McCain Speaks on 'Right Kind of Change'
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/386252.aspx
CBNNews.com - John McCain welcomed Barack Obama as his presumed opponent Tuesday, but said the senator would not provide America with the "right kind of change" it needs.
"This is indeed a change election. No matter who wins ...the direction of this country is going to change dramatically," he said. "But the choice is between the right change and the wrong change; between going forward and going backward."
Speaking Tuesday night to supporters in New Orleans, La., McCain charged that Obama's "change we can believe in" doesn't fully have the American people in mind.
"The wrong change looks not to the future, but to the past for solutions that have failed us before and will surely fail us again. I have a few years on my opponent, so I am surprised that a young man has bought in to so many failed ideas," McCain said.
"Like others before him, he seems to think government is the answer to every problem; that government should take our resources and make our decisions for us," he added. "That type of change doesn't trust Americans to know what is right or what is in their own best interests."
Tackling the Economy
McCain acknowledged that many U.S. policies and decisions have failed to keep up with the challeges Americans face. He said that by reforming government policy in areas like health care, military and the environment, the country can make a comback like it has done in the past.
"America has seen tough times before. We've always known how to get through them. And we've always believed our best days are ahead of us," he said.
The senator also vowed to make necessary changes in disaster relief plans -- a need many residents in the audience knew all too well.
"When Americans confront a catastrophe they have a right to expect basic competence from their government," McCain said. "Our disgraceful failure to do so here in New Orleans exposed the incompetence of government at all levels to meet even its most basic responsibilities."
Not a 'Third Bush Term'
McCain used a bulk of his speech to distance himself from claims that if he took office, it would be like having President Bush for a third term.
"The American people didn't get to know me yesterday, as they are just getting to know Sen. Obama. They know I have a long record of bipartisan problem solving. They've seen me put our country before any President, before any party, before any special interest (and) before my own interest," he said.
McCain went on to say the he strongly disagrees with how the Bush administration has handled the Iraq war, and that he and the president have "not seen eye to eye on many issues." He blamed the Bush administration for wasteful spending over the past eight year that has "added trillions to the national debt," and said that he would freeze discretionary spending.
Crossing Party Lines
McCain noted that Republicans and Democrats must come together in order to better America, saying he has seen the parties do "great things" together.
"I'll reach out my hand to anyone, Republican or Democrat, who will help me change what needs to be changed; fix what needs to be fixed; and give this country a government as capable and good as the people it is supposed to serve," he said. "That, my friends, is the kind of change we need… right now."
SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser Available for Comment on 'Two Ways of Seeing Babies'
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07253.shtml
WASHINGTON, (christiansunite.com) -- Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser published a commentary in this week's National Catholic Register that examines how Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Barack Obama (D-IL) react to unexpected children. Selected excerpts follow:
"An especially telling difference exists between Senators Obama and McCain. How each perceives and talks about unplanned children is extremely illuminating. McCain is living the joy of his real-life response to a 'surprise child.' Obama, missing the mystery and blessing, sees only a burden."
"I understand Obama's position because I once held it. I considered myself 'pro-choice' because I did not believe the surprise child had separate rights from my own. In that case, a surprise baby is an invading visitor, an unasked for imposition."
"No matter who you are, how smart or slow you are, how beautiful or plain you look, how much or little money you have, how healthy and physically fit you are - you are necessary. Your right to life is equal to all others'. Even when it's not obvious. Even when your existence requires another's sacrifice."
Full text of the piece is available on the SBA List website, www.sba-list.org.
SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser is available to discuss the impact of the Life issue on the Presidential race, the importance and influence of Values Voters, top Congressional races, women voters and the role of women in politics. For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Joy Yearout at (703) 875-3370 or by email at jyearout@sba-list.org.
The Susan B. Anthony List is a nationwide network of Americans, over 145,000 residing in all 50 states, dedicated to mobilizing, advancing, and representing pro-life women in politics. Its connected Candidate Fund increases the percentage of pro-life women in the political process.
Plan for Group Tied to Nation of Islam to Patrol Miami Streets Meets With Protest
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,361903,00.html
MIAMI — Controversy is growing in Miami over the city's decision to launch a nearly $1 million crime-fighting initiative that will include street patrols by a group with close ties to the Nation of Islam.
The City of Miami says it plans to give $150,000 to a civilian patrol group known as the Peacemakers, to be run by the Progressive Land Development International, an organization that shares a mailing address with the Nation of Islam in Miami.
The rest of the money will go to separate initiatives, including adding video camera surveillance and extra police patrols in the predominately black neighborhood of Overtown.
But not everyone thinks having a group tied to the Nation of Islam patrolling the neighborhood is a good idea.
