Everything is heading for the Last Roundup
August 31, 2008
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
Every new event in the Middle East, and on the international scene for the last five months, has strengthened my belief that an attack against Israel, by the forces of Islam, will occur at some point in time between 2010 and 2015 and, once it
occurs, the last roundup of three and one half years of
the Gentile Age will begin, terminating at Armageddon.
Begin Excerpt 1 from Gulf News via World News
Syria, Iran warm to Russia as US tensions grow
From Gulf News
08/28/2008 07:33 PM | AP
Beirut: Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad has publicly stepped up his outreach to old ally Russia in recent days, seeking aid to build up Syrian military forces and offering Moscow help in return, in an apparent effort to exploit a new Russian-American rift.
US officials have noticed, with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warning Mideast leaders this week that they should worry about Syria’s efforts to gain more sophisticated weapons.
Syria’s long-term aim, however, remains unclear, in part because Assad also continues to pursue peace efforts with Israel – a key US and European goal – even as he makes overtures to Russia that are sure to antagonise the West.
Syria has a long history of apparently contradictory diplomatic moves as it maneuvers to find options and balance its interests.
Yet the latest Syrian moves feed directly into larger Western fears that the Russian-American standoff – prompted by Russia’s invasion of Georgia – could lead Russia to provide more military and diplomatic aid to a host of countries and militant groups the United States sees as troublesome.
“The Russian move into Georgia has begun a tectonic shift in the (Mideast) region,” said Joshua Landis, a Syria expert in the United States.
“It has emboldened Syria, Hezbollah and Iran to push harder against Israel and the US.”
Some military officials in Iran have, like Syria, openly supported Russian actions in Georgia, although Iran’s Foreign Ministry called the clashes merely a result of miscalculations by “powers” and called for dialogue.
Some Iranian media have gone further, asserting Russia is now less likely to back US-led efforts to pressure Iran to curb its nuclear programme.
The Russian ambassador to Iran, Alexander Sadovnikov, told the official IRNA news agency this weekend that Moscow won’t support a new round of UN Security Council sanctions against Iran. But that position did not appear to be a direct result of the new Russia-US tensions, because Russia often calls publicly for dialogue.
IRNA quoted the ambassador as saying, “Russia is never after a new (sanctions) resolution. We hope constant contacts between Iran and the IAEA (the UN nuclear agency) will lead to a realistic solution, guaranteeing that Iran is not after nuclear weapons technology.
Begin Excerpt 2 from The Star Online > Worldupdates via World News
Wednesday August 20, 2008 MYT 3:32:12 PM
Syria hopes to expand military ties with Russia
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday he will use a visit to Russia to expand military ties with Moscow, whose arms sales to the Middle Eastern state have angered Israel and the United States.
He told Russia’s Kommersant
newspaper that Russia’s conflict with Georgia, in which Moscow says Georgia used Israeli-supplied equipment, underlined the need for Russia and Syria to tighten their defence cooperation.
Al-Assad is expected to have talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during his visit this week.
“Of course military and technical cooperation is the main issue. Weapons purchases are very important,” he said. “I think we should speed it up. Moreover, the West and Israel continue to put pressure on Russia.”
Russia’s military said this week Israel supplied
military vehicles and explosives to Georgia and helped train its army.
Israel says it does not supply arms to other countries as a government but private firms conduct equipment sales and training with the defence ministry’s approval.
Assad said Israel’s role would only encourage countries like Syria — a U.S. foe and ally of Iran — to step up cooperation with Russia.
“I think that in Russia and in the world everyone is now aware of Israel’s role and its military consultants in the Georgian crisis,” Assad told Kommersant.
“And if before in Russia there were people who thought these forces can be friendly then now I think no one thinks that way.”
Israel has long urged Russia not to sell weapons to Syria.
Damascus was a Moscow ally during the Cold War and is now key to the Kremlin’s ambitions to reviving its Soviet-era role in the region.
The West and NATO have sharply criticised Russia over its military action in Georgia this month.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Russia was turning into an outlaw in the conflict and accused Moscow of targeting civilians in Georgia.
The conflict between Georgia and Russia erupted when Georgia tried to reimpose control over the breakaway, pro-Russian South Ossetia region earlier this month. Russia responded with a counter-attack that overwhelmed Georgian forces.
Russia then moved troops beyond South Ossetia and a second separatist region, Abkhazia, and deep into Georgian territory
Begin Excerpt 3 from Haaretz via Jerusalem Center for Public Information – Daily Alert
Assad Working Post-Georgia World to His Advantage
Aluf Benn
August 29, 2008
The old world, where America ruled by dint of its military and economic might, and preached to others in the name of fighting terror and spreading democracy, is yielding to a bipolar system. In the new world, starring leaders like Vladimir Putin, Hu Jintao, Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, there is no meaning to noble ideals, only to power. The leader who understood the significance of the change better than others, and is working to leverage it to his advantage, is Syrian President Bashar Assad. Searching for allies, Assad is putting Syria up for sale. Assad was quick to take Russia’s part in its war with Georgia, lent it public support, and agreed to heighten Russia’s naval presence at its port in the city of Tartus. (Ha’aretz)
Begin Excerpt 4 from YNet News via Jerusalem Center for Public Information – Daily Alert
Report: Iran Supplied Hizbullah with Advanced Missiles
Roee Nahmias
(Ynet News)
Iran has supplied Hizbullah with missiles equipped with advanced navigation mechanisms which can accurately hit extensive targets inside Israel, the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi reported Friday, quoting Arab sources.
In addition, the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Siyasa reported Tuesday that 300 Iranian experts were working to build an array of antiaircraft missile installations on the mountain range in western Lebanon.
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