NEW HQ FOR NEW PERSIAN EMPIRE? ...by Brian Schrauger

Republished from jerusalemjournal.net

by  Brian Schrauger

Thursday, September 1, 2016

News and Views

Iran has a new military HQ. Called the 'Glasshouse' in downtown Damascus, it is directing Tehran's effort to defeat ISIS in Syria. Is it also a command post to establish a new Persian empire as a kind of 'womb' to deliver Islam's messianic Mahdi?

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Spies inside Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have leaked intelligence from Damascus to a dissident group called The National Council of Resistance of Iran, a.k.a. NCRI. According to that intelligence, Tehran has established a state-of-the-art military headquarters in downtown Damascus. Called Glasshouse, the building is used as the control center for managing billions of dollars Tehran has invested in Syria's military arsenal over the past five years - and the tens of thousands of troops it commands.

According to the United Kingdom's Daily Mail that broke the story, Iran's new HQ "plays a pivotal role in supporting Assad's regime alongside Russia."
Bashar Assad is the authoritarian President of Syria. Elected in 2000 and re-elected in 2007, both times on a ballot with only one candidate, Assad has waged a brutal war against rebel forces since 2011. At least 500,000 have been killed and an estimated 5 million have fled the country, many of them flooding Europe.

The conflict has been a magnet for world forces, attracting arsenals and troops from every superpower state. Hardware and armed forces continue to populate the landscape from Russia, China, the United States and Europe. All of them have justified their growing presence in the name of fighting evil. Western powers have said the evil is Assad. For their part, Russia has championed the defense of Assad, naming Islamic State as the predominant evil that must be defeated.

From the beginning, the Syrian conflict has been enflamed by the real power behind Assad's throne. His well-known puppet master is Iran. Accordingly, his ruthless rule has been financed and orchestrated by Tehran's imams. The appearance of Islamic State, a.k.a. ISIS or ISIL, has been a gift to the Islamic Republic. The success of ISIS in horrifying the world has provided cover for an immense build up of Iranian weapons. It has also provided justification for a military alliance with Russia which, for its part, has descended on the scene as the predominant superpower in the Middle East. With its own economic and military agendas, Russia has drawn China into the fray. In recent weeks, it has also recruited Turkey away from its alliance with the West.

With proxy powers in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and now, perhaps, Turkey, Tehran's ambition has been transparent. Its leaders have repeatedly declared their desire to establish a regional, then global, Islamic superpower. Called a caliphate, Iran's vision includes the appearance of an Islamic messiah figure called the Mahdi.

According to Tehran's version of Islam, when the Mahdi steps on stage, he will be joined by the second coming of Jesus. According to Islam, Jesus - only human, not divine - is a prophet of Allah. The Islamic narrative is that, upon his return, Jesus will serve the Mahdi who, for his part, will govern for seven years, his tenure ending with Allah's Day of Judgment.

Based on its conduct and publicly declared doctrines, Iran's apparent conviction is that the necessary womb to deliver the Mahdi is the establishment of a new Persian empire.
Either before its establishment or shortly thereafter, Iran's "beatific" vision includes the complete destruction of Israel. While world media ignores or downplays Iran's Judenfrei caliphate ambitions, Jerusalem does not.

Today its attention is drawn to the multi-million dollar military headquarters, the Glasshouse, in downtown Damascus.
Intelligence that was "leaked" from someone inside Iran's Revolutionary Guards has been compiled into a dossier by the dissident group NCRI. 
Made public this week, that dossier, says Daily Mail, is described as "credible by (Western) intelligence experts." What it reveals is sobering.

Iran controls the biggest fighting force in Syria; has military bases throughout the splintered state; and has amassed a war-chest far greater than feared in support of the Syrian president.

Prevailing intelligence has estimated Iranian forces at 16,000. In fact, when Tehran's proxy forces are added, the Islamic Republic controls upward of 73,000 troops. Assad's army, estimated at 50,000, is a distant second to Iran. When Syria's recognized status as a puppet regime is acknowledge, the total number of troops controlled by Iran in Syria are over 120,000 soldiers.

What's more, NCRI's dossier also reveals that Iran has invested no less than 100 billion dollars in Syria since the conflict began in 2011. This is 6.66 times the amount Western analysts have estimated who place the investment at 15 billion.
It is Russia's endorsement of Iran that perhaps explains its sense of security in setting the Glasshouse in Damascus and in plain view. 

What does it all mean? There are at least two obvious conclusions. 
Dr. Tabrizi is the Iranian specialist for RUSI, a British defense think tank. The Daily Mail reports his conclusion that, at the very least, "the massive Iranian presence [in Syria] raises the danger of escalation." The combination of that "massive presence" with the backing of Russia further elevates the danger.

For now, Jerusalem is out of the crosshairs. But its proximity to swelling forces in Syria, combined with Iran's repeated pledge to annihilate the Jewish State, is provoking Israel's watchmen to keep a close eye on rapidly changing developments. As indeed they must, in such a time as this.

Special guest Bill Salus with Pastor Tom Hughes

The Slow Motion Fulfillment Of Isaiah 17

Saturday, June 6th, 2015

• Current Events
• Featured
• isaiah 17
• Prophecy

Commentary by Jack Kelley
“See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid” (Isaiah 17:1-2).

Isaiah 17 is an oracle concerning Damascus that was partially fulfilled when the Assyrians conquered Aram in 732 BC and 10 years later conquered the breakaway Northern Kingdom of Israel.
It’s the portion of Isaiah 17 that were not fulfilled that concern us today, and the most obvious one is the fact that Damascus has never been reduced to a heap of ruins. Although the city has been conquered several times it has yet to be destroyed like the prophecy of Isaiah 17:1-2 requires.

