Those heads are gonna roll!

"Personally I'd like front row seats when Mahmoud Imahmadman is made to bow before our King of Kings."

This will undoubtdly happen.

Take notice of the last paragraph....You guys with a keen perception,...know very well what all of this looks like its leading to...................................................................CONCLUSIONS OF EU FOREIGN MINISTERS MEETING ON LEBANON

Yesterday, Foreign Ministers of the 25 EU Member States, High Representative Javier Solana (on the left) and EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner (on the right, with EU Finnish Presidency's Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja in center) convened for an extraordinary meeting to discuss the situation in Lebanon. The conclusions they reached follow:

"The Council expresses its utmost concern at the Lebanese and Israeli civilian casualties and human suffering, the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the increased number of internally displaced persons following the escalation of violence.

"The Council condemns the rocket attacks by Hezbollah on Israel. The Council condemns the death of innocent civilians, mostly women and children, in an Israeli air strike on the Lebanese village of Qana. The Council also states that all attacks against UN personnel are unacceptable and deplores the tragic deaths of four UN military observers.

"The Council deplores the loss of innocent civilian life. All parties must do everything possible to protect civilian populations and to refrain from actions in violation of international humanitarian law.

"The Council calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities to be followed by a sustainable cease-fire.

"In this context, the Council fully supports the efforts of the UN Secretary General and the Security Council to be rapidly convened to define a political framework for a lasting solution agreed by all parties, which is a necessary precondition for deployment of an international force. Such a force requires a strong mandate from the UN to act in support of a political settlement and the Lebanese armed forces. Once this framework has been established, EU Member States have indicated their readiness to contribute to such an operation together with international partners.

"The Council underlines the EU's commitment to Lebanon, to its full sovereignty, and to its long term political and economic partnership with Europe. The EU is ready to contribute to rebuilding a Lebanese state able to exercise full sovereignty on its territory and to protect its people.

"The Council commends the Lebanese Government for its seven point plan for peace as a good basis for a lasting solution. Any solution must include the return of abducted soldiers and prisoners, a settlement of the international borders of Lebanon, deployment of the Lebanese armed forces through the whole of its territory, backed by an international force and the implementation of the Ta'if Accords and UNSCRs 1559, 1680.

"The Council calls on all parties in the region with influence to help bring to an end the violence and the suffering that it brings.

"The EU reiterates its determination to work with the wider international community to bring humanitarian relief to the people of Lebanon. The EU calls on all parties to grant secure and efficient passage for the delivery of humanitarian assistance especially in southern Lebanon. So far the Community and EU member states have committed over 56 million euros to the relief efforts, with another 52 million in pledges. The EU stands ready to contribute fully to the planned international conference to assist Lebanon's revival and reconstruction.

"The Council deplores the continuing violence in Gaza and the West Bank that has led to an equally distressing humanitarian situation. The Council reiterates its call for the parties to return to the peace process on the basis of the Roadmap. An unequivocal commitment by all parties to a viable independent Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with Israel and its other neighbours is a key to stability and security in the whole region.

"The EU is committed to promote a comprehensive peace plan for the Middle East in close cooperation with partners and the countries in the region. There is no military solution to any of the problems facing the people of the region. The Council asked the High Representative to remain engaged and to remain in contact with all the relevant parties and to be ready to contribute to a political solution and to the peace process."
..................................may be we are not supposed to know the identity of the a/c......but he is really looking like the real thing..........................benny

This is really getting crazy.....I can count at least 5 different times that Solona has somehow been connected to the numbers 666............is the Lord trying to tell us something......You guys are always trying to connect numbers ...But this one is like.....every time he appears ...those numbers are right there also.................................................benny

Interesting that it is all happening. Praise the Lord for our blessing that we are saved and have everlasting life.

A few minutes ago .....Beirut being pounded,....bombs falling in clusters......also Baalbeck....the extreme n. east area of Lebanon recieving heavy airstrikes....they are saying that something big may happen within next 24 hours........Hezbollah recently stated that if Israel should hit Bearut....that they will hit Tel aviv......This makes one wonder if the hezbollah would use a last minute push out of desparation and strike tel aviv with some sort of wmd........................................................benny

Aug. 4, 2006 1:38
'Hizbullah pressured, but not desperate'
By DAVID HOROVITZ



Hizbullah is hurting under the impact of Israel's military action, but it is not yet showing signs of desperation, according to Uri Lubrani, an adviser to the defense minister and formerly Israel's longtime coordinator of activities in Lebanon.

Watching Hizbullah's broadcasts, "my sense is that they are feeling the pressure," Lubrani told The Jerusalem Post. "It's also plain that the IDF operation in Baalbek [overnight Tuesday-Wednesday] had a real impact. They'll have to explain that to their supporters."

The hope in Hizbullah that the Kafr Kana tragedy would lead to a far wider escalation of anger in the Arab world, and one that would dramatically constrain Israel, had not been fully realized, he added.

But a good barometer of the Hizbullah mindset, Lubrani suggested, would be the degree to which its backers press at the United Nations for an urgent cease-fire. "I would consider a real sign of desperation if their supporters starting putting on frantic pressure at the UN for a cease-fire," he said. And that might happen, he posited without elaboration, "if they fear that we are about to go further."

