McCain Outlines Vision of Iraq Victory, Reduced Partisanship
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/05/15/mccain-outlines-vision-of-iraq-victory-reduced-partisanship/
COLUMBUS, Ohio — John McCain, looking through a crystal ball to 2013 and the end of a prospective first term, sees “spasmodic” but reduced violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden dead or captured and government spending curbed by his ready veto pen.
The Republican presidential contender also envisions April’s annual angst replaced by a simpler flat tax, illegal immigrants living humanely under a temporary worker program, and political partisanship stemmed by weekly news conferences and British-style question periods with joint meetings of Congress.
In a speech being delivered Thursday, McCain concedes he cannot make the changes alone, but he wants to outline a specific governing style to show the accomplishments it can achieve.
“I’m not interested in partisanship that serves no other purpose than to gain a temporary advantage over our opponents. This mindless, paralyzing rancor must come to an end. We belong to different parties, not different countries,” McCain says in remarks prepared for delivery in the capital city of Ohio, a general election battleground. “There is a time to campaign, and a time to govern. If I’m elected president, the era of the permanent campaign will end; the era of problem solving will begin.”
To the disdain of some fellow Republicans, the presumed GOP nominee has worked with Democrats on legislation aimed at overhauling campaign finance regulations, redrafting immigration rules and regulations and implementing government spending controls.
While that has cultivated a maverick image for McCain, the Arizona senator has also been accused of exhibiting a nasty temper — swearing even at fellow lawmakers from his own party — and unabashed partisanship.
In particular, McCain has clashed with the leading Democratic presidential contender, Barack Obama. After tangling with the Illinois senator on lobbying reforms, McCain questioned Obama’s integrity in a publicly released 2006 letter.
McCain wrote he had thought Obama’s interest in ethics legislation “was genuine and admirable,” before adding: “Thank you for disabusing me of such notions.” He accused Obama of “partisan posturing.”
While calling for Congress to drop mindless partisanship, McCain also chided the media — with whom he has enjoyed a generally positive relationship — for fueling contention with its campaign coverage.
“Campaigns and the media collaborated as architects of the modern presidential campaign, and we deserve equal blame for the regret we feel from time to time over its less-than-inspirational features,” he said.
In outlining potential achievements of a first term, the 71-year-old McCain implicitly was suggesting he would seek a second term, an attempt to mute suggestions he would serve only four years after being the oldest president ever to take office for a first term.
In particular, he sees a world in which:
– “The Iraq war has been won. Iraq is a functioning democracy, although still suffering from the lingering effects of decades of tyranny and centuries of sectarian tension. Violence still occurs, but it is spasmodic and much reduced.”
– The Taliban threat in Afghanistan has been greatly reduced.
– “The increase in actionable intelligence that the counterinsurgency produced led to the capture or death of Osama bin Laden, and his chief lieutenants,” McCain said. “There still has not been a major terrorist attack in the United States since Sept. 11, 2001.”
– A “League of Democracies” has supplanted a failed United Nations to apply sanctions to the Sudanese government and halt genocide in Darfur.
– The United States has had “several years of robust growth,” appropriations bills free of lawmakers’ pet projects known as “earmarks,” public education improved by charter schools, health care improved by expansion of the private market and an energy crisis stemmed through the start of construction on 20 new nuclear reactors.
– Democrats are asked to serve in his administration, he holds weekly news conferences and, like the British prime minister, answers questions publicly from lawmakers.
McCain also pledges to halt a Bush administration practice of enacting laws with accompanying signing statements that exempt the president from having to enforce parts he finds objectionable.
“I will respect the responsibilities the Constitution and the American people have granted Congress,” the senator said, “and will, as I often have in the past, work with anyone of either party to get things done for our country.”
Judicial Action Group has Mixed Reactions to John McCain on Judges
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07185.shtml
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., (christiansunite.com) -- Judicial Action Group had mixed reactions to GOP Presidential candidate Senator John McCain and his speech yesterday outlining his judicial philosophy at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC.
JAG President Phillip Jauregui stated, "Senator McCain's speech was excellent in many respects, and there were a number of excellent points. The 'pros' far outnumbered the 'cons.' The 'cons' however were weighty and cannot be left unchecked.
"Senator McCain explained his vote for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg by saying 'I voted for [her because she was] qualified.' By Senator McCain's own standards presented in his speech, while Ginsburg was experienced, she was not qualified.
"There is a big difference between experience and qualification. In fact, it was Ginsburg's experience that made her unqualified. She was experienced at legislating from the bench, both as a federal judge for over ten years, and as an advocate for judicial supremacy at both the ACLU and NOW. No one should have been surprised that Justice Ginsburg has turned out to be a judicial supremacist. She was one before she joined the Court and remains one now. Her experience and record made her demonstrably unqualified to protect the same Constitution that she had spent years destroying.
"McCain also asserts that in response to supremacist judges who show little regard for the authority of the president, Congress, and states, the 'only remedy available to any of us is to find, nominate, and confirm better judges.'
"Senator McCain is simply incorrect on this monumental point." Jauregui referred to Stanford Law School Dean Larry Kramer, who wrote: "The Constitution leaves room for numerous responses to an overly assertive Court: Justices can be impeached, the Court's budget can be slashed, the President can ignore the Courts' illegal mandates, Congress can strip it of jurisdiction or shrink its size or pack it with new members or give it burdensome new responsibilities. The means are available, and have been used to great effect when necessary by some of the most admired Presidents and Congresses in American History."
"We applaud Senator McCain for his support of federal judges who will apply the U.S. Constitution. His characterization of the Court 'applying' rather than 'interpreting' is an extremely important distinction which we are working to help more people understand.
See the full response posted at www.JudicialActionGroup.com.
Obama calls Bush remark in Israel "false political attack"
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5272
The Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said: It is “sad” that president Bush would use Israel’s 60th anniversary “to launch a false political attack. George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists.”
He was responding to the comment in George W. Bush’s speech to Israel’s special Knesset session Thursday, May 15, in which he said: “Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along… We have an obligation to call this what it is – the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.”
CA High Court to Rule on Same-Sex Marriage
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/375705.aspx
CBNNews.com - California's supreme court will rule Thursday on whether the state should legalize same-sex marriage.
What's at stake for the Golden State?
If the supreme court rules in favor of same-sex marriage, the will of the people of California and their preference to have marriage defined as the union of one man and one woman will be overturned.
The state law in question Thursday is the Defense of Marriage Act, Proposition 22.
In 2000, California voters passed Proposition 22 by more than 61 percent. But when San Francisco officials in 2004 allowed gay couples in the city to marry, the Alliance Defense Fund filed suit against the city and county of San Francisco for violating the act.
ADF is urging the state's supreme court to uphold the constitutionality of the act and the will of the people.
"The government should promote and encourage strong families," said Glen Lavy of the Alliance Defense Fund. "The voters realize that defining marriage as one man and one woman is important because the government should not, by design, deny a child both a mother and father."
Gay rights advocates argued the state was violating their civil rights by limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples.
As a result, the city of San Francisco, along with several gay and lesbian couples and gay rights groups, have sued to overturn state laws allowing only marriages between a man and a woman.
If the state justices rule in favor of the plaintiffs, California would become the second state to allow same-sex couples to legally wed. Massachusetts adopted the practice in 2004.
"What happens in California, either way, will have a huge impact around the nation. It will set the tone," said Geoffrey Kors, executive director of the gay rights group Equality California.
Regardless of the ruling, it appears likely that an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court will occur -- the justices have never addressed the question of same-sex marriage.
New 'Narnia' film reflects modern spiritual battle
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/new.narnia.film.reflects.modern.spiritual.battle/18784.htm
The second instalment of CS Lewis’ beloved “Chronicles of Narnia” is about to be released across the US this week and the UK next month, once again exposing moviegoers to the truths of the Christian faith.
“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”, opening in theatres in the UK on June 26, is the follow-up to the 2005 box-office hit “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe”.
In “Prince Caspian”, the Pevensie children – Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy – are magically and mysteriously transported from England back to Narnia to help Caspian regain the throne from his power-hungry uncle, Lord Miraz.
But when the youths return to Narnia, they find that the land and people have greatly changed. While the siblings have only aged a year, 1,300 years have passed in the magical land. The Pevensies find that only a small number of Narnians still believe in the story of Aslan – who has not been seen in centuries, the Stone Table and a time when animals talked.