Damascus has proved to be a most resilient city. It was conquered by the Israelites (1000 BC), the Assyrians (732 BC), the Babylonians (606 BC), the Persians (530 BC), the Greeks (330 BC), the Nabateans (85 BC), the Romans (63 BC), the Byzantines (634 AD), the Mamelukes (1250 AD) and the Ottoman Turks (1516 AD). But the city itself has always survived and is now claimed to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world with a 5,000 year history. Its current population is close to 2 million, yet Isaiah 17:1-2 indicates that it will one day cease to exist.

 

Maybe This Time?

Ever since the Syrian civil war began in 2011 students of prophecy have been looking for the complete fulfillment of Isaiah 17. Several times in the 4 years since then it has appeared as if the destruction of Damascus was imminent, but each time the city was spared.
It’s important to remember in all of this that as far as Isaiah 17 is concerned, it’s not enough for the Assad government to be deposed. For Isaiah’s prophecy to be fulfilled, Damascus has to become an uninhabitable ruin.

In the current go around, it’s being said that the only reason Isaiah 17 has not been fulfilled is because of the support it enjoys from Iran and its client Hezbollah, and the indecisiveness of the Obama Administration. Pres. Obama has wavered back and forth, sometimes favoring the Assad government, sometimes helping the rebels, establishing red lines, and then failing to act when those red lines were crossed. Middle Eastern allies are understandably upset by this inconsistency and there are rumors that the US has been told to stay on the sidelines while they sort the Syrian situation out.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey, who are determined to see Assad gone, have been providing massive support to the rebel Jabhat al Nusra Front (freshly renamed the Muslim Army of Conquest to disguise their al Qaeda affiliation) who are fighting against both the Syrian army and ISIS.

Being forced to fight on five different fronts simultaneously, the Syrian Army is losing heart and battlefield desertions are on the increase. Beleaguered on all sides and having just given up another major airbase, the army no longer has the mobility necessary to maintain the defense of the country and is regrouping around Damascus. (DEBKAfile reports that just a week after losing the big Palmyra air base to the Islamic State – and with it large stocks of ammo and military equipment – Syrian military and air units have began pulling out of their base at Deir ez-Zour, Bashar Assad’s last military stronghold in eastern Syria.) Some observers say if the current trend continues Assad will soon have insufficient troops to even defend Damascus.

Watch For Something Big

Therefore we are once again at a point where it looks as if the Assad government is about to fall. But just this week Iran alerted the world to look for “major events” in Syria in the days to come. This has been interpreted as an announcement that a large scale intervention by Iran on Syria’s behalf is coming soon. Iran has apparently been persuaded that, without direct Iranian military involvement, its ally could go under at any moment.

Some sources speculate that Iran may have asked its client Hezbollah to re-direct some of the 80,000 rockets and missiles it claims to have pointed at Israel and use them instead against the Syrian rebels and ISIS to halt their progress against the Syrian Army. It also appears likely that a significant deployment of Iranian troops will soon be airlifted to Syria to bolster the disheartened Assad forces. Reports out of Lebanon indicate that up to 15,000 Iranian troops are already on their way to Syria.

So it appears the next round in the slow motion fulfillment of Isaiah 17 will involve Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey actively supporting the rebels, with Iran, what’s left of the Syrian Army, and Hezbollah defending the Assad regime. Then there’s the wild card ISIS, that actually controls about half the country, against all of them. (Russia has evacuated the personnel it brought in to support the Syrian Army. This has been seen as their disengagement from a deteriorating situation. Time will tell.)

It Won’t Be Over Until It’s Over

Most observers believe that even if the Assad government is toppled, fighting among the various factions will continue for the foreseeable future. So unless there is some kind of unexpected major escalation we’re probably not going to see the total destruction of Damascus any time soon.
But on a day when the Lord has determined, Damascus will be destroyed. He who knows the end from the beginning and from ancient times what is still to come will bring about what He has said, and will do what He has planned (Isaiah 46:10-11).

At this point, that seems to be the only certainty in the slow motion fulfillment of Isaiah 17. But while He knows the future we don’t, and He could choose to act any day, so we’d better stay tuned. 06-06-15

Note: For a more comprehensive look at God’s Oracle Against Damascus you can find my complete commentary on Isaiah 17 here.

Articles: Iran Has the Bomb

 Reblogged from www.americanthinker.com
Articles: Iran Has the Bomb

By Peter Vincent Pry

For several years now, myself and others have been warning that Iran probably already has the bomb. Contrary to Obama Administration promises that they will know when Iran crosses "the red line" to build the bomb, we have warned that such claims are false.
U.S. intelligence is not good enough to so precisely and with such high confidence monitor and verify the status of Iran's nuclear weapons program. 

Defense Science Board Report
A recently published Defense Department study "Assessment of Nuclear Monitoring and Verification Technologies" (January 2014), by the blue ribbon Defense Science Board, concludes the following:

"Closing the nation's global nuclear monitoring gaps should be a national priority. It will require, however, a level of commitment and sustainment we don't normally do well without a crisis. ...monitoring for proliferation... presents challenges for which current solutions are either inadequate, or more often, do not exist. Among these challenges are... Small inventories of weapons and materials.... Small nuclear enterprises designed to produce, store, and deploy only a small number of weapons...Undeclared facilities and/or covert operations, such as testing below detection thresholds, or acquisition of materials or weapons through theft or purchase... Use of non‐traditional technologies..."  READ MORE

We woke up this morning to a different world, even though the bombs haven’t started falling yet

Posted on September 7, 2013 by STLloyd

Standard

The world today is really in an uproar, isn’t it?  Confusion and chaos abound.  That will continue to increase from here on out.  The urgency of warnings from the financial analysts grows more intense by the moment.  That long-awaited crash/collapse is looming like a breathing thing now.  More ships gather in the vicinity of Syria and Israel day by day.  Chatter on the internet about false flags, and troop movements in the U.S., as well as even nuclear weapons being moved in the U.S., all clamoring across the wires.