Lubrani stressed that stability in Lebanon, and for Israel, required the maximal marginalizing of Hizbullah and its Iranian backers.

"We have to demand the maximum in the next 10 days and insist on the minimum. I know there's talk of a demilitarized zone. We need to insist that Hizbullah is reduced in its capacities. We need to insist that it comes under oversight and supervision from those who will have the gumption to resist its pressures, in an international force. We need to insist that Resolution 1559 be implemented to the full, that there be no threat at the border."

Lubrani added that "the international community has to be aware that this cannot be racheted up and down; a longer-term solution is required. The international community has to make it possible for the Lebanese government to be able to govern free of threat - to marginalize Hizbullah's capacity to browbeat and to threaten, to fulfill 1559 to the maximum."

Looking at the wider picture, Lubrani said stability in this region and beyond required facing up to the threat posed by Iran. "The wider reality here is that we are at the beginning of a much wider confrontation," he said. "There are those who prefer not to think or talk about it. There are those who believe Iran can be talked to, reasoned with. Don't count me among them."

Regarding Iran, Lubrani elaborated, "the world has to come to the conclusion that the Iranian threat requires root-canal treatment. I take [President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad seriously. People think he's a clown, a buffoon. He's not."

Leaders of the Iranian hard-line regime, he said, "believe they have a direct line to God, and they'll do whatever 'divine inspiration' requires them to do. Talking to them is pointless. They want to wipe out the US, and us, too, in the bargain, as the representatives of Western culture. This can't be swept under the carpet."

Turning his attention to the build-up to the current conflict, Lubrani said Israel erred in not raising a diplomatic rumpus over Hizbullah's arms accumulation in the six years since Israel withdrew from the security zone to the international border. "We let them put us to sleep for six years while they built up an arsenal. And we did nothing, not even diplomatically. That was our screw up.

"When they built up this array of missiles, this arsenal, they knew it wasn't planned for use against Syria or Turkey. It was clearly for use exclusively against us. They built this up even though they knew we had left Lebanon, that we never had designs on its territory, that we weren't going to carry out attacks there since we were obligated to an internationally demarcated border line. We almost never responded to provocations at the border.

Continued
1 | 2 | Next »

Post comment | Terms

more to come.............................benny

(Continued from page 1 of 2)
"We should have prompted an international scandal. The United Nations Security Council passed a binding resolution, 1559, backed by all, celebrated by all, and it wasn't being fulfilled. We should have said [to the UN], 'Either you ensure that 1559 is implemented, or we will.' We should have created the climate to legitimize the actions we needed to have taken."

Now, Israel had to insist that 1559 - a resolution, he noted, that France co-initiated - was fully implemented.

The international force set to deploy, he added, "has to be supplied with effective teeth."

It had to be aware that it might have to face pressures and attacks such as the twin suicide bombings in 1983 that saw 300 US marines and French paratroopers killed in Beirut, and the subsequent departure of those forces. Such attacks "could happen again," Lubrani said. "The international community has to know this. And if it does happen, it has to be prepared to deal with it."

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

I've had cautious eyeball on Javier Solona for at least 5 years and have yet to see anything in him to make me rule him out as a candidate. Romano Prodi is also on my short list.

BTW, Javier Solona has 6 letters in each name.


Click the link to his bio, he certainly has the credentials.


I believe that another sign to be looking out for is with the health of the current pope. The track record of St. Malachy's prophecies has me convinced the they're true.

According to the prophecy there is to be only one more pope who takes the name of "Petrus Romanus".

Peter, as you know, is regarded as the first pope, Jesus' designated leader of the new Christan church. The pope carries the reigns as leader of the church handed down since Peter, yet none have ever felt worthy enough to take on the name of Peter until this last one. Petrus Romanus = Peter of Rome

....O k....We have at least 19 days to receive a formal answer from Iran.......Which will his choice of weapons be?....Oil?......Or will it be a brilliantlight over Jerusalem?......Maybe Israel will strike Iran before that date?.....O K...number one priority on the list....Got Jesus?...It's hell without Him......Stock up on canned food items now if you haven't done this already........mainly basics.....you may have friends and family who will need your help.....I could name a number of things to do if things get real bad.....one thing is certain......we are all approaching the moment of truth......It is better to be prepared.....If you have an idea that you can pass on to others on getting around , working as a team with your community....ect....we're all ears......this war is not going to get better.....if I am wrong.....you have lost nothing...if I am right .....and you did not prepare ....you may have some hardship...possibly, some unforeseen............................................benny

Council Conclusion NO. 66/06
What is European Union (EU) Council Conclusion NO. 66/06? Let's read it:
_________________________________________________________________________

No. 66/06
August 2, 2006

CONCLUSIONS OF EU FOREIGN MINISTERS MEETING ON LEBANON

Yesterday, Foreign Ministers of the 25 EU Member States, High Representative Javier Solana (on the left) and EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner (on the right, with EU Finnish Presidency's Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja in center) convened for an extraordinary meeting to discuss the situation in Lebanon. The conclusions they reached follow:

"The Council expresses its utmost concern at the Lebanese and Israeli civilian casualties and human suffering, the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the increased number of internally displaced persons following the escalation of violence.

