Germany Must Lead

The Associated Press and USA Today reported on December 3:

“For more than half a century, the legacy of World War II has meant that the mere mention of a new rise of German power sent shudders through European nations. Now, Germany is increasingly calling the shots for the entire continent — and few seem to mind. Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski — whose nation lost millions of people in the Nazi invasion and occupation — shocked many this week when he made a dramatic appeal for greater German influence. ‘You know full well that nobody else can do it,’ he told a largely German audience in Berlin. ‘I will probably be the first Polish foreign minister in history to say so, but here it is: I fear German power less than I am beginning to fear German inactivity.’

“European leaders are panicked over unsustainable debt that could take down the entire global economy. From the streets to the halls of power, all eyes are trained on Germany — by far Europe’s biggest economy — to lead the continent out of crisis… On Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel pushed forward with a Berlin-engineered action plan for containing Europe’s crisis, calling for tougher rules to keep national budgets under control… At the same time she talked down any fears of German preeminence in Europe… Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann, whose nation often lives in the shadow of its giant northern neighbor, dismissed out of hand any worries about renewed German dominance…

“Some Europeans have also contemplated with horror what would happen if Germany got fed up with Europe’s debt shambles and simply walked away. ‘What is left of the euro if Germany says goodbye? A house of cards,’ Lennart Sacredeus, a lawmaker with the Christian Democrats in Sweden’s governing coalition, wrote…Throughout the crisis, Merkel has worked closely with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the other heavyweight leader among the nations that share the euro. But Sarkozy, slumping in polls ahead of elections next year, has recently proven much more willing to bend to the chancellor’s way of thinking. In particular, he has embraced German ideas of countries ceding control of a chunk of their budgets to a central authority, even at the expense of some national sovereignty…

“Europeans seem increasingly inclined to support Germany’s leadership — or at least to go along with it… While former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi bristled at German interference, new Prime Minister Mario Monti has called the German culture of stability one of its ‘better exports.’… Likewise, incoming conservative Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is seen as much more open to Germany’s leadership than outgoing socialist Premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.”

And so, Germany will lead… and the continental European countries will follow.

“Germany Dubbed ‘Master of Europe’”

The Local wrote on December 8:

“Germany is emerging as the master of Europe, analysts said on Thursday ahead of a make-or-break summit on the euro – as the European Central Bank (ECB) set the scene by cutting its key interest rates.

“‘For the first time in the history of the EU, Germany is the unquestioned leader, and France is number two,’ said Charles Grant, of the Centre for European Reform think tank, citing growing inequality ever since the financial crisis struck in 2008… ‘France has been “forced” to bow to German leadership on economic policy… The high stakes for all EU institutions were highlighted by French President Nicolas Sarkozy who said in Paris that the risks of the EU exploding had never been so great. There would be no ‘second chance’ if the summit failed to come up with a convincing solution, he said…

“Under intense pressure to deal with the contagious debt crisis, European governments are moving towards radical changes on the road to fiscal, economic and political union. In the future, governments that overspend and so increase the risk of market penalties for currency partner governments could be fined or see automatic ‘corrections’ imposed by the European Commission…”

New European Plans to Save the Euro

BBC News reported on December 5:

“The leaders of France and Germany say the EU needs a new treaty to deal with the eurozone debt crisis… Mr Sarkozy said talks on a new treaty should be completed by March, to ensure such a crisis never happened again. The Paris talks come ahead of an EU summit on Friday that is being seen as crucial for the future of the single currency… Mrs Merkel said France and Germany wanted to see ‘structural changes which go beyond agreements. This package shows that we are absolutely determined to keep the euro as a stable currency and as an important contributor to European stability…’

“If these measures are approved the eurozone will have taken a giant stride to becoming both a monetary and fiscal union… As for Britain, the PM will face a tough decision over whether he tries to win back powers from Europe in exchange for British support for treaty change… The two leaders said they wanted treaty changes to be implemented by all 27 EU member states, but if that was not possible, [by] just the 17 states which have adopted the euro… They also rejected the idea of single currency ‘eurobonds’ being introduced to help ease the debt crisis, with Mr Sarkozy saying they were ‘in no case a solution’.”

We see that Mrs. Merkel prevailed with her rejection of eurobonds, which were recently endorsed by Sarkozy. Also, the concept of creating agreements between just the Eurozone members is very interesting. Der Spiegel Online commented on Monday that it has become obvious once again who is leading in Europe. The magazine wrote: “Madame Pitches the Key” (or: “Madame gives the Note”), adding: “The meeting demonstrates the positions of power—the French President must once again alter the course to follow the direction of the Chancellor.”

Europe Shudders at Germany’s New-Found Power

Der Spiegel Online wrote on December 6:

“French daily newspaper Libération ran an article under the headline ‘A President Modeled on the Germans,’ which claimed ‘If you closed your eyes, you could hear Merkel speaking’ during Sarkozy’s speech. During a televised interview back in early November, Sarkozy uttered almost unimaginable words for a French president: ‘All my efforts are directed towards adapting France to a system that works. The German system’… In these days of crisis in Europe, the ‘German model’ has become something of a magic formula. Like it or not, the dusty, dry Germans now seem to hold the key to European salvation…

“Very quickly, praise is being replaced by criticism… This is the flipside of Germany’s dominance in Europe. The right-wing Spanish daily newspaper ABC recently wrote about the alleged ‘Germanization of Europe,’ and a journalist commented that Germany was in the process of ‘winning World War III: the money war.’… so the specter of the ugly German has raised its head once more. In Greece, swastikas made out of the stars of the European Union flag have long been a popular motif at demonstrations, not to mention pictures of the German chancellor in a kind of SS uniform… Georgios Trangas, one of Greece’s best-known journalists, said his country had become ‘a German protectorate of the Fourth Reich in southern Europe’… Meanwhile Italian television is depicting Chancellor Merkel wearing a Kaiser-era spiked helmet…

“Holding the reins of economic and political power in Europe is a new experience for Germany… Last week Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski gave a remarkable speech in Berlin in which he described the collapse of the euro zone as ‘the greatest threat for Poland’s security and well-being.’ Just five years ago, Sikorski said the German-Russian agreement over a Baltic Sea pipeline reminded him of Hitler’s pact with Stalin in 1939. Now he says, ‘I’m less worried about Germany’s power than about its failure to act. It has become Europe’s essential nation. It must not fail in its leadership. Rather than dominate, it must lead the reform process.’”

Ratings Agency Under Attack

Der Spiegel Online wrote on December 6:

“Ratings agency Standard and Poor’s has piled pressure on EU leaders to come up with a deal to save the euro, warning that it may downgrade 15 of 17 euro-zone countries — including powerhouse Germany. EU politicians have criticized the move. But the agency on Tuesday added that it may downgrade the euro bailout fund as well…

“Chancellor Angela Merkel shrugged off the warning, saying: ‘What a rating agency does is the responsibility of the rating agency.’ Her economy minister, Philipp Rösler, appeared likewise unmoved. ‘Germany will not let itself be influenced by … the short-lived verdict of one ratings agency,’ Rösler said on the sidelines of a conference in Munich, Reuters reported. ‘We think nothing of such threats. We have no difficulties on the financial markets. We are and remain the anchor of stability in Europe,’ said Rösler…

“Bank of France governor Christian Noyer, a member of the governing council of the European Central Bank, said on Tuesday that ratings agencies were in danger of themselves worsening the euro-zone debt crisis. ‘The agencies were one of the motors of the crisis in 2008. Are they becoming a motor in the current crisis? That’s a real question we all need to think about,’ he told a conference on corporate finance in Paris.

“Hans Michelbach, a member of parliament for the conservative Christian Social Union party, the Bavarian sister party to Merkel’s Christian Democrats, called the S&P warning ‘an arbitrary decision with no relation to reality.’ The aim of the announcement, he said, had evidently been to create additional nervousness ahead of the EU summit. He called on the EU to crack down on the ‘uncontrolled games’ being played by the ratings agencies.

“European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso… dropped his demand for euro bonds, saying they were not a solution to the current crisis… He added that Germany’s angry reaction last month to an EU consultation paper on euro bonds had surprised him.”

The Local added on December 6:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday she would press on with ‘important’ reforms for the eurozone, following a downgrade threat by credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s for Germany and 14 other eurozone countries… German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said on Tuesday S&P’s warning was the ‘best incentive possible’ for this week’s EU summit…

“French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Tuesday that the Franco-German plan to overhaul the EU treaty [and] to toughen EU budgetary rules ‘is precisely the response to one of the major questions of this ratings agency (S&P) that mentions the insufficiency of European economic governance.’”

The Weekly Standard wrote on December 7 that Rainer Bruederle, the chair of the FDP group in the German Bundestag, indicated that S&P acted as part of an American plot or conspiracy to work against the eurozone.

Britain “Infuriates” Europe

Der Spiegel Online reported on December 5:

“The British government is trying to obstruct the establishment of a common EU foreign and security policy. The formation of an autonomous military headquarters failed last week after Britain alone resisted the move. The government of Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron has also been preventing the EU from issuing joint statements in international organizations.

“…For example, when the EU ambassadors agreed to a common statement at the World Health Organization in Geneva, the British representative vetoed the move, saying the issue wasn’t a matter of foreign policy but of health policy — and therefore fell under national sovereignty. The British have been using similar nit-picking arguments in other UN organizations and at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna, on issues such as peace missions and disarmament conferences.

“Pierre Vimont, the Secretary General of the European External Action Service, has complained privately that London has blocked a total of 96 EU statements. The foreign minister of Luxembourg, Jean Asselborn, described as schizophrenic the British rejection of joint consular services for all EU citizens, because that stance contradicted Britain’s own demand for a ‘Europe for the people.’

“Tensions between Britain and other members of the EU have grown in the euro crisis. Cameron has responded to growing euro-skeptic pressure in his Conservative party by pledging to claw back powers from Brussels and by resisting German calls for greater EU integration on fiscal policy to tackle sovereign debt problems…”

U.S. Foreign Aid for Homosexuals

The Associated Press wrote on December 6:

“The Obama administration is announcing a wide-ranging effort to use U.S. foreign aid to promote rights for gays and lesbians abroad, including combating attempts by foreign governments to criminalize homosexuality… ‘The struggle to end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons is a global challenge, and one that is central to the United States’ commitment to promoting human rights,’ Obama said in a statement… The order also directs U.S. government agencies to… work with international organizations to fight discrimination against gays and lesbians…

“Since taking office, Obama has advocated for the repeal of the military’s ban on openly gay service members and ordered the administration to stop enforcing a law defining marriage as between one man and one woman… The presidential directive applies to all U.S. agencies involved in foreign aid, assistance and development, including the Departments of States, the Treasury, Defense and Homeland Security.”

This move seems to be in direct response to British Prime Minister Cameron’s refusal to give aid to African countries that support anti-homosexual movements (See the Current Events in our last Update). As the Bible says in Isaiah 9:21, even Ephraim (Great Britain and the Commonwealth nations) and the USA (Manasseh) will be at odds with each other.

“Obama’s Culture of Corruption”

The California Staats-Zeitung wrote on December 3, 2011:

“The Obama Administration’s Solyndra scandal that cost U.S. taxpayers $535 million is just the tip of the iceberg of the scandal involving Obama’s use of taxpayer dollars to help his top donors… Now, we are learning that this practice of using tax dollars to pay off contributors and enrich political allies was not unusual, but in fact was common place. To show the gravity of the scandal, even Newsweek, in its November 13, 2011, issue wrote, ‘Nevertheless, a large proportion of the winners were companies with Obama-campaign connections. Indeed, at least 10 members of Obama’s finance committee and more than a dozen of his campaign bundlers were big winners in getting your money.’

“The Newsweek piece continues, ‘At the same time, several politicians who supported Obama managed to strike gold by launching alternative-energy companies and obtaining grants… $16.4 billion of the $20.5 billion in loans granted as of Sept. 15 went to companies either run by or primarily owned by Obama financial backers…’ 

“The silence from left wing ‘watchdog’ groups has been deafening… Environmental guru Al Gore has also been strangely silent… And the Washington Post, which brought down a presidency by exposing a White House cover up of actions of bit players in the Nixon Administration, has failed to headline the Solyndra scandal on their front page even once. [The Solyndra scandal is] the biggest pay for play scandal in U.S. history…”

Obama’s “Misguided” Energy Policies

Newsmax wrote on December 5:

“The Obama administration’s handling of two recent controversies — solar panel maker Solyndra and the Keystone XL pipeline — illustrates a misguided approach to energy-related issues, according to an energy expert. The administration has announced that it will delay for a year a final decision on construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would bring much-needed oil from Canada to Texas and the Gulf of Mexico. At the same time, the administration is under fire for using its influence to help Solyndra obtain a $529 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy. The company declared bankruptcy and folded in September.

