Anti-Obama Book Flies off Bookstore Shelves
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/obama_book/2008/08/06/119686.html
A just-released book critical of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, “The Case Against Barack Obama,” is selling fast and has already shot into the top 20 on Amazon.com’s list of best-sellers.
[Editor's Note: Get “The Case Against Barack Obama” FREE at: http://shop.newsmax.com/shop/index.cfm?page=products&productid=610].
Written by David Fredosso, a reporter for National Review Online, “The Case Against Barack Obama: The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media’s Favorite Candidate,” was officially published by Regnery Publishing, Inc. Tuesday and has nearly 300,000 copies in print, according to The Chicago Sun-Times.
“There’s a pent-up demand from people on the right side of the aisle who feel that the mainstream media is effusively covering Barack Obama and not critically covering him,” says Marji Ross, president and publisher of Regnery Publishing.
Two other anti-Obama books are also on Amazon.com’s Top 20 list despite receiving little critical attention or mainstream media coverage.
They are Jerome Corsi’s, “The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality,” and Dick Morris,’ “Fleeced: How Barack Obama, Media Mockery of Terrorist Threats, Liberals Who Want to Kill Talk Radio, the Do-Nothing Congress, Companies That Help Iran, and Washington Lobbyists for Foreign Governments Are Scamming Us ... and What to Do About It.”
Corsi co-authored “Unfit for Command,” an attack against the war record of 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, and Morris is a former presidential adviser, veteran political analyst and author.
Corsi’s book is in its third printing, and Morris’ work is in its eighth.
“The authors allege that Obama is not a benign spokesman for hope and unity, but an ideologue with close ties to 1960s radicals and the Chicago political machine,” The Sun-Times reported.
Cal Morgan, a vice president and executive editor at HarperCollins who worked on Morris’ book, said: “With books like these, the minute some people know they’re out there, they must have them.”
[Editor's Note: Get “The Case Against Barack Obama” FREE at: http://shop.newsmax.com/shop/index.cfm?page=products&productid=610].
Memories of Fallen Marines Bolster Fed Judges Ruling to Keep Mt. Soledad
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07467.shtml
ANN ARBOR, MI (christiansunite.com) - Federal District Court Judge Larry Alan Burns, ruled yesterday that the giant cross atop Mount Soledad, the center piece of a national veterans' memorial and subject of a 20 year legal battle, can stay as it is where it is.
Judge Burns wrote: "The Court finds the memorial at Mt. Soledad, including its Latin cross, communicates the primarily non-religious messages of military service, death and sacrifice." Judge Burns, in his ruling, specifically cited the brief supporting the Mt. Soledad Cross filed by the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Click here to read ruling).
The Law Center's friend of the court brief was filed on behalf of the families of Marine Majors Michael D. Martino and Gerald Bloomfield, III, both of whom were killed in combat in Iraq on November 2, 2005 when their attack helicopter was shot down by a surface-to-air missile. Their memories are now preserved by plaques located under the Mt. Soledad Cross, which were dedicated in their honor by their Marine Squadron.
The Law Center filed its brief on behalf of Sybil and Robert Martino-parents of Major Martino-and Julie Bloomfield-spouse of Major Bloomfield. The brief contains several moving photographs of family members at the grave site at Arlington National Cemetery and at the Mt. Soledad Memorial.
Richard Thompson, the President and Chief Counsel for the Law Center, commented, "This is a wonderful victory, not only for the families of Majors Martino and Bloomfield who can have some comfort knowing that the memories of their loved ones are preserved under the Cross, but for all Americans who care about our young men and women who have sacrificed their lives in defense of our country. Sadly, I fully expect the ACLU attorneys to appeal this decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. So this fight is not over."
In May 2006, Major Martino and Major Bloomfield's unit, which had recently returned from Iraq, sponsored a plaque dedication ceremony at the memorial to commemorate the fallen Marines' heroic service and to provide a place to honor them. Over three hundred Marines stood in line for over three hours to meet the Marines' families and to pay respect for their fallen comrades.
The Law Center stepped in and defended the Cross just weeks before it was to be taken down pursuant to an agreement between the City of San Diego and a self-proclaimed atheist who was seeking to remove it. From that point on, the Law Center, with assistance from its West Coast Regional Director, Charles LiMandri, has played a significant role in defending the Cross.
The Law Center initially prevailed in petitioning Justice Anthony Kennedy to enjoin the City of San Diego from tearing the Cross down during and until our appeals were complete. The Law Center also launched a highly successful petition drive asking the President to save the Cross. Ultimately the Law Center prevailed in both the state and federal courts by successfully petitioning the federal government to transfer the cross from city to federal property, thereby rendering a district court's order to remove the cross moot.
However, the ACLU soon thereafter filed a new lawsuit, this time against the federal government, claiming the transfer was improper and that the display of the memorial cross as part of this veterans' memorial violated the so-called "wall of separation of church and state." Federal government lawyers are defending the cross in this new lawsuit. However, the Law Center is supporting their efforts by adding a new perspective to the legal arguments supporting the crossÑüthe importance of the cross to the surviving family members.
Over 2,000 plaques honoring individuals or groups of veterans are displayed at the memorial. Some of the plaques contain Stars of David, honoring Jewish veterans. There is also a large American flag flying at the base of the memorial. In a letter to the private association that maintains the memorial, President Bush stated, "Mount Soledad becomes a place to reflect on our past, be inspired by true patriots, and offer war veterans our heartfelt gratitude for the freedom we all enjoy today."
The Thomas More Law Center defends and promotes the religious freedom of Christians, time-honored family values, and the sanctity of human life through education, litigation, and related activities. It does not charge for its services. The Law Center is supported by contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations, and is recognized by the IRS as a section 501(c)(3) organization. You may reach the Thomas More Law Center at (734) 827-2001 or visit their website at www.thomasmore.org.
Decision Upholding Ramos and Compean Convictions a Farce
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07465.shtml
WASHINGTON, (christiansunite.com) -- The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has completely mishandled the Appeal Case of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean when they upheld the conviction of these two Border Agents. They are serving 11 and 12 year sentences for the shooting of an illegal alien drug smuggler as he fled back into Mexico.
Attorney Johnny Sutton's office convicted these agents for assault, discharging a weapon in the commission of a crime and violating the civil rights of the known drug smuggler. Ten years of their sentence is because of Section 924(c) which was thought to be used to punish criminals for using a firearm in the commission of a crime.
Don Swarthout, President of Christians Reviving America's Values (CRAVE) said, "These agents were just doing their job. The problems began when the known drug smuggler, who was also an illegal alien, brought 743 pounds of marijuana into the United States not when Ramos and Compean shot at him."
"This is the most ridiculous application of the law our government has ever perpetuated against anyone who is in law enforcement. This decision means any law enforcement agent can be convicted for firing his weapon in what the Attorney General says is a crime. Whether the agents committed a crime is apparently of absolutely no consequence."
"This decision may also mean that we will have a great deal of difficultly in getting qualified people to fill the position of law enforcement agents because they can be wrongly convicted and given prison sentences," Swarthout said.
"Why we choose to believe an illegal alien who is a known drug smuggler instead of two well thought of Border Agents is a question that is truly beyond my comprehension. This decision is truly about attorneys playing mental games and twisting the facts in order to get a conviction," Swarthout said.
Congressman Ted Poe said he plans to introduce legislation to clarify section 924(c) and Don Swarthout agrees with him that this clarification is badly needed.
Swarthout had asked the Texas Bar to investigate Attorney Johnny Sutton for willful neglect of the facts in this case. Now it appears that may not go anywhere unless the U.S. Supreme Court changes the outcome of this case against Ramos and Compean.
Mexican Troops Cross Border, Hold Border Agent
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/mexican_troops_border/2008/08/06/119516.html
Mexican troops crossed the border into Arizona and held a U.S. Border Patrol agent at gunpoint on Sunday, according to a published report.
Agents assigned to the Border Patrol at Ajo, Ariz., said the Mexican soldiers crossed the border into an isolated area southwest of Tucson and pointed rifles at the agent, who has not been identified.
The Mexicans withdrew after other American agents arrived on the scene, The Washington Times reports.
It’s not known why the troops crossed the border, but American law enforcement authorities have said that current and former Mexican soldiers have been hired to protect drug and immigrant smugglers.
“Unfortunately, this sort of behavior by Mexican military personnel has been going on for years,” union Local 2544 of the National Border Patrol Council said on its Web site.
