blog.Tribulationperiod.com

WALK WITH A BIG STICK FOES KNOW YOU WON’T USE!

A NEW OBAMA NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY PLAN!

I HOPE YOU FEEL SAFER WHEN YOU UNDERSTAND

IT CALLS FOR THE US TO INCREASE INFLUENCE

VIA DIPLOMATIC AND DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS

PRIZING NON-MILITARY WAYS TO FULFILL IT!

SINCE IT WILL LEAD SOONER TO FINAL WAR

OF GENTILE AGE, I LOVE THIS OBAMA PLAN!

May 26, 2010

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Luke 21:24 – And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

Romans 11:25-28 – For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. [26] And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: [27] For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

[28] As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.

Luke 21:25-31 – And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; [26] Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

[27] And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. [28] And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. [29] And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; [30] When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. [31] So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.

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.

Zechariah 14:8,9 – And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.

[9] And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.

Ezekiel 37:24-28 – And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. [25] And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever:

and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. [26] Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. [27] My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [28] And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

Begin Excerpt from Associated Press via YAHOO!

NEWS

Obama’s new security goals prize nonmilitary moves

Associated Press

May 26, 2010

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration’s new national security strategy, in a formal break with the go-it- alone

legacy of President George W. Bush, calls for the U.S. to use its massive military power in concert with friends and allies.

A summary of the U.S. National Security Strategy, obtained on Wednesday by The Associated Press, also makes the safety of Americans the highest security priority and calls for the U.S. to bolster its power through diplomatic and development efforts.

Presidents use the national security strategy document to set broad goals and priorities for keeping Americans safe. The document has far-reaching effects on spending, warcraft and security strategy and a rewrite can have significant consequences. For example, in 2002, President George W. Bush outlined a doctrine of pre-emptive war, a strategy that underpinned the war in Iraq.

The new strategy is expected to repudiate, at least implicitly, that doctrine.

Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, said Wednesday that the administration will add homegrown terrorism to the strategy document. Terror attacks like the Fort Hood shooting and the failed Times Square bombing have thrust homegrown terrorism into the spotlight recently, and U.S. citizens like Najibullah Zazi and David Headley have been charged with plotting terror attacks.

Obama’s revision would be the first time that homegrown terror threats were a pillar of the document.

President Bill Clinton did not mention domestic terrorism in his 1998 revision after the Oklahoma City bombing three years earlier, and President George W. Bush made only passing reference to homegrown terrorism in the 2006 document.

The full document, the first written by the current administration, enshrines policies that President Barack Obama has advocated since his election campaign. It will be the foundation for a National Military Strategy document, due soon.

The AP obtained the summary ahead of the document’ s planned relea

se by the White House this week.

The strategy makes it clear the United States intends to maintain the world’s most powerful military, with unsurpassed reach and capability despite being stretched by two wars and other challenges.

The new security document says U.S. security goals should reflect universal values held by the United States since its founding.

Obama touched on many of the themes in the new strategy during a commencement address Saturday.

The U.S. must shape a world order relying as much on the persu

asiveness of its diplomacy as the might of its military, he said.

Addressing nearly 1,000 graduating cadets at the U.S. Military Academy, Obama said all hands are required to solve the world’s newest threats: terrorism, the spread of nuclear weapons, climate change and feeding and caring for a growing population.

Obama said the men and women who wear America’s uniform cannot bear that responsibility by themselves. “The rest of us must do our part,” he said.

“The burdens of this century cannot fall on our soldiers alone. It also cannot fall on American shoulders alone.”

Associated Press writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report.

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the copyright owner.

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Syria Now Engaged in Plucking up First of 3 Horns!

3 of First 10 Horns Will be Plucked Up by the Roots!

3 Of Initial 10 King Horns Are Removed By 11th Horn!

3 of first 10 horns are subdued by little horn Antichrist.

Little Horn Subdues 3 of 10 First Horns on Beast’s Head.

