blog.Tribulationperiod.com

Do I support all U.S. and NATO Troops in Afghanistan? YES

Do I Pray For Forces In Afghanistan Against Taliban

? YES

Do I Think We Should Plan for Secure Withdrawal? YES

Can we Win a War for corrupt Afghanistan State? NO

Should we withdraw from Afghanistan in 2011? YES

Will a Middle East War Break Out Afterwards? YES

Will war begin between withdrawal & 2015? YES

Will the war end at Jesus’ Second Advent? YES

Is that why I want ground troops Home? YES

Anxious to go to my permanent Home? YES

December 4, 2010

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

The Afghanistan government is much more corrupt today than was the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the days of Isaiah.

Isaiah 5:18-20 – Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: [19] That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it! [20] Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Philippians 3:18-21 – (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: [19] Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) [20] For our CONVERSATION is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: [21] Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

The word translated as “conversation” means “permanent home address,” which is the permanent home for all believers.

Begin PostGazette.Com Excerpt from New York Times via World News

Cables Describe Scale of Afghan Corruption as Overwhelming

Thursday, December 02, 2010

By SCOTT SHANE, MARK MAZZETTI and DEXTER FILKINS, The New York Times

This article is by Scott Shane, Mark Mazzetti and Dexter Filkins.

WASHINGTON — From hundreds of diplomatic cables, Afghanistan emerges as a looking-glass land where bribery, extortion and embezzlement are the norm and the honest man is a distinct outlier.

Describing the likely lineup of Afghanistan’s new cabinet last January, the American Embassy noted that the agriculture minister, Asif Rahimi, “appears to be the only minister that was confirmed about whom no allegations of bribery exist.”

One Afghan official helpfully explained to diplomats the “four stages” at which his colleagues skimmed money from American development projects: “When contractors bid on a project, at application for building permits, during construction, and at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.” In a seeming victory against corruption, Abdul Ahad Sahibi, the mayor of Kabul, received a four-year prison sentence last year for “massive embezzlement.” But a cable from the embassy told a very different story: Mr. Sahibi was a victim of “kangaroo court justice,” it said,

in what appeared to be retribution for his attempt to halt a corrupt land-distribution scheme.

It is hardly news that predatory corruption, fueled by a booming illicit narcotics industry,

is rampant at every level of Afghan society. Transparency International, an advocacy organization that tracks government corruption around the globe, ranks Afghanistan as the world’s third most corrupt country, behind Somalia and Myanmar.

But the collection of confidential diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks and made available to a number of publications, offers a fresh sense of its pervasive nature, its overwhelming scale, and the dispiriting challenge it poses to American officials who have made shoring up support for the Afghan government a cornerstone of America’s counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan.

The cables make it clear that American officials see the problem as beginning at the top. An August 2009 report from Kabul complains that President Hamid Karzai and his attorney general “allowed dangerous individuals to go free or re-enter the battlefield without ever facing an Afghan court.” The embassy was particularly concerned that Mr. Karzai pardoned five border police officers caught with 124 kilograms (about 273 pounds) of heroin and intervened in a drug case involving the son of a wealthy supporter.

The American dilemma is perhaps best summed up in an October 2009 cable sent by Ambassador Karl W.

Eikenberry, written after he met with Ahmed Wali Karzai, the president’s half brother, the most powerful man in Kandahar and someone many American officials believe prospers from the drug trade.

“The meeting with AWK highlights one of our major challenges in Afghanistan: how to fight corruption and connect the people to their government, when the key government officials are themselves corrupt,” Ambassador Eikenberry wrote.

American officials seem to search in vain for an honest partner. A November 2009 cable described the acting governor of Khost Province, Tahir Khan Sabari, as “a refreshing change,” an effective and trustworthy leader. But Mr. Sabari told his American admirers that he did not have “the $200,000-300,000 for a bribe” necessary to secure the job permanently.

Ahmed Zia Massoud held the post of first vice president from 2004 to 2009; the brother of the Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud, he was discussed as a future president. Last year, a cable reported, Mr.

Massoud was caught by customs officials carrying $52 million in unexplained cash into the United Arab Emirates.

A diplomatic cable is not a criminal indictment, of course, and in an interview Mr. Massoud denied taking any money out of Afghanistan. “It’s not true,” he said. “Fifty-two million dollars is a pile of money as big as this room.” Yet while his official salary was a few hundred dollars a month, he lives in a waterfront house on Palm Jumeirah, a luxury Dubai community that is also home to other Afghan officials. When a reporter visited the dwelling this year, a Rolls-Royce was parked out front.