“‘Even a cursory look at the two deals shows that, once again, the Obama administration’s energy priorities are — how to put this charitably? — misguided,’ writes Robert Bryce, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute…In an article appearing in National Review Online, Bryce writes that unlike Solyndra, the $13 billion Keystone project does not depend on federal loan guarantees or tax credits from the federal government, and it would improve America’s access to a secure flow of oil. The pipeline would reportedly create some 13,000 construction jobs in the United States, and indirectly create 7,000 manufacturing jobs — while Solyndra axed 1,100 workers when it went bankrupt.

“The pipeline would supply the U.S. with 700,000 barrels of oil each day, enough to generate 380,000 megawatt-hours of electricity daily, according to Bryce. Meanwhile, all the solar panels in the country, plus all the wind turbines, last year produced 260,000 million megawatt-hours per day. ‘Put another way, the Keystone XL pipeline by itself, if it ever gets federal approval — and assuming, of course, that the Canadians don’t decide to build a pipeline to the coast and ship their oil to China or elsewhere — would have provided about 46 percent more energy to the U.S. economy than all the solar panels and wind turbines in the country did in 2010,’ Bryce points out.”

Latin America Launches New Economic Alliance Without USA and Canada

Deutsche Welle reported on December 3:

“Latin American leaders have met in Caracas to launch a new alliance that some hope will help them stand up to the United States… [33] Leaders from across Latin America and the Caribbean pledged closer ties as they formed a new bloc on Saturday including every nation in the hemisphere except Canada and the US…

“On the surface, at least, no other region offers as good a framework for regional integration as Latin America. Apart from Brazil, around 500 million people from Mexico to Tierra del Fuego speak the same language. They also share similar histories, with most having achieved their independence from Spain around 200 years ago. With the notable exception of Cuba, they all have democratically elected governments…

“Upon closer inspection it becomes clear that the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States is nothing more than a new incarnation of the Organization of American States – without the United States and Canada… An initial test could come at the next EU-Latin America summit next year in Santiago de Chile. In any case, the established alliances in the region will continue to be interesting negotiating partners for the EU…

“The EU has already signed bilateral association agreements with Mexico and Chile, and it is in negotiations with the Andean Community (Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia) and the countries of Central America…”

These alliances show the continuing isolation of the USA and Canada in that part of the world as well.

Karzai Warns USA

Der Spiegel Online wrote on December 5:

“Afghan President Hamid Karzai has issued his clearest demands yet that the US end its controversial night raids in his country. And he suggested that, should they not be met, ongoing negotiations over a US military presence in the country beyond 2014 could suffer… Karzai even said that the talks over the so-called US Afghanistan Strategic Partnership could even break down should US forces not change their modus operandi in Afghanistan in the coming weeks.

“The stern demands… underscore the tensions between the US and Afghanistan over the future of their cooperation… US military officials have emphasized… that the night raids are one of the most effective tools in their counterinsurgency effort… They say such raids are crucial in the fight against the Taliban…”

More Tumult in Afghanistan

The Wall Street Journal wrote on December 6:

“Twin blasts in Kabul and the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif targeted Afghanistan’s minority Shiite community on Tuesday, killing nearly 60 people in one of the war’s deadliest attacks and raising the danger of sectarian strife… the worshippers were gathered for the Shiite festival of Ashura, which commemorates the killing of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Hussain during the wars that marked the seventh-century split between Islam’s Sunni and Shiite sects.

“The attacks raised concerns that Afghan insurgents were trying to spark a conflict between the minority Shiite community and the country’s majority Sunni population, reigniting the ethnic and sectarian violence that ravaged the country during the civil war in the 1990s… The blast in Kabul happened during a self-flagellation ceremony, as men whipped their own backs with sharp knives and razors outside the mosque…”

Clinton Angers Israel

AFP wrote on December 4:

“Israeli ministers reacted angrily on Sunday after local media quoted U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as saying she feared for the future of Israel’s democracy and the rights of women in the Jewish state. Clinton’s remarks… made headlines in most Israeli newspapers… [Reportedly] Clinton had described shock at hearing that some buses in Jerusalem were gender segregated and some religious Israeli soldiers refused to attend events where women would sing… The comments sparked a quick backlash in Jerusalem, where Israeli ministers holding a weekly cabinet meeting accused Clinton of hyperbole.”

Of course, these kinds of gender segregations ARE a cause for concern, but worse practices of intolerance can be found in most Muslim countries, which don’t even claim to be democratic or respect any rights of women. At the same time, the Bible shows in Isaiah 9:21 that the relationship between the USA  (biblical Manasseh), Great Britain (biblical Ephraim)  and the state of Israel (biblical Judah) will deteriorate.

Did Iran Shoot Down US Spy Plane?

BBC wrote on December 4:

“Iran’s armed forces have shot down an unmanned US spy plane that violated its eastern borders, military sources say. Iranian media reports said the drone – identified as a type RQ170 – suffered minimal damage and was now in the hands of the armed forces.

“The UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] to which the Iranians are referring may be a US unarmed reconnaissance aircraft that had been flying a mission over western Afghanistan late last week…

“The RQ170 Sentinel is a stealthy and highly capable unmanned aircraft… Its shape and materials give it a low radar signature and it is clearly used for some of the most highly sensitive mission, says BBC defence and diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus.”

Initially, the U.S. government denied the report that Iran had shot down a US spy plane. At the same time, they admitted that they “lost” one and can’t find it. Fox News reported on December 5 that “Military sources confirmed that the Iranians have the RQ-170 drone, which is so advanced that the U.S. Air Force has not distributed even a photo of it. However, they did not say that the Iranians shot down the spy plane…”

On December 8, 2011, ABC and other news sources reported that what appears to be the missing U.S. drone was shown on Iranian TV. The drone appeared to be intact and operational.

Either way, what an embarrassment…

A Mormon for U.S. President?

On November 23, USA Today stated the following:

“On June 27, 1844, vigilantes cornered a man who claimed to receive messages from God and gunned him down in an Illinois jail after his arrest. At the time of his death, Joseph Smith Jr., founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was an announced candidate for president of the United States. Today, 167 years later, as two of Smith’s adherents eye the nation’s highest office, religious discrimination remains an obstacle for Mormon political candidates for president and a vexation for church members.

“Two Republican contenders, former governors Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Jon Huntsman of Utah, have sought to downplay the prejudice in presidential politics. But a potential problem is hard to ignore: More than 1 in 5 Americans say they would not vote for a Mormon — a figure that has changed only slightly since the question was first asked in 1967, according to Gallup polls.…

“Mormons have run for president before: Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, fell short in 2000; Sen. Mo Udall, D-Ariz., was unsuccessful in 1976; and Romney’s father, George, failed in 1968. Still, history has a way of setting precedents while seating new presidents. At one time pundits said a divorcee could not win the nation’s highest office, but Ronald Reagan disproved that, just as Barack Obama broke the color barrier three years ago… Americans who claim they won’t vote for a Mormon may relent once they enter polling booths, just as avowed anti-Catholics changed their minds and helped elect John F. Kennedy a half century ago…

“Last month a Baptist minister in Texas, Robert Jeffress, reignited the political controversy by urging Christians not to vote for Romney because of his faith. ‘Do we prefer somebody who is truly a believer in Jesus Christ,’ Jeffress asked, ‘or somebody who is a good moral person but he’s a part of a cult?’ At LDS headquarters in Salt Lake City, media relations manager Erick Hawkins declined interview requests but said in email that the church ‘doesn’t consider honest disagreements on theology to be anti-Mormon. We recognize there are distinct elements of our belief that are different from other Christian faiths. We also believe there is much we have in common and important efforts where we can work together.’

“But antagonism doesn’t just come from the Christian right: Liberal Democrats are even more likely to reject an LDS candidate. In June, Gallup pollsters reported 27 percent of Democrats would not vote for a Mormon presidential contender, compared with 18 percent of Republicans…

“Church records show 14.1 million LDS members around the globe. Nearly 6 million of them are in the United States, about 2 percent of the population… Richard Packham, the 78-year-old president of the Ex-Mormon Foundation, writes that the church’s ‘ultimate goal’ is ‘to establish the Mormon Kingdom of God in America and to govern the world as God’s appointed representatives.’… Tricia Erickson, a bishop’s daughter who left the faith, just published a book titled, ‘Can Mitt Romney Serve Two Masters?’ … she contends that Romney or Huntsman, as members, would have a duty to ‘follow the prophet — no matter what,’ giving allegiance to religion over country…

“Although Romney more recently has allowed others to rise in defense, during the 2007 campaign he delivered a pivotal speech to dispel public concerns: ‘No authorities of my church, or any other church, for that matter, will ever exert influence on presidential decisions,’ he declared. ‘Their authority is theirs (and) it ends where the affairs of the nation begin.’”

After his insensitive neglect of thanking God during his annual Thanksgiving Day proclamation, President Obama has stressed his “Christian faith” during the Christmas tree lighting ceremony—totally ignoring the fact that Christmas celebrations have nothing to do with and are in fact against biblical Christianity. Newt Gingrich converted to Catholicism and used this fact as proof for his repentance of his marital infidelities (and supposedly his hypocritical stance of wanting to impeach Bill Clinton while having an adulterous affair at the same time). Mitt Romney states that he is a Christian and that Mormonism is a form of true Christianity. Even though Herman Cain dropped out of the race over allegations of marital infidelity and sexual abuse, he proclaimed that he is at peace with his God, his wife, and “most importantly,” with himself.

Rick Perry, originally a Methodist, is now closely associated with Evangelical Christians, and Michele Bachmann repeatedly stressed her Christian beliefs. According to Wikipedia, “Bachmann was a longtime member of Salem Lutheran Church in Stillwater. She and her husband withdrew their membership on June 21, 2011, just before she officially began her presidential campaign… When challenged about that denomination’s belief that the Pope is the Antichrist, Bachmann responded by stating, ‘I love Catholics, I’m a Christian, and my church does not believe that the Pope is the Anti-Christ; that’s absolutely false.’ More recently, according to friends, the Bachmanns began attending Eagle Brook Church, an Evangelical church closer to their home.”

Ron Paul does not mention religion much. He grew up as a Lutheran or Episcopalian and became a Baptist, mainly over the issue of abortion. At the same time, he reportedly does not feel that the federal government should get involved with prohibiting same-sex marriages, and prefers that states should stop sanctioning marriage altogether (Life State News, November 29, 2001). He also does not seem to see a danger with Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.

Some of the candidates hold strong and correct views against abortion, evolution, infidelity in marriage or fighting in war. However, to our knowledge, none of those politicians whom we addressed above believe in and keep the Seventh-Day Sabbath (one of God’s test commandments for His disciples), or reject pagan holidays such as Christmas and Easter. In all of their proclamations and positions, one would be hard-pressed to find the belief in and practice of biblical Christianity, which is being taught in the Holy Bible.

Iran vs. Great Britain

The New York Times wrote on December 3:

“If there is one country on earth where the cry ‘Death to England’ still carries weight — where people still harbor the white-hot hatred of British colonialism that once inflamed millions from South Africa to China — that country would be Iran. And that is what the leaders of Iran must have been counting on when screaming militiamen, unhindered by the police, poured into the British Embassy in Tehran to vandalize it on Tuesday… So Iran’s mullahs… were not gambling in ordering, or at least tolerating, it. They presumably realized that the world would denounce their flagrant violation of international law. But they also knew it would resonate with the narrative Iranians have heard for so long about their own history.

“The spark for the embassy invasion was Britain’s imposition of new economic sanctions on Iran. Pressure for those sanctions came not so much from Britain as from the United States and Israel, but those countries could not be targets for a similar attack because they do not have embassies in Tehran…

“Britain first cast its imperial eye on Iran in the 19th century. Its appeal was location; it straddled the land route to India. Once established in Iran, the British quickly began investing — or looting, as some Iranians would say. British companies bought exclusive rights to establish banks, print currency, explore for minerals, run transit lines and even grow tobacco. In 1913, the British government maneuvered its way to a contract under which all Iranian oil became its property.

“Six years later it imposed an ‘agreement’ that gave it control of Iran’s army and treasury. These actions set off a wave of anti-British outrage that has barely subsided. Britain’s occupation of Iran during World War II, when it was a critical source of oil and a transit route for supplies to keep Soviet Russia fighting, was harsh. Famine and disease spread as the British requisitioned food for their troops…

“Once the war ended, Iran resumed its efforts to install democracy, under the leadership of Mohammed Mossadegh… After he was elected prime minister in 1951, Mr. Mossadegh asked Parliament to take the unimaginable step of nationalizing Iran’s oil industry. It agreed unanimously. That sparked a historic confrontation…  Desperate to regain control of Iran’s oil, the British sought to crush Mr. Mossadegh with measures that included harsh economic sanctions — sanctions comparable to the ones they are now imposing.

“When that failed, they asked President Dwight D. Eisenhower to join in a plot to overthrow him. He agreed, not because he wished to help the British recover their oil but because he had been persuaded that otherwise, Iran might fall to Communism. Iran, after all, was on the southern flank of the Soviet Union, standing between it and the oil fields and warm-water ports of the Persian Gulf.

