Wright affirms U.S. to blame for 9/11

Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. today at the National Press Club in Washington (Courtesy C-Span)

In an appearance at the National Press Club in Washington today, Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. added fuel to Barack Obama's self-described "firestorm" by reaffirming his assertion the U.S. brought the 9/11 attacks on itself, contending American soldiers in Iraq have died "over a lie" and calling news reporting of his sermons an attack on the black church.

Wright, answering reporters' questions after a series of media appearances over the weekend, first was asked about his claim the U.S. was responsible for the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington.

"If you heard the whole sermon, first of all, you heard that I was quoting the ambassador from Iraq," Wright began. "But Number Two, to quote the Bible: 'Be not deceived. God is not mocked, for whatsoever you sew, that you shall – '"

The pastor paused at that point, allowing some members of the audience to finish the citation with "reap."

"Jesus said do unto others as you would have them do unto you," Wright continued. "You cannot do terrorism on other people and expect it never to come back on you. Those are biblical principles, not Jeremiah Wright bombastic, divisive principles."

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Wright, regarded by Obama as a spiritual mentor and adviser, recently retired as senior pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.

During the press conference, Wright scolded media for repeated airing of inflammatory remarks from his sermons, saying it is "not an attack on Jeremiah Wright, it is an attack on the black church."

The session with reporters touched on the issue of Obama distancing himself from Wright's speeches by claiming he was not in attendance to hear the anti-America and racially charged statements broadcast by media

A reporter asked whether Obama regularly attended church and paid attention during sermons.

"He goes to church about as much as you do," Wright replied. "What did your pastor preach in the last week? You don't know?"

Wright said he won't stop criticizing the U.S. government if Obama becomes president, because the complaints are over policy, not the people.

The pastor told the candidate, he said, if elected and inaugurated, "I'm coming after you."

"Whether he gets elected or not, I'm still going to have to be answerable to God on November 5 and January 21," Wright said.

Last month, after what he called a "firestorm" sparked by the sermon videos, Obama gave a speech in Philadelphia in which he denounced Wright's remarks but refused to "disown" him.

In a January 2006 sermon, Wright called America the "No. 1 killer in the world" and blamed the country for launching the AIDS virus to maintain affluence at the expense of the Third World. The pastor reportedly said in a sermon just after 9/11, "The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color." In a 2003 sermon, Wright encouraged blacks to "damn America" in God's name and blamed the U.S. for provoking the 9/11 attacks by dropping nuclear weapons on Japan in World War II and supporting Israel since 1947.

At the National Press Club today, Wright addressed doubts about his patriotism.

"I served six years in the military. Does that make me patriotic?" he asked. "How many years did (Vice President Dick) Cheney serve?"

Last week, Wright gave his first interview since the controversy began, with Bill Moyers of PBS, then made an appearance at an NAACP event last night in Detroit. He is in Washington today and tomorrow for a symposium on the African-American religious experience.

The pastor told the NAACP audience last night he was not there "for political reasons."

"I'm not a politician. I know that fact will surprise many of you, because many in the corporate-owned media made it seem like I am running for the Oval Office," he said. "I am not running for the Oval Office. I've been running for Jesus a long, long time, and I'm not tired yet."

Obama, meanwhile, spoke gave an interview to "Fox News Sunday" yesterday in which he admitted his relationship with Wright is a political issue.

"I think that people were legitimately offended by some of the comments that he had made in the past," Obama told host Chris Wallace. "The fact that he is my former pastor I think makes it a legitimate political issue. So I understand that."

Obama argued, however, "it is also true that to run a snippet of 30-second sound bites, selecting out of a 30-year career, simplified and caricatured him, and caricatured the church. And I think that was done in a fairly deliberate way."

 

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