Yes nitevision, I have pondered him off and on over the Years! I guess we will
wait and see.

Your Friend in Christ,
Val

Messiahiscoming

EU to send troops to Gaza


Published: 11.16.06, 14:29



The European Parliament passed on Thursday a proposal to send a multi-national force to Gaza designed to pressure Israel to "stop all its military operations" in the region.



The vote, which was passed by a vast majority, called for a force similar to the one stationed in southern Lebanon. European representatives also condemned Israel's "disproportionate use of force and the economic siege laid on Gaza." (AFP)


............................................benny ........P.S.......If you have taken notice,....I have been posting signs that reveal the coming Isaiah 17;1 war and the rise of the anti-christ system...........It is very obvious where all of this is leading too...............Get excited people.....Cause Jesus Christ is coming!................

Iran soon to take "final step" in atomic plan: report Thu Nov 16, 5:09 AM ET



TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday his country would soon take the "final step" in its nuclear program, Iran's official news agency reported without saying what that would involve.

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The president did not explain what the "final step" was, but Iran has said it will press ahead with its atomic plans despite U.N. calls to halt uranium enrichment, which the West believes is part of a plan to build atomic bombs.

Tehran, which says its aims are peaceful, now faces possible sanctions for ignoring the U.N. demands, but there is still no agreement at the U.N. Security Council about possible penalties.

"The Iranian nation is about to take its final step in the nuclear issue," the official IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

The president has previously said Iran would celebrate its nuclear achievements by the end of the Iranian year, which falls in March 2007.

Iran now operates two experimental chains of 164 centrifuges, which can be used to make fuel for power plants or material for warheads.

But the Islamic Republic has said it wants to develop "industrial-scale" enrichment. It plans to install 3,000 centrifuges by March and Ahmadinejad told a news conference on Tuesday Iran's ambition was to have 60,000 centrifuges.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in a report Iran was still stonewalling investigations aimed at determining whether its plans are peaceful.

Iran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, says it only wants to harness nuclear power to generate electricity.

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

Nov. 16, 2006 5:13
Olmert: Israel will respond as needed to Iran
By JPOST.COM STAFF


We have to take the lessons of the Holocaust to our hearts in order to prepare ourselves for the challenges of the future, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday in Los Angeles.

Speaking at the Simon Wiesenthal Center ahead of his return to Israel, Olmert said that Iran has declared its intention to "wipe Israel off the map," and was working to achieve nuclear capability in order to do so.

Olmert told his audience that Israel would face the threat and respond as needed, Army Radio reported.

..............................................benny .............P.S.......Seems that the Israeli PM...........In an underlying way, is getting people mentally prepared for what Israel may soon do............

Nov. 16, 2006 15:25 | Updated Nov. 16, 2006 23:10
Israel dismisses peace proposal as 'Spanish ideas'
By HERB KEINON



Talkbacks for this article: 38

Israel dismissed reports Thursday that Spain, France and Italy are preparing a new Middle East peace initiative, saying that at the most, they were discussing "some Spanish ideas."

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced the plan at a summit in Spain with President Jacques Chirac of France. "Peace between Israel and the Palestinians means to a large extent peace on the international scene," Zapatero told a news conference.

"We cannot remain impassive in the face of the horror that continues to unfold before our eyes," Zapatero said.

Referring to the errant artillery shells in Beit Hanun and Wednesday's fatal rocket attack in Sderot, Zapatero said the violence "has reached a level of deterioration that requires determined, urgent action by the international community."

He said that the peace plan will be presented to an EU summit next month, and that he hoped to win the backing of Britain and Germany.

Chirac said France was "going to act jointly with the Spanish and Italian governments, with the cooperation of the EU" to initiate "moral and political reforms in the Middle East."

But Italian President Romano Prodi, who held a telephone conference call with his colleagues, released a communique that seemed to distance Rome from the initiative, and hinted that it would have to go through regular EU framework and channels.

Zapatero said the plan had five elements: an immediate cease-fire; formation by the Palestinians of a national unity government that could gain international recognition; an exchange of prisoners - including the three IDF soldiers whose kidnapping sparked the war in Lebanon and fighting in Gaza this summer; talks between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas; and an international mission in Gaza to monitor a cease-fire.

Eventually, a major international conference on Middle East peace should be held, he added, without saying if such a meeting should take place in Spain.

Spain hosted the Madrid Conference in 1991 that laid the groundwork for the Oslo Accords.

Middle East peace, Zapatero said, "is one of the factors that can contribute most to cornering fanaticism and terrorism."

But Israeli officials were unimpressed. "At the most what is being discussed are some Spanish ideas," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

"These ideas were not coordinated with the European Union, nor with us."

The spokesman said Israel's position remained that negotiations needed to be directly between the parties to the conflict.

Zapatero, who was photographed with a kaffiyeh at a Socialist rally in Spain in the summer, is not perceived in Jerusalem as a balanced interlocutor. And his foreign minister, former EU special envoy Miguel Moratinos, is widely viewed in diplomatic circles in Israel as someone who is constantly trying to raise Spain's profile and to carve out a large role for Madrid in the Middle East process.

Last month, Moratinos said the road map was fatally stalled and that Europe should take the initiative to come up with a new plan.

Diplomatic officials in Jerusalem said that while the Spanish initiative was "not serious," it did reflect a trend in Europe to put forward new initiatives to break the current logjam.

In a related matter, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for an international force to be sent to Gaza and the West Bank, similar to the UNIFIL force operating in Lebanon.

While the resolution, like another one adopted by the parliament on Thursday that slammed Israel for its military operations in Gaza, is seen as largely declarative, it too reflects growing calls in Europe to transfer the UNIFIL model in Lebanon to Gaza and the West bank.

.......................................................benny ...........I am going to post another topic in a minute......If you will.....compare the above topic with the following topic, and tell what you see

Geo-Peace Zone

You might say Spain and Morocco are kissing cousins. Google Earth shows only about nine miles separates these two nations. Evidently, it's this close relationship between Spain and Morocco that may help explain the UN's new Alliance of Civilizations (AOC).

About 200 years before Christ Spain became an important part of the Roman Empire and, over the years, Spain even produced three Roman Emperors. But, in the 8th century Spain was invaded from the south by the Moors and, for about five hundred years, Spain was ruled by Muslims.

Today, Spain not only has roots that go all the way back to the old Roman Empire, Spain also has a deep cultural connection to the Islamic world. And, with only nine miles of separation between prosperous Spain and the northern tip of Africa, Spain also has a serious immigration problem -- much like the one that exists between the US and Mexico.

Once Spain's unique history is understood, Spain's diplomatic style of pursuing foreign policy starts making sense. Nowhere could tensions between two opposing cultures be potentially higher, and nowhere could the art of diplomacy be more required.

If you recall, in 1991, it was at the Madrid Conference held in Spain where the Middle East peace process first had its beginning. And, in 1995, it was in Barcelona Spain where the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership For Peace was negotiated and signed. So, it shouldn't surprise us that the UN's AOC is also a thoroughly Spanish proposal.

This morning an email was waiting from a friend who had translated an article he found about the AOC on a German Website. According to the article, the AOC is a foreign exchange, from King Juan Carlos, all the way up through the entire Spanish government. Active participants include a theologian known as Leonard Boff, who teaches a "new spirituality," and that humans should seek what he calls a "mirror-image-ritual." Along with the powerful Arab League and an assortment of other Islamic leaders, such as Iran's former President, Mohammed Khatami, the AOC also has the support of important Western leaders, such as Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spain's Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos and former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez.

This brings us to the main point of today's commentary -- geo-peace zones. At a meeting that was called, The Atman [atman: soul, spirit] Encounter 2005, Spain's Foreign Minister, Miguel Moratinos, was reported to have said some things about the AOC that students of Bible prophecy should find very interesting.

Spanish minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, highlighted three strategies for international relations: integration of immigrants by advancing dialogue and fomenting tolerance, among other means; the creation of geopolitical peace zones (in the case of Spain, the Mediterranean area) and, finally, the alliance of civilizations. He described such an alliance as “something that goes beyond simple dialogue and good intentions; something that obliges governments to adopt educational, cultural and social measures.”

(http://www.fundacionatman.org/actualidad/noticia_311005_en.htm)

As I've been reporting, Moratinos -- the person now calling for another Madrid type conference -- was Javier Solana's personal envoy to the Middle East. And, Solana was the person who successfully negotiated the 1995 Euro-Mediterranean Partnership For Peace (Euromed) -- which I suspect could possibly be the foretold covenant with many (Daniel 9:27). If you recall, starting on January 1, 2007, a new EU funding instrument will kick in that's designed to strengthen -- or confirm -- the Euromed for seven years.

Now, let's put this all together. The Spanish government seeks -- starting with the Mediterranean region -- to establish what it calls a "geopolitical peace zone." In time, it wants this peace zone to spread from the Mediterranean and extend globally. Evidently, that's what the UN's AOC is really all about.

Stay tuned!

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

Iran: Israel will regret striking against us


Published: 11.16.06, 13:15



According to the Iranian news agency IRNA, the Iranian Defense Minister Mustafa Mohammed Najjar said Thursday, “If Israel takes any stupid action, Iran’s reaction will be so painful and swift that Israel will regret it forever.”


The Iranian defense minister added, “It seems the heads of the Zionist regime haven’t learned there lesson from Saddam’s fate and their defeat in Lebanon if they are saying stupid things like that.” (Roee Nahmias)


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

Global Peace Project
I don't think we yet fully appreciate what's going on. The Alliance of Civilizations (AOC) is beginning to appear to be much more than just another limp wristed UN initiative. It's beginning to look like the AOC may actually be an attempt by the international community to -- at long last -- bring about their dream for world peace. In fact, that's how a co-sponsor of the AOC, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, sees the initiative himself. This report says:

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Turkey considers the Alliance of Civilizations the global peace project of the 21st century Read about it here.

