December 2001

Is Pat Robertson Evil?

You would think that the conservative right, with all their obnoxious right to life rhetoric would make sure that the skeletons are lurking in their closets would be hidden far from view, and yet, you'd be wrong. Mr. Pat Robertson, long known for his opposition to abortion, obviously nurturing a skewed respect for human life and the right to life, is the owner of a gold mining operation in Liberia. Why does Robertson need Liberian gold, and more importantly, does he have any idea what the gold pays for and who he is supporting? Chances are that he does, but the lust for wealth is much greater.

Robertson created Freedom Gold Limited, a for-profit company, where he alone is listed as the president and director. He has a mining agreement signed by Liberia's dictator, Charles Taylor, and key members of Taylor's cabinet on May 18, 1999. The deal gives the Taylor regime a 10% cut of the action.

Now why is Pat Robertson - a freedom-loving, God-fearing man signing on the dotted line with Taylor, a U.S. prison escapee, Libyan terrorist training camp graduate, human rights violator, and pillager of his own country and his neighbor, Sierra Leone?

Liberia, where five American nuns were brutally gunned down - murdered by rebels under the command of then-warlord CHARLES TAYLOR. Liberia, a nation that has UN sanctions imposed; and US travel restrictions. Liberia, which is facing many questions about its dealings with al Qaeda, a link uncovered by the Washington Post, and one which will certainly get its day in the press.

And let's not forget that this is not his first foray into attempted pillaging of the African continent. Robertson was in cahoots with dictator of Zaire, Mobutu Sese Seko, a dictator in the grandest sense of the word. Mobutu gave Robertson's African Development Co. concessions to hunt for diamonds and gold in Zaire in the '90s. That venture, alas, went bust.

Sure, Robertson asserts that he is merely lifting up a people, that he has their interests in mind. The problem is, every regime listed here has the blood of its own people on its hands. To assert that Taylor or his regime makes no money off mining in his country is utterly false. Often, countries that allow foreign companies to plunder their natural resources simply do not pass on the wealth generated to their citizens.

And now Robertson has formed a for-profit Internet portal, Global Business Development Network, to make big bucks in that great bastion of liberty, religious freedom and land of forced abortions, the People's Republic of China. Let's not forget that this is the same Robertson who agreed with Jerry Falwell's suggestion that certain groups of Americans were responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks. Healthy respect for life?