by Dr. David Pence and A. Joseph Lynch
WEEKLY BRIEF
"If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you.." Good advice from Rudyard Kipling. While the major media are transfixed on finding a case of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government which could unseat President Trump from his office, the violent intercourse of nations continues. Sixteen men (15 Marines and a sailor) were killed training in Mississippi on July 10 to sober us.
Our ally Iraq won a major victory with American and Iranian help in delivering the city of Mosul from ISIS governance. This ended the embarrassment of the Salafist Wahhabi caliphate within the territorial boundaries of a Shiite led state. And let there be no mistake. After the US military defeat of Saddam Hussein, the Iraq majority was allowed to form its own government and the long suppressed Shiites did just that. This was the sin of Iraq - that now Shiites would govern themselves. The continuation of the war in Iraq was one of four fronts in the Mideast preventing Shiite rule. Homegrown Sunni - now a minority - and foreign fighters became the opposition army. American policymakers never seemed to grasp the full implications of this religious dynamic often bewailing "sectarian violence" as the fault of both sides. There was an implication that religion taken too seriously is a recipe for violence. Thus the call for moderates "on both sides." But the Shia were not establishing a new Iraq in which the Sunni would convert or die. ISIS WAS saying that to the Shia. Saudi-centered Wahhabism has preached that for several centuries. American soldiers freed the Iraqis from Saddam Hussein and Iraqi soldiers protected their self rule by defeating a fearsome foreign inspired counterrevolution. God bless them in their fight and God bless the Americans who died that they might be free. Destabilizing Iraq became the tip of the sword for the Salafist jihadist movement in the Mideast. In their language, the Shia were no more Muslims than the Crusaders in the Twin Towers. They could be killed and certainly they could not be allowed to rule. The government of Iran understood the religious animus of the jihad terrorists and allied with the new government. They proved to be a true ally willing to shed blood with the new nation against the salafist terror. The Iranian nation and the nation of Iraq won their freedom like the nations of Israel and America did. They fought and died for it. The Iraqi victory should be a time to give thanks, salute our dead and thank our allies. But other matters becloud the public mind.
As we devise a new policy in the Mideast not centered on regime change, we cannot help but note that our ally Israel has counted our ally Iraq as one of their five most grievous enemies in the world and region (not ISIS but the government of Iraq!). Like Saudi Arabia demonizing Qatar, the Israeli opposition to Iraq is a great contradiction demanding sober reflection and resolution. Saudi Arabia and Israel are not fighting the same war we are. Israel will have to change policy to align with us. Saudi Arabia will have to relinquish the demonic control its Wahhabi clerics exercise over Islam's holy sites. The clerics' unholy alliance with an ambitious young Crown Prince (See R&G JULY 1 The new Crown Prince) bombing the Shiites of Yemen is a very bad omen. This week we bury our men who were training to carry out the policy of our nation. We owe them a strategic coherence in that policy that reflects the gravity of their sacrifice.
I. POPE FRANCIS AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
AT CDF - CARDINAL MULLER ENDS HIS TERM: Archbishop Luis Ladaria Ferrer SJ, Secretary of the CDF, begins his. The German is out and the man from Spanish isles is in. Cardinal Muller was not fired. His five year term came to an end. Some report that He did criticize the way he was informed of the end of his term. Yet Muller says there is no disparity between the Pope and him. Muller was very clear on orthodox pronouncements and very slow on clergy reform. He was in the tradition of the Pope who initially appointed him. He was a clear and impressive scholar-teacher and very little a ruler. He was part of the tired Germanic debate Pope Francis is trying to circumvent in favor of another strategy. He is a very good man who will still serve the Church but maybe in ways that emphasize his openness to an Iberian revival over doctrinal debates. He has cultivated an interesting and friendly relationship with the founders of liberation theology. God is not done with him and neither is Pope Francis.
TOP VATICAN ECONOMIC CARDINAL TO RETURN TO AUSTRALIA TO FACE SEX ABUSE CHARGES - 76 Y/O GEORGE PELL: The charges and some history.
IN AFRICA CATHOLIC GRADUATE MELINDA GATES AND CANADA'S FEMINIST UN REP OFFERS AFRICA A NEW COLONIAL PACKAGE - ABORTION: Is this empowerment for women or a rich lady's solution?
LUTHER AND CHESTERTON: Dale Ahlquist celebrates the 500-year anniversary of The Protestant Reformation in his own way.
JULY 15: Feast of St Bonaventure, scholar of history
II. ISLAM AND THE MIDDLE EAST
MIDEAST SUNNI, SHIITE - WHO IS OUR ENEMY? Tucker Carlson takes on Col. Peters in discussing grand strategy in the Mideast. It is startling to hear a Fox reporter ask such penetrating questions. Carlson says, "When was the last time a Shiite was responsible for terrorism against U.S?" Carlson's desire for a real conversation is the most hopeful episode of network journalism we have seen on TV since 9/11. (There have been some good documentaries.) The next day Mr Carlson showed his willingness to take on another Neo-Con, Max Boot. This shattering of the "experts" is stunning. Mr. Carlson will pay for this in the very brutal world of conservative think tanks from which Pat Buchanan was exiled for refusing the Kool Aid on Mideast strategy.
ISIS HAS BEEN DESTROYED IN MOSUL BY OUR ALLY, IRAQ. WHY NO CHEERING FROM US MEDIA? A bloody win. The anti-Trump media cannot appreciate this huge military victory. Neither can Israel or Saudi Arabia. There is so much serious discussion being driven out of the public airwaves by the witch hunt. Countries acknowledge the role of Iraq. It was commonplace 4 years ago to say ISIS would not be driven from Iraq for 40 years. The resolution of the Iraq government with a much more robust US support and a continued alliance with Iran moved up the schedule.
III. AROUND THE WORLD R&G ROUND UP
TOP THREE COUNTRIES 2017 - CHINA, INDIA, U.S. TOP THREE COUNTRIES 2050 - INDIA, CHINA, NIGERIA: Watching demographics. Much of long-term Chinese foreign policy is based on developing working infrastructure relations with other countries especially in Africa. There are 7 billion people in the world. Our "population pin number" is 1:1:1:4 (one billion in Americas; one billion in Europe; one billion in Africa; four billion in Asia. In 2100 the population pin number will be 1:1:4:5 (one billion in Americas; one billion in Europe; 4 billion in Africa; 5 billion in Asia.)
THE WARSAW SPEECH: "Freedom, family, country and God." This is what President Trump says the western alliance of nations is fighting for. In this speech, he reminds us of the historical events that keep Poland as a nation at the heart of a Europe of nations under God. There are lots of news stories to read. Our recommendation once again is to read this speech. An unfriendly analysis, but Peter Biernat is posing the right question: what civilization are we defending? Is the West a code for white Christians? Our answer is that we are defending Christianity which is not color-coded and has outgrown the "west" but not the nations. Trump's speech is very different than the rhetoric of George Bush and much to the better. Trump sees NATIONS as what makes Europe. The western alliance is the European nations in alliance across the Atlantic with the Americans. The rule of God is much more central to Trump than the process of democracy. Finally, he called Poland the CENTER of Europe not its eastern front. That paves the way for new relations with that great Euro-Asian civilization-Holy Russia.
WHY THE HATE FOR RUSSIA? Pat Buchanan doesn't really answer that question but he questions the hate.
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