In Ezekial 38.....The words "And THOU SHALL BE A GUARD UNTO THEM.......The word "GUARD"..translated means "ARMORER"..............IF you were a guessing person, who much time do you believe in your heart, that "WE" have left?..........Well Jack Kinsella confirms our suspicions, about Russia And China........................

The Death of a Thousand Cuts

Commentary on the News
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Jack Kinsella - Omega Letter Editor
Moscow and Beijing are working hard behind the scenes to dilute any United Nations' effort to rein in North Korean dictator Kim Jong il, taking the same position with North Korea that they have with both Iran and Sudan.


Russian Ambassador Vitali Churkin said that while his country shared fellow council members' "serious concern" about the missile tests, it wanted the council to consider a presidential statement as the "proper format" for a response.

He warned against "whipping up emotions too much" and played down the idea that sanctions would be considered.

His Chinese counterpart, Wang Guangya, was publicly non-committal, telling reporters "if all council members feel that some appropriate action is needed by the council, we will see."

In Beijing, the foreign ministry issued a statement hinting at its opposition to any actions against North Korea. It urged "all parties" involved in the issue to "refrain from doing things that will increase tensions and complicate the situation."

The last time North Korea set off international alarms in 1998, China threatened to block any meaningful resolution -- the best they could come up with was a letter of 'regret' issued by the Security Council two weeks later.

In 2002, it emerged that North Korea had been cheating on the 1994 extortion agreement hammered out by the Clinton administration.

That deal involved paying off North Korea with food and oil shipments and US help with civilian nuclear reactors, in exchange for a North Korean pledge to stand down on its nuclear ambitions.

When the deal collapsed, Kim Jong il, following the protocol established by the Nuclear Dictator Wannabe Handbook, expelled International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, restarted his nuclear facilities and withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The protocol was established by Saddam Hussein, but has been used effectively by both Kim Jong il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without any serious repercussions.

Saddam was deposed by the United States, OVER the objections of the United Nations. Had the US not intervened, Saddam's Iraq would still be a charter member of the Axis of Evil.

Ahmadinejad and Kim are gambling that, having taken the pasting at the UN that it took in 2003, Washington will think twice before getting out ahead of the United Nations again.

And as long as the United Nations is tasked with overseeing their nuclear programs, they can move forward without significant risk to their regimes.

At the UN, they have Moscow's and Beijing's veto power to protect them.

One would assume that the Russians and Chinese should be far more worried about a nuclear North Korea or Iran than the US. America remains outside their reach, while Russian and Chinese cities are already in range of both countries.

But they aren't. The Russians sold Iran both the reactors and the materials necessary to start up a nuclear weapons program. The Chinese provided Kim Jong il with his nuclear program.

It is a diplomatic fiction that their intention is anything less than a proxy nuclear war with the United States.

An Iranian nuclear attack against the United States would cripple the US, and eliminate the imbalance of power created by the existence of an unchallenged American superpower.

But any US retaliation would be directed at Iran, leaving Russia intact to exploit the opportunities crippling the United States would provide. Beijing shares the same strategy with North Korea and has the same ultimate end-game planned.

Why else would either nation risk creating a nuclear neighbor? Russia and Iran have no shared ideology. And Communist North Korea is the last Stalinist regime on earth, and as such, at ideological odds with Maoist Communism.

The only thing they share is hatred of the United States. If the United States weren't their shared enemy, they would be at war with one another.

Iran is the principle exporter of the Islamic terrorism being deployed against Russian troops in Chechnya.

If Pyongyang weren't a thorn in Washington's side, it's Stalinist government would have long since been deposed by the dominant Red Chinese Maoists.

And Kim Jong il would now be a Hollywood director instead of a megalomaniacal dictator with delusions of grandeur and four nuclear weapons.

In the past decade, while Washington slept, Moscow and Beijing have been quietly laying the groundwork for America's destruction, a little at a time.

Rather than challenging Washington directly, they are supporting a policy of inflicting the 'death by a thousand cuts' on America -- using other states and non-state actors as proxy warriors.

That is why both countries still had military technicians fleeing Baghdad as coalition forces entered the city.

It's why both countries have been arming the Arab world to the teeth for the past decade, providing intelligence, weapons and training to any nation that opposes the United States enough to do it damage.

While the Russians and Chinese are both bedeviled by Islamic terrorism, they continue to arm and train the Islamic world, gambling on a war that will weaken or destroy both enemies while they sit on the sidelines and then pick up the pieces. Which is the precise scenario outlined in Bible prophecy for the last days.

While the Bible clearly indicates a Pre tribulation Rapture of the Church, that is not the same thing as a guarantee that nothing bad will happen to America until after the Rapture.

The Rapture is not a 'Great Escape' but is rather a necessary element of the Big Picture for the last days.

Jesus promised the Comforter would remain with the Church until He comes. Paul says the Restrainer (the Holy Spirit, the Comforter) would be 'taken out of the way' BEFORE the 'man of sin' is revealed. (2nd Thessalonians 2:1-8)

Since the Holy Spirit indwells believers, He cannot be 'taken out of the way' without either leaving the Church comfortless or taking the Church with Him.

