U.S TURNS ' BLIND EYE ' TO PERSECUTIONS IN IRAQ

U.S. Turns 'Blind Eye' to Persecution of Christians in Iraq

Congressman SaysWednesday, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) said at a press conference at the Capitol on Tuesday that the Bush administration has ignored the persecution of religious minorities in Iraq. Washington - The Bush administration has “turned a blind eye” to the plight of Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) said Tuesday at an event sponsored by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Wolf blamed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and even Christian churches in the United States for not coming to the aid of people in Iraq who are fleeing the country by the thousands to avoid torture and even death because of their allegiance to non-Muslim faiths. “We are spending billions of dollars and have shed the blood of some of this country’s finest, and the U.S. government has not done a darn thing to protect the freedom and safety – forget freedom – the safety of Christians in Iraq,” Wolf said. “Secretary Rice has failed when it comes to this point. “When I talk about it, I get mad,” Wolf said. Tuesday’s press conference marked the release of the commission’s 2008 study on religious freedom around the globe. The commission also announced that it voted 5-4 to elevate Iraq from the watch list of countries where religious persecution is suspected, to a “country of particular concern” because of “ongoing severe abuses of religious freedom and based on the Iraqi government’s toleration of these abuses.” The report names the minority religious groups being persecuted in Iraq, including the ancient Chaldean Catholics and Assyrian Christians, the Sabean Mandaeans and the Yazidis. “The lack of effective government action to protect these communities from abuses has established Iraq among the most dangerous places on earth for religious minorities,” said Felice D. Gaer, chairwoman of the commission. Aside from a panel of seven of the nine commissioners, several other lawmakers weighed in on the commission’s report and recommendations at the press conference. “In the last three months alone it is estimated that about half of the 20,000 Christians in the largely Kurdish city of Mosul have fled that city,” Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said in a prepared statement. “Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, over one-third of the Christian population of Iraq, a community of some 800,000, have left the country.” In a joint statement by Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) and Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), co-chairmen of the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, the lawmakers said both the U.S. and Iraqi governments should be held accountable for the ongoing religiously motivated violence in Iraq. “The Iraqi government has a moral obligation to protect the rights of all minority communities by implementing concrete solutions to ensure their safety,” the statement said. “The United States must take the lead and provide a ‘humanitarian surge’ in responding to this crisis.”

The commission’s report provides details of violence against Christians in Iraq, including the February 2008 abduction and murder of the Chaldean archbishop of Mosul, Paulos Faraj Rahho, and two of his aides. In April 2008, Assyrian Orthodox priest Youssef Adel was killed in a drive-by shooting in Baghdad. The summary of the report details numerous recommendations the U.S. and Iraqi governments should take. Recommendations for Iraqi action include training and funding police units representative of minority communities to enhance security in neighborhoods and places of worship, and prosecution of individuals or groups that commit human rights violations. It also calls for changes in the Iraqi constitution, including revising Article 2, which guarantees “the Islamic identity of the majority” to ensure the “identity of minorities” in Iraq. The long list of recommendations for the U.S. government – noted by panelists and Wolf to be aimed at the incoming Obama administration – includes increased funding for the cause of reducing violence against religious minorities and the creation of task forces to study the issue and to send a human rights special envoy to Iraq. The report also calls for the upcoming election in Iraq to be “safe and fair,” and recommends that the U.S. government also address the plight of religious refugees who have fled Iraq, including facilitating the resettlement of the “most vulnerable Iraqis” in the United States and to work to curtail delays in that resettlement process.

ABORTION PILL TO BE MADE AVAILABLE IN ITALY : PLEASE DO PRAY

Abortion pill to be made available in Italy
RU486 abortion pill to be made available in Italy next month despite Vatican's objections

The RU486 abortion pill is to be made available in Italy next month despite objections from the Vatican and the ruling centre Right, which described it as "legal back door abortion".
The pill, which blocks the action of hormones needed to keep a fertilized egg implanted in the uterus, was censured by the Vatican in a basic document last week on bio-ethics which also condemned artificial fertilization, human cloning, "designer babies" and embryonic stem-cell research.
Today Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, the Holy See's health minister, said "The Catholic Church understands the personal drama of a young woman who is pregnant against her will, but condemns abortion, in whatever form it is practised, because an innocent being is killed. An embryo is a human being, with all the rights of a human being".
However Corriere della Sera reported that a decision to approve the RU486 pill by the then centre Left government of Romano Prodi in February, cannot be reversed by the present centre Right government of Silvio Berlusconi, which took office in May.
Francesca Martini, deputy minister of Welfare, said "Experience abroad has shown there are wide margins of risks, ineffectiveness and complications related to chemical abortion attempts." However Guido Rasi, head of the Italian medicines agency AIFA, said it expected to give the final go ahead by the end of this week. RU486 would be available only in hospitals, and doctors who disapproved had the option of conscientious objection.
Giorgia Meloni, the Minister for Youth, said "This is not a contraceptive. This is something else. It's a drug with serious risks that interrupts a pregnancy already under way. Every new tool to stop life is not a victory for someone. On the contrary, it is a defeat for society".
However Silvio Viale, a gynaecologist at a Turin hospital, insisted that "Worries about the dangers are baseless: studies have proved it is safe. Patients have to return to the clinic two days after taking the first pill for a second one based on prostaglandin, which aids expulsion of the foetus". Silvana Mura of the centre Left Italy of Values party said the Prodi government had taken its decision "in the interests of women. They will now have an alternative to surgery".