“They are never held accountable, and the United States government will undoubtedly brush this off as another case of, ‘Oh well, they didn’t know they were in the United States.’ It is fortunate that this incident didn’t end in a very ugly gunfight.”
Ricardo Alday, a spokesman at the Mexican Embassy in Washington, told the Times on Tuesday: “Law enforcement operations have led, from time to time, to innocent incursions by both U.S. and Mexican law enforcement personnel and military units into the territory of both nations…
“We always try to solve these incidents in a cooperative fashion, and as acknowledged by the Border Patrol, this was the case in the episode at Ajo.”
The General Accounting Office estimates that $23 billion in illegal drugs flow across the border each year.
According to The Times, a coalition of border sheriffs has demanded that the American and Mexican governments probe incursions into the U.S. by heavily armed drug escorts dressed in Mexican military uniforms.
Operation Rescue to Tiller: 'See You in Court'
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07464.shtml
WICHITA, Kansas, (christiansunite.com) -- District Court Judge Clark V. Owens released a 35-page opinion today on the constitutional challenge to the Kansas post-viability abortion ban, saying that "K.S.A. 65-6703 survives all of the constitutional challenges" presented by Tiller. His motion to dismiss the 19 criminal charges against him was denied.
This ruling will send Tiller to trial to face allegations that he illegally aborted 19 viable babies without first having obtained the second concurring opinion from an unaffiliated Kansas physician. If convicted, Tiller faces the possibility of 19 years in jail.
"We have just one thing to say to Tiller today and that is, 'See you in court!'" said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "Today's ruling by Judge Owens vindicates our efforts to bring Tiller to justice. All along, we knew that it wasn't the law that was faulty, but it was Tiller's interpretation of the law that was faulty. This gives us a glimmer of hope that we could eventually see some shred of justice."
(Operation Rescue will post the entire text of the decision soon at www.operationrescue.org)
Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation. Operation Rescue recently made headlines when it bought and closed an abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas and has become the voice of the pro-life activist movement in America. Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to restore legal personhood to the pre-born and stop abortion in obedience to biblical mandates.
Planned Parenthood Temporarily Suspends Abortions in South Dakota
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07463.shtml
SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota, (christiansunite.com) -- On Monday, July 21, 2008, women in South Dakota showed up for their abortion appointments at 8:00 a.m. But there was a sign on the door that Planned Parenthood was closed. Monday is the day that Planned Parenthood usually schedules abortions at its Sioux Falls abortion clinic.
On those Mondays, Planned Parenthood flies a doctor in from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to perform 15 to 20 abortions. On this Monday, no unborn babies died in South Dakota by an abortion. The reason Planned Parenthood suspended its abortion practice this week should be the most exciting news the Culture of Life has ever had. Monday was the first day Planned Parenthood had to comply with South Dakota's new Abortion Informed Consent Law. The Law became effective because of a decision of an en banc Court of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, on June 27, 2008, which vacated an injunction. Now Planned Parenthood must comply with the requirements of the Law.
Among other things, the new law requires the abortion doctor to advise the pregnant mother, in writing, that the abortion will "terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being." The U.S. Court of Appeals rejected Planned Parenthood's argument that the Statute violated the doctor's first amendment rights. Planned Parenthood is contending that the statement is one of "ideology." The Court held that the Statute made it clear the statement was a statement of biological fact, not one of ideology; and the evidence produced did not demonstrate it was anything other than an accurate statement of biological fact.
The new Law also requires the abortion doctor to inform the pregnant mother that the pregnant mother and the second human being have an existing relationship that enjoys protection under the Constitution of the United States, and that the procedure terminates that relationship and the rights associated with it. The Law also requires disclosure of medical risks, including the risk of depression and "increased risk of suicide ideation and suicide."
After the case was remanded back to the Federal District Court on June 27th, Planned Parenthood's lawyers attempted to convince the District Court Judge to enter a new injunction concerning the disclosures other than the "human being" disclosure. On Thursday, July 17th, the District Court refused to enter another injunction and the Law became effective on Monday, July 21st.
When someone finally came to the Planned Parenthood office this last Monday, no abortion doctors arrived with them. No abortion doctor flew into South Dakota that day. The penalties for abortionist's non-compliance could include a prison sentence, loss of medical license, and civil liability. In South Dakota, a wrongful death case can be brought for the death of an unborn child at any age of gestation. Time will tell if an abortionist will take the medical and legal risk of completing abortions in South Dakota without compliance to the 8th Circuit decision. The new rules are that they must tell the truth. The immediate beneficiaries of this new law are the women and their children. The women will be better informed, and that information, for some, will most likely result in the women keeping their children. More children will live.
But, perhaps the greatest beneficiary is our culture at large.
In the lawsuit brought by Planned Parenthood challenging the constitutionality of South Dakota's Informed Consent Law, Dr. Bernard Nathanson testified that he was one of the original founders of the National Alliance to Repeal Abortion Laws (NARAL). He is probably the last living original founder. He testified that as part of their strategy, the NARAL founders decided that they had to deny what they knew to be true -- that an abortion killed a living human being. They decided to deceive the public (and the courts) by maintaining that what was "evacuated" in an abortion was "just some tissue." Dr. Nathanson has blown NARAL's cover. The Eighth Circuit has now shown a bright light on the truth. And the truth will, in the end, set us free.
For addition information about the 8th Circuit Court decision or the Initiative to end abortion as birth control in South Dakota which is on November's ballot, go to www.voteyesforlife.com
Venezuelans Protest Chavez's New Socialist Push
http://www.newsmax.com/international/venezuela_chavez_power/2008/08/06/119718.html
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Riot police used tear gas Wednesday to block hundreds of Venezuelans protesting the latest moves by President Hugo Chavez to concentrate his power. The demonstrators said a blacklist of opposition candidates and a series of socialist decrees are destroying what's left of their democracy.
Though the protest of about 1,000 people chanting "freedom!" was small compared to past marches, there is a growing public outcry over the sidelining of key government opponents ahead of state and local elections in November.
Chavez opponents also are outraged by 26 laws the president just decreed, some of them mirroring the socialist measures voters rejected in a December referendum.
"We said in the referendum that we didn't want that, and now he's put it in the decrees," said protester Josefina Bravo, a 59-year-old who wore a sticker reading "No means no" on her baseball cap. "That's the problem we have: All the powers are concentrated in the president."
Chavez issued the decrees just before the expiration of special legislative powers that allowed him to make laws without National Assembly approval for the past 18 months.
For a time after the defeat of his constitutional referendum in December that would have imposed radical economic changes and let him run for re-election indefinitely, Chavez seemed taking a more pragmatic, less confrontational approach to his socialist project.
Now the leftist leader is pushing hard again to remake Venezuelan society.
One decree establishes a civilian militia that critics warn could emulate the citizen groups that control many aspects of community life in Cuba. Another gives Chavez the ability to designate regional authorities who critics say could undermine the power of locally elected officials.
Other decrees empower Chavez to expropriate goods from private businesses and increase state control over food, punishing business owners who fail to comply with price controls with fines, closure and even 10-year prison terms.
The decrees came down just as the Supreme Court, whose justices were appointed by the Chavista-dominated National Assembly, on Tuesday upheld a decision by Venezuela's top anti-corruption official to bar 272 mostly opposition-aligned candidates from running.
The blacklist was drawn up by another Chavez ally, Comptroller General Clodosbaldo Russian, even though none of the candidates have been convicted of corruption or other crimes. Opponents note that some pro-Chavez politicians who have been publicly accused of corruption aren't on the list.
Russian said his office has not singled out either political camp.
Chavez said anybody who objects to his decrees is free to challenge them to the Supreme Court. But opponents figure there is little chance the justices will rule against this president. A day after upholding the blacklist, the same court on Wednesday dismissed a challenge by popular Caracas mayoral candidate Leopoldo Lopez and five other blacklisted politicians.
These opponents say the Chavistas have achieved what amounts to a presidential coup, sidelining any opponents with a good chance of winning mayoral and gubernatorial posts. Lopez accused Chavez and the Supreme Court of "giving a kick to the constitution" as he spoke to demonstrators.
"You're afraid of the people and you, president, hid behind the Supreme Court," he said.
Lopez led protesters down a Caracas avenue before police in riot gear blocked them in front of a government building, tossing tear gas canisters into the crowd. Protest leaders vowed more marches, including a larger one Saturday.