The Bible promises we will NOT be left comfortless. To argue otherwise means Jesus made a false promise. That is not supported by Scripture.

What IS supported by Scripture is that the Church leaves when the Restrainer is taken out of the way: "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (1st Thessalonians 4:17)

So the Bible promises the Church will not be left comfortless AND it promises that the Church will be taken by the Lord. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to connect the dots and see the Big Picture.

The Bible assigns a role in the last days drama for the Russians, and it assigns a role to the Chinese, it mentions Iran by name, provides for a global government and even puts Israel at the center of a global conflict.

It outlines a series of battles and conflicts that it says are part of a wider war that comes to its conclusion on the plains of Megiddo. All the major players on the current world scene are represented in Scripture.

Except the United States of America. We can hope that America's absence is explained by the Rapture. But if the Lord tarries, there are plenty of other explanations to choose from.

None of them good.


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

Welcome to the forum, I pray that you will be blessed and that we all can share and learn from each other
Cornelius

Hey Stephen, you guys that are leaving soon, please send a copy of your house keys to me at P.O Box 3348, Brooklyn South Africa.
...........
just kidding......
love C
(stuck my ticket to my computer screen so I can see it )

Cornelius,

I will drop the keys to you from the sky as I fly over south Africa. What color is your roof ? God bless you brother .... He is on His way !!!

Benny,



And they have a shelf life!

Evil Deal 2
Like I said in my last commentary, it couldn't be clearer what Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejed wants. He wants the destruction of Israel. And, if you recall, I speculated that in his ongoing negotiations with the EU's Javier Solana, Ahmadinejed may be attempting to get the Western powers to start seeing things regarding Israel his way. Well, according to today's news, it appears Ahmadinejed's evil deal may have been left -- at least for the moment -- on the table Read about it here I See video here.

Why would I say something like, "at least for the moment"? Am I insinuating I believe the Western powers may at some time in the future actually consider betraying Israel? And if I am, what right do I have to suggest such of our world leaders? Well, I'm not the one who is suggesting such an event. A widely held understanding of Bible prophecy suggests it.

This brings us to something that's been on my heart. A poster on FP's discussion board commented about how anything connected to Herb Peters is quickly deleted from some of the other end-time discussion boards. How is this related to the subject of this commentary? The way I see it, the issue can be the same -- what right does Herb Peters have making some of the suggestions he's making.

As you probably know by now, I like to quote Jesus. Once when Jesus was asked by what authority He was doing the things that He was doing, He asked His inquirers His own question. He asked:

I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?" And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Then why did you not believe him? (Matthew 21: 24-25 New American Standard Bible).

You see, by pointing to John the Baptist Jesus was implying His authority to be doing the things that He was doing came from the God's word -- from Bible prophecy. If you recall, regarding John Jesus had this to say:

What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings' palaces! But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, "BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU" (Matthew 11: 7-10).

My point is, it's not by our own authority that we who know Bible prophecy make our observations known. When world events occur that appear to be those foretold in Scripture, it's our job as believers in God's Word to get the news out.

The prophecies tell us in the end-time Jerusalem will become an international problem. They also tell us a new European leader will rise among a 10-nation alliance and pursue a seven-year program to bring Israel a false time of peace. And anyway you spin it, it'll be an evil deal.

Like Ahmadinejed's.

07-11-2006
................................................................................benny

THIS COULD POSSIBLY BE THE BEGINNING OF ISAIAH 17;1 WAR???
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Hezbollah militants captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid Wednesday, and dozens of Israeli troops crossed the frontier with warplanes, tanks and gunboats to hunt for the captives. Three Israeli soldiers also were killed in the raid.

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Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called the soldiers' capture "an act of war," and his Cabinet prepared to approve more military action in Lebanon — a second front in the fight against Islamic militants by Israel, which already is waging an operation to free a captured soldier in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli jets struck deep into southern Lebanon, blasting bridges and Hezbollah positions and killing two civilians, Lebanese security officials said.

The Israeli military planned to call up thousands of reservists, and residents of Israeli towns on the border with Lebanon were ordered to seek cover in underground bomb shelters.

Israel's Defense Ministry said the Lebanese government was responsible for the two soldiers' safety.

At least six Israeli soldiers were killed in the Hezbollah attack and Israeli response, the Lebanese officials said. The Israeli army confirmed casualties among its troops.

The United States, U.N., European Union, France and Germany expressed deep concern about the fighting. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for the immediate release of kidnapped Israeli soldiers and condemned Israel's retaliation in southern Lebanon.

Israel dropped a quarter-ton bomb on a home in the Gaza Strip before dawn to try to assassinate top Hamas fugitives, escalating its two-week offensive in the Gaza Strip aimed at freeing a soldier seized by fighters linked to the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The blast killed nine members of a Palestinian family — including a 4-year-old boy. The head of Hamas' military wing was wounded but escaped, Israel said.

