US–The Fading Superpower

Last week, csmonitor.com published an interesting article, asking whether the United States was “fading as superpower.”

In the article, it was stated:

“For the past five years, since the 9/11 attacks, US President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have helped shape key world events. But now, some influential media and political critics are saying that both men, and the US in particular, no longer can get the world to do as they wish. In a recent article entitled, ‘Axis of Feeble,’ the Economist argues that ‘the debacle in Iraq and problems at home have turned both leaders from soaring hawks into the lamest of ducks.’… an era is plainly drawing to an end… For those who would ‘rejoice’ at the end of this partnership [between Bush and Blair], because of the idea that ‘in a world of one superpower, some say, people are safer when its president is too weak for foreign adventures,’ the Economist says they are wrong…

“WBUR.org’s OnPoint recently looked at the question ‘Is America losing its luster?’ The conclusion reached by panelists on the show was that while the US continues to be militarily powerful, the ‘notion of irresistible power’ no longer is the case. David Kennedy, professor of history at Stanford University, argued that the US is learning ‘[t]he world is a recalcitant place and does not yield itself to us easily.’ He added that the notion the US could shape the world as it wished proved to be an illusion. The US is learning the lesson that all great powers have learned, Kennedy said, that no matter how much power a country has, the world will not just go along with its wishes…”United Press International reports that a new survey by the Pew Research Center, part of a new book ‘America against the World,’ also illustrates the problem for the US. More than 70 percent of the 91,000 people around the world interviewed for the survey believe that the US needs a rival superpower… The survey found anti-American sentiment is at its highest level ever…”

The Bible prophesies that America’s status as a superpower will gradually disappear. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.”

USA and Europe Just Different

AFP reported on May 24:

“The United States is trying to rally its [European] partners behind plans to build a missile shield… Washington hopes to set up around 10 ‘interceptor’ missiles in central Europe, possibly in Poland or the Czech Republic, to ward off potential attacks with ballistic missiles, perhaps from countries like Iran… ‘There is a growing threat of long-range missile attack on NATO territory and it is timely to examine ways and means of addressing that threat’ in Europe, said Marshall Billingslea, head of NATO’s Conference of National Armaments Directors…”

However, the European reaction is less than enthusiastic and shows again the different perspectives of the two power blocs–even when they relate to such important matters as national and international defense. The article pointed out:

“‘There is a difference in perception. America is looking at protection from strategic missile attacks from places like China, North Korea and Iran. Europe doesn’t believe that’s a threat,’ said Andrew Brookes, from the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.”… Europe is unlikely to act too hastily. ‘On the European side, there is an almost categorical refusal to take decisions on the run,’ said Rik Coolsaet, from the Royal Institute of International Relations in Brussels. ‘Politically, Europeans understand that there is a potential danger from the Iranians but it is not a danger they see likely in the short term,’ he said, adding: ‘the sense of urgency is far less present in Europe than in the United States.’ Another obstacle — and a big one — to accepting the US plan is that it remains to be seen whether such a missile shield can actually work. ‘We are being asked — us, the Europeans — to make a huge investment to… a programme which, even in the United States, is not believed to be ready,’ said Coolsaet. ‘It isn’t working,’ Brookes said of the missile shield plan… ‘German politicians, French politicians and British politicians do not regard Pyongyang as about to launch anything in the foreseeable future at a European capital, they just don’t,’ he said.”

However, future developments might surprise everybody.

Pope Benedict’s “Bold Moves”

The Associated Press reported on May 19:

“Even as he was dogged by claims of sexual abuse, the founder of the Legionaries of Christ religious order remained a favorite of Pope John Paul II. On Friday, Pope Benedict XVI showed a bold willingness to correct his beloved predecessor by disciplining the Mexican priest. It’s the latest move by Benedict away from John Paul’s legacy… The Vatican asked the prominent cleric to stop celebrating Mass publicly and live a life of ‘prayer and penance’–effectively making him a priest in name only. In a statement, the 86-year-old Maciel insisted he was innocent, but accepted the Vatican’s punishment.

“The pope has made other changes that highlight his differences with John Paul. Benedict recently insisted on strict adherence to rules for naming saints, which will inevitably slow the process of canonization. By contrast, John Paul named an unprecedented number of saints during his 26-year papacy. Benedict has also cracked down on another movement that John Paul admired–the Neocatechumenal Way. The pope said the group had to change its innovative practices to celebrate Mass and take Holy Communion the same way other Catholics do…

“There were early signs that Benedict would aggressively take on transgressors among the faithful. Just before he became pope, he decried ‘filth’ in the church–a statement largely taken as a reference to the clergy sex abuse crisis. Still, when the cardinals elected Benedict in April 2005, many observers interpreted the vote as a desire for continuity. Benedict, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, had served for more than two decades under the late pontiff as the Vatican’s orthodoxy watchdog and had enormous influence in the church. But [Thomas] Reese, [former editor of the Jesuit magazine America], said, ‘Benedict is not a clone of John Paul. When he was Cardinal Ratzinger, Benedict didn’t shy away from taking people on even if it meant bad press,’ said Reese, who resigned as America editor under pressure from Ratzinger. ‘He does what he thinks is right.'”

The Catholic Church will play a dominant role in the near future. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”

FCC Declined To Investigate

USA Today reported on May 24:

“The Federal Communications Commission declined Tuesday to investigate whether a spy agency has access to millions of Americans’ telephone records. It cited the secrecy of the National Security Agency. The decision drew a call for congressional hearings from a Democratic congressman who had requested a probe. ‘The FCC has abdicated its responsibility to protect Americans’ privacy to the National Security Agency without even asking a single question about it,’ Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said. Markey had asked the regulatory panel to look into a report in USA TODAY that the NSA has been secretly collecting the phone call records with the help of telecommunications companies.

“FCC Chairman Kevin Martin wrote Markey that ‘the classified nature of the NSA’s activities make us unable to investigate the alleged violations’ of privacy. Martin cited written testimony by John Negroponte, the director of national intelligence, and Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander, the NSA’s director, that disclosure of any information could ’cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security of the United States.’ Their declarations were made in response to a lawsuit in federal court in California. AT&T was sued there in January by the privacy rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation for violating customer privacy by turning over telephone data to the government. The Justice Department has asked that the case be dismissed…”

The article continued:

“USA TODAY reported May 11 that the NSA secretly collected call records with the help of three companies: AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth. USA TODAY reported the records include information on calls made before and after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks. Verizon and BellSouth released statements last week denying they provided the NSA with call information. A Verizon spokesman said the company’s statement did not include MCI, the long-distance company that Verizon acquired in January. President Bush has not confirmed or denied the report but said that intelligence activities he authorized were legal and that the government was not looking into ordinary Americans’ personal lives.”

Alarming Bird Flu Developments

Reuters reported on May 24 about the long-feared possibility that the bird flu virus might mutate–by transmitting the disease from human to human. The article stated:

“Limited human-to-human transmission of bird flu might have occurred in an Indonesian family… The WHO and Indonesian health officials are baffled over the source of the infection but genetic sequencing has shown the H5N1 bird flu virus has not mutated, the U.N. agency said… The WHO statement came after one of the family members, a 32-year-old father, died on Monday after caring for his ailing son, who had died earlier. The agency said such close contact was considered a possible source of infection… But another WHO spokesman said the agency was worried. ‘This is the most significant development so far in terms of public health,’ Peter Cordingley, spokesman for the West Pacific region of the WHO, told Reuters Television in the Philippine capital on Wednesday. ‘We have never had a cluster as large as this. We have not had in the past what we have here, which is no explanation as to how these people became infected. We can’t find sick animals in this community and that worries us,’ he added.”

Notwithstanding “reassuring” statements from some experts who may OR MAY NOT know the facts, these are alarming and frightening developments. It is understandable that some within the WHO want to calm down any “over-reaction”– but how truthful and helpful is this in light of comments from others within the WHO, who seem to be worried? Wouldn’t it be high time for this world to turn to GOD–the CREATOR of man–who ALONE can and does control and prevent the outbreak of diseases? Notice what God told ancient Israel in Exodus 15:26: “If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.” Sadly, this world has moved so far away from God that any suggestion to RETURN to Him and obtain protection from disease epidemics is being met with indifference, ridicule or outright rejection.

More Hurricanes Are Coming

CBS News reported on May 22:

“This year’s North Atlantic hurricane season will be ‘very active,’ spawning eight to 10 hurricanes, the U.S.-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday… NOAA’s outlook, published on its website, predicts: There will likely be 13 to 16 named storms, including tropical storms and hurricanes, compared with the 11 named storms seen in an average season. Eight to 10 of this year’s named storms will become hurricanes, meaning they will have sustained winds of at least 119 km/h, compared with the annual average of six. Four to six of the hurricanes will reach an intensity of at least Category 3, with sustained winds of at least 178 km/h, though on average each season experiences only two. The 2006 North Atlantic hurricane season begins on June 1.”

The article continued:

“Even now, repaired levees are not strong enough to protect New Orleans from a direct hit by a Category 3 storm, a new report released Monday warned… Predictions of more storms than usual in 2005 were dead-on. Forecasters ran out of names for the tropical storms and hurricanes, having to dip into the Greek alphabet when the standard alphabetic list of 21 names was exhausted. At the end of the day, the 2005 North Atlantic season included 28 storms, seven more than the previous record of 21 storms in 1933. Four of them – Emily, Katrina, Rita and Wilma – reached Category 5, the top level of intensity, with sustained winds of at least 250 km/h at some point in their existence.”

U.S. Senate Votes on Illegal Immigration Issues

The Washington Times reported on May 19:

“The Senate voted yesterday to allow illegal aliens to collect Social Security benefits based on past illegal employment — even if the job was obtained through forged or stolen documents… The Senate also yesterday approved an amendment to adopt English as the nation’s official language… In addition, senators voted last night to kill an amendment that would have specified that the guest-worker program will not provide visas that would provide a path to citizenship.”

Iran Is Preparing For War

The Jerusalem Post reported on May 23:

“Iran conducted a test launch Tuesday night of the Shihab-3 intermediate-range ballistic missile, which is capable of reaching Israel and US targets in the region, Israel Radio reported… ‘What deters the enemy from launching an aggression is the resistance’s continuous readiness to respond,’ [Hizbullah leader Hassan] Nasrallah told scores of supporters. ‘Northern Israel today is within the range of the resistance’s rockets. The ports, bases, factories and everything is within that range.'”

The article continued:

“[Israel’s] Maj. Elyakim, commander of the Arrow missile battery at Palmahim, told The Jerusalem Post last month that the missile crews were always on high alert, but that they were recently instructed to ‘raise their level of awareness’ because of developments on the Iranian front. The Arrow missile, he said, could intercept and destroy any Iranian missile fired at Israel, including ones carrying non-conventional warheads. Experts believe that if Iran is attacked by Israel or the US, Teheran would respond by firing long-range ballistic missiles at Israel.”

Iraq’s New Government–Good or Bad News?

Der Spiegel Online reported on May 22 about the reaction of the German press to Iraq’s new government.

The magazine commented: “Five bloody months after Iraqis turned out to vote for their first freely-elected parliament, Baghdad has a working government — minus a few important ministers. German papers are divided on whether this amounts to a triumph for democracy… the day was marked by suicide bombings around Iraq and a walkout by Sunnis in the parliament chamber (to protest slim Sunni representation). The cabinet also wasn’t complete — three crucial ministers hadn’t been named. Observers said it was a symptom of deep divisions in Iraq that defense, interior, and national security jobs were still vacant, since those ministries need strong leaders to control Iraq’s security forces and quell the Sunni uprising…

“German newspapers on Monday can’t decide if the news is good. The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung sounds optimistic… The Financial Times Deutschland agrees. The lack of key ministers ‘may sound like a joke, given the security situation in Iraq,’ and yes, it took a long time for the government to form, but the presence of Sunnis in the cabinet is already an important step forward, writes the paper…

“Center-right daily Die Welt, however, is a lot more pessimistic. Its editors think Prime Minister al-Maliki has gotten off to a weak start… ‘How far Maliki has succeeded is clear from his appointments to key ministries: Not at all.’ The paper doesn’t believe non-partisan or ‘neutral’ politicians exist in Iraq… So the US probably won’t pull troops anytime soon. ‘AN AMERICAN STRATEGIC SUCCESS IN IRAQ, in other words a functioning, democratic, pro-western government,’ writes the paper, ‘IS SIMPLY NOT SHAPING UP.'”

Who Is Safe in Germany?

Der Spiegel Online reported on May 22:

“The furor over Germany’s image in advance of the World Cup roiled straight through the weekend after an assault in Berlin on a Turkish-born politician seemed to confirm warnings last week that non-white tourists might want to avoid parts of the country. Giyasettin Sayan, a 56-year-old member of Berlin’s regional assembly, was hospitalized after two men attacked him with a bottle on Friday in his own ward of Lichtenberg. The incident seemed to confirm a controversial warning made only two days before by Uwe-Karsten Heye, a former spokesman for Gerhard Schröder, that World Cup tourists should be warned [to stay] away from ‘small and mid-sized towns in Brandenburg,’ where neo-Nazi thugs were active. This time, tellingly, the incident was no provincial freakshow: It happened in the tolerant, cosmopolitan capital.

“‘Police say this wasn’t a targeted attack on Giyasettin Sayan — and that’s not comforting at all,’ writes the center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung. Sayan represents the neo-Communist Left Party in Berlin, and Lichtenberg has a known skinhead problem: If he wasn’t a target, the paper implies, then anyone can get hurt. ‘In Berlin, in eastern Germany, and even in western Germany it’s dangerous to walk around at night in the wrong neighborhood with the wrong skin color, beard, or length of hair,’ write the editors. Uwe-Karsten Heye’s warnings last week — which upset some conservative German politicians and soccer authorities — ‘weren’t just yanked out of thin air.'”

“The left-wing Berliner Zeitung thinks World Cup visitors need to be warned, officially, about certain parts of Berlin. ‘Immigrants with a sense of Berlin avoid these places out of experience,’ the commentator writes, but ‘the city senate should warn foreign visitors to be careful in these risky neighborhoods. Berlin authorities openly worry about the city’s name. But considering that a neo-Nazi attack during the World Cup would be even worse — how many people have to get hurt before the concern for the physical integrity of our guests becomes more important than our image?'”

Russia vs. EU

On May 22, The EUobserver reported about Russia’s misgivings regarding the enlargement of the EU. The article stated:

“The EU’s new member states are spoiling Moscow’s relationship with the bloc due to ‘phantom pains of the past,’ a top Russian diplomat [Vladimir Chizhov, Moscow’s ambassador to the EU] has commented in the run up to the EU-Russia summit this week. ‘With enlargement, the EU has not become an easier partner for us,’ [he said]… The Kremlin has seen several problematic issues come up with some of the countries from central and eastern Europe that joined the bloc in May 2004.”

The article continued:

“Disputes with the ex-Soviet republics–Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania–involving political wording around border agreement texts and the treatment of Russian minorities in the Baltic countries have strained relations… Poland, the biggest of the ten 2004 entrants, also features on Moscow’s list of prickly newcomers. Apart from its support to opposition forces in Ukraine and Belarus, Warsaw has been one of the most outspoken critics of Russia’s energy policy, accusing the Kremlin of using its gas reserves as a means of blackmailing western neighbours. Poland is particularly vexed about a gas pipeline project to link Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea bypassing Poland, with the country’s defence minister Radek Sikorski comparing the deal to a pre-World War II Nazi-Soviet pact partitioning Poland. Russia’s months-long blockade of Polish food imports and Moscow’s refusal to grant the Stalinist massacre of Polish officers and intelligentsia in Katyn in 1940 ‘genocide’ status are also bones of contention.”

President Bush Speaks To Germany

In an unprecedented move, President Bush gave two interviews on German television and in the German press. On May 8, 2006, Der Spiegel Online published the English translations of the two interviews.

We are setting forth below excerpts from President Bush’s Interview on German TV (The “Sabine Christiansen” show, which is the German political talk show with the highest ratings):

“I had a good relationship with Chancellor Schröder. The problem was, of course, that there was a disagreement over a very difficult decision I had to make, and that was Iraq. I fully understand why a government or a people would be, you know, I guess disappointed in me in a way, and not understand why somebody would commit troops to achieve an objective. And I like to remind people that September the 11th for us was a change in our history, and it certainly changed the way I thought. And for others, it was just a moment in passing. So there was a disagreement. On the other hand, U.S.-German relations were always important, and now we have a chance to turn a new chapter in our relationship, strengthen that alliance, strengthen that relationship, and work on matters that will make this world a better place. So I’m thrilled with my relationship with Chancellor Merkel…

“… if I were an Israeli, I’d be concerned about the combination of a president [from Iran] that said, I want to wipe Israel off the map, and had a nuclear weapon. And so, obviously, Israel is a factor. It’s a little country that will defend herself… Saddam Hussein was a very dangerous person in the world. Saddam Hussein had used weapons of mass destruction. Obviously, we didn’t find them like everybody thought we would, but we did know he had the capacity to make them. He had harbored terrorists. He had invaded his neighborhood. And the removal of Saddam Hussein was the right thing to do… “

Set forth below are excerpts from President Bush’s Interview with Germany’s mass tabloid, Bild:

“… there needs to be more understanding between the Muslim world and the Western world. There needs to be a better understanding of the true beliefs of their respective religions… I take great comfort in knowing that the true Muslim — Islam, itself, is a peaceful religion, and those who adhere to Islam are people that respect the rights of others. And there’s common values in the great religions. And what we cannot allow [to] happen is for these totalitarians, these Islamic extremists to distort a great religion and define the nature of that religion…

“The partnership between the United States and Europe is a vital partnership that transcends the war on terror. Part of our relationship is working together in the war on terror. But there are many other areas where we can and will continue to work together… when the United States and Europe cooperate, we can achieve security for our people, and enhance the prosperity for our people, as well — as well as do our duty. See, I believe there’s a duty to help ease the suffering in the world. I believe in the admonition that to whom much is given, much is required. And the United States — the people of the United States have been given a lot. We’re a blessed nation. And same for the people of Europe. And we have a duty to work together to help relieve the suffering of those who are less fortunate…

“Germany plays a vital role in the war on terror. Germany is in the heart of Europe. Germany is — whether it’s this current administration or the previous administration, we have had a, amongst our intelligence services, as well as our law enforcement services, a close coordination and a close discussion. Germany’s will is important. When the German Chancellor stands up and says the war on terror must be won, or is a vital part of the security of our peoples, people around the world listen. Germany plays a very important role… I’ve come to realize that the nature of the German people [is] such that war is very abhorrent, that Germany is a country now that is — no matter where they sit on the political spectrum, Germans are — just don’t like war. And I can understand that. There’s a generation of people who had their lives torn about because of a terrible war… Germany is vital for the European Union’s vitality…

“… when al Qaeda speaks, I take their words seriously. When bin Laden says we’ll bring harm to the West, I take them seriously. When Zarqawi says it’s just a matter of time for the U.S. to get out of Iraq so we can have safe haven, I take him seriously. Zawahiri, the number two man in al Qaeda, he’s constantly speaking about their grand designs to spread their ideology. And when Ahmadinejad speaks, we need to take it seriously, and when he says he wants to destroy Israel, the world needs to take that very seriously. It’s a serious threat. It’s a threat to an ally of the United States and Germany. But what he’s also saying is, if he’s willing to destroy one country, he’d be willing to destroy other countries. And, therefore, this is a threat that has got to be dealt with…

“You know, it’s interesting that the last two Holy Fathers were from the same neighborhood. The Holy Father who just passed away, who was a great man, came from Poland and really helped rally the spirits of the people to challenge the tyranny of communism. And the current Holy Father came from a country torn asunder by war and is witness to a renewal of a united Germany. And I think it helps the world to have that perspective in a very important position of leadership. I admire the two Popes. These are strong, capable men who challenge the concept of moral relevancy.”

The Pope will play an important role in the future, and Germany is indeed the most important and influential country of Europe. Sadly, the relationship between Europe and the USA will deteriorate in time. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”

Putin vs. USA?

AFP reported on May 11:

“Russia faces a growing arms race against a ‘fortress’ United States which cares more about its own interests than democracy or human rights, President Vladimir Putin said in his annual state of the nation speech… his most biting comments targeted the United States, which has become increasingly critical of Russia’s human rights records, with Vice President Dick Cheney claiming last week that ‘opponents of democracy’ were seeking to roll back post-Soviet gains… [Putin] was adamant over Russia’s rights to look after its own interests, saying that Russia would join the World Trade Organisation only on its own terms… ‘We see negotiations on entering the World Trade Organization only on terms that support Russia’s economic interests.'”

America’s Illegal Immigration–Is There Any Solution?

USA Today published the following article in its edition of May 10:

“As an immigration attorney with 25 years of experience, I’m fascinated by all the misinformation regarding the immigration debate. For example, the question, ‘Why don’t illegal immigrants just come here legally?’… The modern system has quotas, backlogs, preferences, family-based visas, employment-based visas. If you don’t fit into the right peg, you can’t get in. Most of the undocumented lack a qualifying relative to petition them. Even if they do, they might have to wait years to come in. The brother of a U.S. citizen from the Philippines, for example, has to wait at least 23 to 30 years. (They are processing cases filed before Oct. 15, 1983.) The wait for Mexico is 15 to 20 years… You are penalized if you have lived illegally in the USA. The penalty is either three years or 10 years, depending on your time illegally in this country. Pardons are available but are hard to get. If, for example, you are the mother of a U.S. citizen and you lived illegally in the USA for more than a year – forget about it. You must wait a decade before you can come into the country legally. There is no pardon for the parents of a U.S. citizen… It is a lie to tell Americans that the massive numbers of undocumented immigrants could come here legally… Comprehensive immigration reform is needed that balances justice with compassion.”

We would like to clarify that the concept of “illegal aliens” in the USA includes those foreigners who came into this country legally, but overstayed.

