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HOW CLOSE IS IRAN TO BOMB?

November 19, 2007

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Destruction of the developing plutonium producing reactor facility in Syria, has given rise to a very reasonable conclusion by some analysts of such events.

It may well be correct.

If the US and Israel believe the following article from DEBKAfile to be correct, we may see an Israeli air strike against nuclear facilities across Iran after the shaky Annapolis Peace Conference. Such an attack, if it is launched, would likely occur in 2008.

Begin DEBKAfile Article

Iran Much Closer to Nuclear Bomb than West Admits

November 19, 2007, 2:45 PM (GMT+02:00)

Independent intelligence, military and scientific circles strongly suspect that Iran is a lot closer to a nuclear bomb than officials in the US, West Europe and Israel are ready to surmise in public. DEBKAfile’s sources report that this suspicion was strengthened by the discoveries made in Syria as a result of the Israeli attack of Sept. 6. Those discoveries led US nuclear experts to three conclusions:

1. If Syria with its relatively meager resources could aspire to a plutonium reactor, then Iran which is flush with oil revenue and has an advanced technological infrastructure must be much farther ahead in the same direction.

2. If Syria could hide its projected construction of a North Korean plutonium reactor for several years, Iran must be assumed to have an already fully-functioning reactor of this type hidden away even longer.

3. Additional data reaching the US and Israel indicate that the boast made by Iranian president Ahmadinejad – and confirmed by the IAEA – that Tehran has 3,000 working centrifuges for uranium enrichment masks the real figure, which most likely tops 5,000 or is even close to 7,000 working machines.

Therefore, even if the Iranian nuclear industry is preyed by technical setbacks, it will be left with enough functioning machines to produce enough fissile material for at least two bombs a year.

Some intelligence experts expect Iran to spring the news on the w orld at any time soon of a breakthrough in its program

or even a nuclear test. This tactic of announcing a fait accompli was practiced by Pakistan and North Korea, from both of which Iran’s nuclear program has drawn assistance.

The knowledgeable Israeli Air Force Colonel (Res.) Shmuel Gordon informed recipients of a private publication issued last week that, according to his information, Iran may have accumulated enough fissile material for two to four nuclear bombs.

The colonel refers to the small research reactor with “hot cells” which the United States gave to the shah of Iran in 1967 and which has since then been turning out 0.6 kilos of plutonium every year – a minute amount in Western terms, but in 35 years, Gordon points out, it would have processed 21 kilos – enough for two to three bombs.

Although the reactor is under IAEA inspection, there is no reliable information on the disposition of this product.

Col. Gordon provides chapter and verse for his reading of the state of Iran’s nuclear program.

In the past, Ch ina sold Iran 1,800 tons of uranium

in gaseous and solid form. In January, 2007, after Iranian scientists learned to operate a small number of centrifuges, they began to assemble 3,000 which, says the Israeli officer, can produce enough enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb every 330 days.

Fissile material alone does not constitute a bomb. The next steps in the process are technically demanding and costly. In the 1980s, the father of the Pakistan bomb, A. Q. Kh an, cashed in on his experience by establishing

an international nuclear black market. When the Libyan nuclear program was dismantled two years ago, evidence was found that he had sold Iran detailed instructions with diagrams on how to manufacture a nuclear device and build nuclear warheads for missiles.

Some of these documents were released last week to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The Israeli colonel points out that while India, Pakistan and North Korea required 15 years of development before attaining a nuclear weapon and a missile for its delivery, Iran has been working on its program more than 15 years an its engineering, technical and technological infrastructure is superior to that of its three Asian predecessors. Iran produces airplanes, missiles and sophisticated ships and armaments. Tehran also has access to assistance from Russia, China, Pakistan and North Korea.

Two months ago, Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced the system was working.

Tehran has consistently lied about its nuclear program. The truth was extracted only when there was no other choice. Only recently did the nuclear watchdog inspectors confess they had never been allowed to set foot in the underground facility at Natanz and were therefore unable to establish how many centrifuges were installed and when. At the same time, Tehran admitted that it aspires to have the round number of 50,000 centrifuges spinning the uranium gas into nuclear fuel, thereby producing a quantity for making a bomb every 20 days.

Whereas in Western terms, these figures may not be too scary, for Israel, the prospect of Iran’s Mahmud Ahmadinejad having two to four nuclear bombs to play with by spring 2008 is ominous enough to blow over all its security calculations.

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We are mak ing such material available

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In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

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Last Three and One-Half Years of Tribulation Period!

EARTHQUAKES – Big One Begins It and Bigger One Ends It!

November 18, 2007

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

The first part of this lengthy Blog is followed by the current Jerusalem Post Article titled “The Big One Is Due,” November 12, 2007. It is an excellent article on earthquakes in Israel.

THE BIG ONE THAT BEGINS IT!

Revelation 6:12-14 – And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; [13] And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. [14] And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

THE BIG ONE THAT ENDS IT!

Revelation 16:16-20 – And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. [17] And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. [18] And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. [19] And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. [20] And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.

The earthquake associated with the splitting of the mount of Olives will be accompanied by a long chain of worldwide earthquakes. These earthquakes will occur along fault lines that stretch across the surface of the earth, and will be far greater than in magnitude and intensity than any which have occurred since God placed Adam on the earth. The Jordan Rift Valley is merely a small part of the thousands of fault lines that are interconnected across the earth, but the first, and the last, of the many earthquakes occurring during the tribulation period, will occur along it, one with 1260 days to go until Armageddon, and the last one will end the battle of Armageddon.

Revelation 12:6 – And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Daniel 12:4 – But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

TO SEE FIGURE 3, CLICK ON “BIRTH PANGS” ON OUR WEB SITE MENU, THEN CLICK ON “BIRTH PANG FIGURES,” THEN ON FIGURE 3.