The cables describe a country where everything is for sale. The Transportation Ministry collects $200 million a year in trucking fees, but only $30 million is turned over to the g

overnment, according to a 2009 account to diplomats by Wahidullah Shahrani, then the commerce minister. As a result, “individuals pay up to $250,000 for the post heading the office in Herat, for example, and end up owning beautiful mansions as well as making lucrative political donations,” said Mr. Shahrani, who also identified 14 of Afghanistan’s governors as “bad performers and/or corrupt.”

Then again, another cable reports “rumors” that Mr. Shahrani himself “was involved in a corrupt oil import deal.” He denied the rumors, saying that they were inventions by two rivals who were “among the most corrupt in Afghanistan,” the cable said.

Pity the diplomat who must sort out whose version of reality to believe.

One cable reported the American ambassador’s attempt to size up Mr. Shahrani, who later became the minister of mines. “Ambassador Eikenberry noted Shahrani’s extravagant home, suggesting that the Afghans knew best who is corrupt,” the cable said.

The cables lay out allegations of bribes and profit-skimming in the organization of travel to Saudi Arabia for the hajj, or pilgrimage; in a scheme to transfer money via cellphones; in the purchase of wheat seed; in the compilation of an official list of war criminals; and in the voting in Parliament.

Dr. Sayed Fatimie, the minister of health, told diplomats in January that members of Parliament wanted cash to confirm his appointment. “Expressing shock at the blatancy of these extortion attempts, Fatimie said MPs had offered their own votes and the votes of others they could purportedly deliver for $1,000 apiece,” a cable said.

The case of the Kabul mayor, Mr. Sahibi, shows how complicated it can be to sort out corruption charges. A Jan. 7 cable signed by Ambassador Eikenberry gave an account sharply at odds with media reports, which treated the prosecution as a landmark in the campaign for honest government.

The cable, referring to embassy interviews with Mr. Sahibi, said the charges against him were based on a decision to lease a piece of city property to shopkeepers. Three months after the lease was signed, another bidder offered $16,000 more. The “loss” of the potential additional revenue became the “massive embezzlement” described by prosecutors, the cable said.

Mr. Sahibi told the Americans he had been summoned to appear in court on Dec. 7 to be assigned a hearing date. Instead, he said, he was given a four-year sentence and a $16,000 fine.

As for the motive behind his prosecution, Mr. Sahibi said that in less than two years as mayor “he had found files for approximately 32,000 applicants who paid for nonexistent plots of land in Kabul.” He said he halted the program and “invalidated the illegal claims of some important people,” who took their revenge with the bogus criminal case.

The embassy cable largely supported Mr.

Sahibi’s version of events, saying that the mayor’s “official decision may have antagonized powerful people who then sought the power of the state to discredit him.” Far from being a blow against corruption, the cable suggested, the case was a travesty of justice.

The widespread corruption is made possible in part by a largely unregulated banking infrastructure and the ancient hawala money transfer network that is the method of choice for politicians, insurgents and drug traffickers to move cash around the Muslim world.

Last year, a cable signed by Ambassador Eikenberry said that the hawala favored by the Afghan elite, New Ansari, “is facilitating bribes and other wide-scale illicit cash transfers for corrupt Afghan officials” and providing financial services to narco-traffickers through front companies in Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates. He asked Washington to send more investigators and wiretap analysts to assist nascent Afghan task forces that were examining New Ansari.

The anticorruption task forces already faced significant obstacles.

For instance, Afghanistan’s interior minister asked that the American government “take a low profile on the New Ansari case” to avoid the perception that investigations were being carried out “at the behest of the United States.”

Months later, when the New Ansari investigators carried out a predawn raid on the house of a top aide to President Karzai whom investigators heard soliciting a bribe on a wiretap, Mr. Karzai intervened to release the man from jail and threatened to take control of the anticorruption investigations. In November, the Afghan government dropped all charges against the aide.

The resulting standoff between Kabul and Washington forced the Obama administration to take stock of its strategy: was trying to root out corruption, at the risk of further alienating Mr.

Karzai, really worth it? And with American troops set to begin leaving Afghanistan next summer, and the American public having long ago lost the appetite for nation-building, was trying to root out corruption a Sisyphean task?

