September 10, 2013

The Real reason for Syrian Conflict, GAS, and What Bible Says About Syria/Turkey/Israel/World

WND EXCLUSIVE

Is this what Syria war really about?

Major oil, gas interests run through Middle East nation


Read more at http://mobile.wnd.com/2013/09/is-this-what-syria-war-really-about/#iB7oRlq11QYvwcpF.99


    September 2, 2013

    Both (many) Sides of Syrian War

    Both (many) Sides of Syrian War By: Michael Tobin
     
    Before delving into the below article from the Washington Post, keep in mind these observations, as well as the fact that all sides are all self-serving and will war against the sides they are working with currently:  Russia wants to contract with governments from Qatar up through Syria liquid gas and oil pipelines to secure gas revenue. Arabia and the U.S. doesn't want that. Syria's support of Hezbollah is what Israel is against and U.S. is obligated to protect Israel's valid interests against terrorism. It is unwise for us to act in ours and Arabia's interests at the expense of supporting non Syrian terrorists disguising their acts as Syrian civil war, and evidence of Christian churches being destroyed by these terrorists who will also further turn toward Israel's destruction along with Turkey's backing, and likely allied by Russia and China. So one more point: Turkey may invade Syria with or without U.S. allied backing. Then turn toward Israel (though they are supposedly allies) without our backing, because Turkey is against both Syria AND Israel. Also, no Syrians are rebels. They consist of terrorists who are from other Arab/African and Middle Eastern countries, which makes this fighting an outside takeover and not a civil war or revolution. There are a few Syrian stragglers who have joined the rebels, but the rebels are Al-Qaeda mostly from Libya backed by the Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Qaeda from Iraq and recently Saudi Arabia have joined the fight. Hezbollah from Iran and Sudan are fighting against the Al-Qaeda rebels. These are the same nations mentioned in Ezekiel 38:5 and 13 that Turkey leads into Israel!

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/08/29/9-questions-about-syria-you-were-too-embarrassed-to-ask/

    9 questions about Syria you were too embarrassed to ask


    syriaForMax (2) The United States and allies are preparing for a possibly imminent series of limited military strikes against Syria, the first direct U.S. intervention in the two-year civil war, in retaliation for President Bashar al-Assad’s suspected use of chemical weapons against civilians.
    If you found the above sentence kind of confusing, or aren’t exactly sure why Syria is fighting a civil war, or even where Syria is located, then this is the article for you. What’s happening in Syria is really important, but it can also be confusing and difficult to follow even for those of us glued to it.
    Here, then, are the most basic answers to your most basic questions. First, a disclaimer: Syria and its history are really complicated; this is not an exhaustive or definitive account of that entire story, just some background, written so that anyone can understand it.
    Read the rest of our “9 questions you were too embarrassed to ask” series here
    1. What is Syria?
    Syria is a country in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It’s about the same size as Washington state with a population a little over three times as large – 22 million.  Syria is very diverse, ethnically and religiously, but most Syrians are ethnic Arab and follow the Sunni branch of Islam. Civilization in Syria goes back thousands of years, but the country as it exists today is very young. Its borders were drawn by European colonial powers in the 1920s.
    Syria is in the middle of an extremely violent civil war. Fighting between government forces and rebels has killed more 100,000 and created 2 million refugees, half of them children.
    2. Why are people in Syria killing each other?
    The killing started in April 2011, when peaceful protests inspired by earlier revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia rose up to challenge the dictatorship running the country. The government responded — there is no getting around this — like monsters. First, security forces quietly killed activists. Then they started kidnapping, raping, torturing and killing activists and their family members, including a lot of children, dumping their mutilated bodies by the sides of roads. Then troops began simply opening fire on protests. Eventually, civilians started shooting back.
    Fighting escalated from there until it was a civil war. Armed civilians organized into rebel groups. The army deployed across the country, shelling and bombing whole neighborhoods and towns, trying to terrorize people into submission. They’ve also allegedly used chemical weapons, which is a big deal for reasons I’ll address below. Volunteers from other countries joined the rebels, either because they wanted freedom and democracy for Syria or, more likely, because they are jihadists who hate Syria’s secular government. The rebels were gaining ground for a while and now it looks like Assad is coming back. There is no end in sight.
    3. That’s horrible. But there are protests lots of places. How did it all go so wrong in Syria? And, please, just give me the short version.
    That’s a complicated question, and there’s no single, definitive answer. This is the shortest possible version — stay with me, it’s worth it. You might say, broadly speaking, that there are two general theories. Both start with the idea that Syria has been a powder keg waiting to explode for decades and that it was set off, maybe inevitably, by the 2011 protests and especially by the government’s overly harsh crackdown.
    Before we dive into the theories, you have to understand that the Syrian government really overreacted when peaceful protests started in mid-2011, slaughtering civilians unapologetically, which was a big part of how things escalated as quickly as they did. Assad learned this from his father. In 1982, Assad’s father and then-dictator Hafez al-Assad responded to a Muslim Brotherhood-led uprising in the city of Hama by leveling entire neighborhoods. He killed thousands of civilians, many of whom had nothing to do with the uprising. But it worked, and it looks like the younger Assad tried to reproduce it. His failure made the descent into chaos much worse.
    Okay, now the theories for why Syria spiraled so wildly. The first is what you might call “sectarian re-balancing” or “the Fareed Zakaria case” for why Syria is imploding (he didn’t invent this argument but is a major proponent). Syria has artificial borders that were created by European colonial powers, forcing together an amalgam of diverse religious and ethnic groups. Those powers also tended to promote a minority and rule through it, worsening preexisting sectarian tensions.
    Zakaria’s argument is that what we’re seeing in Syria is in some ways the inevitable re-balancing of power along ethnic and religious lines. He compares it to the sectarian bloodbath in Iraq after the United States toppled Saddam Hussein, after which a long-oppressed majority retook power from, and violently punished, the former minority rulers. Most Syrians are Sunni Arabs, but the country is run by members of a minority sect known as Alawites (they’re ethnic Arab but follow a smaller branch of Islam). The Alawite government rules through a repressive dictatorship and gives Alawites special privileges, which makes some Sunnis and other groups hate Alawites in general, which in turn makes Alawites fear that they’ll be slaughtered en masse if Assad loses the war. (There are other minorities as well, such as ethnic Kurds and Christian Arabs; too much to cover in one explainer.) Also, lots of Syrian communities are already organized into ethnic or religious enclaves, which means that community militias are also sectarian militias. That would explain why so much of the killing in Syria has developed along sectarian lines. It would also suggest that there’s not much anyone can do to end the killing because, in Zakaria’s view, this is a painful but unstoppable process of re-balancing power.
    The second big theory is a bit simpler: that the Assad regime was not a sustainable enterprise and it’s clawing desperately on its way down. Most countries have some kind of self-sustaining political order, and it looked for a long time like Syria was held together by a cruel and repressive but basically stable dictatorship. But maybe it wasn’t stable; maybe it was built on quicksand. Bashar al-Assad’s father Hafez seized power in a coup in 1970 after two decades of extreme political instability. His government was a product of Cold War meddling and a kind of Arab political identity crisis that was sweeping the region. But he picked the losing sides of both: the Soviet Union was his patron, and he followed a hard-line anti-Western nationalist ideology that’s now mostly defunct. The Cold War is long over, and most of the region long ago made peace with Israel and the United States; the Assad regime’s once-solid ideological and geopolitical identity is hopelessly outdated. But Bashar al-Assad, who took power in 2000 when his father died, never bothered to update it. So when things started going belly-up two years ago, he didn’t have much to fall back on except for his ability to kill people.
    4. I hear a lot about how Russia still loves Syria, though. And Iran, too. What’s their deal?
    Yeah, Russia is Syria’s most important ally. Moscow blocks the United Nations Security Council from passing anything that might hurt the Assad regime, which is why the United States has to go around the United Nations if it wants to do anything. Russia sends lots of weapons to Syria that make it easier for Assad to keep killing civilians and will make it much harder if the outside world ever wants to intervene.
    The four big reasons that Russia wants to protect Assad, the importance of which vary depending on whom you ask, are: (1) Russia has a naval installation in Syria, which is strategically important and Russia’s last foreign military base outside the former Soviet Union; (2) Russia still has a bit of a Cold War mentality, as well as a touch of national insecurity, which makes it care very much about maintaining one of its last military alliances; (3) Russia also hates the idea of “international intervention” against countries like Syria because it sees this as Cold War-style Western imperialism and ultimately a threat to Russia; (4) Syria buys a lot of Russian military exports, and Russia needs the money.
    Iran’s thinking in supporting Assad is more straightforward. It perceives Israel and the United States as existential threats and uses Syria to protect itself, shipping arms through Syria to the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah and the Gaza-based militant group Hamas. Iran is already feeling isolated and insecure; it worries that if Assad falls it will lose a major ally and be cut off from its militant proxies, leaving it very vulnerable. So far, it looks like Iran is actually coming out ahead: Assad is even more reliant on Tehran than he was before the war started.
    5. This is all feeling really bleak and hopeless. Can we take a music break?
    Oh man, it gets so much worse. But, yeah, let’s listen to some music from Syria. It’s really good!
    If you want to go old-school you should listen to the man, the legend, the great Omar Souleyman (playing Brooklyn this Saturday!). Or, if you really want to get your revolutionary on, listen to the infectious 2011 anti-Assad anthem “Come on Bashar leave.” The singer, a cement mixer who made Rage Against the Machine look like Enya, was killed for performing it in Hama. But let’s listen to something non-war and bit more contemporary, the soulful and foot-tappable George Wassouf:

