blog.Tribulationperiod.com

Setting the stage for Failure,

For the final battleground Scene,

Of a GREAT FLOOD of Islamic Troops,

From within and without against Israel,

As the world watches God stop the Flood,

At Beersheba diverting the flood into Egypt,

Leaving a remnant of Israel in the vast Negev,

Until Messiah returns to save it at Armageddon,

Lookout World, pieces of the puzzle are Merging,

And A Point IN TIME Between 2010 & 2015 Looms

Large as the most logical time for a flood to Begin!

April 28, 2009

BIRTH PANG NUMBER 42

The Remnant of Israel, Past, Present, and Future!

Part 7

March 29, 2002

Revelation 12:6,15,16 – 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. [15] And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. [16] And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

I have already exposited on all the verses prior to verses 15 and 16 in Parts 1 through 6 of previous Birth Pang Updates. The woman, Israel, has received a population decrease of two-thirds, evacuated the city of Jerusalem, and is in the act of fleeing into the Israeli land south of Beersheba, which is the Negev. But the Scriptures indicate that this remnant will one day return, and at that time they will call God their God, and He will once again call them His people. The “residue” (remnant) will not be “cut off” from Jerusalem forever, but will come north out of the Negev, following the battle of Armageddon, to retake the city.

Zechariah 13:8 to 14:2 – 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. [9] And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God. [1] Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. [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.

The confederation of 10 nations, led by antichrist, is moving like a rolling flood in hot pursuit of Israel in verses 15 and 16. The word “flood” is used several times in the Old Testament to refer to an army advancing like a flood. One use is in Jeremiah 46:8.

Jeremiah 46:8 – Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.

The antichrist has been brought down by God to drive Israel into the Negev.

Ezekiel 38:3,4,14-17 – And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: [4] And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: [14] Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? [15] And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: [16] And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

[17] Thus saith the Lord God; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?

Revelation 12:16 – And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

After God has put hooks into antichrist’s jaws to bring him into Israel, the Devil is cast out of heaven, and immediately directs the antichrist’s armies southward from Jerusalem toward the entrance city to the Negev, namely Beersheba.

Across southern Israel, from Hebron to Beersheba, are numerous topographical folds in the rock strata oriented northeast to southwest, and in these folds are hinge faults with the same orientation. This type of fault is capable of suddenly opening during a period of earthquake activity. An army passing through this zone in hot pursuit, if large earthquakes suddenly rippled through it from Israel’s Arabah Fault in the Jordan Valley, could suffer many casualties by being swallowed up in this type of geological structure.

This is probably the earthquake that begins the last 3 and ½ years of the Tribulation Period, which occurs on the opening

of the 6th Seal.

Revelation 6:12 – 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;

Ezekiel 38:18,19 – And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face. [19] For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;

Once the series of earthquakes have depleted his army, the antichrist, who will know the strength of Israel in the Negev, will halt his advance at Beersheba, and head for Egypt.

This will leave between 1.9 and 2 Million Israelis trapped in the Negev for about 3 and ½ years.

Daniel 11:42,43 – He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. [43] But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.

Antichrist will conquer Egypt and then began set up his Caliphate Kingdom from Morocco to Indonesia, which will last for some three and one-half years.

END BIRTH PANG NUMBER 42

Iran would love to see a two state government in place in Israel, because the millions of Palestinians born since 1948 could return to

the Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank. This would greatly increase the number of terrorists that would pour outward from the West Bank Mountains onto the narrow Jordan River Banks and coastal banks of the Mediterranean Sea. Israel would be attacked from the north by a huge Islamic force consisting of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and by a PA Arab force coming out in all directions from the West Bank, plus from the south, west, and southwest of the Gaza Strip.

Begin Excerpt 1 from Jerusalem Post

‘Iran will honor any two-state decision’

April 26, 2009

JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in an interview broadcast Sunday that the Islamic republic would honor any decision made by the Palestinians with regards to a two-state solution in a future peace deal with Israel.

“Whatever decision they take, we will support that. We think that this is the right of the Palestinian people,” he told ABC’s This Week in a rare face-to-face interview with an American news network.

He also called on other nations, specifically the US and European governments, to respect the Palestinians’ right to determine their fate.

Ahmadinejad went on to say that while the Islamic republic believes “in talking, in negotiating, based on sincerity, respect and justice,” the country would not hold talks with the Obama administration unless “a clear-cut framework” and “clear agenda” were agreed upon beforehand.

In the interview, which took place Wednesday in Teheran, Ahmadinejad said that while Iran welcomed the recent overtures from US President Barack Obama, “an administration which, up until yesterday, was saying that I’m going to kill you, and today says that I’m not going to kill you, is that sufficient?”

Ahmadinejad stressed that he had “no reservations when it comes to talking,” but that the nuclear program was “a special issue.”

“We think that the nuclear issue needs to be resolved in the context of the agency and regulations.

We are just utilizing our legal rights,” the Iranian leader said.

The Iranian president went on to say he had “fully expected” Obama to participate in the UN racism follow-up conference held in Geneva last week, noting that while he didn’t believe Obama supported racism, he “should have been there and should have condemned outright racism and racial discrimination.”

Several nations, including the US, boycotted the conference as they feared it would serve as a stage for attacking Israel, which was in fact the focus of Ahmadinejad’s speech.

However, the Iranian leader said that when he was talking against “the Zionist regime, the first proviso for successful talks would be to give the other party the freedom to speak. Mr. Obama has the right to have his own opinion, obviously.”

“My point of view is that the Zionist regime is the manifestation of racism,” Ahamdinejad stated.

He went on to say that Western diplomats who walked out during his speech in Geneva “are free to have their own points of view,” but noted that he did not understand “why they want to deny me my ideas.”

He also criticized Obama’s support for the IDF’s Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip.

“The gentleman’s support of the massacre of Gazans in support for the criminals who were responsible for that atrocity was a major mistake on the part of the gentleman,” Ahmadinejad said.

When asked why he insisted on questioning the Holocaust even when it has established as an historical fact and even though Iranian politicians worry that this kind of talk isolates Iran, Ahamdinejad explained why he believed the issue was not being treated fairly.

The two main problems with the way the world regards the Holocaust, the Iranian president said, were that the Palestinians were expected to pay the price for European racism, and that research that questions the Holocaust was not permitted.

“If this is a historically documented event, why do Western states show so much sensitivity toward a historical event? They do not want the lid to be taken off. I am asking them to permit studies,” he said.

Begin Excerpt 2 from Jerusalem Post

‘Without benchmarks, US dialogue with Iran will fail’

April 27, 2009

Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST

Without a clear time frame and set benchmarks, the dialogue US President Barack Obama plans to hold with Iran will fail to stop the Islamic republic from obtaining nuclear weapons, Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya’alon has told The Jerusalem Post.

In an exclusive, wide-ranging interview, his first since becoming a government minister on March 31, which will be published in Friday’s Upfront magazine, the former IDF chief of General Staff said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s appearance at the UN conference on racism in Geneva last week was reminiscent of the way the world treated Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

“I have no doubt that the Iranians will use any dialogue to stall for time if there will not be a clear time frame and clear benchmarks like telling them that they have two months to stop the enrichment,” Ya’alon said.

“These are the type of benchmarks that can test the Iranians, since anything else will be a waste of time. This time will be used by the Iranians to continue to move towards a nuclear military capability.”

The West has to understand that it needs to confront the Iranians and cannot make concessions, he said.

“What is happening between the Western world and the Islamic jihadists of Iran is a process that is built on previous surrenders and concessions,” he said. “What the West needs to do is stand up against this wave and confront it.”

Regarding the Palestinian conflict, Ya’alon stressed several times throughout the interview the PA’s refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

He said that even at the Annapolis Conference in November 2007, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas refused to insert the words “two states for two peoples” into the mutual statement and only allowed the words “two states.”

“That is why the prime minister says that we want them to recognize Israel’s right to be a Jewish state,” he said. “This right does not depend on them but if they don’t recognize it then there is nothing to talk about.”

Ya’alon also rejected the Saudi initiative, which calls for an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders.

“From our perspective, the pre-1967 borders are not defensible. To go onto this track is dangerous. I am in favor of doing things that are creative, but not this way,” he said.

The government, he said, was currently completing its policy-evaluation and supported a “bottom-up” approach to the conflict under which, as a first step, the Palestinians would need to implement serious education, political, security and economic reforms.

Ya’alon refused to comment on whether the IDF could stage an effective strike against Iranian nuclear facilities.

“We need to hope that the job will be done by someone else and at the same time, as the Talmudic sage Hillel said, ‘If I am not for myself who will be?'” he said.