As these things continue to intensify, I am careful to not allow myself to be so drawn into the drama that I remain glued to the computer.  It is important to me, to funnel the significant news to the readers, but ultimately we should remain focused on knowing who our God is.  Our world has officially entered into a new realm.  We are now living in a world where the President of the United States is public enemy number one.  The people know it, the world knows it.  We have had some similar to him in the White House before, but this time, the stakes are global.

There came a time during the height of the Tea Party campaign, that I came to realize conservatives had lost this nation.  I accepted it long before others had.  It broke my heart, because I was at the March on Washington and met my fellow-patriots from all across this nation, the ones who love America and all she has ever stood for, and I know they are good people, and I saw for myself how massive the turn-out was that day, knowing the news would never report honestly about it.  A similar moment of grief in my spirit this morning as I watched the clip of the Syrian Christian lady who pleaded with John McCain in the Town Hall meeting the other day.  People all over the world are crying “Peace, Peace” right now more than any other time in the history of the world.  But bloodthirsty power-mongers in high places everywhere will not be stopped.  God’s own hand is the only thing that could stop them, but I do not believe that He will. 

Is prophecy about to be fulfilled in Syria?  We have been asking that question for over 2 years; so long, and so often, that some people have gotten tired of the speculation and moved on to try and just have as normal a life as possible.  But even they know, this isn’t going away.

There is no pretense left, that Obama is loyal to Israel or Israel’s interests.  THIS is one of the most heart-wrenching and truly disturbing articles that I have read in the midst of the fiasco of “will Obama strike Syria, or not”.  Obama is a Muslim Brotherhood stooge, at best, (a complicit operative at worst! But I don’t believe he is smart enough for that).  He is so arrogant that he doesn’t even realize how he is being used and manipulated.  In his arrogance he is a very dangerous man.

Netanyahu has known since his visit to America, during which Obama snubbed him, that Obama was not to be trusted.  Thus far, all “diplomacy” whether in the Syria/Iran question, or the Palestinian peace negotiations, has all been just stalling tactics.
The buildup in the Middle East is certainly a proverbial “powder keg”, and any wrong move could set dominoes into motion that will culminate in such chaos that God will have to step in.  And He will intervene, but probably not for America.  Despite anyone’s opinion of Obama, the office of the United States Presidency has been considered the “leader of the free world” for a very long time.  Today, that no longer holds true.
This editorial from Arutz Sheva says it all:

“Ball of Confusion: That’s What the World is Today”

Obama’s policies have lost America its standing in the world.

From Jerry Sobol, Israel Advocate

For those of you old enough to recall those turbulent Vietnam era days of the late 60’s, mid 70’s, you might also remember the hit song by the Temptations:  “Ball of Confusion: That’s What the World is Today.”

As American foreign policy plummets to what many consider an all-time low that song is as apropos today as it was 43 years ago.
What’s most scary about this particular period of time compared to then is the entire world, not just the United States, is confused by the ambivalence and dichotomy of our feckless president.  To augment the danger, whereas during the Cold War only two adversaries had the wherewithal of weapons of mass destruction, fear of mutually assured destruction prevented their use. Not so today.

As we’ve seen in Syria, rogue states and radical Islamic groups have no compunction violating international norms and thumbing their noses at the only nation powerful enough to enforce these norms, the United States.  Let’s examine some of the reasons why this is so.

Despite 30 years of bellicosity by Iran and countless rounds of toothless sanctions spearheaded by the United States, Iran has not backed off one inch in its quest for nuclear weapons.  And why should it?  Over the past five years, Obama has not made one credible threat to which he’s held true.  This in a region where strength and credibility is respected over all else.  There can be little doubt that mass-murdering client Assad took this into account as he gassed 1400 of his own people.

This latest atrocity did not occur in a vacuum.  It’s the end result of both friend and foe recognizing that from the standpoint of foreign policy, the irresolute occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is way over his head.

Don’t trust my word on this.  Ask the Czechs and the Poles how much confidence they have in American support when Obama broke with the past and abandoned the Eastern European missile-shield program, less than a year into his presidency.  “Catastrophic for Poland” is how a spokeswoman at the Polish Ministry of Defense described the suspension of the program.  Former Czech Prime Minister, Mirek Topolanek concurred this unilateral reversal of American support was a sign the Americans were no longer interested in “Czech freedom and independence.”  How quick can one assume these two countries will fall in line behind Obama in Syria?

There is not one hotspot during the past 5 years where this president has not weakened an ally or non belligerent but buoyed an enemy instead.

Following the same fatuousness of Jimmy Carter greasing the skids of the Shah in 1979, Obama abandoned all support for long time ally, Hosni Mubarak in Egypt.  Having kept peace with Israel for the past 35 years wasn’t enough.  Taking a cue in 2011 from his Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, he somehow bought into the idea that Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood is a secular organization and legitimized their rise to power.

Confusing the position of American foreign policy, he refused to deem the Egyptian military overthrow of the democratically elected Morsi as a coup, yet managed to alienate the opposition as well. Mohammad Abou El-Ghar, the head of Egyptian Social Democratic Party warned: “America is losing Egypt….There is a very strong perception that they are supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and they are against other parties.”  So what’s American policy toward this pivotal country in the Middle East?  You make the call.

