Sex Crime Cover-Ups Expose Vatican’s Failings

Jakarta Globe

March 22, 2010, Celestine Bohlen

The time is right for the Catholic Church to drop its celibacy rule for priests. As new cases of child sex abuse erupt across the globe, even church leaders are suggesting the question be examined. At the Vatican’s usual pace, this might bring change by the end of this century.

Marriage, of course, won’t make pedophilia go away. It’s well known that most cases occur within families.

Still, the vows of chastity imposed on Catholic priests since 1139 don’t help, nor does the church’s attitude to sexuality in general. Sex outside marriage, homosexual “practices,” masturbation: The church still condemns all of it on the anachronistic, almost tribal pretext that sex should only be about procreation.

No wonder some devout Catholics seek the celibacy of the priesthood to bury “their conflict-laden sexuality,” as Klaus Beier, head of the Institute for Sexology and Sexual Medicine in Berlin, put it. No wonder the ranks of the Catholic priesthood are dwindling.

But as the scandals continue to unfold, the message for the church is that this isn’t just about sexual abuse. Like any political scandal, it’s also about the cover-up. In case after case, country after country, the Catholic Church chose to conceal the crimes and protect criminals from the law.

That includes those at the top of the church’s hierarchy who ordered that the scandals be wrapped in silence. It is now shockingly clear that their first concern was the church, not the victims.

No Comfort

In its 2009 report, Ireland’s Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse found that until the mid-1990s, when cases of child abuse were revealed, the Dublin Archdiocese’s main preoccupations were “the maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the church and the preservation of its assets.”

So much for the church’s role as a moral example or as a source of comfort for the defenseless. According to the Irish commission, the archdiocese not only did its best to avoid the law, it also didn’t implement its own code of canon law.

In Austria and Germany, where the scandal has even touched Pope Benedict XVI’s record as Cardinal of Munich, bishops and churchmen are broaching the subject of child molestation with unusual bluntness. One bishop went on television to talk about how an all-male priesthood was more affected by pedophilia because most sex crimes were committed by men. Another agreed that the celibate lifestyle could attract people who have an abnormal sexuality.

“That’s when a dangerous situation can arise,” said Hamburg Auxiliary Bishop Hans-Jochen Jaschke. Those are amazing admissions from a clergy that, until now, has been mostly in denial about the perils of a men-only club.

Strongholds Threatened

This kind of breach in the church’s distaste for public discussions about sex and the clergy is welcome. When the US scandals broke in 2002, the church leadership had a different reaction, at least initially. Commentators then traced the Vatican’s bunker mentality to its perception that the scandal was being manipulated by a hostile, sensation-seeking US media.

That view has changed as the scandals threaten the church’s moral standing in Catholic strongholds such as Ireland and even the pope’s native Bavaria.

This time, nobody is blaming the messenger and the debate is at long last turning inward. Maybe the scope of the scandal had become too big; maybe the church realizes it needs to attract a new kind of priest, but already church leaders, including Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, archbishop of Vienna, are hinting that the celibacy rule — a “discipline,” not a doctrine — should be examined.

Confidential Letter

Since the 1960s, the church has insisted on absolute secrecy for cases of sexual abuse, and even prescribed penalties for those who violated it. In 2001, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger — then head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, now pope — issued a confidential letter, advising bishops to send cases of sexual abuse to him for adjudication. He said his office would take care of them.

It didn’t and there was no reason to think it could or would. It’s well known that self-policing rarely works — not for doctors, lawyers, police or priests. And yet church leaders kept insisting on trying to deal with its scandals in-house.

Not only did Ireland’s Cardinal Sean Brady fail to report a case of child molestation to the police in 1975; he actually made the two victims, former altar boys, sign oaths of secrecy.

This week, in his St. Patrick’s Day sermon, Brady said he was sorry for his actions, but that hasn’t stopped the pressure for him to step down. The apology came 35 years too late.

Celestine Bohlen is a columnist for Bloomberg News.

EU considers 'jamming Iranian Press TV'

BBC News

BBC Persian Television is one of the channels being jammed by Iran

The European Union will put pressure on Iran to stop jamming satellite broadcasts from the BBC and other international channels.

Iran has been blocking news channels broadcast into the country from a French satellite following widespread anti-government protests there.

But it is not yet clear exactly what action the EU will take.

