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Moriel Ministries > Teachings > Be Alert! Archive |
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Be Alert! - Sept. 22, 2006
Joel 2:1 Rosh Hashanah is on Shabbat (Friday night), 1 Tishrei 5767 (September 23, 2006). Leviticus 23:24-25 Revelation 8:6 Romans 11:25-26 Zechariah 12:2-3 Matthew 24:6a Stepped-Up Holiday Alert Police Chief Moshe Karadi has approved the police deployment plans for the two-day Rosh HaShanah holiday, which begins Friday night. The police will work at Operations Level 3, one level below Emergency Level, with full deployment and no vacations. Emphasis will be placed on increased precautions in light of the "security situation," including mobile and stationary check-points. Thousands of Border Guard and regular policemen, Civil Guard volunteers and soldiers will be on guard at open markets, synagogues, cemeteries, vacation spots, and more. Temporary police posts will be established in parks and forests to facilitate public access. The traffic police force will also be enhanced, with helicopter units and other means, in order to monitor and guide traffic when necessary and "reduce the expected heavy traffic loads." Periodic reports will be provided to the media as to the locations of traffic jams and recommended alternate routes. Intensive efforts will be invested to "prevent the entry of Shabahim [illegal aliens from the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas] into Israeli territory." The police call on the public to be aware and to dial 100 whenever a suspicious person, car or other object is noticed. ... http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=112465 Hamas refuses to recognize Israel but offers truce ASSOCIATED PRESS - September 22, 2006 - The Palestinians' ruling Hamas group will not join a planned coalition government if recognizing Israel is a condition, a close aide to Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said Friday. At the United Nations on Thursday, the moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said the planned national unity government between his Fatah Party and Hamas would recognize the Jewish state. But Haniyeh's political adviser, Ahmed Yousef, told The Associated Press on Friday that "there won't be a national unity government if Hamas is asked to recognize Israel." The two parties announced last week that they would team up to govern, in an effort to ease crushing international sanctions imposed on the Hamas government to pressure it to soften its violent anti-Israel ideology. http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3307082,00.html EU will back Palestinian unity government "We agreed that we have to support the new Palestinian government. It's a very important turning point for the situation," D'Alema told Reuters after EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana briefed the 25 ministers on the expected platform of the new government. "Javier Solana told us in the platform there will be recognition by the new government of the treaty signed by the Palestinian Authority in the past -- it means recognise Israel as a partner," the Italian minister said. The EU and the United States have boycotted the current Hamas-led government because it refused to recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept past peace accords. Reporter: Don't underestimate al-Qaida nuke threat Hamid Mir, a reporter who has covered al-Qaida and met with Osama bin Laden, told radio talk-show host Glenn Beck yesterday that he, too, had make the mistake of underestimating the terror network in the past. He said he interviewed bin Laden prior to Sept. 11, 2001, and heard warnings about an attack on the U.S., but discounted them. Mir took bin Laden more seriously after the bombings of the embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, shortly after his first of three meetings with bin Laden – the last coming after 9/11. "I would not underestimate these people," he said. Mir also explained that his own independent research and knowledge of al-Qaida verifies the authenticity of some of the claims made by Dawood in their meeting in Afghanistan. Dawood said the impending attack, which could involved nuclear or radiological weapons, is being coordinated by Adnan el-Shukrijumah and suggests it may involve some form of warhead smuggled across the Mexican border. "Our brothers are ready to attack inside America," Dawood told Mir. "We will breach their security again. There is no timeframe for our attack inside America; we can do it any time." As WND has previously reported, el-Shukrijumah is a trained nuclear technician and accomplished pilot who has been singled out by bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri to serve as the field commander for the next terrorist attack on U.S. soil. El-Shukrijumah has been mentioned as a key figure in what has been called the "American Hiroshima" plot – an al-Qaida plan to detonate one or more nuclear weapons in the U.S. The terrorist was last seen in Mexico, where, on Nov. 1, 2004, he allegedly hijacked a Piper PA Pawnee cropduster from Ejido Queretaro near Mexicali to transport a nuclear weapon and nuclear equipment into the U.S., according to Paul Williams, a former FBI consultant and author of "The Dunces of Doomsday." "He is an American and a friend of Muhammad Atta, who led 9/11 attacks five years ago," said Dawood. "We call him 'Jaffer al Tayyar' (Jafer the Pilot); he is very brave and intelligent. (President) Bush is aware that brother Adnan has smuggled deadly materials inside America from the Mexican border. Bush is silent about him, because he doesn’t want to panic his people. Sheik Osama bin Laden has completed his cycle of warnings. You know, he is man of his words, he is not a politician; he always does what he says. If he said it many times that Americans will see new attacks, they will definitely see new attacks. He is a real mujahid. Americans will not win this war, which they have started against Muslims. Americans are the biggest supporters of the biggest terrorist in the world, which is Israel." Dawood said he was currently conducting operations in Afghanistan under the leadership of the Taliban. He warned of a series of upcoming suicide bombings there directed against government and coalition forces during Ramadan. He is also quoted as saying the next attack in America will not be conducted by people like Atta. "We have a different plan for the next attack," he told Mir. "You will see. Americans will hardly find out any Muslim names, after the next attack. Most of our brothers are living in Western countries, with Jewish and Christian names, with passports of Western countries. This time, someone with the name of Mohamed Atta will not attack inside America, it would be some David, Richard or Peter." He said there will be another audio message from bin Laden aired within the next two weeks. Mir reportedly interviewed Dawood Sept. 12 at the tomb of Sultan Mehmud Ghaznawi on the outskirts of Kabul. Dawood and the al-Qaida leaders who accompanied him were clean-shaven and dressed as Western reporters. The al-Qaida commander had contacted Mir by cell phone to arrange the meeting. "You have witnessed the brutality of the Israelis in the recent 34-day war against Lebanese civilians," said Dawood. "9/11 was a revenge of Palestinian children, killed by the U.S.