Libya? 112 Tomahawk missiles at $1.45 million a pop were fired into Libya to remove Muammar Gaddafi.  Crazy and cruel as he was, Gaddafi was no danger to the United States.  Why the effort?  Why the expense?  The only return we’ve gotten for our investment in Libya is a burned consulate, 4 dead Americans, and a huge coverup.

Israel?  As their citizens scamper for government issued gas masks and follow the latest exigency in their wretched neighborhood, you have to wonder how much faith the average Israeli has in the leader of the free world.

Despite all of the aforementioned, for 5 years Israelis have been brow beaten into concession after concession to an unrequited, recalcitrant Palestinian entity which refuses to even recognize Israel as a Jewish State.  Obsessed by this president to negotiate demands which at best would jeopardize her security, at worst lead to her dismemberment, Israel not wishing to alienate this increasingly quixotic man continues to engage in the charade of “peace” talks.

In similar fashion, the “good” Palestinian terrorists led by Mahmoud Abbas who actually represent few other than himself also goes along with this farce for badly needed American dollars and nothing else.  Each side increasingly cognizant that the Emperor really has no clothes.

Syria?  Not deviating from his template of indecisiveness, Friday night, Secretary of State Kerry was marched out to give a Churchillian speech decrying the turpitude of Assad and how he must be punished forthwith.  Not 24 hours went by when his boss shocked the world by negating the immediacy of Kerry’s message.  Forgoing the foolish line in the sand he’s so apt at drawing, for the first time during two Administrations, Obama reversed himself and now intends to consult Congress.  A Congress he so disdains, yet no doubt would love to shift the blame to, for this lose/lose situation.

To further exemplify his deep concern and the gravity of this dire situation, immediately following his address to the nation, Obama and Biden rushed off to Fort Belvoir for 18 holes of Golf.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Controls/SendFriend.ashx?print=1&type=1&item=13781

Did the White House Help Plan the Syrian Chemical Attack?

Did the White House Help Plan the Syrian Chemical Attack?

Is The United States Going To Go To War With Syria Over A Natural Gas Pipeline?

Reblogged from  theeconomiccollapseblog.com     

By Michael Snyder, on September 3rd, 2013

 

 

Why has the little nation of Qatar spent 3 billion dollars to support the rebels in Syria?  Could it be because Qatar is the largest exporter of liquid natural gas in the world and Assad won't let them build a natural gas pipeline through Syria?  Of course.  Qatar wants to install a puppet regime in Syria that will allow them to build a pipeline which will enable them to sell lots and lots of natural gas to Europe.  

Why is Saudi Arabia spending huge amounts of money to help the rebels and why has Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan been "jetting from covert command centers near the Syrian front lines to the Élysée Palace in Paris and the Kremlin in Moscow, seeking to undermine the Assad regime"?  Well, it turns out that Saudi Arabia intends to install their own puppet government in Syria which will allow the Saudis to control the flow of energy through the region.  On the other side, Russia very much prefers the Assad regime for a whole bunch of reasons.  One of those reasons is that Assad is helping to block the flow of natural gas out of the Persian Gulf into Europe, thus ensuring higher profits for Gazprom. 

Now the United States is getting directly involved in the conflict.  If the U.S. is successful in getting rid of the Assad regime, it will be good for either the Saudis or Qatar (and possibly for both), and it will be really bad for Russia.  This is a strategic geopolitical conflict about natural resources, religion and money, and it really has nothing to do with chemical weapons at all.

It has been common knowledge that Qatar has desperately wanted to construct a natural gas pipeline that will enable it to get natural gas to Europe for a very long time.  The following is an excerpt from an article from 2009...

Qatar has proposed a gas pipeline from the Gulf to Turkey in a sign the emirate is considering a further expansion of exports from the world's biggest gasfield after it finishes an ambitious programme to more than double its capacity to produce liquefied natural gas (LNG).

"We are eager to have a gas pipeline from Qatar to Turkey," Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the ruler of Qatar, said last week, following talks with the Turkish president Abdullah Gul and the prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the western Turkish resort town of Bodrum. "We discussed this matter in the framework of co-operation in the field of energy. In this regard, a working group will be set up that will come up with concrete results in the shortest possible time," he said, according to Turkey's Anatolia news agency.
Other reports in the Turkish press said the two states were exploring the possibility of Qatar supplying gas to the strategic Nabucco pipeline project, which would transport Central Asian and Middle Eastern gas to Europe, bypassing Russia. A Qatar-to-Turkey pipeline might hook up with Nabucco at its proposed starting point in eastern Turkey.

Last month, Mr Erdogan and the prime ministers of four European countries signed a transit agreement for Nabucco, clearing the way for a final investment decision next year on the EU-backed project to reduce European dependence on Russian gas.

"For this aim, I think a gas pipeline between Turkey and Qatar would solve the issue once and for all," Mr Erdogan added, according to reports in several newspapers. The reports said two different routes for such a pipeline were possible. One would lead from Qatar through Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq to Turkey. The other would go through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and on to Turkey. It was not clear whether the second option would be connected to the Pan-Arab pipeline, carrying Egyptian gas through Jordan to Syria. That pipeline, which is due to be extended to Turkey, has also been proposed as a source of gas for Nabucco.

Based on production from the massive North Field in the Gulf, Qatar has established a commanding position as the world's leading LNG exporter. It is consolidating that through a construction programme aimed at increasing its annual LNG production capacity to 77 million tonnes by the end of next year, from 31 million tonnes last year. However, in 2005, the emirate placed a moratorium on plans for further development of the North Field in order to conduct a reservoir study.

