For Immediate Release
Office of the White House Press Secretary
October 6, 2005
Press Briefing by Scott McClellan
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/10/20051006-6.html

......

Go ahead, Peter.

Q Have you ever heard the President say that God told him to invade
Afghanistan and Iraq and --

MR. McCLELLAN: No, and I've been in many meetings with him and never heard
such a thing.

Q Are you aware of the -- there's a BBC broadcast tonight that's quoting the
Palestinian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister as saying that they were in
a meeting with the President in June of '03, and there are some very
detailed quotes here, saying that the President said to them, "God told me,
'George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan,' and I did," and then
"God told me, 'George go and end the tyranny in the Iraq'" and so forth and
so on?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, that's absurd. He's never made such comments.

Q Were you in the meeting when that took place?

MR. McCLELLAN: I've been in meetings with him with President Abbas; I didn't
travel on that trip, if you're talking about to Jordan. But I've been in
many meetings with the President with world leaders where he's talked about
this.

Q So you don't know about the June '03 meeting?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I checked into that report and I stand by what I just
said.