Iranian channels broadcast into Europe could be blocked or the EU could impose sanctions on European trading in Iran.

"The EU calls on the Iranian authorities to stop the jamming of satellite broadcasting and internet censorship and to put an end to this electronic interference immediately," a statement from the EU foreign ministers said.

In February three major international broadcasters strongly condemned Iran for its "deliberate electronic interference" in their broadcasts.

The BBC, Deutsche Welle and Voice of America said the jamming began as Iran marked the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

'Unacceptable'

There is a possibility the EU will impose trade sanctions to stop the mobile network company Nokia Siemens from trading in Iran.

It is reported that they sold the Iranian government technology to monitor mobile phone calls and block social networking services.

But some reports say Nokia Siemens, the joint arm of the mobile technology companies, has already said it will not sell any more equipment to Tehran.

Another option being put forward is to block Iranian broadcasts coming into Europe.

This would block Iranian channels, including the English language Press TV, from being transmitted in Europe.

"The EU is determined to pursue these issues and to act with a view to put an end to this unacceptable situation," a draft EU statement quoted by news agency Reuters says.

The moves would be separate from any sanctions being considered by the US and their allies over Iran's nuclear ambitions.

At the beginning of the year the US had called for the UN to place "crippling" sanctions on Iran, but both China and Russia have refused to back tough sanctions.

Finland's foreign minister Alexander Stubb, told Reuters a Security Council resolution remained the goal, but as time was running out countries may seek "unilateral" sanctions on Iran instead.

Thousands of opposition supporters have been arrested during and after mass protests from against elections last June, won by president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Related Article:

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Pope Benedict apologises for Irish priests' sex abuse

BBC News

Pope Benedict has described the abuse as shameful and hateful

Pope Benedict XVI has apologised to victims of child sex abuse by Catholic priests in Ireland.

In a pastoral letter to Irish Catholics, he acknowledged the sense of betrayal in the Church felt by victims and their families.

The Pope said there had been "serious mistakes" among bishops in responding to allegations of paedophilia.

The pastoral letter is the first public statement by the Vatican on the sexual abuse of children, dating back decades.

It follows revelations of paedophilia within the Irish Catholic Church, which have rocked the institution.

Scandals involving Catholic priests have been reported in other countries, including the Pope's native Germany.

Vatican inspections

Addressing the victims of abuse, the Pope wrote: "You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry."

He said those guilty of abuse must "answer before God and properly constituted tribunals for the sinful and criminal actions they have committed".

Pope Benedict called for healing, reparation and renewal in the Irish church but essentially his remedy is more prayer, says the BBC's David Willey in Rome.

His letter called for no resignations of bishops, although a few have already volunteered to leave their posts.

Although the Pope said Vatican officials would visit Ireland to inspect some dioceses, he did not call for any restructuring of the Church in Ireland.

Victims rights groups demanding an assurance by the Pope that there will be no further cover-ups by his bishops may be disappointed, says our correspondent.

The only direct reference to cover-ups is a reference to "a misplaced concern for the reputation of the Church and the avoidance of scandal".

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Fresh abuse claims in Pope's former Munich diocese

Molested Children to Receive Therapy

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Fresh abuse claims in Pope's former Munich diocese

BBC News

Archbishop Reinhard Marx backed the creation of a sex-abuse task force

Pope Benedict XVI's former diocese in Germany is facing daily allegations of physical and sexual abuse, the head of its new sex-abuse task force says.

"It is like a tsunami," Elke Huemmeler told the Associated Press news agency.

She said about 120 cases had come to light so far in Munich, about 100 of them at a boarding school run by monks.

The Roman Catholic Church has been rocked by scandals involving priests in Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, Austria and the Netherlands in recent months.

Pope Benedict has written a pastoral letter to the Catholics of Ireland, to be read at Sunday Mass, with guidelines on preventing and punishing sexual abuse of children by priests.

It is unknown if the letter includes an apology.

The Pope has said he hopes the letter will "help in the process of repentance, healing and renewal".

The BBC's David Willey in Rome says that a taboo that has endured for decades has been broken and the Vatican is now taking a much harder line than in the past.

It is recommending a zero-tolerance attitude, adopted by American bishops after widespread cases of sexual abuse of children by priests in the US.

As this will be the first public document published by the Vatican on this potentially explosive subject, there is worldwide interest in what the Pope is going to say, our correspondent says.