“The coup, staged in August 1953, ended Iranian democracy and allowed Mohammed Reza Pahlavi to build a dictatorship that remained a staunch cold war ally of both Britain and the United States. But the alliance backfired on both countries when his repression set off the 1979 revolution that brought the mullahs to power…

“More than half a century ago, Secretary of State Dean Acheson wrote that Mr. Mossadegh was ‘inspired by a fanatical hate of the British and a desire to expel them and their works from the country regardless of the cost.’ Many Iranians still feel that way, as their country falls into ever deeper isolation. In Iran, the words ‘anger’ and ‘Britain’ fit easily together…”

As can be seen from this article, the anti-British feelings in Iran will not quickly disappear. Our Q&A on the future of Iran shows a continuing antagonistic relationship between Iran and America, Britain and the state of Israel.

Major Setback For Iran

Haaretz reported on December 5:

“A recent explosion at a military base near Tehran was a major setback for Iran’s long-range missile program and completely destroyed the base, according to American and Israeli intelligence officials, the New York Times reported on Monday. The officials said that surveillance photos showed that the Iranian base was a central testing center for advanced solid-fuel missiles, which are better equipped than older, liquid-fuel designs to carry warheads long distances. According to the report, satellite photos taken after the blast show that the base was almost completely destroyed, which amounts to a serious setback to Tehran’s missile development, intelligence officials said…

“Last week, a top Israeli security official said that the explosion could delay or stop further Iranian surface-to-surface missile development, but warned that it was far from halting all of Iran’s military options. Iran has vehemently denied that the blast was carried out by Israel or the United States, and Western intelligence and defense officials say the consequences – the setback of Iran’s military program – are more important than the cause. ‘Anything that buys us time and delays the day when the Iranians might be able to mount a nuclear weapon on an accurate missile is a small victory,’ one Western intelligence official told the New York Times. ‘At this point, we’ll take whatever we can get, however it happens.’”

Israel Feels Threatened by Egypt

Israel National News reported on December 2:

“Judges overseeing the vote count in Egypt’s parliamentary elections say Islamist parties have won a majority of the contested seats in the first round… Analysts say Islamists may also seek to annul the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty, which could prompt Israel to seize the Sinai Peninsula for the fourth time in its history to create a strategic buffer zone…

“The Muslim Brotherhood, which birthed the virulently anti-Israel Hamas terror militia, might also seek to effectively annex Gaza. Should Hamas be triumphant in future PA elections, they would also gain a foothold in Judea and Samaria.”

Our Q&A on Egypt explains in detail what the Bible reveals to us about the future of that country.

Putin’s Intensions

The Guardian wrote on December 1:

“As prime minister for the past four years, Vladimir Putin never really went away. But his looming reincarnation as the all-powerful, executive president of Russia… poses a stark challenge for which the US, Britain and other beleaguered western powers seem ill-prepared. As president, potentially until 2024, Putin has one overriding objective: the creation of a third, post-tsarist, post-Soviet Russian empire.

“Putin famously described the collapse of the Soviet Union… as ‘the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century’. His aim… is to put this disaster to rights. Reinstalled as president, and with his political potboy, Dmitry Medvedev, pushed aside, Putin will again exercise unchallengeable control over Russia’s external affairs. Never much interested in domestic policy, Putin’s only political trick is a hyper-nationalism that pits a proudly embattled Russia against a hostile, US-led, world conspiracy…”

Russia will become a part of a confederacy, which will be hostile towards Europe and the USA. As explained in our last Q&A on the seven seals in the book of Revelation, Russia, China, Japan and other Far Eastern nations are identified in the Bible as the antagonistic “kings from the East.” Notice also the next article.

Setback for Putin’s Party

Reuters reported on December 5:

“Vladimir Putin’s ruling party clung to a much reduced majority in parliament on Monday after an election that showed growing weariness with the man who has dominated Russia for more than a decade and plans to return to the presidency next year… European monitors said the field was slanted in favour of Putin’s United Russia and the vote marred by apparent manipulations including ballot box stuffing.

“In the biggest electoral setback for Putin since he rose to power in 1999, the Central Election Commission said United Russia was set to lose 77 seats in the State Duma and end up with 238, a slim majority in the 450-member lower house. [Other reports state that Putin’s party got about 49.7 percent, about 15 percent less than in the last Duma election in 2007.] At a government meeting, Putin emphasized that a simple majority of 226 was enough to pass most legislation and suggested it was sufficient to maintain the stability he says he has helped secure for Russia… But Medvedev, who led the party into the election at Putin’s behest, said voters had sent ‘a signal to the authorities’ and hinted officials in regions where the party did badly could face dismissal if they do not shape up…

“Although Putin is still likely to win a presidential election next March, Sunday’s result could dent the authority of the man who has ruled for 12 years with a mixture of hardline security policies, political acumen and showmanship…Many voters, fed up with widespread corruption, refer to United Russia as the party of swindlers and thieves and resent the huge gap between the rich and poor…

“Putin has as yet no serious personal rivals as Russia’s leader. He remains the ultimate arbiter between the clans which control the world’s biggest energy producer… The result is a blow for Medvedev, whose legitimacy to become prime minister in the planned job swap with Putin after the presidential vote could now be in question.”

Anti-Putin demonstrations occurred in Russia on Monday, claiming wide-spread election fraud. Growing protests continued on Tuesday and Wednesday. Of course, Medvedev put his spin on events, claiming that “the surprisingly bad result for the ruling United Russia party in Sunday’s election is proof that the vote was free and fair” (EUobserver, December 5). The opposite could be correct as well: Without election fraud, the United Russia party might have received even fewer votes.

However one wants to slice it, it is clear that Russia is far from being a democracy. As Der Spiegel Online reported on December 5, “The Communists won 19.1 percent of the vote, Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia got 11.7 percent and the center-left A Just Russia won 13.2 percent. The only truly democratic party, the liberal Yabloko, won 3.2 percent of the vote, missing the 7 percent hurdle needed to win seats in the Duma by a considerable margin.”

Of course, Putin is blaming the USA and especially Hillary Clinton for encouraging and funding these ongoing and growing demonstrations in Russia—what else would one expect? But also note the next article.

Russia—The West Should Be Cautious What It Hopes For

Die Welt wrote on December 6:

“There were certainly manipulations, over-eager civil servants, intimidation and other forms of ballot box chicanery. But in general, the percentages that came out in the end reflect reality and should be taken seriously… The neo-Communists under Gennady Zyuganov … managed to win roughly 20 percent of the vote. Every eighth voter cast their ballots for the right-wing nationalists under Vladimir Zhirinovsky, whose hatred of foreigners and the West has taken on pathological dimensions… [In light of] calls for more democracy in Russia, the West should be aware that the results may not be to its liking.”

U.S.-Pakistan Relations Suffer Another Set-Back

Reuters reported on November 26:

“NATO helicopters and fighter jets attacked two military outposts in northwest Pakistan on Saturday, killing as many as 28 troops and plunging U.S.-Pakistan relations, already deeply frayed, further into crisis. Pakistan retaliated by shutting down vital NATO supply routes into Afghanistan, used for sending in just under a third of the alliance’s supplies…

“Relations between the United States and Pakistan, its ally in the war on militancy, have been strained following the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. special forces in a raid on the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad in May, which Pakistan called a flagrant violation of sovereignty. A spokesman for NATO-led troops in Afghanistan confirmed that NATO aircraft had been called in to support troops in the area and had probably killed some Pakistani soldiers… The Pakistani government and military brimmed with fury…

“The commander of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, General John R. Allen, said he had offered his condolences to the family of any Pakistani soldiers who ‘may have been killed or injured’…

‘The latest attack by NATO forces on our post will have serious repercussions as they without any reasons attacked on our post and killed soldiers asleep,’ said a senior Pakistani military officer, requesting anonymity…

“The United States has long suspected Pakistan of continuing to secretly support Taliban militant groups to secure influence in Afghanistan after most NATO troops leave in 2014. Saturday’s incident will give Pakistan the argument that NATO is now attacking it directly… Paul Beaver, a British security analyst, said… ‘I’m not sure U.S.-Pakistan relations could sink much lower than they are now…’”

Pakistan’s The International News wrote on November 28, 2011:

“Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani warned the United States that there would be ‘no more business as usual’ with Washington after a NATO attack that killed two dozen Pakistani troops… Gilani said that Pakistan was re-evaluating its relationship with the United States… Gilani highlighted incidents such as the killing of the Pakistani troops and a US raid into Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden as violations of the country’s sovereignty. The prime minister also said Pakistan had not yet decided whether to boycott next month’s Bonn conference on the future of Afghanistan. Meanwhile, a top adviser to Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned that Afghanistan and Pakistan could be on a path to conflict.”

Pakistan’s Retaliation

The New York Post wrote on November 29:

“Pakistan on Tuesday decided to boycott a key international conference [in Bonn] on Afghanistan next month, widening its protest over lethal cross-border NATO strikes and exacerbating a deep crisis in US ties…

“Pakistan already closed the Afghan border to NATO convoys, a lifeline for 140,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, ordered American personnel to vacate an air base reportedly used by CIA drones and ordered a review of the alliance…

“US-Pakistani ties have been in free fall since a CIA contractor killed two Pakistanis in Lahore in January. Saturday’s attack raises questions about the extent to which the two terror allies can cooperate with each other.”

Ultimately, the alliance between Pakistan and the USA will end.

The World Will Become More Dangerous

Newsmax reported on November 26:

“’The world will become substantially more dangerous’ if the evisceration of the U.S. military, the undermining of American allies — notably Israel — and the emboldening of its enemies continues under the Obama administration, said Gaffney, the founder and president of the Center for Security Policy… Among his concerns are the establishment of Shariah in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Syria; the rise of Hezbollah in Lebanon; and the strengthening of Hamas in Gaza… His primary concern remains the Iranian nuclear weapons program.

“’I don’t think anything will dissuade the Iranians from fulfilling their longstanding objective of obtaining nuclear weapons,’ he said. ‘They’ll have to be stopped… My guess is that, if it’s not [a] matter of weeks off, it may be months at most — and the trouble is, we don’t know, and we may not know until either there’s a nuclear test or there’s a nuclear explosion… Sanctions, I don’t think, are going to help… there’s no doubt that the Israelis increasingly recognize that what is happening with ineffective sanctions, with an America that is not taking the lead — or worse, is actually trying to engage the mullahs of Iran — is that an existential threat to the Jewish state is becoming ever more of an imminent peril…  it seems exceedingly unlikely that there will be any kind of [US] support for the Israelis should they decide, actually, to go for it with Iran…”

The prospect of an attack on Iran becomes more frightening. As subsequent articles show, it is certain that Iran would retaliate with terrible cruelty and ruthlessness.

Israel No Other Option Than to Attack Iran?

Israel National News reported on November 25:

“The Begin Sadat Center, a respected think tank based at Bar Ilan University… concluded that the Arab Spring is not going to result in democracy, despite original hopes in the West, and may make things even worse for Israel.

“‘As steep as the price for hitting Iran may be, a military strike on Iran will be less painful than the cost of living with an Iranian nuclear weapons threat,’ argues former Mossad head Maj. Gen. (res.) Danny Yatom. ‘… Israel can’t afford to wonder if Tehran will go crazy and bomb us’… He acknowledged that rocket attacks would likely ensue from Lebanon and Gaza following a Western or Israeli strike against Iran…‘We have only two options: to let Iran get the bomb, or to use military force against their military nuclear program. I think that force will have to be used… should the world stand on the sidelines, Israel will be fully entitled to use its natural right to self-defense. To us, the Iranian nuclear weapons program is an existential threat.’…

“Prof. Gabi Ben-Dor of Haifa University… dismissed the notion that a surge of enthusiasm for Western-style democracy lay behind the recent turmoil [in the Arab world]. ‘Who says that protests against dictatorship necessarily lead to democracy?’ he asked. ‘Democracy is not what emerged from the revolution against the Tsars of Russia 100 years ago, nor has democracy emerged in many CIS states that threw off the Communist yoke. Thus there is no rational, logical or historical basis for assuming that democracy will result from the revolutions underway today in the Arab world’…

“BESA Center director Prof. Efraim Inbar warned of a deteriorating security situation for Israel. ‘States like Egypt are already losing control of their own territory, and Israel can expect increased cross-border attacks and terrorism. The Turks may ignite a confrontation over energy in the eastern Mediterranean. Israel should not be cutting its defense budget now. On the contrary, Israel should be investing more in the military and in the defense industries…’”

The Arab Spring will in fact lead to Israel’s total isolation in the Middle East.

“Iran Threatens to Retaliate in Case of an Attack”

The Associated Press reported on November 26:

“A senior commander of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard says the country will target NATO’s missile defense shield in Turkey if the U.S. or Israel attacks the Islamic Republic… Tehran says NATO’s early warning radar station in Turkey is meant to protect Israel against Iranian missile attacks if a war breaks out with Israel. Turkey agreed to host the radar in September as part of NATO’s missile defense system.”