The Arab League planned an urgent meeting on the crisis Thursday amid "fears of widening of tension and possible Israeli strike against Syria," which backs Hezbollah, a senior league official in Cairo said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa blamed Israel for the escalating violence in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories and denied his country had a role in either abduction.

"It's up to the resistance — both the Lebanese and the Palestinian — to decide what they are doing and why are they fighting," he told reporters in Damascus.

The top U.N. official in Lebanon, Geir Pedersen, met with Lebanon's prime minister and denounced Hezbollah's incursion across the border into northern Israel, known as the Blue Line.

"Hezbollah's action escalates the already tense situation along the Blue Line and is an act of very dangerous proportions," he said in a statement.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Welch, on a visit to Cairo, Egypt, said the soldiers' capture was "a very dangerous escalation."

He accused Syria of interfering to prevent a solution to abduction of Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was seized by Gaza militants.

"We are dismayed that so far there are some who are intending to interfere," he said.

Jubilant residents of south Beirut, a stronghold of Hezbollah, and Palestinians in the Ein el-Hilwa refugee camp fired in the air and set off firecrackers for more than an hour after the capture of the Israeli soldiers was announced.

Lebanese officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, said three Israeli soldiers were killed in Hezbollah's initial raid and another three died in a tank hit by Hezbollah fighters as it crossed the border.

Israeli security officials said their troops had crossed into a southwestern sector of Lebanon, near where the soldiers were seized,to keep their captors from moving them deeper into Lebanon.

Israeli warplanes made their deepest foray into Lebanon in an afternoon strike on a road in the Zahrani region along the Mediterranean coast — about halfway between the border and the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Anti-aircraft guns opened fire on jets flying over the coastal city of Sidon.

Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz warned the Lebanese government that the Israeli military will target infrastructure and "turn back the clock in Lebanon by 20 years," if the soldiers are not returned, Israeli TV reported.

Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 and withdrew after high casualties on both sides.

Israeli jets Wednesday struck two bridges over the Litani River deep in southern Lebanon, killing two civilians on the main north-south highway between the port cities of Tyre and Sidon, Lebanese security officials said.

Gunboats off the Lebanese coast joined in the assault on Hezbollah positions.

A top Hamas leader said his movement did not coordinate with Hezbollah on the capture of the soldiers, but said it was "natural" for the two groups to work together in their demands against Israel.

"Now Israeli has to decide on its choices," Osama Hamdan, Hamas' spokesman in Lebanon, told The Associated Press. "It is early to talk about details of the exchange, but no doubt the operation carried out by Hezbollah today will strengthen our demands to exchange the captives."

Hamas-linked militants have demanded the release of at least some of the estimated 9,000 prisoners held by Israel in exchange for Shalit's freedom. Hamdan's comments suggested the group now may toughen its stance.

Shalit, 19, was captured June 25 by Hamas-linked militants on a cross-border raid into Israel from Gaza.

The military arm of Hezbollah said its fighters captured two Israeli soldiers "on the border with occupied Palestine, fulfilling the promise to liberate its prisoners" held by Israel.

In a statement faxed to the AP, the group said "the prisoners have been moved to a safe area."

The Israeli offensive in Gaza since Shalit's capture has killed more 60 Palestinians, most gunmen but about a dozen civilians. One Israeli soldier has died in that operation, shot by fellow troops.

Israel occupied a small strip of southern Lebanon for 18 years before withdrawing in 2000 amid public complaints in Israel. Hezbollah fighters have controlled the Lebanese side of the border with Israel since then. Israel and Hezbollah have been clashing for two decades and still fight over a small sliver of border territory, Chebaa Farms. U.N. cartographers say it belongs to a part of Syria that Israel annexed, but Lebanon claims the territory and Hezbollah has vowed to liberate it.

Hezbollah has repeatedly expressed its intent to kidnap Israeli soldiers to trade for Arab prisoners.

Lebanon is under U.N. and U.S. pressure to disarm the Shiite guerrilla group and move its own military into the south, but the government has refused to do so, calling Hezbollah a legitimate resistance group.

Israel has carried out several prisoner swaps with Hezbollah to obtain freedom for captured Israelis. An Israeli civilian and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers were exchanged for 436 Arab prisoners and the bodies of 59 Lebanese fighters in January 2004. In 1985, three Israeli soldiers captured in Lebanon in 1982 were traded for 1,150 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners.

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

By land, sea, and air..........................................................................
AITA SHAAB, Lebanon (AFP) - Israel has bombarded Lebanon from the land, sea and air to retrieve two soldiers snatched by Hezbollah, the first such major offensive against its neighbour since a 2000 pullout.

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The abduction in a Hezbollah raid on an army post on the volatile Lebanese border opened a new front in the Middle East after the capture of another Israeli soldier by Palestinians two weeks ago plunged the region into chaos.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert held the government in Beirut fully responsible and vowed not to negotiate as aircraft, gunboats and artillery pounded Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.

"The Lebanese government is responsible. Lebanon will pay the price," Olmert warned. "This morning's events are not a terror attack but the action of a sovereign state which attacked Israel without any reason."