Recently we're hearing a lot about how when a world leader says something -- such as did Hitler before the start of WW2, the rest of the world should pay attention. Here we find the Turkish Prime Minister saying the AOC is a "global peace project." Friends, I think we should believe him.

If you have read the AOC's latest report, you are aware that much of it is about settling the Israeli/Palestinian dispute. Well, as I have already reported, the AOC wants their global peace project to first begin in the Middle East. And, according to this report Read about it here, the other co-sponsor of the AOC, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, is already starting that ball rolling Read about it here.

What interests me about Zapatero's Middle East peace plan is that it appears to completely sidestep the interests of both the U. S. and Israel Read about it here. If this turns out to be the case, it's obvious who the real interested parties in the AOC's global peace project are -- the EU and the so-called "moderate" Arab states. However, all may not be as it seems. As I said before, we may not yet fully appreciate what's going on.

Here's what I'm beginning to think. A deal with the key players in the Middle East peace process may have already been made. If so, that could explain why Syria, Iran and their allies -- like Hezbollah -- are so upset. You see, it's possible when Israel launched their forces into Lebanon it was the beginning of a grand plan -- a plan by these key Middle East players to bring a time of peace to the region. And, naturally, it wouldn't be a plan that everyone in the region would like.

Now we're learning the EU peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon have been invited into Gaza as part of Zapatero's new EU peace initiative. Friends, how much more news like this do we need to believe that the final events of Bible prophecy may now be before us?

You see, if the AOC is in fact a global peace project, if the AOC is in fact a war against fundamentalism, if the AOC is in fact going to appoint a High Representative, if the AOC is in fact part of Javier Solana's scheme for a new international order, if the AOC resolution proposal will in fact be delivered to the UN Security Council in 2007 and it includes a deal regarding Old Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, and if the seven-year New ENP will in fact also start in 2007, then it's not hard to believe we're seeing what the Bible predicted.

Or, is it?

.............................benny ................................p.s.......Isaiah 17;1...and the rapture back to back......would result into everything falling into play

France, Italy, Spain working on Mideast peace plan
Nov 16 10:52 AM US/Eastern






France, Italy and Spain are seeking a Middle East ceasefire, an exchange of prisoners and an international peace conference, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has said after talks with French President Jacques Chirac.
The three countries are also calling for a Palestinian "government of national unity" and the despatch of a fact-finding mission to the Palestinian territories, he said at a press conference.



"All this violence must end," Zapatero added. "We want to launch a joint initiative on the Middle East situation and push it through at European Union level, preferably with Germany and Britain."

Chirac for his part said that the EU had to act in the face of "the increasingly dramatic situation in the Middle East and in Palestine in particular."

"We are going to act jointly with the Spanish and Italian governments, with the cooperation of the EU ... to try to initiate the indispensable moral and political reforms in the Middle East," he added.

The two leaders spoke as the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians hotted up further Thursday.

Palestinian militants fired rockets into Israel, whose warplanes raided the Gaza Strip, a day after a woman was killed by a Palestinian rocket attack on the southern Israeli town of Sderot.




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

Nov. 16, 2006 18:32 | Updated Nov. 16, 2006 23:07
PA welcomes peace conference plan
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Ramallah


The Palestinian Authority on Thursday welcomed calls for holding an international conference for peace in the Middle East, saying it was prepared to resume talks with Israel over the implementation of the road map plan.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced the initiative at a summit with President Jacques Chirac of France. "Peace between Israel and the Palestinians means to a large extent peace on the international scene," Zapatero told a news conference.

The peace plan will be presented to an EU summit next month, Zapatero said, adding he hopes to win the backing of Britain and Germany as well.

Nabil Abu Rudaineh, a spokesman for PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, said: "We welcome any international effort designed to revive the stalled peace process and implement the road map."

Hamas, meanwhile, is interested in another truce with Israel because the Islamist movement fears the consequences of a massive IDF operation in the Gaza Strip in response to the continued firing of Kassam rockets at Israel, PA officials here said.

A senior Hamas official, Nasser Eddin Shaer, confirmed to The Jerusalem Post that his movement was prepared to declare a truce with Israel, saying he supported a "mutual cessation of violence and a return to the period of calm - tahdiyah.

Shaer, who met with Abbas to discuss the latest developments surrounding the establishment of a Palestinian unity government, said: "It's very important that any deal on a unity government include a mutual calm between the Israelis and Palestinians. If Israel halts the incursions, assassinations and breaches, we will stop firing rockets and missiles."

A PA official told the Post that Shaer made this position clear during his meeting with Abbas with the hope that the PA chairman would relay the message to the Israelis and Americans.

"Some Hamas leaders are apparently afraid of a huge Israeli military operation," the official said. "An escalation in the Gaza Strip will not serve their interests because many Hamas leaders and activists will be targeted. Hamas will pay a heavy price."

According to the PA official, the recent escalation, particularly the launching of Kassam rockets at Sderot and Ashkelon, was initiated by Hamas representatives who are opposed to the proposed unity government.

"We believe that Syria and Iran are trying to thwart the establishment of a unity government," he explained. "These two countries are inciting some Hamas leaders and activists against the unity government. They're hoping that a major Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip will foil efforts to establish a unity government."

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

This article is by herb peters;..................................................................Butterfly of Peace
Today's news reminds me of that song from the sixties about the elusive butterfly of love. In my mind I see two men with nets chasing after a butterfly. But, instead of it being the butterfly of love, it's the butterfly of peace. And, it's every bit as elusive.

Yesterday I reported that Spain -- along with France and Italy -- have introduced a peace initiative that they want to present to the EU heads at their December summit Read about it here. Well, today it's being reported that the U.S. also has a peace initiative in the works. And, the U.S. wants to present their plan in Jordan at the end of November Read about it here. In other words, the two men I see chasing that butterfly of peace are Spain's Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and America's George Bush.

If you recall yesterday's commentary, I suggested the idea that the key players in the Middle East peace process may have already come to an agreement. I still suspect that may be the case. However, that doesn't necessarily mean all the players are on exactly the same page. You see, the EU's Mediterranean bordering nations -- like Spain, France and Italy -- have a different outlook from that of the other EU states. Much as the U.S. has with Mexico, these nations have a serious security concern due to immigration coming from across the Mediterranean.

If nothing else, I suspect Spain's initiative may build a fire under the U.S. and Israel. If they don't take the lead and get the peace process moving again, the EU and the international community are saying they will. So, now there isn't just one with a butterfly net -- there are two.

If your wondering why my commentaries have been slower coming than normal, it's partly because I'm also working on updating FP's overview. And, Linda and I are also very busy attempting to get out the remaining requests for DVDs and CDs.

One more thing: I may have finally come to peace regarding why so few have stood with me in reporting this news. If you have been a regular at FP, you know how long I have struggled with this question. Now that I may have my answer, I'm able to see those who remain silent about this information in a little different light. We all know that God is the One who gives insight. But, there is something we sometimes forget -- God is also the One who withholds it (Matt. 11:25).

In the meantime, let's all sit back and watch the show.

Let's watch them chase that butterfly of peace.

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

France, Spain, Italy propose Middle East peace plan
Fri Nov 17, 2006 5:56 AM IST
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By Jane Barrett

GIRONA, Spain (Reuters) - Spain, France and Italy agreed on Thursday to work on a joint plan to try to resolve the Middle East conflict, calling for a total ceasefire and suggesting they could send truce monitors to the area.

It was not clear how the European initiative would fit in with existing peace plans for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the stalled U.S.-backed "Road Map".

Media reports in Israel said that diplomatic officials had rejected the proposal outright.

"Peace in the Middle East, to a great extent, means peace internationally. Stability and security in the Middle East means stability and security for the world," Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told a news conference.

Zapatero proposed the countries work on a solution when he met French President Jacques Chirac in the northern town of Girona. They later spoke to Italy's prime minister.

Zapatero said they wanted to bring their proposal to an EU summit in December, adding that the three countries would work closely with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

"Observation forces" could be sent to monitor any truce, he said.

A senior Israeli foreign ministry official told Israel Radio that the plan had not received the approval of the EU or the quartet of international peace mediators - the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the EU.

"Israel prefers direct talks with the Palestinians and not through mediators and it rejects any proposal to convene an international conference," the radio quoted the official as saying.

The United States said it had been given no details of the European plan and a State Department spokesman said Washington remained committed to the Road Map peace plan.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Welch had met senior EU, Russian and U.N. officials in Cairo this week to see how to move that plan forward.

Spain hosted a Middle East peace conference in Madrid in 1991 that opened the way to direct peace talks between Israel and its neighbours. Last September, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, the European Union's Middle East envoy until 2003, floated the idea of a new one.

OBSERVATION FORCES

Asked whether talks were being held with the Quartet of Middle East peace brokers on the latest proposals, Zapatero mentioned the three European countries' peacekeeping role in Lebanon after the July-August conflict there.

"This initiative is France, Spain and Italy exercising their responsibility -- almost their duty -- as three Mediterranean powers with forces now in Lebanon.

"We count on support from Germany and Britain and other European countries. We are working with Solana to mobilise all the diplomatic and political resources we need."

The Spanish prime minister said the first step would be an end to "all violence", which is also the Quartet's primary goal.

"First we need an immediate end to all forms of violence, including terrorism, and then for a national unity government to be formed in Palestine that will be recognised by the rest of the world," Zapatero said after meeting Chirac.

He also said Israel and the Palestinians should hand over each others' prisoners and open up a political dialogue.

"A further future step could be to send observation forces to the area to make sure the ceasefire holds," he added.

While there have been attempts by senior European officials to promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians in the past, most notably by Solana, Israel has tended to support initiatives only if the United States is involved.

(Additional reporting by Robin Pomeroy in Rome and Luke Baker and Ori Lewis in Jerusalem)



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

Wisdom for Earth's Final Hours
by Jerry Robinson

As Christians, you and I have been purchased by the precious blood and stripes of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have been justified and sanctified. We have been 'set apart' for God's plans and purposes. We do not have the luxury of going along with the crowd, even though our 'flesh' may desire it.

