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WASHINGTON, June 1, 2006 – Noticeable changes have taken place in Iraq since the country's national unity government was inaugurated, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman told reporters today in Baghdad. "We've seen a lot of activities and events that give us a lot of hope and encouragement as we watch the leadership of the Iraqi government and the Iraqi (security forces) take greater control," Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said. He noted that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has told Iraqis they all need to be part of the solution to the problems facing the country. Caldwell also addressed...

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2006 – President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today hailed yesterday's seating of Iraq's unity government as an important milestone for the Iraqi people and the Middle East. President Bush, joined by first lady Laura Bush, prepares to provide statement on Iraq's new unity government formation to waiting news media in the White House's Diplomatic Reception Room May 21. Photo by Kimberlee Hewitt   "The formation of a unity government in Iraq is a new day for the millions of Iraqis who want to live in freedom," Bush said at the White House this morning....

BAGHDAD, May 21, 2006 – Coalition officials have set up an office within Multinational Force Iraq to help the new Iraqi government take hold. The Iraqis are calling the government - a mix of people from all locations, sects and ethnicities in the country - a "unity government." This goes with the position at MNFI and the American embassy that unity must happen before security can become a reality. To promote this idea, Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, MNFI's deputy chief of staff for strategic effects, spoke yesterday in an interview about how the new national unity office will work...

PROPOSALS INVITED TOWARD A MORE CIVIL DISCOURSE RE RELIGIOUS FIGURES AT ODDS WITH VARIOUS SENSIBILITIES The current thread regarding Pat Robertson is but the latest in a long tradition of certain flavors of evangelical Christian and particularly Pentecostal/Charismatic religious figures being thoroughly shredded by what--90% or more of the posts--usually in the harshest, most hostile, even demonizing wording possible. It seems that when folks are perceived to be in such Pentecostal/charismatic categories, all bets are off, no holds barred--the most viscious attacks are the minimal Standard Operating Procedure. Instead of exhorting one another in Christian Love, the worst attitudes normally...

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2006 – Unity is at an all-time high in Iraq, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday. "I think you have greater unity of the various elements of Iraqi society than you've ever had," Rice said while en route to Athens, Greece. "You have a much more active and integrated Sunni leadership ... with clear indigenous roots, which should help with the movement of Sunnis away from violence to the political process." Rice said the new Iraqi prime minister-designate, Jawad al Maliki, who was appointed April 22, will be the first permanent prime minister with the full...

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2006 – The steps taken last week to form a unified Iraqi government were a huge accomplishment, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here today. "This is THE government of Iraq," Rumsfeld told Pentagon reporters. "It's their government in a sovereign nation. And it's a thrilling accomplishment." Four months of tough negotiations and politicking bore fruit April 22, when the Iraqi parliament elected several high-ranking officials, including its president, Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, who then named Jawad al Maliki, a Shiite, as prime minister-designate. The new leadership has a month to pull together an Iraqi cabinet that...

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2006 – After months of deadlock, Iraq reached an "important milestone" in its journey toward democracy with an agreement on top leadership posts for a national unity government, President Bush said yesterday. The parliament elected a president, two vice presidents, a parliament speaker and two deputies yesterday. President Jalal Talabani then named Jawad al Maliki as prime minister-designate. "This agreement represents compromise and consensus among many different Iraqi groups and it came after months of patient negotiations," Bush said in a speech at the California Highway Patrol Academy in Sacramento. "The agreement reflects the will of the...

Local religious, political and military leaders united against terrorism and instability in their district at the Civic Unity Conference held in the Huteen Establishment of Iskandariyah, April 8, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Rodney Foliente City Leaders Voice Hope, Determination, Unity More than 150 religious, political and military leaders, took turns voicing their hopes and their concerns for Iraq. By U.S. Army Spc. Rodney Foliente 4th Infantry Division ISKANDARIYAH, Iraq, April 17, 2006 — In a room crowded with more than 150 religious, political and military leaders, speakers took turns April 8 voicing their hopes and their concerns...

NORTH COUNTY ---- Even before Brian Bilbray appeared to clinch a narrow victory Tuesday over 13 other Republican rivals to run against Democrat Francine Busby in eight short weeks to replace disgraced former Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, supporters called on the field to "unite" behind Bilbray's candidacy. But a day later, it appeared that unity could be slow in coming. Eric Roach, Bilbray's nearest Republican rival, said Wednesday through campaign managers that he might ask for a recount of votes cast in the sprawling 50th District ---- a move that would delay Republican solidarity in the weeks of campaigning left...

WASHINGTON, March 27, 2006 – As evidenced by their votes, the Iraqi people want unity and peace, the president's national security adviser said yesterday. "If you look at the Iraqi people, every time they've had a chance to vote, they have voted for unity and they have voted for peace," Stephen Hadley said on CBS's "Face the Nation." Hadley stressed the importance of meeting the deadline for the formation of an Iraqi unity government that includes Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. The government is scheduled to be in place by the end of March. "It is important that the Iraqi people...

