The news comes as world governments have been anticipating new nuclear testing in the secretive state after Pyongyang's January declaration that it would undergo a third nuclear test despite warnings of "consequences" from the UN Security Council.
Monday, February 11, 2013
'Artificial' earthquake detected at site of 2009 North Korean nuke test
End Of Days News
Apparently man-made seismic activity has been detected in North Korea, South Korean Yonhap news agency reported. The United States Geological Survey confirms a 4.9 magnitude earthquake at a depth of exactly one kilometer in North Korea's northeast.
Meanwhile the Japanese Meteorological Agency reported that the activity's epicenter was located at exactly the same place and depth as that of the quake caused by North Korea's last known underground nuclear test, on May 25, 2009.
The news comes as world governments have been anticipating new nuclear testing in the secretive state after Pyongyang's January declaration that it would undergo a third nuclear test despite warnings of "consequences" from the UN Security Council.
The news comes as world governments have been anticipating new nuclear testing in the secretive state after Pyongyang's January declaration that it would undergo a third nuclear test despite warnings of "consequences" from the UN Security Council.
OBAMA, THE KING DOES NOT NEED CONGRESS! Obama to 'bypass Congress' on CISPA with cybersecurity executive order
End Of Days News
Unable to reach a deal with Congress, President Obama plans to use his power to exert executive actions against the will of lawmakers. The president will issue orders addressing controversial topics including cybersecurity.
Although President Obama has issued fewer executive orders than any president in over 100 years, he is making extensive plans to change that, Washington Post reports quoting people outside the White House involved in discussions on the issues. Due to conflicts with a Congress that too often disagrees on proposed legislation, Obama plans to act alone and is likely "to rely heavily" on his executive powers in future, according to the newspaper.
Obama’s first executive order is expected to be issued this week when the president calls for the creation of new standards on what private-sector companies must do to protect their computer systems from a cybersecurity breach.
The order is a direct response to Congress’ refusal to pass the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) last year, which the administration deemed crucial to prevent crippling attacks on the nation’s infrastructure. But members of Congress who opposed the legislation cited serious privacy concerns with giving the government greater access to Americans’ personal information that only private companies and servers might have access to.
Despite opposition from lawmakers, the president will use his executive powers to issue an order addressing cybersecurity initiatives.
“It is a very dangerous road he’s going down contrary to the spirit of the Constitution,” Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) told the Washington Post. “Just because Congress doesn’t act doesn’t mean the president has a right to act.”
But the president has increasingly been issuing executive orders, including 23 actions addressing gun violence after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The 23 orders angered lawmakers who are opposed to tighter gun legislation. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) accused the president of demonstrating a “king complex” by exerting so many orders.
Major executive actions implemented by the president also include orders delaying deportations of young illegal immigrants and orders to lower student loan payments.
The president plans to have a greater impact during his second term by increasing his number of executive actions. He is currently considering extending anti-discrimination protections for homosexuals employed by the government and working with the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate carbon emissions. He is also planning to allow nearly 11 million struggling homeowners to refinance their mortgages at low interest rates.
The White House has made it clear that if Congress continues to disagree on issues that Obama considers important, the president will go ahead and use his power to pass new laws on his own.
And even though the president has passed executive orders at a lower rate than most of his predecessors – including former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, doing so has not come without criticism.
"Obama's increasing reliance on executive orders to push policy and skirt congressional deliberation is worrisome," tweeted Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
The president is expected to reference some of his imminent executive actions in his State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Obama’s first executive order is expected to be issued this week when the president calls for the creation of new standards on what private-sector companies must do to protect their computer systems from a cybersecurity breach.
The order is a direct response to Congress’ refusal to pass the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) last year, which the administration deemed crucial to prevent crippling attacks on the nation’s infrastructure. But members of Congress who opposed the legislation cited serious privacy concerns with giving the government greater access to Americans’ personal information that only private companies and servers might have access to.
Despite opposition from lawmakers, the president will use his executive powers to issue an order addressing cybersecurity initiatives.
“It is a very dangerous road he’s going down contrary to the spirit of the Constitution,” Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) told the Washington Post. “Just because Congress doesn’t act doesn’t mean the president has a right to act.”
But the president has increasingly been issuing executive orders, including 23 actions addressing gun violence after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The 23 orders angered lawmakers who are opposed to tighter gun legislation. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) accused the president of demonstrating a “king complex” by exerting so many orders.
Major executive actions implemented by the president also include orders delaying deportations of young illegal immigrants and orders to lower student loan payments.
The president plans to have a greater impact during his second term by increasing his number of executive actions. He is currently considering extending anti-discrimination protections for homosexuals employed by the government and working with the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate carbon emissions. He is also planning to allow nearly 11 million struggling homeowners to refinance their mortgages at low interest rates.
The White House has made it clear that if Congress continues to disagree on issues that Obama considers important, the president will go ahead and use his power to pass new laws on his own.
And even though the president has passed executive orders at a lower rate than most of his predecessors – including former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, doing so has not come without criticism.
"Obama's increasing reliance on executive orders to push policy and skirt congressional deliberation is worrisome," tweeted Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
The president is expected to reference some of his imminent executive actions in his State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Netanyahu: Iran is accelerating uranium enrichment
End Of Days News
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Monday Iran is accelerating efforts to enrich uranium and called for tougher international sanctions to prevent it from building a nuclear weapon. Speaking to a visiting delegation of American-Jewish organizational heads in Jerusalem, he said Iran needs to be convinced it faces a credible military threat. “I drew a red line” on the bomb at the UN, Netanyahu said. The Iranians “haven’t crossed that line, but what they are doing is shortening the time it takes to get there.”
Netanyahu said he expects to discuss the Iranian nuclear issue with US President Obama who arrives March 20 on a visit to Jerusalem, as well as the civil conflict in Syria and efforts to renew peace talks with the Palestinians.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Monday Iran is accelerating efforts to enrich uranium and called for tougher international sanctions to prevent it from building a nuclear weapon. Speaking to a visiting delegation of American-Jewish organizational heads in Jerusalem, he said Iran needs to be convinced it faces a credible military threat. “I drew a red line” on the bomb at the UN, Netanyahu said. The Iranians “haven’t crossed that line, but what they are doing is shortening the time it takes to get there.”
Netanyahu said he expects to discuss the Iranian nuclear issue with US President Obama who arrives March 20 on a visit to Jerusalem, as well as the civil conflict in Syria and efforts to renew peace talks with the Palestinians.
SEAL Who Allegedly Shot and Killed Bin Laden Reveals Stunning New Details About the Raid — And You Won’t Believe How He Says the Gov’t Has Treated Him Since
End Of Days News
Phil Bronstein spent more than a year researching a piece published Monday in Esquire on the life of the Navy SEAL who allegedly killed Osama bin Laden. He formed a friendship with the man, whom he refers to only as “the Shooter” throughout the piece for safety reasons, learning new details about the famous raid and — more shockingly — the Shooter’s life post-retirement.
The Shooter isn’t exactly able to write on his résumé that he’s the man who killed Osama Bin Laden– details about the mission are strictly classified and he adheres to a “quiet professional” code. The Shooter says he has no interest in making himself a public figure like the author of No Easy Day, who was also on the raid and was one of the men to shoot Bin Laden after the terrorist had been killed by the Shooter. So where is he now?