"The Council condemns the rocket attacks by Hezbollah on Israel. The Council condemns the death of innocent civilians, mostly women and children, in an Israeli air strike on the Lebanese village of Qana. The Council also states that all attacks against UN personnel are unacceptable and deplores the tragic deaths of four UN military observers.

"The Council deplores the loss of innocent civilian life. All parties must do everything possible to protect civilian populations and to refrain from actions in violation of international humanitarian law.

"The Council calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities to be followed by a sustainable cease-fire.

"In this context, the Council fully supports the efforts of the UN Secretary General and the Security Council to be rapidly convened to define a political framework for a lasting solution agreed by all parties, which is a necessary precondition for deployment of an international force. Such a force requires a strong mandate from the UN to act in support of a political settlement and the Lebanese armed forces. Once this framework has been established, EU Member States have indicated their readiness to contribute to such an operation together with international partners.

"The Council underlines the EU's commitment to Lebanon, to its full sovereignty, and to its long term political and economic partnership with Europe. The EU is ready to contribute to rebuilding a Lebanese state able to exercise full sovereignty on its territory and to protect its people.

"The Council commends the Lebanese Government for its seven point plan for peace as a good basis for a lasting solution. Any solution must include the return of abducted soldiers and prisoners, a settlement of the international borders of Lebanon, deployment of the Lebanese armed forces through the whole of its territory, backed by an international force and the implementation of the Ta'if Accords and UNSCRs 1559, 1680.

"The Council calls on all parties in the region with influence to help bring to an end the violence and the suffering that it brings.

"The EU reiterates its determination to work with the wider international community to bring humanitarian relief to the people of Lebanon. The EU calls on all parties to grant secure and efficient passage for the delivery of humanitarian assistance especially in southern Lebanon. So far the Community and EU member states have committed over 56 million euros to the relief efforts, with another 52 million in pledges. The EU stands ready to contribute fully to the planned international conference to assist Lebanon's revival and reconstruction.

"The Council deplores the continuing violence in Gaza and the West Bank that has led to an equally distressing humanitarian situation. The Council reiterates its call for the parties to return to the peace process on the basis of the Roadmap. An unequivocal commitment by all parties to a viable independent Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with Israel and its other neighbours is a key to stability and security in the whole region.

"The EU is committed to promote a comprehensive peace plan for the Middle East in close cooperation with partners and the countries in the region. There is no military solution to any of the problems facing the people of the region. The Council asked the High Representative to remain engaged and to remain in contact with all the relevant parties and to be ready to contribute to a political solution and to the peace process."

For further information, please visit: :
http://www.eurunion.org/newsweb/HotTopics/mideast.htm .
_________________________________________________________________________

Please notice the last paragraph -- the part that says:

The Council asked the High Representative to remain engaged and to remain in contact with all the relevant parties and to be ready to contribute to a political solution and to the peace process.

Friends, once again the writing may be on the wall. If you have my CD or DVD presentation you have already seen the picture below. It comes from a press conference in September 20, 2005, that followed a meeting of the quartet at UN head quarters in New York. The Quartet -- made up of the US, EU, UN and the Russian Federation -- was announcing their decisions regarding security following Israel's Gaza withdrawal. Of concern to us students of Bible prophecy, included in their talks were a commitment from the European Union to deploy -- for the first time -- peacekeeping forces into the region to help oversee the Gaza-Egypt border. Now, let's look at the picture.



Notice the three sixes on the wall behind them. As I said back in September, the writing may be on the wall. I believe God may be warning His people in a way we never expected. Here's the facts: The foreign policy that we now see the EU pursuing had it's beginning in 1998 when the Office of High Representative was created with a document that, out of over eleven hundred documents, was numbered 666. The holder of this new Office would represent the interests of all EU member states and the Office included a Mediterranean mandate. Then in 2000, the first High Representative made the 10-nation Western European Union (WEU) alliance the official military wing of the EU. He also provided his Office of High Representative emergency powers. This was done implementing another document by that number, the WEU's Assembly Recommendation 666. And, as I mentioned above, when the EU's first deployment into Israel was decided by the Quartet, the press conference following the decision had another connection to that number -- it was on the wall behind them. Now, with Council Conclusion NO. 66/06, all 25 EU member states have tasked their High Representative in his efforts to bring a final and lasting peace to the current Middle East crisis. In other words, once a cease-fire is achieved, Solana has the green light to send his forces to maintain the peace.

Friends, once again the writing may be on the wall.

Stay tuned!
...................................................................benny

This Scripture in Isaiah 17 is about the end when Christ sends His two olive trees to destroy the earth because the sins of man are heavy on it. Everyone who is looking to the flesh for a sign will be dismayed when all of their reasonings come to nothing and they all start perrishing by the hands of their neighbors.