Y-Net News added on November 27:

“Iranian Defense Minister General Ahmad Vahidi said Israel would be attacked with 150,000 missiles if it launches any military action against the Islamic Republic… the minister said ‘Iran is not Iraq or Afghanistan, if the Americans make the mistake and attack Iran, we will show them how to fight,’ adding ‘Israel has to be punished for what it has done to the Muslims in Palestine and Lebanon.’”

Haaretz wrote on December 1:

“German prosecutors have opened an inquiry into allegations of an Iranian plot to attack U.S. bases on German soil, prosecutor-general Harald Range confirmed in Karlsruhe on Thursday… [German mass tabloid Bild] speculated that Iranian agents were preparing to attack U.S. airbases in Germany if the United States took part in any kind of attack on Iran… On Wednesday, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle recalled the country’s ambassador to Iran…” It added in an accompanying article that “France recalled its ambassador to Tehran for ‘consultations’ on Wednesday as well, [and that] Italy’s foreign minister said Wednesday that his country is considering closing its embassy in Tehran.”

According to Der Spiegel Online, dated December 1, “German prosecutors said later in the day there was no information suggesting any such attacks had been prepared.” The article continued: “The US operates a number of military facilities in Germany, including the Ramstein Air Base near Kaiserslautern, one of the largest US military bases abroad, and an important hub for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, where wounded soldiers from these conflicts receive treatment, is also located nearby. Both facilities are heavily guarded.”

Time will tell…

Attack on British Embassy in Iran

The New York Times wrote on November 29:

“In the latest sign of deteriorating relations with the West, a group of Iranian protesters stormed the British Embassy compound in Tehran on Tuesday, chanting ‘death to England,’ tearing down a British flag and ransacking offices…

“The episode came a day after Iran enacted legislation to downgrade relations with Britain in retaliation for intensified sanctions imposed by Western nations last week to punish the Iranians for their suspected nuclear development program. Britain promised to respond ‘robustly.’…

“The sanctions imposed by Britain were considered the most severe because they required that all contacts with the Iranian Central Bank be severed, a step that other countries, including the United States, did not take… Iranian anger at the West was also evident in news reports on Monday that Iran’s foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, had been forced to cancel a trip to The Hague because Hungary had refused permission for his aircraft to cross its airspace…

“Concern that Iran may be close to producing a nuclear weapon has grown since the release of the United Nations report, particularly in Israel, which considers Iran its most dangerous enemy. Iranian warnings to Israel against trying a pre-emptive military strike on Iran’s nuclear installations have also escalated in recent weeks.  The heightened sensitivities to the possibility of such a strike were apparent on Monday when a few Iranian news agencies reported on a suspected explosion near the central city of Isfahan, where the Iranians process uranium… It was also the top item on the Web site of Haaretz, a major Israeli newspaper, with the headline ‘Report: Explosion rocks Iran city of Isfahan, home to key nuclear facility.’”

A-7 News added on November 30:

“The explosion earlier this week that Iran said was at a uranium enrichment site actually damaged a nuclear plant and was far from accidental, The London Times reported Wednesday. The newspaper quoted Israeli intelligence officials as saying that satellite photos revealed extensive damage from the explosion at Isfahan, near Tehran…

“Two week ago, an explosion at a military base that killed a top general and 16 others also resulted in extensive damage, according to published satellite images. The Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security told The New York Times, ‘It was pretty amazing to see that the entire facility was destroyed. There were only a few buildings left standing.’ The institute’s report author Paul Brannan added that his sources indicated the explosion occurred during work that was supposed to be ‘a major milestone in the development of a new missile.’ One of the casualties was Gen. Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, founder of Iran’s missile program, and the explosion appeared to take place at a missile base.”

Sanctions Against Iran

BBC reported on December 1:

“The European Union has agreed to impose fresh sanctions on 180 Iranian officials and firms over Tehran’s controversial nuclear programme… The sanctions follow a UN report linking Iran to the development of a nuclear weapon… The EU measures also come two days after hundreds of Iranian protesters stormed the UK embassy in Tehran.

“Britain announced on Wednesday it was expelling all Iranian diplomats from London, after pulling its own out of Tehran… Iran expressed regret for the attack on the UK embassy… and said a number of protesters had been arrested. However, the semi-official Fars news agency said on Thursday that police had freed 11 people held over the attacks. There was no explanation for their release.”

Haaretz added on December 1:

“The storming of the British embassy in Tehran earlier this week was not an improvised student protest but an attack planned and supervised by Iranian authorities, sources told the Al-Arabiya News Channel on Thursday. The attack was planned by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei and supervised by the commander of the Basij paramilitary forces, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqd, the sources said.

“Proof of their involvement was in the media coverage, according to the sources. Photographs of the attack show troops from the Basij forces taking part, as well as members of the al-Quds Brigade. In addition, two official state television channels, directly controlled by Khamenei – Press T.V. and al-Alam News Network – managed to broadcast the attack live. No official news channels are permitted to broadcast life without Khamenei’s permission, the sources told Al-Arabiya.”

The Brits Are To Be Blamed…

The New York Times wrote on November 30:

“…hostility to the British taps a deep vein in the Iranian psyche. The United States may be the ‘Great Satan’ to Iran’s theocratic rulers, but it is Britain — the crafty old colonial power whose designs in Iran go back two centuries — that is still widely blamed for almost every upheaval in the country…

“‘The “British hand” is said to be behind every major event of the past 150 years,’ said Abbas Milani, a professor of Middle Eastern studies at Stanford University. ‘The Americans are seen as naïve malleable tools in the hands of the Brits.’”

The diminishing British influence can also be seen in the next article.

Britain Causes Outrage in Africa

CNN reported on November 30:

“The Nigerian senate has passed a bill banning same-sex marriages, defying a threat from Britain to withhold aid from nations violating gay rights. The bill by Africa’s most populous nation calls for a 14-year sentence for anyone convicted of homosexuality. Anyone who aids or ‘abets’ same-sex unions faces 10 years in prison, a provision that could target rights groups. It goes to the nation’s House of Representatives for a vote before President Goodluck Jonathan can sign it into law.

“‘It would place a wide range of people at risk of criminal sanctions, including human rights defenders and anyone else — including friends, families and colleagues — who stands up for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people in Nigeria,’ Amnesty International said in a statement. The bill passed Tuesday comes nearly a month after British prime minister, David Cameron, threatened to withhold aid from nations violating gays rights, sparking outrage in Africa where leaders interpreted it as ‘colonial’ display of power…

“Last week, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, known for his anti-gay rhetoric, called the prime minister ‘satanic’ for demanding gay rights… Ugandan government spokesman Fred Opolot described Cameron’s remarks as ‘patronizing, colonial rhetoric’… Ghanaian President John Atta Mills, a major western ally, applauded the benefits of foreign aid, but said the nation will not accept money that will undermine its interest. ‘I will never initiate or support any attempt to legalize homosexuality in Ghana,’ he told journalists this month… Tanzanian officials decried the remarks, saying they ‘can lead to broken relations’ between the two nations.”

Muslim Brotherhood’s True Colors

On November 25, y-net news reported the following:

“A Muslim Brotherhood rally in Cairo’s most prominent mosque Friday turned into a venomous anti-Israel protest, with attendants vowing to ‘one day kill all Jews.’ Some 5,000 people joined the rally, called to promote the ‘battle against Jerusalem’s Judaization.’ The event coincided with the anniversary of the United Nations’ partition plan in 1947, which called for the establishment of a Jewish state. However, most worshippers who prayed at the mosque Friday quickly left it before the Muslim Brotherhood’s rally got underway…

“Speakers at the event delivered impassioned, hateful speeches against Israel, slamming the ‘Zionist occupiers’ and the ‘treacherous Jews.’… Muslim Brotherhood spokesmen, as well as Palestinian guest speakers, made explicit calls for Jihad and for liberating the whole of Palestine. Time and again, a Koran quote vowing that ‘one day we shall kill all the Jews’ was uttered at the site… Throughout the event, Muslim Brotherhood activists chanted: ‘Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, judgment day has come.’”

The Muslim Brotherhood reflects the movement in Middle Eastern countries towards Islamic rule. Europe will soon engage itself with Arab nations to build relationships and alliances—and Israel will be left out in the cold.

Voting in Egypt

The New York Times wrote on November 29:

“The apparent success of the initial voting on Monday surprised the voters themselves. After a week of violent demonstrations against the interim military rulers, many said they had cast their ballots out of a sense of duty and defiance, determined to reclaim the promise of their revolution, even as the ruling generals said they intended to share little power with the new Parliament… The opening appeared to bring the Muslim Brotherhood, a once-outlawed Islamist group, one step closer to a formal role in governing Egypt…

 “‘It is like a play, it is like a sham. We are pretending to be voting,’ said Rabab Abdel Fattah Mohamed, 30, a doctor demonstrating in Tahrir Square. ‘I know these elections don’t mean anything, but I am still going.’

“The military pointed to the seemingly successful vote as validation. Egyptian state television called the turnout a mark of approval for the military’s current transition timetable: transfer to an elected president by July, after the military has had a chance to shape the writing of a new constitution that it has suggested should enshrine its power and autonomy from civilian government… The outcome is not a foregone conclusion and final results remain months away….

“The first round of voting for the lower house — including the major cities of Cairo and Alexandria — continued Tuesday. After a runoff next week, two more rounds will follow, ending in January. The elections for the upper house are scheduled to start in January and be completed by March.  Adding to the uncertainty of the day, the Egyptian authorities suggested that they might fine people about $80 if they failed to vote. Some voters, like Wael Ashraf, 23, said that was why they had come to the polls. ‘The revolution didn’t help — do you think elections will?’ he said…”

Reuters added on November 29:

“Egyptians voted on Tuesday in a parliamentary election that Islamists hope will sweep them closer to power, even though the army generals who took over from President Hosni Mubarak have yet to step aside… The United States and its European allies are watching Egypt’s vote torn between hopes that democracy will take root in the most populous Arab nation and worries that Islamists hostile to Israel and the West will ride to power on the ballot box…

“Some Egyptians respect the Brotherhood for its decades of social welfare work, its opposition to Mubarak and its image of piety and honesty in a country riddled with corruption. Others worry that resurgent Islamist parties may dominate political life, mold Egypt’s next constitution and threaten social freedoms in what is already a deeply conservative nation of 80 million people whose 10 percent Coptic Christian minority complains of discrimination from the Muslim majority.”

Syria’s “Economic War”

The New York Times wrote on November 28:

“The Arab League declared ‘economic war’ on Syria when it leveled broad trade sanctions against it, Syria’s foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, said on Monday, warning that the country could use its strategic location to retaliate… Many airlines cross Syrian airspace, Mr. Moallem noted. In addition, Syria is part of the main route for heavy trucks heading from Europe and Turkey to the Persian Gulf, where Qatar and Saudi Arabia are among Syria’s harshest critics…

“It was difficult to assess how the new measures might affect the country… because important neighboring states like Iraq and Lebanon said they would not participate… The sanctions include a travel ban against scores of senior Syrian officials, a freeze on government assets in Arab countries, a ban on transactions with Syria’s central bank and an end to all commercial exchanges with the Syrian government…”

Haaretz reported on December 1 that Europe has issued wide-ranging sanctions against Syria, “affecting everything from the sale of computer software and insurance to Syria’s banking and energy sectors. Travel bans and asset freezes would also be applied to 12 people and 11 entities.”

Islamists Win in Morocco

Reuters reported on November 27:

“Morocco’s moderate Islamist PJD party won the most seats in the country’s parliamentary election… in the latest sign of a resurgence of faith-based movements since the Arab Spring uprisings. The victory for Morocco’s Justice and Development Party came a month after Tunisia handed power to a previously-banned party of moderate Islamists…

“PJD, which will get its first chance to head a coalition government, has said it will promote Islamic finance but steer clear of imposing a strict moral code on a country that depends on tourism. The party, whose deceased founder was a physician of King Mohammed’s grandfather, is loyal to the monarchy and backs its role as the supreme religious authority in the country… Morocco has not had a revolution of the kind seen elsewhere in the region. But King Mohammed, has pushed through limited reforms to contain what has become regular protests demanding a British or Spanish-style monarchy.”

One has to wait and see what “moderate” Islamist may mean. The same term was used for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt—which is anything but moderate and peace-loving.

Italy Must Not Collapse

Bloomberg reported on November 25:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy agreed with Prime Minister Mario Monti that Italy succumbing to the region’s debt crisis would lead to the end of the euro, Monti’s office said. Sarkozy and Merkel ‘confirmed their support for Italy, saying that they are aware that the collapse of Italy would inevitably lead to the end of the euro,’ Monti told ministers at a Cabinet meeting in Rome today, according to an e-mailed statement. That ‘would provoke a stalemate in the process of European integration with unpredictable consequences.’”

Italy will not collapse—in fact, it will be one of the central and key players in the revived final resurrection of the ancient Roman Empire—consisting of ten European core nations or groups of nations. In this light, the next article is also very telling.