-made weapons, supplied to Israel. The next attack on America would be a revenge of Lebanese children killed by U.S.-made cluster bombs. Bush and (British Prime Minister Tony) Blair are the Crusaders, and Muslim leaders, like (Pakistani President Pervez) Musharraf and (Afghani President Hamid) Karzai are their collaborators. We will teach a lesson to all of them." El-Shukrijumah was born in Guyana Aug. 4, 1975 – the firstborn of Gulshair el-Shukrijumah, a 44-year-old radical Muslim cleric, and his 16-year-old wife. In 1985, Gulshair migrated to the United States, where he assumed duties as the imam of the Farouq Mosque in Brooklyn. The mosque, located at 554 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, has served as a hive for terrorist activities. It has raised millions for the jihad and has served as a recruiting station for al-Qaida. Many of the planners of the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, including blind Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, were prominent members of this notorious "house of worship." In 1995, the Shukrijumah family relocated to Miramar, Fla., where Gulshair became the spiritual leader of the radical Masjid al-Hijah Mosque, and where Adnan became friends with Jose Padilla, who planned to detonate a radiological bomb in midtown Manhattan; Mandhai Jokhan, who was convicted of attempting to blow up nuclear power plants in southern Florida; and a group of other home-grown terrorists. Adnan Shukrijumah attended flight schools in Florida and Norman, Oklahoma, along with Mohammad Atta and the other 9/11 operatives, and he became a highly skilled commercial jet pilot, although he, like Atta and the other terrorists, never applied for a license with the Federal Aviation Commission. In April 2001, Shukrijumah spent 10 days in Panama, where he reportedly met with al-Qaida officials to assist in the planning of 9/11. He also traveled to Trinidad and Guyana, where virulent al-Qaida cells have been established. The following month, he obtained an associate's degree in computer engineering from Broward Community College. During this time, he managed to get passports from Guyana, Trinidad, Saudi Arabia, Canada and the United States, according to Williams. He also began to adopt a number of aliases, including Abu Arifi, Jafar al-Tayyar, Jaafar At Yayyar, Ja'far al-Tayar, and Mohammed Sher Mohammed Khan (the name that appeared on his official FBI file). He traveled to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, where he met with Ramzi Binalshibh, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and other members of the al-Qaida high command. He also spent considerable time within al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan, where he received training in explosives and special operations. Following 9/11, el-Shukrijumah was reportedly singled out by bin Laden and al-Zawahiri to spearhead the next great attack on America. One plan was for a nuclear attack that would take place simultaneously in seven U.S. cities, leaving millions dead and the richest and most powerful nation on earth in ashes. "Muslims should leave America," said Dawood. "We cannot stop our attack just because of the American Muslims; they must realize that American forces are killing innocent Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq; we have the right to respond back, in the same manner, in the enemy's homeland. The American Muslims are like a human shield for our enemy; they must leave New York and Washington." "I am saying that Muslims must leave America, but we can attack America anytime," he said. "Our cycle of warnings has been completed, now we have fresh edicts from some prominent Muslim scholars to destroy our enemy, this is our defending of Jihad; the enemy has entered in our homes and we have the right to enter in their homes, they are killing us, we will kill them." http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52080 Al-Qaida warns Muslims: Time to get out of U.S. Abu Dawood told Hamid Mir, a reporter who has covered al-Qaida and met with Osama bin Laden, the attack is being coordinated by Adnan el-Shukrijumah and suggests it may involve some form of weapon of mass destruction smuggled across the Mexican border. "Our brothers are ready to attack inside America. We will breach their security again," he is quoted as saying. "There is no timeframe for our attack inside America; we can do it any time." As WND has previously reported, el-Shukrijumah is a trained nuclear technician and accomplished pilot who has been singled out by bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri to serve as the field commander for the next terrorist attack on U.S. soil. The terrorist was last seen in Mexico, where, on Nov. 1, 2004, he allegedly hijacked a Piper PA Pawnee cropduster from Ejido Queretaro near Mexicali to transport a nuclear weapon and nuclear equipment into the U.S., according to Paul Williams, a former FBI consultant and author of " The Dunces of Doomsday." "He is an American and a friend of Muhammad Atta, who led 9/11 attacks five years ago," said Dawood. "We call him 'Jaffer al Tayyar' (Jafer the Pilot); he is very brave and intelligent. (President) Bush is aware that brother Adnan has smuggled deadly materials inside America from the Mexican border. Bush is silent about him, because he doesn’t want to panic his people. Sheikh Osama bin Laden has completed his cycle of warnings. You know, he is man of his words, he is not a politician; he always does what he says. If he said it many times that Americans will see new attacks, they will definitely see new attacks. He is a real mujahid. Americans will not win this war, which they have started against Muslims. Americans are the biggest supporters of the biggest terrorist in the world, which is Israel." .... http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52018 The prince of the kingdom of Persia Bibi: Iran president more dangerous than Hitler YEDIOTH AHRONOTH (YnetNews) - By Yaakov Lappin - September 22, 2006 - Knesset member Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could be more dangerous than Adolf Hitler. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3303129,00.html Iran president: 'We do not need a bomb' Ahmadinejad said his country has not hidden anything and was working within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. "The bottom line is we do not need a bomb," he said at a news conference on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. With world leaders gathered at the United Nations, the United States had hoped to move decisively this week toward political and economic sanctions against Iran after it missed an August 31 deadline from the U.N. Security Council to halt uranium enrichment. ... http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/09/21/iran.nuclear.ap/index.html Javier Solana goes to Vienna [and meets with Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani] TENERIFE NEWS - by Jeremy Taylor - September 22, 2006 - This was one of the multitudinous meetings held between the European Union (which realises the vital importance of this matter) and Iran, formerly Persia, Alexander’s fixation and finally nemesis - an Islamic Republic with a boisterous, narrow-minded and warlike leader. Lariyani said afterwards, ‘We have had good and constructive conversation, and we have made progress in several areas.’ He indicated that some of the discussions concerned compensation, and the offer of technical assistance, which would be gratefully accepted, but not at the cost of stopping any programmes of uranium enrichment. It was obvious that Iran’s President is perfectly willing to send cultured representatives anywhere, for a good chat, but when it comes to the gritty part, he is not going to change his mind. In the world of diplomacy, nothing ever changes, not for hundreds or even thousands of years. Iran and Syria, for example, are known to be backing Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon, bandits and warlords in Afghanistan, rebels in Iraq, and young would-be suicides everywhere in the West, with bombs in their satchel. Still, Javier Solana is no fool, and behind the official photographs and endless hand clasps there was a grimness about his face that showed his discouragement. Of course Iran will not give up its nuclear programme. It is an integral part of the now universal determination to destroy the infidel and the faithless, and impose Islam and its pre-fourteenth century ideals on a weak and demoralised West. Where and when will the next attack come? Who knows? http://www.tenerifenews.com/cms/front_content.php?client=1&lang Israel Calls Iran Its Greatest Threat Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told the annual U.N. General Assembly session that the international community must stand up against Iran, which she claimed is pursuing the weapons to destroy Israel, a reference to its suspect nuclear program. "There is no greater challenge to our values than that posed by the leaders of Iran," Livni said. "They deny and mock the Holocaust. They speak proudly and openly of their desire to wipe Israel off the map. And now, by their actions, they pursue the weapons to achieve this objective, to imperil the region and to threaten the world." She said Iran's support of the Islamic militant group Hezbollah in south Lebanon showed the threat it poses to the region. The world must ensure that it enforces the U.N. Security Council resolution that ended more than a month of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, Livni said. "There is no place for such a regime in the family of nations," she said. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said in the past he wants to wipe Israel off the map and dismissed the Holocaust as a myth. In his own speech to the General Assembly on Tuesday, Ahmadinejad said Israel was created by driving millions of people from territory that was rightfully theirs, something he called "a great tragedy with hardly a precedent in history." He also harshly criticized Israel's policies, saying the country was a source of insecurity in the Middle East that was "waging war and spilling blood and impeding the progress of regional countries." While Livni spoke, a lone Iranian diplomat sat in the back row of the section of six seats reserved for the Islamic republic in the General Assembly hall. After her speech ended, the diplomat moved up to the front row to listen to the following official, from Belgium. Livni struck a more conciliatory tone toward the Palestinians, saying the two did not necessarily have to remain at odds and the only way to resolve their conflict was at the "bilateral negotiating table." "We have no illusions about the difficulties before us - we must face them and not ignore them," she said. ... http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060921/D8K9051O1.html Iran leader's U.N. finale reveals apocalyptic view WORLDNETDAILY - September 21, 2006 - WASHINGTON – While most of the reporting and analysis of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech at the U.N. focused on what he had to say about the West and specifically the U.S., his chilling closing remarks were lost on most listeners – and apparently all reporters. The last two paragraphs of his remarks revealed his steadfast and driving conviction, as previously reported in WND ,that a messianic figure, known as the "Mahdi" to Muslims, is poised to reveal himself after an apocalyptic holocaust on Earth that leaves most of the world's population dead. "I emphatically declare that today's world, more than ever before, longs for just and righteous people with love for all humanity; and above all longs for the perfect righteous human being and the real savior who has been promised to all peoples and who will establish justice, peace and brotherhood on the planet," Ahmadinejad said. "Oh, Almighty God, all men and women are your creatures and you have ordained their guidance and salvation. Bestow upon humanity that thirsts for justice, the perfect human being promised to all by you, and make us among his followers and among those who strive for his return and his cause." With Iran on the verge of producing nuclear weapons and already in possession of sophisticated medium-range missiles, mystical pre-occupation with the coming of a Shiite Islamic messiah is of particular concern because of Iran's potential for triggering the kind of global conflagration Ahmadinejad envisions will set the stage for the end of the world. Ahmadinejad is on record as stating he believes he is to have a personal role in ushering in the age of the Mahdi. In a Nov. 16, 2005, speech in Tehran, he said he sees his main mission in life as to "pave the path for the glorious reappearance of Imam Mahdi, may Allah hasten his reappearance." According to Shiites, the 12th imam disappeared as a child in the year 941. When he returns, they believe, he will reign on earth for seven years, before bringing about a final judgment and the end of the world. Ahmadinejad is urging Iranians to prepare for the coming of the Mahdi by turning the country into a mighty and advanced Islamic society and by avoiding the corruption and excesses of the West. All Iran is buzzing about the Mahdi, the 12th imam and the role Iran and Ahmadinejad are playing in his anticipated return. There's a new messiah hotline. There are news agencies especially devoted to the latest developments. "People are anxious to know when and how will he rise; what they must do to receive this worldwide salvation," says Ali Lari, a cleric at the Bright Future Institute in Iran's religious center of Qom. "The timing is not clear, but the conditions are more specific," he adds. "There is a saying: 'When the students are ready, the teacher will come.'" Ahmadinejad and others in Iran are deadly serious about the imminent return of the 12th imam, who will prompt a global battle between good and evil (with striking parallels to biblical accounts of "Armageddon"). Some interpretations of the events that precede his coming include a war that wipes out most of the world's population. In Iran, an institute set up in 2004 for the study and dissemination of information about the Mahdi had a staff of 160 and influence in the schools and children's magazines earlier this year. Theologians there say end-times beliefs appeal to one-fifth of the population. And the Jamkaran mosque east of Qom, 60 miles south of Tehran, is where the link between devotees and the Mahdi is closest. As of last year, Ahmadinejad's cabinet had given $17 million to Jamkaran. Shiite writings describe events surrounding the return of the Mahdi in apocalyptic terms. In one scenario, the forces of evil would come from Syria and Iraq and clash with forces of good from Iran. The battle would commence at Kufa – the Iraqi town near the holy city of Najaf. Even more controversial is Ahmadinejad's repeated invocation of Imam Mahdi, known as "the Savior of Times." According to Shiite tradition, Imam Mahdi will appear on Judgment Day to herald a truly just government. Ahmadinejad made reference to the Mahdi in his first speech to the U.N., too. He called on the "mighty Lord" to hasten the emergence of "the promised one," the one who "will fill this world with justice and peace." Who stands in the Mahdi's way? A top priority of Ahmadinejad is "to challenge America, which is trying to impose itself as the final salvation of the human being, and insert its unjust state [in the region]," says Hamidreza Taraghi, head of the conservative Islamic Coalition Society. Taraghi says the U.S. is "trying to place itself as the new Mahdi." This may mean no peace with Iran, he adds, "unless America changes its hegemonic ... thinking, doesn't use nuclear weapons, [or] impose its will on other nations." After Ahmadinejad last spoke to the United Nations, in September 2005, he told Ayatollah Javadi-Amoli in Tehran, in a videotaped discussion, about a strange, paranormal experience he had while speaking. He recounted how he found himself bathed in light throughout the speech. But this wasn't the light directed at the podium by the U.N. and television cameras. It was, he said, a light from heaven. According to a transcript of his comments, obtained by WND last year, Ahmadinejad wasn't the only one who noticed the unearthly light. One of his aides brought it to his attention. The Iranian president recalled being told about it by one of his delegation: "When you began with the words 'in the name of Allah,' I saw a light coming, surrounding you and protecting you to the end." Ahmadinejad agreed that he sensed the same thing. "On the last day when I was speaking, one of our group told me that when I started to say 'Bismillah Muhammad,' he saw a green light come from around me, and I was placed inside this aura," he says. "I felt it myself. I felt that the atmosphere suddenly changed, and for those 27 or 28 minutes, all the leaders of the world did not blink. When I say they didn't move an eyelid, I'm not exaggerating. They were looking as if a hand was holding them there, and had just opened their eyes – Alhamdulillah!" http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52071 Just how does Ahmadinejad enter the US? ABC NEWS [America] THE BLOTTER Blog - Kirit Radia Reports: September 8, 2006 -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has applied for a U.S. visa, according to State Department officials. The fiery leader plans to attend the U.N. General Assembly meetings in New York later this month. Official says that the application, which was submitted last month, is going through the normal processing procedure.... Because he is visiting for the U.N. meetings in late September, the application is being processed with the "U.N. Headquarters Agreement" in consideration, which allows for visits for government officials who want to visit the U.N. in New York. The official advises that the application will be much like the one Ahmadinejad went through last year for his visa. His application will most probably be denied based on the travel restriction as an Iranian government official, but that should be waived, and he would then be allowed to come into the U.S. for the meeting, but probably with a limited 25-mile travel radius. http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/09/hardliner_irani.html US blacklists major Iranian bank BBC NEWS - September 8, 2006 - The Bush administration has blacklisted one of Iran's biggest banks, alleging that it is used to transfer money to terrorist organisations. The Treasury Department said it had cut state-owned Bank Saderat off from the US financial system entirely. The bank, although unable to deal directly in the US, was previously able to make transactions via a bank in another country. The US is calling for UN sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme. There has been no official reaction to the news from either Bank Saderat or Iran. 'Funds moved' Stuart Levey, the Treasury's under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, announced the action against Saderat during a speech to the American Enterprise Institute. He said the bank had been blacklisted because "this bank, which has approximately 3,400 branch offices, is used by the government of Iran to transfer money to terrorist organisations." "We will no longer allow a bank like Saderat to do business in the American financial system, even indirectly," he added. According to Mr Levy, the bank had facilitated the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars to the Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah, and what he called other terrorist organisations, every year. Correspondents say the bank has played a major role connecting Iranian businesses with the outside world over the last few years. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5329326.stm China Calls for Peaceful Iran Resolution ASSOCIATED PRESS - September 9, 2006 - HELSINKI, Finland -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Saturday that the international standoff over Iran's disputed nuclear program must be resolved peacefully and he cautioned against the imposition of sanctions. Wen stressed his country doesn't want Iran to develop nuclear weapons and would "make tireless efforts" for a negotiated solution. "That said, diplomatic efforts will be a long process," he told reporters on the sidelines of a summit with the European Union. "To mount pressure or impose sanctions will not necessarily bring about a peaceful solution." His comments came as EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana met with Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani in Vienna, Austria, about Tehran's defiance of international demands that it give up uranium enrichment. Europe's foreign policy: saying “no” to the US? OPEN DEMOCRACY - By John Palmer - September 12, 2006 - The European Union may - just may - be on the cusp of unveiling a foreign and security policy towards the most explosive issues in the middle east which marks a significant break with the strategy followed so far under the leadership of the Bush administration. Although the new EU strategy is as yet being pursued tentatively and with a desire to avoid provoking Washington, American neo-conservative ideologues are already scenting a major new transatlantic rift. The past few months have seen a perceptible decline in the influence of the Bush administration on global affairs, in part-consequence of the mounting setbacks to its strategy in the "war against terror" in general and the near-disintegration of its policies in Iraq in particular. A further factor has been the ejection of some of George W Bush's key international allies from office - a process which began with the election defeat of José-María Aznar in Spain after the Madrid bombs in March 2004, and continued with the removal of Silvio