The Controversial Killing of al-Awlaki

The Los Angeles Times wrote on September 30:

“The killing of two Americans by a U.S. drone strike in Yemen has reignited a debate about whether targeting U.S. citizens — even terrorists — is legal under the rules of war or constitutes an extrajudicial execution that ignores their rights. The Obama administration contends that U.S.-born radical cleric Anwar Awlaki was a legitimate target because he played an ‘operational’ role in Al Qaeda, alleging that, among other plots, he directed a 2009 Christmas Day plan to blow up a Detroit-bound jetliner… But some human rights advocates and legal scholars said the administration had never produced evidence to back up that claim.

“They said the 40-year-old cleric was an influential recruiter and motivator, but there was little evidence to directly link him to belligerent operations against the United States. The attack also killed Samir Khan, 25, a U.S. citizen and anti-American propagandist who ran an Al Qaeda-linked website that called for attacks on the United States. Diane Marie Amann, a University of Georgia law professor who has monitored terrorism trials for the National Institute of Military Justice, said the debate over whether Awlaki’s killing was legal hinges on whether the war against Al Qaeda is an armed conflict or an international police action.

“‘Viewed through the lens of ordinary criminal justice, for the government to kill a suspect rather than put him on trial is summary execution, clearly forbidden by U.S. and international law alike,’ Amann said. ‘Viewed through the lens of armed conflict, the result is different, however: The laws of war permit a state to kill its enemies.’ An array of international law experts defended the legality of the airstrike, illustrating the conflicting interpretations of law in the fight against terrorism.”

Haaretz wrote on September 30:

“The killing of al-Awlaki, who was born in the United States, may mark the first time that a U.S. Commander in Chief has given a public order to the country’s security forces to premeditatedly kill one of its own citizens, without access to a trial or due process under American law.”

The Wall Street Journal added on September 30:

“The case of Anwar al-Awlaki and his extrajudicial killing poses a legal and moral quandary for the U.S.: Can a country that so closely guards the presumption of innocence take a citizen’s life without so much as a court order?”

It is indeed a frightening development, when American citizens can be singled out for assassination without a fair trial, even though no charges had been filed against them and no evidence had been presented that they posed an immediate danger to the country. When our political leaders are given such unrestricted powers, it is easily foreseeable how they might be abused. How far may a future corrupt leader go to misuse such unlimited authority? We should never think something like this could not happen in a civilized country. One should only remember the horrors inflicted on millions of innocent people, when Adolph Hitler received and/or usurped such absolute authority. Not too many expected such developments at the time when he was elected.

Ron Paul Speaks of Wrongful Assassination

In an additional article, the Los Angeles Times wrote on September 30:

“Ron Paul, the Texas congressman who is seeking the GOP presidential nomination, on Friday criticized the Obama administration’s action in killing Anwar Awlaki… Paul was the strongest critic on the Republican side in condemning the attack, which was praised by other candidates… Paul told reporters that Americans need to think about such actions because Awlaki was born in the United States and was entitled to the same rights as all U.S. citizens.

“‘No, I don’t think that’s a good way to deal with our problems,’ Paul said in a videotape of the questioning by reporters. Awlaki ‘was never tried or charged for any crimes. No one knows if he killed anybody. We know he might have been associated with the “underwear bomber.” But if the American people accept this blindly and casually that we now have an accepted practice of the president assassinating people who he thinks are bad guys. I think it’s sad… To start assassinating American citizens without charges, we should think very seriously about this.’

“[Former New Mexico Gov. Gary] Johnson made the same points as Paul, warning that killing an American citizen without due process set a dangerous precedent despite the need for the United States to remain vigilant against terrorism… other parts of the Republican Party have advocated a foreign policy based on a more robust U.S. role abroad. Perry… praised the attack… Mitt Romney also praised the Obama administration…

“Ironically, the libertarian opposition to the attack was similar to the argument by the [ACLU] in its disapproval. ‘The targeted killing program violates both U.S. and international law,’ ACLU deputy legal director Jameel Jaffer said in a prepared statement. ‘As we’ve seen today, this is a program under which American citizens far from any battlefield can be executed by their own government without judicial process, and on the basis of standards and evidence that are kept secret not just from the public but from the courts. The government’s authority to use lethal force against its own citizens should be limited to circumstances in which the threat to life is concrete, specific and imminent. It is a mistake to invest the president – any president – with the unreviewable power to kill any American whom he deems to present a threat to the country,’ he stated.”

The warnings should not be ignored, no matter who is raising them.

Los Angeles Times Raises Concern

In a follow-up article, the Los Angeles Times wrote on October 2:

“Amid all the self-congratulation over the killing of Anwar Awlaki and the confident assertion that the world is a better place as a result, it is worth remembering that the secret, unilateral, targeted assassination of a U.S. citizen far from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan is hardly something to celebrate.

“If Awlaki was in fact the architect of terrorism attacks inside the United States, as officials maintain he was, then perhaps his demise is to be welcomed. But we don’t really know, do we? There was no transparent, legal, reviewable process by which he was placed on the list of those targeted for killing by the U.S. government. There was no judicial procedure, nor any public airing of the charges against him. He had no opportunity to respond to specific allegations.

“Even in wartime, the killing of a U.S. citizen — or anyone else — who poses no immediate danger is morally obnoxious. It also is impossible to harmonize with the U.S. Constitution. The 5th Amendment says that no citizen should be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. If Awlaki had been arrested in America, rather than assassinated in Yemen, he would have had an incontestable right to a trial…

“We understand the government’s conundrum. In this dangerous new world, our enemies don’t wear uniforms, threats cross national borders, and an order given abroad can quickly lead to devastation at home. The U.S. has struggled for a decade with how to safeguard people without crossing moral lines or violating individual rights.

“But if the United States is going to continue down the troubling road of state-sponsored assassination, the government should, at the very least, provide a clear understanding of the criteria used to decide who should be placed on the target list. And there must be some form of judicial review of those decisions; why should a judge’s approval be required to place a wiretap on a suspected terrorist but not to kill him? Since Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. has detained many alleged terrorists, only for courts to discover that the evidence against them was unreliable or wrong…”

When even an Obama-friendly paper such as the LAT raises legal concerns, it is high time to wake up.

Secret Panel Can Put Americans on “Kill List”

Reuters reported on October 5:

“American militants like Anwar al-Awlaki are placed on a kill or capture list by a secretive panel of senior government officials, which then informs the president of its decisions, according to officials. There is no public record of the operations or decisions of the panel, which is a subset of the White House’s National Security Council, several current and former officials said. Neither is there any law establishing its existence or setting out the rules by which it is supposed to operate.

“The panel was behind the decision to add Awlaki, a U.S.-born militant preacher with alleged al Qaeda connections, to the target list. He was killed by a CIA drone strike in Yemen late last month. The role of the president in ordering or ratifying a decision to target a citizen is fuzzy…

“The White House is portraying the killing of Awlaki as a demonstration of President Barack Obama’s toughness toward militants who threaten the United States. But the process that led to Awlaki’s killing has drawn fierce criticism from both the political left and right. In an ironic turn, Obama, who ran for president denouncing predecessor George W. Bush’s expansive use of executive power in his ‘war on terrorism,’ is being attacked in some quarters for using similar tactics. They include secret legal justifications and undisclosed intelligence assessments.

“Liberals criticized the drone attack on an American citizen as extra-judicial murder. Conservatives criticized Obama for refusing to release a Justice Department legal opinion that reportedly justified killing Awlaki. They accuse Obama of hypocrisy, noting his administration insisted on publishing Bush-era administration legal memos justifying the use of interrogation techniques many equate with torture, but refused to make public its rationale for killing a citizen without due process…”

Muslims Concerned

USA Today wrote on October 1:

“Muslim groups around the world condemned al-Awlaki’s violent message but questioned the military strike… Mosque leaders ‘are concerned that the alleged drone attack sends the wrong message to law-abiding people around the world’…  the statement said.

“The Ramadhan Foundation, a British Muslim group, suggested al-Awlaki should have been tried in an international court. ‘One of the greatest values of our countries is that every human being is entitled to a free and fair trial,’ said Mohammed Shafiq, who leads the Manchester-based group. ‘Terrorists and extremists are no different.’ The U.S. is disregarding human rights when it confronts terrorism, Shafiq said.

“‘I am disappointed that the United States government has increased this sort of extra-judicial killing without referring to the legal system,’ he said. ‘These drone attacks have no legal justification in international law and have killed thousands of innocent people, including children.’ It is ‘time for the Obama administration to restore justice and the rule of law,’ he said.”

Even though many Muslims did not approve of al-Awlaki’s activities, their reaction shows that the US action is not popular among many of them. The reason is clear: If controversial actions can be implemented against an unpopular individual such as al-Awlaki, who is to say who will be next on the target list?

Most Americans Don’t Care

BBC news wrote on September 30:

“… some in the US have criticised the administration’s targeted killing of a US citizen abroad, arguing he should have been arrested and put on trial. However… despite the fact Awlaki appears to have been targeted for his words rather than actions, very few Americans are likely to be concerned about any infringement of his rights.”

Sadly, many Americans don’t seem to care about anything these days except as to how to put food on the table. According to USA Today, less than one percent care about America’s “war against terrorism.” However, to ignore and even accept by default potentially illegal and unconstitutional actions is a very dangerous trend.

America’s Foolish Foreign Policy

Reuters reported on October 2:

“U.S. officials have met members of the Muslim Brotherhood’s political party, a U.S. diplomat said, after Washington announced it would have direct contacts with Egypt’s biggest Islamist group whose role has grown since U.S. ally Hosni Mubarak was ousted… The Brotherhood is one of Egypt’s most popular and organized groups, with a broad grassroots network built up partly through social work even in Mubarak’s era. The contacts may unsettle Israel and its U.S. backers.

“The Brotherhood [officially] renounced violence as a means to achieve political change in Egypt years ago. But groups like Hamas, which have not disavowed violence, look to the Brotherhood as a spiritual guide… The diplomat said contacts with the Brotherhood were part of [a] bid to understand Egypt better and explain U.S. policies.”

Fast and Furious

The Weekly Standard wrote on October 4:

“The Fast and Furious scandal, in which the Justice Department knowingly gave Mexican criminal gangs thousands of guns, just keeps escalating. The latest development centers around whether or not Attorney General Eric Holder lied to Congress about having knowledge of the controversial gun trafficking operation. Recently released documents say Holder was briefed about the operation long before he told the Judiciary Committee he was first aware of what was going on. (Holder now claims he misunderstood the question was being asked.)

“What’s more, CBS News investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson — who’s been covering the scandal from the beginning — says in an interview… that the White House and Justice Department have taken to screaming at her for reporting on the story… Finally, Attkisson notes that the White House is claiming that a thorough investigation of the scandal is unwarranted…”

Angry Protests Against Bank of America

Mail On Line wrote on October 1:

Police have arrested two dozen protesters for trespassing during a demonstration against Bank of America’s foreclosure practices at the banking giant’s offices in downtown Boston… Organizers say about 3,000 people joined the protest…

“The Bank of America website crashed yesterday after being overwhelmed by angry customers following the decision to charge them to use $5 a month if they use their debit cards. The site went down for hours in the morning and hours later service was still intermittent. The breakdown came less than 24 hours after the bank revealed it will roll out the fee early next year…

“Though the bank… will use the revenue to help increase revenue, the move is seen as biased against less wealthy clients as they are more likely to use a debit card because they are often denied credit.”

We are informed that the $5 monthly fee will apply to purchases with debit card—not for using it at a teller to withdraw money. Also, the bank may not begin charging the fee in all states of the USA next year, but may begin with certain (undisclosed) states first.

Hillary Clinton Changes Position on Israel

The New York Sun wrote on September 27:

“Secretary of State Clinton, in a sharp departure from her stance when she was a senator, is warning that any American action, even symbolically, toward recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel must be avoided for the reason that it would jeopardize the peace process. Her warnings were issued in a brief she has just filed with the Supreme Court — in which she is arguing that a law she voted for when she was Senator is unconstitutional because it could require the U.S. government to give to an American citizen born [in] Jerusalem papers showing the birthplace as Israel…

“Mrs. Clinton’s brief alleges that any American action that ‘symbolically or concretely’ signals it recognizes Jerusalem being in Israel would ‘critically compromise the ability of the United States to work with Israelis, Palestinians and others in the region to further the peace process.’ The brief contends that American policy is to remain neutral over all sovereignty issues, leaving them to negotiations, and that the U.S. thus ‘does not recognize Palestinian claims to current sovereignty’ in the West Bank or Gaza either…

“If the Obama administration believes in the neutrality principle it is asserting in the Supreme Court — and that the mere mention of ‘Jerusalem, Israel’ on its website, or putting ‘Israel’ on an individual’s passport, would violate that principle – the question will arise as to whether it will also scrub… the references to the ‘Palestinian’ territories. If it does not treat both situations the same, the Supreme Court may legitimately question whether the Clinton brief is asserting the true reason for the administration’s adamant opposition to the designation of ‘Israel’ [in connection with Jerusalem].”

Biblical prophecy indicates that the USA and Israel will be at odds in the future. Conduct such as the one described above might contribute to such development.

“Time Is Short”

Newsmax reported on October 2:

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warns that ‘time is short’ before Iran obtains nuclear weapons and poses a direct threat to Israel and the rest of the world. ‘Iran poses certainly a great danger to Israel, but it represents an enormous danger to the Middle East and to the world,’ Netanyahu said to PBS’s Charlie Rose, during a recent visit to New York to speak at the United Nations… ‘Iran supplies terrorists with rockets and many other things. It would give [terrorists] a nuclear umbrella or worse, actually give them nuclear weapons’…

“Pointing to steps Iran has already taken against Israel, Netanyahu said, ‘We vacated [Gaza] and Iran essentially walked in with its Hamas proxy, and they’re packing a lot of missiles. We walked out of Lebanon, and Iran walked in with its Hezbollah proxy, and they fired thousands of rockets into the north of Israel. The last thing we want is to walk away from the West Bank or pieces of the West Bank and have Iran come in and place thousands of rockets on Tel Aviv.’

“But Netanyahu still has hope that stricter international sanctions against Iran could bring down the Islamic Republic. ‘I think this regime is a lot weaker than people think,’ he said… ‘I don’t believe that the Iranian people will coalesce around a regime it detests… I think they’ll applaud this pressure, because they want to be relieved from this medieval regime, this violent theocracy that is oppressing them and threatening everyone else.’”

However, with this last pronouncement about the desires of the Iranian people, Netanyahu might be dead wrong. Also, note the next article.

Ganging Up Against Israel

Haaretz wrote on September 30:

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday and expressed anger over the approval of 1,100 housing units in… Jerusalem. The Chancellor’s office said Merkel told Netanyahu that the new housing permits ‘raise doubts over the Israeli government’s readiness to begin serious negotiation with the Palestinians.’

“Over the past two weeks Merkel, along with U.S. President Barack Obama, worked to issue a new Quartet declaration calling on the sides to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible. ‘The Quartet’s announcement made it clear that the sides must avoid taking provocative steps,’ Merkel told Netanyahu. ‘I cannot understand how only a few days after the Quartet’s announcement there is news of the approval of 1,100 new housing units.’ Merkel added that ‘the government of Israel must now clear the doubts over its seriousness. It is your responsibility…’

“On Tuesday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas spoke with Merkel and said he understood that the Quartet was calling for negotiations based on the 1967 borders and opposed unilateral moves, meaning construction in the settlements should stop.”

It should be clear from this article what the Quartet is really up to. Note the next article.

All Land Belongs to Palestinians

Haaretz wrote on October 1:

“Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has assailed a two state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, saying the Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations is doomed to fail… The Palestinians should not limit themselves to seeking a country based on the pre-1967 borders, Khameini said, because ‘all land belongs to Palestinians’… Khamenei also called Israel a ‘cancerous tumor’… Last year, Khamenei told a top Palestinian militant leader that Western support of Israel was ineffective, because Israel’s obliteration was imminent according to the will of God.”

The Vatican’s New Policy Towards Islam

Israel News reported on October 2:

“It has been five years since gave his controversial lectio about Islam at the German University of Regensburg. On September 12th, 2006, Joseph Ratzinger claimed that the god of the Muslims is both transcendental and unreasonable and he severely condemned jihad and the use of violence in the name of Koran. It was the only public event in which a Pope told the truth about some aspects of Islamic religion… It was… a vigorous attack against certain aspects of Islamic fanaticism.

“The reaction to the Pope’s speech was a familiar spectacle: Threats, riots, and violence. From the religious leaders in Muslim majority countries to the New York Times, all demanded the Pope’s apologies. In the Palestinian areas, churches were attacked and Christians targeted. In the Somali capital, Mogadishu, an Italian nun was executed. In Iraq, Amer Iskander, a Syrian Orthodox priest, was beheaded and his arms mutilated… The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood pledged ‘reactions worst of those against the Danish cartoons’… Under pressure, and aiming to stop any further violence, the Pope apologized.

“Benedict XVI recently visited again his native Germany, but this time with a different agenda. Five years later, the Vatican adopted a pro-Islam course and has capitulated to fundamentalists… Dialogue with Iran’s mullahs is pivotal in the new Vatican agenda… Last month, the Vatican published a letter… , addressing… ‘Dear Muslim friends.’ In the letter, [the Vatican] asked for Islamic help to form an alliance against atheism…

“The State of Israel is easily expendable in the new pro-Islam policy. In January 2009, thousands of Muslims marched in front of Milan’s Duomo to protest against Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. They burned Israeli flags and chanted anti-Jewish slogans. Joaquin Navarro-Valls, John Paul II’s spokesman for 22 years, defended the ‘freedom of expression’ of the Muslims who burned the Star of David. Months later, Pope Benedict visited Bethlehem… Benedict delivered a message of solidarity to the 1.4 million Palestinians isolated in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. He said nothing of the suffering of Gaza’s 3,000 Christians since Hamas took over that territory in 2007.  Benedict could have decried the bombings, shootings and other Islamist attacks against Gaza Christian establishments, the brutal murder of the only Bible-store owner of Gaza, or the regular intimidation and persecution of Christians there.

“A few weeks later… Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [gave] a speech [before the UN] condemning Israel as ‘totally racist’ and referred to the Holocaust as an ‘ambiguous and dubious question.’ When Ahmadinejad began to speak against the Jews, all European Union delegates left the conference room. The Vatican delegation didn’t say a word.
 
“To understand the new Vatican’s approach toward Islam, one should also read what happened in the historical synod on the Middle East hosted by the Pope last autumn. Nothing was said about Islamist persecution of Christians; indeed, every effort was made to show the Catholic Church’s sympathy to Muslim grievances, especially against ‘Zionism’ – a word evoked as a symbol of evil…

“The very roots of the Christian heritage in the Middle East are being extirpated. When last winter Christians were killed in Egypt, Cardinal Tauran and the Vatican foreign office requested to ‘avoid anger’ and downplayed the Islamist role in the butchering. In the summer of 2010, Bishop Luigi Padovese, Vatican vicar for Anatolia and president of the Catholic Episcopal conference of Turkey, was slaughtered by Islamic fanatics in Iskenderun on the eve of the Pope’s trip to Cyprus. Vatican diplomacy did its part to convince the Pope to immediately and preemptively rule out the idea that this was a ‘political or religious’ murder.

“Elsewhere, the number of Christians in Turkey declined from two million to 85,000; in Syria, from half the population they have been reduced to 4%; in Jordan, from 18% to 2%; nearly two-thirds of the 500,000 Christians in Baghdad have fled or been killed; in Lebanon, Christians have dwindled to a sectarian rump, menaced by surging Shiite and Sunni populations, and in Saudi Arabia Christians have been beaten or tortured by religious police. It’s an ethnic cleansing of monumental proportions that makes it clear why the Vatican’s submission to political Islam, along with its religious anti-Israel stance, will be remembered as one of the greatest moral failings of the 21st Century.”

The Iranian Murderous and Propagandistic Dictatorship

Fox News reported on October 1:

“Iran state media put out a stunning report Saturday claiming that imprisoned Christian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani is facing the death sentence for rape and extortion, not for apostasy and refusing to renounce his religion… [as] part of a larger Iranian media push to counter reports that Nadarkhani was facing execution for refusing to recant his Christian faith… In a ruling from the Iranian Supreme Court, translated into English by the ACLJ, Nadarkhani was sentenced to execution by hanging for, ‘turning his back on Islam’ and ‘converting Muslims to Christianity.’”

“The ruling also alleges that he also participated in Christian worship by holding home church services and baptizing himself and others, effectively breaking Islamic Law. FoxNews.com obtained a copy of the ruling and there is not a single mention of rape or extortion allegations…”

On October 3, Fox News added:

“Imprisoned Iranian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, originally sentenced to death for apostasy and refusing to renounce Christianity, is now in even greater danger of being put to death in light of reports in state-run media of other charges, including being a Zionist and a threat to national security. ‘The charge of being a Zionist and thus a traitor is among the most serious accusations that can be made in Iran,’ said Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice, or ACLJ.”

This Hitler-like regime will do everything in its power to advance its own interests, but the world seems to be, by and large, indifferent to the fundamental threat that this country is posing.  Some may utter meaningless and inconsequential “concern”—such as the US government did this week—while other countries and companies still cooperate with it. However, the same powers which inspired Hitler might very well be at work now in Iran. As a famous German proverb says: “If you want to eat with the devil, you must have a long spoon.”

Rockets Missing in Libya

Der Stern Online reported on October 2 that Libya’s new (transitory) government admitted that over 5,000 rockets are missing, and that nobody knows where they are. The magazine stated that these rockets are used to defend against attacking airplanes, but that they can also be used, of course, to shoot down civilian passenger planes.

This is indeed a potential nightmare scenario…

Soon–Civil War in Syria?

The New York Times wrote on October 1:

“The semblance of a civil war has erupted in Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, where armed protesters now call themselves revolutionaries, gun battles erupt as often as every few hours, security forces and opponents carry out assassinations, and rifles costing as much as $2,000 apiece flood the city from abroad, residents say… [They] speak of a decisive shift in past weeks, as a largely peaceful uprising gives way to a grinding struggle that has made Homs violent, fearful and determined.

“Analysts caution that the strife in Homs is still specific to the city itself, and many in the opposition reject violence because they fear it will serve as a pretext for the government’s brutal crackdown. But in the targeted killings, the rival security checkpoints and the hardening of sectarian sentiments, the city offers a dark vision that could foretell the future of Syria’s uprising as both the government and the opposition ready themselves for a protracted struggle over the endurance of a four-decade dictatorship…

“Homs is a microcosm of Syria, with a Sunni Muslim majority and minorities of Christians and Alawites, a heterodox Muslim sect from which President Bashar al-Assad draws much of his leadership.

“Six months of protests and crackdown here have frayed ties among those communities, forging the conditions for urban strife… Tension has grown so dire that members of one sect are reluctant to travel to neighborhoods populated by other sects. Men in some parts of the city openly carry weapons.

“Perhaps the most dramatic facet of the struggle is a series of assassinations this past week that have left nearly a dozen professors, doctors and informers dead in a paroxysm of violence that echoes the sectarian vendettas still besetting Iraq…

“Near the Lebanese border — where residents say weapons flow across a porous border from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and even Qatar — Homs strikes an odd posture. Many of its Sunni residents are at once fearful and proud, empowered by their opposition to dictatorship. Many Alawites are terrified; they are often the victims of the most vulgar stereotypes and, in popular conversation, uniformly associated with the leadership.

“In Alawite villages, only government television is watched. To do so in Sunni neighborhoods amounts to treason. There, Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya are the stations of choice…”

When will man ever learn that “violent uprisings” are tantamount to rebellion in God’s eyes, and they will never produce lasting peace? Such true peace will only come when Jesus Christ returns, and the heart of man will be changed…

Will Syria Set the World on Fire?

WorldNetDaily wrote on October 4:

“NATO troops are training in Turkey for a Turkish-led NATO invasion of Syria… Separately… Russia has been inspecting Syrian forces and has been advising Syria about possible Syrian military responses should NATO attack the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad… The report comes as Assad reportedly warned yesterday he will set the Middle East on fire if NATO forces attack his country. ‘If a crazy measure is taken against Damascus, I will need not more than six hours to transfer hundreds of rockets and missiles to the Golan Heights to fire them at Tel Aviv,’ Assad reportedly said, according to Iran’s state-run Fars news agency.

“Assad made the comments in a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmad Davutoglu, reported Fars… Assad also reiterated that Damascus will call on Hezbollah in Lebanon to launch an intensive rocket and missile attack on Israel, reported Fars. ‘All these events will happen in three hours, but in the second three hours, Iran will attack the U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf and the U.S. and European interests will be targeted simultaneously,’ Assad was quoted as saying. While Assad’s remarks could not be immediately verified, Iran, which runs Fars, is a close partner to the Damascus government.”

At the same time, the UN Security Council was not even able to pass a watered-down U.S.- and European-backed draft resolution on Tuesday, condemning Syria for its brutal crackdown on protesters, due to a double veto from Russia and China.

Clear Victory for Merkel

The Local wrote on September 30:

“In a move which was largely a formality, Bundesrat MPs who represent Germany’s 16 states approved the bill with no formal ballot, a day after it overwhelmingly won the backing of parliament’s lower house. During Friday’s debate in a Bundesrat extraordinary session, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble again stressed the urgent need to protect the eurozone…

“The vote before the Bundestag on expanding the €440 billion ($599 billion) bailout fund had also been seen as a crucial test of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s authority amid fears of a major backbench rebellion. However, she secured an overwhelming majority of her own deputies to back the move. Austria became the 14th eurozone state Friday to approve the new powers for the European Financial Stability Facility.”

Bild Online added that Merkel received much praise from the international press. Denmark’s Information wrote that the chancellor’s European spirit places her in the company of Germany’s great European chancellors Konrad Adenauer, Willy Brandt, Helmut Schmidt and Helmut Kohl. France’s Le Figaro wrote that one must admire the courage of Angela Merkel, and that the vote in the German Parliament reflects a personal victory for her. Switzerland’s “Tagesanzeiger” wrote that in light of the vote of the German Parliament, “Germany is better and more European than her reputation.”

The German government, presently under Angela Merkel, will continue to fight for the survival of the euro and the strengthening of the Eurozone, and other European countries will follow.

Germany Celebrates 21st Anniversary of Reunification

Deutsche Welle reported on October 3:

“Germany marked its 21st reunification anniversary in the former capital of Bonn. It was a significant showcase of unity against a backdrop of European disarray… As tens of thousands of visitors descended on sun-drenched Bonn to enjoy the public holiday, the country’s political elite gathered for the formal festivities in the old parliament building for an ecumenical religious service and a speech by Andreas Vosskuhle, the president of the Federal Constitutional Court…

“The justice said that Germany’s identity has been ‘closely linked from the beginning with the commitment to Europe,’ and he lauded the East German in particular for uniting Germany… Germany, as the European Union’s biggest economy, is a key player in trying to stem the EU debt crisis, but the struggle to rescue Europe’s debt-ridden countries is extremely unpopular in Germany.”

Even though Germans may complain, the country will continue to be the leader of the EU and finally, a united Europe, but it is Great Britain which won’t apparently be a part of it. Notice the next article.

Britain on Their Way Out…?

Mail On Line reported on October 2:

“A historic vote on growing demands for Britain to leave the European Union will be held in the Commons before Christmas. MPs will debate whether the Government should give voters a chance to decide the issue once and for all in a referendum… If MPs vote in favour of a referendum, the result would not be binding on the Government.

“But, combined with growing public opposition to the increasing power of the EU, it would put enormous pressure on David Cameron to let the people decide the country’s European fate. The Commons vote has been forced on MPs – and a reluctant Prime Minister – by public demand after the crisis in the eurozone, with desperate attempts to prop up the Greek economy, led to a surge in anti-Brussels feeling…

“In recent opinion polls, when asked directly, nearly half of [the] people want Britain to come out of the EU, with about a third in favour of staying in. But when the question was rephrased to give the choice of returning to a Seventies-style trade association, a clear majority chose that option…

“Since Britain joined the Common Market, there have been a series of Commons votes on whether there should be referendums on EU treaties such as Maastricht and Lisbon – although none on whether we should remain in the EU. All have been defeated, largely due to Government’s ordering MPs to vote them down.”

Ultimately, Britain will leave the EU, and it is most certainly not to be expected that Britain will ever join the Eurozone.

Europe Replaces the USA

Reuters reported on September 30:

“The powering down of Fermilab’s Tevatron particle accelerator on Friday marked the end of a quarter-century of U.S. dominance in high-energy particle physics. The Tevatron, which accelerates and collides protons and antiprotons in a four-mile-long underground ring, has been replaced by the Large Hadron Collider under the French-Swiss border, which began operating in March 2010…

“Europe has outspent the United States by a factor of three… lack of funding was the final blow for the Tevatron after the U.S. Department of Energy decided not to spend the $35 million needed to extend the Tevatron’s operation through 2014…

“‘We are whores to the machines. We will go to wherever the machines are to do our science,’ said Rob Roser, co-spokesman for CDF, one of the two detectors that used the Tevatron. ‘I personally will move to Europe to work on the next machine…’”

Greece’s Problems—but “Europe Can Afford It”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on October 4:

“The good news is that Greece will remain solvent until mid-November, despite the decision reached on Monday evening by euro-zone finance ministers meeting in Luxembourg to delay payment of the next tranche from the €110 bailout fund put together in 2010…

“The bad news, though, is that… European stock markets plunged for the second day in a row on Tuesday amid growing concerns that avoiding insolvency may no longer be possible for Greece…

“Jean-Claude Juncker, who heads up meetings of euro-zone finance ministers,… said on Tuesday that Greece… would remain solvent until November without the payment. ‘Everything will be done to avoid (insolvency) and it will be avoided,’ Juncker told news agency AP…

“With pressure increasing on both Athens and the euro-zone leaders to stabilize the crisis, civil unrest continued to swell in Greece, with protestors blocking off federal ministries across the capital on Tuesday morning in protest of austerity measures…

“Center-right daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘… Only two options are plausible. Greece could choose what amounts to an orderly insolvency… [or] Greece’s exit from the currency union and a debt haircut…’

“The left-leaning Berliner Zeitung writes: ‘No, the Greeks should not fall… the cultural revolution… has yet to begin, and can only be brought about by the Greeks. They must, however, be empowered to take action on their own. And this is not possible within the euro zone. Remaining under its support means a euro guardianship with protectorate-like conditions…’

“Left-leaning daily Die Tageszeitung writes: ‘Even as parliamentarians work on the second rescue package, Athens’ new deficits show that soon a third rescue package will be necessary… Actually an insolvency… could be agreeable, because the Greeks will never be able to fully pay back their loans. Still insolvency is no solution, because only past loans will be settled. The Greeks, however, continue piling up new debts, as the current budget deficit shows. Thus Greece will continue to need help for a long time. But consolation can still be found: Europe can afford it. After all, Greece only has 11 million residents — and an economic output equivalent to the German state of Hesse.’”

Whether Greece will indeed leave the Eurozone is far from certain…

Putin Dreams of Eurasian Union

Reuters reported on October 3:

“Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said he wants to bring ex-Soviet states into a ‘Eurasian Union’ in an article which outlined his first foreign policy initiative as he prepares to return to the Kremlin as the country’s next president. Putin said the new union would build on an existing Customs Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan which from next year will remove all barriers to trade, capital and labor movement between the three countries.

“‘We are not going to stop there and are setting an ambitious goal — to achieve an even higher integration level in the Eurasian Union,’ Putin wrote in an article which will be published in Izvestia newspaper on October 4… Putin said he saw the new union as a supra-national body which would coordinate ‘economic and currency policy’ between its members. It would also be open to new members.”

The Bible shows that a confederation of Russia and other Eurasian countries will develop, including China, India and Japan.