Apparently, in the same boat as many of America’s other veterans.
(Photo: White House)
This is a man who recalls the Osama bin Laden raid not from images on a television, but from a first-person perspective. He related grisly new details in his first-ever interview, even sharing what he was thinking at the time:
[Bin Laden] looked confused. And way taller than I was expecting. He had a cap on and didn’t appear to be hit…For me, it was a snapshot of a target ID, definitely him. Even in our kill houses where we train, there are targets with his face on them. This was repetition and muscle memory. That’s him, boom, done.[...]In that second, I shot him, two times in the forehead. Bap! Bap! The second time as he’s going down. He crumpled onto the floor in front of his bed and I hit him again, Bap! same place. That time I used my EOTech red-dot holo sight. He was dead. Not moving. His tongue was out. I watched him take his last breaths, just a reflex breath.And I remember as I watched him breathe out the last part of air, I thought: Is this the best thing I’ve ever done, or the worst thing I’ve ever done? This is real and that’s him. Holy shit.[...]His forehead was gruesome. It was split open in the shape of a V. I could see his brains spilling out over his face. The American public doesn’t want to know what that looks like. [Emphasis added]
A Pakistani woman and a girl walk through a path in a field next to the demolished house where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was caught and killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan, Sunday, April 29, 2012. (Photo: AP)
So where is he now? The Esquire article explains:
“No one who fights for this country overseas should ever have to fight for a job,” Barack Obama said last Veterans’ Day, “or a roof over their head, or the care that they have earned when they come home.”But the Shooter will discover soon enough that when he leaves after sixteen years in the Navy, his body filled with scar tissue, arthritis, tendonitis, eye damage, and blown disks, here is what he gets from his employer and a grateful nation:Nothing. No pension, no health care, and no protection for himself or his family.Since Abbottabad, he has trained his children to hide in their bathtub at the first sign of a problem as the safest, most fortified place in their house. His wife is familiar enough with the shotgun on their armoire to use it. She knows to sit on the bed, the weapon’s butt braced against the wall, and precisely what angle to shoot out through the bedroom door, if necessary. A knife is also on the dresser should she need a backup.Then there is the “bolt” bag of clothes, food, and other provisions for the family meant to last them two weeks in hiding.“Personally,” his wife told me recently, “I feel more threatened by a potential retaliatory terror attack on our community than I did eight years ago,” when her husband joined ST6.When the White House identified SEAL Team 6 as those responsible, camera crews swarmed into their Virginia Beach neighborhood, taking shots of the SEALs’ homes. [Emphasis added]
School students supporting Pakistani political and Islamic party Jammat-e-Islami (JI), march during an anti-US protest rally in Karachi on December 19, 2011. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
The Shooter and his wife are actually separated, but still live in the same house to save money. The $60,000 a year he made with extra bonuses for different activities has dried up, and they haven’t yet found a way to replace it.
“We’re actually looking into changing my name,” she explained. “Changing the kids’ names, taking my husband’s name off the house, paying off our cars. Essentially deleting him from our lives, but for safety reasons. We still love each other.”
According to Bronstein, the only assistance The Shooter was offered was a witness-protection like program where the national hero would be “driving a beer truck in Milwaukee.” The family would have to sever all connections to their former life.
A former SEAL and mentor to the Shooter noted: “These guys have millions of dollars’ worth of knowledge and training in their heads…All sorts of executive function skills. That shouldn’t go to waste.”
Retired Marine major general Mike Myatt added: “It’s criminal to me that these guys walk out the door naked…They’re the greatest of their generation; they know how to get things done. If I were a Fortune 500 company, I’d try to get my hands on any one of them.”
This image released by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency shows a scale model of the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden was killed. (Photo: AP)
Bronstein says one conversation in particular exemplifies the abandonment:
“I left SEALs on Friday,” [the Shooter] said the next time I saw him. It was a little more than thirty-six months before the official retirement requirement of twenty years of service. “My health care for me and my family stopped at midnight Friday night. I asked if there was some transition from my Tricare to Blue Cross Blue Shield. They said no. You’re out of the service, your coverage is over. Thanks for your sixteen years. Go [f--k] yourself.”
The Esquire article concludes with the Shooter’s perception of the movie Zero Dark Thirty, the author adding that a line from the film has been haunting him.
The tactics “sucked,” the Shooter said, and “the mission in the damn movie took way too long,” but other than that he said he was largely pleased.
But the real-life risks and ramifications were summed up by the actor playing the CIA station chief, who warned: “Once you’re on their list, you never get off.”
Dems to Christians: 'Get thee to a nunnery'
End Of Days News
Democrat members of the Colorado Senate have told Christians there’s no place in society for them, warning them to “get thee to a nunnery” for their biblically based beliefs that homosexuality is a sin.
“What to say to those who claim that religion requires them to discriminate? I tell you what I’d say: ‘Get thee to a nunnery, and live there then. Go live a monastic life, away from modern society, away from people you can’t see as equals to yourself,’” said homosexual state Sen. Pat Steadman of Denver.
The bill died in a Republican-controlled House last year, but this year, with Democrats in the majority in both houses, it is expected to be approved – but with a difference.
Steadman has removed last year’s provision that would have allowed business owners of faith to make decisions on how they would provide their own services.
Steadman expressed absolutely no tolerance for those of faith.
He also said the issue of the mandatory recognition by all of homosexuality was why he ran for public office.
“It’s very rewarding to know something I worked on for many years is this close to becoming reality,” he told the local CBS affiliate.
“Go some place and be as judgmental as you like, go inside your church, establish separate water fountains if you like. But don’t tell me that your free exercise of religion requires the state of Colorado to establish separate water fountains,” he said, according to a report on Denver’s KDVR television.
Video of his statement has been posted online by the station.
KDVR reported that Sen. Kent Lambert, R-Colorado Springs, pointed out the very intolerance being exhibited.
“Telling us get thee to a nunnery?” the station reported he said. “That doesn’t sound very inclusive to me.”
The station reported that all of the Senate Democrats, including Sen. Jean Nicholson, D-Gilpin
County, who recently was honored by the Colorado Youth Corps Association as legislator of the year, joined in Steadman’s statement of condemnation for those of faith.
Republicans repeatedly tried to amend the bill to allow for the religious rights of Christians, only to be shot down by Democrats.
“The justification heard for civil unions has always been to promote tolerance and even acceptance of the gay citizens of Colorado and the only way to honor that intent is to ensure tolerance and acceptance of those who hold strong religious convictions,” said Sen. Owen Hill, a Republican representing Colorado Springs.
The proposal next goes before Colorado House Democrats.
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a staunch leftist, is expected to sign the plan coming out of the legislature.
Democrats, however, have not proposed “equality” for the hundreds of other “philias” besides homosexuality that Congress referenced when that body was discussing the “Hate Crimes” legislation approved and signed by Barack Obama shortly after he took office.
“What to say to those who claim that religion requires them to discriminate? I tell you what I’d say: ‘Get thee to a nunnery, and live there then. Go live a monastic life, away from modern society, away from people you can’t see as equals to yourself,’” said homosexual state Sen. Pat Steadman of Denver.
