QUOTE(benny balerio @ Jul 26 2006, 11:44 AM)
QUOTE(benny balerio @ Jul 26 2006, 11:36 AM)
QUOTE(benny balerio @ Jul 26 2006, 11:29 AM)
QUOTE(benny balerio @ Jul 26 2006, 11:26 AM)
QUOTE(benny balerio @ Jul 26 2006, 11:18 AM)
QUOTE(benny balerio @ Jul 26 2006, 11:13 AM)
QUOTE(benny balerio @ Jul 26 2006, 11:06 AM)
QUOTE(Stephen @ Jul 26 2006, 09:34 AM)
"Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Attacks Leaders of Islamic Countries in the Middle East for Their Role in Lebanon Crisis"
I might suggest that it is this type of Islamic leader who could turn out to be the "prince that shall come", and it will be his people who will destroy the city and the sanctuary when Israel is invaded. This is possible. The Roman invasions of Judea in 70 A.D. occured between the 69th and 70th weeks decreed for the nation. [Daniel 8:23-25, 9:26-27, 11:36-45]
[right][snapback]75240[/snapback][/right]
I might suggest that it is this type of Islamic leader who could turn out to be the "prince that shall come", and it will be his people who will destroy the city and the sanctuary when Israel is invaded. This is possible. The Roman invasions of Judea in 70 A.D. occured between the 69th and 70th weeks decreed for the nation. [Daniel 8:23-25, 9:26-27, 11:36-45]
[right][snapback]75240[/snapback][/right]
Christians are not superstitious. We do not believe in fate or chance. All things are ordered by God and there are no real “coincidences” in this life.
Many of us holding this conviction do, however, look for signs as we seek to hear the Lord speaking to and directing us. And when really amazing things do occur, it can seem - to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear - that the Lord Himself is shouting a message from the heavens.
This, for example, is how I view the discovery of the Isaiah manuscript of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947, and its identification in 1948.
For me the timing of the find – precisely in the years when the United Nations voted to partition Palestine and David Ben Gurion declared the establishment of the State of Israel – together with the identity of the book – Isaiah perhaps being the primary prophet foretelling the restoration of the Jews to their Land – put God’s “stamp of authenticity” on this momentous event.
Biblical scholars have remarked that the Scroll’s discovery blew away much of the skepticism that had taken root concerning the divine Authorship of the Bible.
Something similar – if not of quite the same magnitude – happened for me today, a fortnight into Israel’s two-front conflict with Hamas in the south and Hizb’allah in the north.
Early this morning (Wednesday, July 26, 2006), I met with nine other men in the new King of Kings Pavilion Prayer Tower high above downtown Jerusalem. On top of our prayer agenda, naturally enough, was the ongoing war that has been triggered by Muslim Arabs bent on destroying the Jewish state.
It is not always easy to know what or how to pray in such circumstances. We know that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts nor are our ways His ways, and we do not wish to pray presumptuously. We even have to submit our understanding of what we read in God’s Word, the Bible, to His Holy Spirit. Sometimes it is perhaps best to simply pray that Word back to God and, as it were, remind Him of what He has written.
Early in the meeting today Pastor Wayne Hilsden was prompted to read Psalm 83. For those of us living in Israel, this is a well known imprecatory psalm – one of the “War Psalms.”
Part of it reads: For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; and those who hate You have lifted up their head. They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones. They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” (Psalm 83:2-4)
We prayed into it.
Upon returning home two hours later, I found that someone had emailed me a fascinating report off the CNN website. It was headlined:
“Medieval book of psalms unearthed – First millennium manuscript, open to Psalm 83, found in Irish mud.” (http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/07/25/ireland.psalms.ap/index.html)
According to the report, the 20-page book, which was found by a construction worker digging in the bog last week, has been expertly dated to the years AD 800 to 1000.
It was the first time in more than 200 years that an early medieval Irish document had been unearthed.
