NATO Afraid of Russia and Germany?

RT.com reported on December 26:

“Although Germany and Russia have developed into modern democracies with free-market systems, NATO still fears the revival of the former Nazi and Soviet states, says Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin… ‘No matter what Russia may be – imperial, communist or democratic – they see us with the same eyes as they did in the previous centuries,’ he said.

“The same attitude applies to Germany, Rogozin says, the largest and most successful economy in the European Union. ‘The relationship with Germany also remains complicated, because they still fear it,’ he said…

“Indeed, many in Germany have been calling for the creation of a European army that will eventually replace NATO…’ The long term goal is the establishment of a European army under full parliamentary control,’ German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle told an audience last year at the Munich Security Conference, noting that the German government ‘wants to advance along this path.’”

The comments of the German Foreign Minister regarding a European army are quite telling, as this will undoubtedly be the next big event in the development of a United States of Europe. In addition, we will also see a revival of the former Soviet states and the build-up of a confederation of Russia and other Far Eastern countries, such as Japan and China.

Russians Protest Against Putin

The Los Angeles Times wrote on December 24:

“More than 100,000 people took to the streets Saturday in the biggest show of protest in Russia’s capital since the breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. ‘Russia without Putin!’ the crowd chanted as it protested alleged election fraud during the recent parliamentary vote that saw Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party garner nearly 50% of the vote.

“Many in the crowd said they were fed up with Putin, who served as president for eight years beginning in 2000 and is now seeking a return to the presidency in an election scheduled for March… Thousands of people also protested in cities and towns across Russia…”

Whether or not Putin will be re-elected, the upheaval in Russia signifies developments which may not be good news for Europe.

Iran’s Military Exercises

AL Jazeera reported on December 25:

“Iran’s navy has started a 10-day drill in international waters near the strategic oil route that passes through the Strait of Hormuz. The exercises… could bring Iranian ships into proximity with United States Navy vessels in the area… The war games cover a 2,000km stretch of sea off the Strait of Hormuz, northern parts of the Indian Ocean and into the Gulf of Aden, near the entrance to the Red Sea… submarines, surface-to-sea missile systems, missile-launching vessels, torpedoes and drones will be employed in the maneuvers…

“The Strait of Hormuz is of strategic significance as the passageway for about a third of the world’s oil tanker traffic. Beyond it lie vast bodies of water, including the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The US Navy’s Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet is also active in the area, as are warships of several other countries that patrol for pirates there… Both the US and Israel have not ruled out a military option against Iran over its nuclear program.

“Iranian hard-liners have come out with occasional threats that Tehran would seal off the key waterway if the US or Israel moved against the country’s nuclear facilities. The US, Britain and Canada announced new measures against Iran’s energy and financial sectors last month and the European Union is considering a ban, already in place in the US, on imports of Iranian oil.”

Iran’s PressTV reported on December 26:

“‘The [Iranian] Navy’s military maneuvers in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman indicate the power and dominance of Iran’s Navy in regional waters,’ member of the Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Zohreh Elahian said Monday… Elahian added foreign media have admitted that Iran and its Navy are so powerful that if threatened, the country can take control of the Strait of Hormuz as the global economic and energy conduit.”

Reuters reported on December 28:

“The U.S. Fifth Fleet said on Wednesday it would not allow any disruption of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran threatened to stop ships moving through the world’s most important oil route… Analysts say that Iran could potentially cause havoc in the Strait of Hormuz, a strip of water separating Oman and Iran, which connects the biggest Gulf oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. At its narrowest point, it is 21 miles across.

“But its navy would be no match for the firepower of the Fifth Fleet which consists of 20-plus ships supported by combat aircraft, with 15,000 people afloat and another 1,000 ashore… The United States and Israel have not ruled out military action if sanctions fail to rein in Iran’s nuclear work.”

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 29:

“Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have rejected a warning from the United States not to close the strategic oil transport route, the Strait of Hormuz, saying it will protect the country’s vital interests… Iran says it will close the Strait if the US and European Union impose fresh sanctions over Tehran’s suspected nuclear program. Deputy President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said earlier this week that ‘not a drop of oil will pass through the Strait’ if the West broadens its current sanctions.”

It is to be feared that Iran will retaliate if it should be attacked by Israel and the USA, and the turmoil that would ensue may plunge the Middle East into a major war, forcing Europe to intervene militarily.

The Rise of a New Egypt?

ynetnews.com wrote on December 22:

“Last Saturday, violent groups of Islamic-Salafi radicals burned the famous scientific institute established by Napoleon in Egypt after its first encounter with the West. Some historians consider it the start of modern times in the Middle East. The site, L’Institut d’Egypte, held some 200,000 original and rare books, exhibits, maps, archeological findings and studies from Egypt and the entire Middle East, based on the work of generations of western researchers. Most of the artifacts were lost forever, burned or looted…

“All of this is happening while the confused West is lauding the new democracy established in Egypt, without understanding that this democracy is erasing the historic Egypt that was intimately connected to the West and its culture; a new Egypt shall rise on the ruins of the great fire. What we are seeing here is not a battle for power, but rather, a battle for perception, memory, heritage and historiography; that is, the writing of history.”

The Arab Spring has been a devastating development from the start, and the future will show how wrong those have been who applauded and supported the revolutions and rebellions in the Middle East. See also the next article.

Egypt’s Forces Raid Offices of U.S. and Other Civil Groups

The New York Times reported on December 29, 2011:

“Egyptian security forces stormed the offices of 17 nonprofit groups around the country on Thursday, including at least three democracy-promotion groups financed by the United States, as part of what Egypt’s military-led government has said is an investigation into ‘foreign hands’ in the recent outbreak of protests.

“In Cairo, heavily armed men wearing the black uniforms of the central security police tore through boxes, hauled away files and computers and prevented employees from leaving the offices of the two American groups, the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute, which are affiliated with American political parties and financed by the United States government. The security forces also raided the offices of Washington-based Freedom House.

“The raids were a stark escalation in what has appeared to be a campaign by the country’s military rulers to rally support by playing to nationalist and anti-American sentiment here. But for the military rulers to suggest that American government funding may have played a role in the recent unrest is remarkable, in part because the Egyptian military itself receives $1.3 billion in annual American aid.”

Israel Cancels Contract With Turkey

The Washington Times wrote on December 23:

“Israel’s Defense Ministry announced Thursday the last-minute cancellation of a $140 million contract with Turkey over fears that a sophisticated aerial surveillance system could end up in Iran’s hands. The Israeli electronic defense firms Elbit Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries had contracted three years ago to provide the multimillion-dollar surveillance system to Turkey, which has cooled relations with the Jewish state and has warmed to Iran— Israel’s existential enemy. All defense-related contracts are subject to Defense Ministry approval…

“The cancellation comes a week after Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told parliament in Ankara that Turkey’s Middle East policies had ‘brought Israel to its knees’ and had isolated the Jewish state… Israel’s once close defense and political relationship with Turkey began to unravel as the Turkish government sought to extend its influence in the Arab world during the past few years. The relationship turned hostile after Israeli naval commandos killed nine Turkish militants last year on a flotilla attempting to break Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.”

The relationship between Turkey and Israel is bound to deteriorate.

Turkey Accuses France of Genocide in Colonial Algeria

 BBC News wrote on December 23:

“The Turkish prime minister has accused France of committing genocide during its colonial occupation of Algeria. Recep Tayyip Erdogan was speaking after French MPs passed a bill making it a criminal act to deny that Ottoman Turks committed genocide in 1915-16 Armenia… Ankara has already recalled its ambassador to France and frozen political visits and joint military projects over the bill…

“If passed into law, Thursday’s bill would mean anybody who publicly denied the Armenian ‘genocide’ would face a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros (£29,000; $58,000)… More than 20 countries have formally recognised the killings as genocide.

“France invaded Algeria in 1830 and it remained under French rule until independence in 1962. The number of people killed in the eight-year independence war from 1954-1962 varies widely according to different sources, ranging from 300,000 to more than one million.”

Even though Turkey is angry with France at this time, the Bible shows that ultimately, Turkey will support Europe against the state of Israel.

Ethiopia Provokes Europe

Deutsche Welle wrote on December 27:

“Two Swedish journalists are considering a legal appeal after an Ethiopian court on Tuesday sentenced them to 11 years in prison for supporting terrorism and entering the country illegally… Last week’s guilty verdict was slammed in Sweden, where Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said the two journalists were innocent and should be let free. The convictions also provoked anger and accusations in the Swedish media that the case was politically motivated.

“Rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have criticized the trial, and the Swedish Union of Journalists has called for Schibbye and Persson’s release… Schibbye and Persson say they met ONLF leaders in London and Nairobi before travelling to Ethiopia as part of a journalistic investigation into the activities of Swedish oil firm Lundin Oil. The ONLF has been fighting for independence of Ethiopia’s southeastern Ogaden region since 1984.”

Ethiopia will still play an important role in its relationship with Europe.

“There Is No Euro Crisis”

On December 29, 2011, Der Spiegel Online conducted an interesting interview with “the former head of Deutsche Bank, Hilmar Kopper [(76), who] was once the most powerful banker in Germany.” We are bringing you the following excerpts:

“Never in the history of mankind has there been so much money in circulation, and never before was it possible to trade with it so quickly. And never before has this money used the entire planet as a playing field, as is the case today in the era of globalization… We’re dealing with multi-causal failure. It didn’t just start with the American central bank, the Federal Reserve, which permanently made money cheap after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2011. It was the declared goal of American policy, under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, that every American was to own his own home. Many poor people, in particular, were lured in, people who couldn’t afford this dream at all. The banks turned this into a huge business, the rating agencies provided incorrect ratings, and many countries — both the United States and in Europe — did not have their debt under control before the financial crisis erupted…

“I’ve hardly heard it [the Occupy movement] utter a single reasonable sentence so far. It’s all vague criticism of capitalism, markets and the market economy in general. I’m not interested in political correctness and I’m not about to pretend to have any sympathy for this movement now… The United States isn’t my role model. If that was ever the case, it was after World War II, when we were slowly emerging from the Stone Age we had fought ourselves into…

“[Spiegel: Fifteen-trillion dollars in debts, a crumbling infrastructure, high unemployment, food stamps for one in five children …] … and the Americans still want to spend even more money. I’m horrified when I look at the politics there, with all the backstabbing and squabbling in Washington… I see a dollar crisis, but not a euro crisis. Europe has a debt problem, whereas the United States also has a problem with its balance of payments.

“[Spiegel: Can the euro still be saved?] Of course… The Maastricht Treaty ratified by all member states provided the rules, so that more pressure could be applied to countries that don’t have a handle on their budgets. It was legitimate, and it still is legitimate. And now we Germans are seen as the evil ones in the European concert, just because we insist on stability and sticking to the rules…”

SOPA and NDAA

The Business Insider wrote on December 22:

“The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) — a censorship bill — and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) — which contains provisions allowing Americans to be detained without trial, and even transferred to foreign prisons — near ever closer to becoming reality in the United States…

“The cable networks continue to ignore these bills, in favor of covering holiday shopping lists… One noteworthy exception: Judge Napolitano on FOX Business Network… is the only American news anchor giving this issue the serious and dire coverage it probably deserves.”

The Hill added on December 26:

“GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul warned that the National Defense Authorization Act, which was passed by Congress this month, will accelerate the country’s ‘slip into tyranny’ and virtually assures ‘our descent into totalitarianism.’”

Politico added on December 27:

“The conservative and liberal blogospheres are unifying behind opposition to Congress’s Stop Online Piracy Act, with right-leaning bloggers arguing their very existence could be wiped out if the anti-piracy bill passes… ‘Of course, restrictions of results provided by Internet search engines amount to just that: prior restraint of their free expression of future results. Google and others, under SOPA, are told what they can or can’t publish before they publish it. Kill. The. Bill,’ conservative blogger Neil Stevens argued…”

These laws may indeed be a grave threat to our constitutional freedom and liberty. For more information, please view our StandingWatch program, “Destruction of US Democracy?”

More New Controversial Laws in the USA

The Washington Times wrote on December 26:

“California… becomes the first state to mandate the teaching of gay history. A new law requires schools to include in the public-school curriculum the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans, along with disabled persons and others. The statute, which has no age limit, also bans instructional material that discriminates against those groups… Also in California, children must remain in car booster seats for an additional two years, until they reach the age of eight, or until they hit 4 feet 9 inches, whichever comes first…

“In Delaware and North Dakota, public workers will be required to make larger contributions to their retirement funds. In Arizona, public workers employed after Jan. 1 will receive benefits lower than those of current staffers…”

Request to Raise Debt Ceiling

CNN reported on December 27:

“The Obama administration will formally ask Congress later this week to raise the nation’s debt ceiling by $1.2 trillion… The latest request is the third of three requests authorized by the contentious debt ceiling agreement reached last August and is expected to come on December 30 – the day the debt is projected to fall within $100 billion of the current $15.194 trillion ceiling. The new request asks the ceiling be raised to $16.39 trillion.”

First Christmas Celebration in Pagan Shrine

ABC News reported on December 25:

“A recently discovered pagan shrine dedicated to Rome’s legendary founder Romulus and his brother Remus is being linked by some experts to the first celebration of Christmas held on the date that still marks the festivity today. Last month Italian archaeologists unveiled an underground grotto, which they believe ancient Romans worshipped as the place where a wolf nursed the legendary twins. Now, a top Italian scholar thinks a church built on the site of the shrine was where Christmas was first marked on Dec. 25 — making it a symbolic place in efforts to link pagan practices and Christian celebrations…

“He said the site of the ‘Lupercale’ shrine was chosen by the 4th century Emperor Constantine to build the Basilica of St. Anastasia — the first church to rise not on the ancient city’s outskirts, but on the Palatine Hill, the palatial center of power and religion in imperial Rome… Placing the church just a few steps from an important pagan shrine was part of Constantine’s strategy of promoting Christianity while linking it to the practices of the more ancient religion… [Constantine] presided over the Council of Nicaea in 325, which among other things homogenized the dates of important Christian festivals.

“The council opted to mark Christmas… on Dec. 25 to coincide with the Roman festival celebrating the birth of the sun god… The ‘Lupercale’ shrine was named after the ‘lupa’ — Latin for she-wolf — who according to legend saved Romulus and Remus, the twin sons of [Mars,] the god of war [whom Mars] abandoned in a basket and left adrift on the River Tiber…”

This article gives further evidence for the thoroughly pagan nature of Christmas. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Don’t Keep Christmas.” Please also read the next articles, showing the irresponsible conduct of parents and governmental officials in an effort to perpetuate the stupid lies of “Santa Claus” or their waste of exorbitant amounts of tax payers’ money on “Christmas vacations” so as “not to disappoint the children.”

Why Do Kids Believe in Santa Claus?

On December 23, the Associated Press reported the following:

“Why do kids believe a chubby guy in a flying sleigh can deliver joy across America? Because their parents do. A whopping 84 percent of grown-ups were once children who trusted in Santa’s magic, and lots cling to it still… Two-thirds of parents with kids under 18 say Santa’s an important part of their celebrations this year…

“In multicultural America, Father Christmas isn’t just for Christians any more. Three-fourths of non-Christian adults say they believed in Santa when they were children. And half feel he’s important to their holiday celebrations now. Developmental psychologist Cyndy Scheibe… said lots of Jewish children told her that Santa Claus was real, even though he didn’t stop at their houses on Christmas Eve.

“And many non-Christian parents embrace Santa because they see Christmas serving as a secular as well as religious holiday in the U.S., she said… Even among Christians, there’s tension about how big a role, if any, a jolly old elf deserves in the celebration of Christ’s birth…”

Kids believe their parents. Parents lie, and kids believe them. But even once they find out the truth, they still go ahead and tell the same lies to their children. However, God is not the author of lies. Satan is. He is called the father of lies, and the truth is not in him. And don’t believe that these are just harmless lies. A lie is a lie. Period. And God thunders at us: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

…And the Stupid Lie Continues…

USA Today wrote on December 23:

“NORAD, the premier U.S.-Canadian air defense directorate, is once again using its super high-tech tracking equipment to keep tabs on jolly old Saint Nick. For 365 days of the year, NORAD is dead serious about tracking the skies over North America. But beginning at 3 a.m. Saturday, the generals and air-sovereignty commanders will be telling Virginia that, yes, there is a Santa Claus. And they’ve got the satellite tracking of his sleigh to prove it.

“This is the organization’s 56th year of providing children with up-to-the-minute telemetry on Santa’s whereabouts. Calls to 1-877-Hi-NORAD will be answered by one of more than 1,200 volunteers who crowd into the call center at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. For many it’s a family Christmas tradition, says NORAD’s Lt. Cmdr. Bill Lewis. Last year, the volunteers logged 80,000 calls, he says.

“Each year at www.noradsanta.org, families can track Santa’s flight across the world — live. Last year the site had more than 15 million visitors. There’s also a second-by-second Countdown to Track Santa clock [sic]. For kids who can’t wait, a Kid’s Countdown Village has links to holiday facts on Google Maps and North Pole-themed games.

“Clicking the house labeled 22 in the village opens up a ‘Super Top Secret NORAD File’ featuring technical details of Santa’s sleigh and reindeer. This year, the organization is also making a Track Santa app available for smartphones via Google Maps for mobile at the noradsanta.org site…”

This is really the epitome of incredible stupidity. And whole countries engage in such irresponsible nonsense!

“Modern” History of the Christmas Tree

The Local wrote on December 23:

“…the history of the Christmas tree remains… mysterious to many… Christmas does of course have a pre-Christian history, and decorating the house during the dark winter months is a tradition that precedes Christianity, and its German connection, by thousands of years.

“Many ancient societies included the custom of bringing evergreen plants into homes during the cold months as a reminder of the summer. From northern European Vikings, to the Romans and ancient Egyptians, urging the sunny months back and warding off evil spirits with evergreens was commonplace.

“Skip forward a millennium or so, and a more recognizable Christmas tree was beginning to take shape, thanks to a guild of German merchants who supposedly erected the first [modern] Weihnachtsbaum in 1510… The introduction of the Christmas tree to the US can also be credited to Germans. Reports suggest that German settlers in Pennsylvania and Ohio put up the first American Christmas trees in the 18th century. It took a while for the custom to spread through the country, however, as the Puritan movement managed to force a ban on Christmas trees into the 19th century.

“But as Puritanism waned, it was the power of the celebrity that finally brought the Christmas tree transatlantic popularity, when a picture of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and family with a decked-out Christmas tree was published… The man behind the Queen’s continental Christmas choice was none other than her German husband, Prince Albert, who apparently longed for a reminder of home in the palace during the festive season…”

Of course, the Christmas tree predates the birth of Christ by thousands of years. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Don’t Keep Christmas.”

Costly Vacation

Newsmax reported on December 23:

“President Barack Obama may need a vacation from his vacation. Obama plans to travel Friday afternoon to Hawaii for a delayed Christmas vacation. But the cost of the trip — about $4 million total — has created a firestorm.

“Michelle Obama insisted on the pricey Hawaiian holiday while her husband had said he preferred a short trip to the presidential retreat at Camp David, Md., The Daily Mail reported Friday… The trip to Hawaii is expected to cost taxpayers almost $4 million, and is the latest example of Michelle Obama’s skyrocketing spending…

“‘The President’s advisers have told him that Michelle’s spending has spiraled completely out of control,’ the National Enquirer quoted one source as saying. ‘Barack read his wife the riot act, but his words fell on deaf ears. Michelle said there was “no way” she was going to disappoint her daughters.’

“The White House announced the president’s departure plans Friday shortly after the House and the Senate approved a deal to extend payroll tax cuts after House Republicans reversed course Thursday night and dropped their opposition. With Washington deadlocked, Obama delayed his annual December trip to the Honolulu area… The president’s wife and daughters have been in Hawaii since late last week. The Obamas plan to return to Washington in early January.”

Especially during times of great financial hardship and national debt, such wasteful spending of tax payers’ money is hardly justifiable.

