The "Small Horn" Of Bible Prophecy Emerges!!!

The mysterious identity of the "King of the North" and "Small Horn" discussed here. The "Great War" of Daniel 10:1 (NIV) discussed here. The heavenly & earthly establishment of God's Kingdom discussed here at length. Answers such questions as when does Jesus' Kingdom Rule begin and end.

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Re: The "Small Horn" Of Bible Prophecy Emerges!!!

#91 Post by Sunshine » Fri Sep 14, 2012 10:30 am

American Killed in Libya Was on Intel Mission to Track Weapons
Image
Glen Doherty, a former U.S. Navy SEAL, was among four Americans killed in an attack on a diplomatic mission in Benghazi Libya on Sept. 11, 2012. (Courtesy Doherty Family)
ABC News
By LEE FERRAN
Article Source
Sept. 13, 2012

One of the Americans killed alongside Ambassador Christopher Stevens in an attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya Tuesday told ABC News before his death that he was working with the State Department on an intelligence mission to round up dangerous weapons in the war-torn nation.

In an interview with ABC News last month, Glen Doherty, a 42-year-old former Navy SEAL who worked as a contractor with the State Department, said he personally went into the field to track down so-called MANPADS, shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, and destroy them. After the fall of dictator Moammar Gadhafi, the State Department launched a mission to round up thousands of MANPADS that may have been looted from military installations across the country. U.S. officials previously told ABC News they were concerned the MANPADS could fall into the hands of terrorists, creating a threat to commercial airliners.

Doherty said that he traveled throughout Libya chasing reports of the weapons and once they were found, his team would destroy them on the spot by bashing them with hammers or repeatedly running them over with their vehicles. When ABC News spoke to Doherty in late August, he was enjoying a short time off in California before heading back to Libya just days ago.

The State Department declined to comment on Doherty's involvement in the MANPADS program, but pointed to a previous statement from State Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs Andrew Shapiro in which he said the department was looking at "every possible tool to mitigate the threat."

According to military records provided to ABC News, Doherty joined the Navy in 1996 and was a combat medic and a decorated member of the elite SEAL teams by the time he left active duty in 2004. He's described in glowing terms as a top-tier SEAL and better friend in the book "The Red Circle," written by Doherty's longtime friend and SEAL sniper school partner, Brandon Webb.

"Glen was a superb and respected operator, a true quiet professional," Webb told ABC News today. "Don't feel sorry for him, he wouldn't have it. He died serving with men he respected, protecting the freedoms we enjoy as Americans and doing something he loved. He was my best friend and one of the finest human beings I've ever known."

Doherty's mother, Barbara, told ABC News' Boston affiliate WCVB she had been notified of her son's death late Wednesday.

"He was the most wonderful person," she said. "We are all in pain and suffering."

Ambassador Stevens and State Department information management officer Sean Smith were killed in the first wave of attacks in Benghazi when the building they were in was set on fire around 10 p.m. local time Tuesday, a senior administration official told reporters. Doherty was apparently one of two other Americans who were killed in a firefight nearly two hours later, while the facility was still under attack. The fourth victim was Tyrone S. Woods, also a former Navy SEAL, according to a State Department news release.


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Re: The "Small Horn" Of Bible Prophecy Emerges!!!

#92 Post by Sunshine » Thu Oct 04, 2012 10:20 am

Turkey's Parliament Authorises Military Action in Syria
BBC News
Article Source
4 October 2012

BBC's Peter Biles: "Turkey has strongly condemned the action by Syria"

Turkey's parliament has authorised troops to launch cross-border action against Syria, following Syria's deadly shelling of a Turkish town.

The bill, passed by 320 to 129, also permits strikes against Syrian targets.

But Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay insisted this was a deterrent and not a mandate for war.

Turkey has been firing at targets inside Syria since Wednesday's shelling of the town of Akcakale, which killed two women and three children.

Ankara's military response marks the first time it has fired into Syria during the 18-month-long unrest there.

Several Syrian troops were killed by Turkish fire, a UK-based Syrian activist group said. Damascus has not confirmed any casualties.

Apology

The Turkish parliament passed the bill in a closed-doors emergency session.

It permits military action, if required by the government, for the period of one year.

However, Mr Atalay insisted the priority was to act in co-ordination with international bodies.

He told Turkish television: "This mandate is not a war mandate but it is in our hands to be used when need be in order to protect Turkey's own interests."

He said Syria had accepted responsibility for the deaths.