CNN quotes the director of the National Museum of Ireland, Pat Wallace, who described the discovery as “really a miracle find.”
“There’s two sets of odds that make this discovery really way out,” Wallace said. “First of all, it’s unlikely that something this fragile could survive buried in a bog at all, and then for it to be unearthed and spotted before it was destroyed is incalculably more amazing.”
What’s even more incredible to me is that this book, opened to this psalm, was discovered at this specific time in history.
For right now Israel’s enemies are again united in their desire to “cut Israel off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” They purpose to take for themselves the “pastures of God for a possession.” And that they are in league – or in a confederacy – is clear.
From Gaza, supported by most of the Arab states, the violence is being directed by the Palestinian Arab terrorist groups: the PLO, Hamas, the Palestine Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front For the Liberation of Palestine and the popular resistance Committees.
In the north, the Lebanese group Hizb’allah, supplied and enabled by Syria and the non-Arab but also Islamic Iran, is raining rockets down on Israel.
This, given the current situation, makes Psalm 83 a fascinating and fitting read, the ancient find nothing short of a phenomenon.
I don’t want to take it any further than I should, but time may also show that the discovery of the Irish psalm book was a warning.
Many people have sensed that Damascus could be sucked into this war. Twelve days ago the Islamic Republic of Iran warned that an Israeli strike on Syria would be considered an attack on the whole Islamic world and would elicit a “fierce response.”
Iranian president Mahmud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly spelled out his vision for Israel.
“Israel must be wiped off the map.” (October 26, 2005)
“The West [must] remove what they created sixty years ago … [or] the Palestinian nation and other nations will eventually do this for them.” (February 11, 2006)
“Like it or not, the Zionist regime is heading toward annihilation. The Zionist regime is a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm.” (April 15, 2006)
And on July 8, 2006 Ahmadinejad told the foreign ministers of Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Turkey, Bahrain and Egypt, together with the heads of the Arab League and the Islamic Conference that “all the conditions for the removal of the Zionist regime are at hand… It won’t take long before the wrath of the people turns into a terrible explosion that will wipe the Zionist entity off the map.”
Wrote one commentator: None of the foreign ministers present, including Jordan, Egypt or Turkey – commonly regarded as Israel’s friends in the Arab/Muslim world – objected to the call for annihilation.
Will today’s Rome Summit bring about a ceasefire, or even perhaps a new “peace plan” that will see the war now raging brought to an end?
Or could we be on the verge of an all out Middle East conflagration concerning which we need to pray like Asaph, regarding those bent on Israel’s destruction:
O my God, make them like the whirling dust, like the chaff before the wind! As the fire burns the woods, and as the flame sets the mountains on fire, so pursue them with Your tempest, and frighten them with Your storm. Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek Your name, O LORD. Let them be confounded and dismayed forever; yes, let them be put to shame and perish, that they may know that You, whose name alone is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth. (Psalm 83:13-18)
May His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. All glory to our wonderful God and His living and mighty Word!
.....................................................................benny
[right][snapback]75267[/snapback][/right]
Tehran predicts summit failure as UN observers die in Israeli airstrike
Simon Tisdall and Ewen MacAskill
Wednesday July 26, 2006
The Guardian
Israeli soldiers holding up the yellow Hizbullah flag as they roll back across the border from southern Lebanon into northern Israel. Photograph: David Furst/AFP
Iran warned the west yesterday that attempts to broker a Lebanon peace deal at today's Rome summit are destined to fail and it predicted a backlash across the Muslim world unless Israel's military forces were immediately reined in.
Senior government officials said the exclusion from the summit of Iran, Syria and their Lebanese ally Hizbullah meant that no lasting settlement was possible.
Hamid Reza Asefi, the foreign ministry spokesman in Tehran, said: "They should have invited all the countries of the region, including Syria and Iran, if they want peace. How can you tackle these important issues without having representatives of all countries in the region?"