The guidelines he will announce will be valid for other countries as well as Ireland.

'Shocked'

Ms Huemmeler spoke to AP as her newly-appointed Task Force on Sexual Abuse Prevention began work in the Munich diocese, backed by Archbishop Reinhard Marx.

Ms Huemmeler said she and colleagues had been "shocked" when the first revelations of abuse cases at the Ettal monastery boarding school, run by Benedictine monks, emerged.

The diocese has not confirmed details of all the allegations, saying investigations are ongoing, the AP reports.

The Vatican recently denounced attempts to link the Pope to a child sex scandal in his former diocese.

The episode dates back to 1980, when he was archbishop of Munich and Freising, and known as Joseph Ratzinger.

The diocese said he had once unwittingly approved housing for a priest accused of child abuse.

However, a former deputy said he - not the future Pope - had made the decision to re-house the priest, who later abused other children and was convicted.

Last year, a damning report into child abuse in the Dublin archdiocese criticised the Catholic Church hierarchy for covering up hundreds of cases going back to the early 1970s.

Until recently, the Vatican has been on the defensive, our correspondent says, protective of priests rather than their victims, and arguing that ecclesiastical courts should decide on suitable punishment for errant clergy.

But victims of clerical sexual abuse argue that they want a full-scale apology from the Pope, in addition to compensation.

They also say bishops should always notify the local police first, not the Vatican, when cases of sexual abuse by clergy are reported to them.

ABUSE SCANDALS THIS YEAR

• Germany: About 300 cases of alleged abuse reported
• Netherlands: Bishops order probe into more than 200 alleged cases
• Switzerland: Probe finds 60 alleged victims over past 15 years, Swiss media report
• Austria: Five priests suspended from same monastery

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Court orders Fed to release bailout documents

Reuters, Grant McCool and Jonathan Stempel, Fri Mar 19, 2010 5:25pm EDT

Then Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and then President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Timothy Geithner in the Treasury Department Cash Room, October 14, 2008. (Credit: Reuters/Hyungwon Kang)

(Reuters) - In a significant victory for news media, a federal appeals court said the Federal Reserve must disclose records on emergency lending programs to banks bailed out by the government in the financial crisis.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ordered the Fed to release details of programs it adopted starting in late 2007 to shore up the financial system and forestall a complete meltdown of global financial markets.

Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, and News Corp's Fox News Network sought details of the central bank's actions under the federal Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, which requires government agencies to make documents public.

The Fed argued against disclosure, citing an exemption that it said lets federal agencies keep secret various trade secrets and commercial or financial information.

It also said allowing disclosure of participants in the programs and the collateral they posted could cause "competitive and reputational harm," perhaps triggering bank runs, and impede the central bank's ability "to effectively manage the current, and any future, financial crisis."

Writing for a unanimous three-judge appeals court panel, Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs said, however, that to give the Fed power to deny disclosure because it thinks it best to do so "would undermine the basic policy that disclosure, not secrecy, is the dominant objective of.

"If the Board believes such an exemption would better serve the national interest," he added, "it should ask Congress to amend the statute."

Bloomberg had won its case at the district court level, while Fox News had lost its case. The Second Circuit threw out the ruling against Fox, and ordered a lower court judge to decide what materials must be disclosed.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, said the rulings will help shed light on the Fed, which he called "the least transparent institution" in government, as lawmakers debate how far to overhaul the financial regulatory system.

"We don't know how much was shoveled out of the back door of the Federal Reserve Board and to whom," Dorgan, chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee, said in a telephone interview. "Finally, we will be able to get some sense of who got the money, some of the biggest institutions in the country, how much and how they used it."

FED DISAPPOINTED, MEDIA PLEASED

Fed spokeswoman Michelle Smith said the central bank is reviewing the decision and weighing options for reconsideration or appeal. An appeal could go to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Clearing House Association, a group of major U.S. and European banks, said it was disappointed with the decision. It said the court did not reach the "fundamental issue" of whether disclosure would have competitively harmed banks, general counsel Paul Saltzman said in a statement.

"I don't think it will be do or die for the Fed's ability to put emergency programs into place," said Robert Eisenbeis, chief monetary economist at Cumberland Advisors Inc in Sarasota, Florida, and a former Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta head of research. "It will force the Fed to be more forthright and transparent to the public about the terms and conditions."