"The Syrian side has admitted what it did and apologised," Mr Atalay said.

Zeliha Timucin, her three daughters and her sister died in Akcakale when a shell fell in their courtyard as they prepared the evening meal.

They were buried in a local cemetery on Thursday.

Turkey had called for the UN Security Council to meet and take "necessary action" to stop Syrian "aggression".

However, Mr Atalay said on Thursday that UN and Syrian representatives had spoken on Wednesday evening.

He said: "Syria... said nothing like this will happen again. That's good. The UN mediated and spoke to Syria."

Nato has held an urgent meeting to support Turkey, demanding "the immediate cessation of such aggressive acts against an ally".

The US, the UK, France and the European Union have already condemned Syria's actions.

Akcakale

Image
  • Akcakale is a district of southern Sanliurfa province, close to the border with Syria
  • The last published census in 2000 shows its population stood at just over 77,000
  • It is just under 50km (31 miles) from the Syrian border town of Tall al-Abyad and about 240 km (150 miles) from Aleppo
  • The area surrounding the town is known for its archaeological excavations
Russia, which is allied to President Bashar al-Assad's government, had asked Damascus to acknowledge officially that the cross-border attack was "a tragic accident" which would not happen again.

The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says neither Turkey nor Syria wants this to develop into a war. He says there is no appetite in Nato or the West for military conflict and that it is noticeable how conciliatory Syria has been since the news of the shelling broke.

Many social media users in Turkey have been reacting strongly against the possibility of war with Syria.

Hashtags such as #notowar drew a lot of attention.

One user, coymak, tweeted: "There is no victory in war, only victory is the happiness in the eye of the children when it is ended!"

There were many tweets referring to the call for an anti-war rally in central Istanbul on Thursday evening.

In Syria itself as many as 21 members of Syria's elite Republican Guards have been killed in an explosion and firefight in the Qudsaya district of Damascus, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) told the BBC.

The SOHR is one of the most prominent organisations documenting and reporting incidents and casualties in the Syrian conflict. The group says its reports are impartial, though its information cannot be independently verified.


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Re: The "Small Horn" Of Bible Prophecy Emerges!!!

#93 Post by Sunshine » Sat Dec 15, 2012 2:02 pm

Patriot Missiles A Warning To Syria's Al-Assad
Image
A member of the Syrian opposition's Al-Buraq Brigade stands guard on a main road in the northern Syrian town of Ain Dakna near the Turkish border on Monday, December 10.
By Ben Brumfield, Joe Sterling and Barbara Starr
CNN
Article Source
December 14, 2012 -- Updated 1607 GMT (0007 HKT)

(CNN) -- The United States and Germany are sending Patriot missiles and troops to the Turkish border, a warning to Syria's besieged President Bashar al-Assad.

The surface-to-air interceptors would be "dealing with threats that come out of Syria," said U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Threats would include Syrian strikes inside Turkey and fighting between the government and rebels that extends into Turkey.
Errant Syrian artillery shells struck the Turkish border town of Akcakale and killed five Turkish civilians in October.

"We can't spend a lot of time worrying about whether that pisses off Syria," said Panetta after signing the order Friday. He spoke after arriving Friday at Turkey's Incirlik Air Base, a U.S. Air Force installation about 80 miles from Syria's border.
Image
A man inspects rubble in a neighborhood of Aleppo on Sunday, December 2.
Despite the prospect of U.S. missiles on Al-Assad's doorstep and a weakening regime, U.S. intelligence officials said the Syrian leader is showing no signs of giving up.

Al-Assad losing control but showing no signs of leaving.

The deployment includes two Patriot missile batteries, used solely for defensive purposes, and 400 U.S. troops to operate them.
The United States and NATO hope to have them in place by the second week in January, and a military advance team is going in in the next several days, CNN has learned.

The moves come a week after NATO foreign ministers approved the deployment of Patriots to protect Turkey against any threats from al-Assad's regime, rapidly weakening by rebel advances.

Also Friday, the German parliament approved the deployment of German Patriot anti-aircraft missiles to Turkey, with 461 Bundestag deputies voting in favor of the deployment, 86 against and eight abstentions.

The Netherlands have shown willingness to add Patriot batteries, NATO said Friday, to defend Turkey and "de-escalate the crisis on NATO's southeastern border."

Patriots are constructed to take out threats from warplanes and tactical ballistic missiles to unmanned aircraft by impacting with them in midair, according to Raytheon Co., which builds them. The U.S. military used to take out Scud missiles during the Iraq war.