As you just read, there were two proposed routes for the pipeline.  Unfortunately for Qatar, Saudi Arabia said no to the first route and Syria said no to the second route.  The following is from an absolutely outstanding article in the Guardian...

In 2009 - the same year former French foreign minister Dumas alleges the British began planning operations in Syria - Assad refused to sign a proposed agreement with Qatar that would run a pipeline from the latter's North field, contiguous with Iran's South Pars field, through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and on to Turkey, with a view to supply European markets - albeit crucially bypassing Russia. Assad's rationale was "to protect the interests of [his] Russian ally, which is Europe's top supplier of natural gas."

Instead, the following year, Assad pursued negotiations for an alternative $10 billion pipeline plan with Iran, across Iraq to Syria, that would also potentially allow Iran to supply gas to Europe from its South Pars field shared with Qatar. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the project was signed in July 2012 - just as Syria's civil war was spreading to Damascus and Aleppo - and earlier this year Iraq signed a framework agreement for construction of the gas pipelines.

The Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline plan was a "direct slap in the face" to Qatar's plans. No wonder Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, in a failed attempt to bribe Russia to switch sides, told President Vladmir Putin that "whatever regime comes after" Assad, it will be "completely" in Saudi Arabia's hands and will "not sign any agreement allowing any Gulf country to transport its gas across Syria to Europe and compete with Russian gas exports", according to diplomatic sources. When Putin refused, the Prince vowed military action.

If Qatar is able to get natural gas flowing into Europe, that will be a significant blow to Russia.  So the conflict in Syria is actually much more about a pipeline than it is about the future of the Syrian people.  In a recent article, Paul McGuire summarized things quite nicely...

The Nabucco Agreement was signed by a handful of European nations and Turkey back in 2009. It was an agreement to run a natural gas pipeline across Turkey into Austria, bypassing Russia again with Qatar in the mix as a supplier to a feeder pipeline via the proposed Arab pipeline from Libya to Egypt to Nabucco (is the picture getting clearer?). The problem with all of this is that a Russian backed Syria stands in the way.

Qatar would love to sell its LNG to the EU and the hot Mediterranean markets. The problem for Qatar in achieving this is Saudi Arabia. The Saudis have already said "NO" to an overland pipe cutting across the Land of Saud. The only solution for Qatar if it wants to sell its oil is to cut a deal with the U.S.

Recently Exxon Mobile and Qatar Petroleum International have made a $10 Billion deal that allows Exxon Mobile to sell natural gas through a port in Texas to the UK and Mediterranean markets. Qatar stands to make a lot of money and the only thing standing in the way of their aspirations is Syria.

The US plays into this in that it has vast wells of natural gas, in fact the largest known supply in the world. There is a reason why natural gas prices have been suppressed for so long in the US. This is to set the stage for US involvement in the Natural Gas market in Europe while smashing the monopoly that the Russians have enjoyed for so long. What appears to be a conflict with Syria is really a conflict between the U.S. and Russia!

The main cities of turmoil and conflict in Syria right now are Damascus, Homs, and Aleppo. These are the same cities that the proposed gas pipelines happen to run through. Qatar is the biggest financier of the Syrian uprising, having spent over $3 billion so far on the conflict. The other side of the story is Saudi Arabia, which finances anti-Assad groups in Syria. The Saudis do not want to be marginalized by Qatar; thus they too want to topple Assad and implant their own puppet government, one that would sign off on a pipeline deal and charge Qatar for running their pipes through to Nabucco.

Yes, I know that this is all very complicated.
But no matter how you slice it, there is absolutely no reason for the United States to be getting involved in this conflict.

If the U.S. does get involved, we will actually be helping al-Qaeda terrorists that behead mothers and their infants...

Al-Qaeda linked terrorists in Syria have beheaded all 24 Syrian passengers traveling from Tartus to Ras al-Ain in northeast of Syria, among them a mother and a 40-days old infant.

Gunmen from the terrorist Islamic State of Iraq and Levant stopped the bus on the road in Talkalakh and killed everyone before setting the bus on fire.

Is this really who we want to be "allied" with?
And of course once we strike Syria, the war could escalate into a full-blown conflict very easily.

If you believe that the Obama administration would never send U.S. troops into Syria, you are just being naive.  In fact, according to Jack Goldsmith, a professor at Harvard Law School, the proposed authorization to use military force that has been sent to Congress would leave the door wide open for American "boots on the ground"...

The proposed AUMF focuses on Syrian WMD but is otherwise very broad.  It authorizes the President to use any element of the U.S. Armed Forces and any method of force.  It does not contain specific limits on targets – either in terms of the identity of the targets (e.g. the Syrian government, Syrian rebels, Hezbollah, Iran) or the geography of the targets.  Its main limit comes on the purposes for which force can be used.  Four points are worth making about these purposes. 

First, the proposed AUMF authorizes the President to use force “in connection with” the use of WMD in the Syrian civil war. (It does not limit the President’s use force to the territory of Syria, but rather says that the use of force must have a connection to the use of WMD in the Syrian conflict.  Activities outside Syria can and certainly do have a connection to the use of WMD in the Syrian civil war.). 

Second, the use of force must be designed to “prevent or deter the use or proliferation” of WMDs “within, to or from Syria” or (broader yet) to “protect the United States and its allies and partners against the threat posed by such weapons.” 

Third, the proposed AUMF gives the President final interpretive authority to determine when these criteria are satisfied (“as he determines to be necessary and appropriate”). 