As geologists have run “to and fro” across the earth our knowledge has been greatly increased as to the method that God has, and does, use in reshaping the earth’s crust and interior. We now know that the outer crust of the earth’s surface actually floats on an underlying layer of molten rock known as magma. When magma bursts forth onto the earth’s surface it is called lava. These plates of floating crust (called tectonic plates) are gigantic in size. The largest, the Pacific Plate, consists of virtually the entire Pacific Ocean seafloor. The plates come together along their edges, and these zones of contact are called faults. There are several types of faults that exist along tectonic plate borders, but it is not the purpose of this discourse to teach structural geology, so I will merely identify all these faults as cracks or flaws in the earth’s surface, which reach far down into a worldwide sea of magma beneath the tectonic plate crust (See Figure 3 under Birth Pangs). The dashed lines on Figure 3 are the major faults or “cracks” that exist between the plates. The arrows indicate the general movement of the plates as they drift ever so slowly over the underlying sea of magma in response to its convective currents. As you can see in Figure 3, the Jordan Valley rift fault is merely a very small part of the endless linkage of fault lines that weave across the surface of the globe. Another bit of the “to and fro” knowledge that has increased for man “in the end times” is discovery of the fact that some 95 percent or the world’s earthquakes, and about 90 percent of all volcanic eruptions occur along the fault lines shown on Figure 3. Man has learned that the earthquakes occurring along these fault lines are primarily the result of sudden readjustment movements between the plate boundaries, such as the well publicized San Andreas Fault

in California.

There are numerous phenomena that affect the conduct of these tectonic plates. In the last 200 years man has gained sufficient knowledge to know that God has a law of universal gravitation. Sir Isaac Newton wrote the law as follows: “Every body in the universe attracts every other body in the universe with a force that varies directly as the product of their masses and inversely as the square of the distances between the two masses.” It was this principle that allowed man to eventually understand the ocean tides of the earth. There are many different types of tides, but man has learned that the highest tides occur when the sun, moon, and earth are in a perfect straight line alignment. This kind of alignment causes the oceans to be pulled outward from the earth by gravitational force to a maximum convex bulge.

Not only does this gravitational pull affect the water surface of the earth – it also pulls the earth’s crust outward toward the sun and moon, but the crust of the earth has been able to accept this amount of gravitational pull without disastrous effects up to the present time. During the earth’s long history its crust has become increasingly brittle. So the day will come when all this pulling out, and then pulling in, by the gravitation galactic forces that have daily affected it, will bring it to the point that a great future earthquake will trigger the beginning of a massive chain of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, which will release the many pressure points and tension zones that have been built up along the plate boundaries.

It will mark the time of visitation by God in judgment by a horrific release of tectonic chaos.

Isaiah 29:6 – Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.

End Archive Prophecy Update Number 180B

Begin Jerusalem Post Article

The Big One Is Due

ILANA TEITELBAUM, THE JERUSALEM POST

November 14, 2007

Most Israelis can remember a day when their furniture started to shake, and can also take credit for surviving that day with little difficulty. But very few people are in a position to know firsthand the effects of a truly disastrous earthquake, on a magnitude of seven or higher on the Richter scale, as the last recorded such earthquake in Israel occurred in 1033.

And that’s the problem: Geology experts agree that Israel is long overdue for the next “Big One,” and it can happen at any time.

This poses a significant threat to population centers in the country, since many buildings in Israel were erected prior to the formulation of earthquake-resistant construction codes. There is also substantial doubt that the codes are being strictly enforced. With the barrage of immediate threats competing for Israelis’ attention – whether terrorism, car accidents, global warming or secondhand smoke – a major earthquake may seem like an improbable, even paranoid fear.

While predicting the time of the next earthquake is nearly impossible, says Dr. Amos Salamon of the Israel Geological Survey, “We know one thing – we are sure there will be an earthquake in Israel.”

This is because Israel is situated on two significant fault lines: the Dead Sea Fault

and the Carmel Fault. To understand which parts of the country would be most vulnerable to a major earthquake, geologists must base their knowledge on previous events – and in this case, modern technology is of surprisingly little help.

“In modern times we usually monitor earthquakes by using seismographs,” explains

geologist Dr. Shmuel Marco of Tel Aviv University.

But seismographs have only existed for about a century, whereas geological processes develop over thousands, if not millions of years. Therefore, there is a dearth of information on the major earthquakes in Israel’s past – and such information could be crucial to determining which areas in Israel

are in greatest danger.

This is especially true of the Carmel Fault, which poses a threat to Haifa, among other places.

Because the fault has been dormant in the recent past, its potential threat is unknown.

For that reason, Marco has made it his mission to build a timeline of Israel’s earthquakes by delving into history and archeology, in addition to geology. On the historical side, Marco has studied hundreds of ancient documents that contain references to earthquakes, in translations from the original Greek, Latin and Arabic. The originals of some of these documents are assumed to reside in the Vatican vaults. Even the Bible offers clues, as earthquakes are sometimes mentioned as markers of time, Marco explains. For example, prophets are often said to have become active a certain number of years “after the earthquake.”

With the aid of these documents, Marco has helped determine that a series of devastating earthquakes hit Israel in the past two thousand years. The major ones were recorded in the Jordan Valley in the years 31 BCE, 363 CE, 749 CE and 1033 CE, “so roughly,” says Marco, “we are talking about an interval of every 400 years. If we follow the patterns of nature, a major quake should be expected any time because almost a whole millennium has passed since the last strong earthquake.”