World powers, already concerned about the situation in Gaza where at least 68 Palestinians have been killed in two weeks, issued urgent appeals for the release of the soldiers and for all sides to show restraint.

"This is, in the judgment of the United States, a very dangerous escalation. We do not see how this will contribute to our effort to resolve the crisis in Gaza and to get back on a path toward a more peaceful relationship between Israel and the Palestinians," US Middle East envoy David Welch said.

The fundamentalist Shiite Hezbollah, whose militia was instrumental in forcing Israeli troops out of Lebanon six years ago and which is backed by Israel's arch-foes Syria and Iran, demanded the release of Arab prisoners in exchange for the soldiers.

The Hezbollah raid came amid intense cross-border exchanges in which at least four civilians were wounded in northern Israel and another four in south Lebanon, including a correspondent of Hezbollah television.

Two Lebanese civilians were killed and five others wounded as the Israelis mounted their incursion, Lebanese police said.

"Israel will react in a decisive way so that those responsible for the attack will pay a high and painful price," vowed Olmert, who is facing his second major crisis since taking office only in May.

Clearing his schedule, Olmert has called an emergency cabinet meeting for 8:00 pm (1700 GMT) as the military called up a rapid-reaction force of 6,000 troops headed for Israel's northern border.

Hezbollah said its military wing had captured the two soldiers in a bid to extract the release of detainees.

"To fulfil a promise to free the prisoners and detainees, the Islamic Resistance captured at 9:05 am (0605 GMT) two Israeli soldiers at the borders with occupied Palestine," Hezbollah said.

The Shiite group, which has ministers in the Lebanese government and whose armed wing controls the south of the country, said the two soldiers "were moved to a safe place".

As soon as news of the capture was announced, celebratory gunfire erupted across Beirut's southern suburbs -- a Hezbollah stronghold. Some residents were also seen distributing sweets to passing motorists.

The governing Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, whose military wing is one of three groups holding another soldier captive in Gaza, also congratulated Hezbollah, saying the abduction showed the "weakness of the Israeli army."

Israel sent tanks across the border in the first ground incursion since the Jewish state ended its 22-year occupation in May 2000, while warplanes and ground and naval artillery pounded Hezbollah targets, the army said.

"Our planes, tanks and artillery are operating inside Lebanese territory," a spokesman said.

Israel has been on high alert for possible retaliation from Hezbollah following its threats to kill Hamas leaders based in Damascus and since it sent warplanes over a Syrian presidential palace late last month.

"We will take Lebanon 20 years back," Israel's army chief Dan Halutz was quoted as saying by the private Channel 10 television.

"We must stop the restraint and the diplomatic dialogue and move to a serious military move against anyone who is linked and sends these people," said Avigdor Yitzhaki, the leader of Israel's coalition bloc in parliament.

The return of Israeli troops to the Gaza Strip to rescue a soldier captured on June 25 had already evoked painful memories of the army's disastrous invasion of Lebanon where soldiers became bogged down in a deadly quagmire before finally leaving.

Wednesday's flare-up on the northern border came shortly after Israeli tanks and troops pushed a new offensive in the central Gaza Strip, killing nine members of the same family in an air strike on a house owned by a Hamas leader.

The situation continued to deteriorate in the Gaza Strip, where Palestinian militants are still holding Gilad Shalit, an 19-year-old Israeli corporal.

At least 16 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in Gaza on Wednesday, including nine from the same family who died when aircraft bombarded a house belonging to a Hamas leader, medics said.

Shalit's capture sparked the worst crisis in the region since the Islamist movement -- which is branded a terrorist group by Israel and the West -- took office in March.

In an interview published Wednesday, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said his mediation efforts for Shalit's release had been sabotaged by an unnamed party.

He said he had reached a deal with Israel for "a large number of prisoners" to be released but that Hamas came under fresh pressure and the mediation was scuppered.

Hezbollah and its leader Hassan Nasrallah have repeatedly urged Hamas not to release the Israeli soldier, arguing that his capture was the best bargaining chip for the release of Palestinian and Arab prisoners.

The three groups detaining Shalit in the Gaza Strip have demanded the release of 1,000 Palestinian, Arab, Muslim and other prisoners but Israel has so far refused to negotiate.

....................................................................................................

07/12/06
COMMENTARY: As I write this, things are erupting in the MiddleEast with a fury. Iran has learned that they can sit aside and work on their nukes if they only stir trouble through friends. North Korea has launched missles in coordination with Iran. North Korea is now in the spotlight. Further, the Palestinians, with the coordination of Iran and Syria has kidnapped soldiers in an attempt to turn world opinion away from Iran. Now, the Hezbollah has kidnapped soldiers from Israel and all attention is further diverted from Iran. This move of provoking Israel by kidnapping soldiers is a very serious event. Knowing that this provocation will create war, Iran must be very close to where they want to be in order to make their attempt at destroying Israel.

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

Note: delete/relocate if not right place! TY

Russia and Syria becoming buddies
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BLACK SEA FLEET MAY MOVE TO SYRIA

Russia may be planning to move its Black Sea Fleet to the Syrian port of Tarsus.

