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The hopes and fears of all the year

28 Dec 2008 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Nearly two years ago, in April 2007, an undergraduate art student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago unveiled a papier-mache sculpture of Barack Obama as a messianic figure, titled "Blessing." David Cordero, 24, made the sculpture for his senior show after noticing all the attention Obama had received since first hinting he might run for the presidency. Run Obama did, and win he did, and his election was overwhelmingly voted the top news story of the year by U.S. editors and news directors polled by the Associated Press. But as we prepare to celebrate the Savior's birth, Obama must contend with the almost messianic-like hope that many people hold for his presidency. Artist Cordero's explanation for creating his sculpture may prove a healthy cautionary tale: "All of this is a response to what I've been witnessing and hearing, this idea that Barack is sort of a potential savior that might come and absolve the country of all its sins. In a lot of ways it's about caution in assigning all these inflated expectations on one individual, and expecting them to change something that many hands have shaped." As Obama prepares to take office in a few weeks, he inherits a number of daunting challenges not of his own creation, not least of which is the nation's financial meltdown-voted the number-two story of the year in the AP poll. Obama will also be handed the long-running war in Iraq, another top-ten story of the year, not to mention the even longer-running war in Afghanistan. If that were not enough, the U.S. as well as other nations face the ongoing threat of terrorism, as demonstrated by another top story, the recent terrorist attack in Mumbai, India that killed 164 people. The historic political campaigns of two women-Hilary Clinton and Sarah Palin-also made the list of top-ten news stories. Though their campaigns were not victorious, both women finished the year with their political futures intact-Clinton as Obama's choice for U.S. Secretary of State, and Palin as a leading light of the conservative wing of the Republican Party. China and Russia were home to top stories of the year as well. China made the list for a triumph, its largely successful hosting of the Beijing Olympics, as well as a tragedy, a powerful earthquake in May that left more than 70,000 dead and led to the collapse of about 7,000 classrooms in shoddily built schools. The five-day Russian-Georgian war in August rounds out the list, a further reminder that Obama will inherit a number of complex and potentially volatile foreign-relations concerns. Stories that almost made the top ten included Cyclone Nargis, which killed more than 84,000 people in Myanmar; Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which wreaked deadly damage in the Caribbean and on the U.S. Gulf Coast; and the seesaw fate of same-sex marriage in California, where a court ruling approving it was later overturned by a ballot measure. Several write-in votes were cast for two developments that occurred too late to be included on the AP ballot: the indictment of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the efforts of struggling U.S. automakers to get a federal bailout. The alleged financial scam involving Bernard Madoff also was revealed too late to make the ballot. Several of the editors who voted commented on how two transcendent developments dominated the news in 2008. "As far as I am concerned, there were only two stories this year," wrote Linda Grist Cunningham of the Rockford (Illinois) Register Star. "Global economy collapses (sending every country into financial, political, and personal chaos) and Obama elected U.S. president, changing the way the America does business-financial, political, and personal." Source: Articles by Joel Roberts and David Crary for the Associated Press

automakers russia beijing olympics georgia cyclone nargis myanmar hurricane gustav hurricane ike same-sex marriage california bailout bernard madoff china sarah palin hilary clinton rod blagojevich barack obama david cordero school of the art institute of chicago associated press savior iraq war afghanistan war top-ten news stories terrorism mumbai global economy
Skimming the surface

08 Feb 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Saint Paul tries to be "all things to all, to save at least some," he writes in this Sunday's reading from the 1st Letter to the Corinthians. But after seven years of trying all sorts of programs to help the people of Afghanistan, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) programs continue to be plagued by mismanagement, undocumented results, wasteful overhead, and profit skimming by U.S. contractors, according to reports and audits. Of six different audits conducted in the past year by the agency's inspector general, only one found a program working largely as it was supposed to. For example: A $219 million contract for technical and management advice to government ministries and other institutions produced "a lack of evidence" of results after the agency and the contractor "spent an inordinate amount of time attempting to define the program's activities and priorities." The success of a $37 million contract to help small businesses could not be measured because "the contractor's performance data . . . were not reliable." A $102 million contract to promote agriculture led to defective buildings, the spraying of pesticides without studying their impact, and the failure to implement a major farm program in time for last summer's planting season. "As a result, the mission may not be able to provide planned jobs to local Afghans, and sales from crop harvests may not materialize," the August 2008 audit said. Michael Yates, USAID's Afghanistan mission director, defended his agency's work, saying it had produced "remarkably powerful impacts" in health, education, agriculture, and more. "The audits have identified areas of weakness, but we then take concrete steps to address those areas," he said. Yet critics such as Ann Jones, who wrote a 2006 book about her four years as an aid worker in Afghanistan, said the effort has been bedeviled by waste and mismanagement. More than half of the assistance money goes to overhead and profits for private U.S. contractors who hire Afghans to perform the work, Jones says. "It's hard to overstate the magnitude of the failure of American reconstruction in Afghanistan," she said. Source: An article by Ken Delanian for USA TODAY

us agency for international development afghanistan usaid michael yates ann jones
Putting bombs away