Total Martial Law in the USA?

On December 18, the Drudge Report posted several articles which appeared in infowars.com. The following was pointed out:

“Leading GOP candidate Ron Paul has warned in recent interviews that the amendments passed in the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) are not only dangerous, but authorize the establishment of total martial law inside the United States. Not only does the bill, in sections 1031 and 1032, declare the unconstitutional right to detain Americans indefinitely without trial, but it authorizes an Internet offensive and online Pentagon takeover under the pretext of cybersecurity and stopping online piracy…

“Real preparations for martial law and WWIII have taken place– including recent calls to staff emergency detention camps ready for use if an national emergency is signaled over civil unrest and a takeover goes red hot… various emergency provisions have long worked in conjunction to build a framework for martial law takeover inside America… from TSA at the airports, to highway checkpoints and now, the claimed power to indefinitely detain anyone the feds view as a threat to national security…

“Now, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and portions of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) have openly declared ‘offensive war’ on the Internet, implementing Pentagon censors & spies and instituting a Kill Switch to selectively shut down content on the basis of suspicion or accusation, without a vehicle for recourse, appeal or the burden of proof…”

These are indeed frightening developments. But there is even more! The following articles show that the tendencies can be clearly seen (if we have eyes to see) of attempting to abrogate individual freedom and liberty, and to place EVERY AMERICAN CITIZEN AT RISK.

US Democracy Being Destroyed?

The Business Insider published the following article on December 14, under the headline, “American Democracy: 1776-2011.”

The article stated:

“It turns out that destroying the American democratic republic was easy to accomplish, historians will write someday. Simply get the three major cable news networks to blather on about useless [“information”] for a few days, while legislators meet in secret behind closed doors to rush through the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 (NDAA), and its evil twin sister, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), which is a clever name for an Internet censorship bill straight out of an Orwellian nightmare.

“Sure, some independent media web sites and Jon Stewart warned us about this. Ron Paul & Son warned us about this. Amnesty International and the ACLU have been screaming from the rooftops… But the American people let it happen, because the vast majority of us simply didn’t find out in time. And now President Obama’s advisers are saying he is withdrawing his veto threat against NDAA, so it will become law. As will SOPA…

“I have no idea why an American media blackout on NDAA is still in effect — Anderson Cooper, Chris Matthews, Bill O’Reilly and the other broadcast ‘journalists’ have been disgustingly silent on what is undoubtedly the most important news story of the past decade. The single most important news story since September 11th, 2001.

“Combined, NDAA and SOPA simply destroy American democracy. That isn’t hype. That isn’t exaggeration. Within a few days, your freedom of speech will be gone — post something controversial online, and the government can legally ‘disappear’ it.

“Annoy the government too much, or criticize Congress’ infinite wisdom and mercy, and you may find yourself in military prison for the remainder of your life, without access to a trial or attorney. Even if you’re an American citizen on US soil.

“This is a brave new world. Watch what you say. Be mindful of who you associate with. You may criticize your government within the privacy of your own home, amongst close family or friends, but do not post negative comments online. Do not assemble. Do not protest. Do not agitate. Do not give ‘comfort’ to the ‘enemy.’

“This is a sad day for all of us… it turns out democracy was attacked from within, the historians will write someday. We didn’t even see it coming.”

The Examiner added on December 15:

“The National Defence Authorization Bill 2012 (NDAA FY2012)… contains language allowing the Pentagon to wage cyberwar on domestic enemies of the state, a human and civil rights violation of freedom of speech and freedom of the press, as reported by MSNBC Wednesday, potentially impacting both Occupy movement and Tea Party participants plus independent news reporters and whistleblowers exposing government corruption…

“On December 5, Forbes reported, ‘If Obama does one thing for the remainder of his presidency let it be a veto of the National Defense Authorization Act, a law that would place domestic terror investigations and interrogations into the hands of the military and which would open the door for trial-free, indefinite detention of anyone, including American citizens, so long as the government calls them terrorists.’

“Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) said about NDAA FY2012 that it ‘denigrates the very foundations of this country.’ Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) [son of Ron Paul] has repeatedly said that NDAA FY2012 ‘puts every single American citizen at risk.’”

SOPA Endangers Our Freedom

Roll Call wrote on December 14 (The article was posted on the Drudge Report’s website on December 21):

“The legislation that campaigns across the country should be concerned about is the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)…

“Imagine you are running for Congress in a competitive House district. You give a strong interview to a local morning news show and your campaign posts the clip on your website. When your opponent’s campaign sees the video, it decides to play hardball and sends a notice to your Internet service provider alerting them to what it [deems] ‘infringing content.’ It doesn’t matter if the content is actually pirated. The ISP has five days to pull down your website and the offending clip or be sued. If you don’t take the video down, even if you believe that the content is protected under fair use, your website goes dark.

“The ability of any entity to file an infringement notice is one of SOPA’s biggest problems. It creates an unprecedented ‘private right of action’ that would allow a private party, without any involvement by a court, to effectively shut down a website…

“Another damaging aspect of SOPA is the increased liability the bill would place on ISPs and search engines. SOPA effectively guts the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s safe harbors — one of the big reasons companies such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter weren’t crushed in their early days by harassing lawsuits. Without these safe harbors, the risk of frivolous lawsuits greatly increases…

“By creating legislation that allows sites to be shut down at will, with limited recourse available to the sites’ owners, SOPA greatly threatens the democratizing tool the Internet has become. With the Internet playing an ever increasing role in the political process, the powers the bill creates could be greatly abused by those wishing to silence their opponents. Political campaigns and anyone interested in an open political process should be greatly concerned about the regulations SOPA creates and the freedoms it restricts…”

For more information, please make sure to view (and circulate) our recent StandingWatch program, “Destruction of US Democracy?” 

US Politics Galore—and We All May Have to Pay!

The Washington Times wrote on December 20:

“The House officially voted Tuesday to start negotiations with the Senate on the payroll-tax fight — but Senate Democrats have said they won’t cancel their vacation to conduct the talks, leaving an impasse that could mean an average $1,000 tax increase on 160 million taxpayers in the new year… the House on Tuesday officially sent [the Senate] bill back to the Senate, which means, according to legislative rules, the Senate has to act next, and the House cannot take up the Senate’s proposal anymore…

“The House has passed a one-year extension of the current 2 percent payroll-tax cut, along with a two-year extension of full payments to doctors who take Medicare patients and another round of unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless. But the Senate, which couldn’t agree on a long-term extension, instead passed a two-month bill last week, arguing it gave all sides breathing room to keep trying for a longer-term deal. The White House has endorsed the Senate compromise.”

America’s Downfall

Der Spiegel Online wrote on December 16:

“The US has officially declared the war in Iraq to be over with a flag-casing ceremony in Baghdad. President Barack Obama said that America was leaving behind a ‘sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq.’ German commentators ask if the conflict, which lasted almost nine years, was worth the toll… Many in America and elsewhere will continue to ask, however, if freeing Iraq from the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein was worth the high cost of the war. The conflict, which began in March 2003 with a ‘shock and awe’ assault on Baghdad, left almost 4,500 Americans and over 100,000 Iraqis dead. Around 30,000 American soldiers were wounded, many of them permanently maimed as a result of the notorious improvised explosive devices (IEDs) which were used against coalition forces. Today, the country is still racked by religious conflict, and there are fears that sectarian violence could flare up again. The country’s political structures are weak and Iran continues to exert influence…

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘Even nearly nine years after the events, it is hard to contain the outrage that boils up when one remembers the fabricated justification for the war and the way the conflict proceeded. On the contrary, the distance to the events makes it even clearer how George W. Bush vacillated in his justification for the war and how he combined weapons of mass destruction, al-Qaida terror and the dictatorship into a single threatening brew. The politically twisted logic behind the invasion was coupled with a botched military strategy that laid the ground for an orgy of violence and hatred…

“‘America’s current decline is the logical consequence of the over-extension that was visible everywhere in the early 2000s, including its military strength, bloated budgets and promises of growth, its foreign policy ambitions and the verbal radicalism which ultimately promised to forcefully create democracy at gunpoint. With this form of extremism, America betrayed its own best ideals. And in the process the country lost its natural attraction, which historically had repeatedly given hope to freedom-seekers and those fleeing persecution.’

“The left-leaning Berliner Zeitung writes: ‘Every American schoolchild knows today that George W. Bush’s mission has not been accomplished. Iraq has not become the democracy that the neo-cons dreamed of, the overthrow of Saddam Hussein did not lead to democratization in the region and the regime in Tehran has not been weakened. On the contrary, Iran has more influence than ever in Iraq. And what about the people who were liberated? For them, life eight years after the start of the war is still dangerous. Everyday life, characterized by shortages of water and electricity, abuses of power by the police and the threat of attacks, is unspeakably difficult… the country that American troops are now leaving is not the ‘sovereign and stable’ nation that Obama spoke of in his speech at Fort Bragg. The US troops may indeed have conquered Baghdad in three weeks, but after eight years of occupation, they have still not won in Iraq.’

“The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung writes: ‘The last nine years of the American presence in Iraq is further proof that the political balance of power within a country cannot be changed by an external military intervention. What the US experienced in Iraq, Israel also experienced in the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon. One can only hope that both have learned their lesson before they start planning military operations against Iran… With its interference in Iraq, the US did lasting damage to the concept of democratization…’”

We should especially take note of the statements that America is in decline, and that the USA did NOT win the war in Iraq. The sad truth is that America did not win any war for a long time, and that it will NOT win any future wars. The Church of God began to proclaim this FACT over 40 years ago; it has been established and confirmed to be the absolute truth; and it will remain to be true. See also our other articles on Iraq in this issue.

“America On Its Deathbed”

In his December 6, 2011 newsletter, Gerald Celente, Founder and Director of The Trends Research Institute, wrote the following about the USA:

“Be it healthcare, education, longevity or working longer and vacationing less, the world’s former quality-of-life leader no longer wins, places or shows. In a blink of the calendrical eye, the United States of America had gone from first world to borderline third world…

“A record 47 million Americans – one of every six people… are impoverished, according to government statistics. If you take into account those who are teetering on the edge of poverty, that figure almost doubles. This means nearly one-third of the American populace is struggling to achieve what they once considered their inalienable rights – putting food on their tables, gas in their cars, and heat in their homes… nearly one-quarter of all American children are living in poverty… as we enter a national election year, no candidate… speaks directly of a nation in decline. Even as the country piles up more and more debt, the Washington Beltway is gridlocked …

“On the economic front, the trend towards wealth concentration… continues. The richest 1 percent of Americans now owns 70 percent of all financial assets. Even the November 2011 ‘drop’ in unemployment to a two-year low of 8.5 percent meant virtually nothing. The rate doesn’t consider the new class of people that the Bush/Obama Administrations have created – the millions of permanently unemployed Americans who have been down so low so long they’ve stopped looking for work and aren’t even counted as unemployed…

“In the decade since 9/11, under the guise of protecting its citizens from terrorism, the government has steadily abrogated individual rights, compromising the very liberties it pretends to preserve. As thousands of protestors occupied Wall Street and Main Streets across America, police department cameras recorded their every step. In New York City alone, more than 4,000 cameras monitored the marching, chanting throngs. Banks – which now charge us to hold and spend our money  – watch our every financial move… America has become a country of fear, not freedom…”

These statements are very true. No politician—regardless of what party he or she might belong to, or whether he or she might run as an “independent”– will be able to reverse the trend of America’s downfall. Our false hope in human accomplishments, while forgetting to give glory to and rely on God, awaits a rude awakening. The sooner we understand as to where our real hope and strength lie, the better it will be for us.

Pakistan Attack–Washington Admits Mistakes, but Does Not Apologize

The Washington Times wrote on December 22:

“An investigation into a NATO attack that killed 24 Pakistani troops last month near the Afghan border has concluded that a combination of mistrust and bad maps led to the airstrikes on two Pakistani outposts… It’s unclear whether the report, which says mistakes were made on both sides, will reduce the tension between Pakistan and the U.S. over the incident. The Pakistani army has said its troops did nothing wrong and claimed the attack was a deliberate act of aggression.

“A statement issued by the U.S. Department of Defense did not apologize for the attack, as the Pakistanis have demanded, and instead defended the actions of American forces… Since the Nov. 26 attack, a furious Pakistani government has shut down NATO supply routes to Afghanistan and thrown the U.S. out of its Shamsi Air Base in southwestern Baluchistan province…”

Euro Permanent and Irreversible

The EUobserver wrote on December 19:

“The euro is ‘irreversible’ and will overcome the crisis, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi said in his first appearance in front of the European Parliament’s economics committee on Monday (19 December), while making the case for austerity and fiscal discipline… the ECB chief said he has ‘no doubt in the strength, permanence and irreversibility of the euro,’ dismissing as ‘morbid speculation’ any eurozone break-up scenarios…”

German Economy Defying European Gloom

Der Spiegel Online wrote on December 20:

“German companies and consumers are upbeat about the future, according to economic surveys released on Tuesday. They show that Europe’s largest economy has remained resilient in the face of the euro crisis… The index increased to 107.2 points from 106.6… surprising economists who had on average predicted a decline… There have been increasing signs that the euro zone as a whole, including France, its second largest economy, will slide into recession in 2012.

“But Germany, thanks to its broad industrial base and strong exports to countries outside the euro zone, especially emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil, will weather the storm, economists said… Another positive surprise came earlier on Tuesday with the release of the December consumer climate index from market research institute GfK, which showed the first rise in economic expectations in five months.”

Savior or Destroyer?

On December 20, The Local published the following English translation of a German editorial, which originally appeared in Die Zeit:

“Who is to blame for the split? Is it Cameron, who insisted that special rules must apply to Britain’s financial sector – or is it Merkel, who put the subject of a treaty change on the table in the first place? At any rate, it’s Cameron who came off worst, since he is now isolated in Europe, without having gained anything for his country’s interests. Knowing Merkel, an adept player of power games, she will have planned for such an eventuality. She and Sarkozy had a good argument on their side: as the French president said, we cannot agree stricter rules for the eurozone and then allow Britain room to deregulate its financial sector.

“But this success has not come cheap. The impression that 22 states stand firmly at Germany’s side is false. Most other heads of state are following Merkel with little enthusiasm – not out of conviction, but because they know that no solution to the debt crisis is possible without Germany. Even those that support the German vision of more budget discipline are unsure whether this is the right time or the right path to take.

“The eurozone states will now agree a new contract that will exist alongside current EU law… [Either] Merkel will go down in history as the saviour of the euro [or…] as the one who divided Europe.”

And there may be a third—and more likely–alternative: The German Chancellor will be remembered as both.

Britain Resists…

Der Spiegel Online wrote on December 20:

“EU finance ministers wanted to raise 200 billion euros to boost the International Monetary Fund’s firepower in the euro crisis, but they only raised 150 billion on Monday, largely due to resistance from Britain… the United Kingdom refused, at least for the time being, to contribute its share of around €25 billion.

“Following a conference call, the ministers said in a statement that the Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland and Sweden, which are in the EU but not in the euro zone, would also grant loans to the International Monetary Fund to help rescue the currency. But the EU said those countries must first win parliamentary approval…

“Meanwhile, the German newspaper Die Welt reported on Tuesday that Germany will probably have to pay €8.6 billion, twice as much as originally planned, into the European Stability Mechanism in 2012. The newspaper cited an unnamed high-ranking member of government as its source. The first German tranche for the fund was to have been €4.3 billion, and would not have been due until 2013. But the decision to launch the ESM will force Berlin to make its contribution sooner.”

This won’t make the Germans happy, and they will blame Britain for it…

Britain’s Isolation Could Prove Costly

The Daily Mail wrote on December 20:

“A senior Church of England bishop warned yesterday against British isolation from Europe. The Bishop of Guildford…,Christopher Hill, who speaks for his colleagues on EU matters in the House of Lords, said: ‘It will be disastrous if we were actually isolated from the rest of Europe, economically and in terms of international relations.’ He added: ‘The structures need reform and accountability, but you don’t do that by stepping out.’

“Business leaders claim millions of British jobs will be lost if the country does not fight to keep its place as a key player in Europe. A group of tycoons and entrepreneurs, including Sir Richard Branson, have written an open letter to the Government urging David Cameron to ‘re-engage in the decision-making process in Europe’. Signatories say at least three million could find themselves unemployed if Britain continues to isolate itself from the EU.

“Co-ordinated by the lobby group Business for New Europe, the letter will put extra pressure on Mr Cameron at a time when he stands accused of trying to appease Europhile party members.”

Widening Gap Between Britain and Brussels

The EUobserver wrote on December 21:

“The British government has blamed the euro for ratings agency [Moody’s] worries on its triple-A status amid a widening political gap between Brussels and London. A UK treasury spokesman told newswires on Tuesday… that exposure to the eurozone is the main reason why Moody’s earlier the same day warned that Britain’s top-level grade faces ‘formidable and rising challenges.’ The spokesman said: ‘The UK is not immune to the problems facing our trading partners in the euro area; the crisis is having a chilling effect across Europe…’ The Moody’s report noted ‘that no EU sovereign rating can be considered immune to this crisis.’ But it cited internal UK problems as the main cause of concern.”

Britain’s Mounting Distrust of Germany

Der Spiegel Online wrote on December 19:

“In Britain, distrust of Europe goes hand-in-hand with distrust of Germany. Relations between the two countries have cooled following the furore caused by the latest EU summit, and British euroskeptics are once again resorting to old stereotypes…

“The English Channel has suddenly become wider, deeper and foggier once again. The London-based Daily Telegraph newspaper has warned its readers against what it calls Berlin’s blatant effort to dominate Europe and already sees ‘a new era of Anglo-German antagonism’ on the horizon… The headline ‘Welcome to the Fourth Reich’ in the high-circulation Daily Mail summarized the German-French plans to rescue the monetary union. In another story, the paper wrote: ‘What we are witnessing is the economic colonisation of Europe by stealth by the Germans.’…

“The anti-German rhetoric was particularly strong after German reunification, which then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, nicknamed ‘the Iron Lady,’ sought to prevent. Even the levelheaded Economist warned against what it believed to be the threat of a German nuclear bomb. In 1990, Thatcher invited leading British historians to a conference at Chequers to analyze the dangerous German national character…

“For the British, the fact that the Germans, with their renowned engineering prowess, still produce goods and sell them around the world is a wistful reminder of their own days as major exporters during the Victorian age… The Indians bought Jaguar a few years ago, Rolls-Royce is now part of BMW, Volkswagen owns Bentley, and once-proud brands like Triumph, Austin and Vickers no longer exist. Even the colorful candies known as ‘Smarties’ haven’t been produced in York, where they were invented, for the last five years. All European production has now been moved to Germany…

“So a new ice age has set in for the time being. Many Britons have noticed that ‘suddenly German is being spoken in Europe,’ following the undiplomatic words of Volker Kauder, the parliamentary floor leader of Germany’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU). They’ve also noticed that there are Germans who already anticipate ‘Britain’s departure from the EU,’ as SPD parliamentary leader Frank-Walter Steinmeier said. And Merkel’s statement that ‘no country, no financial center and no financial product can be unsupervised from now on’ was certainly understood in London just the way it was meant. Even before the Brussels summit, politicians in Berlin knew that there would be no compromise with the Tory government in London.”

We should be able to see more and more the veracity of the prophesied fact that Europe and Great Britain will finally turn out to be real enemies. Europe is moving ahead without Britain, and Britain’s isolation is rapidly manifesting itself. Please note also the next article.

New European Treaty Between Just Nine Initial Countries?

The EUobserver wrote on December 16:

“The first draft of a new treaty meant to tighten economic governance in eurozone countries was circulated Friday (16 December) with the aim to have the text finalised by January and coming into force once nine countries have ratified it. The ratification threshold would allow the treaty to go into place even if some euro states – such as Ireland which may have to hold a referendum – are having problems getting domestic approval.

