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How undiplomatic of you, Wikileaks

05 Dec 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“All the nations” have reason to proclaim the happiness of the Lord, says the psalmist this Sunday. Yet nations around the world are proclaiming their unhappiness this week after the unauthorized leak of a treasure trove of private U.S. diplomatic correspondence by whistleblower website Wikileaks. Given that the nations of the world lack the harmony and accord St. Paul calls for in this Sunday’s reading from the Letter to the Romans, U.S. diplomats routinely send their frank and unvarnished private opinions of foreign leaders back to the State Department. The gradual publication of some quarter-million such communications has left the Obama administration scrambling to contain the damage. On Tuesday the State Department severed its computer files from the government's classified network, significantly reducing the number of government employees who can read diplomatic posts, as U.S. and world leaders tried to tighten procedures in the wake of the damaging leak. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton embarked on a hastily planned trip to smooth ruffled diplomatic feathers worldwide. Ratcheting up the heat on Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, the European law enforcement agency Interpol put him on its most-wanted list after Sweden issued an arrest warrant against Assange as part of a drawn-out rape probe. Assange’s lawyer claims Assange is being persecuted on trumped-up charges. One of the more diplomatically embarrassing revelations in the documents is that the U.S. State Department asked its diplomats to collect sensitive personal information on foreign leaders. "What worries me is the mixing of diplomatic tasks with downright espionage," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. State Department spokesman P. J. Crowley sought to reassure the world that U.S. diplomats were not spies, even as he sidestepped questions about why they were asked to provide DNA samples, iris scans, credit card numbers, fingerprints, and other deeply personal information about leaders at the United Nations and in foreign capitals. Source: Articles by Raphael G. Satter and Malin Rising for the Associated Press, TIME, and msnbc.com

ban ki-moon state department wikileaks diplomats hillary rodham clinton julian assange spying p j crowley
Praise for fallen diplomatic warrior

19 Dec 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The Sunday gospel relates how on learning of Mary’s pregnancy Joseph chose to serve the Lord by following a courageous path in a difficult situation. For his part, Saint Paul called himself a “slave of Christ Jesus” in the second reading because of his single-minded dedication to the gospel. U.S. diplomat Richard C. Holbrooke, who died Monday, is being widely praised for his dedicated service in the pursuit of solutions to challenging international conflicts. Holbrooke was hospitalized last Friday afternoon after becoming ill while meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in her Washington office. Doctors found a tear to his aorta, and he underwent a 21-hour operation. Holbrooke had additional surgery on Sunday and remained in critical condition until his death. Holbrooke most recently had been President Obama’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. In marking his passing Obama called Holbrooke “one of the giants of U.S. foreign policy,” while Clinton said the nation "has lost one of its fiercest champions and most dedicated public servants." The list of matters in which Holbrooke was closely engaged reads like a history of U.S. foreign policy since the late 1960s: the war in Vietnam, the normalization of relations with China, the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Berlin in 1994, the Bosnian war, and, most recently, Afghanistan and Pakistan. As Christians worldwide prepare for the approaching birth of the Prince of Peace, Holbrooke received praised for his diplomatic efforts on behalf of peace. He is said to have dazzled and sometimes intimidated opponents and colleagues around a negotiating table. While detractors called him overly contentious, to admirers, including generations of State Department protégés and the presidents he served, his peacemaking efforts were extraordinary. Holbrooke’s death could have a profound impact on the administration's efforts to implement its strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which relies not only on military gains but also on development assistance and diplomatic initiatives. Source: Articles by Barrie Hardymon for National Public Radio, Robert Mackey and Robert D. McFadden for the New York Times, and by Rajiv Chandrasekaran for the Washington Post

afghanistan united states richard holbrooke pakistan hillary rodham clinton foreign policy
United we sit?

