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Why WikiLeaks Is Good for America

By Evan Hansen

A truly free press — one unfettered by concerns of nationalism — is apparently a terrifying problem for elected governments and tyrannies alike. It shouldn’t be. In the past week, after publishing secret U.S. diplomatic cables, secret-spilling site WikiLeaks has been hit with denial-of-service attacks on its servers by unknown parties; its backup hosting provider, Amazon, booted WikiLeaks off its hosting service; and PayPal has suspended its donation-collecting account, damaging WikiLeaks’ ability to raise funds. MasterCard announced Monday it was blocking credit card payments to WikiLeaks, saying the site was engaged in illegal activities, despite the fact it has never been charged with a crime. Meanwhile, U.S. politicians have ramped up the rhetoric against the nonprofit, calling for the arrest and prosecution and even assassination of its most visible spokesman, Julian Assange. Questions about whether current laws are adequate to prosecute him have prompted lawmakers to propose amending the espionage statute to bring Assange to heel or even to declare WikiLeaks a terrorist organization. WikiLeaks is not perfect, and we have highlighted many of its shortcomings on this web site. Nevertheless, it’s time to make a clear statement about the value of the site and take sides: WikiLeaks stands to improve our democracy, not weaken it. The greatest threat we face right now from Wikileaks is not the information it has spilled and may spill in the future, but the reactionary response to it that’s building in the United States that promises to repudiate the rule of law and our free speech traditions, if left unchecked. Secrecy is routinely posited as a critical component for effective governance, a premise that’s so widely accepted that even some journalists, whose job is to reveal the secret workings of governments, have declared WikiLeaks’ efforts to be out of bounds. We should embrace the site as an expression of the fundamental freedom that is at the core of our Bill of Rights. Transparency, and its value, look very different inside the corridors of power than outside. On the campaign trail, Barack Obama vowed to roll back the secrecy apparatus that had been dramatically expanded under his predecessor, but his administration has largely abandoned those promises and instead doubled-down on secrecy. One of the core complaints against WikiLeaks is a lack of accountability. It has set up shop in multiple countries with liberal press protections in an apparent bid to stand above the law. It owes allegiance to no one government, and its interests do not align neatly with authorities’. Compare this, for example, to what happened when the U.S. government pressured The New York Times in 2004 to drop its story about warrantless wiretapping on grounds that it would harm national security. The paper withheld the story for a year-and-a-half. WikiLeaks’ role is not the same as the press’s, since it does not always endeavor to vet information prior to publication. But it operates within what one might call the media ecosystem, feeding publications with original documents that are found nowhere else and insulating them against pressures from governments seeking to suppress information. Instead of encouraging online service providers to blacklist sites and writing new espionage laws that would further criminalize the publication of government secrets, we should regard WikiLeaks as subject to the same first amendment rights that protect The New York Times. And as a society, we should embrace the site as an expression of the fundamental freedom that is at the core of our Bill of Rights, not react like Chinese corporations that are happy to censor information on behalf of their government to curry favor. WikiLeaks does not automatically bring radical transparency in its wake. Sites like WikiLeaks work because sources, more often than not pricked by conscience, come forward with information in the public interest. WikiLeaks is a distributor of this information, if an extraordinarily prolific one. It helps guarantee the information won’t be hidden by editors and publishers who are afraid of lawsuits or the government. WikiLeaks has beaten back the attacks against it with the help of hundreds of mirror sites that will keep its content available, despite the best efforts of opponents. Blocking WikiLeaks, even if it were possible, could never be effective. A government’s best and only defense against damaging spills is to act justly and fairly. By seeking to quell WikiLeaks, its U.S. political opponents are only priming the pump for more embarrassing revelations down the road. Evan Hansen is Editor-in-Chief of Wired.com. Read more at www.wired.com

 

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Supreme Court Takes Climate Pollution Case