Posted: 8/21/06



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

"The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light." (Romans 13:12)

Recently, while driving through an area in my city known for its nightlife, I once again realized the necessity for you and I to remain sober in these last days. As I drove through this area looking in through the windows at the people drinking and carrying on, I felt sorrow for those who do not know Christ at this hour. Right here in America, the greatest bastion of Christianity in the entire world, most don't know or trust the God has preserved our nation and our very lives to this hour.

The wisdom of Solomon is displayed for us in Proverbs 9:10 when he states:


"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy (the Holy One) is understanding."

Unfortunately, you and I live in a world that does not place much value on Godly wisdom. If you disagree, just turn on your television. It is horrifying what is considered 'normal' today. What passes for 'entertainment' today is indicative of a culture in absolute moral decay. To make matters worse, modern culture and human tendencies have developed a 'herd mentality.' Many choose to go with the flow of society and rarely question the status quo. Like the frog that sits in the boiling pot of water until it is too late, the majority of our culture is willingly submerged in decadence, whether we realize it or not. Try as we may, we cannot escape its grasp. This decadence fills the television and radio airwaves. It lies in wait for us on the internet. It winks at us from advertising billboards. It saturates our nation's marketing tactics and is even seeping into the churches. Some people have even fooled themselves into believing that they can live however they desire without fear of any negative repercussions. It has been called the ultimate fool's game: "I can live my way & win."

'You are the salt of the earth'

As Christians, you and I have been purchased by the precious blood and stripes of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have been justified and sanctified. We have been 'set apart' for God's plans and purposes. We do not have the luxury of going along with the crowd, even though our 'flesh' may desire it. We have an important job as the Church to spread the good news of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection to an unbelieving sea of humanity. In today's homogenized culture, a commitment to Christ should make us stand out. In fact, as Christians, we are supposed to be different from this world. We are to be in this world, but not of it. Of course, I am not advocating that we should stand out solely for the purpose of standing out. Rather, as followers of Christ, this world should not feel like home to us. We are pilgrims, sojourners. Does this world feel like home to you? Have you become comfortable here?

We live in truly remarkable times

What a day and an hour to be living in! The lateness of the prophetic hour is staggering to the imagination. Each and every day, this present world is growing ever darker. We must do all we can to avoid strong attachments to the things of this world. Instead, we should seek to root ourselves in the Word of God and lose ourselves in His plans and purposes for our lives. The apostle Peter advocated this mentality in his second epistle:


"The heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God..."
(2 Peter 3:10-12)

The time to dive into the things of God is now. You must make up your mind that you are going to follow Christ, no matter what happens in the natural. Financial disaster may strike, persecution may come, war may loom, but in all of those things we must CHOOSE to follow Christ and seek after His wisdom. With an attitude like that, you will be prepared for whatever may come. Readers, you are in my prayers continually. May the Lord richly bless you and may your faith be evidenced by your wisdom in these last days. Come, Lord Jesus!

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

Blair Set to Open Washington’s Road to Damascus. Next Stop Tehran

From DEBKA-Net-Weekly Exclusive Updated by DEBKAfile

November 18, 2006, 5:44 PM (GMT+02:00)





To subscribe to DEBKA-Net-Weekly click HERE .

The primary object of the new Spanish-Italian-French Middle East “peace plan” is to insert European military forces into the Gaza Strip after establishing themselves in the expanded UNIFIL in South Lebanon. In furtherance of their goal, the European Union endorsed the UN resolution’s call Friday, Nov. 17, for Israel to pull out of Gaza, although its withdrawal to the UN-approved line was completed in September 2005.

European assertiveness is coming at the expense of the Bush administration’s post-election weakness. Its tenaciously-held premise that the roads to all the region’s woes lead back to the Israel-Palestinian issue is already reflected in these two European steps, the first of a systematic campaign of crushing pressure on Israel to fall into line.

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

Things Thought Unthinkable
I don't recall a time when people were more bewildered. We appear to have slipped into a time of fear and confusion. The scary thing is, all sides are saying the same thing. If left unchecked, we humans are headed for things once thought unthinkable.

The world is watching the humiliation of a great empire. It's obvious America started a war in the Middle East that America couldn't finish. Now, even America's enemies are being asked for their help. Everyone knows it isn't really Tony Blair who is now seeking help from Syria and Iran Read about it here. It's George Bush. And, America will never again be seen the same -- especially in the Middle East.

Sure, we Americans can spin it. In fact, some of us already are. But, the truth is dangerous power vacuums are forming and evil forces are rushing in. In South America we see the dictator's grip returning and in Europe we see the Russian bear loosing its fear. China has been letting us know we should be concerned about their new military presence and North Korean's little leader dared to spit in our face.

We evangelicals can spin things too. And, we probably will. But, the truth is a there's a dangerous spiritual power vacuum forming too. All across America God's people are hungry for a deeper spiritual reality. But, unfortunately, their spiritual leaders can't give what they don't have. This opens the door to the deceivers that Jesus and the Apostles warned about -- to those who use the powers of the enemy to counterfeit the things of God.

Perhaps its as much a sign of my age as spirituality. But, I'm constantly amazed by what is allowed on TV today to represent Christianity. It both saddens and angers me to think that so many people don't know any different.

No, we're seeing things once thought unthinkable.

Are you ready?

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

Coming soon: 'Great war to exterminate Israel'

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


Source: Ynetnews
November 16, 2006

One day after Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu warned that the Iranian threat facing Israel was similar to the 1938 looming Nazi danger to European Jewry, the Israeli media reported that an Iranian newspaper had called on Muslims around the world to get ready:

A "great war" to destroy the State of Israel was on the way, an October 29 editorial in Kehyan had exulted.

Translated by MEMRI, the paper said half of Israel had been taken care of by the Lebanese Hizb'allah last July.

"Now only half the path to [Israel's] destruction remains."

The war would be waged by "millions" of Jihadists along Israel's extended border with Jordan, along Israel's southern border with Egypt, and on the Golan Heights, where Israel and Syria meet.

"That day is not far off."


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

Benny....I know what you mean.



But it should be a witness. Even as great a witness as Israel once again becoming a nation.

Talk about reading the writing on the wall.

Trying to gain peace without the prince of peace is elusive indeed.

Last update - 03:43 20/11/2006


Bush: I'd understand if Israel chose to attack Iran

By Yossi Verter, Haaretz Correspondent

The United States lacks sufficient intelligence on Iran's nuclear facilities at this time, which prevents it from initiating a military strike against them, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has told European politicians and diplomats with whom she has recently met.

Rice mentioned three reasons why the United States is currently unable to carry out a military operation against Iran: the wish to solve the crisis through peaceful means; concern that a military strike will be ineffective - that it would fail to completely destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities; and the lack of precise intelligence on the targets' locations.

U.S. President George W. Bush and President Jacques Chirac of France met several weeks ago. Bush told his French counterpart that the possibility that Israel would carry out a strike against Iran's nuclear installations should not be ruled out.




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Bush also said that if such an attack were to take place, he would understand it. According to European diplomats who later met with Rice, the secretary of state did not express the same willingness to show understanding for a possible Israeli strike against Iran.

Nonetheless, Rice did not discount the possibility that such an operation may take place.

In recent talks with their Israeli counterparts, French government officials estimated that Iran would reach the "point of no return" in its nuclear program by spring 2007, in approximately five months.

At that point, according to Israeli sources, Iran will be in a position to simultaneously operate approximately 3,000 centrifuges for enriching uranium.

Various estimates by international experts hold that Monday Iran is operating 340-600 such centrifuges.

In talks with Israeli sources several days ago, a French government official asserted that an Israeli military attack against Iran would be "a total disaster" in terms of its implications for the entire world.

According to the French official, such a strike would at best delay the completion of Iran's nuclear program by two years.

The attack would also result in Iran cancelling its membership in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, cause a great deal of agitation in the Arab world, lead to a rise in oil prices, and could result in a major Iranian military response that would not target Israel alone.
.....................................................................benny

European trio presenting new Mideast peace plan
Friday, November 17, 2006

By Ciaran Giles, The Associated Press



GERONA, Spain -- Spain, France and Italy offered a Middle East peace initiative yesterday, asserting that Europe must take a lead role in trying to end years of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed they called intolerable.

The five-point blueprint closely mirrors a deal the moderate Palestinian president is offering Hamas to form a national unity government and makes no explicit reference to requiring Hamas to recognize Israel -- a key sticking point blocking the resumption of Western aid to the impoverished Palestinians.

It was not immediately clear whether the initiative, put forward by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, was an effort to get the aid flowing again without such a declaration from Hamas.

Mr. Zapatero announced the plan at a summit with President Jacques Chirac of France. Italy is also on board, Mr. Zapatero said, and Spain hopes to win the endorsement of Britain and Germany and the broader European Union in the run-up to a December summit in Brussels, Belgium.

"We cannot remain impassive in the face of the horror that continues to unfold before our eyes," Mr. Zapatero told a news conference in this coastal city near the border with France.

The Israeli government declined to comment on the new plan.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who is close to President Mahmoud Abbas, said any international peace initiative was welcome, but he stopped short of a warm endorsement.

"We don't need to reinvent the wheel; we don't need a new initiative. What we need is a mechanism for implementation and timelines," Mr. Erekat said. "President Bush has specified the end game as a two-state solution. What we need is a realistic political track, and that's where this initiative can come in."

The British Foreign Office declined to comment until the full details of the plan are released in December.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said the Bush administration had seen reports of a plan, but "what we haven't seen is a new proposal from the EU."

"Our position is clear and remains unchanged," he added. "The U.S. looks forward to working with a Palestinian government that governs responsibly and is interested in making progress toward peace."