    Hope you enjoyed that, because things are about to go from depressing to despondent.
    6. Why hasn’t the United States fixed this yet?
    Because it can’t. There are no viable options. Sorry.
    The military options are all bad. Shipping arms to rebels, even if it helps them topple Assad, would ultimately empower jihadists and worsen rebel in-fighting, probably leading to lots of chaos and possibly a second civil war (the United States made this mistake during Afghanistan’s early 1990s civil war, which helped the Taliban take power in 1996). Taking out Assad somehow would probably do the same, opening up a dangerous power vacuum. Launching airstrikes or a “no-fly zone” could suck us in, possibly for years, and probably wouldn’t make much difference on the ground. An Iraq-style ground invasion would, in the very best outcome, accelerate the killing, cost a lot of U.S. lives, wildly exacerbate anti-Americanism in a boon to jihadists and nationalist dictators alike, and would require the United States to impose order for years across a country full of people trying to kill each other. Nope.
    The one political option, which the Obama administration has been pushing for, would be for the Assad regime and the rebels to strike a peace deal. But there’s no indication that either side is interested in that, or that there’s even a viable unified rebel movement with which to negotiate.
    It’s possible that there was a brief window for a Libya-style military intervention early on in the conflict. But we’ll never really know.
    7. So why would Obama bother with strikes that no one expects to actually solve anything?
    Okay, you’re asking here about the Obama administration’s not-so-subtle signals that it wants to launch some cruise missiles at Syria, which would be punishment for what it says is Assad’s use of chemical weapons against civilians.
    It’s true that basically no one believes that this will turn the tide of the Syrian war. But this is important: it’s not supposed to. The strikes wouldn’t be meant to shape the course of the war or to topple Assad, which Obama thinks would just make things worse anyway. They would be meant to punish Assad for (allegedly) using chemical weapons and to deter him, or any future military leader in any future war, from using them again.
    8. Come on, what’s the big deal with chemical weapons? Assad kills 100,000 people with bullets and bombs but we’re freaked out over 1,000 who maybe died from poisonous gas? That seems silly.
    You’re definitely not the only one who thinks the distinction is arbitrary and artificial. But there’s a good case to be made that this is a rare opportunity, at least in theory, for the United States to make the war a little bit less terrible — and to make future wars less terrible.
    The whole idea that there are rules of war is a pretty new one: the practice of war is thousands of years old, but the idea that we can regulate war to make it less terrible has been around for less than a century. The institutions that do this are weak and inconsistent; the rules are frail and not very well observed. But one of the world’s few quasi-successes is the “norm” (a fancy way of saying a rule we all agree to follow) against chemical weapons. This norm is frail enough that Syria could drastically weaken it if we ignore Assad’s use of them, but it’s also strong enough that it’s worth protecting. So it’s sort of a low-hanging fruit: firing a few cruise missiles doesn’t cost us much and can maybe help preserve this really hard-won and valuable norm against chemical weapons.
    You didn’t answer my question. That just tells me that we can maybe preserve the norm against chemical weapons, not why we should.
    Fair point. Here’s the deal: war is going to happen. It just is. But the reason that the world got together in 1925 for the Geneva Convention to ban chemical weapons is because this stuff is really, really good at killing civilians but not actually very good at the conventional aim of warfare, which is to defeat the other side. You might say that they’re maybe 30 percent a battlefield weapon and 70 percent a tool of terror. In a world without that norm against chemical weapons, a military might fire off some sarin gas because it wants that battlefield advantage, even if it ends up causing unintended and massive suffering among civilians, maybe including its own. And if a military believes its adversary is probably going to use chemical weapons, it has a strong incentive to use them itself. After all, they’re fighting to the death.
    So both sides of any conflict, not to mention civilians everywhere, are better off if neither of them uses chemical weapons. But that requires believing that your opponent will never use them, no matter what. And the only way to do that, short of removing them from the planet entirely, is for everyone to just agree in advance to never use them and to really mean it. That becomes much harder if the norm is weakened because someone like Assad got away with it. It becomes a bit easier if everyone believes using chemical weapons will cost you a few inbound U.S. cruise missiles.
    That’s why the Obama administration apparently wants to fire cruise missiles at Syria, even though it won’t end the suffering, end the war or even really hurt Assad that much.
    9. Hi, there was too much text so I skipped to the bottom to find the big take-away. What’s going to happen?
    Short-term maybe the United States and some allies will launch some limited, brief strikes against Syria and maybe they won’t. Either way, these things seem pretty certain in the long-term:
    • The killing will continue, probably for years. There’s no one to sign a peace treaty on the rebel side, even if the regime side were interested, and there’s no foreseeable victory for either. Refugees will continue fleeing into neighboring countries, causing instability and an entire other humanitarian crisis as conditions in the camps worsen.
    • Syria as we know it, an ancient place with a rich and celebrated culture and history, will be a broken, failed society, probably for a generation or more. It’s very hard to see how you rebuild a functioning state after this. Maybe worse, it’s hard to see how you get back to a working social contract where everyone agrees to get along.
    • Russia will continue to block international action, the window for which has maybe closed anyway. The United States might try to pressure, cajole or even horse-trade Moscow into changing its mind, but there’s not much we can offer them that they care about as much as Syria.
    • At some point the conflict will cool, either from a partial victory or from exhaustion. The world could maybe send in some peacekeepers or even broker a fragile peace between the various ethnic, religious and political factions. Probably the best model is Lebanon, which fought a brutal civil war that lasted 15 years from 1975 to 1990 and has been slowly, slowly recovering ever since. It had some bombings just last week.