He was advocating for a “civil unions” bill in Colorado that skirts the state’s constitutional definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman. The bill essentially provides the benefits of marriage to those who choose the homosexual lifestyle.
Steadman has removed last year’s provision that would have allowed business owners of faith to make decisions on how they would provide their own services.
Steadman expressed absolutely no tolerance for those of faith.
He also said the issue of the mandatory recognition by all of homosexuality was why he ran for public office.
“It’s very rewarding to know something I worked on for many years is this close to becoming reality,” he told the local CBS affiliate.
“Go some place and be as judgmental as you like, go inside your church, establish separate water fountains if you like. But don’t tell me that your free exercise of religion requires the state of Colorado to establish separate water fountains,” he said, according to a report on Denver’s KDVR television.
Video of his statement has been posted online by the station.
KDVR reported that Sen. Kent Lambert, R-Colorado Springs, pointed out the very intolerance being exhibited.
“Telling us get thee to a nunnery?” the station reported he said. “That doesn’t sound very inclusive to me.”
The station reported that all of the Senate Democrats, including Sen. Jean Nicholson, D-Gilpin
County, who recently was honored by the Colorado Youth Corps Association as legislator of the year, joined in Steadman’s statement of condemnation for those of faith.
Republicans repeatedly tried to amend the bill to allow for the religious rights of Christians, only to be shot down by Democrats.
“The justification heard for civil unions has always been to promote tolerance and even acceptance of the gay citizens of Colorado and the only way to honor that intent is to ensure tolerance and acceptance of those who hold strong religious convictions,” said Sen. Owen Hill, a Republican representing Colorado Springs.
The proposal next goes before Colorado House Democrats.
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a staunch leftist, is expected to sign the plan coming out of the legislature.
Democrats, however, have not proposed “equality” for the hundreds of other “philias” besides homosexuality that Congress referenced when that body was discussing the “Hate Crimes” legislation approved and signed by Barack Obama shortly after he took office.
Conservative Dr. Ben Carson speech upstages Obama at prayer breakfast
End Of Days News
Move over President Obama. Conservatives are not talking so much about the president’s address at Thursday’s National Prayer Breakfast, but rather remarks from Dr. Benjamin Carson, a black pediatric neurosurgeon with Johns Hopkins Hospital who took over the stage for 25 riveting minutes.
Mr. Carson spoke of his disdain for political correctness, calling it a “dangerous” and “horrible thing” that has led to such ridiculous fears as wishing people Merry Christmas, according to The Blaze.
He also talked about the moral decay of American, and cautioned of a Rome-like fate, and — in front of Mr. Obama, who sat just feet from the podium — confronted the issue of America’s debt and current fiscal policy.
“Our deficit is a big problem,” Mr. Carson said, according to The Blaze. “Think about it — and our national debt — $16 and a half trillion dollars.” And here’s one of his most daring lines, as reported by The Blaze: “What about our taxation system — so complex there is no one that can possibly comply with every jot and tittle. When I pick up my Bible, you know what I see? I see the fairest individual in the universe — God — and he’s given us a system. It’s called tithe.”
Conservatives are applauding.
As reported on Twitchy.com, David Limbaugh tweeted: “Finally, a self-reliant conservative decided to make this every bit as political as Obama does. Yes, we had a voice. Benjamin Carson.”
Other tweets, as reported by Twitchy: “Dr. Ben Carson throws out political correctness during speech in front of Obama, who’s not happy.” And this: “Sounds like Dr. Ben Carson of Johns Hopkins stole the show at the Nat’l Prayer Breakfast today. Hit on healthcare in front of Obama.” And this: “This is awesome. National Prayer Breakfast — Carson prayer speech.”
Mr. Carson spoke of his disdain for political correctness, calling it a “dangerous” and “horrible thing” that has led to such ridiculous fears as wishing people Merry Christmas, according to The Blaze.
He also talked about the moral decay of American, and cautioned of a Rome-like fate, and — in front of Mr. Obama, who sat just feet from the podium — confronted the issue of America’s debt and current fiscal policy.
“Our deficit is a big problem,” Mr. Carson said, according to The Blaze. “Think about it — and our national debt — $16 and a half trillion dollars.” And here’s one of his most daring lines, as reported by The Blaze: “What about our taxation system — so complex there is no one that can possibly comply with every jot and tittle. When I pick up my Bible, you know what I see? I see the fairest individual in the universe — God — and he’s given us a system. It’s called tithe.”
Conservatives are applauding.
As reported on Twitchy.com, David Limbaugh tweeted: “Finally, a self-reliant conservative decided to make this every bit as political as Obama does. Yes, we had a voice. Benjamin Carson.”
Other tweets, as reported by Twitchy: “Dr. Ben Carson throws out political correctness during speech in front of Obama, who’s not happy.” And this: “Sounds like Dr. Ben Carson of Johns Hopkins stole the show at the Nat’l Prayer Breakfast today. Hit on healthcare in front of Obama.” And this: “This is awesome. National Prayer Breakfast — Carson prayer speech.”
Shock claim: Obama picks Muslim for CIA chief
End Of Days News
As WND has reported, former FBI Islam expert John Guandolo has long warned that the federal government is being infiltrated by members of the radical Muslim Brotherhood. But Guandolo now warns that by appointing Brennan to CIA director, Obama has not only chosen a man “naïve” to these infiltrations, but also picked a candidate who is himself a Muslim.
“That fact alone is not what is most disturbing,” Guandolo continued. “His conversion to Islam was the culmination of a counterintelligence operation against him to recruit him. The fact that foreign intelligence service operatives recruited Mr. Brennan when he was in a very sensitive and senior U.S. government position in a foreign country means that he either a traitor … [or] he has the inability to discern and understand how to walk in those kinds of environments, which makes him completely unfit to the be the director of Central Intelligence.”
Brennan did indeed serve as CIA station chief in Riyadh in the 1990s and today holds the official title of Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism. On Jan. 7, Obama nominated Brennan as the next director of the CIA, though he has yet to be confirmed.
“Are you kidding me?” Trento balked at Guandolo’s allegations. “The head of the CIA is a Muslim? For real? … Are you sure?”
“Yes I am,” Guandolo asserted. “The facts of the matter are confirmed by U.S. government officials who were also in Saudi Arabia at the time that John Brennan was serving there and have direct knowledge. These are men who work in very trusted positions, they were direct witnesses to his growing relationship with the individuals who worked for the Saudi government and others and they witnessed his conversion to Islam.”
A former Marine and combat veteran, Guandolo worked for eight years in the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division as a “subject matter expert” in the Muslim Brotherhood and the global spread of Islamism. Guandolo boasts he created the Bureau’s first counterterrorism training/education program and twice received United States Attorney’s Awards for investigative intelligence.
Guandolo is also one of the authors of the Center for Security Policy’s Team B II report, “Shariah: The Threat to America.”
“My contention is that [Brennan] is wholly unfit for government service in any national security capacity, and that would specifically make him unfit to be the director of Central Intelligence,” Guandolo told Trento.
Guandolo then broke down a three-part argument against Brennan’s confirmation.