Mr. Zapatero, asked if the initiative did not first need the support of Israel and the United States, said it made sense for the three largest contributors to the expanded U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon to assert themselves for peace. "Someone has to take the first move," he said.

The plan has five components: an immediate cease-fire; formation of a national unity government by the Palestinians that can gain international recognition; an exchange of prisoners, including the Israeli soldiers whose capture sparked the war in Lebanon and fighting in Gaza; talks between Israel's prime minister and the Palestinian president; and an international mission in Gaza to monitor a cease-fire.

Although Mr. Zapatero said a Palestinian unity government would have to be able to win international recognition, he made no explicit reference to Hamas recognizing Israel.

Of the five points in the European plan, only the international observer clause is not included in the deal that Mr. Abbas is offering Hamas as a way to form a unity government.

Such an administration would have a division of labor -- Mr. Abbas would be responsible for big issues like dealing with Israel, while administrators independent of Hamas would take on the day-to-day tasks of running the Palestinian territories, although Hamas would get to vet a majority of new Cabinet ministers. Still, the idea is that, as Mr. Abbas would deal with Israel, the government would not have to say whether it recognizes the Jewish state.

The Franco-Spanish summit came amid hopes in Europe for a greater voice in world affairs, particularly after Democrats won control of Congress in U.S. elections.

Mr. Zapatero cited the Israeli shell blast that killed 19 people last week in a Gaza village and the death this week of an Israeli woman in a Palestinian rocket attack on an Israeli town. The violence, he said, "has reached a level of deterioration that requires determined, urgent action by the international community."

Eventually, an international conference on Mideast peace should be held, Mr. Zapatero said. Spain hosted a landmark peace conference in 1991 that laid the groundwork for the Oslo accords, which, in turn, led to creation of the Palestinian Authority.

Europe's efforts to help broker a peace deal have hit some obstacles recently, and the continent could face problems this time as well. Many in Israel view European leaders as pro-Palestinian and are wary of their motives.

Last month, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, a leading European voice on the Middle East, said the "road map" plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians was fatally stalled, and that Europe should take the initiative to come up with a new plan. Israeli and Palestinian officials were quick to reject his comments as overly pessimistic.

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

Nov. 20, 2006 9:00 | Updated Nov. 20, 2006 16:05
Report: Israeli spies active in Iran
By JPOST.COM STAFF



Talkbacks for this article: 12

Iran has developed and tested a trigger device for a nuclear bomb, Israeli agents stationed there have told the White House, according to a report published in the New Yorker on Monday morning.

According to the report, written by Seymour M. Hersh, the White House received the information but did not hand it to the CIA.


35 nations meet on denying Iran technical help for building plutonium-producing reactor
The report also stated that in the past six months, Israel and the United States had been working together to support a Kurdish resistance group known as the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan.

The group had been conducting clandestine cross-border forays into Iran, Hersh said he was told by a government consultant with close ties to the Pentagon civilian leadership, as "part of an effort to explore alternative means of applying pressure on Iran."

The government consultant said that Israel was supplying the Kurdish group "equipment and training." The group had also been given "a list of targets inside Iran of interest to the US" An Israeli government spokesman denied that Israel was involved.

The Israeli intelligence presented a stark contrast to recent CIA estimates on Iran's nuclear program, which claimed that Teheran was far from attaining a nuclear bomb.

The New Yorker article seemed to suggest that there was a difference of opinion between the CIA, the White House and the Pentagon with regards to the progress of Iran's nuclear weapons program.

The CIA's opinion was based on technical information gathered form satellites and other high-tech devices that suggested, that high levels of radiation had not been detected.

However, the White House and the Pentagon dispute the CIA's findings. Pentagon officials urged that the Israeli intelligence to be given due consideration and said that data gathered by satellites and ground sensors was insufficient. He added that more emphasis should be given to information supplied by agents (human intelligence).

"We live in an era when national technical intelligence" - data from satellites and on-the-ground sensors - "will not get us what we need. HUMINT may not be hard evidence by that standard, but very often it's the best intelligence we can get," said a Pentagon consultant.

Reportedly, the White House was refusing to reveal to the CIA the source of the Israeli information, the location of the site of the experiments, or the number of tests that had been carried out.

"The problem is that no one can verify it," a former senior intelligence official told Hersh. "We don't know who the Israeli source is. The briefing says the Iranians are testing trigger mechanisms" - simulating a zero-yield nuclear explosion without any weapons-grade materials - "but there are no diagrams, no significant facts. Where is the test site? How often have they done it? How big is the warhead - a breadbox or a refrigerator? They don't have that."

And yet, he said, the report was being used by White House hawks within the administration to "prove the White House's theory that the Iranians are on track. And tests leave no radioactive track, which is why we can't find it."

Still, he said, "The agency is standing its ground."
..............................................................benny

Up To Us
We Christians in America are free to express ourselves. When you think about it, that's a scary thought. You see, we can say things that are true and we can say things that are false -- it's up to us. And, it's also up to us to know the difference.

The problem is knowing truth in a confused world isn't always easy. Even the things that we think we know we may not. But, unfortunately, there is no way to avoid our responsibility. According to the God's Word, it's still up to us to know the truth and to hold it fast.

This morning we're confronted with more confusing news. It seems our old friend, Valery Giscard d'Estaing, is back on the political scene Read about it here. If you recall, d'Estaing is considered the father of the EU's new -- and yet unratified -- constitutional treaty. Not long ago FP's commentaries where filled with the details surrounding the EU's attempt at creating a constitutional union on the order of the one that we have here in America. As you may recall, d'Estaing's dream was shot down, not by the heads of the EU states, but by the voters -- a mistake I doubt they'll make a second time.

Perhaps even more confusing is the news about mega pastor Rick Warren's sudden and unexpected trip to Syria Read about it here. Taken by itself the the news wouldn't be especially surprising. But, in light of the what's going on in the world -- and in particular in the region -- it's quite intriguing. We already know that due to a dangerous turn of events in Iraq the Bush Administration may be desperate. Word is the the Bush appointed Baker-Hamilton Study Group will be recommending negotiations with Syria and Iran. A prudent leader doesn't appoint a commission to find an unexpected answer. And, since many consider Warren the new Billy Graham, it's only natural to expect that at times like these Warren's services might be called upon.

Further evidence that there's something big going on is provided by the news that Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is responding to Bush's change in tactics by calling for a three-way summit with Syria and Iraq Read about it here.

No, it's not easy to figure it all out. And fortunately, we Christians don't have to. You see, God knows that the world we live in is difficult and confusing. He doesn't expect us to do what we can't do. But, that doesn't mean we can kick back and do nothing. You see, as Christians He has given to each of us a unique talent and He has placed us exactly where He wants us. When our Lord returns, we will all stand before Him without excuse.

It's my view He will return soon. I believe everything points to that conclusion. Over thirty years ago I came to faith in the Bible because of Hal Lindsey's The Late Great Planet Earth. What convinced me was the part in Hal's book about the rebirth of Israel and the revival of the old Roman Empire -- two things that I could see for myself. Today we have another fulfillment I find equally convincing. Now the entire world is seeing the dispute over Jerusalem as the key to establishing global peace -- just like the Bible said.

No, we don't need to figure it all out. There are really only a few things that we need to know. One of those things is the Bible is true -- Jesus truly is the risen Son of God. The other thing we need to know is that we still have an urgent message to get out.

And, our Lord says it's up to us.

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

Nov. 20, 2006 23:23 | Updated Nov. 20, 2006 23:38
Livni: Palestinians' Shaba claims defy Road Map
By JPOST.COM STAFF


The international community must reject the Palestinian claim to the Shaba farms because it contradicts the Road Map, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said in a lecture at London's International Institute for Strategic Studies on Monday night.

Livni also called on moderate Middle Eastern countries to join together and work to neutralize the extremist elements in the region, Israel Radio reported.

Regarding Iran, Livni said an offensive stance must be taken toward Teheran. She added that the international community should be prepared to defend its values before defending oil prices.

The foreign minister warned that if the world did not react to the Iranian threat with appropriate seriousness, there was a danger that other Arab countries would either develop nuclear weapons or come under the influence of Teheran.
............................................................benny

Window on Israel: Talking tough
By IRA SHARKANSKY



Talkbacks for this article: 1

The writer is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem

Commentators described Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as a man who spoke during the recent Lebanon War like Churchill, but acted like Chamberlain. Heroic statements preceded actions that seemed timid, delayed, inelegant, and unsuccessful by comparison.

Now he may be doing it again.

He has ratcheted up his rhetoric about Iran's nuclear program. He has said it is the most severe threat against the Jewish people and Israel since 1938; that Israel cannot tolerate an Iran with nuclear weapons; and that Israel knows what it must do.

Against this, the opinion of numerous military persons is that the Iranian nuclear project is dispersed and well protected, and that Israel does not have the capacity to destroy it, or in the best case to delay further development by more than a few years. Moreover, an Israeli military action is likely to isolate Israel even more than at present in international politics, as well as to spur whatever sentiments exist in Iran to retaliate as severely as possible as soon as possible.

So why is the prime minister talking so tough? First, perhaps, because he is good at it. He may not be in Churchill's league, or even in John Kennedy's, but he knows how to talk and to strum the nationalist heartstrings. He tells a number of Israelis and overseas Jews what they want to hear.

Secondly, he is in trouble. His performance in the recent war and several charges of corruption have dropped his public standing to record lows. Binyamin Netanyahu is climbing back from what were even lower scores in public esteem, and Avigdor Lieberman is moving higher in prominence from his posture even further to the right than Netanyahu.

Talk is cheap? Perhaps in the short run, but Olmert's talk is also dangerous.