Andrew Rosenkranz, the Anti Defamation League's Florida Regional Director, said the Nation of Islam has "a well-documented, irrefutable public record of racism, bigotry and anti-Semitism." He said the city had chosen an unlikely group to teach tolerance and civil behavior.
Once a thriving black community in heart of downtown Miami, Overtown — with a population of about 40,000 — fell into ghetto conditions in the 1960s when a freeway overpass was built straight through its middle. Despite some upscale urban housing and business development, the gentrification has done little to combat rampant violent and drug-related crime.
Details of the program are still vague and an official contract has yet to be signed. But Ed O'Dell, spokesman for the city's Community Redevelopment Agency, said the suit-and-tie wearing Muslim group will be working independent from police as role models and crime watchers.
"These are really three separate contracts, the surveillance cameras, extra police, and the Peacemakers," said O'Dell. "The idea is to have as a component of the whole package people on the street who are taking charge of their own community so that it's not just a police state, with big brother and cameras watching."
While the Peacemakers say they are not officially affiliated with the Nation of Islam, the group is headed by Rasul Muhammad, a prominent Nation of Islam member and the son of former leader Elijah Muhammad, and its corporate offices are at the group's Miami mosque.
Muhammad told the Miami Herald that the Peacemakers not are a racist organization.
"We are not anti-Jewish people. We are not anti-Catholic people. We are not anti-white people. The whole Peacemakers project is being based on being anti-crime, anti-immorality.... Are they saying that they don't want peace?'' he told the Herald. (Peacemakers representatives did not return calls from FOXNews.com.)
But Rosenkranz said the city should have considered what happened when other cities experimented with programs in association with the Nation of Islam.
In 2005, police in New Orleans were forced to dropped a $15,000 police sensitivity training contract with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan following public outcry about the group's anti-Semitic reputation.
"While we appreciate the City of Miami's efforts to improve conditions in the Overtown area, we are concerned that it did not fully understand the nature of the organization that it chose to provide these services," said Rosenkranz.
City officials are defending their decision, saying they sent invitations to other community and faith-based groups to participate in the "ecumenical" program after residents and nightclub owners in the area asked for increased security.
O'Dell said the City of Miami put out an announcement asking for input and even directly approached some groups about patrolling the area.
"Other groups were at the meeting. Homeowners' groups, pastors, parents— anyone could come. I don't know why they didn't want to be a part of it," O'Dell said.
News of the Peacemakers hitting the streets met with mixed reaction in Overtown.
A local Baptist youth pastor who declined to give his name said this was the first he'd even heard of Peacemakers. But said he had "no faith" in the police and questioned any religious group — Muslim or otherwise — that would align itself with them.
But others welcomed any help at all, even from the Nation of Islam, as long as they agreed to respect people of other faiths.
"Man is not perfect and every religion has some defect. They're rising up young men for what God says is right," said a Methodist barber identifying himself as H. Payne. He would not comment on the group's ties to the Nation of Islam.
Anthony Stewman, a Baptist resident of the neighborhood, did, however.
"Sure, you're gonna make mistakes, but organizations need to be forgiven if we're going to work together to raise God's children," he said.
Rosenkranz said he's not swayed by those arguments. "The Anti-Defamation League strongly believes that there is never justification for racism, intolerance and anti-Semitism and remains concerned about the Nation of Islam's activities," he said.
KS Governor's Office Covers up Secret Party Honoring Abortionist Tiller
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07252.shtml
WICHITA, Kansas, (christiansunite.com) -- While under investigation by the Attorney General's office and amid increasing calls for criminal charges by the Kansas Legislature, late- term abortionist George R. Tiller and his entire abortion clinic staff was honored by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius at a lavish secret party held at Cedar Crest, the Governor's mansion in early April, 2007.
Operation Rescue was the first to uncover evidence of this event, which was mentioned in Robert Novak's Washington Post column on Monday. OR obtained a set of 27 photographs from a confidential source that told OR the party was held exclusively in Tiller's honor. Tiller and his staff were the only guests invited to the gala event that featured, according to the source, a menu of steak and lobster.
A request for information made under the Kansas Open Records Act (KORA) concerning the cost and source of funding for this event was answered with scant information concerning four unrelated events held at Cedar Crest during March and April of 2007, but no mention of the Tiller soiree. The final photocopy of the documents seems to show a female giving the middle finger.
The Governor's Office is currently in violation of KORA laws regarding a second and more specific request for open records submitted by Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. Legal action is being considered.
"Is Gov. Sebelius illegally concealing a taxpayer-funded gala honoring Tiller?" asked Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "The public has a right to know."