“We enter a world of skepticism that is very much like our own,” commented Mark Earley, president and CEO of Prison Fellowship Ministry in the US, in a column this week. “Let’s just say that the best-selling books of Miraz’s kingdom could easily have been titled ‘The Aslan Delusion and Aslan is Not Great.’”
The conflict changes this time from a direct good versus evil fight – where Aslan is pitted against the White Witch in the first Narnia story – to a war between followers of the opposing powers. But on a personal level, the characters struggle individually with their faith in the stories about Aslan, including Prince Caspian himself who has never seen the lion.
“Here is something with which Christians today can certainly relate,” Earley observed. “It is one thing to be among the first witnesses who exult in the risen Christ. It is quite another to act out of faith when the stories of His witnesses are so many centuries removed from our world.”
A review by The Associated Press describes “Prince Caspian” as “simultaneously darker and funnier, more substantive and more engaging, more violent and more technically accomplished” than its predecessor.
Although there were some changes to adapt the book’s storyline to the big screen, movie director Andrew Adamson, who made the first Narnia film as well as the wildly successful “Shrek” movies, said he was trying to stay true to the book when he made the film, according to an interview with Christianity Today magazine.
“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” is the second instalment in a seven book series.
Reaffirmation, Reformation, and Repositioning at Heart of 'An Evangelical Manifesto'
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07186.shtml
WASHINGTON, (christiansunite.com) -- "An Evangelical Manifesto" was unveiled earlier today during a press conference at the National Press Club, calling for reaffirmation of identity, reformation of behavior and repositioning in public life among Evangelicals.
"This is not a rebranding or a relabeling issue," said Dr. Os Guinness, author and member of the Manifesto's drafting committee. "'Evangelical' is not a bad brand; the trouble is, we have a bad reality."
Such dynamics prompted a group of theologians and Christian leaders of considerable academic wisdom to carefully draft 'An Evangelical Manifesto.' This three- year effort has sought to reclaim the definition of what it means to be an Evangelical - a term that, in recent years, has often been used politically, culturally, socially - and even as a marketing demographic.
Recognizing that many people outside the movement now doubt that Evangelical is ever positive, and many inside now wonder whether the term any longer serves a useful purpose, they organized a core committee to draft a document that reclaims the term and the calling for both the culture and community of faith. The theological root traces back to the Greek word "euangelion" for 'good news or Gospel.'
In the midst of a volcanic political season, presenters were resolute in stating that this Manifesto is not intended to influence the 2008 race, but rather more appropriately is a result from the aftermath of the 2000 election, when the Values Voter took center stage and became erroneously identified as a voting block.
"We're not speaking to issues," said Dr. John Huffman, Jr., senior pastor of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, Calif., and board chair of Christianity Today International. "We're not here to resolve issues, but rather to stand for the rights of those on the far left and those on the far right, calling for civility."
"Why is this Manifesto needed?" asked David Neff, editor-in-chief and vice president of Christianity Today Media Group and one of the steering committee members. "Because American society has an increasingly new perception of what Evangelicals are. This is an endeavor to set the record straight. As Evangelicals we share a similar determination to serve others in the name of Jesus Christ. But our causes, issues, priorities and methodologies differ even as our core values are quite similar."
The process of identifying drafters and early signers was not in any way meant to be restrictive, but rather born out of relationship according to categories.
"A lot of the people whose names you see here are people who are not as publicly visible, but are absolutely vital in this community's function," said Neff.
In response to how Christians might partner with others professing different faiths or no faiths at all, Neff responded that we need to tell the underlying meaning behind our actions. "If we advocate for the earth, it's because God made it; if we advocate for refugees, it's because Jesus was one; and if we advocate for children, it's because He loved children."
"We have a history of either giving up on the culture or trying to take it over," said Dr. Richard Mouw, president and professor of Christian Philosophy at Fuller Theological Seminary. "Instead, we should do what we are capable of doing for the common good alongside others who have a sincere commitment to the common good. We need to develop a more adequate theology, not impose our will on society."
The Manifesto repudiates the partisans of both a sacred public square that gives preference in public life to one religion, and a naked public square that would make all religious expression inviolably private and keep the public square equally secular.
Mouw cited findings of a recent Barna survey, indicating that the younger generation sees Evangelicals as 'mean-spirited, homophobic and narrow minded.' "This document calls for an Evangelicalism that is gentle and reverent," he said.
Moderator Larry Ross, president of A. Larry Ross Communications, noted that this initiative is not "rewriting the rules of the game, but rather laying the lines down on the field. Individuals can evaluate or recalibrate their own beliefs and behaviors to determine whether the moniker truly fits for them."
He continued, "The document does not become more or less inclusive based on who signed it, because as of today, any- and everyone can sign it. It is not about any name, but Christ."
"Evangelicalism is about renewal, and renewal brings transformation," Neff said. "The key moments in history, such as the abolition of slavery and women's suffrage, were about personal transformation. Evangelicalism is not an ideology. It is not a party. It is a renewal movement that brings transformation."
In addition to Guinness, Huffman, Mouw, Neff and Ross, the steering committee members who were not able to participate or be present include consultant and businessman Richard W. Ohman; Jesse Miranda, distinguished professor and director of the Jesse Miranda Center for Hispanic Leadership, Vanguard University; Dallas Willard, professor, School of Philosophy, University of Southern California; and Timothy George, dean, Beeson Divinity School.
Both the entire Manifesto and an executive summary are available online at www.evangelicalmanifesto.com, and are available for anyone to read, reflect, comment or sign. Also available is a study guide which will provide readers with insight and the biblical and theological underpinnings that shaped the language and direction of the document.
Why some leaders won't sign the Evangelical Manifesto
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/why.some.leaders.wont.sign.the.evangelical.manifesto/18802.htm
Some prominent Christian leaders said this week that they will not sign the statement “An Evangelical Manifesto”, citing vague wording and theological differences.
The manifesto’s definition of evangelical itself was among the top concerns for some leaders who refused to sign the document. The document’s description of evangelicals is “Christians who define themselves, their faith, and their lives according to the Good News of Jesus of Nazareth”.
Several evangelical leaders said that while that definition is true, it is too broad and therefore not a good definition to distinguish who evangelicals are vis-a-vis other Christians.
“Those are wonderful words filled with Christian content, but they are also words that would be claimed by many who would never claim to be evangelicals,” wrote Dr Albert Mohler Jr, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, in his blog this week.
“The definition is just not sufficient,” he said.
Likewise, fellow Southern Baptist leader Dr Richard Land, who heads the denomination’s public policy arm, also found the manifesto’s evangelical definition lacking in specificity.
The conservative leaders also questioned why the document left room for inclusivism or universalism. In the manifesto, drafters said there are several beliefs they "consider to be at the heart of the message of Jesus and therefore foundational for us".
Both Land and Mohler questioned why the drafters did not just end at "foundational" but added "for us". That leaves leeway for people who believe there is more than one way to be saved besides belief in the Lord Jesus Christ to be considered evangelicals, the Baptist leaders argued.
“This is one of the most crucial questions for evangelical identity,” Mohler emphasised, questioning if all the signatories affirm that sinners must believe in Jesus Christ to be saved.
Land, who is president of the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, stated that he fully agrees with at least 90 per cent of what the manifesto says but expressed wholehearted disagreement with one statement:
"In our scales, spiritual, moral, and social power are as important as political power...."
“I must disagree, and wholeheartedly so,” said Land, according to the Baptist Press. “I can't believe that this is what the Manifesto's authors intended to say, but it is what they said. Spiritual power is, and always will be, more important than political power, however noble its motives and causes."
Still, both leaders praised the manifesto for trying to be a prophetic voice and steering the evangelical movement to refocus on its theological roots.
Mohler praised the document for its analysis of the cultural crisis and for challenging Christians and the integrity of Christian faith.
But both leaders in the end decided against signing the document.
Another evangelical heavyweight who did not sign the document was Dr James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family. Gary Schneeberger, a spokesman for Dobson, said the board agreed that Dobson should not sign the manifesto “due to myriad concerns about the effort”, according to The Associated Press.
"One of the things that disappointed Dr Dobson was that when the manifesto was initially circulated, no African-American pastors or theologians were on the invite list," Schneeberger said. "His thinking was, 'How can this purport to represent the voice of evangelicals when people so vital to who we are as a movement are excluded from involvement?'"
Schneeberger did not say what else in the manifest disappointed Dobson.
Other well-known leaders who did not sign the evangelical manifesto for various reasons include evangelist Billy Graham, Tony Perkins of Family Research Council, Bishop Harry R Jackson Jr of the High Impact Leadership Coalition.