    September 1, 2013

    Law Professor Explains Syria Intervention Illegal, Even With Congress Approval!

    NOTE*** I finally have resolved the download issue with the video of Professor Marjorie Cahn, describing how even if Congress votes to go into Syria, it will still be illegal. Thank you for your patience. It's very challenging blogging, using photos or videos, and publishing online while having a full-time job other than blogging, which I actually receive no compensation like other bloggers. Very time-consuming.***

      I went to a peace rally yesterday and shouted, "no more war!" One day there won't be any more! The following is an update on the latest, and copies of my previous writings on the Middle east and Northern Africa since 2011.
    Here is a Aug 31 article and video of the peace rally formed by www.antimedia.org , as reported by, http://www.cbs8.com/story/23309504/anti-war-protestors-rally-for-peace-in- Syria 



    SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - Here in San Diego and around the world people protested a possible United States attack on Syria.
    A large group gathered in Balboa Park Saturday shortly after President Obama's speech saying their message is clear.
    "Repeat after me...no more war! No more war!"
    For the 200 or so people who gathered at a peace rally in Balboa Park Saturday, a U.S. attack on Syria will not bring a resolution, but rather a more dangerous situation.
    "We would hope that they will see the wisdom of the folly of military action, which will only make things worse, not just for Syrian but for the American people as well."
    By they, Craig Jones of San Diego's Coalition for Peace and Justice is referring to congress.

    "My question to Congress is, what message will we send if a dictator is allowed to put hundreds of children to death in plain sight and not pay a price?" Obama said.

    Just one hour before this gathering got underway, President Obama addressed the nation saying he will seek congressional approval to use force in Syria.
    "You know, we're bringing pressure to get the approval from Congress, so I'm delighted by the news," said rally attendee Christie Paris.
    Saturday's event was one of several similar ones happening worldwide.
    In places like Washington D.C., New York and London -- what started as a grassroots effort on an online post, turned into what organizers are calling a universal message.
    "We sent it out there and it just went viral. Just goes to show people are tired of these wars," said rally organizer Nick Bernabe.
    Protesters say while they are encouraged by the president's decision to involve congress, they still intend to remain vocal, hoping our government will agree on a peaceful resolution.
    What is a viable solution?
    "To create a response of violence and death to the outrage against violence and death, to me, is really self-defeating," said a rally attendee.
    Protesters have already begun organizing more rallies. There's a Facebook page to help with those efforts.


     Here's another video from same rally with the one speaker who kept to the subject, peace in Syria and non-U.S. involvement due to the nature of all those involved. Please excuse the unsupervised boy playing with the signs at the beginning. He was later removed to keep from distracting. It was a mixed group of speakers, ranging from anti-party candidates for public office, Vietnam vets who have protested the Vietnam war, to local Syrian or Palestinian residents voicing their dismay with continued war and it's fallacies. Here is the one speaker who kept to the subject at hand, and made the most sense. Anti-Syrian War Professor at Law Speach San Diego, CA Aug. 31, 2013 She is, Marjorie Cohn, Professor at law, with Thomas Jefferson School of law San Diego.

       So here are all the relevant blogs I've done since 2011, on the Middle East and Northern Africa, choc full o my commentary, maps, references and relations to Biblical prophecy/new/events trends. But first, here is a brief summary in who the players on all sides are, which will show you how foolish our current presidential administration is for supporting the very same people who we fight and faught in Afghanistan and Iraq:
      Russia wants to contract with governments from Qatar up through Syria liquid gas and oil pipelines to secure gas revenue. Arabia and the U.S. doesn't want that. Syria's support of Hezbollah is what Israel is against and U.S. is obligated to protect Israel's valid interests against terrorism. It is unwise for us to act in ours and Arabia's interests at the expense of supporting non Syrian terrorists disguising their acts as Syrian civil war, and evidence of Christian churches being destroyed by these terrorists who will also further turn toward Israel's destruction along with Turkey's backing, and likely allied by Russia and China. So one more point: Turkey may invade Syria with or without U.S. allied backing. Then turn toward Israel without our backing, because Turkey is against both Syria AND Israel. Also, no Syrians are rebels. They consist of terrorists who are from other Arab/African and Middle Eastern countries, which makes this fighting an outside takeover and not a civil war or revolution.
      There are a few Syrian stragglers who have joined the rebels, but the rebels are Al-Qaeda mostly from Libya backed by the Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Qaeda from Iraq and recently Saudi Arabia have joined the fight. Hezbollah from Iran and Sudan are fighting against the Al-Qaeda rebels. These are the same nations mentioned in Ezekiel 38:5 and 13 that Turkey leads into Israel!
      Syria's big problem is their current president, supposedly. The argument is that it was staged to frame the Syrian government for gassing it's citizens this past week, when the evidence literally points to the "rebels" who mishandled and detonated the gas bombs accidentally. Plus the "rebels" are al qaeda/Muslim Brotherhood who we are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq and Obama supporting these people is worse than treasonous. The something we can do is keep the current Syrian government and dispose of its president. It is all messed up, especially for the Christians who the Muslim brotherhood are burning their centuries and thousands of years old buildings, lynching burning and crucifying people for their Christianity. These people along with Obama is something most people can't comprehend, to put it lightly.