I THINK The Initial 10 horns Are Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia,

Libya, Sudan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran Nations

Saudi Arabia and ALL Arab Countries on the Arabian Peninsula

Will Join His Caliphate Soon AFTER Jerusalem Falls, BUT ‘3 OF 10

First King Horns’ He Subdues are Likely Lebanon, Sudan, & Libya!

May 26, 2010

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

PART 1

SEE SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 234A IN ARCHIVES FOR AN EXPOSITION OF THE FOLLOWING VERSES

Daniel 7:7,24,8,25,20-22,26,27 – After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. [24] 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. [8] I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. [28] 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. 20-22 And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.

[21] I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; [22] Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. [26] But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. [27] And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everl

asting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

Begin Excerpt from Middle East Media Review Institute

Syria Re-Imposes Its Patronage over Lebanon

By: H. Varulkar and N. Mozes

May 24, 2010

Inquiry and Analysis Series Report No. 611

Introduction

“…[Syria’s] political return to Lebanon is taking place slowly but surely, by means of its allies in [this country], whose numbers are growing and whose voice is becoming stronger. It is regaining its influence [over Lebanon] quietly and without military [force], placing more [emphasis] on diplomacy than it did in the past…”[1] Thus columnist Emil Khouri described the reality in Lebanon in Al-Nahar, a Lebanese daily which is close to the March 14 Forces.

Five years after a Western-Arab-Lebanese front emerged to oppose Syria’s presence in Lebanon, forcing Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to withdraw the military and security forces that had been there since 1976 and had provided the military backing for Syria’s control of Lebanon, Syria seems to be regaining its control over Lebanon. This is coming about with the backing – or at least with the acquiescence – of the very forces that five years ago led the campaign for the Syrian withdrawal.

While as of this writing Syria has not redeployed its army in Lebanon, its return to the country seems to be taking place not quite as Khouri describes – that is, not strictly by diplomatic means – but as Ghassan Sa’ud, columnist for the pro-Syrian Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar writes: “Syria is reorganizing its affairs [in Lebanon], drawing a clear line between those who are with it and those who are against it, leaving no room to maneuver.”[2]

In this endeavor, Syria is proceeding gradually, keeping an eye on the reactions in Lebanon and outside it.

Syrian officials, headed by President Assad himself, are careful to declare their support for, and recognition of, Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence, citing as evidence the reestablishment of diplomatic ties between the countries. However, these statements and measures appear to be mere formalities, to allay the fears of those who oppose the return of Syria’s patronage over Lebanon. In practice, Syria is setting an increasing number of conditions and demands for its opponents in Lebanon, and for various regional and international elements, with the aim of consolidating its control over the country.

For example, the pro-Syrian Al-Akhbar reported recently that Syria is demanding that Lebanese Prime Minister Sa’d Al-Hariri reaffirm agreements that the two countries signed during the period of Syria’s patronage over Lebanon,[3] thus bringing back the situation that prevailed prior to the 2005 Syrian military withdrawal.

Recently, Syria has stepped up the pace of its return to Lebanon, as its confidence increases due to greater international openness towards it during this past year, and the international community’s tacit consent to its involvement in Lebanon.[4] Other possible factors in the acceleration of its activity in Lebanon are the increasing tension between Syria and Israel, the anticipation of an imminent international decision on Iran’s nuclear dossier, and the release of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) conclusions on the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Al-Hariri.

This paper will review how Syria is reclaiming its patronage over Lebanon.

Reversing the Results of Lebanon’s Parliamentary Election

The March 14 Forces camp formed following the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Al-Hariri. As the standard-bearer against the involvement of Syria and its allies – primarily Hizbullah – in Lebanon, it drew strength from two main elements: support at home in Lebanon, as manifested by the camp’s win in two parliamentary elections in a row, and support from without, headed by Saudi Arabia, France, and the U.S.

The domestic support expressed more than anything else the bitterness and disgust in Lebanon at the Syrian presence in the country, refuting Syria’s claim that its presence in Lebanon was legitimate and was strictly at the request of the Lebanese. The camp’s foreign support provided it with the backing it needed vis-à-vis Hizbullah and Syria.