The Chicago Tribune filed this report on May 10:

“Nearly half of the nation’s children under 5 are racial or ethnic minorities, and the percentage is increasing mainly because the Hispanic population is growing so rapidly… Hispanics accounted for 49 percent of the country’s growth from 2004 to 2005, the report shows, driving 70 percent of the growth in children younger than 5. Forty-five percent of U.S. children in that age range are minorities. The census figures show that the number of Hispanic and Asian children younger than 5 grew by double-digit percentages since 2000. The number of black children grew more slowly. The number of non-Hispanic white children younger than 5 declined for two years this decade before increasing again.”

In light of these statistics and predictions, the question is raised what to do with illegal aliens, and, more importantly, how to prevent additional illegal foreigners from entering this country.

AFP reported on May 16:

“A plan by President George W. Bush to deploy 6,000 troops along the US-Mexico border to prevent illegal immigrants brought a mixed response in the United States and concern from the Mexican government. Bush announced in a national speech late Monday that up to 6,000 National Guard soldiers could be deployed along the… southern border beginning next month for up to one year… Senator John Kerry, the beaten Democratic candidate in the 2004 presidential election, said tightening border security was needed, ‘but putting another burden on the backs of men and women who are serving their second tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan isn’t the right answer.’

“And some in Bush’s own Republican party said they feared the president was not being tough enough on illegal immigration, which has sparked a fierce political debate ahead of looming US congressional elections in November. ‘A few weeks ago, the administration announced a crackdown on illegal employers, arresting more than 1,100, nationwide. But by the next morning, more than half of those arrested were released,’ said Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo, one of the president’s harshest critics on the immigration… California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a moderate Republican, also voiced concern, suggesting the plan might provide a temporary fix, but not a remedy. ‘Border state governors were not consulted about this proposal in advance,’ Schwarzenegger said in a statement. ‘I am concerned asking National Guard troops to guard our nation’s border is a Band-Aid solution and not the permanent solution we need.’ Bush said any effort to tighten US borders must be coupled with a temporary guest-worker program for the estimated 11.5 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, more than half of whom are from Mexico.”

According to the Drudge Report of May 12, 2006, Schwarzenegger also stated:

“Going the direction of the National Guard, I think is maybe not the right way to go because I think that the Bush administration and the federal government should put up the money to create the kind of protection that the federal government is responsible to provide. Not to use our National Guard, soldiers that are coming back from Iraq, for instance, and that have spent a year and a half over there and now they are coming back. I think that we should let them go to work, back to work again.”

On May 18, 2006, The Associated Press reported the following: “The Senate agreed to give millions of illegal immigrants a shot at U.S. citizenship and backed construction of 370 miles of triple- layered fencing along the Mexican border Wednesday… The vote to build what supporters called a ‘real fence’–as distinct from the virtual fence already incorporated in the legislation–was 83-16. The fence would be built in areas ‘most often used by smugglers and illegal aliens,’ as determined by federal officials. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., estimated the cost at roughly $3.2 million per mile, more than $900 million for 300 miles. The provision includes a call for construction of 500 miles of vehicle barriers, adding to a system currently in place.”

The Bible prophesies that ultimately, foreigners, legal or illegal, will become the most powerful force in the USA. Deuteronomy 28:43-44 predicts:

“The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.” Why will this happen? Verse 47 explains: “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything…”

A new StandingWatch program has been recorded, titled, “America’s Illegal Aliens,” which addresses the overlooked reason for America’s ongoing battle with illegal immigration.

Has Orwell’s “Big Brother” Arrived?

USA TODAY reported on May 11:

“The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY. The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans – most of whom aren’t suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity… ‘It’s the largest database ever assembled in the world,’ said one person, who, like the others who agreed to talk about the NSA’s activities, declined to be identified by name or affiliation.

“The agency’s goal is ‘to create a database of every call ever made’ within the nation’s borders, this person added. For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made – across town or across the country – to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others… The NSA’s domestic program, as described by sources, is far more expansive than what the White House has acknowledged. Last year, Bush said he had authorized the NSA to eavesdrop – without warrants – on international calls and international e-mails of people suspected of having links to terrorists when one party to the communication is in the USA. Warrants have also not been used in the NSA’s efforts to create a national call database.

“In defending the previously disclosed program, Bush insisted that the NSA was focused exclusively on international calls. ‘In other words,’ Bush explained, ‘one end of the communication must be outside the United States.’ As a result, domestic call records – those of calls that originate and terminate within U.S. borders – were believed to be private. Sources, however, say that is not the case. With access to records of billions of domestic calls, the NSA has gained a secret window into the communications habits of millions of Americans. Customers’ names, street addresses and other personal information are not being handed over as part of NSA’s domestic program, the sources said. But the phone numbers the NSA collects can easily be cross-checked with other databases to obtain that information.”

The Associated Press reported on May 13:

“Telecommunications giant Qwest refused to provide the government with access to telephone records of its 15 million customers after deciding the request violated privacy law… In a written statement, the attorney for former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio said the government approached the company in the fall of 2001 seeking access to the phone records of Qwest customers, with neither a warrant nor approval from a special court established to handle surveillance matters. ‘Mr. Nacchio concluded that these requests violated the privacy requirements of the Telecommunications Act,’ attorney Herbert J. Stern said from his Newark, N.J., office… Two New Jersey public interest lawyers sued Verizon on Friday for $5 billion, claiming the phone carrier violated privacy laws by turning over customers’ records. The lawsuit asks the court to stop Verizon from supplying the information without a warrant or the subscriber’s consent.”

As will be pointed out below, other news agencies reported that all three named companies (Verizon, AT&T and BellSouth) were named in a lawsuit, seeking $220 billion in damages.

AFP elaborated on these lawsuits and the potentially devastating financial consequences in its article, dated May 13:

“The lawsuit in New York was filed under the 1986 Stored Communications Act, which expressly forbids the companies from turning over client records to the government without a warrant. The statute also gives consumers the right to sue for violations of the act and allows claims of at least 1,000 dollars for each violation. ‘If you’ve got 50 million people, that’s potentially 50 billion dollars,’ said Peter Swire, a law professor at Ohio State University and a former White House adviser on privacy issues.”

Der Stern Online reported on May 12 that in addition to Qwest, “T-Mobile” likewise refused to comply with a request from the NSA to share its records with the NSA. According to Der Stern, T-Mobile is a daughter company of the German firm, “Telekom.”

AFP reported on May 16:

“President George W. Bush appeared to acknowledge his government had collected millions of US telephone records in its war on terrorism but insisted the privacy of Americans was not threatened. At a news conference with visiting Australian Prime Minister John Howard, Bush again defended phone and e-mail monitoring as necessary to ‘connect dots to protect the American people’ against Al-Qaeda terrorists… A reporter asked: ‘You’ve said that the government is not trolling through the lives of innocent Americans, but why shouldn’t ordinary people feel that their privacy is invaded by the NSA compiling a list of their telephone calls?’ The president responded, ‘The program he’s asking about is one that has been fully briefed to members of the United States Congress in both political parties. They’re very aware of what is taking place.'”

Subsequently, both BellSouth and Verizon denied that they gave information to the NSA.

USA Today reported on May 17:

“Verizon said in a statement Tuesday that it is not providing customer calling information to the National Security Agency. ‘One of the most glaring and repeated falsehoods in the media reporting,’ the statement said, ‘is the assertion that, in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Verizon was approached by NSA and entered into an arrangement to provide the NSA with data from its customers’ domestic calls. This is false.’… On Monday, BellSouth denied providing records to the NSA. AT&T has refused to confirm or deny that it gave records to the NSA… For the initial story, Verizon issued a statement saying, ‘We do not comment on national security matters, we act in full compliance with the law and we are committed to safeguarding our customers’ privacy.’ Since then, the three companies named in the story have been named in a lawsuit seeking $200 billion in damages. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan claims the companies violated telecommunications law and the Constitution by allowing the government to have call information… In response to the Verizon statement, Steve Anderson, USA TODAY’s director of communications, said: ‘We will continue to investigate and pursue the story. We’re confident in our coverage of the phone database story. We will look closely into the issues raised by the BellSouth and Verizon statements.”

Why is this discussion so important? Isn’t it immaterial whether or not the government has access to your phone records? Maybe not. As MSNBC repeatedly pointed out on its television show, it is not inconceivable that a government with such knowledge could have prevented journalists from uncovering the Watergate scandal. USA Today voiced the following opinion in its editorial, dated May 13:

“… this database will be compiled, updated and expanded into the indeterminate future, through countless administrations with who-knows-what interests and motives. Only the most naive and unsuspicious soul could trust that it will remain safe, secured and for the eyes only of those hunting terrorists. One need look no further than past abuses of power to be uncomfortable about the future. Richard Nixon during Watergate. Lyndon Johnson during the Vietnam War. J. Edgar Hoover during his long reign as FBI director… Is it legal?… The 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act requires a court order to gather a person’s current phone records. A 1934 law requires phone companies to protect customers’ privacy. And the Fourth Amendment forbids ‘unreasonable searches and seizures.’

“Is it useful? Taken as a whole, such a database is of dubious utility… Looking for suspicious patterns among billions
of phone numbers seems like the ultimate search for a needle in a haystack. Is it foolproof? These types of databases invariably have errors. The federal terrorist ‘watch list,’ which is used to screen airline passengers, has ensnared a number of innocent travelers – among them Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and a 23-month-old toddler – whose names are similar to, or the same as, suspects on the list [We might also remind the reader of the recent episode when famous British pop star Cat Stevens found himself on the watch list, preventing him from entering the United States.] Once you’re mistakenly targeted, the error can be nearly impossible to fix and your life can be turned upside down. Will it be abused? Maybe not at first. Over time, however, this vast quantity of data is a potentially irresistible tool for government officials who want to zero in on individual Americans… Creating a huge, secret database of Americans’ phone records does far more than threaten terrorists. It is a deeply troubling act that undermines U.S. freedoms and threatens us all.”

Our recent StandingWatch program, titled, “America’s Latest Phone Scandal,” which was recorded on May 12, discusses further questions relevant to the issues at hand.

Germany’s Sunday Laws

Der Spiegel Online published the following article on May 14, discussing Germany’s blue laws. It is interesting that the magazine makes the common mistake–which is not unheard of in the USA and Europe–to confuse the Biblical Sabbath with Sunday. Sunday is NOT–and never has been–the Biblical Sabbath. The Biblical Sabbath is the seventh day of the week–the time from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset–whereas Sunday is the first day of the week. However, many Germans. Europeans and Americans have been deceived in thinking that Sunday is the Biblical Sabbath.

The magazine, being a victim of that same deception, points out:

“Germans, of course, aren’t nearly as serious about observing the Sabbath as the Maccabees were — that ancient group of faithful Jews who allowed themselves to be slaughtered rather than fight on the day of rest. But just try picking up a frozen pizza or a carton of milk on a Sunday in most parts of Germany. Unless you live in a big city or next door to the train station, Sunday starvation is a serious risk… Sundays remain strictly off limits for shopaholics, chronic consumers and those who find it difficult to remember a pharmacy errand on Saturday before its doors slam shut at 1 p.m… After all, about the only thing you can do on Sunday here is relax, eat a lot, or head to a museum. With the streets empty of big trucks (by law) and building sites silent, a ride through the city or countryside also makes for a pleasant escape. If you get a flat though, don’t count on finding a bike shop open to help you fix it….

“Torturing consumers with anemic opening hours has a long tradition in Germany. The first such law came into existence in 1900, but was soon strengthened. By 1919, it was illegal to open up shop on Sunday and stores on workdays could only be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.”

An Era Is Coming to an End

Der Spiegel Online wrote on May 15:

“Meanwhile the president, whose approval ratings have reached record lows, is being compared with former president Richard Nixon, a man who is still viewed as the epitome of a rogue occupying the country’s highest office… Only 31 percent of Americans now approve of Bush’s performance. An era is coming to an end. The man who once dictated the West’s response to the challenge from al-Qaida with unwavering self-confidence appears to be losing friends and allies daily… some Republican leaders in Congress continue to distance themselves from their president. When Bush implored his fellow conservatives not to approve a budget that would worsen the country’s already massive deficit, his pleas fell on deaf ears. The Republican legislators, concerned mainly with saving their own skins come November, instead took the opportunity last week to distribute plenty of pork to their constituents.”

Venezuela on the Attack

On May 14, 2006, The Observer reported:

“Venezuela’s president Hugo Chavez arrives in London today with an extraordinary promise to offer cut-rate heating oil for needy families in Europe, modelled on a similar campaign in the US which has been seen partly as a bid to embarrass President George Bush. Last night Chavez also issued a taunting obituary for the ‘American empire’ on the eve of a visit where he will be shunned by Downing Street but welcomed by London Mayor Ken Livingstone. Chavez said in Vienna yesterday that the ‘final hours of the North American empire have arrived … Now we have to say to the empire: “We’re not afraid of you. You’re a paper tiger.” Referring to his supply of heating to poor American families last winter, Chavez told a meeting of political supporters: ‘I’d like to do the same here in Europe.’… he said that Venezuela has two refineries in Germany and one in Britain…

“Livingstone said that one reason he was keen to welcome Chavez was because of the potential benefit for the capital from a strong financial and economic relationship with Venezuela… ‘They’re looking for allies in Europe and Asia and it’s very much in London’s interests that as Venezuela’s companies go, they should see London as a natural home every bit as much as Madrid.’… The Venezuelan leader… angered Downing Street by declaring that the Falkland Islands rightly belonged to Argentina.”

AFP reported on May 16 that “The United States imposed military sanctions on Venezuela, a main oil supplier, accusing President Hugo Chavez’s leftist government of failing to cooperate in the US-led ‘war on terror.'” The Associated Press added: “Venezuela is considering selling its fleet of U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets to another country, perhaps Iran, in response to a U.S. ban on arms sales to President Hugo Chavez’s government, a military official said Tuesday.”

On May 17, The Associated Press reported: “Venezuela’s anti-American president was given a warm welcome in the Libyan capital Wednesday by Col. Moammar Gadhafi, whose authoritarian regime was removed only this week from Washington’s list of countries that sponsor terrorism… Chavez said Washington ‘has a great capacity to do harm to the countries of the world.'”

Da Vinci Code Movie Fails

The Associated Press reported on May 17:

“‘The Da Vinci Code’ drew lukewarm praise, shrugs of indifference, some jeering laughter and a few derisive jabs Tuesday from arguably the world’s toughest movie crowd: critics at the Cannes Film Festival… The Cannes audience clearly grew restless as the movie dragged on to two and a half hours and spun a long sequence of anticlimactic revelations… One especially melodramatic line uttered by Hanks drew prolonged laughter and some catcalls, and the audience continued to titter for much of the film’s remainder.”

Newsbusters.org added the following remarks on May 17, about comments by one of the Da Vinci Code actors, during an interview with Matt Lauer of the “Today’s Show”:

“Lauer took the bull of controversy… by the horns when he interviewed the cast and director Howard today. Said Lauer: ‘There have been calls from some religious groups, they wanted a disclaimer at the beginning of this movie saying it is fiction because one of the themes in the book really knocks Christianity right on its ear, if Christ survived the crucifixion, he did not die for our sins and therefore was not resurrected. What I’m saying is, people wanted this to say “fiction, fiction, fiction”. How would you all have felt if there was a disclaimer at the beginning of the movie? Would it have been okay with you?’

“There was a pause, and then famed British actor Ian McKellen [Gandalf of Lord of the Rings], piped up: ‘Well, I’ve often thought the Bible should have a disclaimer in the front saying this is fiction. I mean, walking on water, it takes an act of faith…’ With the camera focused on McKellen, one could hear a distinctly nervous laugh in the background, seeming to come from either actor Tom Hanks or director Howard. McKellen’s stunning bit of blasphemy is likely to test the adage that all publicity is good publicity.”

Sadly, many people, including nominal or professing “Christians,” believe that the Bible is a book of fiction. However, if we reject the Bible as God’s revelation to man, we have NO HOPE for the future. The Bible is the ONLY book which has the answers to man’s timeless questions, and which can give us HOPE. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Mysteries of the Bible.”

Iran Won’t Concede

AFP reported on May 17 about the increasingly volatile situation involving Iran:

“Iran’s hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ridiculed a European Union plan to offer trade and technology incentives in exchange for his country agreeing to halt sensitive nuclear work. ‘They say they want to give us incentives. They think they can take away our gold and give us some nuts and chocolate in exchange,’ Ahmadinejad told a rally in the town of Arak. In a confident speech carried live on state-run television, he also vowed the Islamic regime would not bow to demands it freeze uranium enrichment work — at the centre of fears the country could acquire atomic weapons… In his speech, Ahmadinejad confidently asserted that the Western powers were doomed to fail. ‘As long as the nation is pious, it will overcome all problems and will humiliate the enemies,’ said Ahmadinejad, who managed to give a rousing speech despite an apparent [sore] throat. The firebrand president also repeated a warning that Iran could follow the path of North Korea.”

World Faces Nightmarish Prospect

Newsmax.com reported on May 16 about a strong warning from former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger:

“‘The world is faced with the nightmarish prospect that nuclear weapons will become a standard part of national armament and wind up in terrorist hands,’ warns former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger… Writing in Tuesday’s Washington Post, Kissinger insisted that the current standoff about nuclear weapons between the United States and Iran and the United States and North Korea ‘is a nuclear test for diplomacy.’ Observing that the negotiations on Korean and Iranian nuclear proliferation ‘mark a watershed,’ Kissinger wrote that a ‘failed diplomacy would leave us with a choice between the use of force or a world where restraint has been eroded by the inability or unwillingness of countries that have the most to lose to restrain defiant fanatics. One need only imagine what would have happened had any of the terrorist attacks on New York, Washington, London, Madrid, Istanbul or Bali involved even the crudest nuclear weapon…

“‘Failure to work out a diplomatic solution to the problem of Iran’s development of nuclear weapons would have ominous consequences… The issue before the nations involved is similar to what the world faced in 1938 and at the beginning of the Cold War: Whether to overcome fears and hesitancy about undertaking the difficult path demanded by necessity,’ he concluded, warning that ‘The failure of that test in 1938 produced a catastrophic war; the ability to master it in the immediate aftermath of World War II led to victory without war.'”

Android Or Human?

The Korea Times reported on May 5:

“Standing 1.6 meters tall and weighing about 50 kilograms, she can understand others, speak, blink with her eyes and makes several facial expressions. But she is not human, rather an android developed by a team of South Korean scientists. It is only the second time in the world that an android has been developed–Japan made the first one… [The android, named EveR-1] looks just like a Korean female in her early 20s including her shape that is benchmarked against the nation’s model. The human-sized robot can understand 400 words and make eye contact while talking via her lips that are synchronized with the pronunciation of words. Fifteen tiny motors embedded into her silicon face enable her to make a total of four expressions in tune with as many sentiments–joy, anger, sorrow and happiness. From a distance, the android could be confused with a real, flesh and blood human being, according to [inventor] Baeg [Moonhong]. ‘EveR-1 amply demonstrates our robotic technologies are at the forefront in the world. We will continue to make efforts to advance,” Baeg said.

“Only Japan was faster than Baeg’s team in making an android as the country developed a life-size female robot in 2003, dubbed ACTROID. It cannot move because it is glued to the floor. Neither does EveR-1. The Korean robot can move the upper half of her body such as arms and hands but she cannot travel because her lower half is immobile. Baeg, who spent just 3 billion won in creating EveR-1 in a year, is looking to exceed his Japanese rivals by making the model move four limbs by late this year. ‘For now, EveR-1 can be employed as a guide robot at museums and department stores or as an educational model to read books to children,” Baeg said. ‘But we are looking further ahead–we are working on upgrading the android with the aim of making it move its legs by the end of this year. It will be able to sit down and stand up by then,’ he expects.”

In a somewhat related article, AFP wrote on May 9:

“It may sound like science fiction, but the prospect that suicide bombers and hijackers could be made redundant by flying robots is a real one, according to experts. The technology for remote-controlled light aircraft is now highly advanced, widely available — and, experts say, virtually unstoppable… Japanese company Yamaha has produced [a] 95-kilogram (209-pound) robot helicopter that is 3.6 metres (11.8 feet) long and has a 256 cc engine. It flies close to the ground at about 20 kilometres per hour (12 miles per hour), nothing but an incredible stroke of luck could stop it if it suddenly appeared in the sky above the White House — and it is already on the market. Bruce Simpson, an engineer from New Zealand, managed to produce an even more dangerous contraption in his own garage: a mini-cruise missile. He made it out of readily available materials at a cost of less than 5,000 dollars (4,000 euros). According to Simpson’s website… the New Zealand authorities forced him to shut down the project… under pressure from the United States.”

Is the next World War going to be fought with the help of androids and robots? The Bible might indicate that much. Although clearly using figurative language, the book of Revelation describes modern warfare in these interesting terms: “Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power… Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man… The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running to battle. They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months” (Revelation 9:3-10).

The Vatican Clashes With China

On May 4, 2006, The Associated Press reported the following:

“The Vatican lashed out Thursday at Beijing, announcing the excommunication of two bishops who were ordained by China’s state-controlled church without Pope Benedict XVI’s consent. Benedict’s first major political clash since his election as pontiff a year ago dimmed hopes for any re-establishment soon of official ties between the Holy See and Beijing that ended after communists took control of China in 1949. Also automatically excommunicated for defying the pope were the bishops who performed the ordinations in separate ceremonies since Sunday, according to a provision of church law cited by Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls. Benedict learned about the defiant ordinations ‘with great sadness,’ said Navarro-Valls. ‘It is a great wound to the unity of the church.’ The Vatican said that according to its information, ‘bishops and priests have been subjected–by institutions outside the church–to strong pressures and threats, in order for them to take part in the ordinations that, because they were not approved by the Vatican, are illegitimate and go against their conscience… We are therefore faced with a grave violation of religious freedom,’… adding that the Vatican ‘had thought and had hoped that such deplorable episodes belonged to the past.'”