12 Jul 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In the vision of the psalmist this Sunday, "Justice and peace shall kiss." While President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev didn't kiss this week, they did sign a preliminary agreement to reduce the world's two largest nuclear stockpiles by as much as one third. Two days of meetings resulted in the signing of other important documents as well, including a deal to let U.S. troops cross Russia en route to Afghanistan. The two leaders agreed their countries would work closely together to study new missile security threats the United States says are at the core of its rationale for planning new missile defenses in Europe, and they called for renewed efforts to develop greater commercial and economic ties. "I can't think of a summit that was so comprehensive in what we are trying to do as a government," said Michael McFaul, special assistant to the president and senior director for Russian and Eurasian affairs. "There is an emphasis on style, on tone," however, rather than action in Obama's efforts thus far to build a new relationship with Russia, said Sam Greene, deputy director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, a U.S.-based political research institute. "But that is also important. If this process is going to keep up momentum, it needs to be clear to politicians in both capitals that the presidents are putting a lot of their own political capital into the process." "Even a symbolic detente is not bad," said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the Moscow foreign policy review Russia in Global Affairs. "The style has changed utterly by comparison with last autumn" when tensions between the United States and Russia soared to levels not seen since Ronald Reagan entered the White House in the early 1980s, he said. Source: Articles by Christopher Boian for Agence France Presse and Michael A. Fletcher and Philip P. Pan for the Washington Post

barack obama russia in global affairs fyodor lukyanov carnegie moscow center sam greene michael mcfaul europe arms control missiles nuclear weapons united states dmitry medvedev afghanistan russia ronald reagan
Losses mount in troubled Afghanistan

26 Jul 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The Letter to the Ephesians encourages unity through the bond of peace. But war-torn Afghanistan has a long way to go toward that goal, and the death of four American soldiers Monday made July the deadliest month in the war's history for the U.S. as well as for all international troops. Meanwhile, a Taliban video aired over the internet showcased a U.S. soldier being held hostage. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Monday voiced concern and outrage over the hostage-taking and said everything possible is being done to free him. "I mean, it's just outrageous. It's a real sign of desperation and inappropriate criminal behavior on the parts of these terrorist groups," Clinton said. "So we are going to do everything we can to get him." Also on Monday, a British fighter jet crashed at NATO's largest base in southern Afghanistan. The jet is the fourth aircraft to crash in Afghanistan in three days and the sixth this month. Lt. Cmdr. Christine Sidenstricker, a U.S. military spokeswoman in Kabul, said she had not heard anything to suggest a common thread tying the crashes together. "I don't think they're related," she said. "There really hasn't been a lot of similarity between the events except they all happen to be aircraft. In most cases it has not been the result of enemy activity; it has been mechanical problems or other issues." Last year there were only about 30,000 U.S. troops in the country at this time. Today there is double that number, and many more U.S. aircraft. An additional 11,000 U.S. forces are due in Afghanistan by the end of the year as part of 21,000 fresh troop reinforcements President Barack Obama has dispatched to the country. Source: Articles by Jason Straziuso for Associated Press and by Agence France Presse

afghanistan war afghanistan hillary clinton taliban christine sidenstricker
Losses mount in troubled Afghanistan

26 Jul 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The Letter to the Ephesians encourages unity through the bond of peace. But war-torn Afghanistan has a long way to go toward that goal, and the death of four American soldiers Monday made July the deadliest month in the war's history for the U.S. as well as for all international troops. Meanwhile, a Taliban video aired over the internet showcased a U.S. soldier being held hostage. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Monday voiced concern and outrage over the hostage-taking and said everything possible is being done to free him. "I mean, it's just outrageous. It's a real sign of desperation and inappropriate criminal behavior on the parts of these terrorist groups," Clinton said. "So we are going to do everything we can to get him." Also on Monday, a British fighter jet crashed at NATO's largest base in southern Afghanistan. The jet is the fourth aircraft to crash in Afghanistan in three days and the sixth this month. Lt. Cmdr. Christine Sidenstricker, a U.S. military spokeswoman in Kabul, said she had not heard anything to suggest a common thread tying the crashes together. "I don't think they're related," she said. "There really hasn't been a lot of similarity between the events except they all happen to be aircraft. In most cases it has not been the result of enemy activity; it has been mechanical problems or other issues." Last year there were only about 30,000 U.S. troops in the country at this time. Today there is double that number, and many more U.S. aircraft. An additional 11,000 U.S. forces are due in Afghanistan by the end of the year as part of 21,000 fresh troop reinforcements President Barack Obama has dispatched to the country. Source: Articles by Jason Straziuso for Associated Press and by Agence France Presse

afghanistan war afghanistan hillary clinton taliban christine sidenstricker
Afghanistan’s long and winding road