In September, President Obama acknowledged the dilemma. “Are there going to be occasions where we look and see that some of our folks on the ground have made compromises with people who are known to have engaged in corruption?” he asked. “There may be occasions where that happens.”

A February cable described exactly such a compromise, reporting on a police chief at a border crossing in southern Afghanistan, Col.

Abdul Razziq, who was reputed to be corrupt — and good at his job.

Western officials, it said, “walk a thin tightrope when working with this allegedly corrupt official who is also a major security stabilizing force.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

First published on December 2, 2010 at 11:51 pm

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An Iranian Facility Kept Secret from All Security Agencies

Enriched Uranium In Order To Build A Nuclear Weapon

Location of Plant and Nuclear Scientists now Known!

December 4, 2010

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Excerpt from MEMRI

Middle East Media Research Institute

Amir Hossein Shirani, Abducted Employee at Secret Iranian Nuclear Plant, Reveals Location of Plant and of Nuclear Scientists, Says: The Facility Enriched Uranium in Order to Build a Nuclear Weapon

Special Dispatch No. 3414

December 1, 2010

Following are excerpts from an interview with Amir Hossein Shirani, an employee at a secret Iranian nuclear plant, who was abducted by the Sunni Baluchi opposition group Jundallah.

The interview aired on Al-Arabiya TV

on November 27, 2010.

Amir Hossein Shirani: “In the name of God the Merciful the Compassionate, my name is Amir Hossein Shirani, son of Mohammad. My ID number is 2428, and I was born in 1971. I have a bachelor’s degree.

“Thanks to a relative of mine, engineer Ahmad Soltani, who directed a secret nuclear facility, I worked there for three years.

While I was working there, I noticed that this facility was used for uranium enrichment, needed for the building of a nuclear weapon. The facility was kept secret from all the security agencies.”

Interviewer: “What topics were discussed at meetings in this facility?”

Amir Hossein Shirani: “In this secret facility, meetings were held, and I participated in many of them due to my relation to engineer Soltani. At these meetings, Mr. Soltani and other engineers would say that since our enemies, like America and Israel, have atomic weapons – atomic bombs – we too must obtain such a bomb, and that since our neighboring country Pakistan has obtained such a weapon, we too must obtain it.

They said that our status must not be inferior to that of Pakistan.”

Interviewer: “What people were in charge of this facility? Can you name them?”

Amir Hossein Shirani: “The names of the engineers and the heads of the facility are, for example, engineer Aghazadeh, a.k.a. Hajji, who was general supervisor and inspector of all the workshops.

He would travel once a week from Tehran to Esfahan to conduct the inspection.

“Engineer Ahmad Soltani, who lives on Upper Charbagh Street in Esfahan, was the head of the workshop in which I used to work.

“Engineer Reza Pasandi, one of the engineers and Soltani’s advisors, lives on Charbagh Street, in Esfahan.

“Engineer Ali Farahamnd, one of Soltani’s advisors and experts, lives on Khadjou Street in Esfahan.

“Engineer Mohammad Tavakkoli lives in Darvazeh Shiraz in Esfahan.

“Engineer Ghanbarian and engineer Ghassemi, who are among the experts in the facility, live in an apartment building on Abbasabbad Street in Esfahan.

“Engineer Adeli lives in Shahin Shahr north-east of Esfahan.”

Interviewer: “How many people work in this facility?”

Amir Hossein Shirani: “There are three shifts a day, and fifty people work in each shift. They work around the clock, enriching uranium.”

Interveiwer: “What is the exact address of this facility?”

Amir Hossein Shirani: :It is 15 km south-east of Esfahan, opposite a village called Baran Shomali.”

Interveiwer: “What institutions would send people to monitor this facility?”

Amir Hossein Shirani: “People would come from various institutions, such as the Leader’s office, from the President’s office, the Intelligence Ministry, and the IRGC.”

Interviewer: “They say that they do not want to manufacture nuclear weapons, but use it only for agricultural, medical, and industrial purposes.

Can you confirm the claims of Iran?”

Amir Hossein Shirani: “No, during the time that I was working at this facility, such peaceful purposes were not discussed in the meetings and were not evident.

All they did was to enrich uranium night and day, in an effort to obtain a nuclear bomb, in order to threaten the Arab countries and the world.” […]

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

the included information for research and educational purposes.