Berlusconi in Italy in April 2006. A similar fate (voluntary or forced) awaits Tony Blair in Britain over the next few months. Meanwhile, the serious military setback sustained by Israel at the hands of Hizbollah in southern Lebanon has dealt a deadly blow to the image of Israel as America's all-powerful military proxy in the middle east. Three signals of change Three developments in the first two weeks of September 2006 offer significant indications that the European Union is beginning to assert itself over foreign and security policy in ways which are causing anxiety and some veiled hostility in Washington. First, the EU "foreign-policy supremo", Javier Solana, reported on 10 September that he had made "significant progress" in his weekend talks with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani about how to break out of the impasse over Tehran's insistence on continuing its uranium-enrichment programme. Until now the United States has insisted that there can be no diplomatic negotiations with Iran until its abandons that programme. But the EU appears to be working on a compromise which would open the way for Iran to suspend its nuclear programme "temporarily" after the negotiations have begun and to continue as long as the negotiations last. Second, Bush administration spokespersons have been demanding "more clarification" of EU intentions towards Iran in recent days, in ways which reflect irritation that Washington can no longer lay down the strategy to be followed by the western allies. The US also views the massive EU-led forces which are providing the backbone of the United Nations's peacekeeping forces in Lebanon with some misgivings. While the UN mission is welcomed, its actual operating mandate is not what the US wanted. At EU insistence the mandate for the UN forces will not include the forcible disarming of Hizbollah. Moreover, EU governments - notably Germany, Italy and France - are in regular contact with Hizbollah as well as with Iran and Syria. The Bush administration regards all three as completely beyond the pale for their alleged involvement in terrorism or support for terrorism. Third, EU foreign ministers - who met informally in Lappeenranta, Finland on 1-2 September to outline their new strategy - have signalled that they want a change in approach to the Israel-Palestine conflict. The general view among the twenty-five EU governments is that the economic boycott of the Palestinian government formed by Hamas after the movement's January 2006 election victory has been a serious mistake which has pushed the Palestinian territories into total chaos. EU diplomats are actively working on language which Hamas could adopt to imply a de facto (rather than a formal, de jure) recognition of Israel. This might be based on Hamas's existing willingness to negotiate a "two-state" solution to the conflict with Israel. If this is followed by the installation of a new Hamas-led Palestinian coalition government, as the agreement on 11 September between Palestine's president Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas's leader Ismail Haniya presages, the restoration of EU economic aid would follow. Hardline neocons in Washington have been warning for some time that the European Union can no longer be relied on to follow US leadership more or less automatically. They are particularly hostile towards Erkki Tuomioja, the Finnish foreign minister, all the more so since the Finnish government currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union. Within the Bush administration, US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice still appears to have a reasonably constructive working relationship with Javier Solana. But among advisors to vice-president Dick Cheney and defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Solana is viewed with barely disguised contempt. The politics of a new course It remains to be seen whether the European Union will sustain the unity and self-confidence to pursue its increasingly independent line on global foreign and security policy issues. Tony Blair no longer wields the influence he once did (in an interview with the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz on 11 September, he spoke about his fear that his European partners had little real understanding of the "threat from global terrorism and Islamic extremism".) Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, would also be made nervous by any risk of an open breach with Washington. But EU governments also are aware of the depth of popular hostility to the Bush administration and fear being tarnished by too close an association with the existing US strategy in the region. The past eighteen months have been very difficult for the European Union following the rejection of the draft EU constitutional treaty by voters in France and the Netherlands. However fourteen EU member-states have now ratified the treaty and there are signs that the two countries whose people voted "no" in the referenda of May-June 2005 may soon be ready to accept some of the most far-reaching provisions of the treaty. These include creating an EU foreign minister and diplomatic service and having elections - through the European parliament - for future presidents of the commission. In a major speech in Brussels on 8 September, Nicolas Sarkozy, the front-running rightwing candidate for the French presidency, presented a full-blooded manifesto for further European integration - including the creation of a full time EU foreign minister. His principle rival in the presidential election in April-May 2007, the socialist Ségolène Royal, a long standing pro-European, is expected to give her backing for some similar moves to break the impasse over the treaty in the next few days. If either is elected, the way may be cleared for negotiations to put the treaty back on track - perhaps by implementing it in stages. EU governments are keen to carry through their radical new foreign-policy strategy without any public rupture in relations with the United States. Apart from anything else everyone knows that delivering the Israeli government to serious political negotiations on a full and final settlement of the Palestine issue will require cooperation and goodwill in Washington. Some European Union leaders make no secret of their impatience to see a new Democratic president and administration in Washington on the basis that it will be less unilateralist and ideologically driven than the current administration. In the meantime the EU seems to be serious about pursuing its own foreign policy, whatever the mutterings and muted criticisms being heard across the Atlantic. http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-europe/eu_mideast_3894.jsp Straw Poll for New UN Secretary-General THE TIMES OF INDIA - By T P Sreenivasan - September 19, 2006 - The second straw poll for identifying the potential UN secretary-general from among the existing candidates placed Indian candidate Shashi Tharoor in second position once again, but with a wider gap between him and the frontrunner Ban Ki-moon of South Korea. However, a significant result of the second poll was that the Security Council did not embrace Zeid Al-Hussein, the Jordanian prince and diplomat, reportedly a favourite of the US and Pakistan. He was placed fourth in a slate of