“The first is he has interwoven his life professionally and personally with individuals that we know are terrorists,” Guandolo asserted. “He has overseen and approved and encouraged others to bring known leaders of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood into the government in positions to advise the U.S. government on counterterrorism strategy as well as the overall ‘war on terror.’”
Second, Guandolo asserted, Brennan has “proven through his own comments publicly that he is clueless and grossly ignorant of Al-Qaida’s strategy.
“Third and finally, which some would say is most disturbing, is Mr. Brennan did convert to Islam,” Guandolo said, but stressed, “I think the [larger] news is that that conversion is the culmination of the work of people in Saudi Arabia who worked for the Saudi Government – and that makes John Brennan just naïve, foolish, dangerously ignorant and totally unfit for this position.
“That in and of itself, again, shouldn’t be shocking to people,” Guandolo continued. “Mr. Brennan, they have the clip where he specifically says during a public address … he said during that speech that he has learned and gets his understanding and his ‘worldview’ in large part from Islam. It shouldn’t be a large leap to imagine he’s converted to Islam.”
One of the FBI’s former top experts on Islam has announced that President Obama’s pick to head the Central Intelligence Agency, John Brennan, converted to Islam years ago in Saudi Arabia.As WND has reported, former FBI Islam expert John Guandolo has long warned that the federal government is being infiltrated by members of the radical Muslim Brotherhood. But Guandolo now warns that by appointing Brennan to CIA director, Obama has not only chosen a man “naïve” to these infiltrations, but also picked a candidate who is himself a Muslim.
“Mr. Brennan did convert to Islam when he served in an official capacity on the behalf of the United States in Saudi Arabia,” Guandolo told interviewer and radio host Tom Trento.
Brennan did indeed serve as CIA station chief in Riyadh in the 1990s and today holds the official title of Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism. On Jan. 7, Obama nominated Brennan as the next director of the CIA, though he has yet to be confirmed.
“Are you kidding me?” Trento balked at Guandolo’s allegations. “The head of the CIA is a Muslim? For real? … Are you sure?”
“Yes I am,” Guandolo asserted. “The facts of the matter are confirmed by U.S. government officials who were also in Saudi Arabia at the time that John Brennan was serving there and have direct knowledge. These are men who work in very trusted positions, they were direct witnesses to his growing relationship with the individuals who worked for the Saudi government and others and they witnessed his conversion to Islam.”
A former Marine and combat veteran, Guandolo worked for eight years in the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division as a “subject matter expert” in the Muslim Brotherhood and the global spread of Islamism. Guandolo boasts he created the Bureau’s first counterterrorism training/education program and twice received United States Attorney’s Awards for investigative intelligence.
Guandolo is also one of the authors of the Center for Security Policy’s Team B II report, “Shariah: The Threat to America.”
“My contention is that [Brennan] is wholly unfit for government service in any national security capacity, and that would specifically make him unfit to be the director of Central Intelligence,” Guandolo told Trento.
Guandolo then broke down a three-part argument against Brennan’s confirmation.
“The first is he has interwoven his life professionally and personally with individuals that we know are terrorists,” Guandolo asserted. “He has overseen and approved and encouraged others to bring known leaders of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood into the government in positions to advise the U.S. government on counterterrorism strategy as well as the overall ‘war on terror.’”
Second, Guandolo asserted, Brennan has “proven through his own comments publicly that he is clueless and grossly ignorant of Al-Qaida’s strategy.
“Third and finally, which some would say is most disturbing, is Mr. Brennan did convert to Islam,” Guandolo said, but stressed, “I think the [larger] news is that that conversion is the culmination of the work of people in Saudi Arabia who worked for the Saudi Government – and that makes John Brennan just naïve, foolish, dangerously ignorant and totally unfit for this position.
“That in and of itself, again, shouldn’t be shocking to people,” Guandolo continued. “Mr. Brennan, they have the clip where he specifically says during a public address … he said during that speech that he has learned and gets his understanding and his ‘worldview’ in large part from Islam. It shouldn’t be a large leap to imagine he’s converted to Islam.”
Obama to Renew Drive for Cuts in Nuclear Arms
End Of Days News
WASHINGTON — President Obama will use his State of the Union speech on Tuesday to reinvigorate one of his signature national security objectives — drastically reducing nuclear arsenals around the world — after securing agreement in recent months with the United States military that the American nuclear force can be cut in size by roughly a third.
Mr. Obama, administration officials say, is unlikely to discuss specific numbers in the address, but White House officials are looking at a cut that would take the arsenal of deployed weapons to just above 1,000. Currently there are about 1,700, and the new strategic arms reduction treaty with Russia that passed the Senate at the end of 2009 calls for a limit of roughly 1,550 by 2018.
But Mr. Obama, according to an official who was involved in the deliberations, “believes that we can make pretty radical reductions — and save a lot of money — without compromising American security in the second term. And the Joint Chiefs have signed off on that concept.”
The big question is how to accomplish a reduction that Mr. Obama views as long overdue, considering that Republicans in the Senate opposed even the modest cuts in the new arms reduction treaty, called Start. The White House is loath to negotiate an entirely new treaty with Russia, which would lead to Russian demands for restrictions on American and NATO missile-defense systems in Europe and would reprise a major fight with Republicans in the Senate over ratification.
Instead, Mr. Obama is weighing how to reach an informal agreement with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia for mutual cuts within the framework of the new Start — but without the need for ratification. Mr. Obama’s national security adviser, Tom Donilon, is planning to travel to Russia next month, officials say, to lay the groundwork for those talks. Mr. Obama and Mr. Putin will hold two summit meetings in the early summer.
Even as he revives a nuclear agenda that has been nearly moribund for two years, Mr. Obama is also expected to try to address new threats.
Within days of the State of the Union address, officials say, he plans to issue a long-anticipated presidential directive on combating cyberattacks aimed at American companies, financial institutions and critical infrastructure like the electric grid. The announcement comes at a moment of heightened attacks from China and, most recently, from Iran.
A lobbying effort by American companies last year defeated a bill in Congress that, in some versions of the legislation, would have required private companies to meet minimum standards of protection and to report attacks to the government. It died over objections that the bill would incur huge new costs and involve the government more deeply into private computer networks.
While Mr. Obama cannot impose the failed bill’s mandates by executive order, he is expected to give companies that control “critical infrastructure” access to an experimental government program that has been aimed at protecting defense contractors. The directive will also require the government to inform industry officials of cyberthreats detected by American intelligence agencies; that, in turn, may create some liability for companies that fail to react to the warnings.
The nuclear reduction plan has been debated inside the administration for two years, and the options have been on Mr. Obama’s desk for months. But the document was left untouched through the presidential election. The president wanted to avoid making the reductions a campaign issue with Mitt Romney, who declared at one point that Russia was now America’s “No. 1 geostrategic foe,” a comment that Mr. Obama later mocked as an indication that Mr. Romney had failed to move beyond the cold war.
Mr. Romney, in turn, leapt on a remark that Mr. Obama intended to make privately to Russia’s then president, Dmitri A. Medvedev. He was picked up by an open microphone telling Mr. Medvedev that “after my election I have more flexibility” on missile defense, which Republicans said was evidence that he was preparing to trade away elements of the arsenal.