By Brandon Keim

The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear a landmark case on greenhouse gases, potentially affirming or denying the public’s right to limit corporate pollution. At issue is American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut, a case filed by environmental groups and eight states against midwestern utility companies. Connecticut, New York, California, Iowa, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin claimed the power companies’ contributions to climate change made them a public nuisance, and asked courts to cap their emissions. The case was filed before the Environmental Protection Agency’s right to regulate greenhouse gases was established, and represents an attempt by citizens to control greenhouse gases in the absence of federal mandates. As described in a previous Climate Desk story on American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut, the case is grounded in a century-long tradition of communities holding big polluters responsible for damaging public health. Further lawsuits have been inspired by the case, including one by Gulf Coast residents against oil refineries they say contributed to Hurricane Katrina, and another by residents of an Alaskan island village about to be swamped by rising seas. A New York court ruled against the states in 2005, saying the suit raised a “political question” beyond judicial scope. An appeals court reversed that decision last year, noting that the link between greenhouse gas pollution and climate change is not a political question. As justification, they even cited Georgia v. Tennessee Copper Co., an obscure Supreme Court decision in which the high court supported Georgia’s right to sue two copper companies responsible for crop-destroying pollution. It’s this appeal that the Supreme Court will review. Somewhat surprisingly, the Obama administration asked the Supreme Court not to take the case, arguing that greenhouse gas controls should be decided executively or legislatively, not by states or judges. Though climate change legislation has been a failure, the Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that the EPA could regulate greenhouse gases, a process scheduled to begin early next year. More predictably, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a variety of energy industry groups filed petitions in favor of the companies. They say that court-ordered caps could raise energy costs. According to the energy companies, “the potential compensation for climate change impacts would make the tobacco payouts look like peanuts.” The case will be heard in the early spring and decided by July. Image: eutrophication&hypoxia/Flickr. See Also: Supreme Court: National Security Trumps Whales, Environmental Law Supreme Court Says Power Plants Can’t Rewrite Clean Air Act Attractive Nuisance: Should Judges Help Tackle Climate Change? New Jersey Takes Lead in Fighting Greenhouse Gases California Sues EPA; Says State Law Greener, Cleaner Than Feds Read more at www.wired.com

 

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WikiLeaked Cable Says 2009 Brazilian Blackout Wasn’t Hackers, Either