Russia's Black Sea Fleet currently uses a range of naval facilities in the Ukrainian region of Crimea. They operate in the region under a 1997 agreement that allowed Russia to continue its presence in the former Soviet republic for rent of $93 million per year.

The fleet is not scheduled to withdraw until 2017. However the Ukraine has recently voiced concerns that Russia is not paying enough for the facilities and has demanded that a new agreement be signed. Russia says that it will not make any concessions and negotiations between Russia and the Ukraine have stalled.

On June 23, 2006, Ukrainian officials attempted to seize a building and equipment belonging to the Black Sea Fleet, further aggravating the disagreement.

Recently a respected Russian newspaper quoted multiple sources in Russia's diplomatic service and the Defense Ministry, indicating that Russia may be planning to move its Black Sea Fleet to Syria. Russia has started dredging at the Syrian port of Tarsus where it maintains a logistical supply point and it may have plans to turn it into a full-fledged naval base. Russia has also launched a modernization project at the port of Latakia, located about 60 miles to the north of Tarsus.

A Defense Ministry source said that Moscow was planning to form a squadron led by the Moskva, the Black Sea Fleet's flagship missile cruiser, within the next three years. The squadron would operate in the Mediterranean Sea on a permanent basis.

Over the past two years, partly as a consequence of the war in Iraq, Russia has been carefully cultivating ties with Turkey, Iran and Syria. After losing the Mid-East foothold provided by Saddam Hussein's Iraq, the Russians have been building a new axis of power based on those three key countries. Russia is now Turkey's second-largest trading partner, with a volume of $10 billion in trade per year; Russia strengthened ties with Iran by supplying it with nuclear-related technologies; and last year Russia and Syria made plans to increase diplomatic and military cooperation. Russia wrote-off approximately 10 billion dollars of Syria’s Soviet-era debt and has supplied Syria with Russian made SA-18 surface-to-air missiles.

Russia's arms exports in 2005 totalled a record breaking 6.1 billion dollars. Despite the ongoing controversy about Iran's nuclear program, Russia intends to sell Iran up to 30 Tor M-1 surface-to-air missiles in a deal estimated to be worth up to 700 million dollars. Russia claims to be our ally and partner in the war against terrorism. However despite US objections, Russia is all too willing to sell advanced weaponry to countries (like Syria and Iran) which support the insurgency in Iraq. Russia has also made overtures to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian government. Russia does not consider Hamas to be a terrorist organization, even though Hamas has claimed responsibility for the murder of more than 500 people in at least 350 separate terrorist attacks since 1993.

Russia is a co-sponsor of the Road Map Peace Plan, but that does not mean they are a friend to Israel. Prior to the elections in January, Russian military experts were sent to the Gaza Strip to train Palestinian security forces. In addition to training, Russia is prepared to provide the Palestinians with armored vehicles, ammunition, and helicopters. In past speeches Putin has called on Israel to make concessions and withdraw "from all the occupied Arab lands back to the June 4, 1967 border."

Tensions in the Middle East continue to increase and recent events indicate that the famed battle prophesied in Ezekiel 38 and 39 could be on our near horizon. It is during this battle, that God will directly intercede to protect Israel from Magog and its allies.

What Herb thinks
70th Week War?
Calling Hezbollah's incursion into Israel and "act of war," Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered Israel's armed forces to call out the reserves Read about it here I And here.

Why is Olmert responding to this border incursion with such intensity? It's because Olmert understands what's going on in Israel is part of a wider Middle East conflict. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Hezbollah's incursion into Israel's was Syria's response to Israel's recent incursion into Syria Read about it here. And, the United States may be seeing it the same way Read about it here.

You see, Hezbollah was created by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to fight a proxy war against Israel from Syrian controlled territory in Lebanon Read about it here. In other words, Iran and Syria are using Hezbollah to fight a proxy war against Israel. So, no matter how others may spin it, Olmert correctly interprets this incursion into Israeli territory as an act of war by Iran, Syria and Lebanon -- which is allowing Hezbollah's activity.

I commented why Syria may have agreed to this incursion. But, why would Iran agree? If you recall, while Iran's chief negotiator was refusing the West's demands for a reply to their nuclear offer, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned that Israel's military operations in Gaza could lead to an explosion in the Islamic world. And now, if war does break out over this incursion, we may have a crisis that could lead to Ahmadinejad's prophesied explosion.

As I thought about another Arab/Israeli war, I began wondering what we could call it. Let's see, in 1967 we had a war that only lasted six days -- we called it the Six Day War. In 1973 a war broke out while Israel was celebrating Yom Kippur. We called it The Yom Kippur War. Now, what would we call this one?

Looking at what we know about the facts on the ground in the Middle East and Europe, factoring in what we know about end-time Bible prophecy, we might end up calling this one the 70th Week War. That's because, when the smoke settles from this war -- if it should come -- the stage may be set perfectly for Israel's final seven-year period before Israel's Messiah comes and establishes His long awaited kingdom.