The Associated Press added the following in an article, dated May 7:

“China’s official Roman Catholic church named a new bishop Sunday — reportedly with papal approval — as Beijing rejected Vatican criticism of the unauthorized ordination of two other bishops… China’s Catholics were forced to cut ties to the Vatican after the 1949 communist revolution. But the Holy See and China’s church communicate informally… Chinese church leaders recognize the pope as their spiritual leader and have sent priests to Rome to learn new religious doctrine. But Beijing says it will not allow official contact until the Vatican breaks diplomatic ties with Taiwan, the self-ruled island that China claims as its own territory… The Vatican rejects most government involvement in the selection of church figures. But in Vietnam, another Asian communist nation, bishops are appointed after consultation with the government… A State Department report last week ranked China among eight ‘countries of particular concern’ that deny religious openness. Beijing on Saturday criticized the report as irresponsible and said it could harm U.S.-Chinese ties.”

USA vs. Russia

The Financial Times reported on May 4:

“Dick Cheney, the US vice-president, delivered a stinging criticism of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s rule, warning the Kremlin against using gas and oil supplies as ‘tools of intimidation and blackmail’ and accusing the Russian authorities of ‘unfairly’ restricting the rights of their citizens. It was the strongest public rebuke made by a senior American official of Russia’s growing authoritarianism and its increasing willingness to employ energy policy for political ends.”

According to an article by Reuters of May 4, “The Kremlin on Thursday rejected as ‘completely incomprehensible’ remarks by Vice President Dick Cheney that Russia was backsliding on democracy and using its vast energy supplies to bully its neighbors.”

The Associated Press filed this report:

“[Cheney’s criticism] was a hard slap at Vladimir Putin as the United States seeks Russia’s cooperation in punishing Iran… [It] came just two months before President Bush joins Putin in St. Petersburg for a summit of major industrial powers. Cheney warned that Russia’s backsliding could harm Moscow’s relations with the United States and Europe…  Russian officials reacted angrily. ‘Cheney’s speech looks like a provocation and interference in Russia’s internal affairs in terms of its content, form and place,’ former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.”

The Associated Press reported on May 5:

“A Russian newspaper said Friday that Vice President Dick Cheney’s harsh criticism of Moscow’s human rights record signaled the start of a new Cold War. The Kommersant business daily compared Cheney’s speech Thursday in neighboring Lithuania to Winston Churchill’s famous ‘Iron Curtain’ speech in Fulton, Mo., saying in that it ‘marked the beginning of a second Cold War.’ Churchill coined the ‘Iron Curtain’ expression in his 1946 speech that warned of Soviet expansion.”

To Pray Or Not To Pray…

The Associated Press reported on May 4:

“President Bush said Thursday that America’s history is inexorably tied to prayer. ‘America is a nation of prayer. It’s impossible to tell the story of our nation without telling the story of people who pray,’ Bush said during a White House celebration of the National Day of Prayer. ‘At decisive moments in our history and in quiet times around family tables, we are a people humbled and strengthened and blessed by prayer.’ Bowing his head many times as Christian and Jewish leaders offered prayers, the president thanked those who pray for him, calling it the greatest gift a citizen can offer him…

“Bush was careful to also honor those who choose not to pray, or join any religion. ‘We are a people united by our love for freedom, even when we differ in our personal beliefs,’ the president said. ‘In America, we are free to profess any faith we choose, or no faith at all.'”

Merkel A Key Player

Der Spiegel Online reported the following on May 4 regarding Angela Merkel’s second visit in Washington this week, since becoming German Chancellor:

“Both US President George W. Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasized their growing friendship on Wednesday. Merkel even invited Bush to visit her constituency. But Iran dominated their talks.  Merkel’s stay in Washington was overshadowed by tough decisions approaching on Iran… Speaking to the White House press corps, Merkel said: ‘We are in total agreement saying that under no circumstances can Iran be allowed to come into possession of nuclear weapons.’

“While Germany is not a permanent member of the Security Council, Merkel has evolved into a key player in trying to keep the council members on the same page and working toward the same goal. She has often taken on the role of slowing down Bush’s headlong rush to penalize Iran. On Wednesday, while agreeing that something had to be done, she once again went to her trusted playbook, saying: ‘It is crucial, if one wants to see this conclude with a diplomatic success, to actually do this on a step-by-step basis. Quite often, attempts have been made to rush matters.’… In the evening, she will address the 100[th] anniversary celebration of the American Jewish Committee — and she will become the first German chancellor ever to address the group.”

Father’s Day–So Innocent?

 Der Spiegel Online filed this interesting report on May 4 about upcoming Father’s Day celebrations:

“It sounds so innocent: Father’s Day. But in Germany, it can often turn into drunken mayhem… On a certain Thursday towards the end of May, don’t be surprised to walk outside your door and find grown men slumped against lampposts, or lolling dazed and confused in wooden carts, clutching barrels of beer. This is Father’s Day, German style. While in many countries the Father’s Day ritual involves little more than writing a card and giving the gift of a new pair of socks — with breakfast in bed thrown in if the pater familias is especially lucky — the Germans have turned it into a true holiday for the country’s men. They are granted carte blanche to get riotously rip-roaring drunk. The day always coincides with Ascension Thursday, a public holiday in Germany which falls 40 days after Easter… The Father’s Day tradition, which is also called Herrentag, originated in the 18th century, and since then has always fallen on Ascension Thursday — the original idea being to celebrate Jesus returning to the holy Father. Traditionally men would be placed in a cart or carriage and brought to the town or village square, and the proud father who had sired the most children received a prize from the mayor, often a big piece of ham. By the 19th century, colorful parades became common, featuring horse-drawn carriages and traditional walks by men and women commemorating the walking of the apostles. By the late 19th century, as religion lost its hold on many, particularly in urban areas, the day evolved into men going on little walking trips, and bringing picnics of ham and beer in handkerchiefs tied to their walking sticks. By the 20th century it had reached its current incarnation: The Day of Drink…

“The bad name that the day now has for ‘boozing and beating’ has led some left-wing and feminist groups calling for it to be banned. Another unpleasant aspect is that neo-Nazi groups have been known to take advantage of the occasion to go looking for trouble… The best advice for Father’s Day in Germany might be to approach with caution, or better yet, to stay indoors. Why not sit back on your balcony, sipping a beer safe from harm? From there, you can observe the beast in his natural habitat: merrily staggering down the street in search of the next drink or slumped unconscious in a wooden cart.”

Tony Blair In Deep Trouble

Der Spiegel Online published an article on May 3, 2006, with the headline: “Nightmare on Downing Street.” It listed the following scandals which plague the current government:

“A parliamentary committee has launched an inquiry after it emerged that some people who had been nominated for peerages by Blair had given Labour large loans before the 2005 election. The affair has been widened to include loans to the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats… Home Secretary Charles Clarke has faced calls to quit after he acknowledged 1,023 foreign prisoners had been released when they should have been considered for deportation after they served their term. Unfortunately for Clarke, several of the released prisoners re-offended. Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, a bullish man who once punched a heckler for throwing eggs in the 2001 election campaign, has been humiliated by revelations of a two-year affair with his diary secretary Tracey Temple, 43. She has alleged that sexual encounters took place in Prescott’s office with the door ajar while a team of civil servants worked outside. Government departments are now to conduct an enquiry into whether Prescott abused his position… A newspaper reported that the Labour Party spent $13,700 on hair-styling bills for Blair’s wife Cherie during last year’s month-long general election campaign… Culture Minister Tessa Jowell overcame weeks of negative press coverage in March over prosecutors’ claims that former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi paid her husband David Mills for helpful testimony in two court cases. Mills denies wrong-doing. Taken together, the headlines have created the impression of a government in crisis. Infighting over education reform hasn’t helped, nor has continuing criticism of the performance of the National Health Service, one of the key areas of Labour policy. The situation has reached the point where MPs and cabinet ministers have been embarrassed to face voters and local councillors campaigning ahead of Thursday’s local election…”

The local elections last Thursday resulted in a stunning defeat for Tony Blair’s Labour party. Der Spiegel Online reported on May 5:

“English voters gave British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Labour Party a drubbing in this week’s local elections, prompting Blair to reshuffle his cabinet on Friday… Like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic, was how Labour politician and former minister Frank Dobson described Thursday’s cabinet reshuffle… [Tony Blair’s] party suffered its worse defeat to the Conservative Party since 1992… On Thursday, all eyes were on Downing Street to see who emerged looking downfallen. Unsurprisingly Home Secretary Charles Clarke was sacked in the wake of a scandal involving over 1,000 foreign serious criminals including murderers and sex offenders, who were released from prison but not deported as government policy dictates… More surprisingly was Jack Straw’s apparent demotion from foreign secretary to leader of the House of Commons. This move, however, according to the British daily The Guardian, was at the request of Straw himself. He will be replaced by Margaret Beckett, a faithful Blairite and Britain’s first female foreign secretary… After the Prescott sex scandal, the foreign offender row and threatened health service strikes, not to mention continued dissatisfaction with Blair’s position on Iraq, it would be hard to imagine how things could get worse for the Labour government.”

Euro At All-Time High

The Associated Press reported on May 6, 2006:

“Gold prices rose Friday, drawing support from a U.S. jobs report that sent the euro soaring to a one-year high. June gold rose to $686.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange moments after the monthly report on U.S. non-farm payrolls, stopping just shy of the fresh 25-year high of $687 hit in overnight trading… Worries about how Iran will react if the United Nations sanctions the country for continuing its nuclear program have been boosting commodities as a whole.

“The euro surged from $1.2691 about two minutes prior to the jobs report to a high for the day of $1.2763 that is its strongest level since last May… ‘The dollar fell out of bed,’ said John Person, president of National Futures Advisory Service. ‘We’re back to that scenario where when we see a stronger euro, we see gold prices accelerate as well.'”

Jerusalem To Be “Divided” Or “Shared”?

WorldNetDaily reported on May 5, 2006:

“Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s Kadima Party is drafting a plan to divide Jerusalem by unilaterally withdrawing from some of the city’s neighborhoods and making special arrangements for key holy sites, a top party official announced in an interview yesterday. ‘We will not divide Jerusalem, we will share it,’ Kadima lawmaker Otniel Schneller told the Associated Press. Most Jerusalem neighborhoods with large Arab populations would be given to the Palestinians, he said… Jerusalem’s Old City, its holy sites and adjacent neighborhoods would become a ‘special region with special understandings’ but remain under Israeli sovereignty. He did not specify whether that meant placing key holy sites under third-party custodianship.”

The article continued:

“Jerusalem first was divided into eastern and western sections when Jordan invaded and occupied Jerusalem and the Old City in 1947, expelling all Jewish inhabitants. Israel built its capital in the western part of the city, while the eastern quarters remained under Jordanian control until Israel captured it, along with the Old City, in 1967 after Jordan’s King Hussein ignored Israeli pleas for his country to stay out of the Six Day War. During the 19 years of Arab sovereignty, the ancient Jewish Quarter of the Old City was ravaged, 58 synagogues – some centuries old – were destroyed and slum dwellings were built abutting the Western Wall. Jews were not allowed to visit their holy places and Israeli Christians were subjected to many restrictions, with only limited numbers allowed to visit the Old City and Bethlehem at Christmas and Easter.”

Schwarzenegger Speaks Out On Immigration Issues

 The Los Angeles Times reported on May 6:

“In some of the harshest terms he has used to date, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday said the federal government has left the nation’s borders dangerously vulnerable while failing to come up with a sensible approach to immigration. Schwarzenegger, taking questions at a news conference on a multibillion-dollar public works package passed by the Legislature early Friday, blamed the Bush administration and Congress for the massive street protests and widespread public unhappiness over federal immigration policy. Marches in Los Angeles, Chicago and other cities, he said, ‘are an expression of frustration. People want to send a message to Washington that they’re not happy with certain bills… I think that all of this comes down to one thing: The federal government has failed the people of America in a terrible way, in a disastrous way, when it comes to this immigration situation.’… He chided federal policy-makers for letting the border problem ‘hang out there for 20 years and not do anything about it, when they knew this is a problem.’… He scolded Congress for leaving Washington last month for spring recess, after a proposed deal to revamp the nation’s immigration laws collapsed. ‘For them to go home for spring break and not really take care of it when they know this was boiling here in this country is also irresponsible,’ he said.”

America’s Other Prisoners

On May 5, 2006, Der Spiegel Online reprinted an article from the International Herald Tribune, titled, “America’s Other Prisoners.” We are publishing excerpts from the article to show that America is being viewed by some–rightly or wrongly–as a democratic nation which is fighting terrorism in ways that compromise human rights and even America’s own cherished freedoms.

In the article, it was pointed out:

“The jury in the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui has determined that he should spend his life in jail rather than be executed for his role in the Sept. 11 terror attacks. This seems like the best possible outcome. For all his bombast, Moussaoui had no direct role in the Sept. 11 attacks. And it is good to know that he will not achieve a fanatic’s martyrdom. The most important thing about the Moussaoui trial, however, was that it happened. The proceedings – including the jury deliberations – were long and difficult, but they were also fair and in accordance with the rules of American justice. That is not the story for hundreds of other people, many far less complicit than Moussaoui, who are languishing in the prison at Guantánamo Bay because the United States rounded them up haphazardly during the Afghan war and plunked them down in Cuba without any clear plan on what to do with them over the long run. So far only 10 of the 490 people still stashed away in Guantánamo have ever been charged with anything. The rest were hauled up before military proceedings that were a joke, if the available transcripts are any indication, to determine whether they should continue to be held without any rights or process under the phony label of ‘unlawful enemy combatant’ that the Bush administration concocted after Sept. 11 for just this purpose. This is not even a half-hearted stab at a day in court, and it leaves hundreds of people under indefinite, illegal detention.

“Among them are about 150 prisoners who the government says it would like to send home because they pose no threat to the United States, but feels it can’t. Some, like the Uighurs – Chinese Muslims – would face possible prison or torture if sent back to countries without basic regard for human rights. The Bush administration has put itself in a bizarre situation when it is forced to worry about the humane treatment of people it whisked off to Guantánamo without any serious attempt to determine who they were, much less what crime they may have committed. They were then held without charges, many under abusive conditions that sometimes amounted to torture, for more than three years.

“The Moussaoui trial was a messy process, marked by embarrassing lapses on the part of the prosecution, court fights about what information the defense could have access to and the weird demeanor of the defendant himself, which threatened at times to make the whole exercise seem ridiculous. It summarized, in the end, almost all the things about playing by the rules that the hard men who surround the president dislike. But it worked. The whole world was able to watch the U.S. judicial system struggling gamely and fairly toward a proper conclusion, upholding the principle that even semideranged outsiders who claim to rejoice in the deaths of more than 2,000 innocent civilians deserve their day in court. Meanwhile, the bitter fruits of the fast, easy, tough route are hidden away on a military base. It seems apparent now that many of them are simply luckless men who were in the most utterly wrong place in the world at the worst possible time. Those who may be something more sinister cannot be tried because their rights have been so compromised during their imprisonment. They are damaged goods, their very presence staining the honor of the country that imprisoned them, willy-nilly, because it seemed the easiest thing to do at the time.”

Legal Action Against Da Vinci Code?

On May 7, Reuters filed the following report:

‘In the latest Vatican broadside against ‘The Da Vinci Code’, a leading cardinal says Christians should respond to the book and film with legal action because both offend Christ and the Church he founded. Cardinal Francis Arinze, a Nigerian who was considered a candidate for pope last year, made his strong comments in a documentary called ‘The Da Vinci Code-A Masterful Deception.’ Arinze’s appeal came some 10 days after another Vatican cardinal called for a boycott of the film. Both cardinals asserted that other religions would never stand for offences against their beliefs and that Christians should get tough. ‘Christians must not just sit back and say it is enough for us to forgive and to forget,’ Arinze said in the documentary… ‘Sometimes it is our duty to do something practical. So it is not I who will tell all Christians what to do but some know legal means which can be taken in order to get the other person to respect the rights of others,’ Arinze said… The book, written by Dan Brown, has sold more than 40 million copies… The central tenet of the book is that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children… ‘Those who blaspheme Christ and get away with it are exploiting the Christian readiness to forgive and to love even those who insult us. There are some other religions which if you insult their founder they will not be just talking. They will make it painfully clear to you,’ Arinze said. This appeared to be a reference to protests by Muslims around the world over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.”

In his latest StandingWatch video, “American Hiroshima,” Norbert Link raises the question how long the Catholic Church will sit idly by before responding to blasphemous comments and actions by others. The video was taped and released before the above-quoted article was published.

Iran Can Also Be Wiped Off Of The Map

The Jerusalem Post reported on May 8:

“Vice Premier Shimon Peres said Monday in an interview to Reuters that ‘the president of Iran should remember that Iran can also be wiped off the map’… ‘Iran presents a danger to the entire world, not just to us,’ Peres added.”

On May 9, The Jerusalem Post added:

“‘Wiping Israel off the map is just one step in Iran’s attempt to create a new world order,’ said Brig.-Gen Yosef Kuperwasser, head of the IDF Military Intelligence’s research division… ‘Iran is at the forefront of global terrorism, and aids Hizbullah in Lebanon, al Qaida, and Palestinian terror organizations, and is behind attacks on US armed forces in Iraq,’ the general asserted… ‘Nuclear capabilities would ensure that regime returns to its former glory and revives the Islamic revolution there,” he explained.”

Reuters reported on May 9 about the expected failed attempt by the Security Council to agree on measures against Iran:

“More work is needed to unite world powers behind a U.N. resolution to rein in Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Germany said on Tuesday after foreign ministers failed to agree [on] a joint strategy… Russia and China oppose [measures against Iran, as proposed by the United States, Britain and France, as well as Germany]… China, which like Russia has big energy interests in Iran, repeated its call for negotiations to end the dispute… The United States has refused to rule out military action but… reiterated that it wanted a diplomatic resolution… Britain’s new foreign minister, Margaret Beckett, said no one intended to take military action but refused to describe such a prospect as ‘inconceivable.'”

On May 9, The Associated Press reported:

“Political directors from the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France as well as Germany made the decision to present Tehran with the possible carrots and sticks at a meeting after their foreign ministers failed Monday night to reach agreement on the resolution. As a result of Tuesday’s decision, political directors from the three European countries that had been spearheading negotiations with Iran will spend the next few days preparing a package of benefits and sanctions… The package will be presented to European Union foreign ministers on the sidelines of an EU meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on Monday, and when approved will be presented to the Iranian government.”

America’s Ongoing Battle With Illegal Immigration

AFP reported on May 2:

“The US Senate will make a new attempt this month to agree on immigration reforms, a top Republican said after more than one million people demonstrated for immigrant rights. Senator Bill Frist said the upper chamber could consider the issue again in two weeks, after having failed in April to bridge broad differences over proposals to give 11.5 million illegal immigrants legal status. But Frist, leader of the Republican majority in the chamber, said he wanted the new legislation to concentrate on tightening border security against illegal entrants and not offer an amnesty to them.

“Huge protests in recent weeks by mainly Hispanic groups hit a new peak Monday with a one-day economic boycott and street protests across the United States, to back legislation offering illegal immigrants legal status. At least 600,000 people took part in two major rallies in Los Angeles–organizers claimed there were 1.5 million–and more than 400,000 others in Chicago. Hispanic groups also called a one day strike, for children to be withdrawn from school and a boycott of stores to show the economic weight of the immigrant community. ‘Today we march, tomorrow we vote and if they deport us we will jump over the border fence,’ chanted marchers in Los Angeles waving US and Mexican flags…”

The Associated Press added in its article of May 2 that “The impact on some school systems was significant. In the sprawling Los Angeles Unified School District, which is 73 percent Hispanic, about 72,000 middle and high school students were absent–roughly one in every four.”

AFP continued:

“Last week Bush met with senators seeking to squeeze out a compromise, but he met with strong resistance from members of his own Republican party who are facing elections in November and voters angered by the large number of illegal immigrants and the demonstrations on their behalf. Republican congressman Tom Tancredo told Fox television that the average American does not accept it when they see on the streets ‘people demanding that they have rights, that they should be entitled to things that other people [have] who have done it the right way … even though they snuck into the country.’ Even if the Senate comes to a compromise over the immigration issue, it will still have to square any measure with a hardline draft law already passed by the House of Representatives that would make illegal entry, and helping illegal immigrants, a crime.”

Whether the recent mass demonstrations by immigrants, “demanding” rights, actually helped or hurt their cause in the eye of the public, will have to be seen. That illegal immigrants play an important factor in America’s economy, cannot be denied. One is reminded of the biblical prophecy that in the end time, the foreigner and “the alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall become lower and lower” (Deuteronomy 28:43). He will become more and more the “head” of the country (compare verse 44).

Showdown Over Iran?

The Associated Press reported on May 3:

“Britain and France introduced a U.N. Security Council resolution Wednesday that would be legally binding and set the stage for sanctions against Iran if it does not abandon uranium enrichment. Diplomats said they hoped the resolution, backed by the United States but opposed by China and Russia, will be adopted before a meeting of foreign ministers in New York next Monday. The resolution mandates that Iran ‘shall suspend all enrichment related and reprocessing activities’… The resolution also calls on Iran to stop construction of a heavy-water reactor…

“The resolution was written under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which makes any demands mandatory and allows for the use of sanctions–and possibly force–if they are not obeyed. Any sanctions would require another resolution. That could set up a showdown with Russia and China, which are adamantly opposed to such a tough resolution and can veto any resolution because they are permanent members of the council… President Bush has refused to rule out military action in response to the Iranian nuclear standoff. When asked last month whether U.S. options regarding Iran ‘include the possibility of a nuclear strike’ if Tehran refuses to halt uranium enrichment, Bush replied, ‘All options are on the table.’ He stressed, however, the United States will continue to focus on diplomacy. The resolution was drafted by Britain, France and Germany, the three European Union nations that have led negotiations with Iran.”

The AFP reported on May 2 about Iran’s reaction to the anticipated resolution of the U.N. Security Council:

“Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki said earlier Tuesday there was no question–‘absolutely not’–of Iran suspending its uranium enrichment work, and he predicted China and Russia would block the threat of UN sanctions. ‘There is a very wrong assumption held by some that the West can do anything it wants through the Security Council,’ he told the hardline Tehran daily Kayhan.”