Tiller is a major contributor to pro-abortion candidates in Kansas, giving hundreds of thousands of dollars through a complicated series of political action committees and non-profit organizations. Because of this hard-to-trace influx of cash, Democrats have risen to power in this conservative Red state, something that has drawn national attention to Sebelius' supposed political prowess.
"Sebelius' office arrogantly believes that they can keep her strong ties to Tiller a secret, but their efforts to keep the truth from the public have only exposed their corruption," said Newman. "Sebelius would not be governor today if not for Tiller's financial support. She owes him her career. Every agency in Kansas that could hold Tiller accountable for illegal late-term abortions, from the Board of Healing Arts to the Kansas Supreme Court to the Attorney General, are all laced with Sebelius appointees. It is little wonder that they all have done nothing but stall and obstruct efforts to prosecute him."
VIEW THE PHOTOS AT:
operationrescue.org/photos/main.php?g2_itemId=4190
About Operation Rescue
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.
Field Poll on Marriage is Suspect Claims Catholics for the Common Good
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07251.shtml
SAN FRANCISCO, (christiansunite.com) -- "Today's Field Poll shows data inconsistent with other reputable polls that show voter support for defining marriage in the state constitution as between a man and a woman," said William B. May, chairman of Catholics for the Common Good. "The Los Angeles Times poll of May 21 shows an 18-point margin (54-36) in support of the ProtectMarriage.com initiative, and SurveyUSA of May 15 indicates a 16-point margin (52-36)."
A just-released Field Poll indicates 51-42 support for same-sex "marriage" among California-registered voters and opposition to the ProtectMarriage.com initiative that will appear on the November 2008 ballot.
"Polling results can, of course, vary substantially depending on how questions are asked, the order in which they are asked, and sampling techniques. I am confident that when voters read the one-sentence initiative in November, they will see it as common sense and will vote for it. But this election to reinstate marriage as only between a man and a woman will be very close and hard-fought," May said.
"It is true that younger people support same-sex marriage in greater numbers. Young people have been immersed in a culture that is largely indifferent to marriage and have even been taught in schools that marriage is simply a lifestyle choice reflected in the fact that marriage has declined over the last thirty years."
"Marriage has declined to the point that four out of ten children are now born out of wedlock -- a serious problem that calls for promoting and supporting marriage for people who engage in reproductive acts. However, it is now illegal for public schools or other government agencies to promote marriage for men and women, because it discriminates against the private interests of a particular group of adults," said May. "The California Supreme Court decision is clearly in conflict with the common interest of every child without exception in having a married mother and father."
Catholics for the Common Good is an educational organization dedicated to bringing reason to the public square using insights from Catholic social teachings based on the dignity of the human person, fundamental human rights, and social justice.
CA to Decide Gay Marriage Issue Again
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/385993.aspx
CBNNews.com - Californians will get to vote again on the issue of gay marriage and their vote could overturn a ruling by the state supreme court.
On November 4, voters will decide whether to approve a state constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
The California Family Council submitted more than one million signatures supporting the ballot initiative.
It took 100 days, said the CFC's Everitt Rice. "It was the fastest collection of signatures we have ever seen."
Pro-family groups believe the ballot initiative should force the state supreme court to delay its May 15 decision. That decision legalized same-sex marriages in The Golden State, despite a vote in 2000 in which Californians defined marriage as heterosexual.
There's also pressure on the court from ten other states. Their attorneys general argue that the California court ruling could affect similar litigation in their courts.
The San Francisco city attorney has filed a letter opposing their request.
"I don't think that's going to happen," said city attorney Dennis Herrera. "So I am anticipating the court's order will take place on June 16 and marriages will start happening on June 17 and that's what i'm looking forward to."
If the court refuses to delay its ruling, legal marriages for homosexuals can begin on June 17. But if voters approve the marriage amendment in November, those same-sex marriages may be declared null and void.
The November vote could be a close one. Gay advocates insist they have the momentum for victory.
"We have strong support from Governor Schwarzenegger," said Shannon Minter of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. "We have a wonderful historic decision from a court with six out of seven justices appointed by Republican governors."
However, pro-family groups believe the state supreme court ruling could galvanize conservatives and remind them just how high the stakes really are.
CBS Summer Show to Explore Open Marriage
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/386159.aspx
CBNNews.com - What could be one the most controversial television shows of the summer debuts this week on CBS.
It's called "Swingtown," and explores a world of drugs, sex and open marriage in suburban America during the 1970s.
"This show is about the Midwestern American middle-to-upper class," the show's co-executive producer Alan Poul said.
"I think that everyone will relate to this show because ultimately it's about the choices that intimate couples make," Poul adds. "It's about a time when America was in flux and people were faced with new choices about how to balance personal liberty and the desire for freedom."