Article continues
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Rome conference is to be attended by the US, Canada, Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Turkey, Russia, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, as well as the UN and the World Bank. It is due to publish a statement setting out the broad outlines of a possible deal, including the injection of a muscular international stabilisation force which Hizbullah rejected yesterday. But the mood in Rome was soured last night when an Israeli air strike hit a UN monitoring post in south Lebanon, killing four UN peacekeepers from Austria, Canada, China and Finland. Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, immediately demanded that Israel investigate the direct hit that he said was "apparently deliberate".
"This coordinated artillery and aerial attack on a long established and clearly marked UN post ... occurred despite personal assurances given to me by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert," Mr Annan said. Israel expressed regret, and promised an investigation, but denied it had targeted the post.
Fears that the conflict could spread across the region intensified yesterday. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, a normally placid US ally, warned that "if the option of peace fails as a result of Israeli arrogance, then the only option remaining will be war, and God alone knows what the region would witness in a conflict that would spare no one".
Tony Blair's official spokesman, confronting criticism that the prime minister had failed to call for an immediate ceasefire, insisted he had been working "on a daily, almost hourly basis" for more than a week on the details of a Rome deal.
Responding to yesterday's Guardian ICM poll reflecting widespread unease over the closeness of Mr Blair to George Bush, the spokesman said the findings were contradictory, wanting him to distance Britain from the US while demanding he use his influence on the US to bring about a ceasefire.
The ceasefire, a prisoner exchange and the new international force are expected to comprise the main elements of the Rome deal. The US is also thought to be ready to offer Lebanon the return of the contested Shebaa farms region occupied by Israel since 1982 as part of the package.
But Iran claims that no amount of western effort can bring a breakthrough, with key parties shut out of the negotiating room. A senior Iranian official, speaking by phone from Tehran, said: "Iran and Syria should be involved [in peace negotiations], not because they are sponsors of Hizbullah, but because they are regional powers. If Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt are involved, then Iran and Syria should be as well, if they are looking to be successful."
The official added that a continuing failure to halt the fighting and reach a just settlement would "certainly spark a backlash" across the Muslim world. He said that public opinion was increasingly outraged by the destruction of Lebanon.
Last night, Hizbullah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said his group's missiles would start hitting targets deeper into Israel, and warned he would not accept a "humiliating" ceasefire. Another Hizbullah leader hinted that the group had not expected such a ferocious response from Israel, as previous border incidents have usually played out in low-key fashion.
The US, Britain and Israel blame mainly Iran and, to a lesser extent, Syria for the bloodshed in Lebanon, claiming they supply missiles and money to Hizbullah and say that Iran is seeking to deflect attention from UN moves to take punitive action over its nuclear programme.
But Iranian and Hizbullah officials say they suspect Israel's action against Hizbullah is part of a wider US-inspired tactic. Mr Nasrallah said the US-Israeli "assessment" had identified obstacles to their vision of a "new Middle East" and had set out to eliminate them. He said Israel had been looking for a pretext to launch an offensive; the abduction of two of its soldiers two weeks ago gave it the perfect excuse.
Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said UN inaction was not helping. "Upon hearing the slightest criticism against the Zionist regime, they issue dozens of resolutions. But now, 13 days after that regime's massive attack against Lebanon, using most fatal weapons, they even refrain from asking for a truce," he said.
Britain has been criticised for aligning itself too closely with the US, and last night the Foreign Office was looking into a report that a British airport was used as a staging post last weekend by US planes transporting bunker busting bombs to Israel. "If the Americans have done something wrong, then we will raise it with them," a spokesman said of the report in the Daily Telegraph.
An official involved in preparations for the summit lowered expectations for the Rome meeting: "It's going to be a talking shop," he said.
He added: "Iran and Syria are definitely protagonists and people will need to speak to them as this goes on. But this meeting will not find the silver bullet."
