From Linked-In:
so Jihadists should be able to receive comfort and encouragement from their holy books but not our men and women who are fighting against them? Maybe they will see that we do have morals and that we do worship God and understand that we are not mere Godless infidels? There have been peacful times when Muslims, Christians, and Jews got along, respected one another, and rejoiced in their mutual love of God…
From Linked-In:
I find the revelation refreshing. I have seen photographs of soldiers in prayer circulating about the internet for years. Keep in mind this was a frightening time for this nation. Turning to God is the path many take.
From Linked-In:
I think we need to consider the idea that they are going to hate us no matter what we do or what is written on our military documents. I think that they understand the significance of their Muslim unity and actively work to separate us from our Judeo-Christian roots as phase one of their tactics. Phase two would be putting sharia law into effect everywhere and phase three would be to force everyone to convert to Islam. Restricting what people can put on government documents help the achieve phase one. Am I wrong here?
Next, the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights says nothing about separating church and state. It simply says that Congress may not make any laws that establish an official religion and prohibits Congress from interfering with the free exercise of religion. I think that putting scripture on a government document doesn’t establish a religion and is a free expression of religion by the individual writing it. If there was a true separation of church and state then how can our national motto be “In God we Trust” and how can the US government force people to take medical treatments that are against their religion? I accept that you are much more studied than I am about Islam but I don’t think that the scripture on the document is going to provoke the terrorists any more than our existence already does.
From Linked-In:
I personally find it objectionable for many reasons.
From Linked-In:
If you understand the significance we give them by openly aligning as Christian versus Muslim then you would understand my statements. If you know our own institutions you know that there is to be separate of church and state.
This provides them jusitifcation to unite as the Muslim Umma. We can still find comfort in whatever religion we choose but we need to keep it out of political statements and military actions.
No one is abandoning God and that is not what I said. Understanding Islam and in particular the Salafists is key to understanding my statements and to presenting the proper approach to addressing these issues. If you want to fully understand what we are up against, I suggest some study on Wahabism and Ibn Tamiya.
You have taken quite the liberty with what I said to fit your argument that is quite far from my statements. If you want to keep the discussion going based upon what I said and the issue of placing Biblical verses on US political and military documents, then I will do so. Otherwise you can engage you topics with others who wish to take this off topic.
From Linked-In:
Bottom line, church and state must remain seperate.
From Linked-In:
I think some one is way too sensitive, and is a sub standard journalist if that is what qualifies for news. Would this have even been news worthy if it would have been quotes from the Koran, Sun Tzu, Jomini, Alexander the Great, etc. I doubt it. But if it is from the Bible it is those crazy fundamentalists forcing their beliefs on us. I would venture to guess most brief have a quote or 2 from numerous sources. Usually to lighten the mood, or provide additional insight on the subject. I would be more concerned about the substance of the brief. The entire capital has building with quotes, and many are from the Bible.
From Linked-In:
Maybe a pithy comment from the Koran and other documents would be appreciated on occasion.
From Linked-In:
It’s typical. While I don’t necessarily approve, I grasp the behind the scenes mentality of using it to motivate and justify. I have given up expecting people to be appropriate any more. Some people need that so assume others do as well. They can’t seperate business from personal and I suspect they assume we can’t either. And, for some, I am sure they are taking this as a personal attack against their own religion so it’s a knee jerk thing to defend and justify. *shrugs* Not much has changed in a thousand years.
From Linked-In:
It’s definitely bad PR when our enemies are claiming that we’re a bunch of Crusaders in a holy war with Islam.
Still, remember that the CIA’s motto has been a quote from John 8:32 for quite awhile.
From Linked-In:
What about one of the preconditions for a true democracy: division of state and religion.
No worries my country is also failing to be a true democracy, and not only for this reason.