Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Daily Headlines: Syria 'On A Cliff'



Syria On A Cliff Edge Between Assad And Al Qaeda

The collapse of the Eid al Adha truce brokered by UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi left Syria careering into unknown territory.The powers which castigate Bashar Assad for butchering his people refuse to abandon their hands-off policy for clipping his wings. On this point, there is little difference between US President Barack Obama and his Republican rival Mitt Romney, except that the latter says Syrian rebels ought to be given heavy arms for defense against Assad’s army, tanks and air force.Even America’s allies in the region are being held back from direct military confrontation with the Assad regime.


Turkey was on the verge of expanding its border clashes with Syria into active backing for the rebels with a view to carving out a buffer strip, a safe haven and a no-fly zone on and over Syrian soil. But then, last week Obama sent the Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint US Chiefs, to Ankara to hold Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan back from any cross-border action. He was followed by his deputy.Assad, the Syrian rebels – and al Qaeda too - sense that the country is now up for grabs. This realization is shared by their various sponsors, including Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan and the Emir of Qatar.The Syrian ruler therefore feels he is sitting pretty with no one around who is willing or able to stop the indiscriminate air bombardment of urban areas which he began to intensify in the last week.

By the same token, Russia and Iran don’t face international opposition to the arms and personnel back-up they are providing Assad’s forces.In sharp contrast, the Obama administration is entangled by his critics at home in a crisis over the circumstances surrounding the terrorist murder of US ambassador Chris Stevens and 3 diplomats at the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya. 

The administration is accused of failing to provide the necessary security before and during the consulate raid. The ambassador played a key role in US undercover operations to neutralize Libya and the region against destabilizing jihadists.As an indirect consequence of the crisis around his death, the supply of SA-7 missiles from Libya to the Syrian rebels has dried up.After looking around him, Assad felt he could safely put into practice his plot for the assassination of the Lebanese security chief Brig. Gen. Wassam in Beirut on Friday, Oct. 19.By a single stroke, the Syrian knocked over the mainstay of US-Saudi intelligence operations in Syria. But, as a vital hub for the American war on al Qaeda in the region, the Lebanese security chief’s importance far transcended a single conflict. His death was a major blow for US intelligence.So the two murders eliminated two linchpins of the US undercover war on al Qaeda in the region and left a free field for Assad and the jihadists to fight it out between them for supremacy.





Syrian rebels said on Wednesday they had formed a brigade of sympathetic Palestinians in a Damascus district to fight armed Palestinians aligned with Syrian President Bashar Assad.
About 150,000 Palestinian refugees live in the Syrian capital's Yarmouk camp, a sprawling area of concrete apartment blocks, where some residents support the 19-month-old uprising against Assad and others fight alongside Syrian soldiers.








In an interview Tuesday with the Daily Telegraph, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that Israel almost attacked Iran eight months ago – but that the “moment of truth” was postponed after Iran redirected part of its enriched uranium to civilian uses. Without that decision, a confrontation with Iran would have almost certainly developed, said Barak.
When asked why he thought Iran made this decision, Barak said that there are at least three explanatioms. One was the public discussion about a possible attack on Iran. It could also be the result of diplomatic pressure not to make things more tense before the U.S. presidential elections. It could also be an attempt by Iran to show the International Atomic Energy Agency that it can comply with international requets when it wishes, Barak added.
When asked about future Israeli plans to attack Iran, Barak said simply that “Israel reserves the right to defend itself, by itself. An action against Iran will be much safer than an attack against an Iran that achieves nuclear capability.” Sanctions and diplomatic pressure have not worked, said Barak, and he warned that as a result, Israel and its allies will have to deal with the decision on whether or not to attack Iran's nuclear facilities “in the coming year.”







The presidential campaign has featured plenty of talk about terrorism in the Middle East, but one lawmaker is warning that the federal government is ignoring a growing Hezbollah presence in Mexico, with the Lebanese terror group increasingly joining forces with drug cartels.
One report shows hundreds of thousands of Middle Easterners living in Mexico, and a small percentage of them may be radicals using routes established by drug networks to sneak into the U.S.
The ties linking Mexico to Islamic terrorism were underscored earlier this year when an alleged Iranian operative plotted to assassinate a Saudi diplomat in Washington using a hired gun on loan from a Mexican drug cartel. Rep. Sue Myrick (R-N.C.) says the mounting evidence of a Hezbollah presence in Mexico is being ignored by the Department of Homeland Security.
"I don't have a lot of faith in the Department of Homeland Security," said Myrick. "They should be looking at these groups in Mexico much more closely."
Speculation of these groups operating in Mexico eventually became more tangible in the fall of 2010, when the Tucson Police Department published an International Terrorism Situational Awareness for Hezbollah in Mexico citing the arrest of Jameel Nasar in Tijuana in July 2010, who attempted to establish a Hezbollah network in Mexico and South America.

The previous year, Jamal Yousef was arrested in New York City, where it was learned that 100 M16 rifles, 100 AR15 rifles, 200 hand grenades, C4 explosive and anti-tank ammunition were stolen from Iraq by his cousin, an alleged Hezbollah member, and stored in Mexico.




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4 comments:

shannon said...

Hi Scott,
I thought these words may minister to someone today as they did me:

James 1:17
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning"

The eternal God is unchanging! The Scriptures teach us this very clearly. When we read that God repented of something, it is always connected with the sins of man, not with His failure. So, when it says, "And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart" (Genesis 6:6), this means nothing other than that God regretted making man and was grieved. He grieved over the consequences of sin in the man that He had made perfect. He regretted it. It is clear that the Lord cannot repent of anything He has done. God did not change His plans, for His intentions have been perfect from eternity to eternity. We cannot change His plans or ways through our prayers, but exactly the opposite takes place. We are changed through intensive prayer. God can at last do what He always wanted to do: bless, save and liberate. He is always the one who blesses. Man can never change God.

Taken from Wim Malgo's Spiritual Strength For Each Day


Shannon

JD Siegel said...

Hi Shannon, thank you for your obedience in sharing what you posted. It is thought provoking.
In as much as God said He regretted creating man because of sin, yet He established our redemption FROM BEFORE the foundation of the earth when our salvation was ALREADY PLANNED by the work of the cross!!!! Haleluia!!!!!
And, it is also written, that our prayers DO change things! The FERVANT and effective prayer of a righteous man availeth much!!!! We are righteous by our FAITH in the Blood of the Lamb!!!! Haleluia!!!!

Waterer said...

Wv,How did the series go? Are they posting it on a church website?
Ally, Are you feeling stronger?
KR,

shannon said...

Yes JD Siegel, if the SPIRIT moves to post HE will get it done. Born again believers will want other believers to grow and learn from each other.
I will assume by your response you refer to Ephesians 1. HE established the redemption of those who would believe the Gospel, before the foundation of the earth was laid. Those who would believe will hear the Gospel, receive and be sealed by HIS SPIRIT of Redemption. All are without excuse, Romans 1:18-21. Those who don't/won't believe are those referred to in
John 3:19, 20 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
Yes, He knew in advance Adam would sin. All of mankind now are perishing due to inherent sin.
Rom 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
You say, "Our prayers do change things". Do they? Only if our prayers are according to His will. Scripture will be fulfilled according to His will.
You say, "we are righteous by our FAITH in the Blood of the Lamb". As a matter of fact, it is not OUR faith that makes us righteous. It is the Faith of Jesus Christ Himself. FAITH is the Fruit of God's Spirit.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith...
There are two kinds of "faith"......One is OF His Spirit, the other is of the flesh.