“An Evangelical Manifesto” was released in Washington DC last Wednesday in hopes of redefining the movement’s image as theological, rather than political or social, as it has been painted in the media in recent years.
Supporters also declared that the document’s purpose is to call members of the movement to reform their behaviour and rededicate themselves to being followers of Jesus Christ.
The manifesto’s steering committee included Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary; Os Guinness, co-founder of The Trinity Forum; and David Neff, vice president and editor in chief of Christianity Today magazine, among others.
New Executive Publisher Takes 30-Year-Old Publishing House Back to its Roots
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07188.shtml
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., (christiansunite.com) -- Everything old is new again at NavPress, the publishing arm of The Navigators. Over its 30-year history NavPress has had its share of ups and downs in the modern world of publishing.
"As with most organizations that have been around for a while, there comes a time when you need to get back to your core and re-discover what it is that makes you unique," says Mike Miller, the new Executive Publisher with NavPress. "Moving forward, there will be significant changes in the way we do publishing."
Miller brings a wealth of experience outside of publishing to his new position at NavPress. The former Baptist minister and LifeWay executive was one of the founders of GodTube, the Christian alternative to the wildly popular Internet site YouTube.
When asked what brought Mike to NavPress, he answers without hesitation. "It's because of the 75- year history and heritage of The Navigators. The Navigators are known for being a people who have been transformed by the Gospel of Jesus and carry in their hearts the passion for life transformation. The NavPress brand is highly regarded and respected throughout the world for publishing the spiritual- formation, life-altering messages of The Navigators," says Miller.
The ministry of The Navigators began in the 1930s through the call of God to a young Californian, Dawson Trotman. Trotman's vision was to teach to others, one-on-one, the biblical principles of discipleship he found beneficial in his own life. He began to teach high school students and local Sunday school classes. In 1933 he and his friends extended their work to reach out to sailors in the U.S. Navy. >From there Trotman met and established a partnership with the then up-and-coming preacher/evangelist, Billy Graham.
"The rest is history. The Navigators' influence is everywhere," Miller observes. "Many of the largest and most well-known faith-based organizations throughout the world have been seeded by the ministry of The Navigators. Other publishers are stand-alone and not connected to anything," Miller continues. "At NavPress we are first and foremost Navigators." Miller is the first Executive Publisher at NavPress to sit on The Navigators National Leadership Team.
"We must be intentional about distributing culturally relevant, biblically based materials that engage individuals wherever they are on their journey toward God," Miller concludes. "We will get back to our roots and be who we are--a mission based, servant publisher."
MIKE MILLER earned a B.A. from Oklahoma Baptist University, an M.B.A. from Dallas Baptist University, an M.D.I.V. from Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX, and a D.M.I.N. from Talbot Theological Seminary in Los Angeles, CA. He has been the youth minister for Dickson Baptist Church, Choctaw, Oklahoma; the Associate Pastor of New Hope Baptist Church, Mansfield Texas; the Founding Co-Pastor of Valley Baptist Church in Bakersfield California; and the Executive Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas,Texas.
As a businessman Miller served as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at LifeWay Church Resources and was a founding partner and chief marketing officer for GodTube.com prior to coming to NavPress.
U.S. Tells Venezuela to Explain Ties to FARC Rebels
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/Venezuela_farc/2008/05/15/96213.html
The United States accused unnamed members of Venezuela's left-wing government on Wednesday of conspiring against neighboring Colombia by supporting Marxist guerrillas.
Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon, the top U.S. diplomat for Latin America, said files discovered on a rebel chief's computer in March contained "troubling" evidence about ties between some Venezuelan officials and guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
"It will either have to commit itself to using its relationship with the FARC to promote peace or it will have to explain why members of its government are conspiring against a democratic neighbor," Shannon said in a speech in California.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a fierce critic of U.S. policies, has dismissed claims that his government is providing support to Colombian FARC rebels as part of a smear campaign.
He has clashed repeatedly with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, a conservative and Washington's closest ally in Latin America, and has called for foreign governments to give more political recognition of the FARC.
U.S. and EU officials label the FARC a terrorist group.
The laptop computer files were found after Colombian forces raided inside Ecuador to kill a top FARC commander at his camp across the border. Colombia says documentation in the laptops shows evidence of rebel ties to both Venezuela and Ecuador.
The raid sparked a regional crisis when briefly raised fears of war when Chavez threatened to send troops to the border with Colombia.
Chavez and Ecuador's President Rafael Correa claim Colombia is using the files as an excuse to attack both countries.
Interpol was called in to investigate whether the files were tampered after they were seized, and is expected to release the results of its probe on Thursday.
Washington has often labeled Chavez as a threat to regional stability. The Venezuelan leader says the White House wants to topple him as he seeks to counter U.S. free trade and foreign policies in Latin America with a call for socialist ideas.
Chavez won a diplomatic victory by persuading FARC rebels to free six of its hostages from jungle camps early this year and he said on Wednesday he would renew efforts to win more releases.
The most prominent hostage is French-Colombian citizen Ingrid Betancourt, a former presidential candidate in Colombia.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has made her release after years in rebel camps a top foreign policy objective, and he believes Chavez is the best hope to win her freedom.
"I just this minute told Sarkozy that we will keep trying to make contact with the FARC to try and rebuild the road to liberation, to a humanitarian agreement and peace in Colombia," Chavez said on state television on Wednesday.
Uribe has always been wary of Chavez's involvement in hostage talks, and formally removed him from the process last year. The FARC later released several hostages to Chavez as a gesture of good will.
Chavez Tells Colombia Building U.S. Military Base On Border Would Be Act of 'Aggression'
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,355819,00.html
CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday warned Colombia not to allow a U.S. military base on its border with Venezuela, saying he would consider such an act an "aggression."
Chavez said he would not permit Colombia's U.S.-backed government to establish an American military base in La Guajira, a region spanning northeastern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela.
The Venezuelan leader said if Colombia allows the base, his government will revive a decades-old territorial conflict and stake a claim to the entire region.
"We will not allow the Colombian government to give La Guajira to the empire," Chavez said, referring to the U.S. during a speech to a packed auditorium of uniformed soldiers. "Colombia is launching a threat of war at us."
He said Washington's top diplomat in Bogota, U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield, recently suggested that a U.S. military base in Ecuador could be moved to La Guajira.
Chavez urged his Colombian counterpart, Alvaro Uribe, to "think it over well" before making such a decision because Venezuela will do "whatever it takes" to ensure that a U.S. military base is not built on the peninsula in the Caribbean Sea.
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa — a close Chavez ally — has repeatedly said that he will not renew a 10-year lease on the base in the Pacific port of Manta when it expires next year.
Manta is the United States' only military base in South America. Surveillance flights the U.S. runs from there are responsible for about 60 percent of drug interdiction in the eastern Pacific.
Diplomatic relations between Caracas and Bogota have been rocky for months. They worsened last week when Colombia unveiled documents allegedly showing that Chavez sought to arm and finance Colombian rebels. Chavez denies the claim.
Colombian officials say they found the documents in laptops recovered after a March 1 cross-border raid in Ecuador that killed rebel leader Raul Reyes and 24 other people.
International police agency Interpol is analyzing the documents and plans to present its findings on Thursday in Bogota.
"The Colombian government will surely announce tomorrow that the documents retrieved from Raul Reyes' computer are authentic and, therefore, Chavez supports terrorism," Chavez said.
Chavez — an outspoken critic of U.S. foreign policy in Latin America — said Washington is using Uribe as pawn in a plan aimed at portraying Venezuela as a backer of terrorism.
Chavez denies supporting the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, saying he only seeks a peaceful end to the neighboring country's decades-long armed conflict.
The European Union joined the United States in listing the FARC — Latin America's largest rebel force with roughly 14,000 fighters — as a terrorist group in 2002, outlawing economic support for the guerrillas.
Latin American, European Leaders Gather for Summit
http://www.newsmax.com/international/latam_eu/2008/05/15/96195.html
LIMA, Peru -- European and Latin American leaders gathering for their fifth summit in a decade this week plan to tackle climate change, high food prices and poverty.
But they may get sidetracked by an issue not on the agenda: Colombia's raid on a rebel camp inside Ecuador earlier this spring.
The meeting is set to begin Friday, the day after Interpol announces the results of an investigation into allegations that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa collaborated with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
Chavez, Correa and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe are all expected to attend the Lima-based summit of nearly 60 leaders and top officials from Latin America, Europe and the Caribbean.