Not all is gruesome. We are just back from the Negev and Eilat, where much was awesome in the positive sense. We left the southern resort city before the arrival of 1,000 people from Sderot, now enjoying a week's paid vacation in a five-star hotel (we made do with a four-star hotel) at the expense of Arkadi Gaydamak. He is one of our Russian billionaires, currently wanted by authorities in France, who is making his name (and perhaps paving the way to the Knesset) by high profile activity as the owner of a football team and as a supporter of deserving Israelis. He spent millions to provide refuge in a tent city in the south during the Lebanon war for low-income northerners threatened by rockets from Lebanon, and now this gesture for people of Sderot who are suffering from rockets falling on them from Gaza.

A number of established politicians are speaking out against this new boy in their game, except for Avigdor Lieberman. He may see Gaydamak as a potential partner for appealing to the million or so Russian speakers who may comprise 15 percent of the electorate. And Gaydamak's contributions to low-income people from the north, and now from Sderot, will endear him to another slice of the Israeli electorate.

Meanwhile, legal authorities are pursuing investigations of Gaydamak about money laundering in the range of US $50 million. At least one of his potential rivals has said that Gaydamak's Jewish identity is suspect, which is not unlikely for someone coming from the former Soviet Union. Stay tuned. This story will continue for some time.



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


Minister: Forget peace, declare war!

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


Source: Ha'aretz
November 19, 2006

Minister for Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman on Saturday said that Israel needs to wake up and declare war on the "Palestinians," who do not truly desire peace with the Jewish state.

Lieberman noted that the "Oslo Accords" and Road Map peace processes are in tatters because of the Palestinian Arabs' refusal to honor their commitments, and insisted that for Israel to continue to adhere to those defunct scraps of paper is a mistake that threatens the nation's future.

Instead, said Lieberman, Israel needs to retake control of the Gaza-Sinai border, liquidate the Hamas leadership, and trash any diplomatic efforts based on the idea that Mahmoud Abbas' PLO is a capable and relevant partner for peace.


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

Time to toughen up on Iran: Israeli FM by Robin Millard
1 hour, 57 minutes ago



LONDON (AFP) - Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said the international community needed to get tough on Iran or face the "bully of the neighbourhood" having weaker states appeasing it to avoid Tehran's wrath.

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She said there was a common understanding that Iran posed a global threat so it was time to impose tough sanctions, saying the international community was sending the "wrong message" by quibbling over what to do about Tehran's refusal to freeze its uranium enrichment programme.

"A very strong decision by the United Nations Security Council is needed," Livni said at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) think tank in London, where she made a speech entitled "The Middle East After the War in Lebanon".

Calling for "an end to hesitation and excuses", she said the international community had to impose tough sanctions on Tehran "because it is crucial that the international community... be willing to defend its own values more than the price of oil".

"Our concern is that as a result to the Iranian threat, some other states in the region will try to achieve this nuclear capacity in the future," she said.

She also expressed concern that "if the international community is not strong enough", countries in the region "would try to appease Iran in order to gain the protection of the bully of the neighbourhood."

Livni also stressed that Israel had the same interests as moderates in the Middle East region, with the vision of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict the "common denominator".

However, she said the notion that the conflict was the cause of extremism was "misleading".

"I know that this view is popular, especially in Europe, but the truth is that the conflicts in the Middle East are a consequence, not a cause of radicalism and terrorism."

"As long as extremists have the power to torpedo the chances for peace, we cannot achieve stability in the Middle East."

She said that the modern world faced conflicts over values rather than territory and that "unfortunately in our region, moderate leaders are weak leaders".

"Radical forces are empowered by rogue states that export extremism and weak states that incubate it or tolerate it," she told the IISS.

Turning to Syria, she said Damascus had hitherto played a "very negative role" in the region.

"The message right now should be that if they want to be part of the international community, they have to behave. They have to stop their support for terrorist organisations," she said.

Livni described her "frustration" at the "huge gap between Israel's image and what we really are".

"Israel is willing to be judged by the international community ... but we would like to be judged by the same values.

"I cannot live with this kind of comparison between terrorists who are looking for children to kill ... and Israeli soldiers who are looking for these terrorists in order to stop them."

Livni was in London for talks Tuesday with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, fresh back from a trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett.

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

Revisiting the 1930's. . .

It's Like Deja Vu All Over Again

According to a report issued by the World Jewish Congress last week, anti-Semitic sentiments in the European continent have doubled since the beginning of the summer.



And according to Professor Dina Porat, co-coordinator of the conference, the research showed a significant change in the attitudes toward Jews. And not just among extremists, but also in moderate sectors of the European population.

Porat heads Tel Aviv University’s Chaim Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies and the Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of anti-Semitism and Racism.

The report included examples of anti-Semitic cartoons reminiscent of the Nazi era published in places like Norway, Mexico and even the UK.

The report also said that Ahmadinejad's repeated threats against Israel has emboldened the anti-Semites to come out of the closet, so to speak.

Congress President Edgar Bronfman cited Iran’s nuclear development activities as the most dangerous threat to the Jews and Israel since the Holocaust.

Roger Kukerman, President of the Committee Representing the Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF) said that when Ahmadinejad vows to kill the Jews and “wipe Israel of the map”, the remarks should be taken seriously.

Kukerman added that the only difference between the president of the Islamic Republic and the founder of the Nazi party is one of weapons. Ahmadinejad is suspected of having nuclear weapons. Adolph Hitler had none.

In Germany, a poll conducted by the German Friedrich Ebert Fund surveyed 5,000 German citizens about their attitude towards the Jews.

The findings showed that 18 percent of Germans believe Jews have too much influence in the country. Fourteen percent said that Jews are more inclined to cheat in business. And an equal number said Jews are not fit to live in Germany because they are different.

The poll found anti-Semitism is more profound in the West than in the former East Germany. And it was more prevalent among wealthy West Germans than their poorer countrymen.

In addition, the poll revealed trends that harken back to the bad old days of the 1930's.

# 15 percent believe Germans are naturally superior to other people

# 28 percent long for Germany to return to its position as a major international player and condone using force to ‘reach the position [they] deserve’

# 26 percent hope for a single popular party to take control of the nation

# 9 percent support a German dictatorship

# 35 percent in western Germany and 44 percent in the east said “foreigners come to Germany only to exploit it.”

And a study commissioned for the United Nations puts the blame for the war against Islamofacism squarely on Israel's shoulders.

We may wish to think of the Arab-Israeli conflict as just one regional conflict amongst many," said Kofi Annan, who leaves his post as UN Secretary General at the end of the year. "It is not. No other conflict carries such a powerful symbolic and emotional charge among people far removed from the battlefield."

Annan went on to say,

"As long as the Palestinians live under occupation, exposed to daily frustration and humiliation, and as long as Israelis are blown up in buses and in dance halls, so long will passions everywhere be inflamed," Annan said.

The fact that Israel is "occupying" ISRAEL and not the Palestinian territories was of no interest to the committee members, evidently. And while Annan mentioned Israelis being blown up in busses and dance halls, he didn't mention that those targets were INSIDE Israel, and not in some undefined area of 'Israeli occupation'.

The report was drafted in the past year by a group of twenty 'impartial' global leaders, including, believe it or not, former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami and the noted Marxist apologist, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa.

The group making the recommendations was formed in 2005 as part of the U.N.-backed "Alliance of Civilizations" initiative. It was sponsored by the Socialist government of Spain and co-sponsored by Turkey, which is 99% Islamic.

The report also called for the development of a report "analyzing the Israeli-Palestinian landscape dispassionately and objectively," and "establishing clearly the conditions that must be met to find a way out of this crisis."

The fact is, the conditions that must be met to find a way out of this crisis have ALREADY been established. The conditions call for Hamas to recognize Israel's right to exist and renounce violence and terrorism. It isn't Israeli policy that is an obstacle to peace. Israeli policy is to negotiate for peace with representatives that WANT peace.

The report recommended renewed efforts toward the goal of establishing "two fully sovereign and independent states coexisting side by side in peace and security."

Israel has already agreed to that goal. The majority of Palestinians prefer their vision of one state INSTEAD of Israel, but the report reserved its sympathy for the plight of the Palestinians.

Because peace with Israel is not the objective. Peace WITHOUT Israel is.




Email Author: By: Hal Lindsey


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

each day it gets more interesting...............................................................Olmert: New European peace plan impeding regional progress

By Reuters

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Italian counterpart on Tuesday that the new European initiative for Middle East peace was interfering in political progress between Israel and Palestinians.

Olmert also said there has been progress in talks with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Italy's Prime Minister Romano Prodi said on Tuesday he wants Britain and Germany to be part of a new push for Middle East peace that is being developed by Italy, France and Spain.




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A statement issued by Prodi's office said the Italian leader described the initiative to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in a telephone call.

Prodi told Olmert that the three initiators of the plan had a "particular sensibility" for the Middle East as they also border the Mediterranean, but that other major European Union countries need to be involved.

"President Prodi underlined that in his opinion the initiative must be extended to other European partners, starting with Germany and Great Britain, to give it greater chance for success and make it more likely to receive consensus from all interested parties," the statement said.

The leaders of Italy, France and Spain announced the joint Middle East plan last week. It includes a ceasefire, a Palestinian government of national unity, an exchange of Israeli and Palestinian prisoners, and possibly international observers.

Israel was cool to the idea and the United States is working on its own planning, which could include an international peace conference in Jordan at the end of the month.

It is not clear how either initiative fits into the Middle East "road map" launched in 2003 by the Quartet of international mediators -- the United States, the EU, the United Nations and Russia -- and previously seen as the only agreed framework for reviving talks on long-term peace.

Olmert will visit Italy on December 13, the statement said.



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

US Could Bomb Iran Nuclear Sites in 2007

November 21, 2006
AFP.com
Agence France-Presse
http://www.afp.com/english/news/stor....x0i16q85.html

President George W. Bush could choose military action over diplomacy and bomb Iran's nuclear facilities next year, political analysts in Washington agree.

"I think he is going to do it," John Pike, director of Globalsecurity.org, a military issues think tank, told AFP.

