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Unequivocal condemnation

31 May 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Filled with the Holy Spirit, the disciples began to speak in different tongues, we hear in the Acts of the Apostles. Though they speak different tongues, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council denounced with one voice North Korea's underground detonation of a nuclear device Monday. Tensions rose through the week as North Korea tested short-range missiles and appeared to restart production at its main nuclear facility. On Tuesday North Korea decried a South Korean decision to join a U.S.-led initiative to search ships carrying suspicious cargoes to prevent trafficking of weapons of mass destruction. North Korea said that as a result of the South's action, which it considered tantamount to a declaration of war, it was abandoning the truce that ended the Korean War. It pledged to attack if its ships were stopped. Meanwhile, South Korean news reports say that steam has been seen coming from a plant at the North's main nuclear facility, a sign that it may have made good on its threat to restart efforts to make weapons-grade plutonium. Antagonisms had already risen significantly across the Korean peninsula in recent weeks. Last month North Korea launched a long-range rocket over Japanese airspace, angering the international community. Pyongyang said the rocket carried a satellite, but several nations viewed it as a cover for a missile test. The Security Council is working on a stronger resolution condemning North Korea's actions, including possible punitive measures. Washington is calling for a quick and unified response that will make it clear to Pyongyang that there are consequences for its actions. But U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the door was still open to resume long-running six-party talks and that the U.S. was looking at a "whole range of options." "We are thinking through complicated issues that require very careful consideration," said Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Source: An article by the BBC

nuclear weapons missiles north korea united nations security council south korea pyongyang
Korea hands down harsh sentences for journalists

14 Jun 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Moses wrote down the words of the Lord, we hear in this Sunday's reading from the Book of Exodus. Two U.S. journalists arrested in North Korea for reporting on and writing down a sensitive story without government authorization were sentenced to 12 years in a labor camp Monday, as the government of Kim Jong Il continued to ratchet up tension with its neighbors and the United States. Laura Ling and Euna Lee, television reporters detained in March along North Korea's border with China, received harsher sentences than many outsiders had expected. But several experts in South Korea predicted that talks would soon negotiate their release. Ling and Lee were working for Current TV, a cable and Web network cofounded by former vice president Al Gore, when they were apprehended March 17 by North Korean soldiers along the border with China. The reporters were working on a story about North Koreans who flee the country, but the circumstances of their arrest are not clear. The State Department last week did not rule out the possibility that Gore might fly to North Korea to negotiate the reporters' release. The detention and sentencing of the two journalists has coincided with--and become entangled in--a series of provocative acts by North Korea this spring that have angered its neighbors, its historical allies, and much of the world. The heavily armed, secretive state, in the midst of a succession process as the country's ailing leader prepares to hand power over to his youngest son, launched a long-range missile in April, detonated an underground nuclear bomb in May, and has renounced the truce that ended the Korean War. On Monday North Korea warned fishermen and boat captains to stay away from the country's east coast, Japan's coast guard said. The North is planning to launch several medium-range missiles from the region, according to reports in the South Korean press. Wednesday, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council approved a draft resolution that would significantly expand export limits and financial restrictions on North Korea and leave open the possibility of widening inspections of North Korean cargo vessels. North Korea has said that any attempt to stop its vessels would be considered an act of war. Source: Articles by Blaine Harden for the Washington Post, Edith M. Lederer for Associated Press, and Neil MacFarquhar for the New York Times

north korea labor camp euna lee laura ling kim jong il journalists south korea united nations security council al gore
Obama backs India for secure top spot at U.N.

