Interview med Condoleezza Rice

The FP Interview: Condoleezza Rice on Obama, “Leading from Behind,” Iraq, and More

The former secretary of state dishes on what the current administration gets right – and what it gets wrong.

By Josh Rogin | November 3, 2011

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sat down for an extensive interview with Foreign Policy as part of the rollout of her new book, No Higher Honor. Rice criticized the notion of “leading from behind”; called for a return to a focus on human rights in foreign policy; lamented the downfall of democracy in Russia, calling Putin’s likely return to power a “terrible turn of events”; and contended that George W. Bush’s administration, despite avowals by the current White House to the contrary, had always intended to negotiate an extension to the agreement that required all U.S. troops to exit Iraq by the end of this year.

On the contentious subject of Middle East peace, Rice fully endorsed the U.S. decision to withdraw from any U.N. organization that grants full membership to the Palestinians, as UNESCO did this week. “If the U.N. wants to go down this road, let them see how well they do without U.S. support,” she said. Rice also said that by initially pressuring the Israeli government to accept a settlement freeze, Barack Obama’s administration had “put the Palestinians in a position of having to be less Palestinian than the United States,” forcing them to adopt more extensive demands.

Mere HER i Foreign Policy.

Desmond Tutu siger noget fornuftigt

Og det er endda sket flere gange på det seneste, at den 80-årige Nobelpris-tager, Desmond Tutu, fra Sydafrika har gjort sig heldigt bemærket:

• Tutu vil bekæmpe børneægteskaber
• Tutu har fordømt Iran for behandligen af bahaier, der nægtes adgang til højere uddannelse. Lærere med bahai-tro arresteres, hvis de underviser
• Tutu har fordømt Sydafrikas regering for at nægte Dalai Lama visum
• Tutu har fordømt Irans regering for dødsdommen over præsten, Yusef Nadarkhani, der anklages for apostasi

Tutu describes ‘passion’ to stop child marriage

September 21, 2011

Archbishop Desmond Tutu said Wednesday he is as passionate about fighting the widespread practice of child marriage as he was when he helped bring down apartheid in South Africa.

“My passion (that) now I hope to translate, transfer to this, is the same passion, commitment that I had when I was fighting, we were fighting, against apartheid,” Tutu told a conference in New York, where activists spoke out against the estimated 10 million marriages of underage girls around the world each year.

Mere HER i The Vacouver Sun. Kan også ses hos AFP Google Hosted her. Lidt kortere version her i The New Age.

Iran’s War Against Knowledge — An Open Letter to the International Academic Community

Desmond Tutu and José Ramos-Horta – September 25, 2011

The forward progress of humankind in the last centuries has been fueled, more than any other factor, by increasing access to information, more rapid exchange of ideas, and in most parts of the world, universal education.

Freedom of education and freedom of information are integral to freedom of thought. Few advances have been made for humankind which were not preceded by new ways of looking at our world and new schools of thought.

Mere HER i Huffington Post. Det er anden gang inden for to år, at Sydafrika har nægtet Dalai Lama visum, skriver Foreign Policy:

South Africa: Tutu blasts ANC over Dalai Lama visa

By Donna Bryson – Oct. 4, 2011

Retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu, an anti-apartheid hero often described as South Africa’s conscience, slammed the ANC-led government Tuesday as “disgraceful” and said it is worse than the country’s former oppressive white regime for not issuing a visa to the Dalai Lama.

The African National Congress responded by calling Tutu’s comparisons to the apartheid regime and to toppled Arab dictatorships “very unfortunate and totally misplaced,” and said the government should be given time to explain its actions.

Mere HER i The Statesman. Global News her. MSNBC her.

Apostasy – Tutu asks Iran to free pastor

October 9, 2011

Cape Town – Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu on Sunday called on Iran to free a pastor who faces the death penalty for refusing to give up Christianity and return to Islam.

“I would like to appeal to the Iranian authorities to free Yusef Nadarkhani, and allow him and all other members of minority religions in Iran to worship God,” Tutu said in a statement.

“Forcing anybody to renounce his or her faith is an utter violation of our universal human and religious values, and a renunciation of God,” Tutu said.

Mere HER hos News24. Den næste artikel er en påmindelse om, at Tutu ikke altid er så heldig med sine udtalelser:

Arch-enemies: What’s not to like about Desmond Tutu?

Katharine Child – Oct 07 2011

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who turned 80 on Friday, has been awarded the Nobel peace prize, led South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and even donated DNA to the Human Genome Project.

But as with any leader, he has earned himself his fair share of critics along the way.

The ANC government, for example, has often found itself squirming under the glare of his criticism — President Jacob Zuma’s administration, currently the subject of Tutu’s wrath for delaying the issuing of an entry visa to the Dalai Lam until it was too late for the Tibetan spiritual leader to attend the cleric’s birthday celebrations, is not the first: Run-ins with Zuma’s predecessor, former president Thabo Mbeki, were not unknown.

