News for May 5, 2006

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‘Russia has left the western orbit’ (May 3, 2006) - Moscow could be on the verge of clinching an arms deal with Syria or Iran that would send the US and Israel into pop-eyed rage. A few days ago a Russian arms manufacturer let slip at an arms fair in Kuala Lumpur that his state-run weapons design bureau was close to sealing a foreign sale of Iskander-E missiles. The destination of the hardware was secret, he said, but the most obvious market is clear: the Middle East. Last year, Israel was furious when it emerged that Moscow was planning to sell the Iskander to Damascus. The Iskander is like the Scuds that Iraq used during the Gulf war but many times more accurate and better equipped to avoid defensive weapons such as the Patriot missile. Syria - part of George Bush’s “axis of evil” - would love to be able to trundle some of these short-range ballistic missiles (range: 180 miles) down to its southern border to point at Israel in the event of a conflict. No doubt the Iranian regime of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is also itching to get its hands on some of these weapons - whose sale is not restricted by any treaty. Earlier this month Iran tested an underwater missile that looked suspiciously like a Russian Shkval. President Vladimir Putin, under pressure from the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, was forced to step in and reverse the Syrian missile deal. These days, one might surmise, he would not give a fig. more...

U.S. Republican Party Head: Iran Nukes Threaten Jewish People Associated Press (May 3, 2006) - The head of the United States [U.S.] Republican Party said on May 2 that Iran’s nuclear program threatens Israel, the Jewish people and the U.S., and “we must confront an evil ideology head on.” Ken Mehlman, in a speech to the American Jewish Committee’s annual meeting, invoked the anti-Semitism of recent history in focusing on Iran, lauded the progress in Iraq and addressed pre-emptive military action. “Just as we did during the 20th century, we must confront an evil ideology head on,” Mehlman said. “And just as we did, we will prevail.” In Tehran, a Revolutionary Guards commander said Israel would be Iran’s first retaliatory target in response to any U.S. attack, a remark that underlined Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s call for Israel to be “wiped off the map.” “This is not about politics, this is not about left vs. right, or East vs. West, or Democrat vs. Republican. This is about a man who would like to see Jerusalem destroyed and may soon have the power to do that,” Mehlman said. The Republican National Committee chairman said the U.S. must remember the lessons of World War II. “When we wait until an attack is imminent, we have waited too long,” he said.

3 Earthquakes Strike Tonga Islands: Tsunami Warning Issued (May 3, 2006) - A magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck early Thursday near the South Pacific nation of Tonga, prompting tsunami warnings for as far away as Fiji and New Zealand. The warning was lifted after a tsunami of less than 2 feet was recorded. There were no reports of injuries or damage from the quake or tsunami. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu lifted its warning for all areas within two hours. It said there was no data indicating that the 4:26 a.m. earthquake generated a giant wave. View other recent earthquakes

The War Drums Are Beating Louder (May 3, 2006) - Here in Israel we constantly hear that Iran is going to wipe us off the map, I don’t think any of us believe Iran is capable of doing that, but we all know things could and most likely will get really bad for a while, but God willing Israel will survive and I know that God is willing. For those of us who keep an eye on the political scene in the Knesset know that this crisis could not come at a worse time, Ariel Sharon has dealt a terrible blow to the politics of Israel and weaken it to the point that we are wondering if the present Leaders have the ability to handle such a crisis. Olmert has appointed Peretz as our Defense Minister, a man with absolutely no experience in the field of military defense, it looks as if Olmert has only one concern and that is to save his coalition at any cost. That cost could in fact be most costly to the survival of Israel. Internally we see Hamas positioning itself in a posture that says they are getting ready to hit Israel with very thing they have some time in the near future. Possibly when Iran makes its move to destroy the Jewish State. What many of us here in Israel are struggling with is why Israel set still for weeks and allowed truck loads of weapons to flow into Gaza through the open border with Egypt? Iran in the past couple of months has acquired the BM-25 missile from North Korea, this missile has a range of over 2,500 kilometers. It was sold to North Korea by the Russians and was once used on the Russian Submarines known as the SSN6. It is capable of carrying nuclear warheads. If I lived in Europe or Turkey I’d be most interested in this purchase as it now puts most of Europe and all of Turkey in range of the Iranian threat. As for the Iranian ability to hit Israel that threat has been there for a very long time now with there Shihab-3 missile, they have also improved it by developing a cone making it capable of entering the atmosphere making it much more accurate. more...