Stay tuned!

07-12-2006
[Home]

Copyright 2006 Herbert L. Peters. .............................................................benny

X marks the spot.

Jul. 13, 2006 0:20 | Updated Jul. 13, 2006 0:55
Atmosphere of war in cabinet meeting
By HERB KEINON



Talkbacks for this article: 5

The cabinet met in emergency session Wednesday night to approve military actions in the North, amid growing sentiment that the region was sliding toward war and that Hizbullah's morning attack necessitated a dramatic, widespread and painful response.

The ministers approved plans to push Hizbullah back from the northern border and place pressure on the Lebanese government to dismantle the Islamist organization, as called for under UN Security Council Resolution 1559.

Following the meeting, the cabinet issued a statement saying, "A new, complicated situation has been created that Israel is obliged to deal with." The statement said this new situation would include special preparations to deal with the possibility that "the enemy will try to cause damage to the home front."

Head of the Home Front Command, Maj.-Gen. Yitzhak Gershon, was instructed to prepare for a possibility of a major bombardment of Israeli communities.

According to estimates, Hizbullah has thousands of rockets aimed at Israel, including 'hundreds' of Fajar 5 rockets that can reach Haifa and Hadera.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said at a press conference with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi a few hours after learning of the attack that it was clear that as a result of this "act of war," Israel would respond in "an unequivocal fashion that will cause those who started this act of war to bear a very painful and far-reaching responsibility for their actions."

"I want to make it clear, this morning's events were not a terrorist attack but the action of a sovereign state that attacked Israel for no reason and without provocation," he said.

"The Lebanese government, of which Hizbullah is a member, is trying to undermine regional stability," Olmert said. "Lebanon is responsible and Lebanon will bear the consequences of its actions."

The ministers were briefed on the day's events, and were presented with military options which one government source characterized as "attacking Lebanon, attacking Syria, or attacking both."

Government officials said that Olmert decided to convene the full cabinet, rather than just the security cabinet, to increase the dramatic impact and give himself the widest possible domestic political legitimacy for his actions.

Tourism Minister Isaac Herzog told reporters after the meeting that Israel would respond in an "appropriate manner," but he did not elaborate. Herzog said, "It is clear to everyone that the responsibility rests on the Lebanese government's shoulders. It is a government that has Hizbullah ministers, and it knows well that Hizbullah is a terrorist organization that receives Iranian and Syrian sponsorship."

The ministers, according to government sources, had to first define the goals of the operation, and whether it would entail a widespread ground operation into Lebanon. Israel pulled its forces out of Lebanon in 2000.

Olmert said he was certain the response that would be approved would "be felt in the right places and with the necessary strength following the murderous provocation that came to Israel from Lebanese territory."

While placing responsibility for the attack squarely on Lebanon's shoulders, he made it clear that Syria would pay a price.

"Throughout the recent period, Syria has proven that it is a terrorist government," Olmert said. "It supports terrorism, it is a government that backs terrorism, it is a government that encourages the murderous actions both of terrorists located on its soil and those beyond it. Of course, there will have to be an appropriate preparation in order to deal with the conduct of the Syrian government."
more to come...............................................benny

DEBKAfile reports: Iran’s national security adviser Ali Larijani flies to Damascus aboard special military plane Wednesday night as war tension builds up around Hizballah kidnap of 2 Israeli soldiers

July 13, 2006, 11:46 AM (GMT+02:00)

A White House statement holds Syria and Iran responsible for Hizballah's abduction of two Israeli soldiers and demands their immediate and unconditional release.

Larijani is also Iran’s senior nuclear negotiator. He will remain in Damascus for the duration of the crisis in line with the recently Iranian-Syrian mutual defense pact. His presence affirms that an Israeli attack on Syria will be deemed an assault on Iran. It also links the Israeli hostage crisis to Iran’s nuclear standoff with the West.

The Syrian army has been put on a state of preparedness.

DEBKAfile’s military sources add that the Iranian air force, missile units and navy are also on high alert.
More...
........From what I gather, If Israel should attack Syria ....Iran will get Involved........................I do not want to jump the gun,....But it does seem like Isaiah 17;1 is at its beginning stages.............................................

Yea.

[b][size=7]BREAKING NEWS

Israel Says Hezbollah Trying to Send Kidnapped Soldiers to Iran

NAHARIYA, Israel (Reuters) - Hizbollah guerrillas from Lebanon fired barrages of rockets into nearly 20 towns across northern Israel on Thursday, killing one civilian and wounding 42 others in their heaviest bombardment in a decade.

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Officials ordered tens of thousands of residents into bomb shelters and basements as tensions escalated with Lebanon, a day after Hizbollah seized two Israeli soldiers and killed eight in cross-border attacks.

Israel earlier struck Beirut airport and began enforcing a naval blockade of Lebanon, intensifying its reprisals. Israel's attacks have killed 53 Lebanese civilians.