Events and developments like these will force Europe to unite in order to be able to speak with one voice and–when perceived necessary–to use pressure and force on others. for more information, please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”

Europe Soon Islamic, Says Gadhafi

WorldNetDaily reported on May 3:

“Islam will take over Europe without violent force within a few decades, said Libyan Leader Moammar Gadhafi in a speech aired on the Arab satellite network Al Jazeera. ‘We have 50 million Muslims in Europe,’ Gadhafi said. ‘There are signs that Allah will grant Islam victory in Europe–without swords, without guns, without conquests. The 50 million Muslims of Europe will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades.’ If Turkey is added to the European Union, the Libyan leader said, Europe will have another 50 million Muslims. He pointed out Albania, a Muslim-majority country, and Bosnia, which is half Muslim, already have entered the EU. ‘Europe is in a predicament, and so is America,’ Gadhafi said. ‘They should agree to become Islamic in the course of time, or else declare war on the Muslims.’…

“Gadhafi emphasized Muslims view Muhammad the prophet not only of the Arabs or Muslims but ‘of all people.’ ‘He superseded all previous religions,’ Gadhafi said. ‘If Jesus were alive when Muhammad was sent, he would have followed him. All people must be Muslims.’ He said Christians believe Muhammad is not their prophet because their holy texts ‘are forged and call for hatred… In the Bible there are things that are inappropriate for both Jesus and Moses. If we want to mend the state of humanity, and live in a global village, because of the globalization, we must search for the true Bible, because the Bible that exists today is a forgery. Today’s Bible does not mention Muhammad, whereas our Lord’s Bible mentions Muhammad repeatedly.'”

These telling blasphemous remarks should wake up everybody as to the Islamic understanding pertaining to God’s Holy Word, the Bible. It is that very Word of God–the Holy Scriptures–which predict that Muslims will not take over Europe “with peaceful means.” There are however indications that certain Muslim countries will try to do so with violent means.

It CAN Be Done!

The Associated Press reported on May 2:

“With gasoline prices at historic highs in the United States and some other Western countries, Saudi King Abdullah issued a decree Sunday lowering domestic gasoline prices by about 25 percent immediately. According to a government statement, the decrease was to reach 30 percent by year’s end. The drop in prices means Saudis now will be paying 60 halalahs per liter of regular gasoline, or about 60 U.S. cents a gallon. The price of super drops to about 76 U.S. cents a gallon… The statement said the king issued the decree to ease the ‘cost of living burden on Saudi citizens.’ The big reduction in gasoline prices in the world’s largest oil producing nation was announced as prices in oil importing nations reached record levels and oil company profits soared to all-time highs. The price of a gallon of regular gasoline in the United States now is above U.S. $3 in some regions.”

Many Americans and Europeans wonder how their governments are going to deal–if at all–with the ever-growing crisis of high gas prices. “Wouldn’t it be nice” if they could just order the gas companies and gas stations to lower them? But this is perhaps wishful thinking in competitive and profit-driven societies and free markets such as ours. However, if a charismatic leader in Europe were to arise to promise and enforce solutions like Saudi King Abdullah has done, wouldn’t people follow him? The Bible says that such a man will arise, and that the people will support him. Sadly, the end of the matter will be worse than its beginning.

Germany and Russia–Friendship or Association By Necessity?

Der Spiegel Online reported on April 27:

“Are Germany and Russia still friends? After the Thursday meeting between Merkel and Putin, some aren’t so sure. And Russia continues to pine for superpower status.”

The magazine pointed out: 

“On Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Siberian town of Tomsk for what she has described as ‘open and intensive’ discussions — a diplomatic way of saying that the warm and fuzzy relationship the two countries enjoyed under ex-German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder [has] become slightly cooler and more prickly. Moscow has departed from the policies of Germany and other EU nations by speaking out in defense of Hamas — which it has recognized as the legitimate Palestinian government at a moment when the USA and the EU are deeply concerned over its anti-Israel policies — and by avoiding a firm stance on Iran’s nuclear development program. Most importantly for Germany, however, concern is growing over recent developments in natural gas trade, with Russian energy giant Gazprom stating that it wants to diversify its markets by trading with China and Canada. Gazprom has also mentioned it would like natural gas prices to rise for Germany and other EU nations, who are strongly dependent on Russian energy resources.”

In a related article of April 27, the magazine wrote:

“Germany’s buddy-buddy days with Russia are over. During her visit this week to Russia, long suppressed differences of opinion between Berlin and Moscow have been placed on the front burner.”

The magazine continued:

“With Merkel in office, German-Russian ties have become decidedly business-like, even cool. They have, however, remained reliable. This can be chalked up to reality. Annual trade worth €32 billion dampens the inclination to publicly read Moscow the riot act. And the question of whether E.On obtains a 50 percent share in a project to develop the massive Yuzhno-Russkoye gas field — which would have been unimaginable 15 years ago — is a more important question for Germany these days than whether or not one should appear publicly with Hamas ministers… Russia seems to be keen to avoid needless irritations as well. On Wednesday, Putin promised ‘dependable delivery’ of energy supplies to Germany and other countries. At the same time, he said Russian companies had an interest in taking part in further production of energy in other nations. And the chancellor made a point of noting that Russia had reliably exported oil and gas to Germany for the past 40 years. ‘I assume that will continue to be the case,’ she said.”

The Bible predicts that at the very end, Europe and Russia will become enemies, as they were in times past. But, in the meantime, a temporary truce between the two power blocs will most likely be maintained.

Even Iraq’s Oil Revenues A Disaster

Der Spiegel wrote on May 1:

“The British and the Americans are guarding Iraq’s Persian Gulf oil platforms — the troubled country’s only real sources of revenue — like crown jewels. But Iraqi oil is flowing sluggishly at best, while hoped-for investments haven’t materialized and the Iraqi oil industry is on the verge of collapse — both technical and political.”

The article continued:

“To this day, many Iraqis see the West’s interest in Iraqi oil as the real reason behind the 2003 US-led invasion. However, a look at the actual state of the oil sector three years after coalition forces marched into the country calls this view into question. It isn’t as though the occupying powers haven’t tried to secure control over Iraqi oil. Heavy new security nets hang down into the sea from the rusty frame of the Basra platform, which dates from the 1970s. Heavy gun emplacements have been set up, and about 100 American and Iraqi soldiers are permanently stationed on the platform… A US destroyer and several coast guard vessels patrol a two-kilometer perimeter around each of the terminals, while ships operated by the fledgling Iraqi navy are stationed farther out. Their mission is to escort the incoming supertankers operated by international shipping companies to their berths where, depending on their size, they spend up to two or three days being tanked. It’s a dangerous amount of time, but the platform crews take as many precautions as possible — the result of previous attacks.”

Under the headline, “A Disaster Waiting to Happen,” the article continued:

“Before the Iraq war, Mohammed Said, then manager of the Subeir pumping station 250 kilometers (155 miles) inland, warned against an environmental catastrophe in the Persian Gulf. He claimed that the pipelines, installed in the 1960s and 1970s, were full of holes and had defective valves, and that a reserve basin for emergencies was nonexistent. ‘Whenever a tanker docks at the offshore terminal and I start up the pump, I pray to God that nothing happens,’ he says… But to this day, three years after the invasion and the lifting of UN sanctions against Iraq, there has been no significant improvement in the condition of these facilities. The Southern Oil Company’s (SOC) ailing equipment continues to operate on the verge of collapse…

“Even today, there would hardly be any reserve tanks available in the event of a leak in the underwater pipelines or an accident on the platform. After the war, the US government awarded repair contracts worth more than $10 billion to companies like oil multinational Halliburton — and yet the central Subeir pumping station is still marked by deep craters once occupied by tanks with holding capacities of up to 33,000 cubic meters (about 1.2 million cubic feet). The Hamden Junction south of Basra, formerly the point of control for the flow of oil to the two terminals, is out of order… Experts describe the condition of the oil wells themselves in even more dramatic terms…

“The failure of the Southern Oil Company is politically explosive material in Iraq’s ethnically and religiously heated climate. In February, the company’s 15,000 workers and engineers sent an urgent letter to Baghdad, in which they accused the government of ‘deliberately’ neglecting their company. ‘Our company,’ the letter read, ‘has the world’s largest oil reserves — but we have yet to find someone who will listen to us.’ The regime in Baghdad, the oil company employees wrote, even spent months blocking the decision to lease a pair of new, more powerful tugboats so that large oil tankers could be safely guided into the terminals in rough weather.”

American Hiroshima Inevitable?

On April 28, WorldNetDaily filed the following report:

“Al-Qaida has already obtained nuclear suitcase weapons from the Russian black market, weapons tested in Afghanistan in 2000, and they may have already been forward-deployed inside the U.S., according to the only journalist to interview Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri in the wake of Sept. 11. Last week, Hamid Mir’s credibility skyrocketed when he accurately predicted… the imminent release of a new recorded communiqué from bin Laden through al-Jazeera, the Arabic TV network. Two days later, bin Laden’s tape was the focus of international news coverage. ‘If you think that my information and analysis about bin Laden’s location is correct,’ said Hamid Mir, ‘then please don’t underestimate my analysis about his nuclear threat also.’ Mir said that he met with an Egyptian engineer last week who lost an eye after one of bin Laden’s nuclear tests in the Kunar province of Pakistan. The Pakistani journalist said the encounter with the engineer greatly disturbed and depressed him since it provided further assurance that a nuclear nightmare for America is about to dawn. Mir believes that an ‘American Hiroshima’ will occur as soon as the U.S. launches an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. ‘Al-Qaida and Iran,’ he says, ‘have a long, secret relationship.’ ‘American Hiroshima’ is the name al-Qaida leaders chose for their long-planned nuclear attack on the U.S.”

The article continued:

“Mir’s position that al-Qaida’s nuclear weapons may have already been forward-deployed to the United States confirms the report of Sharif al-Masri, a key al-Qaida operative who was arrested in Pakistan in November 2000. Al Masri… said that al-Qaida had made arrangements to smuggle nuclear weapons and supplies to Mexico. From Mexico, he said, the weapons were to be transported across the border and into the United States with the help of a Latino street gang. Mir also maintains that numerous sleeper agents are in place in major cities throughout the United States to prepare for the nuclear holocaust. Many of these agents, he says, are Algerians and Chechens who obtained European passports and are posing as Christian and Jews. He further says that many of these agents have been in the United States since bin Laden’s issuance of his ‘Declaration of War on Americans Occupying the Country of the Two Holy Places.’ That fatwa was issued Aug. 23, 1996.”

Sadly, the Bible is very clear that ultimately a nuclear war will be fought against America and also Great Britain. For more information, please read our free booklets, “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord” and “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.”

The New Pope

On April 27, 2006, CWNews.com stated the following:

“The interaction between the Successor of Peter and the people of his native country will be exciting, German journalist Peter Seewald has predicted… ‘He has far surpassed’ even the most optimistic expectations, Seewald said… Since the papal election Ratzinger’s image has changed radically. He is now ‘the most powerful German of all times. But he does not represent an imperialistic power or a misanthropic ideology; instead he stands exclusively for positive things like love, peace, and solidarity.’

“What sort of effect is the German Pope having on his native land? ‘Ratzinger will surely continue to be controversial,’ Seewald said. ‘But ever since we have had a better view of him, people from every possible school of thought have become interested in what this man has to communicate.’… Meanwhile in Germany one finds ‘not only a heightened interest in religion, but also phenomena such as the fading-away of the old, deeply-engrained “anti-Roman” bias, a decrease in the number of those who leave the Catholic Church [to avoid the church tax levied by the government on members], and an increase in re-registrations’, the journalist noted… ‘Many Protestants, too, are beginning to like the Pope,’ Seewald said.”

The influence of the pope will increase. Even non-Catholic religions will accept him more and more. And this will, in turn, make the Catholic religion the most powerful religion in the world. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”

Iran–Is the World Repeating Its Mistakes in Iraq?

It may appear this way. Der Spiegel Online succinctly pointed out in its article of April 20:

“The international community failed to agree on Iraq before the 2003 US-led war and is making the same mistake over Iran amid deadlock over how to deal with its nuclear ambitions, say German commentators. Meeting in Moscow this week, the veto-holding members of the United Nations Security Council yet again couldn’t reach a common position on Iran. China and Russia repeated their rejection of any proposals to impose sanctions against Tehran, depriving Washington of the hard line approach it is seeking to stop Iran’s controversial nuclear program. German newspapers on Thursday believe history is repeating itself. Center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung says the world community hasn’t learned from its mistakes over the Iraq war and is giving Iran a free ride… The veto powers on the Security Council are ignoring the most obvious options because they conflict with their own individual interests, the paper adds… Mass circulation Bild Zeitung points out that Iran, the world’s fourth-largest oil producer, is benefiting from the surge in oil prices caused by its ‘devilish game with the world community’s fear [of] an Islamic atom bomb.’ ‘Tehran doesn’t have atom bombs yet but it’s had an oil bomb for a long time. Both together make the terror regime hard to attack. And they’ve got to be slapping their thighs with joy when they see how week after week, the Security Council is unable to agree on a common policy.'”

And so, we should not be that surprised about Russia’s position, as explained by AFP in its article on April 21. The report pointed out Russia’s “economic interests” in Iran as follows:

“Russia has ruled out talk of sanctions against Iran without proof that Tehran is seeking nuclear weapons as alleged by the United States, and vowed to continue military cooperation with the Islamic republic… Nikolai Spassky, deputy secretary of the national security council, said that… Russia’s proposal to enrich uranium on Russian territory for use as nuclear fuel in Iran remained on the table and described it as a means of ‘assisting’ Iran in developing nuclear power for as long as it took for international verification of its nuclear program… Russia… is helping Iran build its first nuclear power station.”

According to an article in Bild Online, which was published on April 21, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated that the United States could attack Iran militarily together with a “coalition of the willing,” irrespective of a resolution of the U.N. Security Council.

For more information, please watch our recent StandingWatch program, titled, “Is Nuclear War Coming?”

Afghanistan–the Lost Battle

Der Spiegel Online reported on April 20, 2006, that the war for Afghanistan is being lost–for all practical and objective purposes. The attempt of the Allies to bring peace to this war-torn country is FAILING. In fact, the situation has become WORSE, not better! Again, the lesson from man’s history has been reconfirmed: Man’s wars NEVER bring lasting peace. It also shows the accuracy of Biblical prophecy: That in these end times, America’s military endeavors are just not being blessed with success. The magazine pointed out:

“The Afghan capital Kabul is blossoming, but the rest of the country remains a war zone in which Western troops routinely encounter warlords, drug barons and the Taliban. And the situation isn’t improving… Instead of becoming safer in the past five years, Afghanistan has become more dangerous. Since the war in Afghanistan began in October 2001, 284 American soldiers have died, including 99 in the past year alone. And last year was the deadliest year since the arrival of the International Security Assistance Force…  in December 2001. A total of 1,600 Afghans were killed by terror attacks in 2005… The situation in the country’s south and southeast is already alarming. Despite the almost five-year-long, US-led campaign against the Taliban, the organization once again controls large portions of Pashtun provinces Nimruz, Oruzgan, Helmand, Kandahar and Paktika… The Taliban has forged an alliance with the drug mafia that could quickly jeopardize the West’s reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. To ensure that farmers are able to continue cultivating their poppy fields, the Taliban has hired warlords and drug dealers to serve as a sort of security service against foreign military personnel. The income generated from opium production helps the Taliban and al-Qaida pay for weapons and vehicles, and drug dollars are apparently even being used to compensate the families of suicide bombers.”

Bush and Merkel–How Close Are They Really?

After Angela Merkel became the new German Chancellor, replacing Gerhard Schröder in what many believe has become the most powerful office in Europe, expectations rose that the German-American friendship would be reestablished. But, as Der Spiegel Online correctly reported on April 20, not all is good between the two power blocs. In its article, “Merkel’s Double Approach With Bush,” the magazine pointed out:

“In public, Chancellor Merkel has spoken warmly about the Bush administration and stated her intention to improve trans-Atlantic relations that suffered under her predecessor Gerhard Schröder. But lately, the chancellor hasn’t shied away from giving Washington critical advice about how to manage its foreign policy… She has a lengthy wish list, and it’s getting longer by the day. Merkel is demanding changes in Washington’s policies towards Iran and Russia, and she’s not happy with the president’s lax treatment of nuclear power India, either… Merkel is half-openly distancing herself from her overseas friends. Speaking before a session of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, she expressed her sympathy for the Russians, who have been the subject of considerable criticism from the US in recent months… The Germans are no less critical of the US nuclear deal with what Bush has called the Indian ‘superpower.’ The deal would see Washington providing technical know-how for India’s civilian nuclear program. Before Bush’s visit to India, Merkel called the president and urged him to exercise more restraint towards Delhi. It would be hard to argue that one could deny Iran what was alright for India, she cautioned.”

Threats From Russia

Not only does Europe have to be concerned about threats from the Middle East regarding its needs for oil supply–now Russia has joined in and warned Europe to keep its nose out of Russia’s oil business. Here is why: Russia does not need Europe, but Europe needs Russia. Der Spiegel Online reported on April 20:

“The Russian gas giant Gazprom on Thursday warned Europe not to interfere with its expansion plans. Otherwise, Asia may suddenly become a higher priority than the EU… The chief executive of Italian energy supplier ENI, Paolo Scaroni, told the European Parliament that fierce competition over dwindling gas supplies would likely characterize relations between Europe and other parts of the world in the future. Scaroni warned that ‘gas can be a formidable weapon when it comes to foreign policy.’… Earlier this year, a dispute between Moscow and Kiev led to Gazprom interrupting the supply of gas to Ukraine for several days, plunging households across the country into icy coldness.The event highlighted the economic and political power that the Russian natural gas monopolist wields. Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder recently took a post on the supervisory board of a new company — made up of Gazprom and two German companies — which plans to build a natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea.”

In light of these developments, Schröder’s new post, even though sharply criticized in Germany, might turn out to be–at least for Germany–the saving anchor in a stormy ocean.

U.S. Dollar Too Unstable

On April 21, 2006, RIA Novosti [Russian News and Information Agency] published the following article: “Russia cannot consider the dollar as a reliable reserve currency because of its instability, the {Russian] finance minister said Friday. ‘This currency has devalued by 40% against the euro in recent years,’ Alexei Kudrin told a news conference in Washington on the occasion of the opening spring session of the International Monetary Fund. According to the Central Bank of Russia, the dollar accounted for 70% of Russia’s gold and currency reserves, euro for 25% and other assets for 5% in late 2005. As of April 14, 2006, the reserves were $212 billion.”

As we predicted at the inception of the Euro, the Bible strongly indicates that the Euro would become the most powerful currency in the world.

England Prepares To Invade Germany…

… but only on the soccer field. At least, that is the hope. As Der Spiegel Online reported in its article of April 20, “To make sure England’s long rivalry with Germany stays on the soccer pitch during this summer’s World Cup, the British government is offering fans extra consular help and advice [on] how not to offend their hosts… The English are… dissuaded from making references to World War II, which might upset German sensibilities. Chants such as ‘two world wars and one World Cup’ and a song titled ‘Ten German Bombers’ — celebrating the RAF’s victory over the Third Reich’s Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain — remain extremely popular with England supporters when facing soccer rival Germany even 60 years after the war. But the ‘Avoiding Penalties’ guide [by the British government] also lets English fans hoping to taunt ‘The Hun’ know that the Nazi salute is illegal in Germany and using it could get them arrested. Britain’s brash tabloid media — known for its fondness for using World War II to bait the Germans — predictably was stunned by the advice.”

The article continued: “Some 100,000 England fans are likely to head to the World Cup in Germany this summer… British authorities said they plan to spend nearly £500,000… to help fans with 20 consular officers to help with emergencies. They are also hoping to keep Britain’s notorious football hooligans [considered by many as the worst in the world] in check by negotiating special security arrangements with the Germans. Over 3,000 British citizens previously convicted of soccer-related offenses will be prohibited from traveling to Germany, Britain’s Home Office said. Britain will also send 44 uniformed police officers to Germany.”

The World Cup is the most attended and watched sports competition in the world. Its political influence must not be underestimated. Even wars have started over something much less “significant” than a series of lost soccer games.

Will The British Monarchy Survive?

Queen Elizabeth turned 80 last week. Analyzing the institution of the monarchy in Britain, USA Today came to interesting conclusions. In its recent article, the paper stated:

“Queen Elizabeth II, who has been on the throne longer than all but three British monarchs, turns 80 today… As the popular Elizabeth enters her twilight years, some Britons wonder whether the sun should set on the 1,000-year-old British monarchy when it sets on her–especially with the unpopular Charles, 57, next in line for the throne. Advocates of maintaining the monarchy say having Elizabeth as the symbolic head of a great nation, performing ceremonial duties, is worth the $65 million it costs British taxpayers every year… Foes, however, portray the monarchy and its birthright of privilege and wealth as anachronisms in the 21st century… Prince William, tall and blond like his late mother, Diana, stays out of trouble and is quiet and well-mannered…

“British monarchs are not, however, chosen by opinion polls or popular elections. There is a line of succession. And there is no way that William will take the throne before Charles unless Charles voluntarily bypasses the job that he has spent his life training for or dies before he gets there. Because the queen will not abdicate, age indeed could be a problem for Charles. Although the queen is 80, she appears robust. Her mother, the Queen Mother Elizabeth, lived to age 101 and died in 2002. Historian Lacey dismisses much of the conjecture. He says Charles will become king and argues that the British monarchy and the mystique that surrounds it are larger than the personalities involved, including the prince of Wales… the British and royalty seem to go hand in hand. As Shakespeare put it: ‘This royal throne of kings … this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.’… Because the monarchy has been around for so long and survived so many personalities, Lacey doesn’t soon foresee a day when it will disappear.”

The Bible confirms that Britain’s monarchy will continue until the return of Jesus Christ. If you want to learn more about this remarkable and perhaps astonishing assertion, please read our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.”