Putin the Saint to Be Worshipped…

Der Spiegel wrote on September 29:

“Mother Fotina… prays to Vladimir Putin. Her sect, in a village east of Moscow, honors Russia’s once and future president as a reincarnation of St. Paul. The group represents a rising trend in Russia, but its origins are surprisingly mundane… They believe [Putin is] a reincarnation of St. Paul… Mother Fotina… considers herself the reincarnation of Joan of Arc… Just as Saul persecuted Christians before his conversion to St. Paul, she believes Putin once beset the faithful as a Soviet KGB officer. The Soviets blew up churches, or replaced them with swimming pools, but ‘when he became president,’ she says, ‘the Holy Ghost came to him.’ Since then Putin leads his flock ‘wisely, just as the Apostle did’…

“Across Russia… popular affection for Putin has started turning to religious worship. The country’s top rabbi, Berel Lasar, swooned a few months ago that Russians had ‘every reason to ask God to bless you. Every day and every hour you do good for any number of people, you save hundreds and thousands of worlds.’ Vladislav Surkow, the influential deputy chief of the Kremlin administration, sees in Putin ‘a man whom fate and the Lord sent to Russia.’

“In Putin’s hometown of St. Petersburg, a proliferation of posters once showed the prime minister as an angel, with one hand extended, blessing the city’s inhabitants. Putin’s face was mounted on a photo of the cherubim crowning the city’s Peter and Paul Cathedral…

“In an act of staged self-sacrifice last weekend, President Dmitry Medvedev recommended to a party congress that Putin should replace him as a presidential candidate — and ultimately as president — in 2012. The 11,000 delegates and party members of ‘United Russia’ cheered like true believers in Moscow’s Ice Palace, at what amounted to a Coronation Mass…

“Mother Fotina believes the people have no choice anyway. ‘God has appointed Putin to Russia to prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ,’ she says…”

This is remarkable in light of the fact that there will also arise in Europe two powerful personages—one with a religious and one with a political and military function—who will be worshipped by the masses. The article, quoted above, shows how easily gullible people can fall for such deception.

“America Has Lost Patience with Europe”

The Daily Mail wrote on September 24:

“As the markets went into freefall over the last few days, the deterioration in relations between the U.S. and the countries of the single currency has become frightening. The Americans believe that if the world were to tumble back into recession or a prolonged depression, as looks increasingly likely, it would be the euro area to blame… All the hard work done in the U.S., Britain and other countries in the wake of the Lehman Brothers collapse three years ago… will have been wasted.

“… the falls in share markets around the world… are not the result of some Anglo-Saxon plot to bring down the single currency. The reality is that months of appalling indecision, driven by some of the mini-countries within the monetary union, had in fact underlined the need for Germany and France to seize the political opportunity to bring the crisis to an end…

“The big lesson of the Great Depression of the 1930s is that governments and central banks around the world were too slow to act… Britain cannot divorce itself from events given that up to 80 per cent of our trade is with euro-area nations. Without a eurowide rescue, the prospects of heading off a prolonged slump – which will devastate every British household and business – will be remote…”

It is interesting that while America blames the Eurozone for the present economic disaster, continental Europe blames America. In fact, anti-American feelings are again very much on the rise in continental Europe. The statement in the above article that “the deterioration in relations between the U.S. and the countries of the single currency has become frightening,” should give us pause to think and reflect on biblical prophecies for these end times. Please also note the next articles.

America vs. EU

The Washington Post wrote on September 24, 2011:

“Major economic powers and the International Monetary Fund on Saturday boosted pressure on leaders of the euro zone to resolve their lingering financial crisis, leveling criticism that included a sharp new economic warning from the United States… In an address to the IMF’s chief oversight committee, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner starkly outlined the worst-case scenario if the 17 euro nations don’t succeed soon: ‘Cascading default, bank runs and catastrophic risk’… The treasury secretary has been pushing for Europe to take dramatic steps to prove that the region’s governments and its central bank will stand behind weaker nations like Greece and prop up the financial system as needed…

“The European Central Bank is… concerned about taking on responsibility for government debt. Former German ECB board member Jürgen Stark… fired back at Geithner that it wasn’t fair to blame the euro zone for a crisis with roots in the United States…

“Chinese officials, their nation’s growth linked to exports to Europe and the United States, joined the criticism, arguing that the ongoing sense of crisis showed the shortcomings of western-style democracy and culture. ‘The issue is whether Europe can make a decision,’ given the 17 parliaments that must approve an expansion to the euro’s bailout fund, Gao Xiqing, president of the state-owned China Investment Corp., said at an IMF panel discussion on Europe…”

Apart from the emphasis on disagreements between the USA and the EU, what this article also suggests is that even the Eurozone is too big to make decisive and timely decisions. This concern is obviously shared by others, and will ultimately prompt a transfer of power to a smaller group of ten Eurozone countries and their transfer of authority to one charismatic leader.

Germany vs. USA

The Telegraph reported on September 28:

“Germany and America were on a collision course on Tuesday night over the handling of Europe’s debt crisis after Berlin savaged plans to boost the EU rescue fund as a ‘stupid idea’ and told the White House to sort out its own mess before giving gratuitous advice to others.

“German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble… told Washington to mind its own business after President Barack Obama rebuked EU leaders for failing to recapitalise banks and allowing the debt crisis to escalate to the point where it is ‘scaring the world’. ‘It’s always much easier to give advice to others than to decide for yourself. I am well prepared to give advice to the US government,’ he said.”

Der Spiegel Online added on September 28:

“US President Obama has given the Europeans a harsh lecture on the dangers of their ongoing debt crisis… On Wednesday, German media commentators slam Obama’s criticism of Europe.

“The mass-circulation Bild writes: ‘Obama’s lecture on the euro crisis … is overbearing, arrogant and absurd. … In a nutshell, he is claiming that Europe is to blame for the current financial crisis, which is “scaring the world.” Excuse me? The American president seems to have forgotten a few details. The most important trigger of the financial and economic crisis was US banks and their insane real-estate dealings. The US is still piling up debt … The American congress is crippled by a battle between the right and the left. The banks are gambling just as recklessly as they did before the crisis. The president’s scolding is a pathetic attempt to distract attention from his own failures. How embarrassing’…

“The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘Dark clouds have gathered over the American president. The gloomy state of the economy is putting a dampener on Obama’s future prospects. The optimism of the past is gone, replaced by a cheap search for a scapegoat. Obama thinks he has found one. He blames the Europeans for reacting too late to the debt crisis. We Europeans are apparently taking on too little new debt to get out of the crisis. But we are already feeling the wonderful effects of borrowing too much money.’

“The financial daily Handelsblatt writes: ‘That’s not how friends talk to each other. That applies particularly to friends who have themselves failed to get a handle on their own, self-made crisis. Barack Obama governs a country where, despite billions in state aid, the economy is stagnating, companies refuse to invest despite calls for patriotism, and which gets embroiled in one political trench war after another … Now this country is dispensing advice, suggestions and finger-pointing… In the desperate battle for his re-election he’d rather construct myths, such as claiming that the Europeans alone are responsible for the American mess. Not only is this fundamentally wrong, but — coming as it does from a friend — it’s downright pitiful and sad.’”

“The Euro Is Doomed”… Really???

We are quoting the following article to show you what seems to be logical and right in the eyes of human beings, who do not know biblical prophecy nor understand the mind of God.

The Daily Express wrote on September 25:

“Instead of accepting that the eurozone has failed, EU bosses want to spend even more money trying to sustain their disastrous project… Squandering trillions will do nothing to address the fundamental weaknesses of the eurozone, which meant it was doomed from the start… The Greek crisis should sound the death knell of the Eurozone…”

This article stands in stark contrast to the next one, which comes much closer to the prophesied truth. It strongly indicates what we have said from the outset; namely, that the current economic problems will not lead to the abrogation of the euro.

What Euro Crisis?

Der Spiegel wrote on September 23:

“The talk is and always has been of a ‘euro crisis’… Where, pray tell, is this supposed euro crisis?… What we are seeing is a crushing sovereign debt crisis, not a currency crisis. The intrinsic value of the euro — despite the talk about the dangers of massive inflation — is as stable as that of many other currencies.

“…compared to the dollar… the exchange rate has remained stable. Measured in terms of purchasing power, the euro is even overvalued against the US currency… A united Europe and the euro are the most important political projects of the postwar period. It would be a disaster if they were damaged by taking the wrong course of action.”

The Bible shows that the coming United States of Europe and the euro will not fail until they have fulfilled their prophetic purpose for these end times. It is interesting that mainly Angela Merkel is being “guided” to do whatever must be done to save the euro.

Merkel Prevails Again on Europe…

The Local wrote on September 29:

“The Bundestag approved the expansion of the eurozone bailout fund by a huge majority on Thursday. Chancellor Angela Merkel breathed a sigh of relief as 315 government MPs voted her way… the German parliament voted to increase the scope and scale of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). 523 MPs voted in favour of the measure, 85 voted against, with three abstentions…

“Opening the lively, at times fraught debate, Volker Kauder, who heads Merkel’s parliamentary group of conservatives, said it was a pivotal moment in the spiralling eurozone debt crisis. ‘Today in the Bundestag, we have an important decision for the future of our country and for the future of Europe,’ he said, as he called on rebels within the centre-right coalition to toe the line.”

“The USA Cannot Be Relied On…”

On September 23, Canada’s Globe and Mail and France’s AFP published an article by Prince El Hassan bin Talal, brother to Jordan’s late King Hussein and uncle to King Abdullah II, stating the following:

“On Nov. 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly recommended that Palestine, which was under a British Mandate since 1922, be divided into two new independent states – one Arab and one Jewish. Arguments over the division of the land continued. It was against this context that the Jewish Agency, perhaps understandably but also pre-emptively and unilaterally, declared the State of Israel. That declaration was immediately recognized by Harry Truman, and accepted by the UN a year later. It also marked the beginning of the Arab-Israeli wars, as five Arab armies crossed the borders of what had formerly been British Mandate Palestine.

“The decisions made 64 years ago continue to haunt us. For two decades, peace negotiations have failed… it is becoming harder and harder to believe that the United States is capable of negotiating a peace between the parties… the U.S. can’t be relied on to guarantee Palestinian rights as assiduously as it does Israeli rights, and… it lacks the heart and moral conviction to be a sincere and impartial partner for peace…”

“USA, Australia and Israel on the Wrong Side of History”

On September 22, Australia’s Today’s Zaman published the following article by Gareth Evans, Australia’s foreign minister from 1988 to 1996, and chancellor of the Australian National University:

“For all his deep emotional attachment to the idea of Israel embracing all of historical Judea and Samaria, [Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak] Rabin knew that the only way to ensure a democratic Jewish state with viable, secure borders was to accept a Palestinian state alongside it, equally secure and viable. They would share Jerusalem as a capital, and find a mutually acceptable solution to the enormously sensitive issue of the return of Palestinian refugees.

“Rabin’s murder was a catastrophe from which the peace process has never recovered. No Israeli leader since has shown anything like his far-sighted vision, commitment and capacity to deliver a negotiated two-state solution. Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert came close, but not close enough. And since then Binyamin Netanyahu has lived down to every expectation of his statesmanship…

“Now, with negotiations at an impasse, settlement building continuing unabated, no end in sight to the never-ending humiliation of occupation, and all other forms of leverage evidently exhausted, the Palestinians are going to the United Nations to seek recognition in some form of their statehood. They want full UN membership, but — facing inevitable veto of that option by the United States in the Security Council — are willing to accept as a fallback a majority vote by the General Assembly recognizing Palestine as a non-member ‘observer state,’ the status now enjoyed by the Vatican…

“But being on the wrong side of history is never a comfortable position. And that is exactly where the US, Israel and its closest friends — including my own country, Australia — will be if they resist the tide of international sentiment in favor of moving now to recognize Palestinian statehood.”

“USA Betrays Palestinians”

On September 24, the Arab News, claiming to be “the Middle East’s leading English Language Daily,” published an article with the following introduction:

“[The] US has once again betrayed Palestinians and abdicated its global leadership [role].”

The article continued:

“The United States was presented with a historic opportunity this week to demonstrate it believes in what it preaches and it blew it. President Barack Obama’s UN address on Wednesday will go down in history as one of the most disgraceful examples of a US leader’s self-serving groveling before Israel and abdication of leadership…

“If the world community expected better of Obama, after eight years of George W. Bush’s wars and destruction across the Muslim world, he had given it enough reasons to do so. In his own words, Obama sought a ‘new way forward’ with the world’s Muslims, reaffirming the message in his speeches in Ankara and Cairo.

“The US leader squandered it all at the United Nations on Wednesday, in the ultimate betrayal and sellout of the cause of Middle East peace. It was a completely different side of Obama that the world saw at UN General Assembly. He talked of the Israeli suffering surrounded by hostile Arab neighbors and suicide bombers. No mention anywhere of the Palestinian dispossession and persecution under Israeli occupation over the past six decades.

“Even as he hailed the Arab Spring and people power from Tunisia to Egypt to India and their democratic choices, he lashed out at Palestinians for their audacity to make the same choices. Freedom is welcome in South Sudan but not in occupied Palestine. Could there be a more shameful instance of double standards and hypocrisy?…

“Clearly, facing his re-election battle just 14 months from now, Obama has realized that he cannot afford to upset the powerful Zionist lobby and moneybags who run the show in Washington D.C. Whatever the cause for Obama’s turnaround, America is going to pay dearly for this political opportunism and historic folly of its president. By undermining the Palestinian aspirations, the US risks turning the whole of Arab and Islamic world against itself and deepening the dangerous gulf between the West and Muslim world. The US has once again proved that it’s incapable of providing leadership and acting as an honest-broker when it comes to [the] Middle East.

“So where do we go from here? It’s high time the world community took charge of the Middle East situation initiating bold measures to deliver justice to the Palestinians. There’s merit in French President Sarkozy’s suggestion that Arabs and Europeans work together to resolve this long festering conflict. However, it’s not possible without the involvement of the rest of the world. It’s time to show who stands for justice, freedom and equal rights of all men…”

The suggestion that Arabs and Europeans should work together is quite revealing, in the light of biblical prophecy. As the next article shows, Europe is presently divided on the Palestinian question. This means, on the other hand, that Europe is not united in their support for Israel, either.

Europe Divided on Palestinian Question

Der Spiegel Online wrote on September 28:

“The EU is further removed than ever from a common position in the Middle East conflict. The Europeans couldn’t even agree on a joint declaration in the UN Human Rights Council. Some backed Israel, others stood behind the Palestinians, while Germany avoided adopting a clear position… Though there are currently only eight European countries represented on the UN Human Rights Council, the position was meant to speak for the entire EU…

“Chances of a European agreement seemed good on Monday, particularly because the last version of the text had a balanced tone. Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip was condemned, as were the most recent Palestinian terrorist attacks on the Israelis. The document also pilloried executions carried out by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the violence of Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank.

“But this turned out to be too much for some of Israel’s friends in Europe. Just one hour before the official debate began in Geneva, the Netherlands representative reported that his country could not back such a resolution. In a quickly arranged emergency meeting the Dutchman whipped out his iPhone, reading off a number of required revisions, without which he said his country would unfortunately be unable to approve the document. The corrections obviously came directly from the Dutch ambassador’s boss, Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal, known for his pro-Israeli policies. The member of the conservative People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) is himself Jewish, though not religious, and is married to an Israeli woman.

“He instructed his diplomats in Geneva to strike a number of formulations from the statement, among them numerous references to a ‘two-state solution’ — that is, the foundation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. The foreign minister also didn’t want any mention of Israel’s arrests of peacefully demonstrating human rights activists or their destruction of homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem that forced the affected Palestinians to resettle elsewhere.

“And this despite the fact that a report for the UN Human Rights Council confirms that the Israeli government has increased orders for the destruction of homes since the beginning of the year. According to the report, some 387 buildings have been destroyed since January, among them 140 residential buildings, turning out 755 Palestinians. Furthermore, more Palestinians have been displaced in the first half of 2011 than all of last year, the report adds.

“The changes from The Hague were not well-received by the other European diplomats… Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic all declared they were ready to accept the demands, in order to enable a unified European position. Meanwhile Sweden, Austria, Romania and Slovenia declared this was unacceptable. Thus just before the start of the council meeting, the EU representative leading the crisis meeting could do nothing but declare the debate had failed.

“In the end, the text the group had originally agreed upon was signed by only six European countries, among them those who are currently not even on the Human Rights Council. Germany could have signed on, but preferred not to take a position… It’s the latest example of how EU coherence is being sacrificed to national interests. Already hardly anyone expects the EU to present a unified vote if the Palestinian status comes before the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Meanwhile the four countries currently sitting on the UN Security Council — Britain, France, Germany and Portugal — are also unlikely to agree on a single stance…”

Still, what we are seeing in Europe is a constant shift away from support for Israel and towards acceptance of Palestinian positions. The Bible shows that the coming United States of Europe, under German leadership, will become very supportive of Arab demands and very hostile towards the state of Israel. At the same time, even the ten European core nations or groups of nations, which will unite to form a United States of Europe, will be divided; it will be partly strong and partly fragile, and the core nations will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay (compare Daniel 2:41-43).

“Pax Americana Is Over”

The Jewish paper, Haaretz, which is very critical of President Netanyahu, wrote on September 23:

“On Friday afternoon, February 21, 1947, the British ambassador to Washington, Lord Inverchapel, showed up at the State Department and informed Under-Secretary of State Dean Acheson that his country could no longer continue providing financial and military support to Greece and Italy. The British ‘are abdicating from the Middle East,’ Secretary of State George Marshall told President Harry Truman… Britain adjusted to the new geopolitical realities by ending its prized mandate of Palestine in May 1948, less than a year after giving up the ‘jewel in the crown’ of India.

“The transition from Rule Britannia to Pax Americana in the Middle East was completed during the 1956 Suez Crisis, when the United States threatened to withhold financing that Britain desperately needed unless its forces withdrew from the Suez Canal. And the United States attained what amounted to the dominant position in the Middle East in the aftermath of the end of the Cold War and the ensuing victory in the first Gulf War, in 1991.

“Like Great Britain in 1947, the United States is finding it more and more difficult to maintain its military and diplomatic status in the Middle East. Its defense expenditures constitute close to a third of its overall budget, at a time when the burden of its fiscal debt is becoming unsustainable.

“The failure to defeat the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, the specter of a nuclear Pakistan turning into a failed state, rising concerns about the decline of Iraq into a civil war after the U.S. withdrawal, the growing power of Iran and its regional satellites, the threat that the Arab Spring is posing to regimes that were willing at least to accept the U.S.-backed status-quo, and the deadlocked Israel-Palestinian peace process – all these are clear indications that the era of Pax Americana in the Middle East is over…

“And all this is happening as Turkey and other regional actors try to form a post-American order in the Middle East that even under the best-case-scenario will include support for an independent Palestinian state, and will certainly not be compatible with the positions of the current Israeli government…”

Arab Countries Disappointed by Obama

Lebanon’s The Daily Star wrote on September 22:

“U.S. President Barack Obama… told the countries of the world that Israel is surrounded by people who have launched attacks against it… Obama and his advisers will have to work against the decades-long portrayal of Israel as the eternal victim, when it in fact flouts international law and U.N. resolutions on a daily basis. But the task isn’t impossible – it’s only in the U.S. and Israel where minds must be changed, since the rest of the world backs the Palestinian point of view…

“The American president should realize that while he should be worried about his re-election chances next year, there is the matter of this year to contend with. Popular uprisings have broken out in a number of Arab countries, where people have been paying attention to what Washington has said and done. For the most part, they have been disappointed, and they are certainly going to be disappointed by Obama’s latest stance on the region, a flagrant declaration of bias toward Israel and the kind of ‘same old’ policy…”

Much To Do About Nothing…

The German magazine, Der Spiegel, wrote on September 24:

“He kept the most dramatic statement for the end. ‘We have one goal,’ he said. ‘To be. And we will be.’ With these prophetic words, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas ended a 35-minute speech which will probably be seen as the highlight of his political career. Then, amid thundering applause from the delegates of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, he held up a copy of the application for recognition of an independent Palestinian state and for full membership of the United Nations which he had submitted to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon earlier…

“Abbas’ successful speech will do little to advance the Palestinians’ cause. It seems certain that the Security Council, which has to approve the Palestinians’ membership application, will postpone its vote for months, if not years… The application is opposed by Israel and by the US, which holds a veto as a permanent Security Council member…

“On Thursday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy revealed that there are… concrete plans for… negotiations under the auspices of the Mideast Quartet, which consists of the European Union, the UN, the US and Russia. The plan foresees the resumption of negotiations within a month, Sarkozy said. An agreement on borders and security should be reached within six months, with a final settlement being reached within a year…

“But achieving peace within a year seems an ambitious goal. Then-US President George W. Bush tried the same thing with the so-called Annapolis process — without success…

“Not wanting to leave the stage to Abbas alone, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had announced in advance that he wanted to respond to the Palestinian leader’s statement. The stage was set for a rhetorical duel which would do little to advance the peace process but would earn points for the winner. In the end, Abbas was the clear winner of the hotly anticipated showdown. The Palestinian leader avoided rhetorical tricks and made a convincing impression as an honest representative of a just cause.

“In contrast, Netanyahu came across as arrogant and aggressive. Right at the beginning of his speech, the Israeli prime minister called the UN General Assembly a ‘theater of the absurd’ that ‘for too long has been a place of darkness for my country.’ Netanyahu compared the United Nations to a ‘house of many lies.’  He also made strong remarks aimed at Abbas and the Palestinians, claiming they had rejected or failed to respond to Israeli offers of peace. Netanyahu attacked Abbas’ words about the ‘hopes and dreams’ of the Palestinians, satirically recasting them as ‘hopes, dreams and 10,000 missiles and Grad rockets supplied by Iran.’”

It is amazing how preconceived ideas and concepts may cloud objectivity. To us, it was Abbas who came across as arrogant and unbelievable, while Netanyahu gave a convincing presentation on what the future for Israel would mean, if Abbas and supporters had their way. Note also the next article.

Conflict between Israel and Palestinians Escalates

On September 23, 2011, Israel’s Ynetnews.com wrote the following:

“Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas asked the United Nations on Friday to recognize a state for his people, accusing Israel of engaging in ethnic cleansing in his United Nations speech… ‘Israel issues building permits to settlers so they can build in occupied Jerusalem, while it keeps confiscating lands in eastern Jerusalem and driving away Palestinians from their ancestral lands,’ he said in his address… ‘Our people will continue their popular, peaceful resistance,’ Abbas declared…

“Israel’s Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, walked out in protest during Abbas’ address. He later told Ynet that the Palestinian leader delivered a ‘speech of incitement’ that included ‘harsh threats.’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not present during Abbas’ speech to begin with… On Friday afternoon, Abbas said he was adamant about not recognizing Israel as the Jewish state.

“‘They talk to us about the Jewish state, but I respond to them with a final answer: We shall not recognize a Jewish state,’ Abbas said in a meeting with some 200 senior representatives of the Palestinian community in the US… Meanwhile, Hamas said Friday that Palestinians should liberate their land, not beg for recognition at the United Nations, firmly rejecting President Abbas’ quest for statehood. Speaking hours before Abbas was due to ask formally that the UN recognize a Palestinian state, senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said this would not bring independence.”

But let us ask, since when were the Palestinians entitled to “ancestral lands” in “eastern Jerusalem”? It is very clear that according to the Bible, these lands were given by GOD to the houses of Israel and Judah. Abbas’ comments are also quite revealing in that Palestinians will never accept Israel as a Jewish state, in light of the fact that the PLO has recently announced that no Jew will be allowed to live in a Palestinian state. In his address, Netanyahu responded that it was time for the Palestinians to acknowledge that “Israel is a Jewish state”—something which Palestinians are unwilling to do. Further, Abbas’ description of suicide bombers and other terrorist activities as “peaceful resistance” is quite a stretch.

On September 20, The Blaze wrote this:

“In a weekend interview, an Iranian official described the effort as merely another step in a much broader plan. Mojtaba Amani, Iran’s ambassador to Egypt, openly conceded in an interview with Al-Watan al-Arabi, that the PA’s push for full membership as a UN member state ‘is a step towards wiping out Israel,’ and that ‘the Palestinians must follow a correct example and complete all the measures to prevent the Zionist Entity from depriving them their rights.’”

Putin’s Return to Power

Deutsche Welle reported on September 25:

“The often tricky relationship between Russia and the West could get stickier if a planned leadership reshuffle goes through, putting former President and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin back in the presidency, but both the US and German governments have pledged to maintain a strong relationship with Moscow, regardless of who governs Russia. Constitutional restrictions forced Putin to step down in 2008 after two terms in office, but after the single term of his hand-picked successor Dmitry Medvedev, Putin is free to run in 2012 elections.

“He announced that he would on Saturday at his United Russia party conference. Putin is widely expected to win that election as his United Russia party dominates the political landscape. A change to the constitution now means presidential terms last six years, meaning Putin could remain in power until 2024…

“US-Russian relations frayed towards the end of Putin’s presidency and that of Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush. But under Obama and Medvedev the two countries have hammered out a new nuclear arms reduction treaty and greater cooperation on issues like Iran’s nuclear program… Merkel was quoted as saying that she works well with Medvedev, in a tweet from her spokesman Steffen Seibert. ‘Cooperation will be good with every Russian president,’  Seibert continued, ‘because Germany and Russia are connected by a strategic partnership.’…

“If Putin were to take over the presidency, it’s expected that Medvedev would then become his prime minister, a role more focused on domestic policy… Russia’s opposition is deeply concerned about Putin’s potential return to the presidency, with Boris Nemtsov, who served as deputy foreign minister in the late 1990s, describing it as a ‘horror scenario.’  ‘Putin returns and everyone else leaves,’  he said. ‘Foreign capital will flee and people will emigrate.’”

The Local added on September 25:

“In a first reaction to Putin’s nomination to presidential candidate for his United Russia party – which effectively crowns him Russian leader – Merkel was less than warm about the prospect, but diplomatically optimistic… The likely return of the former KGB agent who served in East Germany, to the head of the Russian government will be accompanied by ambitious plans.  He told his party conference that Russia’s economy must grow by up to seven percent a year, and should become one of the five biggest national economies in the world. He said he intended to create 20 million new jobs in modern industry over the coming 20 years.”

Pope Disappoints Protestants

The Local wrote on September 23:

“Benedict… met leaders of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), but disappointed those who had hoped for a signal of reconciliation between the Catholic and Protestant Churches.

“Speaking at the Augustine Monastery where Luther had lived 500 years ago, he said, ‘Prior to the pope’s visit there was some talk of an “ecumenical gift” which was expected from this visit. There is no need for me to specify the gifts mentioned in this context. Here I would only say that this reflects a political misreading of faith and of ecumenism’… he did not take part in a joint Catholic and Protestant Eucharist, remaining firm in the separation of the two churches… The pope had said he was not prioritising the idea of bringing the two churches closer together, leaving many disappointed…”

Still, “reconciliation” between the Catholic Church and the Protestant churches will come, but only under Catholic terms. Please also note the next articles.

Be Obedient to Rome

Deutsche Welle reported on September 25:

“[The pope] called on German Catholics to challenge themselves to form a closer relationship with God… ‘The Church in Germany will overcome the great challenges of the present and future and it will remain a leaven in society, if the priests, consecrated men and women, and the lay faithful … work together in unity,’ he said… Benedict alluded to the dissent in the Church on Saturday night, saying that ‘damage to the Church comes not from opponents, but from uncommitted Christians.’

“He went further on Sunday, urging Catholics to remain faithful and obedient to Rome in ‘this time of danger and radical change’ and a ‘crisis of faith.’ ‘The Church in Germany will continue to be a blessing for the entire Catholic world if she remains faithfully united with the successors of St. Peter and the Apostles,’ he said… Also on the schedule for the pope’s last day in Germany is a lunch with religious leaders [and] a meeting with judges from Germany’s Constitutional Court…”

Catholics and Orthodox Closest

VIS wrote on September 24:

“[The pope] met with fifteen representatives from the Orthodox Churches in Germany gathered in the main hall of the Seminary of Freiburg im Breisgau. Germany has a total of 467 Byzantine Orthodox communities with some 1,300,000 faithful belonging to various autocephalous Churches… the Pope reaffirmed that ‘among Christian Churches and communities, the Orthodox are theologically closest to us; Catholics and Orthodox both have the same basic structure inherited from the ancient Church. So we may hope that the day is not too far away when we may once again celebrate the Eucharist together.’”

American Warfare with Drones

The Vancouver Sun wrote on September 23:

“The United States administration of President Barack Obama is dramatically extending the reach of its program using missile-armed remote-controlled drone aircraft to assassinate terrorist and militant group leaders.

“The focus of the operation to hunt down and kill senior figures in al-Qaida and linked groups is shifting from Pakistan, where 581 of the more than 600 people killed in the 118 drone strikes launched last year were hiding, to the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

“The movement to deploy the Predator and Reaper drones to a U.S. base in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia, an un-named Arab state, and the Indian Ocean islands nation of Seychelles is in response to the rising presence of al-Qaida and its affiliates in the failed states of Somalia and Yemen…

“The program is controversial not least because of the hazy legal authority under which U.S. officials… remotely control the drones and fire their Hellfire missiles at people intelligence information identifies as militants in Pakistan or elsewhere. The drones… [have] been equipped with missiles they are known to have been used in Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Iraq and Somalia as well as Pakistan.

“As well as the cloudy legal authority for assassinating people in countries with which the U.S. is not at war, there is the matter of killing innocent bystanders. In Pakistan in particular, there has been much public outrage at so-called ‘collateral damage’ when missile attacks have killed women, children and other people who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time…

“Since April, the drone-fired attacks in Pakistan have all been launched from Afghanistan. It is the success of this assassination program… that has precipitated the move to the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula… In Ethiopia, the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is being… cautious before playing host to Obama’s killer drones.”

This kind of warfare is not finding much support. It is also interesting that Ethiopia keeps showing up in one way or another, either in friendly or not-so-friendly relationships with Western powers.

Britain Enslaved to Brussels?

The Telegraph wrote on September 20:

“We’re fed up with Europe… Britain has become a slave to the EU, writing blank cheques to prop up its lazy economies… with Europe’s ever increasing bail-outs and international loans – many drawn on the backs of struggling British taxpayers – it is no longer tenable to separate the economics of Europe from British domestic politics… As Britons lose their jobs, struggle to pay utility bills, forgo annual holidays and are made to pay more into their pensions, future bail-outs of Europe’s mostly unreformed and lazy economies will not attract Conservative parliamentary support.

“When Britain voted to stay in the European Economic Community in 1975 the country was promised it would be a common market. Yet over time, mostly by stealth and within every new treaty, we have been drawn relentlessly into an ‘ever closer union’ with the Continent. For many Britons, the EU has already become a kind of occupying force, setting unfamiliar rules, demanding levies, curbing freedoms, subverting our culture and imposing alien taxes. In less than four decades, Britain has become enslaved to Europe – servitude that intrudes and impinges on millions of British lives every day. Brussels has become a burdensome yoke, disfiguring Britain’s independence and diluting her sovereignty…

“The majority of Britons living today have never had a say on Europe. After nearly four decades of subjugation to Europe, it is time for the British people to choose their own destiny and to be set free…

“That is why the Coalition should agree to a referendum on Europe asking whether Britain should be part of a political union or of the trade-only relationship we thought we had signed up to… The referendum should be held next year, and a successful ‘No to political union’ result would immediately strengthen the Prime Minister’s negotiating hand in Brussels to commence serious and meaningful negotiations with our partners on Britain’s new relationship.

“… if Brussels refused to repatriate specified powers within a designated 24-month period, then a second referendum – this time an ‘in or out’ vote – would be triggered in 2015 and held on the day of the next general election… If specified powers were not returned within the defined timetable, Brussels would have only themselves to blame if Britons voted to leave the EU.

“The British have grown weary of Europe. The Coalition government should end decades of political appeasement by successive governments and champion freedom and democracy for Britain…”

As we have declared for decades, Britain will not be a part of the final configuration of a political United States of Europe. In addition, if  Britain thinks it is already enslaved to Europe, then this is nothing in comparison with what awaits the British people when real and quite literal slavery is going to be inflicted upon them.