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The Iranian Assassins and Future Iraq Takeover

Will add another toe to Daniel 2 great Statue

As another Horn to Daniel 7 Beast of East

That’s a Revelation 13 & 17 Beast Horn

Since God Shall Put it in Their Hearts

Until God’s words shall be Fulfilled

Then Jesus’ Kingdom Will Come

With Him at His 2nd Advent!

December 3, 2010

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

Revelation 17:12,13,17 – And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

[13] These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto

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

Daniel 2:44 – And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it

shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

Daniel 7:27 – 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 everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

Zechariah 14:16 – And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship

the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

Zechariah 14:9 – And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.

Begin Excerpt from Al-Sharq al-Awsat via MEMRI

Middle East Media Research Institute

December 2, 2010

Allawi Was Invited To Tehran To Meet Qods Brigade Head – But Refused

Diplomatic messages leaked by WikiLeaks have revealed a close relationship between senior Iraqi leaders, including the president and the prime minister, and the head of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Qods Brigade, Qassim Suleimani (see WikiLeaks Reveals Close Relationship Between Iraqi Leaders, Iranian Intelligence).

Al-Iraqiya leader Ayad Allawi told the daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat that the leaked messages prove the naked interference of Iran in the domestic affairs of Iraq, including expressing a preference for certain groups or opposition to others.

Allawi says that he had been invited to Tehran to meet with Suleimani but he refused to do so.

His answer in his words: “Why would I go Iran to meet with an Iranian intelligence officer

? … I proposed that if Iran wants to meet, let’s do so in an Arab country of their choice and to speak openly about the problems and fears of both parties.”

[ The Washington Post reported November 29 that Iranian operatives were ordered to assassinate Allawi and other members of his bloc.

Al-Iraqiya, with its Sunni majority, remains the major political group in Iraq with stated anti-Iranian views.]

Source: Al-Sharq al-Awsat, December 2, 2010

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The Horns on the Beast of the East are Sprouting,

And the Toes on the Statue are all Wiggling,

Fullness of Gentile Age now coming In,

To Close at Jesus’ Second Advent,

The Beast, False Prophet, Army,

Are Judged at the last Battle,

OF Armageddon BY Christ!

December 3, 2010

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

THE TOES FOLLOWED BY CHRIST’S KINGDOM

Daniel 2:42-44 – And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and

part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. [43] And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. [44] And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

THE HORNS FOLLOWED BY CHRIST’S KINGDOM

Daniel 7:24-27 – And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. [25] And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. [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 everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

THE INIQUITY OF THE GENTILES IS FULL AT ARMAGEDDON

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.

A PROMISE OF GOD TO REPAY THOSE WHO HATE HIM

Deuteronomy 7:6-10 – For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

[7] The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: [8] But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto

your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. [9] Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; [10] And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.

Zechariah 2:8 – For thus saith the Lord of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.

THE JUDGMENT BY CHRIST AT THE LAST BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON

Revelation 19:19-21 – And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. [20] And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast,

and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

[21] And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

THE 10 TOES ON THE STATUE AND 10 HORNS ON THE BEAST ARE:

Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, Lebanon, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Eight of them are mentioned in this Excerpt, only Sudan and Algeria do not appear.

Begin Excerpt from Gulf News via World News

Lebanon’s behind-the-scenes players

As the world focuses on the Syrian-Saudi dialogue, Turkey and Iran hold the key to making any political deal work.

By Sami Moubayed, Special to Gulf News

Published: 00:00 November 30, 2010

There has been much talk about Syrian-Saudi dialogue over Lebanon, but very little focus on Turkish-Iranian understanding over the tiny Mediterranean country. Last week, however, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a groundbreaking visit to Beirut, followed this week by his Lebanese counterpart Sa’ad Hariri’s equally historic visit to Tehran.

At first glance, the common drive behind this shuttle diplomacy is fairly clear: the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) which many fear will name senior Hezbollah figures in the 2005 murder of Lebanon’s former prime minister Rafik Hariri.

Both Turkey and Iran are trying to use their heavyweight influence in the international community to postpone indictments in the Hariri Affair, expected anytime between now and next March.

Both of them, however, are handling Lebanon at a macro-level, preferring to leave details of any broad deal between Hariri and Hezbollah to the Syrians and Saudis. A closer look, however, tells another side of the story, complementing what is being engineered by Damascus and Riyadh.