Colombia says it found documents pointing to a connection between the two leftist presidents and the FARC on laptops belonging to FARC leader Raul Reyes, who was killed in the March 1 cross-border raid.
Both Chavez and Correa deny the claims. Correa even cast doubt on the authenticity of the computers, suggesting they may have been planted by the Colombians.
The raid prompted Correa to sever diplomatic relations with Uribe's government. In a European tour this week, Correa said he would consider restoring ties only if Uribe halts "Colombia's verbal aggression."
"They already assaulted us with bombs," he said. "Now they're assaulting us with words."
Ricardo Vega Llona, who organized this week's event for the Peruvian government, said public displays of anger _ such as when King Juan Carlos of Spain told Chavez to "shut up" at a Chilean summit six months ago _ are unlikely this time around since the meeting's working sessions will be private.
That could bode well for progress on the summit's stated goals to fight poverty _ a top priority of the Latin American and Caribbean nations _ and slow global warming, a key interest of the Europeans.
"We want to make Latin America a trustworthy ally in the struggle against global warming," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Wednesday after meeting with Peruvian President Alan Garcia.
The commission plans to announce EuroClima, a $7.7 million fund for Latin American projects aimed at stemming climate change.
Garcia and other Latin American leaders are expected to raise the issue of soaring food prices and their impact on efforts to reduce poverty.
"We have to turn our eyes to food production and leave aside or regulate this change in the use of land to produce ethanol, which is causing great world damage," Garcia said in an interview published Tuesday.
Biofuel production should not come at the expense of the environment, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned as she began a Latin America tour Wednesday in Brazil, the planet's chief ethanol exporter. Some worry that increased farming of biofuels threatens the Amazon.
Merkel and Chavez were likely to be in the summit spotlight after a recent testy exchange.
In an interview earlier this month, Merkel said Chavez does not speak for all of Latin America.
The Venezuelan president responded Sunday by describing Merkel's conservative party as "the same right wing that supported Hitler and fascism."
Asked on Wednesday about Chavez's comment, Merkel did not respond directly.
"I think that what is important is to strengthen the strategic partnership with Latin America as a whole," she said. "And everyone who makes a contribution to that is wholeheartedly welcome."
Ecumen expands SMS prayer alert service
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/ecumen.expands.sms.prayer.alert.service/18805.htm
Last year Ecumen brought the Bible to mobile phones. Now the Welsh company is launching a new service that will help Christians stay up to date with the latest prayer needs.
In partnership with Welsh Christian charity, Prayer in Action, Ecumen has developed a service to facilitate text prayer alerts to hundreds of thousands of Christians in the UK.
About 60,000 Christians will be offered this service initially. Made up of existing Prayer in Action supporters and Ecumen customers, it is anticipated that this figure could mushroom in the next couple of years.
The service will harness the prayer efforts of tens of thousands of people on issues of particular concern to Christians, such as terrorism, homelessness, euthanasia and the credit crunch.
Erik Fok, Ecumen's Head of Sales and Marketing said: "Within the next two to three years, this service will be offered to about 500,000 Christians. With a world in turmoil, it's amazing to think that we could soon have half a million people in the UK alone, joining in focussed prayer on an issue of national concern. This will be a force for positive change in our nation."
Carl Brettle, Chief Executive Officer of Prayer in Action said: "In a world of uncertainty it's great to know that the Prayer in Action mobile texting service will be able instantly to mobilise thousands of people to pray into the key issues that face society today.
"With over 90% of the UK owning a mobile phone, gone are the days when we have to wait for a letter to arrive or an email to be opened. The Prayer Mobile text service pulls together one of the oldest traditions known to mankind with one of the newest most prevalent technologies available. Prayer is only a text away."
For further information on the service visit the website www.prayerinaction.mobi
Medieval church re-emerges as Spain ships in water
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/medieval.church.reemerges.as.spain.ships.in.water/18765.htm
Perhaps the most striking image of Spain's drought, so severe it has forced Barcelona to ship in water, has been that of the underwater church which emerged from a drying dam.
For most of the past four decades, all that has been visible of the village of Sant Roma has been the belltower of its stone church, peeping above the water beside forested hills from a valley flooded in the 1960s to provide water for the Catalonia region.
This year, receding waters have exposed the 11th-century church completely, attracting crowds of tourists who stand gazing around it on the dusty bed of the reservoir.
Neighbouring Vilanova de Sau is enjoying a tourist boom, its mayor Joan Riera says.
"Every time it's on television, a whole lot of people come," Riera told Reuters by telephone, adding that this was all very well but it had made it impossible to find a table in the town's restaurants: "They all want to eat at the same time."
Drying dams are causing problems still more serious in Barcelona, the region's glamorous capital, which has had to charter ships to bring in drinking water.
After proverbial April showers, reservoirs are now about 25 percent full but will have to provide for a hot, dry summer, so emergency measures may only have been delayed.
For now, the short-term outlook is tolerable. But officials said that without shipped water and a campaign to cut water waste, the city could face its first cut in domestic water supplies since 1953.
"If it doesn't rain and if we hadn't implemented solutions, then Barcelona would be facing supply cuts. But the signs are that work in progress and management measures will work perfectly," said city council environment manager Jordi Campillo.
MORE FREQUENT DROUGHTS?
The tanker vessel Sichem Defender docked at Barcelona on May 13 carrying 19,000 tonnes of water from the southern Catalan town of Tarragona: overall, ships will provide 6 per cent of the drinking water for 5.5 million people over the summer, as authorities bring in 10 boatloads from Tarragona, Marseille, and a desalination plant in southern Spain.
The total cost is estimated at 40 million euros ($61.96 million), including 32.5 million for port infrastructure to handle the water.
Ships are a stopgap solution, and while they will quench citizens' thirst for a few months, authorities fear increasingly frequent drought around the Mediterranean might require more permanent measures.
A hosepipe ban has been in force for months in Spain's second city, fountains have been dry and arguments have broken out with other regions over how to share out increasingly scarce water.
The regions of Valencia and Murcia have threatened to complain to the Constitutional Court about a controversial 180 million euro pipeline from the river Ebro delta, due to supply Barcelona from October.
"It's an emergency measure to give drinking water to five million people who might not have it in a few months," said Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Maria Fernandez de la Vega.
A longer-term answer will be a desalination plant, billed as the biggest in the European Union, under construction on the outskirts of Barcelona and due on stream in May 2009.
The plant is just one of several planned or being built in Spain, which will be needed to offset the impact of global warming in coming years in the Mediterranean region, water experts say.
"It was already very important when it was planned but now, with the urgent drought, it has become indispensable," said Tomas Azurra, chief engineer at the plant at the estuary of the Llobregat river.
The plant, which is 75-percent funded by the EU, is being built by a consortium including water firm Agbar and Dragados, part of construction firm FCC. It will supply 20 percent of Barcelona's water.
MORE EFFICIENT
Stephanie Blenckner of the Stockholm International Water Institute said desalination plants were costly but affordable to European countries, and preferable to permanently diverting water from rivers such as the Ebro.
She added that countries like Spain needed to capture more rainwater in future, as climate change would exacerbate alternating periods of drought and heavy rain.
"The rain is the biggest resource we have and we can dispose of it all year round if we have sensible storage opportunities," Blenckner said.
She also predicted increasing tensions due to demand for water from the tourism industry, which accounts for about 11 per cent of Spain's economy.
"Water will be essential for tourism and that will sharpen up social consequences, as it already has done in places like Morocco and Egypt," Blenckner said.
The World Bank said in April declining water quality has already knocked around 1 per cent off gross domestic product in Morocco, Algeria and Egypt and almost 3 per cent in Iran.
Vatican Astronomer: Aliens Could Exist
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/375267.aspx
CBNNews.com - The Vatican's top astronomer says aliens could exist, and that they may have "remained in full friendship" with God.
In a recent interview, the Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, head of the Vatican Observatory, said believing in extraterrestrials does not contradict faith in God.
"Just as a multiplicity of creatures exists on the Earth, so there could be other creatures, even intelligent ones, created by God," he said. "This does not conflict with our faith, because we cannot set limits on the creative liberty of God."
Funes added that these creatures may have never sinned, and thus, do not need salvation through Christianity.
"They may have remained in full friendship with their Creator," he said.
The Argentine Jesuit was quoted in the May 14 edition of the official Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano. The article was titled "The extraterrestrial is my brother."