By Marcelo Soares

SAO PAULO — Despite widespread speculation at the time, a massive power outage that left 18 out of the 26 Brazilian states in the dark for up to six hours last year was not the result of a cyberattack, according to a classified diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks last week. The Nov. 10, 2009, blackout came just two days after the CBS News magazine 60 Minutes reported that an earlier outage in the Brazilian state of Espirito Santo in 2007 was the work of hackers. And it came just one day after Threat Level reported that, no, it wasn’t. The suspicious timing of the outage triggered widespread speculation that hackers — even if they weren’t responsible for the 2007 blackout — may have caused the newer one. With Rio set to host the 2016 summer Olympics, the incident prompted U.S. diplomats to meet with top officials at ONS, Brazil’s power authority, to find out what had happened. The leaked cable, dated Dec. 1, 2009 and classified Secret, describes the “strikingly open” conversations that followed. [ONS president Plinio de] Oliveira and [ONS statistical director Wilkens] Geraldes further ruled out the possibility of hackers because, following some acknowledged interferences in past years, GOB has closed the system to only a small group of authorized operators, separated the transmission control system from other systems, and installed filters. [Energy ministry chief of staff José] Coimbra confirmed that the ONS system is a CLAN network using its own wires carried above the electricity wires. Oliveira pointed out that even if someone had managed to gain access to the system, a voice command is required to disrupt transmission. Coimbra said that while sabotage could have caused the outages, this type of disruption would have been deadly, and investigators would have found physical evidence, including the body of the perpetrator. He also noted that any internal attempts by system employees to disrupt the system would have been easily traceable, a fact known to anyone with access to the system. The blackout was caused by short circuits on high-voltage lines leading from the Itaburi substation near Sao Paulo, and was exacerbated by a number of factors, according to the cable, which appears to confirm the public reports of the blackout. But what of the “acknowledged interferences in past years”? Raphael Mandarino Jr., Brazil’s director of Homeland Security Information and Communication, says it refers to a cyber-extortion attack launched by Eastern European hackers around 2005 or 2006. The attackers penetrated an administrative machine at a government agency after the system administrator left the computer with a default password. The intruders, Mandarino says, downloaded and deleted files on the machine, and then left a message demanding ransom money for the data’s return. The person responsible for the system’s maintenance arrived to work at 8:00 a.m., and initially thought the ransom note was a joke. It took one hour to take the threat seriously. No money was paid, says Mandarino, and most of the destroyed files were recovered from a backup. “That was the first serious attack, which resulted in the issue being discussed in all the public administration”, he said. Among the measures suggested to avoid a repeat occurrence was the creation of stronger passwords — the one they created right after the incident was cracked in a penetration test after just one week — and the recommendation that no outsourced workers have access to the passwords. Those measures were distributed to all the government’s branches and affiliates, including energy suppliers. ONS’ Wilkens Geraldes, mentioned in the cable, referred inquiries to the agency’s PR team, which responded by saying that ONS has always had two different networks: The corporate network has suffered attacks, they say. But the utility operation network is isolated, and has yet to be breached from the outside. In a broadcast Nov. 8, 2009, 60 Minutes cited unnamed sources in making the claim that a massive 2007 blackout that affected 3 million people was triggered by hackers targeting a utility company’s control systems. In truth, a utility company’s negligent maintenance of high-voltage insulators on two transmission lines is what caused the outage, according to government regulators and others who investigated the incident for more than a year. “I looked at the case as the top systems officer within the government, and I found nothing”, Mandarino reiterated this week, adding that he gave a taped interview to 60 Minutes rebutting the anonymous cyberwar claims, but CBS didn’t air it. “There are indeed attacks against the energy websites. There was a defacement attack in 2008. There have been attempts at denial of service. Nothing that affected public utilities,” he says. “It’s still very difficult, because the system is not online. We have some [facilities] like thermoelectric plants that are remotely controlled, but they’ve suffered no attacks.” Top image: Sao Paolo endures a power outage in 1999. Dario Lopez-Mills/AP Read more at www.wired.com

 

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WikiLeaks Releases Secret List of Critical Infrastructure Sites

By Kim Zetter

WikiLeaks published a secret memo listing critical infrastructure facilities around the world on Sunday, prompting criticism that the document could serve as a target list for terrorists. The cable, written in February 2009 and classified Secret, lists more than a hundred facilities that the United States considers critical infrastructures or key resources. They include an Israeli weapons manufacturer in Haifa, undersea cables in China and elsewhere, hydroelectric plants, metal and chemical mines and manufacturers, and pharmaceutical facilities and labs in Denmark and France where critical formulas are manufactured — such as insulin and vaccines for smallpox, influenza, foot-and-mouth disease and other ailments. Also, notably: the Straits of Hormuz, a choke point through which much of the Middle East’s crude oil passes. The list is compiled annually as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s National Infrastructure Protection Plan to track locations outside U.S. borders whose loss could “critically impact the public health, economic security, and/or national and homeland security of the United States,” according to the cable. Key resources are defined as “publicly or privately controlled resources essential to the minimal operations of the economy and government.” Although the facilities listed are not secret — and the locations for most of them can be found through a simple Google search — British and U.S. authorities denounced WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange for releasing the list. “There are strong and valid reasons information is classified, including critical infrastructure and key resources that are vital to the national and economic security of any country,” Philip Crowley, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, told the Financial Times. “Julian Assange may be directing his efforts at the United States, but he is placing the interests of many countries and regions at risk. This is irresponsible.” Steve Aftergood, director of the Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy, said that while it might interest potential attackers to know what facilities the United States deems sensitive and critical, a motivated attacker is capable of selecting his own targets without government aid. “My own opinion is that there’s no shortage of potential targets that hostile actors might find interesting, and they don’t need a State Department list to assist them,” he told Threat Level, noting that the list, produced in a run-on format, makes it difficult to decipher. “The good news is it’s hard to read,” he said. “Talk about security through obscurity … this is one boring memo. You have to be really committed to get through this.” He noted, however, that what’s not on the list could be deemed just as important to an attacker. “By implication it also says that facilities not listed here may not be deemed as important by the government or may not have been recognized by the government as sensitive and may therefore be receiving less protection,” he said. Photo: CTBTO Preparatory Commission/flickr Read more at www.wired.com

 

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Huge Magnetic Filament Erupts on the Sun

By Lisa Grossman

A magnetic filament more than 50 times the Earth’s width is erupting off the surface of the sun.