Despite US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s statements last week that Israel runs the risk of losing Arab support for combating threats from Iran if it rejects peace negotiations with the Palestinians, Ya’alon said he rejected such linkage, calling it “superficial.”

“I believe that this whole idea is wrong at its core,” he said.

“Firstly, if you solve the Israel-Palestinian conflict it will not stop or even soften the Islamic jihadists. The Islamic Revolution [in Iran in 1979] did not erupt because of us.

Al-Qaida was not created because of us and even Hizbullah did not rise up because of us.”

What was needed was for the West, led by America, to “confront” Iran, and if the US decided to conduct a dialogue or impose additional sanctions, to do so while holding a “stick of military pressure,” Ya’alon said.

“The fact is that in 2003, Iran stopped its program without being attacked. This was basically due to a combination of diplomatic pressure and the threat of sanctions, but mainly due to the threat of military action,” he said.

Despite predictions that the policies of the Netanyahu government will create a clash with the Obama administration, Ya’alon said he did not recall a single incident during his adult life of Washington imposing something on Israel that undermined its security interests.

On Sunday, Ahmadinejad said that while Iran believed “in talking, in negotiating, based on sincerity, respect and justice,” Teheran would not hold talks with the Obama administration unless “a clear-cut framework” and a “clear agenda” were agreed upon beforehand.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner.

We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. 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. For more detailed information go to:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.

You may use material originated by this site. However, if you wish to use any quoted copyrighted material from this site, which did not originate at this site, for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner from which we extracted it.

NATO Secrets will be available to Islam in the coming war with Israel!

Two Articles From DEBKAfile about Turkey and Syria Concerning Israel!

Evidence for Turkey and Iraq being two of Daniel’s horns is building Up!

Five Islamic Horns will eventually launch an all out attack against Israel!

Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, And Iran Will Attack Israel FROM The North!

Multiple Terrorist groups Inside Israel will launch their Attack From Within!

And the most likely time for this attack to begin lies between 2010 & 2015!

Five ISLAMIC HORNS Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, And Sudan Support It!

April 27, 2009

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Begin Archive Blog of October 16, 2007

Turkey Falling in Line with Iran and the Other Eight Toes!

October 16, 2007

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

I published my first book, Tectonic Chaos, more than 30 years ago. I remember one preacher who sent it back to me when the U.S. invaded Iraq, because it made everything void I had taught about the 10 toes and 10 horns of Daniel’s statue and fourth beast being composed of Arab nations. He believed because I had said Turkey, a member of the NATO alliance, and Iraq, which we had conquered, would be two of the “10,” that I had been proven wrong.

Just as soon as we pull out of Iraq, they will hate us more than they did under Saddam, and Turkey is now sliding down a slippery slope into the waiting arms of Islamic rule.

Begin Newsmax.com Excerpt

Turkey Forms Alliance with Iran against Kurds

Monday, October 15, 2007

By Kenneth R. Timmerman

U.S. ally Turkey and U.S. arch-enemy Iran have formed a military alliance to drive opposition Kurds from bases in northern Iraq they have used since 2004 to launch guerrilla operations inside Iran, rebel leaders told Newsmax at a secret base in the Qandil mountains.

Both Iran and Turkey have vowed to send troops into northern Iraq, but until now evidence of active military cooperation between them has remained a closely-held secret.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stepped up political and diplomatic threats in recent days, telling the United States he would cut off U.S. access to the strategic Incirlik airbase in eastern Turkey if the U.S. tried to prevent Turkey from sending troops against the Kurdish bases in northern Iraq.

Leaders of the Party of Free Life of Iranian Kurdestan, known as PJAK, provided Newsmax with extensive evidence of the Iran-Turkey alliance in two days of exclusive interviews at a secret guerilla base deep in the Qandil mountains. An Iranian Revolutionary Guards outpost was visible on a nearby mountain peak.

“Iran and Turkey attacked jointly on August 16 against our forces inside Iran and against Turkish self-defense forces in northern Iraq,” a PJAK commander using the nom de guerre Xerat told Newsmax at the Iranian rebel base.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards “attacked us across a broad front in the areas of Sardasht, Piranshahr, Shaho, Urmieh, and along the border line,” Xerat said, citing the names of major cities in Iranian Kurdestan where PJAK rebels have been operating.

While those ground operations were underway, Iranian and Turkish artillery simultaneously began shelling civilian villages inside Iraqi Kurdistan from Metina, Zaab, Haftani, and Hakurke in the north, to Haji Oumran, Qalatdizza, Zeh, Marado, and Xinera in the south, he added.

Turkish artillery hit the northern villages, while Iranian gunners hit the southern ones.

Iranian troops attempted to cross into Iraq through the mountain passes, but PJAK fighters held the line.

“The goal of the Iranians is to drive us from the border area,” rebel leader Biryar Gabar told Newsmax. “They want to turn this area into a no-man’s land, so they can use it to smuggle weapons and Islamist guerillas into Iraq to fight the Americans.”

He called the Iran-Turkey entente “an anti-American alliance,” not just an anti-Kurdish agreement, and said that it resulted from deliberate decisions from the ruling Islamist AKP party of Prime Minister Erdogan to transform Turkey into an increasingly Islamist state.

A senior European official, who was involved in talks to bring Turkey into the European Union, told Newsmax recently he had been “stunned” by the hard-line toward the Kurds taken by AKP party leader Abdullah Gul, now Turkey’s president.

“He was totally uncompromising,” the official said. “He took a harder line than the Turkish military.”

Iran has been offering Turkey an economic agreement with Iran in July to build a strategic pipeline that will bring Iranian natural gas to Europe, in defiance of a U.S. led effort to increase the economic squeeze on Iran.

During a press conference in August while he was still foreign minister, Gul defended Turkey and Iran’s joint action against Kurdish guerillas in Iraq.

“They pose a threat to Turkey as well as to other neighbors. Therefore, every country has the right to defend its borders and take legitimate measures for its own security,” Gül said.

On Sept. 9, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani publicly called on PJAK and Turkish Kurdish militamen to leave Iraq, or limit themselves to purely political activities.

Since the liberation of Iraq by the Coalition, PJAK has maintained control of the Iran-Iraq b order in this area, and prevented infiltration by Iran

or al-Qaida-related terrorists.

The U.S. military sent liaison officers to meet with PJAK in 2003 and again in 2005 to discuss Iranian efforts to infiltrate Iraq, but have not pursued discussions further, PJAK officials said.

“From August 16-24, the Iranians tried to cross the border along the mountain ridge line, but we pushed them back,” Biryar Gabar said.

During t he Iranian ground attacks, PJAK learned from its operatives on t

he ground inside Iran that Turkish officers were acting as military advisors to the Iranian troops, he told Newsmax.

Additional information was gleaned from the interrogation of an Iranian Revolutionary Guards soldier captured by PJAK guerillas who is now being held inside Iraq, and from papers taken from the bodies of 60 Iranian guards troops killed during the clashes.

PJAK fighters have killed 200 Revolutionary Guards troops and lost seven of their own soldiers since the fighting began on Aug. 16, Biryar Gabar said. Another PJAK fighter was wounded, he added.

Since the failed ground offensive by the Iranians, Turkish officers have begun training Iranian Revolutionary Guards troops in counter-insurgency operations at the Soleiman training camp near the Iranian city of Urmieh.

“The Iranians had little experience in counter-insurgency operations, so the Turks are training them,” guerilla leader Xenat said.

“Our friends saw Turkish officers coordinating the operations of the Iranian army in the Kelaresh area,” he added. Kelaresh is in the border region outside of Salmas and Urmieh, Iran.

An exclusive Newsmax source in Iran reported in late August that eight Turkish officers were then in Urmieh, coordinating the anti-Kurdish military campaign with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

At the command level, Iranian and Turkish military officers have held monthly coordination meetings in the Turkish cities of Harakeh, Van, Bashakale, and in the Iranian cities of Urmieh, Mahabad, and Salmas, PJAK officials said.

The Iranian government sent a 12-member delegation to Hakkari, Turkey, for a summit meeting with Turkish officials on Sept.

10, PJAK officials said.

The Iranian delegation included the governor of Urmieh province, Hassan Gaffari Azer, and the deputy commander of the border guards, Coloonel Gurban Ali Muhubi.

They met with the governor of the Hakkari district, Ayhan Nasuhbeyoglu, security chief Cavit Cevik, the commander

of the local gendarmerie, Colonel Zuhuri Atilla Ataal, and the governors of two adjoining districts.

PJAK guerilla leaders also pointed to the recent creation by Iran of civilian village guards, known as “jash,” in the Iranian Kurdish areas, as another sign of Turkish military cooperation with Iran.