23 Aug 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

"This saying is hard; who can accept it?" complain many of Jesus' disciples in this Sunday's gospel. Ahead of Afghanistan's presidential elections Thursday, U.S. troops were working to secure polling places amid an escalating pattern of violence that threatens to keep some Afghans from the polls. Gunfire and the thunder of explosions echoed through the capital on Wednesday, less than 24 hours before the scheduled start of nationwide voting for president and provincial assemblies. Taliban commanders have warned Afghans against voting in the election, which the West sees as a crucial benchmark for Afghanistan's young democracy. At least six election workers have been killed since Tuesday in attacks blamed on insurgents. In recent days the Taliban claimed responsibility for two major suicide bombings in the capital that killed more than 15 people, and in a symbolic strike, militants even tried to lob mortar shells into the presidential palace. In Afghanistan's south, the main flash point for fighting between Western troops and the Taliban, military authorities Wednesday reported the deaths of six U.S. troops in separate incidents in the previous 24 hours, one of them from noncombat causes. Thousands of new U.S. troops arrived over the summer. Safeguarding the election was one of their primary missions. Despite their efforts, both troop deaths and civilian casualties have soared. "The danger is there, and the danger is real," Kai Eide, the top United Nations representative in Afghanistan, said in an interview. "We will make the vote as secure as we can under the circumstances." Authorities acknowledged that a clear-cut result could take weeks. A preliminary tally is expected to be released over the weekend. But a final count will not be announced for two weeks, and candidates then have two more weeks to contest the result. If a runoff takes place, it would occur in October. Source: Articles by Laura King for the Los Angeles Times, BBC News, and Associated Press

afghanistan elections taliban kai eide
Justice Department to question the questioners

30 Aug 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In this Sunday's first reading Moses admonishes the people of Israel to observe carefully the statutes and decrees he was setting forth so that other nations could say of them, "This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people." Critics say the U.S. government's apparent flouting of internationally accepted interrogation policies in secret detention centers in Iraq and Afghanistan hurt U.S. standing around the world. Amid revelations that Central Intelligence Agency interrogators threatened terror suspects with handguns and an electric drill, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Monday appointed a prosecutor to conduct a preliminary review to determine whether criminal prosecutions are warranted in some detainee abuse cases. The threats against the detainees, who were hooded, shackled, and in some cases naked, were among new details in volumes of documents released Monday by the Justice Department. The records included a 2004 report by the CIA's Office of Inspector General, which noted that some of the interrogation tactics used by the agency were "inconsistent with the public policy positions that the United States has taken regarding human rights." Holder's decision to investigate further, coupled with the release of the graphic details about interrogation practices that President Barack Obama ordered halted when he took office in January, ignited a political storm at a delicate time in Washington. Leading Republicans denounced Holder's appointment of John H. Durham, a career prosecutor, saying it will hinder intelligence-gathering in the fight against terrorists, while some Democrats criticized the investigation as too limited. They renewed calls for an independent review of most of the controversial anti-terrorism policies adopted by George W. Bush's administration. "The documents underscore how closely supervised the program was by officials in Washington," said Jameel Jaffer of the American Civil Liberties Union, whose Freedom of Information Act lawsuit forced disclosure of the records. "Any investigation that began and ended with the so-called rogue interrogators would be completely inadequate." Tom Parker, policy director for counterterrorism and human rights at Amnesty International, USA said the documents were "chilling." "They show how deeply rooted this new culture of mistreatment became," he said. But defenders of the program say the tight rules demonstrate the government's attempt to keep the program within the law. "Elaborate care went into figuring out the precise gradations of coercion," said David B. Rivkin, Jr., a lawyer who served in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. "Yes, it's jarring. But it shows how both the lawyers and the nonlawyers tried to do the right thing." Source: Articles by James Vicini and Jeremy Pelofsky for Reuters, Paul Kain and Carrie Johnson for the Washington Post, Peter Eisler for USA TODAY, and David Johnston, Scott Shane, and Mark Mazzetti for the New York Times

iraq tom parker jameel jaffer john h durham detainees amnesty international interrogation justice department eric h holder jr american civil liberties union central intelligence agency afghanistan george bush barack obama david b rivkin jr
Aghast at Afghan voter fraud