When the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power, many coined its new foreign policy, via the neighbourhood, as neo-Ottomanism, suggesting the revival of Turkish cultural, political and economic influence over former territories of the Ottoman Empire. Many wrongly interpreted Erdogan’s policy towards the Arab world as purely a Syrian-Turkish alliance. By nature of his new orientation, Erdogan was striving to resto

re Turkey to its rightful place amongst Arab and Muslim nations, and that by no means stops at the gates of Damascus. It is a policy that embraces Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Iraq and, of course, Lebanon.

Almost a year ago, Erdogan received Hariri in Turkey, where the two leaders agreed to boost technical and scientific cooperation in military affairs and lift visa requirements between Lebanon and Turkey. Bilateral trade, which stood at $225 million (Dh825.75 million) in 2002, now stands at $900 million.

It also means that Turkey has now lifted visa requirements with six Arab countries, the others being Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan and Syria. Erdogan best explained it by saying that a “regional Schengen” system, similar to the agreement signed between European countries in Luxembourg in 1985, has now gone into effect in the region, removing border controls between these countries — making them closer to how they had been under the Ottoman Empire.

Erdogan’s latest visit to Beirut follows similar visits in 2007 and 2008. During the war of 2006 and its aftermath, he sent 600 Turkish troops to take part in peacekeeping on the Lebanese-Israeli border by Unifil. Erdogan saw to it that $50 million worth of aid was given to reconstruct southern Lebanon, along with building 41 schools, five parks and a rehabilitation centre worth $20 million.

On the Iranian side, Tehran has also made it clear that it wants to maintain a strong influence: economic, political, and social and has the advantage of a 20-year precedence over Turkey in Lebanese affairs. It achieved that with thundering success through non-state players like Hezbollah since the end of the Civil War and is now seeking to establish sound institutional ties through Lebanese officialdom.

According to Iranian sources in Beirut, the trade volume between the two countries has the potential to reach $10 billion annually. Iran is already heavily involved in academic, cultural and religious exchanges with entire districts in South Lebanon.

Some might wrongly say that “competition” for Lebanon is under way between Turkey and Iran, but the term is grossly exaggerated given that it is not in Turkey’s interest. Besides, Ankara doesn’t have the ability to venture so strongly into territories regarded for years as spheres of influence for Tehran in the Arab world.

Both countries, however, clearly have a well-planned agenda for the Arab world. Both are regional superpowers with the ability to deliver, and both happen to share similar political views — if not approaches — on several issues related to the Palestinian cause, Hamas, and Hezbollah.

Today the two countries find yet another commonality in wanting to shelter Lebanon from the STL, seeing that indictments against Hezbollah members could spell disaster for the entire neighbourhood. Erdogan has the ear of Hariri while Hassan Nasrallah always listens to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Deal in the making

Syria and Saudi Arabia are trying to hammer out a deal that focuses on postponing the STL indictments and getting Hariri to relinquish his country’s political, financial and legal commitments to the STL. This has to be done, all parties are told, before the STL issues its indictments. Hariri would also be asked to reaffirm his commitment to “protecting and embracing the arms” of Hezbollah, and to take serious action against false witnesses in the Hariri Affair. When he does that, Hezbollah will see to it that he is empowered as a national leader in Lebanon, that his cabinet is preserved through a truce between all parties that will last until the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections.

Turkey can provide the Lebanese with plenty of business opportunities to distract them from bickering among themselves, while Iran can make sure that any deal signed off by Saudi Arabia and Syria, is upheld and respected by Hezbollah. Syria and Saudi Arabia will do the rest.

Sami Moubayed is editor-in-chief of Forward Magazine.

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CASTING OUT AN ISLAMIC JINN

EXCERPT FROM JERUSALEM POST

FOLLOWS THE WIKIPEDIA EXCERPT

December 2, 2010

http://www.tribulationperiod.com/

During my years of association with the Islamic populations I learned a lot about their beliefs, but I didn’t know much about the jinn until a granddaughter and her husband kept an Islamic exchange student in their home. We would have him in our home on Sundays, and it was from him I learned about the jinn. He was scared to death of the jinn. They are the equivalent of what we would call demons.