The United States has accused Damascus of launching Scud-type artillery from the capital at rebels in the country's north. One Washington official said missiles came close to the border of Turkey, a NATO member and staunch U.S. ally.

Syria's government called the accusations "untrue rumors" Friday, according to state news agency SANA. Damascus accused Turkey and its partners of instigating rumors to make the government look bad internationally.

NATO has also said it detected what appeared to be ballistic missile launches within Syria and condemned their possible use as "utter disregard for the lives of the Syrian people."

Turkey and NATO insist the Patriot system would be used only for defense.

U.S. official: Syria uses Scud missiles against rebels

Al-Assad is 'weakening'

Al-Assad's departure is the dream of his opponents.

U.S. officials said the Syrian president's control is crumbling at an accelerating pace.

"It's at its lowest point yet," said one senior US official with direct knowledge of the latest assessments. U.S. intelligence believes the decline has accelerated in recent weeks. "The trend is moving more rapidly than it has in the past."

The officials agreed to talk on the condition their names not be used because they were not authorized to discuss the information with the media.
Image
The bodies of three children reportedly killed in a mortar shell attack are laid out for relatives to identify at a makeshift hospital in Aleppo on December 2.
U.S. officials said they believe al-Assad is still controlling some of his military forces and commanders. He and his top advisers are showing less ability to maintain control than they did six to eight months ago.

"There has been a strongly downward steady progression" in al-Assad's grip on power," said the senior U.S. official
The United States believes "the wall around him is slowly coming down," said the senior official of the strong inner circle around the Syrian president. "We are saying there are indicators there is weakening around Assad."

But there is no indication al-Assad is making plans to step down, the senior official and other administration officials said.

Syrian regime approaching collapse, NATO chief says

A second official said al-Assad and his commanders appear to be fully aware the opposition has made significant military gains in recent weeks and that al-Assad "is not out of it" in his understanding of the current situation.

Even with the rebel advances, loyalists in the Syrian military appear to be holding firm.

Much of the anti-Assad fighting force includes military defectors. There are signs that military defections at the commander level are slowing though the U.S. analysts are not sure why, the second U.S. official said.

"There is still regime control over the military despite the fact they recognize the opposition force has improved," said the second U.S. official said.

Syrian rebels, government battle

The Syrian civil war started in March 2011 when a government crackdown on civilian demonstrators morphed into a fight between the regime and rebels.

The conflict has seized the attention of world powers for months because of the relentless brutality and the specter of the Syrian government mulling the use of chemical weapons.

The war has a proxy element, with Sunni countries such as Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia backing the rebels and Shiite Iran backing the Alawite regime. The Alawite faith is an offshoot of Shiism.
Image
Syrian-Kurdish women and members of the Popular Protection Units, an armed opposition group to the Syrian government, stand guard during a comrade's funeral in a northern Syrian border village on December 1.
More than 40,000 people have died in the war. The United Nations said on Friday that many Syrians will continue to be killed and maimed after the war ends because of deadly explosives placed in residential areas across the country.

The violence continued Friday, with at least 32 deaths recorded by the opposition Local Coordination Committees said.


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Re: The "Small Horn" Of Bible Prophecy Emerges!!!

#94 Post by Sunshine » Sun Dec 16, 2012 5:22 pm

Syrian Regime Approaching Collapse, NATO Chief Says
By Michael Pearson and Saad Abedine
CNN
Article Source
December 14, 2012 -- Updated 0154 GMT (0954 HKT)

(CNN) -- Defeat could be near for Syria's embattled regime, NATO and Syrian ally Russia said Thursday.

"I think now it's only a question of time," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in Brussels, Belgium, where he and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced the deployment of two Patriot air-defense batteries to Turkey's border with Syria.

The al-Assad government is "approaching collapse," Rasmussen said. "I urge the regime to stop violence, to realize what is the actual situation and initiate a process that leads to the accommodation of the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people."

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov offered a similar view from Moscow, noting what he said were rebel reports that victory was imminent.

"We need to look the facts in the eye," the state-run RIA Novosti news service quoted Bogdanov as saying. "Unfortunately, we can't exclude a victory by the opposition."

His comments came as opposition groups said they had seized a military base near Damascus and amid calls by the Local Coordination Committees for rebels to push for the fall of the capital.