Among the most outspoken advocates of a deep cut has been a former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. James E. Cartwright, whom Mr. Obama continues to turn to on strategic issues. General Cartwright has argued that a reduction to 900 warheads would still guarantee American safety, even if only half of them were deployed at any one time.
“The world has changed, but the current arsenal carries the baggage of the cold war,” General Cartwright said last year. The challenges of North Korea, which is preparing a third nuclear test, and the possibility that Iran will get the bomb pose very different kinds of threats to the United States, and do not require the ability to deliver the kind of huge first strike that was the underlying logic of a large arsenal to face off against the Soviet Union.
“What is it we’re really trying to deter?” General Cartwright asked. “Our current arsenal does not address the threats of the 21st century.”
It is unclear how much money would be saved by the nuclear reduction plan that Mr. Obama is about to endorse; partly that depends on how the cuts are spread among the three elements of America’s nuclear “triad”: land-based missiles in silos, missiles aboard hard-to-find nuclear submarines, and nuclear bombers.
“These cuts don’t require a radical change in the triad, and that makes it politically easier,” said Daryl Kimball, the executive director of the Arms Control Association, which has argued for deep cuts. General Cartwright’s more radical plans, by some estimates, would have saved at least $120 billion over the next two decades.
But Mr. Obama is already moving quietly, officials acknowledge, to explore whether he can scale back a 10-year, $80 billion program to modernize the country’s weapons laboratories.
The White House agreed to the spending on the weapons labs as the price of winning Republican votes on the new Start three years ago, but one senior defense official said late last year that “the environment of looking for cuts in the national security budget makes this an obvious target.”
Mr. Obama’s advisers have said he is unlikely to simply announce American cuts unilaterally, though President George W. Bush took a similar step his first year in office before negotiating a short treaty with Mr. Putin that passed the Senate with little rancor.
Along with the executive order on cybersecurity, the administration plans to try again this year to get comprehensive cyberlegislation passed by Congress.
Last month, Senators Tom Carper, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, introduced a cybersecurity bill similar to the one that administration had hoped to pass in 2012.
“We want to foster notice and we want to foster information-sharing requirements,” Janet Napolitano, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said in a recent interview on the legislation. “We want to take care of some of the nuts and bolts like relaxing Civil Service requirements so we can hire more competitively. Really the things that can’t be done by an executive order.”
Ms. Napolitano said that she hoped it would be a high priority for Congress. But “in the meantime we can’t stand still,” she said.
Military coup coming in Egypt?
End Of Days News
WASHINGTON – Given the continued demonstrations throughout Egypt to Muslim Brotherhood-backed Mohamed Morsi’s policies, the military is warning that it could lead to a “collapse of the state,” which could lead to the military ultimately undertaking a coup to bring back stability, according to a report in Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.
Concern over a potential collapse suggests that Morsi may no longer be in control of events.
Egypt is quite familiar with a military takeover.
It happened before when Col. Abdel Nasser in 1952 led a coup, resulting in the overthrow of the monarchy of King Farouk and resulted in the military ruling and heavily influencing events in Egypt for the next 60 years – until the ouster two years ago of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
The military, meantime, has deployed in cities along the Suez Canal – Suez, Port Said and Ismalia – after declaring a state of emergency. There is the growing prospect that the military could temporarily shut down passage of ships through the Suez Canal.
WND/G2Bulletin sources say that such a turn of events would not be surprising, given that there is prescience for such a development, but that a military coup would have the tacit backing of the U.S.
Over congressional objections, the Obama administration recently approved $1.6 billion – of which $1.3 billion is for the military – in an effort to show continued support for the military in the face of the political crisis.
The U.S. always has backed the military despite demonstrations against Western influence and support for Mubarak, who represented those influences.
The military, seeing the tide turning, decided to take an initial neutral position in during the early days of the demonstrations and with Mubarak’s ouster set up the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which temporarily ruled Egypt prior to new presidential elections that saw Morsi take office.
During that period, military rule didn’t win it much support among the people, which prompted its leadership to take a more neutral position and not resist the rise of Morsi – who was strongly backed by the Muslim Brotherhood.
“The continuing conflict between political forces and their differences concerning the management of the country could lead to a collapse of the state and threaten future generations,” according to Gen. Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, who also is the nation’s defense minister and once served on the SCAF.
He pointed out that the economic, political and social challenges now facing Egypt were “a real threat to the security of Egypt and the cohesiveness of the Egyptian state.”
While military deployment along the Suez Canal is supposed to protect this key shipping route from demonstrators, there is the prospect that the military could temporarily close it down to ensure its security against attack from the demonstrators.
Demonstrations were sparked by death sentences handed down by a court on 21 local football fans involved in riots a year ago that resulted in the deaths of some 74 people. In turn, this caused further demonstrations for reasons other than protests over the court sentencing.
There also were protests over the authority that Morsi had decreed to himself although he rescinded some of its provisions, while keeping others. His decree came even though he was democratically elected following the ouster of Mubarak.
Protests also were over approval of a constitution which was written by a majority of Muslim Brotherhood members on a committee. It later was submitted for a nationwide referendum and narrowly passed. Protesters’ concern is that the new constitution does not adequately protect freedom of expression or religion.
Regional observers believe that comments by al-Sisi are to send a reminder that the military remains an important political and economic influence in Egypt. They add that he is asserting the army’s independence and that it remains one of the foundations of the country.
Al-Sisi has stated that he recognizes peaceful demonstrations but will protect the Suez Canal – a main source of foreign revenue for Egypt – even if it means taking it over and shutting it down to protect it.
Keep in touch with the most important breaking news stories about critical developments around the globe with Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin, the premium, online intelligence news source edited and published by the founder of WND.
Egypt is quite familiar with a military takeover.
It happened before when Col. Abdel Nasser in 1952 led a coup, resulting in the overthrow of the monarchy of King Farouk and resulted in the military ruling and heavily influencing events in Egypt for the next 60 years – until the ouster two years ago of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
The military, meantime, has deployed in cities along the Suez Canal – Suez, Port Said and Ismalia – after declaring a state of emergency. There is the growing prospect that the military could temporarily shut down passage of ships through the Suez Canal.
WND/G2Bulletin sources say that such a turn of events would not be surprising, given that there is prescience for such a development, but that a military coup would have the tacit backing of the U.S.
Over congressional objections, the Obama administration recently approved $1.6 billion – of which $1.3 billion is for the military – in an effort to show continued support for the military in the face of the political crisis.
The U.S. always has backed the military despite demonstrations against Western influence and support for Mubarak, who represented those influences.
The military, seeing the tide turning, decided to take an initial neutral position in during the early days of the demonstrations and with Mubarak’s ouster set up the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which temporarily ruled Egypt prior to new presidential elections that saw Morsi take office.
During that period, military rule didn’t win it much support among the people, which prompted its leadership to take a more neutral position and not resist the rise of Morsi – who was strongly backed by the Muslim Brotherhood.
“The continuing conflict between political forces and their differences concerning the management of the country could lead to a collapse of the state and threaten future generations,” according to Gen. Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, who also is the nation’s defense minister and once served on the SCAF.
He pointed out that the economic, political and social challenges now facing Egypt were “a real threat to the security of Egypt and the cohesiveness of the Egyptian state.”