14 Nov 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The psalmist promises the Lord will come to “rule the earth with justice.” The United Nations plays an important role in arbitrating disputes and promoting justice around the world, and on Monday President Barack Obama backed India for a permanent seat on the powerful U.N. Security Council, a dramatic diplomatic gesture to his hosts at the end of his first visit to the booming nation. Obama spoke of elevating the nation of a billion people to “its rightful place in the world” alongside an assertive China. Obama’s declaration, delivered to the thunderous applause of India’s parliament members, spoke to a mission broader than the makeup of one global institution. By spending three packed days in India, announcing trade deals, dismissing job-outsourcing gripes and admonishing India’s rival Pakistan, Obama went all out for an ally whose support he hopes to bank on for years. Obama’s endorsement of a permanent security council seat for India, however, will cause a diplomatic stir. Not only does China oppose India’s membership, but the announcement is likely to be viewed with concern in Pakistan. It also signals that the Obama administration is putting a higher priority on India’s claim to membership than that of longtime allies Germany and Japan. Some Indian leaders had worried that Obama was more focused on China than on developing a stronger partnership with India. But just as, for the psalmist, the arrival of divine rule is reason to celebrate, the endorsement of India’s U.N. bid “is a huge deliverable,” said Stewart Patrick, a former U.S. State Department official now with the Council on Foreign Relations. Source: Articles by Paul Richter and Ken Dilanian for the Los Angeles Times and Ben Feller for the Associated Press

barack obama china united nations security council india pakistan un security council stewart patrick
Syrian uprising takes more violent turn

12 Jun 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Twice in this Sunday’s Pentecost Day gospel the risen Lord wishes his disciples peace. What had been largely a peaceful protest movement against the Syrian government became decidedly more violent this week when an estimated 120 people, including up to 80 security-force members, were killed in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour. Government and opposition representatives offered conflicting accounts of what transpired. State television said on Monday the policemen were killed by "armed gangs" of protestors. But activists on the scene and a statement on Facebook signed the "residents of Jisr al-Shughur" said "the deaths among soldiers and police were the consequence of defections in the army" when the security forces were shot by government troops after they refused to open fire on civilians. Syrians who first took to the streets peacefully in mid-March initially demanded democratic reform. But as the government has responded to the swelling demonstrations with escalating force, the leaderless and largely spontaneous protest movement has rallied around calls for the outright toppling of the regime. "As the death toll in Syria reaches staggering new heights, it is imperative that the U.N. Security Council--which has so far been silent on this issue--votes to condemn the killings," said Philip Luther of Amnesty International. "It must also take decisive action and refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court," he said. Such a resolution is reportedly in the works. Sources: Articles by Liz Sly for the Washington Post, Danica Kirkafor the Associated Press, and Agence France Presse

international criminal court protests united nations security council amnesty international syria philip luther jisr al-shughur
Violent government crackdown targets Syrian civilians

03 Jun 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The psalmist this Sunday describes the sometimes trying periods when our souls wait for the Lord, “our help and our shield,” our hope for deliverance from death. Beleaguered Syrian civilians are wondering how much longer they must wait for help that will shield and deliver them from a violent government crackdown last Friday that killed at least 108 people, including 49 children and 34 women, in villages northwest of the central city of Homs.Earlier this week, United Nations special envoy Kofi Annan met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus to try to salvage what was left of a peace plan brokered six weeks ago that has failed to stop the violence on the ground. Annan said the uprising had reached “a tipping point” after the massacre.“The Syrian people do not want their future to be one of bloodshed and division,” Annan said after two days in Damascus. “Yet the killings continue, and the abuses are still with us today.”Eyewitness accounts from the massacre describe shadowy gunmen slaughtering whole families in their homes and targeting the most vulnerable in poor farming villages. Assad's government often deploys fearsome militias that provide muscle for the regime and carry out military-style attacks. They frequently work closely with soldiers and security forces, but the regime never acknowledges their existence, allowing it to deny responsibility for their actions.Protesting the atrocities, the U.S. joined with 10 other nations Tuesday in expelling top Syrian diplomats. "We hold the Syrian government responsible for this slaughter of innocent lives," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. "This massacre is the most unambiguous indictment to date of the Syrian government's flagrant violations of its U.N. Security Council obligations." Sources: Articles by Neil MacFarquhar for the New York Times and Elizabeth A. Kennedy for the Associated Press.

united nations security council massacres militia groups syria bashar al-assad victoria nuland kofi annan