Today, less than a year after its win in the parliamentary elections, the camp seems weak and fractured, while the March 8 opposition camp, which is headed by Hizbullah and close to Syria, appears to be stronger than ever. Recently, voices have even emerged among the latter camp calling for essential change in

the composition of the government, in light of the purported shift in the balance of power in Lebanon and in the region. In his column in the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, which is close to the March 8 forces, Fida ‘Itani described how these forces understand the situation in the region and in Lebanon today, and why, despite their electoral defeat, they sense that it is they who have the power: “The day the Lebanese parliamentary elections were over, with the opposition defeated, the Saudi monarch did not visit Syria; neither did Sa’d Al-Hariri in his capacity as prime minister, nor [Lebanese Druze leader] Walid Jumblatt… The day the Lebanese elections were over, the Syria-Saudi deal on the allocation [of influence] in Iraq did not reach fruition.

[Since then, things have changed;] today, the deal is in its final stages [and all these leaders have visited Syria]…”

He added that the international and regional demand that Syria deal with the purported terrorism and the control of the Palestinian weapons within and outside the refugee camps enables Syria to demand the establishment of a Lebanese government work team that will be to its liking and be loyal to it.[5]
Saudi Acquiescence to Syria’s Role in Lebanon

As Fida ‘Itani explained, some of the change in the balance of internal power in Lebanon can be attributed to the change in Saudi policy towards Syria. At the January 2009 economic summit in Kuwait, Saudi King ‘Abdallah presented a reconciliation initiative aimed at bringing the “moderate camp” and the “resistance camp” in the Arab world closer together. In the framework of this initiative, Saudi Arabia and Syria arrived at understandings on Lebanon, which in effect meant Saudi recognition of the Syrian role in Lebanon. This was shown in an article by Turki Al-Sudeiri, editor of the Saudi government daily Al-Riyadh, titled “Why Shouldn’t Lebanon Go Back to Syria?”[6] These understandings included agreement, reached prior to the Lebanese parliamentary elections, on the establishment of a national unity government in Lebanon. This in effect stripped the winning camp of the ability to establish a majority government, and took away its bargaining chips vis-à-vis the March 8 Forces, Syria’s allies.

During the discussions on the formation of the government, the March 14 Forces, headed by Sa’d Al-Hariri, were forced to comply with many March 8 Forces’ demands; also, under March 8 and Syrian pressure, they had to back down on issues that were an essential part of their platform.

This reflected the de facto victory of the March 8 Forces, even though in the elections they had come out the losers.[7]

The Syrian-Saudi understandings on Lebanon yielded additional gains for Syria:

• Friction and disputes between Sa’d Al-Hariri and his allies, and the weakening of the March 14 camp, because of the concessions that Al-Hariri was forced to make to the March 8 camp in order to assure the formation of a government.
The agreement to form a national Unity Government enabled Syria to ensure that its allies would be part of the government, without having to intervene in their favor in the Lebanese elections.

This is not the first time that the Saudis have abandoned their allies in Lebanon to Syria and Hizbullah. On May 21, 2008, the Doha agreement was signed in Qatar, under Arab sponsorship; it was aimed at ending the violent conflicts between Hizbullah and the March 14 Forces that broke out May 7, 2008. The agreement expressed the March 14 Forces’ absolute submission to Hizbullah’s demands.

According to various reports, Syria is continuing to take advantage of the understandings with Saudi Arabia, for instance in order to continue pressuring Al-Hariri to comply

with its demands. As part of this, Saudi Arabia has stopped the flow of funds to Al-Hariri, and has clarified to members of his Al-Mustaqbal faction that it is serious in its reconciliation with Syria, and that there is to be no argument about it.[8]