While military deployment along the Suez Canal is supposed to protect this key shipping route from demonstrators, there is the prospect that the military could temporarily close it down to ensure its security against attack from the demonstrators.
Demonstrations were sparked by death sentences handed down by a court on 21 local football fans involved in riots a year ago that resulted in the deaths of some 74 people. In turn, this caused further demonstrations for reasons other than protests over the court sentencing.
There also were protests over the authority that Morsi had decreed to himself although he rescinded some of its provisions, while keeping others. His decree came even though he was democratically elected following the ouster of Mubarak.
Protests also were over approval of a constitution which was written by a majority of Muslim Brotherhood members on a committee. It later was submitted for a nationwide referendum and narrowly passed. Protesters’ concern is that the new constitution does not adequately protect freedom of expression or religion.
Regional observers believe that comments by al-Sisi are to send a reminder that the military remains an important political and economic influence in Egypt. They add that he is asserting the army’s independence and that it remains one of the foundations of the country.
Al-Sisi has stated that he recognizes peaceful demonstrations but will protect the Suez Canal – a main source of foreign revenue for Egypt – even if it means taking it over and shutting it down to protect it.
Keep in touch with the most important breaking news stories about critical developments around the globe with Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin, the premium, online intelligence news source edited and published by the founder of WND.
US withdrawal from Europe-based missile shield will impact Israel’s defense
End Of Days News
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Sunday, Feb. 10 echoed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s rejection of direct talks with the US four days ago which he said were on the grounds that they “would solve nothing” because, "You are holding a gun against Iran.”
Ahmadinejad added is own rider to this dismissal: “God willing, soon Iran’s satellite will be located in orbit at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers, next to others from four or five advanced powers and it will relay a message of peace and fidelity to the world,” he said.
The boast that Iran would soon be the world’s sixth space power came two weeks after Tehran claimed to have put a monkey in orbit around earth, although it did not report bringing back to earth either the space capsule or the monkey.
Indeed, US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland, pouring a healthy dose of skepticism on the very existence of the project, commented: “The Iranians said they sent a monkey, but the monkey they showed later seemed to have different facial features.”
Tehran is again caught wandering at ease through its favorite terrain between fact, hyperbole and fiction about its achievements, whether in space or its nuclear program.
In recent weeks, reelected Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stressed he wants a broad government coalition for the critical objective of preventing Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon.
The question is how does he propose to achieve this when tough US and European sanctions have not just failed to stop Iran in its tracks but accelerated its nuclear progress. Iran is now estimated to be within four months of a nuclear bomb capacity from the moment a decision is taken to build one.
Those months are critical: On February 25 the five UN Security Council’s permanent members plus Germany sit down with Iran in Kazakhstan for a fresh round of negotiations. Former rounds in this format led nowhere and no breakthrough is expected this time either beyond, at best, a date for a continuation.
On March 20, President Barack Obama arrives in Israel for the first foreign trip of his second term. The purpose of his visit is plain, except to Netanyahu’s domestic rivals: Facing a 50 percent cutback in military spending, the Obama administration cannot credibly threaten to go to war against a recalcitrant Iran. But the US president may still wave the Israeli military option in Tehran’s face.
Not that the ayatollahs are likely to be impressed. Khamenei and Ahmadinejad have both dismissed talks with Washington "with a gun" at their head, meaning that they are not scared of the Israeli gun the Americans are putting to their heads.
In fact, the Islamic rulers of Tehran are reported by debkafile’s intelligence and Iranian sources to be fully confident that they are home and dry as a nuclear power after a secret US Pentagon research study was leaked that “casts doubt on whether the multibillion-dollar missile defense system planned for Europe” (originally by the Bush administration) “can ever protect the US from Iranian missiles as intended.”
Clearly the missile shield against Iran, which aroused ire in Moscow, looks like falling under the defense budget axe.
The missile shield in Europe was also designed to defend Israel and Turkey against Iranian ballistic missile attack. Leaving it unfinished because of “flaws” exposes both those countries to such attack.
President Obama will no doubt tell Netanyahu that the system for intercepting medium-range Iranian missiles is to be scrapped. However, he will have to take into account that if the Iranians do finally manage to put a capsule in orbit at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers, they will be able to fire a ballistic missile at any point on earth as well, including the United States. Even if they did fail to put a primate in space, they will keep on trying and advancing until they get there.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Sunday, Feb. 10 echoed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s rejection of direct talks with the US four days ago which he said were on the grounds that they “would solve nothing” because, "You are holding a gun against Iran.”
Ahmadinejad added is own rider to this dismissal: “God willing, soon Iran’s satellite will be located in orbit at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers, next to others from four or five advanced powers and it will relay a message of peace and fidelity to the world,” he said.
The boast that Iran would soon be the world’s sixth space power came two weeks after Tehran claimed to have put a monkey in orbit around earth, although it did not report bringing back to earth either the space capsule or the monkey.
Indeed, US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland, pouring a healthy dose of skepticism on the very existence of the project, commented: “The Iranians said they sent a monkey, but the monkey they showed later seemed to have different facial features.”
Tehran is again caught wandering at ease through its favorite terrain between fact, hyperbole and fiction about its achievements, whether in space or its nuclear program.
In recent weeks, reelected Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stressed he wants a broad government coalition for the critical objective of preventing Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon.
The question is how does he propose to achieve this when tough US and European sanctions have not just failed to stop Iran in its tracks but accelerated its nuclear progress. Iran is now estimated to be within four months of a nuclear bomb capacity from the moment a decision is taken to build one.
Those months are critical: On February 25 the five UN Security Council’s permanent members plus Germany sit down with Iran in Kazakhstan for a fresh round of negotiations. Former rounds in this format led nowhere and no breakthrough is expected this time either beyond, at best, a date for a continuation.
On March 20, President Barack Obama arrives in Israel for the first foreign trip of his second term. The purpose of his visit is plain, except to Netanyahu’s domestic rivals: Facing a 50 percent cutback in military spending, the Obama administration cannot credibly threaten to go to war against a recalcitrant Iran. But the US president may still wave the Israeli military option in Tehran’s face.
Not that the ayatollahs are likely to be impressed. Khamenei and Ahmadinejad have both dismissed talks with Washington "with a gun" at their head, meaning that they are not scared of the Israeli gun the Americans are putting to their heads.
In fact, the Islamic rulers of Tehran are reported by debkafile’s intelligence and Iranian sources to be fully confident that they are home and dry as a nuclear power after a secret US Pentagon research study was leaked that “casts doubt on whether the multibillion-dollar missile defense system planned for Europe” (originally by the Bush administration) “can ever protect the US from Iranian missiles as intended.”
Clearly the missile shield against Iran, which aroused ire in Moscow, looks like falling under the defense budget axe.
The missile shield in Europe was also designed to defend Israel and Turkey against Iranian ballistic missile attack. Leaving it unfinished because of “flaws” exposes both those countries to such attack.
President Obama will no doubt tell Netanyahu that the system for intercepting medium-range Iranian missiles is to be scrapped. However, he will have to take into account that if the Iranians do finally manage to put a capsule in orbit at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers, they will be able to fire a ballistic missile at any point on earth as well, including the United States. Even if they did fail to put a primate in space, they will keep on trying and advancing until they get there.