Update 4:25 p.m. EST: The mega-filament collapsed in a gorgeous cascade of hot plasma between noon and 2 p.m. EST. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured a beautiful movie of the eruption (above). The explosion does not appear to be aimed at Earth, so we shouldn’t expect any magnetic storms or satellite troubles.

The loop of hot plasma has been snaking around the sun’s southeast limb since Dec. 4, and appears to be growing by the hour. When SDO saw it on Dec. 4, the filament was more than 250,000 miles long, about 30 times the diameter of the Earth. In the image below, taken at about 12:30 p.m. EST on Dec. 6, the loop of charged plasma stretches more than 435,000 miles, the full radius of the sun.

So far the gigantic prominence has hung suspended peacefully above the sun’s surface, but this morning it started showing signs of instability. Long filaments like this one can break apart as coronal mass ejections, releasing tons of hot, charged material into the inner solar system and potentially causing magnetic storms on Earth — although this one seems to be safe.

The image you see is in ultraviolet channels, not visible light. This prominence is an excellent target for backyard telescopes. If you capture any great sun photos in the next few days, let us know.

Via spaceweather.com

Images: NASA/SDO

See Also:

The Making of a Mind-Blowing DIY Sun Photo

Photo: The Sun Gets Its Spots (Back)

Photo: Space Shuttle Crosses the Sun

NASA Spacecraft Error Makes Sun’s Image Look Like Jupiter

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Computer Geeks: Compete to Help NASA Explain Dark Energy

By Lisa Grossman

If you can teach computers to learn, NASA needs your help.

Cosmologists hope gamers, programmers, computer scientists and geeks-of-all-trades can help them identify evidence of dark matter. An international group of astronomers are hosting a competition, called GREAT10 (for GRavitational lEnsing Accuracy Testing), to come up with better ways to analyze distorted images of galaxies — the signatures of invisible dark matter lurking in the universe. Massive clumps of matter can act as a giant cosmic magnifying glass, distorting space-time in their immediate vicinity. Light traveling through the matter clump is warped and distorted, a phenomenon called gravitational lensing. Sometimes the distortions are obvious, like in the Hubble image of a distant galaxy cluster above. But sometimes they’re too subtle to be picked out by human eyes, and can even be confused with noise from the telescope used to take the galaxies’ picture. So cosmologists have turned to machine learning algorithms that teach computers to recognize patterns. “We’re trying to teach computers to pick out the correct shape given all sorts of other noise around the galaxy’s shape,” said NASA cosmologist Jason Rhodes, who is helping to organize the challenge. “We have our ideas as a community about how to do this, but we realized a few years ago that it was quite possible there were ideas we weren’t familiar with.” The competition is designed to bring fresh ideas from machine learning and computer science experts. But the challenge is open to anyone. “The image manipulation software and techniques used in gaming and some digital cameras are very similar,” said astrophysicist Thomas Kitching of the University of Edinburgh, which is helping to sponsor the event. “Anyone with experience in image manipulation and software development would be in a good position to enter the competition.” Rhodes compares GREAT to other citizen science and engineering challenges, like the X-Prize private spaceflight competitions or the Netflix Prize to improve the movie rental website’s recommendation algorithms. Those challenges promised million-dollar prizes, which is beyond the cosmology community’s budget. But the GREAT10 winner will probably get an iPad or a Mac laptop. And the real grand prize is helping to solve one of the trickiest and most fundamental puzzles in astronomy: What is the universe made of? Ultimately, the computer programs developed for the GREAT challenge will be used to help unmask dark matter and dark energy, the mysterious stuff that makes up 95 percent of the universe. By studying slightly distorted galaxies, scientists can make detailed maps of dark matter, the stubbornly invisible stuff that makes up 24 percent of the universe and makes itself known through gravitational tugs on regular visible matter. Knowing where the dark matter is and how it changes over time will help astronomers decipher dark energy, an even more mysterious substance that makes up 72 percent of the universe. “The most exciting thing about this is that we are taking an interdisciplinary approach to one of the most pressing problems in all of science,” Rhodes said. “The ultimate goal here is really to develop methods for studying the composition of the universe and the ultimate fate of the universe. People who haven’t spent their lives studying cosmology can make a real contribution via the GREAT10 challenge.” Image: Light bends around the massive galaxy cluster Abell 2218 in this image from the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: Andrew Fruchter (STScI) et al., WFPC2, HST, NASA See Also: How Your Biometrics Can Make Super Bowl Ads Better Computer Program Self-Discovers Laws of Physics New Google Lunar X Prize Teams and a New $2M Bonus Prize Focusing on Dark Energy With Cosmic Lens Dark Energy and Exoplanets Top List of Astronomy Priorities 570-Megapixel Camera Prepares to Hunt for Dark Energy Read more at www.wired.com