Isaiah 17
1 The burden against Damascus. "Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, And it will be a ruinous heap.
2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken; They will be for flocks Which lie down, and no one will make them afraid.
3 The fortress also will cease from Ephraim, The kingdom from Damascus, And the remnant of Syria; They will be as the glory of the children of Israel," Says the Lord of hosts.
4 "In that day it shall come to pass That the glory of Jacob will wane, And the fatness of his flesh grow lean.
5 It shall be as when the harvester gathers the grain, And reaps the heads with his arm; It shall be as he who gathers heads of grain In the Valley of Rephaim.
6 Yet gleaning grapes will be left in it, Like the shaking of an olive tree, Two or three olives at the top of the uppermost bough, Four or five in its most fruitful branches," Says the Lord God of Israel.
7 In that day a man will look to his Maker, And his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel.
8 He will not look to the altars, The work of his hands; He will not respect what his fingers have made, Nor the wooden images nor the incense altars.
9 In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken bough And an uppermost branch, Which they left because of the children of Israel; And there will be desolation.
10 Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, And have not been mindful of the Rock of your stronghold, Therefore you will plant pleasant plants And set out foreign seedlings;
11 In the day you will make your plant to grow, And in the morning you will make your seed to flourish; But the harvest will be a heap of ruins In the day of grief and desperate sorrow.
12 Woe to the multitude of many people Who make a noise like the roar of the seas, And to the rushing of nations That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters; But God will rebuke them and they will flee far away, And be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 Then behold, at eventide, trouble! And before the morning, he is no more. This is the portion of those who plunder us, And the lot of those who rob us.


Zechariah 11
4 Thus says the Lord my God, "Feed the flock for slaughter,
5 whose owners slaughter them and feel no guilt; those who sell them say, 'Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich'; and their shepherds do not pity them.
6 For I will no longer pity the inhabitants of the land," says the Lord. "But indeed I will give everyone into his neighbor's hand and into the hand of his king. They shall attack the land, and I will not deliver them from their hand."
7 So I fed the flock for slaughter, in particular the poor of the flock.* I took for myself two staffs: the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bonds;** and I fed the flock.
8 I dismissed the three shepherds in one month. My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me.
9 Then I said, "I will not feed you. Let what is dying die, and what is perishing perish. Let those that are left eat each other's flesh."
10 And I took my staff, Beauty, and cut it in two, that I might break the covenant which I had made with all the peoples.
11 So it was broken on that day. Thus the poor* of the flock, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord.
12 Then I said to them, "If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain." So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.
13 And the Lord said to me, "Throw it to the potter"--that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter.
14 Then I cut in two my other staff, Bonds, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.


Charlie

Dear Charlie,..Zechariah 11:......has nothing to do with Isaiah 17.................................If you want to debate on this ....I would prefer that you take this to the debate section on the bottom of this website..............................................................benny

Aug. 4, 2006 18:17 | Updated Aug. 4, 2006 18:39
Rockets hit Kuneitra in Syria; none wounded
By YAAKOV KATZ


Rockets fired by Hizbullah on Friday evening landed near the Syrian city of Kuneitra located several kilometers east of the Golan Heights. No injuries or damage were reported.

The IDF said that the firing at Kuneitra represented yet another attempt by Hizbullah to drag Syria into the conflict.
................................................................benny

Iran warns of $200 oil if US pursues sanctions Thu Aug 3, 9:50 AM ET



CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Global oil prices could hit $200 per barrel if the United States pursues sanctions against Iran for its nuclear development program, an Iranian official told Venezuelan state TV on Thursday.

ADVERTISEMENT

Iran's Foreign Relations Vice Minister Manuchehr Mohammadi said, "The first consequence of these sanctions would be an increase in the price of oil to around $200 per barrel."

The statement comes after the United Nations on Monday demanded that Iran suspend all nuclear development within a month or face the threat of sanctions.

Iran responded that it had a sovereign right to nuclear development.

Tension over Iran's nuclear ambitions, which has rattled oil markets in recent weeks, has been overshadowed by the bloody conflict in Lebanon.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has backed Iran's nuclear program and developed close ties to the Iranian government.
.......................................................................benny

How the Hizballah Factor Will Determine an Iraq Civil War
Analysis: As it grapples with the problem of Hizballah in Lebanon, the Bush Administration's hopes of stabilizing Iraq may depend on its ability to entice or force Iraq's own equivalent — the Mehdi Army — to disarm
By TONY KARON
SUBSCRIBE TO TIMEPRINTE-MAILMORE BY AUTHORJoe Klein: Even Churchill Couldn't Figure Out Iraq
Background: Iraq's Streets of Blood

Posted Thursday, Aug. 03, 2006
The warning by Britain's man in Baghdad that civil war in Iraq is a much more likely prospect right now than democratic stability may be at odds with the Pollyannaish pronouncements from the White House and 10 Downing Street, but it's more like conventional wisdom among those engaged on the ground. In fact, hours after the contents of the valedictory diplomatic cable from outgoing British ambassador William Patey were leaked to the media, the head of U.S. Central Command, General John Abizaid, told the Senate that sectarian violence was at an all-time high, and if not stopped, would lead to civil war. Even the deployment of some 50,000 Iraqi troops and police in the streets of Baghdad two months ago has not stopped the steady rise in the daily death toll from sectarian killings. Indeed, Iraq's prime minister Nuri al-Maliki came to Washington last week to ask President Bush for more U.S. troops to secure his capital.