Now Italy Part of the Triumvirate

On November 25, the EUobserver reported the following:

“At Italy’s first invitation for an audience before the Franco-German duo that powers European decision-making, Prime Minister Mario Monti made it clear that he backs the German position on eurobonds.

“… eurosceptic Czech President Vaclav Klaus… has lampooned the Merkel-Sarkozy duo. ‘Hardly a week goes by without a Sarkozy-Merkel meeting, in which – for us, but without us – with solemn faces and professionally-trained smiles, they make decisions on the future of our continent,’ his [new] book said.”

Der Spiegel Online added on November 25:

“France and Germany have long formed the famous ‘motor’ of the European Union, but seldom has it been so important for their leaders to show unity as now, at the height of the euro crisis… And now that Italy has a new, more reliable leader, the euro zone’s leadership duo looks set to become a trio… Merkel and Sarkozy clearly want to get Monti, as leader of the third-largest euro-zone economy, on board… Hopes are high that Monti and his technocrat government will be able to steer Italy out of the euro crisis…

“Merkel said that the euro-zone countries needed to go further along the road to a fiscal union in order to avoid future crises.. . Merkel stressed that the role of the European Central Bank would not change under the proposed reforms. In doing so, she was pushing back against calls from other EU states — France chief among them — for the ECB to use its money-printing firepower to help solve the euro crisis…

“Sarkozy announced that the three leaders had agreed to hold another meeting in Rome soon in order to continue their discussions. The message the leaders wanted to send was clear: The three largest economies in the euro zone will push forward with their efforts to reform the EU…

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

“‘Angela Merkel is following the proper instinct by insisting on a clear order of events: Europe’s treaties must first be changed before dipping deeper into the coffers to rescue the heavily indebted countries … This is not about German dominance, of which Berlin has been accused. Instead, it’s about European rationality. Those who want to hold the EU together must engage in reforms.

“‘Many critics imply that Merkel has hegemonic intentions. Caught up in their zeal, they overlook the fact that Merkel’s idea won’t make Europe more German but, rather, more European. The new rules would apply not just to Athens, but also to Berlin. However, she is engaged in a race against time. Reforms can’t be implemented overnight, and the financial markets are impatient. Here lies the greatest risk for Merkel. She’s playing a bold game, and it appears that she may yet win. After much indecision, Nicolas Sarkozy came around to her position in Strasbourg. She has also found an ally in new Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti…’

“The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes:

“‘Hopes are high that Monti, whose seriousness is not disputed, will be able to sort out Italy’s finances. In this respect, the meeting of Merkel, Sarkozy and Monti in Strasbourg has a symbolic element. It is high time for Italy, the third-largest economy in the euro zone, to play a sensible role again…  It’s certainly true that, during the crisis, Germany and France do not want to let the reins out of their hands…

“‘Traditionalist supporters of European unification will not be happy about this development. Indeed, the euro crisis, coupled with the Lisbon Treaty, has led to a strengthening of the large member states. Merkel and Sarkozy are now at the center of all attempts to get the crisis under control. Without them, nothing is possible.’

“The left-leaning Berliner Zeitung writes:

“‘It was not always the case that there was so much unity between France and Germany. The crisis has made it possible. Sarkozy knows that, should discord emerge in the relationship with France’s giant neighbor — seen as the euro zone’s last bastion of stability — then all would be lost…

“‘Merkel, for her part, knows that if the euro and the European project are to be saved, it can only be with France’s help. In the postwar period, Germany has never been so influential and strong. That doesn’t necessarily trigger universal admiration in neighboring France. The nation’s own loss of importance has aroused fears that Germany is striving for dominance. Something similar is happening in the rest of Europe, where the reservations are not only directed against Merkel but, in view of the Franco-German double act, also against Sarkozy. The two leaders are viewed with suspicion…’”

“Only Merkel Can Save the Eurozone Now”

The Daily Mail wrote on November 26:

“…the world waits, dreading the worst, with all eyes on Angela Merkel. For make no mistake: the German Chancellor alone can decide whether the euro limps through this crisis – or breaks up in a rout, bringing the continent’s financial system and the prosperity of millions crashing down with it.

“This is not a power that she or her people sought. Yet the ineluctable fact is that theirs is the only economy in the eurozone strong enough to shore up the currency until a sustainable future can be agreed… the time for wishful thinking is long past. And only Germany is in a position to prevent a calamity… Over to you, Mrs Merkel. The hopes of millions depend on you.”

When even the Daily Mail speaks of Merkel’s needed leadership role—even though they recently compared her with a Gauleiter (a leading position in the Nazi party)–then it is time to wake up. Also note the next articles.

To Save the Euro…

The Economist wrote on November 26:

“Even as the euro zone hurtles towards a crash, most people are assuming that, in the end, European leaders will do whatever it takes to save the single currency. That is because the consequences of the euro’s destruction are so catastrophic that no sensible policymaker could stand by and let it happen. A euro break-up would cause a global bust worse even than the one in 2008-09… The survival of the EU itself would be in doubt…

“Germany’s… chancellor, Angela Merkel, can be ruthlessly efficient in politics: witness the way she helped to pull the rug from under Silvio Berlusconi…”

Germany Only Country Which Can Save the Euro

The Financial Times wrote on November 28:

“Germany is the only country in Europe that can act to save the eurozone and the wider European Union from ‘a crisis of apocalyptic proportions’, the Polish foreign minister warned on Monday in a passionate call for more drastic action to prevent the collapse of the European monetary union.

“The extraordinary appeal by Radoslaw Sikorski, delivered in the shadow of the Brandenburg Gate in the German capital, came as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] called on European leaders to provide ‘credible and large enough firepower’ to halt the sell-off in the eurozone sovereign debt market, or risk a severe recession… Yet their calls were met by a stubborn insistence in Berlin that only EU treaty change to forge a ‘stability union’ in the eurozone would revive confidence in the markets… Germany was not big enough to support the rest of the eurozone on its own, Mr Schäuble [German finance minister said]…

“In a startling comment for a senior Polish minister, Mr Sikorski declared that the biggest threat to his nation’s security was not terrorism, or German tanks, or even Russian missiles, but ‘the collapse of the eurozone’. ‘I demand of Germany that, for your own sake and for ours, you help it survive and prosper,’ he said. ‘You know full well that nobody else can do it. I will probably be the first Polish foreign minister in history to say so, but here it is: I fear German power less than I am beginning to fear German inactivity. You have become Europe’s indispensable nation.’

“Yet he backed Germany’s drive for deeper integration in the EU and the eurozone. The member states faced a stark choice between ‘deeper integration or collapse’, he warned, challenging the UK government to support reform, or ‘risk a partial dismantling’ of the union. ‘We would prefer you in, but if you cannot join, please allow us to forge ahead,’ he said. His call for the EU member states to decide whether they wanted to become ‘a proper federation’ is in line with the German government’s insistence that only much closer political integration is essential to underpin the existing rules of the eurozone.

“Mr Schäuble… rejected any suggestion that this was a way of forcing all the EU members to become more Germanic. ‘The Mediterranean countries will not become German,’ he said. ‘And Europe will not be speaking German.’”

Die Welt wrote on November 29:

“Germany is being confronted with unfulfillable demands. On the one hand our fellow Europeans expect Germany to show more leadership in solving the crisis. On the other hand our new power is triggering rejection and resentment. The Germans are the indispensable nation on the continent, and a rescue is inconceivable without them.

“At the same time this dependence triggers defensive reactions — a mixture of hurt national pride and discomfort at the thought that there’s an elephant in the center of Europe that is being forced by the crisis to show its full power… now they’re suddenly realizing that the world is relying on them to save the euro and avert a disaster for the global economy. The Germans are going through a crash course in being a leading power…”

“Dollar Much Worse Than Euro”

In an interview with Der Spiegel Online of November 29, 2011, Romano Prodi, a former Italian prime minister and the ex-president of the European Commission, says that Germany, as the most powerful country on the Continent, must show the courage to resolve the debt crisis:

“‘Why is it that nobody attacks the dollar? Looking at the United States budget, the dollar is in a much worse situation than the euro. The debt state of California is much worse off than the Greek one. But the dollar is defended, also by the Fed. That makes the dollar a big, strong dog. And nobody bites a big dog…

“Germany has a really powerful position right now. Germany is the new China… Chancellor Merkel, in the end, is obliged to dictate the rules… Germany has to take a decision for Europe, or the game is over. But I don’t think there is anyone in Germany who is willing to give up Europe… Germany cannot give up its fantastic economic situation in the world… The return of the deutsche mark would lead to its revaluation and exports would collapse. If the euro really were to break apart, it would be like a volcanic explosion. Nobody knows where the stones would fall…

“Europe has always become stronger through crises. But the next Europe will look different. There will be some states that will collaborate ever more intensely. And there will be states that, step by step, will claim more exceptions for themselves… The core of Europe will take more and more decisions together, while the others will be more and more on the rim of it…’”

Germany Holding Up Well…

The Local wrote on November 30:

“Germany provided a rare ray of light in the eurozone gloom on Wednesday, with record low unemployment and surprisingly good retail data showing Europe’s top economy is holding up well in the crisis… Last week, a disappointing bond auction in Germany fuelled fears that the eurozone debt crisis was seeping from the edges of the bloc to the core…

“However, despite a flood of doom-and-gloom headlines from around Europe, Germany continues to show resilience… On the domestic front, both the closely watched Ifo index of business confidence and the GFK survey of consumer confidence rose this month. And foreign demand for goods ‘made in Germany’ is expected to hold up even during the crisis..”

Faster Option to Resolve European Debt Crisis?

The Wall Street Journal reported on November 26:

“Euro-zone countries are weighing a new plan to accelerate the integration of their fiscal policies… as Europe’s leaders race to convince investors they can resolve the region’s debt crisis and keep the currency area from fracturing. Under the proposed plan, national governments would seal bilateral agreements that wouldn’t take as long as a cumbersome change to European Union treaties… Some German and French officials fear that an EU treaty change could  take far too long. That has prompted the search for a faster option. The plan, which hasn’t been finalized, would allow the euro zone to announce a speedy change to its governance. European authorities would gain tough new powers to enforce fiscal discipline in the 17 countries that make up the euro zone… EU treaty changes could then follow at a later stage.”

Agreement Between Ten Core Eurozone Countries?

Reuters wrote on November 27:

“Germany’s original plan was to try to secure agreement among all 27 EU countries for a limited treaty change by the end of 2012, making it possible to impose much tighter budget controls over the 17 euro zone countries… But in meetings with EU leaders in recent weeks, it has become clear to both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy that it may not be possible to get all 27 countries on board, EU sources say. Even if that were possible, it could take a year or more to secure the changes while market attacks on Italy, Spain and now France suggest bold measures are needed within weeks.

“As a result, senior French and German civil servants have been exploring other ways of achieving the goal, one being an agreement among just the euro zone countries. ‘The goal is for the member states of the common currency to create their own Stability Union and to concentrate on that,’ German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told ARD television on Sunday. Another option being explored is a separate agreement outside the EU treaty that could involve a core of around 8-10 euro zone countries, officials say…”

These plans are of great significance—especially the idea to create an agreement between ten (10) Eurozone countries. Please note the next articles as well.

Treaty Between European “Groups of Nations”?

The Associated Press reported on November 29:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated her support for changes to Europe’s current treaties in order to create a fiscal union with stronger binding commitments by all euro countries… Merkel acknowledged that changing the treaties — usually a lengthy procedure — won’t be easy because not all of the European Union’s 27 member states ‘are enthusiastic about it.’ But she dismissed reports that the eurozone, or some groups of nations, might go ahead with a swifter treaty between their governments.”

Notwithstanding Merkel’s dismissal of certain reports, interesting wording is being used regarding a potential swifter treaty between “some groups of nations…” That those concepts are circulating is very telling, as this is exactly what is finally going to happen.

Finance.yahoo.com added on November 29:

“The world is watching Europe, waiting upon a solution. It’s not just the euro that’s at stake. If the euro fails, so too does the 27-nation European Union. Bank lending would freeze, stock markets would likely crash, and Europe’s economies would follow. Nations in the euro-zone would see their economic output decline, though temporarily, by as much as 50%, according to UBS forecasters. That economic meltdown would then spread to the U.S. and Asia, who would find themselves caught up in the credit freeze while their exports to Europe would collapse.”

Europe Speaks with One Voice?

Deutsche Welle wrote on November 27:

“Europe is a guest in Washington [to] meet with President Obama for the annual EU-US Summit… this marks the first time that the European Union is only represented by European politicians at a summit in the US – and no longer by a country or government leader of one of the EU member states. Europe does in fact speak with one voice now…

“But the Europeans are worried that the US is increasingly orientating itself towards Asia… the Washington mindset is such that Germany is perceived as the center of power in Europe and that the continent is seen as a problem rather than a partner… ”

Even though European countries are still pretty much divided, since they are driven by national self-interests, it is remarkable that the impression is already being conveyed that Europe speaks now with one voice. The prophesied ten European nations will indeed speak with one voice when they transfer their authority to the “beast.”

Ten Days to Save the Euro?