 

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Alan O’Reilly to EJP: Queen Victoria’s “Haman;” Jesuit Coadjutor King Edward VII

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Alan O’Reilly to EJP: Queen Victoria’s “Haman;” Jesuit Coadjutor King Edward VII

Masonic Jesuit Temporal Coadjutor Crown Prince Edward, 1870

http://www.vaticanassassins.org/2010/12/ejp-replies-to-brother-james-on-romes-plot-to-make-george-washington-a-jesuit/

Thanks, Eric

Something just clicked into place for me the other day following your recent posts.  It is Esther 3, especially the last verse, Esther 3:15, “The posts went out, being hastened by the king’s commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was perplexed.”

King Ahasuerus was a tyrant but not a monster like “this wicked Haman” Esther 7:6.  Yet, he was duped into being party to the evil of genocide, by his evil adviser, Haman, who I think was the original Jesuit.  I suggest that a study of Haman would reveal a lot about the workings of the SJ in the corridors of power. I believe that the peoples of the US, UK and the Old Dominions must be perplexed at the actions and decisions of many of their leaders but with Hamans SJ at the centres of power, it’s possible to understand how the Devil is weakening the nations, Isaiah 14:12, for his one-world concentration camp under the Beast of Revelation 13. At the very least, Queen Victoria, for example, got duped.  She urged for the KJB to be distributed throughout her empire and told an African chieftain “That Book accounts for the supremacy of England,” http://www.oceansbridge.com/oil-paintings/product/88969/thesecretofenglandsgreatnessqueenvictoriapresentingabibleintheaudiencechamberatwindsor Yet she re-opened diplomatic relations with Rome in the latter part of her reign.  The UK has never recovered and Africa has steadily reverted to savagery.  There has to have been a Haman involved, or more likely several. We certainly need to pray 1 Timothy 2:1-4 and that the Lord “frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;” Isaiah 44:25.  This is the only way today’s Hamans, the SJ, can be defeated, I believe.  With their defeat, the Catholic-Hispanic + Moslem invasion of the US and the EU + Moslem subversion of the European nations, especially Britain and the Old Dominions, must collapse, though the final victory won’t be until the 2nd Advent, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10. Yours in the Lord Jesus Christ Alan _____________________________________________________ Brother Alan, I think the evil Haman that duped Victoria was none other than her wicked, serial adulterer son, Bertie, later King Edward VII.  For, according to you, it was he that readmitted the Jesuits into England in 1902.  Further, he fomented WWI when he became king, working with Tzar Nicholas II and Poincarin of France—as well as Jesuit Coadjutor Kaiser Wilhelm II. What do you think? Brother Eric

Queen Victoria Presenting an AV1611 English Bible to an African Chief, 1850s; Diabolical Plotter of the Jesuit Order's Future War on the Zulus and the Boers, Knight of the Garter Jesuit Temporal Coadjutor Prince Albert (Father of Edward VII) Stands Behind his Wife, Queen Victoria

