A Battle to pluck One Horn called Lebanon!
Things are heating up in Lebanon-Syria-Hizbullah Battle for Lebanon!
October 22, 2007
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
Daniel 7:8 – 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.
Things are heating up in the Middle East and Syria is imbedded in the midst of it all, as the three following articles attest.
Begin Haaretz Article
Report: Lebanese Druze leader to seek Barak’s help in toppling Syria gov’t
By Yoan Stern and Shmuel Rosner, Haaretz Correspondents
October 21, 2007
Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt will seek Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s help in toppling the Syrian government, the Syrian-based Web site “Sham Press” reported Sunday.
According to the report, Jumblatt will ask Barak to use his influence in Washington to work toward bringing down the Damascus regime during a meeting expected to take place in the United States.
The report also said that Barak and Jumblatt, who are currently visiting the U.S., will hold talks with the aid of an American of Lebanese origin, and with support from Vice President Dick Cheney.
In the past, Jumblatt was harshly criticized in Lebanon for his meetings with senior Israeli officials while traveling abroad.
Lebanese law forbids meetings with Israelis.
Barak left last week for an official visit to the U.S. On Friday, he left Washington D.C. for New York, where he met with UN Chief Ban Ki-Moon. This marks Barak’s first U.S. trip since taking office four months ago.
Barak met with senior congressional officials and discussed security issues in the Middle East, primarily the Iranian nuclear threat and the current tensions between Israel and Syria.
He also discussed security relations between Israel and the United States and the peace process with the Palestinians.
On Thursday Barak met with President George W. Bush for an hour-long meeting. The meeting, which was not originally scheduled for Barak’s U.S. visit, took place in the office of Stephen Hadley, the U.S. National Security Advisor, with whom Barak had planned to hold talks.
Begin Turkishnews.com Article
Assad: If Iraq Splits Up, The Region Will Explode
BY ERGUN BABAHAN
October 21, 2007
SABAH- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is uncomfortable about a possible military operation by Turkey into Iraq.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that he supports the terrorist PKK.
He’s afraid that such an operation could irreversibly upset the regional balances. In his own words, he doesn’t believe that Turkey has designs on Iraq. But he would prefer that the problem be solved through political, not military, means.
So when he was told about Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari urging the terrorist PKK to leave Iraq, he smiled and called this an important step.
Assad believes that the US is planning to establish an independent Kurdish state in the region. Calling the possible disintegration of Iraq a bomb which would blow up the Middle East, he urged all countries to support Iraq’s unity. He denied that in past years Syria served to headquarter the PKK. Stating that they were ready to discuss this issue, Assad tried to put a clear distance between himself and terrorism. He says that convicted PKK head Abdullah Ocalan was in Syria back in the ‘90s but that his country didn’t support him with money or weapons, unlike the actions of others today.
Assad summed up his attitude by saying that when Turkey expressed its discomfort about the PKK being on Syrian soil, Damascus asked itself if this matter was important enough to lose Turkey’s friendship, and so chose this friendship.
Now, some 10 years later, we have come to face new tensions over a neighboring country and terrorism, and the threat of using force has again forced the host country to act.
Unfortunately, the region we live in doesn’t make it easy to solve problems through political means. In this atmosphere, saber-rattling might be more effective than diplomatic methods. We hope the Iraqi administration understands Turkey’s determination. Actually, its ability to take effective measures against the terrorist PKK in northern Iraq is debatable.
But it’s even an important development that the people living in the region now see that they might be in trouble due to the terrorist group.
Here it’s very significant that it supports trying to cut monetary and military support to the group. A terrorist group whose financial and military support is cut is unlikely to survive for long. And obviously, there are a great many things which can be done about this by Washington.
Begin BBC News Article
Talabani chides Syria over Kurds
October 20, 2007
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has criticised Syria for its support for a possible Turkish intervention against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.
Mr Talabani, himself a Kurd, said comments by his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, represented “a dangerous crossing of red lines”.
The Turkish parliament has authorised cross-border raids, but the government says action is not imminent.
Ankara blames the rebels for attacks on soldiers and civilians inside Turkey.
Both the US and Iraq have urged Ankara to avoid military action which they fear could destabilise the entire region.
The president of the Kurdish region in northern Iraq, Massoud Barzani, has rejected accusations that his government provides cover for Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) fighters.
Arab unity ‘broken’
Mr Talabani’ s remark
s were published in the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat on Saturday.
“President Assad’s remarks are dangerous and run contrary to the spirit of Arab solidarity,” the Iraqi president said.
“Usually I would refrain from commenting on Syrian positions in order to preserve our historic ties, but this time I am unable to support this dangerous crossing of red lines.”
Mr Assad backed the Turkish threat during his visit to Ankara three days ago.
“It would have been better for him [President Assad] to say what the Americans and the Europeans have said, that it is better to adopt a political solution despite his understanding of the Turkish stance,” Mr Talabani said in his interview.
The Turkish prime minister has renewed calls on Washington and Baghdad to take action against the fighters, threatening to authorise military action if they do not.
But there is still more time and room for diplomacy, says the BBC’s Ian Pannell.
Turkey is hosting an important regional conference on Iraq early next month and it is difficult to see how Ankara could order its troops across the border before this takes place, our Middle East correspondent says.
The PKK has been fighting for autonomy in south-eastern Turkey since 1984 and more than 30,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
The PKK has been labelled a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and the EU.
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.