In the interview, Funes also hinted that extraterrestrial life aligned with the Catholic faith.
"Just as we consider earthly creatures as 'a brother,' and 'sister,' why should we not talk about an 'extraterrestrial brother'? It would still be part of creation," he said.
The Vatican observatory has been trying recently to bridge the gap between religion and science. Funes said he believed that the debate between the two could be improved if one learned more about the background of the other.
"As an astronomer, I continue to believe that God is the creator of the universe and that we are not the product of something casual, but children of a good father who has a project of love in mind for us," he said.
Pope Benedict XVI appointed Funes in 2006 to replace Rev. George Coyne, who had outwardly opposed the idea of intelligent design.
Vatican scientist says belief in God and aliens is OK
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/vatican.scientist.says.belief.in.god.and.aliens.is.ok/18803.htm
The Vatican's chief astronomer says there is no conflict between believing in God and in the possibility of "extraterrestrial brothers" perhaps more evolved than humans.
"In my opinion this possibility (of life on other planets) exists," said Rev Jose Gabriel Funes, a 45-year-old Jesuit priest who is head of the Vatican Observatory and a scientific adviser to Pope Benedict.
"How can we exclude that life has developed elsewhere," he told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano in an interview in its Tuesday-Wednesday edition, explaining that the large number of galaxies with their own planets made this possible.
Asked if he was referring to beings similar to humans or even more evolved than humans, he said: "Certainly, in a universe this big you can't exclude this hypothesis".
In the interview headlined "The extraterrestrial is my brother", he said he saw no conflict between belief in such beings and faith in God.
"Just as there is a multiplicity of creatures on earth, there can be other beings, even intelligent, created by God. This is not in contrast with our faith because we can't put limits on God's creative freedom," he said.
"Why can't we speak of a 'brother extraterrestrial'? It would still be part of creation," he said.
Funes, who runs the observatory which is based south of Rome and in Arizona, held out the possibility that the human race might actually be the "lost sheep" of the universe.
"There could be (other beings) who remained in full friendship with their creator," he said.
THE 'BIG BANG'?
Christians have sometimes been at odds with scientists over whether the Bible should be read literally and issues such as creationism versus evolution have been hotly debated for decades.
The Inquisition condemned astronomer Galileo in the 17th century for insisting that the earth revolved around the sun. The Catholic Church did not rehabilitate him until 1992.
Funes said dialogue between faith and science could be improved if scientists learned more about the Bible and the Church kept more up to date with scientific progress.
Funes, an Argentine, said he believed as an astronomer that the most likely explanation for the start of the universe was "the big bang", the theory that it sprang into existence from dense matter billions of years ago.
But he said this was not in conflict with faith in God as a creator. "God is the creator. There is a sense to creation. We are not children of an accident ...," he said.
"As an astronomer, I continue to believe that God is the creator of the universe and that we are not the product of something casual but children of a good father who has a project of love in mind for us," he said.
Heavenly Man: ‘Europe is going to be raised from the dead’
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/heavenly.man.europe.is.going.to.be.raised.from.the.dead/18799.htm
“Europe does not need any brilliant preachers or any more teachers of the Word. There is an abundance of these people available. What Europe needs is that there will be people who will stand at the gap on behalf of the nations and pray in tears and repent on behalf of the land. That’s why I believe that Europe is going to be raised from spiritual death.”
These were the words of Brother Yun, the persecuted Chinese pastor at the heart of autobiography “The Heavenly Man”, to a packed conference room at the Christian Resources Exhibition on Wednesday.
“When I stepped from my airplane and landed in this country my prayer was immediately, ‘God may Your Kingdom come again upon this nation and may Your will be done in this nation and in the lives of the believers of this nation as it is in heaven,’” he told the audience.
The Heavenly Man documents Brother Yun’s miraculous escape from the Zhengzhou maximum security prison in 1997, when the Lord told him to walk out of the prison, and upon obeying, he discovered each door open for him, including the main prison gate. He is believed to be the only inmate to have ever escaped from the prison.
He shared his experience: “Jesus walked into my solitary cell and He said, ‘Brother Yun stand up and walk out…I was so frightened and I said, ‘Jesus this is a top security prison, I have a lot of experience about prisons!’ But when Jesus takes action it is faster than your own thoughts. Immediately Jesus said to me, ‘Your prison is real but I am alive and I am the truth.’”
Brother Yun’s second book, “Living Water” is a collection of the messages he has preached around the world in church meetings, conferences, and during radio and television appearances.
“It brings a challenge to Western Christianity to return to discipleship and truly be disciples of Jesus. To be a believer of Jesus is the world’s simplest thing. Just believe in Jesus and you will receive eternal life. But if you want to follow Jesus as His disciple you have to get ready to pay a high price for that obedience,” he said.
“[You will] receive a lot of opposition, pressure, misunderstandings, complaints and pain into your life. Still, how many of you want to follow Jesus and carry your cross? That is the opportunity for transformation for our nation. It comes from here.”
In 2001, after years of persecution, arrests and numerous spates in prison for his faith, Brother Yun took asylum in Germany, where he continues his ministry. He likened his early years to being in a different kind of prison.
“When I came to this prison it was really hard for me to survive. I don’t know where I got the idea that God’s most powerful church is in the West, because they are the ones who sent the missionaries and the Word of God to my nation.”
Choking back tears, he continued, “When I went to the big cathedrals in Germany on Sunday morning I was surprised, such huge big buildings and only four, five, maximum ten people on Sunday morning worshipping God.
“I didn’t understand a word they were saying at the church but I understood the need. I said, ‘God have mercy upon this nation, Lord do something in this nation.’
He told of how he went to the main railway station and started to shout aloud, calling God’s mercy upon Germany.
“Sometimes I was on my knees in tears shouting, ‘God have mercy and compassion upon this nation, Lord give once again your glory upon this nation, send the presence of Your Kingdom upon this nation.’ I was in tears, so many tears on behalf of Europe and the nation of Germany…The Western world is filled with different kinds of prisoners.”
He exhorted European Christians to go beyond lukewarm Christianity and become streams of living water.
“We visited [Europe’s] empty churches and the churches were having an internal meeting together but the river was not flowing out of the church and I became really worried and concerned in my spirit,” he told.
“And I was speaking in conferences and meetings with tens of thousands of people that were so crowded but there was not even a word that challenged about missions and going out and bringing the world to salvation.
“So once again the Lord started to challenge me and said you have to preach out the message about how to bring the church out from the lukewarm Christianity to become true disciples of Christ.”
He said, however, that European church leaders have lost hope in revival.
“Europe is going to be raised from the dead but many of these leaders can’t believe that. They are shaking their heads.”
He continued: “There is a great need of one thing at the church in Europe. Everything except the presence of the living water and the possibility for the living water to run out of the church – that is the only thing missing from the church.”
“Your church may be the wealthiest church but when God is looking at that church God is saying you are poor, you are naked, you are sick. And I think God is going to call smaller groups of people who start to repent in tears and pray and ask God to have mercy upon our nation and mercy upon our city and they will bring the Kingdom presence back upon that society.”
Brother Yun challenged Europe’s Christians not to remain lying at the pool of Bethesda like the paralysed man for 38 years.
“Jesus is the source of living water. You are still lying there,” he told the audience.
“You have to receive the same faith as the blind man at the Gate of Jericho who cried out, ‘Son of David have mercy on me,’ or the woman who came behind Jesus and touched His cloak and her life was totally changed.
“Your need is to get hold of Jesus, not to get hold of any famous pastor or anybody else. You need Jesus.
“And if a new generation of believers rise in this nation who say we only want to get hold of Jesus, we need Jesus, that is the beginning of resurrection for this country.”
He concluded with the assurance that Europe was on the cusp of revival.
“I see very clearly Europe is going to be raised from the dead and is going to break out a revival. As I have been travelling around Europe and visiting the different denominations and churches I have understood that there is a time right now when the compassion of the Lord is coming upon Europe.
“We need this stream of living water to come into our midst and bring change. Do you have this desire and prayer in your life: ‘May I become one of those who are flooding out the river of god, make my church to be the one where the stream of living water is flooding to the needs of the world.
“Jesus is unchanged. He still says if somebody is thirsty come to Me and drink and anyone who believes in Me as Scriptures say, streams of living water will flow from within them.”
Brussels outlines plan for new Mediterranean club
http://euobserver.com/9/26129
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission has begun to look at the possible set-up for the planned Mediterranean union by trying to breathe life into current bilateral relations between the EU and Mediterranean countries while avoiding an unwieldy new political organisation.