Iran threatens Israel if US acts “evil” (May 2, 2006) - Iran threatened on Tuesday to attack Israel in response to any “evil” act by the United States and said it had enriched uranium to a level close to the maximum compatible with civilian use in power stations. The defiant statements were issued shortly before world powers met in Paris late on Tuesday to plan their next moves after Tehran rejected a U.N. call to halt uranium enrichment. Senior officials from the U.N. Security Council’s permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany discussed how to curb an Iranian program that Western nations say conceals a drive for atomic warheads. Iran denies the charge and refuses to back down from what it calls its right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes. Driving home that message, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, said his country had now succeeded in purifying uranium to 4.8 percent, at the top end of the 3 to 5 percent range for fuel used in nuclear power plants. more...

Gadhafi: Islam Taking Over Europe (May 3, 2006) - 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. Albania, a Muslim-majority country, and Bosnia, which is half Muslim, also appear to be on their way to EU membership. “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.” Excerpts of Gadhafi’s speech, broadcast April 10, were translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI. A video clip of the speech can by viewed online. more...

UN is like the Twilight Zone, says Bolton (May 3, 2006) - John Bolton says he is not combative. ‘I am assertive’ In his first interview with a British newspaper, America’s ambassador to the United Nations tells Alec Russell why it is in dire need of reform. John Bolton was in his element. America’s famously blunt UN ambassador and hundreds of other senior diplomats had just spent almost two hours twiddling their thumbs in a deadlocked meeting awaiting a letter from the secretary general. Then moments after the document arrived, the session was adjourned as the representatives of the developing world retired to plot - successfully as it transpired - how to stymie a series of radical reforms. South Africa’s ambassador pledged that it would be for only a quarter of an hour. “I know those 15 minutes,” said a deadpan Mr Bolton. “We have a bit longer than that, I think.” If ever a scene epitomised the notorious UN inefficiency, which Mr Bolton has spent so much of his life railing against, this was it. “You had nearly 150 permanent representatives waiting around for an hour and a half,” he said in one of many breaks in the key meeting on budget and reform at UN headquarters in New York. “With their aides, that is roughly 400 people waiting for one document and now we are waiting again.

“There is an inherent amount of slippage in a process like this, but this really is business as usual.” America’s bantam cock of an ambassador is something of a cult figure at the UN. When meetings end he is followed by a crowd of cameramen keen to capture that famous walrus moustache and his colourful asides. Rival ambassadors salute his skill as a communicator and his diligence. He keeps Washington rather than New York hours, starting work before dawn and often going to bed by nine. While he speaks off the cuff, he assiduously takes notes of others’ speeches, the opposite of the usual UN style. He is far less haughty than many of his predecessors. But it is exasperation as much as envy that defines reactions to him in the UN. His undiplomatic ways have infuriated even America’s allies and UN officials pushing for reform. more...