When Churchill wept
http://www.stangoodenough.com/?p=152
Immoral then; it is indefensibly immoral now…
Kasejovice, Czech Republic – The border with Germany is 45 km west – and the Sudetenland just a few minutes’ drive – from my father-in-law’s small holding where my family and I are savoring the summer.
Forests cover this corner of the Czech Republic. In the tiny villages that dot the dales and straddle the hills, the snail’s pace of life appears untouched by 21st Century modernity.
Bohemia is so undisturbed that it is difficult to envisage a more peaceful place. How much harder to imagine that 70 years ago next month, this tranquil territory was hand-fed to Hitler – an appeasement sacrifice that only served to whet his desire for more.
The shocking history is well-known: How the fearful Great Powers threw their trusting friends to the wolves rather than face down the belligerent who was out to devour them all.
In an attempt to placate the strident demands of the Sudeten Germans – who were being goaded by Hitler into seeking secession to Germany – Czech President Edvard Beneš had offered them a literal blank check: an empty sheet of paper on which they could list their demands, all of which he promised to grant if they would just end their provocations.
But the page came back empty. Peace was not in Hitler’s mind.
Meeting him in Munich on September 29, 1938 – while barring governmental representatives from Prague – the leaders of England and France took it upon themselves to “give” Germany the Sudetenland – the high ground encircling Czechoslovakia on which stood the virtually impenetrable fortifications essential to the security of that country.
More than “just territory,” what the Munich Dictate (or Agreement) gave to the Nazis – as British diplomat Harold Nicolson observed at the time – was “the whole key to Europe.”
Winston Churchill was vehemently opposed to Hitler’s possessing “the mountain defense line which marks the ancient boundaries of Bohemia and was specially preserved to the Czechoslovak state as a safeguard of its national existence.”
On hearing of the fait accompli Churchill wept, then furiously denounced Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s actions as “sordid, subhuman and suicidal.” It was, he thundered, “the grossest act of bullying treachery” that amounted to not only the sacrifice of England’s honor but the resulting “sacrifice of lives—our people’s lives.”
Forty-eight hours after hosting Chamberlain, the Nazi leader ordered his forces into the abandoned land. Czechoslovakia lay ripe for the picking and, within months, the fuehrer would swallow it whole.
Instead of securing “peace for our time” (Chamberlain’s ostentatious assertion upon returning from Munich), the sacrifice of the Sudetenland toppled the world into war. With Prague in his pocket, Hitler threatened, then invaded, Poland.
Adding shame to shame, Chamberlain fished around desperately for an excuse, any excuse, not to come to Poland’s aid as a British-French-Polish treaty committed him to.
While he dilly-dallied, two million German troops smashed into the country, the Luftwaffe poured its bombs onto Warsaw, and panzers sliced up the Polish countryside. Tens of thousands were slaughtered in the blitzkrieg.
Trying to express his devastation and embarrassment to Polish Ambassador Edward Raczynski, a helpless Churchill (he was not yet prime minister) falteringly hoped “that Britain will keep…will keep its…”
Voice breaking, he began to cry. Britannia would no longer rule the waves.
Apologists for Chamberlain have argued that his persistent attempts to buy off Hitler should be commended and not condemned. The British people were still reeling from the terrible wounds inflicted by the First World War, they say. He was doing everything he could to keep from fighting a second.
But Churchill knew it was wrong to make Czechoslovakia pay for England’s peace.
Pressuring another people to surrender their land to a mutual enemy in the hope it would bring peace was indefensibly immoral then. It is indefensibly immoral now…
In October 2001, addressing the American-led international effort to appease the Arab world by pushing Israel into giving away its historic lands, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made an emotional appeal:
“I turn to the western democracies, first and foremost the leader of the free world, the United States. Do not repeat the dreadful mistake of 1938, when the enlightened democracies of Europe decided to sacrifice Czechoslovakia for the sake of a temporary, convenient solution. Don’t try to appease the Arabs at our expense. We will not accept this. Israel will not be Czechoslovakia.”
His entreaty fell on outraged ears. The United States had long pursued a policy that sought to secure a quiet and stable oil-supplying Middle East at Israel’s expense. It was not about to change course. Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, and its threat to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, have only added impetus to America’s appeasement approach.
Today, in the waning days of the presidency that began the year Sharon lodged his appeal, President George W. Bush seems desperate to secure some form of initial agreement – a modern-day de facto Dictate - that will see Israel cede its biblical heartland for the creation of a Palestinian state so that the US can breathe easy for awhile.
As the Sudetenland did for Czechoslovakia, these threatened Jewish lands comprise the mountain defense line which marks the ancient eastern half of the Land of Israel and which is essential as a safeguard of its national existence.
And as Chamberlain hoped to placate the Nazis with Czech land, so Bush seeks to appease the Arabs with Jews’. (It is the Jews’ land – by divine right, by historic right, and according to international law.)
There can be no acceptance of this policy; no understanding or excusing of it.
Let me say it again. Aloud:
THE POLICY THAT PUSHES ISRAEL TO GIVE UP LAND IN EXCHANGE FOR ISRAEL’S AND AMERICA’S ENEMIES’ PROMISES OF PEACE IS AN INDEFENSIBLY IMMORAL POLICY.
How often it has been said that “those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
The Bible puts it this way: That which has been is what will be, that which has been done is what will be done. And there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, ‘See, this is new?’ It has already been in ancient times before us. (Ecclesiastes 1: 9,10)
History has damned what Chamberlain did, and history will damn what Bush is trying to do.
As the drums of war roll on in the Middle East, and the West strives to placate Islam, will all the warnings to Washington remain unheard?
Just as the surrender of the Sudetenland spelled the takeover of the rest of Czechoslovakia, and the fall of Europe, so would the surrender of Samaria and Judea precipitate the takeover of the rest of Israel, and threaten America’s fall.
Hitler was clear about his intentions even before he took control of Germany.
Wrote Tory Junior Minister Kitty Atholl in 1935 after reading Mein Kampf:
“Never can a modern statesman have made so startlingly clear to his reader his ambitions…”
England’s statesmen chose to ignore him. Years after Foreign Minister Anthony Eden had opposed forcefully quelling Hitler’s first acts of aggression, he confessed his mistake:
“I should have been…stiffer to Hitler,” he said. Military intervention at that stage “would have been the right thing to do, and many millions of lives would have been saved.”
In both their words and deeds, Israel’s enemies – the PLO, Hamas, Iran – have been clear about their ambitions for Israel.
But America and Europe have not been “stiffer” to them, opting instead for the easier way and employing “bullying treachery” against Israel.
How many millions of lives will be lost because of their “sordid, subhuman and suicidal” approach?
Churchill’s tears were for the loss of England’s honor. They could do nothing to save those who would be swept away. The perhaps soon-to-be-shed tears of some ashamed and remorseful American leader will save no-one either.
No matter how hard he cries.
=============================
Ed note: Former Speaker of the United States House of Congress Newt Gingrich recently urged his mailing list to read a remarkable new book which, he said, speaks pointedly to the situation facing the world today. Some of the material used to write this article was found in this book:
“Troublesome Young Men – The rebels who brought Churchill to power and helped save England.” By Lynne Olson (Farrar, Strous and Giroux, New York, 2007)
Israel Pledges to Release More Palestinian Prisoners
http://www.newsmax.com/international/israel_palestinians/2008/08/06/119564.html
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pledged in a summit meeting Wednesday to free more than 150 Palestinian prisoners by the end of August as a "goodwill gesture" to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Olmert announced last week he is resigning because of multiple corruption investigations against him, but he says he is determined to press ahead with peace efforts as long as he is in office. Because of Israel's complicated political system, his term could extend into next year.
Announcing the pledge after a meeting between the two leaders, Olmert spokesman Mark Regev did not say how many prisoners were to be freed or if jailed Palestinian uprising leader Marwan Barghouti would be among them.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who took part in the meeting at Olmert's official residence, said it was agreed that over 150 prisoners would be freed on Aug. 25.
Erekat said Abbas specifically requested the release of Marwan Barghouti, jailed for life by Israel for involvement in deadly attacks on Israelis and Ahmed Saadat, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who is in an Israeli prison after his group claimed responsibility for assassinating an Israeli Cabinet minister.
An Israeli official said Olmert refused to commit to those names.