“A euro country that rejected the treaty after it had already come into place will not be bound by it. Non-euro countries, who agree to sign up to the treaty, will be bound by the agreement as soon as they take on the single currency, but can put in place some of the details immediately…

“Following the UK’s refusal to allow full-blown treaty change, the pact is an intergovernmental treaty for the 17 euro states plus up to nine of the non-euro countries who have all indicated they will attempt to come on board. But in a bid to draw a line under the potentially damaging rift between London and the rest of member states, all 27 countries will be at the negotiation table, although London will only have observer status…”

We should be able to recognize the long-prophesied development of a core Europe or a Europe of two speeds.

Europe Meddles and Condemns

Haaretz wrote on December 20:

“The four European Union members of the UN Security Council on Tuesday strongly criticized Israel’s decision to speed up construction of settlements, which they termed a ‘wholly negative’ development. The ambassadors from Britain, France, Germany and Portugal issued a joint statement branding the Israeli settlements in Palestinian occupied territories and East Jerusalem as illegal under international law. ‘We call on the Israeli government to reverse these steps,’ the statement said. ‘The viability of the Palestinian state that we want to see and the two-state solution that is essential for Israel’s long-term security are threatened by the systematic and deliberate expansion of settlements’…

“Israel’s UN ambassador Ron Prosor responded by saying on Tuesday that ‘while innocent citizens are being slaughtered in Syria, terrorist elements are operating freely in Gaza, UN forces are attacked in Lebanon and Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon – the Security Council is silent and paralyzed.’ He added that ‘the main obstacle to peace was and remains the Palestinians’ demand to the right of return, and not recognizing Israel as a Jewish state.’”

European Intervention in Egypt?

Al Arabiya News reported on December 19:

“The fire that broke out in a Cairo library that houses thousands of rare documents raised concerns over the government’s and the army’s ability to protect historic sites at times of upheaval and drove several experts to warn of a possible intervention by foreign entities to preserve the heritage at risk…

“Haggag Ibrahim, deputy chairman of the Association for the Preservation of Heritage and member of the Higher Commission for Museums, labeled those involved in setting the Scientific Complex on fire ‘the new Tatars’ who want to erase all aspects of culture in the country. ‘Those are the grandchildren of the Tatars who burned the library of Baghdad when they invaded the Muslim world,’ he told Al Arabiya.

“According to Ibrahim, UNESCO is now capable of placing historic sites in Egypt under international protection since Egyptians proved unable to do so themselves. ‘Some countries like France might take this initiative.’…

“Nasser Amin, legal expert and member of the National Council for Human Rights, differed. ‘The UNESCO doesn’t have the right to impose international protection on a sovereign country because one historic establishment was subjected to an act of sabotage,’ he said. Amin explained that international protection on cultural heritage is imposed only if the country in which the sites are located is in a state of war or engaged in other types of armed conflict…

“A professor of archeology, Mamdouh al-Masry, held the Supreme Council for the Armed Forces (SCAF) accountable for failing to contain the fire and arrest the culprits… The fact that the fire targeted the Scientific Complex and maps of Egypt’s borders in particular raises a lot of questions about a possible conspiracy, according to Masry… Egyptian archeology professor Ayman Hassan al-Dahshan agreed that a conspiracy is involved in the library fire…”

The concern of Egyptians regarding a European intervention is remarkable. We know from Scripture that finally, a United States of Europe WILL intervene and occupy Egypt. We may not know the exact justification for such military aggression, but we do know that it WILL occur. See also the next article on Egypt.

Egyptian Democracy—a Joke!

Haaretz reported on December 20:

“Egyptian police and soldiers fired weapons and used batons and teargas for a fifth day on Tuesday in the latest effort to clear Cairo’s central Tahrir Square of opponents of army rule, amid mounting international concern about the violence… The United States, which saw Egypt as a staunch ally in the Mubarak era, gives Cairo $1.3 billion a year in military aid.”

Iraq in Danger of Civil War?

BBC wrote on December 20:

“Iraq’s Sunni Vice-President, Tariq al-Hashemi, has denied any wrongdoing, a day after a warrant was issued for his arrest on terrorism-related charges. Mr Hashemi described as ‘fabricated’ the accusation he was linked to attacks on government and security officials. He also accused Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, a Shia, of being behind a plot to embarrass him and blow apart recent attempts at national reconciliation. The Sunni deputy prime minister has warned Iraq risks a new sectarian war…

“Barely had the last American soldier stepped across the border into Kuwait than the fragile Iraqi political structure the US military left behind began to fall dangerously apart, as long-standing tensions between Shia and Sunni political leaders came to a head…”

BBC News added on December 21:

“In recent years, the Americans would have been expected to head off such a rift long before it happened. The White House has said it is deeply concerned by the current crisis and has been in touch with all sides. Its ability to continue playing a major role in the Iraqi political arena in the post-withdrawal period is thus faced with an immediate test, but the Iraqi perception is that US influence is now much diminished. The crisis may also give clues as to how hard Tehran will seek to push its advantage and exploit the perceived vacuum left by the American withdrawal…”

BBC reported on December 22:

“A wave of apparently [14] co-ordinated bomb attacks in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, has killed at least 63 people and injured around 185, say officials… the bombings are the worst in months – and follow the withdrawal of US troops. They come amid fears of rising sectarian tensions as the unity government faces internal divisions.”

Deutsche Welle added on December 22:

“The political turmoil is the worst since Iraq’s fragile powersharing government was formed a year ago. Iraq’s Sunni minority, to which the late dictator Saddam Hussein belonged, has faced a rise of Iraq’s Shiite majority since the 2003 US-led invasion.

“The upsurge in violence comes just days after US troops completed their withdrawal, nearly nine years after their invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, and leaving behind what US President Barack Obama had described as a ‘sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq.’”

This does not really deserve any comment.

Syria’s Massacres

The Associated Press wrote on December 21:

“Syrian troops assaulting a northwest town with machine gun fire and shelling have killed at least 100 people in one of the deadliest episodes of the 9-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad’s regime… Tuesday’s attack… showed the Syrian government was pressing ahead with its crackdown despite its agreement this week to an Arab League plan for bringing a halt to the bloodshed.

“‘It was an organized massacre. The troops surrounded people then killed them,’ said Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. He said troops on the outskirts of the town surrounded and fired on crowds of civilians and activists trying to flee out of fear they would be detained…

“The Syrian conflict, which began with peaceful protests in March, has become increasingly militarized in recent weeks, with clashes nearly every day between troops and army defectors who have joined the movement against Assad… Meanwhile, the Syrian military was displaying its might with a second round of maneuvers Tuesday involving warplanes, helicopters and surface-to-air missiles…”

Uncertainty for North Korea

Der Spiegel Online wrote on December 20:

“With the death of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, an already jittery Asia has been thrown into great uncertainty. Questions over how his successor and son Kim Jong Un might rule abound… with little known about the young heir to their political dynasty, his father’s death has sparked a wave of uncertainty in the tense, heavily-armed region, with Asian markets thrown into turmoil following the announcement. Some worry that Kim Jong Un may not have a firm hold on power, which could destabilize the isolated country, which has still not sworn off nuclear weapons. The South Korean military has been placed on high alert, concerned about what the large armed forces in their northern neighbor might do… There are worries that the leader’s death after 17 years in power could prompt his inexperienced son to test his strength militarily…

“Die Welt writes: ‘The death of Kim Jong Il is good news, just as the deaths of Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin or Saddam Hussein were all good news. … But that doesn’t mean that the situation for the North Koreans will now improve. Already the next Kim stands ready to take the office he has inherited from his father and grandfather. East Asia faces months and perhaps years of turbulence. The leader, not even 30 years old, is not sitting securely in the saddle. … Thus he will attempt to prove his tenacity to the military by operating aggressively both within and without…’

“Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘Kim Jong Il, the now dead dictator, will not be missed. He held his people in slavery and was responsible for the deaths of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands. … But his worst crime was that he created a system of bondage that also laid claim to the minds of the people. Many generations of North Koreans live in the dark — and they have no idea. As long as the regime maintains power over the brains of the people, and as long as it controls the flow of information, then the system can theoretically survive…’

“Die Tageszeitung writes: ‘North Korea is the world’s most bizarre combination of Stalinism, dynastic succession and cult of personality, along with presumed atomic weapons and real hunger problems… Kim Jong Il was prepared to let his people starve and his region descend into chaos if it meant he could hold onto power… The tragedy for the people of North Korea will likely continue for some time.’”

Germany’s Execution of Alleged Witches…

Der Spiegel Online wrote on December 16:

“Tortured and burned at the stake by the tens of thousands, Germany’s alleged witches have been largely forgotten… It began with the trial and execution of an eight-year-old girl for witchcraft in the spring of 1630. Compelled to name others involved in an alleged nighttime dance with the devil in the German town of Oberkirchen, young Christine Teipel’s confession sparked a wave of fingerpointing and subsequent trials. Within just three months, 58 people, including 22 men and two children, were burned at the stake there.

“The Oberkirchen trials represent just a small fraction of those that led to the execution of some 25,000 alleged witches between 1500 and 1782 in Germany. The country was a hotbed of persecution… some 40 percent of the 60,000 witches who were tortured and killed in Europe during the infamous era were executed in what is now modern Germany…

“In a time when many regions were fighting for political domination, historians believe that leaders also used the trials as an expression of power… And, contrary to common belief, it wasn’t just the Catholic Church that encouraged witch hunts. The Protestant Church was behind a significant number of trials…”

We should not believe that these events are just ancient history, and that something similar could not happen again in the 21st century.

Catholic Distortions and Admissions on Christmas

On December 20, The Catholic agency, Zenit, published the following interview with Pietro Messa, president of the Higher School of Medieval and Franciscan Studies of Rome’s Antonianum Pontifical University. We are quoting the following revealing excerpts, manifesting a hotchpotch of convoluted distortions and—at the same time—eye-opening admissions regarding Christmas—a festival deeply rooted in paganism:

“We know that the early Christians, all of them being of the Jewish religion, observed the Sabbath, but on the following day, that is the present Sunday, they gathered to commemorate the Resurrection [Editor’s note: The early Church, including Gentile Christians, kept the Sabbath. They never commemorated the resurrection on Sunday—one reason is that they knew that Christ was resurrected on the Sabbath, and not on Sunday.] Hence, the first celebration held par excellence was Easter [Editor’s note: Easter is a pagan festival, which was not kept by the early Christians. The Church kept the Passover, but not Easter.]. Subsequently, other events of Jesus’ life began to be celebrated, such as the birth fixed on Dec. 25, namely, on the same day in which previously the Sol invictus was celebrated, that is, the celebration of not being overcome by darkness, given that the winter solstice had passed, the days began to be longer and light imposed itself on the darkness of the night [Editor’s note: It has been established that Christ could not have been born in December, let alone December 25. It is true that the Catholic Church gradually introduced into so-called “Christianity” the celebration of the pagan festival of Christmas on December 25, which had been kept long before the birth of Christ in honor of pagan sun gods. The early Church of the apostles never kept Christmas or celebrated Christ’s birth on December 25. They would have been abhorred about anyone who would have even suggested such a thing.]…”

Great Britain All Alone

The EUobserver wrote on December 9:

“A group of 26 EU member states is to forge ahead with an intergovernmental agreement on tightening economic governance in the eurozone, following a stormy summit in Brussels that saw the UK sidelined after it overplayed its hand…The break represents a major symbolic shift for the European Union which has never before cemented a disagreement so publicly and so thoroughly…”

This major symbolic shift will have major practical consequences.

Exactly 20 Years Later…

The New York Times wrote on December 9:

“Europe’s worst financial crisis in generations is forging a new European Union, pushing Britain to the sidelines and creating a more integrated, fiscally disciplined core of nations under the auspices of a resurgent Germany. Exactly 20 years to the day after European leaders signed the treaty that led to the creation of the European Union and the euro currency, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany persuaded every current member of the union except Britain to endorse a new agreement calling for tighter regional oversight of government spending…

“The European Union… is now being reinvented by a united Germany… The big loser in Brussels was Britain…”

The fact that this new pact was agreed upon exactly 20 years after the Maastricht Treaty is no coincidence. At that time, Britain was a co-signer; now, Britain is being excluded. In the Bible, the number ten stands for judgment. Twenty (2 times 10) designates a severe time of judgment. Also, as one of the next articles points out, this week marked the tenth anniversary for the introduction of euro notes and coins in Germany.

… a Two Speed Europe

Der Spiegel Online wrote on December 9:

“… the summit’s outcome will seal the status of a two-speed Europe… Nor is the loss of importance in Europe that Britain has now brought upon itself in the country’s geopolitical interest. Indeed, its trans-Atlantic partnership with the United States will suffer as a result.

“In the eyes of politicians in Washington, Britain has been particularly useful because of its ability to assert influence in Brussels… The pact… also represents a shift of power… at the EU level. The ‘economic government’ of leaders of these countries can make decisions via euro summits and would not need to seek the approval of the European Parliament…”

AFP wrote on December 12:

“French President Nicolas Sarkozy admitted on Monday that the European Union was now a two-speed alliance… Separately, the head of France’s financial regulator branded Cameron’s Conservatives ‘the stupidest’ right-wing party in the world for pushing its leader into confrontation with Europe…”

This confrontation with Europe will continue. The Bible shows that ultimately, ten nations or groups of nations will arise in Europe, and they will give their authority to a charismatic political and military leader, who, in turn, will begin a war with Great Britain. The next articles speak for themselves, showing that Great Britain is not being perceived as a part of Europe—whether or not they nominally stay in the EU. However, Britain will not remain a EU member for long.

Britain Abrogated Any Leadership Role in Europe

The Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote on December 12:

“… nobody can seriously believe that Great Britain’s shrinking influence in Europe will have no consequences for the country’s economy… British industry is dependent on the European common market to which Cameron has just given the cold shoulder.”

The Financial Times wrote on December 12:

“Cameron has abandoned Britain’s claim to playing a leading role in the European Union. And the Continent is not prepared to wait. As the recent summit showed, it is quite willing to push forward with European integration even without the British…”

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote on December 12:

“…the euroskeptics who already view the allegations that England is isolated as a badge of honor, may agitate even more vehemently for Britain to leave the EU. And Cameron, who is correctly defending EU membership as being in the national interest, will have to see how he can stuff this genie back into the bottle — and how he can bring the tumult in his coalition back under control…’”

Britain In or Out?

Der Spiegel wrote on December 11:

“The British were never completely dedicated to European unity and the ongoing project of greater fiscal integration is better off without them… European leaders in Brussels hammered out an agreement… that conflicts fundamentally with the British understanding of Europe…

“But from the very beginning, Great Britain’s participation in a united Europe was a misunderstanding. When the EU was founded, the British still hadn’t finished mourning over their lost empire… In the 1960s, the empire was history, with one colony after the other declaring independence. But instead of turning toward Europe, Britain looked west to the US. And to this day, the UK feels much closer to America than it does to the frogs and the krauts on the other side of the English Channel…

“Great Britain is an EU member that never truly wanted to be part of the club. It was more of an observer than a contributor and it always had one eye on Washington. Indeed, it is telling that the country never joined the border-free travel regime known as Schengen — Britain still checks everybody who enters the country from the other side of the Channel. The political establishment was likewise extremely skeptical of the common currency from the very beginning…

“Now, finally, there is a clear line of separation. On the one side is euro-Europe with a treaty obligating them to stay within clear budgetary and sovereign debt boundaries. And there is the rest which still has complete sovereign control over their finances. The 17 euro-zone member states will no longer be forced to accommodate a country that rejects anything that smells like supra-nationalism…

“British historian Timothy Garton Ash, a critic of the euro-skeptic course followed by the Cameron administration, said recently… ‘If the euro zone is saved, there will be a fiscal union, which means a political union of the euro countries…. Then, in the next two, three or four years, we in Great Britain will face the final question: in or out?’

“If the British political class does not undergo a fundamental transformation, there is only one possible answer. Out.”

These are strong words with grave meaning. Not too long ago, we would have been hard-pressed to see these kinds of statements in the European press. Now, suddenly, overnight, the world seems to have changed… Note also the next article.

The Beginning of the End for Great Britain

Der Spiegel Online wrote on December 12:

“By casting his veto at the EU summit, Prime Minister David Cameron has signaled the beginning of the end of Britain’s EU membership. Many in Europe wouldn’t be sorry to see Britain go… Have we finally reached the end of this fractious alliance? Is Britain well on its way to once again becoming what it has always been both in geographical terms and in spirit: an island, politically and culturally far removed from Europe…?

“In the future, in addition to the old EU club of 27 states, there will also be one made up of the 17 euro-zone countries and their sympathizers. Isolated and paranoid, Britain will keep armies of lawyers busy watching over the EU like chained dogs to make sure that its institutions don’t ever assume an active role in matters that only concern the euro countries.

“Since joining what is now called the EU in 1973, the British have annoyed many Europeans with their constant and now notorious demands for special treatment, rebates and blocking tactics. They have placed a one-sided emphasis on making sure that the EU’s internal market functions as smoothly as possible, while sabotaging the establishment of a common foreign policy. They were just as allergic to the draft of a European constitution as they were to the free movement of workers.

“Britain is entering a new era. Indeed, Cameron’s veto marks the beginning of the end of Britain’s days as a member of the EU. Charles Grant is the director of the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think tank… [He] gives the island a decade at most before it severs its ties with Brussels for good… [Cameron’s] own party pushed him into distancing Britain from the continent… Many people in Britain view the EU as a neo-Stalinist power machine… Four years ago, a clear majority of Britons still wanted to stay in the EU. But that’s no longer the case, as 51 percent want out. And Cameron has now shown them the way…”

Britain’s exit might occur much sooner. As long as they are EU members, they are still under European scrutiny, as the next article shows.

Britain Cannot Escape

The EUobserver wrote on December 12:

“The European Commission has picked a fight with the British government… Economic and monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn on Monday (12 December) warned the UK that the City of London could not escape expanded European regulation of the financial sector and insisted that Brussels is on firm legal ground in the use of the EU institutions to police the new ‘fiscal compact’ – an intergovernmental agreement that Britain decided not to sign up to. ‘If this move was intended to prevent bankers and financial corporations of the City from being regulated, that’s not going to happen,’ he told reporters in Brussels.”

Political Union

The Euobserver wrote on December 14:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said a political union is beginning to take shape in the EU… Merkel said the crisis had seen Europeans ‘move closer than ever before.’

“Referring to a sense of determination in other EU leaders to overcome the eurozone problems, the chancellor said: ‘I am sure that this common sense of responsibility will remain with us far beyond the crisis…’

“However she was fiercely criticised by the Socialist opposition leader, Frank-Walter Steinmeier… [who] said the intergovernmental path chosen sounded ‘harmless at first glance, but it is not… With this (solution) we are putting Europe on a politically and legally fully incalculable path.’”

Abandoning the Euro Absurd

The Local wrote on December 14:

“The idea of abandoning the euro in the current eurozone debt crisis and returning to the Deutsche mark as called for by some people in Germany is ‘absurd,’ Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann said. ‘We’re doing everything we can so that that scenario won’t come about,’ Weidmann said… ‘The scenario we’re working on with the European Central Bank is a scenario for a solid euro,’ he told reporters.

“Weidmann, along with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, is scheduled to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the introduction of euro notes and coins at a ceremony in Berlin later on Wednesday. ‘There’s no plan B, no printer in the Bundesbank’s cellars,’ he quipped. ‘The only Deutsche marks still in existence are those on display in the currency museum and those which people are still coming to us with to exchange’ for euros.”

Russian-European Summit

Deutsche Welle reported in December 15:

“Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has pledged up to 20 billion euros of Russian investment to bolster the eurozone… The EU must be ‘preserved as a powerful political and economic force … [and the euro] preserved as one of the most important reserve currencies,’ he added. The EU is Russia’s biggest trading partner… With 41 percent of Russia’s currency reserves held in the euro and half of all Russian external trade conducted with the EU, Russia’s interests in the survival of the euro are clear…

“It wasn’t just economic concerns, however, which were on the agenda of the 28th EU-Russia summit in Brussels. Speaking at a press conference at the close of the summit, EU president Herman Van Rompuy said the bloc was troubled by reports of corruption in Russia’s recent elections… Tens of thousands gathered in Moscow and other cities in Russia on Saturday denouncing the polls on December 4 as a farce.