Patey warned that "the prospect of low-intensity civil war and a de facto division of Iraq is more likely at this stage than a successful and substantial transition to a stable democracy. Even the lowered expectation of President Bush for Iraq — a government that can sustain itself, defend itself and govern itself and is an ally in the war on terror — must remain in doubt." He stressed that all was not lost, but his prescription for reversing the slide to civil war was a reminder of the growing challenge facing coalition forces in stabilizing Iraq. "If we are to avoid a descent into civil war and anarchy," Patey warned, "then preventing the Jaish al-Mahdi [the Mahdi Army of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada Sadr] from developing into a state within a state, as Hizballah has done in Lebanon, will be a priority."

In the current U.S. thinking, sectarian conflict is considered, if anything, more dangerous than the anti-U.S. insurgency; as a result, disarming the Shi'ite militias today is given equal priority to defusing the insurgency by making political concessions to the Sunnis. Prime Minister Maliki's government stands committed to both objectives, although progress has been negligible on both fronts. Ambassador Patey's Hizballah reference, however, is notable, not only for the similarities between the two movements, but also for the connection it draws between the crisis in Lebanon and the fate of Iraq.

The Mehdi Army, like Hizballah, is an arm of a mass popular movement rooted in Shi'ite mosques but providing a measure of security and welfare. Like Hizballah it has ties with Iran, although unlike Hizballah — which was actually created by Iran — Sadr's links are more recent. While his key rival for Iraqi Shi'ite support, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (currently the largest party in Prime Minister Maliki's coalition), was based in Iran during the Saddam years, Sadr's movement remained inside Iraq operating underground. And in the chaos that followed the toppling of Saddam, Sadr's movement quickly filled the vacuum in the vast Shi'ite slums that house more than half of Baghdad's population, organizing security and basic services and turning what is now known as Sadr City into a vast stronghold. SCIRI's Badr Brigade, although smaller, was trained by Iran's Revolutionary Guard during its years in exile, and may be an even better organized Shi'ite militia than the Mahdi Army. It is integrated into some parts of the security forces, particularly the Interior Ministry forces, and has been deeply implicated in sectarian killings. It has also, on occasion, crossed swords with Sadr's men in the battle for supremacy among the Shi'ites.

Sadr's ties with Iran have grown steadily in the last couple of years, however, and he warned earlier this year that his forces would retaliate if Iran came under attack from the U.S. or Israel. His Mehdi Army fought two pitched battles with U.S. forces in April and August of 2004, both of which ended inconclusively with political deals. And like Hizballah in Lebanon, Sadr's movement, even as it maintains a private army, is now a key element of the democratically elected government.

But disarming Sadr's army may prove, if anything, even more difficult than disarming Hizballah in Lebanon. That's because the three-year campaign of terror against Shi'ite civilians by Sunni insurgents has led the community to see its militias, rather than the central government, as its only protection. As that violence escalates, the likelihood diminishes that these communities will support any effort to forcefully dismantle the militias. Nor can an agreement to disarm be easily orchestrated by removing the insurgent threat, since the branch of the insurgency responsible for targeting the Shi'ites is led by al-Qaeda in Iraq, the faction most implacably opposed to any reconciliation with the elected government.

Israel's campaign against Hizballah in Lebanon, moreover, has inflamed Shi'ite public opinion against the Coalition. Sadr has warned that his movement will not stand by passively in the face of attacks on Lebanon, and the popularity of that sentiment among Shi'ites was highlighted by the fact that more moderate voices such as Prime Minister Maliki and Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani echoed Sadr's harsh criticism of the U.S.-British opposition to an immediate cease-fire.

Moving against the Shi'ite militias has always been a difficult proposition, but doing so at a point where Shi'ite public opinion is so openly hostile to the Coalition may be entirely implausible. Indeed, the key to disarming those militias is more likely to lie in a new political agreement with their party bosses, in conjunction with a wider national-unity power-sharing agreement capable of shrinking the base of the Sunni insurgency. But the mounting sectarian violence and the passions stoked by Lebanon make the prospects for such a deal right now more remote than ever.

Earlier this year, the U.S. had been poised to explore a new avenue in the quest to stabilize Iraq — direct talks with Iran. Plans to talk were eventually scrapped amid mounting tensions over Tehran's nuclear program. But if tamping down sectarian violence by reining in the Shi'ite militias has become an urgent priority to prevent a civil war, the U.S. may yet have to reconsider the prospects for reaching agreements on the immediate future of Iraq with the Sadr movement — and rethink its unwillingness to deal with Iran.

Aug. 4, 2006 21:08 | Updated Aug. 4, 2006 21:09
Iran: We supplied Zelzal 2 missiles to Hizbullah
By JPOST.COM STAFF


Iran admitted for the first time on Friday that it did indeed supply long-range Zelzal-2 missiles to Hizbullah.