An internal paper discussed last week in EU commissioners' cabinets, suggests the new relationship has to be a "multilateral partnership" and "encompass all member states of the European Union."
It suggests summits at head of state and government level twice a year with the first official one to take place in Paris on 13 July, when France has the EU presidency.
This maiden summit is to formally create the "Barcelona Process - A Union for the Mediterranean" and establish the union's "structures and principle goals."
The summit's conclusions should include "a political declaration" and a short list of "concrete projects to be put in place" all of which should be agreed by consensus.
The careful wording as well as the cumbersome title for the EU-Mediterranean relationship reflects its controversial beginnings when, as the brainchild of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, it was foreseen as a more exclusive club, but which would still use EU money for funding.
This proposal, made during Mr Sarkozy's presidential campaign and seen as a way of wrapping Turkey up in a political structure that would keep it away from the EU, managed to offend several member states including Germany.
Eventually, EU leaders in March agreed to a softer all-inclusive version with less bite and Turkey, once it received assurances that it would not be seen as an alternative to EU membership, agreed to take part.
New secretariat
The Union for the Mediterranean which envisages working on a series of issues that affect both the EU and these southern countries including immigration, security and environment issues, is to have a co-presidency and a new secretariat.
The EU would be represented by the EU foreign policy chief and the president of the commission and of the European Council, while Mediterranean countries would have to choose their side by consensus. The co-president would have a mandate of two years.
The paper remains unclear about whether the secretariat should have limited powers, in charge only of following up on decisions made by the summit leaders or if it be something enlarged to every day "governance" of the Union for the Mediterranean.
The new set-up is supposed to include all countries involved in the current Barcelona Process – Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Palestinian Authority, Israel, Libya, Syria, Turkey and Albania – as well as other Mediterranean states – Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Monaco.
It would revamp the current 12-year old Barcelona process which is designed to foster dialogue between the two sides but has become rather stale.
The commission paper suggests that any added value that the new-set-up is to have will depend on its capacity to attract money from the private sector for regional projects. It also suggests bilateral cooperation between certain countries and international financial institutions as further sources of funds.
The commission is soon to present its ideas on the Union for the Mediterranean to member states and the European Parliament. The project will then be formally discussed by EU leaders at a Brussels summit next month.
Analysis: Bush and his Mideast footpath
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1210668628919&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
What a difference eight years makes.
US President George W. Bush, who came into the Oval Office highly critical of his predecessor's super-involvement in the Arab-Israeli conflict, is on his way out of office up to his eyeballs in the details of that same conflict.
How ironic it is that Bush has representatives here talking about which dirt barriers need to be moved from which West Bank dirt roads; the same Bush who criticized president Bill Clinton and his staff for their immersion in the minutiae of the conflict.
"Take the Middle East seriously, because that's the center of - that's the place where people get so despondent and despair that they're willing to come and take lives of US citizens," Bush said in an interview on Monday with Al-Arabiya television, summing up advice he would give his successor.
And that type of advice is a 180-degree turn from where he was at the beginning of his tenure.
But Bush is trying to do more for his successor than simply dispense advice. On his second trip to Israel in five months, after not coming here once during his first seven years, the US president is trying to carve out a Middle East footpath for his successor. The next American leader may not choose to walk down that path - just as Bush chose to forge his own way in the region, independent of what Clinton did - but he wants that footpath in place.
Hence the importance he attributes to coming up with a "shelf agreement" between Israel and the Palestinian Authority before he leaves office; hence the importance he attributes to Gen. James Jones's efforts to chart the security needs of Israel and the region.
Bush is well aware of the instinct of new presidents, especially those coming from other parties, to view much of what their predecessors did as useless, and set out to change it. Bush himself was accused in his early years in office of adopting what one New York Times writer pithily termed an "ABC policy" - Anything But Clinton - or, more precisely, a policy of doing everything differently from the way Bill Clinton did.
A shelf agreement with the PA that would set out in detail the parameters of a future Palestinian state would, to a large degree, set an irrevocable policy course that even an administration hell-bent on reversing Bush policies would have a tough time touching.
Bush is also well aware from his experience that whoever takes over in the Oval Office will have a rather steep learning curve. There will be an instinct, an instinct he himself had, to toss out everything that came before and say "I can do it better." But it will take time for the next president to rediscover the Middle East wheel, and it is that gap which the shelf agreement would fill.
Another indication that Bush is interested in leaving stepping stones for his successor is the work being done - very much under the radar screen - by Jones.
Jones, who has kept a nearly invisible profile here since being appointed US special security envoy in November, is quietly and busily surveying the security landscape of the region, with the hope - according to Israeli officials - of preparing a paper to document what the US sees as Israel's true security needs.
This type of documentation - a bottom line of America's view of Israel's security needs - could be critical in any future Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, because if Israel at a certain point said that it would be unable to move from a certain area, or to take certain steps, any future American administration could go to the Jones document for a "ruling" on whether this was a legitimate fear, or just an "Israeli excuse."
"I'm not running for the Nobel Peace Prize," Bush told The Jerusalem Post, trying to dispel the notion that his full-court press here now was an attempt to secure a lasting positive legacy for himself. "I'm just trying to be a guy to use the influence of the United States to move the process along."
And also, of course, a guy trying to set a clear and irreversible direction for whoever follows him into the White House.
President Bush says America is proud to be Israel’s ally
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5271
Addressing a special Knesset session marking Israel’s 60th anniversary, Thursday, May 15, US President George W. Bush declared: America stands with you in firmly opposing Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions. “It would be an unforgivable betrayal of future generations,” he said, to let Tehran acquire atomic arms.
Washington sees Israel as one of its partners in the fight against “extremists including Hamas, Hizballah and al Qaeda, as well as its efforts to deal with Iran’s nuclear ambitions.”
Bush challenged the argument that “if the United States would just break ties with Israel, all our problems in the Middle East would go away,” by saying: “America rejects this utterly. Israel’s population may be just over 7 million, but when you confront terror and evil, you are 307 million strong because America stands with you.”
“Massada will not fall again,” said Bush after touring the national shrine at Massada, the desert fortress where 960 Jews men, women and children took their own lives rather than surrender to Roman forces.
The Knesset seats and gallery were packed for the special session.
The US president referred to his vision of a Palestinian state by predicting that in 60 years, Israel will celebrate its 120th anniversary "as one of the world's great democracies" and the Palestinians "will have the homeland they have long dreamed of and deserved".
Arab lawmakers were removed when they displayed placards representing Arab children killed in Gaza and Iraq.
Opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu said in his speech that negotiators of a settlement with the Palestinians must not forget that the purpose of peace is to strengthen Israel’s security, not weaken it. Two nationalist lawmakers walked out when prime minister Olmert said that the Bush two-state vision would be approved by a large Knesset majority.
Jew Hatred: Jihadists Take Cues from Nazis?
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/375070.aspx
CBNNews.com - 1945. The end of Nazi Germany and the so-called "Final Solution," the Nazi program to exterminate the Jews. But was it the end? A German professor says that the spirit of the Final Solution did not die with the Nazi regime, but was passed to Israel's enemies in the Middle East.
"Yes. Absolutely," says Matthias Küntzel, author of Jihad and Jew Hatred: Islamism, Nazism and the Roots of 9/11. Himself the son of former Nazi supporters, Küntzel is a professor of political science in Hamburg, Germany.
Arbitrary Killing of Jews
He says of Israel's enemies today: "They're not the Nazis. It's not the same, and Auschwitz was a singular crime. There are no gas chambers and stuff like this. But you can say the ideology of the Nazis is still alive and you see it by the arbitrary killing of Jews."
Küntzel says the starting point in tracing Nazism to radical Islam "was, of course, Auschwitz, because I am German, and so I had to study, how could this happen?"
But Küntzel found himself asking the same question again after 9/11, and he knew immediately that part of the answer was Nazi ideology. He knew that Hitler had dreamed of destroying New York because it was Jewish -- the same view, according to German court records, of 9/11 leader Mohammed Atta.
"When I saw the 9/11 event on television in Germany, it was not difficult for me to see the fingerprints of anti-Semitism even in this event," he said.
Muslim Authority an Admirer of Nazis
One of the men most responsible for bringing Nazi style anti-Semitism to the Middle East was the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, the highest Muslim authority in Palestine and an ardent admirer of the Nazis.
