Iran: Israel Increasing Tensions and Oil Prices

Saturday, June 21, 2008 11:37 AM

By: Stewart Stogel Article Font Size



NEW YORK -- Iran's mission to the United Nations issued a terse reaction late Friday evening to an earlier New York Times story reporting that the Israeli Air Force (IAF) had recently engaged in a practice drill aimed at hitting Tehran's nuclear facilities.


"Such scare tactics by Israel which punctuate the recent history of the Middle East are the hard core of the continued crisis and tensions in the region and beyond.....These misguided policies simply exacerbate regional tensions and trigger skyrocketing energy prices..." was the lead to the statement given to Newsmax by Mohammad Mohammadi the spokesman for Iran's UN ambassador Mohammad Khazaee.


Israel's UN mission, closed for the Sabbath had no comment on the Iranian statement.


On Friday, The New York Times reported that on June 6, 100 IAF F-15's and F-16's conducted a series of "practice" drills over the Mediterranean Sea which would prepare them for an attack on Iran should Jerusalem give a green light.


In its reaction to the Times' report, Iran's UN mission strongly hinted that the ultimate victims of any Israeli attack would be the US consumer:


"These misguided policies simply exacerbate regional tensions, trigger skyrocketing energy prices and impact the global and US economy."


Coincidentally, on Friday, oil finished trading in NYC up $2.69 to close at $134.62 a barrel an overall increase of just over 2% for the week.


In its statement, the Iranians continued to insist that their nuclear activities are not weapon related, but peaceful in nature:


"Iran's nuclear program is completely peaceful, legal and monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA, the UN's atomic watchdog)....the latest IAEA report repeatedly stresses that there is no evidence of non-peaceful diversion"


On Friday, Mohamed ElBaradei, the IAEA chief, reportedly threatened to resign if Israel were to give a green light for a military campaign against Iran.


Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov also weighed in. Lavrov told reporters in Moscow that Russia "was still waiting" to see proof that Iran's current nuclear program has been diverted for any military use.


Washington and Jerusalem had no reaction to The New York Times report and Lavrov's or ElBaradei's statements.


................................................benny

Israel Is Ready To Go

Israel is one major step closer to launching a strike against Iran 's nuclear facilities. Last week, the New York Times quoted a U.S. official who said a major military exercise was carried out by Israel earlier this month. It had all the signs of a practice run for a potential strike against Iran.

"More than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighter jets took part in maneuvers over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece in the first week of June to gear the military for long-range strikes," said the New York Times.

"The exercise also included helicopters, which could be used in rescuing downed pilots, with the helicopters and refueling tankers flying over 900 miles (1,440 kilometers), roughly the same distance between Israel and Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Natanz," the Times website reported.

What makes this exercise such an important milestone is Israel ʼs ability to demonstrate that it is capable of carrying out an air attack at the distance needed to reach Iran. Beforehand, many analysts thought the Jewish state would need American military assistance for this type of task.

There is no doubt in my mind that Israel has the willpower to take on Iran. It was just last September that Israeli jets bombed a site in the Syrian desert that the global intelligence community believed housed a partly constructed nuclear reactor.

The $50,000 question now is: "When might this happen?" There are three factors at work that might force Israel to launch an air campaign:


Iran is getting very close to the point of no return in achieving nuclear capability.
George Bush's time in office is running out. The next U.S. president may not be as supportive of Israel.
Iran is acquiring Russian-produced SA-20 surface-to-air missiles, which puts pressure on Israel to act before the missiles are fielded.
It's always possible that Iran will make the first move. Southern Lebanon might as well be called Eastern Iran, with thousands of missiles being manned by a terrorist group trained and funded by Tehran. The Iranian leaders may try to block an attack by ordering Hezbollah to launch its missile at northern Israel.

An Israeli strike on Iran 's nuclear facilities will certainly have major consequences for the world. When that day comes, prophecy watchers will have to completely redraw the end-time map.

The price of crude could be profoundly affected. We've already seen the market jump on news of a move by Israel. Three weeks ago, Shaul Mofaz, Israeli Transport Minister, became the first senior figure to suggest publicly that Israel might launch its own strike on Iran. His remarks were blamed for causing a record single-day rise of $11 a barrel. Last Friday, news of the military exercise caused oil to leap three dollars.

Right now, oil demand and supply are so tight, the loss of a couple hundred thousand barrels of production can send the spot price soaring. Fighting in the Persian Gulf could reduce the flow by millions of barrels. The Iranians might try to blockade the Straits of Hormuz and cut the world off from Middle Eastern oil. One commodity analyst said the price of oil could reach $200 to $300 per barrel if such a scenario played out.

The attack could spark a regional war. Syria might see this as a perfect opportunity to take the Golan Heights by force. It has already threatened war if Israel doesn't surrender the Golan. Iraq and Afghanistan could flame up as Iranian-backed militants turn on American forces. Iran now has the ability to retaliate with long-range missiles. One can only guess what would happen if Iran used biological and chemical weapons against Israel .

I am particularly interested in how Russia has been reacting to all this news. In the past, Russia never has been directly involved with Israel. It has always chosen to use the Arabs as a surrogate. This time around, Russia has been very vocal on every development that comes out of the region. On Friday, Russia 's foreign minister warned against the use of force against Iran. Bible prophecy tells us that Mother Russia will someday join forces with Iran and other Arab nations in an attack on Israel.

"Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee. Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, [that] at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places [that are now] inhabited, and upon the people [that are] gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land. Sheba , and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?" (Ezek. 38:9-13).

-- Todd

.................................................benny

Syrian Nuke Site Aided Iran Program
June 23….(Israel Today) The suspected Syrian nuclear facility that Israel bombed last September had in fact been built by Syria with North Korean assistance in order to facilitate Iran's nuclear program, according to the German magazine Der Spiegel. The magazine cited intelligence reports that confirmed the site was a clandestine nuclear reactor, where North Korean engineers were aiding Iran in producing plutonium for use in nuclear weapons. Iran has managed to enrich a significant amount of uranium, but had no experience with plutonium, and could not risk having the North Koreans come to Iran to teach them there. Syria maintains that the site bombed by Israel was a military installation, but not a nuclear facility. The site was quickly razed by Syria following the bombing, further solidifying suspicions and something illegal was taking place there. International Atomic Energy Ageny (IAEA) representatives were scheduled to being investigating the site on Sunday, though it is believed the Syrians have done a thorough job in cleaning up any evidence.

UN atomic experts are set to begin a three-day visit to Syria, to inspect a mysterious site that was bombed by Israel in Sept. 2007



Taking aim at Israeli earlier this month, IAEA Mohammed ElBaradei said that he had reviewed evidence provided to him by Damascus, and had concluded that Syria had neither the technical know-how or the nuclear fuel needed to construct and run a reactor. However, if North Korea was involved, and if the reactor was only a support facility for Iran's nuclear program, that would explain the holes ElBaradai believes he found in the Israeli intelligence.

............................................benny

Israel on the Iran Brink
June 23, 2008; Page A16
Israel isn't famous for welcoming public scrutiny of its most sensitive military plans. But we doubt Jerusalem officials were dismayed to see news of their recent air force exercises splashed over the front pages of the Western press.

Those exercises – reportedly involving about 100 fighters, tactical bombers, refueling planes and rescue helicopters – were conducted about 900 miles west of Israel's shores in the Mediterranean. Iran's nuclear facilities at Bushehr, Isfahan and Natanz all fall roughly within the same radius, albeit in the opposite direction. The point was not lost on Tehran, which promptly warned of "strong blows" in the event of a pre-emptive Israeli attack.

The more important question is whether the meaning of Israel's exercise registered in Western capitals. It's been six years since Iran's secret nuclear programs were publicly exposed, and Israel has more or less bided its time as the Bush Administration and Europe have pursued diplomacy to induce Tehran to cease enriching uranium.

It hasn't worked. Iran has rejected repeated offers of technical and economic assistance, most recently this month. Despite four years of pleading, the Administration has failed to win anything but weak U.N. sanctions. Russia plans to sell advanced antiaircraft missiles to Iran and finish work on a nuclear reactor at Bushehr, though spent fuel from that reactor could eventually be diverted and reprocessed into weapons-usable plutonium. Chinese companies still invest in Iran, while the U.N.'s chief nuclear inspector, Mohamed ElBaradei, has repeatedly downplayed Iran's nuclear threat.