Wife swapping, bisexual sex, and adultery are all common elements in the show's story line. One commercial for "Swingtown," asks viewers "Remember the good old days when neighbors swapped recipes. and wives?"
Responding to the provocative nature of the show, creator Mike Kelley expressed frustration that not everyone would be able to look past it's sexual themes.
"I don't understand why this show is so threatening. But I don't understand why gay marriage is so threatening either," Kelley told Los Angeles Times.
"I understand there's going to be a portion of the available audience that will just say, 'I can't do this, I can't go there,'" he added. "Too bad, because there is so much to embrace in this show. I think people who reject it have a problem with fear in general in their lives."
Massive New Media Campaign Raises Public Awareness of Embryo Donation & Adoption to Remarkable Heights
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07254.shtml
FULLERTON, Calif., (christiansunite.com) -- Stories of embryo donation and adoption are sweeping across the nation through Internet sites like YouTube, MySpace and Facebook, and through a targeted direct mail campaign. The new media campaign began in March with the launch of three educational videos detailing the extraordinary procedure of donating already created embryo's to couples who otherwise could not conceive. Its part of an ongoing public awareness campaign by Nightlight Christian Adoptions (Nightlight) under a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The next three videos, "Making Dreams Come True", "Thank You", and "Where Do Frozen Embryo's Come From?" can be found on the abovementioned Internet sites or at www.embryoadoption.org by clicking on the Video Encouragement section.
Since March, 587 fertility clinics have received a direct mail piece inviting them to view the videos resulting in inquiries from several of them about building their own embryo donation programs.
Approximately 1,200 adoption agencies were invited to visit the Website to see the videos, resulting in requests for additional information about embryo donation and adoption to share with their clients, and requests to be added to the list of services providers on www.embryoadoption.org.
Finally, an initial distribution to over 1,000 email addresses started an aggressive progressive distribution of the videos through the Internet, as recipients were invited to forward the messages on to at least five of their personal email contacts.
"The results from using new media to spread the word about this amazing option for families are nothing short of incredible," said Kimberly Tyson of Nightlight. "We plan to keep spreading the word until embryo donation and adoption becomes a household name."
Embryo donation and adoption is a relatively new practice in the United States.
Nightlight, through its Snowflakes® program, has realized the birth of 165 babies since 1997 with many more on the way. There are still an estimated 500,000 frozen embryos in storage across the country and progressively more are being donated for adoption each month.
This public awareness campaign is supported by grant number 2EAAPA941000-03-00 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Brigitte Bardot Convicted of Provoking Discrimination
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,362282,00.html
PARIS — Brigitte Bardot was convicted Tuesday of provoking discrimination and racial hatred for writing that Muslims are destroying France.
A Paris court also handed down a $23,325 fine against the former screen siren and animal rights campaigner. The court also ordered Bardot to pay $1,555 in damages to MRAP.
Bardot's lawyer, Francois-Xavier Kelidjian, said he would talk to her about the possibility of an appeal.
A leading French anti-racism group known as MRAP filed a lawsuit last year over a letter she sent to then-Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. The remarks were published in her foundation's quarterly journal.
In the December 2006 letter to Sarkozy, now the president, Bardot said France is "tired of being led by the nose by this population that is destroying us, destroying our country by imposing its acts."
Bardot, 73, was referring to the Muslim feast of Aid el-Kebir, celebrated by slaughtering sheep.
French anti-racism laws prevent inciting hatred and discrimination on racial or religious or racial grounds. Bardot had been convicted four times previously for inciting racial hatred.
"She is tired of this type of proceedings," he said. "She has the impression that people want to silence her. She will not be silenced in her defense of animal rights."
Diplomats: Syria to Block IAEA From Probing Suspected Nuclear Sites
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,362782,00.html
VIENNA, Austria — Syria has told fellow Arab countries that it will not permit an International Atomic Energy Agency probe to extend beyond a site bombed by Israel, despite agency interest in three other suspect locations, diplomats have told The Associated Press.
The agency's main focus on its planned June 22-24 visit to Syria is a building in the country's remote eastern desert that was destroyed in September by Israeli jets.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei announced Monday that Syria had agreed to an agency check of U.S. assertions that the target was a plutonium-producing reactor that was near completion, and thus at the stage where it could generate the fissile material for nuclear arms.
But the agency is also interested in following up on information that Syria may have three other undeclared atomic facilities. Diplomats and a nuclear expert told the AP Monday that at least one of the sites may have equipment that can reprocess nuclear material into the fissile core of warheads.
One of the diplomats said the IAEA was following up on a U.S. intelligence-based tip but emphasized the agency had not seen the intelligence itself. The nuclear expert said two of the military sites were operational and one was under construction. He and the diplomats asked for anonymity because their information was confidential.