Police said some 85 rockets had landed in northern Israel. Nearly 20 towns and villages had been hit.............................................................benny

From Foxnews.com
Israel's foreign ministry said Thursday that Lebanese guerillas holding the two soldiers captive are trying to transfer them to Iran. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev did not disclose the source of his information.

Iran denied the suggestions, saying Jerusalem was "talking absurdities," Reuters reported
"I strongly deny such reports," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said. "Because of its desperation and increasing isolation in the world and because of the tension and crisis created inside Israel, it is now talking absurdities."





Now...If by some chance those soldiers end up in Iran. Israel will have to attack Iran. Iran may have Nukes. The world will soon, and very soon choose sides.

Haifa Hit by Long-Range Missiles
20:24 Jul 13, '06 / 17 Tammuz 5766
by Ezra HaLevi


Hizbullah terrorists fired a long-range missile at the major Israeli port city of Haifa Thursday evening. Tzfat and Nahariya were struck again as well, causing scores of injuries.


A simultaneous wave of missiles struck Tzfat and Nahariya at around 7:30. Twenty people were injured in Tzfat - one seriously and three moderately. As the 8 PM news programs began and Israelis prepared to break the Fast of the 17th of Tamuz, two long-range missiles struck Haifa - though no injuries resulted.

Throughout Thursday, nearly 100 Katyusha missiles were fired at various towns and cities in northern Israel, injuring 90 people and killing two.

full story: http://www.arutzsheva.com/news.php3?id=107263

PERSPECTIVE
FOREST RAIN MARCIA
Jul 13 2006 08:50AM



It’s a matter of perspective…
A view from Israel

By Forest Rain, Lionheart July 12th 2006



Today has been horrible, for Israel that is. For the Hizballah it's been fantastic.

The feelings I have right now can not be contained by mere shapes, creating symbols on a page. There is so much to say, all the words are all jumbled in my head. I wish I could go to sleep and wake up in a different world, one more sane and comfortable to live in.

Hizballah shot rockets at Israel's northern towns, injuring civilians, instilling fear, causing property damage and loss of income. Hizballah attacked Israeli soldiers, killing eight. They took two soldiers hostage and injured others.

Children were forced to spend the day in bomb shelters rather than playing outside, enjoying the beautiful summer day. Friends worried about friends they could not reach on the phone – were they ok or had they been hurt in the attacks? Parents worried about their children – were they safe or was there going to be a knock on their door, officials coming to say that it was their son killed? Their child, brother, husband taken hostage?

Terrible or fantastic? It's a matter of perspective.

For the past two weeks I've been thinking about Gilad Shalit, taken hostage by terrorists in Gaza. Is he really alive like they tell us? Is he being tortured? Does he understand Arabic? Do his captors speak Hebrew? If he is alive, they are probably communicating in English… After today's events I wonder how Gilad's story will end up. In comparison to the battle with Hizballah, Gilad's predicament is much less dramatic or important. Of course that too is a matter of perspective. For Gilad, his family and friends there can be nothing more important than seeing his safe return home.

Now three soldiers are missing. Three families ache with uncertainty. Other families ache with knowing, left to bury their dead and pick up the shards of their broken lives.

One of the hostages is a Druze. People seem to prefer to think about Israel in black and white terms. It's too hard to understand the complexities of the gray. How can they possibly understand it all? For example, how many people around the world know that there are Israeli soldiers who aren't Jewish? That there are even Moslems in the IDF? Did you know that?

This is a difficult time for the world, not just for Israel. Open hearts and minds are needed to be able to see different perspectives and create new alternatives. What we've been doing so far hasn't been working all that well…

I have so much more to say but just don't have the strength.

Please continue your prayers for healing, safety and comfort for all innocents (if you don't pray, light a candle or wish on a star).

Hug someone. Express your love to someone today. You never know what tomorrow will bring….

Thursday July 13, 2006 - 04:31am (IDT) Permanent Link | 0 Comments

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday an Israeli strike on Syria would be considered an attack on the whole Islamic world that would bring a "fierce response," state television reported.

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"If the Zionist regime commits another stupid move and attacks Syria, this will be considered like attacking the whole Islamic world and this regime will receive a very fierce response," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying in a telephone conversation with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The president made the comments after Israel struck Beirut airport and military airbases and blockaded Lebanese ports in reprisals that have killed 55 civilians in Lebanon since Hizbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers a day earlier.

"He (Ahmadinejad) also said it was a must for the Organization of the Islamic Conference to become more active regarding the new crisis created by the Zionist regime," state television reported.

Iran's Islamic government has never recognized Israel and routinely refers to the Jewish state as the "Zionist regime."

Iran has close ties with Syria, and with Hizbollah.

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

Hey....what happens when a "stray rocket" hits the dome of the rock?

great idea!!!................................................benny

Oil prices continue selling above $78 By TANALEE SMITH, Associated Press Writer
28 minutes ago



SINGAPORE - Oil prices continued trading above $78 per barrel Friday as continuing violence in the Middle East raised concerns of a possible disruption of oil supply.

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"We are certainly in uncharted territory," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. "I wouldn't be surprised if $80 is attained soon with this slew of geopolitical events in a tight market."

