Evening Update

First, we see an update regarding Iran's escalating threats to Israel:

Iran: Genocide A Moral Obligation

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday endorsed a new doctrine explaining why it would be 'legally and morally justified' to commit genocide and wipe Israel off the map.

The article was written by Khameini's close adviser Alireza Forghani and endorsed by the Supreme Leader whose writings played a critical role in its drafting.

"Israel is a cancerous tumor in the Middle East," the article in the ultraconservative Farsi-language Alef news site. "Israel is a satanic media outlet with bombers. Every Muslim is required to arm themselves against Israel."

"I have already noted the usurper state of Israel poses a grave threat to Islam and Muslim countries. Islam and Muslim states must not lose this opportunity to remove the corruption from out midst. All of our problems are because of Israel - Israel of America."

"The first step should be the absolute destruction of Israel. To this end, Iran could make use of long-range missiles. The distance between us is only 2,600 KM. It can be done in minutes."

The crux of the piece says Iran would be justified in launching a pre-emptive strike against Israel because of the threat the Jewish state's leaders are posing against its own nuclear facilities.

The article makes it clear Iran sees no place in the Middle East for the Jews.

Krauthammer: Leak Indicates Israeli Attack On Iran Certain

On this weekend’s broadcast of “Inside Washington,” Krauthammer explained his thought process.

“I think it’s fairly certain the Israelis are going to attack or you would not have had this leak, deliberately coming this week from secretary of Defense through David Ignatius of The [Washington] Post saying that he thinks there is a high likelihood Israel is going to attack, and then he went ahead and specified when.

He said three months, April, May or June. And you don’t say that unless there is obviously indications from the Israelis that they are going to do this even if they get and they are getting a signal from the United States not to do it.”

Krauthammer reminded viewers that the real threat of escalation would be if the rogue state attempted to block the Strait of Hormuz.

“The other question is will they attack the United States base in Bahrain, which is also suicidal, cause if you kill a single American, you’re going to bring America into the war and Europe into the war: The Europeans will join as well. So it will be an all out war.’

State Department Pulls Embassy Staff From Syria

The United States closed its embassy in Syria and pulled out its remaining diplomatic staff on Monday after Damascus refused to address security concerns raised by the State Department.

"The government is getting stretched beyond its ability to control the various elements of violence in the country," one senior official told CNN.

"This is a decision we never take likely. Our embassies are a very important part of our diplomacy around the world."

Below we see a haunting story about increasing persecution around the world:

The Global War On Christians In The Muslim World

This is a story that should be read by all. The article contains a lot of information and below is just the introduction:

We hear so often about Muslims as victims of abuse in the West and combatants in the Arab Spring’s fight against tyranny. But, in fact, a wholly different kind of war is underway—an unrecognized battle costing thousands of lives. Christians are being killed in the Islamic world because of their religion. It is a rising genocide that ought to provoke global alarm.

In recent years the violent oppression of Christian minorities has become the norm in Muslim-majority nations stretching from West Africa and the Middle East to South Asia and Oceania. In some countries it is governments and their agents that have burned churches and imprisoned parishioners. In others, rebel groups and vigilantes have taken matters into their own hands, murdering Christians and driving them from regions where their roots go back centuries.

But a fair-minded assessment of recent events and trends leads to the conclusion that the scale and severity of Islamophobia pales in comparison with the bloody Christophobia currently coursing through Muslim-majority nations from one end of the globe to the other.

The conspiracy of silence surrounding this violent expression of religious intolerance has to stop. Nothing less than the fate of Christianity—and ultimately of all religious minorities—in the Islamic world is at stake.

Don't forget, Jesus warned us that persecution would be one of the signs of this generation. Like the other signs that we track on a daily basis, persecution is growing in both frequency and severity; an undeniable fact.