Glaring Disconnects: Visits of Netanyahu and Bai Koroma

News segments I listened to this week stirred me to wonder if the Heads of State truly believe the public has no recall of their past news clips. The media reports what the world leaders say, but it’s up to us to connect the dots. I submit the following two examples for your consideration:

Example One:

President Barak Obama refused to talk with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week, because the Israeli election would be held in just two weeks. He didn’t want to be seen as trying to influence the voters in Israel.

Relative Past News Bits:

1. In the European newspapers dated July 25, 2008 Presidential-hopeful Barak Obama expressed disappointment over the German Chancellor’s refusal to meet with him during his European speaking tour. The Chancellor cited objections to being pulled into American politics, adding “He’s not the President yet.” In fact, Barak Obama hadn’t yet been officially given the party’s endorsement as their candidate. Traditionally, this is done during the Democratic National Convention which took place one month later, August 25-28, 2008. (I did have to look up the exact dates; my memory isn’t that good.)

2. On January 26, 2015, Obama’s former-national field director and four of his top 2012 Presidential campaign leaders, arrived in Tel-Aviv, as reported in the Israeli press. The express purpose of their Israeli trip is to provide assistance to the candidate opposing the re-election of Benjamin Netanyahu.

3. On February 7, 2015 Barak Obama received fourteen Muslim leaders at the White House. Present in the group were members of the Muslim Brotherhood, an organization to which Osama Bin Laden and the present head of ISIS belonged. It is well-known that the organization calls for the total eradication of the State of Israel. The US-based organizations the men founded directly contribute to the financial support of the Palestinian terrorist organization, Hamas.

The men enjoying an audience with the President had only this past October signed a document “insisting that Sharia law should be an acceptable political system worldwide.” This system demands that all women, regardless of religious affiliation, wear the fully-covered garb of the Muslims; that the hand of a thief is cut off; and a host of other laws that run contrary to the democratic principles upon which America was founded.

Reflections/Connecting the Dots:

Since Prime Minister Netanyahu is the current Head of State, and not a Junior Senator hoping his political party will appoint him to compete for that position, President Obama should have treated the Prime Minister with the respect due his office. After all, he expected the Chancellor of Germany to extend that privilege to him as a part of his own 2008 political campaign.

The actions of the President for 2015 clearly indicate that his allegiance lies with his Muslim brothers, not the greatest ally we have in the Middle East. I pray that the Lord will visit President Obama before he puts America on the wrong side of the passage outlining God’s Covenant with Israel and the Jewish people, found in Genesis 12:3, ”I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Example Two:

At the international meeting in Brussels this week, the President of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma,spoke to a BBC reporter, explaining his request for more than $2 billion to assist his country in the Ebola recovery process.

The IMF had already promised an additional $187 million to Sierra Leone but he didn’t believe it would be sufficient to meet their needs. The President would like to totally re-build the health care system in his country so that they’re better prepared for the next crisis.

Past News bits:

Three weeks ago, an audit of the funds already given to Sierra Leone for Ebola emergency Funding exposed the staggering misappropriation of these donated funds. Nearly one-third of the many millions donated to Sierra Leone cannot be accounted for. Much of the missing cash just disappeared. Records the auditors could retrieve indicated payments to ghost healthcare workers and double-payment to military and security personnel. Big-ticket items showed paid invoices but there’s no evidence the trucks, ambulances and other such items had ever actually been purchased.

The reporter raised this issue of missing donations with the President, who didn’t believe the issue to be relevant to his request for the additional billions. He assured the reporter that, if anyone is found to have misused the funds, he or she would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Reflections/Connecting the Dots:

To state the obvious, no more money should be just handed out to countries with such a deplorable record of accountability for western tax-payer dollars. Yes, there is need for re-building the lives of the Ebola survivors, even more than re-structuring and financing the revamping of the entire healthcare system in these countries, but dumping a load of money isn’t the way to see that the job gets done. The attitude of the President towards the missing millions should alert us to the seriousness he places on the amount of money he’s asking folks to just give him, shouldn’t it? No remorse, just more request and empty promises.

What else can we do; they need the cash? Send a team to administrate the said-cash. Employ African workers to assist at every level of need, but strict monitoring and adherence to guidelines must be reinforced at each level. Let’s put some out-of-work Americans and Europeans with leadership skills to work distributing the tax-payer funds. The people from both cultures get salaries and the job for the needy people and countries gets done.

Have you seen any other glaring disconnects in the news? I’d like to know. I’m trying to sharpen my discerning skills, making me better able to pray effectively.