Latestnews....Rome talks failed.....Isaiah 17;1 first?....before persuado 7 yr covenant can come?.....................................................benny
[right][snapback]75269[/snapback][/right]
UNCOVERED: RUSSIAN-SYRIAN-IRANIAN AXIS
For students of Bible prophecy, even the title of this communiqué should set off alarm sirens. I just received some electrifying intelligence data. First, from the Debka-Net-Weekly’s briefing. And second, from some personal intelligence sources (I carefully guard) that confirm Debka’s report.
Russia, Iran and Syria have entered a defense pact that is in the process of altering the balance of power in the entire Middle East. Russia’s part in the pact has been kept relatively secret for a long time. But the facts reveal a long steady Russian commitment to the Iranian nuclear program and arms supply to Syria.
A Mossad General shared with me in confidence that he had personally traced the hiring and importation to Iran 283 of the defunct Soviet Union’s top nuclear and missile scientists. This meeting took place in February of 1991.
I shared this information with no one until nine months later when it was first made public (although strangely not followed up by the mainstream media). All Russian leaders continued and expanded this agreement to this day, especially our supposed friend, Vladimir Putin.
Russia has helped the Iranian nuclear program from its inception. Hundreds of Russian scientists with their families live around the some twenty scattered nuclear related facilities. Russian ‘Spetznaz soldiers’ (special forces) guard all the key nuclear facilities.
Iran has had some help on missile development from the North Koreans. But even their missiles are based upon Russian designs. The unmistakable culprit in China, North Korea and Iran’s nuclear development has been the Soviet Union and continued by Russia.
The Soviet Union’s motivation for helping China and North Korea was primarily ideological. Russia’s primary reason is hard cash, although now, it is taking on a strategic importance as well.
So here are the disturbing hard facts about what is taking place in what can only be viewed as a dangerous anti-western strategy in the form of a Russian-Syrian-Iranian Axis.
The first part of this strategy was, as I said above, Russia enabling Iran to produce deliverable nuclear warheads.
The second part was the forming of the recent mutual defense pact between Iran and Syria. The foreign ministers of Iran and Syria, Mostafa Najjar and Hassan Turkmani, signed the pact in Tehran on June 15th, 2006.
Debka’s intelligence sources unveiled a disturbing clause in the agreement that was reported to President Bush by US Intelligence. This report disclosed:
“The clause speaks of more than one battery of upgraded SHEHAB-3 surface-to-surface missiles to be deployed on the 13,000-foot Jabal Ash Shanin ridges towering over central Syria.
“The latest Syrian-Iranian exchanges are reported by DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s intelligence sources as auguring the early dispatch from Tehran of a deputation of officers to take up position at al Qadnus, east of the Syrian port of Tartus, and along the road linking the port to Jabal Ash Shanin.
“This team will act as the vanguard of the Iranian missile force to operate the missiles station, will check out the ground and fix its precise location.
“Senior intelligence officials warned the US President that this deployment would not just throw the entire Middle East balance of strength out of kilter, but directly menace American bases as far as West and East Europe and the Central Asian republics, including those located on the shores of the oil-rich Caspian Sea.”
This puts virtually all of Europe within range of the soon-coming nuclear tipped Iranian missiles — and at the whim of Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Remember him? He is the one who believes Allah has chosen him to fulfill an “end time” Muslim prophecy by starting a world apocalypse in which the long-awaited ‘Mahdi’ (Muslim Messiah) will appear and subject all survivors to Allah.
As if this isn’t bad enough news, there is something even more alarming developing within this new axis of evil.
Russia is now making moves to protect Syria and its Shehab-3 missile base. This is what DEBKA-News-Weekly reported:
“Our sources have observed the Russians dredging the port of TARTUS, Syria’s second most important Mediterranean port, with a view to expanding their logistical supply point there to a fully-equipped naval base, possibly to serve the Black Sea Fleet warships when they are redeployed from the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol. It is designed to be built up into the permanent base for the fleet led by the RFS Moskva (TG Flag) missile cruiser and the RFS Azov landing ship within the next three years.