    May 5, 2013


    Israel/Syria Bible Prophecy Strongholds, Destruction & Deliverance/Maps UPDATE

    May 30, 2011


    Strong Holds, Destruction, and Deliverence: Damascus in Biblical Prophecy

    ***UPDATE MAY 5, 2013***
    Israeli Air Force continues air strikes against Damascus
    DEBKAfile Special Report May 5, 2013, 7:39 AM (GMT+02:00)
    Israeli rockets over Damascus
    Israeli rockets over Damascus
    Damascus, the same facility which Israeli planes attacked in January. debkafile: The Israeli operation in Syria appears to be in its opening stages, after the first round failed to prevent the transfer of Iran-supplied Scud D and Fateh-110 missiles to Hizballah units fighting in Syria the next day, Saturday. Syrian state TV reported the attack on Jamraya. There was no comment from Israeli spokesmen.
    Arab sources reported a series of explosions and fires north of Damascus early Sunday. They say Israeli rockets also hit two 4th Division Republican Guard battalions. The 4th Division is the main Syrian military unit buttressing the regime. It is commanded by President Bashar Assad’s brother, Gen. Maher Assad.
    Our military sources have said in the past that the tactic of bombing in Syria advanced weapons shipments in transition from Iran to keep them from reaching Hizballah in Lebanon had been overtaken by the presence of half of Hizballah’s military strength in Syria and able to collect them directly.
    And in fact, the Syrian army immediately transferred The Scud D and Fateh-110 consignments directly to the Hizballah elite Al Qods and Al Mahdi brigades which are spearheading the Syrian battle for the key town of Al Qusayr near the Lebanese border, which Syrian rebels have held for more than a year.
    The Al Mahdi Brigade joined Al Qods in Syria last Tuesday, April 30.
    Israel is determined not to get involved in the Syrian civil war. Therefore, Israel has not struck the advanced weapons passing in this way to Hizballah, which is learning to use them in battle with the rebels. Neither are the 7,000-strong brigades themselves been attacked – thus far.
    Israel’s calculus could change when they head back to Lebanon with their new advanced missiles – or before that.
    In another response to Israel’s earlier air strike, Syrian army units facing the Jordanian border blasted rebel convoys driving in from Jordan as they passed the Yarmuk River, causing dozens of casualties among the rebels and the Jordanian instructors who had trained them.
    Some were hit while still on Jordanian soil; others while on the move from the border past the little Syrian town of Saham al-Jawlan opposite the Golan.
    While the Syrian army has made cross-border attacks on Lebanon, this was its first inside Jordan.
    The blasts were heard Saturday on the Israeli Golan and caused the cancellation of sporting and other events. Residents were warned that the next time they heard sirens, they were to take heed and seek cover. 
     
    ***UPDATE ARTICLE May 4, 2013***
    Israeli troops in combat gear on Golan border
    Israeli troops in combat gear on Golan border
    DEBKAfile Special Report May 4, 2013, 12:48 PM (GMT+02:00)
    Israeli military activity is reported in Lebanon Saturday, May 4 and not just over Syria.
    US sources said earlier Israeli warplanes had struck targets in Syria including a chemical weapons depot outside Damascus, firing missiles remotely from Lebanese air space and the Golan starting Friday and continuing up until early Saturday, May 3. An Israeli spokesman confirmed only an air strike in Syria against a shipment of long-range surface missiles.
    The latest reports from Lebanon point to expanding Israeli military activity inside Lebanon as well.
    They describe Israeli warplanes as flying “at a medium altitude over the Eastern and Western Mountain ranges of the Beqaa Valley.”  debkafile: Hizballah strongholds are located in this region which is close to the Syrian border. Other warplanes were described as heading north over Beirut.
    One Lebanese source claimed Israeli ground troops had descended from the Mt. Dov-Hermon range, crossed the Lebanese border and entered the Shebaa Farms region.
    None of these reports are confirmed by Israel, Lebanon or Syria. But debkafile notes that if Israeli troops have indeed penetrated Lebanon to a depth of 5-7 kilometers and reached the Shebaa Farms, they have taken up positions opposite the 30 Syrian Shiite villages guarded by incoming Iranian elite Basij militiamen.
    debkafile reported exclusively Friday that thousands of Basij militiamen had just been airlifted from Iran to Syria, establishing an Iranian military presence opposite Israel from Syria as well as Lebanon. They joined a comparable number of Hizballah militiamen fighting for the Bashar regime.
    Given the rush of adverse military developments across Israel’s northern borders, its operations in Syria and Lebanon are expected to continue and even expand.
    This is also indicated by last week’s mobilization of thousands of reservists for an event termed by the IDF spokesman “a military exercise” beginning Sunday, May 5 along Israel’s borders with Syria and Lebanon.
    The spokesman was clearly trying to misdirect attention from Israel’s preparations for an important military operation by announcing a routine drill.
    debkafile adds: The initial claim by Syria, Iran and Hizballah of ignorance of any Israeli action is unlikely to hold up for long. They might keep up the act if the Israeli strike turned out to be a one-off against a single target - the picture the “Israeli official” tried to present after the event.
    But if there is more to come, Bashar Assad, Ali Khamenei and Hassan Nasrallah will not let Israel go unchallenged. This threesome is undoubtedly on the phone at this moment working on their response.
    Some of the earlier reports by US media claimed Israeli jets were seen Saturday before dawn circling over Assad's presidential compound in Damascus before moving on to target a weapons site. The Israeli jets reportedly received fire but returned to base unscathed.
    debkafile’s military sources added that the start of the Israeli air force operation could have been fixed precisely by the sirens which went off suddenly over the Golan Friday afternoon and again before dawn Saturday. The IDF spokesman said they were set off by a “technical glitch.” They now prove to have been triggered automatically by Israeli aerial movements. For five days, Lebanon has been reporting Israeli warplane intrusions of its air space.
     
    Strong Holds, Destruction, and Deliverance: Damascus in Biblical Prophecy April 30, 2011
     
    7-22-12 UPDATE An image grab taken from a video uploaded on YouTube on Sunday shows smoke billowing a neighborhood in Damascus. (SEE BELOW COMMENTS FOR ARTICLE)
    Picture I took of banner of former President Assad the                        elder. 1993 Damascus, Syria
     
     

    Isaiah 17:1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

    Isaiah 17:14 And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.

    Joel 3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

    Stuck on Camping's rapture? Get stuck on this. Israel is surounded by enemies, all in revolt, as far as the whole of North Africa. Damascus,Syria, is the oldest ancient city which has never been destroyed in its whole existence, and is prophesied to be destroyed. Is it time to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and millions of lost souls in destruction? Or to be pre-occupied with vanity and vexation of the spirit?

    Ps. 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.

    Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

    2 Corinthians 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

    Zechariah 9:9-12 9Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy King cometh unto thee! He is just and having salvation, lowly, and riding upon an ass and upon a colt, the foal of an ass. 10And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off; and He shall speak peace unto the heathen, and His dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. 11As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant, I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. 12Turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope; even today do I declare that I will render double unto thee.
     