Bloomberg sued to obtain records of Fed actions to shore up the financial system starting in late 2007, including the March 2008 sale of Bear Stearns Cos to JPMorgan Chase & Co.

It sought information about loans conducted at the Fed's discount window, the primary dealer credit facility, the term securities lending facility and the term auction facility.

The discount window is the program through which the 12 Federal Reserve Banks make short-term loans.

"We're completely thrilled about the decision," said Amanda Bennett, executive editor of projects and investigations at Bloomberg News, in an interview.

"The transparency of Federal Reserve Board decision making is something the American public has a right to," she said. "The argument that it could harm the market is largely theoretical. Markets get in trouble not when people know too much about what is going on, but know too little."

In a separate statement, Kevin Magee, an executive vice president of Fox Business Network, said, "We are pleased that this information is finally, and rightfully, going to be made available to the American public."

Reuters is part of a group of media organizations that submitted a brief to the appeals court supporting Bloomberg.

PLAUSIBLE DEFENSE

The media's principal argument included that the public interest in disclosure trumped any potential risk of harm to borrowers, and that the identity of those borrowers was itself not confidential.

Jacobs wrote that the Fed and Clearing House set forth "plausible, and forcefully made" arguments that disclosure "would harm the banks that borrowed (by disclosing their prior distress) and the banking system as a whole (because banks under stress may hesitate to seek relief or rescue)."

But he said the disclosure sought would not cause Federal Reserve banks "the kind of harm contemplated by the 'privileged or confidential' requirement" of an exemption from FOIA."

"It's important information for the markets to know," said Kenneth Thomas, a Miami banking consultant who said he has made several hundred FOIA requests to the Fed alone. "When we know what the Fed did in this case, market participants will have a better idea what the Fed will and won't do the next time."

Eisenbeis, the former Atlanta Fed official, said banks "might be more resistant to participate in some programs if they know their participation is going to be made public."

But he added: "If your firm is in trouble, and going to the Fed is your last opportunity to get out, you'll do it."

Bennett said Bloomberg called the Fed after Friday's decision came down to again request the material sought. "There is still a great deal to be learned," she said.

Clearing House members include the ABN Amro Bank NV unit of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Bank of America Corp, Bank of New York Mellon Corp, Citigroup Inc, Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC Holdings Plc, JPMorgan, UBS AG, US Bancorp and Wells Fargo & Co.

The cases are Bloomberg LP v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System et al and Fox News Network LLC v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Nos. 09-4083, 09-4097 and 09-3795.

(Reporting by Grant McCool and Jonathan Stempel; Additional reporting by Tim Ahmann in Washington, D.C.; Editing by Andre Grenon, Steve Orlofsky and Matthew Lewis)

Taliban arrests compromise UN talks

Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 19 March 2010 - 10:04am

Former UN envoy to Afghanistan Kai Einde (Photo: ANP)

The arrests of Taliban leaders in Pakistan last week have put an end to secret negotiations between the United Nations and the Taliban.

In an interview with the BBC, former UN envoy to Afghanistan Kai Eide, said that communication channels had been cut off by the arrests. It was the first time the Norwegian diplomat had admitted that talks were being carried out with Taliban leaders.

He believes Pakistan is deliberately trying to compromise the negotiations. Pakistan denies this. Kai Eide resigned from the UN post earlier this month.

Germany and Ireland call on Catholic church to hold child sex abuse inquiries

Angela Merkel becomes most senior politician to speak out over abuse by priests as pope to release pastoral letter on subject

Guardian.co.uk, Riazat Butt, and Kate Connolly in Berlin, Wednesday 17 March 2010 17.59 GMT

Pope Benedict XVI waves to faithful during his weekly general audience at The Vatican, where he addressed remarks to Irish followers on St Patrick's Day. Photograph: Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images

The crisis gripping the Catholic church deepened today, with calls for national inquiries to be held in Germany and Ireland to fully disclose the detail and extent of sexual abuse by priests.

With hundreds of allegations surfacing in Germany since the start of the year, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said the scandal of abuse in the country's churches and schools posed a "major challenge" that could only be resolved through a full and frank inquiry into all cases.

Addressing the Bundestag in her first public statement on the subject, she called the sexual abuse of minors a "despicable crime". She added: "The only way for our society to come to terms with it is to look for the truth and find out everything that has happened."

