It really does look like we're in the last birth pains as the Tribulation approaches. The last couple of weeks has brought us a big increase in major earthquakes and today we see a devastating 7.2 quake in the Philippines (below), the U.S. making agreements with Iran and leaving Israel isolated and standing alone in the world, while the Iranian situation reaches a boiling point as Israel has only a few weeks or months to take effective action - action which will most likely ignite the powder keg. All of this is happening while the Russian-Iranian alliance gains strength in the midst of the Syrian crisis.
Israel now knows with 100% certainty that they must act alone and anything the U.S. attempts to say or do to continue holding Israel back will be in vain. The stage is now officially set - the U.S. has finally revealed its hand in this game of high-stakes poker and that hand doesn't include anything for Israel. With a convenient excuse (Iran's new 'nice and smiling' leader), the U.S. can pretend that all is well and thus avoid becoming involved or having to come to Israel's aid. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if Israel is literally finalizing their plans of attack as we speak.
It is also time to intensify our prayers for Israel.
Finally, a reason to celebrate. Not only because, starting Tuesday, Iran will participate in negotiations in Geneva with the P5+1 over its nuclear program, but also because Tehran agreed to hold direct talks with representatives of the American government. This stands in stark contrast to the familiar Iranian policy that shirked any official contact with representatives of the “Great Satan.”
The End of Days must be upon us.
And yet, as Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi’s words Monday night made clear, there has been no substantive change in Iran’s nuclear position that would alleviate concerns over its intentions to produce a nuclear bomb or to become a “threshold state.” Indeed, Araqchi made clear that Iran “will not agree to cease the enrichment of uranium, even for one day.”
Regarding the enriched uranium stores Iran already possesses, including quantities enriched to 20%, Araqchi, who is also the deputy head of Tehran’s nuclear negotiating team, was adamant that “we will not agree to transfer even one gram of enriched uranium out of Iran.” He added that his country would be ready to negotiate over the level of uranium enrichment in the future, but Tehran repeatedly makes clear that the talks are contingent on the partial removal of Western sanctions as a goodwill gesture.
Why the West needs to show goodwill toward Iran is not clear. Tehran may hint that it is ready to show some flexibility on its nuclear program, but that flexibility is not enough, or shouldn’t be — not for Israel and not for other countries in the West and in the Arab world.
The persistent storing of enriched uranium, even at the 3.5% level, while Iran maintains its enrichment capacity through advanced centrifuges, combined with Tehran’s dubious record regarding supervision of its nuclear facilities, leave serious suspicion that Iran will try to secretly produce a nuclear bomb in the future.
And still, some American media outlets have evidently been mesmerized by President Hassan Rouhani’s smile. The New York Times seems to be directing a campaign against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has said sanctions on Iran must not be removed and warned about the Islamic Republic’s true intentions. Certain Western journalists are possibly driven by the hope — and, perhaps, some degree of naivety — that the crisis will not require the use of force.
On Sunday, the Saudi-owned newspaper a-Sharq al-Awsat published an editorial calling for Iran to be barred from enriching uranium altogether. Numerous WikiLeaks documents dealing with the Gulf States suggest that, with all due respect to the Palestinian question, what truly keeps Arab rulers awake at night is the fear that Iran will acquire a nuclear weapon, and will undermine their rule with terror attacks and orchestrated demonstrations. “Cut off the head of the snake,” as Saudi King Abdullah reportedly put it.
These are not paranoid visions or the brainchild of Netanyahu. These are real concerns of past and present American allies in the region, who gaze with wonder and bewilderment upon Washington’s foreign policy and struggle to understand why the US president rushes to telephone the president of Iran while almost simultaneously announcing that military aid to Egypt will be frozen.
The voices from these states express concern again and again in light of the lack of coherence from the United States and what they perceive as its lack of understanding of what is really happening in the Middle East.
US Secretary of State John Kerry briefed EU foreign policy executive Catherine Ashton Sunday night, Oct. 13, on the areas of accord and discord quietly settled between the US and Iran. She had to be brought up to speed before meeting Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif the next day, ahead of the P5+1 talks with Iran which she chairs in Geneva on Tuesday, Oct 15.
Barack Obama agreed in principle in backdoor exchanges that Iran’s nuclear program can continue, including the enrichment of uranium up to 20 percent purity. Obama is willing to accept the Iranian regime’s declaration that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes and the country has never engaged in weapons activity. He is even willing to fall for Iranian propaganda’s claim that Khamenei had issued a fatwa prohibiting nuclear weapons, even through every Shiite authority says that Iran's supreme leader is not competent to issue religious edicts.