There’s a lot to be said for that, Eric An English historian, J.R. Broome, wrote a most informative book entitled Reformation and Counter-Reformation and discloses that Victoria’s son, as King Edward VII, visited Pope Leo XIII – a first such visit since the Reformation.  This was the result of increasing contacts by the British throne with the Vatican beginning with Victoria’s gift sent to Pius IX, the murderer of Abraham Lincoln, for his jubilee in 1877. The treasonable beginnings go back to the Oxford Movement of 1830’s, which, interestingly enough, happened about the same time as the Emancipation Act of 1829, that allowed Catholics to become members of the British Parliament.  The SJ was clearly working on several fronts, including the introduction of the corrupt Revised Version of Westcott and Hort to overthrow the KJB.  Work on the corrupt Greek text for the RV NT was underway years earlier in 1870.  We also have Cardinal Manning’s declaration of 1859, setting out Rome’s aim to overthrow the Protestant British Empire, which has been largely achieved. Edward VII was a key player, though.  I recall a televised documentary where he was described in the early years of the 20th century as greatly revered by the royal families of Europe, who affectionately called him “Uncle Edward.”  He would therefore be the perfect SJ tool, I think and it is probably not a coincidence that the British throne acquiesced in 1910 to the removal of the clause in the Coronation Oath that declares the mass as a blasphemous fable.  Conan Doyle, the spiritualist (Jesuit educated) and creator of Sherlock Holmes was instrumental in this subversion. Thus the stage was set for the horror of WW1, which was no doubt in part God’s judgement on the above dalliances with Rome. Yours in the Lord Jesus Christ, Alan Read more at www.vaticanassassins.org

 

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Pope, Hungarian PM Discuss EU Leadership

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Pope, Hungarian PM Discuss EU Leadership

This article comes from the Vatican Information Service.  The video is from Rome Reports.

HOLY FATHER RECEIVES PRIME MINISTER OF HUNGARY

VATICAN CITY, 6 DEC 2010 (VIS) - Today at noon, the Press Office of the Holy See made public the following communique:

"On the morning of Monday, 6 December, the Holy Father Benedict XVI received in audience His Excellency Mr. Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of the Republic of Hungary, who successively met with the Secretary of State, His Eminence Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, accompanied by His Excellency Msgr. Dominique Mamberti, Secretary for Relations with States".

"During the cordial discussion, the prime minister outlined the country's current social, economic, and political situation. The importance of the Christian tradition in the life of the nation and the role of the Catholic Church for its renewal was emphasized. The next semester of Hungarian presidency of the European Union was then discussed, highlighting some convergences of vision between Hungary and the Holy See on major themes that concern the European continent. Finally, a few items regarding relations and cooperation in the region were covered". Read more at thevaticanlobby.blogspot.com

 

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Iraqi Christian Survivor in France: I Don't Want to Go Back

By Michelle A. Vu|Christian Post Reporter

Iraqi Christians who were given indefinite political asylum in France say they don't want to return to their home country.

