Evening Update: Syria, Israel and Fixed Elections?

The news are coming in faster and faster these days; I'm starting to wonder if we need three daily updates now rather than two. We'll see.

Israel Will Protect Itself From Syria's Chemical Weapons

Will Israel have to protect itself from Syria's chemical weapons? If so, the Jewish State will do what it must, according to President Shimon Peres.

The president told the CNN news network in an interview Monday, “The use of chemical weapons is internationally forbidden. What do you do when someone violates the law? You fight against them. You stop them.

"The Syrians must be aware that what they do is against international law and endangering here our lives, so we shall not remain indifferent and tell them, 'do what you want.'”

“We certainly don't want to be exposed to chemical weapons falling in the hands of Hizbullah or other terror groups because that's something that we can't be indifferent to,” Netanyahu said.

“It's a great threat. We'll have to consider our action. But do I seek action? No. Do I preclude it? No.”

At a news briefing Monday in Washington, however, Pentagon press secretary George Little was far more blunt. Speaking for the government, Little warned Syria not to “even consider using chemical weapons” after Damascus threatened to employ its unconventional arms.

"They should not think one iota about using chemical weapons,” Little told reporters. The remark came after Syria admitted having chemical weapons, and having said it would use them if attacked, although not against its own citizens.

Israeli armored personnel carriers (APC) have been driving along the northern border with Syria near the Druze village of Buqata in the Golan Heights. One of the biggest threats to Israel from the Syrian civil war is the likely collapse of the Damascus government, and the possibility that its arsenal of chemical weapons and missiles could fall into the hands of the Lebanese Hizbullah terrorist organization, Netanyahu warned.

Syria Could Use Chemical Weapons If Attacked

- Syria threatened Monday to unleash its chemical and biological weapons if the country faces a foreign attack, a desperate warning from a regime that has failed to crush a powerful and strengthening rebellion.

The statement - Syria's first-ever acknowledgement that the country possesses weapons of mass destruction - suggests President Bashar Assad will continue the fight to stay in power, regardless of the cost.

Syria is believed to have nerve agents as well as mustard gas, Scud missiles capable of delivering these lethal chemicals and a variety of advanced conventional arms, including anti-tank rockets and late-model portable anti-aircraft missiles.

IDF: Syrian Chemical Threat Targets Israel. Obama Warns Assad Against "Tragic Mistake"

Senior Israeli military officers, referring to the Syrian foreign ministry statement Monday, July 23, that Syria would only use chemical weapons against “external aggression,” found in it a direct threat by the Assad regime to turn those weapons against Israel. It was Syria’s rejoinder to Israel’s vow to use force against those chemical weapons to prevent them from reaching Hizballah’s hands in Lebanon.

Tensions between Syria and Israel, like its other neighbors - especially Jordan and Turkey – rose to a new pitch in the wake of the new Syrian statement.

Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said plainly Sunday that preventing Syria’s chemical weapons from “falling into the wrong hands” was a key to Israeli security, while Defense Minister Ehud Barak said he had ordered the Israeli military to prepare for a possible attack on Syria’s weapons arsenal, because “Israel cannot accept the transfer of advanced weapons from Syria to Lebanon.”

A few hours later, the UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon said in New York that he was “very concerned” that “Syria may be tempted to use chemical weapons.”

Syrian foreign ministry’s statement was tantamount to a declaration that the Assad regime holds all the cards on when and against whom to use its chemical weapons. America, Israel, Jordan and Turkey have no say in the matter.

Israeli sources point out that the Syrian statement omitted any mention – certainly no denial - of the possible transfer of those weapons to Hizballah in Lebanon. The Assad regime must therefore be understood to reserve to itself that option, too, thereby laying Israel wide open to a direct threat. Israel and its military were alone in expressly vowing to prevent this transfer.

“We understand the Syrian ruler to be preparing to expand the Syria war into Lebanon whence his troops can threaten northern and Mediterranean areas of Israel,” said a US military source.

The following article may be the most chilling and ominous piece of information to come out in months, if not years. It also reveals what may be in store for the 2012 elections:

Voting Integrity? Part 2: Scytl And Apparent Snopes Cover-Up

First, some background information:

For months now, a scandal has been swirling in the Internet winds about Scytl, the Spanish company that will count 2012 general election votes for many of the United States of America.

It is unfortunate this got to be a question of whether or not George Soros has ownership in that firm. That is beside the point. Make that the points, plural. Here they are.

1. Scytl’s electronic voting and any other electronic voting, that does not give us a paper trail of auditable ballots is a betrayal of the trust of the sovereign American People.
2. The counting of American votes must never, ever, take place by any agency outside the sovereign United States of America.

Consider the story ofScytl (pdf), the Spanish (Michelle Obama vacationed in Spain privately and away from Barack on his birthday in 2010.)company which purchased SOEand now will process U.S. election results overseas. SOE touts:

Over 900 jurisdictions in 26 states across the United States, including 14 state-wide customers, currently use SOE Software solutions in their electoral processes

These numbers include 2008 competitive states Indiana, Arizona, North Carolina and South Carolina. Scytl’s News and Events page lists multiple online ballot contracts with states including Mississippi and Virginia. Scytl’s Customers page does not seem to be updated. SOE’s customer list of states and counties is also of note. Additionally, a BusinessWire press release details:

Prior to 2012 much of the software being used for voting system upgrades came from a company called SOE. However, SCYTL acquired SOE in a purchase agreement in late 2011 and early 2012. The platform that SCYTL currently uses actually originated with SOE before the acquisition.