“Van Rompuy noted, however, that EU leaders had had an honest discussion with the Russian president. He went on to praise the regime’s response to the weekend protests. ‘In contrast, the recent large demonstrations were peaceful and the authorities in my view handled it very well,’ he added.

“On Wednesday the European Parliament called for Russia to hold a new round of ‘free and fair elections’  and conduct investigations into any fraud claims. Medvedev declined to comment on the demands, but noted that his country’s legislature had ‘expressed indignation with the position of the European Parliament.’

“No real progress was made during the summit over the issue of sanctions against Syria and Iran. Moscow has been blocking United Nations condemnation of the Syrian government’s deadly crackdown on anti-regime protests. Russia also opposes any further moves on Iran, whose nuclear program worries the West…

“Meanwhile trade between Russia and the EU is expected to grow further, with Russia expected to join the World Trade Organization on Friday following 18 years of negotiation. The accession would offer ‘a myriad of new opportunities for trade, investment and global growth,’  Van Rompuy said.”

In addition, Putin lashed out on Thursday against American propaganda, and even claimed that American drones and special forces killed Gaddafi. Europe’s rather mild stance on the matter shows how money rules this world…

European Banks Stop Serving American Customers

Der Spiegel Online reported on December 14:

“European banks are dumping clients with US citizenship due to a new American law meant to curb tax evasion. The law would require financial institutions around the world to report on certain client activities. Compliance, say many banks, is way too expensive. The idea was to ensure that US citizens were paying their taxes on investments made through overseas banks. The result, however, has been that Americans in Europe may have difficulties finding banks who want their business.

“According to a report in the Wednesday edition of the Financial Times Deutschland, several European banks have elected to no longer serve American securities investors due to stricter reporting requirements pushed through last year by the administration of President Barack Obama.

“German financial institution HypoVereinsbank has informed its customers that it will no longer offer certain services to its US-based clients or to US citizens as of Jan. 1. Deutsche Bank told the paper that it already cancelled such accounts held by American citizens in the middle of 2011. Germany’s second largest bank, Commerzbank, is considering a similar move… British banking giant HSBC has also reported that it will no longer serve US investors as has the Swiss bank Credit Suisse.

“The reason for the sudden reticence to serve American clients is the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which was passed in 2010 and will go into effect in January of 2013. The act requires all foreign banks to identify and report on US citizens with accounts holding more than $50,000 in an effort to clamp down on tax evasion. If banks refuse to comply, they could face a punitive 30 percent withholding tax on all payments from the US. The law is expected to increase tax revenues by $8 billion over the next 10 years… An official for DWPBank, which takes care of securities transactions for 1,600 banks in Germany, estimated that total cost of compliance in Germany alone could amount to €10 billion.”

The Local added on December 15:

“None of the banks have said they are restricting Americans’ run-of-the-mill banking activities such as making deposits into normal savings accounts. That’s because those transactions aren’t yet covered by US regulations… The regulations will only get more complex in 2013 when the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act comes into effect. That will require banks to report more information about account holders to American tax authorities, although specifics about what the law will require remain elusive, angering many in the financial services industry.”

Another example as to how man makes decisions without considering the consequences…

US Soldiers Leave Iraq

With the U.S. military ending its mission in Iraq, uncertain days lie ahead for that tumultuous Islamic country. Even though the following article by the Wall Street Journal seems to be overly enthusiastic and far too “patriotic” regarding the Iraq war which the USA did NOT win and which provides very little reason to be proud of, we are bringing you the following telling excerpts:

The Wall Street Journal reported on December 15:

“After nearly nine years of war, tens of thousands of casualties—including 4,500 Americans dead—and more than $800 billion spent, the U.S. military on Thursday formally ended its mission in Iraq and prepared to leave the country… In the coming days, the last of the 4,000 U.S. military personnel still in Iraq will follow the flag and head home—leaving fewer than 200 to serve as part of the diplomatic mission…

“The Iraq war has been a nine-year emotional roller-coaster ride for the American people and the military. With the destruction of Saddam Hussein’s military and advance on Baghdad accomplished within weeks, it at first appeared to be a quick victory for America and the world’s most technically advanced army.

“But within months of the taking of Baghdad, a growing insurgency emerged and turned the quick victory into a long slog. The advanced U.S. military was brought low by primitive weapons: homemade bombs made from fertilizer or discarded artillery shells… The surge, deeply controversial in the U.S., began to tamp down that violence in the summer of 2007, eventually restoring a measure of calm on a country that had descended into chaos.

“The U.S. force numbered more than 170,000 at the height of the surge—a mobilization that required grueling 15-month tours for many in the Army and constant trips to the war zone for a generation of Marines… Mr. Obama rose to prominence in part with his criticism of the Iraq war. He argued that it was a ‘dumb war’ that never should have been fought—a stance that helped him win the Democratic nomination. Bringing home the troops fulfills one of his major campaign promises.

“Iraqi officials say it also makes good on a pledge by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who won a second term by securing the support of parliamentarians who were dead-set against any extension of the U.S. troop presence.”

The New York Times added on December 15:

“The United States military officially declared an end to its mission in Iraq on Thursday even as violence continues to plague the country and the Muslim world remains distrustful of American power… The war was started by the Bush administration in March 2003 on arguments that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and had ties to Al Qaeda that might grow to an alliance threatening the United States with a mass-casualty terrorist attack.  As the absence of unconventional weapons proved a humiliation for the administration and the intelligence community, the war effort was reframed as being about bringing democracy to the Middle East…”

BBC News wrote on December 15:

“Some 4,500 US soldiers and more than 100,000 Iraqis have died in the war. The conflict, launched by the Bush administration in March 2003, soon became hugely unpopular as claims that Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction and supporting al-Qaeda militants turned out to be untrue.

“The war has cost the US some $1tr. Republicans have criticised the pullout citing concerns over Iraq’s stability, but a recent poll by the Pew Research Centre found that 75% of Americans backed the troop withdrawal… Some Iraqis have said they fear the consequences of being left to manage their own security…

“But in the city of Falluja, a former insurgent stronghold which was the scene of major US offensives in 2004, people burned US flags on Wednesday in celebration at the withdrawal… Concerns have also been voiced in Washington that Iraq lacks robust political structures or an ability to defend its borders. There are also fears that Iraq could be plunged back into sectarian bloodletting, or be unduly influenced by Iran.”

The following article points out an interesting consequence stemming from US withdrawal from Iraq:

The Washington Times wrote on December 14:

“The U.S. military’s fast-approaching Dec. 31 exit from Iraq, which has no way to defend its airspace, puts Israel in a better place strategically to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities. Iraq has yet to assemble a force of jet fighters, and since the shortest route for Israeli strike fighters to Iran is through Iraqi airspace, observers conclude that the U.S. exit makes the Jewish state’s mission planning a lot easier.”

USA Loses Another Drone

The Washington Post wrote on December 13:

“One of the Air Force’s premier drones crashed Tuesday morning in the Seychelles, the Indian Ocean archipelago that serves as a base for anti-piracy operations, as well as U.S. surveillance missions over Somalia. The crash of the MQ-9 Reaper comes roughly two weeks after a U.S. drone went down in Iran.

“The Seychelles, where U.S. officials have worked closely with local officials to establish the drone base, is hardly enemy territory, and the drone that crashed Tuesday was operated by the Air Force, not the CIA, which operated the stealth RQ-170 that crashed in Iran. Still, Tuesday’s crash once again illustrates the fallibility of unmanned aerial vehicles. The Air Force acknowledged the crash at the Seychelles airport, and a spokesman for the service said the crash happened as the drone was landing. No one was injured.”

President Obama’s plea to Iran to please return the first missing drone—which “request” was of course rejected outright–would be laughable, if it wasn’t so pathetic. And now, the USA is losing another drone, also apparently due to mechanical failure. It appears that just nothing goes right for the USA these days…

Iran’s New Threats

Fox News reported on December 13:

“A high-ranking Iranian official has said Iran’s military will practice sealing off the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil transport channel, in a provocative move that illustrates Iran’s capability of disrupting the world’s oil supply… The announcement Monday… sent oil prices up about $3 to $100 a barrel…

“Pentagon Spokesman Doug Wilson responded by saying although he has no information on the exercises, the United States government is committed to the free and safe passage in international waters and anything that interferes with that would be ‘detrimental’… About 15.5 million barrels of oil a day, about a sixth of global consumption, flows through the Strait of Hormuz…”

The Vatican and Jerusalem

Israel News reported on December 15:

“‘Peace negotiations in the Middle East must tackle the issue of the status of the holy sites of Jerusalem’, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, head of the Vatican’s Council for Interreligious Dialogue, declared several days ago in Rome. The Vatican’s former foreign minister asked to place some Israeli holy places under Vatican authority, alluding to the Cenacle on Mount Zion and the garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. The first site also houses what is referred to as King David’s tomb.

“‘There will not be peace if the question of the holy sites is not adequately resolved’, Tauran said…  The Israeli government and the Vatican are deadlocked in discussions over the status of the religious sites. Vatican officials are now reiterating their demand for control over the religious sites…The Vatican’s former archbishop in Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah, just promoted an appeal to the European Union and United States to ‘stop the Hebraization of Jerusalem’…

“A few days earlier, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal, gave a speech to greet the bishops of Europe and North America during their annual pilgrimage in Israel, in which Twal denounced ‘the Israeli right wing invading more and more of Jerusalem and trying to transform it into an only Hebrew-Jewish city, excluding the other faiths…’”

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.” 

“Israel Refuses to Tell US its Iran Intentions”

The Telegraph wrote on November 13:

“Israel has refused to reassure President Barack Obama that it would warn him in advance of any pre-emptive strike on Iran’s nuclear capabilities, raising fears that it may be planning a go-it-alone attack… The US leader was rebuffed last month when he demanded private guarantees that no strike would go ahead without White House notification, suggesting Israel no longer plans to ‘seek Washington’s permission’, sources said.

“The disclosure, made by insiders briefed on a top-secret meeting between America’s most senior defence chief and Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s hawkish prime minister, comes amid concerns that Iran’s continuing progress towards nuclear weapons capability means the Jewish state has all but lost hope for a diplomatic solution… If Israel is to attack Iran, many in the country believe time is running out. Last week’s report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) highlighted Iran’s apparent determination to build a nuclear warhead, but did not indicate how long it might take. Some in Israel, however, believe it is very close.

“… a strike would also have a ‘serious impact’ on the region. Iran could blockade the Straits of Hormuz, through which 25 per cent of the world’s oil exports are shipped, sending energy prices soaring. US military assets in the Gulf could also come under attack from Iranian Scud missiles. Iran would almost certainly fire its Shahab ballistic missiles at Israeli cities and press Hizbollah and Hamas, the militant Islamist groups it funds and equips, to unleash their huge rocket arsenals from their bases in Lebanon and Gaza…”

Haaretz added on November 13 that Benjamin Netanyahu said that Iran is much closer to building the bomb than most people realize.

Israelis Wonder About Deadly Iranian Missile-Site Explosion

The Los Angeles Times wrote on November 13:

“Israelis are taking a keen interest in the deadly explosion Saturday at a weapons facility in Iran that killed 17 people… Iran has said the explosion was an accident, not sabotage or an attack. But Israel’s top-three dailies put the ‘mysterious explosion’ on their front pages Sunday…

“Conspicuously absent from much of the local coverage is the question that nearly everyone here is asking: Did Israel secretly play a role in the explosion? Israel has previously been accused of sabotage against Iran, including assassinating scientists involved in the nuclear program and helping to unleash the Stuxnet computer virus. Israel never confirmed or denied a role in such efforts, and the government is not commenting on the latest incident.

“But Seattle blogger Richard Silverstein says a source he didn’t identify told him the explosion was the work of Israel’s Mossad, working with Iranian opposition groups… Israel Radio on Sunday quoted an Arab businessman who recently returned from Iran and said several of his colleagues were leaving Iran out of fear that an Israeli attack might be imminent…”

Iran’s Ongoing Propaganda

On November 14, 2011, Der Spiegel Online published an interview with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi. We are bringing you the following revealing comments, setting forth Iran’s propaganda and their continuing denial of the evidence, as well as their determination to fight a fierce war with the West:

“‘… we are prepared for everything… We won’t give up our independence… there’s no longer any point in making additional concessions. The nuclear question is simply a pretense for weakening us by any means possible… What is it that gives some nations the right to use computer viruses against us and murder our nuclear scientists…

“‘From its creation to the present day, the Islamic Republic of Iran has never given in to those who wanted to force it to do something… Those beating the drums of war are the same people who want to slow our progress. Iraq under Saddam Hussein forced us into an eight-year war. We don’t want another war… But if we are attacked, we do know how to defend ourselves. Every attack, of any kind, will meet with retaliation. Immediately, without a second’s hesitation…

“‘The entire thing was staged by Washington…  it provides the US with a diversionary tactic to distract from the financial crisis. The US government is presumably also hoping to destroy relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, two brother nations in Islam. Don’t forget, the US also justified its war against Iraq with falsified evidence… All of these measures are part of an American strategy of tacit warfare against Iran. They want to present us to the world as evildoers, while distracting people in the West from their own terrorist activities, such as murdering our scientists and waging cyber war.’”

These provocative, Goebbels-like words don’t dismiss the facts that the Iranian government has denied the Holocaust and has stated repeatedly that it wants Israel eradicated from the map.

Jordan Calls for Resignation of Syria’s al-Assad

The New York Times wrote on November 14:

“King Abdullah of Jordan added his voice on Monday to the growing pressure on the president of Syria to relinquish power, becoming the first Arab leader on Syria’s doorstep to call for a change in government to end the increasingly bloody political uprising there. The Jordanian monarch’s remarks… came as Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, was still smarting from the Arab League’s unexpectedly strong rebuke over the weekend with its decision to suspend Syria’s membership…

“Other countries in the region with historically close ties to Syria, notably Turkey and Iran, have warned Mr. Assad that he should take steps to satisfy the demands of protesters in the eight-month-old uprising… But the public comments about Mr. Assad by King Abdullah — who has faced some Arab Spring protests in his own country — went beyond what others have said…

“The United Nations said this month that at least 3,500 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising started in March…

“The European Union, meanwhile, sought to intensify pressure on Syria, imposing additional sanctions against some of the country’s citizens and restricting investment. But foreign ministers meeting in Brussels said there were no plans to take military action against Mr. Assad’s government in Damascus similar to the campaign that led to the overthrow and death of Colonel Qaddafi…

“The E.U. said it would keep the funds of 19 companies and institutions in Syria frozen. A European embargo on Syrian oil already devastated that sector, reducing oil production by as much as 75 percent. Syria’s oil exports represented anywhere from 15 percent to 35 percent of the state budget, and more than 90 percent of those exports went to Europe.”

In light of these interesting developments, you might want to review our Q&A on the future of Syria. Please also note the reference in Daniel 11:41-43 to the future of Jordan, biblical Ammon. For more information on Jordan, see our Q&A, mainly discussing the future of Egypt and its allies.

A Two-Speed Europe

The Economist wrote on November 11:

“Nicolas Sarkozy is causing a big stir after calling on November 8th for a two-speed Europe: a ‘federal’ core of the 17 members of the euro zone, with a looser ‘confederal’ outer band of the ten non-euro members…

“Mr Sarkozy’s comments are… worrying because, one suspects, he wants to create an exclusivist, protectionist euro zone that seeks to detach itself from the rest of the European Union… At 27 nations-strong, the European Union is too big for France to lord it over the rest and is too liberal in economic terms for France’s protectionist leanings…This chimes with the idea of a Kerneuropa (‘core Europe’) promoted in 1994 by Karl Lamers and Wolfgang Schäuble, who happens to be Germany’s current finance minister…

“Such ideas appeared to have been killed off by the large eastward enlargement of the EU in 2004… But the euro zone’s debt crisis is reviving these old dreams… But done wrongly, as one fears Mr Sarkozy would have it, this will be a recipe for breaking up Europe. Not two-speed Europe but two separate Europes. The first steps toward integration, the idea of holding regular summits of leaders of the 17 euro-zone countries, has already caused early friction with Britain…

“Mr Sarkozy’s words seem to have caught the attention of Joschka Fischer, elder statesman of Germany’s Green party and a former foreign minister, who said that the EU at 27 had become too unwieldy. ‘Let’s just forget about the EU with 27 members—unfortunately,’ he told Die Zeit, a German weekly newspaper. ‘I just don’t see how these 27 states will ever come up with any meaningful reforms.’ Indeed, some think the euro zone itself might be smaller than the 17 members…”

Merkel Ally Accuses Britain

Der Spiegel Online wrote on November 15:

“A senior member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats(CDU) said on Tuesday that Germany’s budget restraint had become a model for other EU nations and accused Britain of being too focused on defending its own national interests in its dealings with Europe. ‘Suddenly Europe is speaking German,’ Volker Kauder, who holds the powerful post of conservative parliamentary group leader, told the CDU’s annual party conference in Leipzig, in a remark that may fuel fears in some countries that Germany is becoming too dominant in the euro crisis.

“Kauder accused other euro-zone member states of having only just now understood what Merkel has been claiming for a long time: that the euro crisis wasn’t caused by financial market speculators, but by a lack of budget discipline… Kauder said the United Kingdom, as a member of the EU ‘also carries a responsibility for the success of Europe. Just looking for their own advantage and not being prepared to contribute — that cannot be the message we accept from the British,’ Kauder said, referring to Britain’s opposition to the financial transaction tax that Germany has been lobbying for in order to raise revenue for future bank bailouts… If Britain continued to resist the tax, the 17-member euro zone would have to introduce it on its own, he said.’”

The Daily Mail added on November 16:

“‘British people will be horrified by what is going on in Europe,’ said Philip Hollobone, a Eurosceptic Tory MP. ‘Foreign policy going back to the time of Henry VIII has been to try to prevent conglomeration of power on the continent of Europe which would be against British national interests. Here we are in the 21st century with a German attempt to create a single economic and political bloc. This is Britain’s golden chance to get out of the European quagmire and set ourselves free.’”

The German media has responded with anger towards Britain’s “anti-German” articles. Mass tabloid Bild Online and the California Staats-Zeitung of November 12, 2011, accused the Daily Mail of libeling Angela Merkel, allegedly calling her a Nazi. Whether those comments were actually made or misconstrued, it is becoming evident that the German population becomes more and more upset with portions of the British media. Please note also the next article.

Germany’s and Britain’s Different Visions of Europe

Der Spiegel Online wrote on November 17:

“British Prime Minister David Cameron is visiting Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday in Berlin, but the timing could hardly be worse. British euroskeptics are furious about a claim by a key Merkel ally that Europe is ‘speaking German,’ and speeches by the two leaders have made it clear just how different their visions of Europe are… ‘Merkel: More Europe, Cameron: Less Europe,’ was how Benedict Brogan, deputy editor of the Daily Telegraph, pithily summed up the speeches…

“The British are watching in alarm as Continental politicians push for further integration of the euro zone right before their eyes. The Cameron government faces a dilemma. On the one hand, they want to keep the greatest possible distance between Britain and the euro crisis. At the same time, they are insisting on their right to have a say. After all, what’s being discussed is a change in the very nature of the EU, and the UK is still one of the big three in the bloc.