23 Jan 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Paul’s wish for the church in Corinth is “that there be no divisions among you,” this Sunday’s second reading informs us. In the aftermath of the Arizona shootings, calls have gone out for greater civility in the nation’s political discourse. In at least a symbolic move in that direction, some 50 members of Congress have signed a letter pledging to sit with members of the other party during the president’s State of the Union address January 25. Support for the idea continues to grow. Sens. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) have been circulating a letter to other members of Congress proposing they sit together during the address. Udall said the tradition of having the parties sit on opposite sides of the House chamber is a “negative symbol of the divisions in Congress.” Udall and Murkowski were joined Wednesday by Democratic Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin and Republican Sen. Mark Kirk, both of Illinois, who announced they also will sit together. Other legislators have said they are open to bipartisan seating but have not signed the letter or formally announced plans to sit with a member of the opposing party. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton came out in favor of the gesture Wednesday. She said politicians need to be careful not to personalize political disagreements by demonizing the people who hold different views. Clinton also offered a mea culpa: “I think everybody in politics, as I have been, gets carried away in the heat of the moment from time to time. And maybe says things about the person as opposed to the policy that we would think better of the next day.” Source: Articles by Daniel Strauss for Thehill.com, the Associated Press, and George Stephanopoulos for ABC News

senate congress state of the union hillary rodham clinton lisa murkowski mark udall
Mideast upheaval has State Department a-Twitter

20 Feb 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The reading from the Book of Leviticus instructs Israel to “take no revenge and cherish no grudge against any of your people.” In the wake of Egypt’s cyber-aided uprising, the U.S. State Department is using Twitter to prod Iran’s repressive leadership to let up on the Iranian people. After launching an Arabic Twitter feed last week to communicate with Egyptian protesters, the State Department began posting in Farsi on Sunday to reach media-savvy Iranians. One message called on Iran "to allow people to enjoy same universal rights to peacefully assemble, demonstrate as in Cairo." Commenting on the new diplomatic strategy, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that the United States stands with cyber-dissidents and democracy activists from the Middle East to China and beyond. She pledged to expand the administration's efforts to foil Internet repression in autocratic states. The State Department will spend $25 million this year on initiatives designed to protect bloggers and help them get around curbs like the Great Firewall of China, the gagging of social media sites in Iran, Cuba, Syria, Vietnam, and Myanmar as well as attempts such as Egypt's recent one to thwart anti-government protests by simply pulling the plug on online communication. She also said the department would broaden the reach of its online mini-appeals for human rights and democracy by creating accounts to cater to audiences in China, Russia, and India in their native languages. In related news, events in Egypt have set off a chain reaction of revolt around the Middle East and North Africa, with anti-government demonstrations Wednesday in Libya, Bahrain, Jordan, Yemen, and Iraq. Articles by Matthew Lee and Sarah El Deeb for the Associated Press, Paul Taylor for Reuters, and Yahoo News

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State Department raises visibility of religion

31 Jul 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The awesome power of God is on display in this Sunday's readings. The U.S. State Department is going out of its way to assure observers that the most powerful nation on earth takes religion seriously, making it a growing priority for U.S. diplomacy. As an example of the new stance, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Istanbul recently promoted a new U.S.-backed international agreement to protect freedom of speech and religion, an accord described by her department as a "landmark" change. "These are fundamental freedoms that belong to all people in all places," Clinton said, "and they are certainly essential to democracy." Clinton said the U.N. Human Rights Council’s resolution “calls upon states to protect freedom of religion, to counter offensive expression through education, interfaith dialogue, and public debate, and to prohibit discrimination, profiling, and hate crimes, but not to criminalize speech unless there is an incitement to imminent violence.” Elsewhere in the State Department the school for foreign fervice officers rolled out a new seminar last month on how diplomats can practice "religious engagement." Thomas Farr, director of the Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, & World Affairs, welcomed the new approach. Farr, a former diplomat, was an instructor at the Foreign Service Institute's three-day seminar on religion and diplomacy. In addition, the National Security Council is touting a new partnership with the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships that represents a "renewed focus on the intersection of religion and foreign policy across the United States government," announced Faith-Based director Joshua DuBois earlier this month. Sources: Articles by Nicole Gaouette for Bloomberg.com, EcumenicalNews Service, and Lauren Markoe for Religion News Service

religion state department hillary rodham clinton foreign policy diplomacy thomas farr foreign service institute national security council joshua dubois
Was blind Chinese activist misled?

