As we found out last week, the Obama administration has a very broad definition of reaching out to Muslims. NASA is part of the effort as is the National Endowment for the Arts long with various other government agencies. At the same time, Jane Napolitano and John Brennan have been very clear that certain langue is not helpful to the fight against al Qaeda. Specifically using words and phrases like “Islamic radicals,” or “Islamic extremists” only helps our enemy to dine himself in religious terms, argues Brennan, and we supposedly don’t want to help anyone to use Islam to justify murder and mayhem. This policy of promoting Islam as a religion having nothing to do with the many extremist killers, who say they are engaged in a religious war against the United States, is the Obama administration’s attempt to make nice with “moderate” Muslims. Turns out, though, that the guy on the ground whose job it is to crush al Qaeda understands very well that there is a deep-seeded religious component to the fight. As the Washington Times reports , Gen. David Petraeus, the author of the current Army field manual, and commander in Afghanistan, argues in that document that US forces must be aware of the radical and extremist elements within Islam that our soldiers are trying to defeat. “Islamic extremists use perceived threats to their religion by outsiders to mobilize support for their insurgency and justify terrorist tactics," the manual reads. “In a section on the ideological source for Islamic terrorists, the doctrine says, ‘for many Muslims, the Caliphate produces a positive image of the golden age of Islamic civilization. This image mobilizes support for al Qaeda among some of the most traditional Muslims while concealing the details of the movement's goal. In fact, al Qaeda's leaders envision the 'restored Caliphate' as a totalitarian state similar to the pre-2002 Taliban regime in Afghanistan.’" The manual also defines support networks for "Islamic extremists” as “a feature of today's operational environment deserving mention” because “Islamic extremists, including those that advocate violence” try “to spread their influence through the funding and use of entities that share their views or facilitate them to varying degrees. These entities may or may not be threats themselves; however, they can provide passive or active support to local or distant insurgencies." Religious schools and mosques are noted examples.Indeed, Sen. Joe Lieberman has been yelling at the White House for some time that we must “know our enemy” in order to defeat him and now comes a new report by The Washington Institute for Near East Policy that argues the administration’s attempts to erase the notion of Islamic extremism is misguided. The authors of the report warn that “U.S. diplomacy must sharpen the distinction between the Muslim faith and violent Islamist extremism, identify radicalizers within Islamic communities and empower voices that can contest the radical teachings.”
II. FOXNEWS - Bombers Kill 64 World Cup Fans in Uganda, al-Qaeda link
Explosions tore through crowds watching the World Cup final at a rugby club and an Ethiopian restaurant, killing at least 64 people. Police feared an Al Qaeda-linked Somali militant group was behind the attacks, as Uganda's president declared Monday "we shall get them wherever they are." The blasts came two days after a commander with the Somali group, al-Shabab, called for militants to attack sites in Uganda and Burundi, two nations that contribute troops to the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia. If al-Shabab did carry out the blasts, it would be the first time the group has struck outside of Somalia. Blood and pieces of flesh littered the floor among overturned chairs at the scenes of the blasts, which went off as people watched the game between Spain and the Netherlands. The attack on the rugby club, where crowds sat outside watching a large-screen TV, left 49 dead, police said. Fifteen others were killed in the restaurant explosion. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni toured the blast sites Monday and said that the terrorists behind the bombings should fight soldiers, not "people who are just enjoying themselves. We shall go for them wherever they are coming from," Museveni said. "We will look for them and get them as we always do." Al-Shabab's fighters, including two recruited from the Somali communities in the United States, have carried out multiple suicide bombings in Somalia. Ethiopia, which fought two wars with Somalia, is a longtime enemy of al-Shabab and other Somali militants who accuse their neighbor of meddling in Somali affairs. Ethiopia had troops in Somalia between December 2006 to January 2009 to back Somalia's fragile government against the Islamic insurgency. Ethiopia later withdrew its troops under an intricate peace deal mediated by the United Nations. In Mogadishu, Somalia, Sheik Yusuf Sheik Issa, an al-Shabab commander, told The Associated Press early Monday that he was happy with the attacks in Uganda. Issa refused to confirm or deny that al-Shabab was responsible for the bombings. "Uganda is one of our enemies. Whatever makes them cry, makes us happy. May Allah's anger be upon those who are against us," Sheik said. White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said the U.S. was prepared to provide any necessary assistance to the Ugandan government. President Barack Obama was "deeply saddened by the loss of life resulting from these deplorable and cowardly attacks," Vietor said. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton joined Obama in offering condolences and added, "The United States stands with Uganda. We have a long-standing, close friendship with the people and government of Uganda and will work with them to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice."