Light sweet crude for August delivery was up $1.40 to $78.10 in midmorning Asian trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price closed Thursday at a new high of $76.70 a barrel, then continued climbing in after-hours electronic trading, when volumes are significantly lower, to $78.35.

The rally came as fighting between Israel and Lebanon intensified, explosions hit Nigerian oil installations and a diplomatic standoff dragged on between the West and Iran over its nuclear program.

The previous Nymex settlement record of $75.19 was set July 5. The previous intraday record of $75.78 was posted two days later.

In other Nymex trading, gasoline futures climbed 3.22 cents to $2.3335 a gallon, heating oil futures rose more than 3 cents to $2.1185 a gallon and natural gas futures advanced 93 cents to $6.222 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Oil prices are being pushed higher by rising global demand and worries that the world's limited supply cushion would not be adequate to offset a lengthy disruption to output in major producing countries, such as Iran or Nigeria. There are also concerns about the risks hurricanes pose to U.S. production.

"We haven't even taken into account a potential hurricane in the United States, so getting to $80 and beyond this summer seems quite inevitable," Shum said. "But if these Middle East events somehow get resolved, prices could also drop sharply."

While Israel and Lebanon are not involved in the Middle East oil market, the fear is that the conflict could spill into other corner of the region, which produces nearly a third the world's oil and contains almost two-thirds of its untapped reserves.

Israel intensified its attacks against Lebanon on Thursday, imposing a naval blockade, twice hitting Beirut's airport and blasting two Lebanese army air bases near Syria.

Hezbollah fired more than 100 rockets into Israel, which said one also struck the port city of Haifa. More than 51 people have died in two days of violence following the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah militants, who are believed to have financial links to Syria and Iran.

Iran has threatened on more than one occasion to use oil as a weapon if the United Nations uses economic sanctions or some other punishment in its dispute with Tehran over its nuclear program. While OPEC's No. 2 supplier has not raised the issue of withholding oil from the market in a sign of solidarity with Hezbollah, the possibility is no doubt influencing oil traders' actions.

Shum noted, however, that high prices had not slowed demand in the top consumer markets of the United States and China.

In Nigeria, government officials said twin explosions hit oil installations belonging to an Italian oil company in the volatile southeastern delta region. Elsewhere, militants attacked a group of 11 boats carrying supplies to Chevron's offshore oil fields Wednesday, killing four navy sailors who were escorting the convoy, Brig. Gen. Alfred Ilogho said Thursday.

The surge in oil prices rattled stock market investors, sending the Dow Jones industrials sharply lower for the second straight day.

Fill up your gas tanks NOW!!!........................................benny

Have just heard on Fox News that the two missiles that struck Haifa yesterday were fired by an Iranian Guard unit stationed in Lebanon alongside hezbollah units.

Dave

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has boasted that Israel is not powerful enough to take on Iran after warning the Jewish state not to attack regional ally Syria.

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"Thanks be to God, despite its criminal and savage nature, the Zionist regime and its supporters in the West do not have the power to look in the same way towards Iran," the ultra-conservative president said in a speech in the provinces.

He was speaking as Israel continued its offensive in Lebanon sparked by the capture Wednesday by Iran- and Syria-backed Hezbollah militiamen of two Israeli soldiers and the killing of eight others.

"Attacks by the Zionist regime against its neighbours, notably Lebanon, Syria, and its threats against other countries in the region are due to the fact that this puppet regime cannot live normally," IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

"This situation cannot last, and one day the protectors of the Zionist regime -- the US in particular -- will have to explain themselves and be judged by the conscience of humanity," he added.

His comments came after he warned Israel against conducting any attack against Syria -- the Islamic republic's only ally in the region.

"If Israel commits another act of idiocy and aggresses Syria, this will be the same as an aggression against the entire Islamic world and it will receive a stinging response," he said in a telephone conversation with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad.

"The Israeli aggressions are a result of the weakness of a puppet regime that is on its way towards disappearing," state television quoted him as saying.

The hardline president, famed for calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map", also said the "Zionists and their protectors are the people held in most contempt by humanity" and promised their "rapid downfall".

He told Lebanon's pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud that "Iran would put all its potential at the service of Lebanon."

"Iran will stay by the side of the Lebanese in the delicate circumstances in their homeland," he said in a seperate phone conversation, according to a statement from the Lebanese presidency.

In his speech on Friday, Ahmadinejad again questioned the Holocaust, saying "the Zionist regime prevented historians and researchers from investigating it".

"There are still questions... maybe in your so-called Holocaust more than six million Jews were massacred (during World War II), so why do you not allow people to undertake new research?" he asked.

Israel and the United States both blame Iran, along with Syria, of having close control over Lebanon's Hezbollah militants who captured two Israeli soldiers in an attack that sparked Israeli military retaliation against Lebanon.

The US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said that Iran may be behind the escalating violence between Israel and Lebanon as it seeks to deflect world pressure on its nuclear programme.

"I believe that it has a lot to do with the evolving situation with regard to t