Foreign Digest: Terrorism, Human Rights Abuses, Persecution of Christians

In addition to all the African states I mentioned in a post last month that have been deploying their armed forces against Islamist terrorists, Djibouti has also recently sent troops to Somalia.

There were reports from human rights monitors that the “Islamic State” has used chlorine gas in Iraq.

The Obama Administration lightened sanctions on Sudan, despite its horrendous human rights record, including its ongoing genocide in Darfur, as well as killings in rebellious Blue Nile and Khordofan provinces.  The Islamist Sudanese leader is wanted for crimes against humanity and his government is a sponsor of terrorism.

The United States increased sanctions further on Venezuela because of its continued crackdown on political dissent, while the Obama Administration continues to dialogue with Venezuela’s patron, Communist Cuba, another dictatorial state with a poor human rights record.  The Administration is trying to legitimatize the Cuban regime with diplomatic recognition and to trade with it, despite Cuba’s harboring of American fugitives, its theft of billions of dollars of American assets and its status as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Meanwhile, the Obama Administration continues to negotiate with the worst state sponsor of terrorism, Iran, and to offer lifting sanctions on the Islamic Republic.  It fails to recognize Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons itself as a form of terrorism – one that ought not to be rewarded with legitimacy and trade. 

A study by a reputable foundation found that Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world.