Mere HER hos Mail & Guardian Online. Kan også læses her hos Afrika.no.

Andre kilder: Christian Today, Christian Today, Times Live, Slate, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, BBC, BBC, Sky News, CNS News, Daily News, Dallas Voice, San Antonio, Payvand, DR, Berlingske Tidende,

Video: Ezra Levant om Nordkorea

Nordkorea skal lede FNs kommende nedrustningskonferece. Det er jo en parodi. Hvorfor forlader Danmark ikke det latterlige foretagende?

Ezra Levant: Time to quit the U.N.

Brian Lilley – Time to quit the U.N.

Audio: Alan Dershowitz & Albert Mohler

Fra Albert Mohler Radio den 23. maj 2011. Om religion og moral – komplet udskrift her:

Moral Reasoning in a Secular Age: A Conversation with Professor Alan Dershowitz

Thinking in Public – May 23, 2011

Startes HER - åbner Windows Media Player. Varighed 53 minutter. Interviewet slutter efter 43 minutter. Resten af tiden snakker Mohler alene.

Andre kilder: Delivered By Grace,

Ingen jul i Bagdad

Manufactured Exodus

By John Hayward – December 20, 2010

Did you know Iraq has a sizable Christian population?  Well, not for much longer.  There were over a million of them before the fall of Saddam Hussein, with some estimates ranging as high as 1.4 million.  Now, according to a State Department report quoted by the Associated Press, only four to six hundred thousand remain… and their final exodus is well under way.

On October 31st, an affiliate of al-Qaeda stormed the Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad, using guns, bombs and grenades to kill 52 civilians and police, while wounding 67 more.  One of the priests, Father Wassim Sabih, was gunned down as he clutched a crucifix and begged his killers to spare his congregation.

Mere HER i Human Events. Der referes til en artikel som er denne:

No Christmas in Baghdad

December 13, 2010 – By Nina Shea 

As the last of Baghdad and Mosul’s Christian population packs up their cars and flee for their lives — a five-year-long trend, as NRO has noted — the New York Times today has finally taken note. As the piece reports, the Sunni terrorists who claimed responsibility for the horrific bombing of a Baghdad Syriac Catholic church packed with Sunday worshippers earlier this year are vowing to kill Christians “wherever they can reach them.” Moreover, the Shiite government of Iraq is doing next to nothing to protect or support the militia-less Christians

Mere HER i National Review Online.

Video: Robert D. Kaplan & Tom Gjelten

Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power

On November 9, 2010, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) held a book launch event for Monsoon featuring best-selling author Robert Kaplan and NPR’s award-winning correspondent Tom Gjelten.

Like the monsoon itself, a cyclical weather system that can be both destructive and essential for growth and prosperity, the rise of countries like China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Sri Lanka represent a shift in global balance that cannot be ignored. From Pakistan’s uncertain future, to the growth of Chinese military power, to African states teetering on the edge of failure, violent Islamic extremism, and piracy, this region will be the true nexus of power and conflict in the coming years. In Monsoon, Kaplan shows how crucial the Indian Ocean area has become to American power in the 21st century. He argues it is in that region – volatile, nuclearized, and plagued by weak infrastructure and young populations tempted by extremism – that the fight for democracy, energy independence, and religious freedom will be lost or won, and where the United States must focus in order to remain relevant in this ever-changing world.

Video: Michael Ledeen om USAs Iran-politik

Fra 3. marts 2010, debat arrangeret af The Atlantic Council. Om årtiers  frugtesløse forhandlinger mellem USA og Iran og den aktuelle uro i det imamkontrollerede land:

Flynt Leverett Debates Michael Ledeen on Iran Policy

The Atlantic Council hosted a debate on Iran policy between Race for Iran Publisher and New America Foundation/Iran Initiative Director Flynt Leverett and Foundation for Defense of Democracies Freedom Scholar Michael Ledeen. Washington Post columnist David Ignatius moderated the debate.

Muslimske dødstrusler imod Dalai Lama

Indisk politi har skærpet sikkerheden om tibetanernes landflygtige leder, Dalai Lama, efter dødstrusler fra den forbudte muslimske terrorgruppe Lashker-e-Taiba.

Det skriver TV2. Terrorgruppen har forbindelser til – ja, prøv at gætte: Al Qaeda. Truslerne må være ganske alvorlige denne gang:

 

Der er tre sikkerhedskæder uden om Dalai Lamas opholdssted. De første to kæder udgøres af højtuddannede tibe­tanske livvagter, mens den yderste ring varetages af indisk distrikts­politi.

The Australian oplyser, at indisk politi også har skærpet sikkerheden omkring Indiens markante politiske leder, Sonia Gandhi. Avisen The Hindu skriver, at sikkerhedsprocedurerne bliver gennemgået for flere personer under politibeskyttelse.

Link til Dalai Lamas officielle hjemmeside.

Kilder: The Australian, Yahoo! News, BBC, Wikipedia, TV2, The Hindu.