"We all know that the battle is not going to be easy and that the regime will defend its existence by the most brutal means, as we have become accustomed to seeing," the opposition group said. "We know that the regime will spare no resources in destroying any hold it may have before its collapse, as we have witnessed in all other Syrian cities."

Diplomatic efforts to help end the 21-month conflict, which opposition activists say has claimed more than 42,000 lives, have so far failed.

A rebel victory would unleash a host of complications for the shattered country, including the need to quickly assemble a functioning government; to provide humanitarian assistance as winter approaches; and to address the status of the chemical weapons currently held by regime forces.

U.S. official: Syria uses Scud missiles against rebels

The regime has shown no signs of backing down. On Thursday, the LCC reported that 138 people had been killed by government forces, including seven children and four women. Sixty-nine of the deaths occurred in Damascus and its suburbs, it said.

Syrian state TV, citing a foreign ministry official, denied Thursday Western accusations that the government has used Scud missiles against rebels inside the country, a move analysts and world leaders have described as a dangerous escalation in President Bashar al-Assad's campaign against the rebellion.

A U.S. official said Syrian forces in Damascus loyal to al-Assad had fired at least four short-range Scud missiles from the capital into northern Syria, presumably at rebel groups.

Rasmussen said NATO also had detected launches this week.

"We can't confirm details of the missiles, but some of the information indicates they were Scud-type missiles," Rasmussen said. "The use of such indiscriminate weapons shows utter disregard for the lives of the Syrian people. It is reckless, and I strongly condemn it."

Aleppo Today TV becomes vital news source amid Syria's chaos

The predictions of defeat for al-Assad and his forces come amid rising international recognition of the Syrian opposition.
On Tuesday, President Barack Obama extended U.S. recognition to the rebel coalition. The more than 100 nations in the Friends of Syria group followed suit on Wednesday and pledged at least $110 million in humanitarian aid.

Coalition Vice President George Sabra said rebels were pleased with the gestures, but had hoped the United States would go further by naming the group not just as a legitimate representative of the Syrian people but as their sole legitimate representative.

Syrian officials belittled the declarations. Information Minister Omran al-Zoebi said the recognition was comparable to Syria recognizing "Liverpool Football Club as the sole representative of the British people while in fact it represented very little," Britain's Independent newspaper said.

As fighting subsides, Aleppo residents find little left

Also Thursday, Amnesty International urged rebel leaders to free a Ukrainian journalist accused of working with Syrian government officials and to respect international accords on human rights.

"There are increasing reports of opposition forces carrying out horrific abuses of captured government soldiers, journalists and some other civilians," Amnesty said Thursday. "The coalition must condemn these grave abuses in the strongest possible terms and do its utmost to prevent them."

The LCC called on rebels to deliver a knockout punch to the regime while protecting civilians, religious sites and the nation's cultural heritage.

It also urged rebels to preserve any documents found in offices of state security services seized by rebels in preparation for possible war crimes trials.

"These documents contain massive amounts of incriminating evidence against the regime and its symbols and will be required to hold the regime accountable, compensate victims and retain a historical record of decades of state behavior," the group said.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said U.S. government-trained medical workers have reached an estimated 410,000 patients in Syria, performed 22,370 surgeries and had partnered with a group -- which she would not identify for security reasons -- that has set up 20 field hospitals in the country.

"I don't think any of us has a crystal ball as to exactly how this is going to go, but we do believe that the Assad regime's days are numbered," Nuland said. "The opposition in recent days and weeks has made a number of significant captures, in particular major military facility outside of Aleppo with the last Sheik Suleiman base and other important military installations."

She urged Russian officials to withdraw support for the al-Assad regime.


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Re: The "Small Horn" Of Bible Prophecy Emerges!!!

#95 Post by Sunshine » Mon Dec 17, 2012 6:05 pm

Will Assad Stay or Leave Syria?

CNN's Nic Robertson looks at the options Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has if he decides to run.
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Re: The "Small Horn" Of Bible Prophecy Emerges!!!

#96 Post by Sunshine » Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:47 am

Russia Sends Warships to Syria For Possible Evacuation
Image
Free Syrian Army fighters run during clashes with forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Ouwayjah village in Aleppo December 17, 2012. REUTERS/Zain Karam
By Erika Solomon
Reuters
Article Source
December 18, 2012

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Russia sent warships to the Mediterranean to prepare a potential evacuation of its citizens from Syria, a Russian news agency said on Tuesday, a sign President Bashar al-Assad's key ally is worried about rebel advances that now threaten even the capital.