BALTIMORE, March 14, 2006 – Iraq is at a crossroads, and the Iraqi people have critical decisions to make in the near future, the top U.S. general said here yesterday. Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, addresses the Baltimore Council of Foreign Affairs March 13. Pace took numerous questions from the audience on issues ranging from port security to current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Photo by Staff Sgt. D. Myles Cullen, USAF  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. During a presentation before the Baltimore Council on Foreign Affairs, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman...

WASHINGTON, March 12, 2006 – Iraqi leaders took a "very positive step" today toward establishing a government of national unity, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq said moments after an emergency meeting with Iraqi leaders. "It was a good day today in Baghdad," Zalmay Khalilzad said today in an interview from Baghdad on CNN's "Late Edition" with Wolf Blitzer. The meeting, called to initiate progress in the formation of a new government, was an indicator that leaders "are taking the problems of the country seriously," the ambassador said. Khalilzad said he was encouraged by the meeting's results. "Leaders decided to bring...

At the Republican convention in San Jose last weekend, conservatives tried to mildly chasten Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for his more-liberal policies, but they were turned back by a Republican majority more interested in winning elections and putting up a facade of unity than in making a stand for principle. I'm saddened by what the failed revolt means for the Grand Old Party. The Republican Party is far from perfect, but if it doesn't stand up for limiting government, then those ideas will have no prominent place in the governing debate. Until the November special election, the governor had done a...

Orthodox, Catholics should work together to restore Europe's Christian culture Feb. 27 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI told a visiting Greek Orthodox delegation that Catholic and Orthodox believers should work together to restore the Christian heritage of Europe. The Holy Father met on February 27 with 30 students and teacher from the Apostoliki Diakonia theological school, administered by the Orthodox archdiocese of Athens. The Pope said that East and West should unite against "the challenges that threaten the faith." The Pope observed that after centuries of division, the years since the close of Vatican II have "caused us to see...

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 27, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Orthodox and Catholics must find what unites and brings us ever closer, says an official of the Apostoliki Diakonia of Athens, a theological college. Archimandrite Dionysios Mantalos, director of departments of the Orthodox college who is visiting the Catholic Church in Rome, was received in audience today by the Pope. "In the first millennium, Christians were united; in the second, divided. The third must not find us separated," the archimandrite told ZENIT in an interview. The interview followed Sunday's solemn ceremony at Transfiguration Parish, in Rome, in which a relic of St. Andrew was...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2006 – Iraq's security forces are providing a model of unity for their countrymen, working together to maintain security in the face of sectarian violence, a U.S. spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq told reporters in Baghdad this weekend. Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch called the days following the Feb. 22 bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra a "difficult ... and confusing time" for Iraq, but said officials see no indication that a civil war is imminent. "There have been pockets of violence, but we don't see that as a precursor to civil war," he told reporters...

A few sour notes in the California Republican Party's fragile harmony sounded at the GOP convention in San Jose on Saturday, even as the party tried to unite around Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's re-election this fall. Discontent with Schwarzenegger among some conservatives has been brewing since December when he appointed a former Democratic Party activist, Susan Kennedy, as his chief of staff. Ire grew as Schwarzenegger pushed more moderate policies -- massive borrowing to rebuild public works, an increase in the minimum wage and a budget that would exacerbate future deficits. Keeping the party together is crucial to Schwarzenegger's re-election chances...

Interview With Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany: "Attaining Church Unity is a Spiritual Podvig*" *Spiritual feat or labor; striving for the eternal In late December 2005, an Orthodox Conference of the Diocese of Berlin and Germany of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia was held. Sergei Chapnin, Editor-in-Chief of Tserkovnij Vestnik ["Church Messenger"], participated in the Conference at the invitation of Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany. His Eminence spoke to him of the attitudes in the Russian Church Abroad, and about the work of the Synodal Commission on talks with the Moscow Patriarchate in an interview with...

Jordan’s king urges unity among religions on terrorism Feb 3, 2006 By Tom Strode Baptist Press WASHINGTON (BP)--King Abdullah II of Jordan, speaking at a Feb. 2 gathering organized by evangelicals, urged Christians, Jews and Muslims to unite around common values and to consider Islamic terrorism as an “attack upon civilization” instead of a “clash of civilizations.” Addressing the luncheon event of the yearly National Prayer Breakfast, King Abdullah told the audience of about 3,000, most of them evangelical Christians, that terrorists “do not preach the Islam of the Koran or the prophet Muhammad.... Theirs is a repugnant political ideology...

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do When your church splits, it can feel as painful as a divorce. By Matthew Paul Turner When I was 19 years old, my dad looked me in the eyes and told me we were leaving our church. My sisters and I looked at each other and smiled. We didn’t even have to say anything out loud; all of us knew exactly what the others were thinking: Finally we’re leaving this hellhole. I’ve been through divorce three times. It wasn't marriages that split up; it was my churches. Each time was different; each taught me...