Another hack in power: Head of USAID believes Muslims will burn in hell

[BurtWorm]

The head of the agency charged with improving the US image in the Muslim world is Paul Bonicelli, formerly of the Christian homeschool movement's finsihing school Patrick Henry College, which furnishes the Bush admin with dozens of pliable fundamentalist interns to do its gruntwork.


http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20051201/bushs_newest_crusader.php



Bush's Newest Crusader
William Fisher
December 01, 2005

...

Though Bonicelli has scant credentials for his new post, he and his institution enjoy close ties to the Bush administration and to fundamentalist religious groups that form such a critical part of the president's base. Many Patrick Henry students have been chosen to serve as interns working for White House political adviser Karl Rove, for the White House Office of Public Liaison, and for Republican members of the House and Senate. "Most students' values don't link up with the Democrats," Bonicelli says.

In 2002, Bush appointed Bonicelli—along with former Vatican adviser John Klink and Janice Crouse of the ultra-conservative Concerned Women for America—to an American delegation attending a United Nations children's conference, where they sought to promote biblical values in U.S. foreign policy. This sparked angry protests from groups advocating women's rights and the separation of church and state.

What's wrong with this picture is that the USAID programs Bonicelli will run are important weapons in the arsenal of Bush's new public diplomacy czarina, White House confidante Karen Hughes. These programs are intended to play a central role in boosting Bush's efforts to foster democracy and freedom in Iraq and throughout the broader Middle East.

One can only wonder how Muslims, the target audience for these USAID programs, will react to the view that "all who die outside of Christ shall be confined in conscious torment for eternity."

[MountainLaurel]

1. But remember

Invading two sovreign nations was not a Crusade.

I am utterly speechless: USAID are supposed to be the good guys. Traditionally, at least it was my impression, they've been involved in more grassroots development work than anyone else, with the heavy promotion of the education of all classes as a tool for development. And now this?

But, I suppose this explains why there have been so many open positions there lately.

[sui generis]

2. well that christ guy sounds like a son of a bitch.

at least the way THEY put it

Why would anyone want to be on the side of a god like that? What a dick.

Fortunately I know it's just fundie-fear-factor, because they have no other feedback mechanism other than Fear and Anger (borderline personality disorder squared).