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Pat Robertson's Gold
By Colbert I. King
Saturday, September 22, 2001; Page A29
Last week's terrorist attacks brought out the worst in televangelists
Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. Three days after hijacked jetliners
slammed into the Pentagon, the World Trade Center and the
Pennsylvania countryside, Robertson posted a statement on his
Christian Broadcast Network (CBN) Web site announcing that
pornography, rampant secularism, the occult, abortion, the absence of
prayer in schools and insults of God "at the highest level of our
government" had sent the Almighty over the edge. America was
attacked, Robertson asserted, "because God Almighty is lifting His
protection from us."
Appearing on CBN's "700 Club" the day before Robertson's blast,
Falwell had also cut loose.
Falwell (who you may recall feared that Tinky Winky the Teletubby was gay and out to
damage the moral lives of children) singled out homosexuals, supporters of abortion
rights, pagans, the American Civil Liberties Union a
nd People for the American Way as groups to blame for the Tuesday massacres. But a day
later and facing a firestorm of criticism, Falwell backtracked. Labeling his own
comments "insensitive, uncalled for at the time, and
unnecessary as part of the comment on this destruction," Falwell said he blamed no one
but the hijackers and terrorists for what happened.
Robertson, who had joined Falwell's blame game during the show, ("Jerry, that's my
feeling") cut and ran when it hit the fan. "Severe and harsh in tone" was how
Robertson characterized pal Falwell's remarks in a later pre
ss release. "Totally inappropriate," he later said during a Fox News appearance.
Well, the Rev. Falwell has advanced to the rear, so let's let him be for the moment.
Robertson, however, is another matter. He still thinks God removed His protection from
the nation, thus allowing our enemies to give us
what we deserve.
What's more, to hear Robertson tell it, one of the abominations prompting God to hide
his face from America is this country's self-indulgence, pursuit of financial gain and
focus on wealth.
Which is the subject of today's column, and the basis for this humble question: What,
pray tell, does the Good Lord make of Pat Robertson's gold-mining venture in Liberia
with Charles Taylor, international pariah and one
of the most ruthless, greedy and terror-producing heads of state in all of sub-Saharan
Africa?
What? He didn't know?
Well it probably slipped Robertson's mind, busy as he is in getting people to send in
those checks, money orders and love offerings to support his cause. How the reverend
found time to hook up with Taylor, I'll never know
.
But in May 1999, Robertson, through Freedom Gold Limited, an offshore company
registered in the Cayman Islands but based at CBN headquarters in Virginia Beach,
signed an agreement with Taylor and key cabinet members allow
ing the for-profit Freedom Gold to explore and receive mining rights in southeastern
Liberia, where gold is believed to be in the ground.
It's a great deal for Liberia, which is now an economic basket case thanks to the long
civil war and Taylor's corruption. It's also good for Freedom Gold, which was formed
by Robertson in 1998. Liberia -- and for all prac
tical purposes we're talking Taylor -- gains 10 percent ownership of Freedom Gold.
As The Post's Douglas Farah reported in January, huge amounts of the country's funds
have been siphoned off by a small group of Taylor's associates and relatives. Taylor
"has his hand in everything and gets a cut of every
thing," a businessman told The Post. Other Liberians, probably Taylor's gang, are
entitled to buy at least 15 percent of Freedom Gold's shares after the exploration
period.
In a phone interview on Wednesday, Joe Mathews, Freedom Gold's vice president for
finance and administration ("actually I'm acting as managing director," he confided),
said the company is currently in the exploration stag
e but "there is little activity at the moment because it's monsoon season."
He said gold has been found, but whether it is a viable venture has not been
determined. Mathews confirmed reports that Freedom Gold is committed to spend $15
million during the exploration phase, but he said it has yet t
o spend anything close to that amount. The deal with Liberia gives Freedom Gold
exploration rights for five years, and an additional "20 years to mine it," Mathews
said. Liberia is currently collecting exploration and ren
tal fees from Freedom Gold; the government also will pocket royalties and rental fees
once production gets underway.
Yesterday Fisher also faxed a letter stating that the company has shown it is "a
responsible corporate citizen." He cited company-built wells and pumps for safe
drinking water, a free medical clinic that serves 1,000 pati
ents a month from surrounding villages and the construction of roads and bridges to
reach the area. "Freedom Gold has done more for the people in this region in the last
two years than any other company over the last thir
ty years," he said, adding that the company intends to contribute even more.
Taylor needs the cash. His country is in ruins, though he and Madam Jewel Howard
Taylor live well, thanks to sales of Liberia's precious resources and concession fees
from foreign investors such as Freedom Gold.
Monrovia, the country's capital, is the pits: sporadic running water and electricity,
hungry and malnourished children. And the countryside, where illiteracy is up to 70
percent and fighting still rages, is worse off.
The United Nations finally got its back up. Fed up with Taylor's complicity in helping
rebels in neighboring Sierra Leone market diamonds to finance terror against their
government, the U.N. Security Council slapped sanct
ions on Liberia: no international sale of diamonds; an embargo on foreign travel by
senior Taylor officials. The United States has imposed economic sanctions, too.
And why not?
The U.S.-educated but Libya- trained Taylor is a menace to all that's decent.
Ironically, it was Christmas Eve 1989 -- (get that Mr. Robertson) -- when warlord
Taylor and his band of rebels launched their bloody invasion
of Liberia. They took on a despot in then-president and former sergeant Samuel Doe.
But Taylor's crowd turned out to be no better. Twelve years later, with tens of
thousands of Liberians slain, hundreds of thousands displ
aced throughout West Africa, a generation of young Liberian boys ruined by their
conversion to child soldiers, women raped and mutilated, his country is in absolute
ruins and is ostracized by the world community -- except
for hustlers, mercenaries and the preacher/entrepreneur from Virginia Beach. Taylor
presides over a near corpse.
Finding himself in the tightest of spots, Taylor the Intimidator weighed in this week
on America's side in the fight against terrorism. But his real hope lies with
deep-pocketed foreigners and their unquenchable thirst fo
r a buck.
What a marriage. Can't you see it now? Robertson, fresh from his
latest condemnation of sin, prediction of world collapse and visions
of Liberian gold, sports his best "aw, shucks" smile, throws his arm
around a grateful President Taylor -- who ought to be standing before
a war crimes tribunal -- and coos: "C'mon, Charlie, what's a little
human rights between friends?"
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� 2001 The Washington Post Company
End<{{{
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