As for the U.S., December's publication of a misleading National Intelligence Estimate that claimed Iran had halted nuclear weaponization signaled America's own lack of seriousness toward Iranian ambitions. Barack Obama is leading in the Presidential polls and portrays as a virtue his promise to negotiate with Iran "without precondition" – i.e., without insisting that Tehran stop enriching uranium. All the while Iran continues to enrich, installing thousands of additional centrifuges of increasingly more sophisticated design while it buries key facilities underground.

No wonder Israel is concluding that it will have to act on its own to prevent a nuclear Iran. Earlier this month, Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz, a former army chief of staff, warned that "if Iran continues with its program for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack." Other officials distanced themselves from those remarks, but September's one-shot raid on Syria's nuclear reactor ought to be proof of Israel's determination.

An Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear sites would of course look nothing like the Syrian operation. The distances are greater; the targets are hardened, defended and dispersed; hundreds of sorties and several days would be required. Iran would retaliate, with the help of Hezbollah and Hamas, possibly sparking a regional conflict as large as the 1973 Yom Kippur war.

Mr. ElBaradei predicted this weekend that such an attack would turn the Middle East into a "ball of fire," yet his own apologies for Iran and the West's diplomatic failures are responsible for bringing the region to this pass. They have convinced the mullahs that the powers responsible for maintaining world order lack the will to stop Iran.

Israelis surely don't welcome a war in which they will suffer. Yet they have no choice but to defend themselves against an enemy that vows to obliterate them if Iran acquires the weapon to do so. The tragic paradox of the past six years is that the diplomatic and intelligence evasions offered in the name of avoiding war with Iran have done the most to bring us close to this brink. Appeasement that ends in war is a familiar theme of history.

............................................benny

Mossad Chief Empowered to Prepare Groundwork for Iran Strike

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

June 23, 2008


Meir Dagan appointed to seventh year as Mossad Director
By extending the Mossad director, Meir Dagan’s tenure for another year until the end of 2009, Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has put in place a vital constituent for a possible eleventh-hour unilateral strike at Iran’s nuclear facilities.

In his six years on the job, the 61-year old external intelligence has proved his covert mettle in a variety of counter-terror operations, graduating most recently to a highly successful intelligence coup leading up to the demolition of Syria’s North Korean plutonium reactor in al Kebir last September.

Appointed by former prime minister Ariel Sharon in 2002, Dagan’s first four years as the Mossad’s tenth chief were dedicated to counterterrorism rather than tracking Iran’s nuclear activities or monitoring Iran’s burgeoning strategic ties with Syria and Hizballah.

From mid-2006, the former general shifted the agency’s priorities to include these targets, while the Mossad continued to show its fearsome counter-terror paces in Damascus, Beirut and other Arab capitals.

Not all the Mossad’s operations have seen the light of day, but it has been credited in the past two years with hits against high-profile Hizballah, Hamas and Jihad Islami operatives in Syria and Lebanon.

The operation against Syria’s plutonium reactor last year was one of the most complex operations ever performed by the Mossad. For the Israeli raiders to put the facility out of commission and lift out the evidence of a working nuclear collaboration between Syria, Iran and North Korea, they needed from the Mossad precise data on the facility’s inner and outer defenses. It had to include the air defense systems in place across Syria, the whereabouts of the materials and equipment the Israeli team was assigned to appropriate from the site and transfer to the United States, and the nature and numbers of the Syrian, Iranian and North Korean personnel present.

It was not until April 2008, seven months later, that the US Central Intelligence Agency released news of the operation in Washington, providing graphics attesting to the depth of Mossad’s penetration of the of the most secret and well-protected facility in Syria.

Examination of those visuals attested to one or more agents having been planted solidly enough in the Syrian nuclear project to have photographed the different stages of the reactor’s construction and the North Korean equipment installed there – a feat which drew the respect of Dagan’s undercover colleagues in the West.

The other outstanding feature of the Al Kebir operation was one that has come to be associated with the spy chief’s method of operation: No leads or clues were left for the Syrian, Iranian and North Korean investigators to find –even after the photos were published.

His spy or spies proved untraceable.

Dagan, a hands-on spymaster, demonstrated this skill earlier in the operation to eliminate one of the longest-running and most dangerous enemies of Israel and America, the head of Hizballah’s special security apparatus, Imad Mughniyeh, in Damascus on February 12. It followed similar methods in the preceding two years - usually explosives planted under a driver’s seat or headrests of vehicles driven by Hizballah, Hamas and Jihad Islami operatives. Neither Hizballah nor Syrian intelligence has been able to prevent these liquidations or catch the hit-teams.

The intelligence operation for aborting Iran’s aspirations to acquire a nuclear bomb would undoubtedly ratchet up the Mossad’s targets for its most formidable mission ever. It would be undertaken in the full knowledge that a nuclear bomb in the hands of the Islamic Republic of Iran would constitute the most dangerous threat to Israel’s survival in 60 years of statehood, as well as a menace to the free world.

It would be up to Meir Dagan, a Holocaust survivor born in the Soviet Union, to rise to the Mossad’s motto: "Where no counsel is, the people fall, but in the multitude of counselors there is safety" (Proverbs XI/14)

The Mossad chief has his critics at home. In Israel’s clandestine agencies, some find his style excessively individualist, secretive and highhandedly confined to fields which he finds interesting rather than objectively important to national security. He is faulted with shunning the close collaborative relations traditional in the undercover world. The Mossad’s structure is also said to be antiquated and in need of an extensive overhaul, although it recently launched a website for recruitment.

But Dagan has the full trust of his boss, the prime minister.

The timing chosen for extending the Mossad chief’s tenure – early summer of 2008 – is indicative. Israeli intelligence estimates the summer months are critical for acting against Iran’s nuclear advances, especially uranium enrichment which Iran refuses to forego. If it is not stopped by September or October of 2008, it will be too late; Iran will have crossed the threshold to the last lap of its military program.

Israeli intelligence and its armed forces have three months to finish the job which has long been in preparation.

................................................benny

UN nuclear team to inspect bombed Syria desert site Sun Jun 22, 1:28 PM ET



DAMASCUS (AFP) - Senior UN atomic experts are set to begin a three-day visit to Syria on Sunday to inspect a mysterious site bombed by Israel last year amid US allegations that it was a nuclear facility.

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The team led by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) deputy chief Olli Heinonen left Vienna in the morning but there was no immediate indication in Damascus about their arrival as Syria kept the visit under tight wraps.

"We are now travelling to Damascus, we will meet tonight our counterparts and then we start to gather facts," Heinonen told journalists at Vienna airport before boarding a place to Syria.

"What will be waiting there, we will see when we get there," he added.

The team is due to visit Al-Kibar site in a remote desert area of northeastern Syria on the Euphrates River during its three-day trip.

The United States claims, which it says are based on intelligence and photographic evidence, that the Al-Kibar site attacked by Israel in September was a nuclear facility built with North Korean help and close to becoming operational.

But Syria has denied the allegations and said Al-Kibar was a disused military building, although Damascus has fed suspicion by wiping clean the site in a move certain to make the IAEA inspection more difficult.

"We will start to establish the facts this evening," Heinonen said.

"We have the first meeting this afternoon, then it goes from there on," he added.

Heinonen said he would return to IAEA headquarters in the Austrian capital on Wednesday evening.

The team will submit its findings to the watchdog's next regular board meeting in September.

Damascus has welcomed the inspection but insists that it will be limited to Al-Kibar site. US news reports and diplomats close to the IAEA have said that the nuclear watchdog was also interested in two or three other facilities.

"Syria invited the IAEA and will cooperate with it," President Bashar al-Assad has said, but he insisted that "talking about other sites is not within the purview of the agreement" with the nuclear watchdog.

Assad also charged that the US evidence was "fabricated 100 percent" as part of a campaign to ratchet pressure on Damascus, which Washington accuses of supporting terrorism along with its key regional ally Tehran.

Al-Kibar "is a military facility... it is not nuclear," Assad said.

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei stressed in an interview with an Arab news channel ahead of the visit that there was no evidence of Syrian nuclear foul-play.

"We have no evidence that Syria has the human resources that would allow it to carry out a large nuclear programme. We do not see Syria having nuclear fuel," he told Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television.

Washington levelled its accusations against Syria in April, seven months after the Israeli attack.

The timing and the cloak of secrecy Israel kept for days after the attack have added to the lingering mystery about Al-Kibar, while Syria has refused to define the facility's military use.

The United States maintains its allegations and along with some European allies has urged Syria to give the inspectors unfettered cooperation.

"We expect the Syrians to provide the IAEA with all the access it requests," an EU diplomat told AFP in Vienna earlier this month.