Secretary-general of the "Intifada conference" Mohtashami Pur told an Iranian newspaper that Iran transferred the missiles so that they could be used to defend Lebanon
........................................................benny

All of the end time scriptures are speaking in types and spirit of's. They all speak of the destruction of the world and the setting up of Christ's kingdom. This will be global and looking to the flesh and specific land masses for signs will come to nothing. If you need this sort of thing Look for the weather world wide to disapear and the oceans and water supplies to turn to blood over the face of the whole earth. Then you will know that no one will strengthen themselves who live in iniquity. Repent and find faith in God alone while the greenwood still exists.

Charlie

Thank you Tod,.....................................Filed under: Iran Watch by Chad Evans at 3:10 pm EDT
According to Iran Press News and translated at Regime Change Iran, Iran has taken steps to blackmail members of the Security Council from imposing sanctions upon Iran. Oil might have something to do with it, but Iran has specifically stated they will execute all political prisoners it holds if the Security Council votes for sanctions.

The Islamic Republic has now specifically announced that should their nuclear dossier be voted for referral by the United Nations Security Council for sanctions in the August round of voting, that all political prisoners, whether on furlough or in prison, will be summarily executed.

This heinous threat should once and for all send a strong message to all nations about what Iran’s intentions are. Both Ahmadinejad and Khamenei have ramped up the rhtetoric against the Security Council this past week and they are setting the table to defy the Security Council if sanctions are placed upon Iran, and frankly I don’t think China will vote for sanctions largely based on the recent $100 billion natural gas contract signed a couple of days ago.

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

Filed under: Iran Watch by Chad Evans at 3:10 pm EDT
According to Iran Press News and translated at Regime Change Iran, Iran has taken steps to blackmail members of the Security Council from imposing sanctions upon Iran. Oil might have something to do with it, but Iran has specifically stated they will execute all political prisoners it holds if the Security Council votes for sanctions.

The Islamic Republic has now specifically announced that should their nuclear dossier be voted for referral by the United Nations Security Council for sanctions in the August round of voting, that all political prisoners, whether on furlough or in prison, will be summarily executed.

This heinous threat should once and for all send a strong message to all nations about what Iran’s intentions are. Both Ahmadinejad and Khamenei have ramped up the rhtetoric against the Security Council this past week and they are setting the table to defy the Security Council if sanctions are placed upon Iran, and frankly I don’t think China will vote for sanctions largely based on the recent $100 billion natural gas contract signed a couple of days ago.

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

Is there a Secret Syrian-Iranian-Russian Alliance?
by J. R. Nyquist

Israeli sources are alleging the existence of a secret Syrian-Iranian-Russian alliance. The allegation is credible, even obvious to many who understand the close ties that exist between terror-supporting states and the “former” communist bloc. The allegation is also credible to anyone who watches the way Moscow supplies and encourages rogue states like North Korea, Iran and the old Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein. Consider the following tangled web: Recently published Iraqi documents confirm a Saddam-Taliban connection as previously alleged by terrorism expert Yossef Bodansky. Rounding out the overall picture, Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir recently stated that Iran and Russia are jointly supporting the Taliban’s resurgence in Afghanistan. In an interview with Paul Williams and David Dastych, Mir affirmed: “a top official of Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry revealed to me in Kabul that Russia and Iran are providing weapons and money to the Taliban. But we don’t have the courage to speak against them….”

Who will find the courage, indeed, to admit the truth about Russia and Iran? Who has the courage to say what is actually occurring as opposed to the mindless repetition of ideological falsifications? The left uses every occasion to bash Bush and deny the enmity of certain countries. It is America’s fault, they say. America is the villain of the piece while Russia is, once again, a “progressive country.” Even the right is disunited, as we find Patrick Buchanan declaring for retreat and isolation. Meanwhile the maligned “neo-cons” call for tougher measures, though none are to be aimed at Russia. They warn us about China and Iran and Syria. But Russia is left alone, wrapped in its cocoon of lies. The truth is lost on every side as each contestant struggles to prevail in a political debate that misses the big picture and the big enemy. The partisan bias that afflicts punditry makes any discussion of strategic realities difficult if not impossible. It is a sure path to obscurity for a writer to discuss the emergence of a powerful anti-U.S. bloc of countries led by Russia and China – a bloc that includes Western Hemisphere countries like Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Venezuela and Cuba. (Mary Anastasia O’Grady’s July 28 Wall Street Journal piece about Kirchner’s purging of anti-communists from Argentina’s military was particularly chilling when she stated, “Since 2003 Mr. Kirchner has been seeking retribution for the injuries sustained by his allies, the friends of Fidel.) America is facing a powerful international combination with a communist pedigree. This combination is on the march around the world, successfully punching holes in the decayed shell of Cold War containment, slowly undermining the U.S. economy and the Pentagon’s military position. If a pundit, here and there, bravely acknowledges that Russia and China are not our friends there is no echo, no discussion, and no feet to carry the revelation forward. The public’s incomprehension and lack of interest, fortified by half-truth and pregnant with a threefold misinterpretation, leaves the bravest of pundits without a leg to stand on. The fact that Katyusha Rockets are a Russian weapon has been lost in a maze of Islamist and Arab enemies, each assisting the other behind the scenes. Russia’s role is usually omitted, or chalked up to the economics of arms sales instead of strategic malice.