On Tuesday, a senior diplomat familiar with the planned IAEA Syria trip told the AP that expectations were that Syria would gradually warm to the idea of giving agency experts access to those three sites, as well as the bombed Al Kibar facility.
But two other diplomats briefed on the Syrian stance said outside a meeting of the IAEA's 35-nation board that a senior official from Damascus ruled that out during a meeting with chief delegates of the 10 Arab nations accredited to the IAEA.
The diplomats said Syrian atomic energy chief Ibrahim Othman told the Arab delegates that his country could not open secret military sites to outside perusal as long as Syria and Israel remained technically in a state of war.
After fighting three wars and clashing in Lebanon, Israel and Syria are bitter enemies whose last round of peace talks collapsed eight years ago. Both countries recently confirmed that they are holding peace talks through Turkish mediators.
As well, they said, Othman expressed fear that too much openness on Syria's part would encourage the U.S. to push for years of relentless international scrutiny of the kind Iran's nuclear program is now undergoing, despite Tehran's assertions its aims are purely peaceful.
After-hours calls to the Syrian Mission to the IAEA in Vienna for comment went unanswered.
Neither the U.S. nor Israel told the IAEA about the bombed site until late April, about a year after they obtained what they considered decisive intelligence: dozens of photographs from a handheld camera of the inside and outside of the compound.
Since then, Syria had not reacted to repeated agency requests for a visit to check out the allegations. Satellite photos appear to show construction crews using the interval to erect another structure over the site — a move that heightened suspicions of a possible cover-up.
Pressure on Syria to respond positively mounted with the approach of the latest meeting of the IAEA board that opened Monday.
In announcing the Syrian visit to the board, ElBaradei repeated his criticism of Israel and the U.S., taking Washington to task for waiting so long to brief him on its suspicions, and Jerusalem for its airstrike.
Diplomats have recently suggested that the Americans may have waited even longer, telling the AP that Washington may have had indications of Syrian plans more than five years ago. They demanded anonymity because their information was confidential.
The invitation signaled the start of an international fact check of U.S. and Israeli assertions that Damascus had tried to build a plutonium-producing facility under the radar of the international community.
Syrian President Bashar Assad denied once again that his country has a secret nuclear program in interviews appearing Tuesday in United Arab Emirates newspapers.
Israel has never officially confirmed September's air strike on the Al Kibar site, though it has not disputed the foreign reports, or U.S. government comments, on the incident.
Analysis: Assad now wants Golan - plus a slice of Sea of Galilee shore
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5320
In his interview in Dubai on June 2, president Bashar Assad raised his price for a peace deal with Israel, DEBKAfile’s political source note. The Golan, which Syria’s invading army lost to Israel in the 1967 war, is not enough; Assad is also demanding a strip of the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, which Damascus considers demilitarized territory held by Israel against international law.
The last round of peace talks eight years ago broke down over this very demand. The Syrian ruler told the Gulf newspaper al-Khaleej: “But if the question of water is intended for us to give up the 1967 borders that stretch to Tiberias (Sea of Galilee), then there will never be a compromise on the 1967 borders.”
The strip Assad referred to is crowded with the Israeli kibbutzim, Ha’on, Tel Katzir, Shear Hagolan and Massada, which in the 1950s and 1960s lived under constant Syrian shelling from the Golan plateau overhead. These attacks often blew up into major Israel-Syria clashes and aerial dogfights.
DEBKAfile’s sources comment that Assad published his expanded demands on the day Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert arrived in Washington for talks with the US president and top officials. The message he was broadcasting from Dubai was addressed to George W. Bush’s successor in the White House in the hope that the next president opts for diplomatic talks with Tehran and Damascus. The Syrian ruler therefore made a point of mentioning that serious peace talks with Israel would not start before next year and Washington would need to take a hand in the process.
Jockeying for position ahead of these talks, Assad made it clear that he was also challenging Israel’s control of the Sea of Galilee, the main source of its national water supply. “As for water,” he said. “There are international rules that govern these matters and are usually referred to.”
Damascus has always claimed that the sources feeding the lake are Syrian and Lebanese and Israel therefore does not have exclusive ownership.
Senior Israeli minister warns Golan handover would bring Iran to Israel’s doorstep
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5319
Transport minister Shaul Mofaz said Tuesday, June 3, he was convinced that peace with Damascus is possible without this concession. In Dubai, Bashar Assad stated Israel must return “all Syrian lands occupied in the 1967 War as part of any peace deal.” Briefing United Arab Emirates newspapers, the Syrian president said the 1967 borders must stretch to the Sea of Galilee – or else there will never be a “compromise.”