Europe’s Huge Bill for British, US and Chinese Airlines

The Financial Times wrote on September 19:

“British Airways faces a bill of nearly €50m, the highest of any airline, when carriers around the world are brought into the European Union’s carbon emissions trading scheme next year…

“But BA and other large European carriers will face a relatively smaller burden than their rivals in the US and China, because they should get an average of 81 per cent of the carbon allowances needed under the scheme for free. The Chinese and American carriers will only get an average of up to 64 per cent…

“The findings come amid a fierce row over the EU’s move to make any airline flying into and within the bloc pay for pollution. US airlines have taken legal action… and Chinese complaints have prompted warnings of a trade war…”

None of this will make Europe popular, but it seems, they don’t really care, knowing that Britain, the USA and China have really no alternative than to comply.

American Lectures Rejected by Europe…

The EUObserver wrote on September 19:

“A unprecedented visit by US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner to a meeting of European finance ministers in Poland was coolly received by the gathered European economy chiefs…  a number of EU ministers felt that Geithner had over-stepped his bounds. The Austrian and Swedish finance chiefs offered reporters particularly sharp words about the intrusion from across the Atlantic.

“‘He conveyed dramatically that we need to commit money to avoid bringing the system into difficulty,’ Austrian finance minister Maria Fekter said of the discussion… ‘I found it peculiar that the Americans, although they themselves have significantly worse fundamental data than the euro area, explain to us what we should do and when we make a proposal … they say no right away.’

“Sweden’s Anders Borg too argued that Washington has problems of its own to deal with. ‘Geithner is right that we need to make progress, but it’s quite clear the US has a big debt problem and the situation would be better if the US could show a sustainable way forward,’ he said…”

From a European perspective, their dismissal of Timothy Geithner’s interference is quite understandable, given the fact that under the Obama Administration, the debt crisis in the USA has reached unparalleled and unprecedented proportions. As the old saying goes: Clean up first  your own house and backyard, and then you can start lecturing others. However, President Obama’s recent proposals in his long-awaited speech have met with stern opposition and rejections from Republicans and even some Democrats, and no real solution for America’s economic misery is in sight. In fact, some papers within the European media are reacting with anger towards the most recent developments in the USA, blaming the Feds for irresponsible conduct and warning of another worldwide US-caused recession. Of course, the economic situation in Europe, especially in countries like Greece, as well as reports that China’s growth may be slowing down, have been contributing to the negative development of worldwide markets. Note the next articles.

Dow Jones Plunges

The Los Angeles Times wrote on September 22:

“The Dow Jones industrial average plunged more than 300 points in early trading as investors recoiled from the Federal Reserve’s new effort to stimulate the economy and the central bank’s statement that the economy may be in for a long period of slow growth… The losses built on declines late Wednesday after the Fed announced it would attempt to bring down long-term interest rates by replacing $400 billion of its holdings of short-term government debt with long-term U.S. Treasury bonds.

“Analysts have questioned whether the program will have the desired beneficial impact, given that the economy is facing significant headwinds and long-term interest rates are already quite low. The Fed also rattled investors Wednesday by highlighting ‘significant downside risks to the economic outlook.’ The statement ramped up fears that the economy could be headed for a new recession…”

The New York Times wrote on September 21:

“Global markets tumbled Thursday as investor pessimism about the outlook for the United States and European economies was deepened by weak data for the euro zone and a grim assessment from the Federal Reserve… Stocks had fallen in the United States 2 percent or more on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve announcement that a complete economic recovery was still years away, adding that the United States economy has ‘significant downside risks to the economic outlook, including strains in global financial markets…’ The export-driven economies in Asia, such as South Korea, are most vulnerable to the European and American economic challenges… Additionally, investors were beginning to worry that China’s rate of growth may slow… It really comes down to political immaturity in both the U.S. and Europe…”

Three Major US Banks Downgraded

The Los Angeles Times wrote on September 21

“Moody’s Investors Service has cut the credit ratings of three major U.S. banks, saying that Washington is less likely to bail out big U.S. financial companies if another financial crisis were to hit Wall Street. The rating company Wednesday downgraded the long-term credit ratings of Bank of America Cor. and Wells Fargo & Co. and bumped down Citigroup Inc.’s short-term credit rating, citing ‘a decrease in the probability that the U.S. government would support’ them in future financial crises… After the downgrades, bank stocks helped lead markets down Wednesday…”

Germany to Eurozone: Go It Alone, Don’t Mind UK or USA

Deutsche Welle wrote on September 17:

“Germany has called for the eurozone to go it alone if necessary and implement a financial tax despite opposition from the US and UK… Germany’s finance minister supports pushing through a tax on financial transactions within the 17 member eurozone currency union in the face of opposition from nations such as the United Kingdom and the United States, two of the world’s largest financial markets…

“Supporters of the move, such as Germany and France, believe a financial transaction tax would check speculation and slow the growth of bubbles while raising money that could be used to bail out banks in crisis situations. The European Union, however, remains divided over the measure with non-euro states such as Sweden and Britain expressing opposition. Opponents argue that such a tax would drive business to non-taxed foreign markets… ”

But as the past has shown, once Germany and France lead, the rest of the Eurozone members will follow…

Greece and the Eurozone

Deutsche Welle reported on September 21:

“The Greek government announced fresh austerity measures late on Wednesday, after Greece’s Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos insisted earlier in the day that his country had no plans to abandon the euro and would do everything in his power to stay in the eurozone.

“Greece is and will forever be a member of the eurozone, he said. ‘We will do anything, we will not place at risk the fate of the country and its place in the eurozone.’”

Of course, as could be expected, huge anti-government demonstrations occurred in Greece, following the announcement…

Germany—A Model of Stability

The Washington Post wrote on September 19:

“The financial crisis has turned Europe topsy-turvy… But… one country stands apart: Germany, where reforms a decade ago made the country less generous than some of its peers but also helped ease the blow when the rest of the world stopped snapping up BMWs and Bosch washing machines.

“Now, as its neighbors are being forced to retrench… Germany’s social services are running surpluses, helped by taxes that are among the highest in Europe and difficult sacrifices its citizens have made to jump-start their economy. Many Germans are peering across their borders and wondering why others can’t do the same, putting intense political pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel not to appear too generous with bailouts. Other countries point out that Germany’s wealth depends at least in part on outsiders spending for German exports… economists say that Germany’s own social services are sustainable, protected by the surpluses…

“Wages stayed largely flat for the past decade even as industry profits and government tax receipts rose, making Germany one of the West’s most competitive exporters. This was helped along by the euro zone, which made German products cheaper abroad than they were under the Deutschmark.

“Other aspects of Germany’s welfare state remained deluxe. Germans receive parental leave of 14 months at two-thirds salary, generous vacation time and publicly sponsored health insurance. And the tradeoff for flat wages has been a better chance at staying employed: If companies are struggling, they can appeal for government funds to subsidize their workers’ salaries, helping to avoid layoffs.”

It is interesting that Germany arose out of the ashes after World War II and became the most prosperous country in Europe…  This is exactly what the Bible has said would happen…

Big Losses for Germany‘s Governmental Coaltion Party

The Local wrote on Septmeber 19:

“Germany’s Free Democrats are unrepentant after taking an electoral battering in the Berlin state poll on Sunday. After taking less than two percent of the vote, the Free Democratic Party (FDP) has been turfed out of the German capital’s state’s legislature. The miserable result caps a dismal year for the party, which suffered losses in seven separate elections.

“Merkel’s conservatives are now trying to calculate the damage the Berlin election may do to their centre-right alliance at the national level…”

Der Spiegel added on September 19:

“German commentators on Monday size up the meaning of Sunday’s vote for Merkel’s coalition, for the SPD and, with the stunning success of the Pirate Party, for Germany’s political landscape.

“The center-left daily Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘Germans have never before experienced such a ruined government so early in a term. Of course it has always been the case that criticism of the national government is reflected in state results. That has occurred in (all of the state elections held this year)…’”

“The business daily Handelsblatt writes: ‘The repeated, considerable failure of the FDP on Sunday along with the modest result for Merkel’s CDU means yet another blow to Merkel’s national coalition…’”

The Pope’s Visit in Germany— Push for Unification of Christians

Deutsche Welle wrote on September 18:

“German Chancellor Merkel urged Christians to unite against the advance of secularism in a message ahead of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Germany [this] week, which has been widely criticized. In her weekly video podcast, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Christians to reflect on what unites them…

“‘I think it is important to constantly reinforce the unity of Christians at a time when we are confronted by a growing secularism,’ Merkel said. ‘What the Christian faith has in common should always be remembered,’ she said. ‘When the Pope visits Germany, he is also visiting the country of the Reformation,’ Merkel, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor who grew up in the Communist East added. Merkel said the Pope’s visit was a reminder of Germany and Europe’s Christian roots, giving the strength and inspiration to fight against all religious persecution. The 500th anniversary of the German Reformation will be in 2017…

“The Pope’s first state visit to his native Germany from September 22-25 will take him to the mostly atheist former East Germany. It will include an address in Berlin’s vast Nazi-era Olympic Stadium as well as a meeting in Erfurt, one-time home of Protestant reformer Martin Luther, to discuss ways Catholics and Protestants can work together…”

Please also note the next article. It may seem that unification of the Catholic and Protestant Churches is still a far way off, but this might not necessarily be the case…

The Pope’s Visit in Germany—The Catholic Church’s Conservative Stance

Der Spiegel wrote on September 20:

“When Joseph Ratzinger became pope in 2005, Catholics in Germany joyfully celebrated the first German pope in almost 500 years. Since then, the euphoria has turned to disappointment and disillusionment. Benedict XVI’s visit to Germany this week will do little to heal the deep divide between conservatives and reformers in the German Church…

“What will the German head of state [German President Wulff] and the leader of the Roman Catholic Church talk about when they meet for the first time… Will they talk about the fact that Wulff, a practicing Catholic, is divorced and remarried, a fact that, under the current rules of the Church, excludes him from receiving Communion?… Gerda Hasselfeldt, the Catholic chairwoman of the conservative Christian Social Union’s group in the Bundestag… is also divorced and has remarried. So has the leader of her party, Horst Seehofer, who also fathered an illegitimate child, and Oskar Lafontaine, the former co-chairman of the Left Party and a former Jesuit school pupil.

“Benedict [will] meet with Berlin’s openly gay Mayor, Klaus Wowereit. Will the pope encourage Wowereit, a Catholic and a member of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) who has been living with his partner for years, to practice abstinence and not to act out his proclivities, as his church demands of all homosexuals? Luckily for the pope, he won’t have any problems with two other prominent people he will meet in Berlin. Chancellor Angela Merkel (remarried) and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle (gay) are both Protestants.

“But even those Catholics who seem to abide by all the rules aren’t truly reliable. One of his hosts in Berlin, Bundestag President Norbert Lammert, recently ruffled feathers at the Vatican when he and fellow Christian Democrat Annette Schavan, who is Germany’s education minister, together with other reformist Catholics, sent a letter to Germany’s bishops about the marriage ban for priests… The open criticism of the pope was not well received in Rome. Lammert’s appeal was an ‘insult to Jesus Christ,’ Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, a close associate of Benedict, thundered…

“Many of the people that Benedict will encounter during his visit are divorced, gay, in common-law marriages or uninterested in the Church’s ban on birth control. And even though they are Catholic, they do not see themselves as sinners. The pope, who rules the papal state as one of the last absolute monarchs on earth, will encounter a modern society with modern representatives….

“The pope and his fellow Germans are not on good terms… Ratzinger did not become the kindly, benign old prince of the church and bridge builder… they had wanted him to be. On the contrary, he proved to be more conservative than the Germans wanted to believe at first. He has never grown out of his former role of head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [formerly known as the Office of the Inquisition]…  Benedict is not leading his church into an open-minded future, but back into a narrow-minded past.

“The German pope, of all people, irritated Protestants by saying that their church is not a church ‘in the actual sense.’ He snubbed the Muslims with harsh words against the Prophet Muhammad. And he insulted the Jews by reinserting into the Good Friday liturgy, a prayer for the conversion of the Jews that one of Benedict’s predecessors, Paul VI, had removed as a gesture of reconciliation after the 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council.

“Instead, Ratzinger sent signals of understanding and sympathy to the conservative fringe of Catholicism. By currying favor with the traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), he took the Church back in time and infuriated the overwhelming majority of Roman Catholics… The Vatican continues to reject artificial birth control, which it sees as cause for eternal punishment. Millions of AIDS deaths have done nothing to convince the keepers of Catholic sexual morality that condoms might be a good idea.

“Similarly, half of the Church’s members remain excluded from all leadership positions. Women cannot become priests, let alone bishops. The official Church still excludes lesbians and gays from its community… At the beginning of his career, Ratzinger held completely different views, views that were open-minded and liberal. At the Second Vatican Council in 1962, he and the prominent Swiss theologian Hans Küng were among those who sought to open up their fossilized church and fought against the Vatican’s claim to absolute authority.

“But the year 1968 became a turning point in Ratzinger’s life… Since then, Benedict has viewed the Catholic Church as the sole custodian of a divine truth…”

It should be understood that we are quoting the articles about the pope’s visit in Germany to show the current climate, as it pertains to the Catholic Church. We do not agree with certain positions of the Catholic Church, nor do we agree with certain voices of criticism. For example, while the Catholic Church’s teaching on birth control is unbiblical, its prohibition of practicing homosexuals or women in the priesthood is biblical.

In spite of all the criticism and current anti-Vatican feelings in large sections of the German population, it is very clear that the conservative stance of the pope will continue. At the same time, a push for unification between the Catholic and Protestant churches will increase–Angela Merkel’s “admonition” for unity in this regard is quite remarkable—and once the time has arrived when the leader of the Catholic Church will receive the power to work miracles, such as asking for fire to come down from heaven, then any disagreements with Roman Catholic dogma will soon be forgotten. The Bible prophesies that the whole world will follow and even worship that man—but ultimately, it will have a rude awakening.

The Pope’s Visit in Germany—Challenges and Opportunities

BBC News wrote on September 22:

“Benedict XVI, the German head of the Roman Catholic Church, has begun his first official visit to his home country as Pope. At Germany’s parliament he received a long round of applause from MPs – though some [mainly representatives from the Left and, to a lesser extent, from the Greens and the Social Democrats] boycotted the event. After arriving in Berlin, he called on Catholics disgusted by priestly abuse of children not to abandon the Church…

“The 84-year-old pontiff will travel widely across the country, where there are officially 25 million Catholics – one in three of the population. He has visited Germany unofficially several times since assuming the Church’s highest office…

“Chancellor Angela Merkel, daughter of a Lutheran pastor who grew up in East Germany, said Christian unity would be a focus of the Pope’s visit…

“A record 181,000 German Catholics officially quit the Church last year, a total for the first time higher than that for Protestants leaving their churches… Disgust at the Church’s handling of child sex abuse by clergy was one factor… [The pope said:] ‘The Church is a net of the Lord that pulls in good fish and bad fish. We have to learn to live with the scandals and work against the scandals from inside the great net of the Church’…

 “Mr Wulff referred to German Catholics alienated by the Church when he spoke during Thursday’s papal visit. ‘Many ask themselves how mercifully it treats people who have suffered break-ups in their own lives,’ the divorced [Catholic] president said…

“One of the highlights of the visit is a Mass to be held on Thursday evening at the Olympic Stadium. The stadium, where Hitler hosted the 1936 games, is now a popular sporting and entertainment venue, and some 70,000 people are expected to attend the Mass. Other events during the tour include a meeting with former [Catholic] Chancellor Helmut Kohl…”

In spite of the reports dealing with ongoing criticism, we should not underestimate the overwhelming and enthusiastic reception that the pope is receiving in Germany.  Mass tabloid Bild wrote in big letters: “We Are Pope.”  Many papers and magazines report on line in “live tickers” about every event and movement of the pope during his two-day stay. Catholic Bundestag President Norbert Lammert said, when welcoming the pope to the German Parliament: “Never before in history has a pope spoken in front of an elected German Parliament.”

According to Die Welt, Lammert added that we must not only talk about unification of the Catholic and the Protestant churches, but that we must do something to bring it about. During Angela Merkel’s and the pope’s private meeting prior to the pope’s speech before the German Parliament, the future of Europe was an important issue, according to Bild Online.

Deutsche Welle added on September 22:

“Amid gun salutes and military music, Pope Benedict XVI was greeted in Berlin on Thursday by German President Christian Wulff at his official residence, Schloss Bellevue… German President Christian Wulff greeted the pope with the words ‘welcome home, Holy Father!’ In his address, Wulff said that millions of people would be looking forward to his visit… Although Church and state are separated in Germany, he added, that did not mean that the Church was parallel to society – it was at the center of society. ‘Your visit will strengthen Christians and all people in Germany,’ Wulff told the pope.”

Those who have ears to hear should hear…

Lieberman Praises Obama for UN General Assembly Speech

Haaretz wrote on September 22:

“After perhaps the warmest pro-Israel speech given at an annual UN General Assembly meeting by any U.S. president, Barack Obama now has ‘seal of approval’ from no less an authority than Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.”

The article continued:

“…while posters plastered across New York City describe Obama as ‘not pro-Israel,’ inside the United Nations building in Turtle Bay, Obama delivered what is probably the warmest pro-Israel speech ever given at an annual UN General Assembly meeting by any U.S. president, bar none. Not only did Obama refrain from directly mentioning the 1967 borders, much to relief of the Israeli government, but to a large extent he also made up for what he allegedly left out in his famous Cairo speech, expressing his empathy with, and sympathy, for the trials and tribulations of the Jewish people and their Zionist dreams. In the eyes of his Israeli audience, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Obama’s speech was nearly faultless, an assessment which was subsequently confirmed by the harsh criticism leveled at it by Arab and Palestinian officials…

“The Americans hope that Obama’s firm stance, and the continued efforts to prevent the Palestinians from obtaining the nine votes required to force a U.S. veto, will persuade Abbas to settle for a symbolic move at the UN Security Council, and to refrain from going to the General Assembly where his victory is guaranteed. The price for such a move will be a renewed commitment to restarting negotiations with attached conditions that may not be so palatable to Netanyahu and Lieberman, including a definite timeline for ending talks such as the one mentioned yesterday by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Because even in Middle East diplomacy, when the party’s over, there is always the morning after and the hangover that accompanies it.”

“Sarkozy Breaks with Obama”

The New York Times wrote on September 21:

“President Nicolas Sarkozy of France broke sharply on Wednesday with the effort by the Obama administration and some Europeans to quash the effort by the Palestinians for recognition here, instead calling for enhancing their status in the General Assembly to that of an observer state.

“The French leader, speaking from the famous green marble podium of the General Assembly barely an hour after President Obama, also said it was time to change the formula in trying to negotiate an Arab-Israeli peace, taking an indirect swipe at the United States by saying the efforts so far were a complete failure… The timetable he suggested is resuming the negotiations in one month, agreeing on borders and security within six months and finishing a definitive agreement within one year…

“In the meantime, if the Palestinian effort at membership faces a Security Council veto, the deadly reverberations will be felt across the Arab world, Mr. Sarkozy warned… Most Israeli concern has focused on the possibility that making the Palestinians an observer state could enhance their ability to join the International Criminal Court and pursue Israeli leaders through ‘lawfare.’

“In choosing to go to the Security Council to seek full membership, Mr. Abbas chose a more difficult path but one that could get lost in the thicket of United Nations bureaucracy for months before the United States used its threatened veto. There is even a question if the Palestinians can muster the needed 9 votes. But the United States has no veto over a General Assembly resolution, and the Palestinians enjoy overwhelming support there…”

America and Israel vs. the Arab World

Newsmax wrote on September 21:

“President Barack Obama pressed Israel and the Palestinians on Wednesday to relaunch peace talks as he made a last-ditch attempt to avert a U.N. crisis over Palestinian statehood and pull his Middle East policy back from the brink of diplomatic disaster… Grappling with economic woes and low poll numbers at home and growing doubts about his leadership abroad, Obama is wading into Middle East diplomacy at a critical juncture for his presidency and America’s credibility around the globe.

“He faces the daunting challenge of reasserting Washington’s influence in the region… The drama over the Palestinian U.N. bid is playing out as U.S., Israeli and Palestinian leaders all struggle with the fallout from Arab uprisings that are raising new political tensions across the Middle East.

“It also comes as Israel finds itself more isolated than it has been in decades and confronts Washington with the risk that, by again shielding its close ally, the United States will inflame Arab distrust when Obama’s outreach to the Muslim world is already faltering.”

The Role of Turkey and Iran in the Middle East

WorldNetDaily wrote on September 21:

“Iran has begun to increase its strategic relationship with Russia… Analysts confirm Turkey and Iran generally have enjoyed close ties and cooperate in a variety of fields including trade, economic relations, fighting terrorism, drug trafficking and promoting stability in Iraq and Central Asia.

“Turkey has been strengthening its ties to Iran and other countries in the East, attempting to re-establish its historical influence, since the Muslim government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to power in 2002… Turkey has been a strong supporter of Iran’s right to develop nuclear energy… Erdogan’s most recent visit to Cairo demonstrated Turkey’s interest in filling that void with a fellow Muslim country left by the greatly diminished influence of the United States and European countries there.

“Regional sources point out that Erdogan has embarked on a ‘revolution tour’ not only in Egypt but also in Tunisia and Libya… Ironically, Israelis are comparing Erdogan with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who similarly seeks to cast Tehran’s influence in the Sunni Arab world. Iran is accepting credit for the various Arab revolts, comparing them to Iran’s own 1979 Islamic revolution.”

Setback for Peace in Afghanistan

The New York Times reported on September 20:

“The most prominent Afghan official trying to negotiate a reconciliation with the Taliban was assassinated Tuesday night by a suicide bomber with explosives tucked in his turban who had been brought to his home by a trusted emissary, officials said. The assassination was a potentially devastating blow to the Afghan-led peace process aimed at ending 10 years of war.

“The main victim of the attack, Burhanuddin Rabbani, was the leader of the High Peace Council, and had been tasked with reaching out to the Taliban for ways to resolve the conflict. Mr. Rabbani was also a former president of Afghanistan, and news of his death sent shock waves through the Afghanistan government just as President Hamid Karzai was at the United Nations General Assembly. Mr. Karzai was cutting short his trip to head home, aides said…

“[Rabbani] was killed a week after Taliban insurgents orchestrated a surprise attack on several Kabul neighborhoods that demonstrated the seeming ease with which they can strike, despite ambitious efforts by the American-led NATO forces here to improve security and persuade Taliban insurgents to engage in negotiations to end the war.

“The Taliban attacks have called into question the basic readiness of President Karzai’s forces to assume security in the country as the foreign military forces gradually withdraw, as they have pledged to do by the end of 2014. The killing of Mr. Rabbani was the third time in three months that a high-ranking Afghan official was assassinated in a place that was supposed to be secure, infiltrating the coteries of guards and walled compounds that surround Afghan politicians.”

The Curse of War

ABC News reported on September 19:

“Beginning with his service in World War II, [singer Tony] Bennett said that his experiences as a teenager in combat forever changed his position on war… Drafted by the U.S. Army in November 1944, Bennett served as an infantryman in Europe, moving across France, and later into Germany. ‘The Germans were frightened. We were frightened. Nobody wanted to kill anybody when we were on the line, but the weapons were so strong that it overcame us and everybody else.’

“Bennett credited the Army with allowing him to study singing under the GI Bill. He also admitted that his two years of service gave him enough time to witness the horrors of war. ‘The first time I saw a dead German, that’s when I became a pacifist,’ he said [and] that he was left forever shaken by the sight of death. ‘It was a nightmare that’s permanent,’ he said…”

What Does the Future Hold for the USA?

We know that the USA is in deep trouble, and some hope that a change in leadership would turn everything around. Judging by the increasingly hot exchange and performances of the leading Republican Presidential candidates during the Tea Party debate on September 12, which was hosted by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, there is, sadly, not much evidence for such hope. We are highlighting some of the divisive positions embraced by the leading candidates:

USA Today reported on September 12:

“At a raucous, Tea Party-fueled debate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry proved his freshly minted front-runner status: Mitt Romney blasted him on Social Security, Rick Santorum on immigration and Michele Bachmann on a controversial executive order he signed as governor.

“Perry… dodged a question, pressed by Romney, of whether he believes the retirement program should be returned to the states, as he suggested in a book he wrote last year. Perry said it was time for ‘thoughtful conversations with Americans, rather than trying to scare seniors, as you’re doing.’ ‘The term “Ponzi scheme” is what scared seniors,’ said Romney, the former Massachusetts governor. That was a reference to a phrase Perry used at his national debut at a California debate last week.

“After two debates in six days, Social Security is the fundamental issue dividing the pair of contenders at the top of national polls: Perry, who calls for a sweeping overhaul, though he hasn’t provided details about what he would do. And the more cautious Romney, who embraces the program as crucial though he says changes are needed to ensure its long-term stability.

“Perry also stuck to his guns on immigration, the issue on which he is most at odds with his conservative base. Under fire by Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, Perry defended allowing illegal immigrants in Texas to pay in-state tuition…

“And he had a sharp exchange with Bachmann… The Minnesota congresswoman blistered Perry for signing an executive order that required girls in Texas to receive inoculations for human papilloma virus (HPV), a sexually transmitted disease, and suggested it was linked to campaign contributions he had received from a drug manufacturer.”

There was also some debate about America’s future military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, and both Romney and Perry stated that America must soon withdraw. Obamacare was raised, and Bachmann, a lawyer, pointed out that Perrycare and Romneycare don’t differ much from Obamacare, and that all three approaches must be rejected. The concept of a presidential executive order was discussed, and Texas Rep. Ron Paul was cheered when he opposed both Romney and Perry, stating that an executive order must never be used to legislate an issue. However, he was booed when he suggested that the attack on September 11 was, in part, caused by American politics.

The remaining candidates seemed to play a more marginal role. Even though businessman Herman Cain and former House speaker Newt Gingrich drew some supporting laughs and applause, it is not expected that either one will win the Republican nomination. Rather, the increasingly hot battle between Perry and Romney (and perhaps Bachmann) will continue, which only shows once more the divisions which are plaguing this country.

Under “normal” circumstances, it would not be expected that President Obama will be re-elected. As Newsmax reported on September 12:

“Democrats worry that Obama, 50, is politically vulnerable in next year’s election with the unemployment rate at 9.1 percent last month and approval ratings near lows of his presidency. Since World War II, no U.S. president has won re-election with a jobless rate above 6 percent, with the exception of Reagan, who faced 7.2 percent unemployment on Election Day in 1984 after the rate had dropped more than three percentage points during the previous two years he was in office. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicts a rate at 8.6 percent in the third quarter of next year, just prior to the election.”

However, these are not “normal” times, and when Republican candidates continue to devour each other, this won’t help them. Some feel that there is now a need for a third party. But this won’t help the situation either. The ONLY real solution for America’s ongoing troubles is the RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST to make an end with man’s futile political attempts, and to establish the GOVERNMENT OF GOD here on earth. Thank God that this will happen soon. Please note also the following articles.

Perry’s Biggest Problem

The Washington Post wrote on September 14:

“[Governor Perry’s] biggest problem… is his executive order requiring preteen girls in Texas to be immunized against a disease that causes cervical cancer, a decision that the religious right didn’t like and that Perry now says was a mistake. The dangerous charge here is influence-peddling. He issued the order after he was lobbied by his former chief of staff, who went to work for Merck, the drug company that makes the vaccine. It turns out Perry has received almost $30,000 in contributions from Merck over the years (not just the $5,000 he mentioned in the debate), and his ties to Merck have been documented to run deeper than that.

“Perry’s response to the pay-for-play intimation from Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) was one of the worst of its sort ever offered by a politician. ‘The company was Merck, and it was a $5,000 contribution that I had received from them,’ Perry declared. ‘I raise about $30 million. And if you’re saying that I can be bought for $5,000, I’m offended.’ The question this raised in a listener’s mind was: So how much can you be bought for? That question will linger…

“Moderate politicians have been drummed out of the party or silenced as its leaders have played ball with the extremists throughout Obama’s term… Rick Perry — if he doesn’t self-destruct — will be able to tell [conservatives] he is the guy who can destroy the Great Society, the New Deal and the Progressive Era with one decisive blow. And no establishment will be there to stop him.”

In this context, please read the article about Rick Perry in our Current Events Section in Update #497, titled, “Bilderberg Holds True Power in America?” Also pay close attention to the next article.

Rick Perry “Destined” to Become US President?

The Washington Post wrote on September 14:

“Texas Gov. Rick Perry is a man of faith… he demonstrated Wednesday that he would not shy away from cloaking his candidacy in his Christianity, delivering an address here at the late Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University that presented his life in deeply spiritual terms and cast his political aspirations as destiny… the evangelical Christian governor spoke the language of the movement with ease… knowing that God’s answers would be revealed to him in due time… Before he launched his campaign in August, Perry drew 30,000 people to a revival prayer session at a Houston stadium…

“Recent past presidents spoke comfortably about their faith, including George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter. Bush shared a powerful narrative of his religious conversion — that he went on a walk with Billy Graham, joined a Bible study group in Midland, Tex., and overcame his alcoholism… A lifelong Methodist, Perry regularly attends Lake Hills Church… He usually prays before meals and, as governor, has spoken at prayer services and has issued executive orders to pray for rain…”

Violence Fought with Violence…

Der Spiegel Online wrote on September 11:

“Ten years have passed since Sept. 11, 2001, and today only losers remain. Islam has been taken hostage by blinded ideologues. The West has betrayed its values in its struggle against terror, and we are now burdened with Islamophobes… What remains etched in our minds, 10 years after the fact? Two images tell the entire story. One is of the burning Twin Towers and the other of a prisoner being tortured in Abu Ghraib. This is the iconography of human insanity: the horrific crime in New York and the horrific crime of the war against terror. Violence was fought with violence, only to generate even more violence.

“Anyone who believed that people had learned something from the wars of the 20th century was promptly disabused of that notion at the beginning of the new millennium. In fact, we have learned nothing. We are still all too willing to exterminate each other, even with our bare hands. And we always have good reasons to do so. We are always in the right…

“The roughly 3,000 people who died on Sept. 11 were followed by more than 6,000 dead American soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq, countless civilian victims, 5 million refugees and costs currently estimated at more than $3 trillion (€2.13 trillion)…

“It is correct that not even the great flood managed to wash away all evil from the earth. In the end, God said…, as it is written in the First Book of Moses: ‘I will henceforth curse the ground no more for man’s cause, for the imagination of man’s heart is evil, even from his youth.’ But what Franz Kafka describes in ‘The Trial’ as the most horrible thing of all, namely that ‘the lie has become the order of the world,’ will not prevail in the long run…”

And that is true. Today, lie is the order of the world, because this world is ruled by Satan the devil, the father of lies (see the Editorial in this week’s Update). But Christ will replace Satan, when He returns to this earth to establish the Kingdom and Government of God; all lies will be replaced by truth; and man’s evil heart of stone will be changed to a heart of flesh.

America’s Gradual Decline

Der Spiegel Online wrote on September 11:

“America remains for me an unbelievably beautiful country where the smartest people that one can find on God’s earth live and teach. And it still holds true that this superpower saved Europe from self-destruction during the two world wars. But what became of it after 1945? After 1945, America has in truth only served to fight the wrong wars in the wrong places and for the wrong reasons.

“There were the two McCarthy-era wars in Korea and Vietnam. In Korea, the absolute rulers in the north and the south wanted to go to war with each other at any cost… In the end, the cost in blood to the Americans was horribly high… Vietnam was merely an escalation of the Korean War… Afterwards, America became a demoralized country, driven crazy by a world that had stripped it of its hegemonic role…

“Afghanistan also falls into this category of the wrong wars in the wrong places at the wrong time. It is a country that can be conquered but cannot be ruled. That’s why the conquerors always withdraw eventually. When America fell into the trap, it joined a long list of countries that had made the same mistake.