Marco also uses archeological excavations to learn more about the country’s earthquake trends. For example, he is participating in the excavation of Megiddo, the site of an ancient Canaanite city situated on the Carmel Fault. He and geologist Prof. Amotz Agnon of the Hebrew University are analyzing findings on the site, together with archeologist Prof. Israel Finkelstein.

The geologists’ focus on the archeological site stems from the hope that archeological evidence will provide clues to the 5,000-year-old city’s geological past. The geological history of Megiddo would have ramifications for the entire region situated atop the Carmel Fault, Finkelstein explains.

“At Megiddo there’s a sequence of cities. If one can keep track of the earthquakes that damaged these cities, one can establish a timeline of earthquakes in the north,” he says.

Megiddo is an ideal candidate for such research because it is a site with many layers of history, and each layer tells its own story of the damage that took place. The most important – and only conclusive – piece of evidence that researchers have discovered so far in the investigation

of the mystery that is the Carmel Fault, is damage to a monumental temple, says Finkelstein, which corresponds to a biblical reference to a major earthquake that occurred in the late fourth millennium.

The nature of earthquakes is that they result from a buildup of tension in the earth’s crust along fault lines. The longer the period between earthquakes, the more tension builds, with catastrophic consequences upon its release. Since the last major earthquake was 1,000 years ago, “We are now in a deficit,” Marco explains. “There’s been no release of tension, just buildup. It’s like if you have a strip of rubber between your hands and keep pulling it – you know that it’s going to snap eventually.”

WHERE IS the next big quake most likely to hit? “We think that the focus of major earthquakes will be in and around the Dead Sea Fault. The seismic waves will spread around the epicenter and they will affect buildings far away from the focus,” says Salamon.

Places along the Dead Sea Fault include Eilat, towns in the North, Kiryat Shmona, Tiberias and Beit She’an. “According to the historical records we have, almost every place in Israel was damaged several times in history [by earthquakes],” Salamon says. This is because places that are not directly above the fault but are relatively close to it, like Jerusalem, are still vulnerable to the effects of an earthquake.

Tel Aviv is a good distance away from the fault and therefore may not incur heavy damage, but on the other hand, Marco says that there is evidence of earthquake damage to ancient Jaffa, possibly as a result of activity along the Carmel Fault.
How much damage can we expect from the next earthquake? Salamon explains that the extent of damage is determined by “a combination of the effect of the earthquake and the strength of buildings.”

Marco agrees that building quality is the most important factor in preparing the country for an earthquake. “If you’re out in a football field, even a monster earthquake will not do any damage to you physically. You might need a psychologist, but not a physician,” he says. “If you’re in a building, your life depends on the quality of construction.”

Marco adds that in other parts of the world such as the US and Japan, where the risk of earthquakes is high, seismic codes are strictly adhered to. “All the skyscrapers in America are built with some flexibility, so they’re not too stiff,” he explains. “Small or even large earthquakes would make them sway a little, but not collapse.”

The good news is that since 1975, Israel has instituted building codes that are on par with international standards, in particular those of California. Additionally, these codes have been revised and improved over decades of accumulated research.

The question is whether these laws are actually enforced, and in that regard, the issue becomes more uncertain. Building regulations are issued at a national level by the interior minister, but the responsibility for enforcement lies with local authorities.

While Interior Ministry spokesman David Pilzer states that building codes are much improved and awareness of the problem is higher than it was, he says that local enforcement of the codes “varies from place to place.”

The reason for this variance, he explains, has to do with the seismic calculations for buildings, which are the diagrams drawn up before a building is approved to demonstrate its resistance to earthquakes. These calculations are submitted to the local authorities before a construction plan is accepted. But there’s a snag, says Pilzer, which is that most local authorities don’t have professional engineers on staff to check the calculations.

Even if the current building codes are enforced, that still leaves the problem of older buildings that predate the 1975 laws. Pilzer agrees that the prevalence of old buildings that do not comply with current standards is a “substantial” problem.

Pilzer is a member of the Steering Committee for Earthquake Preparedness in Israel, which was founded in 1999 in response to the earthquake that year in Turkey. The committee comprises a diverse assortment of government officials and researchers, and is responsible for preparing the country for an earthquake.

Such preparation extends as far as training the IDF in search-and-rescue missions, as well as in the retrieval and identification of casualties.

The steering committee is also responsible for revising building codes as more information in the field of seismic resistance is discovered.

Even though geological discoveries are made all the time, enforcing the corresponding changes to building codes is another story.

“I don’t think [the municipal authorities] have enough manpower to physically check that things are done according to the building codes,” says committee chairman Yael Kligman. “The engineer who plans the building has to sign and commit, but most of the time no one else is checking.”

ENFORCING BUILDING codes might seem daunting, but the issue of unsafe older buildings is even more problematic. Geologist Dr. Hillel Wust-Bloch, one of whose chief interests is earthquake prevention, says that a large problem is that in places such as Beit She’an, Kiryat Shmona and Tiberias – situated directly on the Dead Sea Fault – there are entire neighborhoods built in the ’40s and ’50s that are “cheap and vulnerable.” Additionally, cities like Jerusalem and Tiberias are rife with older buildings.

To counter this problem, the government instituted National Outline Plan 38, a program granting extra building rights to people living in pre-1980 buildings. Within these rights they are allowed the construction of additions such as elevators, balconies or a penthouse, adding value to the building.

“The concept is that the additions to the buildings provide revenue, which can be used to strengthen the building,” explains Pilzer.

One of the ways in which a building can be strengthened is by enclosing its first floor. Many older buildings in Israel are built on columns, which geologists say are an obvious hazard.

Plan 38 is currently being implemented in small sections of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, in the latter case as an “experiment” according to the Jerusalem Municipality. There are a number of obstacles to putting the plan into action on a broad scale, which Pilzer is hoping will be solved with the introduction of additional incentives, such as tax breaks.