The last peace talks broke down eight years ago over Damascus’ demand for control of the lake shore.
Ahmadinejad: Israel to Vanish With or Without Iran
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/Ahmadinejad_Israel/2008/06/03/101312.html
ROME - The state of Israel will cease to exist with or without the involvement of Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday.
"This will happen whether we are involved in it or not," the Iranian leader told a news conference at a U.N. food summit in Rome, when asked to explain his statement on Monday that the Jewish state would soon disappear from the map.
U.S., Israel Accuse Iran of Covert Quest for Nuclear Weapons
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,362761,00.html
WASHINGTON — The United States and Israel said Tuesday the rest of the world isn't doing enough to stop Iran from getting the bomb and accused Iran of continuing a covert drive for nuclear weapons, although U.S. intelligence has said Tehran quit its active warhead program years ago.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israel's embattled leader, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, both used speeches to a pro-Israel lobbying group to complain that European and other nations are undermining the hard line against Iran's nuclear program by pursuing business relationships with Tehran.
"Our partners in Europe and beyond need to exploit Iran's vulnerabilities more vigorously and impose greater costs on the regime — economically, financially, politically and diplomatically," Rice said.
Olmert went further, saying in a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that other countries should penalize Iran by barring business travelers, blocking financial transactions and imposing sanctions on Iran's import of refined gasoline and on countries that perform that task for oil-rich but facilities-poor Iran.
"Each and every country must understand that the long-term cost of a nuclear Iran greatly outweighs the short-term benefits of doing business with Iran," Olmert said.
Neither Olmert nor Rice mentioned Olmert's legal and political woes. A corruption investigation threatens to bring down Olmert's government and perhaps with it U.S. hopes for a framework Mideast peace deal this year.
Rice said the Mideast peace effort begun by President Bush must carry over to his successor, a note of caution amid the dire political crisis in Israel. Rice said there is still a chance to frame a deal between Israel and the Palestinians this year, although she said the goal is admittedly ambitious.
"The goal itself, though, will endure beyond the current U.S. leadership," Rice said. "I believe that the administration's approach to this problem will and must endure."
On Iran, Rice appeared emboldened by a recent skeptical report from the U.N. nuclear watchdog. A U.N. report Monday suggested that Tehran was stonewalling investigators and possibly withholding information crucial to the U.N. nuclear monitor's probe of allegations it did nuclear arms research.
The U.N. Security Council has passed three rounds of mild sanctions aimed at getting Iran to give up the most troublesome aspects of its nuclear program. The United States and some others also have separate sanctions that go further. The United States has almost no dealings with Iran and has little direct economic leverage there.
Rice indirectly criticized Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama for his willingness to talk to Iran, the rising Mideast power that Israeli leaders consider their greatest enemy. Iran's hardline president regularly says Israel must be wiped off the map. On Tuesday he told a European audience that Israel is "doomed to go."
Rice scoffed at Iran's claim that its nuclear program is intended only to produce electricity. Why then would Iran keep inspectors away from some sites, reject a generous offer of civilian nuclear help from Russia or maintain part of its program under military control, Rice asked.
"Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's just hard to imagine that there are innocent answers to these questions."
Later, she directly accused Iran of pursuing weapons on the sly. She said there is no point in engaging the regime until it changes its behavior.
"We would be willing to meet with them, but not while they continue to inch closer to a nuclear weapon under the cover of talk," Rice said.
The Bush administration long claimed Iran was hiding a bomb program, a view shared by Israel and presumably the rationale for any military attack either country might launch against Iran.
Rice's words were striking because U.S. officials have backed off pointed accusations since the publication in December of a declassified intelligence report that concluded Iran once had an active warhead program but had shelved it in 2003.
The report said U.S. analysts could not say whether Iran still held weapons ambitions, and said the program might be restarted without U.S. knowledge.
Obama and Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton are to address the AIPAC convention on Wednesday, and presumed Republican nominee John McCain spoke Monday. McCain had a get-tough message on Iran, while Obama is expected to tell the group that he would talk to Iranian leaders without preconditions set by the Bush administration.
The "furious debate" about how to confront the Iranian threat "should not be about whether we talk to Iran," Rice said. "Diplomacy is not a synonym for talking," but must be combined with pressure tactics.
Exclusive: First Iran-made Multiple Launch Rocket fired from Gaza
http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5318
The new weapon, of the type used by the Lebanese Hizballah against northern Israel, was fired for the first time by Palestinians from Gaza Tuesday, June 3. It landed on open ground in Shaar Henegev.
The newly smuggled weapon carries a 8 kg payload – bigger than the Qassam missile with about the same 9 km range - drastically escalates the Hamas-led war against the southwestern Israeli population. For the first time, the Palestinian terrorists have acquired a weapon launched from a vehicle.