Syria, a party to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which Israel refuses to sign, has "limited nuclear resources and capabilities" focusing primarily on civilian research, according to the authoritative Nuclear Threat Initiative website.

Analysts attribute concern about Syria's nuclear intentions to its close ties with Iran and North Korea -- both of which are under IAEA scrutiny over their nuclear programmes.

............................................benny

Wow, I have a lot of catching up to do. Thanks for posting, Benny! Reading material for later...

September Song



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A while back, I said that September would be a most interesting month, and there sure is a lot going on just now. Here are the highlights.

US vs. Iran
Leaks from both political and military sources would have us believe that US Pres. Bush will not leave office with the Iran nuclear issue unresolved. These “unofficial” reports have it that a list of 2000 Iranian targets has been drawn up for use after a period of escalation that will begin with finally doing something about Iran's deadly meddling in Iraq.

Their belief is that Iran will respond strongly to a US attack against Iran's training and bomb-making bases, probably by shutting down the Persian Gulf oil shipping lanes. This will give the US an excuse to send in the bombers to avert a world wide oil crisis. Apparently even the State Department has given up on the diplomacy effort. Iran says it has 600 missiles pointed at Israel and will launch them if either they or Syria are attacked. The number is probably an exaggeration but the intent certainly isn't.

Syria and Israel
Syria has been caught doing something bad enough to prompt Israel to bomb a location close to Syria's north eastern border on the Euphrates River. It must have been really terrible because Turkey helped Israel pull it off. Speculation ranges from a practice run on nearby Iran, to destroying a shipment of arms meant for Hizbollah, to taking out a nuclear weapons shipment supposedly from North Korea. Everyone knows the incursion was made, and that it was successful, but nobody's saying what it was or why. All we know is that Israeli pilots out foxed the brand new state of the art Russian anti-aircraft defenses that both Syria and Iran just bought to protect themselves against Israeli attacks of this very nature.

Syria has just announced that a response will be made at a time and in a manner of their choosing and the smart money is betting that it'll be soon. In 1973 Syria caught Israel napping on Yom Kippur which is September 23 this year. Maybe they think it'll work again.

This isn't the first time this summer that Syria has been caught being naughty. In July an explosion on a Syrian missile base killed dozens of Syrian and Iranian technicians and injured several more. The official explanation blamed it on unusually high summer temperatures that caused an ammo dump to explode. The problem was that the explosion happened at 4:00 AM when the area was relatively cool. This week a respected intelligence news service revealed that the explosion occurred when a chemical warhead exploded as it was being fitted atop a scud missile, in preparation for use against Israel. You can see why Israel would be concerned if there was a possible clandestine nuclear program underway as well.

Israel And Hamas
In the south Israel has named Hamas as an enemy entity clearing the way for potentially cutting off water and power that Israel supplies to the Gaza Strip. Hamas called it an act of war, making no mention of the possibility that it's Israel's response to the daily rocket attacks (700 since January). Israeli officials are starting to wonder out loud if it's time to take Gaza back.

Russia
Russia's making practice bombing runs and missile attacks on the US again as in cold war days, and has just announced the development of the world's largest non-nuclear bomb. Russian long range bombers have also been challenging English and NATO northern defenses of late.

The US Economy
Equally as important although not as widely reported is the fact that the US economy continues to take some heavy punches. The dollar is fast losing value against other world currencies and may soon be surpassed by the Euro as the world's reserve currency of choice. This could depress the dollar even further since as the reserve currency it has enjoyed an undeserved bump in relative value. Other countries have had to buy and hold more dollars than they otherwise would have in order to conduct international transactions like purchasing oil, and a dollar in demand is worth more than one that isn't.

Domestically the sub-prime mortgage situation is having its own impact. The Federal Reserve has lowered the interest rate, having decided that a weak dollar abroad is preferable to a recession at home, and those appear to be the only two choices.

From an earthly perspective it looks like every thing's going to go “boom” and soon. But before we jump to any conclusions, let's look at this from the prophetic point of view. Here are some factors to consider.

Ezekiel 38
Neither Syria nor Iraq is mentioned in Ezekiel's list of participants in the Gog Magog battle. This could mean that neither is involved, but it could also be that the mention of Persia is meant to include one or both of them. When Ezekiel wrote this prophecy, Babylon was just beginning its tenure as the dominant force of the day, but God instructed Ezekiel to identify Persia as a primary participant instead, although Persia wouldn't become a world power for 70 more years.

Nebuchadnezzar conquered Damascus in 572 BC ending its autonomy for good, and the Persians took it over in 538 BC making Damascus the capital of their Syrian province barely a year after conquering Babylon. At that point the Persian Empire controlled both Damascus and Babylon for several hundred years, so there's a possibility that the use of Persia was intended to include both Syria and Iraq.

Today, Syria and Iran are already united by several treaties, and Iran has invested heavily in Syria's military, even paying for arms Syria recently purchased from Russia. And Pres. Ahmadinejad has promised that if the US pulls out of Iraq, Iran will step in and restore order. What he means is that Iran will absorb Iraq. So if the US hasn't succeeded in Iraq before a new president takes over, and the next president begins pulling out (as would be likely if he or she is swept into office on a wave of anti-war sentiment) Iraq will fall into the hands of Iran.

Despite the rumors to the contrary many students of prophecy believe that either the US won't attack Iran before Pres. Bush leaves office, or if it does the effort won't be successful. Iran has to be ready and able to lead the Moslem coalition against Israel when the time comes, and the time certainly appears to be coming soon. It would be hard for Iran to present itself as the rightful leader of the Islamic world after being bombed to ashes by the Great Satan.

Then there's the fact that the US has to be taken out of the way before anyone would dare mount a massive attack on Israel. Our retaliatory capability is still way too strong, and even though God will be the One Who defeats Israel's attackers, that will only be clear after the fact. Right now Israel's enemies fear the US more than they fear the God of Israel.

As for Israel living in peace prior to Gog Magog, remember that Ezekiel said their belief that peace has finally come to them won't be justified. The Hebrew word “betach” in Ezekiel 38:8 & 11 that's translated safely can also mean boldly or carelessly. In other words it'll be more a state of mind than a matter of fact. It'll be interesting to see if the current round of peace talks with the Palestinians and the international pressure for a two state solution puts them in that state of mind. The West is pushing for something definitive before the proposed November summit, but both Israel and the Palestinians are less optimistic.

Ezekiel 39:9 calls for fire to rain down on Magog and those who dwell carelessly in the “isles” or coast lands. Some see this as a reference to nuclear warfare. Note that the Hebrew word translated “carelessly” here is the same one translated “safely” in Ezekiel 38:8. All we know for sure about these coast lands is that in Biblical times they referred to somewhere beyond the Mediterranean. It could be Western Europe.

But by most accounts Magog is Russia. Who's ready and able to nuke both Russia and Europe this fall, even if Israel can be persuaded that peace has come? And the fact that Turkey helped Israel do whatever it did to Syria tells us we don't have all the players on the right teams yet.

All this leads us to the conclusion that the world is not ready for Ezekiel 38 just yet.

Isaiah 17
On the other hand, Isaiah 17, which predicts the destruction of Damascus, makes no mention of a wider conflict, as would be likely if it came in conjunction with Ezekiel 38. This could mean that it's a separate incident, and since the Moslem armies are decimated in their attack against Israel, Isaiah 17 is more likely to precede Ezekiel 38 than follow it. There is also no list of pre-existing conditions that have to be met for Isaiah 17 to happen. All either party needs is a little more provocation. Surely Syria has provided just about enough of that. Aside from the chemical and nuclear incidents, both of which constitute existential threats to Israel, they've made their presence on the Golan most obvious, threatening to start taking it back late this fall. So if they respond to Israel's attack as they've promised to do, it could be on.

As I've indicated in previous articles, Syria has made preparations to survive in the event of an attack on Damascus, which they expect in any coming confrontation. They've set up alternative command and communications centers and moved all historical documents out of the city. The minister who announced Syria's intention to respond to the Israeli aerial bombardment is widely believed to be Pres. Assad's official spokesperson, which means he's ready for a fight. If anything of a military nature happens this fall, it seems much more likely that it'll escalate into a fulfillment of Isaiah 17 than Ezekiel 38. Selah 09-22-07

..................................................benny

Don't worry benny, you will not miss the Tribulation.