Israel has repeatedly refused to release Barghouti, seen by many as a natural successor to Abbas, citing its long-held principle of not freeing prisoners with "blood on their hands" — those directly involved in fatal attacks.
However it has made exceptions in the past, the latest just three weeks ago when it released Lebanese prisoner Samir Kantar, as part of a trade with the Hezbollah militia.
Kantar was convicted of killing an Israeli father, his daughter and a policeman.
Four captured Hezbollah fighters were also freed in the July trade for the bodies of two slain Israeli soldiers.
The concluding phase of the deal took place Wednesday, when Israel released five Palestinian teenagers from jail and sent them home to the West Bank.
By insisting on the release of at least some Palestinians, Hezbollah sought to bolster its standing beyond its core following of Shiite Muslims to the broader Arab world. Israel sought to minimize the concession by selecting five youths serving short sentences for throwing stones and other objects. They were due to be freed next year, according to data posted on the Prisons Authority Web site.
Wednesday's meeting between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders was the first since Olmert announced he would step down after his party selects a new leader in September.
Olmert's decision to leave office in the face of a string of corruption investigations into his past dealings as a Cabinet minister and Jerusalem mayor raised questions about prospects for Mideast peace. Even before his announcement last week, the sides had been backing away from their stated goal of signing a peace accord by year's end.
Regev, Olmert's spokesman, said after the talks with Abbas that the sides were still striving to meet the target they set at last November's U.S.-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis, Md.
"We're committed to moving forward, we're committed to making the Annapolis process work," he said. "I expect these meetings to continue."
Moscow breaks away from big-power accord on new Iran sanctions
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5490
Russian UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters Wednesday night, Aug. 6: “There have been no firm agreements or understandings or any kind of concerted work” against Iran over its nuclear program.
US, British, Russian, Chinese, French, German and European officials spoke by conference earlier in the day. The US and Britain said they had agreed to consider a possible fourth round of UN Security Council sanctions for lack of a clear yes or no from Tehran on the suspension of uranium enrichment in return for incentives.
This the Russian ambassador denied. He also said Moscow had set no deadline for Iran to respond to the offer made on June 19. “The negotiating track is open, there are contacts between the parties,” he said. While Russian would have preferred a clear response, “It’s more complicated than that as we all know.”
He suggested that further talks among the six powers would take place in September on the sidelines of the next UN General Assembly.
US sources hint that by rejecting Iran sanctions, Moscow opens door to Israeli attack
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5491
Sources in Washington commented Wednesday night, Aug. 6, that, while it is unlikely that Israel would attack Iran without US approval, this might change if tough sanctions were taken off the table. They reported Israel was building up its strike capabilities for an attack, had purchased 90 F-16I planes that can carry enough fuel to reach Iran and would receive another 11 by the end of next year. The Jewish state had also bought two new Dolphin submarines from Germany capable of firing nuclear-armed warheads, in addition to the three already in service with its navy.
According to foreign media, Israel is active inside Iranian territory.
DEBKAfile reports that this information was leaked by Washington sources, apparently to warn Moscow that by closing the door to sanctions, it was opening the door to an Israeli attack.
A few hours earlier by Russian UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin: “There have been no firm agreements or understandings or any kind of concerted work” against Iran over its nuclear program.” He took exception to US and British statements that a fourth round of UN Security Council sanctions was on the cards against Iran for its ambiguous response to the six-power incentives.
The sources disclosed that Israel, believing Tehran will have enough enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb by next year or 2010 at the latest, is worried about Washington’s softening on Iran and intention to open a US office in Tehran.
Washington sources report that Israeli is building up its strike capabilities and appears confident that a military attack would cripple Tehran’s nuclear program even if its installations were too widely scattered to be completely wiped out.
US, British, Russian, Chinese, French, German and European officials spoke by conference earlier in the day. The US and Britain said they had agreed to consider a possible fourth round of UN Security Council sanctions for lack of a clear yes or no from Tehran on the suspension of uranium enrichment in return for incentives.
This the Russian ambassador denied. He also said Moscow had set no deadline for Iran to respond to the offer made on June 19. “The negotiating track is open, there are contacts between the parties,” he said. While Russian would have preferred a clear response, “It’s more complicated than that as we all know.”
He suggested that further talks among the six powers would take place in September on the sidelines of the next UN General Assembly.
AP: Israel Building Up for Iran Strikes
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/israel_striking_iran/2008/08/06/119660.html
JERUSALEM — Israel is building up its strike capabilities amid growing anxiety over Iran's nuclear ambitions and appears confident that a military attack would cripple Tehran's atomic program, even if it can't destroy it.
Such talk could be more threat than reality. However, Iran's refusal to accept Western conditions is worrying Israel as is the perception that Washington now prefers diplomacy over confrontation with Tehran.
The Jewish state has purchased 90 F-16I fighter planes that can carry enough fuel to reach Iran, and will receive 11 more by the end of next year. It has bought two new Dolphin submarines from Germany reportedly capable of firing nuclear-armed warheads — in addition to the three it already has.
And this summer it carried out air maneuvers in the Mediterranean that touched off an international debate over whether they were a "dress rehearsal" for an imminent attack, a stern warning to Iran or a just a way to get allies to step up the pressure on Tehran to stop building nukes.
According to foreign media reports, Israeli intelligence is active inside Iranian territory. Israel's military censor, who can impose a range of legal sanctions against journalists operating in the country, does not permit publication of details of such information in news reports written from Israel.
The issue of Iran's nuclear program took on new urgency this week after U.S. officials rejected Tehran's response to an incentives package aimed at getting it to stop sensitive nuclear activity — setting the stage for a fourth round of international sanctions against the country.
Israel, itself an undeclared nuclear power, sees an atomic bomb in Iranian hands as a direct threat to its existence.
Israel believes Tehran will have enriched enough uranium for a nuclear bomb by next year or 2010 at the latest. The United States has trimmed its estimate that Iran is several years or as much as a decade away from being able to field a bomb, but has not been precise about a timetable. In general U.S. officials think Iran isn't as close to a bomb as Israel claims, but are concerned that Iran is working faster than anticipated to add centrifuges, the workhorses of uranium enrichment.
"If Israeli, U.S., or European intelligence gets proof that Iran has succeeded in developing nuclear weapons technology, then Israel will respond in a manner reflecting the existential threat posed by such a weapon," said Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz, speaking at a policy forum in Washington last week.
"Israel takes (Iranian President) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's statements regarding its destruction seriously. Israel cannot risk another Holocaust," Mofaz said.
The Iranian leader has in the past called for Israel's elimination, though his exact remarks have been disputed. Some translators say he called for Israel to be "wiped off the map," while others say a better translation would be "vanish from the pages of time" — implying Israel would disappear on its own rather than be destroyed.
Iran insists its uranium enrichment is meant only for electricity generation, not a bomb v an assertion that most Western nations see as disingenuous.
Israeli policymakers and experts have been debating for quite some time whether it would even be possible for Israel to take out Iran's nuclear program. The mission would be far more complicated than a 1981 Israeli raid that destroyed Iraq's partially built Osirak nuclear reactor, or an Israeli raid last year on what U.S. intelligence officials said was another unfinished nuclear facility in Syria.
In Iran, multiple atomic installations are scattered throughout the country, some underground or bored into mountains — unlike the Iraqi and Syrian installations, which were single aboveground complexes.
Still, the Syria action seemed to indicate that Israel would also be willing to use force preemptively against Iran.
"For Israel this is not a target that cannot be achieved," said Maj. Gen. Aharon Zeevi-Farkash, former head of Israel's army intelligence.
However, it's unlikely Israel would carry out an attack without approval from the United States.
Recent signs that Washington may be moving away from a military option — including a proposal to open a low-level U.S. diplomatic office in Tehran and a recent decision to allow a senior U.S. diplomat to participate alongside Iran in international talks in Geneva v are not sitting very well with Israel.
That may help explain recent visits to Jerusalem by Mike McConnell, the U.S. director of national intelligence, and Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, each of whom delivered a message to Israel that it does not have a green light to attack Iran at this time.
Senior Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they do not wish to appear at odds with their most important ally, said they were concerned about a possible softening of the U.S. stance toward Iran.
Apparently to allay Israeli concerns, Bush administration officials last week assured visiting Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak that the U.S. has not ruled out the possibility of a military strike on Iran. And the U.S., aware of Israel's high anxiety over Iran's nukes, is also hooking Israel up to an advanced missile detection system known as X-Band to guard against any future attack by Iran, said a senior U.S. defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions over the issue have not been made public.