DEBKAfile’s military sources report that weapons consignments, including increasingly advanced systems, continue to be smuggled into the Gaza Strip from Iran and Sudan for Hamas and its terrorist allies.
The consignments are dropped from freighters into smugglers’ boats in the Suez Canal and unloaded on the Sinai coast. The Egyptian police are performing better now in intercepting illicit weapons deliveries, but their work is seriously impeded by the fact that some of the officers are bribed by the smugglers for their collaboration.
Christian Converts Arrested in Iran
http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion07255.shtml
(christiansunite.com) - Police in the Iranian city of Shiraz cracked down against known Christian converts from Islam, arresting members of three Christian families and confiscating their books and computers.
The arrests reportedly began at approximately 5:00 a.m. on May 11, when two couples were taken into custody before boarding their flights at the Shiraz International Airport and sent directly to jail. All four were subjected to hours of interrogation.
The detained Christians were identified as Homayon Shokohie Gholamzadeh (48) and his wife Fariba Nazemiyan Pur (40), and Amir Hussein Bab Anari (25) and his wife Fatemeh Shenasa (25). The report also indicated that although the two wives were released on the same day of their arrest, Anari was detained until May 14, and Gholamzadeh remains jailed.
About two hours after the early morning arrests of May 11, police authorities invaded the home of Hamid Allaedin Hussein (58) arresting him and his three adult children, Fatemah (28), Muhammed Ali (27), and Mojtaba (21). The family's books, CDs, computers and printers were taken as well. Hussein, his daughter and one son were released later the same day, but Mojtaba remains in prison.
On May 13, local police picked up two more former Muslims involved in a separate house church in Shiraz as the Christian converts were talking together in a city park. Both men, Mahmood Matin and a second man identified only as Arash, are still jailed. There were other arrests last month in the northern city of Amol, in Mazandaran province near the Caspian Sea. Two of the arrested converts to Christianity, one a pregnant woman, are still imprisoned with no news of their whereabouts.
Ask God for the release of those who are still in prison for their faith in the Lord (Acts 12:5). Pray that the Islamic government in Iran will allow full rights and protection for Christians in the nation.
For more information on the persecution facing Christians in Iran, go to www.persecution.net/country/iran.htm.
Olmert, Rice Speak on Iran at AIPAC Dinner
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/386303.aspx
CBNNews.com - WASHINGTON - The United States and Israel said Tuesday the rest of the world isn't doing enough to stop Iran from getting the bomb and accused Iran of continuing a covert drive for nuclear weapons, although U.S. intelligence has said Tehran quit its active warhead program years ago.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israel's embattled leader, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, both used speeches to a pro-Israel lobbying group to complain that European and other nations are undermining the hard line against Iran's nuclear program by pursuing business relationships with Tehran.
"Our partners in Europe and beyond need to exploit Iran's vulnerabilities more vigorously and impose greater costs on the regime - economically, financially, politically and diplomatically," Rice said.
Olmert went further, saying in a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that other countries should penalize Iran by barring business travelers, blocking financial transactions and imposing sanctions on Iran's import of refined gasoline and on countries that perform that task for oil-rich but facilities-poor Iran.
"Each and every country must understand that the long-term cost of a nuclear Iran greatly outweighs the short-term benefits of doing business with Iran," Olmert said.
Neither Olmert nor Rice mentioned Olmert's legal and political woes. A corruption investigation threatens to bring down Olmert's government and perhaps with it U.S. hopes for a framework Mideast peace deal this year.
Rice said the Mideast peace effort begun by President Bush must carry over to his successor, a note of caution amid the dire political crisis in Israel. Rice said there is still a chance to frame a deal between Israel and the Palestinians this year, although she said the goal is admittedly ambitious.
"The goal itself, though, will endure beyond the current U.S. leadership," Rice said. "I believe that the administration's approach to this problem will and must endure."
On Iran, Rice appeared emboldened by a recent skeptical report from the U.N. nuclear watchdog. A U.N. report Monday suggested that Tehran was stonewalling investigators and possibly withholding information crucial to the U.N. nuclear monitor's probe of allegations it did nuclear arms research.
The U.N. Security Council has passed three rounds of mild sanctions aimed at getting Iran to give up the most troublesome aspects of its nuclear program. The United States and some others also have separate sanctions that go further. The United States has almost no dealings with Iran and has little direct economic leverage there.
Rice indirectly criticized Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama for his willingness to talk to Iran, the rising Mideast power that Israeli leaders consider their greatest enemy. Iran's hardline president regularly says Israel must be wiped off the map. On Tuesday he told a European audience that Israel is "doomed to go."