Would you care to debate with me on that statement?
put up or shut upa u mouth

............................................benny

Actually benny you need to check your attitude. There is no put up or shut up. This is a christian forum. ACt like it.
You may not agree with someone, heck you might just down right not like that person, but keep your aggressivness to something else.
I am not backing up this person cause I agree that yall are wrong on the trib. which i do , but cause you challenge everyone that speaks on the matter like a dog running up to all the other dogs sniffing for a fight. There is a debate forum for that. If they are not in the debate forum then they are not debating. Some can actually disagree on something without it turning into a debate.

Benny have you ever been wrong?

Sounds like a Chihuahua barking over there in the corner
Actually, I see through both you post tribbers.If you do not want any flak,
Then do not try to agitate me. ;)As anyone can see,I didn't start this.Plus I sure do not see her willing to debate the topic...which points out that she was trying to mock me....I had'nt said or disrepected her.And besides, the way that I went about stating the words..."Shut upa u mouth"..with a smiley posted, it should have been obvious that my statement was all in fun.But if you have a problem with that, then maybe you want to debate with me on the pre-trib topics?
Your post trib false doctrin cannot stand up to the truth in Gods Word.I have proven this time after time.....Well I am sure that again, this forum will hear that little Chihuahua barking over there in the corner.
.........................................................benny ..P.S...."Anyone can trace the post's and see that I did not start this.And I sure do not have to take this from anyone.

I can't find any posts Benny. You're good. Woof!

Rose,...you gotta read the new Sarkoxy post that I just posted a few minutes ago!

...............................................benny

I read that...do you think he fits the mold for the AC...or just more focus on that part of the world and the "cup of trembling"

Dear StormEagle,Pray that the Lord speak to your heart.Pray for His wisdom and pray for His gift of Discernment.
read this Post that I posted awhile back... "Watch And Be Sober............two
Your Redemption Draws Near!"....It's in the Current events section...Just be sure that the post is as stated above, or it is not the same because there are two that are simular......P.S. Rosh Hashanna is coming and so is Isaiah 17;1

....................................................benny

Gosh benny, and then they say I speak in the flesh? Here is a mirror.
But you have been drooling for Tribulation so long, it would be a shame if ya missed it because it went all so fast, right?

Justice, do you not believe in the Rapture? I am not debating, nor do I want to, just asking.

[/quote]Dear StormEagle,Pray that the Lord speak to your heart.Pray for His wisdom and pray for His gift of Discernment.
read this Post that I posted awhile back... "Watch And Be Sober............two
Your Redemption Draws Near!"....It's in the Current events section...Just be sure that the post is as stated above, or it is not the same because there are two that are simular......P.S. Rosh Hashanna is coming and so is Isaiah 17;1

....................................................benny B)[/quote]

This is my daily prayer...as I hope is yours.

Until He comes.

James

I am not of any resemblance to you, so no need to look into your mirror.
I do not drool for tribulation,and I will not be here when it begins.I have The Lord's Promise to that effect.Jesus is Coming soon!...Are you ready to meet Him and give an account of your self?...I pray that you are.I very much understand what is going on.But you are listening to the wrong crowd.This is very sad, because it did not have to be this way.

.....................................................benny

I think we all believe in a rapture...it's just when that seems to get the attention...

Dear Rose, if I would not believe in the Rapture, then the vision that I saw would not be true.

Vision: http://www.christian-forum.net/index.php?showtopic=18115

And benny, I am sorry that you are so bitter and venomous.

Rose,She is a postee....the problem is she does not know the Word of God enough to back up this false doctrine...She is more like a "go along with the crowd type person.In Texas, we have another phrase in describing this type of person.
She really needs prayer to see through all this.Show her the truth, and she will fight for you toth and nail.
..............................................

And I am sorry that you think so.
You are believing a lie......This is the division between us.
But what we do have in common is that we Love the Lord.
.....................................benny

Your preconceived ideas about me will be proven wrong shortly. I have not even flesh left. But you do not know that.
You once called me a pretribber even, a statement that was NEVER true. For I am a mid-trib believer based on what God showed.

Satan's got be lovin' this...

I think I'm going to start a thread called..."talk about anything but the rapture"....It's like wolves on a carcass man...The sarcasm and distaste is so thick it's ridiculous...and it permeates every topic...sad.

I go back to prayer, better than this endless quarreling with egos too big to even let the words roll over the tongue.

I do not believe that it was God that show you anything about this,...But that is what I have discerned about you.And when you state that there is not any flesh in you.....I do not believe that either.And again, I do not believe that you can adequately back up a mid-trib belief.Again, you are believing a lie.Pray that the Lord will reveal the truth to you.......Look for Jesus....Not the anti-christ first!...Keep your eyes on Jesus, or you will sink in the water.This statement should give you a clue for it has a deep meaning.
.........................................benny

Dear Benny and Justice,

I love you both and so does the Lord and that is all I am going to say... God is what matters, and our love for each other.

Hugs to you both.

Just trying to point her towards the correct doctrine.You think that's bad...You should try casting out demons......talking to her is a cakewalk.
.........................................benny

Yes,......Pray that the Lord will give you eyes to see and understand why the division exists at all.....There can only be one correct doctrin.,....Have you not questioned why post and mid trib doctrine cannot win over pre-trib?

................................................benny

what doctrine were you pointing her to when you insulted her by saying...

She is more like a "go along with the crowd type person.In Texas, we have another phrase in describing this type of person.

There is a difference between gentle correction and talking about someone...I'm not taking any sides because I just returned to the boards after a rather long absence...but if you are comfortable with that statement, so be it...I just hope I never get on your bad side.

Dully noted......Conformity is basically going along with the crowd.
....................................................benny

http://rapturealert.blogspot.com/2008/06/s...e-prophecy.html

........................................benny

June 20, 2008
Bomb Iran? What's to Stop Us?

by Ray McGovern
Unlike the attack on Iraq five years ago, to deal with Iran there need be no massing of troops. And, with the propaganda buildup already well under way, there need be little, if any, forewarning before shock and awe and pox – in the form of air and missile attacks – begin.

This time it will be largely the Air Force's show, punctuated by missile and air strikes by the Navy. Israeli-American agreement has now been reached at the highest level; the armed forces planners, plotters and pilots are working out the details.

Emerging from a 90-minute White House meeting with President George W. Bush on June 4, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the two leaders were of one mind:

"We reached agreement on the need to take care of the Iranian threat. I left with a lot less question marks [than] I had entered with regarding the means, the timetable restrictions, and American resoluteness to deal with the problem. George Bush understands the severity of the Iranian threat and the need to vanquish it, and intends to act on that matter before the end of his term in the White House."

Does that sound like a man concerned that Bush is just bluff and bluster?

A member of Olmert's delegation noted that same day that the two countries had agreed to cooperate in case of an attack by Iran, and that "the meetings focused on 'operational matters' pertaining to the Iranian threat." So bring 'em on!

A show of hands please. How many believe Iran is about to attack the U.S. or Israel?

You say you missed Olmert's account of what Bush has undertaken to do? So did I. We are indebted to intrepid journalist Chris Hedges for including the quote in his article of June 8, "The Iran Trap."

We can perhaps be excused for missing Olmert's confident words about "Israel's best friend" that week. Your attention – like mine – may have been riveted on the June 5 release of the findings of the Senate Intelligence Committee regarding administration misrepresentations of pre-Iraq-war intelligence – the so-called "Phase II" investigation (also known, irreverently, as the "Waiting-for-Godot Study").

Better late than never, I suppose.

Oversight?

Yet I found myself thinking: It took them five years, and that is what passes for oversight? Yes, the president and vice president and their courtiers lied us into war. And now a bipartisan report could assert that fact formally; and committee chair Jay Rockefeller could sum it up succinctly:

"In making the case for war, the administration repeatedly presented intelligence as fact when in reality it was unsubstantiated, contradicted, or even non-existent. As a result, the American people were led to believe that the threat from Iraq was much greater than actually existed."

But as I listened to Senator Rockefeller, I had this sinking feeling that in five or six years time, those of us still around will be listening to a very similar post mortem looking back on an even more disastrous attack on Iran.

My colleagues and I in Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) issued repeated warnings, before the invasion of Iraq, about the warping of intelligence. And our memoranda met considerable resonance in foreign media.

We could get no ink or airtime, however, in the Fawning Corporate Media (FCM) in the U.S. Nor can we now.

In a same-day critique of Colin Powell's unfortunate speech to the U.N. on Feb. 5, 2003, we warned the president to widen his circle of advisers "beyond those clearly bent on a war for which we see no compelling reason and from which we believe the unintended consequences are likely to be catastrophic."