She warned, however, that "the damage suffered by the victims can never fully be repaired". Her remarks, the most outspoken to have come from a head of government on the issue, came on the eve of a pastoral letter from the pope.

It will be published on Friday and addressed to the "Irish faithful" and he referred to it in his general audience at the Vatican today. Turning to the Irish who had travelled to celebrate St Patrick's Day, he said he hoped the letter would "help in the process of repentance, renewal and healing".

Speaking in English, he said: "In recent months the church in Ireland has been severely shaken as a result of the child abuse crisis.

"As a sign of my deep concern I have written a pastoral letter dealing with this painful situation. I ask all of you to read it for yourselves, with an open heart and in a spirit of faith."

The Catholic church in Ireland has been the subject of devastating criticism in two reports detailing collusion, cruelty and endemic abuse throughout its institutions.

Last weekend, in a further blow to its reputation, the most senior Irish Catholic admitted attending meetings where two 10-year-olds were forced to sign vows of silence over complaints against Father Brendan Smyth, who continued abusing children for a further 18 years.

Cardinal Sean Brady used his St Patrick's day sermon to apologise for his role in the cover-up of child abuse by Father Smyth, one of the country's most notorious paedophile priests.

His revelation and continued public anger led the Archbishop of Dublin to say that a national inquiry, examining all cases of abuse in the country, may be the only way for the church to close the door on its shameful past.

Although the pope has taken an active interest in Irish church affairs – summoning its bishops to an emergency meeting – his letter may not be enough for victims and their families.

It was confirmed earlier this week that the pope will not visit Ireland this September in his first official tour of the UK. At a press briefing to discuss the historic event, government and church officials ended speculation that his tour may include the Irish Republic. They also said it was unlikely that he would discuss clerical sexual abuse because it was not the primary purpose of his visit.

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Canadian finance chief warns US, others on deficit

The Jakarta Post, The Associated Press, London | Tue, 03/16/2010 10:24 PM

Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says other developed nations, including the United States, should come up with clearer plans on how they are going to get their weighty budget deficits under control.

Flaherty said in London on Tuesday he was concerned about the situation in Greece, and that tackling big deficits is necessary to restore confidence.

Britain's budget deficit is expected to reach 12.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2009/10, while the U.S. deficit hit 9.9 percent of GDP last year.

Canada currently holds the rotating leadership of the Group of Seven countries and has one of the smaller deficits in the bloc - 3.5 percent of GDP.

Flaherty says he intends to halve that in two years and return to a balanced budget in four or five years.

Burma and N Korea slam UN reports

BBC News

Mr Quintana says violations in Burma may involve crimes against humanity

Burma and North Korea have rejected UN condemnation of human rights abuses by Myanmar and Pyongyang at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Recommendations by the UN special envoy to Burma "violated the right of a sovereign state", Burma's UN envoy told the UN Human Rights Council.

North Korea's UN envoy "categorically" rejected a recent UN report describing the country as "one big prison".

Meanwhile, the UN report on Burma used "unverifiable sources", the envoy said.

UN special envoy to Burma Tomas Quintana, who visited Burma last month has recommended a UN inquiry into whether war crimes and crimes against humanity are being committed there.

Mr Quintana told the UN Human Rights Council that elections due this year could not be credible, because the military rulers had failed to remedy human rights abuses.

These included the recruitment of child soldiers and the jailing of more than 2,000 prisoners of conscience.

Burma vociferously rejected the report, saying it referred to issues that fell outside Mr Quintana's mandate and contained "unfounded allegations", Burma's UN envoy Wunna Maung Lwin was quoted as saying by AFP.

Meanwhile, the UN special envoy to North Korea Vitit Muntarbhorn has told the BBC that North Korea's human rights' record is in a category of its own.

"The type of surveillance system imposed on people, food deprivation, all these give rise to an array of violations and violence which puts it in its own category," he told the BBC's PM programme.

The UN report was inspired by a Western conspiracy to "eliminate the state and social system" in North Korea, the country's UN envoy Choe Myong Nam was quoted as saying by AFP.