No Patriotism in Germany–So Far

U.S. Citizens may have difficulty understanding the following–as in America, waving and exhibiting the flag has almost become a routine and many times an obsession and an overdone expression of national pride–but in Germany, the waving of the German flag is still pretty much taboo. Der Spiegel Online explained in its article of April 21:

“Over six decades after the end of World War II, Germans still have a pathological fear of patriotism. Flying the flag is still a faux pas… National pride, especially when it comes to publicly displaying a love, or even a mild affinity, for Germany is still simply taboo. When Horst Köhler left a plum job as head of the International Monetary Fund to become Germany’s president — mostly a ceremonial position — in 2004, he said in his speech, ‘I love Germany.’ Reuters reported at the time that the sentence ‘sent a hush through the packed Reichstag chamber.’… Sixty-plus years after the end of World War II, German patriotism just ain’t in the cards. Even the memorials the country builds these days are more anti-monuments. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is just the most recent example.

“Things are changing, of course. Germany’s participation in the Balkan military operation in the 1990s and in Afghanistan starting in 2002 were major steps forward. German military power, the country learned, can be associated with things other than mass murder. But asking a German whether he loves his country will generally elicit a quick ‘no’ or an uncomfortable silence. Köhler’s ‘I love Germany,’ was almost visionary. But the flag thing is weird. After all, there’s nothing to be ashamed about. Black, red and gold were traditional colors long before Hitler arrived — indeed he ditched the tricolor in favor of the swastika. The colors date back to those used by emperors during the Middle Ages and were again used by army volunteers resisting the Napoleon invasion in the early 1800s. During the 1848 revolutions across Germany, leaders officially adopted the tricolor as the movement’s flag. Still, though, the thing is a symbol for Germany and Germany is a problematic country for Germans to get worked up about.”

As the magazine said, however, things are changing. In this context, the EUobserver published an interesting piece on April 21, stating:

“The German government is stepping up its efforts to make German more prominent in the EU, demanding that EU documentation be translated into the language of Goethe- or else it will not attend meetings. ‘Germany has a right to have these documents in German,’ the deputy foreign minister, Gunter Gloser, told German news agency DPA on Thursday (20 April)… Bundestag president Norbert Lammert wrote in a letter to European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso that the German parliament would refuse to debate EU documents that were not printed in German. Berlin on Thursday said it wanted a reply from Brussels on the matter before the next EU summit in June. The Berlin move is the second promotion for German in recent weeks, as the EU Ombudsman in late March asked that German be considered for a language choice on EU presidency websites [At present, presidency websites are only available in English and French]. With the union’s enlargement towards the east in 2004, the second EU language is German, spoken by 12 percent of citizens. French is spoken by close to 11 percent, while Russian shares the fourth slot with Spanish… Currently, 62 percent of EU institution texts are drafted in English, and large parts of EU-information on-line is never translated into the mother tongue of readers–particularly those speaking smaller languages.”

The Bible predicts that Germany will become the most powerful country in continental Europe, economically, politically and militarily. To an extent, it already is! And when a very charismatic German leader arrives on the world scene who will not only make promises, but also deliver, then the Germans will follow him–as will the rest of Europe. But we have not reached that period just quite yet. In the meantime, we are called upon to wait, watch and observe.

Italy, Europe and the U.S.

The International Herald Tribune published an article on April 22 about the anticipated future rocky relationship between the USA and Italy, as well as Italy’s increased involvement to bring about a United Europe. It stated:

“The wafer-thin victory of Romano Prodi’s center-left coalition over Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right alliance is another setback for the Bush administration’s foreign policy, and ushers in what is likely to be a complicated period in U.S.-Italian relations. Berlusconi gave uncritical support to the Iraq war in the face of overwhelming opposition from his own electorate. This hurt him politically, even though Italy’s stagnant economy and his own erratic and undignified performance in the election campaign were probably more important factors in his election defeat.

“For most of the postwar years, a close association with an American president was a major plus for a European political leader, particularly an Italian one. Alas, those days are now past. President George W. Bush made a major miscalculation when he arranged for Berlusconi to address a joint session of Congress on the eve of the Italian election, and endorsed his re-election in a joint press conference. The Italians, and particularly the leaders of Prodi’s victorious center-left coalition, will not soon forget this blatant interference in Italy’s domestic affairs, television reports of which were run over and over on Berlusconi’s three private television networks as well as on the three state television networks under his control.

“Prodi and the leaders of the coalition of reformed Communists and moderate democrats that will form the main element in his government are not anti-American, even though most of them are anti-Bush. During the election campaign, they denounced the decision to invade Iraq as both a strategic mistake and a violation of international law, and made clear that they would withdraw Italy’s 3,000 troops in Iraq as soon as possible… Unlike the Euroskeptic Berlusconi government, Prodi will try to promote a common European foreign policy and a credible European military capability. He will also seek more active European involvement in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.”

Iraq Is In The Midst Of Civil War…

… but very few want to admit it. At least, that is the assessment of many thousands of Iraqis who are fleeing the country. The Associated Press reported on April 21:

“Within Iraq, thousands are on the move as death threats drive them to neighborhoods where their sect has more strength, international and Iraqi officials say. Reprisal killings between Shiite and Sunni extremists have sharply increased… In addition, neighboring countries have seen greater numbers of Iraqis arriving, according to international officials… Most of those leaving have gone to Jordan and Syria, and some to Egypt… officials in Jordan say there are 250,000 Iraqis legally residing in the kingdom. Unofficial estimates put the number at 600,000, at least…

“Ban Istefan is one of them. Her Christian family was threatened in Iraq about a month ago and fled to Jordan. The 34-year-old biology lecturer… said both her Christian family and a next-door Sunni neighbor received letter threats saying, ‘The time has come for the infidels to be punished.’ Asked if Iraq was in the midst of civil war, Istefan said, ‘Of course … but no one wants to admit it.'”

Israel Preparing To Retake Gaza Strip?

The Associated Press reported on April 21 about some frightening prospects in Israel and the Middle East, which could set the whole world on fire. The report explained:

“In a growing barrage of Israeli pressure against Hamas, a senior military commander said Israel is actively preparing to reoccupy the Gaza Strip and a powerful lawmaker said the entire Palestinian Cabinet could be targeted for assassination after the appointment of a wanted militant to head a new security force. Officials said there were no immediate plans to strike at the Hamas-led government. But the comments reflected rising Israeli impatience with the Islamic militant group, which has refused to renounce violence, defended a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv this week and failed to halt militant rocket fire from the Gaza Strip… Israel withdrew from Gaza last summer, ending 38 years of military occupation. Since the pullout, militants have fired rockets into southern Israel on a nearly daily basis.”
The Telegraph reported on April 24, 2006: “Iran’s nuclear programme is the most serious threat faced by Jews since the Nazi holocaust, Israel’s defence minister [Shaul Mofaz] has said… [Calls] by Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for Israel to be ‘wiped from the map’ have increased tensions between the two countries.”

Keep your eyes on the Middle East. It is there, as well as in Europe, where history will be made!

America’s Battle With Illegal Immigration

The Associated Press reported on April 25, 2006, that “President Bush had a blunt message Monday for fellow Republicans focusing only on get-tough immigration policies: He said sending all the nation’s estimated 11 million illegal immigrants back to their home countries is not the answer… With Congress coming back from a two-week spring recess to a long election-year to-do list and tensions flaring nationwide over immigration, Bush urged lawmakers to adopt a middle-ground policy. He called a Senate bill, which creates a way for illegal immigrants to work legally in the United States and for many to eventually become citizens, an ‘important approach.’… As for Bush’s comment on deportation, a Time magazine poll in January found 50 percent of the country favored deporting all illegal immigrants…

“Well aware that November elections could end GOP control of Congress, Bush is walking a fine line on the emotional immigration issue, between his party’s conservative base which wants a clampdown on illegal immigration and business leaders who believe the economy needs immigrants to fill jobs. All sides are exerting pressure. With armed citizen patrols popping up in border states, leaders in Arizona and New Mexico have pleaded for better policing of U.S. borders while other communities complain about the pressure that burgeoning immigrant populations are placing on local services. At the same time, tens of thousands of Hispanic and others – a potentially important voting bloc – have taken to streets across the country in the past few weeks to demand more immigration-friendly policies… The House has passed a law-and-order immigration bill that would erect fences along the Mexican border and treat people who sneak across as felons to be deported. An alternative Senate measure would set up a temporary guest worker program… but require all illegal immigrants to leave the United States before they could apply for the visas.”

Deadly Terror Attack in Egypt

The Associated Press reported on April 25 about the most recent deadly terror attack in Egypt, and the reaction of the international community. It was stated:

“Egyptian authorities, already struggling with elusive terror cells in the rugged Sinai Peninsula, moved quickly Tuesday–arresting 30 men in the triple bombings that ripped apart a resort town on a tranquil holiday evening. Radical Muslim groups moved just as rapidly to distance themselves from the Dahab attacks, which killed 24 people. The leader of Egypt’s banned Muslim brotherhood condemned them as ‘aggression on human souls created by God.’ The militant Palestinian Hamas organization called them a ‘criminal attack which is against all human values.’ Many frightened tourists fled Sinai coastal resorts where two previous bomb attacks–like the Dahab blasts–bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida-linked groups that appear to have a free hand to continue operations in the barren, backward and extremely rugged Sinai Peninsula.

“Egyptian authorities–despite massive sweeps by thousands of troops and hundreds of arrests after each previous Sinai attack–appeared increasingly frustrated by the ease with which terrorists continue to hit the country’s vital tourism industry. It brought in $6.4 billion in 2005 and is the top source of foreign exchange. ‘This incident is addressed to the whole of Egypt, there is no reason for it other than an attempt to destroy the economy of Egypt by attacking tourism,’ said Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif as he visited blast victims in a Sharm el-Sheik hospital. President Hosni Mubarak, who oversees an already-stagnant economy with unemployment rising in lockstep with the population explosion, called the attack a ‘sinful terrorist action.’… Arabs throughout the Middle East voiced outrage, signaling a growing backlash as fellow Muslims increasingly bear the brunt of terrorist attacks. Of the 24 dead in Dahab, 21 were Egyptians… All three Sinai bombings were timed to Egyptian national holidays when resorts were especially crowded with local tourists as well as foreigners who flock to the seaside towns, the world-renowned beaches and extraordinary reefs… The German Foreign Ministry said a 10-year-old German boy was among the dead.”

Exxon’s All-Time High Profit

Reuters stated the following on April 27, 2006: “Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, on Thursday reported quarterly profit surged, driven by rising oil prices. Net income in the first quarter was $8.4 billion, or $1.37 a share, up from $7.86 billion, or $1.22 a share, a year earlier. Revenue jumped to $88.98 billion from $82.05 billion. Crude oil prices have risen steadily from about $20 a barrel in 2002 to over $75 last week, handing oil and gas companies a long-running profit bonanza. But the fat profits have also angered U.S. drivers grappling with rising gasoline prices and provoked sharp criticism of Big Oil from lawmakers and consumer advocates.”

Our newest Standing Watch program, titled, “What Concerns Americans The Most?” addresses these and other problems which plague the United States.

Iran’s True Intentions?

In a highly revealing article by Amir Taheri, a former Executive Editor of Kayhan, Iran’s largest daily newspaper, who now lives in Europe, The Telegraph in Great Britain stated the following on April 16:

“Last Monday, just before he announced that Iran had gatecrashed ‘the nuclear club’, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad disappeared for several hours. He was having a khalvat (tête-à-tête) with the Hidden Imam, the 12th and last of the [Imams] of Shiism who went into ‘grand occultation’ in 941. According to Shia lore, the Imam is a messianic figure who, although in hiding, remains the true Sovereign of the World. In every generation, the Imam chooses 36 men, (and, for obvious reasons, no women) naming them the owtad or ‘nails’, whose presence, hammered into mankind’s existence, prevents the universe from ‘falling off’. Although the ‘nails’ are not known to common mortals, it is, at times, possible to identify one thanks to his deeds. It is on that basis that some of Ahmadinejad’s more passionate admirers insist that he is a ‘nail’, a claim he has not discouraged. For example, he has claimed that last September, as he addressed the United Nations’ General Assembly in New York, the ‘Hidden Imam drenched the place in a sweet light’. Last year, it was after another khalvat that Ahmadinejad announced his intention to stand for president. Now, he boasts that the Imam gave him the presidency for a single task: provoking a ‘clash of civilisations’ in which the Muslim world, led by Iran, takes on the ‘infidel’ West, led by the United States, and defeats it in a slow but prolonged contest that, in military jargon, sounds like a low intensity, asymmetrical war.

“In Ahmadinejad’s analysis, the rising Islamic ‘superpower’ has decisive advantages over the infidel. Islam has four times as many young men of fighting age as the West, with its ageing populations. Hundreds of millions of Muslim ‘ghazis’ (holy raiders) are keen to become martyrs while the infidel youths, loving life and fearing death, hate to fight. Islam also has four-fifths of the world’s oil reserves, and so controls the lifeblood of the infidel. More importantly, the US, the only infidel power still capable of fighting, is hated by most other nations. According to this analysis, spelled out in commentaries by Ahmadinejad’s strategic guru, Hassan Abassi, known as the ‘Dr Kissinger of Islam’, President George W Bush is an aberration, an exception to a rule under which all American presidents since Truman, when faced with serious setbacks abroad, have ‘run away’. Iran’s current strategy, therefore, is to wait Bush out. And that, by ‘divine coincidence’, corresponds to the time Iran needs to develop its nuclear arsenal, thus matching the only advantage that the infidel enjoys.”

The article continued:

“While Bush is determined to create a Middle East that is democratic and pro-Western, Ahmadinejad is equally determined that the region should remain Islamic but pro-Iranian. Iran is now the strongest presence in Afghanistan and Iraq, after the US. It has turned Syria and Lebanon into its outer defences, which means that, for the first time since the 7th century, Iran is militarily present on the coast of the Mediterranean. In a massive political jamboree in Teheran last week, Ahmadinejad also assumed control of the ‘Jerusalem Cause’, which includes annihilating Israel ‘in one storm’, while launching a take-over bid for the cash-starved Hamas government in the West Bank and Gaza. Ahmadinejad has also reactivated Iran’s network of Shia organisations in Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Yemen, while resuming contact with Sunni fundamentalist groups in Turkey, Egypt, Algeria and Morocco. From childhood, Shia boys are told to cultivate two qualities. The first is entezar, the capacity patiently to wait for the Imam to return. The second is taajil, the actions needed to hasten the return. For the Imam’s return will coincide with an apocalyptic battle between the forces of evil and righteousness, with evil ultimately routed. If the infidel loses its nuclear advantage, it could be worn down in a long, low-intensity war at the end of which surrender to Islam would appear the least bad of options. And that could be a signal for the Imam to reappear. At the same time, not to forget the task of hastening the Mahdi’s second coming, Ahamdinejad will pursue his provocations.”

One Year of New Papacy

Der Spiegel Online reported on April 18, 2006, about the first year of Benedict XVI’s rule as Pope. The article was titled, “Ratzinger’s Quiet Non-Revolution.” It introduced the article as follows: “A year into his papacy and the radical shift many had expected when Pope Benedict XVI  [formerly known as Cardinal Ratzinger] became pope last spring has yet to arrive. Instead, he has chosen discretion.”

Still, the article portrays the Pope as an extremely intelligent and talented man with a vision and an agenda. It speculates that no liberal reforms can be expected under his rule; that he wants to increase the influence of the Catholic Church in Europe, the Middle East, Russia and China, by somewhat downplaying the Roman Catholic’s position that the Pope is understood to be the “father of princes and kings, ruler of the world and representative of Christ on earth”; and that his goal is to leave behind a “dogmatically and organizationally strengthened Vatican” for his successor.

The article pointed out:

“It’s difficult to love a German pope, but the Romans like him… Ever since April 19, 2005, the date of Pope Benedict’s election, Ratzinger has been treated in the curia — often something of a hotbed of intrigue — with distanced and amazed admiration, says [Notker] Wolf [an Abbot Primate of the Order of St. Benedict]. It’s a demeanor that Italians often reserve for Germans, but it shouldn’t be confused with affection… Since February, he says, things have begun speeding up. The reform of the curia has been decided. The encyclical has been published, and one and a half million copies have already been sold. The number of members of the papal council was reduced, a high-ranking member of the curia was sent to Egypt as Nuntius, and 15 new cardinals were appointed, including — to the horror of the papal bureaucracy — only three veterans from the curia. ‘Reform,’ says Ratzinger, ‘consists in the removal of the unnecessary.’…

“Benedict wanted the ‘tiara’ — the triple-layer papal crown in the coat of arms — replaced by a mitre, the headwear worn by bishops… It’s a heraldic shift that points to an agenda. The three rings of the tiara originally represented the pope’s universal claim to power, as ‘father of princes and kings, ruler of the world and representative of Christ on earth.’ Benedict wanted it one size smaller, as a sign of good will toward the Orthodox Church. Indeed, this pope seems to be seeking out dialogue with the East. As an icebreaker, he sent Cardinal Walter Kasper — who is not only head of the papal committee responsible for relations with Judaism, but who also helps look after the Church in the Orient — to Moscow as his personal representative…

The article continued that “omens and miracles are daily bread in the Catholic realm. March 24, the day that chief herald Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo was elevated to cardinal by Ratzinger, a former member of the Hitler Youth, was also the anniversary of a massacre in the Ardeatine Caves, in which the SS murdered Corderos’s father after days of horrific torture. A coincidence? Not likely… [The cardinals] believed that no one but a professor from the land of Martin Luther could be trusted to focus attention on the church once again in a Europe of transcendental illiteracy… Pope Benedict XVI writes and writes and writes. Letters, sermons, speeches, circulars and books. He is already the most-published pope in church history. This supreme shepherd is even capable of inserting a fundamental theological thought into the accreditation of the ambassador of Andorra… He writes all of his major sermons himself, and he completely rewrites prewritten speeches in his tiny academic handwriting, dubbed ‘picture books’ by his office staff… It’s no secret that Ratzinger regrets the disappearance of Latin from the mass, and that the mere thought of guitars being played in the church gives him hives… He wants to leave a dogmatically and organizationally strengthened Vatican for his successor, as long as he has enough time left to achieve his goals. In other words, anyone still hoping for a papal shift on issues such as contraception, ordination of women or granting Holy Communion to those who have been remarried will have to wait for Ratzinger’s successors.”

What does the future hold for the Catholic Church? And how will it effect the rest of the world? Please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”

President Bush and the Catholic Church

Zenit reported on April 7, 2006, that “President George Bush spoke on the [Catholic] Church’s contribution to freedom, defending life, and immigration in his address to the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in the U.S. capital. The Catholic Church, the president said today, ‘offers a vision of human freedom and dignity rooted in the same self-evident truths of America’s founding. This morning we ask God to guide us as we work together to live up to these timeless truths,’ he added. ‘Freedom is a gift from the Almighty,’ continued Bush, ‘and the Catholic Church and its institutions play a vital role in helping our citizens acquire the character we need to live as free people.’ Bush also recalled the role of Pope John Paul II in fighting for freedom in Europe… ‘Like his predecessor,’ continued Bush, ‘Benedict XVI understands that the measure of a free society is how it treats the weakest and most vulnerable among us.’ The president also expressed gratitude for the ‘leading role that the Catholic faith-based organizations play in our nation’s armies of compassion,’ especially for their work to welcome newcomers to the country. Bush then commented on immigration: ‘An immigration system that forces people into the shadows of our society, or leaves them prey to criminals is a system that needs to be changed.'”

More Murder in Israel

On April 18, 2006, Der Spiegel Online reported about the most recent suicide attack in Israel; Hamas’ approval of the same; and the reaction of the German press. It was stated:

“One day after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed nine people in front of a Tel Aviv fast-food restaurant during the Jewish holiday of Passover on Monday, the prospects for peace in the Middle East look bleaker than ever. It was the deadliest bombing in over a year and the first since the radical Islamic group Hamas took over the Palestinian government after elections in January. But instead of condemning the attack, a representative of Hamas said it was a legitimate response to Israeli ‘aggression.’ The comment has sparked outrage in Israel and throughout the international community… The escalation comes as a number of major international donors have cut their financial aid for the Palestinian Authority. The refusal to condemn the latest suicide bombing will certainly make it unlikely that many will resume supporting the cash-strapped Palestinians. But there is a risk that Hamas will turn towards Iran — which backs Islamic Jihad and recently pledged $50 million in aid to the Palestinians…

“[Most German] commentators… consider the group [Hamas] to have now put itself beyond the pale, boding ill for the Middle East. The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung believes that the latest tragic events in the region make clear that the Palestinian Authority is being led by a terror group… The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung [states that the] Palestinian territories appear more likely to descend into chaos — with all the side-effects for Israel… The centrist Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel focuses on Iran’s dangerous influence in the region… [It suggests that] Europe should… keep its nerve and stick to its demand for the recognition of Israel. Anything else would be unthinkable to ask of Europe’s taxpayers.”

On April 14, Iran’s highly controversial leader had stated that “Israel was heading toward annihilation,” according to a press release of The Associated Press. He added that the “Zionist regime will be eliminated by one storm.” On April 16, according to CNN, “Former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres responded to threats made by Iran’s president against Israel, saying Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ‘will end up in the same way as [Saddam] Hussein… Ahmadinejad represents Satan, not God,’ said Peres, who shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with the late Palestinian and Israeli leaders, Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin… Peres, a leading figure in Israel’s ruling Kadima Party, previously has called Iran ‘the greatest danger’ to the world and urged the international community to stop the Islamic republic from acquiring a nuclear weapon.”

Israel and the entire Middle East will be facing more and more violence in the years to come. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.”

Record Flooding in Southeast Europe

Der Spiegel Online reported on April 18 about yet another “unprecedented century flood” in Southeast Europe, stating: “Record flooding along the Danube River continued to wreak havoc with residents of southeastern Europe on Tuesday, disrupting ports, destroying farmlands and sending people fleeing from their homes across the Balkans. The flooding continued after a weekend which saw the Danube rise to its highest level in 111 years, forcing the emergency evacuation of thousands in Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria as the waters breached dams along the fabled river. Heavy rain and melting snow from Central Europe has contributed to record water levels along Europe’s second-longest river, where the water volume is double what it was at this time a year ago… For the people of Romania, the floods have evoked painful memories of deadly flash floods that hit the country last year. Those floods killed 74 people and caused €1.5 billion in damage.”