06 Sep 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday's reading from the Letter of James urges us to "show no partiality." As top envoys for Afghanistan gathered in Paris Wednesday, claims of massive vote fraud in the recent elections called into question the Afghan government's claims of partiality and cast a pall over peace efforts. U.S. special representative Richard Holbrooke joined counterparts from 26 countries and organizations for talks on Afghanistan's future after the August 20 vote, which has been mired in allegations of ballot-stuffing and voter intimidation. Afghanistan's election commission is investigating more than 2,500 complaints of irregularities. With ballots from nearly half the polling stations reported, President Hamid Karzai was leading his main rival Abdullah Abdullah but was short of the majority needed to avoid a run-off. The meeting comes two days after U.S. and NATO commanders in Afghanistan presented a gloomy assessment of the war, calling for a shift in strategy in the nearly eight-year campaign to defeat the Taliban. Already 2009 has been a record-breaking year for the number of foreign soldiers killed in Afghanistan and questions are being asked over the fate of billions of dollars in international aid that has poured into the country. Washington's relations with Karzai have grown increasingly strained while public opinion in the U.S. and Europe has turned cold over what many see as an ill-defined Afghan campaign. Source: Articles by Dexter Filkins for the New York Times and Agence France Presse

afghanistan war afghanistan election abdullah abdullah hamid karzai vote fraud richard holbrooke
Aghast at Afghan voter fraud

06 Sep 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

This Sunday's reading from the Letter of James urges us to "show no partiality." As top envoys for Afghanistan gathered in Paris Wednesday, claims of massive vote fraud in the recent elections called into question the Afghan government's claims of partiality and cast a pall over peace efforts. U.S. special representative Richard Holbrooke joined counterparts from 26 countries and organizations for talks on Afghanistan's future after the August 20 vote, which has been mired in allegations of ballot-stuffing and voter intimidation. Afghanistan's election commission is investigating more than 2,500 complaints of irregularities. With ballots from nearly half the polling stations reported, President Hamid Karzai was leading his main rival Abdullah Abdullah but was short of the majority needed to avoid a run-off. The meeting comes two days after U.S. and NATO commanders in Afghanistan presented a gloomy assessment of the war, calling for a shift in strategy in the nearly eight-year campaign to defeat the Taliban. Already 2009 has been a record-breaking year for the number of foreign soldiers killed in Afghanistan and questions are being asked over the fate of billions of dollars in international aid that has poured into the country. Washington's relations with Karzai have grown increasingly strained while public opinion in the U.S. and Europe has turned cold over what many see as an ill-defined Afghan campaign. Source: Articles by Dexter Filkins for the New York Times and Agence France Presse

afghanistan war afghanistan election abdullah abdullah hamid karzai vote fraud richard holbrooke
A warning as war wears on

27 Sep 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The righteous one offers no resistance to those who murder him, we hear in the Letter of James this Sunday. The top United States and NATO commander in Afghanistan warned that without more troops soon, the allies would not be able to offer sufficient resistance to the growing Taliban insurgency, and the eight-year mission "will likely result in failure." General Stanley McChrystal's urgent assessment is one factor that has led the Obama administration to a wholesale reassessment of the Afghan war effort. Others include the deteriorating conditions on the ground, widespread Afghan government corruption, and the messy outcome of the recent Afghan elections with their widespread claims of fraud. "A counterinsurgency strategy can only work if you have a credible and legitimate Afghan partner. That's in doubt now," said Bruce O. Riedel, who led the administration's strategy review of Afghanistan and Pakistan earlier this year. "Part of the reason you are seeing hesitancy to jump deeper into the pool is that they are looking to see if they can make lemonade out of the lemons we got from the Afghan election." Although the president has said that a stable Afghanistan is central to the security of the United States, advisers said he is also wary of becoming trapped in an overseas quagmire. Increasingly restless members of Congress, echoing their war-weary constituents, are calling for McChrystal to appear before Congress to discuss his assessment of the war. Thus far the Pentagon has rebuffed the requests, saying the general needs to focus on the war operation. McChrystal's stark assessment was contained in a confidential report prepared in August that was leaked to Bob Woodward, the Washington Post journalist famed for his scoops going back to the Vietnam-era Pentagon Papers. Source: Articles by Bob Woodward and Howard Kurtz for the Washington Post, Peter Baker and Elisabeth Bumiller for the New York Times, and Yochi J. Dreazen, Neil King, Jr., and Peter Spiegel for the Wall Street Journal

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