Moscow acted a day after insurgents waging a 21-month-old uprising obtained a possible springboard for a thrust into Damascus by seizing the Yarmouk Palestinian camp just 2 miles from the heart of the city, activists said.

The anti-Assad opposition has posted significant military and diplomatic gains in recent weeks, capturing a series of army installations across Syria and securing formal recognition from Western and Arab states for its new coalition.

Assad's pivotal allies have largely stood behind him. But Russia, his main arms supplier, appeared to waver this week with contradictory statements repeating opposition to Assad stepping down and airing concerns about a possible rebel victory.
Russia's Interfax news agency quoted unnamed naval sources on Tuesday as saying that two assault ships, a tanker and an escort vessel had left a Baltic port for the Mediterranean Sea, where Russia has a port in Syria's coastal city of Tartus.

"They are heading to the Syrian coast to assist in a possible evacuation of Russian citizens ... Preparations for the deployment were carried out in a hurry and were heavily classified," the Russian agency quoted the source as saying.

It was not possible to independently verify the report, which came a day after Russia confirmed that two citizens working in Syria were kidnapped along with an Italian citizen.

YARMOUK A "RED LINE"

In Damascus, activists reported overnight explosions and early morning sniper fire around the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk. The Yarmouk and Palestine refugee "camps" are actually densely populated urban districts home to thousands of impoverished Palestinian refugees and Syrians.

"The rebels control the camp but army forces are gathering in the Palestine camp and snipers can fire in on the southern parts of Yarmouk," rebel spokesman Abu Nidal said by Skype.

"Strategically, this site is very important because it is one of the best doors into central Damascus. The regime normally does not fight to regain areas captured any more because its forces have been drained. But I think they could see Yarmouk as a red line and fight back fiercely."

Syria hosts half a million Palestinian refugees, most living in Yarmouk, descendants of those admitted after the creation of Israel in 1948, and has always cast itself as a champion of the Palestinian struggle, sponsoring several guerrilla factions.

The battle in Yarmouk was one of a series of conflicts on the southern edges of Damascus, as rebels try to choke off the capital to end 42 years of rule by the Assad family, who belong to the minority Alawite sect, derived from Shi'ite Islam.

Both Assad's government and the mainly Sunni Muslim rebels have enlisted and armed divided Palestinian factions as the uprising mushroomed from street protests into a civil war.

Streams of refugees have fled Yarmouk, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday. Many have headed to central Damascus while hundreds more have gone across the frontier into Lebanon.

MEDICAL SHORTAGES, EXTREME HUNGER

More than 40,000 people have died in Syria's conflict, activists say. Around 200 died on Monday alone, according to the British-based Observatory, which has a network of activists across Syria. Violence has risen sharply, and with it humanitarian conditions are deteriorating.

The World Health Organisation said around 100 people were being admitted daily to the main hospital of Damascus and that supplies of medicines and anesthetics were scarce.

It also reported a rise in cases of extreme hunger and malnutrition coming from across Syria, including the rebel-dominated rural areas outside the capital, where the army has launched punishing air raids.

Aid organizations say fighting has blocked their access into many conflict zones, and residents in rebel-held areas in particular have grappled with severe food and medical shortages.

Fighting raged across Syria on Tuesday, with fighter jets and ground rockets bombarding rebel-dominated eastern suburbs of the capital and army forces shelling a town in Hama province after clashes reignited there over the weekend.

Rebels overran at least five army sites in a new offensive in Hama on Monday, opposition activists said.

Qassem Saadeddine, a member of the newly established rebel military command, said on Sunday fighters had been ordered to surround and attack army positions across Hama province. He said Assad's forces were given 48 hours to surrender or be killed.
In 1982 Hafez al-Assad, late father of the current ruler, crushed an uprising in Hama city, killing up to 30,000 civilians.

Qatiba al-Naasan, a rebel from Hama, said the offensive would probably bring retaliatory air strikes from the government but said that rebels were keen to put more strain on the army as living conditions deteriorated in the province.

"For sure there will be slaughter - if the army wants to shell us, many people will die," he said by Skype. "But at the same time our situation is already getting miserable. "

Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa said in a newspaper interview published on Monday that neither Assad's forces nor rebels seeking to overthrow him can win the war.

Sharaa, a Sunni Muslim in a power elite dominated by Assad's Alawites, is not part of the president's inner circle directing the fight against Sunni rebels but is the most prominent figure to say in public that Assad would not prevail.


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Re: The "Small Horn" Of Bible Prophecy Emerges!!!

