I mentioned a month ago that TV preacher Pat Robertson’s business partner, ruthless Liberian dictator Charles Taylor, had been charged as a war criminal for his brutal reign of killing and torturing political opponents in his country and others.
As I explained, Robertson overlooked Taylor’s dreadful record for thousand of human rights abuses because the Republican activist and evangelist wanted access to Liberia’s gold mines. In 1999, Robertson reached a deal with Taylor that allows a Robertson-owned company, Freedom Gold Ltd., to mine for gold in the Bukon Jedeh region of Liberia. The company, which lists Robertson as its president and sole director, was reportedly formed offshore in the Cayman Islands in December 1998.
For someone who claims to be a religious leader to form business relationships with a known tyrant like Taylor showed Robertson to be what he is — an amoral business man who cares far more about the bottom line than anything else.
Of course, a business relationship is one thing. Defending a war criminal with ties to Al Queda is another.
As my friends at Americans United for Separation of Church and State discovered this week, Robertson has been using his nationally televised “700 Club” program to criticize his friends in the Bush administration for failing to support Taylor.
I’ve always known Robertson was a wretched human being, but supporting a murderer may be among the worst things Robertson has ever done. (It’s at least in his Top 3.)
On his June 26 “700 Club” program, Robertson accused the U.S. State Department of trying to “destabilize Liberia.” On July 1, Robertson said he had written to the State Department, warning the undersecretary of state for African affairs that the U.S. is “undermining the regime of the sitting president of Liberia.” He complained that the administration wants to “destroy the government of Liberia.”
This week, Robertson focused his attention more on Bush. “So we’re undermining a Christian, Baptist president to bring in Muslim rebels to take over the country. And how dare the president of the United States say to the duly elected president of another country, ‘You’ve got to step down,'” Robertson said on Monday.
It’s worth noting that Taylor wasn’t “duly elected.” He seized control of the country with bands of armed thugs in 1989 by slaughtering his way to power. Taylor held an “election” in 1997, which international observers viewed as a fraudulent charade.
And as you might expect, Robertson failed to mention his business dealings with Liberia during his pro-Taylor tirades.
This is beyond the pale. These remarks are the mad rants of an unbalanced person.
Fortunately, the Washington Post picked up on Americans United’s research and ran a great story today explaining that Taylor, “who has been indicted by an international court for crimes against humanity,” has at least one supporter left in the U.S. — Robertson.
Oddly enough, the Post story included harsh criticism for Robertson’s defense of Taylor, but not from liberal opponents.
“I would say that Pat Robertson is way out on his own, in a leaking life raft, on this one,” said Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s public policy arm and a religious right leader in his own right.
Allen Hertzke, a professor of political science at the University of Oklahoma and the author of a forthcoming book on evangelicals and human rights, said many religious conservatives “will be horrified” by Robertson’s stance. “His comments really feed into the media critique of Christian conservatives, that they are not sophisticated, they don’t care about others, all they care about are Christians around the world — when in fact that is a caricature of the faith-based human rights movement,” Hertzke said.
Robertson didn’t back down from his support for Taylor when questioned by the Post, saying Taylor “definitely has Christian sentiments, although you hear of all these rumors that he’s done this or done that.”
This or that? Rumors? Taylor has killed and tortured thousands. He has committed horrific atrocities against his own people. His country has delved into a bloody civil war, which he helped to instigate.
As David J. Scheffer, ambassador at large for war crimes issues from 1997 to 2001, explained today, the fact that Taylor has cooperated with “international terrorist organizations such as al Qaeda reinforces the need for his detention and trial.”
Taylor has the distinct honor of being one of the top five fugitives from justice in the world. Who are the other four? Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic.
Robertson, however, sees a “duly elected” president who should keep power — and keep his lucrative gold mining operation going to make Robertson even wealthier. One can only conclude that Robertson has no conscience and no shame.