    June 2, 2012


    United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012

    United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012 (HR 4113 House of Representatives Passed May 9, 2012, yet yesterday began the major info campaign, ironically, during the time of the Bilderburg meetings in Virginia. It was Written by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) ). And S. 2165 Senate version, Sponsored by, CA Senator barbara Boxer, Democrat, has not passed yet. There's no valid articles or blogs on this. Ron Paul (TX Congressman), and another Congressman who represents a majority Muslim constituency, are the only two who voted against it. Nine abstained from voting. No mainstream media whatsoever has released anything on this bill, YET.

    There's literally only one "news" article floating around on this. The article is mis-representing the truth and duping many good organizations, such as Infowars, "beforeitsnews, and others, by redistributing the only article out there. And it's in thousands of blogs and private news sites. If you read the article, you'll see the spirit of the article is Libertarian, at best, and in reality, anti-American. And we honestly know that Libertarians and "occupy" sympathizers, hate Israel right along with the world terrorists, communists, Euro-socialists and dictators. And rather than Libertarians being pro-U.S. Constitution, as they perport, they, in reality, are anarchist in behavior and desires. 

    Here are the two most credible links, on the status and wording of the bills. In it, you find that this bill, in fact, has not "yet" been passed by the Senata and or signed by the "President":

     



     

    http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr4133 H.R. 4133: United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012

    112th Congress, 2011–2012

    To express the sense of Congress regarding the United States-Israel strategic relationship, to direct the President to submit to Congress reports on United States actions to enhance this relationship and to assist in the defense of Israel, and for other purposes.

    Sponsor:
    Rep. Eric Cantor [R-VA7]
    Status:
    Passed House

    Bill titles and summaries are written by the sponsor. H.R. stands for House bill.

    Bill Overview


    Status:
    IntroducedMar 05, 2012
    Referred to CommitteeMar 05, 2012
    Passed HouseMay 09, 2012
    Passed Senate(not yet occurred)
    Signed by the President(not yet occurred)
    This bill passed in the House on May 9, 2012 and goes to the Senate next for consideration.
    Prognosis:
    This bill has a 42% chance of being enacted. The following factors were considered:
    The sponsor is in the majority party and at least one third of the bill's cosponsors are from the minority party. (+26%)
    Just 29% of all House bills reported favorably by committee in 2009–2010 were enacted.


    Cosponsors:
    show cosponsors (304)
    Committees:
    House Committee on Foreign Affairs
    Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
    The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.
     
     
    http://www.democraticwhip.gov/content/hoyer-cantor-introduce-legislation-strengthen-us-israel-security-cooperation Hoyer, Cantor Introduce Legislation to Strengthen U.S.-Israel Security Cooperation
    WASHINGTON, DC - Today, House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) introduced H.R. 4133 the U.S.-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act, which is also cosponsored by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fl.) and Ranking Member Howard Berman (D-Ca.). This bipartisan legislation affirms the deep military and security ties forged over the past few years between the United States and the State of Israel, and reflects the consensus of Congress that they ought to continue. It also reiterates U.S. policy affirming Israel’s right to defend itself against threats and America’s unshakable commitment to Israel’s security, recognizing that a secure Israel will always be in America’s national interest, especially as our nations work together to combat the threat of terrorism around the world and the danger posed by Iran’s nuclear weapons program, which carries the risk of destabilizing the region.
    “This bill reflects the immutable and enduring bond between our two nations,” Whip Hoyer said. “It is a bond that reflects the shared values of our people and our shared interests in preserving stability in the Middle East. The threat from Iran’s nuclear ambitions is real and demands serious, cooperative effort by both the United States and Israel. I am proud to put forward this legislation along with Majority Leader Cantor, and I am hopeful it will pass with strong support from across party lines. It is a reminder that support for Israel is not and should never be a partisan issue.”
    “The ties that bind the United States and Israel are cemented by our mutual dedication to freedom, opportunity and democracy. We must support our ally and send a message that the United States and Israel will always stand together. Today, my friend Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer and I are introducing legislation to reaffirm our enduring commitment to the US-Israel strategic relationship and to ensure that threats to Israeli and American security will be answered with strength,” Leader Cantor said.

    June 2, 2011


    Saudi/Muslim Force of Almost Ten Nations To Secure Muslim Countries

    http://yourjewishnews.com/6821.aspx There are at least 9 nations supporting an "Arabian Alliance", currently known as, "Gulf Cooperation Council". The organization is akin to a foreign legion, in which it's military forces will be available upon request from nations experiencing turmoil, or in recent cases of uprisings across North African nations, Syria, Jordan and Iran and Saudi Arabia. According to the link above, this has been in the making for some time, and though the article mentions a basic time period as recent as February, who knows truthfully how long this has been in the making?
     The GCC includes Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Saudi Arabia has sought to expand the GCC to include Jordan and Morocco.
     Which brings to mind a prophecy as far back as Biblical times, where leaders of ten nations will be instrumental in the last war of Armegeddon, the war between Satan and God, in which Israel will be attacked by the whole world.
     But what is interesting is that all forces seem to need a common enemy, in which this case happens to be Iran. I don't believe for one minute that Iran poses this much of a threat that one country cannot handle in itself. But you know legalities and political dialogue. One can make an argument to take God out of schools, so how difficult is it to justify a multinational force, with a common enemy and common cause to "deter" national unrest and uprisings?
     The above article is dated May 27, 2011. Today, the latest is already available from www.debka.com, but with a monetery price for the article. Look in the coming days, possibly this weekend, for the mainstream media to be feasting on this story. But even more important, read the Bible. Ask your friends who attend church questions. ask your pastors and those who you may know who have been talking about this stuff for years.
     Here's a start: Matthew chapter 24 where Jesus tells his disciples about the end times with increased natural disasters and wars.
    Isaiah 17:1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
    Isaiah 17:14 And behold at eveningtide trouble; and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.
    Psalm 83:1-8 (but read the whole chapter 18 verses) 1 O God, do not remain silent;
    do not turn a deaf ear,
    do not stand aloof, O God.
    2 See how your enemies growl,
    how your foes rear their heads.
    3 With cunning they conspire against your people;
    they plot against those you cherish.
    4 “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation,
    so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.”
    5 With one mind they plot together;
    they form an alliance against you—
    6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
    of Moab and the Hagrites,
    7 Byblos, Ammon and Amalek,
    Philistia, with the people of Tyre.
    8 Even Assyria has joined them
    to reinforce Lot’s descendants.[b]
     Revelation 17:12 “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast.
     

    March 2, 2011


    "...a great move that will cripple Israel"? Shame On The U.S. Gov.

    "...a great move that will cripple Israel"? Shame On The U.S. Gov.

    Honor guard on Iranian waship at Latakia for Iranian, Syrian Navy chiefs.
    These "cadets" are actually construction workers.