One of the reasons the plan has not been widely implemented is that contractors are waiting for these incentives to be issued. Additionally, at the present time a building can only take advantage of Plan 38 if 75 percent of a building’s residents consent. Pilzer says that there is legislation under way to reduce that figure to 50 percent.

At a recent interministerial committee, incentive recommendations were made that included granting low-interest loans for strengthening buildings, says Pilzer. But this idea is controversial because of the large costs involved, particularly when there are higher financial priorities, he says.

As explained above, the success of Plan 38 is tied to the revenue that is generated by the building additions. So what about places like Beit She’an and Kiryat Shmona, where property prices are relatively low?

“That is still a problem,” admits Kligman. Pilzer suggests that in such places, erecting entirely new buildings would be of little cost – but such a measure has not been implemented.

In addition to building safety concerns, Marco cites the chemical industries in Haifa as a potential threat, estimating that the breakage of one ammonia tank in the event of an earthquake would result in the deaths of 10,000 people. However, Kligman is quick to point out that the earthquake preparedness steering committee has charged the Environmental Protection Ministry with the task of checking the resistance of chemical containers in factories.

Even if a building is earthquake safe, there are additional measures people can take to protect themselves.

For example, Wust-Bloch, who visits schools to teach earthquake preparedness, instructs students to get under a table and hold onto the legs (otherwise the table may slide away), or to protect their heads with their school bags.

Also, one should keep shoes by the bed because if there is an earthquake in the night, the floor around the bed will be littered with broken glass.

Wust-Bloch also recommends bolting the fridge to the floor, so that it doesn’t topple.

Still, none of these measures are worthwhile if buildings aren’t secure, and both Marco and Wust-Bloch believe that building safety in Israel is a matter for concern.

While Marco acknowledges that retrofitting all the buildings in the country is preventively expensive, he says “We need money for research that will tell engineers where to start, and which parts of the country are more dangerous. We want to know if we should reinforce first in Kiryat Shmona, Tiberias or Eilat.

“This is a heavy question,” he continues. “It’s impossible to enslave the entire country’s budget to retrofitting, but we need to start somewhere. We should start from the most urgent place.”

Israel’s lack of progress in building safety is particularly bewildering in light of the standards maintained elsewhere in the world, he adds.

“The civilized state that we want to be should earmark some money for this kind of research, that is not only scientific but also applicable,” concludes Marco. “We can and should do better.”

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Russian Magog Middle East Influence Awakening for Armageddon!

November 17, 2007

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Genesis 10:2 – The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.

Ezekiel 38:1,2 – And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, [2] Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

The descendents of Japheth through Magog, now living in the land of Magog ruled by former KGB Master Vladimir Putin, are turning from democracy to dictatorship, and in the process are extending tentacles of growing influence plus direct involvement in the Middle East. I urge you to carefully read this outstanding Jerusalem Post article by David Kimche to get a glimpse of what is now occurring in Russian activity in the Middle East. I also encourage you to read the Archive Prophecy Updates 27 and 28 on our Web Site, and Special Prophecy Update 125C, which follows the Jerusalem Post article. Archive Prophecy Updates 27 and 28 give a full exposition of Ezekiel 38:1-3.

Begin Jerusalem post Article

Moscow thinks the key to peace can be found in Damascus

David Kimche, THE JERUSALEM POST

November 15, 2007

A week ago President Vladimir Putin sent Yevgeni Primakov to Damascus post-haste for a meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Primakov, former Russian prime minister and KGB master, is no newcomer to discreet meetings with Middle Eastern leaders. Shortly after Menachem Begin became prime minister, at a time when our relations with the Soviet Union were as frozen as the arctic ice, he came to Jerusalem and astounded Begin with an offer to restore diplomatic relations immediately and to reopen the Soviet Embassy in Ramat Gan. There was, however, a price tag to the offer: negotiations for peace with the PLO, which, in 1977, was a non-starter as far as Begin was concerned.

So what was Primakov offering Damascus last week? Presumably his visit had a lot to do with Russia’s desire to host a conference in Moscow, parallel to Annapolis but with the emphasis on peace between Syria and Israel, instead of dealing with the Palestinians.

Moscow is convinced that the key to peace in the Middle East can be found in Damascus. In 1977, Primakov believed that a breakthrough was possible – with Soviet help – in relations between Israel and the Palestinians; in 2007 the Russians are certain that peace can be achieved, with their help, between Damascus and Jerusalem.

Primakov’s visit to Damascus must, however, be understood in a wider context. President Putin is flexing his muscles.

He does not want Washington to call all the shots in the Middle East. Don’t leave us on the sidelines, he is saying; we have some shots of our own, witness his visit to Iran last month, and now Primakov’s to Damascus. Activism in the Middle East is one more expression of the restored status of Russia as a world power, one of Putin’s principal achievements in the eyes of the majority of Russians.

The influential Russian newspaper Kommersant had this to say on November 7 on Primakov’s visit: The Kremlin wants to take the initiative from Washington and to restore its lost influence in the Middle East. The peace process in the region will from now on follow two competitive paths – American and Russian.

I visited Moscow last week after an absence of two years. I could hardly believe my eyes. In two years, Moscow has made enormous strides, becoming the most dynamic city in Europe. High-rise buildings have sprung up everywhere. The old, ramshackle Intourist hotel near the Kremlin has been miraculously transformed into a glittering five star Ritz Carlton. The Soviet style Hotel Moskva opposite the Duma is boarded up, on the way to becoming a modern, expensive abode for those who can afford to pay $600 or more per night, which is what some of the hotels in Moscow are now demanding. I have not seen restaurants anywhere in Europe that can compare with some of the eateries in Moscow, in décor, food – and high prices!