It was a no-brainer for anyone who knew anything about intelligence, the Middle East, and the brown noses leading intelligence analysis at the CIA.

Former U.N. senior weapons inspector and former Marine major, Scott Ritter, and many others were saying the same thing. But none of us could get past the president's praetorian guard to drop a memo into his in-box, so to speak. Nor can we now.

The 'Iranian Threat'

However much the same warnings are called for now with respect to Iran, there is even less prospect that any contrarians could puncture and break through what former White House spokesman Scott McClellan calls the president's "bubble."

By all indications, Vice President Dick Cheney and his huge staff continue to control the flow of information to the president.

But, you say, the president cannot be unaware of the far-reaching disaster an attack on Iran would bring?

Well, this is a president who admits he does not read newspapers, but rather depends on his staff to keep him informed. And the memos Cheney does brief to Bush pooh-pooh the dangers.

This time no one is saying we will be welcomed as liberators, since the planning does not include – officially, at least – any U.S. boots on the ground.

Besides, even on important issues like the price of gasoline, the performance of the president's staff has been spotty.

Think back on the White House press conference of Feb. 28, when Bush was asked what advice he would give to Americans facing the prospect of $4-a-gallon gasoline.

"Wait, what did you just say?" the president interrupted. "You're predicting $4-a-gallon gasoline?...That's interesting. I hadn't heard that."

A poll in January showed that nearly three-quarters of Americans were expecting $4-a-gallon gas. That forecast was widely reported in late February, and discussed by the White House press secretary at the media briefing the day before the president's press conference.

Here's the alarming thing: Unlike Iraq, which was prostrate after the Gulf War and a dozen years of sanctions, Iran can retaliate in a number of dangerous ways, launching a war for which our forces are ill-prepared.

The lethality, intensity and breadth of ensuing hostilities will make the violence in Iraq look, in comparison, like a volleyball game between St. Helena's High School and Mount St. Ursula.

Cheney's Brainchild

Attacking Iran is Vice President Dick Cheney's brainchild, if that is the correct word.

Cheney proposed launching air strikes last summer on Iranian Revolutionary Guards bases, but was thwarted by the Joint Chiefs of Staff who insisted that would be unwise, according to J. Scott Carpenter, a senior State Department official at the time.

Chastened by the unending debacle in Iraq, this time around Pentagon officials reportedly are insisting on a "policy decision" regarding "what would happen after the Iranians would go after our folks," according to Carpenter.

Serious concerns include the vulnerability of the critical U.S. supply line from Kuwait to Baghdad, our inability to reinforce and the eventual possibility that the U.S. might be forced into a choice between ignominious retreat and using, or threatening to use, "mini-nukes."

Pentagon opposition was confirmed in a July 2007 commentary by former Bush adviser Michael Gerson, who noted the "fear of the military leadership" that Iran would have "escalation dominance" in any conflict with the U.S.

Writing in the Washington Post last July, Gerson indicated that "escalation dominance" means, "in a broadened conflict, the Iranians could complicate our lives in Iraq and the region more than we complicate theirs."

The Joint Chiefs also have opposed the option of attacking Iran's nuclear sites, according to former Iran specialist at the National Security Council, Hillary Mann, who has close ties with senior Pentagon officials.

Mann confirmed that Adm. William Fallon joined the Joint Chiefs in strongly opposing such an attack, adding that he made his opposition known to the White House, as well.

The outspoken Fallon was forced to resign in March, and will be replaced as CENTCOM commander by Gen. David Petraeus – apparently in September. Petraeus has already demonstrated his penchant to circumvent the chain of command in order to do Cheney's bidding (by making false claims about Iranian weaponry in Iraq, for example).

In sum, a perfect storm seems to be gathering in late summer or early fall.

Controlled Media

The experience of those of us whose job it was to analyze the controlled media of the Soviet Union and China for insights into Russian and Chinese intentions have been able to put that experience to good use in monitoring our own controlled media as they parrot the party line.

Suffice it to say that the FCM is already well embarked, a la Iraq, on its accustomed mission to provide stenographic services for the White House to indoctrinate Americans on the "threat" from Iran and prepare them for the planned air and missile attacks.

At least this time we are spared the "mushroom cloud" bugaboo. Neither Bush nor Cheney wish to call attention, even indirectly, to the fact that all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies concluded last November that Iran had stopped nuclear weapons-related work in 2003 and had not resumed it as of last year.

In a pre-FCM age, it would have been looked on as inopportune, at the least, to manufacture intelligence to justify another war hard on the heels of a congressional report that on Iraq the administration made significant claims not supported by the intelligence.

But (surprise, surprise!) the very damning Senate Intelligence Committee report got meager exposure in the media.

So far it has been a handful of senior military officers that have kept us from war with Iran. It hardly suffices to give them vocal encouragement, or to warn them that the post WW-II Nuremberg Tribunal ruled explicitly that "just-following-orders" is no defense when war crimes are involved.

And still less when the "supreme international crime" – a war of aggression is involved.

Senior officers trying to slow the juggernaut lumbering along toward an attack on Iran have been scandalized watching what can only be described as unconscionable dereliction of duty in the House of Representatives, which the Constitution charges with the duty of impeaching a president, vice president or other senior official charged with high crimes and misdemeanors

..................................................benny

Israel on the Iran Brink
June 23, 2008; Page A16
Israel isn't famous for welcoming public scrutiny of its most sensitive military plans. But we doubt Jerusalem officials were dismayed to see news of their recent air force exercises splashed over the front pages of the Western press.

Those exercises – reportedly involving about 100 fighters, tactical bombers, refueling planes and rescue helicopters – were conducted about 900 miles west of Israel's shores in the Mediterranean. Iran's nuclear facilities at Bushehr, Isfahan and Natanz all fall roughly within the same radius, albeit in the opposite direction. The point was not lost on Tehran, which promptly warned of "strong blows" in the event of a pre-emptive Israeli attack.

The more important question is whether the meaning of Israel's exercise registered in Western capitals. It's been six years since Iran's secret nuclear programs were publicly exposed, and Israel has more or less bided its time as the Bush Administration and Europe have pursued diplomacy to induce Tehran to cease enriching uranium.

It hasn't worked. Iran has rejected repeated offers of technical and economic assistance, most recently this month. Despite four years of pleading, the Administration has failed to win anything but weak U.N. sanctions. Russia plans to sell advanced antiaircraft missiles to Iran and finish work on a nuclear reactor at Bushehr, though spent fuel from that reactor could eventually be diverted and reprocessed into weapons-usable plutonium. Chinese companies still invest in Iran, while the U.N.'s chief nuclear inspector, Mohamed ElBaradei, has repeatedly downplayed Iran's nuclear threat.

As for the U.S., December's publication of a misleading National Intelligence Estimate that claimed Iran had halted nuclear weaponization signaled America's own lack of seriousness toward Iranian ambitions. Barack Obama is leading in the Presidential polls and portrays as a virtue his promise to negotiate with Iran "without precondition" – i.e., without insisting that Tehran stop enriching uranium. All the while Iran continues to enrich, installing thousands of additional centrifuges of increasingly more sophisticated design while it buries key facilities underground.

No wonder Israel is concluding that it will have to act on its own to prevent a nuclear Iran. Earlier this month, Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz, a former army chief of staff, warned that "if Iran continues with its program for developing nuclear weapons, we will attack." Other officials distanced themselves from those remarks, but September's one-shot raid on Syria's nuclear reactor ought to be proof of Israel's determination.

An Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear sites would of course look nothing like the Syrian operation. The distances are greater; the targets are hardened, defended and dispersed; hundreds of sorties and several days would be required. Iran would retaliate, with the help of Hezbollah and Hamas, possibly sparking a regional conflict as large as the 1973 Yom Kippur war.

Mr. ElBaradei predicted this weekend that such an attack would turn the Middle East into a "ball of fire," yet his own apologies for Iran and the West's diplomatic failures are responsible for bringing the region to this pass. They have convinced the mullahs that the powers responsible for maintaining world order lack the will to stop Iran.

Israelis surely don't welcome a war in which they will suffer. Yet they have no choice but to defend themselves against an enemy that vows to obliterate them if Iran acquires the weapon to do so. The tragic paradox of the past six years is that the diplomatic and intelligence evasions offered in the name of avoiding war with Iran have done the most to bring us close to this brink. Appeasement that ends in war is a familiar theme of history.

.....................................................benny

Arab League opposes any military action against Iran
Posted: 2008/06/23
From: MNN

The Arab League's Assistant Secretary General for political affairs Ahmed bin Heli told that the organization has announced its clear opposition to any military adventurism against Iran.


The Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa kicked off a European tour to prevent the possibility of any military confrontation in the Middle East region, it was reported on Monday.

The Arab League's Assistant Secretary General for political affairs Ahmed bin Heli told that the organization has announced its clear opposition to any military adventurism against Iran.

"The Arab League opposes any action which would escalate tension in the Middle East region," Heli said.

He added that the organization has started a series of actions to prevent any escalation of Israeli adventurism.

Referring to Amr Moussa's current visit to Austria, Heli said that all Arab heads of state stressed the need for finding a peaceful solution for Iran's nuclear standoff with the West.

They (Arab leaders) believed that the solution should be made under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Heli added.

He strongly condemned Tel Aviv's disagreement with inspecting its nuclear facilities by the IAEA experts noting that Israel does not observe any of the international laws and regulations. --IRNA
.............................................benny

Jun 23, 2008 23:43 | Updated Jun 24, 2008 5:00
US military head to arrive this week on surprise visit
By YAAKOV KATZ
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In a visit likely to fuel speculation about possible Israeli military action against Iran, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen will touch down briefly in Israel at the end of the week for talks with IDF Chief of General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, top defense officials told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.


Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Navy. Adm. Michael Mullen.
Photo: AP

Slideshow: Pictures of the week A few weeks after Mullen's visit, Ashkenazi will fly to Washington DC for several days on his first visit to the US as chief of staff.

Mullen's visit to Israel is part of a European tour. Officials said the US military chief had a free day in his itinerary and instead of remaining in Europe decided to fly to Israel.

The visit comes just weeks after the Israel Air Force reportedly flew 100 fighter jets 1,500 kilometers across the Mediterranean in an unprecedented exercise widely reported as a "dress rehearsal" for an attack against Iran.

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Mullen last visited Israel in December - the first visit from a US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff in over a decade. A second visit in such a short time, defense officials said Monday, was a demonstration of the close relationship Mullen had forged with Ashkenazi and the gravity with which he viewed the threats Israel was currently facing.

US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead, who is currently in Israel on an official visit, told the Post Monday that the US military knew about the reported massive aerial exercise. "There are many ways that we receive information," he said, adding that questions about the reported exercise's intent should be directed to the Israeli air force.

Referring to an incident in January when Iranian Revolutionary Guard gunboats provocatively approached American ships in the Strait of Hormuz, Roughead said "In recent months we have had a couple of encounters with IRG naval units that were irresponsible, provocative and not helpful to the stability and security in the Gulf... I do believe that unless the IRG begins to behave in a more responsible manner that encounters like that will perhaps continue to occur."

During his visit, Roughead met with Ashkenazi, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Israel Navy commander Admiral Eliezer Marom, with whom he discussed the need for continued cooperation between the US and Israeli navies. Roughead and his Israeli counterparts also discussed missile defense systems - particularly the US Navy's Aegis system, which was successfully tested earlier this month.

Defense officials have said that in the event of a conflict with Iran, it was possible the US would deploy an Aegis system off Israel's coast to provide another layer of defense against Iranian ballistic missiles.

"I believe that the proliferation of ballistic missiles is something that will continue to occur [and] I believe that ballistic missiles in the future will become weapons of intimidation and blackmail," Roughead said.
.............................................benny

Sarkozy: Israel not alone against Iran


(Video) French president arrives at Israeli parliament, accompanied by his wife Carla Bruni. During special session, he says 'those who scandalously call for Israel's destruction will always be faced and blocked by France.' Knesset Speaker Itzik warns, 'The nuclear facility being built in Iran, and the Islamic terror in Europe and worldwide, will also reach Paris'

...................................................benny

Bruce Beach : Things are a'happenin.
Benny Quote: the following here is what caught my attention besides that it looks like bad prophetic news for Damascus(Isaiah 17;1........The Royal Bank of Scotland has advised to brace
for a full-fledged crash
in global stock and credit markets
over the next three months,

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It has been such an astounding week -
both in the international news
and for us locally -
that there are a number of things
that I want to share.

But first the news.
June 25th, just three days from now -
the US Fed will be setting new interest rates -
something that very much excites
the financial world at this time.
If they raise interest -
it cools the economy -
which is already in a downward spiral.
If they lower interest rates -
it kills the US dollar
in international exchange -
because other national banks are raising theirs.
On July 3, the ECB meets -
which is another date that is not far off.

The Royal Bank of Scotland has advised to brace
for a full-fledged crash
in global stock and credit markets
over the next three months,

The BIS ( Bank For International Settlements)
announced earlier in the week
that the global credit crisis
could lead world economies into a crash
on a scale not seen since the 1930s.

Morgan Stanley,
the largest US investment firm -
warned of “catastrophic events”
to come in the next few weeks
as some 'big bank' or other financial firm -
is about to collapse.
(I have read several speculations
about this -
but don't actually know
who or what they are talking about).

The point is -
that these are not
run-of-the-mill pundits.
It is like you had gone to
the three top brain surgeons in the US
and they had all said -
"You are going to die within three months -
and there is nothing we can do about it."
I would think that you should be making
funeral arrangements.

Lots of pundits out there -
with similar predictions -
but this is new.
Never seen anything like this before.

The Dow just keeps rolling along -
(oh, it was down a bit Friday)
but it is still in the range
that it has been in for months -
and the same is true for the dollar.
The patient looks healthy -
on the bedside monitor.

The lab results are poorly - however.
Import versus export figures.
CPI - Consumer Price Index.
Credit card arrears.
Foreclosure rates.
Bankruptcy rates.
Manufacturing investment.
Wholesale inventories.
Just a whole litany of numbers -
you wouldn't want to hear.

All the world's stock markets showing
severe losses for the last year -
except for Canada.
I am surrounded by Canadians
who think everything is just dandy.
Not one in a hundred that I meet
is aware that six of the seven big Canadian Banks
are under bankruptcy protection.
In other words -
they are bankrupt.

The Ontario Court of Appeal
will hear the matter on June 25 and 26.
I have written about this before -
at length -
so I won't go on about it again -
but that is another interesting date -
not that it means all that much.

First a decision to hear the appeal.
Then a date is set for a hearing -
sometime in the future.
Then a long hearing.
Then the wait for that decision.
Then another appeal period -
to the Supreme Court -
and then the whole procedure repeats itself -
the bottom line being -
the ABCP bond holders still don't get their billions -
from the bankrupt banks.
It is the Canadian way.

Canadian collapse -
like many other collapses -
would mean world collapse.
All the economies are pillars -
of the same financial temple.

At the moment
there are so many pillars shaking
that I can't even mention them all -
for example
the price of -
gold, oil and gasoline.

On June 22,
another date not far off
the Saudi Oil Minister
will meet with
US, the UK, China, Japan, Germany and India to:
“Find a solution to stabilise oil prices”. -

Won' have to wait long
to find out how that works out.
Remember -
prices can be 'stable'
high - low - or anywhere in between.

Then there is the price of rice -
and corn -
up fourfold from a year ago.
This actually means starvation
for many in the world -
and riots for their governments.

The world is in a financial riot or rout.
Iran announced this week -
that it wants gold for its oil.
For those who saw significance in Saddam
wanting Euros instead of dollars -
this has even greater significance.

-----------
The thesis here
is that financial turmoil -
and financial collapse -
particularly of Empires -
(the US currently being
the world's largest)
leads to wars.

Concurrent with what some people see as
world economic collapse -
there is simultaneously going on
a world war threat.
Where before I listed the predictions
of three top financial authorities
(Royal Bank of Scotland -
Bank of International Settlements -
Morgan Stanley)
Now I will mention three top
military / political players.

Russian leaders from Putin on down -
have directly / specifically / pointedly
told Israel to NOT attack Iran.

Mohamed ElBaradei Director General
of the Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
the UN atomic watchdog
warned on Saturday
that an attack on Iran
would turn the region into a fireball.

The President of Tehran in effect
tauntingly told Israel to bring it on.

My point being -
that these people at this level
don't talk this openly
about such a subject -
unless they think something is really about to happen.

----------
Of course -
it could all be just talk.

Israeli / Greek manoeuvres,
code-named "Glorious Spartan 08,"
took place on May 28 and June 12,
consisting of aerial exercises.

The New York Times reported
the goal was
for more than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighter jets
to prepare for long-range strikes.

