Iraq War Damaged American Credibility
Der Spiegel Online wrote on August 20:
“Has American credibility been severely damaged by the Iraq War? One day after the last US combat unit left the country, some in the German press say that it has. Commentators are pessimistic about Iraq’s ability to cope alone.
“It has been seven and a half years since Shock and Awe, the military campaign launched by US and UK forces to topple Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. On Thursday, the last US combat unit crossed the border into Kuwait with far less fanfare than when those first coalition forces arrived in March 2003…
“Yet the cost of the war has been enormous both financially and in terms of human lives. Over 4,400 US troops and 100,000 Iraqi civilians died during the conflict. And the country is by no means completely pacified, with sectarian and ethnic tensions still present and insurgents thought to be regaining strength…
“According to a US-Iraq military pact from 2009, US troops must be out of the country by Jan. 1, 2012 yet last week Robert Gates, Obama’s defense secretary, said that if a new Iraqi government is formed ‘and they want to talk about beyond 2011, we’re obviously open to that discussion.’ Those comments are not likely to have been welcomed by much of the Democratic party, which faces tough midterm elections in November. The US public is weary of almost a decade of war in Afghanistan and Iraq and Obama, who is up for re-election in 2012, will have to tread carefully.
“Just last week Iraq’s military commander, Lieutenant-General Babakir Zebari, caused consternation when he said his troops would not be in a position to protect the country until 2020 and that Washington should keep its forces in Iraq until then.
“The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes: ‘… The invasion of Iraq was wrong, unjust and damaging. For the Iraqi people one inscrutable, violent regime has been replaced by another. And the promises of freedom and democracy are worthless if they can’t run a generator or help buy food. This practical disillusion is paired with the strategic defeats that America has suffered… the US has also weakened itself, where it was classically strong: as a hard power. America showed itself to be helpless during the worst years of the Iraq civil war and incapable of dealing with the complex insurgency… America’s claim to leadership is broken, its credibility severely damaged. The world has become more confusing and less safe. That is the legacy of this war.’
“The business daily Handelsblatt writes: ‘The Iraqi Army is hardly in a position to provide security. The people will have to suffer much bloodshed in the future because the roots of terrorism have not been dealt with. Iraq is not able to deal with this by itself. It still doesn’t have a functioning government after the elections in March. This double vacuum provides a fertile breeding ground for extremist groups. Washington has suffered terrible damage to its image in the Middle East. Iraq is not pacified and the Taliban is resurgent in Afghanistan because the US concentrated its military capacity in Iraq. Neighboring Iran is playing cat and mouse on the nuclear issue while peace between the Israelis and Palestinians is out of reach. The Iraqis have few grounds for optimism. The US is not only leaving behind a security gap, but also a political mess. The institutional structures are too weak and the army too inexperienced to prevent the country from descending into chaos and anarchy.’
“The Financial Times Deutschland writes: ‘… The war is far from over, never mind [who] won… Around 50,000 American soldiers are staying in Iraq and contrary to what the government seems to be suggesting, they are full-fledged soldiers who will attack if need be. The Iraqi soldiers and police are not able to provide security everywhere in the country … and the number of terrorist attacks has increased recently, while five months of attempts to form a government have failed so far’…
“The left-leaning Die Tageszeitung writes: ‘The Anglo-American war in Iraq and the subsequent occupation was a severe breach of international law. The collected justifications by the Bush and Blair governments for the war were lies from the beginning. A later attempted justification was the deposing of Saddam Hussein, a dictator who the West and the Soviet Union had backed in the late 70s and armed for his war against the Islamic revolutionary regime in neigboring [sic] Iran. What price was paid for the overthrow of Saddam? Over 100,000 civilians have died as a direct consequence of the war and other acts of violence since March 2003. In Iraq 4,419 US soldiers lost their lives and tens of thousands came home injured or with terrible trauma. The Pentagon budget since 2003 for the war and occupation was over $740 billion. Some experts put the actual cost for the US economy at $3 trillion. Yet despite these huge costs and victims, Iraq is neither pacified in the long-term nor politically stable.'”
America won its last war a long time ago. It has not won the Iraq war, nor will it win the Afghan war, nor any other war to come. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.”
Obama vs. Bush
Newsmax wrote on August 22:
“When George W. Bush departed the White House on Jan. 20, 2009, he left as one of the most unpopular presidents in history. At the time, a Gallup poll found President Bush tallied a mere 34 percent approval. That put him only slightly above the two most unpopular presidents in the era of modern polling: Harry Truman (32 percent when he left office), and Richard Nixon (22 percent when he resigned in disgrace in August 1974.)