With sanctions and diplomacy still the international community's preferred method to get Iran to stop building the bomb, an Israeli strike does not appear imminent.
If it did attack, however, Israel would have to contend with upgraded Iranian defense capabilities, including 29 new Tor-M1 surface-to-air missile systems Iran purchased from Russia last year in a $700 million deal.
Russia has so far not gone through with a proposed sale to Iran of S-300 surface-to-air missiles, an even more powerful air defense system than the Tor-M1. An Israeli defense official said the deal is still on the table, however. This is a big source of consternation for Israel because the system could significantly complicate a pre-emptive Israeli assault on Iran.
Military experts say an Israeli strike would require manned aircraft to bombard multiple targets and heavy precision bombs that can blast through underground bunkers _ something Israel failed to do in its 2006 war against Hezbollah. It's widely assumed that Israel is seeking to obtain bunker buster bombs, if it hasn't already done so.
Elite ground troops could also be necessary to penetrate the most difficult sites, though Israeli military planners say they see that option as perhaps too risky.
America's ability to take out Iran's nuclear facilities is far superior to Israel's.
Unlike Israel, the United States has cruise missiles that can deliver high-explosive bombs to precise locations and B-2 bombers capable of dropping 85 500-pound bombs in a single run.
Yet the cost of an attack — by the U.S., Israel or both — is likely to be enormous.
Iran could halt oil production and shut down tanker traffic in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which could send the price of crude skyrocketing and wreck Western economies.
It could stir up trouble for the U.S. in Iraq by revving up Shiite militias there just as Washington is showing some important gains in reining in Iraqi chaos.
It could activate its militant proxies in both Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, from where Israel could come under heavy rocket attack. And it could strike Israel with its arsenal of Shahab-3 long-range missiles _ something Israel is hoping to guard against through its Arrow missile defense system.
Perhaps most importantly, any strike on Iran _ especially if it's done without having exhausted all diplomatic channels _ could have the opposite of the desired effect, "actually increasing the nationalist fervor to build a nuclear weapon," said Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-born Israeli and expert on Iranian affairs.
Whether an attack on Iran would be worth its cost would depend on how long the nuclear program could be delayed, said Chuck Freilich, a former Israeli deputy national security adviser and now a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.
"A two, three-year delay is not worth it. For a five to 10-year delay I would say yes," he said.
Lieberman: Iran's Activities 'An Act of War'
http://www.newsmax.com/headlines/Lieberman_Iran/2008/08/06/119751.html
Sen. Joseph Lieberman termed Iran's training of Iraqi insurgents "an act ofwar" in a Florida appearance Wednesday evening on behalf of Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign.
The independent Democrat from Connecticut spoke at length about the threatsfacing both the state of Israel and the United States during a townhallmeeting at the Palm Beach Synagogue in South Florida, describing McCain asready to face global dangers as commander-in-chief from his first day inoffice. Lieberman said that by loosing its elite Kuds revolutionary force to trainextremists to fight in Iraq, the Iranian regime has "been responsible forthe murder of hundreds of American soldiers in Iraq." "This is really an act of war," Lieberman added, "A proxy act of war."
Citing the threat of terrorism and Iran's nuclear ambitions, Liebermanpraised McCain's experience, saying it had given him "good judgment in warand in peace." Lieberman said McCain is an "idealistic realist" who understand that whenconfronting al-Qaida and Iran's extremist leaders, "You can not sweet talkthem into being reasonable, you can't give them a warm embrace and thinkthey're suddenly going to become our friends."
In an obvious reference to Sen. Barack Obama's plan to negotiate readilywith foreign despots, Lieberman said McCain would "never be so confused asto think you can sit down with our enemies without preconditions, unless itwill really benefit ourselves." He added that Americans must understand that Iran is the No. 1 challenge toAmerican foreign policy.
In reference to Iranian President MahmoudAhmadinejad, Lieberman said, "History should have taught us that when wehear a leader of a state make statements so extreme as to seem almostunbelievable, we should take that seriously." Ahmadinejad, he said, regularly leads the Iranian masses in chants of "Deathto America." "We've got to take that seriously," Lieberman said, "because he means itseriously." Early in his remarks, Lieberman drew applause after he announced that formerIsraeli cabinet minister Natan Sharansky had endorsed McCain.
Asked later if he agreed with Sharansky that an Obama presidency was "arisk" to Israel, Lieberman told Newsmax: "I guess I'd say it affirmatively:A McCain presidency will be good for the state of Israel."
Qaddafi: Iran May Get Hit Like Iraq
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/qaddafi_iran_iraq/2008/08/06/119500.html
Iran risks the same fate as Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in its confrontation with the West over its nuclear program and is too weak to meet the challenges it faces alone, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, the Libyan leader, said Tuesday.
“What Iran is doing is pure vanity,” Colonel Qaddafi, left, said during a visit to Tunisia. “If a decision is taken against Iran, it will suffer the same fate as Iraq. Iran is no stronger than Iraq and will be unable to resist.”
He was referring to the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003, which the Bush administration said was intended to rid Iraq of illicit weapons.
Colonel Qaddafi, whose relations with the West improved when Libya scrapped its efforts to develop nuclear weapons, said countries that chose isolation were doomed to fail.
US general’s surprise Lebanon visit ties Israel’s hands against Hizballah
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5489
The US Iraq commander Gen. David Petraeus, soon to be promoted to Central Command chief, arrived unannounced in Lebanon on Wed. Aug 6. DEBKAfile’s military sources report that he came to check out the strategic ramifications of Hizballah’s seizure on behalf of Syria and Iran of two strategic Lebanese peaks, Mt. Sannine and Mt. Barukh. Petraeus also sought the exact import of the Lebanese government’s policy decision of Aug. 4, to let Hizballah stay armed (in violation of UN Security Council resolutions) and continue its war against Israel.
Those sources stress that American intervention in Lebanon closes the door once again on the prospect of Israeli action against this new threat - in the same way as Washington vetoed effective action against Iran’s development of a nuclear bomb and the buildup of Hamas’ war machine in Gaza.
Military sources question the value of yet another Israeli defense cabinet meeting on the crisis building up on the northern border, when Hizballah has been allowed to brazenly flout UN Security Council resolution 1701 of 2006 by taking delivery of quantities of smuggled Iranian and Syrian weapons and redeploying in South Lebanon.
During that period, the Israeli government stood by and failed to interfere with this unfolding menace and Lebanon’s takeover as a Syrian-Iranian outpost.
Wednesday, an Israeli security source ‘”revealed” that Hizballah had amassed 40,000 rockets.
On March 22, 2008, DEBKAfile’s military sources first disclosed that Hizballah had built up its rocket arsenal to three and-a-half times its pre-2006 Lebanon War stocks. “Some of the 40,000 rockets of Syrian and Iranian manufacture can hit Israel targets as far south as Beersheba, 350 km. away from the Shiite terror group’s launching pads north of Lebanon’s Litani River.
“Not only has Tel Aviv come within range, but Hizballah and the Palestinian Hamas in Gaza can between them cover most of Israel except for its southernmost tip at Eilat. Using these two surrogates, Tehran can therefore make war on Israel and keep its hands clean. End of quote.
On June 12, the Israeli military intelligence research director Brig. Yossi Baidatz reported that Hizballah had constructed a subterranean storage system, partly in south Lebanon, for tens of thousands of rockets. DEBKAfile’s military sources added that they had been proofed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards against aerial attack.
From then until now, the Israeli military has not been called upon to take any action.
Then on Tuesday of this week, Israeli security circles were revealed to be at odds over whether Hizballah had already emplaced radar and anti-air batteries on Mt. Sannine - or not yet.
On July 21, DEBKAfile first disclosed exclusively that Hizballah had already deployed them on Mt. Sannine.
Then on Aug. 2, after Israel made no move, the Lebanese Shiite terror group seized a second strategic peak on Mt. Barukh, thus acquiring its first capability to shoot down Israeli Air Force flights.
And still, the Olmert government sat on its hands.
So it is not surprising that Hizballah has moved on to considering how to dispose of a fresh batch of Israeli prisoners from downed warplanes, or that the Iran-backed group was cocksure enough to manipulate the new Lebanese government into endorsing its continuing armed battle against Israel.