Another Blow to U.S. Reputation?

AFP reported on April 16 about another potentially devastating development regarding the reputation–or the lack thereof–of the United States in the rest of the world, especially in Europe and the Middle East. According to news reports, the USA had been planning to invade Iran before the invasion of Iraq–and before the election of Iran’s current radical leader.

The report stated:

“The United States began planning a full-scale military campaign against Iran that involves missile strikes, a land invasion and a naval operation to establish control over the Strait of Hormuz even before the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, a former US intelligence analyst disclosed. William Arkin, who served as the US Army’s top intelligence mind on West Berlin in the 1970s and accurately predicted US military operations against Iraq, said the plan is known in military circles as TIRANNT, an acronym for ‘Theater Iran Near Term.’ It includes a scenario for a land invasion led by the US Marine Corps, a detailed analysis of the Iranian missile force and a global strike plan against any Iranian weapons of mass destruction, Arkin wrote in The Washington Post. US and British planners have already conducted a Caspian Sea war game as part of these preparations, the scholar said… preparations under TIRANNT began in earnest in May 2003 and never stopped, he said. The plan has since been updated using information collected in Iraq…

“The US military has been involved in contingency planning against Iran since at least the presidency of Jimmy Carter, who undertook a failed commando operation to rescue US hostages in Tehran in 1980. Following the 1996 bombing of an apartment building used by the US Air Force in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, which was reportedly traced to Iranian agents, the administration of then-president Bill Clinton considered a bombing campaign, according to Richard Clarke and Steven Simon, who held at the time high-level counterterrorism positions at the National Security Council. ‘But after long debate, the highest levels of the military could not forecast a way in which things would end favorably for the United States,’ the two experts wrote in Sunday’s New York Times. They warned Iran could retaliate against the United States by using its terrorist networks ‘that are far superior to anything Al-Qaeda was ever able to field.'”

The United States of America will be facing more and more political isolation from the rest of the world. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.”

Blair vs. Bush?

 According to an article in the Scotsman of April 16, 2006, “Tony Blair has told George Bush that Britain cannot offer military support to any strike on Iran, regardless of whether the move wins the backing of the international community… Amid increasing tension over Tehran’s attempts to develop a military nuclear capacity, the Prime Minister has laid bare the limits of his support for President Bush, who is believed to be considering an assault on Iran… While the sense of crisis over Iran has been escalated by the fiery rhetoric between Tehran and the West–particularly Washington–many within the British government are now convinced that the impasse can be resolved by repeating the same sort of painstaking diplomatic activity that returned Libya to the international fold. However… [U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza] Rice reiterated that President Bush has not taken any option off the table, including a military response, if Iran fails to comply with the demands of the international community.”

No More “Islamic Terrorism”?

The EUobserver reported on April 13, 2006, that “The EU is working on a public communication lexicon which blacklists the term ‘Islamic terrorism.’ The ‘non-emotive lexicon for discussing radicalisation’ should be submitted to EU leaders who will meet in June, according to press reports. EU officials drafting the guidelines hope that the European Commission and the European Parliament will also endorse the linguistic code of conduct, which will be non-binding. ‘Certainly “Islamic terrorism” is something we will not use … we talk about “terrorists who abusively invoke Islam”,’ an EU official told Reuters.The aim of the guidelines is to avoid the use of words that could unnecessarily offend Muslims and spark radicalisation. ‘Jihad’ is another term under review…'”

Persecution of Christians in Turkey

On April 12, 2006, Der Spiegel Online reported about ongoing persecutions of Christians in Turkey. The magazine stated:

“Christians are a vanishing minority in predominately Muslim Turkey. The murder of a [Catholic] priest in February shows that the situation has become precarious — both for Catholics and for Turkey’s EU bid… Christians are a tiny, tolerated minority in Turkey, a country which is 99 percent Muslim, and [a] Catholic priest even advises the members of his congregation not to wear any visible symbols of their faith, such as a cross dangling on the outside of a blouse or shirt… There are many churches and monasteries dating from centuries of Byzantine Christian rule, although most have since been converted into mosques. During the great population exchange between Turkey and Greece in 1923, almost 1.5 million Orthodox Christians were expelled from Asia Minor and replaced by 356,000 Muslims from Greece. As a result of the mass murder and expulsion of the Armenians in World War I, the country had already lost almost a million Christians. The result was an almost entirely Muslim state.

“Turkey is still home to about 100,000 Christians. Their status is one of the barometers being used to determine Turkey’s suitability for European Union membership, making the murder of Father Santoro especially inconvenient for the administration in Ankara, which is rooted in Islam but is doing its utmost to portray Turkey as tolerant and liberal-minded… Turkey’s Christian minorities had hoped that reforms introduced by the administration of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan — as part of its effort to gain EU membership — would not just lead to a few improvements, but to complete religious freedom. Although Christians are permitted to practice their faith freely, in many cases their churches have practically no rights and often have no claim to the property they stand on… ‘The basic level of anti-Christian sentiment has increased,’ says Felix Körner, a German Jesuit whom the Vatican sent to Ankara to encourage a Christian-Islamic dialogue. Turkey’s efforts to enter the EU have triggered nationalist counter-reactions, says Körner. ‘Even in educated circles, people are saying that Turkish unity and national sovereignty are in danger.'”

Even though the Bible foretells that Turkey–which is Biblical “Edom”– will cooperate with Europe, it appears unlikely, because of Turkey’s religion and heritage, that Turkey will become a full member of the EU.

Immigration Problems in the USA

Der Spiegel Online reported on April 12 about the growing problems which the US government is facing regarding its immigration policies. The magazine paints an interesting picture which is reminiscent of Germany’s past and present immigration situation, and which is sometimes overlooked in the USA:

   “The marches prove that immigrants are not alone. They have families — and they’re woven into America too deeply to tear out. The crowds parading up the streets of America on Monday, and for the last two weeks, have been telling us with their bodies, if not always in English, that illegal immigrants are not alone in the United States of America. Indeed, illegal immigrants, who were supposed to live a shadowy existence, belong to neighborhoods and to church congregations that were willing to stand alongside them. And most important: Many millions of illegal immigrants have U.S. relatives, sons and daughters, in-laws, cousins, grandchildren. That family tie is the lesson of these parades. In Houston and Boston, in Phoenix and in San Jose, Calif., what we saw were not exactly ‘protests,’ nor were they political demonstrations, primarily. We were seeing huge family gatherings, celebrations of the clan… In generations past, for example during the Depression,… there were mass deportations. Send the Mexicans back! But now, how do you deport so many millions who belong to even more millions?…

“The giant was sleeping in Phoenix and Chicago and throughout North Carolina. And the Democrats were just as happy to leave the snoring undisturbed, because of the unhappiness of trade unionists and of the complaints of African-Americans against illegal migrant workers who undercharge America for their labor, then work with third-world fury. Some Republicans, including the president, saw signs of the giant stirring. George Bush is the first American president to speak Spanish and to run a reelection ad in which he is pictured waving a Mexican flag… But then there is the Republican Party of Pat Buchanan and Tom Tancredo — a party that now mixes hysteria with patriotism and wars against any notion that America exists within the Americas… No other children in America hear what the children of illegal immigrants now regularly hear on angry-white-guy talk radio… From the Congress came daily calls for a vast new Wall of China, mass deportations. And a litany of complaints: Illegal immigrants take, take, take from America. They pose a burden, a drag on the country; they are welfare cheats, criminals, drug dealers, thieves. No one in public mentioned to their children what their parents and grandparents have done for America for over a century — and at what a cheap price.”

The Bible contains many warnings against mistreating our strangers, fatherless and widows. A country which engages in such unbiblical conduct cannot count on God’s blessings.

Global Warming–It’s Real!

The New York Daily News reported on April 17, 2006, about a surprisingly effective and scary movie, which was produced by Al Gore, about the real and devastating effect of Global Warming. The article explained:

“… you will be captivated, then riveted and then scared out of your wits. Our Earth is going to hell in a handbasket. You will see the Arctic and Antarctic icecaps melting. You will see Greenland oozing into the sea. You will see the atmosphere polluted with greenhouse gases that block heat from escaping. You will see photos from space of what the icecaps looked like once and what they look like now, and, in animation, you will see how high the oceans might rise. Shanghai and Calcutta swamped. Much of Florida, too. The water takes a hunk of New York. The fuss about what to do with Ground Zero will turn to naught. It will be under water. ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ is a cinematic version of the [free] lecture that Gore has given for years warning of the dangers of global warming. The case Gore makes is worthy of sleepless nights: Our Earth is in extremis. It’s not just that polar bears are drowning because they cannot reach receding ice floes or that ‘The Snows of Kilimanjaro’ will exist someday only as a Hemingway short story. It’s rather that Hurricane Katrina is not past, but prologue. Katrina produced several hundred thousand evacuees. The flooding of Calcutta would produce many millions [of evacuees]… the film leave(s) no doubt of the peril we face.”

Babylon Being Rebuilt?

The Belfast Telegraph reported on April 17 about Babylon’s recent destruction through the American and Polish troops and its possible restoration under German leadership: 

“For more than a millennium, Babylon was one of the great cities of antiquity. It reached its greatest glory in the early 6th century BC, as the capital of Nebuchadnezzar…, builder of the celebrated Hanging Gardens. Babylon declined and fell into ruin after it was conquered by the Persians under Cyrus the Great in around 538 BC. But no devastation seems to have matched that inflicted by US troops and their Polish allies after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein… after entering Babylon in April 2003, coalition forces turned the site into a base camp, flattening and compressing tracts of ruins as they built a helicopter pad and fuel stations. The soldiers filled sandbags with archeological fragments and dug trenches through unexcavated areas, while tanks crushed slabs of original 2,600-year-old paving… After US and Polish troops left in 2004, the first restoration plans for Babylon were drawn up. Last November Unesco, the United Nations’ cultural and scientific organisation, said it would be carrying out some initial repair work, and setting up a photographic registry of the site. The work, in which France, Britain, Poland, the US, Iraq, Japan, Italy and the Netherlands are also involved, is being co-ordinated by the German Archaeological Institute, under the direction of the Iraqi authorities and Unesco.”

Resurrection of the Body?

On April 5, 2006, Scripps Howard News Service reported that “Most Americans don’t believe they will experience a resurrection of their bodies when they die, putting them at odds with a core teaching of Christianity.” The report continued that this poll “put Americans in conflict with both the Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed, ancient statements of faith meant to unify Christian belief. The Nicene Creed, adopted in 325 at the First Council of Nicea under Roman Emperor Constantine, concludes with the famous words: ‘We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.’  Similarly, the Apostles’ Creed professes a belief in ‘the resurrection of the body.’ Only 36 percent of the 1,007 adults interviewed a month ago by the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University said ‘yes’ to the question: ‘Do you believe that, after you die, your physical body will be resurrected someday?’ Fifty-four percent said they do not believe and 10 percent were undecided.”

The article continued:

“‘I don’t know what to make of this,’ said retired Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong, author of ‘Resurrection: Myth or Reality’… ‘Maybe the old Greek idea of an immortal soul has taken over and the idea of a resurrected body has fallen into disrepute’… Robert Wuthnow, director of the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University, said the poll seems to have broken new ground in understanding America’s popular theology. ‘This is definitely interesting. I haven’t seen a similar question asked before,’ Wuthnow said. ‘In a way, though, it doesn’t surprise me. I can think of interpretations of the creeds that would suggest a spiritual resurrection rather than one of the physical body.'”

The poll reflects the confusion of Christian believers pertaining to the teachings of their churches. Of course, the confusion started already with orthodox Christianity’s “explanations,” as stated especially in the “Apostle’s Creed.” The Bible nowhere teaches the resurrection of the physical body of those who die in Christ. In fact, that would be quite an impossibility, as the physical body decays. Paul teaches that we will be resurrected with a spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:35-37, 44). Correctly understood, the orthodox Christian teaching of the resurrection of our physical bodies is plainly false. And so is the teaching of an immortal soul. No wonder, then, that most Americans are confused about these vital issues. But theologians should not be “surprised” about this confusion; rather, they should blame themselves as the confusion results from their own wrong teachings.

For more information, please read our free booklet, “Do You Have an Immortal Soul?”

The “Gospel of Judas”

On April 5, 2006, Zenit published an interesting article about the so-called “Gospel of Judas,” stating that “The National Geographic Society has announced its intentions to publish an English translation of an ancient text… later this month. The 31-page manuscript, written in Coptic, purportedly surfaced in Geneva in 1983 and has only been translated now. ZENIT asked… Thomas D. Williams, dean of theology at the Regina Apostolorum university in Rome, to comment on the relevance of the discovery.” Here are excerpts from Mr.Williams’ thoughtful comments:

“Though the manuscript still must be authenticated, it likely represents a fourth- or fifth-century text, and is a copy of an earlier document produced by a Gnostic sect called the Cainites. The document paints Judas Iscariot in a positive light, and describes him as obeying a divine ordinance in handing over Jesus to the authorities for the salvation of the world. It may well be a copy of the ‘Gospel of Judas’ referred to by St. Irenaeus of Lyons in his work ‘Against the Heresies,’ written around A.D. 180… The Gnostic gospels, of which there are many besides this one, are not Christian documents per se, since they proceed from a syncretistic sect that incorporated elements from different religions, including Christianity. From the moment of their appearance, the Christian community rejected these documents because of their incompatibility with the Christian faith… To put a historical perspective on things, that would be like you or me writing a text now on the American Civil War and having that text later used as a primary historical source on the war….

“Such theories regarding Judas are certainly not new. It’s enough to remember the 1973 play ‘Jesus Christ Superstar,’ where Judas sings, ‘I have no thought at all about my own reward. I really didn’t come here of my own accord,’ or Taylor Caldwell’s 1977 novel ‘I, Judas.’ The enormous economic success of ‘The Da Vinci Code’ has undoubtedly stirred up the pot, and provided financial incentive for theories of this sort. Michael Baigent, author of ‘Holy Blood, Holy Grail,’ now has a book out called ‘The Jesus Papers,’ which recycles the old story that Jesus survived the crucifixion. And a newly released ‘scientific’ study asserts that meteorological conditions could have been such that Jesus really walked on ice, when the Gospels say he walked on water. Basically, for those who reject outright the possibility of miracles, any theory, outlandish as it may be, trumps Christian claims.”

It is, in fact, true that people with itching ears like to listen to anything BUT the Holy Bible. There is a reason for the antagonistic approach of many Christian “believers” toward the one and only book, which should be the very foundation of their Christian belief. For answers to these puzzling questions, please watch our new StandingWatch program, titled, “Da Vinci, Judas and a Fish.”

Italian Election Results

Der Spiegel Online, in collaboration with The New York Times, published the following editorial on April 12: “Italian elections did not used to be like this–so closely fought, so ideologically polarized–in short, so like the American presidential elections of 2004 and 2000… But that was before the era of Silvio Berlusconi, the center-right politician, showman and self-made billionaire who came into this week’s election as Italy’s longest continuously serving prime minister since World War II. After a long Monday night of seesawing returns, Italians awoke Tuesday to hear that Mr. Berlusconi had lost, by the narrowest of margins, to Romano Prodi, a center-left politician and economist. Mr. Prodi is Mr. Berlusconi’s opposite in almost every way… But the slimness of that majority will make it harder for the new government to push through the fiscal, labor market and regulatory reforms that Italy badly needs to revive its flagging economy and provide for its aging population.”

AFP reported on April 11 that with the election of Prodi, Bush was stripped “of another Iraqi war ally in Silvio Berlusconi, with staunch US partner Tony Blair barely holding on in Britain. Pro-war supporters had already departed in Spain and Portugal… Anti-Iraq sentiment has also colored the political landscape for other US allies, such as Poland, where a recent poll showed that 72 percent of Poles wanted their remaining 900 troops pulled out.

France, Italy and Germany

Der Spiegel Online published an article on April 11, discussing the overall situation in Europe in light of recent developments in Italy, France and Germany. It was stated: “How times have changed. Just a few months ago, Germany was still regarded as the ‘sick man’ of Europe, incapable of modernizing its once-proud economy… Things might not be exactly rosy in Germany, but some of the country’s neighbors now seem in far worse shape. The French government’s failure to implement its youth jobs law [and the announcement by President Chirac that, due to pressure from French students and unions, the proposed labor law will not become effective in France] and the emergence of what looks set to be a fragile, Socialist-led government in Italy is making Germany look positively dynamic by comparison. As students and trade unions staged parades across France on Tuesday to celebrate their victory, commentators said the center-right government’s withdrawal of the hated First Job Contract in response to weeks of strikes and mass demonstrations had killed off any prospect of reform until after the presidential election in 2007… In Italy, after a night of confusion over who had won in the closest election in modern Italian history, Romano Prodi claimed victory over Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and pledged to form a ‘strong’ government, Italy’s 61st since World War Two. But his wafer-thin margin — 25,000 votes out of some 38 million cast — raised the prospect of political deadlock that would prevent him from cutting the budget deficit and revamping the country’s bloated welfare system. ‘The threat of a stalemate, the worst possible scenario, has emerged and clouds the future with uncertainty,’ bank UniCredit Banca Mobiliare said in a note to investors as share prices fell on the Milan Stock Exchange.

“Germany began tackling reforms three years ago under then-chancellor Gerhard Schröder… The measures were highly unpopular, but the people protested in a very orderly and, well, German, fashion. Punctually on every Monday evening during the summer of 2004, months before the most hard-hitting measures were to be implemented, tens of thousands would gather in cities, mostly in eastern Germany where unemployment is highest. They chanted ‘We Are The People’ and blew whistles, and would march through town to squares where union leaders and left-wing politicians riled against the reforms. Then they would roll up their banners and go home quietly. No violence. No general strike. No one seemed to consider staging a protest on a Tuesday, or a Wednesday maybe… Not so in France, where street protests, often violent, are part of the political process. Some 3,400 people were arrested during nationwide protests against the First Job Contract, with which President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin wanted to combat youth unemployment by making it easier for employers to hire and fire workers aged 26 or under.

“Participation in nationwide demonstrations twice exceeded a million people during a period where the situation intensified after trade unions began organizing a series of national strikes… The climbdown has dented Villepin’s chances of running for the presidency in 2007. In Germany, Schröder’s reforms ultimately ended his political career after a series of regional election defeats forced him to call an early general election for last September, which he lost to conservative challenger Angela Merkel. But Merkel campaigned on even tougher changes, and has begun to discuss reform of the health care system in her right-left coalition with Schröder’s Social Democrats. While unemployment hasn’t started coming down yet, business and consumer confidence is improving, boosted by the prospect of the World Cup in June. ‘I wouldn’t go as far as to say Germany is the reform engine of Europe, but it is making slow progress,’ said Deutsche Bank’s Bielmeier.”

Again, we see how Germany is emerging as Europe’s leader! This is clearly in accordance with Biblical predictions. Please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”

U.S. Politics In Iraq

According to an article of April 11, which was posted on mlabelle@argusleader.com, “Newt Gingrich, the former Republican Speaker of the House, told students and faculty at the University of South Dakota Monday that the United States should pull out of Iraq and leave a small force there, just as it did post-war in Korea and Germany. ‘It was an enormous mistake for us to try to occupy that country after June of 2003,’ Gingrich said during a question-and-answer session at the school. ‘We have to pull back, and we have to recognize it.’… [Referring to the situation with Iran,] Gingrich told the students their generation was entering a dangerous period–just as dangerous or more than that of the Cold War.”

On April 10, UPI quoted former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell as follows: “We made some serious mistakes in the immediate aftermath of the fall of Baghdad… We didn’t have enough troops on the ground. We didn’t impose our will. And as a result, an insurgency got started, and … it got out of control.” The article continued to present Powell’s position, which appeared to be quite different from Gingrich’s, as follows: “The retired general said as a result, the United States is morally obliged to ‘stick with the people of Iraq’ for as long as it takes to restore order…” America’s leading role in the world is gradually diminishing. For information on further prophesied developments, please read our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.”

Nuclear War With Iran?

The national and international community reacted with horror about revelations in “The New Yorker” that allegedly some in the Bush Administration are considering dropping nuclear bombs on Iran. The newspaper, which was written by respected veteran reporter Seymour M. Hersh, published the article on April 10. (Hersh was the first who published the ground-breaking news about torture of Iraqi prisoners in the US military prison in Abu Ghraib). The report included the following excerpts:

“The Bush Administration… has… intensified planning for a possible major air attack… There is a growing conviction among members of the United States military, and in the international community, that President Bush’s ultimate goal in the nuclear confrontation with Iran is regime change… One of the military’s initial option plans, as presented to the White House by the Pentagon this winter, calls for the use of a bunker-buster tactical nuclear weapon, such as the B61-11, against underground nuclear sites… The lack of reliable intelligence leaves military planners, given the goal of totally destroying the sites, little choice but to consider the use of tactical nuclear weapons. ‘Every other option, in the view of the nuclear weaponeers, would leave a gap,’ the former senior intelligence official said. ‘”Decisive” is the key word of the Air Force’s planning. It’s a tough decision. But we made it in Japan.’ He went on, ‘Nuclear planners go through extensive training and learn the technical details of damage and fallout—we’re talking about mushroom clouds, radiation, mass casualties, and contamination over years”…

“The attention given to the nuclear option has created serious misgivings inside the offices of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he added, and some officers have talked about resigning. Late this winter, the Joint Chiefs of Staff sought to remove the nuclear option from the evolving war plans for Iran—WITHOUT SUCCESS, the former intelligence official said… The Pentagon adviser on the war on terror confirmed that some in the Administration were looking seriously at this option… The matter may soon reach a decisive point, he said, because the Joint Chiefs had agreed to give President Bush a formal recommendation stating that they are strongly opposed to considering the nuclear option for Iran…”

The article continued:

“The Administration’s case against Iran is compromised by its history of promoting false intelligence on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction… The Europeans are rattled, however, by their growing perception that President Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney believe a bombing campaign will be needed, and that their real goal is regime change… Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister, was George Bush’s most dependable ally in the year leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. But he and his party have been racked by a series of financial scandals, and his popularity is at a low point…”

The Washington Post confirmed some of the information in “The New Yorker” in an independent piece over the weekend. While British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw immediately rejected the reports in an interview with BBC as “completely nuts,” the Pentagon, according to Reuters of April 9, “WITHOUT DENYING THE REPORT, reiterated that it was pursuing a diplomatic solution to the nuclear row.” This reaction in a very half-hazard way prompted Der Spiegel Online to comment on April 9 that it poured even more fuel into the fire–especially in the Italian press. Even Straw’s additional comments to the BBC did not sound too re-assuring. According to Reuters, he stated: “Britain, Washington’s closest European ally, would not accept a pre-emptive strike against Iran… But if Iran were to attack Israel or to attack or THREATEN its neighbors, ‘that’s a very different circumstance,’… adding that Israel would have a right to self-defence if attacked.”