“The Turkish army used a similar tactic when fighting the PKK in the 1990s,” said Xenat, a former PKK fighter who is originally from Turkey but joined PJAK once the PKK dissolved its military wing in early 2000.

The “jash” village guards act as spies for the Revolutionary Guards to identify PJAK guerilla fighters., he said. They are also dressing up in Kurdish guerilla uniforms and attacking Iranian villagers, pretending to be PJAK fighters.

“The Turks have been fighting a dirty war in anti-guerilla operations for 30 years. Now they are teaching this to the Iranians,” Xenat said.

PJAK leaders said they were countering the Iranian disinformation efforts through political work on the ground inside Iran, and by attacking Revolutionary Guards units and Iranian officials such as judges who had sentenced PJAK guerilla fighters and political operatives to death.

Unlike earlier Iranian Kurdish guerilla groups, PJAK has integrated women into both its political and military wing.

For example, on Sept. 10, PJAK launched a reprisal attack against a Revolutionary Guards base near Shaho, in northwestern Iran, that was coordinated by a female guerilla fighter, said Arsham Kurdman, the head of the PJAK women’s movement.

Twelve Iranian troops were killed during that particular attack, she told Newsmax, while PJAK had no losses.

War materiel captured during that attack is now being used by PJAK fighters inside Iran, she added.

End Blog of October 16, 2007.

Begin Excerpt 1 from DEBKAfile Report

NATO member Turkey and Syria hold first joint military exercise

DEBKAfile Special Report

April 26, 2009, 5:41 PM (GMT+02:00)

The joint Turkish-Syrian tank and armored infantry exercise backed by air power begins across the Turkish-Syrian border Monday, April 27, and lasts three days.

DEBKAfile’s military sources stress that it is the first joint military maneuver any NATO member, including Turkey, has ever carried out with Syria. It appears to have received a nod from the Obama administration and another first: Never before has an important NATO power staged a joint exercise with any Arab army.

Ankara’s decision to launch the drill on the day Israeli commemorates its war dead – in league with Iran’s leading ally – is a measure of how far Turkey’s longstanding strategic pact with the Jewish state has fallen by the wayside of recent changes.

Washington’s approval underscores its new policy of boosting the strength of the Syrian army as partner in a strong a three-way military coalition with Turkey and Lebanon.

Ankara made its announcement while US secretary of state Hillary Clinton was on a short visit to Beirut.

It comes only four days after another first US step: Tuesday, April 22, DEBKAfile’s exclusive sources reported that the Obama administration had just approved a large Turkish arms sale to the Lebanese army assigning Turkish military instructors to train Lebanese army units (half of whose personnel are Shiites sympathetic to Hizballah.)

Neither of the Obama administration’s actions took into account Israel’s vital security interests; nor was Jerusalem consulted about the strategic changes on its borders – or even informed.

DEBKAfile reports that both US drastic policy reverses are causing extreme consternation in Israel’s top security echelons, which are criticizing the new Netanyahu government for taking too long to respond to the dire security setbacks piling up around its borders. The most troubling development confronting Israel in years is the grouping together of the Turkish, Syrian and Lebanese armies.

According to the statement from Ankara, the joint exercise “aims to boost friendship, cooperation and trust between Turkish and Syrian land forces and to increase the capability of border troops to train and work together.”

In recent weeks, too many developments are closing in too fast and too dangerously for Binyamin Netanyahu to put the whole can of worms on hold until he has a chance to figure out his policies and talk to Barack Obama in the coming month. The dynamic on the ground will be in full flight by then. Too late, the Israeli prime minister will find the security situation running out of his control. Turning back the clock will be hopeless and he will find himself fed some unpalatable accomplished facts.

Begin Excerpt 2 from DEBKAfile

Turkish-Syrian exercise prompts Israeli review of sophisticated arms sales to Ankara

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

April 27, 2009, 3:21 PM (GMT+02:00)

Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak commented Monday, April 27, that Turkey’s decision to hold three days of military maneuvers with Syria is “disturbing.”

And that is not all. The exercise will be accompanied Monday or Tuesday by the signing of a letter of intent between Turkish defense minister Vecdi Gonul and his Syrian counterpart Hassan Turkmani for cooperation in the defense industry.

DEBKAfile’s military sources report that the signing and the exercise are major landmarks on the shrinking road of military and trading ties between Turkey and Israel. In 2009, Ankara pared exchanges down to $2.2 billion in 2009 and expanded its trade with Syria to $2.6 billion.

Israel is now in a hurry to slash its military exchanges with Turkey to prevent the leakage of military secrets to an avowed Arab enemy.

Ankara is furthermore defaulting on payments for military purchases and other contracts. It has piled up a debt of several million dollars to Israel’s military and air industries, in payment for a $5 billion deal to build a Mark 3 Chariot plant in Turkey.

Production of 1,000 Israeli tanks, to have been Turkey’s main theater tank, should have begun in early 2009.

Construction is now halted.

Israel will also discontinue sales of its world-class unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) and sharply reduce its military ties with Turkey which go back to the 1960s.

DEBKAfile’s military sources report that Ankara deliberately played up the scale of the joint exercise, in which Turkish and Syrian border units rather than substantial military forces are involved. Its disclosure was a strong statement of the Erdogan government’s policy of trading its extensive strategic relations with Israel for ties with Syria.

Our sources stress that this trend began to emerge three years ago, although the Sharon and Olmert governments did their best to keep it out of sight. DEBKAfile’s Ankara sources report that the indirect Israel-Syrian peace talks brokered by Turkey last year were used by prime minister Ehud Olmert to conceal this setback in Israel’s foreign relations.

Furthermore, Israel’s defense and foreign ministries as well as top IDF ranks held on to the conviction that the installment of a pro-Islamic government in Ankara would not detract from the long-held ties of cooperation and trust between Turkey and Israel.

DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources report they misread the signals. The Turkish armed forces is no long the body it once was.

The generals of today are in harmony with Recip Tayyep Erdogan’s decision to turn Turkey’s back on Israel.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner.

We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.

We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. 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. For more detailed information go to:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.

You may use material originated by this site. However, if you wish to use any quoted copyrighted material from this site, which did not originate at this site, for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner from which we extracted it.

SPIRIT Of Antichrist NOW USING The Muslim Brotherhood,

Strengthening some Iron Toes and Sharpening their Horns!

The most volatile and fanatical elements of Islam are the Shi’a,

Among Sunni the Muslim Bro

therhood comprises the most Fanatic!

It is attempting to mold the Sunni and Shi’a into one

Iron & Clay Unit,

It & al-Qaeda’s Goal is to place Entire World under an Islamic Caliphate!

April 27, 2009

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

THE SHI’A

The Shiites (a name derived from the Arabic shiat Ali, “the party of Ali”) constitute one of the two major branches of Islam, the other, larger branch being the Sunnites. Following the death of Muhammad, disagreement arose as

to the necessary qualifications and exact function of his successors as leaders (Imams) of the Muslim community.

The Shiites are those who insisted that only members of the Prophet’s clan, specifically, the descendants of Muhammad’s daughter Fatima and her husband Ali, could qualify. Although Ali became (655) the fourth caliph, he was murdered in 661, and the majority recognized the Umayyad Muawiya I as caliph. The Shiites, however, supported the claims of Ali’s sons: Hasan, who died mysteriously c. 669, and Husayn, who was killed by Umayyad troops at Kerbala in 680 (Kerbala, in Iraq, became the major pilgrimage center for the Shiites).

Shiism has three major subdivisions as well as numerous offshoots.

The majority are called Twelvers (Ithna Ashariyya), because they recognize 12 imams, beginning with Ali; the 12th disappeared in 873 but will return as the Mahdi (messiah). Twelver Shiism became the state religion of Persia (Iran) under the Safavid dynasty in the 16th century; it retains that position in the present – day Islamic republic of Iran.

The other two major subdivisions are the Seveners (Ismailis) and the Fivers (Zaydites).

Shiism emphasizes the spiritual function of the Prophet’s successor, the imam, in whom the Prophetic Light is ever present in this world. He is believed to be divinely protected against sin and error and to have an infallible understanding of the Koran, a supernatural knowledge of future events, and intercessory powers.

THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD

At a meeting of the National Defense and Security Committee of the Egyptian Parliament held in January 2007, Muslim Brotherhood parliament member Mohammed Shaker Sanar openly admitted that the Muslim Brotherhood was not committed to Western democratic values. He said that nothing about the organization had changed. “The organization was founded in 1928 to reestablish the Caliphate destroyed by Ataturk….With Allah’s help [the Muslim Brotherhood] will institute the law of Allah.”