Driving Drunk at Israel’s Wheel a Menace on Road to Peace

Jakarta Globe, Thomas Friedman, March 14, 2010

I am a big Joe Biden fan. The vice president is an indefatigable defender of US interests abroad. So it pains me to say that on his recent trip to Israel, when Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s government rubbed his nose in some new housing plans for contested East Jerusalem, the vice president missed a chance to send a powerful public signal: He should have snapped his notebook shut, gotten right back on Air Force Two, flown home and left the following scribbled note behind:

“Message from America to the Israeli government: Friends don’t let friends drive drunk. And right now, you’re driving drunk. You think you can embarrass your only true ally in the world, to satisfy some domestic political need, with no consequences? You have lost total contact with reality. Call us when you’re serious. We need to focus on building our country.’’

I think that, rather than fuming and making up, would have sent a very useful message for two reasons. First, what the Israelis did played right into a question a lot of people are asking about the Obama team: How tough are these guys? The last thing the president needs, at a time when he is facing down Iran and China — not to mention Congress — is to look like America’s most dependent ally can push him around.

And second, Israel needs a wake-up call. Continuing to build settlements in the West Bank, and even housing in disputed East Jerusalem, is sheer madness. Yasser Arafat accepted that Jewish suburbs there would be under Israeli sovereignty in any peace deal that would also make Arab parts of East Jerusalem the Palestinian capital. Israel’s planned housing expansion raises questions about whether Israel will ever be willing to concede a Palestinian capital in Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem — a big problem.

Israel has already bitten off plenty of the West Bank. If it wants to remain a Jewish democracy, its only priority now should be striking a deal with the Palestinians that would allow it to swap those settlement blocs in the West Bank occupied by Jews for an equal amount of land from Israel for the Palestinians and then reap the benefits — economic and security — of ending the conflict.

Unfortunately, that is not what happened last week. For nine months now, America’s Middle East special envoy, George Mitchell, has been trying to find a way to get any kind of peace talks going between Israelis and Palestinians. The Palestinians don’t trust Netanyahu, and Netanyahu has serious doubts as to whether the divided Palestinian leadership can deliver.

Nevertheless, Mitchell was eventually able to persuade the two sides to agree on “proximity talks’’ — the Palestinians would sit in Ramallah and the Israelis in Jerusalem and Mitchell would shuttle 30 minutes between them. After a decade of direct talks, this is how far things have fallen.

Mitchell and Netanyahu’s aides struck an informal deal: If America got talks going, there would be no announcements of buildings in East Jerusalem, nothing to embarrass the Palestinians and force them to walk. Netanyahu agreed, US officials say, but made clear he couldn’t commit to anything publicly.

So what happened? Biden arrived the day after the proximity talks started and out came an announcement from Israel’s Interior Ministry that Israel had just approved plans for 1,600 new housing units in Arab East Jerusalem. Netanyahu said he was blindsided. It’s probably true in the narrow sense. The move seems to have been part of a competition between two of Netanyahu’s right-wing Sephardi ministers from the re Shas Party over who can be the greater champion of building homes for Sephardi orthodox Jews.

Biden — a real friend of Israel’s — was quoted as telling his Israeli interlocutors: “What you are doing here undermines the security of our troops who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. That endangers us and endangers regional peace.’’

This whole fracas also distracts us from the potential of this moment: Only a right-wing prime minister, like Netanyahu, can make a deal over the West Bank. Netanyahu’s actual policies on the ground there have helped Palestinians grow their economy and put in place their own rebuilt security force, which is working with the Israeli army to prevent terrorism. Palestinian leaders Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad are as genuine and serious about working toward a solution as any Israel can hope to find. Hamas has halted its attacks on Israel from Gaza. With the Sunni Arabs obsessed over the Iran threat, their willingness to work with Israel has never been higher, and the best way to isolate Iran is to take the Palestinian conflict card out of Tehran’s hand.

In sum, there may be a real opportunity here — if Netanyahu chooses to seize it. The Israeli leader needs to make up his mind whether he wants to make history or once again be a footnote to it.

Thomas Friedman is a columnist for The New York Times.

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Obama, Medvedev happy on arms pact: report

Reuters, MOSCOW, Sat Mar 13, 2010 1:42pm EST

(Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and President Barack Obama are satisfied with the "high level of consensus" on a new pact to cut nuclear arms and it is now possible to talk of a firm date for signing a treaty, Russian news agencies reported on Saturday, quoting the Kremlin.

Russia and the United States have been negotiating for a nearly a year a new treaty to reduce their arsenals of nuclear weapons. The pact is a cornerstone of Washington's efforts to improve relations with Moscow.