The Associated Press reported on November 30:

“Under pressure to deliver shock treatment to the ailing euro, European finance ministers failed to come up with a plan for European countries to spend within their means… Stock markets fell Wednesday as a top EU official conceded that the future of the euro now rests heavily on the meeting of European heads of state on Dec. 9… ‘We are now entering the critical period of 10 days to complete and conclude the crisis response of the European Union,’ EU Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said, adding: ‘There is no one single silver bullet that will get us out of this crisis.’

“At a meeting Tuesday night, finance ministers for the 17 countries that use the euro handed Greece a promised euro8 billion ($10.7 billion) rescue loan to fend off its immediate cash crisis and promised to increase the firepower of a fund to help bail out ailing eurozone countries. But they failed to increase the firepower of a European bailout fund to euro1 trillion ($1.3 trillion), as they had hoped to do.

“Wednesday’s meeting in Brussels has brought in the 10 non-euro finance ministers from the 27-nation EU, who have been pressing hard for a swift solution for fear that their economies will suffer… Many economists say the 17 nations that use the euro have little choice but to back proposals for much closer coordination of their spending and budget policies…”

On November 30, the Wall Street Journal added:

“Central banks from developed nations took coordinated action to shore up the global financial system as Europe’s rolling debt crisis continues to trouble markets… The Fed, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank agreed to lower the pricing on the existing temporary U.S. dollar liquidity swap arrangements by 50 basis points… U.S. stock futures and European indexes jumped on the news and the euro surged.”

No Thanks to God?

The Los Angeles Times wrote on November 24:

“President Obama devoted his weekly radio address to thanking U.S. service members and volunteers at shelters and soup kitchens. But it’s whom he didn’t thank that caused a stir on Twitter: God. ‘We’re especially grateful for the Americans who defend our country overseas,’ Obama said in his Thanksgiving Day address. ‘To all the service members eating Thanksgiving dinner far from your families, the American people are thinking of you today.’… But Thursday morning, Republicans and others tweeted their discontent with the reported omission of God from Obama’s address.

“Comments included ‘So sad!’ and ‘God help us!’ Republicans Abroad retweeted the Fox News headline: ‘Obama Leaves God Out of Thanksgiving Address.’”

Please view our recent StandingWatch program, “How Real Is Your Thankfulness?”

Drastic Changes in Catholic Mass

The Vancouver Sun reported on November 26:

“Are Roman Catholics ready for the biggest change in four decades in their mass? Canada is one of 11 English-speaking countries in which tens of millions of Catholics will begin Sunday to adopt the Vatican’s English translation of the old Latin liturgy, altering what they will hear, recite, sing and do during their main church ritual. The date, Nov. 27, marks the first day of Advent and the beginning of the Christian calendar… Almost every line of the Catholic missal, the book of texts and prayers used in the mass, will be changed in some way from the English-language…

“Most Catholic bishops are excited about the more ‘authentic’ language of the newly translated English-language mass, which is closer to the liturgical Latin that was used for centuries… For instance, when the priest says to the congregation ‘The Lord be with you,’ worshippers have for the past 40 years responded: ‘And also with you.’ They will now be expected to say: ‘And with your spirit,’ which aims to emphasize the priest’s role as a channel of God. Instead of saying Jesus Christ is ‘one in Being’ with the Father, worshippers will be asked to recite the more technical term; that he is ‘consubstantial’ with the Supreme Being…

“The key Gloria hymn, which used to open with, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on Earth,’ has been narrowed to offer peace only for those who have accepted Jesus as the messiah; those who are considered by the Church as ‘people of good will’…”

And so, the religious confusion in the Catholic Church is bound to continue…

Libya’s Ongoing Chaos

Deutsche Welle wrote on November 17:

“Revolutionary military councils have been engaging in skirmishes as retribution killings against alleged Gadhafi loyalists jeopardize the reconciliation process… Human Rights Watch (HRW) has gathered mounting evidence of human rights abuses committed by forces associated with the National Transitional Council (NTC). Militias from the northwestern coastal city of Misrata… have arbitrarily killed and detained residents and burnt homes in the now abandoned town of Tawergha, according to HRW.

“Many Tawergha residents fought for Gadhafi during Libya’s civil war. And in Gadhafi’s hometown of Sirte, where the Libyan dictator was captured and killed, HRW reported finding the bodies of 53 regime loyalists who had apparently been summarily executed at the hands of revolutionary forces allied with the NTC. Attacks have also reportedly occurred against black-skinned Africans accused of having fought for Gadhafi as mercenaries…

“As the NTC struggles to guide Libya through a volatile transition, massive unsecured weapons stockpiles – left over from Gadhafi’s arsenal – pour more fuel on the country’s already explosive political situation. Acquired over a period of decades from nations that range from Spain to North Korea, Gadhafi’s massive arsenal includes everything from small arms to surface-to-air missiles and explosives. Libya ranked for years as the country with the most weapons per soldier in the world…”

The Capture of Saif al-Islam Gadhafi

Haaretz and Reuters reported on November 19:

“Muammar Gadhafi’s son Saif al-Islam has been captured… in the Libyan desert by… Zintan fighters, who make up one of the powerful militia factions holding ultimate power in a country still without a government… The European Union urged Libyan authorities to ensure Saif al-Islam was brought to justice in cooperation with the ICC [International Criminal Court]… Libyans believe Saif al-Islam holds the keys in his head to billions of dollars of public money amassed by the Gadhafi family…

“Memories are still fresh of the days Gadhafi’s father’s corpse spent rotting and on public view in the city of Misrata, another rebel stronghold, as its militia leaders trumpeted their capture of the fallen leader as part of their campaign to extract power and patronage from the new interim government…

“‘I’m really surprised that Saif al-Islam has not met the same fate as his father and his brother,’ Fawaz Gerges, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics, told BBC TV. ‘The best thing that the new leadership can do is to hand Saif al-Islam to the International Criminal Court because I don’t believe it really has the resources and the means to try Saif al-Islam and give him a fair trial.’ Asked of the chances of that, he said ‘Almost zero.’ He said he expected him to get the death penalty and be executed in Libya. ‘This is unfortunate for the new Libya,’ he said.”

USA Today wrote on November 20:

“Moammar Gadhafi’s son and one-time heir apparent will be tried in Libya and not handed over to the International Criminal Court even though the country’s new rulers have yet to set up a justice system, the information minister said on Sunday… Human Rights Watch called for Seif al-Islam to be promptly turned over to the International Criminal Court in a statement, citing the apparent killings in custody of his father and brother Muatassim on Oct. 20 as ‘particular cause for concern.’”

The New York Times added on November 20:

“Militia fighters holding Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, the last fugitive son and onetime heir apparent of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, added conditions on Sunday to the handover of their prisoner to the fledgling government, a new challenge to the authority of Prime Minister Abdel Rahim el-Keeb… But [el-Qaddafi] has now become a bargaining chip for the militia forces in Zintan, who are angling for cabinet seats as the government is formed.

“Zintan’s leaders originally said they would release Mr. Qaddafi to the interim government once Mr. Keeb formed the new cabinet, which is expected soon.  On Sunday, however, they said that they also needed guarantees that the government had installed a working court system, which could take months, before they would hand him over…

“The reluctance among the various factions to cede authority threatens the interim government even before it is fully formed. Militias, city councils and tribes are all demanding representation and are seeking ways to gain an upper hand in the government…”

How the West Courted Said al-Islam Gaddafi

The Daily Mail wrote on November 19:

“Said al-Islam Gaddafi… acted as an envoy for his father’s regime, and in 2002 and 2003 helped broker the agreement that saw Libya renounce its weapons of mass destruction program… He lobbied militants to release hostages, funded research at the London School of Economics, welcomed world leaders and Western intellectuals to his country and portrayed himself as a champion of economic and social reforms…

“In 2009, he aided talks in Britain that eventually secured the release of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the only man convicted in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. A 2009 U.S. diplomatic cable released by the website WikiLeaks said… ‘many Libyans view him as self-aggrandizing and too eager to please foreigners at the expense of Libyans’ interest.’”

Deutsche Welle added on November 20:

“While studying in Vienna, he was friends with the late right-wing populist Austrian politician Jörg Haider. This did not seem to put off influential British figures such as the Labour party grandee Lord Peter Mandelson and the financier Nathaniel Rothschild. According to the Guardian, they were believed to have maintained their contacts with the Libyan.

“As a 25-year-old, Seif al-Islam founded the Gadhafi International Foundation for Charity Associations… In 2004, the foundation agreed to pay $35 million in compensation for the bombing of the La Belle discotheque in Berlin in 1986, which killed three people and left more than 200 injured… In 2008, five Bulgarian nurses and a doctor of Palestinian origin were freed from a Libyan prison after spending eight years in custody. Seif al-Islam admitted in public that the five had been tortured and forced to write a confession that they had deliberately infected hundreds of patients with the HIV virus. Seif al-Islam was praised by Western media for his openness over the issue.”

According to other news reports, Said al-Islam Gaddafi was also a friend of Tony Blair and a repeated guest at Buckingham Palace. It is interesting to see how the West is now turning their back on him, in their desire to please the evolving controversial new powers in Libya.

Civil War in Libya

The Independent wrote on November 24:

“The detention of 7,000 people in prisons and camps by the anti-Gaddafi forces is not surprising. The conflict in Libya was always much more of a civil war between Libyans than foreign governments pretended or the foreign media reported. The winning anti-Gaddafi militia are not proving merciful… Gaddafi supporters are being hunted down…

“The National Transitional Council, whose control is largely theoretical, is not in a position to stop this purge because many of its members are themselves frightened of being accused of links with the old regime.

“The international media was overwhelmingly hostile to Gaddafi’s regime and tended to highlight atrocities committed by it and disregard or underplay human rights violations carried out by his opponents… The purge of Gaddafi supporters is made more dangerous by the infighting between the militias, and between them and the politicians. Association with the old regime can be used to discredit an opponent. There may also be self-interest since death squads are reported to be taking their property.”

Violent Demonstrations in Egypt Continue

Al Arabiya wrote on November 18:

“Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians rallied Friday in Cairo’s Tahrir square with Islamists in the forefront to protest against what they say are attempts by the country’s military rulers to designate themselves as the guardians of a new Egypt. It was one of the largest rallies in Egypt in recent months… Friday’s rally was dominated by the country’s most organized political group, the Muslim Brotherhood…

“Delivering the Muslim prayer sermon, imam Mazhar Shahin urged protesters to keep defending the goals of the revolution… ‘Those who fear Islamist movements in Egypt, I tell them don’t be scared of Islam in Egypt,’ Shahin said… ‘Egypt is Islamic, like it or not…’”

The New York Times added on November 20:

“A police action to roust a few hundred protesters out of Tahrir Square on Saturday instead drew thousands of people from across Egyptian society into the streets, where the violence continued on Sunday. The confrontations were the most violent manifestation so far of growing anger at the military-led interim government. In a battle reminiscent of the clashes that led to the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak nine months ago, a mass of protesters converged on Tahrir Square, fled before an onslaught of riot police officers firing tear gas and rubber bullets, and then surged back to retake and hold the square through the early hours of Sunday…

“Coming a day after a huge Islamist demonstration and just more than a week before the first post-Mubarak parliamentary elections, the outpouring of anger was the strongest rebuke yet with the military’s attempts to grant itself permanent governmental powers. And it was a reuniting of Islamist and liberal protest movements that had drifted apart since the early days of the uprising. This time, instead of chanting for the fall of Mr. Mubarak, the demonstrators were chanting for the fall of the ruling military council that initially presented itself as the revolution’s savior…

“After pledging to turn over power to civilians by September, the military has postponed the handover until after the ratification of a constitution and election of a president, sometime in 2013 or later. Then this month the military-led government put in writing a set of ground rules for a next constitution that would have given the military authority to intervene in civilian politics while protecting it from civilian oversight — setting off a firestorm… Opposition to those guidelines brought the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group, back to the streets…”

Newsmax wrote on November 23:

“The Egyptian military has been using a banned chemical agent to deal with hundreds of thousands of protesters, according to several news sources. At least 23 Egyptians have died and more than 1,700 have succumbed to a lethal gas military forces have been using during the past three days in clashes in and around Cairo’s Tahrir Square…  Australia’s The Age said Wednesday that the canisters are marked ‘Made in the USA’… The Australian paper continued: ‘A young man was rushed into the clinic, unconscious and fitting, as the doctor spoke. For at least five minutes it was touch and go as medics administered treatment. Finally he drew breath and the team moved to one of the four patients who had just been carried in, a man with gunshot wound to a leg.’”

Deutsche Welle added on November 23:

“Protesters continued to do battle with security forces in Cairo on Wednesday, despite the ruling military authority’s pledge to speed up the transfer to democratic rule. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, called for an independent probe into the killing of demonstrators by Egyptian security forces. At least 38 people have been killed in the clashes in recent days…

“Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) on Tuesday agreed to the formation of a national salvation government and to hand power to a civilian authority by July, instead of late 2012 or early 2013, as originally planned. But the concessions failed to convince thousands of people gathered in central Cairo’s Tahrir Square, who demanded an immediate end to military rule… Egypt’s ruling military council is facing its worst crisis since it stepped in to replace Mubarak in February. With little success, it has been trying to contain the growing protests with violence.