CONGO'S BLOOD DIAMONDS : FACT , FICTION IN WASHINGTON

Congo's Blood Diamonds: Fact, Fiction in Washington

WASHINGTON-Famous television journalist Valerie Grey went to the Democratic Republic of Congo to cover the seemingly endless and bloody war that's being waged between rival Congolese factions. What she found was a multibillion-dollar diamond smuggling scheme that began with slave labor, was orchestrated by both a famous American televangelist and the Congo's controversial dictator and blazed a trail of corruption all the way to the White House.
Throw in a saucy love triangle, and this enticing tale of suspense and romance sounds like a great premise for a fictional thriller. After all, a conspiracy of this magnitude couldn't possibly be true-And that's because it isn't, at least not completely.Westchester County author Dave Donelson, who offered the narrative in his third book, the recently released "Heart of Diamonds," admits that his work is fiction, but it certainly contains carats of truth.Those interested in learning exactly how true or not the story is can ask Mr. Donelson directly at a reading and discussion next week at the Gunn Memorial Library."This war has been going off and on for 15 years, but it's really heated up in the past couple of months. And the parties are fighting over the same thing as always-mineral wealth," said Mr. Donelson about the African conflict. "In [the book], a television reporter goes to cover this war and discovers a diamond smuggling scheme meant to avoid paying ... the Congo government. As bizarre as it may sound, even though the book is fiction, it is based on some actual events."It seems that the book finds itself jumping between literary invention, reality and that opaque area in between the two. Fiction: Though some resemblances are uncanny, all the characters, even the politicians, are made up. So is the love triangle, which finds the main character caught between conflicting feelings for companion David Powell, the colleague who helped shape her career, and Dr. Jaime Talon, who runs a struggling clinic near the diamond mine she has discovered.Truth: The backdrop for the story, the Second Congo War, has seen nearly six million people killed in the past 10 years. It is officially the bloodiest war the world has witnessed since World War II. The diamond mines in the book, ones which have too many Africans employed at the end of a gun, do exist. In modern vernacular, the product they generate is known as "blood diamonds."Curiosity: The book's televangelist, Gary Peterson, befriends the Congo's illusory dictator, Moishe Messime, and the two become business partners in a large-scale mining operation. When a rebel faction threatens the operation, the reverend uses his powerful political connections to send American troops into the country under the guise of a humanitarian effort. In the mid-1990s, famed televangelist Pat Robertson received a 50,000-acre diamond mine from the now-deceased Congo dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. In return, Mr. Robertson pushed, though unsuccessfully, for American military support and political asylum for Mobutu. Though questions about his dealings, and so-called humanitarian efforts, in Africa have been raised, there is no evidence Mr. Robertson was ever involved in a blood diamond smuggling scheme. Mr. Donelson, a writer and entrepreneur, has been working on "Heart of Diamonds" for about five years. The inspiration came to him after first reading of atrocities in the Congo in a 1995 Time magazine article. Since then, he has twice visited the Congo's surrounding region, though for safety reasons, never ventured into the actual country."We went to Zambia, which is to the south of the Congo, and by that time the war was at its peak, so I was not permitted to visit the Congo. Nor would my wife let me," commented Mr. Donelson. "As the manuscript wrapped up, we went to Uganda, right over the eastern border of the Congo. There were thousands of refugees there, and that's where the fighting is going on." The eastern section of the Congo is arguably the most lawless region of the planet. Ever since the country's liberation from Belgium some 50 years ago, it has been mired in political corruption and social upheaval. Dozens of rival tribes harbor ethnically-charged resentment toward each other that dates so far back it is fit for a Shakespearian tragedy. If battles are waged over anything tangible, such as minerals, all the money earned typically winds up in a Swiss bank account, as opposed to the revenue side of a federal budget. This unchecked greed leaves basically no funds for medicine, education or infrastructure. In land area, the Congo is about the size of Western Europe, yet it only has about 2,500 miles of roads. Malnutrition and disease are rampant. Children carry semi-automatic weapons like T-ball bats. And it's almost unheard of for a woman to make it through life without experiencing some degree of sexual assault. All of this, according to observers, raises an interesting policy question: Given the level of these atrocities, why hasn't the United States, or any other country, intervened? Though Saddam Hussein was an indisputably vicious man who gassed scores of Kurdish Iraqis, he kept Iraq relatively stable and, at least by Middle Eastern standards, Westernized. Millions of Congolese, meanwhile, live daily in unspeakably horrific conditions yet have seen almost no American presence. "We don't have a dog in this fight," said Mr. Donelson of the current political climate. In other words, despite all that there is to gain from implementing stability and building good relations with a country so rich in natural resources, the U.S. lacks a vested interest in the Congo. "The U.S. doesn't have a good record of world policing. The battle cry, 'We will never let Rwanda happen again' has proved largely untrue," said Mr. Donelson, referring to the massive Rwandan ethnic genocide of 1994. "But the U.N. hasn't done anything either. U.N. mandates protect the civilians, but it won't stop the fighting."But not all hope is lost. Mr. Donelson sees better days ahead for the Congo, just not anytime soon. Away from the eastern portion, the rest of the country is in the midst of slowly rebuilding. And a central government is on its way. Two years ago, a new president, Joseph Kabila, was voted in, and next year the country will vote for a new parliament and a more efficient system of checks-and-balances. "As dark as it is, steps are being taken. It's going to be a long struggle," said Mr. Donelson, who said he would take "Heart of Diamonds" off shelves if it meant peace in the African nation. "But I'm optimistic the Congo can be a leader of the continent."The library program, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 9, is free and open to the public. A book-signing will follow the discussion.