According to Straw, the mere THREAT of an attack would be sufficient justification for Israel to carry out a pre-emptive strike. This double-talk opened even wider the floodgates of speculations and fear of a potential nuclear war!

Somewhat belated, President Bush responded on April 10 to the reports. According to the Associated Press, “President Bush said Monday that force is not necessarily required to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon, and he dismissed reports of plans for a military attack against Tehran as ‘wild speculation.'”

On the other hand, AFP reported on April 10 that “White House spokesman Scott McClellan said however that Bush is not taking the military option off the table.”

Iran’s reactions to the reports were forthcoming.

On April 11, 2006, AFP stated that “President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed he will not back down ‘one iota’ over Iran’s nuclear programme.” Taking a somewhat inconsistent position, “Iran has dismissed any talk of an attack against it as ‘psychological warfare,'” while an Iranian army chief of staff, General Abdolrahim Mousavi, said that “Iran was ‘vigilant’ and ready to fight back. ‘We know America’s nature, and we are keeping enemy movements under surveillance. We are aware of their oppressive actions and goals against the Muslim nations,’ he added.”

The reports and reactions have, of course, given oil companies with record gross earnings in 2005 a welcome opportunity to try to make more money. As AFP reported on April 11, “World oil prices rose Monday, hovering around 68.0 dollars per barrel on market jitters over a potential military conflict between the United States and Iran, dealers said.” Focus Online added on April 11 that an increase of gas prices will also occur in Europe.

To top it all off, Iran announced on April 11 that they successfully enriched uranium for the first time–which is necessary to build an atomic bomb. According to an article posted on April 11 by usinfo.state.gov, “the Iranian regime is ‘moving in the wrong direction,’ White House press secretary Scott McClellan said.” He added: “‘This is a regime that has a long history of hiding its nuclear activities from the international community, and refusing to comply with its international obligations. Defiant statements and actions only further isolate the regime from the rest of the world, and further isolate the Iranian people.'”

Der Stern Online stated in its commentary on April 12 that Iran is miscalculating the situation. “With their provocations, they will not enforce concessions, but war.”

These are indeed frightening times. The Bible, sadly, predicts that just prior to the return of Christ, this world WILL experience nuclear war. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.”

USA Prepares For War With Iran

On April 2, 2006, The Sunday Telegraph reported about secret talks between the British government and military leaders pertaining to a military strike against Iran. The paper explained the reasons for these talks, as follows:

“It is believed that an American-led attack… is ‘INEVITABLE’ if Teheran’s leaders fail to comply with United Nations demands to freeze their uranium enrichment programme… The United States government is hopeful that the military operation will be a multinational mission, but defence chiefs believe that the Bush administration is prepared to launch the attack on its own or with the assistance of Israel, if there is little international support.”

The article continued:

“British military chiefs believe an attack would be limited to a series of air strikes against nuclear plants–a land assault is not being considered at the moment. But confirmation that Britain has started contingency planning will undermine the claim last month by Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, that a military attack against Iran was ‘inconceivable’… At the centre of the crisis is Washington’s fear that an Iranian nuclear weapon could be used against Israel or US forces in the region, such as the American air base at Incirlik in Turkey. The UN also believes that the production of a bomb could… lead to further destabilisation in the Middle East, which would result in Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia all developing nuclear weapons programmes… There are thought to be at least eight known sites within Iran involved in the production of nuclear materials, although it is generally accepted that there are many more secret installations.”

Keep your eyes on the Middle East. The Bible is very clear that traumatic events will occur in that often hostile part of the world. For more information, please read our free booklet, “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.”

Iran Prepares For War With USA

The Associated Press reported on April 5, 2006, that Iran claimed it had successfully test-fired a “top secret” missile, the third in a week. According to the article, “the report called the missile an ‘ultra-horizon’ weapon and said it could be fired from all military helicopters and jet fighters.”

The article went on to explain:
“The tests came amid war games being held since Friday… At the same time, the head of the Revolutionary Guards, Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi, said the United States must recognize Iran as a ‘big, regional power.’ Speaking on state television, Safavi said Iran could use the Straits of Hormuz to apply pressure on foreign powers. About two-fifths of the world’s oil supplies pass through the 34-mile-wide entrance to the Gulf… On Tuesday, Safavi called for FOREIGN FORCES TO LEAVE THE REGION. The U.S. 5th Fleet is based in Bahrain. That same day, Iran tested a new surface-to-sea radar-avoiding missile equipped with remote-control and searching systems, state TV reported. It said the new missile, called Kowsar, was a medium-range weapon that Iran could mass-produce. It also said the Kowsar’s guidance system could not be scrambled, and it had been designed to sink ships. On Friday, Iran tested the Fajr-3, a missile that it said can avoid radar and hit several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads. Iran also has tested what it calls two new torpedoes. One of the torpedoes, unveiled Monday, was tested in the Straits of Hormuz. That seemed to be a CLEAR WARNING TO THE UNITED STATES that Iran believes it has the capability to disable oil tankers moving through the Gulf.”

These are frightening reports. Jesus warned that at the time just prior to His return, which He called the “beginning of sorrows,” “you will hear of wars and rumors of wars” (Matthew 24:6, 8). When Christians find themselves surrounded by fear, terror and aggression, they might be tempted to fight for their country–especially against non-Christian enemies. But would this be God’s solution? For more information, please read our free booklet, “Should You Fight in War?”

Iraq Without New Government

AFP reported on April 3 that “US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British counterpart Jack Straw wound up two days of intensive talks with Iraqi leaders pressing them to speed up the formation of a new government but without any indication of a breakthrough. More than three months after legislative elections, they urged Iraqi leaders to overcome their differences and choose a strong figure to unify the country and restore stability… Their visit in the midst of a POLITICAL VACUUM in the war-torn country brought on by the lack of a new government came even as the dominant conservative Shiite coalition has asked US LEADERS TO STOP MEDDLING IN IRAQI AFFAIRS.”

The article continued: “For the United States, a national unity government is the key for an eventual withdrawal of coalition troops from Iraq, with high political stakes for the Bush administration. Polls show two-thirds of Americans opposed to his handling of Iraq, where more than 2,300 US troops have died, and the war [will likely be] a key issue in congressional elections in November.”

Even though the United States and Great Britain fought for Iraq and lost thousands of troops in the process, there is little gratitude in the world for their endeavor. In fact, it appears that their actions have not accomplished much for Iraq in the eyes of many commentators and reporters, as well as a majority of American citizens. These astonishing developments were prophesied in the Bible, and there is a reason for them. If you want to know the reason, please read our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America.”

Europe And The Vatican

According to an article by EUObserver, which was published on March 31, “Pope Benedict XVI has joined forces with the conservative European People’s Party to highlight Christian values as the core of the European project… the Pope urged the politicians to prove their commitment to the Christian heritage by not supporting policies that counter basic principles.”

The article continued:

“In a list of examples, [the Pope] mentioned ‘the protection of life in all its stages, from the first moment of conception until natural death,’ as well as ‘recognition and promotion of the natural structure of the family–as a union between a man and a woman based on marriage.’… The leader of the European Parliament’s EPP-ED group, Hans-Gert Pottering, noted in his speech to the Pope and participants in the audience that the group had fought to get a reference to God in the European Constitution. ‘Although we were not successful, the final text does embody essential Christian values. The EPP-ED Group, as an advocate of Judaeo-Christian values, is determined about the spiritual and moral dimension of the European project,’ he said.”

The Vatican will play an influential and dominant role regarding the ultimate European UNIFICATION of ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN “core” member states. History and the Bible show that the Roman Catholic Church was a part of several European unifications of the past, which were known, among others, as “the Holy Roman Empire,” or “the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.” They included revivals of the European Empire under German or Austrian leaders such as Charlemagne, Otto the Great or Charles V. (The concept, however, which is proclaimed by some today, that the Protestant German Empire under Otto von Bismarck, called the “Second Reich,” constituted a revival of the Holy Roman Empire, is clearly erroneous.) The Bible predicts that a final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire will occur, consisting of ten “core” nations or groups of nations. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”

Rice’s Unsuccessful Trip To England

AFP reported on April 1 about a less-than-successful trip of Condoleezza Rice to England. In fact, her visit seemed to have been “cursed” in a multiplicity of ways. The article explained that her trip was “a public relations nightmare on which little has gone completely as planned.” It continued:

“Rice came to northwest England on what was supposed to be a feel-good visit to Straw’s constituency to repay his October trip to her home state of Alabama. But the journey was plagued by problems from the start. Hopes of meeting former Beatle Paul McCartney fell through, a mosque withdrew its invitation and a local luminary lined up to host a concert in nearby Liverpool pulled out as a political statement. She visited a school in this community that is 25 percent Muslim, but many of the children were kept home for the day by protesting parents. Others cut classes to join the protests. Rice was supposed to attend a local football match but it was moved to Monday night for better television coverage. So a brief ceremony to present her with a jersey took place in an empty 32,000-seat stadium. The unflaggingly acerbic British press was less than kind to Rice on her visit to the United States’ staunchest wartime ally, taking off on her fashion choices as well as her politics… On a trip designed as diplomatic puffery, Rice also managed to make some unwanted headlines with an admission at a foreign policy forum Friday that the United States had made ‘thousands’ of tactical errors in Iraq. The offhand comment sent her spokesman scrambling to call reporters with assurances she was just speaking figuratively. Too late: the remark made the lead of all three international wire services and the front page of the Washington Post.”

Governmental representatives of the United States of America are not even praised by their own allies, the British– let alone by the rest of the world. Why should this be the case? The Bible tells us, and our free booklet, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America” gives you the answer.

Evolution’s Downfall or Resurrection?

The Associated Press reported on April 2, 2006, about a prognosis by mathematician and Intelligent Design proponent William Dembski to the effect that the “Evolution theory” is “on her last legs.” According to Dembski,”all the debate in this country over evolution won’t matter in a decade. By then, he says, the theory of evolution put forth by Charles Darwin 150 years ago will be dead… Dembski is one of the country’s leading proponents of intelligent design, which asserts that certain features of living organisms are best explained by an intelligent cause. The ideas put forth by Dembski’s movement have piqued the interest of some school boards, churches and politicians–including Kentucky’s governor and President Bush… Dembski, who holds a Ph.D. in mathematics and philosophy, teaches a course on intelligent design at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. He calls Darwinian evolution ‘viscerally unacceptable’ to most Americans… Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher called design by an intelligent source a ‘self-evident truth’ in his annual State of the Commonwealth address in January. Fletcher has said he would encourage schools to teach the concept.”

The article continued to explain that the “debate [between Evolution and Intelligent Design] is fueled by a belief that Darwinian evolution is linked to atheism, said Eugenie Scott, director of the National Center for Science Education and a former UK professor… Dembski said: ‘I guess I would say that even though intelligent design has a long way to go, it seems to me evolutionary theory is so problematic that just about any alternative that’s scientific, or has the possibility (of being scientific) should be allowed on the table.'”

Even though the concept of “Intelligent Design” is not providing us with the correct answers as to the origin of life, it has at least highlighted the untenable position of Darwin and his followers that all life “evolved” accidentally from an organic soup of gases which accidentally developed.

The Evolution theory is false. This is not changed by the “fact” that some scientists discover, from time to time, fossils which they claim to be “missing links”–allegedly proving that fish developed into reptiles, reptiles into birds, birds into mammals, and mammals into humans. The press just reported that scientists “have caught a fossil fish in the act of adapting toward a life on land” (The Associated Press, dated April 5, 2006). The Guardian gloated on April 7: “Scientists have made one of the most important fossil finds in history: a missing link between fish and land animals, showing how creatures first walked out of the water and on to dry land more than 375m years ago.” They later admit, however, that the “fish” was only “on the verge of the transition from water to land.” This, of course, is mere conjecture and speculation.

Scientists called the fossil “Tiktaalik,” meaning, “a large, shallow-water fish.” They actually tell us that land animals (and therefore man) evolved from fish. This is ridiculous. The existence of an extinct fish-like creature which lived in shallow water proves nothing. We have living animals today which exist on land and in the water, such as seals. The crucial issue is this: IF fish developed into land animals, to better adapt to their environment, why are there still fish living today? If birds developed into mammals, why do we still have living birds? According to the evolutionary concept, they should all have been extinct.

God calls all such ideas “foolishness.” Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, speaks about the “wise” of this world in Romans 1:20, when he states: “For since the creation of the world His [God’s] invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” For a full explanation, please read our free booklet, “Evolution–A Fairy Tale for Adults.”

Demonstrations in France

The ongoing demonstrations in France over a new proposed labor law have brought into focus a perceived need for change in France, as well as in Europe. The events in France only highlight a feeling of unrest and uncertainty in continental Europe as a whole. The following articles also show a European mindset which is totally different from American standards. Again, we see how little Americans know about, or understand, Europeans.

The EUObserver reported on March 29:

“More than 1 million people are estimated to have taken to the streets on Tuesday (28 March) to try and get the French government to back down on a controversial new youth employment law. Many schools, universities, government offices and shops were closed as trade unions joined forces with students. Student leaders claimed it was the largest turnout since protests against the law started earlier this month, with the strike causing travel chaos throughout the country… prime minister Dominique de Villepin made it clear in parliament that he will not withdraw the law… which makes it easier for employers to end job contracts for those under 26 years of age at any time during a two year trial period. The employer can terminate a contract without having to offer an explanation or give prior warning. The government insists that this will encourage employers to hire more young people while students say it will erode job stability. The demonstrations are being seen as a major test of Mr de Villepin’s prime ministerial credentials.”

Der Spiegel Online added the following on March 29:

“France is moving headlong toward a crisis… The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung… [is] not optimistic about what it sees. ‘At the beginning it was just a conflict over an employment law, now it’s become a government crisis, and if it continues for a little while longer, then France will experience a crisis of state.’ The paper sees the country hopelessly split between the right and the left, with both sides more concerned about scoring political points than about the well-being of the country as a whole. ‘The socialists have only joined the demonstrators this time out of opportunism, without having any ideas of their own to reduce unemployment.’ The shocking part, the paper says, is that President Jacques Chirac, elected with an unprecedented 80 percent majority four years ago, has become completely helpless in the face of the series of crises France has faced in the past 12 months. ‘Never has a president, never has a government, done so little with such a large majority.’…

“The right-leaning Die Welt… sees the strikes as little more than whining for a WORLD THAT NO LONGER EXISTS… A ‘virus of DENYING REALITY’ is spreading throughout Europe, the paper argues. It’s not the systems that are too rigid, rather ‘now we can see that it’s the people who are inflexible.’ The financial daily Handelsblatt, finally, looks at what the strikes mean for President Chirac. No matter what happens, the paper points out, Chirac will be the loser. Should he capitulate to the protesters and withdraw the law, Villepin would likely resign, endangering any chance Chirac has of ‘improving on his rather meager list of accomplishments as head of state.’ If, on the other hand, Villepin manages to weather the storm, it will be virtually impossible to introduce any further reforms to the labor market that the two had been planning, ‘because the social climate in the country will remain poisoned for the foreseeable future.'”

The Associated Press added the following comments, on March 29:

“In much of Europe, the idea that a company can dismiss workers just because profits are sagging is UNACCEPTABLE, AN AFFRONT TO MODERN VALUES [This is quite a different viewpoint than the commonly accepted model in the USA]. Yet economists say that even if the AMERICAN MODEL–under which layoffs are common–WOULD NEVER FLY HERE, reforms to Europe’s labor laws are crucial to the continent’s economic health. The battle in France over a new labor law is just the loudest and latest sign that the EUROPEAN SYSTEM IS AILING. The question of how to cure it is prompting soul-searching and underscoring divisions across the continent. AT STAKE IS EUROPE’S VISION OF ITSELF. Is it the world’s epicenter of enlightened ideas, or an economic heavyweight? Can it be both?… The European Union has had little luck stepping into the fray. One of the most divisive EU debates of late was over a law that would have allowed companies to operate under the labor regulations of their home country while doing business in another EU country. It was struck down last month. “In the United States and Britain, young people frequently jump from job to job. To dismiss an employee, companies can often just say, ‘You’re fired.’ [AGAIN, WE SEE QUITE A DIFFERENT MENTALITY BETWEEN THE USA AND THE UK ON THE ONE HAND, AND CONTINENTAL EUROPE ON THE OTHER. BOTH POWER BLOCS SIMPLY DO NOT THINK ALIKE.] But in France [as well as in Germany, for example], workers who land a coveted permanent contract can plan to stay at their jobs until retirement. To fire most employees, companies not only have to give at least three months notice, pay fines to the state and up to three years of severance–they also have to convince a judge that the dismissal is justified, something they don’t always manage to do. The French government says these rules are crippling and at fault for persistent unemployment, and devised a law in January that eases them. The most prickly part of the law, the so-called first job contract, allows employers to fire workers under age 26 without reason during the first two years on the job.”

The article continued:

“Part of Europe’s challenge is getting its growing numbers of immigrants into the work force. The French jobs law is aimed partly at immigrant youth, who face unemployment rates as high as 50 percent… Already, without a permanent job in France, it’s nearly impossible to rent an apartment, buy a house or earn a bank loan. [OF COURSE, IN THIS REGARD, THE SITUATION IN THE UNITED STATES IS NOT ANY BETTER, PERHAPS A LOT WORSE.] As a result, many French youth live with their parents throughout their 20s, drifting among unpaid internships, temporary jobs and the unemployment line… public workers in southwestern Germany have been striking for eight weeks over an attempt to extend working hours. Job protections have been a major campaign issue ahead of Italian elections next month. More than half of Italian college students consider a job-for-life either fundamental or very important…”

Europeans are unhappy about these current conditions. They will not wait MUCH LONGER to FORCE their leaders to not only talk about the problems, but to DO something about them. They will most certainly not be satisfied with a labor law and conditions patterned after the “American” model. And even though most European leaders might not be able or willing to follow suit, ONE charismatic leader WILL–in the not-too-distant future.

U.S. Immigrants–Criminals or Americans?

America has been caught by surprise about unprecedented demonstrations by mainly the Hispanic community pertaining to a highly controversial proposed new Immigration Law. The following articles address the real present and future problems that the USA is facing, and they point out the sometimes unrealized fact that America would probably stop functioning without its illegal immigrants!

Der Spiegel Online stated on March 29:

“The German press loves bashing US President George W. Bush and usually, they find it not terribly difficult given the consensus on this side of the Atlantic that US foreign policy since Sept. 11, 2001 has been a complete disaster. But the recent US-wide debate on American immigration law is not proving to be quite as clear cut — and it is producing a deep split in the Republican Party. On the one hand, there is a Republican fraction — to which Bush belongs — which would like to see the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants currently in the United States be granted work visas with an option of becoming full citizens later. A bill reflecting this viewpoint — supported by Democrats led by Senator Edward Kennedy — was passed by the Republican-controlled Senate on Monday. But a second group of Republicans would like to see illegal immigration cracked down on in the form of strong measures taken to prevent it. This group — which helped push a bill through the House of Representatives in December — would like to see illegal immigrants criminalized and sent home. The two laws will now have to be reconciled. Many conservative Republicans are criticizing the proposed reform as a slippery slope towards an amnesty for illegal immigrants and — given the fact that fully 11.7 percent of the US population was foreign born in 2003 — as a threat to the national identity of the USA.

“Left-leaning daily Berliner Zeitung [points out] that the massive contribution of illegal immigrants to the US economy is an UNDENIABLE REALITY [as was the case in Germany in the 60’s, when guest workers from Turkey and other nations were invited to come into the country to temporarily work there]. ‘Deport the illegal immigrants and the country would PROBABLY STOP FUNCTIONING,’ the editors write, going on to note that while they feel the reform proposal is laudable, polls show that the majority of US citizens does not support it… Editorials in two other German papers [Financial Times and Süddeutsche Zeitung] reflect not so much on the specific debate over efforts to reform US immigration law, but rather on the difficulties faced by the president and his party in general. Not only are Bush’s poll ratings abysmal, but for the first time in his over five years in office, Bush has gotten rid of one of his closest aides, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card… who resigned on Tuesday…”

AFP reported on March 29 that “More than 36,000  [Los Angeles] students walked out of class to protest on Monday and more than 11,000 boycotted on Tuesday, prompting education chiefs and police to warn that pupils who skip class would be punished as truants if they failed to show up for class… While Los Angeles has been the focus of the student protests against the proposed immigration law, similar walkouts have taken place across California as well as in the states of Texas and Nevada in recent days. Saturday, 500,000 demonstrators brought Los Angeles to a standstill by staging ONE OF THE BIGGEST DEMONSTRATIONS IN RECENT US HISTORY against the proposed crackdown, while 50,000 people protested Monday in the northeastern US auto-making capital of Detroit over the issue…

“The US House of Representatives in December passed a bill that would make illegal entry in the United States a CRIME and heavily penalise EMPLOYERS of undocumented workers [as well as requiring CHURCHES to check the LEGAL STATUS of people they want to HELP], opening the floodwaters of protest in the Hispanic community, the largest US minority group… The hardline plans have sparked anger among the more than 32 million people of Hispanic cultural origin in the United States, who make up more than 12 percent of the population and wield growing political and economic clout. Hispanic community leaders said they were planning a massive countrywide Hispanic boycott of US life on May 1 that will be dubbed ‘A day without Latinos or a day without immigrants.'”

