Palin says Iraq war is 'task from God'

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Likely Republican U.S. vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin told her church congregation that the Iraq war was part of God's plan, a videotape revealed.

A 14-minute video of a speech the Alaska governor delivered in June to the Wasilla, Alaska, Assembly of God Church and posted Tuesday on the Huffington Post Web site showed her saying the United States' involvement in Iraq is "a task that is from God."

She is seen saying: "Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending (troops) out on a task that is from God. That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan."

In the speech, she tells the congregation that building a long-sought, 1,715-mile natural gas pipeline from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Alberta, Canada, is also part of God's plan.

"I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that," she said.