Thirty-six Iraqi Christians who survived the attack on Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad were taken to Paris last month where they were given medical care and asylum. Some survivors still had bullet or shrapnel wounds and were immediately taken to hospitals to be treated upon deplaning, reported France 24 on Monday. Lyes, who survived a bullet wound in his abdomen, said he wants to stay in France and try to bring his wife and two children over to start a new life. “I don’t want to go back to Iraq so long as the situation is like that. It keeps getting worse and worse,” said Lyes to the France 24 news crew while lying in his hospital bed. “Since getting to France I’ve seen on TV that there have been other attacks on Christians in Iraq. After going for the churches, they are now attacking Christians in their own homes.” He recalled the traumatic incident on Oct. 31 when gunmen perpetrated the deadliest attack against the Assyrian Christian community since Islamic extremists began targeting them in 2003. At least 58 people were killed during the massacre, including three Catholic priests. “They came in suddenly, shooting in all directions,” recalled Lyes. “We heard explosions outside. There was panic. We didn’t know what was going on. I don’t know who shot me. The bullet hit me from behind and came out here right in the front. I felt a burning sensation in my stomach and I put my hand over it and I could feel I was bleeding. That is when I knew I had been shot.” Other Iraqi Assyrian Christians lucky enough to go to France and be given a fast pass in the immigration process are, however, unsure if they will stay or return to Iraq. Wanda, another church attack survivor, is wavering on whether to stay in France or return to Iraq. The mother of four is in Paris but her thoughts are with her three children still in harm’s way in her homeland. She was able to come to France to assist one of her daughters who was hit by a bullet during the church attack. “My youngest is fifteen and it’s the first time I’ve ever missed his birthday,” said the heartbroken mother who feels that she abandoned her children to be in France. “I feel terrible for not being with him.” Attacks on the tiny and defenseless Christian community in Iraq has been unrelenting since Oct. 31. The latest attack occurred Sunday when gunmen shot and killed an elderly Christian couple in their home in eastern Baghdad. Weeks earlier, a six-year-old girl and her Christian father were killed in the northern city of Mosul and two Christian men were killed in their living room in the same city. The Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella group for Sunni Islamic insurgent groups that include al-Qaida in Iraq, has claimed responsibility for the Oct. 31 and the Nov. 10 attacks that killed another five people in several Christian neighborhoods in Baghdad. Carl Moeller, president of Open Doors USA, a group that supports persecuted Christians, went as far as to label the attacks against Christians “religion-cide.” “Baghdad right now is just gripped by terrorism against the Christian community and there is no other way to put it,” he said in an earlier interview with The Christian Post. There are only about 600,000 Christians in Iraq now, down from about 1.2 million before the U.S-led invasion in 2003, by some estimates. Most of the Iraqis have fled to nearby countries including Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Turkey. Although Christians compose only three percent of Iraq’s 26 million people, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees noted, they make up nearly half of the refugees fleeing Iraq. “We are not going to apologize for welcoming Christians,” said Eric Besson, former minister for immigration and national identity, to France 24. “Of course it is normal to, given the history of France and Europe.” Responding to complaints that Iraqi Christians are getting special treatment, he noted that no one said France was discriminating when they welcomed Muslims from Kosovo. In addition to France, a significant number of Iraqi refugees also seek asylum in other Western countries, including Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Sweden, according to the UNHCR. A UNHCR poll released in October found that the majority of Iraqi refugees regret returning home after living in neighboring countries. The survey found that 61 percent of those interviewed regretted returning to Iraq from their country of asylum, mainly because of insecurity and personal safety concerns. Most Iraqis who returned did not want to do so but were forced to because they could not afford the cost of living in asylum states. Many refugees are in their asylum countries illegally and therefore cannot find legal work or housing. “Since 2003, it has all gone wrong in Iraq. The war. The daily attacks on the Iraqi people,” said the Iraqi Christian mother Warda to France 24. “The aim of terrorism is to destroy the country and divide the Iraqi people and to even say we are not real Iraqis.”

Related Iraqi Refugee: I'd Rather Go to Hell Than Go Back Christian Student Killed in Iraq; Fourth Murder in Days Baghdad is Gripped with Anti-Christian Terrorism, Says Moeller 6-Year-Old Killed in Latest Attack against Christians in Iraq 2 More Christians Killed in Baghdad Read more at www.christianpost.com

 

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Former Pa. church leader sentenced on sex charges

The Associated Press

LANCASTER, Pa.—A former borough councilman and church youth group leader has been sentenced to prison on sex charges in Pennsylvania. Fifty-four-year-old Lititz resident Greg Nies was sentenced Monday to four to 17 years in state prison. He's also been classified as a sexually violent predator. Authorities say he sexually assaulted a teenager, had explicit online conversations with other teens and possessed child pornography. Investigators say the charges stemmed from an investigation that began in April 2009. The Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era reports that's when a teenager reported to police that she had been sent inappropriate messages from a person posing as an 18-year-old woman. Nies apologized in court to his family, his supporters and the community. ——— Information from: Intelligencer Journal, http://www.lancasteronline.com/pages/paper/sundaynews/ Read more at www.ydr.com

 

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