Israeli Election

Israel’s recent elections have shown that Israelis are more interested in the solutions of their own problems than in pursuing an unrealistic “peace” process. The following article also shows the grave mistrust of Israeli citizens in their political leaders–a phenomenon which is mirrored in most countries in the Western World.

On March 29, Der Spiegel Online reported the following about the election results in Israel: “The Israelis have turned their BACK ON THE PEACE PROCESS. The days when the left dreamed of the ‘New Middle East’ are over. Instead of negotiating about future co-existence with the Palestinians, the Israelis want a divorce, once and for all. They’re not aiming for peace… The so-called security fence is aimed at separating the two peoples from one another. How the Palestinians are supposed to survive when they are cut off from the outside world is of no interest in Israel. Instead of looking out for their Palestinian neighbors, Israelis want their government to fight poverty in their own country. Israel’s focus is turning inwards.

“But what’s most astonishing is that despite the dramatic changes now faced by the country and the whole region, almost 40 percent of eligible voters stayed at home. The lack of interest isn’t just explained by the absence of strong, charismatic personalities following the departure of Ariel Sharon. In the eyes of many Israelis POLITICS IS SUCH A DIRTY BUSINESS THAT THEY WANT NO PART IN IT, not even from a distance. The names of many politicians have been cited in connection with corruption cases. Some parliamentarians will even have to go to jail soon, among them the son of Ariel Sharon.”

Hamas Takes Power

After some delay, Hamas took power. The future for peace in the Middle East looks grimmer than ever.

The Associated Press reported on March 29:

“Hamas formally took power Wednesday, and the newly installed prime minister [Islmail Haniyeh] pledged to cooperate with President Mahmoud Abbas, head of the defeated Fatah party… Haniyeh said he and Abbas would confront ‘Israeli aggression against the people’ as well as internal chaos. He called Hamas’ assumption of power ‘a great moment.’ The swearing-in ceremony, which came just a day after Israel’s national election, ended a two-month transition period of ambiguity since Hamas’ election victory in January. The 24-member Cabinet includes 14 ministers who served time in Israeli prisons.

“With a Hamas government installed, the LINES OF CONFRONTATION WITH ISRAEL ARE CLEARLY DRAWN. Hamas insists it will not soften its VIOLENT IDEOLOGY toward the Jewish state. Israel’s presumed prime minister-designate, Ehud Olmert, has countered that if Hamas will not bend, he will set the borders of a Palestinian state by himself and keep large areas of the West Bank. With Hamas at the helm, the Palestinian Authority also faces a crippling international economic boycott. Canada announced it was suspending assistance to the Palestinian Authority, with Hamas calling the decision hasty and unfair…”

Israel May Be Next al-Qaida Battleground

As if Hamas’ radical stance was not enough, suspicion is mounting that al-Qaida is concentrating on Israel as their new battle field. The Associated Press reported on March 22: “Signs are mounting that al-Qaida terrorists are setting their sights on Israel and the Palestinian territories as their next jihad battleground. Israel has indicted two West Bank militants for al-Qaida membership, Egypt arrested operatives trying to cross into Israel and a Palestinian security official has acknowledged al-Qaida is ‘organizing cells and gathering supporters.’… Palestinians in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Lebanon have established contacts with al-Qaida followers… a major concern is al-Qaida’s activities in Israel’s neighbors, especially Jordan… Some Israeli officials have expressed concern that al-Qaida operatives from Egypt may have entered Gaza after Israel withdrew from the coastal strip last summer.”

Afghan Christian Given Asylum in Italy

Abdul Rahman fled Afghanistan after his release from prison (due to some concocted rationale of “insufficient evidence” and “suspected mental illness”) and found asylum in Italy. The Western World can sigh a temporary sigh of relief. But the sign is deceitful. Afghanistan’s problems have not been solved by any stretch of the imagination. Afghanistan’s future does not give room for much optimism.

The Associated Press reported on March 29:

“The Afghan man who faced the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity received asylum in Italy Wednesday, despite requests by lawmakers in Afghanistan that he be barred from fleeing the conservative Muslim country. Abdul Rahman arrived in Rome days after he was freed from a high-security prison… after a court dropped charges of apostasy against him for lack of evidence and suspected mental illness. The case has attracted wide attention in the West and led to calls by the U.S. and other governments for the Afghan government to protect the 41-year-old convert. It also inspired an appeal by Pope Benedict XVI to Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and efforts by the United Nations to find a country to take him in after Muslim clerics in Afghanistan threatened his life, saying his conversion was a ‘betrayal to Islam.’ Rahman was in the care of Italy’s Interior Ministry, Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Wednesday evening. ‘He is already in Italy,’ he said… The premier declined to release more details. The Interior Ministry said Rahman was ‘UNDER PROTECTION.'”

“Afghanistan’s new parliament debated Rahman’s case Wednesday and DEMANDED HE BE BARRED FROM LEAVING THE COUNTRY. But no formal vote was taken on the issue. Some 500 Afghans, including Muslim leaders and students, also gathered at a mosque in the southern town of Qalat… to demand the convert be forced to return to Islam or be killed… Germany, where Rahman once lived, praised the Italian move. ‘This is a humanitarian signal and we welcome it,’ German government spokesman Thomas Steg said.”

Even though Rahman lives in MORE OR LESS relative safety, the terrible status quo in Afghanistan has not changed. In fact, nothing has changed. Women are still being persecuted on a daily basis, and any Afghan who is charged with converting from Islam to Christianity will face the same ordeal which Rahman did. Afghanistan is, by no stretch of the imagination, a “free” country.

As Deutsche Welle wrote on March 23:

“Starting in 2004, Afghanistan — with Western help — ushered in a new reformed constitution, after which it elected a new parliament and created a Supreme Court and an independent legal system — steps considered essential in what the US administration calls ‘nation-building.’ But, experts warn about the dangers of flaunting Afghanistan as a poster-child for spreading democracy to former totalitarian countries. More than four years after the fall of the Taliban, the country remains riddled with corruption and cronyism linked to the country’s administrative system and $2.8 billion… drug industry. ‘One shouldn’t forget that [Afghan President Hamid] Karzai had to make several concessions to ultra-conservatives in drawing up the constitution,’ said Citha Maass, Afghanistan expert at the Berlin-based German Institute for International and Security Affairs. Maass pointed out that the Rahman case highlighted the contradictions in Afghanistan’s constitution, which enshrines religious freedom on the one hand and upholds the supremacy of Islamic Sharia law on the other… The Afghanistan expert also pointed out that recent protests over controversial cartoons published in European newspapers HAD BEEN THE MOST VIOLENT IN AFGHANISTAN.”

Afghanistan Fighting Deadliest in Months

The ongoing problems in Afghanistan were highlighted on Wednesday, March 29, when The Associated Press reported:

“Taliban rebels launched a large-scale attack on a coalition military base Wednesday in southern Afghanistan [in Helmand], killing an American and a Canadian soldier but losing 32 of their own in a fierce American-led retaliation. The fighting was THE DEADLIEST in months and reflected a GROWING INTENSITY OF MILITANT ATTACKS after the Taliban warned of a renewed offensive this year, more than four years after the hard-line militia was ousted by U.S.-led airstrikes… It was not clear if Wednesday’s violence was linked to the DRUG TRADE. Helmand is Afghanistan’s main opium poppy-growing region and fears of widespread violence have risen since an aggressive poppy eradication campaign started in recent weeks. Helmand’s rugged mountains also are popular hiding places for Taliban rebels, many of whom are believed to slip back and forth across the province’s largely UNGUARDED BORDER WITH PAKISTAN. The attack on the base came a day after a roadside bomb killed six Afghan soldiers on a road in the province, and four private security workers–a Namibian and three Afghans–were killed elsewhere in the south in attacks blamed on Taliban rebels.”

Afghanistan’s Religious “Freedom”

On March 20, 2006, The Arizona Republic published an article about an abominable situation in Afghanistan. This is the same country which Western powers decided to set free from tyranny and terrorism and to guarantee those freedoms which Western citizens treasure dearly, including the freedom of speech and religion. However, we see today the influence of former war lords and drug traffickers in Afghanistan, as well as unspeakable religious tyranny, which is legally sanctioned and promoted:

“An Afghan man is being prosecuted in a Kabul court and could be sentenced to death on a charge of converting from Islam to Christianity, a crime under this country’s Islamic laws… The defendant… was arrested last month [with a Bible in his possession] after his family accused him of becoming a Christian [and] was charged with rejecting Islam. During a one-day hearing, the defendant confessed that he converted from Islam to Christianity 16 years ago … ‘We are not against any particular religion in the world. But in Afghanistan, this sort of thing is against the law,’ the judge said… the prosecutor.. said he had offered to drop the charges if [the defendant] converted back to Islam, but he refused… ‘We are Muslims, and becoming a Christian is against our laws [the prosecutor said]. He must get the death penalty.'”

When reading that his own family accused the defendant and reported him to the authorities, we are reminded of a Biblical prophecy telling us that at the very end, true Christians “will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of [them] to death” (Luke 21:16).

On March 21, 2006, globeandmail.com added the following:

“If sentenced to death, Mr. Rahman has two avenues of appeal: to the Provincial Court and to the Supreme Court. The death sentence also would need President Hamid Karzai’s approval to be carried out. [Karzai could change the death sentence to life in prison. Whether he would do so or whether he would bow to the pressure of radicals, will remain to be seen]… The trial is believed to be the first of its kind in Afghanistan and highlights a struggle between religious conservatives and reformists over what shape Islam should take four years after the ouster from Afghanistan of the fundamentalist Taliban regime. It also reveals the friction between Islamic and statutory law. Both are affirmed in the country’s draft constitution, which says Islam is the religion of Afghanistan but also mentions the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which ensures freedom of religion. Afghanistan is a conservative Islamic country. About 99 per cent of its 28 million people are Muslim and the rest are mainly Hindu.

“A Christian aid worker in Kabul, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said there is no reliable figure for the number of Christians in the country, although it is believed to be only in the dozens or low hundreds. He said few admit their faith because of fear of retribution and there are no known Afghan churches.”

AFP reported on March 22: “International pressure is mounting on Afghanistan… Washington says it is watching closely how Kabul deals with Rahman, 41, who is believed to be the first convert accused in Afghanistan under strict Islamic Sharia law for refusing to become Muslim again. Germany, where Rahman reportedly lived for nine years before returning to his war-scarred homeland, has called on Afghan President Hamid Karzai to step in and save him.”

The Associated Press stated on March 22, 2006 that “German Roman Catholic Cardinal Karl Lehmann said the trial sent an ‘alarming signal’ about freedom of worship in Afghanistan.”

When will the Western powers begin to retaliate against the persecution of their religious faith? Even though “freedom of religion” is guaranteed in the draft Afghan constitution, it appears that it is only applied to the “freedom” of Muslims to follow the Koran and, in effect, to suppress Christianity. As Der Spiegel Online reported on March 21, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier reminded the government of Afghanistan of their duty to guarantee “religious freedom.” The Afghan government responded that they will not intervene in the case, as this was a matter of the judicial branch. According to the magazine, Afghanistan’s judges are still the same old conservative hardliners that existed five years ago. Insofar, nothing has changed since the “liberation” of Afghanistan. Some “cautious” German politicians are concerned about the “sensitivities” in Afghanistan, as the situation could “explode.”

Nicholas Burns, U.S. under secretary of state for political affairs, reportedly agreed. According to AFP of March 22, he “suggested that Washington would not try to impose its will in the controversial case.”

However, President Bush used much stronger words. According to The Associated Press of March 22, he stated: “We expect them to honor the universal principle of freedom… I’m troubled when I hear, deeply troubled when I hear, the fact that a person who converted away from Islam may be held to account. That’s not the universal application of the values that I talked about. I look forward to working with the government of that country to make sure that people are protected in their capacity to worship.”

Other governmental officials from Germany state that Afghanistan’s conduct must be condemned by the international community, and that all European financial support for the country must immediately cease unless it changes. According to News Networld of March 22, the Afghan government responded by accusing Germany of “blackmail.”

In another bizarre twist of events, “Afghanistan said that a man facing the death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity might be mentally unfit to stand trial, as international pressure over the case mounted… Observers said the court’s announcement may be a sign that Afghanistan is seeking a way out of an increasingly embarrassing issue for US-backed President Hamid Karzai” (AFP, March 22, 2006).

Of course, such a “cop-out” would not solve anything. What happens next time when another Afghan Muslim is accused of converting to Christianity? Or, are the Afghan authorities prepared to declare every Muslim as insane who converts to Christianity?

In addition, Afghan Muslim clerics have taken an unmistakable stance on the situation. As The Associated Press reported on March 23, “[Four] Senior Muslim clerics [in Kabul] said Thursday that an Afghan man on trial for converting from Islam to Christianity should be killed regardless of whether a court decides to free him… ‘He is not crazy. He went in front of the media and confessed to being a Christian,’ said Hamidullah, chief cleric at Haji Yacob Mosque. ‘The government is scared of the international community. But the people will kill him if he is freed.’ ‘He is not mad. The government is playing games. The people will not be fooled,’ said Abdul Raoulf, cleric at Herati Mosque. ‘This is humiliating for Islam. … Cut off his head.’ Raoulf is considered a moderate cleric in Afghanistan. He was jailed three times for criticizing the Taliban’s policies before the hard-line regime was ousted by US-led forces in 2001.”

Der Spiegel Online published the following biting and thought-provoking commentary on March 23:

“A few caricatures in a Dutch newspaper caused bloody riots in the Muslim world. But now an Afghan man has been sentenced to death for converting to Christianity. Afghanistan has told the West it should mind its own business. Come again?”

The magazine continued: “German liberty has not arrived [and] radical Islam has remained… Afghanistan is no properly democratic state. The fact that a Muslim is now facing the death penalty because of his conversion to Christianity shows how far this country still is from guaranteeing its citizens the most basic rights. In neighboring Pakistan, an ally in the war on terror, the situation is hardly any better. There Christians, who make up between five and 10 percent of the p
opulation, live in ghettos, faced with the constant threat of violence. Many Christians living in Islamic countries exist in a state of religious apartheid. The response to Western criticism of the Kabul verdict is being dismissed as a case of foreigners ‘meddling’ in Afghanistan’s ‘domestic affairs.’ This means it’s high time to send a clearer message. It’s not just about Abdul Rahman, who has chosen to become a Christian for reasons that are no one’s business but his own. It’s also about the women locked away in Afghan prisons for having been accused of adultery. It’s about female students who can’t walk down the street by themselves because a few male illiterates might get it into their heads to attack them. And it’s about the many hundreds of thousands of Afghan women forced to live their lives behind walls — without access to education, without the right to happiness. There is a good chance that President Hamid Karzai will pardon Abdul Rahman, as he has many of the imprisoned women, who are often convicted on bogus adultery charges made up by men who simply want to get rid of them. But this is not about mercy; it’s about basic human rights. The West should insist on nothing less. “This is in no way merely a domestic matter — it is a question of the validity of international human rights. When a Danish newspaper published a few more or less idiotic cartoons, Islamic rage flared up. Now that human lives and basic rights are at issue, we’re hearing statements that could just as easily have been made during the Cold War. Back then, the phrase ‘domestic affairs’ was invoked by the Soviet empire every time the West criticized its human rights record. What concerns Abdul Rahman and the women of Afghanistan concerns us too. And if the German army can’t defend this kind of liberty in the Hindukush, then it should leave. Our soldiers have sworn allegiance to the rights enshrined in the German constitution; there’s no reason to turn these soldiers into toothless operetta characters.”

We are observing another example of an outright war–at this time being fought with words–between Islam and Christianity. According to Biblical prophecy, Europe WILL ultimately accept the challenge and begin to act–and when doing so, IT will, in turn, become dictatorial in its approach with religions other than “orthodox” Christianity. Sadly, religious persecution will be the consequence. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”

Austria’s Schüssel on European Unification

During a SPIEGEL Interview on March 20, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel stated the following about European unification:

“… the discussion about European identity is critical if we want to get to the bottom of discontent in Europe. What do our citizens find at fault in Europe, in its institutions? For the first time, we are now talking about issues like Europe’s geographic borders and, as was discussed in the European Parliament last week, the question of the EU’s capacity to accept new members. If you don’t see this as progress, I can’t help you. In my view, it’s a positive sign that we don’t immediately have the fitting answer for every question. We have to think about things for a while before we can provide the right answers. Where should the journey be going? Who assumes responsibility?… The Austrians aren’t against the EU… The main issue is European harmony, which emanates from Europe’s diversity of opinion, and indeed its diversity per se. This is our strength, which, admittedly, needs a little work. We have to be more self-confident about projecting the ‘European way of life’ to the rest of the world. It’s far more attractive than the American model, for example. We have a more effective balance among economic performance, social cohesiveness and environmental sustainability. We should embrace this tremendous aura and not call it into doubt… We just happen to need more of Europe in some areas. In foreign policy, for example, or in the coordination of a joint energy policy. We need less small-mindedness in these areas. In other areas, the regions need to be strengthened. In many cases, a national state is too small to deal with the biggest problems… The only way to bring peace to a region plagued by bloody wars and forced expulsions until not too long ago is to offer it the prospects of EU membership. We must tell them that they will be part of us sooner or later. “

The magazine also published the following exchange:

“Der Spiegel: In other words, a future Europe would feature stronger local and regional competencies and a common European foreign policy and defense policy. Wouldn’t this ultimately spell the demise of the nation-state?

“Schüssel: No, nation-states will retain their positions, otherwise none of this will work. The nation-states must make Europe their top priority, and must feel responsible for this European being. We have to nurture this little plant.”

As the Bible clearly states, Europe will unite soon and become a mighty power bloc. For more information, please read our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”

China, Japan and Russia

The Bible prophesies that a mighty power bloc, consisting of countries such as Russia, China and Japan, among others, will become an economic, political and even military challenge to Europe and the Western Word. The following recent reports are interesting in light of these predictions:

On March 23, the China Daily reported: “China and Russia are important partners in economic and technological development, President Hu Jintao and visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed yesterday… In a speech, Putin highlighted Sino-Russian energy co-operation, saying that Russia has become China’s fifth-largest energy supplier. On Tuesday, the two countries signed three deals on oil and natural gas supplies… Trade volume between China and Russia has been increasing rapidly in recent years and exceeded US$29 billion last year.”

Reuters reported on March 23: “China said on Thursday, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin left Beijing, that Beijing and Moscow are in accord on Iran’s nuclear standoff with the West. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday criticized a draft U.N. Security Council statement aimed at pressuring Iran to stop enriching uranium.”

AFP reported on March 23: “Senior US officials have urged Japan to halt development of a massive oil field with Iran amid concern that revenue from the project could fuel the Islamic state’s nuclear drive, a report said… The US embassy told AFP Japan was aware of US opposition to investment in Iran but declined to comment on whether Washington has pressured Tokyo to stop the Azadegan project… But a Japanese foreign ministry spokeswoman said Japan ‘is holding no concrete talks with the United States’ on the future of the project. ‘The Azadegan oil development is a very important project for us in terms of stable energy supply. We will cope with the matter squarely as nuclear non-proliferation and stable supply of crude oil are both important,’ she said. Japan has walked a tightrope on the Iranian crisis, supporting US and European calls for Tehran to give up its nuclear program while trying not to jeopardize its close commercial ties with the Islamic regime. Japan defied the United States in 2004 by signing the contract to develop Azadegan, considered one of the world’s biggest untapped oil reserves.”

For more information on the future of China, Russia and Japan, as mentioned in the Bible, please read our free booklet, “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.”

America’s Incredible Debt to Foreign Powers

On March 17, 2006, The Times published the following article:

“If you are worried about how much you owe on your credit cards, this might put things in perspective: America’s national debt limit was increased yesterday to $9 trillion… enough to buy Buckingham Palace 9,000 times… The increase, passed by Congress, allows the Government to borrow another $781 billion (£447 billion), increasing the national debt limit–the maximum America can borrow–from $8 trillion and $184 billion to $8 trillion and $961 billion. If the debt ceiling, which is set by Congress, had not been raised by March 24, the Administration would not have been able to borrow more money and the US would have begun to default on its domestic and foreign obligations, an untenable consequence… The national debt is the total amount owed by the Government… America has had a national debt since 1791, when it was $75 million. Today it rises by that amount every hour.”

The article explained the enormity of a sum of $9 Trillion:

“[It]… equates to $1,500 for every man, woman and child in the world… it would buy all the tea in the world for the next 2,000 years… [it is] enough to solve the Palestinian crisis by rehousing every Israeli and Palestinian family… [it would] build 28 Eiffel Towers–constructed out of gold.”

The article made the additional striking observation:

“Nearly half the publicly owed debt is held by foreigners. Japan is the biggest creditor, at $668 billion. China, the second-biggest, recently increased its stake by $40 billion to $263 billion…”

We see Biblical prophecy being fulfilled before our very eyes. God prophesied thousands of years ago that in these end times, foreigners would control and rule over the USA (compare Deuteronomy 28:43-44). We are observing the beginning of this development, because, as the Bible says, the borrower is the servant or slave to the lender (compare Proverbs 22:7). The following words by Alice Rivlin, a former budget director for Bill Clinton, are quite remarkable, as quoted in the above-stated article: “We used to have much less held by foreigners. It makes you much more vulnerable to people’s agendas.” Ultimately, the USA which is already, to an extent, a slave to the lender, will even become defeated in an outright war by a foreign enemy and it will become QUITE LITERALLY enslaved (Deuteronomy 28:47-50, 52). For more information, please read our free booklets, “The Fall and Rise of Britain and America,” and “The Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.”