Islamic Thinkers Society Protest Israel in New York (April 26, 2006) - A radical Islamic group broke public last week, hoisting pictures of the White House with the Islamic flag flying above it and calling for the demise of the “Israeli Terrorists,” but the demonstration was not conducted by the Islamic factions in Gaza, or Tel Aviv, or Jerusalem or even in the Palestinian territories. This was from a group of demonstrators outside the Israeli consulate in Queens, New York. The Islamic Thinkers Society protested Israel and the United States last Friday. The Society says they are non-violent, but certainly their words were reflective of the extremist Islamic rhetoric that has been heard in Iraq, Iran, the Palestinian territories and from any other militant Islamic congregation. Demonstrators yelled chants of “The mushroom cloud is on its way! The real holocaust is on its way!” and carried signs including “Islam will Dominate” and a picture with an Islamic flag flying over the White House. They screamed, “allah akbar,” meaning god is great. And they made the point that Palestine is the Islamic land. They said that liberating an Islamic land is an obligation on all Muslims; that their brothers and sisters are living under the brutal occupation of the terrorists Israelis supported by the United States to the tune of $45 million a day, which is used by the “Israeli terrorists to murder and oppress.” They said, “We will never accept the existence of Israel.” This may well be one of the first and most public expressions of radical Islam in America, but it is indicative of a growing movement that has been documented by intelligence sources across the country. Muslim clerics are becoming bolder in preaching inflammatory and threatening rhetoric from the sanctity of their mosques from New York to Iowa, from Minnesota to Texas, throughout the United States. And if this treasonous, hate speech is allowed to continue, Americans can expect it to spread to violence. In Jeremiah 51:14, the Lord told a nation that had fallen away from Him, “Surely I will fill you with men, as with locusts, and they shall lift up a shout against you.” Hate speech is not free speech. Be aware.

Zola Levitt dies but ministry will continue (April 21, 2006) - The death of Jewish Christian preacher Zola Levitt Wednesday does not mean the end of the ministry he founded, according to his son Mark Levitt, the group’s administrator. Zola Levitt, known for the tagline, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,” died at his Dallas home after a battle with cancer. His television program emphasizing the Jewish roots of Christianity, “Zola Levitt Presents,” is seen on several Christian networks. Mark Levitt told WorldNetDaily the non-profit group has many people in key positions who will continue the work. “We’re not interested in revolving the ministry around any particular individual except for Jesus,” Levitt said. more...

The return of the Mahdi; Islam will dominate the world, A mushroom cloud, right in the midst of Israel! (May 5, 2006) -- Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was invited to speak at the United Nations in October 2005. At the conclusion of his discourse, he called upon Allah to quickly usher in the re-emergence of the “Twelfth” or “Hidden Imam,” sometimes referred to as the “Mahdi.” The fanatical leader later claimed that while he spoke to that august body, he was surrounded by a halo of light. Mr. Ahmadinejad regaled a local ayatollah with the story of how “The leaders of the world” stared at him during the time he spoke. He further claimed that they were unable to blink or turn away, as though some unseen force held them in a trance-like state. “When I say they didn’t bat an eyelid, I'm not exaggerating, because I was looking at them,” intoned Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad is a Shia Muslim. Many of them believe that the Twelfth Imam, or Mahdi, the last in a line of saints descended from Ali, the founder of their sect, vanished down a well near Jamkaran, Iran, in AD 941. According to their beliefs, he went into a state of “occultation,” like the sun being hidden behind the clouds; and, after a stormy period of apocalyptic wars, the clouds will part, and the “sun” (the Mahdi) will be revealed. They believe that when he is released from his imprisonment, the entire world will submit to Islam. The world may smirk as they hear the president of Iran talking of the return of the Mahdi and think it is just a bunch of religious foolishness. But, he is dead serious. Not only does he believe it, but the tens of thousands of mullahs controlling ancient Persia believe it also. It is their mission from God. But just who is this “Mahdi,” this Hidden Imam? Some thought it was the Ayatollah Khomeini. In fact, when he returned to Iran in February 1979 following the overthrow of the Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi, the roads leading into Tehran were lined with nearly 2 million Shia Muslims screaming “al-Muntazar.” The grand ayatollah was quick to deny that he was “al-Muntazar,” one of the names given to the Hidden Imam. In other words, many thought Khomeini was the awakened Mahdi. Khomeini did, however, explain to his followers that he was the forerunner, the one who had come to open the way for the Hidden Imam to make his reappearance. more...