Report: Iran, Hezbollah setting up militias to prepare for post-Assad Syria
End Of Days News
Officials believe that Iran is cultivating operatives on the ground that can be relied upon in the event that Assad is no longer in power and Syrians are fragmented along religious and ethnic lines. A senior official in the Obama administration referred to Tehran's claims it was supporting up to 50,000 militiamen in Syria, the Washington Post reported.
"Iran’s strategy, a senior Arab official agreed, has two tracks. 'One is to support Assad to the hilt, the other is to set the stage for major mischief if he collapses.'"
Syrian rebel forces are comprised almost entirely of the country's Sunni majority, however they are themselves fragmented, divided along religious, political and geographic lines. There are also the relatively powerful and independent Kurdish militias and about 700,000 Druze citizens, who are increasingly siding with the rebels.
According to the report, it should not come as a surprise that Iran is preparing the ground for a post-Assad Syria, as it has done so with the Shi'ite population in Lebanon during its civil war in the 1970's, which led to the birth of Hezbollah and similarly in Iraq after the U.S. invasion.
"Tehran’s interest in preserving a Syrian base partly explains why the financially strapped Iranian government continues to lavish resources on groups such as Jaysh al-Sha’bi, an alliance of local Shiite and Alawite militias that receives weapons and cash from Iran, according to U.S. and Middle Eastern officials who have studied the organization. The groups are receiving military training from officers from Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)," the Post reported.
The civil war in Syria is one of the primary topics U.S. President Barack Obama will speak about on his trip to Israel next month. "The president and I spoke about this visit and agreed that we would discuss three main issues Iran's attempt to arm itself with nuclear weapons, the unstable situation in Syria and the efforts to advance the diplomatic process of peace between the Palestinians and us," Netanyahu said on Sunday.
According to a report in the Washington Post on Sunday, Iran and Hezbollah are preparing themselves for the day when the Syrian regime led by Bashar Assad is overthrown. Quoting officials in the U.S. and Middle East, the paper reports that Iran and Hezbollah are building a "network of militias inside Syria" that will protect their interests in a post-Assad Syria.
"Iran’s strategy, a senior Arab official agreed, has two tracks. 'One is to support Assad to the hilt, the other is to set the stage for major mischief if he collapses.'"
Syrian rebel forces are comprised almost entirely of the country's Sunni majority, however they are themselves fragmented, divided along religious, political and geographic lines. There are also the relatively powerful and independent Kurdish militias and about 700,000 Druze citizens, who are increasingly siding with the rebels.
According to the report, it should not come as a surprise that Iran is preparing the ground for a post-Assad Syria, as it has done so with the Shi'ite population in Lebanon during its civil war in the 1970's, which led to the birth of Hezbollah and similarly in Iraq after the U.S. invasion.
"Tehran’s interest in preserving a Syrian base partly explains why the financially strapped Iranian government continues to lavish resources on groups such as Jaysh al-Sha’bi, an alliance of local Shiite and Alawite militias that receives weapons and cash from Iran, according to U.S. and Middle Eastern officials who have studied the organization. The groups are receiving military training from officers from Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)," the Post reported.
The civil war in Syria is one of the primary topics U.S. President Barack Obama will speak about on his trip to Israel next month. "The president and I spoke about this visit and agreed that we would discuss three main issues Iran's attempt to arm itself with nuclear weapons, the unstable situation in Syria and the efforts to advance the diplomatic process of peace between the Palestinians and us," Netanyahu said on Sunday.
Strikes on Syria arms transfers may continue, analysts say
End Of Days News
Israel is keeping a close eye on Syria and will act if it sees any indication that weapons are being transferred to Hezbollah, military experts said in an interview published Saturday.
A reported Israeli attack on a Syrian weapons convoy could be only the first volley in a series of upcoming strikes against Damascus and Hezbollah should the embattled regime try to transfer weapons to the Lebanese terror group, former Military Intelligence head Amos Yadlin told the Washington Post.
“Any time Israel will have reliable intelligence that this is going to be transferred from Syria to Lebanon, it will act,” the paper reported Yadlin saying.
He added the caveat that the decision to strike would still be made on a case by case basis.
Hezbollah has reportedly been preparing for the possibility of more attacks, the pan-Arab London-based daily al-Quds al-Arabi reported Friday, citing an increase in Israeli fighter jets flying over southern Lebanese airspace and carrying out “mock raids.”
On Saturday the Lebanese army said Israeli “spy drones” had clocked over 17 hours over Lebanese territory in the past day.
Yadlin told the paper that Israel was looking out for four types of weapons: ballistic rockets, air-defense arms, land-to-sea missiles and chemical weapons.
Hezbollah reportedly already holds some of these weapons within Syrian territory, but cannot move them without risking Israeli action.
Yadlin said that the risk of escalation became greater as Assad’s rule grew languid.
“As the Syrian army becomes weaker and Hezbollah grows more isolated because of the loss of its Syrian patron, it makes sense that this will continue,” he said.
Israel has denied foreign media reports that it hit a weapons convoy or a research site outside Damascus late last month, though officials have hinted at Jerusalem’s involvement.
According to some reports, Israeli planes hit a convoy of Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles on the way from Syria to Lebanon. Syria reported that a research site at Jamarya, north of the capital, had been struck, and footage from the site seemed to show a bombed out building and charred vehicles, including what appeared to be a transport vehicle for an SA-17 battery.
An unnamed military official told the paper that the anti-aircraft missile could “pose a very big problem for the Israeli air force.”
“There are more tangible indications that such weapons could reach Lebanon,” as the fighting continues, the official said.
Yadlin, who now heads of the Institute for National Security Studies, told a security conference last week that Israel would likely come out more secure after the dust settled from the Syrian civil war.
‘Obama is coming to tell Netanyahu not to strike Iran’
End Of Days News
Barack Obama will be making his first presidential visit to Israel next month primarily in order to tell Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in person to hold off on any military intervention in Iran, it was reported Sunday.
Quoting unnamed Israeli sources, Israel’s Army Radio said the president would indeed seek to host some kind of summit meeting between Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and possibly Jordan’s King Abdullah, to try to re-energize the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
But the key reason for the visit and its timing, the report said, is that Netanyahu cited spring 2013 in his speech to the UN General Assembly last fall as a notable deadline relating to thwarting Iran’s nuclear drive, and the president wants to tell the prime minister face-to-face that the time is not yet ripe for military action. “Obama fears that the prime minister will decide to strike in Iran now, at a time when he is backed by a new government and can set up a new security cabinet in which two reported [ministerial] opponents of military intervention — Dan Meridor and Benny Begin — will no longer be present,” the Army Radio report said. Meridor and Begin both lost their Knesset seats in the January 22 elections.
Obama will reiterate US determination to ensure that Iran does not attain nuclear weapons, and will remind Netanyahu that the US has military “capacities” that Israel does not possess, the report added.
New Secretary of State John Kerry said last week that the diplomatic option remained open, but that all other options were also on the table.