Begin Excerpt from Wikipedia

Jinn or genies are supernatural creatures in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings which occupy a parallel world to that of mankind. Together, jinn, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of Allah. According to the Qur’ān, there are two creations that have free will: humans and jinn. Religious sources say barely anything about them; however, the Qur’an mentions that jinn are made of smokeless flame or “the fire of a scorching wind”. They have the ability to change their shape.

Like human beings, the jinn can also be good, evil, or neutrally benevolent

The jinn are mentioned frequently in the Qur’an, and there is a surah entitled Sūrat al-Jinn in the Quran.

[——]

Arabic lexicons such as Edward William Lane’s Arabic-English Lexicon define jinn not only as spirits, but also anything concealed through time, status, and even physical darkness.

The word genie in English is derived from Latin genius, which meant a sort of tutelary or guardian spirit thought to be assigned to each person at their birth. English borrowed the French descendant of this word, génie; its earliest written attestation in English, in 1655, is a plural spelled “genyes.” The French translators of The Book of One Thousand and One Nights used génie as a translation of jinnī because it was similar to the Arabic word in sound and in meaning. This use was also adopted in English and has since become dominant.

In Arabic, the word jin n is

in the collective number, translated in English as plural (e.g., “several genies”); jinnī is in the singulative number, used to refer to one individual, which is translated by the singular in English (e.g., “one genie”). Therefore, the word ‘jinn’ in English writing is treated as a plural.

Existence and usage of genies in other cultures

In Guanche mythology from Tenerife in the Canary Islands, there existed the belief in beings that are similar to genies, such as the maxios or dioses paredros (‘attendant gods’, domestic and nature spirits) and tibicenas (evil genies), as well as the demon Guayota (aboriginal god of evil) that, like the Arabic Iblis, is sometimes identified with a genie.[6]

In Judeo-Christian mythology, the word or concept of jinn as such does not occur in the original Hebrew text of the Bible, but the Arabic word jinn is often used in several old Persian and Arabic translations.

Jinn in the pre-Islamic era

Amongst archaeologists dealing with ancient Middle Eastern cultures, any spirit lesser than angels is often referred to as a jinni, especially when describing stone carvings or other forms of art.

Inscriptions found in Northwestern Arabia seem to indicate the worship of jinn, or at least their tributary status. For instance, an inscription from Beth Fasi’el near Palmyra pays tribute to the “Jinnaye”, the “good and rewarding gods”.[7]

In the following verse, the Qur’an rejects the worship of jinn and stresses that only God should be worshiped:

“Yet they make the jinn equals with Allah, though Allah did create the jinn; and they falsely, having no knowledge, attribute to Him sons and daughters. Praise and glory be to Him! (for He is) above what they attribute to Him!” (Qur’an 6:100)

Types of jinn include the shayṭān, the ghūl, the marīd, the ‘ifrīt, and the jinn. According to the information in the Arabian Nights, ‘ifrits seem to be the strongest form of jinn, followed by marids, and then the rest of the jinn forms.

Jinn in Islam

In Islamic theology jinn are said to be creatures with free will, made from smokeless fire by Allah as humans were made of clay.[8] According to the Qur’an, jinn have free will, and Iblis abused this freedom in front of Allah by refusing to bow to Adam when Allah ordered angels and jinn to do so. For disobeying Allah, he was expelled from Paradise and called “Shayṭān” (Satan). Jinn are frequently mentioned in the Qur’an: Surah 72 (n amed

Sūrat al-Jinn) is named after the jinn, and has a passage about them. Another surah (Sūrat al-Nās) mentions jinn in the last verse. The Qur’an also mentions that Muhammad was sent as a prophet to both “humanity and the jinn,” and that prophets and messengers were sent to both communities.

Similar to humans, jinn have free will allowing them to do as they choose (such as follow any religion). They are usually invisible to humans, and humans do not appear clearly to them. Jinn have the power to travel large distances at extreme speeds and are thought to live in remote areas, mountains, seas, trees, and the air, in their own communities. Like humans, jinn will also be judged on the Day of Judgment and will be sent to Paradise or Hell according to their deeds.

Classifications and characteristics

The social organization of the jinn community resembles that of humans; e.g., they have kings, courts of law, weddings, and mourning rituals.