“Naturally the Iraq war made me take a different look at the earlier wars… First Iraq would become a democracy, then Syria, and so on. They wanted to change the world and actively impose their ideology on others. It was probably the last time that America would try to fulfil its historical mission of shaping the world according to its own vision of what it should be.

“Today we know that it was the global power’s last gasp… Barack Obama… is left with administering the country’s gradual decline. He will go down in history as the president who ended two wars, in Afghanistan and Iraq. And probably also as the president who failed to lead his country out of recession…”

These statements are quite interesting in light of the Church of God’s long-held and unwavering pronouncements for over sixty years that with World War II, the USA has won its last war. The reason is that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who had blessed this country due to unconditional promises which He had given to Abraham because of his obedience, began to withdraw His blessings, due to our sins and rebellion against Him. Please note the next article, which also describes America’s lost wars and the growing isolation of the USA.

America’s Growing Isolation

Der Spiegel Online wrote on September 11:

“It is the history of the decline of the USA as a superpower. Immediately before the attacks, this country was in full bloom — like Rome at its peak… Then came the planes, piloted by the followers of Osama bin Laden — and for a brief moment, the superpower seemed even more powerful than ever… America was trapped in Iraq for years, where a victory was a long time coming and was never a real one. It is currently trapped in Afghanistan, where victory no longer even seems possible…

“Today… the US is a deeply divided country… The country is at war with itself. It has a Congress where there is perpetual conflict between the right and the left — and where they don’t even want to talk to each other when the threat of a national bankruptcy looms…

“The US has become estranged from the rest of the world. It is partly its own fault, but the rest of the world also shares some of the blame — because many only see America as a perpetrator, and no longer regard it as a victim…”

The Bible tells us that ultimately, the USA, Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (modern descendants of the ancient house of Israel) as well as the Jewish people (the descendants of the house of Judah), will be hated by all nations. We are presenting articles throughout this Current Events section, showing how these prophecies are beginning to come to pass.

Turk-Israeli Relationship at an All-Time Low

The Sydney Morning Herald wrote on September 11:

“Turkey has raised the prospect of a naval confrontation with Israel by announcing it will deploy warships to protect humanitarian convoys attempting to breach the maritime blockade of Gaza. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan defended the move as a necessary response after Israel refused to apologise for the deaths of nine Turks killed during an operation to intercept a Gaza-bound aid flotilla last year. The threat is the most dangerous escalation yet in a rapidly deteriorating diplomatic row between the former allies that has already seen Turkey expel Israel’s ambassador and suspend all military ties… Israel described the latest development as ‘grave and serious’.

“Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman is [reportedly] considering meeting and possibly even financing Turkey’s Kurdish rebel movement, a move that would incense Mr Erdogan’s government. Mr Erdogan, meanwhile, is to visit Cairo… amid concern in Israel that he may seek an alliance with the aim of increasing the Jewish state’s isolation. The visit will be the first by a Turkish leader to Egypt for 15 years.”

The Bible prophesies a terrible violent confrontation between Turkey and Israel. Note the next article as well.

Turkey Pushes Palestinian Statehood

BBC wrote on September 13:

“Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that recognition of a Palestinian state is an obligation not an option. He told the Arab League that before the year’s end ‘we will see Palestine in a very different situation’. Mr Erdogan made a new attack on Israel, saying its government’s mentality was a barrier to peace in the Middle East. The Palestinians are currently preparing a bid for United Nations membership despite Israeli and US opposition.

“Mr Erdogan is in Egypt as part of a tour of three Arab states that recently ousted their leaders, in an attempt to improve Turkey’s standing in the region… The Turkish leader, who has won popularity among Arabs for his denunciations of Israel, was earlier met by an enthusiastic crowd in Cairo. Mr Erdogan called for support for the Palestinians’ attempt to achieve recognition at the UN… That Mr Erdogan bashed Israel again surprised no-one. It is the key to Mr Erdogan’s extraordinary popularity in the Arab world… But he went much further, presenting himself as a champion of change everywhere in the region.”

Israel in Isolation

Haaretz wrote on September 10:

“The political crisis has become a reality well before the Palestinians declare their independent state, writes Haaretz editor-in-chief Aluf Benn, leaving Israel isolated in facing Iran, Turkey and Egypt.
 
“The anxiety caused by the Arab Spring among the Israeli public became a reality this weekend, when protesters broke into the Israeli Embassy in Cairo, and expelled the Israeli diplomats from their country… The historians who will write about the collapse of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty will start their stories during the twilight years of the Mubarak regime, when the government gradually lost control over the Sinai Peninsula, turning the desert into an abandoned frontier of weapons smuggling, human trafficking, and African refugees.

“… a week after the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador from Ankara… the Israeli ambassador was expelled from Cairo… Netanyahu now hopes that Israel might be able to get close with Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf States, who also seek to block the possibility of an Arab Spring in the region. In the West, Netanyahu is hoping to circumvent Turkey by strengthening ties with Greece, Bulgaria and Romania…

“The political tsunami that Ehud Barak foresaw has come true prior to the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state in the UN. Israel is left isolated facing Iran, Turkey and Egypt, which in the past were considered close allies… Israel cannot prevent the rise of Erdogan or the fall of Mubarak, the same way that it cannot halt Iran’s nuclear weapons program. The fall of the American superpower is not Netanyahu’s fault…”

Israel Surrounded as Arab Spring Turns Darker

Bloomberg reported on September 13:

“The Middle East is plunging toward crisis… Not long ago, Turkey and Israel were strategic partners. Now, relations between those two key U.S. allies are in ruins…

“Why, after decades of quiet, has the Egypt-Israel border become so tumultuous? Two reasons: The interim Egyptian government has lost control over the Sinai since the revolution, and Gaza, which borders the Sinai, has been transformed by Hamas into a weapons-importing and terror-exporting mini-state…”

When reading all of this, one is reminded of Zechariah 12:3, which says: “…all nations of the earth are gathered against [Jerusalem].” And the development, as described in the next article, won’t help, either.

Cheney: Israel will Attack Iran…

Newsmax reported on September 11:

“Israel will attack Iran’s nuclear facilities if necessary to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon, former Vice President Dick Cheney tells Newsmax… ‘I think they would,’ Cheney said when asked about the possibility. ‘I think Iran represents an existential threat, and they’ll do whatever they have to do to guarantee their survival and their security… I’ve had a number of conversations with a lot of Israeli officials, and I think they correctly perceive Iran as a basic threat…’”

The Bible indicates that the state of Israel or Judah will receive “a wound” (Hosea 5:13), or suffer military defeat. Will this occur in a coming war with Iran?

Britain’s Inconsistent Position

Mail On Line wrote on September 12:

“[Chancellor] George Osborne admitted last night that a new EU treaty is ‘on the cards’ within two years… His comments… appear to be at odds with Prime Minister David Cameron’s recent assertion that the current crisis in the eurozone was not likely to trigger a fresh EU treaty… Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith yesterday backed the idea of demanding a new right for British MPs to block big European appointments.

“The Chancellor, speaking on the fringes of the G7 summit… in Marseilles, poured fuel on the flames by indicating that talks are under way to draw up a fresh deal for the EU… ‘This would be for the eurozone. This would be to further integrate the eurozone, to further strengthen fiscal integration now… It’s in Britain’s interest that the eurozone is stable and one of the routes to making it more stable is to have more fiscal integration’… Sources close to Mr Osborne insisted that ministers would ‘protect and promote’ British interests and there would be no further transfer of power from Westminster to Brussels.”

Britain wants to have new rights to block big European appointments, while advocating the strengthening of the Eurozone countries, of which Britain does not want to become a member. In the view of Eurozone members, a more inconsistent position could hardly be imagined. However, Britain is not alone with its position. Note the next article.

How to React to a Eurozone Economic Government?

The EUObserver wrote on September 12:

“A group of non-euro member states led by Poland is fighting a rearguard action not to be left out in the cold as single currency member states consider going ahead with a eurozone economic government. Europe ministers from Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania met in Brussels on Monday (12 September) morning to discuss how best to influence the debate on the future of the 17-nation euro area.

“All seven states are obliged under the terms of their accession treaties to join the single currency but they have little means of making their views heard, being excluded from the increasingly frequent meetings on euro governance… The spectre of a two-speed Europe, with a core of more closely integrated eurozone states started to take shape in August when France and Germany proposed regular meetings of eurozone leaders and a separate euro president, likely to be Van Rompuy.”

What does this all mean? Please read the next article.

Will Greece Leave the Eurozone?

The Telegraph wrote on September 11:

“Philipp Roesler, Germany’s economy minister [and vice chancellor]… said: ‘To stabilise the euro, we must not take anything off the table in the short run. That includes as a worst-case scenario an orderly default for Greece if the necessary instruments for it are available.’ He said such a default would mean ‘re-establishing the affected state’s ability to function, perhaps with a temporary restriction of its sovereign rights’.

“Mr Roesler’s comments come as Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine said finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble had ordered preparations be made for a Greek bankruptcy. The report claimed the German government is preparing for two eventualities under that scenario – Greece staying in the euro or the country exiting and reintroducing the drachma…”

The German magazine Focus reported on September 9 that Bavaria’s CSU also advocated the exclusion of Greece and other “unstable” Eurozone members from the Eurozone, but that Angela Merkel is pleading for patience. The New York Times wrote on September 12 that the world needs now Angela Merkel’s strong and decisive leadership.

The Local wrote on September 12:

“German officials rushed on Monday to calm highly stressed markets, insisting Greece should stay in the eurozone, amid rising alarm that Germany is losing patience with being the bailout paymaster…  a spokesman for Germany’s Economy Minister Philip Rösler… sought to allay these fears, saying: ‘Our common goal is the stability of the euro and we want Greece to stay in the euro’…

“After a meeting between Merkel and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, the two leaders issued a statement saying they were ‘agreed on the overwhelming importance of the euro for Europe and Germany.’…”

On September 13, Der Spiegel Online added:

“Against the background of increased pressure from the United States for a more resolute approach to the euro debt crisis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday moved to crush speculation within her government about a possible Greek default… Her comments were viewed as an indirect jab at Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Philipp Rösler… [Merkel’s] comments also appeared to be aimed at Bavarian Governor Horst Seehofer, who is the leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the sister party to the chancellor’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Seehofer has raised the possibility of a Greek exit from the euro zone in recent days…

“The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes:

“‘Is it possible to think about a European currency union without Greece?… The heads of the government coalition party groups in parliament have unanimously pointed out that it is not legally possible to exclude Greece. This is true in the sense that there are no provisions in the Maastricht Treaty for a country to leave the euro or to get kicked out — it neither permits nor excludes it. But as one knows after one and a half years of euro bailouts, politicians themselves have not adhered to the (Maastricht) Treaty even on points where it is crystal clear … With EU treaties, one proceeds as they see fit. Incidentally, the Lisbon Treaty even envisions the possibility of a withdrawal from the EU’…

“The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung writes:

“‘… the FDP and the CSU… create the impression… that Germany would somehow save money if the Greeks were left to go bust. But that is pure nonsense: A Greek bankruptcy would cost Germany billions. Because both directly and indirectly, Germany is one of Greece’s biggest creditors…’

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

“‘Throwing Greece out would be a disaster not only for Greece, but also for Germany and the rest of Europe… no one should forget that the euro zone has not gifted Greece with hundreds of billions of euros, but provided the country with credit instead. The money will come back with interest if the financial restructuring is successful in the country. The euro-zone governments should have made it clear to the markets that they planned to keep Greece solvent until it becomes credit-worthy again. But such a position can only be credible if politicians — those in Germany above all — preserve calm and reason.’”

The Associated Press reported on September 14: “Greece is an ‘integral’ part of the eurozone, the leaders of Greece, France and Germany said in an emergency teleconference Wednesday night that aimed to calm markets and temper talk of an imminent default by Greece.”

Bild Online announced on September 14: “Greece Will Stay in the Eurozone.”

The tabloid continued: “Merkel and Sarkozy made clear: The future of Greece is inside the Eurozone.”

Der Stern added on September 14:

“During their 20-minute phone conversation, Merkel and Sarkozy rejected a discussion about Greece leaving the Eurozone. ‘The Chancellor and the President are convinced that the future of Greece is within the Eurozone,’ [German] government speaker Steffen Seibert declared.”

It is obvious that Angela Merkel, CDU, spoke strongly with her Economy Minister and Vice Chancellor, Philip Rösler, of the increasingly unpopular and inconsequential FDP, regarding his ill-conceived comments, prompting his spokesperson to backpedal. The euro-skeptical media, especially in Great Britain, is painting once again a doomsday scenario of Greece leaving the Eurozone and of the end of the EU and the project of a united Europe.

Whatever the future of Greece may hold, we know from the Holy Scriptures that Greece’s relationship with the other countries in continental Europe will remain friendly. We also know that ultimately, ten Eurozone nations or groups of nations will arise in Europe, who will in turn and apparently at the same time give their power and authority to a charismatic political leader. The present Eurozone members might still undergo some changes before the final ten will have emerged. We also know that the final Eurozone members will become hostile towards Great Britain.

USA Plagued by Natural Disasters

The Associated Press reported on September 3:

“Nature is pummeling the United States this year with extremes. Unprecedented triple-digit heat and devastating drought. Deadly tornadoes leveling towns. Massive rivers overflowing. A billion-dollar blizzard. And now, unusual hurricane-caused flooding in Vermont.

“If what’s falling from the sky isn’t enough, the ground shook in places that normally seem stable: Colorado and the entire East Coast. On Friday, a strong quake triggered brief tsunami warnings in Alaska. Arizona and New Mexico have broken records for wildfires.

“Total weather losses top $35 billion, and that’s not counting Hurricane Irene… There have been more than 700 U.S. disaster and weather deaths, most from the tornado outbreaks this spring… The U.S. has had a record 10 weather catastrophes costing more than a billion dollars: five separate tornado outbreaks, two different major river floods in the Upper Midwest and the Mississippi River, drought in the Southwest and a blizzard that crippled the Midwest and Northeast, and Irene…

“The East Coast got a double-whammy in one week with a magnitude 5.8 earthquake followed by a drenching from Irene… There are still four months to go, including September, the busiest month of the hurricane season… The insurance company Munich Re calculated that in the first six months of the year there have been 98 natural disasters in the United States, about double the average of the 1990s…

“Add to that, oppressive and unrelenting heat. Tens of thousands of daily weather records have been broken or tied and nearly 1,000 all-time records set, with most of them heat or rain related…”

We can expect terrible natural disasters to continue plaguing the United States.

Mexico Invades USA

ABC-7 reported on September 3:

“Border Patrol officials are investigating an incursion by Mexican federal police into the United States on Thursday morning. U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Doug Mosier said armed officers with Mexico’s Secretaria de Seguridad Publica Federal Police were involved in the incursion, which took place in El Paso, near the Border Patrol’s Ysleta station.

“The Mexican government, Border Patrol and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department are investigating the incident. U.S. federal authorities are also responding to the incident. An ABC-7 viewer contacted the station early Thursday, saying her son, husband and friends were hunting on the Rio Grande levee on the U.S. side when men on the Mexico side fired shots, narrowly missing them. The woman said more men on the Mexico side drove up with automatic weapons and into the U.S. side. She said the armed men fired weapons and stole the hunter’s chairs and drove back into Mexico.

“Mosier said Border Patrol agents and Texas Parks and Wildlife officers were sent to the area immediately. ‘Upon approach, our agents observed those subjects (Mexican officers) who committed the incursion return back to Mexico,’ Mosier said.”

This is just an extremely small foretaste of a real invasion of the United States of America to take place in the not-too-distant future; but that invasion will be launched by a United States of Europe.

US Postal Service Is Nearing Default

The New York Times wrote on September 4:

“The United States Postal Service has long lived on the financial edge, but it has never been as close to the precipice as it is today: the agency is so low on cash that it will not be able to make a $5.5 billion payment due this month and may have to shut down entirely this winter unless Congress takes emergency action to stabilize its finances. “Our situation is extremely serious,” the postmaster general, Patrick R. Donahoe, said in an interview. ‘If Congress doesn’t act, we will default.’

“In recent weeks, Mr. Donahoe has been pushing a series of painful cost-cutting measures to erase the agency’s deficit, which will reach $9.2 billion this fiscal year. They include eliminating Saturday mail delivery, closing up to 3,700 postal locations and laying off 120,000 workers — nearly one-fifth of the agency’s work force — despite a no-layoffs clause in the unions’ contracts…”

Even the most prestigious institutions of the United States are in danger of defaulting.

Canada’s Troubled Submarine Fleet

The Vancouver Sun reported on September 4:

“The navy’s last operational submarine is now sidelined until 2016, leaving the service without an underwater capability and potentially throwing into question the future of the submarine fleet. The submarine program, which has already cost around $900 million, has been plagued with various maintenance issues that have prevented the boats from being available for operations on a regular basis. A media report in July noted that one of the subs, HMCS Windsor, arrived in Canada in the fall of 2001 but since then it has operated at sea for just 332 days.

“HMCS Corner Brook, damaged when it hit the ocean floor during a training accident in June on the West Coast, is now dockside. It will be repaired and overhauled during a planned maintenance period now underway. But it is not scheduled to return to sea until 2016, the navy confirmed in an email to the Ottawa Citizen. HMCS Chicoutimi, damaged by a fire in 2004 that killed one officer, still remains sidelined. That leaves HMCS Windsor and HMCS Victoria, which are also not available for duty at sea… defence analyst Martin Shadwick said the latest news on the four submarines is yet another blow to the program… He said the future survival of the submarine force could be put in jeopardy if the problems continue… The subs are still not capable of firing Canadian torpedoes… the subs are also restricted in the depth they can dive because of rust problems.”

Canada will not be spared when the future United States of Europe will begin to invade the American continent—but Canada might be ill-prepared, militarily, for such an attack.

Europe Needs to Relinquish National Sovereignty

Deutsche Welle reported on September 4:

“Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has appealed for the pace to be stepped up in the building [of] a more federal Europe… Schröder said Brussels needed to quicken the pace on establishing a federal style of European government – at least as far as the economy is concerned.  ‘We [are] going to have to relinquish national sovereignty, ’ said Schröder, referring to domestic economic policy.  ‘The European parliament should become the highest authority for whatever power is given up by national parliaments. ’… Schröder welcomed efforts by Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the direction of a common economic government… Otherwise, Schröder said Europe and its individual nation states would  ‘sink into insignificance.’

“He also attacked the position of Britain within the European Union.  ‘Great Britain causes the biggest problems,’ Schröder said. While the country was not a member of the single currency, London still maintained an interest in shaping the debate over the economic zone, he said.   ‘The two things do not go together,’ said Schröder, calling for a clear recognition that Europe had an  ‘inner core’ of countries. ‘Concrete decisions about the organization of any economic governance can only be made by eurozone members and not by the whole of the EU council,’ said Schröder.”

Reuters added on September 5:

“Former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Sunday called for the creation of a ‘United States of Europe,’ saying the bloc needed a common government to avoid future economic crises… He added: ‘We will have to give up national sovereignty… we should make a government which would be supervised by the European Parliament. And that means the United States of Europe… In the crisis lies a real opportunity to achieve a political union in Europe… Great Britain causes the greatest problems. (It is) not in the euro but the British nevertheless always want to participate when it comes to designing a European economic area,’ he said. ‘That doesn’t work.’”

We should take good note of Gerhard Schröder’s very perceptive statements regarding the future of Europe, which are totally in line with biblical prophecy.

Europe Needs Deeper Political Union

The Associated Press reported on September 3:

“Finance officials and experts gathered in Italy mostly agreed Saturday that Europe needs deeper political union to preserve the troubled euro… Unless Europeans agree ‘to complete economic and monetary union … with a fiscal union, with a strong governance, with a feeling that some political decision should be adopted in common by those who are sharing the single currency, we will not succeed,’ said Joaquin Almunia, a vice president of the EU commission, the closest thing to a central government in the union.

“While most governments bristle at this, Spanish Finance Minister Elena Salgado bravely concurred, saying she supported ‘more fiscal integration’ and noting that her country was in any case deeply dependent on trade with the rest of the EU.

“Many of the speakers in Cernobbio singled out Germany, which as the best performing EU economy both benefits from the union and is called upon to subsidize others… At the heart of the matter is the fact… that the European Union is operating at two speeds, with Germany and a few other mostly northern nations performing far better than the southern rim and even France…

“China’s Zhu Min, the recently minted [sic] deputy director of the IMF, urged Europeans to start by overcoming their divisions: ‘At the end of the day if you don’t have a single market, you won’t have a single currency and a common growth,’ he said.”

As the next articles suggest, and as the Bible makes very clear, core Europe will unite politically under German leadership, and the euro, as the necessary glue for the establishment of a political and military union, will not fail.

Cameron: “Eurozone Should Become United States of Europe”

On September 7, The Daily Mail published the following article:

“[British Prime Minister] David Cameron was branded an EU ‘enthusiast’ by Tory Eurosceptics last night as he said Britain must let eurozone countries move towards a United States of Europe with a common economic policy…

“Mr Cameron, appearing before MPs, repeated his pledge that Britain would never join the euro while he is in charge… Mr Cameron insisted he was a ‘practical Eurosceptic’ – but warned of economic disaster for Britain if the euro is allowed to collapse.”

“If the Euro Fails, Then Europe Fails!”

Der Spiegel wrote on September 7:

“In a speech before German parliament, part of a general debate on the budget, Merkel made a plea for ‘more Europe’ and said that to make Europe strong and lasting, ‘treaty amendments can no longer be taboo in order to bind the EU closer together.’ She also reminded her country that a strong Europe was in Germany’s interest… ‘The euro is much, much more than a currency,’ Merkel said. ‘The euro is the guarantee of a united Europe. If the euro fails, then Europe fails.’”

… and we know from biblical prophecy that Europe—modern Babylon–will not fail, until it has fulfilled its designed role in world affairs.

Decision of Highest German Court Victory for the Euro

The Local wrote on September 7:

“Germany’s top court ruled on Wednesday that aid for Greece and rescue packages for other eurozone countries was legal but said parliament must have greater say in any future bailout… the judges insisted that parliament may not approve any deal that leads to a pooling of national debt, apparently ruling out the idea of ‘eurobonds’… German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the pivotal court ruling upholding rescue packages for stricken eurozone members confirmed Berlin’s policies during the debt crisis.”

Deutsche Welle added on September 7 that the court decision was a “Victory for euro-backers.”

The New York Times agreed, stating on September 7:

“The decision was viewed by some analysts as a rare triumph for Chancellor Angela Merkel and seemed to place fewer restrictions than some had expected on her ability to react to the European debt crisis. At the same time, the high public standing of the court should lend broader legitimacy to government efforts to shore up the European currency… The euro rose slightly on currency markets as word of the ruling emerged…

“Hannes Hesse, president of the German Engineering Federation, which represents manufacturers… Hesse added, ‘In the long term it will only be possible to stabilize European currency union when the national parliaments of all the euro countries accept limits on their fiscal sovereignty… The euro project will make a more unified economic policy in the euro zone unavoidable’…

“’In Europe, there is no Constitutional Court stronger or more visible in the public sphere and political landscape than the German constitutional court,’ said Matthias Herdegen, director of the Institute for Public Law at the University of Bonn… Supporters of greater integration contend that a common economic government is the missing element for a stable future for the currency bloc.”

Warning for Those Who Would Like to Return to Deutsche Mark

Der Spiegel wrote on September 7:

“The Swiss decision on Tuesday to peg its currency to the euro should serve as a warning for those who would like to see the return of the deutsche mark: No country can escape the dynamics of the tightly intertwined global market. German commentators hope that calm can now be restored to the euro debate…

“Switzerland on Tuesday pegged its currency to the euro, announcing that the exchange rate was not to fall below 1.20 Swiss francs per euro… The bank said it was ‘prepared to buy foreign currency in unlimited quantities’ in order to maintain a cheaper franc.

“The Financial Times Deutschland writes: ‘Even if it might be expensive in the end, the Swiss decision will ultimately be cheaper than having an economy that is no longer competitive. It should be a lesson to all those who shout “Get Rid of the Euro” and “Give Us Back the deutsche mark.” Were we to get the mark back, it would appreciate at least as rapidly as the franc has and German exports would suffer… Switzerland has its own currency, a diminutive budget deficit and a legally mandated balanced budget (debt brake) — and still it found itself being chewed up by the market machinery. In a world of globalized finances, there are no islands of bliss. This network creates a dynamic that solitary actors like Switzerland cannot escape. And Germany certainly couldn’t either.’

“The conservative daily Die Welt writes: ‘… All euro-critics should take note. Were Germany to reintroduce the deutsche mark, the exchange rate would rocket upwards much quicker than the franc did. Company bankruptcies and mass unemployment would be the result — the economy would collapse. Germany isn’t an island either.’

“The center-left daily Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘The world is so networked that no country can go against the grain for long. Those adherents to the deutsche mark should think about that fact, because the Swiss were on exactly that path which critics of the euro recommend for Germany — and the Swiss couldn’t stand it for long. A fifth of Swiss companies, it was said, would have faced insolvency if the franc had climbed further. Those who would like to plunge the German export industry … into a comparative situation must be very courageous. It would be nice if the Swiss decision would inject a bit of cool-headedness into a euro discussion that has become overheated.’…”

Those who do demand and believe in a return to the Deutsche Mark simply do not understand the economic situation in Europe and Germany, nor the prophecies of the Bible. The euro and the Eurozone (howbeit, not necessarily in its present constellation) are here to stay, but there will also still have to develop a political unity of ten European nations or groups of nations, and the next article shows the thinking of Europeans as to how to bring about such a core European unity (arising out of the Eurozone) within the broader confines of the EU.

A Two-Speed Europe

Der Spiegel Online wrote on September 5:

“Herman Van Rompuy tends to be overlooked whenever European heads of state and government meet for their summits… He is one of the most powerful politicians in Europe, but he is almost unknown in most EU countries, including Germany… Merkel wants to propose giving the European Council president even more power…

“Merkel has recently been thinking about abandoning the concept of a unified EU — and assigning a key role to Van Rompuy in the process. The EU has always been careful to ensure that all members acted in unison… But in times in which the common currency threatens to break apart, the 17 nations of the euro zone need a common economic and financial policy. Otherwise, as the crisis has demonstrated, the euro cannot function…

“Today, it is primarily Great Britain that is preventing the EU from growing closer together. Merkel, though, has had enough — and is now planning a two-speed Europe. It would mean tightly interlocking the countries of the euro zone, possibly by means of a separate treaty that would apply in parallel to the EU Treaty of Lisbon…

“In addition to the club of 27 nations that primarily manages the common domestic market as it has done until now, Merkel envisions a tight alliance of the 17 euro-zone members — one which would unify their fiscal, budgetary and social policies… She can draw on a concept known as ‘Core Europe,’ which was developed in the 1990s by the then-chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, a certain Wolfgang Schäuble, who now serves under Merkel as finance minister. Both have established various measures to rescue the euro in recent months, some for the EU as a whole and others exclusively for the 17 euro-zone member states…

“The monetary union already had its own bodies that make decisions more or less independently of the European Commission. The important decisions have already been made for some time within the Euro Group, the group of finance ministers from the member states of the monetary union. They meet once a month, or more often, if necessary… But that isn’t enough for Merkel and Sarkozy. They want the 17 leaders of the euro zone countries to convene for a summit twice a year, with Van Rompuy serving as its permanent chairman…”

Defeat for Angela Merkel

The Local reported on September 4:

“The governing centre-left Social Democrats on Sunday trounced Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives in her home state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania… the SPD was the strongest party, with 37 percent of the vote, a significant gain on their 2006 performance of 30.2 percent. Merkel’s Christian Democrats mustered 24… percent of the vote in the northeastern state on the Baltic Sea, a decline from the 28.8 percent they won five years ago. The third-strongest party was the hard-line socialist Left party (Die Linke), with 17 percent.

“The resurgent Greens scored 8.5 percent, ensuring their representation in the regional parliament for the first time… The neo-Nazi NPD appeared set to remain in the state legislature… The far-right extremists managed to win 5.5 percent of the vote, down from 7.3 percent five years ago. The pro-business Free Democrats failed to crack the five-percent hurdle to win any seats.”

Deutsche Welle added on September 4:

“Currently governed by a grand coalition between the SPD and CDU, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is the poorest of Germany’s 16 states with unemployment at 11.5 percent and per capita gross domestic product (GDP) below the European Union average.

“Chancellor Merkel’s CDU has suffered a series of losses in five regional elections this year. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s current Social Democratic Minister President Erwin Sellering has expressed openness to other coalition partners. But around 47 percent of voters in Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania continue to support the grand coalition while 34 percent are calling for the SPD and the Left Party to join forces. A coalition between the SPD and the Greens enjoys the support of 35 percent of the electorate.”

On September 5, The Local quoted the “Süddeutsche Zeitung,” stating that “the continuing success of the neo-Nazi party in the northeast of Germany was deeply disturbing. ‘The problem how to undermine support for this party remains elusive… Something is deeply wrong in a society when the NPD has greater success in a state election than the FDP.’”

The future of Angela Merkel is anything but sure. The Bible speaks of a coming German political and military leader who will be extremely influential and powerful. We know that Angela Merkel is not that person, but it has not yet been made manifest as to who that person is. We therefore need to continue to watch world events, and especially the developments in Germany.

The Conspiracy Theories Surrounding September 11

Der Spiegel wrote on September 6:

“Andreas von Bülow used to be a German cabinet minister and member of parliament for the Social Democrats… he harbors suspicions that the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were not the work of 19 ‘suicide Muslims,’ as he calls them, but rather an ingenious, cold-blooded operation in psychological warfare organized by the United States itself… he feels fairly certain that either the Bush administration or other, far more powerful groups operating behind the scenes allowed more than 3,000 people to die in order to construct an unassailable argument supporting geopolitically desirable military operations such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“These are astonishing theories on the part of a former German government minister, one who spent 25 years representing the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) in Germany’s federal parliament, the Bundestag… A new… book, published in time for the 10-year anniversary of the attacks, includes an extensive afterword which casts doubt on the claim that Osama bin Laden was in fact shot in Pakistan by US Special Forces…

“Bülow… was a member of parliament, state secretary in the Defense Ministry and even German research minister under Chancellor Helmut Schmidt… In Bülow’s version of events… the intelligence services, particularly the CIA, display an almost inhuman degree of precision and competence. Not only did they allegedly control the terrorist planes remotely using special technology, but they also supposedly placed explosives on multiple floors of the World Trade Center towers in advance, to facilitate the buildings’ peculiar controlled, vertical collapse. In the case of the Pentagon, they possibly directed a cruise missile into the building, while at the same time making the crew and passengers of Flight AA77, the plane officially believed to have hit the Pentagon, disappear without a trace.

“Along the way, they invented the story about the 19 terrorists, substantiating it with false witness testimony and strategically placed documents and evidence. In Bülow’s world view, the CIA is an organization of nearly limitless power and fearsome efficiency, an organization capable of forcing an enormous number of people — the many accomplices and participants such an operation would have required — to keep quiet for 10 years and more, all for the sake of national interests…

“Over the past decades, successive US administrations have themselves certainly provided ample fodder for the formation of such views: the fable of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq; the fact that it was American help that turned Afghanistan’s mujahideen into the powerful force that later gave rise to the Taliban and al-Qaida; the Iran-Contra affair; the country’s unscrupulous cooperation with dictators and coups; the Vietnam War. The US government and its intelligence services have been caught lying, deceiving and breaking international treaties so often that many people now believe anything is possible…”

Many Europeans, especially Germans, agree with the conspiracy theories postulated by von Bülow and others…

Massive Falling Out Between Turkey and Israel

The EUObserver wrote on September 2:

“Italy has said the massive falling out between Turkey and Israel could spell trouble in terms of Middle East stability… ‘We have always said that normal relations between Turkey and Israel are a very important factor in terms of regional stability,’ Italian foreign ministry spokesman Maurizio Massari told Euobserver… Massari spoke after Turkey earlier in the day expelled Israel’s ambassador to Ankara and froze all future imports of Israeli arms in the climax of a year-long dispute over Gaza.