Cheney rebukes Russia on democracy (May 5, 2006) -- U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, in one of the Bush administration’s sharpest rebukes to Moscow, accused Russia on Thursday of backsliding on democracy and urged it to stop using energy supplies for “blackmail”. “Russia has a choice to make,” Cheney told Baltic and Black Sea leaders at a summit in Vilnius, calling on Moscow to return to democratic reform at a time of increasingly chilly relations between the United States and Russia. He said opponents of reform in Russia were “seeking to reverse the gains of the last decade” by restricting democratic rights and warned President Vladimir Putin some of Moscow’s actions could hurt relations with other countries. But Cheney told leaders of post-communist nations with a history of domination by the former Soviet Union: “None of us believes that Russia is fated to become an enemy.” He said G-8 members planned to make clear at a summit in St. Petersburg in July Moscow had “nothing to fear and everything to gain from strong stable democracies on its borders”. Cheney’s harsh remarks could further antagonise Russia, which holds a veto in the U.N. Security Council where Washington intends to push for a resolution demanding Iran curb its nuclear ambitions. Russia opposes any sanctions. The address by Cheney, a powerful, independent-minded vice president known for a hard line on Russia within the administration, marked an intensification of U.S. and European Union criticism against Moscow for its record on democracy. more...

Hurricane Alley Heats Up (May 2, 2006) - Water temperatures in areas where hurricanes form in the Atlantic Ocean have warmed up over the past century and human activity could be the reason, scientists report. To develop into a hurricane, a tropical storm needs its primary fuel—water—to be at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.5 Celsius). Previous studies suggest that warmer temperatures can fuel stronger storms. Long-term trends show that global ocean surface temperatures have warmed up in the past century, and that this is helping to create stronger hurricanes.. A hurricane spawning region in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa has experienced more extreme temperature variation than other areas, according to new computer simulations that tease out the long-term change from other known variations that can last decades. The water temperature in this “hurricane alley” has risen several tenths of a degree Celsius over the 20th century. “This very long-term increase in temperature may seem small but is comparable in magnitude to shorter time-scale, multi-decadal changes that many scientists now believe contribute strongly to an increase in hurricane activity in the Atlantic,” said study team member Thomas Knutson, a meteorologist at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton. more...

Radical Groups Taking Control of Immigrant Movement, Dobbs (May 2, 2006) - We all awoke to headlines in our nation’s most important newspapers reminding us that this is “A Day Without Immigrants.” Not illegal immigrants, mind you, but immigrants. USA Today headlined today’s demonstrations and boycott “On Immigration’s Front Lines.” The New York Times headlines its story “With Calls for Boycott by Immigrants, Employers Gird for Unknown.” The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times are both calling their coverage “The Immigration Debate.” These major newspapers obviously don’t want to disturb their readers with the information that today’s demonstrations and boycott are about illegal immigration and amnesty for illegal aliens. CNN and Fox News are both using a banner calling their coverage “A Day Without Immigrants,” while MSNBC is titling its coverage “Immigrant Anger.” Most of the mainstream media has been absolutely co-opted by the open borders and illegal immigration advocates. I’m not opposed to demonstrations and protests of any kind, even by those who are not citizens of this country, because one way or another, demonstrations and protests enrich and invigorate the national debate and raise the public consciousness of truth. But only one newspaper, to its credit, reported that illegal aliens and their supporters’ boycott of the national economy on the First of May is clear evidence that radical elements have seized control of the movement. The Washington Post, alone among national papers, reported that ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) has become an active promoter of the national boycott. more...

