At this time of year children are writing their wish list to Santa, adults are writing cards to people whose names they cannot even remember, so I thought I would get in on the act. If there is one person in this world I would like to meet it would be President Bush. Not much chance of that so I thought I would write him a letter….

Dear President Bush,

Greetings from Scotland. I hope you had a good time in London – I know that some of my compatriots even went all the way to the capital to welcome you! Next time please feel free to visit North of the border.

I know this is a bit silly – writing a letter to someone who will never read it! I guess you could say that this is a literary device but to be honest I have done it before and actually find it quite helpful – at least to clear my own mind. Of course there will be those who read this, who consider it arrogant for a minister from Scotland to even consider addressing the president of the USA. But then I am used to addressing the King of Kings and I am sure, as a fellow Christian, that, if you were ever to read this, you would understand.

If there is one person in this world I would like to meet and have a proper chat with – it would be you. There are so many conflicting opinions about you. Personally I find it quite sad when people personalise politics and the serious issues that you have to deal with. Perhaps we can discuss some of those later. It amuses me that there are those who want to portray you as a ‘stupid white man’ whilst at the same time accusing you of the most clever evil. Whilst I have never met you personally and therefore cannot comment on your personality it is interesting that many people who have met you, even those who are political opponents, are charmed and impressed. By the way well done on visiting the troops in Iraq – I am sure it was a morale booster for them. Not being without an

element of risk it was also a courageous thing to do.

Last week you visited my country – or at least the English part of it. (By the way, this is a small point but when you address the British parliament it does not endear you to Scots to refer to Britain as England!). From what I can gather your trip went well. There were the usual protests, photo opportunities and diplomatic events. I enjoyed your first speech – please congratulate your speech writer. It was courageous and right to refer to Britain’s past faith and the actions of Christians like Wilberforce and Booth. Although, the sad thing is that you as an American, are probably more aware of our Christian heritage than many of our own politicians. However there were some aspects which I would like to question you about. Strangely enough I found the speech quite post modern – long on generalisations and truisms but short on practical statements and specifics. Perhaps it was the environment?

Firstly I was bemused by your reference to Islam and democracy. Did I get you wrong or were you really suggesting that Islam and democracy are compatible? I realise that as a politician you have to make all the right noises but I would suggest that your speech writer was guilty of a bit of wishful thinking. Islam is a theocratic religion. As such it does not recognise separation of religion and state. It also has a doctrine of Jihad – Holy War. There are some Muslims who interpret this is ‘spiritual’ terms but they are by far the minority. The use of physical force to defend Islam and punish those who defect from it is the norm. It is difficult to think of one Islamic country where there is real freedom in either a political or religious sense. I am more than a little concerned that you increasingly seem to be adopting the position that Christians and Muslims are worshipping the same God. Whilst that may be politically expedient it is quite simply wrong. The god of the Koran is a million miles away from the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and it is blasphemous to equate the two.

I did admire the part in your speech where you pointed out that America and the West had in the past made mistakes by supporting tyrannies in order to defend ourselves. Which leaves me puzzling as to why we support Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. If democracy is the absolute – does it not make us appear hypocritical to attack tyranny in one country but support it in another?

I am also a little concerned about this fascination with democracy as the ultimate moral absolute. From a Biblical perspective this seems to me to be, at the very least, dodgy thinking. It is dependant upon the view that human beings are basically good and once set ‘free’, will do what is good. Whilst I think that democracy is the best political system we have, I do not share your optimistic and rosy view of human nature. Do you think that democracy in Iraq will be a good thing if the majority vote to have Saddam back? What if we end up with an Islamic state with sharia law which persecutes Christians? And if this is not too heretical, do we really have democracy in Britain and the US? Granted we have a type of democracy. If you have millions of dollars and control of the media then you have a chance of getting elected, but without that what hope does anyone have?