"They are going to bomb WMD facilities next summer," he added, referring to nuclear facilities Iran says are for peaceful uses and Washington insists are really intended to make nuclear bombs, or weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

"It would be a limited military action to destroy their WMD capabilities" added the analyst, believing a US military invasion of Iran is not on the table.

US journalist Seymour Hersh also said at the weekend that White House hawks led by Vice President Dick Cheney were intent on attacking Iran with or without the approval of the US Congress, both houses of which switch from Republican to Democratic control in January after the November 7 legislative elections.

The New Yorker weekly published an article by Hersh saying that one month before the elections, Cheney held a meeting on Iran in which he said the military option would never be discarded.

The White House promptly issued a statement saying the article was "riddled with inaccuracies."

Joseph Cirincione, Senior Vice President for National Security and International Policy at the Center for American Progress, a Democrat-friendly think tank, also believes the US government could decide to attack Iran.

"It is not realistic but it does not mean we won't do it," he told AFP in an interview. "It is less likely after the elections but it is still very possible."

"If you look at what the administration is doing, it seems that it is going to inevitably lead us to a military conflict," he said, adding that no alternative solution was being sought, including discussions with Iran on Iraq, which could lead to talks on Iran's nuclear program and role in the region.

"Senior members of the (Bush) administration remain seized with the idea that the regime in Iran must be removed," Cirincione said.

"The nuclear program is one reason, but their deeper agenda is this belief that American military power can be used to fundamentally transform the regimes in the Middle East," he added.

With the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, hardliners in the government have lost one of their leading advocates, and his replacement, former former Central Intelligence Agency chief Robert Gates, has in the past favored direct talks with Iran, said the expert.

"But they remain within the administration at the highest level, the office of the vice president, the national security council staff, perhaps the president himself," Cirincione added.

He also accused neoconservative circles of promoting the military option against Tehran.

In a Sunday op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times, Joshua Muarvchik, resident scholar at the neoconservative American Enterprise Institute, called for getting tough with Iran.

"We must bomb Iran," he said. "The path of diplomacy and sanctions has led nowhere ... Our options therefore are narrowed to two: we can prepare to live with a nuclear-armed Iran, or we can use force to prevent it."

Israel has also been pushing Washington to get tough on Iran.

Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh did not rule out preventive military action to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, in a recent interview with the English-language Jerusalem Post.

However, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seems unperturbed. On Monday he said Israel was incapable of launching a military attack on Iran's nuclear sites and called Israeli threats "propaganda."
__________________
............................................................benny

Herb's Date Setting!
Sometimes we must answer our critics. Not so much to defend our position over another, but to provide an answer to our readers. Due to FP's popularity, and as we approach the year 2007, this is especially becoming true. The attacks are apparently beginning. It's being brought to my attention there are some prophecy teachers accusing me of date setting. And, some are accusing me of sensationalism and suggesting that I'm doctrinally unsound. So, I guess it's necessary to respond to their charges.

As far as dates setting goes, I've found that this accusation almost always will come from a pre-tribulation rapture teacher. Yet, this is something that I'm not doing anymore than the majority of those who believe as they. You see, Jesus not only said it wasn't for us to know the day or hour (Matt. 24: 36), He also said it wasn't for us to know the times or seasons (Acts 1:7). But, as we all know, most modern students of Bible prophecy believe that we're in the season of Christ's return -- even the pre-tribulation rapture believers. In fact, one founder of a popular pre-tribulation Website even created an index to keep track of the signs that they believe indicate the nearness of Christ's return.

So, what exactly did Jesus mean? What Jesus was saying is not that we wouldn't recognize the season once it was here, only that we wouldn't know when it would come. In fact, it's my view this is the true meaning of imminency.

How about my view that the 70th week of Daniel could start on January 1, 2007? Isn't that date setting? Well, I don't recall anyone accusing me of date setting when I reported that on January 1, 1995, the Western European Union became an alliance of 10 nations. And, I don't recall on October 18, 1999, when Javier Solana became the first Mr. Europe, that anyone accused me of date setting. So, what's the difference of my reporting about the 1995 Euro-Mediterranean Partnership for Peace and the New European Neighborhood Policy that's scheduled to begin on January 1, 2007? I believe the only reason some have now started accusing me of date setting is because of the possible implications my reporting may now have for their views on the timing of the rapture.

What is date setting? Date setting is setting a date for when Christ will rapture His saints. And, according to my pre-wrath view, the rapture will occur at an unknown day and hour. Some say knowing the beginning of the week is date setting because than we will know when Jesus will return to earth at the end of the week. But, they don't stop to think that that would also be true for those who see the Abomination of Desolation in the middle of the week. So, according to the Bible, I'm not guilty of date setting. If I've been guilty of anything, it's not placing my view on the timing of the rapture before everything else.

How about all the the times in the past that end-times believes pointed to events in their day as possible fulfillments of prophecy and were wrong? Doesn't this damage our credibility? Sure it does. And, if you've read my book, you know that I worry about that too. But, does that mean that I should place my credibility over God's people and remain silent about this news? As I said to someone on our discussion board, perhaps that's why God chose to reveal these things to me. I have no credibility to lose.

As far as sensationalism goes, this accusation actually amuses me. By now readers recognize that my reporting -- if anything -- has proven more accurate than most of my accusers. My point is, if all I'm doing is reporting the news, and some see it as sensationalism, than there might be something significant about what I'm reporting.

As far as doctrinally unsound goes, I believe the only reason some are accusing me of being doctrinally unsound is because I've come to a different view on the timing of the rapture. The fact is, I probably use the same Scofield study Bible that many of them do.

There is one more thing I might mention. Recently I'm being asked, if the 70th week does begin on January 1, 2007, what is it that I expect to see? I'm not expecting to see too much more than what's already there. The agreements that we here at FP have been watching are already signed and ready to go. And, my understanding is the first half of the week will usher in a time of false peace over the Mediterranean region. It's after the middle of the week when the really bad things will begin to happen.

There is something, however, that I am watching. I'm watching to see what will happen at the EU's coming December summit. Two very important issues are on their agenda. And, these issues are very much related. The Spanish/French/Italian peace plan will be up for approval by the EU heads. And, there will be urgent discussions concerning the EU's need for a single voice and single energy policy Read about it here. Naturally, secure energy supplies are a big priority. In fact, in his book, Armageddon, Oil and the Middle East Crisis, the late John Walvoord actually foresaw that Europe's need for a supply of secure energy would be what brought about the final events of Bible prophecy.

This brings up one more question. What happens if January 1 comes and goes and the 70th week doesn't begin as we think possible. It'll mean it didn't --that's all.

But, what if it does?

Stay tuned!

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

Israel Opts for Major War Campaign in 11th Hour of Hamas Build-up

DEBKAfile Special Military Report

November 22, 2006, 5:07 PM (GMT+02:00)





DEBKAfile’s military sources disclose that Israel’s security cabinet decided Wednesday, Nov. 22, that there is no option but to launch a major offensive against Hamas and its terrorist allies in the Gaza Strip - both to pre-empt their war build-up and reduce Qassam missile attacks which climbed to 80 in the last ten days. The date remains to be set. Operational proposals were not submitted by the army chiefs, said the announcement, but held back for presentation to a smaller forum which the Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will summon.

Our sources note that special forces and Shin Bet units have already stepped up their ground operations against the missile crews in the northern Gaza Strip. These operations will soon evolve into a broader, harsher crackdown in other parts of the territory including the Philadelphi corridor.

The prime minister was finally convinced that the time for foot-dragging was over by intelligence data which showed Hamas hectically engaged in constructing state-of-the-art fortifications for withstanding deep incursions into the Gaza Strip. They are assisted by dozens of military advisers pouring in from Syria and Lebanon.




Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen Dan Halutz, AMAN-intelligence commander Maj.-Gen Amos Yadlin and OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen Yoav Galant warned Olmert and defense minister Amir Peretz that every day without Israeli counter-action maximizes future IDF casualties. They said casualties will be high even if Israel does not carry out an organized incursion of the Gaza Strip but confines itself to pinpointed strikes. Military intelligence also estimates that a full-scale conflict will soon prove unavoidable because the Qassam salvos are increasing in number and range beyond Sderot and Ashkelon; Ashdod and more Negev communities are being brought into the missile orbit.

As Palestinian missile attacks on the Israeli population proliferate, Sderot’s distress becomes intolerable and the popular clamor rises to curb the menace, the IDF has switched its counter-missile tactics in the Gaza Strip. Instead of the air force, special ground forces backed by Shin Bet units are spearheading strikes which target top Hamas missile commanders.

Monday night, Nov. 20, IDF infantry, undercover and Shin Beit units surrounded the home of senior Hamas missile commander Imad Hasnin in Gaza City’ Sajaiya district. Apparently forewarned, his bodyguards opened fire on the Israeli raiders. They used the anti-tank rockets, mortars and machine guns which have turned the missile commanders’ homes into fortresses – both against Israeli attack and Fatah adherents.

The Israeli troops, backed by rooftop snipers, fought their way to the targeted house in hand-to-hand battle with the Palestinian gunmen, stormed the building and killed Hasnin.

The raid was launched after Israeli intelligence was tipped off that Hamas had expanded its Qassam production facilities by 50% in the last two weeks, tripled output and increased the missiles’ explosive power. This development means that the Palestinian missile industry has grown too big to destroy by ordinary military means, particularly when it is fed by a constant flow of smuggled explosives entering through the wide-open Philadelphi corridor from Egypt.

Instead of targeting single launchers, Israel’s military planners therefore decided to focus on liquidating missile crews and reaching their commanders at home, as the only way to strike at the heart of the Palestinian cross-border offensive against Israeli communities.

The new tactic, successfully employed Monday night, calls for large commando units trained in street combat, who also risk relatively high casualties. It also calls for an intensive, high-grade intelligence effort to precisely mark the targets and provide details of the protective measures they employ.