#97 Post by Sunshine » Tue May 28, 2013 3:31 pm

Israel warns Russia against giving Syria missiles
Source of Article

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's defense chief said Tuesday a Russian plan to supply sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles to Syria was a "threat" and signaled that Israel is prepared to use force to stop the delivery.

The warning by Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon ratcheted up tensions with Moscow over the planned sale of S-300 air-defense missiles to Syria. Earlier in the day, a top Russian official said his government remained committed to the deal.

Israel has been lobbying Moscow to halt the sale, fearing the missiles would upset the balance of power in the region and could slip into the hands of hostile groups, including the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, a close ally of the Syrian regime.

Israel has carried out several airstrikes in Syria in recent months that are believed to have destroyed weapons shipments bound for Hezbollah. Israel has not confirmed carrying out the attacks.

The delivery of the Russian missiles to Syria could limit the Israeli air force's ability to act. It is not clear whether Israeli warplanes entered Syrian airspace in these attacks.

Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Russia to discuss the Syrian situation with President Vladimir Putin. The sides have said little about the talks, but the S-300s were believed to have been on the agenda.

"Clearly this move is a threat to us," Yaalon told reporters Tuesday when asked about the planned Russian sale.

"At this stage I can't say there is an escalation. The shipments have not been sent on their way yet. And I hope that they will not be sent," he said. But "if God forbid they do reach Syria, we will know what to do."

Since the Syrian conflict erupted in March 2011, Israel repeatedly has voiced concerns that Syria's sophisticated arsenal, including chemical weapons, could either be transferred to Hezbollah, a bitter enemy of Israel, or fall into the hands of rebels battling Syrian President Bashar Assad. The rebels include al-Qaida-affiliated groups that Israel believes could turn their attention toward Israel if they topple Assad.

Syria already possesses Russian-made air defenses, and Israel is believed to have used long-distance bombs fired from Israeli or Lebanese airspace. The S-300s would expand Syria's capabilities, allowing it to counter airstrikes launched from foreign airspace as well.

In Moscow, Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, wouldn't say whether Russia has shipped any of the S-300s, which have a range of up to 200 kilometers (125 miles) and the capability to track and strike multiple targets simultaneously. But he insisted that Moscow isn't going to abandon the deal despite strong Western and Israeli criticism.

"We understand the concerns and signals sent to us from different capitals. We realize that many of our partners are concerned about the issue," Ryabkov said. "We have no reason to revise our stance."

He said the missiles could be a deterrent against foreign intervention in Syria and would not be used against Syrian rebels, who do not have an air force.

"We believe that such steps to a large extent help restrain some 'hotheads' considering a scenario to give an international dimension to this conflict," he said.

Russia has been the key ally of the Syrian regime, protecting it from United Nations sanctions and providing it with weapons despite the civil war there that has claimed over 70,000 lives.

In any case, an open confrontation between Israel and Russia would seem to be months away. Russian military analysts say it would take at least one year for Syrian crews to learn how to operate the S-300s, and the training will involve a live drill with real ammunition at a Russian shooting range. There has been no evidence that any such training has begun.
If Russia were to deliver the missiles to Syria, Israeli and Western intelligence would likely detect the shipment, and Israel would have ample time to strike before the system is deployed.

Ryabkov's statement came a day after European Union's decision to lift an arms embargo against Syrian rebels. He criticized the EU decision, saying it would help fuel the conflict.

Israel's defense chief spoke at an annual civil defense drill to prepare for missile attacks on Israel. This year's exercise comes at a time of heightened concerns that Israel could be dragged into the Syrian civil war.
A number of mortar shells from the fighting in Syria have landed in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. While Israel believes most of the fire has been errant, it has accused Syria of firing intentionally at Israeli targets on several occasions, and last week the sides briefly exchanged fire.

Israel's civil defense chief, Home Front Minister Gilad Erdan, said this week's drill was not specifically connected to the tensions with Syria.

"But of course we must take into consideration that something like that might happen in the near future because of what we see in Syria, and because we know that chemical weapons exist in Syria and might fall to the hands of radical Muslim terror groups," he said.
___
Associated Press writer Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.

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See related news article found here: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/disputes-over- ... 05377.html


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Egypt military: President Morsi ousted, constitution suspend

#98 Post by Sunshine » Wed Jul 03, 2013 7:00 pm

Egypt military: President Morsi ousted, constitution suspended!
Updated at 6:04 p.m. Eastern
Source of Article

CAIRO -- The armed forces ousted Egypt's first democratically elected president Wednesday after just a year in power, installing a temporary civilian government, suspending the constitution and calling for new elections. Islamist President Mohammed Morsi denounced it as a "full coup" by the military.