“Britain’s special status was one of the anomalies in the old EU. Germany and France made many concessions to the British, who were determined to preserve their independence. Again and again, exceptions were made when the battle lines hardened. But, this time around, it’s hard to see how a compromise can be found…

“The debate in Britain is being almost completely dominated by the euroskeptics… Cameron… appears to be increasingly influenced by the euroskeptics. Indeed, he and George Osborne, his chancellor of the exchequer, bear some of the blame for the fact that the euroskeptics within their party’s ranks have been able to show more and more confidence. In recent weeks, they have repeatedly said that the euro zone was responsible for the fact that British economy is not growing. They have used the debt chaos on the other side of the English Channel as a scapegoat in order to dispel doubts about their own cost-cutting policies…

“Cameron, for his part, is in a rather tight spot. He’s hardly in a position to deny Merkel’s wish flat-out because Britain also has an interest in having a functioning euro zone. And he clearly doesn’t have an alternative vision of Europe except the status quo, which is untenable…”

Berlusconi’s Resignation “Most Dramatic Moment”

The New York Times wrote on November 12:

“With his country swept up in Europe’s debt crisis and his once-mighty political capital spent, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi resigned on Saturday, punctuating a tumultuous week and ending an era in Italian politics… His resignation came just days after the fall of Prime Minister George A. Papandreou in Greece. Both men were swept away amid a larger crisis that has threatened the entire European Union… 

“‘This is the most dramatic moment of our recent history,’ Ferruccio de Bortoli, the editor of the Milan daily newspaper Corriere della Sera, said Saturday…. The events in Greece and Italy this month raised concerns across the Italian political spectrum about the growing power of financial markets to shake governments…”

Mario Monti Italy’s New Prime Minister– High Hopes for the “Italian Prussian” in Rome

BBC News reported on November 13:

“Technocrat Mario Monti has been asked to form a new Italian government… Mr Monti, an ex-EU commissioner, said he wanted a return to growth for Italy and a return to pride for Italians… Mr Monti, a well-respected economist, is exactly the sort of man that the markets would like to see take charge at this time of crisis, says the BBC’s Alan Johnston in Rome…”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on November 14:

“There are those who would argue that, at its core, the European Union isn’t facing a currency crisis at all. Rather, the primary problem facing the continent is a dearth of adequate political leadership. It is a position which would appear to have received a boost on Monday, as markets across the world have reacted positively to the prospect of respected banker Mario Monti in Rome taking the place of Silvio Berlusconi, who resigned as Italian prime minister on Saturday. Not only did stock indexes in both Asia and Europe initially trend upwards on Monday morning, but the interest rate on Italian sovereign bonds fell to 6.4 percent, well below last week’s dangerous high-water mark of above 7 percent…

“Monti is widely respected in both Italy and Europe, having made a name for himself as a strong European Competition Commissioner… Monti, 68, quickly gained the nickname ‘Super Mario’ in Brussels. At home in Italy, however, he is more often referred to as the ‘Italian Prussian.’ ‘I have always been considered to be the most German among Italian economists, which I always received as a compliment, but which was rarely meant to be a compliment,’ Monti said last week during a panel discussion in Berlin.”

Deutsche Welle wrote on November 17:

“Monti said… his new technocrat cabinet would implement austerity measures that would be balanced by ‘growth and equity,’ and stressed that Rome could not risk being considered Europe’s ‘weak link’ any longer. The former European commissioner said the bloc was living through ‘the most difficult years since World War II’ and warned that the European project ‘could not survive the collapse of the monetary union.’

“Monti set a 2013 goal for eliminating Italy’s budget deficit (incidentally a promise Berlusconi failed to keep) and stimulating economic growth, and said changes to the country’s rigid labor market would be one of the main areas of focus. The euro rose after his statement, reaching $1.3525 after having fallen to $1.3440…

“Italy’s two biggest political parties – Berlusconi’s conservative People of Freedom party (PDL) and the center-left Democratic Party – have both said they will back Monti. A centrist grouping has also promised its support. Monti’s cabinet, which consists mostly of academics and experts and contains no political party representatives, was sworn in on Wednesday.”

“Need” for Closer European Political Union

Reuters reported on November 14:

“Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel described the ongoing euro zone crisis as the continent’s ‘toughest hour’ since World War II… saying she feared Europe would fail if the euro failed and vowing to do anything to stop this from happening… In a one-hour address, Merkel called for closer European political union…”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on November 14:

“As a first step, [German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble] want to amend EU treaties to allow notorious debtors in the euro zone to be placed under mandatory supervision by Brussels… As a second step, Merkel and Schäuble want the EU to move towards becoming a political union. This entails transferring more sovereign rights to the EU — and it would mean amending Germany’s constitution. This could either be accomplished under Article 23, requiring a two-thirds majority in Germany’s federal parliament, the Bundestag, as well as the Bundesrat, the upper legislative chamber that represents the states.

“A more challenging alternative would be to change Article 146 of the constitution via the direct participation of the population. According to this scenario, the Germans would drop the Basic Law and embrace a totally new constitution. This may all seem somewhat far-fetched, but there are members of the German government who are openly speculating this may happen. Schäuble believes that a national referendum on the German constitution would be an essential step in reforming the EU — and with good reason, since the constitutional judges in Karlsruhe have now made it clear on a number of occasions that the constitution leaves little leeway to relinquish more power to Brussels.”

The Local added on November 14, 2011:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel told a party congress of her conservatives on Monday that Europe was in perhaps its worst period since World War II but the crisis could offer a chance to make it stronger. [She said] that if Europe did not flourish, Germany would also suffer. ‘We need Europe because it is the basis of our well-being. Sixty percent of our exports go to the European Union, nine million jobs alone depend on it,’ Merkel said.

“… she said just as Germany had vowed to emerge stronger from the 2008 financial crisis, ‘now we must see to it that Europe comes out of today’s crisis stronger’… As the world’s number two exporter after China, Germany is Europe’s biggest economy and the paymaster for the eurozone’s rescue fund, which has already helped bail out Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

“But as anger simmers at Berlin shouldering the biggest burden, members of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union are putting forward a resolution at the congress to allow for struggling countries to exit the eurozone without leaving the EU… Delegates are also expected to face a motion on overhauling the balance of power within the European Central Bank to give Germany a greater say. Some CDU members want votes at the ECB’s policy-setting governing council to be weighted according to a country’s economic size and importance, rather than each of the 17 eurozone members having an equal say, as is currently the case meaning Germany has no more weight than tiny Malta.

“A poll for public broadcaster ZDF released Friday suggested that Merkel’s approval rating in her handling of the euro crisis had risen to 56 percent from 45 percent at the beginning of October.”

From Arab Spring to Mediterranean Fall?

USA Today wrote on November 14:

“More democracy or less? That’s the question Europe faces as it wrangles with a spiraling debt crisis that has cost the Italian and Greek leaders their jobs… Some wonder whether this move to bypass voters and politicians to pass tough changes will really work…

“Greek political leaders appointed former European Central Bank vice president Lucas Papademos as prime minster last week to shepherd a European rescue plan and impose steeper spending cuts to prevent the country’s default. Sunday, political leaders in Italy nominated former European commissioner Mario Monti to replace Silvio Berlusconi. The political classes in Greece and Italy are moving ahead without elections or referendums on what the people think. They are trying to impose belt-tightening measures and permit European Union inspectors to have oversight of the budget immediately to bring down their debt. It’s an arrangement many people find distasteful… Some analysts say it’s especially ironic that in the cradle of democracy, the people aren’t being asked for the approval of measures that would result in a loss of sovereignty…

“The problem for the eurozone is bypassing the voters… Some… say it is easy for Brussels, or Germany and France, to dictate to others what to do but more difficult to actually implement those measures on the ground… Greek voters, and possibly Italians, will probably have to settle for less of a say along with their dose of fiscal medicine, some financial experts say. ‘Earlier this year, we had the Arab Spring,’ said Marco Elser, an investment banker at Advicorp’s Rome office. ‘Now it’s looking like we are on our way to a Mediterranean Fall.’”

While especially Germany and France are trying to save the euro, no matter what the costs or methods, it should be realized that democracy and the sovereignty of individual member states are suffering in the process. The Bible makes it clear that ultimately, ten core European nations or groups of nations will arise out of the Eurozone, and they will, to an extent, surrender their sovereignty by giving their authority to an autocratic economic, political and military leader, called “the beast” in the book of Revelation. At that time, the concept of democracy in Europe will only be a distant memory. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.” 

Greece Still Buys a Lot of German Weapons

On November 12, 2011, The California Staats-Zeitung wrote the following:

“The small, crisis-hit nation [of Greece]… buys more German weapons than any other country. Some Greeks want to know why it is that France and Germany are demanding cut in pensions, salaries and public services, but the buying of arms is allowed to continue unabated… Greece is the highest military spender, in terms of percentage of GDP, in the EU… the US is the major beneficiary of Greek military expenditure…

“Greece’s defense budget is historically high due to the perceived threat from neighboring Turkey… critics in Greece argue that, as an EU member, Greece should be guaranteed protection from Turkey by its more powerful allies. Although the EU is not [yet] a military alliance, common sense suggests that Greece could reasonably expect support if it was attacked by Turkey…”

German Gold Untouchable

The California Staats-Zeitung wrote on November 12:

“Germany will not allow gold reserves held by its central bank, the Bundesbank, to be used to bolster the rescue fund for indebted eurozone countries, Economy Minister Philipp Roesler said… ‘German gold reserves must remain untouchable,’ Roesler said…, rejecting a proposal reportedly put forward by France, Britain and the United States.”

Right-Wing Terrorism in Germany

Der Spiegel Online wrote on November 14:

“Germans have been shocked to learn in recent days of the existence of a right-wing terror cell in their midst… The failure of Germany’s security authorities to solve a string of racist murders committed by a neo-Nazi group since 2000 has triggered accusations that they have underestimated the far-right threat… German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday that the case is a ‘disgrace for Germany’…

“Racist attacks on immigrants and their property, commonplace especially in the former communist east of the country ever since unification triggered economic upheaval and social dislocation, have routinely been dismissed as isolated incidents committed by thugs. Now, however, evidence discovered by chance has uncovered a well-organized, well-armed network of killers, bombers and bank robbers …

“Center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘… for years, a racist terrorist gang was able to rampage through Germany and execute immigrants. They were able to plan attacks, build and throw bombs. They were able to do all that because police, intelligence authorities and state prosecutors largely excluded racist motives. The crimes weren’t deemed to be acts of terrorism… Xenophobic crimes have too often and for too long been minimized… For decades, left-wing extremists in Germany were seen as intelligent and dangerous, right-wing extremists as stupid and therefore harmless…’

“Conservative Die Welt writes: ‘…the scandal is that the investigating authorities (and the public) didn’t detect the pattern of crimes or perhaps didn’t want to detect them. Nine strikingly similar crimes were dismissed as local disputes…’

“Tabloid Bild writes: ‘The cowardly criminals and their neo-Nazi views were known to the authorities in a different context. Despite all the informants available, they weren’t stopped. Were the domestic intelligence agents and police blind to the far-right risk? This question must be answered very quickly. The credibility of the police and the domestic intelligence authority are at stake.’”

For the future of Germany, please read our free booklet, “Germany in Prophecy.” 

“St. Martin’s Day” and Carnival in Germany

The Local wrote on November 11:

“Each November 11, Germans celebrate St. Martin’s Day…  It’s officially a Catholic holiday, but in recent years the lantern processions have become widespread even in Protestant areas of Germany. So just like Santa Claus has little to do with the birth of Christ, these days St. Martin Day’s is probably better known for the luminous procession than the [supposedly] saintly history… November 11 is the beginning of Advent fasting and hardcore Catholics get a last chance to feast before they abstain from greasy food and booze until Christmas… [Some] simply celebrate the beginning of carnival, as it starts on November 11 as well.”

The Local added the following in an accompanying article on November 11:

“Each year at 11:11am on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, Germany marks the beginning of the traditional ‘Fifth Season’ ahead of ‘Karneval’ celebrations. Particularly in the Rhineland, revellers take to the streets to welcome in a tradition rich in history, superstition and imbibing… The real celebrations, however, don’t get fully underway until next February on the run up to Lent… Some say eleven is a foolish number, others consider it to be lucky…

“The idea of 11 being lucky is also one of the superstitions driving loved-up couples to registry offices [that] have been experiencing a rush of couples wanting to get married on the seemingly auspicious date 11/11/11… Elsewhere in Europe, however, the eleventh of the eleventh has less festive connotations, particularly in the United Kingdom, where two minutes silence is held at 11am in memory of soldiers who have died in combat. The United States also marks Veterans Day on November 11.”

Our “Christian” world celebrates many “holidays” and engages in many practices, which have no origin in the Bible, but in paganism. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Is That in the Bible?–Man’s Holidays and God’s Holy Days.” 

Canada Will Sell Huge Oil Reserves to China Instead of USA

The Associated Press reported on November 14:

“Delays in building the $7-billion Keystone XL pipeline project will force Canada to sell its huge oil reserves to China instead of the United States, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has bluntly warned President Barack Obama. The White House has put off a decision on the 1,700-mile pipeline from Alberta to Texas until after the 2012 election so a study can be carried out into its impact on an environmentally sensitive area in Nebraska…

“But any delays, Canadian officials said, could mean up to 700,000 barrels of crude oil a day that would have eased the American energy crisis will be diverted to the Far East. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates it will also cost 20,000 jobs… Canada now has the third-largest deposits of extractable oil in the world after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. It is already the biggest supplier of American oil and is preferred over most other exporters because of the closeness to the United States and the long-standing friendship between the two countries.”

Supreme Court Will Hear Dispute on Obamacare in 2012

USA Today wrote on November 14:

“The Supreme Court’s announcement Monday that it will hear challenges to the Obama-sponsored health care overhaul opens the most important chapter in the legal battle over the law, amid the tumult of election-year politics. A ruling in the case would determine the federal government’s power to address the most pressing social problems, specifically how to ensure medical coverage nationwide. The decision is likely to be handed down in late June, right before the Republican and Democratic conventions for the 2012 presidential election. The main question in the dispute, likely to be heard over two days in March, is whether in requiring most Americans to buy insurance by 2014 [or face a tax penalty], Congress exceeded its power to regulate interstate commerce. The justices also will address whether or not the entire law is doomed if that insurance mandate falls…

“The health care law, signed by President Obama in March 2010… extends insurance coverage to more than 30 million Americans… Monday’s order scheduling 5 1/2 hours of oral arguments — a modern record for arguments on a single dispute — makes clear that the justices want to take a comprehensive look at the law. Yet, it offers no new signal on how a majority might rule…

“Four U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals already had ruled on the law. Two (the Cincinnati-based 6th Circuit and the Washington, D.C., Circuit) declared it constitutional. One (the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit) deemed it unconstitutional. And one (the Richmond-based 4th Circuit) said no challenge could be brought until a person was forced to pay the tax penalty.”

Islamist Militant Group Threatens Nigeria’s “Stability”

CNN reported on November 7:

“An Islamic militant group responsible for a wave of suicide attacks, car bombs, assassinations and assaults across northeastern Nigeria threatens the stability of the country… Boko Haram means ‘Western education is a sin.’ Depending on the faction, the group’s ambitions range from the stricter enforcement of Sharia law — which is derived from the Koran as the ‘word of God’ — across the predominantly Muslim north of Nigeria, to the total destruction of the Nigerian state and its government…

“Boko Haram’s grievances remain local, but it has proven itself capable and willing to attack international institutions–such as the United Nations–on Nigerian soil to achieve their aims… Although the northern populace mostly abhors the violence, there is considerable local sympathy and support for stricter Sharia law, seen by many as the only way to put an end to what is widely regarded as a corrupt and inept government.

“Northern Nigeria has some of the worst human development indicators in the world despite the country’s being the fifth largest oil exporter to the United States. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been stolen by a succession of corrupt governments. As the attacks continue and the violence spreads from its base in the northeast, Boko Haram is winning perhaps its most important battle: making Nigerians question what most agree is the cause of the problem, their government.”

Deutsche Welle added on November 7:

“Meanwhile, representatives of the group say that its fighters are being trained in Somalia by the al-Shabab militant group, which reputedly has close ties to al Qaeda. Many observers of the Islamist scene in Nigeria believe such a scenario is at least plausible.”

For more information on the frightening rise of Islamist groups, please view our StandingWatch program, “The Arab Spring—a Nightmare?”

Attack on Israel Increasingly Likely… Russia and France Warn of Consequences

The Telegraph wrote on November 7:

“Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavov has warned that a military strike on Iran would be a ‘very serious mistake’ with ‘unpredictable consequences’, after Israel’s president Shimon Peres said that an attack was increasingly likely… Mr Peres said that ‘the possibility of a military attack against Iran is now closer to being applied than the application of a diplomatic option’. ‘We must stay calm and resist pressure so that we can consider every alternative,’ he added…

“Moscow, the closest thing Iran has to a big power ally, is deeply opposed to any military action against the Islamic republic… A raid on Iran’s nuclear facilities would be likely to provoke Tehran into disruptive retaliatory measures in the Gulf that would sever shipping routes and disrupt the flow of oil and gas to export markets.

“Some analysts have said it could backfire and bolster the theocratic regime to the detriment of the pro-democracy movement, and spawn terror attacks on Israeli and US targets around the world.”

The EUobserver added on November 7:

“France and Russia have in separate statements warned that a US or Israeli strike against Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons facilities could destabilise the Middle East… French foreign minister Alain Juppe said the UN and EU should intensify sanctions instead of taking the military option… Juppe added that France would help defend Israel if a regional conflict breaks out, however: ‘I hope it doesn’t come to that … [But] if Israel is attacked, France would stand by its side.’”

“A contact in the European External Action Service told EUobserver that Israel and the US will not consult with EU structures if they go ahead. ‘The first that we will hear about it is when we see bombs falling on CNN,’ the source said.”

The Daily Mail wrote on November 10:

“Israel will launch military action to prevent Iran developing a nuclear weapon as soon as Christmas, intelligence chiefs have warned… The International Atomic Energy Agency found that Iran is developing a nuclear test facility, nuclear detonators and computer modelling for a nuclear warhead that would fit on an existing missile.

“Sources say the understanding at the top of the British Government is that Israel will attempt to strike against the nuclear sites ‘sooner rather than later’ – with logistical support from the U.S… Officials believe President Barack Obama would have to support the Israelis or risk losing vital Jewish-American support in the next presidential election.”

The Local wrote on November 9:

“Germany and its allies have angrily lashed out against Iran after the UN nuclear watchdog published its harshest report yet on Tehran’s nuclear programme, saying it had sought to build atomic warheads… The European Union said the report ‘seriously aggravate[s]’ existing concerns over a military dimension in Tehran’s nuclear programme. ‘Overall these findings strongly indicate the existence of a full fledged nuclear weapons development programme in Iran,’ said Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.”

As we have stated for years, Israel might very well attack Iran, with or even without American or British help. An attack on Iran would have devastating consequences, to be sure, and it might set the entire Middle East on fire, which could even result in European involvement and intervention.

The statement by the French foreign minister is telling in that France would help Israel if it is attacked, but not necessarily vice versa, and that Israel (and the USA) might go about this alone, without first notifying their European allies. This is also interesting in light of the next article.

Anti-Netanyahu Comments by Sarkozy and Obama

Fox News reported on November 8:

“French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has labored to improve French relations with Israel, said he ‘can’t stand’ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called him a liar in a chat with President Barack Obama. The conversation between Sarkozy and Obama was overheard by reporters last week at the Group of 20 summit in southern France, via headsets that were to be used for simultaneous translation of an upcoming news conference… According to the French interpreter, Obama responded, ‘You are sick of him, but I have to work with him every day’…

“The overheard remarks by Sarkozy and Obama were prominently covered in Israel, where Sarkozy — whose maternal grandfather was Jewish — is widely perceived as a friend… Israel has had a fraught up-and-down relationship with France. The country was an early supporter of the Jewish state, selling it arms and planes and helping it develop a nuclear reactor. But the relationship soured under Charles de Gaulle, perceived as having abandoned Israel before the 1967 war…

“Netanyahu, meanwhile, is a controversial figure even at home. He is widely seen as divisive… The often blunt Sarkozy has shown little patience with Israeli hard-liners, and two years ago urged Netanyahu to fire his outspoken foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman… France… surprised Washington and other observers by voting last week in favor of membership for Palestine in UNESCO, the U.N. cultural and educational agency.”