“Turkey says Israel should formally apologise for what it sees as the illegal killing by Israeli commandos of nine Turkish citizens during peacetime in international waters last year. Israel launched the attack in order to stop the Mavi Marmara and other boats in the so-called Gaza Flotilla from breaking its naval blockade on the Palestinian enclave. A UN panel in a report out this week said Israel’s blockade of Gaza is ‘legitimate’, that Gaza flotilla members acted ‘recklessly’ and put up ‘violent resistance.’ It added that Israel’s use of force was ‘excessive and unreasonable’, however.

“Maja Kocjancic, a spokeswoman for EU foreign relations chief Catherine Ashton, said: ‘Turkey and Israel are crucial partners of the EU – their dialogue and good relations are thus equally crucial to us, including to address the difficult problems of the region, such as the MEPP [Middle East peace process].’ She noted that ‘the EU is ready to assist if needed’ in rebuilding bridges…”

The Bible prophesies that the end-time relationship between Turkey—biblical Edom—and the state of Israel will become very hostile.

Strategic Cooperation between Turkey and Egypt

Haaretz wrote on September 4:

“Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyep Erdogan is set to visit Egypt next week in order to discuss a strategic cooperation agreement between the two countries… Erdogan is scheduled to meet with the Egyptian prime minister and the head of the Egyptian military council on September 12 to discuss increased diplomatic and military cooperation, and overall improvement of ties between Turkey and Egypt. The two are due to sign a strategic cooperation agreement concerning military, diplomatic, and economic issues.

“The moves come as the crisis in Israel-Turkey relations deepened after the UN-commissioned report on the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid was leaked to the New York Times, foiling a last-ditch effort to patch up relations between the two countries. Meanwhile, following the expulsion of the Israeli envoy from Turkey, Egyptians called on their government to follow in Turkey’s footsteps, Al Jazeera reported on Sunday, and expel the Israeli envoy in Cairo, as well as alter the Camp David Accords to allow more Egyptian forces in the Sinai Peninsula.

“On Friday morning, Turkey announced a series of measures against Israel, beginning with the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and the downgrading of bilateral relations to the level of second secretary. Another step announced by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu could lead to a military confrontation with Israel. ‘Turkey would take every precaution it deems necessary for the safety of maritime navigation in the eastern Mediterranean,’ Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News quoted him as saying Friday. The paper reported that Turkey’s navy would escort civilian vessels carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and would guarantee free navigation in the zone between Israel and Cyprus.”

These are interesting developments, in the light of biblical prophecy. Please read or re-read our Q&As on Egypt and Turkey.

Pre-Emptive Strike Against Iran?

AFP reported on August 31:

“France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy warned on Wednesday that Iran’s alleged attempts to build long-range missiles and nuclear weapons could lead unnamed countries to launch a pre-emptive attack. ‘Its military nuclear and ballistic ambitions constitute a growing threat that may lead to a preventive attack against Iranian sites that would provoke a major crisis that France wants to avoid at all costs,’ he said.

“Sarkozy did not say which country might launch such a strike, but it has been reported that Israel — perhaps with US support — has considered bombing Iranian nuclear sites if it believes Tehran is close to building a weapon.

“The French leader placed the blame for the crisis on Iran, which insists it has no intention of building a nuclear weapon, and is merely enriching nuclear fuel for medical research and a domestic atomic energy programme… But, despite being targeted by four sets of UN Security Council sanctions over its refusal to suspend enrichment, Iran remains adamant that it will push ahead and denies Western claims that it seeks to build a nuclear bomb.

“This week Iran upped the ante once again, announcing that it had abandoned talks with the international community to negotiate a nuclear fuel swap that would see it forego its own enrichment in return for civilian-level fuel. Western powers fear that if Iran perfects enrichment technology it could rapidly convert uranium into weapons grade material and thus be considered a ‘threshold’ nuclear power capable of rapidly constructing a bomb…”

A pre-emptive strike against Iran is very likely. However, the consequences might be horrific.

Justice Pursuant to Libya’s Rebels

The Associated Press reported on September 1:

“Rebel forces and armed civilians are rounding up thousands of black Libyans and migrants from sub-Sahara Africa, accusing them of fighting for ousted strongman Moammar Gadhafi and holding them in makeshift jails across the capital. Virtually all of the detainees say they are innocent migrant workers, and in most cases there is no evidence that they are lying.

“But that is not stopping the rebels from placing the men in facilities like the Gate of the Sea sports club, where about 200 detainees — all black — clustered on a soccer field this week, bunching against a high wall to avoid the scorching sun.

“… the African Union and Amnesty International have protested the treatment of blacks inside Libya, saying there is a potential for serious abuse.”

Such developments were to be expected. Note also the next article.

Islamic State of Libya?

The Washington Times wrote on September 4:

“Jihadists among the Libyan rebels revealed plans last week on the Internet to subvert the post-Moammar Gadhafi government and create an Islamist state, according to U.S. intelligence agencies… the jihadist plotting coincided with the high-profile emergence of Abu Abdallah al-Sadiq, a former leader of the al Qaeda-linked Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) and now a leading rebel. He is currently known as Abdel Hakim al-Khulidi Belhaj and led rebels in overrunning Col. Gadhafi’s Tripoli compound.

“A U.S. official familiar with intelligence reports on the region said there are concerns that some LIFG members remain committed to al Qaeda and others may be temporarily renouncing their ties to the terrorist group for ‘show’… A defense official familiar with jihadist strategy said Islamists likely will emerge in power from the turmoil expected after the demise of the Gadhafi regime and the West will be partly to blame. ‘We’re helping pave the way for them’ through NATO airstrikes and other support, he said.”

Unprecedented Rift Between Vatican and Ireland

CNN reported on September 4:

“Ireland stepped up its battle with the Roman Catholic Church over child abuse Sunday, with Justice Minister Alan Shatter vowing to pass a law requiring priests to report suspicions of child abuse, even if they learn about them in confession. The Catholic Church regards information learned in confession as completely confidential. But under the law proposed by Shatter, priests could be prosecuted for failing to tell the police about crimes disclosed in the confession box… The minister’s comment to a local radio station Sunday comes after the Vatican rejected Irish accusations that church leaders sought to cover up extensive abuse of young people by priests in Ireland.

“Saturday’s 25-page statement is the latest development in a row that has seen an unprecedented rift open up between the Vatican and Ireland, a heavily Roman Catholic country. ‘The Holy See does not accept that it was somehow indifferent to the plight of those who suffered abuse in Ireland,’ the statement says. Rather, it says, the Holy See ‘devoted considerable attention to the Irish situation,’ through meetings with Irish bishops and directions given by the Pope to Irish church leaders. The Vatican response says ‘the accusation that the Holy See attempted to frustrate an inquiry in a sovereign democratic republic is unfounded.’

“The Vatican response follows a biting attack by Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny in the wake of the Cloyne report, published in July, which investigated abuses in the diocese of Cloyne, near the southern city of Cork… Addressing lawmakers, Kenny claimed the report exposed the Vatican as trying to hinder an inquiry into child sex abuse for its own benefit and said it revealed the ‘dysfunction, the disconnection, the elitism that dominate the culture of the Vatican to this day.’

“Irish lawmakers then passed a motion deploring ‘the Vatican’s intervention which contributed to the undermining of the child protection framework and guidelines of the Irish State and the Irish Bishops.’ The Vatican responded to the criticism by Kenny and other Irish lawmakers by recalling its envoy to Ireland, Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza.”

It remains to be seen how the relationship between the Vatican and Ireland will develop. We can expect that in the future, the Roman Catholic Church will play a much more forceful role than it does now.

Emphasis of Secularism and Sensitivity to Non-Christians

Mail On Line reported on September 3:

“Australia is to remove the birth of Jesus as a reference point for dates in school history books. Under the new politically correct curriculum, the terms BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini) will be replaced with BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era).

“The Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, yesterday condemned the move as an ‘intellectually absurd attempt to write Christ out of human history’…

“Opposition education spokesman Christopher Pyne, of Australia’s Liberal National Party, also criticised the government changes, which were supposed to be pushed through next year but have been delayed because of the row. ‘Australia is what it is today because of the foundations of our nation in the Judeo-Christian heritage that we inherited from Western civilization,’ he said…

“The Common Era was originally introduced in the Sixth Century and appeared in English as early 1708… Use of the CE abbreviation was introduced by Jewish academics in the mid-19th century. The terms CE and BCE became popular in academic and scientific publications in the late 20th century. They were used by publishers to emphasise secularism or sensitivity to non-Christians…”

This is a sad testimony indeed, when “Christians” are unwilling to stand up for their beliefs for fear of non-Christian sensitivities or because they want to cater to secularism.

US Devastation of Tropical Storm Irene

BBC News reported on August 29:

“The US east coast has begun clearing up after the devastation of tropical storm Irene, which killed at least 21 people… The small state of Vermont was reeling from the worst flooding in nearly a century, which washed away bridges [including the famous bridge featured in the movie, “Baby Boom,” with Diane Keaton] and swamped the town of Brattleboro…

“The brunt of Irene’s impact was felt by towns and suburbs from New Jersey to Vermont. Driving rains and flood tides damaged homes and cut power to more than three million people in New Jersey, Connecticut and New York alone…”

New York Economy Takes Huge Hit from Hurricane

Mail On Line wrote on Sunday, August 28, 2011:

“New York is deserted today on what should be one of its busiest weekends for tourism of the year, as businesses count the cost of a four-day city shutdown after Hurricane Irene forced people indoors. But it might have been worse for New York City, as a direct hit by the damage-wreaking hurricane could have cost it up to $35billion in damage and increased the chance of a double-dip recession…

“Governor Chris Christie said he expects damages from Hurricane Irene to run into billions of dollars along New Jersey’s Atlantic coast and from inland river flooding… Insurers are expecting to suffer huge losses due to the hurricane, airlines are reeling as thousands of flights have been cancelled and shops cannot open so they [are] losing sales… Big problems include lost hours at work, power outages and a shutdown in sea and air traffic… ‘This is a worst-case scenario,’ said C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America’s Research Group. ‘This was supposed to be a prime weekend for apparel retailers.’”

Even though it would have been much worse if the hurricane had hit New York directly and/or with greater strength, the inflicted damage is nevertheless quite enormous.

“Virginia Quake’s Motion May Have Exceeded Nuclear Plant’s Design”

The Los Angeles Times reported on August 29:

“More federal inspectors are en route to Virginia’s North Anna nuclear power station after early data indicated the plant may have experienced more shaking than it was designed to withstand during last week’s 5.8 earthquake… The plant remains offline. It cannot be restarted until its operator can show…  that it remains safe…

“So far… they have found no indication of significant damage, but there are signs of the quake: thermal insulation that shook off pipes within the nuclear containment units, cracks in ceramic insulators on the plant’s transformers and fallen ceiling tiles at a commercial office building just outside the fence that surrounds the power station.”

New Massive Fault Line Found on Mt. Hood

The Associated Press reported on August 30:

“Geologists think Mount Hood is sitting on [shaky] ground… scientists have discovered a previously undetected – and active fault zone on the mountain. Scientists said the faults could also prove dangerous.

“The fault zone stretches about 20 miles from the northern flank of Mt. Hood to the Columbia River. Hidden by trees and dense vegetation, it had gone unnoticed… Teams began preparing to dig a big trench in the next few weeks across the faults to try and determine when the last earthquake [occurred].”

Iran Launches Bible-Burning Campaign

Newsmax reported on August 26:

“Iranian authorities [in northwestern Iran] began to systematically seize and destroy [6,500] Bibles… according to the Iranian Christian news organization Mohabat News… The agency has reported several other recent incidents of Bibles and other Christian literature being seized and sometimes publicly burned.

“Mohabat reports that the government-connected cleric, Ayatollah Hadi Jahangosha, warned of ‘the spread of Christianity among our youth,’ pointing to burgeoning satellite programming, literature, and religious articles promoting the Western tradition. ‘Everyone in society should feel responsibility in this matter and play his or her role in [the] spreading of pure Islam and fight false and distorted cultures,’ the news agency quotes him as saying.”

Throughout the centuries, man, being cut off from the true God and following the lead of Satan the devil, has tried to destroy the Bible, but he could never succeed in eradicating God’s inspired Word, because God promises us that His Word will abide forever. All other religious books and “holy” writings, which are contrary to the inspired teachings of the Bible, will cease to exist in due course, but the words of the Bible will be accessible and remain for all eternity. In addition, Muslim countries such as Iran expect to gain converts in Western nations but any reciprocal approach by Christians in many of those Muslim nations is totally denied.  The same can be said, of course, for the nation of Israel as well, where proselytizing is prohibited.

Iran Determined to Eradicate Israel

Haaretz reported on August 25:

“Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Iran was determined to eradicate Israel… ‘Iran believes that whoever is for humanity should also be for eradicating the Zionist regime (Israel) as symbol of suppression and discrimination,’ Ahmadinejad said in an interview with a Lebanese television network…

“‘Iran follows this issue (the eradication of Israel) with determination and decisiveness and will never ever withdraw from this standpoint and policy,’ the Iranian president added in the interview… The Iranian president provoked international condemnation in 2005 when he said that Israel should be eliminated from the map of the Middle East and transferred to Europe or North America.”

Tony Blair’s Sister-in-Law Incites Muslims to “Liberate” Jerusalem

Israel National News reported on August 29:

“Laura Booth, sister-in-law of Quartet envoy Tony Blair, has called on ‘Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt [to] liberate Al-Quds [Jerusalem].’ The former British prime minister’s family member has previously sailed illegally to Gaza on a flotilla boat. She joined an anti-Israel rally in London Trafalgar’s Square… Booth went on another rant against Israel. ‘We say here today to you, Israel, we see your crimes and we loathe your crimes. And to us your nation does not exist, because it is a criminal injustice against humanity. We want to see Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt go to the borders and stop this now. Liberate Al Quds! March to Al Quds!’

“Another speaker claimed, somewhat myopically as far as historical accuracy goes, that ‘the only time that land has seen peace between Muslim, Christian and Jew living side by side was when sincere Islamic rulers ruled with justice.’ During Ottoman Islamic rule, Jews were second-class citizens, called ‘Dhimmis’. The myth of their ‘peaceful lives’ has been debunked by historians, although they were not subject to pogroms as frequently as European Jews..

“In fact, Jordan, during its occupation of the Old City and other parts of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria between 1949 and 1967, denied Christians and Jews all access to holy sites except for visiting dignitaries. Israel opened up the sites to all religions after it restored the areas under its sovereignty in the Six-Day War in 1967.”

Anti-Jewish sentiments are on the rise…

Europe under U.S. Attack!

The Local wrote on August 29:

“Laurence Parisot, the head of the influential bosses’ organization, Medef, has hit out at what she sees as deliberate attempts by the US to shift their own economic woes to Europe. In an interview published in Monday’s Le Figaro newspaper, Parisot said the problems started when China decided to ‘teach the US a lesson’ about the level of its debt over the summer. ‘The Americans then wanted to pass the buck to Europe,’ she said. ‘We saw a kind of psychological war and an attempt to destabilize the euro zone.’

“Parisot cites as an example the ‘unfounded’ rumours about French banks which were spread by the American media. ‘The front pages of the American media announced the death of such and such a bank and even the end of the eurozone,’ she said. ‘We went from attacks on Spain to attacks on Italy, then on France and as far as rumours that Germany would be downgraded last week!’…

“’When American publications, which are read by investors and analysts, lead with these false and dramatic announcements, there are questions to be asked,’ she said. She said that ultimately Europe was under attack ‘not because it is weak but because it is strong.’”

We have persistently made public the biblical prophecies about a future European military attack on the USA. The Bible does not reveal to us exactly the human reasoning as to why this attack will take place—but it emphasizes that God will inspire a future leader of Europe to launch such an attack, because God wants to punish the USA for its many sins. However, Europe will not attack the USA because it understands God’s plan, but it will strictly act with selfish and “self-preserving” motives. The article, quoted above, might give us a hint as to what rationale Europeans might partially embrace to justify their future “retaliatory” military action.

Europe in Danger of Collapse?

The EUObserver wrote on August 29:

“Polish finance minister Jacek Rostowski has said the EU could ‘collapse’ if leading countries such as Germany mishandle the financial crisis… the minister said: ‘European elites, including German elites, must decide if they want the euro to survive – even at a high price – or not. If not, we should prepare for a controlled dismantling of the currency zone.’

“He added: ‘We have a simple choice: Solidarity or the collapse of Europe.’ Rostowski criticised the German ‘elite’ after German President Christian Wulff last week said the European Central Bank (ECB) should not buy struggling Italian and Spanish bonds… The Polish minister said the long-term solution to the crisis is deeper integration. ‘The fundamental problem of the eurozone is not an economic but a political one,’ he explained. ‘The choice is: much deeper macroeconomic integration in the eurozone or its collapse. There is no third way.’ He attacked Finland for its ‘egoism’ in seeking collateral for a new loan to crisis-struck Greece…

“Rostowski said Poland will not join the euro until it is sure the currency is ‘earthquake proof’. But he added that wealthy northern countries as well as non-eurozone EU members will suffer if the euro falls. ‘It’s hard to imagine anything that would hit the Dutch, German or Finnish economy harder than the collapse of the banking system in any eurozone country,’ he said. ‘The collapse of the eurozone would [also] be catastrophic for Poland.’”

Even though Poland’s recent governmental officials have been known as being controversial and overly dramatic—and at times quite inconsistent—the above-quoted warning should be taken seriously. Europe is indeed called upon to save the euro—and it will do just that. Biblical prophecy simply does not allow for the euro to fall in these last days. We can also expect a “much deeper integration”—or let’s just say bluntly, an autocratic governmental system, under German leadership. In this context, it is interesting to note that the EUObserver reported on August 26 that Finland has abandoned its Greek collateral deal “under German pressure.”

We must also be very careful not to jump with approval on articles in euro-skeptical British papers such as The Telegraph, which are welcoming every opportunity to predict the fall of the euro. In its recent article, dated August 29, The Telegraph pronounces that “Euro bail-out [is] in doubt as ‘hysteria’ sweeps Germany.” It continues that “German Chancellor Angela Merkel no longer has enough coalition votes in the Bundestag to secure backing for Europe’s revamped rescue machinery, threatening a constitutional crisis in Germany and a fresh eruption of the euro debt saga.” It even concludes that Merkel “is facing ‘war on every front’. The next month will decide her future, Germany’s destiny, and the fate of [the] monetary union.”

These are overly dramatic statements, filled with unproven assumptions and exaggerations, and none of this constitutes fair, accurate and factual reporting. Merkel faced opposition before, but in the end, she got her way. In fact, as Reuters reported on August 31, “German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet approved [the] new powers for the euro zone’s bailout fund on Wednesday.”

But if The Telegraph’s predictions were correct, then the month of September would decide the survival of the monetary union and the establishment of Germany’s destiny as the leading nation in continental Europe.

In addition, the Daily Mail reported on August 30 that “A top German business leader [Hans-Olaf Henkel, the well-respected former head of the country’s main business federation] today called for his country to quit the euro and join richer northern neighbours in a currency block instead… He called on Germany, Austria, Finland and the Netherlands to quit the euro – ditching struggling economies such as Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy – and set up a new currency of their own.”

The paper continued that “Such a move – perhaps the closest thing possible to the return of the Deutsche Mark – would be highly controversial as Germany is the area’s powerhouse economy and has so far insisted it will stand behind the euro…”

Henkel’s fanciful ideas will not materialize. Biblical prophecy indicates that countries such as Germany, as well as Catholic countries such as Italy, and most likely Spain and Portugal, will be a part of the final configuration of the unification of ten core European countries or groups of countries, while Protestant countries such as Finland, and perhaps even The Netherlands, might not be in that final constellation. Therefore, a united power bloc of Germany and Protestant Finland, even in the context of a common currency, with the exclusion of Italy and other European Catholic countries, is not to be expected at all.

Europe Will Play Greater Role in Middle East

The EUObserver reported on September 1:

“The EU will in future play a bigger role vis-a-vis the US in providing hard security in north Africa and the Middle East, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said. Speaking to French ambassadors gathered in Paris on Wednesday (31 August), the French leader said the war in Libya is a ‘lesson’ for EU foreign policy: ‘Europeans have shown for the first time that they are capable of intervention in a decisive way, with their allies, in an open conflict on their doorstep.’

“He added that the Libya model – in which France and the UK took the lead with American support – marks a new division of labour between the EU and US: ‘The world is changing. [US] President Obama has presented a new vision of American military engagement which involves the Europeans assuming their responsibilities.’ Sarkozy noted the union should also play a bigger role in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

“‘The role of the US [in the Middle East peace process] is incontrovertible and irreplacable, but everyone can see it is not sufficient. It is necessary to enlarge the circle of negotiators … We must keep in mind that the European Union is the top economic partner of Israel and the top aid donor to the Palestinians’…

“In a reflection of Sarkozy’s new-model EU-US relations, the meeting will be dominated by France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, which are sending their leaders. The US will be represented by secretary of state Hilary Clinton, while China and Russia are sending third- and fourth-tier diplomats…

“For its part, the People’s Daily, a Chinese government newspaper in a prickly op-ed published the same day said: ‘The West has never given up its scheme of dominating the development directions of west Asia and north Africa. The dominance is connected with economic interests, naturally. Though the smoke of gunpowder has not fully dispersed in Libya, Western oil companies’ fights for the oil have already started.’

“US nemesis Iran has also started talks with the TNC [Libya’s National Transitional Council] on future relations.  ‘If … arrogant powers and international Zionism, including the tyrannical US regime, succeed to ride the waves [of the Arab Spring] and take the lead, the Muslim world will be faced with big problems for tens of years,’ Iranian leader Ayatollah Khamenei said in a rare public statement ahead of the Paris summit.”

The Bible predicts that in the not-too-distant future, Europe will invade militarily in the Middle East, but it won’t do so in collaboration with the USA.

Nightmare Scenarios for Libya

Deutsche Welle reported on August 29:

“Libya faces a number of nightmare scenarios, from a new civil war between rival factions to the rise of al Qaeda-affiliated Islamists, should a power vacuum plunge the country into a new phase of lawlessness and chaos. There is a new smell of fear circulating under the sweet scent of victory; a fear that the National Transitional Council (NTC) is incapable of uniting and controlling the diverse elements within the rebellion and that the tribal rivals which are beginning to bicker over the spoils of war may soon start fighting each other over them.

“With the possibility of Libya becoming a nation governed by a NATO-backed, weak and undemocratic central administration led by a compliant president and besieged by Islamist militants, some commentators have likened the unfolding situation as one akin to Afghanistan…

“Just as in Iraq, Libya faces the prospect of elements that supported the ousted Gadhafi regime attempting to fight their newfound marginalization and preserve their power bases… Just like in Afghanistan, a Western-backed NTC government may have to face up to battling an Islamist insurgency fuelled by extremist groups, some of whom have close ties to al Qaeda…

“There have been rumors of an al Qaeda presence ever since the war began but the rebels have been quick to reject claims that they have any links from the outset. However, the leaders of the US, Britain and France have since admitted that they were aware of an Islamist element within the rebel forces before pledging their support…

“As the rebels have advanced through Tripoli, a better picture of which groups actually make up the alliance has materialized. While no hardcore al-Qaeda affiliates have been identified, a number of Islamist groups have set alarm bells ringing in NATO…

“The immediate chaos and lawlessness which follows in the wake of a deposed regime has also given rise to another element which could lead to widespread instability and violence in Libya: the country is now awash with guns… As seen in countries such as Somalia and Yemen, the continued chaos arising from a state of conflict can exacerbate the circulation of military hardware among a fractious tribal society. As a result, Libya’s stability has surely been undermined by the looting of Gadhafi’s stockpiles.

“A recent report in the Los Angeles Times described how only a few of the 523 arms bunkers discovered to date in Libya are being protected by NTC guards. These, according to the report, contain everything from small arms to shoulder-launched Soviet Sam-7 anti-aircraft missiles. There were even alleged to be supplies of napalm in some. Meanwhile, the Guardian reported last week that Gadhafi’s supplies of mustard gas, which were being monitored by NATO, have now disappeared…

“After arming the rebels against Gadhafi, there is a chance – should the situation deteriorate – that NATO may find itself dodging its own bullets.”

In the context of Iraq, USA Today reported on August 30: “Continuing his book tour, former vice president Dick Cheney defended the Iraq War today, saying, ‘I don’t think that it damaged our reputation around the world.’”

This is incredible. Some seem to never learn, or blind their eyes so that they cannot and will not see.

Confusion and Chaos in Libya

The New York Times wrote on August 22:

“The struggle to… impose a new order on the capital presents a crucial test of the rebel leadership’s many pledges to replace Colonel Qaddafi’s bizarre autocracy with the democratic rule of law, and it could have consequences across the country and throughout the Arab world. Unlike the swift and largely peaceful revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, the Libyan insurrection was the first revolt of the Arab Spring to devolve into a protracted armed struggle, and at times threatened to descend into a civil war of factions and tribes… an ugly outcome here might discourage strong foreign support for democracy movements elsewhere.

“For now, governments throughout the West and the Middle East welcomed the rebels’ victory and pledged to assist them in the transition. The European Union said Monday that it had begun planning for a post-Qaddafi era, and Turkey’s foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said he would… meet with the rebel leader, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil… Egypt formally recognized the rebel Libyan government on Monday…”

More Than 30 Countries Recognize Libya’s NTC

Haaretz wrote on August 23:

“More than 30 countries now recognize the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) as the legitimate representative of Libya… [Five] countries moved to recognize the NTC on Tuesday alone – Iraq, Morocco, Bahrain, Oman and Nigeria – joining the United States and the major European Union countries…

“Of the other major powers, Russia has said it will not recognize the NTC as the sole legitimate representative of Libya, but it does recognize it as a party to the talks… China… has courted Libyan rebels by hosting their leaders and sending envoys for talks…

“Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday that his government recognized the NTC, as did the Arab League… Turkey first recognized the National Council as a legitimate representative of the Libyan people in June, but officials said that did not mean it was the only representative of the Libyan people…”

Deutsche Welle reported on August 25 that “The Arab League effectively recognized the Libyan rebels’ National Transitional Council (NTC) as the country’s legitimate representatives on Thursday, saying the NTC should take up Libya’s permanent seat on the council starting at a meeting of Arab ministers on Saturday.”

What’s Next for Libya?

Der Spiegel Online wrote on August 23:

“… what happens next? One thing is clear: An entirely new state will have to be created. Forty-two years of despotic leadership have left Libya with little to build upon. There are no democratic structures and there is no rule of law. Oil reserves might make Libya a potentially rich nation, but the economy and infrastructure are in a ruinous state. Old rivalries between the country’s tribes are already flaring…

“The Libyan National Transition Council, which hopes to lead the restructuring, will hardly be in a position to transform the country into a stable member of the global community without help. It is already dependent on massive support from outside, largely from Europe and the United States. But to what extent can the West intervene? With money alone, or possibly even with United Nations peacekeepers?

“It is a difficult situation… Libya could dissolve into a powder keg…”

Der Tagesspiegel added on August 23:

“One can only hope that the rebels won’t take revenge and massacre those who were loyal to their dictator. It will be difficult enough as it is to create a working democracy… That will require the ability to compromise and to engage in consensus — characteristics that neither side has shown so far.”

Too Early to Celebrate

USA Today wrote on August 23:

“… justifiable joy over the crumbling of Gadhafi’s regime… is tempered by the knowledge that the fall of a dictator is not the end of the story… In Iraq, as Americans know all too well, the celebrations in Baghdad’s Firdos Square and premature triumphalism over Saddam Hussein’s ouster were followed by a bloody insurgency, sectarian strife, an emboldened Iran and the rise of an al-Qaeda affiliate where none had existed. So it’s far too early for cheers…

“What will the new Libya look like? It surely won’t be Western-style democracy, and in the end it might not even be one country, fracturing instead along historical tribal lines. And in a nation that is 97% Sunni Muslim, the government will undoubtedly have an Islamic flavor. Things could still turn out badly, particularly if Islamists gain too much power…”

On August 23, USA Today published the following additional viewpoints:

“David Pryce-Jones, National Review Online: ‘The sight of the pick-up vans pouring into Tripoli is more frightening than encouraging. Here are milling crowds with weapons but no training in how to handle them, and no discipline. Unlike the spokesmen, (these) wild and angry men are firing guns, shouting about what they are going to do to Moammar Gadhafi and how great the future will be. Circumstances like these have ended down the centuries in revenge and murder. It is pointless to speak of law and order. After 40 years of one-man rule, there are no institutions or personalities with the authority for even minimum control. Those milling crowds look like anarchy.’

“Andrew Solomon, The New Yorker: ‘Few citizens will cry if Gadhafi hangs, but many fear that the eastern tribes, long disadvantaged inside Libya, will be harsh to the western ones if they win power. The Transitional National Council, which speaks for the rebellion, has been surprisingly effective at keeping the fighting going for six months, but to suggest that it represents the views of all Gadhafi’s opponents would be naive. It doesn’t even represent the views of all members of the established resistance in the eastern part of Libya, and it will surely not represent the interests of the many sophisticated Tripolitans who despise the leader, but also dislike the rebels’ ragtag chaos. The TNC has tended to describe itself in whatever terms will most effectively secure it NATO’s continued allegiance. These are nothing more than campaign promises, irrelevant to postwar leadership and reconstruction.’

“Daniel Serwer, Foreign Policy: ‘Establishing transparent, accountable, and inclusive institutions of governance will be the responsibility of the Transitional National Council (TNC)… The TNC’s inclinations are clearly in the democratic direction, but it has been rent by factionalism and disorganization. The killing of the rebel military chief Abdel Fatah Younes by what appears to be a dissident faction within the rebel ranks is only the most visible example of this internal chaos…’

“Marc Ginsberg, The Huffington Post: ‘Libya may be unified in the short run, but underneath the euphoria that will accompany the rebels’ victory, Libya is a very divided nation… There is real danger that the temporary alliance that formed the backbone of the rebel leadership will fracture, perhaps on tribal lines or religious lines, as competing tribes try to cut their own deals to gain influence and assert control over Libya’s all-important petroleum resources in the growing power vacuum.’”

As all of these articles show, it is far too early to celebrate, as Libya’s future looks grim and very uncertain. For further information, please read our Q&A on Libya and view our StandingWatch programs on the issue, “Libya in Prophecy” and “The Future of Libya”.

Germany Must Never Abstain Again…

The conservative paper, Die Welt, (as well as other German papers) used the “victory” of the rebels to blast the German government for their refusal to intervene militarily in Libya. Die Welt wrote on August 23:

“… the triumph of the Libyan revolution has made a mockery of German foreign policy… The triumph of the Libyan revolution leaves Germany’s foreign policy disgraced to its core. Without the air war waged by NATO — which Germany boycotted in a fit of national-pacifist arrogance — the victory of the rebels would have been impossible.”

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung added:

“Germany, which always professed to be a supporter of common European defense, withheld its solidarity from countries that are essential for this goal, using spurious arguments, and mainly motivated by domestic political considerations. This will do lasting damage to Berlin’s credibility on security policy. The foreign minister’s argument that Germany didn’t want to deploy ground troops was an excuse from the start — the British and French didn’t want to either, let alone the Americans; the pleasure being expressed now at the victory of the rebels seems all the more embarrassing.”

The business daily Financial Times Deutschland wrote:

“The rebels’ victory has many fathers, but none of them is German…”

Germany’s decision not to intervene militarily in Libya was the only sound and correct one, and it was supported by the overwhelming majority of the German people. The current celebrations of those who think that their military engagement was the right course of action will soon change their laughter into mourning and weeping. However, it is remarkable that portions of the German press, which was at first supportive of the German government’s decision not to intervene, is now suddenly attacking them for their inactivity, strongly implying that Germany should have intervened, and advocating the idea that they should do so in the future. As the media is far too often not reporting the news, but trying to “create” the news and influence and even change the opinions of the people, we will have to wait to see what such current mind games will accomplish. In this light, the following article is also very revealing.