Yet Moscow is a city confused. There was a time, during the Yeltsin period, when chaos reigned and the country was widely believed to be unmanageable. Then along came Putin, who proved to be a strong leader true to the tradition of Russian history, from Peter the Great and Ivan the Terrible right down to Stalin. Order was restored. Stability was achieved. The country became manageable again.

Moreover, with oil and gas prices rocketing the economy flourished. Money was coming out of the ears of those who could afford those expensive restaurants mentioned before. When this year’s state budget was planned it was based on the highly optimistic estimate of $50 per barrel. With oil prices touching on $100 per barrel, the Russian economy has become flooded with cash.

In the eyes of the people, Putin is the man who has done it all – Russia recognized once more as a Great Power, Russia controlled, manageable and stable, Russia with an ebullient economy, Russia with a strong leader – no wonder that the all powerful president is so popular.

Yet that leader is about to step down. His second term expires in May. The constitution does not permit a third, and no one, from the president down, has any inkling what will happen. Ask 10 people in Moscow and you will get 10 different answers.

There are those who are convinced that at the beginning of next year, after the elections for Parliament – the Duma – the members will vote for a change in the constitution that will enable Putin to stand for a third term. There would be no problem in obtaining the 75 percent of the Duma needed for the change; Putin’s party will win by a landslide, and the Communists will also vote for it, and between the two parties there will be more than enough votes.

Then there are others that believe that Putin will choose a weak and passive person as his successor and will continue to pull the strings. That person might, after a few months, declare himself unwell and resign, leaving the way open for Putin to return to the presidency without having to change the constitution.

These are only two of the theories flying around in Moscow. A noted political analyst wrote in a recent article in the Moscow Times: “It is already clear that a third term is probably unavoidable, regardless of what Putin’s future job title might be after May.”

Putin’s popularity belies the fact that democracy is on the wane in Russia. The media is controlled. The Duma may end up with only two parties – Putin’s United Russia and the Communists – as the benchmark has been raised to 7% and the smaller parties will find it difficult to pass that hurdle. Former KGB officers have been installed in all major industries and organizations and maintain an iron control (the KGB, now known as the FSB, prides itself that there is no such thing as a ‘former’ KGB officer). There is no real electioneering for the upcoming vote, no open debates between candidates. All this, however, is considered secondary to the need to have a strong leader, and Putin fits the bill. This is especially the case with the US and the West being increasingly depicted as the enemy.

The growing antipathy to the US does not seem to affect attitudes to Israel. When Prime Minister Ehud Olmert visited Moscow recently, the coverage in the press was very friendly, different from descriptions of many other visitors. “You have so many Russians in Israel that we see you almost like one of the ex-Soviet Republics,” one of my interlocutors told me.

The fact that Israel is considering abolishing the need for visas for Russian citizens has been widely reported in the press. “It is a brilliant move. You will be flooded by Russian tourists,” I was told. Russians have seen East European countries that have joined the EU, such as Hungary, where until now they could enter without visas, bend to EU demands and impose visa restrictions.

Russia can be expected to become much more active in the Middle East, and this need not necessarily be detrimental for Israel. A senior EU official told me recently that Putin had some very harsh things to say to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during his visit to Teheran. We must, however, take Russia more seriously and invest more in strengthening relations with Moscow. Olmert’s recent visit was a step in the right direction. Russia has once more become a world power, a major player on the world’s chessboard. We must treat it accordingly.

The writer, a former director-general of the Foreign Ministry, is publisher of The Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs.

Begin Archive Special Prophecy Update 125C, June 24, 2003

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 125C

June 24, 2003

One or Two Wars Before Armageddon?

As a young man, living in the pre-Hal Linsey books age, I was taught that only one war occurred during the “latter days” before Armageddon. It was a war that began in the Middle East when the antichrist attacked the nation of Israel, and ended some 3 and ½ years later with the final battle of this age – Armageddon. But I now find myself surrounded by a large array of preachers and teachers who are convinced that the war led by Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and found in Ezekiel 38 and 39, occurs before the war that commences some 3 and ½ years before the battle of Armageddon, and that the antichrist is not Gog, but comes out the war led by Gog, and then leads 10 European Union nations against Israel. They teach that when Gog and his armies come against Israel they will be slaughtered, and that Israel will be absolutely successful in thoroughly routing them. Perhaps I overlooked it, but in all my years of looking in many old musty religious archives, I never found a manuscript published before 1812 that taught there were two back-to-back wars

just before the battle of Armageddon. It would seem to me that the arrival of Napoleon in Europe set the stage for a shift from bringing the antichrist out of the southern flank of the old Roman Empire to a new scheme of bringing him out of the northern flank. This shift necessitated the invention of two wars. I do not believe the shift should ever have been made. I believe the attack of the antichrist is found in the following Scriptures, and I believe the attack occurs 1260 days before the end of this age at Armageddon.

Ezekiel 38:10,11 – Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: [11] And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,

Daniel 7:24,25 – And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. [25] And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

Daniel 11:41 – He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.

Micah 5:5 – And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.

Zechariah 13:8 – And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein

shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

Revelation 13:5,6 – And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

[6] And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

Revelation 17:12.13 – And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. [13] These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

I believe that the following names all apply to the antichrist: He is Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal in Ezekiel 38 and 39, the eleventh horn in Daniel 7, the king of the north in Daniel 11:40, the Assyrian in Micah 5, the seventh wounded head on the beast in Revelation 13, and the eighth head on the beast in Revelation 17.

The 3 and ½ year war, in all the accounts, follows a certain pattern from start to finish.