Big Increase in Earthquake Activity in Oklahoma and Arkansas

The Associated Press reported on November 6:

“The magnitude 5.6 earthquake and its aftershocks still had residents rattled Sunday. No injuries were reported… But the weekend earthquakes were among the strongest yet in a state that has seen a dramatic, unexplained increase in seismic activity. Oklahoma typically had about 50 earthquakes a year until 2009. Then the number spiked, and 1,047 quakes shook the state last year…

“Scientists say they have no explanation for the quakes. They happened along an ancient fault, although it’s not clear yet whether shifting along the fault is what caused them… One reason earthquakes are hard to predict in Oklahoma is that the state sits over a series of smaller ancient faults, rather than a major fault, such as California’s San Andreas Fault…

“Arkansas also has seen a big increase in earthquake activity, which residents have blamed on injection wells… There are 181 injection wells in the Oklahoma county where most of the weekend earthquakes happened… But natural gas companies claim there is no proof of a connection between injection wells and earthquakes, and a study released earlier this year by an Oklahoma Geological Survey seismologist seems to back that up…

“Most Oklahoma residents still see earthquakes as anomalies in a state more often damaged by tornadoes.”

It is interesting that scientists don’t know why those earthquakes are happening. The Bible has predicted a long time ago that in these end times, we will hear more and more about increasing earthquake activities here and there—in diverse places.

Christian Politics Create Unholy Alliances

On November 7, USA Today published an article by David P. Gushee, professor of Christian ethics. The following was stated:

“Republican presidential candidates are trolling for conservative Christian votes. Christian political organizers are trolling for Republican candidates’ attention… The Democrats, too, will make some effort to join this game, as they did in the 2008 cycle… As an American and also as an evangelical Christian, I can hardly bear to watch this nightmare unfolding all over again. It’s bad for America. It’s bad for Christianity…

“Politicians continue to use and abuse the language and symbols of Christian faith in order to win political support. They speak of God, Jesus, Christian faith and Christian values. They bow their heads in prayer at a million chicken dinners. Then Christian voters — perhaps flattered, perhaps reassured — think that these evocations of holy Christian symbols and terms actually mean something…

“It used to be that only Protestants could play the religious tribalism card in the USA. But that changed as conservative Protestants and Catholics banded together over social issues (such as abortion and same-sex marriage)… Some conservative Christians are tempted to look for the candidate who is (or appears to be) most clearly a member of their religious-political tribe… These voters check off the Christian box and look no further, just as some liberals check off a candidate’s ‘pro-choice’ or ‘pro-union’ box and do the same.

“It’s not just the politicians’ fault. If church leaders and rank-and-file Christians were not susceptible to these appeals, they would not work… This version of Christian politics is inherently corrupting to Christian faith, ethics and witness. It encourages politicians to take God’s name in vain, and to do so routinely. (That would be a violation of the Ten Commandments, if Christians still cared about such things.) It tempts church leaders to abuse their offices and abandon their core vocations as they entangle themselves with politics. It confuses the message of Christianity with that of the politician of the moment… It drives many away from God altogether.”

Politics and religion don’t mix, and they have produced nothing but harm. One may only think of the abominable inquisition. A true Christian is a foreigner and alien on this earth. He is an ambassador of Christ. He will not get involved in politics, and he will not vote in governmental elections. For more information, please read our Q&As on the issue. http://www.eternalgod.org/qa/2259 and http://www.eternalgod.org/qa/2206

Religious Freedom under Attack in America

Zenit wrote on November 4:

“The sense of religious liberty is being lost in America, warned Archbishop José H. Gomez in a recent article… [He] noted that both courts and government agencies are increasingly overriding conscience rights when other rights or liberties are considered to be more important… Archbishop Timothy Dolan… explained that religious freedom ‘in its many and varied applications for Christians and people of faith, is now increasingly and in unprecedented ways under assault in America.’…

“Federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regulations… oblige all private health insurance plans to cover contraception and sterilization. This will oblige church employers to sponsor and pay for services they oppose… The Justice Department recently attacked what is known as ‘ministerial exception,’ a constitutional doctrine long accepted by courts that allows churches to make employment decisions concerning persons working in a ministerial capacity…

“Earlier this year a 2008 rule that granted conscience protection to health care providers who opposed participating in abortion and sterilization was mostly rescinded… Effectively, what will happen is that church organizations will be forbidden to practice what they preach…

“Earlier this year Illinois’s Department of Children and Family Services told the state’s four Catholic dioceses that it would not renew their contracts for foster care and adoption services because they were not prepared to include same-sex couples among their clients. The changed situation is a result of the ironically-named Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act, that came into force on July 1.The new law legalized civil unions for homosexual couples without protecting religious organizations…

“The Washington, D.C., Office of Human Rights is now investigating a complaint that the city’s Catholic University of America is violating the human rights of Muslim students. In his complaint John Banzhaf, a law professor at George Washington University Law School, alleged that by not providing them with rooms without Christian symbols the university is offending Muslim students… It seems that in an increasingly secularized society tolerance is to be extended to all, except churches and believers who want to live by their beliefs.”

Christ promised His true followers persecution for righteousness’ sake, and it should therefore be no surprise that it will become more and more difficult for converted Christians to stand up for their religious convictions, given the fact that the entire world—including the USA, Canada and Great Britain—is being ruled by Satan the devil who is seeking the destruction of the followers of God.

Abortions in the USA an Outcry

On November 6, USA Today published the following article by Gualberto Garcia Jones, who is a director of, and legal analyst for, Personhood USA, a group that opposes abortion and seeks to establish that the legal definition of “person” begins at fertilization:

“Increasingly, the American people are being treated paternalistically by a government, media and public sector elite that stands in direct opposition to our traditional American values… No greater example exists of this abuse of raw judicial power than Roe v. Wade, a decision by seven unelected men to impose abortion on all 50 states… To date, 55 million innocent human beings have been killed by abortion…”

Abortion is murder. Please read our free booklet, “Are You Already Born Again?”

Sharp Deterioration in EU-Ukraine Relations

The Euobserver wrote on November 7:

“Ukrainian negotiators have said there is no need to initial an EU trade and association pact at a summit in Kiev in December as previously planned… The change of plan comes amid Ukrainian complaints that the EU is unwilling to include a clear promise on future accession in the pact… The pre-summit manoeuvring comes amid a sharp deterioration in EU-Ukraine relations in recent weeks.

“EU leaders snubbed President Viktor Yanukovych last month by cancelling a meeting in Brussels after he jailed his political rival, Yulia Tymoshenko. His tough line on accession could be a pretext to bin the EU pact, freeing him to consolidate power at home and to focus on Ukraine-Russia relations instead. The new line on initialing could also be a face-saving exercise in case the EU side pulls back from the deal because of the Tymoshenko problem.”

Greece’s New Prime Minister

The Associated Press reported on November 10:

“Senior banker Lucas Papademos was named Thursday to be the new prime minister of an interim Greek unity government that seeks to cement a new European debt deal and stave off national bankruptcy. Papademos, who was named after four tortuous days of power-sharing talks, immediately called for unity and promised to seek cross-party cooperation to keep Greece firmly in the 17-nation eurozone.

“The 64-year-old former vice president of the European Central Bank was chosen to lead a temporary government… that will operate until early elections, tentatively set for February. He replaces outgoing Prime Minister George Papandreou… [Papademos] insisted Greece must defend its euro membership. ‘The participation of our country in the eurozone is a guarantee for the country’s monetary stability. It is a driver of financial prosperity,’ Papademos said. ‘And our country’s participation [in] the eurozone, despite the difficulties that arise, will facilitate the adjustment of the economy and its development.’”

More Europe, Not Less Europe

Reuters wrote on November 9:

“Merkel said Europe’s plight was now so ‘unpleasant’ that deep structural reforms were needed quickly, warning the rest of the world would not wait. ‘That will mean more Europe, not less Europe,’ she told a conference in Berlin.

“She called for changes in EU treaties… ‘It is time for a breakthrough to a new Europe,’ Merkel said… Italy has replaced Greece at the center of the euro zone debt crisis and is on the cusp of requiring a bailout that Europe cannot afford to give… Unlike Greece, an Italian default would threaten the entire euro project. EU treaty changes could take a year or more. Rome does not have that much time…”

Italy’s Worries—Berlusconi Must Go

Der Spiegel Online wrote on November 11:

“With the euro zone’s debt crisis now having enveloped Italy, many have begun wondering what the future European Union might look like. Berlin has denied reports of a potential euro-zone breakup, but many see the emergence of a two-speed Europe. First, though, Berlusconi must go… the European Union… has said that a recession in the euro zone has become a distinct possibility… the euro zone continues to focus more on its survival than on economic growth…

“Citing EU sources, Reuters reported on Wednesday that German and French officials had met to discuss a splitting up of the euro zone… Berlin was concerned enough to issue a swift denial. ‘The German government is most definitely not pursuing such plans,’ said Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, on Thursday. ‘On the contrary, our policies are aimed at stabilizing the euro zone in its entirety and attacking the root of its problems.’

“In a Wednesday evening speech in Berlin, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso likewise felt compelled to strongly condemn any moves aimed at splitting the common currency zone. ‘There cannot be peace and prosperity in the north or in the west of Europe if there is no peace and prosperity in the south or in the east,’ he said…

“On Tuesday, Sarkozy… pushed hard for a two-speed Europe, one made up of a 17-member, euro-zone core surrounded by a looser grouping of the 10 non-euro members… On Thursday, Sarkozy received support for his vision from an unexpected source: former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer…

“Concerns about the ultimate survival of the European Union as currently constituted and, particularly, the euro zone, have been heightened this week by the dismal situation in Italy, with interest rates on the country’s sovereign bonds well above the 7 percent threshold that analysts say makes long-term borrowing unsustainable.  Cause for particular worry is that the size of Italy’s economy, the euro zone’s third largest, makes it too large to bail out…

“Italian President Giorgio Napolitano moved on Wednesday to provide the kind of political clarity that… the markets are demanding. He said that reform measures would be pushed through parliament within a matter of days… Such a move would pave the way for rapidly creating a new government and forgoing weeks or even months of uncertainty. Still, observers remain wary as to whether the departure of Berlusconi, who had seemed reluctant — or unable — to pursue needed economic reform in recent years, will mark a turnaround for the country.”

As we have said, the euro is here to stay. However, tremendous changes and developments are and will be occurring in Europe, which will lead to the emergence of the prophesied ten nations or groups of nations, which will give their power and authority to the “beast”—a charismatic political leader who will still have to manifest himself on the world scene.

Britain Is Becoming More and More Isolated

The Sunday Telegraph wrote on November 6:

“Britain will be marooned inside a ‘permanent minority’ in European Union decision making in just three years’ times after rule changes kick in on member states’ voting powers, according to a new report. The document seen by The Sunday Telegraph shows that under changes already agreed to in the Lisbon Treaty, eurozone countries voting as a ‘caucus’ will have a permanent in-built majority in the EU’s Council of Ministers – its main decision-making body – from November 2014.

“Britain will be unable to block a plethora of new laws even if it joins together with other countries not in the eurozone – risking severe damage… The rule changes will virtually ensure that the EU becomes a ‘two speed’ operation with Britain in the slow lane – even without the greater ‘fiscal integration’ expected inside the eurozone as its 17 countries bring their tax and spending affairs closer together…

“The report comes amid further evidence that Britain is becoming more and more isolated as core EU nations develop closer links with each other… The eurozone as a whole already has 66 per cent of votes on its own, giving it a permanent inbuilt majority from November 2014 if it votes as a caucus. There are potential dispensations for countries to request individual votes are taken under the current system after 2014 – but this opt-out runs out in November 2017.”

As we have proclaimed for many years, it is very unlikely that Great Britain will be a part of the final configuration of the United States of Europe, which will consist of ten core nations or groups of nations.

The Decline of the U.S. Dollar

Reuters wrote on October 27:

“The U.S. dollar’s thrashing on Thursday after a last-minute European deal to contain the debt crisis may have sealed the currency’s fate. And it is all downhill from here. The European agreement, which involves a 50 percent write-down of Greek debt and boosting the euro zone’s bailout fund to as much as 1 trillion euros, has averted a collapse in Europe and spurred a rush to risky currencies and assets once again at the expense of the dollar…

“On Thursday, the greenback plunged to a seven-week low against the euro… But as in any market, the dollar’s decline won’t be straightforward. Indeed if the implementation of the EU agreement stalls or if there is a sudden freeze-up in global credit, investors are likely to buy dollars, as they have always done in the past in times of market stress… In the meantime, the trend to sell the dollar is in full swing and not many are willing to go against it.”

In spite of the ongoing Greek crisis (see articles below, under “Greece Angers Europe”), the inevitable and steady decline of the US dollar, and the corresponding rise of the euro are in line with biblical prophecy, showing that the EU or the coming United States of Europe will continue to prosper and become the most powerful and influential economic bloc in the world (compare Revelation 18 and Ezekiel 27). At the same time, Great Britain will ultimately not be a part of it. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.” 

The Division of Europe

Der Spiegel Online wrote on October 31:

“Last Wednesday’s summit in Brussels took important steps toward saving the European common currency. But it also made it clear that the European Union is being divided in two. Germany is the new Europe’s leader — for better or worse… It was a memorable meeting, and when it finally ended in the early morning hours of Thursday, a program to rescue the euro had emerged. It revealed the contours of a new Europe — a divided Europe, with a new border running between those countries which belong to the common currency area and those which do not. In the future, there will be two Europes within the European Union…

“Those countries that are not part of the euro zone are now no longer part of a core Europe, and are now being asked to leave the room when the truly important issues are being debated. While the 17 euro-zone members walk at the front of the pack, the 10 non-euro-members are forced to walk behind, like stragglers and second-tier nations. And now they have it in writing. In the closing document of last week’s summit, euro-zone member states grant themselves the right to work together more closely without having to wait for the non-euro countries…”

Cameron Blames EU for Constant Attacks

AFP reported on October 28:

“Prime Minister David Cameron has said London’s financial district is under ‘constant attack’ from European Union directives… Cameron told a BBC reporter that Britain’s finance industry should be protected from EU measures…”

Britain is on its way out of the EU. Der Spiegel Online wrote on October 27 about the real threat of a confrontation between the Eurozone countries and the other EU members—especially Great Britain. It added that already now, Great Britain is being largely excluded from the decision-making process of the EU. In this light, the following article gains a frightening dimension.

A Nightmare Scenario—Europe’s War Against Britain

On October 29, The Daily Mail published an interesting article from one of its writers. The article was prefaced as follows: “Europe at war 2018. German troops storm Greece. Putin’s tanks crush Latvia. France humbles the British Army. Unlikely, yes, but as Angela Merkel says euro meltdown could endanger peace, a historian’s imagination (Dominic Sandbrook) runs riot.”

The article continued:

“The date is October 29, 2018, and Britain faces its darkest hour. On the battlefields of Europe, our Armed Forces have been humiliated. In makeshift prison camps on the continent, thousands of our young men and women sit forlornly, testament to the collapse of our ambitions. From the killing grounds of Belgium to the scarred streets of Athens, a continent continues to bleed. And, in the east, the Russian bear inexorably tightens its grip, an old empire rising from the wreckage of the European dream…

“In suburban streets across Britain, old men and callow teenagers are digging defensive positions in the cold autumn air. But with equipment scarce and ammunition non-existent, the Home Guard would barely last a week. And all the time, across the Channel, enemy forces make their final preparations for the inevitable invasion. Some talk of surrender; no one speaks of victory. Less than ten years ago, millions still believed in a peaceful, united Europe. How did it come to this?

“… by February 2012, it was terrifyingly obvious that the latest eurozone package had failed… A month later, after an angry mob had invaded the Greek parliament itself, Greece announced it was withdrawing from the euro. Almost overnight, the European markets were hit by the biggest losses in financial history. As law and order collapsed on the streets of Athens, France and Germany sent in 5,000 ‘peacekeepers’ to restore calm…

“In the summer of 2012, massive anti-capitalist demonstrations in major Italian cities turned into outright rebellion. And when Berlusconi sent in the army to maintain order, the first bombs began exploding in the banks of Rome, Milan and Turin… And the bomb alert at the Bank of England —when the entire City had to be evacuated…— was merely the first of many.

“Six months later, Russian ‘peacekeepers’ crossed the border into Estonia, and in March 2016, Putin’s army occupied Lithuania, Belarus and Moldova. When Brussels complained, the Kremlin pointed out that European peacekeepers were already on the streets of Athens, Rome and Madrid. Why, Putin asked, should the rules be any different in the east?… Five days before Christmas 2016, Sarkozy told a cheering crowd in Vichy that ‘all European Union members must fully embrace our project and join the euro, or they will pay the price’…

“By 2017, Britain’s land forces were down to just 75,000. And when fighting broke out between French and British peacekeepers in the outskirts of Ghent, no one seriously doubted that the French would win. So it is that, a year later, we find ourselves at our lowest ebb. Aided by Spanish and Italian auxiliaries, backed by German money and quietly supported by neo-imperialist Russia, the French army has encircled our expeditionary force on the other side of the Channel and cut it to shreds.

“The Americans have deserted us, while every week brings fresh anti-war and anti-capitalist riots in our cities. The shelves are increasingly empty; national morale has hit rock bottom…”

Even though this is not quite the way it will happen, the Bible clearly predicts a war between continental Europe (under German, not French leadership) and Great Britain, while Russia will flex its muscles in the meantime, ready to strike Europe at an opportune time.

Greece Angers Europe

Deutsche Welle reported on November 3:

“Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou’s government on Thursday appeared to split over his proposed referendum on the country’s most recent European Union rescue plan… Shortly after the Greek cabinet gave its formal approval for the referendum, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos appeared to have changed his mind after talks with French and German leaders Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel in the French city of Cannes.

“Venizelos said in a written statement that ‘Greece’s place in the euro is a historic achievement’ and that ‘this established right of the Greek people cannot be put under scrutiny in a referendum…’

“Sarkozy and Merkel made it clear to Greece that the 100-billion-euro loan package agreed to by EU leaders last week cannot be renegotiated, and that a voter rejection of the bailout would be a de facto rejection of the euro currency. ‘We want to help Greece, and we want them to stay in the eurozone,’ Merkel said. ‘But the unilateral decision by Greece hangs in the air, and the situation has changed… The eurozone must be kept stable. We would prefer to accomplish this with Greece, rather than without Greece… ’

“Meanwhile state television reported Thursday that Development Minister Michalis Chrisohoidis had also changed his mind on the referendum, preferring parliament to vote on the rescue package rather than the entire Greek populace. ‘There can be no… return to the drachma and the past,’ Chrisohoidis said. ‘We must all assume our responsibilities.’ Papandreou’s Socialist majority in parliament appeared on the verge of collapse, after Socialist lawmaker Eva Kaili said she would not support the prime minister in a confidence vote on Friday. Without her vote, the Socialists would have a slim 151-seat majority in the 300-member parliament. Several other Socialist lawmakers have called for Papandreou’s resignation and the establishment of a national unity government, which would include the opposition, in order to safeguard the rescue plan.

“The conservative opposition leader Antonis Samaras joined those calls and said the bailout should be approved under the current parliament with new elections to follow. He has opposed previous bailouts, arguing their conditions made the recession worse, but said the current package is ‘inevitable and must be secured’ to provide Greece with desperately needed cash loans.

“Opinion polls suggest broad support among Greek voters for remaining in the 17-nation eurozone, however many have been frustrated by the seemingly endless government austerity measures, persistently high unemployment and a third year of negative economic growth.