III. REUTERS - Fidel Castro to appear on Cuban television and radio to discuss his theory world is on verge of nuclear war
Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who has lived in seclusion since falling ill four years ago, will appear on Cuban television and radio on Monday evening to discuss his theory that the world is on the verge of nuclear war. The appearance will mark the second time in less than a week that the suddenly resurgent 83-year-old has made a public appearance, after staying out of view, except in occasional photographs and videos, since undergoing emergency intestinal surgery in July 2006. Castro writes opinion columns, or "Reflections," for Cuba's state-run media that in recent weeks have focused on his prediction that nuclear war will soon break out, sparked by a conflict between the United States and Iran over international sanctions against Iran's nuclear activities. "The empire is at the point of committing a terrible error that nobody can stop. It advances inexorably toward a sinister fate," he wrote on July 5. The "empire" is how Castro usually refers to the United States, his bitter foe from the time he took power in Cuba in a 1959 revolution. In a column published on Sunday night, Castro said the "principal purpose" of his writings has been to "warn international public opinion of what was occurring." He said he has reached his dire conclusion based in part on "observing what happened, as the political leader that I was during many years, confronting the empire, its blockades and its unspeakable crimes." The columns have attracted little attention internationally and caused little reaction in Cuba, but Castro promised to continue his lonely fight to warn the world of the coming disaster. Fidel Castro's reappearance comes as Cuba is preparing to release 52 political prisoners, all jailed in a crackdown on the opposition in 2003 while he was still in power.
Iran said on Sunday it has produced around 20 kilogrammes of 20 percent enriched uranium, in defiance of the world powers who want Tehran to suspend the controversial nuclear work. World powers led by Washington want Tehran to suspend its uranium enrichment activity which they suspect masks a nuclear weapons drive, and on June 9 backed a UN Security Council resolution for a fourth set of sanctions on Iran. Enriched uranium can be used as fuel to power nuclear reactors as well as to make the fissile core of an atom bomb. Tehran says its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered the refining of uranium to 20 percent after a swap deal, aimed at providing nuclear fuel for the Tehran reactor and drafted by the UN atomic body in October, hit a deadlock. Brazil and Turkey brokered a counter proposal in Tehran on May 17 under which Iran would send its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in return for research reactor fuel to be supplied later. But the world powers cold-shouldered that proposal and voted through a fourth set of sanctions, which had the effect of further tightening financial and military restrictions on Tehran. On Sunday, in a separate report on ISNA, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran was ready to talk with the so-called Vienna group over the fuel swap deal as brokered by Brazil and Turkey. "We are ready for whatever they (world powers in the Vienna group) choose," he said. The Vienna group was formed to work out the fuel swap deal for the Tehran reactor.
V. JPOST - Israeli Navy preps for Libyan flotilla
The navy went on high alert Sunday as activists behind a Libyan-backed ship that set sail from Greece the day before expressed determination to sail directly for Gaza, and not El-Arish in the Sinai, in an attempt to break Israel’s naval blockade. Defense officials said the navy was tracking the ship and had put forces on standby in case it needed to board the vessel, as it did when confronted with the Gazabound flotilla in late May. The navy, the officials said, would make contact with the ship while it was still far from Gaza, likely in international waters, and request that it follow naval vessels into Ashdod Port. If it refuses or does not agree to sail to Egypt, Israel has prepared plans to commandeer it. The official said Israel would allow no ship to break the “security envelope” around the Gaza Strip, but added that the organizers could bring the vessel into Ashdod, and that Israel would allow representativesfrom the boat to accompany the cargo – reportedly some 2,000 tons of rice, sugar and corn oil – into Gaza. The ship is being funded by a charity headed by a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and is expected to approach Gaza early Wednesday morning. Youssef Sawani, executive director of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, said Sunday in an interview with Army Radio that the vessel was heading for Gaza, although on Saturday, foreign ministry officials from Israel and Greece said the ship was headed for Egypt. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Army Radio on Sunday that “no ship of any kind will be allowed to arrive at Gaza.” “I hope that common sense will prevail,” Lieberman said. “They can deliver aid for Gaza to El-Arish or Ashdod.” The foreign minister added that while Israel was not looking for a confrontation, no one would be allowed to undermine the country’s sovereignty.