Fourth, the proposed AUMF contemplates no procedural restrictions on the President’s powers (such as a time limit).
I think this AUMF has much broader implications than Ilya Somin described.  Some questions for Congress to ponder:
(1) Does the proposed AUMF authorize the President to take sides in the Syrian Civil War, or to attack Syrian rebels associated with al Qaeda, or to remove Assad from power?  Yes, as long as the President determines that any of these entities has a (mere) connection to the use of WMD in the Syrian civil war, and that the use of force against one of them would prevent or deter the use or proliferation of WMD within, or to and from, Syria, or protect the U.S. or its allies (e.g. Israel) against the (mere) threat posed by those weapons.  It is very easy to imagine the President making such determinations with regard to Assad or one or more of the rebel groups.

(2) Does the proposed AUMF authorize the President to use force against Iran or Hezbollah, in Iran or Lebanon?  Again, yes, as long as the President determines that Iran or Hezbollah has a (mere) a connection to the use of WMD in the Syrian civil war, and the use of force against Iran or Hezbollah would prevent or deter the use or proliferation of WMD within, or to and from, Syria, or protect the U.S. or its allies (e.g. Israel) against the (mere) threat posed by those weapons.

Would you like to send your own son or your own daughter to fight in Syria just so that a natural gas pipeline can be built?

What the United States should be doing in this situation is so obvious that even the five-year-old grandson of Nancy Pelosi can figure it out...

I'll tell you this story and then I really do have to go. My five-year-old grandson, as I was leaving San Francisco yesterday, he said to me, Mimi, my name, Mimi, war with Syria, are you yes war with Syria, no, war with Syria. And he's five years old. We're not talking about war; we're talking about action. Yes war with Syria, no with war in Syria. I said, 'Well, what do you think?' He said, 'I think no war.'

Unfortunately, his grandmother and most of our other insane "leaders" in Washington D.C. seem absolutely determined to take us to war.

In the end, how much American blood will be spilled over a stupid natural gas pipeline?

Evidence: Syria gas attack work of U.S. allies

Evidence: Syria gas attack work of U.S. allies

Update on the situation in Syria

Reblogged from Elizabeth Prata´s the-end-time.blogspot.com 

Here is a quick update on the situation in Syria. It seems that it is becoming more tenuous by the day. Below, an explanation of what the bible says about the future of Damascus
August 21

UK Telegraph photo

Al Jazeera reported, "Hundreds reported killed in Syria gas attack"
"Opposition groups say hundreds killed when government forces fired rockets with chemical warheads into Damascus suburbs.'
August 22
The next day, "Aid group tallies 355 dead after Syria's alleged chemical attack; government blames rebels"
"Syrian state media accused rebels of using chemical arms against government troops in clashes Saturday near Damascus, while an international aid group said it has tallied 355 deaths from the purported chemical weapons attack earlier this week. Doctors Without Borders said three hospitals it supports in the eastern Damascus region reported receiving roughly 3,600 patients with "neurotoxic symptoms" over less than three hours on Wednesday morning, when the attack in the eastern Ghouta area took place. Of those, 355 died, said the Paris-based group. Death tolls have varied over the alleged attack, with Syrian anti-government activists reporting between 136 and 1,300 being killed."
The Havana Times reported, "Syrian Activist on Ghouta Attack: “I Haven’t Seen Such Death in My Whole Life”
"The alleged attack occurred just days after U.N. inspectors arrived in the country to investigate previous attacks. We’re joined from Syria by Razan Zaitouneh, a lawyer and human rights activist who works with the Human Rights Violation Documentation Center. “We couldn’t believe our eyes,” Zaitouneh says of witnessing the attack’s aftermath. “I haven’t seen such death in my whole life.”

U.N. chemical weapons experts visit a hospital where wounded people
affected by an apparent gas attack are being treated, in the southwestern
Damascus suburb of Mouadamiya, August 26, 2013.
Credit: Reuters/Abo Alnour Alhaji

August 23-25
Syria to let UN inspect 'gas attack' site
"United Nations inspectors are to be granted access to the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack near Damascus, Syrian state TV has said, with the UN saying that the Syrian government has also agreed to observe a ceasefire during the visit. It followed an agreement between the Syrian foreign minister and the head of a UN delegation to the country on Sunday. The agreement "is effective immediately and it will allow UN delegation to investigate allegations of using chemical weapons on August 22 in Damascus suburbs", the state TV reported."
August 26

Bashar Al Assad

Fearing a U.S. strike, Syria warns of global "chaos"
"A senior Syrian official said Monday that his country will defend itself against any international attack and will not be an easy target as the U.S. and other countries ramp up rhetoric in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack last week on a rebel-held neighborhood of the Syrian capital. In an interview with The Associated Press in Damascus, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad said airstrikes or other action against Syria would also trigger "chaos" and threaten worldwide peace and security."
August 26
Kerry Says Chemical Arms Attack in Syria Is ‘Undeniable’
US Secretary of State Kerry said today:

Secretary of State John Kerry

"Well, for the last several days, President Obama and his entire national security team have been reviewing the situation in Syria. And today, I want to provide an update on our efforts as we consider our response to the use of chemical weapons. What we saw in Syria last week should shock the conscience of the world. It defies any code of morality. Let me be clear: The indiscriminate slaughter of civilians, the killing of women and children and innocent bystanders by chemical weapons is a moral obscenity. By any standard, it is inexcusable and — despite the excuses and equivocations that some have manufactured — it is undeniable."
What does the bible say about Syria in the end times?
Syria is one of the nations that has been mentioned in the bible consistently since the beginning. The city of Damascus was first mentioned in Genesis 14:15. Abraham's servant Eliezar was from Damascus (Genesis 15:2). It is an ancient city and an ancient nation.
However, despite the 6000 years of history we can trace back to Damascus and the nation of Syria itself, there is one stark piece of prophecy which we can safely say has not come to pass within all that history yet: Isaiah 17:1 says that Damascus will be destroyed. Never has that ancient city been uninhabited. The prophecy says that the city will be razed and made into rubble, so that no one lives there. This has never happened to Damascus:
Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city and will become a heap of ruins. (Isaiah 17:1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The prophecy of Isaiah speaks of a partial fulfillment in the next verses (vv. 2-3) when the Assyrians conquered Damascus in 732BC. However the city was never razed as verse 1 indicates. That is still to come.
The city of Damascus is slowly being ruined because of this two-year-old conflict in Syria. The prophecy seems to indicate that the final disposition of Damascus will be complete obliteration, desertion, and uninhabited.
If the US and other nations attack Syria, perhaps the president of Syria, Bashar al Assad will indeed unleash global chaos. Perhaps that time is now, if these unfulfilled prophecies we have been waiting so long to see will come to fruition soon. Not that we hope for people to die and go to their doom, but we do want to see the Lord come in justice and establish peace upon the earth. O, Lord, come quickly.
Meanwhile, keep watching events, but more importantly, keep reading your bible. That is the only barometer of truth.

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"They Don't Care About Syria, They Won't Care About Us"

Reblogged from  www.israelnationalnews.com  

Rabbi Avihai Ronsky, former IDF Chief Rabbi, says world inaction over Syria could be a harbinger of things to come for Israel.

By David Lev

First Publish: 8/22/2013, 4:01 PM

Rabbi Ronsky (left), during his time as IDF Chief Rabbi

Flash 90

 

Rabbi Avihai Ronsky, former IDF Chief Rabbi and current head of the Itamar Yeshiva (religious academy), said Thursday that Israelis needed to be especially concerned about the events in Syria – because they portend a possible future scenario for Israelis.

On his Facebook page, Rabbi Ronsky wrote that the hundreds killed by the Syrian army in a chemical weapons attack Wednesday sent a grim message to Israelis. Hundreds die, he said, “and the world remains silent. Hundreds of people – supposedly born in the image of G-d – die before us from chemical poisoning, and the world remains silent.”

One day soon, he said, those chemical weapons could be aimed at Israel, too. “And the world will remain silent – very silent – when those weapons are aimed at us,” he wrote.
Rabbi Ronsky quoted Rabbi Yosef Soloveitchik, who wrote that “we cannot rely on the sense of justice of the liberal world. They live abroad, far away from us,” Rabbi Rontzky wrote.
“They will not lose even one night's sleep if they witnessed such things happening to us. They will act exactly as they did when Jews were slaughtered in Europe.”

The only solution, he said, was to “prepare ourselves, our families, our communities, and our nation for an ongoing struggle against our enemies, without expecting any help from the international community. They will 'investigate' the tragedy, but inside they will be happy over what befalls us.”
Preparations, he said, need to be taken militarily, of course, but also on a personal basis.

“We must understand the situation and accept it, dealing with it without the visual bribery of mirages of 'peace talks' to distract us.” Such talks, he said, “make our leaders 'sleepy,' blinding them to what is really happening.”

And although Syrian President Bashar al-Assad seems to be attacking his opponents, said Rabbi Ronsky, the use of chemical weapons “may just be a 'war exercise' that Assad is undertaking” to see how well the weapons work, in preparation for their use against Israel. “That's something for us to think about,” he added.

The Return Of The Kings Of The North And South

This Week’s Feature Article by Jack Kelley

“At the time of the end the king of the South will engage him in battle, and the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships” (Daniel 11:40)

Several times over the last few years I’ve made mention of my belief that two powerful and opposing forces of Biblical times were in the process of re-emerging to become part of the increasingly complex situation in the Middle East. These two adversaries are called the King of the North and the King of the South in Daniel 11 and recent events show they’ve both taken a giant step toward fulfilling their prophetic destiny.


My most recent study on this subject is not quite two years old and appears under the title “The Three Kings Of Daniel 11”. It’s named that way because in their end times appearance, the Kings of the North and South will not only oppose each other, they will both oppose the anti-Christ, who is called “the King who exalts himself” in Daniel 11:36.

Daniel 11:5-35 is a summary of the historical times of these two kings as they battled each other for control of what we now call the Middle East through several generations. They finally disappeared as the Romans were coming into prominence. It’s amazing to consider that Daniel wrote about all of them before any of them were born, squeezing over 100 historically documented prophecies into the first 35 verses of Daniel 11.

Daniel 11:36-45 are still future to us and require the re-emergence of these kings to be fulfilled. I believe in our current headlines we’re seeing signs that they’re preparing to rise and take their positions on the end times stage.

What Makes You Say That?

In my Mid East Update I reported that Saudi Arabia gave the Egyptian Army substantial assistance in its successful overthrow of the government. We now know that the United Arab Emirates and Kuwaitt were also involved. I mentioned that this concerns the US because of the possibility that these countries are banding together into a Sunni Muslim confederacy to oppose Iran. There’s a likelihood that they will support and even assist Israel in destroying Iran’s nuclear program. (The US is not opposed to a Sunni confederacy, but has been trying to build one around Turkey and the Muslim Brotherhood in a revival of The Ottoman Empire. Saudi Arabia and Egypt have become too independent for American tastes.)

Now, several Middle Eastern news services are reporting that Iran is working to build a Shiite Muslim block to counter this move by the Sunnis. It appears that this block will consist of Iran, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon. This helps to explain why Iran is so heavily invested in Syria and Hizballah. Iran has sent billions of dollars in advanced weaponry to both and has thousands of soldiers stationed in Syria as well.