“European leaders who have long dismissed the option of Greece abandoning the euro now appear to be open to the idea. Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of Luxembourg and chairman of the group of eurozone finance ministers, said ‘everything must be done’ to maintain the eurozone’s unity, but that he could not ‘force the Greeks’ to stay in.

“‘We cannot permanently ride a rollercoaster on Greece; we have to know where things are going, and the Greeks have to tell us where they would like things to go,’ he told German public broadcaster ZDF. ‘If the Greeks make clear via a referendum that they would feel better outside the eurozone than inside the eurozone, then this is a Greek decision, and our Greek friends have to describe the way by which they want to get out of the eurozone.’”

BBC News added on November 3:

“Mr Papandreou told reporters in Cannes his referendum would in effect be a vote on whether Greece should remain in the euro. But the European Commission said if Greece left the European single currency, it would have to leave the European Union as well… Greece was due to receive the next tranche of funds from its first bailout later this month. However, the EU has said it will not transfer the 8bn euros until after the referendum.”

Der Spiegel Online speculated on November 3 what would happen if Greece were to exit the Eurozone. The magazine concluded that it would mean an unparalleled catastrophe for Greece, but that the consequences for the other Eurozone member states and the worldwide financial market would be manageable. Bild Online added that Greece’s exit from the Eurozone would not destroy the euro, and that it would not lead to a worldwide recession or a depression. Der Spiegel Online also reported the following on Merkel’s and Sarkozy’s reaction to the most recent Greek announcements:

“Chancellor Merkel and President Sarkozy had harsh words for Greece on Wednesday… The idea of Greece exiting the euro, it seems, is no longer a taboo. ‘It was a serious situation, it wasn’t easy,’ said Merkel. ‘We will defend the euro. We want to do that together with Greece. But we are not going to jeopardize this great project of unity. That is our priority.’ Just to ensure that her warning was understood, Merkel added: ‘We respect the decision of the Greek people. But we are not going to give up the euro…’

“Sarkozy was just as direct as the German chancellor. ‘We are prepared to help,’ he said. ‘That is the foundation of European solidarity. But that also means that Greece fulfils its obligations. We will not allow the euro to be destroyed’… For the first time, the stability and security of the euro were placed above Greece’s ongoing membership in the euro zone. The agreements reached in Brussels shall not be tinkered with…”

Bild Online reported on November 3 that during the G-20 Summit in Cannes, President Obama congratulated Angela Merkel for her crisis management. BBC and other papers reported on November 3 that Mr. Papandreou agreed to a temporary transition government, and that “he is now prepared to drop the referendum proposal.”

The EUObserver confirmed on November 3 that Mr. Papandreou “is readying himself to step down and is likely to be replaced by a former vice-president of the European Central Bank” and that “The proposal to hold a referendum on the new Greek bail-out or a question asking whether the country should stay in the eurozone appears to have been shelved.” Der Spiegel Online added that the proposal to hold a referendum has been revoked.

As we have said from the outset, even though it is not inconceivable—but far from certain–that Greece may leave the Eurozone and the EU, it IS inconceivable that the Eurozone, as an institution, or the euro will fail.

Change in British Royal Succession

The Daily Mail wrote on October 29:

“Girls born to members of the Royal Family are to be given equal rights with boys in the succession to the throne as centuries-old rules were overturned today. As the historic changes to the monarchy were agreed, the Queen, at the Commonwealth summit in Perth, Australia, hailed the power of women to change the world. The reforms mean [that] if the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s first child is a girl, she will take precedence over any younger brothers in the order of succession. The 16 Commonwealth ‘realms’, including the UK, Canada and Australia, also agreed to scrap outdated laws which ban anyone in the line of succession from marrying a Roman Catholic.

“The changes were announced by Prime Minister David Cameron at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth. As politicians unanimously agreed [on] the dramatic reform to royal succession laws dating back more than 300 years, the Queen said the untapped potential of women and girls should be set free. Speaking at the opening of the summit of the 53 Commonwealth countries, she said: ‘The theme this year is Women As Agents of Change’… Most European monarchies have already established an equal law of succession – it is in force in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Now only Spain, Liechtenstein and Monaco are left with the old system…

“If the new rules had been in force in 1509 Margaret Tudor would have taken the throne instead of Henry VIII. That could have meant the Reformation would never have taken place and Elizabeth I would never have been Queen.

“If the practice had been changed as recently as the last century, Britain could have had two Queen Victorias back to back. Princess Victoria, the Princess Royal would have acceded to the throne in 1901 instead of King Edward VII. When she died just a few months later, her son Kaiser Wilhelm II would have ascended the throne – something which could have prevented the First World War. The Queen of England now would have been the completely unknown Princess Marie Cecile of Prussia…

“The deal was agreed today in Perth during a meeting of the Queen’s Realms – the 16 countries including the UK which share the Queen as their head of state…The removal of the barrier to the heir to the throne marrying a Catholic does not affect the position of the Anglican Church as the established Church. The Queen and future monarchs will be Anglicans and Supreme Governor of the Church of England. The change will also do away with an ancient and unused rule that means all descendants of George II are supposed to require the consent of the monarch to marry…

“Had an 18th Century law not been passed by Parliament, Britain’s monarchy throughout the past 300 years would have had a very different cast of characters… And instead of pledging allegiance to Elizabeth II, loyal British subjects would now be singing God Save Our Gracious King to… Francis II of Bavaria. The 1701 Act Of Settlement passed the crown to Electress Sophia of Hanover and her Protestant descendants – and banned all Roman Catholics from ever ascending the throne…

“Franz, Duke of Bavaria, is a distant cousin of the Queen and head of the House of Wittelsbach, Bavaria’s ruling family. He is the senior co-heir-general of King Charles I and therefore regarded as the rightful heir to the House of Stuart, which ruled England from 1567 to 1707. From birth Franz was recognised by the Jacobites as a Prince of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Prince of Cornwall and Rothesay. The Duke’s great-grandfather was the last king of Bavaria before being deposed at the end of World War One in 1918. During World War Two, the Dukes’ family condemned the Nazi regime and fled to Hungary. When Hitler’s stormtroopers marched into Budapest in 1944, the Royal Family was arrested and detained in a number of concentration camps. Following liberation in 1945, Franz studied business management at the University of Munich. Now 78, he still lives in an apartment in the city and is a keen collector of modern art.”

Bild Online wrote on October 30 that, if it had not been for the ancient British royal succession laws, Friederike von Reiche (52) could be Queen of England today. Her grandfather was the oldest grandchild of the last German Emperor, William II. All of this shows that God IS ruling in the kingdoms of men; that He gives the throne and dominion to whomever He wills (Daniel 4:17); and that He is seeing to it that prophesied events will take place, exactly as He had planned and purposed (Isaiah 46:10). Of course, we also understand that the Bible makes it very clear that a descendant of David is predestined to sit on the throne of David, until Christ returns. The throne of David was transferred through the prophet Jeremiah from Jerusalem to Ireland and then later to Scotland, and it is presently in England, showing that Queen Elizabeth is in fact one of David’s descendants.

Also, as the above-quoted article shows, the British Commonwealth is still an existing institution. The very historical and current existence of the British Commonwealth is in fulfillment of God’s prophetic promises to Abraham (compare Genesis 17), and more specifically, Jacob’s blessing of Joseph’s son Ephraim (compare Genesis 48), as more fully explained in our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.” As shown in this booklet, due to Britain’s continuous decline into ungodly conduct, God’s blessings are being steadily removed. Please note the next article as well.

UK Threat to Withhold Aid to Anti-Homosexual Governments

The BBC wrote on October 30:

“David Cameron has threatened to withhold UK aid from governments that do not reform legislation banning homosexuality. The UK prime minister said he raised the issue with some of the states involved at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia. Human rights reform in the Commonwealth was one issue that leaders failed to reach agreement on at the summit…

“Malawi has already had some of its budget support suspended over concerns about its attitude to gay rights. Concerns have also been raised with the governments of Uganda and Ghana… Some 41 nations within the 54-member Commonwealth have laws banning homosexuality. Many of these laws are a legacy of British Empire laws…”

Grotesque Failure of Arab Spring

Newsmax reported on October 30:

“Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich contends that the ‘grotesque failure’ of President Barack Obama’s Mideast policies has propelled an ‘anti-Christian spring’… Gingrich was referring to the wave of uprisings that have upset longtime autocratic regimes in the Middle East. Ironically, the plight of Christians in the Middle East is likely to worsen as the Arab Spring removes dictators who shielded Christian communities.

“The parties that are gaining power in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, and other countries tend to be offshoots of the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood… Christian Syrians have clung to the government of President Bashar Assad, despite his regime’s own atrocities and his threats against the West. They fear what might happen if Assad fell, having seen what has happened in neighboring countries. Indeed many Christians who have fled sectarian strife in countries such as Iraq have ended up in Syria.”

Is Israel Preparing to Strike Iran?

The Washington Times wrote on October 28:

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to execute a 1,000-for-1 prisoner exchange last week despite his frequently voiced opposition to such lopsided deals is seen by several Israeli military commentators as an effort to ‘clear the deck’ before possibly undertaking an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities…

“The Islamic republic has not been a top agenda item since the outbreak of the Arab Spring. Yet Iran’s nuclear program, which Western nations believe is geared for making an atomic bomb, has remained a key concern, despite Tehran’s denials that it is seeking to build a nuclear weapon.”

Reuters reported on November 2:

“Israel test-fired a missile from a military base on Wednesday, two days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of the ‘direct and heavy threat’ posed by Iran’s nuclear program. The noon launch near Tel Aviv, which had not been announced in advance, coincided with a week-long surge of speculation in local media that Netanyahu was working to secure cabinet consensus for an attack on Israel’s arch-foe.”

The Guardian added on November 2:

“Britain’s armed forces are stepping up their contingency planning for potential military action against Iran amid mounting concern about Tehran’s nuclear enrichment programme… The Ministry of Defence believes the US may decide to fast-forward plans for targeted missile strikes at some key Iranian facilities. British officials say that if Washington presses ahead it will seek, and receive, UK military help for any mission…

“In anticipation of a potential attack, British military planners are examining where best to deploy Royal Navy ships and submarines equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles over the coming months as part of what would be an air and sea campaign. They also believe the US would ask permission to launch attacks from Diego Garcia, the British Indian ocean territory, which the Americans have used previously for conflicts in the Middle East.

“The Guardian has spoken to a number of Whitehall and defence officials over recent weeks who said Iran was once again becoming the focus of diplomatic concern after the revolution in Libya. They made clear that Barack Obama has no wish to embark on a new and provocative military venture before next November’s presidential election. But they warned the calculations could change because of mounting anxiety over intelligence gathered by western agencies, and the more belligerent posture that Iran appears to have been taking.”

Haaretz wrote on November 3:

“Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi on Thursday responded to reports claiming Israel is planning a military attack against his country, stating Tehran is ‘ready for war’ with Israel… Salehi further warned that if any country would attempt an attack, Iran would not hesitate to retaliate.”

The Sword of Damocles is still hanging over the Israeli-Iranian relationship, and a coming nuclear war between these two countries is not unthinkable.

Germany Threatens To Halt Submarine Sale to Israel

Der Spiegel Online wrote on October 31:

“The German government is threatening to halt the delivery of a submarine capable of firing nuclear warheads in protest of the Israeli government’s recent decision to build new homes in the Arab part of Jerusalem… The threat by German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been the subject of considerable concern in Israel.

“The nuclear-weapons capable Dolphin submarines are an important part of the Israeli military strategy… In addition to its capability of firing nuclear warheads, the submarine also has a larger cruising range…”

German Hypocrisy

The Local wrote on October 26:

“As Germany this week marks a half century of mass Turkish immigration, The Local’s Marc Young explains why it’s time to end the country’s hypocritical stance towards dual citizenship.”

The article continued:

“With all immodesty, I’m a perfectly integrated foreigner in Germany. I speak German without a thick American accent, I voluntarily opted for state health insurance and, unlike many Germans, I even willingly pay my TV licence fees. I have a German wife and a half-German child. There’s just one thing I won’t have for the foreseeable future: a German passport.

“That’s not because I don’t want one – just the opposite. After almost 14 years in this country, I’d gladly become a German citizen… But I don’t care to sacrifice my American passport for the privilege… The United States, Canada, Britain, France, Sweden and countless other countries have no problem with dual citizenship. But Germany… sadly still clings to horribly antiquated concepts of nationality.

“Some German politicians – often conservative and Bavarian – believe that I and more than two million Turks simply aren’t worthy of German citizenship because we refuse to surrender our other passports.

“If I were French, I wouldn’t have this dilemma… Hoping to foster Franco-German friendship, the otherwise so stingy Germans allowed their pals west of the Rhine to have dual citizenship back in 2003. This was a nice gesture however, it also happened to be rather hypocritical one. Shortly thereafter, Germany was compelled in 2007 to give this right to all EU citizens, and not just the French, since defending such a blatant double standard would have been impossible in the European courts.

“But three generations Turkish immigrants – and a few well-integrated Americans – are still discriminated against… The state premier of Bavaria, Horst Seehofer, and many other German politicians claim you can’t be a loyal German citizen while holding onto a second passport. But speaking as someone with experience in both Europe and America, that’s nationalistic nonsense. Perhaps Seehofer should ask himself if his conservative colleague David McAllister is qualified to be the premier of Lower Saxony. The Christian Democrat just happens to be half Scottish with both British and German passports…

“Fortunately, my child will never have to choose between Germany and America because my wife is German. But until Germany catches up with the rest of the world, I’ll remain a US citizen – and a German taxpayer.”

Truer words have rarely been spoken. And the reverse is true as well—a German citizen who acquires the American citizenship is generally forced by the German government to surrender his German citizenship. Old nationalistic habits and prejudices don’t seem to die quickly.

Friendly Relationship Between Ukraine and Europe in Jeopardy

The New York Times reported on October 11:

“Yulia V. Tymoshenko, once one of Ukraine’s most powerful and popular politicians, was sentenced on Tuesday to seven years in prison, the culmination of a politically charged trial that could presage the end of the country’s short and often raucous experiment with democracy. The sentence was the maximum demanded by prosecutors on charges that Ms. Tymoshenko had harmed Ukraine’s interests when, as prime minister, she carried out negotiations with Russia in 2009 over the price of natural gas. Her supporters and many Western officials have insisted that her actions could hardly have amounted to a crime.

“The ruling will likely put a freeze on Ukraine’s integration with Western Europe, which the country’s president, Viktor F. Yanukovich has pursued even as he has flirted with the iron-fisted ruling style practiced in Moscow.

“‘This is an authoritarian regime that is distancing Ukraine from Europe, while using European rhetoric,’ Ms. Tymoshenko said in the courtroom. Mr. Yanukovich, she said, ‘is bringing Ukraine back to 1937,’ the height of the Stalinist purges. In recent weeks, American and Western European diplomats have warned that Ms. Tymoshenko’s imprisonment would make Mr. Yanukovich persona non grata in Western capitals and jeopardize Ukraine’s free trade and association agreement with the European Union, which is near completion.

“The European Union immediately issued a message via Twitter saying it was ‘deeply disappointed with the verdict.’… Catherine Ashton, the European Union foreign affairs chief, said… the verdict will have ‘profound implications for the E.U.-Ukraine bilateral relationship, including for the conclusion of the Association Agreement’…”

Der Spiegel Online stated on October 11:

“The European Union issued an unusually clear warning to Ukraine ahead of Tuesday’s verdict in the power abuse trial against former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. To no avail. A court pronounced her guilty — and may have significantly damaged EU-Ukrainian relations in the process. Prior to the verdict in the trial against former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, the European Union made it clear that there would be consequences should she be found guilty and jailed… The trial was the most controversial seen in Ukraine since the country gained independence two decades ago…

“Tuesday’s verdict presents the European Union with something of a dilemma. Should the EU make good on its threat to block greater economic cooperation with Ukraine, it could push the country into the arms of Russia. Russian Prime Minister (and president-to-be) Vladimir Putin would surely welcome Ukrainian membership in a customs free zone. On the other hand, there seems little chance that the European Parliament will now approve any sort of agreement with Ukraine. Neither, it can be assumed, would several national parliaments in the EU.”

The Bible shows that in the end, the modern “Medes” will attack and defeat continental Europe in a war. The modern Medes have been identified as peoples living in Russia and the Ukraine. It is therefore to be expected that a strong alliance between Russia and the Ukraine will be formed—or that Russia will overtake the Ukraine by force—and that any friendly relationship between the Ukraine and Europe will soon end.

Gadhafi’s Killing Illegal?

The Independent wrote on October 22:

“As politicians in Western capitals were taking quiet pleasure in the capture and killing of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi yesterday, opinions elsewhere were divided. In Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the Geneva Conventions had been breached with the killing of Colonel Gaddafi…

“Russia has been critical of Nato military action in Libya, saying that it has gone well beyond the stated mission of saving civilian life. The main concern for Moscow now is whether the new Libyan authorities will honour contracts signed by the Gaddafi regime…

“Reaction from other enemies of the US was varied. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez described the dead dictator as a ‘martyr’, while Iran’s foreign ministry tried to banish any parallels between the Libyan revolution and anti-government protests at home…”

Killing of Gadhafi a Disaster?

Newsmax reported on October 26:

“Donald Trump says the removal and killing of Libyan despot Moammar Gadhafi will result in ‘disaster’ because ‘at least he had control of his weapons,’ and under new leadership the United States won’t have any idea whose fingers are on the triggers… ‘We spend all this money and it will be worse than Gadhafi — [at] least he had control over his weapons, he had control over the country — I think what’s going on there is going to be worse,’ Trump said.

“‘You know what? When you look at him — I could care less for Gadhafi — but when you look at the way they treated him: I mean, these are the people that we are going to be dealing with. Do you think we really made a bargain there? We spent billions of dollars and we got nothing,’ he said. ‘The so-called rebels . . . they came to us and said: “We need help, we need help” — we could have said, we are going to give you help but we want 50 percent of your oil for the next 25 years. You know what they would have said? “How about 75 percent of the oil — we will give that too.” What do we get out of it? We get nothing. ‘So, you know, people talk about like Libya is a victory — Libya is not a victory — I think it’s a disaster,’ he said.”

Sharia Law for Libya

The Associated Press reported on October 23:

“… transitional government leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil… laid out a vision for the post-Gadhafi future with an Islamist tint, saying Islamic Sharia law would be the ‘basic source’ of legislation and existing laws that contradict the teachings of Islam would be nullified…”

AFP wrote on October 24:

“The announcement that Islamic sharia law will be the basis of legislation in newly liberated Libya has raised concerns, especially among women, despite Islamists insisting moderation will prevail. Interim leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil… [cited] as an example the law on marriage passed during the slain dictator’s 42-year tenure that imposed restrictions on polygamy, which is permitted in Islam…

“His comments have provoked criticism and calls for restraint both in Libya and in Europe, amid fears that the Arab Spring may give rise to a potentially intolerant Islamist resurgence. Libya’s Islamists are a rising force in the country’s political arena…”

The Telegraph reported on October 25:

“In a blow to those who hoped to see Libya’s economy integrate further into the western world, [interim leader Abdul-Jalil] announced that in [the] future, bank regulations would ban the charging of interest, in line with Sharia [law]… Libya is already the most conservative state in north Africa, banning the sale of alcohol. Mr Abdul-Jalil’s decision – made in advance of the introduction of any democratic process – will please the Islamists who have played a strong role in opposition to Col Gaddafi’s rule and in the uprising but worry the many young liberal Libyans who, while usually observant Muslims, take their political cues from the West.”

Dismantling of the B53 Bomb

Newsmax reported on October 25:

“President Barack Obama’s decision to dismantle the United States’ most powerful nuclear weapon is a ‘significant milestone of stupidity,’ Sean Hannity said on his radio show Tuesday. ‘This is a great strategy in a world that is as dangerous as it is,’ Hannity said of the final disassembly of the B53 bomb in Amarillo, Texas. ‘That is Barack Obama’s America, and this is what’s going to happen.’