five. The Thai remained in third place, while the Sri Lankan slipped further to fifth position. The South Korean has 14 positive votes as well as a negative vote. The latter may well be from one of the permanent members, who awaits arrival of fresh candidates. The entry of Latvian president Vaira Vike-Freiberga seems to have completed the slate of candidates for the next straw poll on September 28, as Fiji seems to have disowned Niranjan Deva, the Sri Lankan-European candidate. The US has once again asserted that ability, rather than geography, should determine the choice. Coincidentally, Kofi Annan has reportedly spoken in favour of a woman secretary-general. These are indications of support to the Latvian president. But if the Latvian faces the same fate as the Jordanian candidate, the prospects of the Korean and Indian candidates will improve considerably. The Latvian candidate, or for that matter any East European, would have to contend with a Russian veto. The gender factor has receded as Bahrain's Haya Rashid Khalifa has just been elected president of the 61st session of the UN general assembly. Latvia, as part of the European Union, should evoke no great interest among the non-aligned countries. Thailand has shown a slight improvement in the second round, but not enough to be considered a frontrunner. The fight may well be once again between South Korea and India even in the next round. There is a difference between the campaigns of Ban Ki-moon and Shashi Tharoor. South Korea has made the race for the UNSG post a test of its global reach and influence. India is treating it as an offer it has made to the international community, so that the latter can make a choice on merit. Tharoor has a higher personal profile than Moon. The prime minister has campaigned personally for Tharoor, and efforts of our ambassadors have been supplemented by special envoys. The presence of the prime minister in Havana has also reinforced the point that NAM should have a stake in India's candidature. But it is not our style to be aggressive about Indian candidatures or strike bilateral deals with promises of trade or aid. The prime minister felt the matter was too delicate to be mentioned in his address to the NAM summit. The election process is still in its early stages and jockeying among permanent members is still to be played out. The fact that even those with a poor showing in the first two ballots remain in the race is sufficient indication that the game has just begun. This is not the time for India to turn complacent. We need to consolidate our position among non-permanent members as they have a collective veto on anyone that permanent members may propose. If Tharoor can show solid support among non-permanent members, permanent members will factor that into their calculations when they arrive at a decision. He also has at least three permanent members on his side, which is no mean achievement. The strategy for the next steps is best known to the ministry of external affairs and Tharoor himself, who has been travelling extensively to make up for lost time on account of his belated candidature. His excellent performance so far has more than vindicated India's decision to put him up as a candidate. He deserves the support of the entire diplomatic machinery at our disposal in the days ahead. The impression that the identity of the next secretary-general is of no consequence to India is false. U Thant and Javier Perez de Cuellar may have made no difference to Burma and Peru, respectively, but these two countries did not have the kind of stakes that India has at the United Nations. The time has come for us to make the final push. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-2007422,curpg-2.cms
U.S.-EU Summit Declaration: Promoting Peace, Human Rights and Democracy Worldwide THE WHITE HOUSE PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary We, the leaders of the United States of America and the European Union (EU), met today in Vienna to respond to the concerns of our citizens for peace, security, stability and prosperity in an increasingly globalize world. We welcome that over the past year our Transatlantic Partnership has delivered real results as shown by the political and economic Progress Reports we issued today. We remain committed to finding common or complementary lines of action in many areas. Over the last year, there have been many examples of how productive our relationship is in the Middle East, Iran, the Western Balkans, Belarus, on the frozen conflicts, and Sudan, as well as in our efforts to promote transatlantic trade and investment under last Summit's Economic Initiative. We have decided to further strengthen our strategic Partnership by adopting a number of priority actions to support our cooperation in the following four areas: -Promoting peace, human rights and democracy worldwide; Read Full Press Release Here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/06/20060621-2.html
American Jewry Protests Global Jihad Outside UN ARUTZ SHEVA - by Ezra HaLevi - September 21, 2006 - A large number of protestors gathered opposite the United Nations building in New York City Wednesday afternoon to protest Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and demand the release of Israel's captives. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, US Ambassador John Bolton, New York State Governor George Pataki, Holocaust survivor and author Eli Wiesel and human rights lawyer Alan Dershowitz, among others, addressed the crowd, which stretched down the streets and avenues surrounding the plaza opposite the United Nations. Also attending the rally and issue emotional pleas for the release of their captive family members were Carmit Goldwasser, wife of IDF soldier Ehud Goldwasser, and Benny Regev, brother of Eldad Regev – both being held by Hizbullah. "People are coming from as far away as California," Conference of Presidents Chairman Malcolm Hoenlein told Arutz-7 an hour before the rally began. "The plaza is already filled with Jews, Christians, Blacks, Whites, Hispanics – an unbelievable rainbow of the American Hoenlein doubted that any of the rally's speakers would issue calls for an attack on Iran in order to prevent the Islamic republic from attaining nuclear capability, as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promised the UN it would continue to pursue, Tuesday. "The purpose of the rally is to show solidarity with Israel and to demand the release of the MIAs," Hoenlein said. "Leaders of the world meeting across the street will have a hard time not hearing our message and Ahmadinejad will know that his threats to wipe out Israel are unacceptable. The US is obligated to let him into the country, but we are obligated to let him know what we think." More than 140 buses were on their way to the rally, organizers said, adding that many more people were flying in from across the country for the event. The rally enjoys one of the widest array of organization support in decades. Jewish organizations from Meretz to Americans For a Safe Israel have lent their support and the Council of Torah Sages of the Hareidi-religious Agudah movement have made the decision to support the protest as well, calling upon members of the movement to attend. In honor of the upcoming Rosh HaShana holiday marking the Jewish new year, hundreds of shofrot, ram's horns, were blown in unison during the protest. The shofar has traditionally been blown both at times of trouble, to encourage the Jewish people to mend their ways, and during wartime, to rally the troops, demoralize the enemies of Israel and to signal Divine assistance for the Jewish nation. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=112415 Chavez Launches Bush Broadside at U.N. The fiery speech by the leftist leader, one of the Bush's staunchest critics abroad, was harsher in tone than that of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who sparred with Bush the previous day over Tehran's disputed nuclear program but avoided any personal insults. "Yesterday, the devil came here," Chavez said, referring to Bush's address before the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday. "Right here. Right here. And it smells of sulfur still today, this table that I am now standing in front of." He then made the sign of the cross, brought his hands together as if praying and looked up at the ceiling. Lest anyone wasn't listening, Chavez continued: "Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, from this rostrum, the president of the United States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world. Truly. As the owner of the world," Chavez said. Chavez's words drew tentative giggles at times from the audience, but also applause at the end of the speech and when he called Bush the devil - a word he used no fewer than eight times. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Chavez's remarks were "not becoming for a head of state." "I am not going to dignify a comment by the Venezuelan president to the president of the United States," Rice told reporters in New York. The main U.S. seat in the assembly hall was empty as Chavez spoke, though the U.S. Ambassador John Bolton told The Associated Press that a "junior note-taker" was present, as is customary "when governments like that speak. The address appeared to be one of Chavez' boldest moves yet to lead an alliance of countries firmly opposed to the Bush administration. The speech came after the leftist leader crisscrossed the globe this summer visiting like-minded nations from Iran to Belarus. The Venezuelan has become Latin America's leading voice against the U.S. government, and his speech was reminiscent of crusading addresses by his mentor Fidel Castro of Cuba and the late Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara. In his 23-minute address, Chavez also called Bush a "spokesman of imperialism" who was trying "to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world." "An Alfred Hitchcock movie could use it as a scenario. I would even propose a title: 'The Devil's Recipe,'" Chavez said. He accused the U.S. of planning and financing a failed 2002 coup against him, a charge the U.S. denies. And he said the U.S. tries to impose its vision of democracy militarily in countries like Iran and Iraq. "We appeal to the people of the United States and the world to halt this threat, which is like a sword hanging over our head," he said. "The imperialists see extremists everywhere. It's not that we are extremists. It's that the world is waking up." At the start of his talk, Chavez held up a book by American writer Noam Chomsky, "Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance," and recommended it to everyone in the General Assembly, as well as to the American people. "The people of the United States should read this ... instead of the watching Superman movies," Chavez later told reporters. He called U.S. consumerism "madness," saying Americans have wasteful habits in using oil and energy. He held up a satellite photo showing the world at night, with bright light emanating from the U.S. and other wealthy countries. Consuming less should be an environmental priority, he said, "instead of looking for oil" through the war in Iraq. The United States continues to be the top buyer of Venezuelan oil, bringing the South American country billions of dollars in earnings that help fund Chavez's popular social programs.... The U.S. argues that Venezuela - closely allied with Iran, Syria and Cuba - would be a disruptive force. The campaign for a U.N. seat is shaping up to be a formidable diplomatic test for Chavez, gauging his ability to lobby head-to-head against the United States.... He also expressed concern about "the increased incidents of Islamophobia in the West," saying it does not "bode well for the cause of building understanding and cooperation across civilizations." http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060920/D8K8S9U80.html Text of Chavez speech at U.N. where Venezuelan dictator calls Bush 'the devil' http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52076 President met with Javier Solana, John Bolton Theyboth emphsized that Georgia should find peaceful solution to its conflicts. John Bolton also spoke about close relationship between Georgia and the United States, welcoming development of democratic processes in Georgia 'You know that the European Union has very specific relation with the Caucasus, particularly with Georgia. We have our European Neighborhood policy actually planned with your country. Your territorial integrity is something that I defend and that we defend. We know that your president is going to speak about the conflicts, so we'll see that,’ Javier Solana told Georgian journalists. http://www.geotimes.ge/index.php?m=home&newsid=1791 King of Tyre U.N. Commander: Won't Disarm Hezbollah Maj. Gen. Alain Pelligrini told reporters the main task of his U.N. force is to ensure southern Lebanon cannot be used as a base for attacks on Israel. "The disarmament of Hezbollah is not the business of UNIFIL. This is a strictly Lebanese affair, which should be resolved at a national level," he said. Pelligrini's assessment underscored the constraints facing the beefed-up U.N. mission despite a tougher mandate and far greater manpower. It came as French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie visited hundreds of her country's soldiers about to deploy to southern Lebanon, where they will join the U.N. force that is to maintain the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah. In Paris, Chirac said it was important for the Lebanese government to assert control over its entire territory. "It is totally normal there be a wing that expresses politically what the Hezbollah think .... What is questionable, is to express this by force, by armed militias," the French leader said in an interview on Europe-1 radio. U.N. peacekeepers for the first time began checking security measures Monday on Lebanon's border with Syria, part of efforts to help the Lebanese army in monitoring sea and land borders to prevent arms shipments to Hezbollah. The bulk of the 15,000-strong U.N. force is deploying in the south, and France - contributing the second-largest contingent of 2,000 soldiers - will command it until early next year, when Italy is to take over. The U.N. cease-fire resolution that ended the 34-day war Aug. 14 stipulated Hezbollah eventually be disarmed, and Chirac said he wanted to see the resolution implemented "without reservations." But in practice, neither the Lebanese army nor U.N. soldiers want to provoke a confrontation with the well-trained guerrillas in their southern heartland. Along with the U.N. troops, who currently number 5,000, Lebanon's army is deploying 15,000 soldiers in the southern area that borders Israel. "Our mission is to have a zone between the Blue Line and the Litani (River) where there is no illegal army and from which you cannot launch hostile acts," Pelligrini said, referring to the area between the U.N.