“Close to two years into President Barack Obama’s term, Bush’s mojo with the American public appears on the rise… Nationally, Obama continues to be the more popular politician. Gallup’s latest poll shows Obama’s favorability at 52 percent, compared with Bush’s 45 percent. Yet, these numbers show steady improvement for the one-time Texas governor who led the nation’s ‘war on terror.’
“Since March 2009, Bush’s Gallup rating has climbed 10 points. Obama’s favorability during the same period: down by more than 20 points… For the moment, Bush’s Rocky Balboa-like comeback is happening despite the fact that Bush left the country in the worst financial shape since the Great Depression and ramped up social spending to dizzying heights while nearly doubling the national debt and embroiling the nation in two foreign wars.
“The cause for this GOP windfall could be because of the fact that Obama seems to have fallen so far short of the ‘hope and change’ message he promised voters. His actions during his first two years have alienated independent voters in a manner that go well beyond any of Bush’s errant ways.”
America’s leadership is no longer respected, regardless as to who might lead.
Jewish Voters Disassociate Themselves from Obama
In a related article, Newsmax reported on August 22:
“Barack Obama won nearly 80 percent of the Jewish vote in 2008, but his support among Jews has been declining in part because of concerns over his Israeli policies. A study of Jewish voters by McLaughlin & Associates this past spring found that only 42 percent of respondents would support Obama’s re-election, while 46 percent said they would support another candidate.
“Among Orthodox Jews, 69 percent would likely support another candidate, and just 17 percent would back Obama. Among those affiliated with Conservative Judaism, only 38 percent would support Obama, as would a slim majority of Reform Jews, 52 percent.
“Overall, 50 percent said they approved and 39 percent disapproved of Obama’s handling of American relations with Israel. ‘We are not only witnessing a sharpening of the divide within the community, but a radicalization of the Jewish political right, accompanied by a corresponding disengagement of the Jewish liberal sector from the Israel discourse,’ The Jewish Journal observed in an Aug. 10 article… ‘Not only worried about their own economic status, this constituency is deeply concerned by what they observe as the erosion of support for Israel’…
“Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, tells Newsmax: ‘The majority of Jews now realize that this guy is bad for Israel, let alone bad for America.'”
The relationship between America and the state of Israel will steadily deteriorate.
Islam’s Laws and “President Apostate?”
On August 20, 2010, the Drudge Report re-published an article, which had been originally published on May 12, 2008, stating the following:
“Senator Obama is half African by birth and Africans can understandably identify with him. In Islam, however, there is no such thing as a half-Muslim. Like all monotheistic religions, Islam is an exclusive faith. As the son of the Muslim father, Senator Obama was born a Muslim under Muslim law as it is universally understood. It makes no difference that, as Senator Obama has written, his father said he renounced his religion. Likewise, under Muslim law based on the Koran his mother’s Christian background is irrelevant.
“Of course, as most Americans understand it, Senator Obama is not a Muslim. He chose to become a Christian, and indeed has written convincingly to explain how he arrived at his choice and how important his Christian faith is to him. His conversion, however, was a crime in Muslim eyes; it is ‘irtidad’ or ‘ridda,’ usually translated from the Arabic as ‘apostasy,’ but with connotations of rebellion and treason. Indeed, it is the worst of all crimes that a Muslim can commit, worse than murder (which the victim’s family may choose to forgive).
“With few exceptions, the jurists of all Sunni and Shiite schools prescribe execution for all adults who leave the faith not under duress; the recommended punishment is beheading at the hands of a cleric, although in recent years there have been both stonings and hangings.
“… in Iran in 1994 the intervention of Pope John Paul II and others won a Christian convert a last-minute reprieve, but the man was abducted and killed shortly after his release. Likewise, in 2006 in Afghanistan, a Christian convert had to be declared insane to prevent his execution, and he was still forced to flee to Italy.
“Because no government is likely to allow the prosecution of a President Obama — not even those of Iran and Saudi Arabia, the only two countries where Islamic religious courts dominate over secular law — another provision of Muslim law is perhaps more relevant: it prohibits punishment for any Muslim who kills any apostate, and effectively prohibits interference with such a killing.”
Based on this fact and other factors, we cannot expect that the relationship between the Obama administration and the Muslim world will steadily improve.
America IS in a Depression!!!!
CNBC wrote on August 24:
“Positive gross domestic product readings and other mildly hopeful signs are masking an ugly truth: The US economy is in a 1930s-style Depression, Gluskin Sheff economist David Rosenberg said Tuesday… then as now… signs of recovery were unsustainable and only provided a false sense of stability, said Rosenberg.
“Rosenberg calls current economic conditions ‘a depression, and not just some garden-variety recession,’ and notes that any good news both during the initial 1929-33 recession and the one that began in 2008 triggered ‘euphoric response.’