However, it appears that these moves by Saudi Arabia are not enough for Syria, which used the Lebanese media outlets close to it to express its displeasure and to pose further demands to Saudi Arabia. Ibrahim Al-Amin, editor of the Lebanese Al-Akhbar daily, known to be close to the Syrian regime, reported on a freeze in Syrian-Saudi relations, and accused Saudi Arabia of not honoring its commitments towards Syria in Lebanon, Iraq, and Palestine, while Syria had aided Saudi Arabia in finding a solution to the problem of the Houthis and in obtaining Sa’d Al-Hariri’s appointment as Lebanese prime minister. Al-Amin even stated that Saudi Arabia had recently played a “loathsome role” as an ally of Israel in the Arab world.[9]

Further evidence of the tension between Syria and Saudi Arabia was a column by Sarkis Na’oum in the Lebanese Al-Nahar daily, which is close to the March 14 Forces. Na’oum quoted sources close to Syria as saying that contrary to its commitments, Saudi Arabia was continuing to financially support elements in the March 14 Forces [that is, Lebanese Forces party leader Samir Geagea] who were attacking Syria and its Lebanese allies, and was not acting forcefully enough to persuade elements in the Al-Mustaqbal faction to adopt a pro-Syrian stance.

Other criticism of Saudi Arabia concerned its role in the inter-Palestinian reconciliation and in the Egypt-Syria reconciliation.[10] This criticism of Saudi Arabia shows that Syria expects a high return for its meager aid to Saudi Arabia in several matters.

Several days after the publication of this criticism, Saudi Prince ‘Abd Al’-Aziz bin Abdallah arrived in Damascus and handed Assad a letter from his father King ‘Abdallah, in an attempt to settle the dispute between the two countries. The Saudi government daily Al-Madina wrote that the visit concerned “Israel’s threats to the countries of the region” and that Syria and Saudi Arabia had agreed on the need to strengthen Arab unity.[11]

‘Abdallah Nasser Al-‘Otaibi, columnist for the Saudi London daily Al-Hayat, negated Al-Madina’s conciliatory tone, writing that Saudi Arabia had not needed Syria’s help in the war on the Houthis, or in the appointment of Sa’d Al-Hariri, who after all had been elected by democratic process.

He added that it was Syria’s connection with Iran that was the cause of the tension between Syria and the Arab countries, and that Syria was fomenting crises in order to accomplish its goals, as it had not managed to do so by political means.[12]

Endnotes:

[1] Al-Nahar (Lebanon), April 26, 2010.

[2] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), April 1, 2010.
[3] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), April 27, 2010.
[4] See MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis No.

583, “Syria Regains Pivotal Regional, Int’l Role – The Triumph of the ‘Course of Resistance'”, January 29, 2010,
http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/207/0/3940.htm.
[5] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), April 30, 2010.
[6] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 2595, “‘Al-Riyadh’ Editor: ‘Why Shouldn’t Lebanon Return to Syria?’
October 14, 2009, http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/3705.htm
[7] See MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis No. 565, “The March 14 Forces after the Formation of the New Lebanese Government: From Electoral Victory to Political Defeat and Disintegration Within Five Months,” November 22, 2009,
http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/259/0/3804.htm.
[8] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), March 24, 2010.
[9] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), April 22, 2010.
[10] Al-Nahar (Lebanon) April 25, 2010.
[11] Al-Madina (Saudi Arabia), April 29, 2010.
[12] Al-Hayat (Saudi Arabia), April 29, 2010.

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

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“Turning Point Four” is NOW in FULL Swing!

The Prelude to Attack and a Counterattack

Unveiling now will Lead to war Before 2015

And Odds for it to Begin Will Rise Each Year

As Northern Israelis have Tension and Fear!

May 25, 2010

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

I BELIEVE THE SCRIPTURES WHICH FOLLOW WILL SUDDENLY BEGIN TO BE FULFILLED AT SOME POINT IN TIME PRIOR TO 2015:

Daniel 11:40 – And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.

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;

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 12:6 – And the wom an fled into the wilderness, where she h

ath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Begin Excerpt from The UK Independent

Tension mounts as Israel tests its defenses

By Catrina Stewart in Jerusalem

Monday, 24 May 2010

Israel yesterday kicked off a massive five-day civil defense exercise aimed at testing the Jewish state’s preparedness for rocket and chemical attacks. Israeli officials sought to reassure Syria and Lebanon that it has no plans to launch an attack.