Rice scoffed at Iran's claim that its nuclear program is intended only to produce electricity. Why then would Iran keep inspectors away from some sites, reject a generous offer of civilian nuclear help from Russia or maintain part of its program under military control, Rice asked.
"Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's just hard to imagine that there are innocent answers to these questions."
Later, she directly accused Iran of pursuing weapons on the sly. She said there is no point in engaging the regime until it changes its behavior.
"We would be willing to meet with them, but not while they continue to inch closer to a nuclear weapon under the cover of talk," Rice said.
The Bush administration long claimed Iran was hiding a bomb program, a view shared by Israel and presumably the rationale for any military attack either country might launch against Iran.
Rice's words were striking because U.S. officials have backed off pointed accusations since the publication in December of a declassified intelligence report that concluded Iran once had an active warhead program but had shelved it in 2003.
The report said U.S. analysts could not say whether Iran still held weapons ambitions, and said the program might be restarted without U.S. knowledge.
Obama and Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton are to address the AIPAC convention on Wednesday, and presumed Republican nominee John McCain spoke Monday. McCain had a get-tough message on Iran, while Obama is expected to tell the group that he would talk to Iranian leaders without preconditions set by the Bush administration.
The "furious debate" about how to confront the Iranian threat "should not be about whether we talk to Iran," Rice said. "Diplomacy is not a synonym for talking," but must be combined with pressure tactics.
Kasparov: Putin Killed Russia Free Press
http://www.newsmax.com/international/sweden_newspaper_congress/2008/06/03/101323.html
GOTEBORG, Sweden -- World chess star turned political activist Garry Kasparov told world news industry leaders Tuesday that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had assaulted press freedoms in Russia, and urged them to challenge Kremlin leaders over the issue.
Kasparov, 45, became the world's youngest chess champion in 1985. The Russian grand master remained at the top of chess rankings until he retired in 2005 to devote himself to politics in his homeland, eventually joining The Other Russia, a coalition opposing Putin's rule.
Kasparov said Putin and his colleagues must be faced with complaints about press freedoms.
"Make sure they have to respond and make sure your governments raise the issue," he told about 200 senior news industry executives at an invitation-only luncheon during the World Newspaper Congress in Sweden.
On Monday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev urged the country's parliament to scrap a bill widely seen as restrictive to the media.
It was not immediately clear whether Medvedev's move signaled his intention to take a more liberal course compared to Putin, his predecessor and mentor, whose eight-year tenure saw a steady rollback of post-Soviet media and political freedoms.
The congress on Tuesday also criticized the U.N. Human Rights Council, claiming it has repeatedly sought to undermine freedom of the press to protect religious sensibilities. The group adopted a resolution saying the council's "proper role is to defend freedom of expression and not to support the censorship of opinion at the request of autocracies."
The U.N. General Assembly formed the Geneva-based Human Rights Council in March 2006 to succeed the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, which was sometimes criticized for too heavily considering the views of member states that did not adequately guarantee human rights.
"International human rights groups have expressed concern that the Council may be emulating the practices that discredited the Commission on Human Rights," the congress said in a statement.
Putin became Russia's prime minister on May 8, after he completed the maximum allowed two consecutive terms as president. Kasparov made an unsuccessful bid for president this year.
Kasparov accused one of the delegates to the newspaper meeting, editor-in-chief of the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, Svetlana Mironyuk, of only publishing government propaganda.
That prompted Evgeny Abov, deputy chief executive of the Russian government-controlled newspaper Rossijskay Gazeta, to speak out in her defense.
"You have been unfair to Novosti," Abov said. He said opposition leaders were given a voice in the news agency's stories, and that it translates critical foreign news stories.
About 1,800 news industry leaders were attending the three-day World Newspaper Congress, which opened Monday in Goteborg. The association says it groups news organizations from the U.S. and elsewhere in the world to protect the interests of the global newspaper industry.
U.S. Ships Off Myanmar Will Leave the Area
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/386290.aspx
CBNNews.com - BANGKOK, Thailand - A top U.S. military commander says American navy ships off Myanmar's coast will leave the area after failing to get the junta's permission to help with cyclone relief efforts.
Adm. Timothy Keating says that he wants the USS Essex and accompanying vessels to resume their previously scheduled duties on Thursday.
The ships were in the region for international exercises. Keating made them available to help with relief efforts for last month's cyclone and they were deployed near Myanmar in case they obtained permission to enter the country's waters.
But Myanmar allowed only limited U.S. military aid flights to the country, and barred the ships from approaching.
Keating says the U.S. made at least 15 attempts to convince Myanmar's leaders to allow ships to provide additional disaster relief.
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