After the televised announcement by the army chief, millions of anti-Morsi protesters in cities around the country erupted in delirious scenes of joy, with shouts of "God is great" and "Long live Egypt."

Fireworks burst over crowds dancing and waving flags in Cairo's Tahrir Square, epicenter of the 2011 uprising that ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Now it was one of multiple centers of a stunning four-day anti-Morsi revolt that brought out the biggest anti-government rallies Egypt has seen, topping even those of 2011.

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But the move potentially throws the country into further confrontation.

Moments after the army statement, a statement on the Egyptian president's office's Twitter account quoted Morsi as saying the military's measures "represent a full coup categorically rejected by all the free men of our nation."

Morsi's aide, Ayman Ali, said the former leader had been moved to an undisclosed location. He gave no details.

Morsi has insisted his legitimacy as an elected president must not be violated or Egypt could be thrown in to violence. Some of his Islamist backers, tens of thousands of whom took to the streets in recent days, have vowed to fight to the end.

"Down with the rule of the military," some of them chanted after the army announcement, reviving a chant used by leftist revolutionaries during the nearly 17 months of direct military rule that followed Mubarak's removal.

The army has insisted it is not carrying out a coup, but acting on the will of the people to clear the way for a new leadership.

In his speech, army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said the chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court would step in as interim president until new elections are held. He would be sworn in judges of his court, el-Sissi said. A government of technocrats would be formed with "full powers" to run the country.

According to the Daily News Egypt, the interim president, Adli Mansour, a 68-year-old judge, was appointed to succeed Maher El Beheiry as head of Egypt's constitutional court in May.

El-Sissi said that the military was forced to act because Morsi "did not meet the demands of the masses of the people."

El-Sissi spoke while flanked by the country's top Muslim and Christian clerics as well as pro-reform leader Mohammed ElBaradei and two representatives of the youth opposition movement behind the wave of protests.

He promised "not to exclude anyone or any movement" from further steps. But he did not define the length of the transition period or when presidential elections would be held. He also did not mention any role for the military.

The constitution, drafted by Morsi's Islamist allies, was "temporarily suspended," and a panel of experts and representatives of all political movements will consider amendments. He did not say whether a referendum would be held to ratify the changes, as customary.

Seeking to avert a destabilizing backlash, he warned that the armed forces, police will deal "decisively" with violence.

After the 9:20 p.m., the Brotherhood's TV station went blank.

Shortly before the 9: 20 p.m. announcement, the army deployed troops, commandos and armored vehicles in cities around the country. In Cairo, they stationed on bridges over the Nile River and at major intersections. They also surrounded rallies being held by Morsi's supporters — an apparent move to contain them.

Travel bans were reportedly imposed on Morsi and top figures from his Muslim Brotherhood including its chief Mohammed Badie and his powerful deputy Khairat el-Shater.

At least 39 people have been killed in clashes since Sunday, when the mass protests against Morsi began — hiking fears that greater violence could erupt when the final move was made against him. Street battles in the Nile Delta city of Kafr el-Sheikh on Wednesday left at least 200 people injured.

The army's move is the second time in Egypt's 2 ? years of turmoil that it has forced out the country's leader. It pushed out Mubarak and took power itself. This time, however, its removal of an elected figure could be more explosive.

Elected with 51.7 percent of the vote in last year's presidential election, Morsi took office vowing to move beyond his roots in the Muslim Brotherhood.

But his presidency threw the country into deep polarization. Those who took to the streets this week say he lost his electoral legitimacy because he tried to give the Brotherhood and Islamist allies a monopoly on power, pushed through a constitution largely written by his allies and mismanaged the country's multiple crises.

"Now we want a president who would really be the president of all Egyptians and will work for the country," Said Shahin, a 19-year-old protester in Tahrir, said, falling to the ground to pray as soon as el-Sissi spoke.

Mahmoud Badr, spokesman for Tamarod, or Rebel — the youth movement behind the rallies — praised the crowds in the streets saying, they succeded in "putting your revolution back on track."

"Let's start a new page, a new page based on participation," he wrote on his Twitter account. "Our hand is extended to all

Morsi and his allies say the opposition never accepted their appeals for dialogue — seen by opponents as empty gestures — and that Mubarak loyalists throughout the government sabotaged their attempts to bring change.