A senior Israeli officer in the Gaza sector told DEBKAfile that it will take several weeks before the new counter-missile assault model can dent Hamas capabilities for shooting missiles into Israel and begin reducing the barrage. Even today, Hamas is capable of firing salvos of dozens of missiles, he said, but is keeping the intensity down to about 10 launchings a day, in order to reserve the bulk of its arsenal for later stages of its showdown with Israel.

DEBKAfile’s military experts point out that the impending Gaza campaign will be the second war Israel has fought in five months. In most senses, it will be the sequel to the war offensive Hizballah launched from Lebanon in July. Hizballah may decide, or be instructed from Damascus and/or Tehran, to initiate another attack across Israel’s northern border to ease the pressure on Hamas by splitting Israeli forces on two fronts. The counter-argument to this depends on developments in Lebanon: The deeper the domestic crisis erupting in Lebanon in the wake of the assassination of Pierre Gemayel on Tuesday, Nov. 21, the less Hizballah will be free to start another war against Israel.




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

The big trouble is still on the way

By Gideon Samet

Don't turn your noses up at the government's ability to sock you with more troubles. Wherever you look, things are smelling bad. But now a mega-trouble is blinking for attention. Close your eyes and think about the possibility that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, together with the chief of staff, the minister for strategic threats and his other advisers, will wrack his brain and decide to act against the Iranian nuclear threat - and imagine what this means for you. This is the man who is responsible for managing a failed war against a guerrilla army in Lebanon. Does this make you feel calm?

We do not have many facts about this important matter in hand. What we do have are mainly leaks. The prime minister does not even refrain from spin, especially when he is not sure what should be done. Last week, for example, Olmert said that "the moment of truth is approaching." When a prime minister talks about the moment of truth, past experience reinforces the need to scrutinize a statement like that closely. Is it true, as he said a week earlier, that Israel has ways to prevent Iran from getting the atom? Or, maybe it doesn't, as a senior American official asserted, and therefore it is doubtful that it will attack Iran.

The Americans are also good at feeding the media. Sources at the Pentagon provided journalist Seymour Hersh with material for his piece in The New Yorker this week. Hersh asserted that Israel is already operating secretly in Iran. He is the inventor of the concept of the "Samson Option," as he called his book on Israel's atom. He has, however, been wrong about clamorous and exclusive information on these matters in the past a number of times. What if this time he isn't? In the information-free context in which we're operating, is it a good thing that Israeli agents might be roaming the expanses of Iran and dealing, according to this report, with locating and marking targets for attack?




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The question is not a simple one, of course, because the impression that emerges from other statements, from the very highest levels, is that the United States will now find it difficult to act there itself. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said, during a week packed with statements, that the Iranian nuclear program will be completed within four months. But even if this happens only in another year - America is now bogged down in a period of self-flagellation and attempts to change direction. On its way to the White House is the report of the expert committee that President George W. Bush appointed to make recommendations on the proper Middle East policy for the waning administration. According to all the assessments, its members, headed by James A. Baker, the dynamic secretary of state in the administration of the elder president George Bush, will recommend looking for a way out of Iraq, in part with the help of Iran and Syria.

There's no way, the man in the street will say, that in such circumstances the Americans will attack the Iranian evil. Really? And perhaps suitable weight should be given to George W. Bush's character. It is quite possible that this ideological individual, who has confessed to having conversations with God on the most sublime matters, will not be willing to come to terms with the thought that he will leave the White House without having eliminated - despite everything and because of everything - the Iranian nuclear sword that is hanging over the world. And perhaps it was for this reason that Bush, in a one-on-one conversation with French President Jacques Chirac a few weeks ago, which has now been leaked and perhaps not by chance, told his colleague, "I do not discount the possibility that Israel will attack Iran, and if it does this - I will understand it."

This, in brief, is the fragmentary tangle of information according to which the Israeli citizen has to knit his brow and make up his own mind on a really existential question: Should Israel attack Iran, if the United States refrains from doing so? Are there other ways?

Food for thought: Israel must eventually get into the lane of dialogue with its surroundings, and therefore it is better for it to join the new American wave that apparently, after energetically trying every other way, intends to replace fire with talks.

This new mindset in Washington will no doubt exact a price from Jerusalem. The Golan Heights, for example. The old Israeli mindset, which has fired from all its weapons, must afford this direction the most serious chance. What the governments of Israel chose to do otherwise during the past decade now is something that this suffering nation is no longer willing to tolerate............................................................................................................benny............................In my mind I try to be skeptical.......I am seeing many developing prophecies......Iran seems to be taking the helm in middle east influence with it's arab neighbors......When we read Ezekial 38.......we find that Persia was the first middle east nation mentioned .....with other m.e. nations joining Russia in their attack on Israel..........This developement reveals to the student of bible prophecy, that "WE" are near the beginning of the tribulation period..........The picture of Ezekial 38...is very clear that Israel must be dwelling safely and that her cities must become defenced, before The war of Ezekial 38 can come to pass.......In Ezekial 38;14.......It states;...Therefore, son of man,prophesy and say to Gog,.....Thus says the Lord God: On that day when My People Israel dwell safely, will you not Know it............Sure the world will know it!..............As I see it, Iran, The Hezbollah,The Hamas, and Syria does not want peace, but instead are preparing to try to destroy Israel.....I guess that in a spiritual sense......satan figures that if he can destroy Israel....that he can stop the prophecies of God from coming to pass.............At this moment,Israel is not dwelling safely nor are her cities defenced.......This reveals to me that something of a major biblical proportion will happen before Israel is convinced that she can unwall or defence her cities......If you have been staying on top of Middle east peace negotiations, you have noticed that the E. U. are trying along with the U.S. are desperately trying to come up with a formula to settle the middle east crisses..........It was not long ago that the leader of Israel stated on Fox 26 news that he wanted a Covenant of peace with all her arab neighbors.......Daniel 9;27 tells about a covenant that is to be confirmed for a period of 7 years.........This reveals to me that we are wittnessing signs that the foretold anti-christ is in the wings and will soon step forward onto the world stage..........At this moment, the arabs are not humbled and broken enough to agree to a 7 year time of peace...............It will take something major to convince the arab nations to agree to a third Jewish temple on the temple mount.......On January 1st, 2007......which is only 6 weeks away.....Javier Solona or maybe someone eles, from the E. U.......is slated to confirm a 7 year agreement,between Israel and many of the surrounding M.E. nations........Through Solona's "European Neighborhood Policy"..........But at this moment, It looks as though that Isaiah 17;1 could very well come to pass before this year is over..........Isaiah 17;1 is coming....and my personal belief......I believe that the rapture will happen back to back. When Isaiah 17;1 does come to pass,we read that Isaiah 17;4 states: that the glory of Jacob shall fade.......This indicates, that all world opinion was against Israel for wiping out Damascus.......I believe that this world mentality will lead to Ezekial 38..........It may be that this Ezekial 38 war will become the last straw that will convince the arab world to agree to a third temple on the temple mount... considering that Russia and the arab nations will have had their armies wiped out.........there would be no one to stand in Israel's way to build the third temple..................I "do not" believe that the coming 7 year confirmation will happen on January 1st, 2007........I believe that there are yet more ingredients that need to be added the E. N. P. 7 year confirmation.......The Isaiah 17;1 war and the rapture back to back would, by world conditions result, by adding the right ingredients to the 7 year confirmation. But like I said, there are only 6 weeks before January 1st, 2007 I cannot envision Isaiah 17;1 and that rapture happening, and then boom!.....A 7 year confirmation happening a just a few short days later..........No...I believe that something of a major biblical proportion is soon going to put a damper on this coming 7 year confirmation slated for January 1st, 2007.........................................benny

11/21/2006 11:48 PM | By Amir Taheri, Special to Gulf news



Three war clouds hang over the Middle East. The first represents the possibility of American or Israeli military action against Iran's nuclear installations. The second represents the threat of a fresh civil war in Lebanon. The third points to the growing threat of military clash between Israel and Syria.

While all three clouds are thickening to become more threatening, the third appears the most likely to break into actual thunder and storm. The issue formed a key part of the talks between President George W. Bush and visiting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Washington recently.

The reason why the most imminent war in the region might involve Israel and Syria rather than Iran and the United States is that the putative adversaries are basing their rival strategies on the Tennessee turkey-shoot rules. Under that rule the hunter of wild turkeys always starts by bringing down the laggard in the targeted flight of birds, then proceeding to shoot the others one by one until the leading bird is hit.

Under that rule the laggard in this turkey flight is Lebanon, followed by Syria and moving to Iran as the lead bird. On the opposite side, that is to say seen from Tehran, the laggard is again Lebanon, followed by Iraq, Israel and then the United States as the lead bird.

This means that both the United States and Iran, as the true adversaries in the undeclared war now raging in the Middle East, seek to control Lebanon.

The US sees Lebanon not only as a new springboard for the creation of people-based regimes in the region but also as a key element in exerting pressure on Syria either to detach it from the Islamic republic or, if that fails, bring it into the fold through the use of force.

Iran, for its part, sees Lebanon as the most sensitive segment of its broader glacis that also includes Syria. If the Islamic Republic controls Lebanon, the Syrian part of its glacis will also be safe. At the same time, control of Lebanon would enable Tehran to take the war to the heart of Israel whenever it so wishes. With its Lebanese and Syrian glacis safe, it would be able to raise the temperature against the US-led coalition in Iraq further, thus hastening the American cut-and-run operation that the mullahs expect the new Democrat majority in the US to force upon the Bush administration.

However, the two adversaries are divided on one crucial point in their respective analyses.

Flash point

Iran believes that whatever flash point it might provoke in Lebanon would remain limited to that country. The US, on the other hand, understands that losing Lebanon to its arch adversary in the region would doom all chances of seeing Iraq through to some level of stability that would allow an orderly American withdrawal.

The struggle for Lebanon has already started in its crucial political phase. The Islamic republic, acting through Hezbollah and its Maronite allies led by ex-General Michel Aoun, is trying to destroy Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government through internal haemorrhage.