“Obama decided to come himself and deliver to Netanyahu the direct message, ‘Don’t strike at Iran. Let me oversee the contacts with Iran as I see fit. If necessary I’ll take action against them. We have capacities that you do not have’,” the radio report said.
Netanyahu told Sunday’s cabinet meeting that the upcoming visit was an important reassertion of the strong US-Israel alliance. He said he and the president, when discussing the trip in a phone call two weeks ago, agreed that it would focus on “Iran’s attempt to attain nuclear weapons, the instability in Syria and its implications for regional security, and efforts to advance the diplomatic process between Israel and the Palestinians.”
Uzi Arad, Netanyahu’s former national security adviser, told Army Radio that the notion that the Obama visit would be focused primarily on Iran made sense since that was the most urgent regional challenge — “a race against time” — followed by the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, with the Palestinian issue “the least urgent.” Arad said he did not know whether Obama was coming to say precisely what the unnamed sources were asserting, however.
The radio report said Obama could have discussed Iran and all other issues with Netanyahu in Washington, DC, in early March, when the prime minister is likely to attend the annual policy conference of the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC. But the president preferred not to be dealing with Netanyahu amid the AIPAC gathering, the report indicated, where the White House fears that Netanyahu will deliver “an aggressive speech on Iran.”
In interviews last week, US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro said the Obama visit was a sign of unshakable US-Israel relations and an opportunity for “consultations” on key regional issues, notably including Iran’s nuclear drive, the collapse of the Assad regime, and Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.
One World Religion by: www.arewelivinginthelastdays.com
End Of Days News
The rapidly approaching world order will (initially) be an
integrated mix of governmental and religious authority. The world will not only
come under the control of a one world government, but it will also be subject to
control from a one world religion. On the heels of the Rapture and the War of
Gog and Magog, the world will experience the supernatural in a way it will have
no context other than religion to make sense of. The coming one world religion
will exploit the desire for answers to obtain power and wealth. It will play a
key role (at least initially) in bringing about and maintaining total control
over people by the Antichrist.
First Read Revelation 17 & Revelation 18
The prophet John not only gave us many details about this coming
one world religion, but he tells us what this religious system is. In Revelation 17:3-4, John describes this religious system:
3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns.4 The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality,
In this description, we see two things a woman and a beast. In
the Bible a woman symbolizes a church. (There are more, but for the sake of
brevity here are a few examples: Isaiah 54:5-6, 2 Corinthians 11:2, Ephesians 5:31-32, Matthew 9:14-15, Revelation 19:7-8, Revelation 12:14). This is a very important point that must
not be overlooked as it tells us that this “WOMAN” with mystery Babylon written
upon her head and riding a beast (Kingdom) has to be a Church. Here, John is
telling us that the one world religious system (The woman) is ridding, or more
accurately stated, being carried (and used) by the one world government (the
beast). The purpose of the alliance between the woman and the beast is that both
are seeking world domination. When this is finally achieved, as the end of
Revelation chapter 17 tells us it will be, the political power will no longer
need the religious power to support it.
Who is the Harlot?
The Book of Revelation speaks at great length in chapters 17-18
about the fall of “Babylon the Great” (Revelation 18:2) which has lead many fine Bible scholars to
mistakenly conclude that the Bible is actually talking about the ancient city of
Babylon. Many good Bible scholars point to Isaiah 13:7-22 where a very clear prophecy is given that
Babylon will lose its glory after its defeat by the Medes and that it
will cease to be inhabited forever. They state that this hasn’t happened and
thus must be a prophecy pertaining to a time during Tribulation. In accordance
with this prophecy, Babylon was conquered by the Medes, and it began a long
decline that ultimately resulted in its abandonment to the forces of nature. By
the time of Christ, one eyewitness reported that the city was nothing but
"mounds and stones and ruins."
Could the ancient city of Babylon be rebuilt and then destroyed?
Yes it could, but the destruction of Mystery Babylon in the book of Revelation
is not the destruction of the rebuilt ancient city of Babylon.
David Reagan writes:
The argument over the location of end time Babylon has been sharpened recently by the publication of a book called The Rise of Babylon (Tyndale House, 1991). It was authored by Charles Dyer, a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary.Dyer takes the position that the end time Babylon is the same as ancient Babylon, and he strives valiantly to prove his point by reproducing photos of what he asserts to be the rebuilding of Babylon. But the photos do not show that the city is being rebuilt for habitation. Rather, they show that Saddam Hussein is simply building a tourist center.I went to hear the author speak about Babylon. I wanted to see how he would handle the passage in Isaiah 13:17-18 which says that Babylon will become a waste city and never be built again after it is taken by the Medes. The author started reading with verse 9, and when he completed reading verse 16, he simply said, "Now let's skip to verse 19." In short, he completely ignored the passage about the Medes. I guess that is better than trying to explain that it really doesn't mean what it says.Unfortunately, that is exactly what the author tries to do in his book. He argues that the prophecy regarding the Medes refers to the modern day Kurds who will join with a multinational force that will destroy Babylon. The argument is unconvincing.This kingdom is personified as “the great whore” (Revelation 17:1) who has seven heads and ten horns and, according to Revelation 17:5 bears the title “Mystery Babylon”. This woman is described as being “drunk with the blood of the saints… who bore testimony to Jesus” (Revelation 17:6). The seven heads are “seven hills on which the woman sits” (Revelation 17:9), and the ten heads are the “ten kings” who are yet to come (Revelation 17:12). The woman herself is “the great city that rules over the kings of the earth” (Revelation 17:18). There is little doubt that John is talking about Rome, the great city that ruled the world of his own day.
This city must not only have shed the blood of the martyrs, be
located on seven hills, and commit political-religious fornication with the
leaders of the world, but it must also be seen, when on fire, from the sea.
There is no other city on earth that fits the fourfold criteria mentioned. Only
Rome qualifies. The very fact that John calls her identity a mystery should be
enough to indicate that he does not intend us to take Babylon literally as many
tend to do.
Here is no mystical or allegorical language but an unambiguous
statement in plain words: "The woman...is that great city". Furthermore, she is
a city built on seven hills. That specification eliminates ancient Babylon. Only
one city has for more than 2000 years been known as the city on seven hills.
That city is Rome. The Catholic Encyclopedia states:"It is within the
city of Rome, called the city of seven hills, that the entire area of Vatican
State proper is now confined" (The Catholic
Encyclopedia, Thomas Nelson, 1976, s.v. Rome).
The qualifying information the Bible gives us for identifying
this woman (who is a city) is specific, conclusive, and irrefutable. There is no
city upon earth, past or present, which meets all of these criteria except
Catholic Rome (Vatican City). That inescapable conclusion will become
increasingly clear with a closer look at the facts.
Pope resigns, saying no longer has strength to fulfill ministry
End Of Days News
The 85-year-old pope said he had noticed that his strength had deteriorated
over recent months "to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to
adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me".
"For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full
freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of
Saint Peter," he said according to a statement from the Vatican.
A Vatican spokesman said the pontiff would step down from 1900 GMT on
February 28, leaving the office vacant until a successor is chosen.
(Reuters) - Pope Benedict said on Monday he will resign on Feb 28 because he no
longer has the strength to fulfill the duties of his office, becoming the first
pontiff since the Middle Ages to take such a step.
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