But herein lies yet another problem inherent with the software, according to critics. Elections and vote fraud expert Bev Harris of Black Box Voting says that the uniform system SCYTL now uses makes it nearly impossible to check for accuracy, given that it does not mandate a paper trail of votes. There is no proof, no written record, no documentation.

Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of systems like that of SCYTL, however, is the fact that it is possible for elections officials in government, and the computer programmers who work with the machines and software, to see how each individual citizen votes. According to Harris, such a system is a direct threat to voter privacy.

We see how extensively this electronic system will be used. Now for the scary/depressing/distressing part:

The concerns do not stop at the technical level. Scytl CEO Pere Valles is reported to be a socialist and a major Obama donor. Valles may be one of 5340 deleted donors from the Federal Election Commission’s April 22 database update which is the basis of Center for Responsive Politics’ OpenSecrets.org donor list. Donor deletions exploded off the FEC donor list under the Obama administration:

Prior to joining Scytl, Mr. Valles was Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of GlobalNet, a NASDAQ publicly-traded telecommunications company headquartered in Chicago.

Mr. Valles had worked as Senior Manager for KPMG’s Mergers & Acquisitions group in Los Angeles and Miami providing financial and strategic consulting services to private equity groups and corporations involved in acquisitions in the United States, Latin America and Europe.

Mr. Valles has a bachelor degree in Economics and a bachelor degree in Law from the University of Barcelona and a MBA (summa cum laude) from Indiana University.

Pere Valles is not shown on the donor list, but his history clearly points to the conclusion that he is an Obama supporter. It is odd that so many of his underlings would contribute to the Obama campaign without his buy in. It is possible that Valles name was removed from the donor list as one of 5340 deleted records but everyone’s contributions could not be deleted. Further, we have uncovered significant financial ties between Scytl investors and the Obama administration.

That donor list can be seen here:

Candidate	Contributor	Employer	Date	Amount
Obama, Barack	Cohler, Matt Portola Valley,CA 94028	Benchmark Capital	10/24/08	$2,300
Obama, Barack	GOLDBERG, DAVID ATHERTON,CA 94027	BENCHMARK CAPITAL/VENTURE CAPITAL	3/18/08	$2,300
Obama, Barack	LASKY, MITCHELL LOS ANGELES,CA 90064	BENCHMARK CAPITAL/VENTURE CAPITALIS	1/3/08	$2,300
Obama, Barack	LASKY, MITCHELL LOS ANGELES,CA 90064	BENCHMARK CAPITAL/VENTURE CAPITALIS	6/3/08	$2,300
Obama, Barack	LASKY, MITCHELL LOS ANGELES,CA 90064	BENCHMARK CAPITAL/VENTURE CAPITALIS	6/3/08	$2,300
Romney, Mitt	KAGLE, ROBERT C WOODSIDE,CA 94062	BENCHMARK CAPITAL/VENTURE CAPITALIS	2/5/07	$2,100
Obama, Barack	TAYLOR, BRET LOS GATOS,CA 95032	BENCHMARK CAPITAL/ENTREPRENEUR IN R	8/1/07	$250
Obama, Barack	LASKY, MITCHELL LOS ANGELES,CA 90064	BENCHMARK CAPITAL/VENTURE CAPITALIS	6/3/08	$-2,300

The conclusions:

Voting is key in our system. Everyone should contribute to the effort for fair and secure elections. This includes fact checkers being intellectually curious enough to do the difficult research required to answer important questions. Snopes has failed in the instance of Scytl due to a bias in favor of Barack Obama.

Instances such as this are a danger to our country. The public has a deluge of information sources but searches of fact checking organizations that lead to misinformation are particularly harmful. When the misinformation undermines our entire process of election by delaying the resolution of problems and public debate of the facts, it goes beyond partisanship or bias.

Scytl processing votes in Spain is unacceptable. The transparent tabulation of votes is critical to free elections. In the SOE/Scytl system, local precincts will no longer count the votes. The task will be completed by a foreign company which we do not control. Once the votes are merged, local officials will be unable to check or recheck their integrity.

If it is beginning to look like the fix is in for the '12 elections, perhaps that is because the fix is indeed in. We shall see. November isn't too far off; we'll know soon enough.

However it is important to remember one vital point. If there is a fix in the U.S. elections, then ultimately that will be an important piece in our end times developments, and we could assume it's a necessary component to a centralized world governmental structure that we know will be in place during the Tribulation.

In a strange way, I am at peace with this. The prophetic plan will be carried out exactly as prophesied and nothing we can do will change that. We're just watching the events transpire while looking up and awaiting His return.

In a strange sense, the worse things get, the better things get for the community of believers. This is because the worse things get, the closer we are to the Tribulation. And the closer we are to the Tribulation, the closer we are to an eternity in paradise.

Bring it on.