The nationwide operation is likely to raise tensions between Israel and its neighbours at a time when tempers are already frayed over Iranian-backed Hizbollah’s efforts to rearm along Israel’s northern border.

The exercise, code-named “Turning Point Four”, is Israel’s largest civil defence operation since it first launched the annual drill four years ago in the wake of the Lebanon war, during which Hizbollah fired thousands of rockets into northern Israel. “This is an exercise which has been scheduled for a long time and is not the result of any unusual security development,” the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said yesterday.

“Israel seeks calm, stability and peace, but it is no secret that we live in a region where there is a threat from missiles and rockets.”

The exercise will test responses of the municipal authorities to simulated rocket and missile attacks from the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Palestinian group Hamas, and Hizbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, Israeli

officials said.

The drill will also test the reactions of the civilian population with a 90-second air raid siren scheduled for Wednesday morning – a signal for Israelis to head for the nearest secure shelter.

In December 2008, Israel launched a crushing 22-day military offensive on Gaza to curb rocket attacks. 1,400 Palestinians were killed in the incursion, and 13 Israelis.

A UN agency reported on Saturday that three-quarters of the damage inflicted on Gaza by Israel’s war against Hamas more than a year ago has not been repaired or rebuilt.

Arab leaders are angry about the drill. The Lebanese Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, warned that the exercise runs counter to newly-launched Middle East peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinians, while the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, urged the West to “contain Israel and put an end to its extremist policies,” according to Syria’s Sana news agency.

Hizbollah reportedly said that it had mobilised thousands of additional fighters and raised its alert level ahead of the exercise.

Israel has relayed messages to Arab states that it has no plans to launch an attack on its neighbours. “We have no intention of starting a war in the north,” Ehud Barak, the Defence Minister, said at yesterday’s cabinet meeting.

The French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said yesterday that he was “reassured” that tensions had eased in recent days between Israel and its Arab neighbours. He was visiting Damascus and Beirut to ensure all sides hold to a UN resolution that bans the supply of arms to Hizbollah.

President Assad told Mr Kouchner that it was not in the interests of Syria, Hizbollah or Iran to start a new conflict, AFP quoted a French diplomat as saying.

Israeli officials have publicly expressed concerns over Hizbollah’s efforts to rearm, and claim that it has built up an arsenal of over 40,000 rockets, some of them long-range.

The Israeli President, Shimon Peres, last month accused Syria of providing Hizbollah with a shipment of Scud missiles, a powerful weapon capable of reaching Israeli cities and inflicting mass casualties.

Syria has vehemently rejected the claims, alleging that Israel is seeking a pretext for war.

Analysts say that Hizbollah is unlikely to launch an attack on Israel in the near future, but warn that rising tensions over Iran’s nuclear ambitions could precipitate a more serious stand-off with Hizbollah, Iran’s proxy in the region.

Israel has pressured the international community to impose crippling sanctions on Iran, which is widely suspected of trying to develop a nuclear weapon, and has hinted that it could launch a unilateral strike if patience runs thin.

“The prospect should remain on the table,” said Itamar Rabinovich, Israel’s former chief negotiator with Syria. “Without a credible threat, diplomacy will have no edge.”

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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. For more detailed information go to:

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The Syrian Fox Scorns the U.S.!

And the Persian Fox Wins Again!

Goodbye U.S. Middle East Respect!

Farewell U.S. Middle EAST Influence!

Foxes are eyeing an Israeli Henhouse!

While Growing Closer to a Russian BEAR!

May 25, 2010

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

THE SYRIAN FOX SCORNS THE UNITED STATES!

Begin Excerpt from THE JERUSALEM POST

Assad: Peace for Golan Heights

By JPOST.COM STAFF

05/24/2010

In interview, Syrian president discusses Hizbullah, US influence.

Syrian President Bashar Assad said Monday that he is willing to sign a peace agreement with Israel in exchange for the Golan Heights.