VI. YAHOONEWS - Russia's Medvedev calls for alliances with U.S., EU
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called on Monday for the formation of new alliances with the United States and the European Union to stimulate trade and investment in one of his boldest foreign policy statements. Medvedev made the country's modernization one of the pillars of his presidency, and there was a notable shift from the Cold-war era anti-Western statements of his predecessor Vladimir Putin to sweet-talking foreign partners and investors. "We need special alliances for modernization...first of all with Germany, France, Italy, the EU in general, and with the United States," he said during a speech to Russian ambassadors that takes place in Moscow every two years. The center of Medvedev's foreign policy has been a "reset" of relations with the United States, which had deteriorated in recent years, culminating in the signing of a major new nuclear arms control treaty in April. Medvedev last month visited Silicon Valley to try to increase cooperation with Washington in technology and innovation. "My visit to the United States showed that the cooperation in the sphere of innovation can create a positive agenda in our relations," he said. "Our cooperation cannot be limited to missile reduction."
VII. PRAVMIR - "You are the Christ!"
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” In the reading today from the Gospel according to St. Matthew, our Lord asks His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” Their replies make a list of holy men, prophets of God, including Elijah, and Jeremiah, and even John the Baptizer, who had been executed only a short time before. Then our Lord asks them directly, “Who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replies, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Remember that, by the time this conversation between Jesus and His disciples takes place, He has given the Sermon on the Mount; He has healed many who were sick; He has cast out demons; He has worked other miracles – the feeding of the five thousand, for one – and has taught them far more than He has publically proclaimed. Remember also that, by this time, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses have accused Him of breaking the Law of Moses and of casting out demons by the prince of demons, and have already started plotting to kill Him. In the midst of all this, the common people have recognized Him as being holy, but have not perceived Him to be the Messiah, the Anointed One of God whose coming had been promised by God and foretold through the prophets. Remember that Nathanael, at the time of his being called to follow Jesus, had exclaimed, “You are the Son of God!” Remember that those who were in the boat when our Lord calmed the storm and Peter had walked on the water had also declared, “You are truly the Son of God!” What was different about what St. Peter had said, that earned him a blessing? Have you ever noticed how children look like their parents? In some cases, the resemblance is there, although not always clearly; while in other cases, the resemblance is so strong as to be striking. This is true not only of appearances, but in mannerisms, such as sounding alike, walking alike, and other in other ways as well. So it is with all the previous declarations that had been made, saying that Jesus is the Son of God – for we are all sons of God, in that we are made in His image, and after His likeness. St. Peter’s declaration went beyond that, when he said, not just that Jesus is the Son of God, but that He is the Christ, the Anointed One, the Deliverer promised by God, and proclaimed by St. John the Baptizer as the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world. Human senses were not sufficient to perceive as deeply as St. Peter did when he made this statement of faith. God the Father revealed this truth to the saint, so that His Son might be made known – and not just then, but, through the testimony of St. Peter, to all who hear the Gospel, at all times, and in all places. The loop of resemblance between the Father and the Son is completed, in a way, when, at the Last Supper, Philip asks Jesus to show them the Father. He replies, “Have you not known that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? He who has seen me has seen the Father.” What about us? If the question was put to us, what would we say? Of course, because we have heard the Gospel, we know the correct response to give – but does that mean we also are blessed, as St. Peter was blessed? Or is there more to it for us than that? Everyone has heard this bit of “folk wisdom” – “Talk is cheap.” Everyone knows this one as well: “Actions speak louder than words.” We who have been privileged to live in this time, with the Gospels written and the Church well established and a God-pleasing way of life taught to us; we who have been privileged to have been buried with Christ in our baptism, and empowered with the Holy Spirit as we were chrismated, and have received the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ – how do we truly proclaim that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God? Do our lives reveal Him through what we say and what we do, and what we do not say and do not do? Can He be seen in us, in who we are, in how we live? Or do we look just like everyone else, indistinguishable from all the rest of those in the world who do not say that Jesus is Lord and Savior? Brothers and sisters, this should not be! Let us commit ourselves, and one another, and all our life unto Christ our God. We say this again and again in our prayers, both in the worship of the Church, and in the privacy of our prayer corner. Let us also ask God the Father for the grace we need to be transformed more and more into the likeness of His Son, so that what we say and what we do brings the knowledge of Jesus Christ to those trapped in the ways of the world, longing to be set free. May God grant us grace to show the world His Son in us; and may we show the world in word and deed that Jesus is truly the Christ, the Son of the living God. Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, pray to God for us!