Why the Christian right is backing a brutal despot - Justin Elliott

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/03/30/ivory_coast_christian_right_gbagbo

Chief among Gbagbo's American supporters is Inhofe, who is the most influential Republican in the Senate when it comes to African affairs. Inhofe has been traveling to Africa regularly since the late 1990s and, while the trips are paid for by the taxpayer and typically involve some official business, the senator also engages in missionary work. He has been to Ivory Coast nine times and knows Gbagbo personally. That's why, early on in the post-election crisis, when the State Department was frantically looking for intermediaries to reach out to Gbagbo to try to convince him to leave the country peacefully, the Obama administration asked Inhofe to talk to Gbagbo. But, according to a source familiar with the situation, Inhofe declined to do so.

But it's not just Inhofe. Another Christian right politician, former congressman Bob McEwen of Ohio -- who has also been a longtime participant in the National Prayer Breakfast -- recently worked as a lobbyist for Gbagbo. In December, McEwen was hired at a rate of $25,000 per month to assist the Ivorian ambassador to the U.S. "in exerting his influence in the most strategic way possible," according to lobbying records.