Had prime minister Olmert and his three likely successors Tzipi Livni, foreign affairs; Ehud Barak, defense; and Shaul Mofaz, transport - all of whom claim to be seasoned defense tacticians – resolved on proactive measures to curb Hizballah’s march from strength to strength, Israel would have been less susceptible to American pressure on Lebanon and Iran.
Above all, Iranian and Syrian officers and their guns would not now be ensconced atop Mts Sannine and Mt. Barukh.
Iraq May Have $79B Budget Surplus
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/423450.aspx
CBNNews.com - The Iraqi government may end the year with a $79 billion budget surplus -- thanks to oil revenues and money unspent on their national rebuilding effort, congressional auditors say.
The report by the Government Accountability Office released Tuesday said Iraq had an estimated cumulative budget surplus of about $29 billion from 2005 to 2007 and could have another surplus of up to $50 billion this year.
The report estimated that this year Iraq could generate $67 billion to $79 billion in oil sales.
Other U.S. officials previously had said they expected the oil windfall to be about $70 billion.
"This substantial increase in revenues offers the Iraqi government the potential to better finance its own security and economic needs," the GAO said.
The report renewed calls from senators that Baghdad pay more of the bill for its own reconstruction.
The U.S. has largely borne the financial burden of rebuilding the country.
"The Iraqi government now has tens of billions of dollars at its disposal to fund large-scale reconstruction projects," Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said in a statement. "It is inexcusable for U.S. taxpayers to continue to foot the bill for projects the Iraqis are fully capable of funding themselves."
"It is time for the sovereign government of Iraq, using its revenues, expenditures and surpluses, to fully assume the responsibility to provide essential services and improve the quality of life for the Iraqi people," Sen. John Warner, R-Va., said.
The two senators, both officials on the Senate Armed Services Committee, requested the audit by the GAO.
In the meantime, Iraq's planning minister, Ali Baban, defended his country's position.
"I admit that there is some delay in spending the money on the projects in the provinces and in the ministries," Baban told the New York Times. "We have problems in this issue because there are lots of obstacles we face, because of the situation that we're going through. We're trying to deal with that, we're trying to improve things, but you know the situation in Iraq."
Indian pastor charged with forced conversion
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/indian.pastor.charged.with.forced.conversion/21164.htm
A pastor in India and his wife have been arrested and charged under the controversial forced conversion laws, reports Release International.
The police have locked their church and placed it under police guard, after a man who was baptised levelled charges of forced conversion and allurement.
Police raided the church on August 4 and took Pastor Sam Oommen into custody, along with his wife and two children. They later returned the children to a well-wisher.
Pastor Oommen, of the Full Gospel Church of God in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, has been charged under the controversial Anti-Conversion Law.
Release International’s partners say the charges are false and the man who brought them was baptised with his consent. But so far efforts to release the pastor and his wife on bail have proved fruitless.
‘India’s growing anti-conversion movement puts the church in real jeopardy,’ says Andy Dipper, the Chief Executive of Release International, which serves persecuted Christians worldwide.
‘Christians who talk of heaven could be charged with allurement, and those who speak of sin and judgment could be charged with conversion by force. Christian relief and charity workers could also find themselves accused of bribing people to become Christians.’
Growing numbers of states are being pressed to bring in these laws by Hindu militants. They’re concerned at conversions among the Dalits – the lowest of the low of Indian society. The laws are also backed by right-wing nationalists who believe that to be Indian is to be Hindu and will not tolerate other faiths.
‘These laws pose a growing threat to the millions of Christian believers in India and those of other religions,’ says Andy Dipper.
Release International’s Indian partners describe a ‘vicious campaign of arresting innocent servants of God under fabricated stories’. And they warn the laws are being ‘abused by people with ulterior motives’.
Anti-conversion laws are now in force in five states, reports news agency Compass Direct – Gujarat, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh. Similar laws have also been passed but are yet to be implemented in Arunachal Pradesh and Rajasthan states.
Through its international network of missions Release International supports Christians imprisoned for their faith and their families in 30 nations. It supports church workers, pastors and their families, and provides training, Bibles, Christian literature and broadcasts. Release International is a member of the UK organisations Global Connections, the Evangelical Alliance and the Micah Network.
Bush: China Must Ensure Freedoms
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/423619.aspx
CBNNews.com - BANGKOK, Thailand - The same day of his arrival in Beijing for the Olympics, President Bush is carrying a message of "deep concerns" about the state of human rights in China and urging the communist nation to allow political freedoms for its citizens.
Develop Full Potential
"America stands in firm opposition to China's detention of political dissidents, human rights advocates and religious activists," Bush will declare in the marquee speech of his three-nation Asia trip. "We speak out for a free press, freedom of assembly and labor rights - not to antagonize China's leaders, but because trusting its people with greater freedom is the only way for China to develop its full potential."
Bush delivers the address in a Bangkok, Thailand, convention center Thursday morning to a crowd of foreign diplomats, Thai government leaders and business officials, before flying to China later that day.
Bush arrived in Bangkok on Wednesday evening, and then traveled immediately to a meeting with Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. The White House released the text of the president's speech earlier Wednesday, nearly 18 hours in advance, as Bush traveled to Thailand from South Korea.
Bush Remarks Most Critical in Public
The speech was planned as a summary of what Bush says is the "stronger engagement" with strategically crucial Asia that has marked his presidency. But his remarks on China, among his most directly critical ever in public, stand out.
He says he has built a relationship with China's leaders - through opposing independence for Taiwan, cooperating in negotiations over North Korea's nuclear program and sharing economic interests, for example - that has allowed him to be "honest and direct" on sensitive internal matters.
"I have spoken clearly, candidly and consistently with China's leaders about our deep concerns over religious freedom and human rights," Bush says in the prepared text.
Earlier Wednesday, during a news conference in Seoul with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Bush said China's pre-Olympics crackdown on dissent has been "a mistake."
The communist country considers the Olympics a source of huge national pride and is pulling out all stops to ensure no embarrassments. It has rounded up dissidents, detaining some. Journalists covering the games have objected to restrictions on Internet sites, worried about possible censorship.
Censorship a Concern for Journalists
Bush objected, saying, "You ought to welcome people being able to express their minds."
In Thursday's speech, the president is softening his message somewhat by saying any changes in China would have to come "on its own terms and in keeping with its own history and traditions."
"Ultimately only China can decide what course it will follow," he says.
Still, his strong words are likely to anger the leadership in Beijing.
Bush already drew the ire of Chinese officials by meeting ahead of his trip at the White House with prominent Chinese exiles and dissidents.
Bush has made clear that while he is going to Beijing mostly as an Olympics fan, he would talk frankly with Chinese President Hu Jintao during their private meetings. It was also known that he would speak publicly about religious freedom after attending a Beijing church service and that the White House was trying to arrange other meetings while he is in Beijing over four days.
In addition, White House press secretary Dana Perino said the U.S. would protest China's decision to deny a visa for former Olympic speed skater Joey Cheek, who was planning to travel to Beijing to urge that the Chinese government help make peace in the war-torn Darfur section of Sudan.
Darfur, Tibet, Myanmar
"We are taking the matter very seriously," Perino said Wednesday. "We would hope that they would change their minds."
Bush's Bangkok remarks devote only a few sentences to criticism for the "tyranny" in Myanmar, Thailand's neighbor, which is ruled by a military junta. He called for the release of the country's democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as other political prisoners.
Though Samak, the Thai prime minister, regards himself as a friend of Myanmar's generals, Bush planned to heap praise on his Thai hosts, calling the country a leader in the region and saluting them for restoration of democracy.
This, Bush says in marking 175 years of U.S.-Thai relations, "has proved that liberty and law reign here in the `Land of the Free."'
A bloodless 2006 army coup toppled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra Thaksin from office. The interim government relinquished power after more than a year in office, allowing a democratic election last December that saw Thaksin's ally Samak sweep into power. Samak has been accused of trying to change the constitution to hold onto power and to prevent Thaksin from facing corruption-related charges.
Last Asian Tour by Bush
Bush kicked off the last Asia tour of his presidency in South Korea.
From there, at Lee's side, he offered poverty-wracked North Korea hope that it could someday share in its southern neighbor's economic prosperity and spoke of a future in which it is no longer part of the "axis of evil" he first outlined in 2002.
First, though, he said the reclusive Stalinist regime must meet the step-by-step denuclearization demands contained in a framework agreement reached in six-party talks involving both Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia. The North must also improve its human rights record, Bush said.
