re: "Maniacal Missionaries, Myanmar to Mideast"

Gerald at Avuncular American ("An expatriate view of America and the world from Europe") remarks on some intersections of religion, consular work, and public diplomacy.

Money quote(s):

"John Yettaw, who got Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi into hot water with the country's dictators, apparently just wanted to give the (Buddhist) woman a (Christian) Bible. No wonder the US State Department publicly expressed its outrage over the arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi, while quietly sending consular officials to meet with the "missionary" in jail.
Embassies have to do that"

Yes, we do. Every country's diplomats and consuls can, or should, do this. It's all spelled-out in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

"In some countries (think Mexico), the "arrest/detention of American citizens" requires a considerable investment of Embassy time."

&

"(T)he US has something far more dangerous: a cadre of people in the Pentagon and in the US military bent on spreading their Christian beliefs, at the point of a gun. In the Middle Ages, they called that the Crusades. That is the last thing that the US needs with thousands of troops surrounded by millions of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, religion is exactly what the region does not need more of."

Hmm, I always thought the Crusades were about freeing the Holy Land (i.e., Jerusalem and surrounding environs), previously the very heart of Christendom, which had been conquered by the followers of a certain "religion of peace" which just happened to spread its beliefs at the point of a sword.

That being said, Gerald is right about us not making things any more difficult for ourselves by getting into the business of Christian evangelism overseas. And by us I mean both the military and civilian arms of the U.S. Government.

Or at least not until or unless this is adopted as part of a future public diplomacy/slash/information warfare policy in some sort of nightmarish Huntington scenario that is (apologies to the late Professor, I'm pretty sure this isn't what he had in mind).

re: "Spies On the Prowl: Romeos and Rapists"

Gerald at Avuncular American ("An expatriate view of America and the world from Europe") contrasts some tradecraft with crimes.

Money quote(s):

"women have been used as enticements in all manner of circumstances, and it probably comes as no surprise that Puritan America is not beyond practicing the "honeytrap" approach in its spy operations. The allegations against Warren go way beyond this, however"

re: "Obama DOD: Order Mercy & Comfort For Gaza Victims"

Gerald at Avuncular American ("An expatriate view of America and the world from Europe by former diplomat Gerald Loftus") has a great idea.

Money quote(s):

"The United States Navy operates two hospital ships, the USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort"

"Secretary Gates could issue an order to the Military Sealift Command, in charge of the hospital ships, to bring them out of "reduced operating status (ROS)" at their home port of Baltimore Maryland, which takes a maximum of five days."

&

"Deployment of one of the hospital ships off the coast of Gaza could be one of the very first actions ordered by the new Commander in Chief. Already, the French humanitarian relief organization "Medecins Sans Frontieres" is pressing the French government for similar action. With the close US-Israel ties of which all administrations, Republican and Democratic, are proud, US Navy hospital ships should have a good chance of access to the Gaza coastline. Once hostilities cease.

Israel chased away an Iranian relief ship the other day, accusing it of aiding Hamas. Presumably it would not be as inhospitable to an American hospital ship, but you never know. Israel did sink the USS Liberty during the June 1967 Six Day War."

With Israel announcing a unilateral ceasefire and withdrawal from Gaza, the timing works pretty well.

I have two concerns.

Firstly, I'm concerned about force protection. While I don't fear a repeat of the Liberty attacks, there are those for whom the great big red crosses of a hospital ship will seem an irresistable lure of a target. Perhaps some smaller, less peaceful ships could accompany our hospital ships as escorts. Unless I'm mistaken, we still have a fleet in the Mediterranean.

Second, I'm concerned about U.S. military personnel providing medical treatment for Hamas fighters, both from the vulnerability standpoint (see my force protection concern immediately above) and from undesirability of becoming the de facto medical support arm of a belligerent, Hamas, whose compliance with the laws of warfare is primarily in the breach. Israel can pretty much be expected to ensure that the prisoners it takes will receive humane medical treatment (not that it will be noticed).