“‘Such is human nature and nobody can be blamed for trying to be optimistic; however, in the money management business, we have a fiduciary responsibility to be as realistic as possible about the outlook for the economy and the market at all times,’ he said…
“Rosenberg’s warning comes as a slew of major analysts—Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan among them—have slashed GDP projections for 2010 to the 1.5 to 2 percent range. Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans said in a speech Tuesday that the risk of a double-dip recession has escalated. He said government programs to help distressed homeowners have been ineffective and aren’t helping the pivotal housing sector recover.
“The dour outlooks come on the same day that the National Association of Realtors said home sales reached a 15-year low in June, dousing hopes that the industry had reached a bottoming point. Rosenberg points out that the ‘overall economic malaise’ has come despite aggressive efforts by the Federal Reserve to stimulate the economy through rate cuts…”
CNBC added on August 24:
“The Dow Jones Industrial Average will lose about half of its value over the next couple of years… according to Charles Nenner, founder and president of Charles Nenner research. Stocks are currently in a bear-market rally, and looking at charts and past trends, unemployment and leading indicators suggest the Dow will drop to 5,000 in the next two to two-and-a-half years, Nenner told CNBC in an e-mail.
“Deflation will arrive… pushing the Dow lower… ‘Things look really bad for the next 10 years,’ Nenner said.”
As we are apparently experiencing a depression–not unlike the one in 1929–please listen again to our StandingWatch program, “Coming–The Great Depression?” giving helpful tips as to how to cope in such dire circumstances.
Iran’s “Ambassador of Death”
The Associated Press reported on August 22:
“Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday inaugurated the country’s first domestically built unmanned bomber aircraft, calling it an ‘ambassador of death’ to Iran’s enemies. The 4-meter-long drone aircraft can carry up to four cruise missiles and will have a range of 620 miles (1,000 kilometers)…
“The ceremony came a day after Iran began to fuel its first nuclear power reactor, with the help of Russia, amid international concerns over the possibility of a military dimension to its nuclear program… Referring to Israel’s occasional threats against Iran’s nuclear facilities, Ahmadinejad called any attack unlikely, but he said if Israel did, the reaction would be overwhelming. ‘The scope of Iran’s reaction will include the entire… earth,’ said Ahmadinejad. ‘We also tell you — the West — that all options are on the table.'”
The Jerusalem Post and the Associated Press wrote on August 21:
“Nationwide celebrations were planned for Saturday’s fuel loading at Bushehr. ‘I thank the Russian government and nation, which cooperated with the great Iranian nation and registered their name in Islamic Iran’s golden history,’ Salehi said. ‘Today is a historic day and will be remembered in history.’
“Iran says it plans to build other reactors and says designs for a second [reactor] in southwestern Iran are taking shape. The Bushehr project dates backs to 1974, when Iran’s US-backed Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi contracted with the German company Siemens to build the reactor. The company withdrew from the project after the 1979 Islamic Revolution toppled the shah.
“The partially finished plant later sustained damages after it was bombed by Iraq during its 1980-88 war against Iran. Before making the Russian deal to complete Bushehr, Iran signed pacts with Argentina, Spain and other countries only to see them canceled under US pressure.”
“Israel Says Iranian Reactor Use ‘Totally Unacceptable'”
y-net news, Reuters and AFP reported on August 21:
“Israel on Saturday denounced Iran’s fueling up of its first nuclear power plant as ‘totally unacceptable’ and called for more international pressure to force Tehran to cease any uranium enrichment. Israel, widely assumed to be the only Middle East country to have nuclear weapons, has said a nuclear-armed Iran would be a threat to its existence, raising concerns Israel could attack Iran’s nuclear sites… Also on Saturday, US State Department spokesman Darby Holladay said the reactor ‘underscores that Iran does not need an indigenous enrichment capability if its intentions are purely peaceful.'”
Bild Online added the following on August 22:
“There is evidence that Iran is working on a rocket which could reach Berlin… According to unverified reports, the US aircraft carrier ‘USS Truman’ is heading towards the Persian Gulf, rather than Afghanistan… Professor Michael Wolffsohn (Military University Munich): ‘I have not the slightest doubt that Israel will attack before Iran has the bomb. When we add two and two, we can see that Israel and perhaps also the USA are preparing for the event of emergency.'”
Welt Online added on August 22:
“It is a terrible signal that Russia supports this development in Iran… And it is further proof that Russia has been playing the hypocrite for years… According to the New York Times, the American government is trying to persuade Israel that there is no immediate present danger emanating from Iran, because the country would need one more year to build the bomb. It is a mystery what is supposedly comforting regarding this. It would mean that Iran can only be stopped militarily and that such an attack would happen within a year, at the latest… The Iranian messages this weekend prove all by themselves why Iran must never be allowed to have the bomb.”