(1) The initial attack occurs, and is successful.
(2) After Jerusalem falls, the Lord begins to fight for Israel.
(3) The Lord fights for Israel for 3 and ½ years.
(4) God protects Israel in the Negev during that period.

(5) The Lord leaves most of the enemy bodies on the hills of Israel at the final battle of Armageddon.

(1), (2), (3), (4), & (5) are referenced in the following Scriptures.

Ezekiel 38:8,9 (1) – After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. [9] Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.

Zechariah 13:8 (1) – And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

Zechariah 14:2,3 (2) – For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. [3] Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

Daniel 7:25 (3) – And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

Revelation 12:6 (4) – And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Ezekiel 39:1-5 (5) – Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: [2] And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel: [3] And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. [4] Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. [5] Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.

Revelation 19:17-21 (5) – And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; [18] That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. [19] And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. [20] And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. [21] And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

Ezekiel 38:1,2 – And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, [2] Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

Gog is a person, the antichrist. Magog is a land, the land of Magog. God tells Ezekiel to set his face against a person, Gog, and against a land, Magog, which is Russia. Gog is NOT the chief prince of Magog (Russia). He is the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. At the time of Ezekiel’s writings the descendants of Magog were settled in Russia, while the descendants

of Meshech and Tubal were settled in Syria. The antichrist will come out of Syria to launch the initial attack. Some 3 and ½ years later Magog (Russia) will come down to join him at Armageddon.

To make a long story short – I believe there is only one war, the war that begins when Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, attacks Israel, and ends three and one-half years later when Magog (Russia), along with all of Europe, Eurasia, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, comes down to join him against Israel at the final battle of Armageddon – Only to find the bodies of their great armies end up as buzzard bait on the hills of Israel.

BUT AM I PREPARED TO BE WRONG

? CERTAINLY! WHAT WILL I DO IF THERE ARE TWO WARS? WELL, I WILL JUST SAY I WAS WRONG, AND WAIT FOR ANTICHRIST TO COME OUT OF THE FIRST WAR, THAT IS, IF I AM STILL HERE.

BUT WHAT IF THERE IS ONLY ONE WAR? WELL, ONLY ONE THIRD OF ISRAEL WILL SURVIVE, JERUSALEM WILL FALL, ISRAEL WILL BE DRIVEN INTO THE NEGEV, AND YOU WILL BE WAITING FOR AN ANTICHRIST THAT IS ALREADY ON THE SCENE, THAT IS, IF YOU ARE STILL HERE.

My advice is to be prepared for either eventuality, even one that may be quite different from how many of these verses are commonly interpreted. I think that falls under the category of “watching.”

Mark 13:37 – And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

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Is the Woman preparing to mount the Revelation Beast

?

November 17, 2007

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Revelation 17:15-18 – And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. [16] And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

[17] For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and

to agree, and give their kingdom unto

the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. [18] And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

In John’s day the city of Rome ruled over most of the known world. Today the Vatican dominates most of the religious preferences

of the European section of the old Roman Empire. The “woman” represents the Catholic Church. Initially she will ride on the power of the back of the beast by turning against Israel, and will seem to gain Islam’s favor for having done so, but after Islam has driven the Israelis into the Negev and established its vast Caliphate, in the last portion of the tribulation period the Mahdi will turn viciously against its rider.

The ten horns are ten Arab kings who will soon come against Israel led by the Mahdi, who is the eleventh horn on Daniel’s fourth beast, and the Islamic 12th Imam. He will represent an Imam who has come back to life to lead Islamic forces after an absence of hundreds of years.

Daniel 7:24-28 – And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. [25] And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

The ten Arab kings will accept the Mahdi as their leader “for God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

” The Prophet Mohammad loudly proclaimed he was Allah’s prophet, and was called by the angel Gabriel.

Today some 400 million followers of Allah are scattered across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, believing that he is God. Allah is a word compounded of the article “al” and the word “ilah,” which means “the God.”

I believe the Catholic faith will acknowledge the Antichrist as being the Islamic Mahdi, and the Islamic faith will accept him as their Messiah from Allah. Most of the many faiths would love to have a flesh and blood man to lead them, one who has returned from the dead. Many different faiths across the earth have multiple gods – some sects in India have hundreds of gods – but each sect always has one god who is more powerful than all the others. All the religions, both small and great, will believe that the Mahdi is the one sent by the most powerful god in their worship system.

Unfortunately for the “woman,” the Arabs have always hated religious Christianity, and near the end of the tribulation period they will vent their full religious zeal on the religious woman of Rome. John attests to the woman’s final destruction by the sons of Allah in verse sixteen – “And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.”

Islam will do to the idols of all other religions what she has already done to other Asian idols. Islam will destroy them and burn all their religious buildings across her Caliphate.

I am including the 2006 Supplement we issued to Archive Prophecy Update 165B in 2004 on the 12th Imam, the Islamic Mahdi who is prophesied to return from the dead to lead Islam to victory. The Supplement appears after the YNet News Article, which immediately follows this paragraph.

Begin YNet News Article

Vatican: Ties with Israel worsening

Pope’s ambassador to Washington blames Israel for deterioration of relations with Catholic Church, says Israel cannot be trusted and laments that ties were better ‘when there were none at all’

Associated Press

A senior Vatican diplomat who served as papal envoy to Israel has described Vatican-Israeli relations as worsening, blaming the Jewish state for failing to keep promises related to church land, taxes and travel restrictions on Arab clergy.

Archbishop Pietro Sambi lashed out at Israel in an interview posted Friday on Terrasanta.net, an online publication about the Holy Land.

”If I must be frank, the relations between the Catholic Church and the state of Israel were better when there were no diplomatic ties,” said Sambi, interviewed earlier in the week in Washington, where he now serves as Pope Benedict XVI’s envoy to the United States.