(Reporting by Dmitry Sergeyev, editing by Michael Stott)

Google "99.9 pct" sure to shut China search engine: report

Reuters, SHANGHAI, Sat Mar 13, 2010 5:34am EST

The Google logo is seen on the top of its China headquarters building behind a road surveillance camera in Beijing January 26, 2010. (Photo: Reuters/Jason Lee)

(Reuters) - Talks with China over censorship have reached an apparent impasse and Google, the world's largest search engine, is now "99.9 percent" certain to shut its Chinese search engine, the Financial Times said on Saturday.

It said in a report on its website Google had drawn up detailed plans for closing its Chinese search engine.

The newspaper cited a person familiar with the company's thinking as saying that, while a decision could be made very soon, Google was likely to take some time to follow through with its plans.

That would be in order to bring about an orderly closure as the company takes steps to protect local employees from retaliation by authorities, it said.

China warned Google on Friday against flouting the country's laws, as expectations grow for a resolution to a public battle over censorship and cyber-security.

Google shocked business and political circles in January when it threatened to pull out of China if it could not offer an unfiltered Chinese search engine. The threat came after cyber attacks originating from China on it and about 30 other firms.

"If you don't respect Chinese laws, you are unfriendly and irresponsible, and the consequences will be on you," China's Minister of Industry and Information Technology, Li Yizhong, told reporters on Friday in answer to a question on what China would do if Google.cn simply stopped filtering search results.

That came after the chief executive of Google, Eric Schmidt, said on Wednesday he hoped to announce soon a result to talks with Chinese authorities on offering an uncensored search engine in China.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shares oversight of the Chinese Internet with a number of other bodies. Still more bureaucracies are involved in matters of foreign investment, complicating the Chinese government's response to Google's challenge.

(Reporting by Jason Subler; Editing by Paul Tait).

Catholic church child sex abuse scandal widens

Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 10 March 2010 - 5:46pm, by Robert Chesal

Eikenburg boarding school, Eindhoven, (Photo: RNW/Henk Overdevest)

Those investigating child sex abuse within the Dutch Roman Catholic Church are facing an enormous job which is increasing by the day. Complaints are flooding in from around the country following initial revelations made by Radio Netherlands Worldwide and the NRC Handelsblad newspaper.

The first reports of abuse came from a boarding school in the eastern town of 's-Heerenberg - now allegations have been made involving Roman Catholic institutions across the Netherlands.

One of these was an expensive boarding school for the children of diplomats and the wealthy at Eikenburg near the southern city of Eindhoven.

Robert Chesal reports:

Dolf was ten years old when he was abused the first time at the Eikenburg boarding school. It happened shortly after he arrived and he says the perpetrator was his group leader, a Roman Catholic brother.

"After a few weeks, I was woken up one night. The brother took me out of the dormitory. I had to get down on my knees and he put 15 blankets over me. I sat there sweating for 45 minutes. Then I had to satisfy him. That happened was every week for a year. I had to do it in every way possible. I was a child and I didn't know what I was doing."

Dormitory at Eikenburg boarding school, Eindhoven

Military precision

Eikenburg, located in beautiful woods near Eindhoven was one of the most expensive boarding schools in the Netherlands. Dolf, now 63, attended the school from late 1956 until 1958. He describes the brother as a large, coarse and aggressive man who demanded military precision from the boys.

He used to rip the blankets from the beds to make sure that the sheets had been tucked in properly and meted out the same kind of terrifying discipline in the dining room.

Brothers of Charity

The Brothers of Charity taught around 350 students in the boarding school’s 19th-century chapel and annexes. The order, which has branches throughout the world, is devoted to helping the poor, caring for the ill and to Christian charity.

However, the brothers enforced an extremely strict regime for the boys at Eikenburg. The instructors would hand out blue cards to boys who misbehaved, which meant they could not visit their home at the weekend. Dolf says the brother exploited the situation. "He tried to rape me. He was so big and strong. His hands were all over my face".

Letters censored

Since his parents were abroad, Dolf usually visited relatives during the weekend. His father was a diplomat. He was lonely, did not feel safe and was homesick. “My parents were far away. I had nobody to turn to.” Because the brothers checked all mail it was not possible to mention the abuse in a letter.