06 May 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In this Sunday’s gospel Jesus promises much to those who follow his counsel: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.” Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, who fled house arrest and spent six days in the United States Embassy in Beijing, was promised a new life by Chinese authorities if he left U.S. protection. Now that he has done so, however, he says he fears for the safety of his family and wishes to leave the country. Chen departed the embassy’s confines Wednesday for a nearby hospital for treatment of a leg injury suffered in his escape, and at first all appeared to be well with the deal, designed to clear up the matter before strategic and economic meetings opened Thursday between U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and their Chinese counterparts—and portray the U.S. as standing firm in its defense of human rights. Clinton spoke to Chen on the phone when he left the embassy and, in a statement, welcomed the resettlement agreement as one that "reflected his choices and our values." But just as the disciples in Jerusalem expressed their fear of Saul, the reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells us, a shaken Chen told reporters from his hospital room that he now fears for his family and wants the U.S. to help them leave China. He said he’d been coerced into leaving the embassy and that Chinese authorities warned he would not be reunited with his family and that his wife would be beaten if he stayed at the embassy any longer. American officials maintain that Chen insisted on remaining in China and that he left the embassy voluntarily after they negotiated the best deal possible with the Chinese government. Skeptics doubt the Chinese will respect whatever agreement they may have made and point out the U.S. is not in much of a position to see that it is honored over the long term. Sources: Articles by Frida Ghitis for CNN, David Martin for CBS News, and the Associated Press

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Syria heads toward civil war

17 Jun 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In this Sunday’s gospel Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a mustard seed, the smallest of seeds that springs up to become the largest of plants. The seeds of discontent planted in Syria during the “Arab spring” last year have grown into the largest and most protracted conflict in the Middle East. With heavy arms flowing to all sides, the troubled country appears headed toward full-fledged civil war.Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Tuesday that the United States believed that Russia was shipping attack helicopters to Syria that President Bashar al-Assad could use to escalate his government’s deadly crackdown on civilians and the militias battling his rule. Her comments reflected rising frustration with Russia, which has continued to supply weapons to its major Middle Eastern ally despite an international outcry over the government’s brutal crackdown.“We have confronted the Russians about stopping their continued arms shipments to Syria,” Clinton said at an appearance with President Shimon Peres of Israel. “They have, from time to time, said that we shouldn’t worry; everything they’re shipping is unrelated to their actions internally. That’s patently untrue.”Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Wednesday defended his country’s sale of arms to Syria and accused the United States of supplying rebels with weapons to fight against the government. “We are not violating any international law in performing these contracts,” said Lavrov, in response to a question about Clinton’s comments at a news conference during a visit of the Russian minister to Iran. Russia insists that it provides Damascus only with weapons that can be used in self-defense. Sources: Articles by Isabel Coles for Reuters and Mark Landler and Neil MacFarquhar for the New York Times

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Clinton makes historic visit to long-suffering Laos

15 Jul 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The psalmist promises this Sunday that the time will come when “justice and peace shall kiss.” The people of Laos, a nation that suffered greatly when caught in the superpower crossfire of the Vietnam War, hope that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s visit this week—the first by a top U.S. official since 1955—signals a new era of peaceful cooperation.The U.S., looking for closer ties with Laos, may need to ask for some “forgiveness of transgressions,” in the words of the second reading. The U.S. dropped more than 2 million tons of bombs on this tiny and impoverished country between 1964 and 1973—about a ton of explosives for each Laotian man, woman, and child, and more bombs per capita than any population in history has had to endure.Four decades later American weapons are still claiming lives. More than 20,000 people have been killed by unexploded ordnance in post-war Laos, according to its government, with many thousands more maimed, and contamination throughout the country is a major barrier to agricultural development. Sources: Articles by USA TODAY and the Associated Press

vietnam war bombing hillary rodham clinton laos ordnance
Anti-Islamic video sparks embassy attacks