And just this week the Syrian state news agency SANA reported that an agreement was signed in Tehran by the Iranian and Syrian central banks, granting Syria a credit line worth $3.6 billion for oil. Damascus will repay Tehran by providing the Iranians “investment opportunities of various kinds” in Syria. According to the mideast intelligence service DEBKAfile, Iran is moving step by step to control the Syrian economy and advance its scheme for drawing Syria, Iraq and eventually Hizballah-dominated Lebanon into a Shiite economic bloc.

Some sources go even farther, claiming that Iran already controls Lebanon through its “wholly owned subsidiary” Hizballah. And recently a senior Iranian cleric boldly stated, “Syria is the 35th province [of Iran] and a strategic province for us.”

A recent article in Commentary magazine confirmed that “Iran is not only arming and training President Bashar Assad’s forces, both regular and irregular, but it has also sent Hizballah, Iranian-backed Iraqi militias, and units of its own Revolutionary Guards Corps to join his fight against the Sunni rebels. Add in the billions of dollars it has given Assad to prop up his regime, and it’s clear that if he survives, Syria will be another wholly-owned Iranian subsidiary.

“Whether Assad stays or goes is becoming irrelevant,” a diplomat in the region told Khaled Yacoub Oweis of Reuters. “The conflict is now bigger than him, and it will continue without him. Iran is calling the shots.”

And finally, the on-line magazine “Iran Focus” confirmed that Assad is not the issue. “Iran is primarily concerned with maintaining the Shiite crescent — which includes Shiites from Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria.”

History Repeating Itself

It can’t be a coincidence that these Shiite nations occupy the same territory formerly controlled by the King of the North, just as the Sunni Muslim block occupies territory formerly held by the King of the South.

While there are sub-groups on both sides, Sunnis make up about 80% of the world’s Muslim population with Shiites comprising the remaining 20%. Many people who aren’t familiar with Islam don’t realize that the relationship between the two groups has not always been friendly, even when they would appear to have common goals. For example, after the 2006 Lebanon war, when much of the Arab world was claiming victory, Osama bin Laden (Sunni) publically criticized Hizballah (Shiite) for “jumping the gun” and attacking Israel before the time was right.

Current examples of sectarian strife can be seen in the fact that according to Gulf News, Hamas (Sunni) has lost the financial support of Iran (Shiite) for backing the rebels in Syria against the Assad government and has been told to switch sides if they want their aid restored.

Also, in the US there’s a fear that 10 years of “progress” in Iraq is being undone by Sunni/Shiite violence. Iraq has a Shiite majority being governed by a Sunni minority. The American advisors have never successfully addressed that issue and are now concerned that Iraq may soon erupt in civil war. Most observers see a not so subtle Iranian influence at work behind this.

The rivalry between these two sects of Islam goes back to the death of Mohammed when there was a battle over the right to succeed him and continues to this day. Most of their beliefs are identical but there are some differences. For example, they both believe in al Mahdi, but they don’t agree on who he will be or what he will do. Shiites believe he’s the 12th Imam, who will appear at a time of great crisis in the world to establish the Islamic Caliphate, or Kingdom, and enforce world wide conversion to Islam. Sunnis believe he will revive the faith, but will not necessarily be connected with the end of the world.

What Does That Mean?

A growing number of observers believe this rivalry could easily escalate into an all out Islamic war for control of the Middle East in a repeat of the rivalry between the original kings of the North and South.  Even though both sects have the capture of Jerusalem as their ultimate goal, each one wants to be the group that does it, and they’re apparently willing to fight each other for the privilege. The Bedouin saying, “I against my brother, my brothers and I against my cousins, then my cousins and I against strangers” comes to mind.

Of course, anyone familiar with the years of Catholic vs. Protestant strife in Northern Ireland knows that sectarian violence is not unique to Islam. But what would cause both Sunnis and Shiites to attack the anti-Christ as Daniel clearly prophesied (Daniel 11:40)? Especially if, as I believe, Islam will be the end times religion and alMahdi will likely turn out to be the anti-Christ?

We could understand their difference of opinion over who al Mahdi will be to cause one or the other to oppose him, but what could cause both to do so?
I think the Bible gives us the answer.

“He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God” (2 Thes. 2:4)
“The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire” (Rev. 17:16)

Satan has always used used man’s need for a religion to help him achieve his goal of world dominance, but eventually he will have to make himself the only object of worship, unencumbered by any religious system. And just like the Jews were incited to murder when Jesus claimed to be God, so these Islamic kings will be outraged when the one they thought was the promised servant of Allah makes the claim that he actually is Allah.
In Islam there’s a saying, “Allah was not begotten nor does he beget.” When the anti-Christ proclaims himself to be God he will be committing blasphemy against both Allah and God. And when he and his 10 kings move to destroy Islam (Rev. 17:16), it’s easy to see how the kings of the North and South, with massive armies under their command, could forget their differences and unite against him.

Students of Biblical history will recognize in this a strategy frequently employed by God, that of turning his enemies against each other. You can find examples in Judges 7:22, 1 Sam 14:20, 2 Chron. 20:23, Ezek. 38:21, and Zech. 14:13.

Of course there’s a lot of ground to cover between where we are now and the fulfillment of Daniel 11:40. Thankfully, the Church won’t be here for most of the journey. My purpose is to alert us to the possibility that one more sign of the times could be in the early stages of fulfillment. Because every sign of the times we see strengthens our conviction that we’re living in the times of the signs. You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. 08-03-13