The pro-Tehran coalition has already persuaded six ministers to resign from the Siniora cabinet. A seventh had resigned a few months ago, although his departure has not been officially approved. All that is needed is for one or two more ministers to quit for Siniora's cabinet to lose its quorum and thus be forced to step down. Such a development would suddenly transform Emile Lahoud, the incumbent president, backed by Iran and Syria, into the real power in Beirut insofar as he would have the right to name a new prime minister.

The pro-Iranian camp's position would be further strengthened by the fact that Hezbollah remains the strongest military force in Lebanon and thus capable of keeping the regular army out of the struggle for power.

The likeliest scenario, however, looks different. Rather than watch with folded arms as Iran and Syria annex Lebanon, Israel would feel obliged to take action. It is clear that Syria would be the immediate target of such action. The message would be simple: make a move against Beirut and you will get hit in Damascus! The danger that Syria is courting has increased for two reasons.

The first is the failure in both the US and Israel of the engage-the-Syrians chorus to make much headway.

The second reason why Syria may be in greater danger is that, for the first time in decades, it has moved into a position from which it cannot back out at will. Pushed by Iran into trying to make a comeback in Lebanon, Syria may be heading for a gamble that is not easy to pull off.

With the UN investigation on the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri complete, Syria faces a Hobson's choice. If Bashar Al Assad cooperates with the UN, he would not only weaken his regime but might also face personal legal complications to say the least. On the other hand, if he decides to defy the UN on that issue as well, he would make it impossible for people such as Djerdjian and Kimche to sing their songs in his favour.

The cloud of war hanging over Syria may not look as dark as the other two clouds mentioned above. But it looks the most threatening.
__________________
................................................................benny

Yes, I could be wrong,....but for a while now,....I have given my reasons why it is that I believe that Isaiah 17;1 could very well come to pass before this year is over with........The evidence still continues to reveal that this may be true........And, I am not by myself into this line of thinking.....Look up for your redemption draweth nigh..........................WAR - Bruce Beach "The SIGN - Read now !!!"

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

The plans are in place.
The decision is being made now -
in key meetings.
Israeli PM Olmert met yesterday with
Israeli Minister of Defense Peretz.

Whatever differences that are blown up
about them in the press
they are in agreement
that Israel must survive.

The two will meet again separately
before the cabinet meeting on Sunday -
where the final go ahead will be given.
(Okay - that is the Beach reading of events - but see further down the reason why.)

Deputy Defense Minister Brig. General Sneh stated last week that sometimes the action of last resort is the only action possible.

The new Israeli Cabinet Minister Avigdor Lieberman who holds the special portfolio for "Strategy regarding Iran" - has advocated since long ago - the bombing of Iran.

Israeli Air Force (IAF) Commander
Major General Elyezer Shkedy
was appointed in August
to prepare for the Iranian campaign.

Olmert came out of his meeting
last week with Bush
and enthused about Israel's "true best friend"
and Bush came out of the same meeting
and said that he would understand it
if Israel bombed Iran.

Netanyahu of course thinks
that it should have been done long ago - and last year at this time I thought Sharon had plans in place - but those were interrupted by his stroke.

All the present Israeli Cabinet members
approved of Lieberman's appointment -
and his view was well known -
so I would ask anyone -
just who else might Olmert need to get on side.

He certainly isn't going to get
the Russian's or Chinese on side -
because such an action might increase
US influence in the Middle East Oil lands - and would certainly diminish their's.

Even if the Arab countries -
and the Euro Union -
were sympathetic to Israel's plight -
(highly doubtful) -
or saw it as their interest
that Iran not get the bomb -
it would not be politically prudent
for them to side with Israel
given their radical Islamist populations.

Cuba, Venezuela, the 22 Arab country
controlled civil rights branch of the UN, is not going to side with Israel - nor certainly not is North Korea - or the UN General Assembly itself.

So,
from whence can Israel expect
any further support than it has.

Is there any possibility
that the UN or the world
will stand up to Iran
(given the North Korea,
Pakistan and
India examples)
and say to it that it can't have the bomb - when the President of Iran has said that - "Israel must be removed from the map."

Is there any way that
Israel might survive
if Iran used the bomb
when two or three such bombs would
completely eliminate Israel -
and Iran being such a large country
could be hit by many and survive.

Whether one thinks
Israel should exist or not -
whether one thinks that
Israel is right or wrong -
whether one thinks that
Israel's military chances
are good or bad - the question is -
what other choice does Israel have.

For those who conclude - none -
then the choice has been made,
because no one in the world
is going to do the job for Israel.

The US may come -
will probably come -
to Israel's aid -
once some US interests are struck.

The question of whether UNIFIL
and France will aid Israel
is a more open question.
The side that the French are on
is the French side.

Their concern is in protecting
Europe and France from Iran -
and so they may very well side with Israel.
It is for this reason that Russia
sent its own forces independently into Iran separately from UNIFIL.

The UNIFIL forces -
while predominately French
are still under the command
of the US Mediterranean Fleet commander, and the combined US and European firepower gathered there and in the Gulf is at its highest level ever.
That much is in Israel's favor.

Things are falling apart generally
around Israel.
Riots on the verge of civil war in Lebanon.
Riots beyond the verge of civil war in Iraq.
Gaza and the Palestinians beyond meltdown.
Syria slupping off to Iran.
Anything that you see there
that might caution Israel to wait and see?

Intensive arms build up
taking place all around Israel
from Iran and the Arab countries.
That is certainly not an indicator
in favor of delay.

But -
the key SIGN -
the FINAL STRAW -
the dropped shoe -
that I told you to
start looking for
a year ago -
has occurred this week.

On December 12, 2005
I wrote -

"'Russia last week signed an estimated $1 billion contract — its largest since 2000 — to sell Iran advanced Tor-M1 systems capable of destroying guided missiles and laser-guided bombs from aircraft.'

'Once the Iranians get the Tor-M1, it will make our life much more difficult,” said an Israeli air force source. “The installation of this system can be relatively quick and we can’t waste time on this one.'

Relatively quick.
How quick do you think that is?
Say the big Russian planes
leave Russia ...
and they arrive in Iran
with the (missiles and) Russian technicians - how soon could they be set up?"

---------
Throughout the last year
I have sent you detailed descriptions
of the TOR system
and have explained
how they would frustrate Israeli attack plans - so that the Israelis MUST attack before they are installed.

These mobile units will simply
roll off the gigantic Russian planes -
wheel into position -
and be ready to go.

---------
AND NOW THIS MORNING -
the following news:

"Russia has begun air defense missile system deliveries to Iran"

By The Associated Press

Russia has begun delivery of Tor-M1 air defense missile systems to Iran, a Defense Ministry official said Friday, confirming that Moscow would proceed with arms deals with Tehran in spite of U.S. criticism.

http://tinyurl.com/yyv65s

http://tinyurl.com/spgr8

--------
How soon do you think
it will take Israel
to get its act together?
Hours -
Days -
some will say weeks and never.

People read into the news
what they will -
from their perspective.
I realize that common shortcoming -
and hope that it is not true of myself.
But the judgement will have to be yours.

Last week -
a source that I often find accurate -
reported -
"CIA Analysis Finds Iran Not Developing Nuclear Weapons"

Reading the article and report
I found the latter to be completely opposite.
It simply said -
that they were not able to find -
'conclusive' evidence
that Iran was developing the bomb
in its 'secret' program.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
then stated:

"The United States lacks sufficient intelligence on Iran's nuclear facilities at this time, which prevents it from initiating a military strike against them."

"Rice mentioned three reasons why the United States is currently unable to carry out a military operation against Iran: the wish to solve the crisis through peaceful means; concern that a military strike will be ineffective - that it would fail to completely destroy Iran's nuclear capabilities; and the lack of precise intelligence on the targets' locations."

----
If the US had an enemy -
ten times its size -
who had vowed to destroy it -
and that was as near as
Iran is to Israel -
and that enemy appeared on the verge
of getting a nuclear weapon
can you imagine what the US response would be.

Even consider the US attitude
towards someone as small, ineffective and distant as North Korea.

Now -
tell me what you think
the Israeli response will be
now that the Tors are being unloaded
in Iran.

How long do you think they will wait?

In my opinion
it may be hours.
At the most days.
I really doubt weeks -
and certainly not months.

There is that Beach again.
But also -
there is that SIGN
that for so long -
that I have told you to watch for.

Your call.

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

I will be seeing you benny. When you see what I talked about happening. Then know that I will be seeing you shortly after.


Charlie

Iranian official says US, Israel do not dare attack


Published: 11.25.06, 14:38



Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said the United States would not dare to attack Iran and Tehran did not take seriously any threats of invasion, Iran's student news agency ISNA reported on Saturday.


Larijani's remarks, made at a meeting with Pakistani media officials in Tehran, came amid growing calls for the United States to engage Iran and Syria in efforts to curb violence and prevent civil war in Iraq. (Reuters)


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

Hardball's Chris Matthews may have to change the name of his TV show to Softball. It's being reported that another political enemy of Russian President Vladimir Putin may have been assassinated Read about it here. If you recall, last month it was a Russian journalist Read about it here. Friends, if the suspicions about Putin are true, what we're seeing is the real hardball.

Of course, Putin denies responsibility. And, no matter what the truth happens to be, Putin knows that the energy starving EU leaders can't afford to not believe him -- at least publicly anyway. In fact, notice in the picture that I took today who Putin is sitting beside. It's the holder of the current EU Presidency, Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen.







As I've been reporting, the EU is facing a severe energy crisis. And, instead of being the helpful partner that they all hoped for, Putin decided to use Russia's energy supplies as a foreign policy weapon against them. As a result, he's really had the EU's 25 little heads squirming. And, just as they thought that a deal had finally been reached, one of their newest little heads got stubborn Read about it here. Now, on top of everything else, the EU heads may have to swallow what's left of their democratic principles and cut a deal with a possible