The distance from Israel to Greece
is the same as from Israel to Iran.
The key is in-air fuelling practice.
For a long range strike -
the tactical aircraft need to refuel
soon after take-off
because it takes so much fuel
to take-off and get up to altitude -
that the need to refuel
before leaving friendly territory
and starting their long run.

Somewhere after departing their targets -
they then need to refuel again
to get home.
These are very complicated manoeuvres
and before one undertakes such a mission -
with a large number of planes -
it is necessary to have
all the CURRENT pilots and personnel practice
to make sure everyone is up to speed.
It is a very expensive dress rehearsal -
but one that needs to be done.

The Israelis have recently been provided
by the US
with some very recent U.S. military systems
that have to be integrated
with what they already had.

"The New York Times on Friday cited US officials as saying a major Israeli
military exercise earlier this month seemed to be a practice for any
potential strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.

http://tinyurl.com/4lhj87

On the other side -
the Russians / Iranians
are also practicing.
Iranian military technicians
are in Russia at this very moment
getting last minute training
on the latest Russian defensive missile systems.
----------
I of course have no idea
as to how things will happen.
Probably not in any way
that I might speculate.

There is obviously
massive build-up going on
by Hezbollah and Hamas -
who are being armed by Iran and Syria.

If one is inclined to believe in prophecy -
things certainly don't boon well
for Damascus.

Whatever -
I am with ElBaradei -
that the whole thing is a tinderbox.
Nuclear Pakistan has a mutual defense agreement with Iran.
Any action by Pakistan
will prompt action by Nuclear India -
and that will go both ways.

Nuclear Russia is more than a match
for nuclear Israel -
but not for Nuclear U.S.A.

Some strategists think
that consequently the BIG guys
will just stand back -
and let the others fight it out.
Nope,
I don't think so.
Everyone will get pulled in.

-------
And yes,
I am still saying -
July 28th.
This is the one and only time
that I have ever picked a date.
I had windows of expectation before -
that were usually years
and sometimes months in advance -
but this is the one and only time -
that I have picked a date.
I have had this deadline now,
actually for years -
such that other interim windows
have come and gone.

Anyway -
the date is not far off now -
only about five weeks -
so you can imagine how pressured I feel -
to get things done.
Could happen sooner - of course -
and a week or two later -
may still fit within my paradigm.
But - for a date -
I have picked July 28th
which now brings me to the current scene
at Ark Two.

For the last several years -
My wife and I have said -
"This year we won't plant a garden" -
because for us it is just too much work.
It seems particularly irrational -
to plant this year -
when I think we won't harvest.

But, anyway -
we end up doing it.
I know lots of other people
who say that they will -
but then they don't.
But we say we won't - an we do.
It all seems rather perverse.

Started out -
our rototiller wasn't working -
ended up -
that we now have three working rototillers.
Started out -
to be a small garden out back -
but ended up with that -
and two large gardens
plus ten small ones -
in the 'A' field -
and a fairly good one in the 'B' field -
plus some other scattered activity around.

Awfully late getting them in -
but a month ago it was very hot -
and then turned quite cool.
Second day of summer today -
and I put on my long johns this morning.
The rain - and its timing -
has been excellent all week.

We have done a number of interesting experiments -
and Jean has said of a couple of them -
"I want you to be sure
to tell the people on your newsletter -
about this."

Well,
here we are -
and I have run out of space -
so that will have to wait until another time -
as well as a recount of our trip today
to the Antique Power and Farming Technology show -
which was truly amazing.

Peace and love,
Bruce
...............................................benny

Bruce believes in God at all? So much panic and gloom and doom..

Jun 24, 2008 15:42 | Updated Jun 24, 2008 16:37
Iran attack rumors flatly denied
By JPOST.COM STAFF
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Oil rose for a third straight session on Tuesday to more than $138 a barrel, following rumors of an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, which was later denied, Reuters reported.


Iran's uranium enrichment facility in Natanz.
Photo: AP [file]

Slideshow: Pictures of the week "This is just a rumor. No attack against Iran's nuclear facilities has taken place," a senior Iranian nuclear official said.

Israeli and American military spokesmen also denied the rumors, according to Bloomberg.

US crude for August delivery was up a $1.33 at $138.07 a barrel, after settling up $1.38 on Monday. It hit a record high of $139.89 on June 16.

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London Brent crude was up $1.31 at $137.22 a barrel.

Tension over Iran's nuclear program has played a big part in oil's rise to record levels near $140 a barrel.

The European Union this week imposed new sanctions on Iran, including as asset freeze on Bank Melli, Iran state-controlled and biggest bank.

On Friday, The New York Times quoted unnamed US officials as saying Israel had carried out a wide scale military exercise, apparently as a rehearsal for a potential bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities.

Analysts are worried heightened tensions between Iran and the West could threaten the Straits of Hormuz, a narrow waterway separating Iran from the Arabian Peninsula through which roughly 40 percent of the world's traded oil flows.
...............................................benny

Huh, funny yet sad words from a Christian

Actually, I see through both you post tribbers.If you do not want any flak,
Then do not try to agitate me. benny

Wow the love of Jesus shine from you like a light house

Like I said,I am a little rough around the edges.Are you trying to agitate me?.Or are you one of those who does not know when to leave it alone?
The Day that you think that you are perfect...You just let me know.
Again,I didn't start this crap!Just like I didn't start this with you....What?....You are looking to attack because You cannot defend your false doctrine against me?....Your motive are apparent.As I said,I can see right through you.Your looking for the slightest first opportunity to point a finger at me.Sure you are going to deny this......but I know better.You see, I do not mind debating with you post tribbers....It's supposed to be about agreeing to disagree "RESPECTFULLY"....and originally that was the way that I would debate. But the problem you post tribbers started using ugly words,taunting words,and arrogant words.And when the obvious was presented to you that revealed that you were incorrect ....you(post tribber in general)you would refuse to acknowledge it.Well,After awhile,those demeaning words has an effect on people.Maybe I should not come down to your level(post tribber in general)....but It is hard not too.I do feel bad when I exspress my dislike for anothers immature actions,but the Lord is still molding me, trying to smooth out my rough edges.So I ask you again,.....Are you one of those who does not have the wisdom who does not know when to leave it alone?....You do not know me....but I'll say this, even though that I know that It is none of your business....Even though I did not start this with "JUSTICE"..I had already apologized to her yesterday.which was something between she and I.

.................................................benny

Jun 24, 2008 22:19

...but somebody has to do it

By HILLEL HALKIN
www.jpost.com


So now it's official. The Israeli air force is in an advanced stage of training to attack Iranian nuclear installations. If the massive overflight of the eastern Mediterranean by Israeli jets earlier this month was indeed the "dress rehearsal" for such an attack that it has been called, it was a rehearsal to which the public was invited - or at least, the intelligence agencies of the countries that tracked the operation on their radar screens.


You don't, of course, conduct such an operation when you have already decided to strike; at that point, the more secrecy, the better. You conduct it when you don't want to strike and think your only hope of avoiding it is to convince the world that you will do it unless you are given a good reason not to. This month's air maneuvers, it might be said, were Israel's plea to the world to be shown that such a reason exists.

But the world is not going to oblige. The same countries that were too short-sighted and greedy to do anything significant about stopping the Iranian nuclear-bomb program ten, five, or two years ago, when oil prices were low and Iran were vulnerable to economic and diplomatic pressures, are not about to lift a finger now. Even a year ago, when climbing oil prices had already ruled out the economic feasibility of an embargo on Iranian oil, a sudden freeze on Iran's assets and funds by Western governments could have caused the Iranian leadership to think twice. Now, while these governments have predictably wasted yet another year by jawing toothlessly away about the need for sanctions, Iran has reportedly transferred most of those assets and funds elsewhere.

NOR IS President Bush likely to leave the White House in a blaze of penetration bombs by ordering a last-minute American attack on Iran. The Republican Party wants to win the November election, and the president knows that Americans fighting in another Middle-Eastern country and $200-or-more-a-barrel oil is not going to help. Bush has talked more bravely about stopping the Iranians than any other Western leader, but what he has not done until now will not be done before his term is over - unless, that is, he chooses to do it between the elections and his successor's inauguration in January, which would be a historically unprecedented use of lame-duck power that is hard to imagine.

And John McCain? If elected, he might be Israel's last chance of not having to go it alone. But McCain himself doesn't know at this stage what he would do, and he is currently behind in the polls. Barack Obama would be only slightly more likely to attack Iran than Vladimir Putin. He has already made it clear that he would rather talk to the Iranians than fight them, and they will be delighted to discuss with him any subject he chooses while the centrifuges go on spinning in Natanz.