Germany Unreliable?

The Local reported on August 24:

“Former Chancellor Helmut Kohl on Wednesday offered a blistering assessment of Germany’s current foreign policy, saying the country had become an erratic and unreliable partner to its closest allies… Germany’s longest-serving post-war leader slammed his successors Gerhard Schröder and Angela Merkel for ruining the country’s reputation overseas.

“’Germany’s hasn’t been a reliable power for several years – neither domestically nor abroad,’ said Kohl. ‘We have to be careful not to throw everything away. We desperately have to return to our former dependability.’ Kohl said recent events such as Germany’s decision not to support the efforts of its closest allies to oust Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi and the lacking German leadership during the eurozone debt crisis had left him dismayed…

“The former chancellor, who presided over Germany reunification in 1990, said the foreign policy of Merkel’s centre-right coalition under the direction of Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle appeared haphazard and without direction… Kohl also pointed to the decision last spring by US President Barack Obama to visit France and Poland yet skip over Germany as a sign just how much the current government had neglected transatlantic relations…

“The 81-year-old also warned about the dangers posed by the eurozone’s sovereign debt crisis. Bailing out heavily indebted euro members such as Greece was crucial to [the] future of the European Union, he said. ‘We have no choice if we don’t want Europe to break apart,’ Kohl said, adding he never would have allowed Greece to join the single currency had he still been chancellor at the time.”

Merkel and Westerwelle rejected Kohl’s criticism, while justifying their actions. In addition, as The Local reported on August 25, “Forbes magazine has named German Chancellor Angela Merkel the world’s most powerful woman, calling her the ‘undisputed’ leader of the European Union and head of its only ‘real global economy.’ Merkel, who has topped the list of the world’s 100 most powerful women in all but one of the years since she became chancellor in November 2005, beat out US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and, in 3rd place, Dilma Rousseff, who became Brazil’s first woman president on January 1 2011.”

The U.S. Costs of the Libyan War… So Far…

ABC News reported on August 22:

“The cost of U.S. military intervention in Libya has cost American taxpayers an estimated $896 million through July 31, the Pentagon said today. The price tag includes the amounts for daily military operations, munitions used in the operation and humanitarian assistance for the Libyan people. The U.S. has also promised $25 million in non-lethal aid to the Libyan Transitional National Council…

“While Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi appears on the way out, NATO says flight missions over Tripoli will continue… Over the past 12 days, U.S. planes have flown 391 sorties for a total of 5,316 since April 1…

“One significant offset to the cost of U.S. involvement in the flights worth noting is the sale of military equipment to allies also involved in the cause. Pentagon officials say the sale of ammunition, replacement parts, fuel, and technical assistance to allies since March has totaled $221.9 million…”

How much good could be done with those amounts of money which are currently wasted, to a large extent, for evil…

The Future of Libya’s Weapons of Mass Destruction

The Associated Press reported on August 23:

“No one can be sure who controls the Libyan government’s weapons stockpiles, a stew of deadly chemicals, raw nuclear material and some 30,000 shoulder-fired rockets that officials fear could fall into terrorists’ hands in the chaos of Moammar Gadhafi’s downfall or afterward. One immediate worry, U.S. intelligence and military officials say, is that Gadhafi might use the weapons to make a last stand.

“But officials also face the troubling prospect that the material, which was left under Gadhafi’s control by a U.S.-backed disarmament pact, could be obtained by al-Qaida or other militants even after a rebel victory is secured.”

Syria Next?

The Washington Post wrote on August 22:

“U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of failing to live up to his pledge to halt all security operations against protesters, saying the Syrian leader ‘has not kept his word.’… The Syrian government’s ongoing military crackdown on civilians has deepened Assad’s isolation, prompting President Obama and key European leaders from Britain, France and Germany to call for him to step down.

“The U.N. Human Rights Council, meanwhile, met Monday to discuss a draft resolution [which was subsequently adopted] calling for the establishment of a commission to investigate allegations of Syrian abuses… [The adopted resolution] ‘strongly condemns’ the government’s ‘continued grave and systematic human rights violations’ and insists that those responsible for the violence be held accountable for their crimes…

“’The United States deplores Assad’s campaign of ever-increasing brutality and terror against unarmed innocents, which may amount to crimes against humanity,’ Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council, told the Geneva-based council Monday. ‘The Assad regime has no intention of ceasing its violent attacks against the Syrian people.’”

Assad warned that any military intervention would have terrible repercussions. If a full-fledged war with foreign intervention breaks out in Syria, the devastating consequences would be indeed much more severe than in any of the rebelling Arab countries so far…

The Rocky Relationship between US Christian Fundamentalists and Israel

The Los Angeles Times wrote on August 23:

“[Glen Beck’s] rally in Jerusalem has triggered a debate over whether he should be embraced as a pro-Israel friend or condemned as a fanatic who has battled allegations of anti-Semitism. The visit is focusing renewed attention on the growing, and some say unlikely, alliance between right-wing Israelis and Christian fundamentalists in the U.S…

“Beck’s staunch support for Israeli control over Jerusalem and his criticism of Palestinians’ ambitions to create their own state have won him praise from many conservative Israeli leaders… But critics say Beck’s track record of controversial statements makes him an inappropriate ally. Last month he likened Norwegian youths gunned down at a political camp by an anti-Islamic extremist to ‘Hitler Youth.’

“Twice in the last year Beck has been denounced by the Anti-Defamation League for ‘bigoted’ and ‘horrific’ comments on his show, one likening Reform Judaism to ‘radicalized Islam’ and another in which he said Holocaust survivor and billionaire George Soros betrayed fellow Jews to Nazis. Under pressure from Jewish groups in the U.S., Beck apologized for the remark about Reform Judaism.

“He has several times had to fend off allegations of anti-Semitism. Last year he appeared to endorse the notion that Jews killed Jesus Christ; his list of the world’s nine most ‘dangerous’ people includes eight Jews…

“Beck’s visit reflects the partnership between conservative Israelis and some American Christian groups. So-called Christian Zionist groups and evangelical churches, such as Texas-based John Hagee Ministries, donate millions of dollars to help fund settlement construction in the West Bank and support Israel. The support comes, in part, from a belief among some Christian fundamentalists that Jews are God’s ‘chosen people’ and that a return of the Jewish people to the Holy Land and the rebuilding of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem are signs of the second coming. Beck, who converted to the Mormon faith in 1999, frequently discussed such end-of-the-world prophecies and biblical themes on his program.

“For conservative Israelis, the benefits of the alliance are more pragmatic. American evangelical groups have become a key source of tourist dollars and political and financial support, particularly as the divide has grown between American Jews, who remain predominantly liberal, and Israelis, who are shifting more toward the right.

“‘It’s a marriage of convenience,’ said Hebrew University political science professor David Ricci, an expert in U.S. relations. ‘Over the last 10 years, fewer liberals in the U.S. are willing to be clearly identified with the Israeli government.’ But Ricci and others see potential fault lines in the partnership. For starters, evangelicals are often active in missionary work, something Israelis do not tolerate…”

A Frightening Look at Egypt’s New Democracy

The Blaze wrote on August 22:

“While perhaps not shocking, it is profoundly disturbing that in the purportedly more ‘moderate’ Egypt of 2011, demonstrators took to the streets outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo with signs bearing swastikas and a message that read: ‘the gas chambers are ready.’

“It was feared by some that the fall of Mubarak would create a vacuum, thereby opening the door for an Israel-hostile regime to enter Egypt’s halls of power. If ‘democracy’ is what the Egyptian spring truly sought and cared about, then why the vitriolic calls for Jews to be sent to the gas chambers? And to whose gas chambers, exactly, are the protesters referring? Is this what Israel has to look forward to from its ever-changing neighbor?”

Powerful Earthquake Strikes US East Coast

The Associated Press reported on August 23:

“One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded on the East Coast of the United States shook buildings and rattled nerves on Tuesday and forced the evacuations of parts of the Capitol, the White House, and the Pentagon… The quake registered magnitude 5.8 and was centered about 40 miles northwest of Richmond, Va., the U.S. Geological Survey said.

“Two nuclear reactors at the North Anna Power Station, in the same county as the epicenter, were automatically taken off line by safety systems… The earthquake came less than three weeks before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, and it immediately triggered fears in both Washington and New York of something more sinister than a natural disaster…

“A magnitude of 5.8 would make the quake among the most powerful to strike the eastern United States. In 1897, a magnitude 5.9 quake was recorded at Giles County, Va., the largest on record in that state. East Coast earthquakes are far less common than in the West, but they tend to be felt over a broad area.”

Hurricane Irene

The Weather Channel reported on August 25 that “Our projected path map… continues to paint an ominous picture by pointing Hurricane Irene right in the direction of the East Coast this weekend. The latest computer model guidance confirms this threat and the first hurricane watches have been issued for the United States. The potential is real for the strongest hurricane hit on the Northeast in at least a couple decades this weekend!…

“Going back to 1851, there have been only 5 hurricanes whose centers of circulation have passed within 75 miles of New York City. The last hurricane within that distance from New York City was Hurricane Gloria 26 years ago… Similarly, only 10 hurricanes since 1851 have passed within 75 miles of Boston. The most recent was almost exactly 20 years ago: Hurricane Bob.”

BBC News added on August 25:

“The first hurricane of the Atlantic season is a category three storm, packing winds of 115mph (185km/h), and expected to get stronger… Irene, which is passing over the Bahamas, has already caused havoc throughout the Caribbean… The storm is growing larger and is expected to reach category four as it heads towards the US… The exact track of the hurricane is uncertain, but US emergency officials said the east coast from the Carolinas to New England was preparing for its impact.”

Strauss-Kahn Free, While US Justice System Failed Miserably

Der Spiegel wrote von August 23:

“Former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn is free after attempted rape charges against him were dropped in New York on Tuesday…

“The conservative daily Die Welt writes: ‘We don’t know what happened. In light of the alleged rape victim’s mendacity, the New York public prosecutors didn’t dare to find out the truth’…

“The conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘The fact remains that Strauss-Kahn’s public existence — as director of the IMF and promising French presidential candidate — is probably destroyed forever…’

“The Financial Times Deutschland writes: ‘This affair, staged like an entertainment spectacle, was a test for the US justice system. It failed miserably. Pre-judgment took place instead of presumed innocence, conjecture instead of clarification, public sensationalism instead of personal protection, and a pre-trial pillory took the place of an unbiased investigation…’

“The financial daily Handelsblatt writes: ‘If one lesson should be taken from the failed case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn it should be this: Have mercy on those who fall into the grasp of the US justice system. Even if the public prosecutors stopped a case that lacks foundation at the last minute, Strauss-Kahn’s case exposes the weaknesses of the American justice system … Those who don’t have the means to fight against this must fear injustice before the court. This goes to the question of why the statements of the alleged victim were sufficient, without previous examination, to set a martial trial in motion. A trial that appealed to the most base instincts of the public by staging the fall of one of the world’s most powerful men. If anything remains from the Strauss-Kahn case, hopefully it will be a lively debate over the American justice system.’”

Sadly, such a discussion won’t be forthcoming. In light of the miserable failure of the US “justice” system in the case at hand, platitudes like, “We see that our system works,” are just laughable, if they weren’t so tragic.

EU Must Become a Strong Fiscal Unity

The Local reported on August 21:

“The head of Germany’s Commerzbank Martin Blessing has called for a unified European economic policy organized by a finance minister to stabilize the single currency. The only alternative is to abandon the euro, he said. ‘We need a real European finance minister with the appropriate powers,’ Blessing wrote in a guest column in Sunday’s Welt am Sonntag newspaper…

“The top bank manager said there were only two ways out of the current debt crisis: a return to national currencies, or fiscal unity for the European Union. Blessing said the idea of a common economic government was the first step in the right direction, but that it was currently not being implemented forcefully enough…

“He said that only strong institutions with the power to intervene in the budget sovereignty of individual euro-states would help. He said only this would force national governments to stick to financial conditions. Blessing also suggested the EU should be allowed to impose taxes, and to construct a common debt agency to issue government bonds.”

If those two alternatives are correct, then we would have to conclude that such an autocratic unified European economic policy will be established for the reason alone that the core countries of the Eurozone will not replace the euro with national currencies.  In this context, Der Spiegel reported on August 24 that “the former head of the US Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, expects an end to the European common currency. ‘The euro is collapsing,’ Greenspan was quoted as saying at a Washington, D.C. symposium. Such an event would cause grave problems for European banks, whose security is already partially ‘questionable,’ he said.” Of course, Greenspan was fundamentally wrong before, and he is also wrong again in his remarks about the anticipated “collapse” of the euro.

Tony Blair Out Of Touch With Reality

Mail On Line reported on August 23:

“In a rare intervention in domestic politics, the former Prime Minister [Tony Blair] suggested Mr Cameron was wrong to blame the riots on a general ‘moral decline’ in Britain… He spoke out as it emerged that Scotland Yard believes up to 30,000 people were involved in looting, arson and criminal damage during the riots in London.

“Metropolitan Police figures show 3,296 crimes were committed during four days of rioting in the capital. Between five and ten people were linked with each crime, so police believe they may be looking at between 15,000 and 30,000 suspects… [Blair] said the main problem lay with alienated youths from dysfunctional families living ‘at odds with any canons of proper behaviour’… He went on: ‘The key is to understand that they aren’t symptomatic of society at large…’

“Mr Blair accepted that he made a mistake in 1993 when he suggested, as shadow home secretary, that the killing in Liverpool of two-year-old James Bulger had deeper causes in the breakdown of communities. He said at the time: ‘We cannot exist in a moral vacuum. If we do not learn and then teach the value of what is right and what is wrong, then the result is simply moral chaos which engulfs us all. I have no doubt that the breakdown of law and order is intimately linked to the break-up of a strong sense of community. And the break-up of community in turn is, to a crucial degree, consequent on the breakdown in family life.’

“The speech helped to undermine John Major’s Conservative government. Yesterday Mr Blair said: ‘I now believe that speech was good politics but bad policy.’”

Apart from the fact that Tony Blair’s present position makes little sense and is clearly unrealistic in the light of the established facts, he admits that he made earlier statements just for the sake of politics. Again, we observe the hypocritical and unrighteous character of political maneuverings, which establishes and reconfirms our dogmatic position that a true Christian must not have anything to do with such dirty endeavors, including voting in governmental elections for any of the political candidates.

The Curse of Obamacare

Newsmax wrote on August 12:

“Opponents of Obamacare rejoiced Friday after a federal appeals court in Atlanta ruled that the individual mandate at the heart of President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform legislation is unconstitutional. The 2-to-1 verdict in the 11th Circuit court in Atlanta sets up a dramatic, seemingly inevitable election-year showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court over the legality of Obama’s signature legislative initiative… In June, a Cincinnati court ruled in favor of the law… That ruling was notable because one of the judges in the majority was a Republican.

“So far, federal judges in Florida and Virginia have ruled against the act, while judges in Michigan and Virginia upheld it. Judges appointed by Democrats have consistently upheld the law, while Republican judges generally ruled against it. But Friday, one Republican judicial appointee and one Democratic judicial appointee concurred that the individual mandate is unconstitutional….

“‘The individual mandate was enacted as a regulatory penalty, not a revenue-raising tax, and is therefore unconstitutional,’ wrote Chief Judge Joel Dubina. ‘This economic mandate represents a wholly novel and potential[ly] unbounded assertion of congressional authority: The ability to compel Americans to purchase an expensive health insurance product they have elected not to buy, and to make them re-purchase that insurance product every month for their entire lives.’… Legal experts say it is almost inevitable now that the Supreme Court will hear the challenge to ObamaCare prior to the election.”

The White House Blog published the following statement on August 12:

“There has been no shortage of court cases regarding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. Before today, four courts, including the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, examined the health reform law and found it constitutional. Today, a different court ruled against the Affordable Care Act’s individual responsibility provision. We strongly disagree with this decision and we are confident it will not stand…

“Judge Sutton, a Judge in the Sixth Circuit who upheld the law, declared that the individual responsibility provision is constitutional and wrote: ‘In choosing how to regulate [people who choose to self-insure], Congress also did not exceed its power.’

“Judge Martin, another Judge who upheld the law in the Sixth Circuit, said the Affordable Care Act is constitutional under the Commerce Clause because ‘(1) virtually everyone requires health care services at some unpredictable point; and (2) individuals receive health care services regardless of ability to pay. Virtually everyone will need health care services at some point, including….those without health insurance’…

“For the 83% of Americans who have coverage and who are already taking responsibility for their health care, the Affordable Care Act will help insurance premiums to decrease over time.  And only those who are able to pay for health insurance will be responsible for obtaining it.  The Congressional Budget Office estimated that only 1 percent of all Americans would pay a penalty for not having health insurance in 2016.”

In the view of many, this last paragraph is illusionary. It is being pointed out that greedy health-“care” insurance companies are RAISING their rates in unheard-of amounts and with abominable frequency.  Not that they ever “need” to give any justification for their ungodly conduct, but one of the reasons they DO sometimes give is the very prospect of Obamacare, including its mandatory provisions for healthcare and the exclusion of denial because of pre-existing conditions. Of course, the frequently used excuse sounds like this: “As health insurer, we are impacted by costs that cannot be avoided. The cost of new medical technology, higher prescription drug costs, and higher utilization of medical services are just some of these cost factors.”

And so, it is being pointed out that our healthcare system is bleeding us to death and that it is literally in the process of DESTROYING more and more small companies and family businesses, and that the government stands idly by and does nothing about it—in fact, through its legislation, it contributes to the bleeding and makes matters much worse. And who in his right mind expects that insurance companies will ever voluntarily lower their rates? Sadly, many feel that Obamacare is a terrible curse for our country—not only because of its requirement of mandatory coverage.

Donald Trump was recently quoted as saying these profound words about Obamacare:

“Let me get this straight . . . We’re going to be ‘gifted’ with a health care Plan we are forced to purchase and fined if we don’t, which purportedly covers at least ten million more people, without adding a single new doctor, but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents, written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn’t understand it, passed by a Congress that didn’t read it but exempted themselves from it, and signed by a President who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn’t pay his taxes,  for which we’ll be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect, by a government which has already bankrupted Social Security and Medicare, all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that’s broke!!!”

The Poor Americans

CNN Money wrote on August 11:

“When the unexpected strikes, most Americans aren’t prepared to pay for it. A majority, or 64%, of Americans don’t have enough cash on hand to handle a $1,000 emergency expense… Only 36% said they would tap their rainy day funds for an emergency. The rest of the 2,700 people polled said that they would have to go to other extremes to cover an unexpected expense, such as borrowing money or taking out a cash advance on a credit card…

“Many respondents, 17%, said they would borrow money from friends or family. Another 17% said they would neglect other financial obligations — like a credit card bill or mortgage payment — in order to free up some funds. Alternatively, 12% of the respondents said they would have to sell or pawn some assets to come up with $1,000 and 9% said they would need to take out a loan. Another 9% said they would get a cash advance from a credit card…

“An earlier study… found that 30% of Americans have zero dollars in non-retirement savings. A separate study… found that 50% of Americans would struggle to come up with $2,000 in a pinch.” 

In light of facts like these, can we honestly say that we are still a nation which is greatly blessed by God?

Stocks Fall Hard Worldwide

USA Today wrote on August 18:

“Wall Street sank Thursday, with the Dow Jones industrial average plunging more than 500 points in early trading after renewed fears of global economic weakness rattled European and Asian markets… Thursday’s trading marked a return to the volatility that roiled the market earlier this month. And renewed economic fears spurred some bearish market strategists to warn of more declines… Wall Street, already under selling pressure from abroad, opened to renewed fears of a double-dip recession when investment bank Morgan Stanley’s economic team revised its forecast, concluding that the U.S. and Eurozone are hovering ‘dangerously close to a recession’ over the next six to 12 months. That report was just one piece of a spate of bad news to hit the market.

“The National Association of Realtors  reported that sales of previously owned homes fell 3.5% in July, third drop in four months, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.67 million… Separately, the Labor Department reported that the number of people applying for first-time unemployment benefits rose back above 400,000, largest number in four weeks. And a key manufacturing indicator out Thursday — The Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s survey of regional manufacturing activity — also showed signs of weakness…

“Thursday’s selloff began in Asia, where Japan’s Nikkeii 225 stock index lost 1.3% on news that exports dropped 3.3% in July. German, French and British exchanges followed with sharp selloffs. London’s FTSE plunged 4.5% on [a] report that Britain’s retail sales were up just 0.2% in July.”

Fox Business News added on August 18:

“Wall Street plummeted deep into the red… as traders grappled with global economic fears and an escalating euro zone sovereign debt crisis…”

Ron Paul: Let Iran Have the Bomb!

Newsmax reported on August 11:

“Iran should be allowed to have a nuclear bomb, Republican candidate Ron Paul suggested during Thursday’s presidential debate… His comments brought scorn from rival candidates. Michele Bachmann said she would do everything in her power to prevent Iran becoming nuclear…

“Paul said it is natural for Iran to want a bomb as it is surrounded by countries such as India, Pakistan and Israel which all have one and with China, the United States and Russia all involved in the region. He said the U.S. should not get involved in the country’s internal affairs… He accused the other candidates of warmongering…”

This is the kind of terrible shortsightedness of popular politicians, which will contribute to the prophesied utter downfall of our country. Note also the next article in this context.

Iran Determined to Destroy Israel

WorldNetDaily reported on August 15:

“Iran is warning Israel that its citizens should flee the Middle East or face annihilation. The chief commander of Iran’s Basiji forces, Brig. Gen. Mohammad-Reza Naghdi, recently stated that Iran has no option but to destroy Israel. Ratcheting up the war of words, Naghdi is now threatening Israelis in the ‘occupied lands’ that they are surrounded by mujahedeen of Islam bent on their destruction.

“‘I quote our supreme leader, Imam Khamenei, who clearly stated during the recent gathering of the leadership’s elite that Zionists are now encircled by those who are willing to wage jihad for Islam, and that those concerned for their safety and well-being should quickly go back to the countries they left behind,’ Naghdi told the Fars News agency, the media outlet for the Revolutionary Guards….

“Ayatollah Khamenei met with high Iranian officials last week during which he analyzed the events of the region and the world, emphasizing that the time for the glorification of Islam is at hand. Many religious authorities in Iran credit the supreme leader for predicting the unrest in Europe, specifically the riots in England. They believe that Khamenei is the representative of Allah on earth and the deputy of the last Islamic messiah, Imam Mahdi, and that Iran’s supreme leader is in direct contact with him, preparing the grounds for his reappearance.

“Shia Muslims believe that Imam Mahdi, who was born in 869, is still alive but has been ‘awaiting the time that God has decreed for his return.’ It is this return that will usher in the day of judgment, and the mullahs ruling Iran believe it will mark the destruction of Israel… Last week, the Iranian state-controlled TV for the first time publicly announced that Khamenei is really the mythical figure Seyed Khorasani who, a centuries-old hadith (saying) states, will create the circumstance for the end of the world and the reappearance of the last Islamic messiah, the Shiites’ 12th Imam Mahdi, who will conquer the world under the banner of Islam.

“A recent video… reveals the radicals ruling Iran warn the end of the world is at hand and they need to destroy Israel to fulfill the prophecy called for by the prophet Mohammad and his descendants to trigger the coming of Imam Mahdi. The Western world, meanwhile, continues to experience growing alarm as Iran apparently continues it push for nuclear weapons. Some analysts estimate that the radicals ruling the Iranian people could have enough highly enriched uranium for its first nuclear weapon within months…”

Terror Attacks in Israel

Israel National News reported on August 18:

“… the State of Israel has moved to its highest security alert nationwide as hospitals report that five are dead following terror attacks that struck the country’s southern region midday Thursday… Two Egged buses and an IDF vehicle were targeted by unidentified terrorist cells in what appears to be a coordinated operation. Several soldiers were also wounded when explosives went off at the security fence with Gaza.”

Arab Spring No Good News for USA

Newsmax reported on August 12:

“A midsummer poll in six Arab nations (Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) by the Arab-American Institute found the ‘Arab Spring’ is not good news for the United States. The following are some of the Zogby poll results:

“The United States’ and President Obama’s favorable ratings are at an all-time low. Obama is less popular in the Middle East than Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Capturing and killing Osama bin Laden has not improved U.S. relations with the region. Far from seeing the United States as a leader of the post-Arab Spring movement, the countries surveyed viewed ‘U.S. interference in the Arab world’ as the greatest obstacle to peace and stability in the Middle East.

“Top concern is the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict; Israel’s continued occupation of Palestine is blamed on the United States. In five of the six countries surveyed, the United States was viewed less favorably than Turkey, China, France, and Iran. Iran’s policies are viewed more favorably than America’s.”

It does not look good for the influence of America in the Middle East. Some other power will have to step in to fill the void. That power will be none other than the final configuration of the United States of Europe—and Britain won’t be part of it. For more information, please read our free booklets, “Germany in Prophecy” and “Europe in Prophecy.” 

The Tragedy of Iraq

The Associated Press reported on August 15:

“Bomb blasts ripped through more than a dozen Iraqi cities Monday, killing 60 security forces and civilians in the worst attack this year, one that highlighted al-Qaida’s resolve and ability to wreak havoc. The bloodbath comes less than two weeks after Iraqi officials said they would be open to a small number of U.S. forces staying in the country past a Dec. 31 withdrawal deadline.

“The blasts were coordinated to go off Monday morning and included parked car bombs, roadside bombs, a suicide bomber driving a vehicle that rammed into a police station and even bombs attached to lightpoles.

“The scope of the violence — seven explosions went off in different towns in Diyala province alone — emphasized that insurgents are still able to carry out attacks despite repeated crackdowns by Iraqi and U.S. forces. Iraqis were furious at security officials and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki… the persistence of violence in Iraq… underscores… Iraq’s precarious situation.”

Our attempts to liberate Iraq and bring them peace and freedom have been utter failures.

The Tragedy of Libya

Deutsche Welle reported on August 15:

“Waves of refugees have continued to flee Libya for European shores, as Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi pledged to up the ante in his battle to stave off advancing rebel fighters. Some 1,600 North African migrants arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa this weekend, with the majority of them coming from war-torn Libya…

“The island of Lampedusa lies in the Mediterranean Sea between the Tunisian coast and Sicily. Since the beginning of this year some 11,000 North Africans have landed on the island, fleeing uprisings and conflicts in their home countries. The Catholic aid group Sant’Egidio said 1,820 North Africans have drowned his year in the Mediterranean Sea attempting to reach Europe.”

Die Zeit asked on August 15 what would happen if the Libyan rebels would win. The answer is sobering: Libya would end up in chaos, especially if the Libyan rebels would begin to take revenge on governmental officials and supporters, as is already presently the case in numerous instances. According to the law on paper, NATO could not do anything to prevent this from happening, and they would not even want to. Die Zeit concluded: “War is dirty business. There are no morally justifiable wars. But then, one has to admit that humanitarian bombs are also an inconsistency.”

The Tragedy of Syria

Deutsche Welle reported on August 15:

“Activists in Syria say Monday’s assault on Sunni neighborhoods of Latakia killed one person. At least 23 others were killed in the city over the weekend. Warships and tanks joined the shelling in a crackdown against protesters opposed to President Bashar al-Assad. As the country’s anti-regime protests enter their fifth month, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said snipers were wreaking havoc in Latakia and the provincial town of Hula…

“In Latakia, people are trying to flee but cannot leave the city because it is surrounded by Syrian troops… Latakia is a hotbed of dissent against the Assad regime, with around 20,000 people rallying every day to demand that the president step down.

“Elsewhere, Syrian security forces surged into two Damascus suburbs overnight, cutting off communications, firing shots and making arrests. In a telephone conversation, Obama and King Abdullah [of Saudi Arabia] expressed their ‘shared, deep concerns about the Syrian government’s use of violence against its citizens,’ the White House said in a statement…

“A spokesman for the British prime minister’s office said Cameron and Obama, in a separate telephone conversation, ‘expressed horror at the brutal reaction of the Syrian regime to legitimate protests, particularly during Ramadan,’ the holy month in which Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.

“European diplomats estimated in a UN Security Council meeting last week that 2,000 people had been killed – mostly civilians – and a further 3,000 had disappeared since an uprising against Assad’s rule began in March. Thousands have also fled across the border to neighboring Turkey.”

Haaretz wrote on August 15:

“Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Syrian President Bashar Assad on Monday that military operations against civilians must end immediately and unconditionally, warning him that these were Ankara’s ‘final words’… ‘If these operations do not stop there will be nothing left to say about the steps that would be taken,’ he said, without elaborating…

“Davutoglu’s statement comes just days after the Turkish ‘Hurriyet’ newspaper reported that Turkey may consider cooperating with international powers in the event they decide to intervene militarily in Syria. According to the report, the Turkish foreign minister made it clear to Assad that in the event that Syrian forces continue to act aggressively against demonstrators Syria will no longer be able to rely on friendship from Turkey.”

Die Zeit reported on August 15 that Turkey may be providing Syrian rebels with weapons in an effort to diminish the impact of the Iranian-Syrian alliance. BBC reported on August 18: “The US, the EU, UK,  France and Germany have demanded that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down to allow a democratic transition.”

Universal Moral Decay in Great Britain

The Telegraph wrote on August 15:

“David Cameron, Ed Miliband and the entire British political class came together yesterday to denounce the rioters. They were of course right to say that the actions of these looters, arsonists and muggers were abhorrent and criminal, and that the police should be given more support. But there was also something very phony and hypocritical about all the shock and outrage expressed in parliament. MPs spoke about the week’s dreadful events as if they [had] nothing to do with them.

“… the criminality in our streets cannot be dissociated from the moral disintegration in the highest ranks of modern British society. The last two decades have seen a terrifying decline in standards among the British governing elite. It has become acceptable for our politicians to lie and to cheat. An almost universal culture of selfishness and greed has grown up…

“Our politicians… have shown themselves prepared to ignore common decency and, in some cases, to break the law. David Cameron is happy to have some of the worst offenders in his Cabinet… The Prime Minister showed no sign that he understood that something stank about yesterday’s Commons debate. He spoke of morality, but only as something which applies to the very poor: ‘We will restore a stronger sense of morality and responsibility – in every town, in every street and in every estate.’ He appeared not to grasp that this should apply to the rich and powerful as well…

“Something has gone horribly wrong in Britain. If we are ever to confront the problems which have been exposed in the past week, it is essential to bear in mind that they do not only exist in inner-city housing estates. The culture of greed and impunity we are witnessing on our TV screens stretches right up into corporate boardrooms and the Cabinet. It embraces the police and large parts of our media. It is not just its damaged youth, but Britain itself that needs a moral reformation.”

How accurately God describes the moral decay in our Western societies–mostly Great Britain and the USA, but also countries like The Netherlands, as the next article shows–when He says:

“Alas, sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the LORD, That have provoked to anger The Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backward. Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, And the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot even to the head, There is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not been closed or bound up Or soothed with ointment” (Isaiah 1:4-6).

The Abuse of Power

Harvard Business Review wrote on August 12:

“26.3% of 1,250 Dutch business professionals with marital partners reported having engaged in infidelity, according to a survey led by Joris Lammers of Tilburg University in the Netherlands. An analysis showed that people with greater power within their organizations are more likely to be unfaithful, mainly because of the increased confidence that power confers. The power-infidelity association applies to women as well as men, the researchers found.”

The rich and powerful should be setting a good example, but sadly, mostly the opposite is the case.

