The State Department's highly critical new report on religious persecution in Vietnam conflicts with U.S. government subsidies from the Export-Import Bank to encourage Vietnamese businesses.
The department's annual International Religious Freedom Report lists Vietnam as a Category I violator ("totalitarian or authoritarian actions to control religious belief or practice") subject to U.S. sanctions. The document cites "credible reports" that the Vietnamese government's persecution of ethnic minority Protestants and independent Buddhists has grown worse.
China, which has received Export-Import subsidies for years, also is listed in Category I. Named as Category II violators ("state hostility toward minority or non-approved religions") are Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkmenistan -- all recipients of Ex-Im aid.
OKLAHOMA TURMOIL
Republicans may lose a Senate seat in Oklahoma because some business interests have recoiled from GOP candidate Tom Coburn's opposition to pork-barrel spending that has made him a hero to the conservative movement.
Coburn's double-digit lead after the primary election has become a deficit. Rep. Brad Carson, his Democratic opponent, has waged a heavy negative television campaign against Coburn. But GOP strategists believe Coburn's anti-pork campaign during his six years in the House has hurt him most. Many business leaders regard him as a rigid ideologue who will not help them.
Support for Coburn from the state's congressional delegation (all Republicans except for Carson) has not been solid. His anti-pork efforts made him unpopular with the Washington establishment.