"North Korea traps its people in misery and isolation," the president said.
North Korea expects Bush to remove it from the U.S. list of terror-sponsoring countries as soon as next weekend, as the president said he would when the North destroyed its nuclear reactor cooling tower in June. That offer has always been contingent on North Korea providing a full account of its nuclear activities.
Bush said North Korea - which has a history of unpredictability and has repeatedly used negotiations over its nuclear program to wring aid and concessions from the West - must first do its agreed-upon part and accept international terms for verifying its dismantlement efforts. "I don't know whether or not they're going to give up their weapons," Bush said. "I really don't know. I don't think either of us knows."
Said Lee, "I have faith we will be able to move to the verification process, then to the next step."
The North, which exploded a nuclear device in 2006, is believed by experts to have produced enough weapons-grade plutonium to make as many as 10 nuclear bombs, and the U.S. has accused Pyongyang of running a second weapons program based on uranium. Actual destruction of weapons - the ultimate goal of six-party talks with North Korea - is months away at the least.
Lee, a pro-American leader who took office in February, has seen his approval ratings tumble after lifting a ban on U.S. beef imports despite public fears about its safety. The public outcry prompted street protests that drew attention worldwide. But opposition has settled since Lee made changes, and the leaders even ate American beef at a luncheon hosted by Lee.
Month of prayer to protect China’s persecuted believers during Olympics
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/month.of.prayer.to.protect.chinas.persecuted.believers.during.olympics/21163.htm
With the Olympics just days away, persecution watchdog Release International is inviting Christians the world over to join in a month-long strategic prayer campaign to protect the unregistered church in China as it faces the prospect of even greater persecution during the Games.
Release warned that the Chinese Government is pursuing a tough crackdown on “illegal religious activities” under the guise of preventing disruptions to the Games.
The group has put together a prayer guide to cover the month of the Olympics, highlighting the Chinese Government persecution of underground Christians trying to help in the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake, the persecution in particular of the Uyghur ethnic minority Christians in Xinjiang province, and the arrest and detention of numerous house church leaders and Christian rights campaigners.
Release recommends that believers offer a prayer a day over 31 days for the situation of China’s underground believers.
“Release is inviting Christians to stand with the persecuted Church in China. We want people to intercede for freedom of worship and Christian revival in this vast communist nation – to see the Kingdom of God extended in China,” said the head of Release, Andy Dipper.
The finishing touches are being added to the site of this year’s Olympics in Beijing, China, just days ahead of the official opening ceremony on Friday.
Other agencies supporting persecuted believers in China have also complained of a government crackdown ahead of the Olympics.
China Aid Association published a report on Tuesday detailing the increase in arrests and detentions of house church members in the last few months.
CAA said that persecution of Chinese believers was taking place “daily” and accused the Chinese Government of being “hypocritical” Olympic hosts.
The sentiment is one shared by the head of Open Doors USA, Carl Moeller.
"Unfortunately, there has been a crackdown on house church leaders in wake of the start of the Olympics," he said. "It's a travesty that hundreds of Christians sit in prisons while the Chinese Government pats itself on the back for its hosting of the Games."
31 days of prayer:
Day 1
The Sichuan earthquake in May caused the death of some 69,195 people. Despite the scale of the tragedy, the Chinese government refused to allow house churches to send donations to the relief effort. And some house church members were even arrested for trying to help in the quake zone. Please pray that the Chinese government will change its hostile attitude towards these Christians and let them engage in charity work.
Day 2
The Chinese authorities appear to be waging a concerted campaign of persecution against the ethnic minority Uyghur Christians of Xinjiang province, north-west China. Most Uyghurs are Muslim. Several Christians have been arrested on suspicion of separatist sympathies or leaking state secrets recently, including Alimjan Yimit. In May a judge sent Alimjan’s case back to the Public Security Bureau due to insufficient evidence – but Alimjan remains in detention. Pray for Alimjan’s swift release.
Day 3
On 2 July 2008, house church leader and Christian rights activist Hua Huiqi was evicted from his rented home in Beijing. Officials broke into the apartment with a hammer and threw the family, including Hua’s 90-year-old father, into the street with their furniture. Hua’s brother suffered serious injury to his eye when officers beat him. The government is rumoured to want to detain Hua during the Olympic Games: he was jailed for six months last year. Pray for a new home for Hua’s family and for their safety.
Day 4
Shuang Shuying, the elderly mother of Beijing house church leader Hua Huiqi, is serving two years in jail – apparently because the authorities want to force Hua to give up his human rights and church work. She was accused of ‘damaging government property’ when she protested over being arrested with her son last year. Her health is frail: pray that God will uphold and strengthen her and make her a powerful witness for Christ in jail.
• Release International continues to campaign for Shuang Shuying’s release. To join the campaign, view the Release one-minute video alert at: www.releaseinternational.org/current and pass it on to friends.
Day 5
In January 2008, Beijing bookstore owner and house church leader Shi Weihan was arrested on suspicion of printing illegal Christian materials. He has been illegally held in a detention centre in Beijing for nearly five months without formal charge or trial. Shi’s family members have not been allowed to visit him or send him the medication he needs for severe diabetes. Pray for Shi’s release. Ask God to keep him in good health and to comfort his family.
Day 6
Thank God for the powerful witness of a house church in Beijing whose members’ homes were raided recently by officials. Despite their ill-treatment, Christians pronounced a blessing over officials and shook their hands after the raid. Pray that this powerful Christian witness will touch the hearts of these officers and open their eyes to their own brutality.
Day 7
In June 2008, senior house church leader Zhang Mingxuan was detained for several hours – to prevent him from meeting with an EU official in Beijing. Officials closed down his orphanage early this year; Zhang’s family have been forced to move home more than ten times since Christmas. The government reportedly wants to move the family out of Beijing. Pray for strength and courage for Pastor Zhang, his family and four orphans living with them. Ask God to provide them with a permanent home.
Day 8
In the last year Chinese police have detained some 600 Christians and sentenced 38 of them to more than a year in prison. Please pray that the Lord will grant His strength, His comfort and His wisdom to those in prison for their faith. Pray that they will remain faithful and be salt and light to their fellow prisoners.
Day 9
In May, the government held a conference on ‘administering Christian gatherings’ in Beijing. Recently, many house churches have had Sunday services interrupted by local policemen, and some landlords have been forced to stop renting out their property to Christians for worship meetings. Please pray that house churches in Beijing will find new places to worship. Pray that their leaders’ hearts will be on fire for God, despite regular harassment.
Day 10
Government leaders from across the globe are attending the Beijing Olympics. Please pray that these senior politicians will urge the Chinese government to improve its religious rights record, particularly in its dealings with the unregistered house church movement.
Day 11
Liu Huiwen from Gansu province is serving 18 months in jail for handing out Christian leaflets at a Muslim wedding in April 2007 and so ‘insulting ethnic minorities’. He is said to be suffering bullying and abuse in a prison full of Muslims. Pray for Liu and his family: his wife Miao Hui Lian has been under police surveillance since she complained about Liu’s ill-treatment.
Day 12
Despite the authorities’ determination to keep a tight rein on house churches in Beijing, the Olympic Village will have a prayer centre for athletes. Please pray that Christian athletes will be bold in sharing their testimonies and the gospel with their fellow Chinese athletes and others involved in the Games.
Day 13
Even a year ago, there were rumours that government agents had infiltrated every house church in Beijing to keep watch on their activities and, presumably, root out pastors considered to be ‘troublemakers’. This news must have bred distrust between house church members, with suspicion focused especially on newcomers. Pray that God’s Holy Spirit would help unite His family in churches which have been under intense pressure for months.
Day 14
Many poorly built school buildings collapsed during the Sichuan earthquake in May, killing many pupils. Due to China’s one-child policy, many parents lost their only child in the tragedy. Some held silent protests outside courtrooms, calling for justice, but were beaten by police or even arrested. Ask the Lord to use His people to bring comfort, friendship and hope to the bereaved.
Day 15
Many Christians in Beijing are volunteering to help in the smooth running of the Olympics, because they have a heart to share the gospel through their service. Please pray that God will give them courage and wisdom to share their faith.
Day 16
Daniel Ng and his wife are Australian citizens who own a large company in China. Since August 2007, they have been barred from leaving the country and their assets have been frozen. Their firm was shut down by the authorities amid allegations of illegal religious activities – based on the fact that the company has a Christian ethos. Please pray for God’s protection for Daniel and his wife. Pray too that the Lord will raise up more Christian business leaders to bring His light into the business community.