Anyway we are getting off subject. Back to the Middle East. Personally I was opposed to the war in Iraq. Not because, as you somewhat disingenuously stated in your speech, of a de facto opposition to war – but rather because I thought it would do more harm than good. We were given three reasons for war – Saddam was linked to terrorism, he had weapons of mass destruction and he was a tyrant. The latter was correct and the world is certainly a better place without him and his entourage in power. However the other two have proved false. It is now quite clear that Saddam had little or no link to Al Qaeda. Indeed the result of the Iraq war has not been to lessen the threat of terrorism but rather to increase it. At one level you gave the terrorists what they wanted – a further reason to hate America (and now Britain) and you have provided them with plenty targets. They do not need to go to America to kill Americans when there are now so many in Iraq. As regards WMD it is a horrific thought that terrorists could one day have access to such weapons – (I am not sure why any country needs them. I hear that some of your advisors are now suggesting that the US develop so called ‘mini-nukes’. Please do not go that route – more nuclear weapons are not what the world needs right now and it hardly looks good for the US – going to war to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons whilst seeking to develop more usable ones itself!). But it is now clear that Saddam did not have them, that he could not use them and that he was no threat to either Britain or America. I really hope that I am wrong but my fear is that the war in Iraq will not achieve the aims of lessening terrorism and we could still end up with a worse mess than when we started. (By the way this is a small point - but is there anything you could do to prevent the kind of nonsense that we Brits have been doing – I read in our papers today that we are sending two ‘gender equality’ officers to Iraq at a cost of some $200,000! Could we not at least get the water working first?!) Still it would be churlish and wrong not to recognise the effort and the good that is being done in trying to get the country reconstructed. We pray that it works.

Whilst you were here you rightly expressed your gratitude to our Prime Minister, Tony Blair. He has stuck by you and ensured that Britain remains America’s staunchest ally. You could have done him a wee favour when you were over here. As you know America has been found guilty of breaking the law on steel tariffs. The resultant upcoming trade war between Europe and America will severely hurt Britain. Were you aware that as you arrived in Britain, reports were coming in of your government advising American companies to cut back on orders in Europe and to concentrate jobs etc in the US? I realise why you have placed tariffs on steel. An election is coming up and steel producing states like Pennsylvania are important to you. But steel tariffs are illegal. Imposing them in order to win elections is immoral and not the sort of action a Christian president should be involved in. Having a protectionist policy may be the right thing; but signing up to a free trade policy and then refusing to go along with it when it does not suit, is not. And going to war to protect such a policy (even a trade war) is not the way for any nation to behave. Why did you not announce that the tariffs would be removed? It makes you and American look hypocritical and self interested and certainly reduces your claim to be the policeman of the world.

So we disagree on Iraq, Islam and Iron (sorry about the ailliteration – it is the preacher in me – and after all steel is iron containing a little carbon). Doubtless in these things you are the professional and I am just an amateur observer. But that is the beauty of living in a democracy - the freedom to question and disagree. However there is one area where I have nothing but praise for you and where your actions are a cause for real thanksgiving that you are in the White House. I refer of course to your recent signing of the bill to ban partial birth abortion. It is almost impossible to conceive of how morally bankrupt we have become when intelligent people can defend the practice of taking a baby half out of the womb and then crushing her head in order to kill her. We have a journalist called Kate Adie who recently addressed a meeting in our city of Dundee. She attacked you and warned that women were being persecuted because you signed this bill. There were many there who accepted that comment without even knowing what you had done. Why it should be thought an attack on the freedom of women that they are not allowed to crush the head of a partially born baby is something which completely escapes me! Thanks for signing that legislation and the sooner you get rid of the evil of abortion the better.

Finally speaking of Dundee. I see that you met another Robertson from Dundee and gave him the congressional medal. Lord Robertson (plain George when he was here) studied at the University of Dundee. He has gone on to a distinguished career as a Labour politician and secretary general of NATO. In the latter capacity he stood by the US after the dreadful days of September the 11th – a fact which you recognised and honoured. It was good of you to recognise his Scottish roots and heritage and the links between Scotland and the US. Long may they continue. And the next time you are over this side of the pond I would suggest that you come to Scotland. You will get a warm welcome – but I am sure that you can cope with that.

Meanwhile we continue to pray for you. That ‘we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness”.

May God bless you and your country and may you be a blessing to others,

Yours in Christ

David A. Robertson

PS – As a reward to George Robertson could you ask one of your funders to spare $20 million for Dundee Football Club? This would seem a fair proposal. It would help cement US/Scottish relations. And it would be in keeping with your current foreign policy – our neighbours and arch rivals, Dundee Utd, are known as the Arabs!

PPS – We have a couple of your fellow citizens who are hoping to come over here as missionaries. Any chance you could help them with their fundraising? Just kidding….

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