Translations. . .
An Arabic speaker at The Washington Post, however, translated the words differently after receiving the original Arabic from Haaretz. Instead of "God told me," The Post's translation had Bush saying he was inspired by God.
"God inspired me to hit al Qaeda, and so I hit it," Bush said, according to The Post account. "And I had the inspiration to hit Saddam [Hussein], and so I hit him. Now I am determined to solve the Middle East problem if you help. Otherwise the elections will come, and I will be wrapped up with them."
Bush frequently speaks of his faith and trust in God. The translation from Bush's words in English into Arabic for the Palestinians, and then back to English again appears to have distorted the tenor of his words.
In fact, Abbas, now president of the Palestinian Authority, gave the BBC a different version of Bush's words. Abbas recalled that Bush said: " 'I have a moral and religious obligation. So I will get you a Palestinian state.' "
[ 3:17 PM ] [ Oct. 9, 2005 ] [ Post Comment ]