“The administration further compromised the nation by leaving the door open for a military partnership with Libya, Hannity said. ‘Two days after the new Libyan government declared that they’re going to rule by Sharia, the Obama administration refused to rule out a possible military alliance with the Islamic state,’ he said.”

Islamists Win in Tunisian Election

The Associated Press reported on October 25:

“Islamists on Monday claimed victory in Tunisia’s first democratic election, sending a message to other states in the region that long-sidelined Islamists are challenging for power after the ‘Arab Spring’… Tunisia became the birth-place of the ‘Arab Spring’ when Mohamed Bouazizi, a vegetable seller in a provincial town, set fire to himself in protest at poverty and government repression. His action provoked a wave of protests which, weeks later, forced autocratic president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to flee to Saudi Arabia.

“The revolution in Tunisia, a former French colony, inspired uprisings which forced out entrenched leaders in Egypt and Libya, and convulsed Yemen and Syria — re-shaping the political landscape of the Middle East.”

Deutsche Welle added on October 25:

“Various observers have expressed concern that Ennahda has links with the country’s radical Islamist Salafist movement. Such connections are denied by the party, which has indicated that it intends to follow a moderate agenda.”

Many papers report that Ennahda is a “moderate” Islamist party. Time will tell how “moderate” that party really is, or if it is indeed a wolf in sheep’s clothing, as the next article suggests.

Doubts About the Arab Spring

Der Spiegel wrote on October 25:

“The strong showing by Islamists in Tunisia’s elections has raised doubts about the Arab Spring. Will rule by dictators in North Africa be replaced by Sharia law?… Tunisians disappointed Western observers this week by giving Islamists a big majority in the country’s historic first election… German commentators on Tuesday worry about the prospect of women’s rights in Tunisia…

“The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘It’s no surprise that the Islamist Ennahda party emerged as the strongest power from the some 80 parties that emerged from Tunisia’s revolution… Tunisia… is deeply rooted in Islam and its history… Not a few Tunisians who voted for other parties fear that Ghannushi is a wolf in sheep’s clothing…’

“Financial daily Handelsblatt writes: ‘Tunisia ushered in an era of free elections in the Arab Spring countries — and the Islamist Ennahda party promptly won a clear victory. In Egypt, where the parliamentary election is planned for November, the Muslim Brotherhood is likely to earn the most votes. And for the Libyans, who will likely vote in a few months, the Islamists will also play a big role… We should get used to the fact that democracy in many Arab countries will create strong Islamist parties…”

Persecution of Christians in Middle East

Newsmax reported on October 25:

“Attacked by mobs and terrorists, repressed by the growing popularity of fundamentalist Islamic law and cut off from crucial business ties, Christians are fleeing the Middle East in an unprecedented exodus. More than half of Iraqi Christians — an estimated 400,000 people — have left that country over the last decade as power has fallen in the hands of increasingly hostile Shi’a Islamic leaders.

“In Egypt, home to at least 8 million [Coptic] Christians — a number that exceeds the populations of Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, and Tunisia — at least 95,000 Christians have emigrated since March 2011… The situation threatens to worsen as the Arab Spring removes dictators who, paradoxically, shielded Christian communities. The parties that are gaining power in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and other countries tend to be offshoots of the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood…

“While Iraq was not part of the Arab Spring, the toppling of Saddam Husseim in 2003 by the U.S. military created its own vacuum and hundreds of thousands [of] Christians have fled the country due to sectarian strife. In Syria, where Christians make up about 10 percent of the population, a similar fate is feared should President Bashar al-Assad be toppled…”

Hostile relationships between the Middle East and the West are bound to continue.

Egyptian Warplanes Patrol Sinai Without Israel’s Consent

Y-Net and AFP wrote on October 13:

“Egypt’s air force chief said on Thursday that Egyptian warplanes are patrolling Sinai without Israel’s consent, despite a 1979 peace treaty limiting Egypt’s military presence in the peninsula. ‘Sinai is our land, and we do not need permission to increase our forces on our land,’ General Reda Hafiz told the official MENA news agency. ‘Egyptian planes conduct patrols to secure all Egypt’s borders, including the eastern border,’ he said.”

The relationship between Egypt and Israel will deteriorate…

Israel Helps Earthquake-Stricken Turkey

Haaretz wrote on October 25:

“For the first time since a massive earthquake struck Turkey’s east, Ankara has asked Israel for aid on Tuesday, after rejecting several offers by top Israeli officials in the last two days. On Monday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected an aid offer by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone conversation between the two leaders, representing the second such rejection since a 7.2 magnitude quake struck Turkey. On Sunday, despite the frantic search and rescue efforts, Turkey turned down Israel’s offer, as well as similar offers from several other countries…

“However, Israeli officials indicated on Tuesday that Turkish officials have indeed issued an official request for aid, saying that the Turkish Foreign Ministry asked that Israel send portable structures to be used as temporary housing for those who lost their homes in the quake… Officials indicated that the planned aid shipment was brought about following an initiative by President Shimon Peres, who contacted his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul immediately following the quake and offered relief.

“Later Tuesday, a Turkish official indicated that Ankara decided to accept offers of assistance from foreign countries, including Israel, after emergency management authorities declared the country would need prefabricated homes and containers to house survivors…

“The death toll in the earthquake rose to 432 on Tuesday, with 1,352 people injured… The Van region was also hit by a 5.4 magnitude aftershock on Tuesday…

“Turkey’s request for aid follows a period of tension in Israel-Turkey ties, following Israel’s 2010 raid of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, which resulted in the deaths of 9 Turkish nationals. Last month, Turkey decided to downgrade its diplomatic ties with Israel to the lowest possible level, with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu saying the downscale… was a direct response to Israel’s refusal to apologize for the flotilla raid deaths.”

In spite of Israel’s attempts to bring about a friendly relationship with Turkey—biblical Edom—prophecy shows that finally, a bitter and hostile relationship will ensue between those two countries.

Vatican Calls for Economic World Authority

Reuters reported on October 24:

“The Vatican called on Monday for sweeping reforms of the world economy and the creation of an ethical, global authority to regulate financial markets as demonstrations against corporate greed continued to spring up in major cities across the globe… The Vatican called for the establishment of ‘a supranational authority’ with worldwide scope and ‘universal jurisdiction’ to guide economic policies and decisions.”

It is interesting to see how the Vatican is becoming more and more involved in political issues…something which we can expect to happen in light of biblical prophecy.

The EU Crisis…

The Washington Post wrote on October 25:

“European leaders remained frustrated Tuesday in their efforts to craft a response to the continent’s debt crisis one day before a self-imposed deadline… U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said Tuesday that only clear, detailed steps would help convince global investors that Europe can contain its problems… With the euro area under pressure from major nations such as the United States and China for more forceful action on the debt crisis, analysts said it appeared unlikely that significant problems will be laid to rest at Wednesday’s meeting.”

Reuters reported on October 25:

“Wall Street may have become more anxious about the prospects of a solution to the euro zone debt crisis, but investors are not betting on disaster at Wednesday’s European summit. At least that’s the case in the options market. Although Wall Street’s so-called fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index VIX .VIX, rose 10 percent on Tuesday, the move is not dramatic by recent standards.”

In light of the present difficulties of the EU and the Eurozone countries, some predict a breakup of the present European Union structure, and the demise or collapse of the euro currency, stating that this will be followed by the powerful joining together of ten nations in Europe—led by a very charismatic “strongman.”

Even though it is true that a very powerful charismatic political and military leader of German descent will arise in Europe, this event will NOT be preceded by a collapse of the euro currency. Rather, this “strongman” will arise within the confines of ten Eurozone nations or groups of nations. When speaking about groups of nations, we realize that current political borders (such as borders dividing Germany and Austria) might not be recognized in biblical terms, and that the countries of Germany and Austria might be counted as one in the Bible.

However, it is very likely that the final configuration of the Eurozone countries will be different from the present ones, but we feel very safe in predicting that countries such as Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain will be part of it, while countries such as Great Britain, Sweden, Norway or Finland will not be.

“It’s Now or Never”

Der Spiegel wrote on October 26:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday that Europe’s future prosperity and peace were at stake in talks to overcome the debt crisis, and political leaders had a historic duty to restore economic stability.

“‘What is good for Europe is good for Germany, half a century of peace and prosperity in Germany and Europe testify to that,’ she said in a speech to the German parliament… ‘No one should think that a further half century of peace and prosperity is assured. It isn’t. And that’s why I say if the euro fails, Europe will fail, and that mustn’t happen’…

“Merkel, known for her cautious, low-key approach, opted for unusually grand rhetoric in her brief address to parliament, underlining the historic significance of current crisis talks. ‘We have an historical obligation to defend and to protect the unification of Europe that our ancestors brought out of the war more than 50 years ago after centuries of hate and bloodshed,’ said Merkel, sounding calm and confident. ‘None of us can foresee the consequences if that weren’t to succeed’…

“Merkel said she was convinced that the measures being discussed would enable Europe to turn itself back into a ‘union of stability’… But Merkel also demanded tougher rules on punishing nations that fail to meet stability rules in future…”

The Local added on October 26:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday said the euro’s weaknesses must be resolved ‘now or … never’, ahead of a crunch EU summit on the eurozone debt crisis. ‘The fundamental weaknesses and holes in the construction of the economic and monetary union must either be addressed now or, I say, never,’ she told German MPs. ‘And if we address them now, then we will have seized the opportunity this crisis presents us. Otherwise we will have failed,’ she said.

“Merkel told the Bundestag, the lower house of the German parliament, that resolving the weaknesses of the common currency could only be done with changes to European treaties. ‘Where does it state that treaty changes must take a decade?’ she said, adding that treaty changes always carry risks because they must [be] approved by all 27 members of the European Union’… Earlier on Wednesday, the China Daily newspaper reported that Beijing and other emerging powers had agreed to help the eurozone…”

The Merkel Miracle

The Drudge Report wrote about the “Merkel miracle.” It was referring to the parliamentary support of Angela Merkel for the new bailout plan, resulting in a climb of the Markets.

CNBC wrote on October 26:

“Germany’s Bundestag lower house of parliament approved a motion to strengthen the euro zone rescue fund via leveraging on Wednesday, providing Chancellor Angela Merkel with the mandate she needs to negotiate at a key euro summit later in Brussels.”

The Los Angeles Times added:

“Members of the Bundestag, Germany’s lower house of parliament, have given Chancellor Angela Merkel a strong mandate to increase the firepower of Europe’s bailout fund at today’s crucial summit in Brussels.”

As we mentioned before, even though most Germans don’t seem to appreciate what Angela Merkel is doing (according to Die Welt, October 25), she seems to have extraordinary vision in regard to the perceived need to save the euro and the Eurozone.

Germany Pushed into Leadership Role

The Washington Post wrote on October 22:

“For decades, Germany’s role in Europe has been to supply the cash, not the leadership. With fresh memories of war, the continent was cautious about German domination — and so were the Germans themselves. But the economic crisis has shaken Europe’s postwar model, and Germany increasingly calls the shots. As countries struggle to pay their debts, only Chancellor Angela Merkel has enough money to haul them out of trouble. And the price Merkel is demanding — more control over how they run their economies — is setting off alarm bells in capitals across the continent…

“Misgivings about a larger German role in Europe have been apparent inside the country, as well… And the rest of Europe remains cautious about taking German medicine, needing the help but worried about the side effects. ‘That’s the predicament of leadership,’ said Joschka Fischer, a former foreign minister who has urged Merkel to do more to support the euro.

‘When Germany acts, there is the fear that Germany will dominate. If Germany doesn’t act, it’s the fear that Germany will withdraw from Europe’…

“But when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Germany, long split between rival Eastern and Western blocs, announced plans to reunite, raising fears that a powerful nation at the heart of Europe would once again tower over its weaker neighbors. As a condition of French consent to the reunification, French President Francois Mitterrand demanded a steep price: that Germany give up its cherished stable currency, the deutsche mark, and bind itself to a common currency, and by extension to the broader tapestry of Europe.

“That worked for years. But time and circumstance are conspiring to put Germany in the driver’s seat. Continental powers including France and Italy have faded in influence, while inside Germany the long caution about being assertive has mostly worn out…

“’I can absolutely not accept’ that Germany and France make decisions, then present them to the rest of the euro zone, Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger told Austrian television last week. ‘There’s no economic board or diktat. We have a euro zone with 17 countries.’ In Germany, the dissension is raising eyebrows. ‘Everybody is calling for leadership,’ said the country’s deputy foreign minister, Werner Hoyer, ‘but no one wants to be led.’”

And so, Germany WILL lead, as the Bible has prophesied to happen in these end times thousands of years ago…

Crucial Summit in Brussels–Europe Will Protect Its Member States

Deutsche Welle wrote on October 27:

“The expectations from the two EU summits in the past four days were high. But on Thursday – after a long, long night of negotiations the leaders have come out with a handful of concrete results. ‘The world was watching and we showed it that we have come to the right decisions,’ said German Chancellor Angela Merkel as results of Wednesday night’s marathon summit broke just before dawn. Greece will get its debt cut – but that is not all. The aim was a complete package to solve the euro debt crisis – a debt cut for Greece, the expansion of the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF), the basis for all bailout plans, and a strong shot in the arm for banks. And the message – addressed to financial markets, investors and EU nations themselves – was that Europe will protect its member states threatened as they are by the growing crisis.

“French President Nicolas Sarkozy stressed how important the decisions were as he explained that the complex and necessary topics had led to very long negotiations. ‘But I believe the results will bring relief to the world, which has waited for tough decisions from the eurozone,’ Sarkozy said. That relief was felt on markets soon after the leaders’ announcement, with world stocks and the euro rising to their highest levels in nearly two months…

“Raising the pressure on the banks, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, EU President Herman van Rompuy and the head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, stepped up to the marathon negotiations. To do it, the actual EU summit was interrupted. Then, in the early hours of the morning – at around 3:30 a.m. – came the breakthrough. Finally, the banks agreed to write off 50 percent of Greek debt – roughly 100 billion euros ($140 billion). It will reduce Greece’s overall debt to 120 percent of gross domestic product. It is currently running between 160 and 170 percent… EU leaders were also able to expand the EFSF. Its power will grow to almost a trillion euros from its current level of 440 billion…

“All 27 EU member states have agreed to force banks to raise their core capital quotas – also known as Tier 1 Ratings – to nine percent by 2012. They are talking about an extra 106 billion euros in capital… Italy is one of the countries where the crisis could still spread. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has announced a number of reforms, but has done little to make them a reality. But under pressure from other leaders at the EU summit over the weekend, Berlusconi returned to Brussels on Wednesday with a new promise of reform.

“In a letter to the members of the EU summit, Berlusconi pledged to deliver a plan by November 15 to include adjustments in Italy’s job market, pension program, and privatization plans. Berlusconi’s outline of a plan also aims to improve conditions for business through less bureaucracy and modern organization. His plan made a good impression, according to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. But the last few days appear to have left their mark on Berlusconi, who faces ongoing speculation about his departure.”

Leader Merkel

AFP wrote on October 27, 2011:

“Chancellor Angela Merkel emerged from 10 hours of negotiations in Brussels with a plan to stem the debt crisis that might as well have been written in Berlin. The German leader forced French President Nicolas Sarkozy to bend to her will on using the European rescue fund only as a last resort, ruled out an automatic crisis-fighting role for the European Central Bank and dragged banks back to the table to take greater losses on Greek debt. She even wrung further budget concessions out of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

“‘Merkel got what she wanted,’ Shada Islam, an analyst at the Friends of Europe policy-advisory group in Brussels, said… ‘This has confirmed Germany’s role as the make-or-break player not only in the euro-zone crisis but in European Union affairs beyond Europe.’

“Two years after the debt crisis came to light in Greece, Merkel is finally translating her status as leader of Europe’s biggest economy and biggest contributor to euro-area bailouts into international clout…

“Merkel’s domestic allies praised her Brussels performance… ‘The world is celebrating Angela Merkel,’ Germany’s best-selling Bild newspaper said in its front page headline in its online edition late yesterday.”

Cameron Under Fire Over EU Referendum

AFP wrote on October 24:

“David Cameron on Monday suffered his largest parliamentary rebellion since becoming prime minister as around 80 Conservative lawmakers defied their leader to vote in favour of holding a referendum on Britain’s EU membership. Cameron’s government, which is against holding a referendum, in the end won the House of Commons vote 483-111 due to support from the Liberal Democrats — the Conservatives’ euro-friendly junior coalition partners — and the main opposition Labour Party. But the eurosceptic wing of the Conservative Party delivered Cameron a blow by ignoring whip pressure to vote in favour of a referendum in the biggest show of internal party dissent since he took office in May 2010…

“It is also the most serious ever rebellion against a British prime minister on the issue of the EU… Although the vote was never to be legally binding, the rebellion is politically significant, particularly as polls suggest it has public support. A YouGov survey for The Sunday Times this weekend found 66 percent of Britons back a referendum on European Union membership… The proposed referendum would ask the British public if they want to remain in the EU, leave or renegotiate membership, in the first such vote since 1975…

“Cameron has insisted he is defending Britain’s interests in Europe, and at a stormy EU summit on Sunday he threatened to ‘exact a price’ if the 17 countries that use the euro sought closer integration to deal with the crisis. His stance sparked a row with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who said he was ‘sick of you (Cameron) criticising us and telling us what to do’ about the eurozone.”

We received the following comment to this development from Brian Gale, minister in the UK: “I have been watching the news on television regarding the debate about the vote in the House of Commons over the question of holding a referendum on Britain’s EU membership. On the face of it, a vote of 483-111 seems a massive victory, but there is such a groundswell of dislike and almost hatred amongst probably most of the electorate about the hold and influence that Europe has on the UK, that it wouldn’t be surprising if this didn’t develop into a huge problem for the government – and all politicians – about the fact that the people who voted them into office are being ignored. It seems to many people that the politicians, once again, are riding roughshod over the wishes of the majority of the people.”

Ultimately, Great Britain will leave the EU… either voluntarily, or by compulsion. Note also the next article.

Britain’s “More Detached Relationship” to Eurozone in the Future

The London Evening standard wrote on October 26:

“To date, even though all of this has been foreseeable for months, European leaders have been shamefully slow to grasp the nettle… To stabilise the sovereign debt crisis, they need a very large bailout fund, much bigger than the 440 billion [euros] in the European Financial Stability Facility at present. And, ultimately, the only way to save the euro is probably greater fiscal integration. That will be politically difficult, and will require a new kind of EU, with countries outside the eurozone, such as Britain, having a more detached relationship. But unless EU leaders confront these painful realities now, the consequences could be catastrophic.”

Google Relieved by German Court Decision

The Local wrote on October 25:

“The [German] Federal Court of Justice ruled on a case concerning a man who attempted to sue Google for a libelous blog post made by an anonymous blogger who accused him of using a business credit card to purchase sex club services. An initial court hearing went in his favor, but this has now been overruled by the Federal Court in Karlsruhe which said Google had to make more checks and try harder to get in touch with the blogger. However, the Court also set out a process which web hosts should follow to avoid any liability.

“Someone who believes a blog entry violates the law must inform the hosting company – but allegations of illegality must be ‘concrete’ enough that they can be affirmed ‘without detailed legal and factual review,’ the court ruled. The allegations must be passed onto the blogger who must respond within a reasonable period – or the blog can simply be deleted. If the blogger decides to defend their entry, the complainant must prove that it is illegal, and if this cannot be done, the entry must remain.

“Google’s company lawyer Arnd Haller said the firm was relieved by the decision as it removed the potential duty of having to screen every blog entry for libel before publication. He said the judgment also meant Google would not have to remove blogs on demand from anyone who felt insulted. Google had argued that the lawsuit against it should be moved to US courts because the company is based in California – generally companies prefer to argue court cases under US law because liability rules are not as strong as in Germany. But the court ruled that it could be held liable under German law if a blog was clearly meant for a German audience, for instance by being written in German.”