UNCLE SAM WILL PAY $450 MILLION THIS YEAR JUST TO COVER INYEREST ON NATIONAL DEBT

Uncle Sam Will Pay $450 Billion This Year Just to Cover Interest on National Debt

- A November Treasury Department report states that the interest payment on the federal debt for Fiscal Year 2009 will be about $450 billion, making it the fourth largest expense in the federal budget behind Medicare-Medicaid, Social Security and defense spending. The federal fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30. The Treasury Department report presents the budget estimates for the full fiscal year 2009, which the interest payment and federal department budget projections are based upon. If President-elect Barack Obama and the Democratic congressional leadership enact a proposed $1 trillion stimulus plan in early 2009, it could add about $50 billion to those annual interest payments, budget experts told CNSNews.com on Monday. According to the Treasury Department report, released on Dec. 10, the federal government expects to pay $449,070,000.00 in interest on Treasury debt securities for FY 2009. The Health and Human Services budget, which includes Medicare and Medicaid, will cost $739,241,000.00 for the fiscal year; Social Security Administration, $699,976,000.00; and the Defense Department-Military budget, $656,722,000.00. (Estimates by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget are nearly identical.) Chris Edwards, director of tax policy studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, told CNSNews.com on Monday that the money paid by the Treasury for interest is different than other expenditures, because it does not directly benefit taxpayers. “It represents money that can’t be used for tax reduction or spending programs,” said Edwards. If the Obama administration is able to enact a $1 trillion stimulus package, taxpayers can expect to see $50 billion added to the annual payment, because the federal government usually borrows at an interest rate of about 5 percent, said Edwards and Brian Riedel, the latter who is a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation. The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that Obama's team is considering a stimulus package for the faltering U.S. economy that could reach $1 trillion over two years. “The fact that we are borrowing a trillion dollars means that someone has to pay that back,” said Edwards. “The economic fact is that while Americans are consuming a trillion more in stuff this year, people in later years will have to pay for it.”

CATHOLIC NEWSPAPER FACES BAN FOR WRITTING " ALLAH "

Catholic newspaper faces ban for writing "Allah"

A Catholic newspaper in Malaysia is facing a ban for using the word "Allah" to describe the Christian god.
Unless the government changes its mind, the Herald Catholic Weekly has only two weeks left to run before its licence expires at the end of the year.
The deputy home minister Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh said: "Until December 31 we are not going to announce anything. There is plenty of time till then. Let them wait."
Malaysia is a semi-authoritarian country with strict media laws which has been ruled by the same government since independence from Britain 51 years ago.
Almost 60 per cent of the population are ethnic Malay Muslims and the remainder are ethnic Chinese or Indians following a variety of religions. These large ethnic and religious minorities claim that the government is attempting to stir Malay Muslim sentiment in attempt to deflect its unpopularity and maintain power.
"The Catholic Herald's 'Allah' is seen as a threat to national security," said Father Lawrence Andrew, editor of the Herald.
"We are now a scapegoat, a means for the Malay Muslims to rally together."
His newspaper, established in 1980 with a circulation of 14,000, is published in a variety of languages. In the Malay language the only word for "God" is "Allah" and the enwspaper claims it is impossible to avoid.
In March this year the government slumped to its worst ever election result due, analysts say, to a weakening economy and public anger over corruption. Ethnic minorities are also angry at laws which offer cheap loans, job opportunities and other preferences to ethnic Malays.
The 51-year-old regime is now seen as vulnerable to a challenge by the opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who wants to abolish the racial preferences system.
In recent weeks the Chinese community has been angered by a proposal to close Chinese language schools. A group of Indian community leaders are languishing in prison without charge after leading a protest against the demolition of Hindu temples a year ago.
Earlier this week police detained a group of mostly Indian protesters attempting to deliver a petition on labour rights to the government.
The ruling UMNO party has internal elections early next year and the new prime minister designate, Najib Razak, is seen as a hardliner.