In an interview with the Italian daily newspaper La Republica, Assad added that he did not think it necessary to break Syria’s strong ties with Iran in order to make peace with Israel.

RELATED:

World leaders line up to meet Assad

The Syrian president maintained in the interview that the US has lost its influence in the Middle East and should not be depended on to bring peace to the region.

Assad differentiated between US President Barack Obama, who he said brought hope to the Middle East, and the US itself. He claimed that Obama has good intentions, but is powerless to affect real change in the region because of the Congress and lobbies involved in decision making.

Assad denied Israeli claims that Syria supplied Hizbullah with Scud missiles. He maintains that these allegations are an Israeli diversion meant to avoid a peace settlement.

THE PERSIAN FOX WINS AGAIN!

Begin Excerpt from Al Jazeera via World News

Non-proliferation regime ‘bankrupt’

By Robert Grenier

The drama over the nuclear deal signed by Brazil, Turkey and Iran demonstrates one thing above all: The bankruptcy of the current non-proliferation regime dominated by the nuclear weapons states.

Last Monday’s announcement of Iran’s agreement to ship roughly half of its current stockpile of low-enriched uranium to Turkey in return for 20 per cent enriched uranium fuel rods suitable for Tehran’s research reactor came as an unwelcome surprise in the P-5 capitals – the five permanent members of the United Nations security council – despite the agreement’s resemblance to one negotiated last October by those very nations.

Status quo

The great powers’ response was not long in coming: The following day, word emerged that the P-5, including the Russians and Chinese, had agreed on a draft UN security council resolution tightening, at least marginally, existing nuclear-related international sanctions on Iran.

The two processes were not necessarily in conflict. But lest anyone miss the point, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, was quick to release a statement: “This announcement is as convincing an answer to the efforts undertaken by Tehran over the last few days as any we could have taken.”

The message from Clinton and the US could hardly have been clearer: ‘We like the current P-5-led global non-proliferation regime just fine, thank you, and we don’t need any credulous mid-level powers messing about with it.’

Rather than addressing the substance of what Brazil and Turkey were attempting to achieve, Washington – and by limited extension the rest of the P-5 – were implicitly suggesting that the fruit of their efforts was in fact due to effective manipulation on the part of Iran to avoid the looming specter of enhanced UN sanctions.

Confidence-building measure

To be sure, the Tehran agreement is of limited utility.

It does not address the fundamentals of Iran’s nuclear programme, nor does it do anything to enhance long-term international safeguards over Iranian nuclear activities consistent with its obligations under the 1970 Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) – of paramount concern given Tehran’s past pattern of duplicitous behaviour.

The agreement is best considered a confidence-building measure, and one which would help buy further time for a more effective negotiated agreement; but that is precisely what could be said of the original swap agreement negotiated last year, before the Iranians decided to back out.

Far more significant than the details of Monday’s agreement are the sentiments and principles which stand behind them – views which do not reside solely in Turkey and Brazil, but which are strongly shared by other emerging powers whose acceptance of, and complicity with, international non-proliferation efforts is critical to their long-term success.

Prominent among these non-aligned leaders are Egypt, Indonesia and South Africa.

Fearful nuclear have-nots

It is worth noting that both Turkey and Egypt, in particular, have strong reasons to fear Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon, which could threaten them directly and which would certainly have the effect of upsetting the power balance in their region.

Those fears are largely nullified, however, by the countervailing fear that efforts led by the US and the Western members of the nuclear weapons club ostensibly aimed at containing Iran would have the effect, whether intended or not, of creating precedents which would constrain their freedom to develop an independent nuclear power capability, albeit one under strict international inspections.

Indeed, the current tone and tenor of US-led efforts to strengthen international sanctions on Iran is increasing these fears among the nuclear have-nots.

By focusing almost exclusively on enforcement of current UN resolutions demanding the suspension of Iran’s uranium-enrichment activities, Washington is exacerbating international fears that its real intent is to permanently proscribe nuclear enrichment in Iran under any and all circumstances.

