Christian Terrorism?

BBC. Pat Robertson calls for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Comments

[Melissa Charbonneau]

Mr. Robertson didn't say 'assassination.' He said our special forces should 'take him out.' And 'take him out' can be a number of things, including kidnapping; there are a number of ways to take out a dictator from power besides killing him. He was misinterpreted by the AP, but that happens all the time.

Melissa Charbonneau
Christian Broadcasting Network
melissa.charbonneau@cbn.com
Phone: (202) 833-2707
Fax: (202) 467-6951

1111 19th St NW
Washington, DC 20036

[tdl]

You don't have to use the word to condone the action. Venzuela's problems are for Venzuela to solve, not the U.S.'s problem to solve. Regardless of Chavez's (deplorable) politics, he will continue selling oil to the U.S. no matter what. I am confused, however, how the good reverend can continue to claim he is a Christian when he calls for the elimination of individuals and covets the property of others.

Regards,
tdl

[Miguel Octavio]

Amazing! They even bother to come and correct you with their new official line.

Cheers

Miguel

[John Robb]

Thanks for the clarification, but you can't kidnap a sitting head of state of a country the size of Venezuela. There is only one option, killing him. Also, "take him out" as it is commonly understood is assassination (inside the military or out).

As bad as the guy is, I doubt that even his vocal opposition (those that are currently suffering under his regime) would want the US to do this.

[Jon]

Apparently, our CBN friends are mistaken even on this:

See here: 'a video of Monday's telecast shows that Robertson's exact words were: "You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war, and I don't think any oil shipments will stop."'

http://apnews.myway.com//article/20050824/D8C6DTO80.html

[Observer]

"In a statement on his website, Mr Robertson, who has a history of making inflammatory remarks, repeated criticisms of Mr Chavez, the twice-elected leftist president of Venezuela.

'Is it right to call for assassination? No, and I apologise for that statement,' he said."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4182294.stm

Now, let's see how Melissa is going to spin this one...

[phil jones]

I'm not so sure assassinating Chavez *wouldn't* be the start of a war.

Gotta understand, after the fall of Lula, this guy is our last hope. :-)

I'm very curious about this statement. I understand Robertson is a private citizen and all that, but the US is a swarm intelligence too, right? So only one "entrepreneur" in the bazaar needs to raise an idea and see who flocks to it and the swarm as a whole can learn something about whether there's an appetite in the US for this kind of thing.

The US public is, after all, easily persuaded that they have a *right* to Venezuelan oil, and that to threaten that supply makes one a legitimate target. Let's see what other charges they can trump up against him over the next few months.