-demarcated border with Israel and the river. Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, said in an interview last week that Israel's monthlong offensive had failed to dismantle Hezbollah and boasted that his armed guerrillas were still in the towns and villages near the Israeli border. Hezbollah fighters, who have controlled parts of southern Lebanon for years, are believed to be lying low and blending in with the local population - as they did before the war. The weak central government in Lebanon has vowed to re-establish its authority over the Hezbollah stronghold in the south. But Western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora has also made clear the Lebanese troops would not actively hunt for hidden Hezbollah arsenals. Alliot-Marie told the French soldiers at a temporary base housing them in Beirut that they would be carrying out a mission "whose difficulties and risks I am aware of." But she said their robust mandate and heavy armor, which includes Leclerc tanks, sophisticated Cobra radar systems and 155 mm howitzers, would deter aggression. "To avoid clashes sometimes you have to dissuade (the other side) by demonstrating you are stronger," the minister said. Some 900 French soldiers who have been staying in Beirut are to begin moving Tuesday to a base in Deir Kifa, east of the port of Tyre. The French deployment to southern Lebanon will take about a week; the first convoy will consist of 150 soldiers and four tanks. China, meanwhile, said it will increase its peacekeeping force in Lebanon to 1,000. More than 1,000 people died in the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, most of them Lebanese civilians. http://www.forbes.com/business/businesstech/feeds/ap/2006/09/18/ap3025788.html Hezbollah chief plans 'victory rally' Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said the rally, to be held Friday evening, would show Hezbollah's "absolute commitment to our right to recover our land and prisoners and defend our nation, its dignity, freedom, sovereignty and real and full independence in the face of (Israeli) occupation." "I call on all of you to participate in this victory rally," he said in a brief, televised speech broadcast on Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV station. Nasrallah went into hiding on July 12, the start of the 34-day war, and has not been seen publicly since. He did not say whether he would take part personally in the rally. He has hinted in interviews that he would appear at some point, possibly at a rally, but did not say when for security reasons. Friday's event would mark only the second large-scale Hezbollah rally in its stronghold, the Lebanese capital's southern suburbs, since fighting ended more than a month ago. Such rallies and parades during which Nasrallah gave fiery speeches to hundreds of thousands of supporters were common before hostilities erupted. ... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060918/ap_on_re_mi_ea/lebanon_hezbollah_1 750 Spanish Troops Arrive in Lebanon About 480 Spanish marines in amphibious vehicles arrived on a popular tourist beach in the city of Tyre, after offloading from two Spanish warships off the Lebanese coast. Another 90 were set to arrive Saturday. The marines, like French and Italian troops who arrived recently, are joining the UNIFIL peacekeeping force in Lebanon as it expands from 2,000 soldiers to 15,000 under a new Security Council resolution. In an interview published Friday in the French daily La Croix, UNIFIL commander Gen. Alain Pellegrini said he was "unable to now find enough terrain" to accommodate the incoming troops. "I am surely going to be required to delay the arrival of some contingents because I can't put them up," he was quoted as saying. "I remind Lebanese authorities that they must offer us ground, which, for the moment, they haven't done," Pellegrini added. "We are here at their request, and the least they could do is help us." A U.N. spokesman, Alexander Ivanko, softened the criticism of the Lebanese government, saying that the deployment was a "huge logistical effort" because of the need to secure land and clear land mines. Ivanko said some Italian troops have been delayed from fanning out from their staging ground in Jabal Maroun, which was originally set to begin last week. A senior Lebanese security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said it was taking time to arrange logistics for the large number of troops. He said the issue was being "dealt with as quickly as possible." "There is large-scale destruction in the south. Some villages are totally destroyed and it is a difficult task to prepare the grounds for all the peacekeepers. Some of them need to have large bases and you need to arrange rent leases with residents of the area and other such issues," he told The Associated Press. Meanwhile, the Indonesian military, initially slated to send 1,000 peacekeepers to Lebanon at the end of this month, said Friday that it would postpone its deployment until late October. "The government of Lebanon is so busy organizing (the peacekeepers) who are already there, there needed to be a readjustment of our arrival date," Indonesian military spokesman Admiral Mohamad Sunarto said. Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation and was quick to offer troops to any peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, but Israel initially objected because Jakarta does not have diplomatic ties with the Jewish state. Israel, which has been gradually pulling its forces out as U.N. soldiers fan out across the south, promised to withdraw its troops by around Sept. 22 after the U.N. said the peacekeeping contingent should reach 5,000 around mid-September. The U.N. force will patrol a buffer zone in south Lebanon to prevent hostilities from breaking out again between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas. Spain will be the third largest contributor to the U.N. force , bringing a total of about 1,100 troops by October. France, Italy, Ghana and India currently have the largest contingents in UNIFIL. The 34-day war, which ended in a U.N.-brokered cease-fire on Aug. 14, killed more than 1,000 people, most of them Lebanese civilians. http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/09/15/D8K5BJOG0.html “Lebanese Security” Is the Pretext for the Naval Babel around Lebanon’s Shores Close investigation by DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources discloses that “Lebanese security” and peacemaking is not the object of the exercise. It is linked to the general anticipation of a military clash between the United States and Israel, on one side, and Iran and possibly Syria on the other, some time from now until November This expectation has brought together the greatest sea and air armada Europe has ever assembled at any point on earth since World War II: two carriers with 75 fighter-bombers, spy planes and he |
