THE VATICAN'S DIVISIONS

Wow!!!-- Just what the Middle East needs more fuel for the sectarian fire and here comes Pope Benedict with a five-gallon can full of petrol and an ill-timed remark on the inhuman evil contribution of Islam's Prophet Muhammed to the world-- Benefit of the doubt demands the Pope be not considered unreasonably stupid, thus, the comments must then be judged as deliberately not unwittingly inflammatory-- Parsing his careful but less than forthright less than complete apology failed to assuage radical reaction in the Middle East-- Motive?-- Timing?--Let's hope the Vatican was not long in oil stocks/commodities and attempting to recoup recent setbacks from downward shifting world oil prices-- Perhaps it reveals Benedict's interest in the upcoming mid-term elections in the U.S.-- So far the Pope's comments can be tied to several arson attacks against Christian churchs in the Palestine Territories, a murdered nun in Somalia and a couple of popes burned in effigy in Pakistan Kashmir and Basra Iraq-- Not bad for incendiary starters but the Pope attempting to douse the pyrotechnicality of his provocative remarks now claims his address to be 'an invitation to frank and sincere dialogue, with great mutual respect'-- Where this papal bolt out of the Uranian blue leads from here may be guesswork but certainly interesting to follow while continuing events in the ME appear intent on inflicting some surprise of their own beyond just the usual daily mayhem-- Be vigilant--