”The Holy See decided to establish diplomatic relations (in 1993) with Israel as an act of faith, leaving to latter the serious promises to regulate concrete aspects of the life of the Catholic community and the Church” in Israel, Sambi said.

Among the issues hanging are the status of expropriated church property, services that Catholic groups perform for Israel’s Jewish and Arab population, and tax exemptions for the Church.

The Vatican diplomat also cited a current sore point – the granting of permits for Arab Christian clergy traveling to and around the West Bank.

Israel has rescinded some travel privileges for those clergy because of security concerns.
Israel and the Palestinian territories are home to a small Christian minority.

Sambi complained that the Knesset, Israel’s legislature, has failed to give necessary approval to various accords that had been signed by both sides, and noted that an impasse over taxes has been discussed on and off for nearly 10 years without resolution.

He blamed the situation on Israel’s ”absence of political will.”

”Everyone can see what kind of trust you can give to Israel’s promises,” Sambi said.

Asked about Sambi’s criticisms, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said: ”Israel is interested in good relations with the Vatican and Israeli and Vatican officials are working to overcome gaps that exist.”

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the interview with Sambi ”reflects his thinking and his personal experience” during the diplomat’s former posting in Israel.

Lombardi said the Holy See reiterated the hope, expressed in September when Benedict met with Israeli President Shimon Peres, for a ”rapid conclusion of the important negotiations” and a common solution to ”existing problems.”

Tensions between the Vatican and Israel grew this year after the Pope decided to revive an old Latin mass calling for the conversion of Jews.

Several months earlier the Vatican’s ambassador to Israel announced he would boycott a Holocaust memorial service because of allegations that during World War II Pope Pius XII was silent about the genocide being perpetrated against Europe’s Jews.

Begin 2006 Supplement to Archive Prophecy Update 165B

Islam – Waiting for the 12th Imam to Arise to Lead its Inflamed Masses!

Supplement to Archive Special Prophecy Update Number 165B

February 6, 2006

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Having gone to military schools, lived among, worked with, and trained those of the Islamic faith as a much younger man, plus being familiar with prophecy since my youth, I have not only been waiting for many years for the true Messiah, Jesus Christ, but I have also been waiting for the arrival of the 12th Imam on the scene prior to the arrival of Jesus. I have long believed the 12th Imam Mahdi will be the 11th little horn of Daniel, and the beast of John’s Revelation.

I have long identified him as the leader of the 10 toes of Daniel’s great latter day empire of the descendants of the descendants of the twelve sons of Ishmael and the six sons of Keturah, all of them being the sons of Abraham. In all my books, the first writ ten in the seventies, I have never swerved from identifying the

ten toes as being Islamic nations. (Please read Archive Prophecy Update Numbers 125B. 121C, 78, 74B, and 54 at: http://www.tribulationperiuod.com/ under the heading of “Prophecy Updates.”)

As I have written in many Archive Prophecy Updates and Blogs, in Genesis Ishmael is called a “wild” man as Abraham’s descendant. The Hebrew word translated “wild” is donkey, a wild ass, which has long been manifested by the inability of Islamic nations to get along with each other or any other nation for very long. So, one of the things I did not know, when I wrote my first book, was how in heavens name you could ever get clay and iron to come together, and hold long enough to form a temporary latter day empire. It would be as difficult as trying to keep a herd of wild asses together in a wilderness with no fences.

Daniel 2:41-43 – And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. [41] And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength

of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. [42] And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. [43] And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

I knew that God would put it into their hearts to come together, but I did not understand the instrument he would use to being their hearts together into the unholy union of Jewish and infidel destruction.

Revelation 17:12,13 – And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. [13] These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto

the beast. [17] For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

It finally all came together for me with the rise of Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, where he was successful in driving out the Soviet army by Islamic Jihad guerilla warfare. The 9/11 attack left no doubt that the world’s future was headed for the rise of Islamic fanaticism, which is the instrument that is uniting the 10 toes, the 10 horns, in a common united cause, namely, the destruction of Israel, and other infidel nations that do not honor their Prophet Muhammad and Allah.

There is no question in my mind that Islamic Jihad is the spirit of the antichrist. All that Islam masses need is for a man to show up who they will accept as the 12th Imam, and they will unite as surrendered souls to follow him to the death.

We have gotten a taste of the fever of Islamic Jihad fanaticism in the French Riots, and the devoted religious extremism over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad has triggered riots, burnings, and deaths across Europe and the Middle East in many of the countries and states.

It is this religious Islamic fever that will unite all Arabs under the banner of the 12th Imam when he arises. If you think what seems to the West to be isolated extremism, from the lips and actions of the current Iranian President, is just a microscopic cult belief, you are quite wrong.

The Shiites are the most zealous of

the Muslims in their devotion to the 12th Imam, but the Sunni also have their own version of him, as do virtually all of the branches of the Muslim faith.

I know this by my association with Islamic believers from many countries.

I hope you will have time to look back in our Archive Prophecy Updates at Number 165B, “The Coming Messiah of Islamic Tradition,” April 1, 2004, for more information on the 12th Imam.

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IF IRANIAN SANCTIONS FAIL!

ONLY TWO REALISTIC OPTIONS ARE LEFT!

BOMB OR START MULTIPLYING ANTI-MISSILE DEFENCES!

November 16, 2007

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

The first article from DEBKAfile’s military sources was received before the IAEA report

from the UN nuclear watchdog ElBaradei was actually official. The second article from the Jerusalem Post was received after the report was issued. It does appear the US and Israel only have two realistic options left in dealing with Iran if it keeps on its current frantic drive to produce uranium – either bomb the Iranian nuclear facilities or start multiplying the anti-missile defenses around all the Israeli military complexes, as well as US military installations in Iraq and the NATO nations.