This year, newly revealed federal court documents that were accepted into evidence during the trial of the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation revealed further the inner thinking of the Muslim Brotherhood about its global mission. A sixteen-page Arabic document discloses: “The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within.”

The Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Qaeda differ regarding tactics but share a common strategy. Al-Qaeda favors an implacable jihad to destroy the economies of the Western countries. The Muslim Brotherhood supports terrorism and jihad against foreign presence in the Islamic world, but its top priority is constructing a Muslim infrastructure in the West which will slowly but surely enable it to rule during the 21st century. As far as the final goal is concerned, there are no policy differences between al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood. The two organizations have the same objective: to place the entire world under an Islamic caliphate.

Begin Excerpt from MEMRI

Middle East Media Review Institute (MEMRI)

Article Number 522

April 24, 2009

Muslim Brotherhood Debates Its Position on the Shi’a

By: L. Azuri *

Introduction

A pro-Shi’ite article by prominent Muslim Brotherhood official Yousef Nada has sparked a debate within the movement regarding its position on the Shi’a. In the article, which was published on the Muslim Brotherhood website, Nada argues that the Shi’a is not foreign to Islam, but constitutes a fifth religious school alongside the four Sunni schools. He also states that the conflict between the Shi’ites and the Sunnis is not religious but political in nature, and condemns Sunni Muslims who malign the Shi’a and its followers.

Nada’s article evoked criticism within the Muslim Brotherhood. Mahmoud Ghazlan, member of the Supreme Guide’s office, wrote that Nada’s opinions contravened the standard Sunni doctrine, and did not reflect the position of the Muslim Brotherhood, but only his own personal views. However, the Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide himself, Muhammad Mahdi ‘Akef, intervened in the argument, stating that Nada’s views are largely consistent with those of the movement, and that the Sunni-Shi’ite conflict is indeed political rather than religious.

The debate on the Shi’ a within the Muslim Brotherhood m

ay reflect an attempt by its leaders to prepare the ground for closer and more open ties with Iran. This view was taken by the editor of the Egyptian weekly Roz Al-Yousef, ‘Abdallah Kamal. He assessed that, through this debate, the Brotherhood was trying to legitimize a future alliance with Iran, which would suit its purposes in the present regional circumstances.

Following are excerpts from the articles by Yousef Nada, Mahmoud Ghazlan and ‘Abdallah Kamal.

Pro-Shi’ite Article by MB Official: The Shi’ites – An Integral Part of the Muslim Nation

Yousef Nada, a businessman who resides in Europe and formerly served as the Muslim Brotherhood’s foreign liaison, wrote in his article: “In order to delineate [the Sunnis’] religious and political relations with the Shi’ites, one must look at the geographical history [of the Muslim world]…, for the Shi’ites emerged and lived within the [homeland] of the Muslim nation, and they are still living within it. They did not come from outside it…

“One of the tenets of the Muslim Brotherhood’s thinking is that Allah is the holy of holies, and that He bestowed of his sanctity upon our lord, His Messenger [the Prophet Muhammad], to whom He revealed His holy word. But other human beings… are not holy. [Even through men] are Allah’s viceroys upon the Earth, [1] [some] of their statements, insights and interpretations should be accepted [while others should be] rejected. Even the [Rightly-Guided] Caliphs [Rashidun], [2] thanks to whom we received the faith of Islam and whom we are commanded to follow, differed in their opinions [on certain issues] and their interpretations and conclusions are not flawless. They were human beings, and [therefore] not holy. [Even] the family members of the Prophet, his companions and his wives, whom we honor and revere… they too were only human, and [thus] not holy.”

Ali Was Better than the Caliphs Who Succeeded Him, but He Too Was Not Holy

“Another basic tenet of the Muslim Brotherhood’s ideology is that [the fourth Caliph] ‘Ali Ibn ‘Ali Talib [who is revered by the Shi’ites as the Prophet’s true heir], was better and more pious than his successors, who turned the rightly-guided Caliphate into a violent kingdom. [3] This is well-documented history, and not an invention of the Muslim Brotherhood. [The same goes for other members of the Prophet’s family, whom the Shi’ites revere, such as the Prophet’s daughter] Fatima and [her daughter] Zainab. We have nothing but reverence, honor and admiration for their exemplary lifestyles, their words and their lineage. Our lord Hassan, [‘Ali’s son] was a giant in [terms of] his personality, his faith, his knowledge and his lineage. [Hassan’s brother] Hussein was an honorable, great and pious man in his life, and in his death as a martyr he set the best [possible] example of defending the faith and sacrificing [one’s life] for its sake. Nevertheless, all these people were human beings and were not holy…

“The Muslim Brotherhood is opposed to opinions and fatwas that describe the Shi’ites as extremists, as narrow-minded zealots, as conflict-mongers, as ‘refusers’ [al-rafidha], [4] or as ones who have introduced odious innovations [into Islam]. There have been heaps of books written attributing false traits to the Shi’ites – to the point that most Sunnis regard the inventions, lies and exaggerations… [presented] therein as actual fact. But the truth is that those who write and distribute these books are resentful, conformist ignoramuses, or else advantage-seeking politicians who have sold out their faith to please the regime – and the horrible fact is that they prefer the infidels or the People of the Book [i.e. Jews and Christians] to [the Shi’ites]. One of the gravest crimes is that of attributing the Shi’a to Ibn Saba, [5] though his very existence has never been historically proven, and he may [in fact] be a legend [invented with the aim of] attributing heresy to the Shi’ites…

The Shi’ite Form of Worship Is Legitimate

“There are some differences in ritual among the four Sunni schools, and between these schools and the Twelver Shi’a. A decent person must accept that a Muslim who follows one of these five schools cannot be regarded as an infidel or excommunicated…

“As for the extremist Shi’ite sects [ghoulat], one of the most prominent [Shi’ite] scholars and contemporary authorities of Ja’fari and Sunni jurisprudence, [6] Hadi Khosro Shahi, [former head of the Iranian interest office in Cairo], said in his analytical historical study… that the Shi’ite religious scholars did not only oppose the extremist Shi’ite sects, but cursed them and renounced them…

“[Also] basic to the Muslim Brotherhood’s thinking is the recognition that [the Muslim schools] differ on minor jurisprudential issues – differences that, [unlike major controversies,] do not constitute grounds for excommunication. [For example,] the belief in the unity of God is a basic tenet of the faith, while [the ways of] obeying [Allah] and the Shari’a are jurisprudential details…”

The Conflict between the Shi’a and Sunna Is Political, Not Religious

“At the heart of the Shi’ite problem is the issue of loyalty to the Imams, rather than any [argument] about the tenets and fundaments of the faith. In other words, it is a political conflict that ‘Ali [Ibn ‘Ali Talib] and the [other] Rightly-Guided Caliphs managed to contain [during their lifetimes], but which later flared up again, intensified, and became a burning political [issue] during the wars of the Ummayad and Abbas [dynasties]… Hence we contend that this controversy, which began as a political controversy, must be settled by political means, not by hurling religious accusations and by excluding and excommunicating people. There is no choice but to accept that there are different opinions, as long as they are [all] based on authoritative sources and on historical facts that are not fabricated…

“Another fundamental [principle] of the Muslim Brotherhood’s thinking is that Islam united the different peoples who accepted it, but did not obliterate [the differences between them, as stated in Koran 49:13]: ‘We… have made you nations and tribes so that you may know one another.’ It does not say, ‘so that you may detach one another from your [respective] roots.’ Therefore, provoking Arab and Persian [chauvinism] in order to generate strife between the peoples [means] pushing the believers in a direction opposed to the will of the Creator – for [as the Prophet Muhammad said in his last sermon,] an Arab is no better than a Persian, unless it be through piety…

“I do not purport to be a theoretician or Imam, or a great jurisprudent or leader of the [Muslim Brotherhood] movement… I am [only] repeating what I have learned in my 60 years in the movement…” [7]

Mahmoud Ghazlan: Nada’s Claims Are at Odds with Accepted Sunni Doctrine

Nada’s article evoked criticism in the office of the Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide. Office member Mahmoud Ghazlan wrote a response article that also appeared on the movement’s website. In his article, Ghazlan alluded to statements made several months ago by prominent Sunni Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi, who is associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, against the spread of the Shi’a in Sunni countries. [8] Ghazlan said: “Though I agreed [with these statements by Al-Qaradhawi], we were angry at him because certain governments, parties and media outlets were able to exploit them in order to support the American-Zionist plan which presents Iran as the greatest threat facing [our] region… Now we have Mr. Yousef Nada, whose article defends the Shi’ite school and denies most of [its] flaws, which are a matter of consensus among Sunni scholars. [In fact, he sounds] as if he is urging [people] to join [the Shi’a], or at least [as though] he sees no distinction between the Shi’ite and Sunni schools…

