| Date: | Tuesday July 15, @11:15AM |
|---|---|
| Author: | ewing2001 |
| Topic: | Corporate Crime |
| from the au.org dept. | |
Gold-Digging TV Preacher Fails To Mention Business Interests In War-Torn Nation
au.org -7/11/03
TV preacher Pat Robertson has repeatedly criticized the Bush administration over its handling of the crisis in Liberia – without once mentioning his own personal business interests in the country.
In recent days, Robertson has used his nationally broadcast television show to charge that the U.S. government has sought to destabilize Liberia and oust President Charles Taylor. Although Taylor is a brutal dictator under indictment for war crimes by the United Nations, he is a business partner of Robertson.
“Taylor is one of the most brutal dictators in Africa, and it is appalling to me that Robertson would enter into a partnership with him merely to make money,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “Now Robertson is using his tax-exempt Christian broadcast ministry to lobby the U.S. government to keep his crony in power. This is astounding.”
On his June 26 “700 Club” program, Robertson said, “This country [Liberia] has had a close relationship with the United States over the years, but of late, the last, oh, four, five, six years, the United States State Department has tried as hard as it can to destabilize Liberia and to bring about the very outcome we’re seeing now. They had no endgame, they have no plan of what to do, they only wanted to destroy the sitting president and his government, and as a result, the place is being plunged into chaos.”
On July 1, Robertson returned to the issue, telling his audience that a year ago he wrote to the undersecretary of state for African affairs warning him that “if we continued to undermine the regime of the sitting president of Liberia that there was going to be chaos, and I said to him then, ‘you have no endgame.’ Well, they haven’t had an endgame, all they’ve wanted to do is destroy the government of Liberia, which they have succeeded in doing.”
Robertson, who founded the Christian Coalition, also asserted that the U.S. has turned a blind eye to efforts by Islamic extremists funded by Saudi Arabia to overthrow “Christian” governments in Africa. During a July 7 rant, Robertson asserted that the United States has no business forcing the “duly elected” Taylor, whom he described as “a Christian, Baptist president,” from power. (In fact, Taylor seized power by force in 1989 and was elected president in 1997 in what some observers charged was a fraudulent election.)
During his repeated TV tirades, Robertson never mentioned his primary reason for wanting Taylor to remain in power: The two men are partners in a gold-mining venture. In 1999, a Robertson-owned company, Freedom Gold, entered into an arrangement with Taylor’s regime to look for gold in southern Liberia. If gold is found, Taylor’s government will receive royalties from Robertson. That arrangement will collapse if Taylor is forced out.
Last year, Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network aired portions of a Robertson-backed “Liberia for Jesus” rally, during which Taylor officially proclaimed the country a Christian nation. Taylor took the action even though most Liberians are not Christians. (An estimated 45 percent of Liberians follow indigenous religions. Christians account for 38 percent, and the rest are Muslims.)
AU’s Lynn noted that Taylor’s claims to be a Christian haven’t improved his behavior. The UN indictment accuses Taylor of backing a civil war in neighboring Sierra Leone. News media sources say the conflict has left more than 200,000 civilians dead and countless others injured or mutilated.
Taylor has also been accused of forcing children to fight in the Liberian army and of enriching himself at the expense of his impoverished nation. His record on human rights is so bad that he is barred from visiting the United States, a ban Robertson has tried unsuccessfully to persuade the State Department to lift.
Lynn said he finds it telling that Robertson has not mentioned his business interests in Liberia.
“Robertson would have his viewers believe that his interest in Liberia is purely humanitarian,” said Lynn. “In fact, he’s became partners with a dictator in the hopes of making money, and now he needs to prop that man up no matter what. Robertson ought to be ashamed of himself.”
Pat Robertson Praying For Change
CBS News - 12 hours ago
(CBS/AP) Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson urged his nationwide audience Monday
to pray for God to remove three justices from the Supreme Court so they could ...
Pat Robertson calls for retirement of 3 Supreme Court justices - Atlanta Journal Constitution
Broadcaster Pat Robertson calls for retirement of justices
Broadcaster Pat Robertson calls for retirement of justices - USA Today
WAVY-TV
Pat Robertson Hammered for Stance Toward Liberia
Cybercast News Service - Jul 10, 2003
(CNSNews.com) - At odds with President Bush over the political situation in Liberia,
Christian evangelist Pat Robertson is also under attack from the Left. ...
Pat Robertson Defends Liberian President
Kansas City Star, MO - Jul 10, 2003
NORFOLK, Va. - Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson accused President Bush of "undermining
a Christian, Baptist president to bring in Muslim rebels" by asking ...
Pat Robertson Defends Liberian President
Guardian, UK - Jul 10, 2003
By SONJA BARISIC. NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson accused
President Bush of ``undermining a Christian, Baptist president to bring in ...
Pat Robertson Defends Liberian President
Newsday - Jul 10, 2003
By SONJA BARISIC. NORFOLK, Va. -- Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson accused President
Bush of "undermining a Christian, Baptist president to bring in Muslim ...
Pat Robertson Slams Bush On Liberia
CBS News - Jul 11, 2003
Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson (seen in Aug. 2000 file photo) said
the war crimes indictment against Liberian President Charles ...
Weblog: Pat Robertson Alone in Support of Liberian President
Christianity Today Magazine - Jul 10, 2003
... our troops.". All of this is widely supported by American Christians,
with one notable exception: broadcaster Pat Robertson. "We're ...
Pat Robertson says US has no right to oust Liberia's Baptist ...
Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, FL - Jul 10, 2003
By SONJA BARISIC. NORFOLK, Va. -- Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson is coming
to the defense of Liberian President Charles Taylor, saying the ``duly elected ...
Pat Robertson Defends
Maranatha Christian Journal - Jul 11, 2003
( MCNS) -- Christian evangelist Pat Robertson, who recently accused the US State
Department of trying to destabilize the government of Liberia, is himself ...
Pat Robertson : God Hates Supreme Court ; Will Bring Wrath on ...
morons.org - Jul 8, 2003
Pat Robertson really does do a good job of making himself look like
a fucking idiot himself, so there's not much to say here. Yes ...
All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies.
printed from Pat Robertson hides Business Interests in Liberia on 2004-02-20 02:27:51