Given the nuclear deadlock of the Cold War, the Russians and Chinese are performing what remained to them when direct assault was out of the question. They reverted to deception, false friendship and the classic “peace offensive” of Lenin. To write of this reality is not conspiracy theory. It is the way of the oriental despot. It is the great game injected with the spirit of Sun Tzu (the Chinese strategist who taught that all warfare is based on deception). We must accept the fact that despotic states, like Russia and China, seek to aggrandize themselves at the expense of their weaker neighbors, and at the expense of their main democratic rival (also known as their “main enemy”). Direct nuclear assault is suicide without a long and sophisticated political deception. In this situation, deception opens the path of least resistance and least expectation for a cunning and devastating sequence. There are many weapons aside from nuclear and conventional ones. Everything now is resolved according to a strategic series which probably includes the following elements: (1) An energy squeeze that benefits the new Russian bloc, fostered by Russia and Venezuela and Iran; (2) the decline of the dollar and a growing economic crisis in the United States; (3) Rising Russian revenues for modernizing conventional and nuclear forces; (4) China’s gradual, step by step transition from a dollar economy to a war economy; (5) intensification of terror attacks on American and Israel targets; (6) spread of diversionary wars that promise to drag American forces into a vulnerable or untenable position; (7) the intensification of the Middle East crisis; (8) the breakup of NATO and other U.S.-led alliances; (8) and to divide the American people on defense-related questions so that a national consensus cannot be reached.

The process thus outlined gradually unfolds, step by step. When the U.S. economy enters the inevitable crisis stage – events will ripen quickly. Within 18 months bad news will be followed by worse, and a breakdown of America’s war-making capability (already compromised on the political level) could occur. What will be the immediate, accelerating factor?

A July 20 column by Kenneth R. Timmerman at www.FrontpageMagazine.com suggests a primary role for Iran. “The Iranian-backed attacks [on Israel],” he noted, “are aimed at deterring an Israeli military strike against Iranian nuclear and missile facilities.” The intensification of hostilities in the Middle East is more and more blamed on Israel. “Instead of blasting Hezbollah for abducting Israeli soldiers and launching rocket attacks on Israeli towns and cities,” added Timmerman, French President Chirac “blamed Israel for retaliating.”

A split between Europe on the one side, versus America and Israel on the other, is being encouraged. European support for a preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure is now completely squashed. The Syrians and Iranians are not being held responsible for the conflict, as they should. And Russia stands directly behind the Syrian and Iranians, arming them and guiding them. A terrorist noose is being tightened around Israel. The objective is to buy time while Iran creates the nuclear arsenal needed to defeat the Americans and Israelis.

Indications that Hezbollah planned the present outburst of violence in advance may be found in the fact that (as Timmerman reports) “Iranian supply deliveries to Hezbollah through Syria have increased during the first half of 2006.” Meanwhile, Russia is delivering new anti-air and other military systems to Iran. The network of terror, in Afghanistan and Iraq, in Lebanon and the West Bank, begins with the Islamic terrorist on the ground and ends with the pulling of strings in Moscow. The realization must be dawning on someone in Washington. The America press must eventually grasp the underlying theme at work.

It is an old theme, known to every cold warrior.


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

Tehran Sends Archterrorist Mughniyeh to Rescue Hizballah
DEBKAfile’s Exclusive Military Report
August 5, 2006, 4:57 PM (GMT+02:00)