Of course, even a President Obama, let alone a President McCain, might be supportive of an Israeli attack should it take place. In general, as evidenced by the muted international response to the Israeli air exercise, the list of countries that might not mind seeing Israel stick it to the Iranians is a long one. Besides the US, it might include quite a few European states and even some Arab ones. As long as they themselves don't have to run the risk of a) military failure, retaliatory Iranian missile and terror attacks, and c) being blamed for astronomical oil prices, plenty of governments would permit themselves a hidden smile of satisfaction while voting to condemn an Israeli attack at the United Nations.

ISRAELIS HAVE every right to feel anger at such hypocrisy. True, a nuclear Iran would be more of a menace to them than to others, but it would be a menace to nearly everyone. There is something genuinely revolting about a world that preaches the need for peacefully dissuading the Iranians from developing atomic weapons while knowingly practicing a policy that in the end leaves Israel no choice but to send its planes into the air.

Israelis also have the right to feel fear. A lot could go wrong with an attack on Iran. Iranian targets could be missed or insufficiently damaged; dummy objectives could be hit while the real ones are kept secret in the earth; Israeli planes could be shot down and Israeli pilots taken hostage; Israeli towns and cities could come under heavy missile and rocket fire not just from Iran, but from Lebanon, Gaza, and even Syria; Israeli casualties could run into the many thousands.

Anyone who thinks that Israel is straining at the leash to get at the Iranians has not the slightest conception of its society. Israelis are good and scared of attacking Iran, as they should be. They are just even more scared of an Iran that could annihilate them, as Iranian leaders have repeatedly said they would love to do.

But Israelis also have the right to feel pride - pride not only that they have one of the few air forces in the world with the military capability to stop Iran, but also that history has chosen them, even if they would rather it had chosen someone else, to be in the front ranks of the campaign.

Even now, it is not too late for them to hope that they will have partners. And if it is not a hope that has much to lean on, at least this time Jews can lean on themselves.

.............................................benny

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aB07yKpdBK_o

U.S. Has No Knowledge of an Attack on Iran (Update1)

By Camilla Hall

June 24 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. has no knowledge of an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, Lieutenant Stephanie Murdock, a Fifth Fleet spokeswoman, said.

``To our knowledge there has been no bombing activity in Iran or on its nuclear sites,'' Murdock said in a telephone interview from the Persian Gulf.

``It's not something we have any knowledge of at this time,'' she added.

A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, speaking on condition of anonymity, said by telephone that the army wasn't aware of any incident involving Iran.

There was speculation in financial markets earlier today that Iran's nuclear facilities had been attacked.
..............................................benny P.S...Wars and rumors of war

Iran 6 mo-year for A bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Following are excerpts from an interview with IAEA Director-General Dr. Muhammad Al-Baradei, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on June 20, 2008.

Muhammad Al-Baradei: If Iran wants to turn to the production of nuclear weapons, it must leave the NPT, expel the IAEA inspectors, and then it would need at least... Considering the number of centrifuges and the quantity of uranium Iran has...

Interviewer: How much time would it need?

Muhammad Al-Baradei: It would need at least six months to one year. Therefore, Iran will not be able to reach the point where we would wake up one morning to an Iran with a nuclear weapon.

Interviewer: Excuse me, I would like to clarify this for our viewers. If Iran decides today to expel the IAEA from the country, it will need six months...

Muhammad Al-Baradei: Or one year, at least...

Interviewer:... to produce [nuclear] weapons?

Muhammad Al-Baradei: It would need this period to produce a weapon, and to obtain highly-enriched uranium in sufficient quantities for a single nuclear weapon.

[...]

In my view, a military strike would be the worst thing possible. It would turn the Middle East into a ball of fire.

Interviewer: It would be worse than sanctions?

Muhammad Al-Baradei: Much worse, because a military strike would mean, first and foremost, that even if Iran does not produce nuclear weapons today, it would implement a so-called “crash course,” or an accelerated plan to produce a nuclear weapon, with the agreement and blessing of all the Iranians – even the Iranians living in the West.

[...]

Interviewer: Dr. Al-Baradei, what do the Iranian officials tell you when you confront them about the need for more transparency?

Muhammad Al-Baradei: They say there will be more transparency, but at the end of the day, I’d rather wait to see this transparency.

[...]

I always think of resigning in the event of a military strike.

Interviewer: You will resign in the event that...

Muhammad Al-Baradei: If military force is used, I would conclude that there is no mechanism left for me to defend.

Interviewer: This is a threat directed at the Americans – if you strike, I will resign.

Muhammad Al-Baradei: I am not doing this for material profit. If I was working in the private sector, I would... I am doing this out of the conviction that I am defending shared values. If we deviate from these shared values...

Interviewer: So there is no justification for an attack...

Muhammad Al-Baradei: The day I believe that the international system has begun to collapse is the day I will resign.

[...]

Interviewer: If the world reaches a consensus that there is no solution but to attack Iran, would you still resign? What if Europe, America, and the entire West agree that the only resolution is a military one?

Muhammad Al-Baradei: I don’t think that what we are seeing today in Iran poses a clear, imminent, and immediate danger.

Interviewer: But in a year or two, it could become...

Muhammad Al-Baradei: If this happens, it will be a different story, but if a military strike is launched against Iran now, in my opinion, I will have no choice but to...

Interviewer: So there is no justification for a strike against Iran today.

Muhammad Al-Baradei: None whatsoever. There will be no point for me to continue doing my work if military force is used at present.
.................................................benny

Lord, I know you can hear my prayer, but please hasten the answer... COME QUICKLY!!! Or rather, GET ME OUTTTA HERE! This is too much.

Jun 24, 2008 22:17 | Updated Jun 24, 2008 22:37
Mubarak: Striking Iran will be a mistake
By JPOST.COM STAFF
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"Use of force against Iran will be a mistake," Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told Channel 1 on Tuesday. "Whether this force is used by the US or Israel it will lead to tragedy."


Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Photo: AP

Slideshow: Pictures of the week The Egyptian president said however that Egypt was opposed to a nuclear power in the region "whether it is Iran of Israel."

Regarding the Gilad Schalit issue, Mubarak said his country was making great efforts to secure the captured soldier's freedom but warned against linking his release to the Gaza truce. "Why mix the issues? Is it better to fire at each other even if Schalit is not released?"

Nevertheless, Mubarak voiced optimism that the Schalit issue would be resolved, saying it was "only a matter of time" before he is freed, and calling for patience and "careful consideration"

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He stressed that the truce was in both Israel and Hamas's interests, warning both sides against falling into a blame game for cease-fire violations.

Seeming to contradict earlier reports of an announcement by Egypt that it would not open the Rafah border crossing until Schalit is returned to Israel, Mubarak refused to make such a commitment.

He also said concerns that Hamas would smuggle Schalit out of Gaza if the crossing was reopened were unfounded. "There is no way this can be done secretly... everyone will know about it."

He reiterated that Egypt was doing its utmost to stop weapons smuggling.

Mubarak went on to say that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was "the heart of the problems in the Middle East" and said if it is resolved, other issues in the region would be solved much more quickly.

He said Egypt "strongly backed," what he termed "preparation talks" between Israel and
.................................................benny

Jun 24, 2008 15:42 | Updated Jun 24, 2008 23:41
US, Israel, Iran all flatly deny attack rumor
By JPOST.COM STAFF
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Oil rose for a third straight session on Tuesday to more than $138 a barrel, following rumors of an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, which was later denied, Reuters reported.




Iran attack rumors flatly denied

"This is just a rumor. No attack against Iran's nuclear facilities has taken place," a senior Iranian nuclear official said.

Israeli and American military spokesmen also denied the rumors, according to Bloomberg.

US crude for August delivery was up a $1.33 at $138.07 a barrel, after settling up $1.38 on Monday. It hit a record high of $139.89 on June 16.

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London Brent crude was up $1.31 at $137.22 a barrel.

Tension over Iran's nuclear program has played a big part in oil's rise to record levels near $140 a barrel.

The European Union this week imposed new sanctions on Iran, including as asset freeze on Bank Melli, Iran state-controlled and biggest bank.

On Friday, The New York Times quoted unnamed US officials as saying Israel had carried out a wide scale military exercise, apparently as a rehearsal for a potential bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities.

Analysts are worried heightened tensions between Iran and the West could threaten the Straits of Hormuz, a narrow waterway separating Iran from the Arabian Peninsula through which roughly 40 percent of the world's traded oil flows.
...................................................benny