Arab Moderates Will Gradually Join The Extremists
Handwriting Now Stands Tall On The Proverbial Wall
U.S. Will Draw Into A Protective Shell As Arabs Prevail
When Israel is attacked the U.S. and others will Protest
But the end of the story is a Second Advent which is Best
Holy One long ago passed Law Test so our souls may Rest
August 13, 2008
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
Matthew 5:17,18 – Think not that I am come to destroy the law,
or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. [18] For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
John 19:30 – When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
I Corinthians 1:17,18 – For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. [18] For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
Galatians 3:24-26 – Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
[25] But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. [26] For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 2:20,21 – I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. [21] I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
Matthew 11:28 – Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
I am afraid the article which follows is correct in its prediction the Arab moderates will succumb to the extremist jihad pressures.
Regardless of whether we like it or not, the Middle East is headed for the first great caliphate since the last remnants of the first great caliphate died by the sword of Mongols in 1258 A.D.
The United States will continue its great naval forces and potential nuclear power, but we will withdraw into a shell at the very thought of sending our forces into foreign conflicts as we did in Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq. Defensive force maintenance YES, but body bag Offense NO!
People have asked me for years what we would do if Israel is attacked.
I have long answered – NOTHING Offensive!
Begin Excerpt from the Daily Star
In the Middle East, it’s the extremists who are prevailing
By Shlomo Ben Ami
THE DAILY STAR publishes this commentary in collaboration with Project Syndicate (c) (www.project-syndicate.org).
August 9, 2008
The pattern of policymaking in the Middle East, as it was defined since US President George W. Bush’s “axis of evil” speech of January 2002, is undergoing a momentous change of direction. Bush’s foreign-policy paradigm of an alliance of “moderates” to defeat the “extremists” – a model too enthusiastically seconded by an unimaginative Israeli leadership and by those Arabs (led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia) who dread the forces of radical change – has collapsed.
The “extremists,” whom Bush expected to be defeated through economic sanctions, diplomatic isolation and military action, have prevailed. It is the “moderates” who must now adapt their policies.
Israel and the United States failed resoundingly in their attempt to dislodge Hamas from Gaza, or in forcing it to accept conditions for an end to the international boycott.
Fearing the costs of an invasion of Gaza’s urban alleys, Israel handed a strategic victory to Hamas. It accepted a truce – brokered by an Egyptian government fearful of Iran’s influence in neighboring Gaza – that not only gave Hamas political legitimacy and undermined the international community’s policy of not negotiating with the fundamentalist group, but also allowed it to continue rearming. Indeed, Hamas now poses a strategic threat to Israel’s urban centers and military facilities.
Israel’s 2006 war against Hizbullah, supported by the United States and the entire Arab “moderate” camp, was no more successful.
In fact, Hizbullah is now not only militarily stronger than ever – Security Council Resolution 1701, which called for its disarmament, has proven to be an utter failure – but also more politically robust than before the war. Admirably adept at weaving together all of Lebanon’s political, religious, and nationalist threads, Hizbullah’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, is today the undisputed master of Lebanon.
The Syrian patron of Hizbullah, President Bashar Assad, another member of the “axis of evil,” is also doing well.
Not only Israel and the US, but also Egypt
and Saudi Arabia have hoped for the political demise of this friend of every radical regional cause – from Hamas and Iran to the anti-Western forces in Lebanon – that they oppose. But Assad managed to emerge from Syria’s forced withdrawal from Lebanon in 2005 to become the broker without whom a Lebanese government could not be created and a president could not be elected.
his, and the indirect negotiations with Israel that are now under way in Turkey – which Assad knows cannot produce major results, given Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s political weakness and Bush’s lame-duck status – have helped to open for Syria the gates of Europe, where he had also once been a pariah.
America’s drive to force Iran to stop its nuclear program through an ineffective sanctions regime has been no more successful than any of its other schemes to isolate the region’s extremists. Indeed, the US has now completely reversed its position of not negotiating with Iran until it stops uranium enrichment.
The participation of Under Secretary of State William Burns in the European dialogue with Iran, together with plans to station American diplomats in Tehran for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, represents a momentous shift in America’s policy, and also an indication to Israel to refrain from a military strike. Bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan, America is in no mood to open a third front against the Islamic world. The consequences of an Israeli attack on Iran “would be extremely stressful for us,” warned Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Michael Mullen.
With the defeat of his ideologically inspired foreign policy, Bush has finally decided not to remain blind to the benefits of engaging Iran and perhaps to a lesser extent Syria. However isolated within the Arab family the Syrians may be, and however embattled their Iranian allies are, the two countries hold the keys to Middle East stability. They are crucial players in Lebanon; they have a role to play in pacifying Iraq; they can influence a change of attitude of powerful and extremely destabilizing non-state actors like Hamas and Hizbullah; and their leverage on Hamas is vital for the stability of the Palestinian fr
ont. Engaging Iran is also the only way to stave off a nuclear apocalypse in the region.
Of course, the overall cooling of political tensions reflects the collapse of another misconception of the Bush administration – that the “axis of evil” is an irrational coalition interested only in spreading evil. Pursuing radical goals does not necessarily mean that a country will act irrationally.
Neither Syria nor Iran – in fact, not even North Korea – has an interest in being the pariahs of the world community, and each fully understands the economic consequences of isolation.
Their policies are about more than spreading terror and revolution; they are about promoting negotiable interests.
They are both mindful of the limits of the politics of destabilization, and they are clearly looking forward to a more dialogue-oriented American administration willing to address their political and strategic concerns.
Shlomo Ben-Ami a former Israeli foreign minister, is the vice-president of the Toledo International Center for Peace. He is the author of “Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli-Arab Tragedy.” THE DAILY STAR publishes this commentary in collaboration with Project Syndicate (c) (www.project-syndicate.org).
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