“Had the article been published as [an expression of Nada’s personal] opinion, it would have been a smaller matter. But [the fact is that] this article, from beginning to end, [purports to present] the Muslim Brotherhood’ s thinking and philo

sophy. Moreover, it appeared on the Muslim Brotherhood website, which causes us considerable harm, generates suspicion towards us, and turns many Sunnis against us… Therefore, as long as the website continues to present [the movement’s views], I think that confusing articles [like Nada’s] must be presented to a group [of movement officials] before posting, to assess whether their publication could cause any harm…

“Our political position [vis-à-vis Iran] must be assessed according to the yardstick of freedom, truth and justice. If [Iran’s] positions correspond with [these values], we shall support them… and if they are at odds with [these values], we shall oppose and condemn them…

“As for our position on the Shi’a, our tendency is not to address this issue at all, and to stay out of the conflicts among the Muslim schools, out of a desire to preserve the nation’s unity and to discourage anything that causes strife within it. We leave [this issue] to the religious scholars, who can conduct a fair and academic debate about it, and at the same time we privately condemn anything that harms the Sunni school and the status of the Prophet’s honorable companions.

“This is our position – providing that the Shi’ites respect it and treat [us] in the same way. If they exploit our efforts [to preserve] unity, and our reluctance to engage in arguments, in order to spread their [faith], we will have no choice but to [respond] by clarifying the details of this conflict and the flaws [of the Shi’a]…” [9]

Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide: Nada’s View Is Largely Consistent with the Movement’s Position

Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Muhammad Mahdi ‘Akef personally intervened in the debate sparked by Nada’s article. In fact, reports in the Egyptian press stated that ‘Akef was the one who had authorized the publication of this article on the movement’s website, to the consternation of many members of his office. ‘Akef supported Nada’s view that the Sunni-Shi’ite conflict is political, rather than religious, stating: “The Sunnis have no religious problem with the Shi’a, for the Shi’ites believe in Allah, in His Messenger, and in the Koran. They have their own school [of thought], which we respect. The conflict between the Sunnis and Shi’ites was born of a political [struggle], and politics continue to play a role in it to this very day.” ‘Akef added that, even though Nada’s article reflected his own personal opinions, it was largely consistent with the Muslim Brotherhood’s position. [10]

‘Akef also said recently that he welcomed the spread of the Shi’a in the region. He explained that there are 56 Sunni countries in the Organization of the Islamic Conference, but there is only one Shi’ite country in the entire world, namely Iran, and consequently there is no reason to fear this country. In fact, ‘Akef said that he supported Iran’s right to a nuclear program, even if this program is aimed at manufacturing an atomic bomb.

[11] In an interview with Al-Jazeera TV, he said that the Shi’ites were divided into 36 different groups, and asked: “Why not launch a dialogue with them? Why do we oppose them just because they are Shi’ites?” [12] In an interview with a Turkish paper, he said: “Iran is a Shi’ite country. The Shi’a is not a religious school but a political [movement], and we therefore deal [with Iran] as a state, which is a political body and not a religious one. If one wants to talk about the [religious] schools [in Islam], let him turn to the jurisprudents. But we laymen talk about the reality and the interests of the nation, that is our task.” ‘Akef added: “Thirty years ago, Iran was poor, destitute, and crawling with corruption and tyranny, until Khomeini came and liberated it. He spurned the greatest power of the world [i.e. the U.S.], as no other Arab or Muslim country in the world has dared to do in the last 30 years. That is why we think that the question is political, not religious.” [13]

‘Akef told the government Egyptian weekly Al-Musawwar that, in making these statements about Iran, he meant to “urge the Egyptian regime to follow the example of Iran by holding real elections, [enabling] government turnover, [granting] freedoms and [engaging in] serious efforts towards a revival of the [Muslim] nation. He denied that there were direct contacts between the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran,

adding that he constantly received invitations to visit Tehran but declined them. [14]

Roz Al-Yousef: The Debate within the Muslim Brotherhood Is Meant to Sanction an Open Alliance with Iran
In an editorial in the Egyptian weekly Roz Al-Yousef, chief editor ‘Abdallah Kamal attributed much importance to Nada’s article, stating that it indicates a significant shift in the Muslim Brotherhood’s attitude towards the Shi’a. This shift, he argued, stems from the need to sanction a more open political alliance between the movement and Iran:

“There is no doubt that [Nada’s] article indicates a real shift in the doctrine of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose members are known to be extremists among the Sunnis. [The fact] that it was written by a [Muslim Brotherhood] leader whose function is more political than jurisprudential or ideological means that there has been a shift in the political relations between the movement and Iran. [This political shift] must be [complemented by] an ideological shift, and the Muslim Brotherhood has been quick to provide one and to give it prominence in order to impress its significance upon [the movement’s] followers. This indicates that something significant is brewing in secret between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Persian state.

“Nada’s article sparked much controversy within the Muslim Brotherhood. The responses it evoked indicate that there is real opposition within the movement to the ideological shift [that is occurring]. [These responses also indicate] that the movement meant to launch a public debate [on this issue], even though it knows that its followers will not be swayed [to change their beliefs]. [Nevertheless, the movement] wants to introduce this change and give it some sort of religious sanction, so that, in the [next] stage, there will at least be some willingness for coordination between Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood…

“We are facing a real change in the thinking of this extremist movement, which may amount to a renunciation of its commitment to its ideas, not to say a renunciation of the [Sunni] school. This change will create an alarming rift and a great gap between the leading echelon – which constitutes a minority in the movement and is promoting this change for political reasons – and the majority of the members, who do not understand what is happening within the leading echelon…”

The Debate Indicates a Temporary “Pleasure Marriage” between the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran

“These public debates are nothing but a smokescreen to hide what we might call a “pleasure marriage” [15] between the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran. This marriage may be long or short, but it seems to be required by the movement’s [present] agenda and by the quickly changing regional [conditions], to which the movement desires to adapt…

“This is not the first time that the Muslim Brotherhood has introduced great politically[-motivated] changes in its principles, [because] this movement – regardless of its religious guise – is [geared at pursuing its own] benefit and interests. [This is reflected] even in the way it uses its slogan, [‘Islam is the Solution’], which, more than it expresses [religious] faith, presents [Islam] as a means to attain the most important goal: taking power…

“This new trend within the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood does not flow out of the movement’s own ideology, but belongs to another organization that operates under the Muslim Brotherhood’s banner, namely Hamas, which has gone far in terms of its strategic and monetary ties with Iran… It is the actions [of Hamas] that are dictating certain positions of the Egyptian movement…

“For years, Iran has been establishing ties with a group of organizations in the region, and making use of them in its regional struggle. It has exploited the ideological appeal of its Islamic Revolution to attract not only Hizbullah in Lebanon and similar organizations in Iraq, but also a fair number of organizations associated with the Muslim Brotherhood. Moreover, when the funding channels [of the resistance movements] dried up… in the wake of 9/11, and the donations from the Sunni Gulf ceased, Iran stepped in to fill the empty space in the pockets of these organizations. In this manner, its positions became a decisive [factor] for these organizations, even more than [the positions] of the International Muslim Brotherhood itself…

“The alliance [under discussion] is unique, because it is an alliance between forces that are very different in nature… [This alliance], which I, at least, like to call a gang, comprises three countries and three organizations: a Shi’ite country, an ‘Alawi country and a Sunni country – [namely] Iran, Syria and Qatar – as well as three organizations, one of them Shi’ite and two of them Sunni, namely Hizbullah, the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.

It should be noted that the three countries make use of the three organizations to achieve their specific aims, [for] the organizations serve as their proxies. It should also be noticed that each of the three organizations seeks to become a state or take over a state… As part of this alliance, the Muslim Brotherhood has concentrated on Iran and Qatar, more than on Syria, since Iran is the actual leader of this alliance. [Iran] funds the alliance and remains committed to it, while Syria, it seems, may leave the alliance [in response to] American incentives…”

The Muslim Brotherhood Is Following in Hizbullah’s Footprints

“The debate [within the Muslim Brotherhood regarding the Shi’a] sheds light on several other issues that the Muslim Brotherhood has been ignoring. They have kept silent about various Iranian-Persian-Shi’ite actions against the Sunnis inside Iran and in other parts of the Arab world… In my opinion, this silence reflects their positions more than any article… It is the silence of devils.

