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Palin, who comes from a devout Christian family, is graded as a right-wing Republican and a strong social conservative. (Reuters) |
JUNEAU, Alaska — Borrowing the language of wartime President George W. Bush, Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-president nominee, believes the US-led invasion of Iraq was a "task from God."
"Our national leaders are sending soldiers out on a task that is from God," Palin, Republican White House nominee John McCain, told ministry students at her former church, according to a newly revealed video.
A video of the speech, delivered in June, was posted on the website of the Wasilla Assembly of God, the evangelical church Palin has belonged to since he was a teenager, before being disseminated across the Internet.
In her address, the Alaska Governor urged the religious students to pray for the troops in Iraq.
"That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that plan is God's plan."
Palin words echo the rhetoric of President Bush, who ordered the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 on claims of stockpiling weapons of mass destruction and links to Al-Qaeda, both claimed later proved ungrounded.
Bush has repeatedly portrayed his so-called war on terror, which included the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, as a battle between good and evil.
He upset many Muslims after the 9/11 attacks by referring to his war as a "crusade," a term which for many Muslims connotes a Christian battle against Islam.
The Wasilla Assembly of God and its parent denomination - the three-million member General Council of the Assemblies of God - espouse core beliefs not widely ascribed to by major Christian factions.
The denomination's website says some scholars believe that the "end times" foreshadowing the end of the world was confirmed in 1948, with the founding of Israel, marking the Jews' return to the Holy Land, fulfilling a Biblical prophecy.
Conservative
The video of the speech gives a sense of how Palin's religion-colored approach to governance.
"What I need to do is strike a deal with you guys," Palin said.
"I can do my job there in developing our natural resources and doing things like getting the roads paved and making sure our troopers have their cop cars and their uniforms and their guns, and making sure our public schools are funded.
"But really all of that stuff doesn't do any good if the people of Alaska's heart isn't right with God."
Palin asked the ministry students to pray for a plan to build a $30 billion gas pipeline in her Alaska state.
"I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that."
A first-term governor, Palin is a pioneering figure in Alaska as the first woman and the youngest person to hold the state's top political post.
The 44-year-old mother of five, who comes from a devout Christian family, is graded as a right-wing Republican and a strong social conservative.
She is a family values champion, an upholder of gun rights and a supporter of the capital punishment.
Palin is also an ardent pro-life campaigner who gave birth in April to her fifth child, a boy, who has Downs Syndrome.
He Christian credentials and antiabortion views have been lauded by social conservatives.
She is already making history by becoming the first female on the Republican presidential ticket and the second woman on a major party's ticket.
If the Republicans win the November White House election, Palin will be the first ever woman vice president in American history.
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