In fact, the only justification for those UN resolutions is that

they are designed to keep Iran from developing a complete nuclear fuel cycle capability in the absence of effective safeguards.

International coalition

Washington would be doing itself and its allies a great favour if it would keep its eye on the ball: That is Iranian acceptance and full implementation of the Additional Protocol of the NPT – something all concerned and responsible powers could accept and work effectively for in the Iranian context.

I have long said that the primary problem with the current effort to impose and enforce effective safeguards on Iran’s nuclear programme is not with its goals, but with who leads it: The P-5, plus Germany.

Why should those nations have an interest in policing Iran more compelling than that of the countries in the region – particularly those who, unlike Israel, lack a nuclear deterrent of their own

?

In the view of many countries, their compulsion – albeit only partially shared by Russia and China – is based on their perceived interest in preserving their own nuclear weapons monopoly, a monopoly which permits them to dictate to others, and which therefore fundamentally undermines the credibility of the international non-proliferation regime they purport to champion.

Rather than seeking to thwart the efforts of the Brazils and Turkeys of the world, the US and the rest of the P-5 should seek to reassure them of their rights under the NPT and to engage them effectively in international negotiating efforts.

The emerging powers will not support the non-proliferation regime if they believe it works against their interests.

On the other hand, their solidarity in legitimate international efforts to control nuclear weapons – including a credible process of nuclear weapons reductions among the current weapons states – would confront the Iranians with a far more effective international coalition and, thus, a far more compelling rationale for responsible behaviour.

Robert Grenier was the CIA’s chief of station in Islamabad, Pakistan, from 1999 to 2002.

He was also the director of the CIA’s counter-terrorism centre.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial policy.

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Retreating FROM A NATION’S Enemies

Has usually proven to be a Weakness

That Eventually LEADS TO ITS Demise!

U.S. is GIVING aid and comfort to Foes

While Putting the Squeeze on Israelis!

Charles Krauthammer Tells It Like It Is

In Excerpt Which Follows Our Heading!

May 24, 2010

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

OBAMA’S FRUITS OF WEAKNESS, CONFESSING TO ISLAM AMERICA’S MANY PAST FAILURES IN DEALING WITH THEIR CURTURE, ARE NOW COMING HOME TO ROOST AS A SIGN WE ARE FRIGHTENED CHICKENS.

THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD WILL LINE UP BEHIND AN ISLAMIC FOX, RATHER THAN THE CHICKENS ROOSTING IN THE HENHOUSE. WE ARE NOT DEALING WITH CHILDREN OF LIGHT. WE ARE DEALING WITH THE CHILDREN OF CARNAL DARKNESS, WHO BOW TO FORCE, CERTAINLY NOT TO WEAKNESS.

The children of darkness (this world) correctly identify political correctness

and a desire to negotiate as a sign of weakness, and have no respect nor a desire

to make concessions to them. This is particularly true of Middle East leaders. They have no respect for children of light dialogue, humility, or political correctness. They are wiser in the ways of this world than the children

of light.

Luke 16:8 – And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

The last statement in the lead paragraph of the following excerpt is well known by the trained negotiators of this world.

Begin lead paragraph from Kaieteur News Online

Negotiating from Weakness: Review of European Agreement Needed

April 25, 2010 By KNews

By Sir Ronald Sanders

“Negotiating from Weakness” is the title of a paper written by Scott Sinclair of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Basically, the paper argues that in current negotiations with the European Union for a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), Canada is negotiating from a position of weakness and this “is almost always a recipe for disaster”.

CANADA IS NEGOTIATING FROM A POSITION OF WEAKNESS AND THIS “IS ALMOST ALWAYS A RECIPE FOR DISASTER.”

Begin Excerpt from THE JERUSALEM POST via THE WASHINGTON POST

The fruits of weakness

By C. KRAUTHAMMER

May 23, 2010

Last week’s uranium deal maneuver between Iran, Brazil and Turkey demonstrates how traditional US allies have decided that there’s no profit in lining up with a president given to apologies and appeasement.