16 Sep 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Questions of identity and representation are front and center in this Sunday’s gospel when Jesus asks his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" An inflammatory and amateurish, anti-Islamic video of questionable origin that portrays the prophet Mohammad as a fraud and child sex-abuser helped fuel attacks on U.S. diplomatic sites in Egypt, Libya, and elsewhere midweek. Libyan Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans died in the most violent assault which occurred at the U.S. consulate and a safe house in Benghazi, Libya Tuesday night.U.S. President Barack Obama Wednesday branded the attack "outrageous" and ordered increased security at U.S. diplomatic posts worldwide as violence threatened to spread to other Muslim countries.There is a growing consensus that the attack that killed Stevens was premeditated. While protesters elsewhere appeared to be genuinely outraged over the anti-Islam video, the attackers in Benghazi were armed with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. Officials said it was likely that an organized group had either been waiting for an opportunity to exploit, such as the protests over the video, or generated the protests as a cover for their attack.Stevens, who died on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, made a career of going to difficult places and insisting that he witness tumultuous events firsthand, friends and colleagues said. He had initially traveled to North Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer where he worked as an English teacher in a town in the high Atlas mountains in Morocco. He spoke Arabic as well as French and spent much of his diplomatic life in North Africa.Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Wednesday described Stevens as one of the first Americans on the ground in Benghazi, de facto headquarters of the Libyan uprising in 2011. She said he arrived on a cargo ship and immediately began building relationships with those leading the revolution.Stevens was widely admired by the Libyan rebels for his support of their struggle, and others who knew him said he was an extraordinarily talented and insightful diplomat. "He risked his life to stop a tyrant, then gave his life trying to help build a better Libya," Clinton said. Sources: Articles by Hadeel Al Shalchi for Reuters, Sara Lynch and Oren Dorell for USA TODAY, Greg Myre for National Public Radio, Dion Nissenbaum for the Wall Street Journal, and David D. Kirkpatrick for the New York Times

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Another chapter of war, and peace is elusive

25 Nov 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The readings for this Sunday’s Solemnity of Christ the King deal with questions of sovereignty and dominion. Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories have struggled with similar questions for decades, and their inability to agree on a lasting peace has led to yet another in a long series of outbursts of violence, destruction, casualties, and recrimination. What is new is the political configuration of some of their Middle Eastern neighbors, which has created a complex new geopolitical playing field.Hamas and Israel agreed to a cease-fire that took effect Wednesday evening following a week of intense diplomacy to stop rocket fire into Israel and airstrikes that have pounded the Gaza Strip and raised fears of plunging the region into a wider war.The deal was announced in Cairo by Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Amr and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who flew to the region Tuesday night as hopes for a truce remained elusive amid heavy artillery exchanges. "After intensive efforts, calls, and negotiations with the Israelis and factions of the Palestinian resistance, we have come to an understanding," Amr said.In Washington, President Barack Obama thanked Morsi for his efforts "to achieve a sustainable cease-fire and for his personal leadership in negotiating a cease-fire proposal." The president also “expressed his appreciation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the Israeli leader’s efforts to work with the new Egyptian government to achieve a sustainable cease-fire and a more durable solution to this problem," a White House statement said.The deal calls for Israel to stop all bombardment—from land, sea and air—of the Gaza Strip and for Hamas to halt firing rockets into Israel. It also notes that Israel should stop "incursions and targeting of individuals."The agreement further stipulates that issues related to border-crossings and the movement of people and goods will "be dealt with" 24 hours after the start of the cease-fire. These issues have long been central to the crafting of any longer-term solution, observers say.Homily hint: How can we support peace rather than taking sides when hostilities flare in the Middle East? This Sunday’s emphasis on God’s absolute sovereignty suggests that Jews, Christians, and Muslims could begin be focusing on the beliefs that, though expressed in different ways, are common to all three of the Abrahamic religions. Sources:Jeffrey Fleishman and Reem Abdellatif for the Los Angeles Times and Oliver Knox for The Ticket

barack obama gaza strip israel cease-fire palestinians hillary rodham clinton mohammed morsi mohammed amr