“February 27, 2006, DEBKA file’s exclusive sources found the MOSKVA and AZOV heading into the Mediterranean on Feb. 5, escorted by a Russian military tug, to take part in the a NATO marine exercise Operation Active Endeavor, which was to practice counter-measures against nuclear and other WMD smugglers. NATO chiefs and American generals in particular, attached great importance to Russia’s participation in the exercise. NATO secretary Jaap de Hoop Scheffer had intended to make the gesture of being the North Atlantic Organization chief to visit a Russian flagship.
“The visit was cancelled when it was discovered that the three Russian fleet vessels would be paying an official call at the Syrian port of Latakia.
“The arrival of the Russian task force in TARTUS in March marked the opening of the Russian base. Our military experts note that the Missile Cruiser MOSKVA is armed with the weapons, radar and electronic gear of an [aircraft] carrier hunter.
“The American intelligence briefing for the US President further disclosed that sophisticated Russian air defense systems are to be installed for the dual purpose of protecting the TARTUS NAVAL BASE and the SHEHAB-3 missile emplacements. DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s military sources identify the system as the S-300PMU-2. It will be operated by Russian military crews and not put in Syrian hands.
“This air defense system is comparable to the American Patriot, but is more effective.
“The version to be deployed in Syria is geared to intercept ballistic missiles. It has the great advantage of being ready to fire five minutes after receiving orders …”
This explains why Iran has blatantly defied the world and continued developing nuclear warheads, which are closer to becoming operational than we dare believe.
Second, it explains the reason why the Iranian and Syrian defense ministers signed a mutual defense pact last June 15th.
Third, it gives the reason for Hezbollah launching a war with Israel when they did. It was to divert the G-8 leaders from seriously debating action about the Iranian nuclear threat. And Vladimir Putin played a masterful game of concealing what his forces are doing.
Fourth, it explains why Syria and Iran are unafraid to openly support Hezbollah in their war with Israel and support terrorist that target US troops in Iraq. Russia is in the background guaranteeing their protection.
Debka reports that they found data indicating that Russia helped persuade Syrian President Bashir Assad to accept the placement of Iranian missiles on their soil by hinting that “it is part of their own deepening strategic plans for Syria.
What is most important is that all this is setting up Ezekiel’s 2600-year-old prophecy in Ezekiel chapter 38. Persia, or modern Iran, is listed a chief among the Muslim nations Russia will lead into an all-out assault against Israel. This is predicted to be the first battle of the war of Armageddon.
The one nation that does not seem to be listed is Syria. I believe this is because as a result of actions it is now taking against Israel, Isaiah’s prophecy about Damascus in the last days is going to be soon fulfilled.
Twenty Seven hundred years ago, Isaiah warned, “An oracle concerning Damascus: "See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins … In that day the glory of Jacob will fade; the fat of his body will waste away.” (Isaiah 17:1, 4 NIV)
To establish the time of this event, look at these factors. First, Damascus is one of the oldest continuously populated cities on earth. It has never been totally destroyed – yet.
Second, it is in a context of events that lead up to the catastrophes that precede the Lord Jesus’ Second Coming. Third, it is far enough away from that event that Jacob (Israel) is enduring terrible circumstances. Fourth, Syria and the tribal name of its forefathers are not mentioned in the Russian led Muslim Confederacy that launches Armageddon in the middle of the Tribulation.
All of this leads me to believe that Damascus will be destroyed before the Tribulation begins. I believe that Damascus is about to so threaten Israel’s existence by either launching or furnishing bio-chemical weapons or radioactive dirty bombs, that Israel will nuke them. Israel has sworn that it will implement the Samson-Option against any nation that attacks them with any form of weapons of mass destruction. That means a thermonuclear strike. This may soon happen to Syria.
This in turn will so terrify the world, that it will be ripe to embrace the antichrist when he is unveiled. And that could be very, very soon.