It is likely, as we have said for years, that Israel will attack Iran and that as a consequence, an outright war in the Middle East will ensue. The Bible says in Hosea 5:13 that in the future, Judah or the state of Israel will receive a wound. It also says that Judah will not find rescue or help as God will “take them away” (verse 14). Does this wound refer to Israel’s attack on Iran and Iran’s retaliation (with the possible help of others) and the world’s condemnation of Israel?
Israel Prepares for War Against Iran
WND wrote on August 22:
“While Israel is hoping for a peaceful resolution to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the Jewish state is also preparing for ‘a time of war,’ declared a Knesset member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party… Likud Knesset Member Danny Danon… the deputy speaker of Israel’s parliament… hinted that Israel may take action if the world does not stop the Iranian nuclear threat, recalling Israel’s lone strike on Iraq’s nuclear reactor in 1981.
“Stated Danon: ‘We are ready for all scenarios, and we are able to defend our civilian population. I cannot tell you how long we can wait more. But we prefer to wait and see if the international bodies are acting, or [whether] it will be only the burden of Israel, like it was in the early ’80s, when the great leader, Menachem Begin, [made] the great decision to bomb the nuclear reactor in Iraq.'”
Al-Qaida Prepares for Israel-Iran War
The Jerusalem Post wrote on August 20:
“Al-Qaida is ready to exploit a war ‘by the Jews against Iran,’ the Sunni group’s second-in-command in Yemen, Saeed al-Shehri, said in an audio message this month, according to the Daily Beast.
“The mostly Shi’ite nation of Iran is an enemy to Al-Qaida, and al-Shehri predicted that after Israel attacked Iranian nuclear installations, Iran would blame Saudi Arabia – which reports say may let Israel fly through its airspace to attack Iran – and use the opportunity to seize the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.
“Al-Shehri said Israel would then seize territory from surrounding Arab nations to establish ‘the greater state of Israel,’ and the Sunni Arab population of the Middle East would be trapped between the ‘Jews in the Middle East and Iran in the Peninsula,’ the Daily Beast reported.
“According to the Daily Beast, Al-Qaida would benefit from an Israel-Iran war because if Israel attacked Iran’s nuclear installations, Iran would use its proxies to lash back at Americans in the Gulf, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The Daily Beast is a news aggregator and original content website owned by a former Wall Street Journal editor.”
Iran Prepared to Supply Lebanon with Weapons Against Israel
Haaretz reported on August 25:
“Iran is prepared to sell weapons to Lebanon if Beirut asks for help in equipping its military, the Islamic Republic’s defense minister said Wednesday. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi’s comments come one day after the leader of Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah group, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, called on the Lebanese government to formally seek military assistance from Iran.
“‘Lebanon is our friend,’ Vahidi was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency. ‘If there is a demand in this respect, we are ready to help that country and conduct weapons transactions with it.’ In a televised speech on Tuesday, Nasrallah vowed that his Iranian-backed group could help secure the aid for Lebanon’s poorly equipped army.
“The Hezbollah leader made his suggestion after a U.S. congressman suspended $100 million of American military aid to Lebanon earlier this month over concerns the weapons could be used against Israel and that Hezbollah may have influence over the Lebanese army.
“Lebanon’s government has since opened an account at the central bank to receive donations to help it purchase weapons for the military. But Beirut is not entirely dependent on U.S. military assistance, and has turned to other countries, including Russia and Arab nations, for assistance in the past.
“Iran is a key supporter of Hezbollah, believed to funnel it weapons and millions of dollars in funding, though Tehran denies arming the Shiite group. Hezbollah, also closely allied to Syria, boasts a heavy arsenal of rockets capable of reaching deep inside Israel.”
The End Is Near–But What End?
USA Today wrote on August 23:
“When some Christians look into the near future, they see a wondrous fate for themselves and fellow evangelical believers: a rapture in which God sweeps the true Christians up to heaven. According to this reading of the bible’s Book of Revelation, what awaits those on the wrong side of the ecclesiastical line is not so wondrous: seven years of unimaginable suffering, war and destruction that ends with the Second Coming of Jesus.
“Opinion surveys over the past decade show that more than half the American public believes that the end times are coming. A new poll from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press finds that roughly four in 10 Americans believe the Second Coming will happen by 2050. Those enraptured by the rapture tend to view current events through the lens of biblical prophesy, reading everything from the Obama election to the oil disaster in the Gulf Coast as fulfillment of one or another cryptic passage from Revelation…”
The Bible does not teach a “rapture,” nor a period of seven years of “unimaginable suffering.” For the truth on what the Bible really teaches, please read our free commentary, “Is That in the Bible?–The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation.”