    I remember being in Syria on Bible school trips twicw; once in 1992 and again in 1993. I remember the open air "art gallery" in Syria overlooking the Golan Heights with paintings of Syrian army tanks victoriously riding over the Israeli flag. My photos of those pictures never came back to me from the photo development we used such a short time ago, when digital and cell phones and cameras did not exist.
    Israel has been nothing but a good friend to the United States, but with several past U.S. Presidential administrations, we have forced Isreal to accept less than they deserve. How terrible it is to sit and do nothing while your country is being missiled relentlessly for months, and indiscriminately for years. There is way more than what meets the eye andmoney is the smallest of elements to be concerned over. Thank God we as Christians can go there and be safer than their own citizens. How arrogant for us to exploit such a thing. King David refused a glass of water one of his best men risked his life for. Don't forget there are times when instead of convincing people to see things their way, people just killed others to avoid precious wasted time that can be used in defense. Isn't it great we can "dialogue?" How ungrateful and arrogant we are here on our "social networks" with our "opinions". Time is short.
    Michael D. Tobin


    Iran to build permanent naval base in Syria DEBKAfile Exclusive Report March 1, 2011, 8:51 PM (GMT+02:00)
    Just two days after two Iranian warships reached the Syrian port of Latakia via the Suez Canal, Friday, Feb. 25, an Iranian-Syrian naval cooperation accord was signed providing for Iran to build its first Mediterranean naval base at the Syrian port, debkafile's military and Iranian sources reveal.
    The base will include a large Iranian Revolutionary Guards weapons depot stocked with hardware chosen by the IRGC subject to prior notification to Damascus. Latakia harbor will be deepened, widened and provided with new "coastal installations" to accommodate the large warships and submarines destined to use these facilities.

    Iran has much to celebrate, debkafile's military sources report. It has acquired its first military foothold on a Mediterranean shore and its first permanent military presence on Syrian soil. Tehran will be setting in place the logistical infrastructure for accommodating incoming Iranian troops to fight in a potential Middle East war.
    According to our sources, the "cadets" the Kharg cruiser, one of the two Iranian warships allowed to transit the Suez Canal, was said to be carrying were in fact the first construction crews for building the new port facilities.
    Two more events were carefully synchronized to take place in the same week.
    On Feb. 24, as the Iranian warships headed from the Suez Canal to Syria, Hamas fired long-range made-in-Iran Grade missiles from the Gaza Strip into Israel, one hitting the main Negev city of Beersheba for the first time since Israel's Gaza campaign two years ago - as debkafile reported on that day. Tehran was using its Palestinian surrogate to flaunt its success in getting its first warships through the Suez Canal in the face of Israeli protests. The Iranians were also parading their offensive agenda in deploying warships on the Mediterranean just 287 kilometers north of Israel's northernmost coastal town of Nahariya.
    The second occurrence was a contract announced by Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov for the sale of advanced Russian shore-to-sea cruise missiles to Syria. The Yakhont missile system has a range of 300 kilometers and skims the waves low enough to be undetected by radar. debkafile's military sources take this sale as representing Moscow's nod in favor of the new Iranian base at Latakia, 72 kilometers from the permanent naval base Russia is building at the Syrian port of Tartous.
    The Russians are willing to contribute towards the Iranian port's defenses and looking forward to cooperation between the Russian, Iranian and Syrian fleets in the eastern Mediterranean opposite the US Sixth Fleet's regular beat.
    This unfolding proximity presents the United States with a serious strategic challenge and Israel with a new peril, which was nonetheless dismissed out of hand by Israel's defense minister Ehud Barak. In a radio interview Monday, Feb. 28, he brushed aside the Iranian warships' passage through the Suez as "an outing for cadets" which did not require an Israeli response. He added, "For now, there is no operational threat to Israel."
    According to Barak, the Suez Canal is open to all of the world's warships and the two Iranian vessels' transit could not have been prevented. He omitted to explain how Egypt did prevent it for 30 years and why it was permitted now. The defense minister went on to speak of "fresh signs that President Bashar Assad is willing to resume peace talks with Israel."
    Both Barak's assessments were knocked down by Damascus on the same day.
    Syrian Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Ali Mohammad Habib soon put him right on the "cadets' outing." At a ceremony in honor of the Iranian Navy Commander Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, Habib said: "Iranian warships' presence in the Mediterranean Sea for the first time after 32 years is a great move that is going to cripple Israel."


    January 31, 2011


    2-5-11 update:Terrorism Soon to Flood Israel via Jordan To The East, and Egypt to the West, of Israel. ***ALERT UPDATE: B. Obama Tells Mubarak To "Quit"***

     ****UPDATE**** JUNE 13, 2011
    IT'S BEEN ALMOST FIVE MONTHS FROM THE TITLE OF THIS BLOG, WHEN I PREDICTED ALL THIS N. AFICAN AND MIDDLE EAST REGIME CHANGES ARE SOLELY FOR ANIHALATION OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL, THROUGH WHAT WE CALL TERRORISM. HERE IS AN ACCURATE AND TIMELY ARTICLE FROM ONE OF MY SOURCES TO CONFIRM MY ASSERTIONS:

    Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood delegation in Gaza Amid Israeli Spy Scandal
    http://debka.com/article/21021/ 
    Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood delegation in Gaza amid Israeli spy scandal
    DEBKAfile Exclusive Report June 12, 2011, 11:50 PM (GMT+02:00)