“The Euro Is Stable”

On August 15, Der Spiegel Online published the following revealing interview with Germany’s Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble:

“… while we in Europe have a common currency and thus collective monetary policies, we still have national financial policies… we’re now going to make the Stability Pact significantly stricter. Still, it’s going to be a step-by-step process to make EU institutions as strong as we might wish them to be right away, here and now…

“We have a stable currency, and no one has to worry about their savings …There were also some skeptics when the euro was introduced. But it’s working! And it’s stable! We shouldn’t forget that we’re living in an unusually stable economic situation. We are in a position to overcome this crisis…

“When we created the euro, it wasn’t possible to create a political union along with it. People weren’t ready for that. But since then, they’ve grown more willing to go in that direction. It’s a process, one that is sometimes laborious and sometimes slow… If we chose not to continue pursuing the European project, our prospects would look much, much worse… let me say it once again, very clearly: The euro is not going to fail.”

These comments should rule out the preposterous idea that Germany, of all countries, would give up the euro and return to the deutschmark. Also, the concept is equally uninformed and unsound that European core nations—including Germany—would forsake the euro and create their own common currency. The economically and financially intertwined European conditions clearly prohibit the realization of such a fanciful idea—apart from the fact that the Bible indicates that ten European nations or groups of nations will arise out of the current EU, not separate and apart from it. It is the euro that is the glue that holds Europe together, and that will help to bring about the political unification of European core nations. Notice also the following articles on that subject.

Plan for European Economic Government

Der Spiegel Online reported on August 16:

“Following a summit meeting in Paris, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy have announced proposals to introduce a ‘true European economic government’ as part of a long-term plan to battle the debt crisis… The two leaders also pledged to integrate financial and economic policies to a greater extent in the face of Europe’s debt crisis… Merkel said the goal is to ‘strengthen the euro as our common currency. In order for it to succeed, we need a strong integration of finance and economic policies in the euro zone.’ The chancellor added, ‘The euro is our future, it is the foundation of our prosperity. And it contributes to our peaceful coexistence.’ For the first time in the crisis, Merkel also described the euro rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF), as a ‘European Monetary Fund,’ a proposal long championed by Sarkozy…

“There would also be attempts to improve cross-border economic governance in what Sarkozy described as a ‘true European economic government,’ to be led by Herman Van Rompuy, current president of the European Council, for a two-and-a-half-year term. Leaders of the euro-zone states would meet twice a year and perhaps more often to discuss harmonization of finance and economic policy. ‘We want to express our absolute will to defend the euro and assume Germany and France’s particular responsibilities in Europe and to have on all of these subjects a complete unity of views,’ Sarkozy told the news conference at his Elysee Palace offices, where he was flanked by Merkel…”

It was also reported by Reuters on August 16 that “Jean-Pierre Pollin, a member of France’s Circle of Economists think tank, told the daily Le Parisien it was now unavoidable that euro zone states give up some sovereignty. ‘The monetary union inevitably implies a political union,’ he said.”

“Welcome to the Fourth Reich!”

On May 17, Mail On Line published a  controversial article about Germany and the German government. As predictable, German tabloids like Bild Online are furious and label the article as scandalous and defamatory. Here are excerpts from the article, titled, “Rise of the Fourth Reich, how Germany is using the financial crisis to conquer Europe”:

“Although [Angela Markel] will not yet admit it, this [the announced plan for a European economic government] all suggests the first step has been taken towards a fiscal union that will leave Germany dictating the financial terms for the rest of Europe… It is the one country that is able to do so… if such a plan succeeded it would make Europe effectively a German empire, with non-Eurozone countries such as Britain on the sidelines… For be in no doubt what fiscal union means: it is one economic policy, one taxation system, one social security system, one debt, one economy, one finance minister. And all of the above would be German….

“If Germany is to continue to prosper, Europe must prosper: but a ruthless solution may have to be imposed in order for that to happen. If the European project is to continue, Germany will not merely have to underwrite it, but control it.

“The recently-agreed European Financial Stability Facility is not the answer… The alternative is the massive surrender of sovereignty to Germany by the rest of the Eurozone that would allow the economic policy of Greece, Ireland and Portugal to be made in Berlin… That would reassure the markets, but it would also remove any pretence of democracy in those 16 countries: for once you have lost control of your economy, you have lost your sovereignty.

“Every spending department in every government in the Eurozone would have its policy made in the old capital of Prussia. And if the people did not like their governments being left with fewer powers than a county council, that would be tough. The alternative is ruin. Where Hitler failed by military means to conquer Europe, modern Germans are succeeding through trade and financial discipline. Welcome to the Fourth Reich.”

The Bible shows that a United States of ten core European nations—or groups of nations—will arise in these last days, and that Germany WILL be leading them. In fact, all of them will surrender their authority and power to a charismatic political and military leader of German or Austrian descent – the “beast” in the book of Revelation—and he won’t be ruling democratically. So, the article of the Daily Mail—even though they most certainly did not think of biblical prophecy—seems to be right on target.

More Oil Spills…

The Wall Street Journal reported on August 16:

“Facing scrutiny from regulators over a large oil spill in the North Sea that continued for a sixth day, Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) Tuesday acknowledged that some oil is still leaking from a pipeline that it had repaired last week… The U.K.’s largest oil spill in a decade could revive questions about the offshore drilling industry barely a year after a catastrophic U.S. Gulf of Mexico accident. The spill comes weeks after the release of a United Nations report detailing decades of oil pollution in Nigeria, where Shell has operated since the 1950s. The company is also in the process of applying for U.S. federal permits to explore for oil offshore Alaska…”

In a harshly worded article, Der Spiegel Online accused Shell of secrecy and asked whether Shell’s recent statements, as quoted above, should be believed, or whether the damage is much greater than admitted. Der Spiegel Online wrote on August 17:

“Oil has been flowing into the North Sea from a leak at a platform off the coast of Scotland for a week, but Shell has failed to be open with the public. Details of the leak are scarce, and information on the amount of oil which has escaped so far remains uncertain. Oil giant Shell is struggling to contain the worst North Sea spill in a decade amid criticism over how honest the company is being with the public. The spill, which has continued through a second leak after the company had initially said the incident was ‘under control,’ was reportedly discovered last Wednesday but was only made public over the weekend…

“The leak is on the Gannet Alpha rig about 112 miles (180 kilometers) east of the Scottish city of Aberdeen. Shell has admitted some problems — albeit in an ambiguous way… ‘Exactly how much oil is now flowing into the North Sea, we don’t know,’ said Greenpeace’s Feddern. And the experience of the Gulf of Mexico disaster suggests that the public should be wary of preliminary numbers provided by oil companies: BP’s initial figure for the amount of oil which poured into the Gulf in April 2010 was 60 times too low…

“Shell has admitted that the spill is ‘significant … in the context of annual amounts of oil spilled in the North Sea.’ The British government… has in the meantime described the spill as ‘substantial.’ It has also been labelled as the biggest incident of its kind in more than a decade… When the leak will be fully blocked up is unknown.”

Our Poor Children…

In an article, dated August 16, stumbleupon.com wrote the following:

“Today, NPR reported that kids living with unmarried, cohabitating parents are worse off than children of married parents. According to a new study, kids of unmarried parents are more likely to have trouble in school and experience psychological stress, physical abuse and poverty. The National Marriage Project and the Institute for American Values also found that while divorce rates have dropped since the late 1970s, the number of cohabitating families has soared, especially among lower socioeconomic classes. More than 40 percent of babies are now born to unwed mothers, and a quarter of mothers with multiple children got pregnant by more than one man.”

We will leave it with these terrible statistics and do not dare to quote the rest of this article, as it includes some sophisticated, but utterly misleading “twists” in logic and thinking, concluding, “The lesson here is one many of us have known for a while: married or not, kids are better off when their parents have a solid relationship and the means to take care of them.” Indeed, we are becoming more and more a nation without values and morals.

“A World Crying Out for Strong Leadership”

The Daily Mail wrote on August 8:

“Over the past month, even an economic illiterate with half a brain could have seen this economic meltdown coming… A woeful lack of leadership across the Western world is making a perilous situation worse. Markets hate uncertainty and they sense no one is in control.

“German Chancellor Merkel and French President Sarkozy are in denial about the true scale of the debt problem. The International Monetary Fund, which is supposed to enforce austerity measures on recalcitrant nations, is paralysed. First its boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned over lurid rape allegations, now his successor Christine Lagarde (who is not a trained economist) is embroiled in a corruption inquiry.

“Italy’s clownish premier Silvio Berlusconi has allowed his nation’s debt to reach 120 per cent of GDP… and Spain is blighted by impotence pending an election next month.

“President Obama, having thrown a trillion dollars into a failed bid to stimulate growth, has largely retreated to the White House and seems interested only in being re-elected. And here [in Great Britain], our political masters… ignored the crisis for weeks before the Commons broke for summer…

“The situation cries out for leadership – for someone with foresight and willpower to take the initiative…”

Sadly, the Daily Mail and other papers don’t realize what they are asking for, because a strong leader will arise very soon in Europe… but with terrible consequences for the entire world… But as the next article shows, leaders such as President Obama are no longer respected. His attempt to calm investors back-fired badly, showing a total lack of confidence in his leadership.

President Obama Speaks, and the U.S. Markets Dive…

The Washington Post reported on August 8:

“President Obama sought to reassure jittery investors… [He] spoke after markets worldwide plunged Monday, as intensifying fears about the global economy drove panicked selling in the United States, Europe and Asia. The markets continued to dive after Obama’s address, a sell-off that amounted to Wall Street’s worst day since the throes of the 2008 financial crisis…

“Immediately following Obama’s remarks, U.S. markets continued to lose ground. As he began speaking, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 426 points… At day’s end, the Dow had plunged 635 points…”

Lowering USA’s Top Credit Rating… What Does It All Mean?

The Associated Press wrote on August 7:

“Standard & Poor’s has taken the unprecedented step of lowering the top credit rating that the U.S. has held for nearly a century… The ratings agency downgraded its rating on the federal government’s long-term debt one level from the top AAA grade to AA+.

“Long-term debt includes notes and bonds that come due in more than one year. They have terms ranging from two to 30 years. Short-term debt includes Treasury bills that have terms ranging from a few days to 52 weeks. The rating on the government’s short-term debt was not downgraded. Of the $9.4 billion in publicly traded U.S. government debt, 72% is long-term…

“[The] downgrade is a warning to buyers of bonds and other debt that the chance that they won’t get their money back has increased, however slightly…The 10-year Treasury note is considered the basis for all other interest rates, so higher rates on that and other long-term U.S. debt could lead to borrowing costs on everything from mortgages to car loans. That would also make it more expensive for state and local governments, companies and consumers to borrow money…

“The spending cuts Democrats and Republicans agreed on were relatively modest. More difficult, comprehensive cuts were pushed to the future. S&P also notes that the possibility of new revenue, for instance from tax increases, appears more remote than before. The rancor around the agreement also made it more clear how far apart Democrats and Republicans are… The two other major agencies [Moody’s Investor Service and Fitch Ratings] haven’t taken action yet…

“The S&P has given the U.S. a AAA rating since 1941. The U.S… has only faced the threat of a downgrade once. In 1995, when Bill Clinton was president, a similar default loomed and the credit rating agencies warned of a downgrade. At the time, the country had $4.9 trillion in debt — nearly $10 trillion less than now. Once Congress resolved that debt crisis a year later, the credit agencies removed their warning…

“Britain, Germany, Australia, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Finland are among those that have the top rating… Analysts say it could be tough for the U.S. to regain the AAA rating soon especially given its current economic challenges. S&P officials implied that it will take years to see a meaningful change in the U.S. fiscal situation and in the government’s ability to cut the budget.”

For a full and unbiased analysis of America’s horrible economic situation, and why we ever got there, please view our StandingWatch program, “USA—A Nation Without Understanding.”

Further Downgrades Coming…?

Newsmax and Reuters reported on August 7:

“Standard & Poor’s Managing Director John Chambers said Sunday there is a 1-in-3 chance of a further U.S. credit rating downgrade over the next six months to two years… Meanwhile, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said he expects the stock market slide to continue… [He] said the downgrade ‘hit a nerve’ and is damaging to the psyche of the country…”

Greenspan also said that there is no possibility that the USA will ever go bankrupt and unable to pay their bills, as they can always print more money. What he failed to mention is that the more money is being printed, the less its value will become. Many in Germany, for example, remember the time of inflation after World War I, when Germans could not even buy a loaf of bread for 1 million Reichsmarks.

China Pleads for New Global Reserve Currency

Newsmax and Reuters reported on August 6:

“China said Washington only had itself to blame… [It] roundly condemned the United States for its ‘debt addiction’ and ‘short sighted’ political wrangling and said the world needed a new stable global reserve currency. ‘China, the largest creditor of the world’s sole superpower, has every right now to demand the United States address its structural debt problems and ensure the safety of China’s dollar assets,’ the Xinhua commentary said.

“It urged the United States to cut military and social welfare expenditure. It also said further credit downgrades would very likely undermine the world economic recovery and trigger new rounds of financial turmoil… British business minister Vince Cable backed China’s call for a new stable global reserve currency but said that for the moment the U.S. dollar remained key.”

But the U.S. Dollar won’t remain key for long. Surprising as it may sound, especially in light of the current Eurozone crisis, the Bible shows that the euro will become the world’s strongest currency.

China Not Immune

Deutsche Welle reported on August 8:

“China, Russia and India, three countries plagued by widespread poverty and famine in the 20th century, are now among the 12 largest economic powers… But even these emerging nations are susceptible to the turbulence in the international financial markets… The greatest danger for emerging markets lies where domestic markets are dominated by foreign investments… inflation is on the rise and an overhyped market threatens.

“‘I can only warn of Chinese stock,’ said Vincent Strauss, manager of the Magellan Fund.  He told Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday edition that he did not believe China would manage to get a grip on inflation. ‘The country is overinvested,’ he said… ‘China is an accident waiting to happen,’ Strauss said…

“Europe and the US are flooding the markets with capital that pushes inflation in the emerging markets. As a result, these nations are forced to raise interest rates, a move that puts the brakes on growth… A look at the stock indexes in select emerging nations shows how growth has declined as a result of its dependency on crisis-ridden global markets: in China, key stock has dropped 6.5 percent in value since the beginning of the year while Poland, Taiwan and Turkey recorded double-digit losses. With a loss of 15.6 percent, India ranks second behind Brazil with a minus of 23.6 percent.”

Is This the End of America?

On August 7, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote:

“Those who believe in the decline of the United States of America now have another date to refer to: Aug. 5, 2011 — the day when America’s credit rating was downgraded. The US now has to deal with a blow that, in addition to its direct financial consequences, is of historical significance… On top of that, its political system is unable to cope with today’s challenges. Is this the beginning of the end of the US as a superpower?

“It is to be hoped that the downgrade leads to an end of the political blockade and causes the budgetary and financial policy objectives and priorities of the president and Congress to converge. For that to happen, however, the US will need a president who can really lead and not just give nice speeches. … The decisions that the president, Congress and voters make will also determine how long the US can continue to hold the pole position in world politics. The US will surely not give up its claim to the leadership role, but it will no longer have the resources, or the will to deploy those resources, which it needs in order to enforce its leadership everywhere.”

America’s leadership is ending. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.”

Fiscal Armageddon

Moneynews.com reported on August 9:

“The United States is quickly approaching a fiscal Armageddon and the players in Washington — specifically Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke — don’t understand what is happening or know what [to] do about it, world renowned investor and author Jim Rogers tells Newsmax.TV. The chairman of Rogers Holdings and Beeland Interests, Inc. predicted more problems in the financial markets in the next few years and said any halt in the decline of stocks was just a ‘temporary bottom.’ He said that while America was not at the brink of a fiscal Armageddon right now, the nation is likely to default on its obligations in the future…

“‘It is astonishing America is the largest debtor nation in the history of the world…’ Rogers said… [He also mentioned] that despite what economists say, the country has not left the recession and a depression could happen… Rogers does not see the United States getting its triple-A bond rating back in his lifetime and thought a default of some type was inevitable.”

More Bad News for the USA—Deadly Loss for American Troops in Afghanistan

USA Today wrote on August 6:

“Insurgents shot down a U.S. military helicopter during fighting in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 30 Americans, most of them belonging to the same elite unit as the Navy SEALs who killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden… It was the deadliest single loss for American forces in the decade-old war against the Taliban. The downing, in which seven Afghan commandos were also killed, was a stinging blow to the lauded, tight-knit SEAL Team 6 months after its crowning achievement. It was also a heavy setback for the U.S.-led coalition as it begins to draw down thousands of combat troops fighting what has become an increasingly costly and unpopular war.

“None of the 22 SEAL personnel killed in the crash were part of the team that killed bin Laden in a May raid in Pakistan, but they belonged to the same unit…The strike is also likely to boost the morale of the Taliban in a key province that controls a strategic approach to the capital Kabul… The deaths bring to 365 the number of coalition troops killed this year in Afghanistan and 42 this month.”

Reuters added on August 11:

“A roadside bomb killed five American troops in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, the U.S. military said, less than a week after American forces suffered their worst single loss of the Afghan war when Taliban insurgents shot down a helicopter… At least 50 foreign troops have been killed so far in August.

“Violence is at its worst in Afghanistan since U.S.-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taliban government in late 2001, with record civilian casualties and high levels of foreign troop deaths during the first half of 2011.”

No matter what America is doing these days, all seems to go wrong. We should be able to see clearly that God has withdrawn His blessings from our nation. The reasons should be plain, when considering what the Bible says about righteous and unrighteous lifestyles.

Iran Plans Cyber Attack Against USA

WorldNetDaily wrote on August 7:

“Iran is planning to retaliate against the United States for the sabotage against its nuclear program, according to an editorial in the Kayhan newspaper, the mouthpiece of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei… Specifically, Iran is looking into launching a cyber attack against U.S. electrical grid systems.

“Iranian officials are furious over the July 23 assassination of nuclear scientist Dariush Rezai-Nejad, who was working on electric detonators for the Iranian nuclear program, which can be used on missiles or nuclear bombs. He was the third Iranian nuclear scientist assassinated since 2009… The frustration over acts of sabotage started with the computer virus Stuxnet in which 1,000 of Iran’s centrifuges at the Natanzs nuclear facility were destroyed and had to be replaced. The virus also attacked the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which has resulted in repeated delays in it joining the country’s power grid…

“The editorial accuses the Americans, with the help of Israelis and Germans, of creating the Stuxnet virus to attack the Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities… Earlier this year Iranian officials announced that Iran’s cyber war campaign would be activated under the Passive Defense Organization of Iran, which openly recruited hackers who would support the goals and ideals of the radicals ruling Iran…

“According to reports from the U.S. Department of Energy, America’s power grid remains vulnerable to cyber attack, a result of slow implementation of computer security standards. A successful cyber attack on the North American power grid systems could disrupt the economy and possibly create a national trauma.”

How the Allies Betrayed Germany…

On August 8, 2011, Der Spiegel Online re-published an article from August 23, 1961, describing how the Western allies failed to prevent the building of the Berlin Wall. We are bringing you the following excerpts:

“East Germany began building the Berlin Wall on Aug. 13, 1961. A scathing article published by SPIEGEL 10 days later captures the outrage of West Berliners’ over the Allies’ failure to intervene. As the 50th anniversary of the barrier’s construction approaches, we revisit our archive… Originally published on Aug. 23, 1961, this article from the DER SPIEGEL archive was originally entitled, ‘City Commanders: They Didn’t Hear a Thing’…

“Both the border crisis and the crisis of trust began almost simultaneously — in the early morning hours of Aug. 13, Berlin’s Black Sunday, when Soviet Army tanks rolled towards the sector borders and the Western powers were hardly able to conceal their lack of concern for the latest Berlin crisis. The American, English and French militaries took little notice of Ulbricht’s gathering troops… Certainly the Allied passivity can’t be explained by the claim that they were surprised by Ulbricht’s swift attack. Indeed, the opposite is true. Already 48 hours ahead of the Soviet march on the sector border, all American forces in Berlin had been ordered to maintain a heightened state of alert… In fact, the American military mission at the Soviet supreme command in Potsdam was able to tell the American headquarters in Heidelberg of the troop movements already on Aug. 7…

“The disappointment of the embittered Berliners over the tepid reaction of their Western protectors grew so great that last Wednesday — 88 hours after the transformation of the Soviet zone into a concentration camp — special security measures were implemented to control the protest rally arranged by West Berliner Senator for the Interior Joachim Lipschitz at the Schöneberg district town hall. Some 12,000 West Berlin police were ordered to use water cannons and rubber truncheons to stop demonstrations that cropped up at Potsdamer Platz, the Brandenburg Gate and even at the American headquarters in the district of Zehlendorf.

“Once again, popular speaker [and subsequent German chancellor] Willy Brandt was unable to conceal his disappointment in the Allies’ complacency in front of the masses. ‘Today I openly expressed our thoughts in a letter to the President of the United States, John Kennedy,’ the mayor said. But this letter contains such harsh criticism that neither the West Berlin Senate, nor Washington deemed its publication opportune…

“Meanwhile, Ulbricht’s functionaries in East Berlin are showing the first symptoms of unbridled arrogance. ‘Have you heard that Brandt called for help from the Allies?’ East Berlin’s star propagandist and television host Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler recently asked his viewers. Answering his own question, he said: ‘Yes, I heard, but the Allies didn’t.’”

This is truly a shameful report on the Allies’ unwillingness to prevent the erection of the Berlin Wall. Now the Berlin Wall is no longer in existence (but it did not come down because of American or British action; in fact, originally, all of the American, British and Russian leaders tried to prevent the unification of Germany), but the memory of many Germans remains in what they would describe as the betrayal of their Western Allies, especially America and Britain.

Germany Proposes Unelected ‘Stability Council’ for EU

The EUObserver wrote on August 10:

“Germany has proposed the creation of a new EU ‘overseer’ that would crack the whip and impose sanctions on countries that do not adhere to rigid budget discipline and pro-business labour policies. The country’s economy minister, Philipp Roesler, on Tuesday (10 August) told reporters that the bloc should create a new EU institution, a ‘stability council’, of unelected supervisors that would ensure member states that stick to budget temperance and limit debt and keep in check debt growth.

“This council should be given the power to slap sanctions on countries to ensure they cut their deficits and monitor use of financial assistance… The stability council would be independent of voters so as to avoid “political pressure” and could impose sanctions automatically. Roesler said that Germany would be bringing the proposal to the next meeting of EU finance ministers.”

This proposal, if adopted, comes closer and closer to what the Bible says will ultimately happen in Europe—a non-elected “official” will be given unrestrained power and authority by ten core European nations or groups of nations.

Riots in Great Britain

The Associated Press reported on August 7:

“New unrest erupted on north London’s streets late Sunday, a day after rioting and looting in a deprived area amid community anger over a fatal police shooting [of Mark Duggan, a black man]… The violence has cast a pall over a city preparing to host the 2012 Olympic Games.

“‘I hope people will have a fantastic Olympics no matter what happened last night,’ London Mayor Boris Johnson said in a telephone interview with BBC television, trying to assure the world his city was safe. Others weren’t so sure, suggesting that the riots had exposed incipient tensions at a time of sharp public sector cutbacks and economic uncertainty.

“‘This is just a glimpse into the abyss,’ former Metropolitan Police Commander John O’Connor told Sky News. ‘Someone’s pulled the clock back and you can look and see what’s beneath the surface. And what with the Olympic Games coming up, this doesn’t bode very well for London’…

“Tottenham has a history of unrest. It was the site of the 1985 Broadwater Farm riots, a series of clashes that led to the savaging stabbing of a police officer and the wounding of nearly 60 others – brutally underscoring tensions between London’s police and the capital’s black community…”

“Riots Reveal the Decay of British Society”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on August 10:

“After the fourth night of riots in England, observers are asking what is behind the wave of violence. German commentators argue that the unrest reflects a deep-seated malaise at the heart of British society. Britain is searching for answers after four consecutive nights of riots that have shocked the country and led to hundreds of arrests.

“Prime Minister David Cameron, who cut short his vacation in Italy in reaction to this week’s violence, was due to chair a meeting of Cobra, the British government’s emergency council, on Wednesday to discuss how to proceed. He has recalled the British parliament, which will meet on Thursday to discuss the rioting, the worst violence of its kind in Britain since race riots in the 1980s.

“London was relatively quiet on Tuesday night, following the deployment of around 16,000 police in trouble spots around the city. Many businesses closed early on Tuesday amid fears of unrest. Violence spread to an increasing number of towns and cities around England, however, including Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool, where groups of young men in hooded tops looted shops and set fire to cars and buildings. In one of the most serious incidents, a police station in Nottingham was firebombed. Violence was also reported in Wolverhampton, Leicester, Bristol and Gloucester…

“The authorities have been shocked by the scale of the rioting. ‘This has been senseless on a scale I have never witnessed before in my career,’ commented Garry Shewan, assistant chief constable of Greater Manchester police…

“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘… In no other country in Europe is inequality as cemented in society as in the United Kingdom… The riots are in no way a purely British problem. There is social distress all across Europe…’

“The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘… Yes, miserable social conditions can be miserable, but they are no justification for lawlessness. The police must not give the streets over to the rioters. The politicians, who are responsible for the police, should at least consider whether the “softly-softly” approach of the British police is appropriate — or an invitation to brutal street criminality’…

“The financial daily Handelsblatt writes: ‘The riots reveal fundamental societal problems that extend far beyond London and England… The riots reveal the decay of society at its edges, brought on by deeply cemented inequality, the erosion of social norms, great frustration and a lack of opportunity for the lower class… The riots show that some people simply take pleasure in violence, which they engage in without inhibitions when given the opportunity.’

“The Financial Times Deutschland writes: ‘… The British elite has systematically compromised itself in recent years. They claimed to be a role model, or at least trustworthy. In the economic crisis the financial establishment declared bankruptcy, and British politicians became mired in the expenses scandal of 2009. Then this year the media and politicians have been damaged by the Murdoch scandal. When the country’s elites don’t take the law seriously, why should we? No question is more dangerous for a society.’

“The left-leaning Berliner Zeitung writes: ‘The country has lost faith in every authority: the banks, politicians, the media, the police. The corruption has reached even the smallest unit — the family. There is a generation growing up without values of any kind…’

“The conservative Die Welt writes: ‘The unrest in London is a form of hooliganism by losers who are living in a society which no longer has anything left to offer losers. Among the arsonists are people who no longer possess any values. They’ve gotten used to drawing money from the state and they complain when the handouts stop coming as generously as they did in the past. This is a problem that, within the foreseeable future, many more Europeans are going to be confronted with, including many young people. This is because most European countries have been living far beyond their means… In part, the peace in Europe of the past 66 years has also been bought through increasingly generous welfare states. But those days are over. The strength of Europe’s democracy will now be measured based on how sustainably societies change their values to reflect that reality.’”

It’s Race!

The Telegraph wrote on August 10:

“What colour is Mark Duggan?… finally, Toby Young’s Telegraph blog post on the riots was published [explaining that Mark Duggan was black]. Is Toby Young the only  journalist out there who will dare say that these riots are about race? Still, one paper did carry a photo of Mr Duggan. When I saw the photo, it confirmed what I knew instinctively: black youths once again have set London alight.

“Some of the black kids I used to teach will tell you that the riots are absolutely justified. A number of adults would agree with them. Everywhere I read that the protest was understandable because ‘people are very angry’. I’d like to know what they’re angry about. Mark Duggan is dead. He was shot by the police in a shootout. Duggan was in a minicab and shots were fired from both the cab and the police elsewhere. A police officer was hurt in the incident and a bullet was found lodged in a police radio.

“Either Duggan was shooting at the police or the driver of the minicab was. Either Duggan was in the wrong place at the wrong time and his death is a terrible tragedy – he was caught in the crossfire – or he shot at the police and the police defended themselves. Whatever the explanation, the police did not kill this man in cold blood…

“[A policeman] explained that about 80 per cent of gun crime took place in the black community… Then he told me that 80 per cent was black on black gun crime, and that of the remaining 20 per cent about 75 per cent involved at least one black person: black shooting white, or white shooting black… on the whole the whites who were involved in these shootings tended to be from Eastern Europe.

“… the news about the Tottenham riots doesn’t mention race… Problems cannot be addressed unless people are willing to tell the truth. As with so many other things in this country, we stick our heads in the sand and refuse to speak out about it.”

Britain Lost Her Values…

The Daily Mail wrote on August 11:

“So now the chickens have well and truly come home terrifyingly to roost. The violent anarchy that has taken hold of British cities is the all-too-predictable outcome of a three-decade liberal experiment which tore up virtually every basic social value. The married two-parent family, educational meritocracy, punishment of criminals, national identity, enforcement of the drugs laws and many more fundamental conventions were all smashed by a liberal intelligentsia hell-bent on a revolutionary transformation of society…

“Clearly, there is some as yet unidentified direction and co-ordination behind the anarchy. But what is so notable and distressing is that, after the first day when adults were clearly involved, this mayhem has been carried out in the main by teenagers and children, some as young as eight. The idea that they should not steal other people’s property, or beat up and rob passers-by, appears to be as weird and outlandish to them as the suggestion that they should fly to the moon.

“These youths feel absolutely entitled to go ‘on the rob’ and steal whatever they want. Indeed, they are incredulous that anyone should suggest they might pass up such an opportunity. What has been fuelling all this is not poverty, as has so predictably been claimed, but moral collapse. What we have been experiencing is a complete breakdown of civilised behaviour among children and young people.

“… at the very heart of these problems lies the breakdown of the family. For most of these children come from lone-mother households. And the single most crucial factor behind all this mayhem is the willed removal of the most important thing that socialises children and turns them from feral savages into civilised citizens: a father who is a fully committed member of the family unit… successive generations are being brought up only by mothers, through whose houses pass transitory males by whom these women have yet more children — and who inevitably repeat the pattern of lone and dysfunctional parenting…

“And this breaking of the family was further condoned, rewarded and encouraged by the Welfare State, which conceives of need solely in terms of absence of money, and which accordingly subsidises lone parenthood and the destructive behaviour that fatherlessness brings in its train… All of this was compounded still further by the disaster of multiculturalism… That meant children were no longer taught about the nation in which they lived, and about its culture…

“In similar vein, all criminal wrongdoing was excused on the basis that the criminal couldn’t help himself, as he was the victim of circumstances such as poverty, unemployment, or as yet illusory cuts in public spending. The human rights of the criminal became seen as more important than the safety and security of his victims. Punishment became a dirty word…

“Britain was once an ordered society that was the envy of the world… Can Broken Britain be put together again?… Repairing this terrible damage also means, dare I say it, a return to the energetic transmission of Biblical morality. When church leaders… start preaching, once again, the moral concepts that underlie our civilisation, and when our political leaders decide to oppose the culture war that has been waged against that civilisation rather than supinely acquiescing in its destruction, then — and only then — will we start to get to grips with this terrible problem.

“Until then, within the smouldering embers of our smashed and burned-out cities, we can only look upon the ruins of the Britain we have so dearly loved; the Britain that once led the world towards civilisation, but is now so tragically leading the way out.”

To preach and live the true biblical values is indeed the only way to success. But there is little hope that prior to the Great Tribulation, Britain will return to the God of the Bible whom they have forsaken.

World Reacts With Shock

Mail On Line wrote on August 10:

“The world’s media reacted with shock and horror to the riots that have swept Britain, with London portrayed as ‘a lawless city’. The story made front pages around the globe, and was among the top items on TV news shows in dozens of countries.

“Germany led the way, with Der Spiegel magazine comparing London to the capital of Somalia. ‘The television images dominating screens this week could be right out of Mogadishu,’ it wrote… In newspapers, TZ in Munich asked: ‘What has gone wrong with Britain? Like the Sex Pistols said, it truly is anarchy in the UK.’

“The tabloid Bild summed up the feelings of many with the headline: ‘Chaos reigns in London!’ On its website, other stories were titled ‘England in flames’ and ‘London’s night of horror’.

“Many looked ahead to next summer, with the respected Süddeutsche Zeitung warning that ‘fears are concentrated on the Olympics’. Countries including Canada and Australia were left stunned that the kind of unrest seen in Greece and France had befallen Britain…”

God has prophesied that Great Britain will be severely punished because of unrighteous violent and immoral conduct. For an in-depth analysis of Great Britain’s society in the light of biblical prophecy, please view our recent StandingWatch program, “Britain’s Watergate Scandal…Why?”