“The United States, meanwhile, is losing its patience with Egypt’s military rulers. The Obama administration ratcheted up its criticism on Tuesday, blaming the military for the new wave of violence… Germany called on Wednesday for an end to political violence, with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman saying Egypt’s military rulers needed to pay attention to the protesters’ demands…”

The New York Times wrote on November 24:

“Egyptian generals offered an unusual apology on Thursday for the killings of protesters in Tahrir Square, the iconic landmark of the country’s revolution, but rejected the demonstrators’ demands for an immediate end to military rule.  As violence around the square eased after five days of intense clashes, the military also insisted that parliamentary elections, scheduled for next Monday, would proceed as planned… A semblance of calm returned to Tahrir Square on Thursday morning after a night of some of the worst clashes since the protests began.”

Yemen’s President Resigns

The Wall Street Journal wrote on November 24:

“President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen agreed to step down on Wednesday after 33 years in power, becoming the fourth Arab leader swept away by protests this year and launching his violence-wracked country into a new era of uncertainty…

“The president… made a surprise trip to Saudi Arabia, where he signed off on a deal to transfer power to Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi within 30 days. The agreement calls for a new president to be elected within three months and would hand significant power to opposition parties …

“Yemen has been ravaged by violence and lawlessness in recent months, as forces opposed to Mr. Saleh fought battles against his allies in the streets of the capital. Amid the chaos, militant Islamist groups, including some sympathetic with al Qaeda, have expanded their sway in the south of the country… The poorest country in the Arab world, Yemen nonetheless sits in a strategically critical location at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, where one-fifth of the world’s oil exports transit to world markets.”

EU Engagement in the Middle East

On November 18, the EUobserver published the following opinion by Anno Bunnik, a political analyst from the Netherlands:

“One of the most striking elements of the outside involvement in the Arab Spring is the failure of the Obama administration to develop a comprehensive approach in dealing with the uprisings. The United States is unable to truly champion freedom and democracy, largely due to its close relations with Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. This provides opportunities for other actors – such as the European Union or China – to upgrade its engagement with the region… When speaking to Arab friends – both Muslims and Christians – about the role of the US, the usual reply is ‘double standards’ often followed by the remark that Obama is no different from Bush… Even in Arab states aligned to the US, a large majority of the population does not agree with current American policies…

“These developments create space for other actors to engage in the region. This void could in the long run be occupied by China, possibly endangering the potential for democracy to flourish. But it could also be filled by the EU building strategic ties with the new Middle East. The EU’s reputation in the Middle East is not tainted by unquestioned support for Israel. Unlike the US, the EU is able to stand for peace and justice, freedom and democracy… Due to its relatively clean reputation, the EU could dare to step out of the shadow of the US and develop its own comprehensive approach to the region…

“This approach could entail capturing the role of ‘honest broker’ in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, mediating between both parties. After all, the EU can pride itself with longstanding experience in extensive and successful post-conflict resolution. It should transcend its usual shyness when dealing with conflict resolution in the Middle East and try to find new paths to facilitate diplomacy…

“Furthermore, good relations between Europe and the Middle East on the political front will likely also have economic ramifications… If the EU manages to develop and implement such a strategic approach it will not only protect the region from greater Chinese influence in the long run, but also give meaning to its own international ambitions. The Arab Spring therefore provides the ideal opportunity for the EU to maintain an important player in world politics.”

It is prophesied that the EU WILL play an important role in the Middle East. However, the world will be shocked to learn that in the end, the emerging United States of Europe will choose war, not peace, perhaps with the justification that it wants to create peace that way in the region. This, in turn, will bring about a world war of unknown proportions, involving far eastern countries such as China and Russia. Please also note the next article.

Military Intervention in Syria?

The Euobserver wrote on November 23:

“In a direct echo of previous events in Libya, France has formally recognized the opposition Syrian National Council and proposed that international troops should protect civilians… Previously cited obstacles to military action in Syria were the lack of a UN mandate, lack of Arab support for outside intervention and tactical problems. But the obstacles are beginning to melt away…

“For his part, former French air force chief Jean Rannou earlier told this website: ‘I don’t see any purely military problems [for intervention]. Syria has no defence against Western systems.’  In a sign the EU is keen to stimulate an end-game in Syria, diplomats this week also agreed to drastically ramp up economic sanctions.”

“How the EU Can Emerge from the Ashes”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on November 18 about the future of Europe. Although much of what is being written in that lengthy article is a critique of Angela Merkel’s policy and tantamount to uninformed nonsense, the following excerpts are quite interesting:

“… many in Europe think there is now a clear path to a new, more integrated — and smaller – bloc…

“To stabilize the continent in crisis [Joschka] Fischer, an avid European, wants to see a resolute political body consisting of the leaders of euro-zone countries. They should, he believes, be outfitted with far-reaching authority and granted sufficient power by their parliaments back home…

“History, in other words, could be written in Germany. For the sake of the United States of Europe, the strongest European country would have to reinvent itself. There is no way around the fact that the European countries will have to sacrifice some of their sovereign power — and a share of their identities… ‘Those who want Europe should finally say where they want to go,’ says former Foreign Minister Fischer…

“There is no doubt that a European federal state would go far beyond the present Europe of the Lisbon Treaty. The Brussels technocracy would have to be replaced with political institutions with strong decision-making powers and extensive competencies to shape economic and social policy for all of Europe… Fischer… sees 27 parties as being too unwieldy, but would like to see the 17 leaders of the euro-zone countries move forward, as they have in establishing the euro backstop fund. In short, Fischer wants to turn the Euro Group into a new European government. As a fiscal and economic government, the 17 would assume joint control over their nations… 

“The old idea of a ‘solid core,’ which becomes more and more solid over time, was lost in the days of expansion euphoria… Now there are many in Berlin who hope that the idea of a ‘core Europe’ will bring about accelerated integration and an important simplification of intergovernmental cooperation. Everyone agrees on the charm of the solution: The grumblers from Britain would finally be left out in the cold, and a United Europe could simply dismiss them should they oppose any further integration. ‘They’ll be hopping mad,’ says Fischer, ‘but then they won’t be able to cause trouble anymore, either.’

“The Germans, however, have another problem with an overly exclusive club of the euro avant-garde. What happens to Poland? Germany’s eastern neighbor would not be involved, at least not in a solution restricted to the Euro Group… Poland has so far been firmly on Merkel’s side in the euro crisis. The ambitious Poles, a majority of whom are enthusiastic about the euro, value the prospect of making their own contribution to Europe’s future.

“Still, it is France which could prove to be the greatest problem when it comes to building a core Europe. Europe is inconceivable without France… There are political thinkers in France who agree with Fischer…[but] the sovereignists are traditionally strong. They are in favor of Europe, but only as a means of expanding French self-aggrandizement, not as a way of limiting it…”

Some of these ideas are quite interesting. The Bible shows that a core Europe of ten nations or groups of nations will develop out of the Eurozone, and while Germany, Italy and France will definitely be part of it, and so might be Poland, England won’t be.

War of Words Between Germany and Britain Escalates

The Daily Mail wrote on November 19:

“Germany last night declared that Britain would be forced to scrap the pound and join the euro – as David Cameron returned home empty-handed from crisis talks in Berlin. In a highly-provocative intervention, German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble suggested the UK’s struggling economy meant the pound was doomed, and urged the Prime Minister to back Europe’s ailing single currency.

“Mr Schauble said the euro would emerge stronger from the current crisis – leaving Britain on the sidelines unless it signed up. He said Britain would be forced to join ‘faster than some people on the British island think’ – despite a pledge by Mr Cameron never to do so…

“Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the powerful Euro Group of eurozone finance ministers, said Britain was in no position to comment on the crisis as its deficit was twice the European average… Schauble’s comments came as Mr Cameron arrived to a hostile reception in Berlin for talks on the eurozone crisis with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“Senior members of Mrs Merkel’s ruling coalition voiced their irritation at London’s ‘lecturing’ over the crisis. Leading German magazine Der Spiegel ran a prominent feature describing Britain as the ‘diseased empire’. And Rainer Brüderle, head of Mrs Merkel’s coalition partners, said: ‘Britain can’t be freeloaders in the eurozone.’

“The deputy leader of Mrs Merkel’s party, Michael Meister, criticised Britain for lecturing the eurozone on what steps it should take while not actively contributing towards a solution. He also warned Mr Cameron against catering to nationalist sentiment on the euro, saying turmoil in the single currency area could have a devastating impact on countries outside the eurozone and on London’s financial industry… Former prime minister Sir John Major last night spoke out about the ‘undemocratic’ drive towards greater fiscal union in the eurozone.

“Germany’s press… has hardly been the best of friends with Mrs Merkel of late, but it is firmly on her side when it comes to dealing with the ‘old enemy’. Bild carried the headlines ‘Briten zittern vor Deutschlands Euro-Plänen’ – ‘Britons tremble before Germany’s euro plans’ – and ‘Europa spricht deutsch, Herr Cameron! Was wollen die Engländer eigentlich noch in der EU?’ – ‘Europe speaks German, Mr Cameron! What do the English actually want in the European Union?’

“Financial Times Deutschland wrote: ‘He wants Britain to have a say in the financial crisis, but he doesn’t want his country to have to pay for it. He wants to prevent a core Europe (of Germany and France) from forming, but at the same time he is unwilling to contribute to deeper European integration. Great Britain is lacking a constructive approach. That’s why the government in London shouldn’t be surprised that it is hearing an increasing number of European countries sigh words like: Things would be a lot easier if we didn’t have the Brits.’”

The Express added on November 19:

“In a chilling threat to UK sovereignty, German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble predicted that all Europe would one day use the single currency… His sinister warning followed the emergence of a secret German plan to build a powerful new economic government for the eurozone and block an EU referendum in Britain… In a further sign of growing German supremacy within the EU, David Cameron was yesterday rebuffed by Chancellor Angela Merkel in talks over how to tackle the euro crisis.

“Last night British opponents of the EU were horrified by the bellicose threat to Britain’s economic independence… UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage said: ‘This German bullying is deeply unpleasant and the sooner we leave the EU the better’…  Last night a YouGov poll for Prospect magazine showed 51 per cent of Britons would vote to leave the EU in a referendum while only 32 per cent would vote to stay in.”

Canadian-German Relationship Turning Bad

Deutsche Welle reported on November 24:

“Canada and Germany have a lot [in] common. Both countries pride themselves on being good members of the international community… Particularly in the security arena German-Canadian relations have traditionally been strong. For decades Canada operated military bases in southern Germany until they were closed in the 1990s. Due to their multilateralist approach to foreign and security policy, both often joined forces to soften or balance out unilateral tendencies their bigger ally, the US, might display.

“For instance, it was a joint project by Ottawa and Berlin to bring NATO into Afghanistan, explains Janice Stein, director of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto. ‘So I think it’s fair to say that under those circumstances there was some Canadian chagrin about the caveats that Germany put around where its troops could be used and how they could be used and deployed in Afghanistan,’ she told Deutsche Welle…

 “When it seemed that Canada might be ready to shelve its misgivings about Germany’s perceived reluctance to contribute its fair share in Afghanistan, Berlin’s image suffered another blow. In March, Germany decided not to side with its traditional allies, France, Britain and the US and instead abstain in a UN Security Council vote on a no-fly zone in Libya alongside China, Russia, India and Brazil. This baffled many Canadians. And again there was a special Canadian connection that made Berlin’s behavior even more inexplicable to Ottawa than it might have been for many other partners.

“While Germany stood on the sidelines, Canada’s parliament overwhelmingly approved the mission and deployed some 600 airforce and navy personnel for the operation. Its airforce conducted roughly 10 percent of the bombing raids against Moammar Gadhafi’s troops. The country’s important international role was underscored by the appointment of a Canadian general to lead NATO’s mission in Libya…

“‘Libya has only highlighted the already existing disillusionment on the Canadian side with some of the decisions that come out of Germany,’  Petra Dolata, a Canada specialist at King’s College in London, told Deutsche Welle… She believes that it would be a mistake to consider Canada’s befuddlement simply as a minor hiccup in the relations between both countries. Instead she insists that Canada’s consternation with Berlin runs deeper…

“For many Canadians it is very difficult to comprehend the role of the military in the German context, says Dolata… ‘I think it’s even worse than that. I think that Canadians are no longer looking toward Germany even if they engage themselves with Europe. And if they do look toward Europe it’s no longer Germany or even France, it’s actually the UK that presents itself as the best partner.’”

This is very interesting, as the Bible shows that in the end time, the once friendly relationship between Germany and continental Europe on the one hand, and the USA, Canada and Great Britain on the other hand, will become more and more hostile.

Germany in Trouble… Or Not?