Begin DEBKAfile Article

DEBKAfile’s military sources: Olmert’s instruction to prepare for a nuclear-armed Iran was leaked to Reuters hours before the nuclear watchdog’s ElBaradei released his report

November 15, 2007, 6:04 PM (GMT+02:00)

The agency indicates that the Israeli prime minister ordered cabinet officials in a secret memorandum to present proposals for “the day after” Iran owned atomic warheads, meaning the day after Israel loses the military edge of its monopoly as the only nuclear-armed nation in the Middle East.

Without disclosing the contents of the proposals, Reuters quotes two Israeli sources as referring to the long-term ramifications to be addressed on Israel’s security and response capabilities and the effect on the public.

DEBKAfile’s political analysts report: The leak, albeit denied by the PM’s spokesman, pointed to Olmert’s conviction that US-led diplomacy and sanctions for halting Iran’s acquisition of a nuclear weapon have reached a dead end, and the only option left to the US or Israel is a pre-emptive military strike, just as Israel bombed Iraq’s nuclear reactor in 1981.

The report Dr. Mohammed ElBaradei is due to present is not expected to prove otherwise.

Our sources note the proximity of the prime minister’s presumed leak to the US-promoted peace conference in Annapolis on Nov. 26.

What it says is that if the Bush administration cannot meet its pledge to prevent Iran acquiring a nuclear bomb, which is an existential threat to Israel, how can the same administration be trusted to deal effectively with the issue of an Israel- Palestinians settlement in consequence of the Annapolis meeting

?

It may therefore be postulated that the Israeli prime minister acted to derail the conference by drawing a red line which Israel refuses to cross in the interests of its security.

The Reuters report may even be his response to the “Israel should make painful sacrifices” speech which US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice delivered to a Jewish audience Tuesday, Nov.13, in Nashville, Tennessee. Her argumentation sent a shudder through Israel’s intelligence and defense community.

Analysis of the speech, which the State Department quickly released in full plus video, shows strikingly that “Palestinian statehood” has been substituted for “Middle East peace” as a central US policy objective. Peace and peacemaking have therefore been exed out as a prerequisite for the Palestinians.

By presenting a Palestinian state as the main bulwark against Middle East extremists, she placed Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad at the forefront of the battle against Hizballah, Hamas and Iran, and deposited the security of the entire Middle East in their hands.

This thesis left Israeli security circles long familiar with the pair’s capabilities aghast – especially after their defeat in Gaza.

Therefore, the report claiming Olmert had given instructions to start preparing for a possible nuclear-armed Iran may equally apply to the bombshell Rice dropped on Israel’s head, and a signal to the Bush administration that Israel proposes to look after its own security rather than leaving it in other hands.

Begin Jerusalem Post Article

‘Iran trying to buy time while working on nuclear weapons’

JPost.com Staff and AP, THE JERUSALEM POST

November 16, 2007

The IAEA’s report on Iran’s nuclear activities released Thursday makes it clear that the international community must take firm action against Iran, because that nation continues to buck UN demands and develop its nuclear program, Israel said Friday.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the IAEA acknowledged in its report that Iran might not have reported all of its nuclear activities, increasing suspicion that Iran was trying to “buy time” on its way to nuclear weapons capability.

On Thursday, the long-awaited report found Iran to be generally truthful about key aspects of its nuclear history, but warned that its knowledge of Teheran’s present atomic work was shrinking.

The report also confirmed that Teheran continued to defy the UN Security Council by ignoring its repeated demands to freeze uranium enrichment – a potential pathway to nuclear arms.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called on the West to make a courageous apology to the Iranian people, since Teheran has told the truth about its nuclear program.

In a message broadcast Friday on several Iranian media outlets, Ahmadinejad declared that “the time has come for the US government to correct its behavior,” telling state television, “The whole world saw that their (US) allegations were not true and that Iran’s activities are clean and peaceful.”

“You (the US and allies) issued two resolutions based on wrong information,” the hard-line president said, referring to two earlier rounds of UN sanctions.

“Now that you have found out that this information was wrong, you have to be brave and come forward and tell the Iranian nation, ‘We made a mistake’ and apologize,” he said.

Ahmadinejad called the said the IAEA report “relatively realistic,” and praised IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei for publishing findings that are “to a great extent free from the pressure of some big powers.”

Leading Iranian cleric Ahmad Khatami also criticized the West, and demanded that the United States apologize to Iran.

“Iran won’t retreat in defending its rights. The US must apologize to the great Iranian nation for lying to the world,” Khatami said.

Meanwhile, Russia’s state-run nuclear fuel producer said Friday it would soon start shipping fuel to Russia’s Bushehr nuclear reactor.

According to Reuters, inspectors from the IAEA will arrive at the Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrate Plant to begin sealing the fuel for shipment later this month, and will be working through November 29.

“We are ready to provide IAEA specialists with all the conditions they need to do their work,” Konstantin Grabelnikov, Novosibirsk deputy head, said in a statement

Also on Friday, Britain’s Foreign Office said Friday that talks planned for next week to discuss hardening sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program have been postponed, and officials were trying to set a new date.

A European Union official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Chinese could not attend due to scheduling problems.

China, along with Russia, is opposed to a hardening of sanctions against Teheran.

“Negotiations will be taking place over the next few days” to set a new date for a meeting, said a Foreign Office spokesman, on condition of anonymity in line with policy.

Talks between political directors of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany were planned for Monday, and had been expected to take place in Brussels.

Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency reported the meeting had been postponed because China had refused to attend.

China’s London embassy was not immediately available to comment on Friday.

Yaakov Katz contributed to this report.

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from which we extracted it.