Thank God that you have received the gift of pardon that Jesus purchased by dying in your place under the judgment for your sins. You will be miraculously snatched up to heaven to meet Him before the antichrist is revealed.
But if you haven’t received this free gift of pardon and accepted Jesus into your life, now is the time. Don’t put it off. It is like playing Russian roulette with eternity. Pray right now and receive your forgiveness. Ask Jesus Christ to come into your life and make it what He wants it to be. He will give you new desires, new joy and purpose for living. Do it now.
Email Author: By: Hal Lindsey
.........................................................................benny
[right][snapback]75270[/snapback][/right]
Iran threatens response if Syria attacked
Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad-Reza Sheybani says 'Israel can't deal with our capabilities' Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad-Reza Sheybani says 'Israel can't deal with our capabilities; Lebanon war beginning of end of Israel'
Dudi Cohen
Iranian threats against Israel continue: Iranian media outlets published sections of interviews given by Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad-Reza Sheybani, who said that Hizbullah's military capability has greatly increased in the last decade, and threatened that if
Israel harmed Syria, the Iranians would respond with force.
Sheybani stressed that Iran would support Syria if it is attacked by Israel. "There should be no doubt on this issue: If Syria is harmed, even in the slightest way, we will respond with force. This, on the basis of the joint defense agreement in effect between the two countries and already signed by the two ministers of defense," he said.
Sheybani added that he thought "Israel did not have the ability to deal with Iran's capabilities."
The Iranian news agency Fars, closely associated with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, published parts of the interview, and reported that Sheybani denied that his country was transferring arms to Hizbullah, but said that the organization has been busy heavily arming itself since the IDF's withdrawal from Lebanon.
"There are those who ask whether Hizbullah's military ability compares with that of Israel. Our answer is that the Hizbullah model of 2006 is very different to the Hizbullah model of 1996," Sheybani said.
However, he denied that Iran armed the organization, and hinted that the organization could be using weapons left behind by Israel in Lebanon.
"After the withdrawal of Israel in 2000, a lot of weapons arrived in the hands of Hizbullah. And therefore there is the possibility that the sound of the missiles exploding in Haifa are known to Israelis: These missiles were left there from 2000," he claimed.
'Beginning of the end of Israel'
Addressing the possibility that the IDF may conquer parts of Lebanon, Sheybani said: "In this war there is the chance that Israel could enter Lebanese soil and hold parts of it – that's certainly a possibility. But the problem is that if someone enters it's not sure he will be allowed to leave," the ambassador said.
Sheybani repeated the claim of the Hizbullah Chief Hassan Nasrallah according to which no Hizbullah member was killed in IDF attacks, and added that there nothing to be happy about in reports of the IDF battle in Maroun al-Ras.
Sheybani's comments came a day after Hizbullah representative in Iran, Hussein Sif al-Din, threatened that his organization planned to increase its attacks in Israel, until "no place in Israel will be safe."
At a conference in Tehran, attended also by Hamas and Palestinian Authority representatives, al-Din threatened that "this war will be remembered as the beginning of the end of Israel."
...........................................................................benny
[right][snapback]75273[/snapback][/right]
Reuters
Damascus: Moscow has asked Syria not to use Russian missiles to retaliate if attacked by Israel, diplomats said yesterday.
Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov delivered the message to senior Syrian officials in Damascus last week, as the risk of Israel's Lebanese offensive expanding into a regional war rose, the diplomats said.
"Saltanov told them Syria can use Russian anti-aircraft missiles to thwart Israeli air attacks, but that Russia objected to using Russian Scuds to retaliate," one diplomat, who did not want to be identified, said.
"The Russians don't want their missiles to hit Israeli cities. Syria, however, has more advanced North Korean missiles," another diplomat said.
Syria, which relied on Russia for military supplies during the 1970s and 80s, has diversified its arsenal in recent years to include Chinese and North Korean weapons.