“Global Warming Link to Drowned Polar Bears Melts…”

Human Events wrote on August 11:

“Polar bears drowning in an Alaskan sea because the ice packs are melting—it’s the iconic image of the global warming debate. But the validity of the science behind the image—presented as an ignoble testament to our environment in peril by Al Gore in his film An Inconvenient Truth—is now part of a federal investigation that has the environmental community on edge.
 
“Special agents from the Interior Department’s inspector general’s office are questioning the two government scientists about the paper they wrote on drowned polar bears, suggesting mistakes were made in the math and as to how the bears actually died, and the department is eyeing another study currently underway on bear populations.
 
“Biologist Charles Monnett, the lead scientist on the paper, was placed on administrative leave July 18.  Fellow biologist Jeffrey Gleason, who also contributed to the study, is being questioned, but has not been suspended.”

Oslo’s Mass Murderer Not a Christian

Newsmax reported on July 30:

“Bill O’Reilly was not pleased with the New York Times’ labeling of Anders Behring Brevik, the 32-year-old mass murderer who took at least 76 innocent lives as a ‘Christian Extremist.’ In his column, he notes that the ‘killer is not attached to any church, has no history of Christian activity, has openly criticized the Protestant philosophy, and has committed acts counter to all Christian teaching.’

“’Anders Brevik did not kill in the name of Jesus,’ O’Reilly argues. ‘… He is simply a murderer… anything that diminishes Christianity is fair game to be promoted. Every newsworthy sin committed by a Christian is highlighted with a sneering reference to hypocrisy…’”

For a full, fair and correct analysis of the mass murders in Oslo, please view our StandingWatch program, “What’s Behind the Norway Massacres?”

Christian Scholars Reject the Bible

NPR wrote on August 9:

“According to the Bible (Genesis 2:7), this is how humanity began: ‘The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.’ God then called the man Adam, and later created Eve from Adam’s rib. Polls by Gallup and the Pew Research Center find that four out of 10 Americans believe this account. It’s a central tenet for much of conservative Christianity, from evangelicals to confessional churches such as the Christian Reformed Church.

“But now some conservative scholars are saying publicly that they can no longer believe the Genesis account. Asked how likely it is that we all descended from Adam and Eve, Dennis Venema, a biologist at Trinity Western University, replies: ‘That would be against all the genomic evidence that we’ve assembled over the last 20 years, so not likely at all.’ Venema says there is no way we can be traced back to a single couple. He says with the mapping of the human genome, it’s clear that modern humans emerged from other primates as a large population — long before the Genesis time frame of a few thousand years ago…

“Venema is a senior fellow at BioLogos Foundation, a Christian group that tries to reconcile faith and science… And Venema is part of a growing cadre of Christian scholars who say they want their faith to come into the 21st century. Another one is John Schneider, who taught theology at Calvin College in Michigan until recently. He says it’s time to face facts: There was no historical Adam and Eve, no serpent, no apple, no fall that toppled man from a state of innocence.

“‘Evolution makes it pretty clear that in nature, and in the moral experience of human beings, there never was any such paradise to be lost,’ Schneider says. ‘So Christians, I think, have a challenge, have a job on their hands to reformulate some of their tradition about human beginnings.’

“To many evangelicals, this is heresy. ‘From my viewpoint, a historical Adam and Eve is absolutely central to the… claims of the Christian faith,’ says Fazale Rana, vice president of Reasons To Believe, an evangelical think tank that questions evolution. Rana… has a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Ohio University… Rana and others believe in a literal, historical Adam and Eve for many reasons. One is that the Genesis account makes man unique, created in the image of God — not a descendant of lower primates. Second, it tells a story of how evil came into the world, and it’s not a story in which God introduced evil through the process of evolution, but one in which Adam and Eve decided to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit.”

Of course, the Genesis account is accurate, and those who deny it while adopting the “god of Evolution” are called “fools” in the Bible. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Theory of Evolution—a Fairy Tale for Adults?”

New Law Allows Raise of Debt Ceiling

Deutsche Welle reported on August 2:

“US President Barack Obama signed into law a measure to raise the federal debt ceiling, shortly after it was approved by a wide margin in the Senate. The Senate vote came just hours before the midnight deadline given by the Treasury Department. Failure to pass the deal would have put the United States into default, sending shockwaves across the global economy. The Senate voted 74-26 to approve the legislation, which cleared the House of Representatives on Monday 269-161. Twenty-eight Senate Republicans joined 45 Democrats in voting for the deal.

“… many on the left and right were still unhappy with it. Progressives had wanted to balance spending cuts with new revenues through taxing the wealthy and corporations, while conservative Republicans had hoped for even more drastic budget cuts… Despite unhappy lawmakers in the US, international figures breathed a sigh of relief as the bill finally passed.”

As was to be expected and as we announced in our StandingWatch programs, the authority was ultimately granted, before the deadline of midnight of August 2, to raise the debt ceiling. However, this does in no way solve our financial problems.

America in Deep Trouble

The Daily Mail wrote on August 2:

“For now, the American debt crisis is over… To many of us here in Britain, the dispute seemed a bizarre exercise in brinkmanship, with posturing politicians taking the world’s largest economy to the verge of default.

“Had the Americans been forced to default, the result would probably have been a second global recession, spelling disaster for thousands of British businesses and piling agony upon agony for hard-pressed families. But the truth is that although disaster has been averted for now, the U.S. debt crisis has been a troubling sign of seismic change… the American economy is in deep trouble…

“After decades of having it all, many Americans refuse to believe that they simply must slash their debts. Faced with the choice of cutting spending or raising taxes, they prefer to pretend the dilemma will go away. The results are becoming clear. Hobbled by massive debts, the U.S. economy posted dreadful growth figures for the first half of 2011… It is no exaggeration to say that the American economy is at a crossroads… At some future moment, the American people will look around and wonder where it all went wrong. But by then, of course, it will be too late…”

Yes, indeed…

Incredible—US Borrowing Has Almost Reached NEW Debt Ceiling

The Washington Times wrote on August 3:

“U.S. debt shot up $239 billion on Tuesday — the largest one-day bump in history — as the government flexed the new borrowing room it earned in this week’s debt-limit increase deal. The debt subject to the statutory limit shot way past the old cap of $14.294 trillion to hit $14.532 trillion on Tuesday… That increase puts the government already remarkably close to the new debt limit of $14.694, which means one day’s new borrowing ate up 60 percent of the $400 billion in space Congress granted the president this week.”

We Brought It Upon Ourselves…

CNN wrote on July 28:

“Did you know that there is only one other country in the world that even has a debt ceiling?  That’s Denmark, a strange anomaly, and its debt ceiling is deliberately kept very high so that it will never need to be raised. Why does no one else have a debt ceiling? Because when a legislature votes to authorize spending at a certain level but authorizes tax revenues at a lower level, it is assumed that the government will have to borrow the difference. The vote to have higher expenditures than tax revenues is – in effect – a vote to borrow money to cover the difference. And in the United States, Congress – including Republicans – voted for a budget in which expenditures exceeded tax revenues… To come at it now after the budget has been passed is like getting your Visa bill and calling up the company to say, ‘Actually we don’t want to buy all that stuff we bought.’ That’s not how it works. First you pay the bill, then you can change your spending habits.

“So why do we have a debt ceiling? Ironically, it was put in place during World War I so that Congress didn’t have to authorize every new issue of debt. It was assumed that it would be a formality to raise it. Since 1960, the debt ceiling has been raised 78 times. My basic point is that this is a crisis that we have manufactured out of whole cloth. We have created a circumstance in which the world doubts our credibility, rating agencies are thinking of downgrading our debt and the dollar’s role as the world’s reserve currency could be jeopardized. Please understand that none of these things are happening because the United States is running deficits. There was no indication – by any metric– that the United States was having difficulty borrowing money one month ago. In fact, the world has been lending money to the United States more cheaply than ever before. We face downgrades and investor panic not because of our deficits but because we are behaving like deadbeats, refusing to pay our bills, pouting while the bill collector waits at the door.

“We do have a large deficit and debt and we do need to get it under control… The tragedy here is that the damage may already have been done. From now on, every time the debt ceiling needs to be raised, the world will wonder: Will the U.S. stand by its promises or will it break them? Something that was taken for granted – the credibility of the United States – is now surrounded by uncertainty… IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde says that ‘Global markets have always had a positive bias towards the United States but that is now eroded somewhat.’ For this erosion, we have only ourselves to blame.”

It is true that much of the damage to the reputation of the US in all the world has been caused by our own irresponsible conduct—especially that of all of our politicians—and not only in the area of finances. But to try to justify constantly raising our exorbitant debt ceiling to enable us to borrow even more money, as CNN suggests, is beyond human comprehension.

The Shocking Increases of Our Debt Limit…

CBS News reported on August 1:

“The bill [signed by President Obama] to increase the federal debt limit [will] increase that limit by up to $2.4 trillion, which [is] the largest increase in the debt limit in U.S. history by a margin of half a trillion dollars… In fact… the two largest debt-limit increases in U.S. history [have] come in back-to-back years, both during the presidency of Barack Obama. Up until now, the largest increase in the debt limit was the $1.9 trillion increase passed by Congress and signed by President Obama on Feb. 12, 2010. That law increased the debt limit from $12.394 trillion to $14.294 trillion.

“Up until now, the second largest historical increase in the debt limit was enacted on March 27, 2003, when President George W. Bush signed a law that lifted the limit by $984 billion—from $6.400 trillion to $7.384 trillion. The third largest historical increase in the debt limit was enacted on Nov. 5, 1990, when the senior President George Bush signed a law that lifted the limit by $915 billion—from $3.230 trillion to $4.145 trillion.

“Prior to Sept. 28, 1987, the Treasury did not have the legal authority to run a national debt of $2.4 trillion—let alone increase the debt limit by that amount. On that date, President Reagan signed a law lifting the debt limit by $448 billion—from $2.352 trillion to $2.8 trillion. The total debt of the federal government did not hit $2.4 trillion until November 1987, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. According to Treasury’s Monthly Statements of the Public Debt, the national debt equaled $2.3848 trillion at the end of October 1987 and $2.409572 trillion by the end of November 1987.”

One wonders when the next increase in the debt ceiling will occur—and for how much? One of these days, no increase of the debt ceiling, no matter how high the amount, will prevent the total collapse of our economy.

“The Risky Victory for Obama”

Der Spiegel Online wrote on August 1:

“On August 2, the United States will be able to pay its bills again. Global financial markets will be able to breathe a little easier and the feared Armageddon will have been averted. During the next decade, US federal government expenditures are to shrink by $1 trillion, and a special committee in Congress is expected to outline an additional $1.5 trillion in savings by the end of November.

“If they are unable to reach a deal on the additional savings, then cuts will automatically be made across the board, including to the defense budget and to social welfare payments — two extremely expensive programs that are championed by conservatives and liberals. In exchange, the US debt ceiling will be raised in two stages by up to $2.4 trillion over the current level of $14.3 trillion. This will enable the US government to remain solvent and pay its bills — at least through 2012, and past the next presidential election…

“But can Obama truly breathe any easier?… Left-leaning members of the Democratic Party and ultra-conservative Republicans aligned with the Tea Party movement in both houses are unhappy with many of the details in the agreement… The spending cuts will hit programs that are particularly coveted by the left-wing of the Democratic Party — programs aimed at seniors, the poor, children and young people.

“At the same time, the Republicans have also managed to keep the issue of raising taxes taboo, despite the fact that the majority of the US population would prefer a mix of austerity measures and a rise in tax revenues. Currently, America’s tax ratio is the lowest it has been in decades… In the planned second round of consultations on spending cuts, tax adjustments could also be back on the table — at least in theory. But they wouldn’t stand any chance of passage. Of the 240 Republican members of the House of Representatives, 234 have signed a pledge stating they would not approve tax increases, regardless of the circumstances…

“The compromise also marks a break from Obama’s political course up until now. The [Democrats] long pushed for greater government spending in order to stimulate the stagnant economy. Now, however, the focus will be on austerity, even if many economists feel that is the wrong step given the stagnant US economic growth of 1.3 percent…

“Sunday’s compromise can’t really be chalked up as any major success for Obama, not least because it was largely the Republicans who succeeded in getting the concessions they had demanded… At the same time, it is the very Republicans who are now celebrating who might help steer Obama out of the crisis — including the one within his own party. If they agree on a presidential candidate who scares left-leaning Democrats, then they will once again flock to Obama — for better or for worse.”

“For better or for worse”—nicely put.

German Reactions…

Der Spiegel wrote on August 3:

“The German press has heavily covered the US debt ceiling debate, which is often juxtaposed with the current debt crisis in the euro zone. Editorial cartoonists, too, have tackled the issue. Some have even featured pictures of vultures, an image associated in Germany with someone or something that is bankrupt. One cartoon showed Mount Rushmore with four vulture heads replacing those of the four presidents. And a cartoon in the Financial Times Deutschland Wednesday shows a vulture running from Capitol Hill, uttering a promise that he will return.

“Concerns about the debt crisis play themselves out Wednesday in the editorial pages of German newspapers, where some commentators continue to analyze what the debate in Washington over the debt ceiling means for the world.

“The conservative daily Die Welt writes: ‘… it is without a doubt that the last-minute compromise between Democrats in the Senate and congressional Republicans has only pushed off dealing with the conflict to another day… On the one hand, there are the social democratic policies à la Obama, which in the spectrum of the US belong to the left wing. On the other hand are the father-knows-best austerity policies of the Tea Party. The Republicans block out the fact that in 2001 George W. Bush took over a solid budget from Bill Clinton, then waged a war without end in Afghanistan, and an unnecessary one in Iraq, all the while lowering taxes for those on the top. At issue is the role of the last superpower in maintaining peace and balance in the world.’

“The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung writes: ‘…Cuts of $2.1 trillion sound huge, but spread out over 10 years they make up only 1.5 percent of US economic output in today’s dollars. With inflation and growth this percentage would grow smaller…’

“The conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes: ‘In Washington, as an election year approaches, the parties and experts are arguing over who were the winners and losers in the debt compromise. The debate shows how far the political landscape has moved from the actual concerns of the American people. The biggest loser of the compromise is clearly the average American on Main Street… Even though a default has been prevented, the insecurity over the economic and financial policies in the US has risen, not declined. Despite good profits and overflowing company coffers, businesses are holding back on investment. A badly needed tax reform, that would sink the corporate tax rate, which is at a record level in international comparisons, has no chance with the ideologically dogged Democrats.’”

And so, politics reigns, and the average American citizen loses…

It All Looks Very Strange…

Der Spiegel published the following article on August 4:

“This week, the United States nearly allowed itself to succumb to economic disaster. Increasingly, the divided country has more in common with a failed state than a democracy. In the face of America’s apparent political insanity, Europe must learn to take care of itself… The US is a country where the system of government has fallen firmly into the hands of the elite. An unruly and aggressive militarism set in motion two costly wars in the past 10 years. Society is not only divided socially and politically — in its ideological blindness the nation is moving even farther away from the core of democracy…

“America has changed. It has drifted away from the West… it [has become] self-destructive… One can no longer depend on politics in America… From a European perspective, it all looks very strange: it’s a different political culture. There are other rules at play, different standards. More and more we view America with the clear notion that we are different… Nevertheless, at least one good opportunity springs from America’s fate: The further the United States distances itself from us, the more we will (have to) think for ourselves, as Europeans. The West? That’s us.”

And so, as prophesied, Europe will become more and more exclusive and antagonistic towards the USA…

“America’s Fiscal Situation Remains Deeply Problematic”

The Financial Times wrote on August 3:

“In the aftermath of the debt ceiling agreement there will be calls for further stimulus for America’s economy. This would be a grave mistake… [The] $800bn American stimulus package was largely a waste of money that sharply enlarged the fiscal hole now facing our economy. President Barack Obama’s administration has consistently overestimated the benefits of stimulus.

“…expansion of public debt… requires higher taxes, retarding growth… America’s fiscal situation remains deeply problematic…progress will be needed, sadly much of which will probably have to await the outcome of the next US election. Yet progress must be made – or the impending crises of governments, signalled by possible downgrades of US debt, will make the 2008-09 recession look mild.”

Uncivilized Appalling Political Rhetoric by Our Leaders

Politico reported on August 1:

“Vice President Joe Biden joined House Democrats in lashing tea party Republicans Monday, accusing them of having ‘acted like terrorists’ in the fight over raising the nation’s debt limit, according to several sources in the room… ‘We have negotiated with terrorists,’ an angry Doyle said, according to sources in the room. ‘This small group of terrorists have made it impossible to spend any money.’ Biden, driven by his Democratic allies’ misgivings about the debt-limit deal, responded: ‘They have acted like terrorists.’

“Biden’s office initially declined to comment about what the vice president said inside the closed-door session, but after POLITICO published the remarks, spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff said: ‘The word was used by several members of Congress. The vice president does not believe it’s an appropriate term in political discourse.’ Biden later denied he used that term in an interview with CBS… Earlier in the day, Biden told Senate Democrats that Republican leaders have ‘guns to their heads’ in trying to negotiate deals…

“Biden told Democratic lawmakers that the deal would take away the tea party’s ‘weapon of mass destruction’ — the threat of a default on U.S. debt obligations. ‘They have no compunction about blowing up the economy to get what they want,’ Doyle told POLITICO…”

Sadly, this unbecoming conduct and these condemnatory accusations are just a reflection and a mirror of the behavior pattern which has become commonplace in our civilized “Christian” society.

Worldwide Pessimism About Economy

The Los Angeles Times wrote on August 4:

“The Dow Jones industrial average plunged more than 350 points this morning as increasing pessimism about the economy overtook investors around the globe… Most stock markets in Europe were down at least 2% as the trading day there drew to a close after prices declined steadily during the day. Investors there are worried about increasing debt problems in Italy and Spain. The drop in the U.S. came after a one-day respite Wednesday from nearly two weeks of declines.

“Before trading opened on Wall Street, the Labor Department announced that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits last week fell slightly from the week before. But the report, following a raft of disappointing economic data in recent days, was taken by many gloomy investors to indicate only that the stalled job market is not improving…

“Investors have been moving into perceived safe havens such as gold, Treasury bonds and the Swiss and Japanese currencies. The value of the yen was down Thursday about 3% against the dollar after Japan’s central bank moved overnight to sell yen to protect the country’s export economy. Switzerland’s central bank took a similar step Wednesday to limit the value of the Swiss franc.”

Libyan Rebels in Disarray?

Deutsche Welle reported on July 29:

“Libyan rebel military chief Abdel Fattah Younes has been shot dead… in an incident that may point to divisions within the forces opposed to the rule of strongman Moammar Gadhafi… Younes’ death is likely to deal a severe blow to the rebel Transitional National Council (TNC), which has won the official recognition of some 30 countries… [The killing] is indicative of schisms that have been appearing within the TNC over the last few months …

“Younes was reportedly unhappy in recent months after the TNC appointed a former army general, Khalifa Hefter, as commander of the opposition. Since then, Younes and Hefter were reported to have frequently argued over… strategic military plans… regarding fighting tactics at the front.”

As we have expressed from the outset, a quick and decisive victory against Gadhafi is far from certain.

How Israel Wages War Against Iran’s Nuclear Program

Der Spiegel Online reported on August 2:

“One atomic researcher after the other has died in a series of recent murders in Iran. Is Israel’s Mossad trying to sabotage the construction of a nuclear bomb with the attacks? Officials in Jerusalem aren’t denying anything. Israeli military generals are even more hawkish, and their calls for air strikes on Iran are growing louder. ‘Israel is not responding,’ Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said earlier this week when asked if his country had been involved in the latest slaying of an Iranian nuclear scientist. It didn’t exactly sound like a denial, and the smile on his face suggested Israel isn’t too bothered by suspicions that it is responsible for a series of murders of physicists involved in the controversial Iranian nuclear program.

“There is little doubt in the shadowy world of intelligence agencies that Israel is behind the assassination of Darioush Rezaei. ‘That was the first serious action taken by the new Mossad chief Tamir Pardo,’ an Israeli intelligence source told SPIEGEL ONLINE. On July 23, Rezaei became the latest victim in a mysterious series of attacks over the past 20 months which has seen the virtual decimation of the Islamic republic’s elite physicists. The 35-year-old died after being shot in the throat in front of his daughter’s kindergarten in east Tehran. The Iranian press has reported that the two alleged perpetrators in the attack escaped on a motorcycle… the physics student had worked on the development of high-voltage switching systems, a key component that is crucial to setting off the explosions needed to trigger a nuclear warhead. The physicist had apparently been seen daily at a nuclear research center in northern Tehran… Rezaei is the third Iranian nuclear physicist who has paid for his job with his life since the start of 2010.

“In January 2010, the nuclear physicist Masoud Ali Mohammadi died when a remotely detonated bomb rigged to a motorcycle exploded next to his car. Western experts considered Mohammadi to be one of Iran’s top nuclear scientists. On Nov. 29, 2010, unknown perpetrators committed two attacks which involved motorcyclists attaching explosive devices to their victims’ cars while driving. Majid Shahriari, a professor of nuclear physics who specialized in neutron transport, which is relevant for making bombs, was killed when his car exploded. His wife was seriously injured in the attack. Fereidoun Abbasi was targeted in a simultaneous attack. Abbasi, an expert in nuclear isotope separation, noticed the suspicious motorcyclist, however, and he and his wife jumped out of the car. They were both injured in the explosion. After Abbasi recovered, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appointed him as one of Iran’s vice presidents as well as head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization…

“Washington denies any responsibility: ‘We were not involved,’ a spokeswoman for the US State Department said in response to Rezaei’s death. Israel, for its part, has opted for a policy of ambiguous silence… According to sources in Israeli intelligence, the killings are part of a campaign to sabotage, or at least slow down, Iran’s nuclear program. The alleged campaign also involves other tactics as well as targeted assassinations. The cyber-attack using the Stuxnet computer virus, which paralyzed large parts of the Iranian nuclear program in the summer of 2010, is supposedly also part of Israel’s secret campaign against Iran. But for hardliners in the Israeli military, the covert action does not go far enough.

“The calls for bombing Iran are getting louder and louder, especially among Israeli Air Force officers, the informant told SPIEGEL ONLINE. There is apparently a heated debate about the effectiveness of such assassination campaigns and whether they can fulfill their goal, reported Yossi Melman, intelligence expert at the Israeli daily Haaretz. In addition, Israel has already faced fierce criticism over other assassinations allegedly committed by its agents in foreign countries. Until now, Mossad experts have been able to convince decision-makers that the construction of an Iranian bomb can best be delayed through attacks on key figures and nuclear facilities. But it is unclear how long Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will continue to follow this advice. Politicians in Jerusalem know well that Mossad is also pursuing its own interests when it argues that its agents should play the leading role in the struggle against Iran… Whether there will be an open attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the future will partly depend on whether the Israeli military or intelligence wins the internal power struggle…”

On August 2, Haaretz quoted the article by Der Spiegel, clarifying the following:

“The man, who was killed last Saturday, was initially identified by state-run media as Darioush Rezaei, a physics professor and expert in neutron transport. The media then backtracked, with officials subsequently naming him as Dariush Rezaeinejad, an electronics PhD student. Foreign officials contacted by the Associated Press have verified the name, but say that Rezaeinedjad participated in developing high-voltage switches, a key component that is crucial to setting off the explosions needed to trigger a nuclear warhead.”

It appears almost certain that a war between Israel and Iran will ensue. This time, however, Israel might not win this war, as the Bible strongly indicates. Please compare the Current Events on Israel and Iran in our last Update.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards Commander New President of OPEC

The Guardian reported on August 3:

“A senior Iranian revolutionary guards commander targeted by international sanctions has taken over the presidency of Opec after he became Iran’s oil minister on Wednesday. Rostam Ghasemi, head of the Khatam al-Anbia military and industrial base… is currently subject to US, EU and Australian sanctions and his assets have been blacklisted by US Treasury and western powers… Iranian state media interpreted the vote as a reaction by Iran’s parliament to international sanctions against the country, especially those which have targeted the revolutionary guards and the country’s nuclear programme…

“The appointment of Ghasemi as Iran’s oil minister automatically makes him the head of Opec which has a crucial role in determining oil prices. As its second-largest crude oil exporter, Iran took the presidency of Opec after 36 years last October and Ghasemi’s position will give the revolutionary guards a unique opportunity to influence an international organisation.”

Whether Iran will use this prestigious and influential position to determine oil prices to the detriment of America and the West, will have to be seen.

Mubarak on Trial

Reuters reported on August 3:

“Egyptians and their fellow Arabs were enthralled on Wednesday by the unprecedented sight of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, a leader of the region for three decades and the Arab Spring’s biggest scalp, being wheeled into court to face trial. Outside the courtroom in Cairo, they watched on a big screen as the octogenarian, who ruled Egypt for 30 years, lay on a hospital bed connected to a drip and denied involvement in the killing of protesters who ousted him…

“The opening of the trial coincided with a push by Syrian forces into the heart of Hama… Mubarak was not the first Arab leader to fall in the Arab Spring, but he is the first to stand trial in person. Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, who was toppled first, fled to Saudi Arabia and was tried in absentia… If convicted, Mubarak could face the death penalty, though few expect that outcome even if some protesters wish it.

“Some dismissed the proceedings. A government adviser in Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally that tolerates no dissent and has no political parties, criticised putting Mubarak on trial. ‘You realise that these idiotic people are going to destroy whatever is left of the Egyptian state, this is a masquerade,’ the adviser said. ‘This is a humiliating spectacle for everyone. There is nothing to be proud of. Time will tell.’

“… the images of Egypt’s former president and a war veteran, who always presented himself as a father figure protecting the nation, gained him some sympathy…”

We tend to agree with the assessment of the government adviser in Saudi Arabia, as quoted above. As Die Welt wrote on August 3: “Instead of letting the old man die in peace, the military is playing a loathsome and dangerous game with public rage…”

German Government Sued Over Tank Deal with Saudi Arabia

Deutsche Welle reported on August 1:

“Former development minister, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, spoke out against the German government on Monday for the suspected sale of 200 ‘Leopard’ combat tanks to Saudi Arabia… ‘The tank deal with Saudi Arabia is a catastrophic decision,’ she said. In selling the tanks, Germany has ‘supported an authoritarian, despotic regime’… Wieczorek-Zeul’s comments came just a day after Germany’s opposition Green party announced it had launched a complaint with the country’s highest court over the sale of the tanks… Until now, it has been German government policy not to export heavy weapons to the authoritarian regime in Saudi Arabia.”

Please note our Q&A in this Update on the history and future of Saudi Arabia.

Joint German-French Ventures for Military Aircraft, Naval Construction and Torpedoes

The Local reported on August 1:

“Germany and France are reportedly considering a military ship-building alliance, an ‘EADS of the Seas,’ that could resemble their current arrangement for military aircraft.

“The European defence group EADS, owner of plane maker Airbus, manufactures military helicopters and the A400 military transport plane. Berlin and Paris are considering opening talks later this year on a similar alliance in the field of naval construction, which would involve the German ThyssenKrupp group and the French DCNS military dockyards… Germany had long rejected such a deal, fearing disputes with France over political control of the group and over which dockyards would remain open.

“Nonetheless, a recent failure by ThyssenKrupp to sell its Blohm and Voss dockyards to Abu Dhabi MAR has given new impetus to the project, which is backed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the [Financial Times Deutschland] said. A joint venture might see France take charge of the construction of frigates, while Germany would be responsible for submarines, the paper suggested.

“A recent deal between the French DCNS and the German electronic specialist Atlas Elektronik, a joint venture involving ThyssenKrupp and EADS, for manufacturing torpedoes could serve as an initial test for such a joint venture, the paper added.’’

While Germany and France are collaborating more and more in economic and military matters, Great Britain seems to be on her way out of the EU—see our next article.

British Citizens Want Referendum on EU Membership

The Daily Express wrote on August 2:

“The British public should get a referendum on European Union membership, a Daily Express poll confirms today. An overwhelming 99 per cent of our readers say the time has come for voters to decide if the UK should be freed from the shackles of Brussels, our exclusive survey reveals. Asked if Britons should be given a vote on quitting the EU, they answered with a resounding ‘Yes’. Support for our petition to force a vote smashed through the 40,000 barrier yesterday…

“The Government has said that it will consider any public campaign backed by 100,000 signatures for a debate in Parliament. After just three days of the petition being active we are well on the way to that target.

“This newspaper’s historic crusade – the first to demand that Britain must quit the EU – has already been backed by almost 400,000 people in a postal coupon campaign earlier this year. Now our readers can force the issue direct to the heart of Government again via the e-petition and by sending in letters of support. Last night the colossal surge of support was being viewed as a warning to Brussels that Britain has had enough of meddling, financial fears and an ever-growing tax burden.”

Once a referendum is placed before the British people, it is almost certain that the decision will be against staying in the EU.

Global Warming in Doubt

Yahoo News and Forbes reported on July 27:

“NASA satellite data from the years 2000 through 2011 show the Earth’s atmosphere is allowing far more heat to be released into space than alarmist computer models have predicted, reports a new study in the peer-reviewed science journal Remote Sensing. The study indicates far less future global warming will occur than United Nations computer models have predicted, and supports prior studies indicating increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide trap far less heat than alarmists have claimed.

“Study co-author Dr. Roy Spencer, a principal research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and U.S. Science Team Leader for the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer flying on NASA’s Aqua satellite, reports that real-world data from NASA’s Terra satellite contradict multiple assumptions fed into alarmist computer models. ‘The satellite observations suggest there is much more energy lost to space during and after warming than the climate models show,’ Spencer said in a July 26 University of Alabama press release. ‘There is a huge discrepancy between the data and the forecasts that is especially big over the oceans’…

“The new findings are extremely important and should dramatically alter the global warming debate… In short, the central premise of alarmist global warming theory is that carbon dioxide emissions should be directly and indirectly trapping a certain amount of heat in the earth’s atmosphere and preventing it from escaping into space. Real-world measurements, however, show far less heat is being trapped in the earth’s atmosphere than the alarmist computer models predict, and far more heat is escaping into space than the alarmist computer models predict…”

This incident serves again as an example as to how stats and figures can be manipulated and misinterpreted by our scientific “experts” to reach a certain desired result.

“And the Waters Turned to Blood…”

Life Science and Yahoo News reported on August 2:

“A Texas lake that turned blood-red this summer may not be a sign of the End Times, but probably is the end of a popular fishing and recreation spot. A drought has left the OC Fisher Reservoir in San Angelo State Park in West Texas almost entirely dry. The water that is left is stagnant, full of dead fish — and a deep, opaque red. The color has some apocalypse believers suggesting that OC Fisher is an early sign of the end of the world, but Texas Parks and Wildlife Inland Fisheries officials say the bloody look is the result of Chromatiaceae bacteria, which thrive in oxygen-deprived water…

“Texas is experiencing major drought this summer, with 75 percent of the state’s area in an ‘exceptional’ drought, the highest level, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC). The state had hoped for some relief from Tropical Storm Don last week, but the system fizzled and brought only an inch or two of rain to areas near the coast…

“Pictures of this blood-red pool circulated online in fishing forums and caught the notice of Indiana preacher Paul Begley, who said in a YouTube video that the lake might be evidence of the apocalypse as predicted by the Biblical book of Revelation. ‘The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died,’ the passage Begley cited reads. ‘The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.’

“Begley may not have any more luck at predicting the end of the world than did Harold Camping, the radio preacher who set the date for May 21, 2011. But for as long as the drought persists, the OC Fisher reservoir is a reservoir no longer…”

Considering the time line of the prophetic events, the quoted Scripture in the book of Revelation does of course not apply to the current situation in Texas—but it might give us a glimpse of the terrible occurrences which mankind will experience in the not-too-distant future.