Day 17
In May 2008, a prominent house church leader from the Uyghur community, Luo Yuanqi, was detained in Xinjiang province on charges of ‘inciting separatism’. He has been badly abused in custody. Pray for physical and spiritual healing for Luo and ask God to bless his ministry.
Day 18
It is illegal in China to share the gospel with people under the age of 18. Many churches do not have an active Sunday School programme and some do not recognise the importance of children’s ministry. On 28 February, 2008, 11 children in Xinjiang were detained for a day when they were caught attending a children’s Bible study. Pray that more churches will catch the vision for teaching children to grow up following Christ.
Day 19
Many churches had property and land confiscated by the communist regime in the 1950s – and many congregations are still pressing for this property to be returned. The Chinese authorities have resisted this. In Fanzhi, Shanxi, a pastor and several other Christians were injured recently when they remonstrated with builders redeveloping land which had belonged to them before the government seized it. Pray for justice to be done for these churches’ sake.
Day 20
The Chinese administration under President Hu Jintao has the stated aim of creating a ‘harmonious society’. Please pray that Hu Jintao and his ministers will be more open-minded about Christians and recognise the contribution they already make to social harmony by being good citizens.
Day 21
Chinese constitutional law grants citizens the right of religious freedom, yet many house church members do not know how to summon this right in defending themselves against allegations of ‘illegal’ religious activity. Christian lawyers are starting to educate Christians about their constitutional rights and have helped bring several successful lawsuits as a result. Ask God to protect these Christian lawyers and their families as they undertake this high-risk work.
Day 22
China has been fiercely criticised over its harsh repatriation policy for North Korean refugees found in its territories. North Koreans repatriated from China – about 4,000 a year – are reported to face brutal treatment as defectors, even execution. Pray that China will recognise the brutality of the Pyongyang regime and scrap its repatriation policy.
• Release has just launched a new petition urging China to end its policy of repatriating North Korean refugees. The petition can be downloaded at: www.releaseinternational.org/current
Day 23
Missionaries to China have done much to build her church and spread the gospel. The Beijing Olympics will bring more than 500,000 foreigners into China. Pray that among these visitors will be some who are called to work with the church in China and extend God’s kingdom in the nation.
Day 24
Against a backdrop of persecution and suffering, misunderstanding and lack of communication have sometimes conspired to cause rifts between different Chinese house church movements. Please pray for unity between these movements. Pray that church leaders will work together to spread the gospel.
Day 25
Pastor Zhang Zhongxin was sentenced to two years at a labour camp in Shandong province recently for belonging to an ‘evil cult’. He had a varied ministry, which ranged from training to preaching, over a wide geographical area. Pray that Pastor Zhang will be able to continue his ministry during his detention.
Day 26
College students who turn to Christ on campus face worldly pressures once they step out into the workplace – particularly during China’s economic downturn this year. There is an urgent need for church workers to disciple these new Christians and keep in touch with them as they leave campus. Pray that God will raise up good and faithful servants to minister to these young people.
Day 27
Some house church leaders are misinterpreting the Bible and leaving their families behind to serve the Lord. They want to respond to China’s urgent need for Christian ministers – but they may pay a heavy personal price: family breakdown. Pray that church leaders in China will find the right balance between family priorities and spreading the good news.
Day 28
Cai Zhuohua, a house church pastor from Beijing, was jailed between 2004 and 2007 for distributing Bibles for free in poor areas where people could not access Bibles or could not afford them. The Chinese government recently held an exhibition in the US to try to prove that China not only has sufficient Bibles but is a major exporter of them. Pray that God will provide sufficient Bibles to meet the needs of believers in China.
Day 29
Jiang Zongxiu, 34, was beaten to death in 2004 for carrying Scriptures: she left behind an eight-year-old son. Her family is still waiting for justice: Jiang’s body has not been returned to her family and her attackers have not been punished. Pray that Jiang’s family will be comforted by the love of Christ and will see justice done.
Day 30
Despite its recent economic downturn, China is the world’s fastest-growing economy – a position which carries considerable political clout. Pray that, while much of the international community courts this emerging superpower, nations of influence will continue to put pressure on Beijing to clean up its human rights record.
Day 31
The Beijing Olympics have inspired churches and believers all over the world to pray for China. Pray that this prayer campaign will gather momentum and that the Lord will bring revival to the nation of China.
Attack on Chinese Police Carefully Planned
http://www.newsmax.com/international/oly_china_security/2008/08/06/119468.html
KASHGAR, China — A stolen truck used to run down jogging policemen in western China was parked overnight near the police station, with the assailants waiting to strike during the officers' morning routine, according to state-run media.
New details about Monday's attack — one of the most audacious in this restive Muslim territory — came with China on high alert for other violence or unrest that might embarrass the country ahead of Friday's start to the Olympic Games in Beijing.
The attackers, who killed 16 border police in the city of Kashgar, confessed they had spent one month watching the police, the Xinhua News Agency quoted police as saying.
On the day of the attack, one of the assailants staked out the police station and used a mobile phone to inform his truck-driving partner when the 70 policemen had begun their morning jog along a major road, Xinhua reported late Tuesday.
The driver got into the truck that had been parked all night near the station and drove into the runners from behind at top speed, Xinhua said. The other attacker threw a homemade bomb at the police station's gate before using a knife to stab officers hit by the truck, the report said.
The attackers were Abdurahman Azat, a 33-year-old vegetable peddler, and Kurbanjan Hemit, a 28-year-old taxi driver, both of Kashgar, Xinhua quoted the city's Communist Party secretary, Shi Dagang, as saying.
Before the attack, the assailants wrote a letter saying they had to wage "holy war," and that their mission was more important than their lives and mothers, Xinhua quoted Shi as saying.
It was not immediately known if the attackers belonged to radical Islamic groups that the government has blamed for a series of sporadic shootings, riots and bombings in the past several years. Police said they found nine homemade explosives similar to those recovered last year in raids on a training base of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, Xinhua reported.
The group is reportedly based along China's borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan and linked to al-Qaida and is listed by the State Department as a foreign terrorist organization.
Before Monday's attack, Kashgar and other parts of Xinjiang were on high alert. The special security measures were in full force Wednesday.
Security was especially tight around major transport points. Vehicles passing through a tollbooth on a highway north of the city were being told by police to pull over so that trunks and identification cards could be checked. Only one officer displayed a firearm, a short-barrel shotgun worn over his shoulder.
Some ID cards were taken to a battered wooden desk on the side of the road, where a laptop was set up, allowing the officers to check the documents against a police database.
"We're familiar with many of the local drivers. Those we haven't seen before get checked with the computer," said one officer, adding that the checkpoint was established in April for the Olympics.
At Kashgar's railway station, police demanded that an Associated Press photographer stop taking pictures because the area had been declared a military zone. A sign at the station said train service was suspended Wednesday because of wind storms.
Police also asked AP journalists to leave a bus depot where buses from Pakistan arrive. Officers said only arriving passengers were allowed at the station.
MAF: Evangelism abound in Chad despite instability
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/maf.evangelism.abound.in.chad.despite.instability/21169.htm
In spite of being a troubled nation, there is much evangelism taking place in Chad. Pastors and church leaders are being empowered to share the Gospel all over the country as part of the Chad for Christ campaign.
Beginning in 1994, Chad for Christ conducts evangelistic campaigns in areas all over Chad with a long-term view to evangelise all the villages in the country.
The next phase of the campaign will focus on church planting and discipleship.
Mission Aviation Fellowship’s team in Chad is supporting this campaign with flights with a view to inform and motivate Christians and authorities on the ground for this next phase.
Greg Vine flew several pastors on a three-day safari to visit local pastors and Christians in a number of villages. Some of the villages haven’t had a visit from their senior pastors for five years and were extremely happy to receive them at last.
The pastors are planning a church planting training seminar in September and wanted to encourage as many as possible to attend. The aim is to bring together people of all denominations from across the whole country to provide training and supply the tools to help in the nationwide church planting and discipleship campaign.
A total of 1,147 evangelists have been recruited for this next stage, and the plan is to assign evangelists to each of the 62 provinces of Chad, focusing on an area within the province where there is no church.
Greg writes, "It was very evident that each community was encouraged by the visits and that there is a renewed sense of purpose generated by their message."
Chad is currently enjoying religious freedom.
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