Fuck you, Pat Robertson. Fuck you with the blood money you collected and the Book of Ruth. And fuck you for being such a fucking sleazeball who worked to keep thugs in power and lobby on their behalf.

Former Liberian President Charles Taylor, testifying in his own war crimes trial today, said that the American conservative evangelist Pat Robertson was awarded a Liberian gold-mining concession in 1999 and subsequently offered to lobby the Bush administration to support his government.

The revelations came in the midst of a U.N.-backed trial of Taylor at The Hague on 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity during Sierra Leone's 1990s civil war. Taylor is accused of directing a Sierra Leone rebel group, the United Revolutionary Front (RUF), in a campaign aimed at securing access to the country's diamond mines. The rebel movement stands accused of committing mass atrocities in the late 1990s in the West African country, including the mutilation of thousands of civilians.

The international prosecutors contend that Taylor offered concessions to Western individuals in exchange for lobbying work aimed at enhancing his image in the United States. The prosecution maintains that Taylor also spent $2.6 million on lobbying firms and public relations outfits in the hopes of influencing the policies of former President Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

Under cross-examination, Taylor said that Robertson had volunteered to make Liberia's case before U.S. administration officials, and had spoken directly to President Bush about Taylor. He also confirmed that Robertson's company, Freedom Gold Limited, signed an agreement to exploit gold in southeastern Liberia, but that it never generated any profit.

Seriously, lobbying on behalf of third world thugs in exchange for gold mining rights? What the fuck? This shit is fucking bad enough when a regular citizen does it, but when a man of the cloth does it? Last time I fucking checked, clergy were supposed to be looking out for the souls of folks, not pocketing blood money in exchange for anything.

 Ugh. I could ignore some of Robertson's foolish comments about a lot of things, but working on behalf of a guy like Taylor? Fuck. No.

Posted by: eddiebear at 01:44 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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