A close friend of SS Chief Heinrich Himmler, the Mufti spent World War II in Berlin. He helped oversee a German shortwave broadcast to the Middle East called Radio Zeesen, which tried to win Arabs and Muslims over to the Nazi cause.
"Every evening there was this kind of anti-Semitic propaganda in order to influence the mindset of the Arabs. And it was sent not only in Arabic language but also in Persian language and Turkish language." Küntzel said.
A faithful listener to the anti-Semitic Persian language programs on Radio Zeesen was a young Ayatollah Khomeini, who would later turn Iran into a Muslim theocracy, which today seeks the destruction of Israel.
Nazis Financed Muslim Brotherhood
The Nazi's also gave money to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. According to Küntzel, "Nazi Germany put all its weight behind the Muslim Brotherhood, in order to support them, in order to strengthen them, in order to get the anti-Jewish message spread in the Arab world. And therefore, they helped them a lot, like a big brother."
The Muslim Brotherhood distributed Arabic translations of Mein Kampf. And it is the parent of Muslim terrorist groups like the PLO, Hezbollah, Hamas and al Qaeda.
Nazism was also the model for secular nationalists in Syria, Iraq and Egypt. Egyptian Presidents Gamal Abdel Asser and Anwar Sadat were both young members of the fascist, anti-Semitic Green Shirt movement.
"The green shirt movement in Egypt was pro-Nazi. They had the Nazi salute," Küntzel said.
Final Solution to Palestine
In Berlin, the Mufti hoped to bring the Nazi's Final Solution to Palestine, and was personally responsible for persuading the Nazis not to free 5,000 Jewish children toward the end of the war. The children were sent to death camps instead.
After the war, the Mufti faced charges of war crimes, but the Allies feared angering the Arabs, and allowed him to return to the Middle East, where he lived until 1974. Before he died, he handpicked as his successor to lead the Palestinians, a family relative named Yasser Arafat.
"The Mufti thought that Arafat would be the right guy to lead the Palestinian movement," Küntzel said.
Küntzel says parts of Islam were always anti-Semitic, or anti-Jewish. But he says what the Nazi's did export to the Middle East was the view that the world will not be truly liberated until the Jews are dead.
"If you want to kill any Jew, you go with a suicide belt in the middle of the city, and every victim is a good victim because it's a Jew. This is a Nazi mindset," Küntzel said. "And if you shoot the rockets, nobody knows who will get killed, but if it's a Jew, it's always good. It does not matter who he was, what he thinks about politics, what he did in his life. If it's a Jew, he or she has to be killed," he added.
'Jews Controlled America'
The Nazis believed Jews controlled America. Osama bin Laden says the same thing. Portions of the charter of the Palestinian terror group Hamas read like Mein Kampf, essentially blaming the Jews for everything evil.
"In former times, every Jew was considered to be evil. But now, with modern anti-Semitism, every evil was deemed to be Jewish. Muslims believed Jews were 'losers', according to Koran. The Germans exported the view of Jews as controlling the world. Therefore, now to liberate the world, you have to get rid of the Jews," Küntzel said.
Israel now watches as Iran seeks a bomb it can use to erase the Jewish state in order to create what it believes will be a better world. It's something Hitler could have only dreamed of.
Exclusive: Palestinians fire more rockets Thursday – one aimed at Netivot
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5270
The Grad (Katyusha) rocket was aimed at the town of Netivot east of the Gaza Strip, the day after a rocket wrecked the Ashkelon shopping mall and injured 100 people. This time it fell short and exploded on open ground.
DEBKAfile’s military sources report that Israeli ground and air forces are on their highest alert for further Palestinian attacks on towns and villages within range of their missiles and rockets. Israeli forces fired in the air to ward off hundreds of Palestinians ordered by Hamas to crash the Gaza-Israel border crossings and level the border fence Thursday, May 15. The Israeli air force struck Hamas sites overnight.
DEBKAfile reports Hamas targeted the Erez crossing through which Palestinian sick are still evacuated to the Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon.
The Ashkelon rocket carried a message from Tehran to visiting US president George W, Bush that Iran’s arm was long enough to reach an American presence anywhere.
Our military sources also disclose that the Grad rocket was in fact fired by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command headed by Ahmed Jibril. A team of this terrorist group reached the Gaza Strip in the last few days via Sinai after attending a special course in the precise targeting of rockets at an installation near Tehran. The team arrived already armed with the Grad manufactured in Iran which hit the Ashkelon mall. The PFLP-GC spokesman declared openly that the attack was ordered from Iran.
The Ashkelon rocket also bore a warning to prime minister Ehud Olmert that the truce plan Egypt presented to Israel was a take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum and not open to negotiation.
Up to 100 injured by Iran-made rocket which wrecks crowded Ashkelon shopping mall
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5268
Jihad Islami and Popular Committees claimed the attack with Hamas' blessing. After examining the rocket shrapnel, police commander Uri Barlev confirmed it was a Grad (Katyhusha) military rocket made in Iran.
Of the 100 people injured in Ashkelon’s bustling mall, four people were seriously hurt including a mother and her four-month old baby. Two women suffered moderate injuries and the others of whom many were children were slightly hurt. Four were dug out of the debris.
The Palestinian rocket crashed without warning into the roof of the three-floor building, fired from the former Israel Dugit site in N. Gaza just when President Bush was winding up a conversation with Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert. The attack revived fresh demands for a major operation to put a stop to the daily attacks from the Gaza Strip. Ashkelon is 15 km north of Gaza.
Furious complaints were heard in the streets of Ashkelon over the failure of the siren to sound an alert in time for people to take shelter from the rocket attack. Homeland Command officers explained the decision not to activate the siren by the many recent false alarms that kept the population on edge and the wish not to disturb the Bush visit.
Security minister Avi Dichter, trade and industry minister Eli Yishai decide to skip the gala banquet in the US president’s honor and travel to Ashkelon instead.
Casualties have mounted recently from the daily Palestinian attacks on Israeli communities outside Gaza. Two people were killed in the last week.
Israeli, Jordanian architects plan peace park in Naharayim
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/983287.html
A six-day international design workshop in architecture on Tuesday opened at Naharayim. It is part of the preparation for the proposed Jordan River Peace Park. The participants are faculty and students from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut and the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem, together with Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli architects.
Friends of the Earth Middle East is behind the initiative, which seeks to extend the development on the Israeli side of the site to the Jordanian side to create a a transborder protected area in which both Israelis and Jordanians will be able to cross the river from either side without the need for a visa. Visitors will not, however, be able to continue on to the rest of either country without a visa.
The site is 10 kilometers south of the southern tip of Lake Kinneret, at the confluence of the Yarmuk and Jordan rivers. The park area will include the former Rutenberg hydroelectric power station and the Three Bridges site.
The name refers to the still extant 2,000-year-old Roman bridge, an Ottoman Railway bridge and a British Mandate road bridge over the Jordan.
"Sixty years after the hydroelectric power plant was destroyed in the 1948 war, almost to the day, a historic event designed to help advance a cross-border peace park on both banks of the River Jordan will take place," said Munqeth Mehyar, the Jordanian director of Friends of the Earth Middle East.
"The goal of the event is to develop ideas on how to recreate a wetland from the dry lake bed into a bird sanctuary, convert the old power station into a visitors center, the old workers' homes into eco-lodges and renovate the bridges so they can be used again," he added.
"The park has the support of the local Jordanian and Israeli authorities as it is designed not only as the first step toward the rehabilitation of the near dry River Jordan, but as a means to generate much needed income for the communities on both sides of the river," said Gidon Bromberg, Mehyar's Israeli counterpart.
Bush: Allowing Iran to Obtain Nuclear Weapons Is 'Unforgivable Betrayal of Future Generations'
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,355820,00.html
JERUSALEM — Marking the 60th anniversary of Israel's founding, President Bush on Thursday said that allowing Iran to possess nuclear weapons is a "betrayal of generations," and pledged that the United States will continue to help protect Israel's sovereignty in the face of any and all threats.
As the U.S. fights two fronts in the War on Terror, Israel faces down threats to its existence from Hamas, Hezbollah, other terror groups as well as nearby terror-supporting states like Iran, whose leader claims the Jewish state should be blown off the map.
In a speech to the Knesset, or parliament, Bush took special aim at Iran, saying the United States stands with Israel in opposing moves by Tehran to obtain nuclear weapons.
"Permitting the world's leading sponsor of terror to possess the world's deadliest weapons would be an unforgivable betrayal for future generations," the president said. "For the sake of peace, the world must not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon."