“The Muslim Brotherhood’s intention is not to bring its followers closer to the Shi’a in terms of their faith, or even to encourage rapprochement with the Shi’ites. Its intention is to encourage acceptance of Iran’s positions, and thus enable itself to establish tighter and more open relations with this country – [all] in preparation for the next step, which will take place under the slogan ‘my enemy’s enemy is my friend’ [i.e. Iran, which is the enemy of the Egyptian regime, is a friend of the Muslim Brotherhood]. [At this stage], the simple folk who are followers of the Muslim Brotherhood will discover that their Sunni movement is following in the footsteps of the Shi’ite Hizbullah and is subordinate to [this organization’s] leadership…” [16]

*L. Azuri is a research fellow at MEMRI

[1] This refers to Koran 2:30, in which Man is described as Allah’ s viceroy on Earth.

[2] The first four Caliphs of Islam, who ruled during the 30 years following death of the Prophet Muhammad (632-660 AD).

[3] The Rightly-Guided Caliphs were succeeded by the ‘Umayyad dynasty (661-750), which is sometimes described by its detractors as “the violent kingdom.”

[4] A derogatory term used by Sunnis to describe the Shi’ites. It alludes to the fact that the Shi’ites refuse to accept the legitimacy of the first three Caliphs, believing that ‘Ali was the legitimate heir of the Prophet.

[5] ‘Abdallah Ibn Saba is a figure associated with the early Shi’a. According to some accounts, he was a Yemeni Jew who converted to Islam and became one of ‘Ali’s greatest disciples.

[6] The Ja’fari school is the main school of Shi’ite jurisprudence.

[7] www.ikhwanonline.com, February 16, 2009

[8] On Al-Qaradhawi’s statements about the Shi’a, and the storm they generated within the Muslim world, see MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 2080, “Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi in Interview With Egyptian Daily: Mubarak Should Step Down and Should Not Pass Presidency to Gamal; The Spread of the Shi’a Is A Danger,”

[9] www.ikhwanonline.com, February 25, 2009. Nada wrote a response to Ghazlan’s article, in which he reiterated the opinions expressed in his first article. Al-Masri Al-Yawm (Egypt), April 11, 2009. This triggered another response by Ghazlan, who wrote: “If Nada wants to become a Shi’ite, that’s his business, but he must not present this as the general position of the Muslim Brotherhood.” Ghazlan stressed that the Muslim Brotherhood supported Iran on certain issues – namely in the matter of its nuclear program, its struggle with the West and its support of the resistance movements in the region – but opposed Iran’s support of extremist.

[10] Al-YawmAl-Sabi’ (Egypt), February 26, 2009.

[11] Al-Nahar (Kuwait), December 24, 2008.

[12] Al-Misriyyoun (Egypt), April 12, 2009.

[13] Al-Masri Al-Yawm (Egypt), March 19, 2009.

[14] Al-Musawwar (Egypt), March 25, 2009.

[15] This is an allusion to muta’ marriage – temporary marriage for pleasure – which is permitted in the Shi’a.

[16] Roz Al-Yousef (Egypt), February 28, 2009.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. 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. For more detailed information go to:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.

You may use material originated by this site. However, if you wish to use any quoted copyrighted material from this site, which did not originate at this site, for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner from which we extracted it.

The Devil Like A Roaring Lion Walks About, Seeking Whom He May Devour,

Ahmadinejad, the adversary of the United States and Israel, does the Same,

So Why do We unite with the UN, EU, Russia, and China to Accommodate Him

?

Why does America tell Israel she must sit down to negotiate with terror Groups?

US is leading Israel into a Valley of Death that Will Produce Zechariah’s Holocaust!

April 26, 2009

http://www.tribulationperiod.com

1 Thessalonians 5:3,4 – For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

[4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

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.

Matthew 24:21,22 – For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since

the beginning of the world

to this time, no, nor ever shall be. [22] And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

Zechariah 14:1,2 –Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. [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.

Jeremiah 30:7 – Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

Zechariah 13:9 – And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.

Begin Excerpt from Jerusalem Post

Editor’s Notes: Accommodating Ahmadinejad

April 23, 2009

David Horovitz , THE JERUSALEM POST

Iran wants to see Israel destroyed, but it also wants to take the free world back to the dark ages. So even if they don’t care about Israel, why do the world’s democracies continually furnish Ahmadinejad with the platform to undermine them?

Poor old Ban Ki-moon.I mean, it’s not as though he hadn’t told that dreadful Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to steer clear of the provocative anti-Israel material.

At their tete-a-tete earlier in the day, wailed the valiant secretary-general when it was all over, “I stressed the importance of the conference to galvanize the will of the international community toward the common cause of the fight against racism” and “reminded the president that the UN General Assembly had adopted the resolutions to revoke the equation of Zionism with racism and to reaffirm the historical facts of the Holocaust.”

But, goodness gracious, shock, horror, would you believe it? The Iranian president simply ignored Ban’s stresses and reminders, and launched another of his insidious assaults on the despicable post-WWII world order in general, and the racist, genocidal Zionist regime in particular.

So clearly flummoxed was Ban by this astounding betrayal of his earnest advice, this misuse of his UN platform, indeed, that he had been rooted to his seat, evidently horrified into paralysis, as Ahmadinejad’s interminable toxic peroration continued – a scheduled seven-minute conference opener extending into an hourlong horror show.

“I deplore the use of this platform by the Iranian president to accuse, divide and even incite,” the appalled secretary-general now solemnly declared.

“We must all turn away from such a message in both form and substance.”

What Ban didn’t say, though, was: I won’t allow my organization to be a party to this any longer. What he didn’t say, though, was that so long as he had blood in his veins and air in his lungs, he would do everything in his power to prevent repeat performances of the grimly familiar Ahmadinejad-abuses-the-UN’s-global-platform show. What he didn’t say was that he was launching the procedures, as mandated by the United Nations’ own 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, to prosecute the Iranian president for inciting and conspiring to commit genocide against the Jewish state.

What the head of the body that is designed to safeguard the international community didn’t say in the aftermath of his guest’s crystal-clear exhortation to bring down Israel – an assault which had occurred, with such bitter, un-ignorable coincidence, just as we prepared to begin our annual day of Holocaust commemoration – was: Never again.

THIS LATE into Ahmadinejad’s ignominious career, the faux naivety of the UN secretary-general and his oh-so deplorably misused platform simply doesn’t wash.

The Iranian president’s Geneva assault on Israel, on ostensible Zionist manipulation of international affairs and on the wider illegitimacy of the post-War World II order, was a patent inevitability from the moment he announced his intention to appear and his hosts chose not to prevent him from doing so.

It represented the completely predictable maintenance of a strategy he has pursued at his appearances before the supine UN General Assembly in past years in New York.

In 2007, at the GA, he castigated the selfish, domineering “big powers” as the cause of global injustice and inequality, denounced an alleged over-ready resort to violence, critiqued promiscuous Western society, sketched a vision of a world without democracy in the image of his Iran, and warned the international leadership to end its “obedience to Satan” or face calamity.

Last September, at the same forum, he gloated at the ostensible imminent demises of the Zionist regime (“on a definite slope to collapse”) and the American empire (“reaching the end of its road”), and blamed the former for the latter: “The dignity, integrity and rights of the American and European people are being played with by a small but deceitful number of people called Zionists.”

On Monday, he merely made the assault more brazen, condemning the “totally racist government in the occupied Palestine,” branding Israel a “perpetrator of genocide,” blaming Zionists and their allies for all manner of world ills, and demanding the remaking of the world order to eliminate the Zionists’ purported control of its affairs.

Of course Ahmadinejad trampled all over Ban’s pleas. Of course the leader of a brutal regime, which perverts Islam, kills its opponents and encourages the indiscriminate murder of those who don’t subscribe to its benighted religious outlook, abused the forum to mislead and manipulate a global audience about the virtues of his ideology and the ostensible ills of democracy and its freedoms.

The question is why the international community persists in letting him do so.

THIS COLUMN has repeatedly highlighted the skilled employment by Iran of the tools to seek Israel’s delegitimization and ultimate destruction. There is the relentless progress toward a nuclear capability.

There is the arming, funding and inspiring of Hamas and Hizbullah at either end of our territorial sliver. And there is the drip-drip indoctrination about Israel’s perceived fundamental illegitimacy – the potent false depiction, repeated in Geneva on Monday, of modern Israel as a rootless European colonial implant, imposed upon

the blameless Palestinians, rather than the tragically belated revival of historic Jewish sovereignty in the only place on earth where the Jews have ever sought to determine their collective national fate.

Year by year, this combined practical and rhetorical assault on Israel takes a greater toll, posing more acute security challenges (with which Israel strategically seeks to grapple) and more acute intellectual challenges (where Israel continually fails to adequately explain and advocate).