Diplomats say Syria has a formidable stock of surface-to-surface missiles that can hit deep into Israel, plus an array of Russian surface-to-air batteries.
Although no longer as close to Syria as during the Soviet era, Russia has called for a ceasefire in Lebanon and said Israeli attacks went beyond an anti-Hezbollah operation.
...................................................benny
[right][snapback]75274[/snapback][/right]
July 25, 2006, 11:56 PM (GMT+02:00)
Not surprisingly, the most extreme statement came from Iran: A Middle East storm is brewing and will strike violently, said the radical Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. “The use of force in Lebanon could trigger a hurricane.”
He spoke after Riyadh released an official statement from King Abdullah asserting: “If the peace option fails because of Israeli arrogance, there will be no option but a war in the region.”
Israeli defense minister Amir Peretz announced that Israel is clearing a security zone in South Lebanon that will remain under IDF fire control unless a multinational force assumes responsibility.
..............................................................................benny
[right][snapback]75276[/snapback][/right]
SYRIA INCREASES ALERT OF WAR WITH ISRAEL
JERUSALEM [MENL] -- Syria has been preparing for war with Israel.
Israeli intelligence sources said the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad has placed the military on alert. The sources said Syrian infantry commandos, armored units and anti-aircraft batteries have been ordered to launch preparations for an Israeli strike.
"Neither Syria nor Israel is interested in a military clash but the situation is explosive and the events may potentially be incorrectly interpreted," Israeli military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday. "This could entangle Syria up in a battle against us."
Last week, Syrian President Bashar Assad placed his military on alert for an Israeli strike. Israel has repeatedly said it would not attack Syria.
...................................................................benny
[right][snapback]75281[/snapback][/right]
By JOHN BATCHELOR - Special to the Sun
July 26, 2006
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
Secretary Rice's mission to the Middle East has already failed because Syria has issued an ultimatum that augurs a world war soon enough.
The Syrian ultimatum is meant to provoke Israel and to pull America directly into the fighting. The ultimatum threatens that the attacks by Hezbollah — trained, supplied and commanded by Iranian Revolutionary Guards — will increase in intensity unless America negotiates directly with Hezbollah, Syria and Iran. The ultimatum demands that America force Israel to withdraw from Lebanon, to cease tactical strikes on Hezbollah bases and weaponry in Lebanon, to cease tactical strikes on Hamas in Gaza, and to make territorial concessions that would mean that Israel could no longer defend either Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.
Knowing that America cannot agree to such an unprecedented surrender, Syria and its sponsor, Iran, are preparing for the next stage of the escalation, which is meant to draw the American military directly into the shooting war.
The current weapons of provocation are Katyusha rockets, fired at northern Israel chiefly from the coastal city of Tyre, Lebanon.
The next weapon of provocation is the Iranian-made Zelzal-2 ballistic missile. So far, the Israeli air force believes it has destroyed or accounted for about three dozen of the Zelzals inside Lebanon. However, Iran is hourly resupplying the convoys flowing from Syria to Lebanon; and there are dozens if not hundreds of more-potent tactical missiles at the ready.
At present, the Zelzal-2 missiles on their mobile launchers, under Iranian rocket crews, are deployed along the Syrian side of the Syrian-Lebanese border. When the order is given — and it may already have been — the rocket crews will push over the border crossings, park about 15 meters inside Lebanon, and launch on Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The Israelis will have a few minutes to shoot down the missiles, but not many, and then a warhead of a ton of high explosives will leave a hole in Israel's confidence in fighting on alone.
Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, yesterday publicly warned of attacks deeper into Israel.
The Iranian rocket crews can keep up this cunning barrage until Israel makes a logical decision to strike at Syria, where the Lebanese front's Iranian command and control is billetted in Damascus. Syria is well prepared for this air campaign, and the first-rate air defense brought in from Iran, purchased from ex-Soviet suppliers, awaits the Israeli strikes. Damascus will not be a Beirut-style turkey shoot.
more to come................................................benny