Bolivia Seizes Gas Industry (May 2, 2006) - Bolivian President Evo Morales Monday signed a decree to immediately nationalize the country’s gas and oil industry, and ordered the military to occupy energy facilities. Morales, 46, who was elected president in December on his pledge to nationalise the industry and make coca crops legal, made the announcement during a May 1 speech in the energy management centre of San Alberto, in the southern province of Tarija. Wearing a hard hat typical of oil workers, Morales said international companies would be given 180 days to negotiate new contracts. Most of the country’s natural gas deals were sealed in 1996, when Bolivia conceded 40 years of rights to Repsol of Spain, Petrobras of Brazil, Total of France and British Gas. “This is a historic day, when Bolivia retakes the absolute control of our natural resources,” Morales said. “The state is recovering the property, the possession of and the total and absolute control of these resources.” Bolivia has the second largest deposits of natural gas in Latin America, after Venezuela. The nationalisation move clashes with the secession efforts of the relatively oil-rich regions around Santa Cruz and Cochabamba, who are to vote in July on autonomy. Morales, who pledged in December that multinationals would not be confiscated or expropriated, told the audience that the entire oil and gas production would become property of Bolivia, which will define “the conditions, volumes and prices” for the domestic and export markets. more...

Three Earthquakes Hit Northern Chile (May 2, 2006) - A strong earthquake hit northern Chile near Copiapo on Sunday, the US Geological Survey reported. The 6.4 magnitude quake struck 55 kilometers (34 miles) northwest of the town of Copiapo or 724 kilometers (450 miles) north of Santiago, at 1917 GMT, the USGS reported. The tremor occurred six kilometers (3.7 miles) below the surface. The quake was followed nine minutes later by a moderate, 5.2 magnitude quake at a depth of 10 kilometers (six miles) off the shore of Atacama, 710 kilometers (440 miles) north of Santiago at 1926 GMT, USGS said.

Homosexuals Headed for Jerusalem (May 1, 2006) - Not only the Muslim world means to steal Jerusalem from the Jews, but one of the planet’s most militant movements also has the ancient Holy City in its sights. In August this year, hundreds of thousands of men and women who practice perverse sexual lifestyles plan to descend on Jerusalem for a week of wickedness. Not content with morally polluting cities “from San Francisco to Montreal to Sydney to Berlin,” the movement whose members insist they have the right to flaunt their behavior in the face of the rest of the world want to notch up a victory in the capital of Israel. Having successfully conquered Jerusalem, these people clearly hope to ensure that no other city on earth will be able to withstand their assault. The aim of these homosexuals - who in 2000 purposely held their first international event in Rome in order, according to them, to have it on “the Pope’s doorstep” - is to confront and defy the teachings and followers of Judeo-Christian faith. Their destination this year is the city of King David, a man after God’s own heart; who’s son Solomon built a temple here for the LORD. It is Israel’s God Who says that for a man to lie with another man is “an abomination” (Leviticus 18:23) that is “against nature” (Romans 1:26-28). more...

War Clouds (May 1, 2006) - Russia’s dangerous double game with Israel and Iran could easily spark a Middle East conflict, with dire consequences for the U.S. LET ME TELL YOU about the next war. It will start sooner than you think - sometime between now and September. And it will be precipitated by the $700-million Russian deal this week to sell Tor air defense missile systems to Iran. When the war begins, it will be between Iran and Israel. Before it ends, though, it may set the whole of the Middle East on fire, pulling in the United States, leaving a legacy of instability that will last for generations and permanently ending a century of American supremacy. Despite the high stakes, the Bush administration seems barely to have noticed the danger posed by the Russian missile sale. But the signs are there, for those inclined to read them. As international pressure over their nuclear program mounts, the Iranians have become increasingly bellicose toward the U.S. and Israel. On Monday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Israel was a “fake regime” that “cannot logically continue to live.” On Wednesday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, warned that “if the U.S. ventured into any aggression on Iran, Iran will retaliate by damaging the U.S. interests worldwide.” Israel has upped the rhetorical heat as well. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reiterated Israel's determination to “make sure no one has the capability or the power to commit destruction against us.” This alone should make any observer jittery. In June 1981, Israel unilaterally launched an airstrike against a nuclear reactor near Baghdad. Iran’s nuclear facilities are dispersed and well-concealed, making a preemptive Israeli strike far more difficult this time around. But there's no reason to doubt Israel’s willingness to try. more...