But the Iranian regime’s ambitions, as emblemized by the range of its missiles, manifestly extend far beyond Israel. So even as one acknowledges the dismal minority of steadfast international defenders of Israel, it is bizarrely self-defeating for the other nations whose freedoms the mullahs are bent on reversing to continually provide Iran with the military and propaganda means to pursue its mission.

Call him every name under the sun, but don’t accuse Ahmadinejad of concealing his goals.

At every opportunity, he makes plain his regime’s intent to remake the world order in its image – to reform “the inequitable and unjust management of the world,” as he put it on Monday.

A handful of nations did the right thing, or at least some of it, in staying away from Geneva. More walked out of his speech.

But neither the boycotts nor the walkouts will have troubled Ahmadinejad in the slightest.

Indeed, they only reinforce his case, bolstering the argument he makes over the diplomats’ heads that the traditional centers of global influence don’t care about the underprivileged, that they don’t want to hear his “truth.”

His victory, yet again, was in the very fact of getting to speak – to speak to a global audience, his words carried live on network after network worldwide, his calculated oratory preying on profound, widespread, genuine grievances in less-developed countries. He was reaching out, again, to the poor and the ill-educated and the repressed, and offering his Islamist worldview as a panacea.

That it was Ahmadinejad calling attention to international injustice does not make such injustice any less acute.

That it was Ahmadinejad, the public face of a repressive, misogynistic, homophobic regime, whose “solution” would lead the world back into the dark ages, is a continuing case of canny manipulation by him, and shameful, appallingly counterproductive indulgence by his hosts.

Iran’s principal targets are a “great Satan” that strives to protect and encourage freedoms and democracy, and a ‘little Satan” that struggles to preserve the enlightened values its faith brought to the world. Again, in Geneva on Monday, the United Nations gave him the platform to pursue an expansionist agenda that places a brutal, narrow-minded and intolerant interpretation of religion above free world values, and applauded as he won over further converts toward achieving it.

Begin Excerpt from Arutz Sheva

US: Syria and Israel Must Talk; Syrian FM Praises Ahmadinejad

Lyar 1, 5769, 25 April 09 11:03

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

(israelNN.com)

Israel must sit down and talk with Syria to resolves differences and works for peace, the U.S. State Department said in response to Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s recent statements that the Israeli government cannot sit down with a government that backs Iran, Hizbullah and Hamas.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood, in response to a reporter’s question, declared, “Obviously, at some point, the two parties need to sit down and resolve their differences. There needs to be peace between Israel and Syria. The question on when talks go forward, that’s going to really be up to the parties. We want to see that happen. In terms of when they sit down actually, that’s something that’s going to have to be worked out.”

Two days earlier, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem praised Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s speech at the Durban II conference on racism. “A large proportion of public opinion in the Arab world supports the words of the Iranian president,” Muallem stated in a press conference.

He added that Arabs “should not be turned into victims of a Holocaust which they did not commit. It should not serve as a pretext for the Israelis to commit a Holocaust in Palestine, Gaza, the West Bank or Lebanon.”

In his speech last week at the opening of the partially-boycotted Durban II conference in Geneva, Ahmadinejad labeled the Israeli government “the most cruel and repressive racist regime.” He criticized the creation of a “totally racist government” and accused the Western world of ”sending migrants from Europe and the United States in order to establish a racist government in the occupied Palestine.”

The United States, Canada, Germany, Holland, Australia, New Zealand and Italy were among the countries who boycotted the entire Durban II conference.

Twenty-three European Union delegations walked out in protest the speech, but all other delegates, including U.N. secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, remained in their seats.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner.

We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. 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.

For more detailed information go to:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.

You may use material originated by this site. However, if you wish to use any quoted copyrighted material from this site, which did not originate at this site, for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner from which we extracted it.

This is NOT the Killer Spanish Flu Virus of WW-1,

But it does classify as a biblical End Time Loimos!

It won’t produce a huge death toll like Spanish Flu,

BUT It Seems To Have Ability To Spread Very Rapidly,

And Will Affect A Large Part Of The Planet’s Population,

But Is Only One of the Many Types of Pale Horse Loimos,

Which Mankind WILL View in Ever INCREASING Frequency,

As The Time Of The Second Advent Of Christ DRAWS Closer!

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

April 26, 2009

Revelation 6:8 – And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

The follow account of the Spanish Flu Pandemic of WW-1 was extracted from the Wikopedia.

Begin Quote

The social effects were intense due to the fast spread of the pandemic. Global mortality rate from the flu was estimated at 2.5% – 5% of the human population, and 20% of world population suffering from the disease to some extent. It spread across the world killing 25 million during six months; some estimates put the total killed at over twice that number, possibly even 100 million.

An estimated 17 million died in India, about 5% of India’s population at the time. In the Indian Army, almost 22% of troops who caught the disease died of it. In US, about 28% of the population suffered, and 500,000 to 675,000 died. In Britain 200,000 died; in France more than 400,000. The death rate was especially high for indigenous peoples; entire villages perished in Alaska and southern Africa. In the Fiji Islands, 14% of population died during only two weeks, and in Western Samoa 22%. In Japan, 257,363 deaths were attributed to influenza by July 191

9, giving an estimated 0.425% mortality rate, much lower than nearly all other Asian countries for which data are available.

The strain was unusual in killing many young and healthy victims, unlike common influenzas which killed mostly newborns and the old and infirm.

People without symptoms could be struck suddenly and within hours be too feeble to walk; many died the next day. Symptoms included a blue tint to the face and coughing up blood caused by severe obstruction of the lungs. In later stages, the virus caused an uncontrollable hemorrhaging that filled the lungs, and patients drowned in their body fluids.

In fast-progressing cases, mortality was primarily from pneumonia, by virus-induced consolidation. Slower-progressing cases featured secondary bacterial pneumonias, while some suspect neural involvement led to psychiatric disorders in a minority of cases. Some deaths resulted from malnourishment and even animal attacks in overwhelmed communities.

While in most places, less than one-third of the population was infected and a fraction of that died, in a number of towns in several countries the entire population was wiped out. The only sizeable inhabited place with no documented outbreak of the flu in 1918–1919 was the island of Marajó at the mouth of the Amazon River in Brazil.

Many cities, states, and countries enforced restrictions on public gatherings and travel to try

to stop the pandemic.

In many places theaters, dance halls, churches and other public gathering

places were closed for over a year. Quarantines were enforced with little success. Some communities placed armed guards at the borders and turned back or quarantined any travellers. One U.S. town even outlawed shaking hands.

Even in areas where mortality was low, those incapacitated by the illness were often so many as to bring much of everyday life to a stop. Some communities closed all stores or required customers not to enter the store but place their orders outside the store for filling. There were many reports of places with no health care workers to tend the sick because of their own ill health and no able bodied grave diggers to inter the dead. Mass graves were dug by steam shovel and bodies buried without coffins in many places.

The Spanish Flu vanished within 18 months.

The illness left as abruptly as it came.
End Quote

ARCHIVE PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 19

ISSUED INITIALLY IN EARLY 2001

Matthew 24:7,8 – For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. [8] All these are the beginning of sorrows.

The word “sorrows” is “odin,” which means the type of pain pattern associated with a woman’s birth pains. “Pestilence” is “loimos,” which means “any deadly infectious disorder.”

But what about Matthew’s “pestilence” – Is it following the pattern of a woman’s birth travail for the first time since Jesus prophesied it would? Absolutely! The basic root meaning of the word “loimos,” translated “pestilence,” is simply “any deadly infectious disorder.” Many plagues have passed through mankind since the fall, but none have generated a massive epidemic that was continuously accelerating over a long period of time. These “loimos” have never been able to follow the pattern of a woman’s birth pains for very long on a worldwide basis. Cholera, small pox, typhoid, bubonic plague, and so on, have appeared in short spurts like false labor, but none has ever maintained a persistent, ever increasing, epidemic characteristic with seemingly no end.

But now, for the first time, we have a “loimos,” a deadly infectious disorder, that has portrayed these characteristics from its inception. The HIV virus is the first to perfectly match the pattern of a woman’s birth pangs, and it will continue to do so until the travail of the woman Israel ends, and the Son she rejected arrives.

HIV is a virus that has swept across the globe like wildfire. HIV cases worldwide increased from a trace in 1980 to more than 5 million in 1985, to more than 10 million in 1990, to more than 20 million in 1995, and to a whopping 35 million in 2000.