    Egypt's intelligence minister Murad Muwafi
    For the first time in the history of Cairo's relations with the Gaza Strip, the ruling military junta permitted an Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood delegation to visit the Gaza Strip and meet Palestinian Hamas leaders. Coinciding with the delegation's arrival Sunday, June 12, top Egyptian officials unleashed a wave of anti-Israeli venom in Cairo, the worst in recent years.
    Without warning, inflammatory stories were released to the media in quick succession: a "Mossad officer" was accused of plotting to sabotage the Egyptian revolution and "inciting sectarian violence." Israel was accused of contaminating farm products for Egyptian consumption and former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon imp.icated in the "corrupt" gas transaction ex-President Hosni Mubarak contracted with Israel.
    The prime movers behind this campaign of anti-Israel defamation are named by debkafile's intelligence sources as Gen. Murad Muwafi, Minister of Intelligence, and the Supreme State Security Prosecutor, Hisham Badawi. Putting the charges in the hands of the State Security Prosecutor is tantamount to labeling Israel a danger to Egyptian national security.
    The third figure is Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Alarabi. He soon takes office as Secretary General of the Arab League and has made no secret of the radical anti-Israel policies he plans introduce.
    Israeli leaders were thunderstruck by these machinations. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and nine members of his government were out of the country. Sunday, they began an exceptionally friendly three-day visit to Italy. A joint session with the Berlusconi government awaits them with other notable events. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is in Rome with the party, while Defense Minister Ehud Barak has gone to Beijing for another try to bring China aboard the international effort for keeping a nuclear bomb out of Iranian hands.
    The Egyptian trio orchestrating the anti-Israel drive apparently used their absence to dump their poison without fear of an official response from Jerusalem.
    It was carefully synchronized: The arrival of the Muslim Brotherhood delegation to Gaza, headed by two Shura Council members Saad Hussaini and Mohsein Farouk, coincided with Cairo's arrest of an Israeli "Mossad officer."
    The statement by the Supreme State Prosecutor's office alleged that the Israeli spy – who was variously named as Aviran Green, Ilan Green and, later, on an Egyptian website, Ilan Haim Gavriel - entered Egypt after the uprising began on Jan. 25 posing as a foreign correspondent come to cover the anti-regime demonstrations in al-Tahrir Square. His real undercover mission, said the Egyptian statement, was to foment strife between Copts and Muslims and sabotage the revolution.
    In today's Cairo, there can be no more heinous allegation than turning the clock back to pre-revolution days by inciting chaos and sectarian strife. It amounts to charging Israel's external security agency with fomenting anti-revolutionary anarchy. Responsibility is also fastened on the Jewish state for the Muslim Brothers' May 9 attack on the Copt community of Cairo and its church and the death of 9 Copts.
    Shortly after the "discovery" of an "Israeli spy," Egyptian authorities accused Israel of trying to poison the population by secretly contaminating tomato seeds and plants produced by a Cypriot farm and sold to Egypt.
    Finally, the prosecutor declared he had proof that the contract for the supply of Egyptian gas to Israel, now being held up as the quintessence of the Mubarak family's corruption, was put together by the former president and the former prime minister in person when they agreed how to divide their ill-gotten spoils.


    According to my news source, an Iranian delegation was planning last June, 2010, on grandstanding a publicity event by standing on a wall between Egyptian and Israeli border, with Egypts permission, to provoke Israel, Saturday June 19th, 2010. This would have been reminescent of the days of Isaiah, the Old Testement prophet scriptures Isaiah 36, when the king of Assyria sent a messenger to cause division in Israel toward submission to the enemys king. It's getting hot over there. Ultimately, the Iranian deligation was refused permission to grandstand and provoke Israel from Egypt. How obsurd are the enemies of Israel. The below Scripture refers to Assyria, (today's Iraq). However, Iran today was Persia yesterday, but the situation is reminescent.

    Bible in Basic English Isaiah 36:16
    Do not give ear to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says, Make peace with me, and come out to me; and everyone will be free to take the fruit of his vine and of his fig-tree, and the water of his spring;

    The above is what the Assyrian king said to the Hebrews, trying to convince them to submit to the Assyrian king. In that instance, Israel was victorious and not defeated.

    Unless God intervenes, the above title will be true. Yesterdays MSN reported in a widely circulated internet article of the treaty between Egyp and Israel, mentioning Sinei regions where military has taken over security. Upon searching for any mention whatsoever of that , I found the same article with that part wiped out of the article. I found NO mention of the treaty anywhere, except for my long-time Mid-East news source, Debkafile. It is evident with the police and military sympathizing with Egypts citizens desire to topple Egyp President, Hosni Mubarak, that the border of Israel and Egypt, close to Jordan and Soudi Arabia, is at the heart of this matter.
    Michael D. Tobin

    ALERT***UPDATE*** Feb 5, 2011
    Sinai gas pipeline blast. Cairo diverts supplies to Israel, Jordan for domestic use
    DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis February 5, 2011, 6:11 PM (GMT+02:00)



    Egyptian-Israel gas pipleline sabotaged
    Egypt's suspension of gas supplies to Israel after the North Sinai pipeline was blown up Saturday, Feb 5 has suddenly cut Israel off from 25-30 percent of its gas neds and 80 percent of Jordan's. A few hours after the blast, Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmad Shafiq announced the gas supplied to both countries under contract would henceforth be diverted to domestic requirements.
    With Egyptian gas cut off for the foreseeable future, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu went into hasty non-stop consultations with ministers and energy military and security officials. Alongside the emergency declared by Israel's electricity corporation, those consultations centered on three additional facets of the crisis: The expanding occupation of North Sinai by Palestinian Hamas extremists from Gaza and anti-Egyptian Bedouin tribesmen, culminating in the gas pipeline explosion; the failure of joint Israeli and Egyptian military efforts to contain it and, thirdly, concerns that Hamas may cross into Israel and sabotage Israeli power stations or fuel reservoirs to bring about the collapse of Israel's electrical power system.
    debkafile reported earlier Saturday.
    The pipeline supplying Egyptian gas to Israel and Jordan was blown up near the North Sinai town of El Arish early Saturday Feb. 5.  Egyptian state TV reported "terrorists" had carried out the attack which caused a huge explosion and fire. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu conferred urgently with Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau and energy firms over the abrupt cutoff of 25 percent of Israel's gas needs and ordered security beefed up at energy installations.
    The Egyptian and Israeli accounts are contradictory.
    An Israeli official spokesman said the explosion was nowhere near the Israeli section of the pipeline and closer to the Jordanian branch. The Egyptian spokesman spoke only of supplies to Israel which he said had been suspended as a precaution because there had been several smaller explosions along the pipe.
    The Israeli Infrastructure Ministry spokesman reported that Egyptian gas, which covers 25 percent of Israel's needs, had been cut off at 0900 Saturday morning. He did not foresee regular power supplies being disrupted.
    debkafile's counter-terror sources report that the attack on the El Arish gas facility was planned on military lines by a special Hamas team which infiltrated Sinai from Gaza last week. It was a major Hamas operation against on Israel (which incidentally supplies most of the Gaza Strip's power), and blatant Palestinian interference in Egypt's domestic unrest. It was also a fiasco for the joint IDF-and Egyptian military effort to police Sinai during the turbulence in Egypt and secure this strategic peninsula against destabilization by terrorists.
    Muslim Brotherhood spokesmen in Cairo were quick to attach responsibility for the pipeline attack on disaffected Bedouin – a clumsy attempt, say debkafile's sources, to clear their offshoot, Hamas, of blame for a well-planned act of which they must have had prior knowledge.
    Jordan is badly hit by the loss of Egyptian gas which covers 80 percent of its energy consumption. The Hashemite kingdom will have to resort to the far more expensive heavy oil and diesel to keep its power supply running and raise fuel prices after the king yielded to Islamist-back protesters' demands to reduce prices.
    The close rapport between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Palestinian and Lebanese terrorist organizations came to light earlier in the Hizballah-led operation to release Lebanese Hizballah, Palestinian Hamas and Egyptian Brotherhood convicts from Wadi Natrun jail north of Cairo Sunday, Jan. 30, first revealed by debkafile.
    While the Hamas and Hizballah escapees headed for Sinai and Gaza, the MB activists made straight for the hubs of disturbance in Egypt. (Click here for this story.)
    The embattled Mubarak administration in Cairo may well find it politic to indefinitely put off repairing the pipe and restoring supplies to Israel for two reasons:
    1. The incident will support Mubarak's argument that his immediate departure as demanded by Obama would throw Egypt into chaos – and not only Egypt, but resonate devastatingly across the entire region. Not just Israel, but its second peace partner, Jordan, is badly hit too by the loss of Egyptian gas which covers 80 percent of its energy consumption. Amman will have to convert to the far more expensive heavy oil and diesel to keep its power supply running. Fuel prices will have to be raised shortly after the king dropped them to quell the Islamist-back protests shaking the kingdom.
    2. Some of the opposition factions backed by the US for a role in future government, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, are fiercely opposed to Egypt's peace relations with Israel which he has promoted for 32 years. The sale of Egyptian gas to Israel has come under constant attack in the street, which has accused the government of undercutting world prices and defrauding the Egyptian treasury.
    The Mubarak regime and Egyptian army may want to show they respect popular opinion and are not American or Israeli pawns by not repairing the pipeline and keeping the gas supply to Israel cut off.
    debkafile reports that the Israeli Infrastructure Ministry's assurance that no power disruptions were foreseen glosses over the serious repercussions of the loss overnight of a quarter of Israel's gas consumption for manufacturing electricity and its lack of gas reserves.
    Israel's power stations will have to switch immediately from gas to heavy oil or coal, a complicated technical process that will have a bad effect on the environment. Energy officials told debkafile Saturday that the power stations affected are Hadera, Haifa (which is partly gas-fueled) and the Tel Aviv Reading facility which was only recently converted to gas. All Israel's emergency electricity stations are also powered by gas.
    Therefore, the Infrastructure Ministry's assurance may have been premature.
    http://debka.com/article/20633/