BBC News reported on November 24:

“German business sentiment unexpectedly rose in November for the first time since June, according to an Ifo survey. The influential think tank’s business climate index, based on a monthly survey of 7,000 companies, edged up to 106.6 from October’s figure of 106.4.

“The figures provided some relief following Wednesday’s German government bond auction, which did not sell out. An Ifo economist said the figures suggested Germany will avoid recession this winter… Also on Thursday, the Federal Statistics Office left its first estimate of economic growth unrevised at 0.5% between July and September…”

One should be careful with jumping on spectacular articles and headlines, such as the following one, published by the EUobserver on November 23, “Germany had significant trouble offloading its bonds on Thursday in a sign that the eurozone crisis has spread to the very heart of Europe.” The fact is, Germany is the strongest economy in Europe, and temporary set-backs won’t change that. In fact, they may lead to interesting developments, as BBC News reported on November 24: “Germany’s Angela Merkel and France’s Nicolas Sarkozy are to propose modifications to EU treaties to improve governance of the Eurozone… The meeting followed a German bond auction on Wednesday, which failed to raise the target amount.”

Spain’s Troubles

Reuters wrote on November 20:

“Spain’s center-right opposition stormed to a crushing election victory Sunday as voters punished the outgoing Socialist government for the worst economic crisis in generations. The People’s Party, led by former Interior Minister Mariano Rajoy, won an absolute majority in parliament and is expected to push through drastic measures to try to prevent Spain being sucked deeper into a debt storm threatening the whole euro zone… With 5 million people out of work, the European Union’s highest jobless rate, Spain is heading into its second recession in four years. Spaniards, who voted in pouring rain Sunday, were the fifth European nation to throw out their leaders because of the spreading euro zone crisis, following Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Italy. The PP won the biggest majority for any party in three decades…

“Rajoy’s bitter medicine for the economy will probably make things worse before they get better. But he has said Spaniards are prepared for the painful austerity that is needed to reduce a swollen public deficit threatening to push the euro zone’s fourth economy toward a perilous bail-out. ‘I ask you all to keep helping me. Difficult times are coming,’ Rajoy, 56, told ecstatic supporters in his victory speech at PP headquarters. ‘Spain’s voice must be respected again in Brussels and Frankfurt… We will stop being part of the problem and will be part of the solution.’”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on November 21:

“Not since the death of dictator Francisco Franco exactly 36 years ago has a Spanish prime minister and his party possessed as much power as Rajoy and the Popular Party does now…

“The new strong man in Spain is anything but a charismatic man of action, however. Rajoy, a notary from the northwestern region of Galicia, has a reputation as someone who prefers to wait out problems rather than tackling them. By waiting patiently, he survived the party infighting which followed his election defeats by Zapatero in 2004 and 2008…

“The plan is for the new parliament to meet for the first time in Madrid on Dec. 13, with King Juan Carlos swearing in Rajoy and his government before Christmas… Rajoy… is impressed by the austerity course of his fellow conservative, German Chancellor Angela Merkel…”

Guttenberg Is Back

M&C reported on November 19:

“Eight months after a plagiarism scandal stripped him of his doctorate and his job, disgraced former German defence minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg stepped back into the spotlight Saturday in Canada at an international security conference. Sporting a new look, without his trademark glasses and slicked-back hair, Guttenberg joined a roundtable discussion at the Halifax International Security Forum, where he was on the programme two years ago as Germany’s defence minister. Today’s programme listed him – without his former ‘Doctor’ title – as a ‘distinguished statesman’ with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

“The aristocratic Guttenberg has been living with his family outside New York City in recent months, and he said he liked the distance it affords him to his former life… But he had plenty to say in the one-and-a-quarter hour discussion about the way his former colleagues are handling Europe’s financial crisis. ‘This isn’t a euro crisis or a debt crisis,’ he told 300 attendees, ‘this is a crisis of understanding and a crisis of political leadership.’

“Guttenberg was forced to resign his post in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet in March after a law professor noticed he had plagiarized large parts of his 2006 doctoral thesis for the University of Bayreuth. German prosecutors are expected to decide soon whether or not to charge him with violations of copyright law.”

The Local added on November 20:

“Karl-Theodor zu Gutenberg, Germany’s former defence minister who resigned in March after being found to have plagiarised his doctoral thesis, has returned to the political stage with a scathing attack on his former colleagues. Speaking on Saturday at a security conference in Halifax, Canada, Guttenberg took aim at Germans in general and politicians in particular… ‘The Germans have no idea how the European Union functions, how it came to this crisis and what it means. The politicians do not reach the public, they do not reach the people.’’

The German press had a field day with Freiherr zu Guttenberg’s resurgence from political limbo. On November 19, mass tabloid Bild Online quoted Guttenberg as stating: “There is a lack of political leaders in Europe.” The left-liberal magazine, Der Spiegel Online, wrote on November 19: “One has to reckon with the CSU-man in the future… It is clear that he thinks he is still the man for the job… Being 39 years old, he has plenty of time to return to the political stage… His appearance in Halifax was almost certainly only the first step of his operation comeback.” The conservative magazine, Focus, wrote on November 19: “Once again, Guttenberg knows everything better… In Halifax he did what he knows to do best—talking… He does not fear for the EU. ‘It will survive, but enthusiasm is lacking’… Are we witnessing Guttenberg’s big comeback? [A leader in the ] CSU wants to keep the door open for him in respect to the parliamentary elections in 2013.” 

On November 23, 2011, Der Stern reported that the prosecutors dismissed the criminal case against multi-millionaire Guttenberg after he paid a fine of 20,000 euros, which was labeled as a donation to charity. This means, Guttenberg will not be convicted of any crime. In an interview with Die Zeit, he did not rule out a return to Germany and a participation in the 2013 parliamentary elections.

Russia and the West—Stormy Weather Ahead

CNN reported on November 23:

“It feels like a blast from the past: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev threatening to station short-range missiles in Kaliningrad, the Russian enclave on the Baltic Sea between Lithuania and Poland. Medvedev is miffed that the West is not taking Russia’s concerns into consideration as it proceeds with plans to deploy a missile defense system in Europe that the United States and NATO insist is to protect from potential missile attack from Iran.

“They even say they want Russia to work with them on the system but, in a live television broadcast, Medvedev told Russians: ‘We will not agree to take part in a program that, in a short while, in some six to eight years’ time, could weaken our nuclear deterrent capability.’

“Russia, the president announced somberly, could deploy weapons ‘ensuring our ability to take out any part of the U.S. missile defense system in Europe. One step in this process will be to deploy Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad Region.’ And he went a step further, threatening to pull out of the New START arms control agreement, which he and President Barack Obama signed with such fanfare just a year and a half ago… The reset may not be over but it could be headed for some stormy weather…”

In another disturbing development, AFP reported on November 23 that “Prime Minister Putin warned Wednesday in advance of parliamentary elections that Russia faced numerous risks in the future that demanded that the government tighten its grip on power.”

Prayers to the “Virgin Mary”?

The Vatican information Service (VIS) reported on November 19 about the Pope’s recent visit to Africa:

“This afternoon, the Holy Father travelled by popemobile to the cathedral of Our Lady of Mercy in Cotonou, [saying:] ‘… The Virgin Mary…  is the Mother of Mercy… she has received the privilege of being our helper always and everywhere. … In Mary, we have not only a model of perfection, but also one who helps us to realise communion with God and with our brothers and sisters. As Mother of Mercy, she is a sure guide to the disciples of her Son who wish to be of service to justice, to reconciliation and to peace. … Let us not be afraid to invoke her with confidence, she who ceaselessly dispenses to her children abundant divine graces’… 

“Benedict XVI then prayed to Our Lady to intercede to obtain peace for child victims of hunger and war, for the sick and the afflicted, for sinners, for Africa and for all humankind.”

Mary is also commonly referred to in the Catholic Church as the “queen of heaven.” However, the Bible teaches clearly that the real Mary died and is sleeping the unconscious “sleep” of death. She is waiting for the resurrection from the dead, when Jesus Christ returns. She is not in heaven, nor is she capable of mediating for us in any way. Prayers to her are meaningless. There is only ONE Mediator between God and man, and that is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Master. However, the Bible warns against worshipping or adoring a pagan personage who is referred to as the Queen of Heaven (compare Jeremiah 7:18).

Ridiculous Embarrassment

USA Today reported on November 20:

“We’ve heard of gutter politics, but this is ridiculous. Officials in Australia are investigating how a top-secret, detailed report on President Obama’s recent trip Down Under wound up in a gutter near the Parliament building in Canberra. The 125-page booklet contains phone number and contact details for government officials from both Australia and the United States. It also contains the step-by-step movements of Obama during last week’s visits for Canberra and Darwin — obviously valuable information for anyone wishing to do harm to the president…

“Most of the manual was devoted to a minute-by-minute schedule of Obama’s movements during his 27-hour visit to Canberra and Darwin last week, even detailing which car door he would use and the seating arrangements within his convoys. It also ran through the exact breakdown of his Secret Service detail and motorcade arrangements, including Obama’s ambulance, counterassault teams, communications and intelligence, according to the journalist, Dylan Welch. The booklet cover stated that the information was ‘not to be communicated either directly or indirectly to any person not authorised to receive it,’ Welch said, and it included contact details for a range of figures. It also named a long-serving member responsible for Obama’s protection. Welch claimed to have found it in a gutter 100 metres from Parliament House on early Thursday…”

The Predictable Failure of the US “Super Committee”

USA Today wrote on November 22:

“Sad. Pathetic. Indefensible. It’s hard to pick just one word to capture the collapse of Congress’ latest effort to deal with the spiraling national debt. Not only did the inaptly named ‘supercommittee’ fail to reach a big agreement to get the debt under control, members proved incapable even of meeting the panel’s minimum goal of cutting $1.2 trillion in deficits over 10 years. That sounds like a lot of money, but it’s less than 3% of the roughly $46 trillion the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the federal government will spend from 2012 to 2021. What financially strapped household or business can’t figure out a way to save three cents of every dollar it spends?

“The supercommittee’s failure brings the nation one step closer to a European-style debt crisis of rising interest rates and lower living standards… One reason is political polarization. The parties have made so many promises to their bases — on taxes, on entitlements — that compromise is seen as a sellout and shared sacrifice as unmentionable. Many members of Congress face more political risk from the wings of their own parties than from the other party. With elections coming up next year, they’d rather have the issue than a deal…”

Religious Exemptions from Obamacare?

The New York Times wrote on November 19:

“A dispute has erupted between President Obama and Democrats in Congress over a proposal to broaden the exemption from new rules that require health insurance plans to cover contraceptives for women free of charge… after protests by Roman Catholic bishops, charities, schools and universities, the White House is considering… [to] grant a broad exemption to health plans sponsored by employers who object to such coverage for moral and religious reasons. Churches may already qualify for an exemption.

“The proposal being weighed by the White House would expand the exemption to many universities, hospitals, clinics and other entities associated with religious organizations.  The prospect of such a change has infuriated many Democrats in Congress, who fought hard to secure coverage of birth control under the new health care law… House members have sent a letter to Mr. Obama urging him not to widen the exemption. Such a change, they said, would keep contraception out of reach for millions of women…

“The rules already include an exemption for certain ‘religious employers,’ but the exemption is so narrow that some church groups say it is almost meaningless. A religious employer cannot qualify for the exemption if it employs or serves large numbers of people of a different faith, as many Catholic hospitals, universities and social service agencies do.”

Scientists Baffled Over Remains of Dead Whales in the Desert

The Daily Mail wrote on November 21:

“… scientists remain baffled as to how exactly scores of whales ended up in a desert more than half a mile from the sea. The skeletons of 75 whales, believed to be more than two millions years old, were unearthed next to one another, just yards apart, in one of the world’s best-preserved graveyards of prehistoric whales… Chilean scientists and researchers from the Smithsonian Institution are studying how the whales, many of them the size of buses, were found in exactly the same corner of the Atacama Desert in Chile.

“The bones were unearthed near Caldera in June 2010 during a highway-widening project… ‘I think they died more or less at the same time,’ Nicholas Pyenson, curator of fossil marine mammals at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, told the Associated Press… The researchers also discovered a sperm whale skeleton and remains of a now-extinct dolphin that had two walrus-like tusks and previously had only turned up in Peru… Other unusual creatures found in the fossil-rich Atacama Desert include an extinct aquatic sloth and a seabird with a five metre wingspan…”

When one believes the Bible, the sudden death of these animals should not surprise us. The Daily Mail published the following note by one of their readers: “Where does the evidence lead? The evidence is that these creatures lived in the sea, yet some major catastrophe has managed to bury 75 whales in the what is now desert. That means the sea once came over this part of the world. How high would the sea level be on a global scale at that point? Many who are anti the Bible and against a global flood might not like it, but this evidence is strongly in favour of such an event….”

If the fossils are as old as stated in the article, then, of course, Noah’s Flood could not be responsible, but we should not forget that prior to the creation of man, the surface of the earth was covered with water (Genesis 1:2). This was the result of an earlier worldwide catastrophe. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Theory of Evolution—A Fairy Tales for Adults.”