AIDS, the dreadful blossom of HIV, was first reported in a British sailor, who died in England in 1959. HIV has hardest hit Africa up to this point, but it is poised to spread into Asia and the former Soviet Union as an ever-increasing storm. And, in truth, medical researchers seem no closer to fining a cure than they were twenty years ago.

Are there other “loimos” infections that have also started to demonstrate the patterns of a woman’s birth pangs? Yes! The World Health Organization (WHO) fears that tuberculosis may kill 30 million worldwide during the next decade. The emergence of drug-resistant strains, and the spread of HIV have both hampered efforts by health agencies to slow the renewed spread of the consumptive illness. Another sort of “loimos” is malaria, which is on the rise around the world, and once curative treatments are losing their effect. It is a pestilence of global dimensions, and new strains are evolving that scientists fear will be untreatable.

But what about all the microbes generating all this pestilence, this “loimos,” these deadly infectious disorders, what are they doing, how are they behaving? Are they doing something that will make the pestilences continue to act like a woman’s birth pangs through the tribulation period? Yes! A leading national magazine cover, back in the last century, carried the bold print title: “REVENGE OF THE KILLER MICROBES – ARE WE LOSING THE WAR AGAINST INFECTIOUS DISEASES?” Tuft’s Levy answered the question in Newsweek Magazine by stating: “The rise of drug-resistant germs is unparalleled in recorded biologic history.” Because of this contributing factor, pestilence will become more and more widespread in its acceleration until the second advent of Christ.

Begin Excerpt from Jerusalem Post

Swine flu spurs int’l health emergency

April 26, 2009

judy siegel and ap , THE JERUSALEM POST

A new swine flu strain that has killed as many as 68 people and sickened more than 1,000 across Mexico has “pandemic potential,” the World Health Organization chief said Saturday, and it may be too late to contain the sudden outbreak.

The disease has crossed the border and reached Texas and California, with at least eight cases reported, though there have been no deaths.

The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern.” WHO Director-General Margaret Chan made the decision late Saturday after consulting influenza experts during an emergency meeting.

The decision means countries around the world will be asked to step up reporting and surveillance of the disease. WHO fears the outbreak could spread to other countries and is calling for a coordinated response to contain it.

With 24 new suspected cases reported Saturday in Mexico City alone, schools were closed and all public events were suspended in the capital until further notice – including more than 500 concerts and other gatherings in the metropolis of 20 million.

A hot line fielded 2,366 calls in its first hours from frightened city residents who suspected they might have the disease. Soldiers and health workers handed out masks at subway stops, and hospitals are dealing with crowds of people seeking help.

While no Israelis have been diagnosed with swine flu, the Health Ministry will monitor the situation among Israeli tourists to Mexico who develop flu-like symptoms within a week of their return.

The ministry said over the weekend that health funds and hospitals should renew their awareness of swine flu.

The initial symptoms are a fever and respiratory problems, although these could be the result of other conditions.

Swine fever is a respiratory disease in pigs caused by the Type A flu virus. It is more common at the end of the fall and during the winter, much as regular flu affects humans.

Ordinarily, swine flu does not affect humans, although a small number who participate in pig fairs or work in the pig-processing industry will come down with it.

This virus is a mix of human, pig and bird strains that prompted WHO to meet Saturday to consider declaring an international public health emergency – a step that could lead to travel advisories, trade restrictions and border closures.

Chan said the outbreak of this never-before-seen virus is a very serious situation and has “pandemic potential.”

But she said it is still too early to tell if it would become a worldwide outbreak.

“The situation is evolving quickly,” Chan said in a telephone news conference in Geneva. “A new disease is by definition poorly understood.”

Scientists have warned for years about the potential for a pandemic from viruses that mix genetic material from humans and animals.

Another reason to worry is that authorities said the dead so far don’t include vulnerable infants and elderly. The Spanish flu pandemic, which killed at least 40 million people worldwide in 1918-19, also first struck otherwise healthy young adults.

This swine flu and regular flu can have similar symptoms – mostly fever, cough and sore throat, though some of the US victims who recovered also experienced vomiting and diarrhea.

But unlike with regular flu, humans don’t have natural immunity to a virus that includes animal genes – and new vaccines can take months to bring into use.

Experts at the WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the nature of this outbreak may make containment impossible.

Already, more than 1,000 people have been infected in as many as 14 of Mexico’s 32 states, according to daily newspaper El Universal. Tests show 20 people have died of the swine flu, and 48 other deaths were probably due to the same strain.

The CDC and Canadian health officials were studying samples sent from Mexico, and airports around the world were screening passengers from

Mexico for symptoms of the new flu strain, saying they may quarantine passengers.

But CDC officials dismissed the idea of trying that in the United States, and some expert said it’s too late to try to contain spread of the virus.

They noted there had been no direct contact between the cases in the San Diego and San Antonio areas, suggesting the virus had already spread from one geographic area through other undiagnosed people.

“Anything that would be about containing it right now would purely be a political move,” said Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota pandemic expert.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon said his government only discovered the nature of the virus late Thursday, with the help of international laboratories.

“We are doing everything necessary,” he said in a brief statement.

But the government had said for days that its growing flu caseload was nothing unusual, so the sudden turnaround angered many who wonder if Mexico missed an opportunity to contain the outbreak.

“Why did it break out, where did it break out? What’s the magnitude of the problem?” pizzeria owner David Vasquez said while taking his family to a movie Friday night, despite warnings to stay out of theaters.

Beginning in late March, when the flu season usually starts to taper off, health officials began recording a spike in cases – three times the normal number.

On April 16, Assistant Health Secretary Mauricio Hernandez noted “an unusual transmission period” of regular, seasonal flu.

Starting two days later, health teams were sent to hospitals looking for patients with severe flu or pneumonia-like symptoms. They noticed something strange: The flu was killing people aged 20 to 40, though

flu deaths are nearly always among either infants or the elderly.

On Wednesday, Hernandez said testing was being carried out in Mexican labs, and hospitals were alerted to watch out for cases. But testing at Mexican labs did not alert doctors to the new strain – even though US authorities had detected cases in California and Texas by April 19.

Mexico City Health Secretary Dr. Armando Ahued said it wasn’t until mid-afternoon Thursday that authorities received a call “from the United States and Canada, the most important laboratories in the field, telling us this was a new virus.”

“That was what led us to realize it wasn’t a seasonal virus … and take more serious preventative measures,” federal Health Secretary Jose Cordova said.

Across Mexico’s capital, residents reacted with fatalism and confusion, anger and mounting fear at the idea that their city may be ground zero for a global epidemic.

Authorities urged people to stay home if they feel sick and to avoid shaking hands or kissing people on the cheeks.

Outside Hospital Obregon in the capital’s middle-class Roma district, a tired Dr.

Roberto Ortiz, 59, leaned against an ambulance and sipped coffee Saturday on a break from an unusually busy shift.

“The people are scared,” Ortiz said. “A person gets some flu symptoms or a child gets a fever and they think it is this swine flu and rush to the hospital.”

He said none of the cases so far at the hospital had turned out to be swine flu.

Jose Donasiano Rosales, 69, got nervous on the subway and decided to get out one stop early.

“I felt I couldn’t be there for even one more station,” Donasiano said as he set up a rack to sell newspapers on a busy thoroughfare. “We’re in danger of contagion. … I’m worried.”

The local Roman Catholic Church recommended that priests shorten Mass; place communion wafers in worshipers’ hands, instead of their mouths; and ask parishioners to avoid kissing or shaking hands during the rite of peace. The Archdiocese also said Catholics could fulfill their Mass obligation by radio.

Ahued, the capital’s health secretary, said Mexico City may not be the epicenter of the outbreak – and could be appearing to the brunt simply because it is home to the most sophisticated medical centers.

“The country’s best health care facilities are concentrated in the city,” he said. “All the cases here get reported, that’s why the number is so high.”

The same virus also sickened at least eight people in Texas and California, though there have been no deaths north of the border, puzzling experts at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A “seed stock” genetically matched to the new swine flu virus has been created by the CDC, said Dr. Richard Besser, the agency’s acting director. If the government decides vaccine production is necessary, manufacturers would need that stock to get started.

The CDC says two flu drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza, seem effective against the new strain.

Roche, the maker of Tamiflu, said the company is prepared to immediately deploy a stockpile of the drug if requested. Both drugs must be taken early, within a few days of the onset of symptoms, to be most effective.

Mexico’s Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said the country has enough Tamiflu to treat 1 million people – only one in 20 people in greater Mexico City alone – and that the medicine will be strictly controlled and handed out only by doctors.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. 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. For more detailed information go to:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.

You may use material originated by this site. However, if you wish to use any quoted copyrighted material from this site, which did not originate at this site, for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner from which we extracted it.