Nothing remains of the Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s four stipulations for accepting a nuclear accord with Iran. Not a vestige will reach the Geneva conference agenda after Washington brushed aside every one of those stipulations, which were: to halt uranium enrichment, remove enriched uranium stocks from Iran, shut down the Fordo underground enrichment plant and suspend construction of the heavy water reactor in Arak for the production of plutonium.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu kept his focus on stopping the Iranian nuclear threat Monday, at the opening of a session in which the Knesset is expected to deal with dramatic internal issues.
“Israel will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons,” the prime minister declared, speaking at a ceremonial opening meeting of the Knesset’s winter session.
According to Netanyahu, weakening sanctions will not support moderate trends in Iran; rather, it will strengthen Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who will portray the change as a victory.
“Many in the world understand that an Iran with nuclear weapons is not only a danger for Israel,” he continued.
“Iran is developing intercontinental missiles that can hold nuclear warheads; they can reach anywhere in the Middle East, Europe, the US and other parts of the world.”
Israel argued “directly and bluntly” with the Obama administration in recent days over US aid cuts to Egypt, telling the administration it was making “a strategic error” in reducing financial assistance to Cairo in the wake of the military’s ouster of president Mohammed Morsi, Israeli TV reported Monday night.
The unusually frank Israeli intervention, the Channel 2 report said, was partially successful, in that US funding of relevance to military strongman Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s fight against Islamist terrorists in the Sinai is not being affected by the cutback.
US announced last week that it was freezing a sizable portion of the $1.5 billion it provides Egypt each year. US officials said the aid being withheld included 10 Apache helicopters, at a cost of more than $500 million, and M1A1 tank kits and Harpoon anti-ship missiles. The US had already suspended the delivery of four F-16 fighter jets and canceled biennial US-Egyptian military exercises.
Israeli officials told their US counterparts that it was “a strategic error” to cut aid to Egypt, and that the US needed to look at “wider interests,” the TV report said. Officials urged Washington to cancel the cut altogether, and if that was not possible, to at least redirect military funding for planes and tanks to instead bolster the fight against terror. This advice was ignored,
A 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the Philippines on Oct. 15, followed quickly by a second, 5.4 earthquake and multiple other aftershocks.
The first quake hit 19 miles east/southeast of Tibigan; 25 miles south/southwest of Talibon; and east/northeast of Tagbilaran, reported the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake hit at a depth of 20.5 miles.
The quake hit for about 30 seconds, according to Renato Solidum, director of PHIVOLCS, the Philippine Institute Of Volcanology And Seismology.
“House was shaking!!!” said Charlotte Knowles, via Twitter, who lives in the Palmas Verdes subdivision at Barangay Tabok, Mandaue City, Cebu.
“I was asleep and my mom was shouting at me to wake up,” Knowles told Epoch Times. “The building was shaking and the both of us were terrified.”
The 7.2 quake hit around 8:10 a.m. local time. Cebu City, the largest city near the quake at almost 800,000 residents, suffered “strong” shaking, according to the USGS.
Four people died in a building collapse in Cebu, reported Reuters, citing the Philippines national disaster agency. Another building reportedly collapsed. The initial number of reported fatalities is nine, according to Jojo Pasion Malig, deputy news editor of ABS-CBN. In addition to the four in Cebu City, there are four dead in the Lindaville subdivision in Bohol, and one dead in Mandaue City.
Small cities closer to the quake were hit with “very strong” and “severe” shaking, including San Isidro, Danao, San Pascual, and Jandayan.
Communication and power lines were down in Butuan City after the earthquakes.
According to pictures from Bohol–where the 7.2 quake’s epicenter originated–numerous buildings are damaged or have collapsed, including Loboc Church. Roads are damaged, too. Robert Michael Poole, who is taking pictures of the city, said that there are still aftershocks shaking buildings more than two hours after the original quake.
Also see these updates (which could also be seen as 'connecting the dots II'):
Christian Ministry Defined As 'Domestic Hate Group'
The Sun Is Setting On Dollar Supremacy And With It American Power
Christian Ministry Defined As 'Domestic Hate Group'
The Sun Is Setting On Dollar Supremacy And With It American Power
1 comment:
Hi Scott,
The journalist is more prophetic that he/she realises in the first article
"The End of Days must be upon us."
Soon Israel will know that only God is on their side.
Sandra
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