A few traditions (hadith), divide jinn into three classes: those who have wings and fly in the air, those who resemble snakes and dogs, and those who travel about ceaselessly. Other reports claim that ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mas‘ūd (d. 652), who was accompanying Muhammad when the jinn came to hear his recitation of the Qur’an, described them as creatures of different forms; some resembling vultures and snakes, others tall men in white garb. They may even appear as dragons, onagers, or a number of other animals. In addition to their animal forms, the jinn occasionally assume human form to mislead and destroy their human victims.

Certain hadiths have also claimed that the jinn may subsist on bones, which will grow flesh again as soon as

they touch them, and that their animals may live on dung, which will revert to grain or grass for the use of the jinn flocks.
Ibn Taymiyyah believed the jinn were generally “ignorant, untruthful, oppressive and treacherous”.

Ibn Taymiyyah believes that the jinn account for much of the “magic” perceived by humans, cooperating with magicians to lift items in the air unseen, delivering hidden truths to fortune tellers, and mimicking the voices of deceased humans during seances.

Qarīn

A related belief is that every person is assigned one’s own special jinnī, also called a qarīn, of the jinn that whisper to people’s souls and tell them to submit to evil desires. However, the notion of a qarīn is not universally accepted amongst all Muslims. But it is generally accepted that Shayṭān whispers in human minds, and he is assigned to each human being.

Relationship of King Solomon and the genies

According to traditions, the jinn stood behind the learned humans in Solomon’s court, who in turn, sat behind the prophets. The jinn remained in the service of Solomon, who had placed them in bondage, and had ordered them to perform a number of tasks.

“…and there were jinn that worked in front of him, by the leave of his Lord,” (Qur’an 13:12)

“And before Solomon were marshalled his hosts,- of jinn and men and birds, and they were all kept in order and ranks.” (Quran 27:17)

The Qur’an relates that Solomon died while he was leaning on his staff.

As he remained upright, propped on his staff, the jinn thought he was still alive and supervising them, so they continued to work.

They realized the truth only when God sent a creature to crawl out of the ground and gnaw at Solomon’s staff until his body collapsed. The Qur’an then comments that if they had known the unseen, they would not have stayed in the humiliating torment of being enslaved.

“Then, when We decreed (Solomon’s) death, nothing showed them his death except a little worm of the earth, which kept (slowly) gnawing away at his staff: so when he fell down, the jinn saw plainly that if they had known the unseen, they would not have tarried in the humiliating Penalty (of their Task).” Qur’an 34:14)

Esoteric theories

In 1998, Pakistani nuclear scientist Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood proposed in a Wall Street Journal interview that jinn (described in the Qur’ān as beings made of fire) could be tapped to solve the energy crisis. “I think that if we develop our souls, we can develop communication with them. … Every new idea has its opponents, but there is no reason for this controversy over Islam and science because there is no conflict between Islam and science.” [24]

Begin Excerpt from THE JERUSALEM POST

Releasing the jinn

By RUTH EGLASH

12/02/2010 00:37

[——-]

A group of pioneering religious leaders from Israel’s Arab community is paving the way in tackling the stigma of mental illness.

Luckily, for Diab and the other JDC organizers, their struggle for recognition has been encouraged by the support of Dr. Ziad Abu Moch, the Interior Ministry’s director of Muslim affairs, who describes this program as revolutionary in the Islamic community here and in the Arab world in general.

“Arab society is afraid to deal with mental illness; it is something that is hidden and there is a real lack of awareness and confusion about this topic,” says Abu Moch, who is responsible for some 320 state salaried imams that head mosques across the country.

“After our success with the previous program for people with physical disabilities, we felt that we had a responsibility to run a similar course about mental health disabilities.

At first we debated whether we should do it because we know this is a very deep issue, but we realized that we do not have the right to neglect one whole group of people.”

He says that the main barrier to understanding mental illness is the Islamic belief in jinni – spirits from another world who can sometimes be good, but most often are bad and are likely to wreak havoc if left unchallenged.

“There is a lot of confusion on this issue,” Abu Moch explains. “In Islam we believe in jinni; they are written about in the Koran, and often people see mental illness as being caused by a jinn but it is a scientific or medical condition that can be dealt with by medicine.”

In this case, he theorizes, the Koran dictates that if a person suffering from a medical disorder – this includes mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or depression – he “must” seek medication.

“Mental health disabilities are a disorder in the brain and therefore people suffering from them must be treated by a doctor,” he says, adding quickly, “it is fine for an imam to read sections of the Koran to help the sick person spiritually, but this has to be done in conjunction with providing medication too.”

[——-]

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