In the middle of the fourth week of the Lebanon War, the tide began to turn in Israel’s favor. DEBKAfile’s military sources report the battlefield finally responded to the effect of Israel’s air might, its tank columns, the pounding by mobile artillery and naval craft and its repeated armored infantry assaults.
After losing 44 fighting men, more than 30 civilians, many thousands of wounded and billions of dollars of damage, finally, the Israeli military was given the chance to do what it does best: focus its firepower instead of spreading it out thin over too many targets.
The setbacks of the first three weeks were partly due to tactical incompetence and laggard decision-making on the part of prime minister Ehud Olmert and defense minister Peretz. Israeli troops therefore spent too long in abrading combat against stubborn Hizballah resistance in such places as Maroun er Ras and Bint Jubeil. But as soon as Israeli ground forces shifted to the massive, long-distance firing mode which they knows best, the impact on the warfront was immediate. The battle went their way with a minimum of casualties. In places where Israeli troops adhered to the close combat tactics practiced in the first three weeks, they continued to suffer high casualties.
Hizballah soon showed signs of distress. Lacking the weapons and resources to stand up to IDF’s precise-shooting juggernaut, their commanders quickly pulled their men out most combat sectors of South Lebanon and ordered them to regroup in five places:
1. The Western Sector and the center of Tyre.
2. The Wadi Hajar pocket east of Tyre.
3. The Central Sector surrounding Bint Jubeil, where the outcome is still unresolved after many days of fighting.
4. The Wadi Saluki area northwest of the northernmost Israeli town of Metullah.
5. The Eastern Sector, including al Khiam, the Shabaa Farms and Mt Dov, which has seen little fighting - although last week Israeli forces began - then stopped - a major offensive before it got underway.
These pockets are now the main launching-pads for rockets fired into Israel.
Outside, there is no ground fighting in South Lebanon but for Israeli air strikes.
Hizballah also has also been using the Tapuach and al-Haroub areas south and northeast of Sidon for shooting rockets. It is from this region that Hizballah fired the long-range Khaibar-1 missiles at Hadera Friday night, August 4, which came 45 km short of Tel Aviv. Saturday morning, Sidon’s 200,000 inhabitants and its outlying villages up to the Zahrani River were warned to leave their homes and head north to escape the coming Israeli air offensive.
Until the Khaibar attack on Hadera, the concentration of Hizballah’s rocket launchers and stores in and around Sidon had been immune from Israeli attack – largely because Olmert and his senior ministers refused to increase the number of ground troops deployed in Lebanon. The military commanders had to do their best with the limited numbers available.
In other words, with the right manpower level, Hizballah’s abilty to fire rockets can be dented, notwithstanding claims by Israel officials and generals that there is no way to do this when most of Hizballah’s 13,000-rocket stockpile remains intact.
But even cutting down on the daily 200-plus rocket blitz on northern Israel is
not plain sailing because:
First, Neither the Israeli Air Force nor any other air force is capable of completely halting rocket fire from the ground. In the relatively small distances between Lebanon and Israel, the short-range Katyusha rockets have the effect of medium-range weapons, while the short-to-medium range rockets perform like long-range missiles.
Second, Israel does not have enough infantry on the ground to make substantial inroads on Hizballah’s rocket-firing capabilities.
Third, Iran and Syria are constantly restocking Hizballah’s diminishing supplies of rockets of all types, launchers and operating manpower by a round- the-clock airlift from Iran via Syrian military air fields. Some of the incoming supplies are destroyed by Israeli air attacks as they cross into Lebanon, but a substantial part is conveyed to Hizballah by smuggling networks employing mules to traverse Lebanese mountain paths. Even if 2,000 have been wiped out and a similar amount has been fired, no one knows how many are left in stock because it is replenished. As long as that corridor is not severed by bombing the Syrian stopover air facilities, Iran will continue to top up Hizballah’s stockpile. Therefore, the rocket offensive cannot be reduced by very much.
Fourth, Israeli forces do not operate in all parts of South Lebanon.
Hizballah’s withdrawal to five pockets in South Lebanon affords the IDF certain tactical advantages - although liabilities too.
The Advantages:
It is now possible to carve the region the Israeli army controls into three sections, western, central and eastern, a tactic familiar from the Gaza Strip, for encumbering Hizballah guerrilla movement between the sections. The goal is to confine Hizballah to the five pockets and place them under blockade. They can then be made to capitulate or face liquidation.
The Liabilities:
Leaving the two banks of the Litani River, the Nabatea plain and Hazbaya to the north of the river in Hizballah hands leaves a route open for its reinforcements to come through and to strike Israeli forces from the rear.
Nonetheless, by Thursday, August 3, Hizballah was showing signs of being in trouble.
A. Local Hizballah village commanders signaled repeated appeals for more manpower and ammunition. The appeals were not met because outside forces cannot break through the defense lines held by the advancing Israeli troops. The village commanders were therefore told by their superiors to fight to the last man and last bullet and reserve the last grenade for suicide.
B. Hizballah’s shadowy leader, the long-wanted Imad Mughniyeh, was hurriedly appointed commander of the southern front as a last resort to save South Lebanon from falling to Israel.(picture from the 1980s)
DEBKAfile’s military and counter-terror sources maintain that this appointment raises the conflict to a new and dangerous level on several counts.
Mughniyeh, wanted for a quarter of a century by the FBI for the huge bombing attacks he orchestrated on the US embassy in Beirut and American and French troops, as well as a spate of hijackings and murders, is important enough to take orders from no-one ranking lower than Iran’s supreme ruler, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Those orders come through the Revolutionary Guards commander Gen. Rahim Safavi.
Therefore, placing Mughniyeh at the head of Hizballah forces in South Lebanon confronts prime minister Olmert uncomfortably close to Iran’s supreme leader; ranges defense minister Peretz opposite his Iranian counterpart Mustafa Najer and chief of staff Lt. Gen Dan Halutz opposite Gen. Safavi, while on the warfront, Israel’s war leaders face the formidable Mughniyeh, Tehran’s secret weapon for rescuing Hizballah from collapse.
Informed circles in the West have a high opinion of Mughniyeh’s military, intelligence and tactical skills. His hand was seen in the transformation of al Qaeda’s 2001 defeat in Afghanistan into a launch pad for its anti-US campaign in Iraq and many other ventures in the terror war against America. After the death of Abu Musab al Zarqawi, Mughniyeh is rated the world Islamic terror movement’s most outstanding field commander.
Therefore, while the appointment is a measure of Israel’s belated military success in the Lebanese war, it also brings the conflict ever closer to two dangerous orbits – Tehran and al Qaeda. Mughniyeh is the only undercover agent in the Middle East who enjoys the complete personal trust of Khamenei and Osama bin Laden, on both of whom he is in a position to call for aid.