The Brothers of Charity’s regional superior, Ton van Heugten (74) at first refused to answer questions about the accusations. “I know about it. But I am not going to discuss it.” When asked about Dolf’s version of events. “I know about it. But I don’t know if something actually happened.”

Van Heugten says that the brother in question had been confined to a psychiatric institution. “There they diagnosed him as needing psychiatric care.” There was never an investigation into whether any of the boys had been a victim of possible acts by the brother.

An investigation by Radio Netherlands Worldwide and NRC Handelsblad into child abuse at boarding schools and seminaries reveals that a great deal of hidden suffering took place near the shady lanes of the Eikenburg boarding school. Of the more than one hundred cases investigated during the past two weeks, eleven took place in one school alone – Eikenburg.

Eleven former pupils describe how they and others were repeatedly abused and beaten. The events described allegedly took place between 1956 and 1983. The former pupils accuse nine Catholic brothers and one lay brother. More than fifty brothers worked at the boarding school on average.

Physical violence

Not all the pupils came from wealthy families. Henk Overdevest and his two brothers, sons of a bulb grower from North Holland, attended Eikenburg in 1968. Henk says his mother was emotionally unstable and did not have the ability to deal with her children, whom she often beat. Due to the dangerous situation at home he was sent to Eikenburg to attend the sixth grade of elementary school.

The troubles started immediately after his arrival. The group of new pupils was walking up the steps when one of the boys said something cheeky. One of the brothers “gave him a really hard blow to his head. The boy fell down the stone steps and landed with a smack on the pavement. Nobody helped him. The boy picked himself up. He was crying really hard of course.”

Intimidation

The cruelty was allegedly of a sexual nature as well. The boys who stayed during the weekend were the ones who experienced the alleged abuse most often.

Mr Overdevest: “We were playing billiards one Saturday afternoon. A boy was about to play a shot with his cue when the same brother walked up behind him. He pressed the boy against the billiard table and began to wildly rub against him.” Nobody else did anything because they were afraid of reprisals.

Henk befriended one of the supervisors, a lay brother of around 19 years of age. The supervisor invited Henk to his room to talk. “We chatted until late in the evening, with the radio on, and he gave me a sweet glass of liqueur.” The lay brother was preparing to make a sexual advance.

“At night I was asleep in bed and I woke up. Someone was touching my penis. I pushed him away.”

The supervisor tried it again another time, but this time more aggressively. Henk pushed him away.

“A short time later I heard a boy with a loud voice shouting somewhere else in the dormitory, “Shove off. Keep your hands off me!” His parents arrived the next day and the lay brother was fired immediately.”

Dolf and Henk’s accusations are just two examples of a structural pattern. Reports by other former pupils show that it is highly likely that pupils were frequently abused during the 1960s and 70s.

A former pupil who complained to Superior Van Heugten about abuse years ago looks back in anger. “He said that my story could not possibly be true.” Recently the former pupil received a letter from Van Heugten which included the cautious phrase: “We would greatly regret it if an incident had ever occurred at our institution.”

Comfort

Some time before the school closed its doors in 1996, girls were admitted as well. Each pupil had his or her own room. Although the atmosphere was less strict, there were still instances of abuse. A woman (42) from Deurne, near Eindhoven, says a brother began to abuse her in 1980, when she was 13, until 1983. Because she is married and has two children she wants to remain anonymous. The brother said he wanted to comfort her because she was homesick. However, they ended up having sex.

When her father found out and threatened to call the police the man was transferred to another boarding school run by the Brothers of Charity, St Jozef in Roermond. Today he is one of the four members of the board of the Brothers of Charity in the Netherlands.

Eikenburg boarding school, Eindhoven

Confessed

The Brothers of Charity still reside in Eikenburg. Regional father superior Van Heugten at first refused to discuss the accusation. However, in a second telephone conversation he admitted that the board member “had something to do with that girl”. He says the brother “sat here crying and confessed”.

The first Roman Catholic institution to face an investigation into charges of sexual abuse was the Don Rua monastery in ‘s-Heerenberg. Now it seems that widespread abuse occurred at the Eikenberg boarding school as well. In view of the many complaints which are being sent to Hulp & Recht (Help & Justice), a Roman Catholic organisation dedicated to fighting sexual abuse, more institutions will probably follow. The Netherlands can now join the growing number of countries where past cases of widespread sexual abuse at religious institutions are coming into the limelight after having long been ignored.

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