The Hindu : Rau rebukes Bush

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 02, 2003

International

International

Rau rebukes Bush

Berlin APRIL 1. The German President, Johannes Rau, bluntly criticised the U.S. President, George W. Bush, telling a television interviewer that the American leader was under an ``immense misunderstanding'' when he claimed a ``divine mission''.

Speaking on Germany's N-TV television channel on Monday, Mr. Rau criticised Mr. Bush for claiming God's blessing in the war in Iraq, saying, ``This is an utterly one-sided message by George Bush. I don't believe one nation receives a divine instruction to liberate another nation.''

He told the interviewer that there was no passage in the Bible that had ever called for crusades. Mr. Bush's views were not binding on Christians, he said, contrasting the U.S. leader's remarks to the strictly anti-war stance of Pope John Paul II. ``It's rather the Pope who speaks with the voice of the whole of humanity,'' said Mr. Rau, who is a leading lay figure in the Rheinland Evangelical Church and is the son of a revivalist preacher. ``There are situations in which war is unavoidable, but this was not the case in Iraq.'' — DPA

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