The president, without naming names but possibly referring to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama or former President Jimmy Carter, said anyone who claims that talking with terrorists will result in peace is experiencing a "foolish delusion"
"Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history," he said.
Responding to the criticism, Obama immediately responded: "Instead of tough talk and no action, we need to do what Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan did and use all elements of American power — including tough, principled, and direct diplomacy — to pressure countries like Iran and Syria. George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists, and the President's extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel."
The president asserted the United States has an unbreakable bond with Israel, and suggested that those who think breaking it will create an advantage for the United States do not understand the nature of the threat.
"Some people suggest that if the United States would just break ties with Israel, all our problems in the Middle East would go away," Bush said. "This is a tired argument that buys into the propaganda of the enemies of peace and America utterly rejects it. Israel's population may be just over 7 million. But when you confront terror and evil, you are 307 million strong, because the United States of America stands with you."
He added that it's unthinkable that the strongest democracy in the Mideast is the one that receives the bulk of United Nations' resolutions declaring violations of human rights.
"We believe that democracy is the only way to ensure human rights. So we consider it a source of shame that the United Nations routinely passes more human rights resolutions against the freest democracy in the Middle East than any other nation in the world," he said.
Prior to his speech, the president traveled to Masada, one of the Jews' last stands against marauding Romans in the first century C.E. Nearly 1,000 Jews committed suicide on the mountaintop after surviving three years staving off Roman conquerors who had destroyed the second temple in Jerusalem — the holiest site for Jews that is now covered by the Dome of the Rock Mosque — and were eventually able to figure a way up the mountain to kill the men and enslave the women there. The site is now the place where Israeli soldiers take their oath to defend the Israeli state.
Bush's five-day Mideast journey, which was to take him to Saudi Arabia and Egypt, represents another effort to push Mideast peace talks forward as his time in office winds down. Israel and the Palestinians hope to reach an agreement before Bush leaves office next January.
Speaking before Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said his nation is committed to working with the U.S. and Palestinians on a lasting peace agreement — one laid out by Bush that envisions two independent states living side by side, which was the original objective of the United Nations when Israel was first given statehood in 1948, days before war was declared on the nascent country by five of its Arab neighbors.
When a deal is reached, Olmert says the divided parliament and Israeli public will rally behind it.
"When the day comes for a historic peace agreement between us and our Palestinian neighbors. It will be brought to the approval of this house," Olmert said. "I am convinced: a peace agreement that will reflect the vision you presented to the world in June 2002, and that will be based on two states for two people, a Jewish state and a Palestinian state, living side by side in peace. This agreement will be approved in the Knesset by a large majority and will be supported by the vast majority of the Israeli public."
But while the president received a very warm welcome in the Knesset, not everyone there wanted to hear Olmert's message. The chamber reacted with silence and nervous laughter, then Bush began to laugh. Two hardline lawmakers walked out of the chamber in protest. As Bush began speaking, three lawmakers held up pieces of papers with the message, "We shall overcome." Security guards approached them and led them from the chamber.
Bush began his address by exclaiming in Hebrew, "Yom Atzmaut Sameach," or "Happy Independence Day." He spoke of Israeli history by noting generations of anti-Semitism and efforts to exterminate Jews. He said the United States will stand with the Israelis against terrorism and extremism. "We will never let down our guard or lose our resolve," he said.
Iran says puts package of proposals to EU's Solana
http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKL1375368020080513
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Iran's ambassador to Brussels presented proposals on global issues including its disputed nuclear programme to European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Tuesday, the Iranian embassy said.
An embassy statement said Ambassador Aliasghar Khaji discussed with Solana "the package proposed by our country concerning the management of global challenges".
It gave no details but said the package involved "political, security, economic and energy (issues) and the question of the peaceful use of nuclear energy".
A spokeswoman for Solana confirmed he had met Khaji but had no immediate information on the talks.
OPEC Stands Silent While Oil Prices Spark Food Riots In Neighboring Egypt
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,355736,00.html
Despite being surrounded by petroleum-rich neighbors, Egypt is suffering the effects of record-high oil prices that have touched off deadly riots over the simplest of commodities: bread.
Since the beginning of April, at least 10 people have been stabbed to death while waiting in Cairo bread lines — others have died from exhaustion.
The crisis comes as the U.N.’s World Food Program appeals to member nations to contribute $750 million for aid to affected countries.
But as FOX News reported last week, internal documents from the WFP show a failure by OPEC nations to help out their Arab neighbor. Saudi Arabia, for instance, has committed to give zero dollars for 2008, while the United Arab Emirates has pledged just $50,000 — an amount several times less than impoverished nations like Bangladesh.
The United States leads all donors at more than a $1 billion.
Egypt, the world's largest importer of wheat, heavily subsidizes the sale of flour. Government flour sells for about $3 per 100 pounds. On the black market, however, that same bag can fetch $45.
Unlike other Arab nations awash in petrodollars, almost half of Egypt’s population gets by on less than $2 a day — and for an estimated 30 million people, bread means everything.
For now, the Army has been called out — to bake and distribute the bread.
Christian Doctor Falsely Accused of Blasphemy in Pakistan
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07189.shtml
(christiansunite.com) - Dr. Robin Sardar (55) was falsely accused of blasphemy by a local Muslim, Muhammad Rafique, in the district of Hafizabad, Punjab on May 5, according to a May 7 report from Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan. The tension between the men was sparked six months ago, when Rafique visited Sardar's clinic.
Rafique shook the hands of his Muslim friends present but refused to shake Sardar's hand, saying, "It's my insult to shake hand with a Christian." Some weeks later, Rafique was angered when Sardar stopped him from setting up his shop stall in front of his clinic. He then filed a case against Sardar falsely accusing him of "humiliating the prophet Muhammad."
When local Muslims heard of the charges, they used a loudspeaker to demand the killing of Dr. Sardar, calling him a "kaffir" (infidel). A mob intent on killing Dr. Sardar and his family surrounded his home but the police were able to prevent any violence. The militants then pressured the police to arrest Dr. Sardar on charges of blasphemy. He has been detained in a local prison. His family has fled to an unknown location in fear of further violence.
Pray for God to comfort and encourage Dr. Sardar in prison. Pray that his family will rely on the Lord to strengthen and protect them (2 Corinthians 1:8-9). Pray for Christians in Pakistan as they serve the Lord amidst severe opposition.
For more information on the persecution of Christians in Pakistan, go to www.persecution.net/country/pakistan.htm.
Update on Prosecution of Uyghur Christian Alimujiang Yimiti
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07187.shtml
XINJIANG, (christiansunite.com) -- CAA has recently learned that the case against Uyghur Christian Alimujiang Yimiti, has been formally transferred to Kashi District Intermediate People's Court for formal prosecution. The court is set to open in approximately two to three weeks. Mr. Liang Xiaojun, Alimujiang's Beijing based lawyer, is preparing for his client's legal defense.
Documentation related to the case is still in the process of being translated into official Han language. According to Liang, documents in the case written in Uyghur, have caused problems for attorneys of Han nationality. Liang stated: "The public procurator in charge of this case is of Uyghur nationality and all the written records for the evidence from interrogations by the Security Bureau are in Uyghur. When we last visited, we requested that they use a public procurator of Han nationality and let a judge of Han nationality handle this case." In the meantime, Alimujiang has also presented a written request that the case be tried in Chinese. However, the prosecution was carried out in Uyghur.
CAA President Bob Fu, calls on Xinjiang authorities to immediately acquit Mr. Alimujiang of all charges, and to further release Mr. Wusiman Yiming, whom is currently serving a prison sentence. Mr. Fu also made the point that in comparison to 46 Han Christians who were arrested on April 13, the penalizations to Uyghur Christians are much more severe. In contrast to the severity of punishment to Uyghur Christians, 2 Han Christians were detained for only 15 days while others were solely given a 50 Yuan fine. These cases clearly illustrate the policy of racial discrimination that authorities of Xinjiang practice. Charges brought by officials against Mr. Yimiti are no more than false allegations in order to suppress the religious freedoms of the Uyghur Christians in Xinjiang.
To express your concern over this matter please contact:
Kashi People's Municipal Court
0998-2822604
Kashi Reigion Nationality and Religious Affairs
Committee Chief Director and Secretary of CCP- Wang Chun Fu
0998-2823681
Chinese Embassy in Washington DC
Address: 2201 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., Washington D.C. 20007
Tel: (202) 338-6688, (202)5889760
Fax: (202) 588-9760
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