It is perfectly obvious that Iran’s latest uranium maneuver, brokered by Brazil and Turkey, is a ruse.

Iran retains more than enough enriched uranium to make a bomb. And it continues enriching at an accelerated pace and to a greater purity (20 percent). Which is why the French Foreign Ministry immediately declared that the trumpeted temporary shipping of some Iranian uranium to Turkey will do nothing to halt Iran’s nuclear program.

It will, however, make meaningful sanctions more difficult.

America’s proposed Security Council resolution is already laughably weak – no blacklisting of Iran’s central bank, no sanctions against Iran’s oil and gas industry, no nonconsensual inspections on the high seas.

Yet Turkey and Brazil – both current members of the Security Council – are so opposed to sanctions that they will not even discuss the resolution.

And China will now have a new excuse to weaken it further.

But the deeper meaning of the uranium-export stunt is the brazenness with which Brazil and Turkey gave cover to the mullahs’ nuclear ambitions and deliberately undermined US efforts to curb Iran’s program.

The real news is that already notorious photo: the president of Brazil, our largest ally in Latin America, and the prime minister of Turkey, for more than half a century the Muslim anchor of NATO, raising hands together with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the most virulently anti-American leader in the world.

THAT PICTURE – a defiant, triumphant take-that-Uncle-Sam – is a crushing verdict on President Barack Obama’s foreign policy. It demonstrates how rising powers, traditional American allies, having watched this administration in action, have decided that there’s no cost in lining up with America’s enemies and no profit in lining up with a US president given to apologies and appeasement.

They’ve watched Obama’s humiliating attempts to appease Iran, as every rejected overture is met with abjectly renewed US negotiating offers. American acquiescence reached such a point that the president was late, hesitant and flaccid in expressing even rhetorical support for democracy demonstrators who were being brutally suppressed and whose call for regime change offered the potential for the most significant US strategic advance in the region in 30 years.

They’ve watched America acquiesce to Russia’s re-exerting sway over Eastern Europe, over Ukraine (pressured by Russia last month into extending for 25 years its lease of the Black Sea naval base at Sevastopol) and over Georgia (Russia’s de facto annexation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia is no longer an issue under the Obama “reset” policy).

They’ve watched our appeasement of Syria, Iran’s agent in the Arab Levant – sending our ambassador back to Syria even as it tightens its grip on Lebanon, supplies Hizbullah with Scuds and intensifies its role as the pivot of the Iran-Hizbullah-Hamas alliance. The price for this ostentatious flouting of the US and its interests? Ever more eager US “engagement.”

They’ve observed the administration’s gratuitous slap at Britain over the Falklands, its contemptuous treatment of Israel, its undercutting of the Czech Republic and Poland and its indifference to Lebanon and Georgia. And in Latin America, they see not just US passivity as Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez organizes his anti-American “Bolivarian” coalition while deepening military and commercial ties with Iran

and Russia.

They saw active US support in Honduras for a pro-Chavez would-be dictator seeking unconstitutional powers in defiance of the democratic institutions of that country.

This is not just an America in decline. This is an America in retreat – accepting, ratifying and declaring its decline, and inviting rising powers to fill the vacuum.

Nor is this retreat by inadvertence. This is retreat by design and, indeed, on principle. It’s the perfect fulfillment of Obama’s adopted Third World narrative of American misdeeds, disrespect and domination from which he has come to redeem us and the world. Hence his foundational declaration at the UN General Assembly last September that “no one nation can or should try to dominate another nation” (guess who’s been the dominant nation for the last two decades?) and his dismissal of any “world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another.”

(NATO? The West?)

Eiven Obama’s policies and principles, Turkey and Brazil are acting rationally. Why not give cover to Ahmadinejad and his nuclear ambitions? As the US retreats in the face of Iran, China, Russia and Venezuela, why not hedge your bets? There’s nothing to fear from Obama, and everything to gain by ingratiating yourself with America’s rising adversaries. After all, they actually believe in helping one’s friends and punishing one’s enemies. – The Washington Post

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.