    January 31, 2011 UPDATE
    Egyptian troops hunt Hamas gunmen fighting to control N. Sinai. Two captured
    DEBKAfile Exclusive Report January 31, 2011, 1:24 PM (GMT+02:00)
    Egyptian reinforcements reached northern Sinai Monday, Jan. 31 to hunt down Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip battling Egyptian forces for control of the territory. Two were captured. debkafile's military sources report that the gunmen of Hamas's armed wing, Ezz e-Din al Qassam opened a second, Palestinian, front against the Mubarak regime on orders from Hamas' parent organization, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, confirmed by its bosses in Damascus. The Muslim Brotherhood is therefore more aggressively involved in the uprising than it would seem.
    debkafile's military sources report that Sunday, Hamas gunmen attacked Egyptian Interior Ministry Special Forces (CFF) stationed in the southern Egyptian-controlled section of the border town of Rafah and the Sinai port of El Arish. Saturday, Bedouin tribesmen and local Palestinians exploited the mayhem in Cairo to clash with Egyptian forces at both northern Sinai key points, ransack their gun stores and free prisoners from the local jail. Officials in Gaza City confirmed Sunday, that Hamas's most notorious smuggling experts, including Muhammad Shaar, had broken out of the El Arish jail and reached Gaza City.
    Sunday, Hamas terrorists aimed to start pushing Egyptian forces out of the northern and central regions of the peninsula and so bring Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip under Palestinian control. Hamas would then be able to break out of the Egyptian blockade of the enclave and restore its smuggling routes in full. The reinforcements from Cairo Monday were instructed to drive them back into the Gaza Strip. Early Sunday, they began moving east through the tunnels under the Suez.
    Our military sources further report that the Multinational Force & Observers (MFO), most of whose members are Americans and Canadians, are on maximum alert at their northern Sinai base, while they wait for US military transports to evacuate them to US bases in Europe.
    This force was deployed in Sinai in 1981 for peacekeeping responsibilities and the supervision of the security provisions of the 1979 Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel under which the peninsula was demilitarized except for Egyptian police. Ending the MFO's mission in Sinai after thirty years knocks down a key pillar propping up the relations of peace between Egypt and Israel.
    The Egyptian troop presence in Sinai, which violates the terms of the peace treaty, has not been mentioned by either of the peace partners. Our Jerusalem sources report the Netanyahu government may have tacitly approved it.
    Hamas' Gaza leaders do not seem to fear Israeli military action – or even an air attack - to interfere with their incursion of Sinai and attempts to control the long Egyptian-Israeli border snaking south of the Gaza Strip along the Negev up to the Red Sea port of Eilat.

    Israeli War Planes

    http://debka.com/article/20612/ (source of above article).


    ALERT***UPDATE*** FEB 1, 2011

    Obama, army chiefs tell Mubarak to go now and leave Egypt
    DEBKAfile Special Report February 1, 2011, 9:49 PM (GMT+02:00)
    In a final ultimatum, Washington Tuesday, Feb. 1, told Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak bluntly that his time was up. He must quit now and leave Egypt without further delay. As four million protesters marched across Egypt in a relentless drive to be rid of him, Mubarak got the same message from the heads of the Egyptian army, who may or not have been acting in tune with Washington.
    Barack Obama's message reached Mubarak's desk by a special messenger, Ambassador Frank Wisner.
    He is expected to announce in a speech to the nation Tuesday night that he will not run for a fifth term as president but serve full term. This will be seen as more foot-dragging and further infuriate the people.
    Our Cairo sources report that the army chiefs were horrified to see hundreds of Cairo protesters taking part in the March of Millions Tuesday hoisting Mubarak effigies on a cardboard gallows or paraded in coffins over Tahrir Square - an unprecedentedly brutal expression of rage and hate. Army leaders have begun to fear that the protesters' next step may be to haul him out of Abdeen Palace and lynch him if he stands by his refusal to step down.
    The Egyptian army chiefs have made plans to fill Mubarak's shoes and rule the country of 85 million as soon as he is gone. Before them are three optional procedures for bridging the transitional period up until general and presidential elections.
    1.  A council of officers consisting of 3-5 generals will assume presidential powers and govern the country for the interim, or;
    2.  The new Vice President, the former Intelligence Minister Gen. Omar Suleiman, will be appointed president; or;
    3.  Chief of Staff Gen. Sami Enan will take his place in the presidential office.
    It is not known if the generals have put their plan before the president or that he learned about from officers loyal to him.
    In parallel consultations at the US embassy in Cairo, the three options were put before Ambassador Margaret Scobey by Mohammed ElBaradei, the former International Atomic Energy Director who was chosen by opposition organizations for liaison missions. He was also in touch with the British ambassador in Cairo during the day.  By undertaking these tasks, ElBaradei, who was hardly known in Egypt, has advanced his chances of a prominent role in the post-Mubarak government.
    debkafile's Washington sources report that the Obama administration has in fact put a gun on Mubarak's desk and are willing to discuss nothing more than the conditions of his departure in the next couple of days. So far, the Egyptian president has not informed the Americans or the army what is plans are and no one can tell what turn the crisis will take next.
    http://debka.com/article/20619/




     

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