The military had issued an ultimatum on Monday giving Morsi 48 hours to find some solution with its opponents. Any deal, however, was a near impossibility, making it inevitable the military would move.

Earlier in the day, el-Sissi met with ElBaradei, Egypt's top Muslim cleric — Al-Azhar Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb — and Coptic Pope Tawadros II, as well as youth representatives and some members of the ultraconservative Salafi movements. The consultations apparently aimed to bring as wide a consensus as possible behind the army's moves.

But the Brotherhood boycotted the session, its political arm the Freedom and Justice Party said.

CBS News correspondent Clarissa Ward reported hours before the deadline passed that the mood on the streets of Cairo was extremely tense. Both Morsi and El-Sissi have said they're willing to die for their cause, and their thousands of backers on the streets were prepared for a fight.

In a last-minute statement before the deadline, Morsi again rejected the military's intervention, saying abiding by his electoral legitimacy was the only way to prevent violence. He criticized the military for "taking only one side."

"One mistake that cannot be accepted, and I say this as president of all Egyptians, is to take sides," he said in the statement issued by his office. "Justice dictates that the voice of the masses from all squares should be heard," he said, repeating his offer to hold dialogue with his opponents.

"For the sake of Egypt and for historical accuracy, let's call what is happening by its real name: Military coup," Morsi's top foreign policy adviser Essam al-Haddad wrote on his Facebook page.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo ordered the mandatory evacuation of all non-essential personnel, CBS News has confirmed.

In an email obtained by the Washington Post, employees were told the embassy "will begin departures immediately, with the expectation that all evacuees will have left for the States by this weekend."

***

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Re: The "Small Horn" Of Bible Prophecy Emerges!!!

#99 Post by Sunshine » Thu Jul 04, 2013 6:38 am

Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi Out As Military Presents Roadmap

Source of Article

The Egyptian military has announced the removal of Mohammed Morsi as president, presenting a roadmap for reconciliation in the country.

In a televised statement on Wednesday, Egyptian military chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced that the plan calls for the temporary suspension of the constitution and the institution of a technocrat government. The chief justice of the constitutional court will lead the country in the interim.

Tahrir Square, where thousands of people had gathered during the day, erupted in celebrations as soon as the news was announced.

According to the Associated Press, an aide to Morsi said the Muslim Brotherhood leader has been moved to an undisclosed location.

More from the Associated Press:

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's first democratically elected president was overthrown by the military Wednesday, ousted after just one year in office by the same kind of Arab Spring uprising that brought the Islamist leader to power.

The armed forces announced they would install a temporary civilian government to replace Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, who denounced the action as a "full coup" by the generals. They also suspended the Islamist-drafted constitution and called for new elections.

Millions of anti-Morsi protesters around the country erupted in celebrations after the televised announcement by the army chief. Fireworks burst over crowds in Cairo's Tahrir Square, where men and women danced, shouting, "God is great" and "Long live Egypt."

Fearing a violent reaction by Morsi's Islamist supporters, troops and armored vehicles deployed in the streets of Cairo and elsewhere, surrounding Islamist rallies. Clashes erupted in several provincial cities when Islamists opened fire on police, with at least nine people killed, security officials said.

Gehad el-Haddad, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood party, said Morsi was under house arrest at a Presidential Guard facility where he had been residing, and 12 presidential aides also were under house arrest.

The army took control of state media and blacked out TV stations operated by the Muslim Brotherhood. The head of the Brotherhood's political wing was arrested.

The ouster of Morsi throws Egypt on an uncertain course, with a danger of further confrontation. It came after four days of mass demonstrations even larger than those of the 2011 Arab Spring that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Egyptians were angered that Morsi was giving too much power to his Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists and had failed to tackle the country's mounting economic woes.

Beyond the fears over violence, some protesters are concerned whether an army-installed administration can lead to real democracy.

President Barack Obama urged the military to hand back control to a democratic, civilian government as soon as possible but stopped short of calling it a coup d'etat.

He said he was "deeply concerned" by the military's move to topple Morsi's government and suspend Egypt's constitution. He said he was ordering the U.S. government to assess what the military's actions meant for U.S. foreign aid to Egypt — $1.5 billion a year in military and economic assistance.

The U.S. wasn't taking sides in the conflict, committing itself only to democracy and respect for the rule of law, Obama said.

On Monday, army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi had given Morsi an ultimatum to find a solution to meet the demands of anti-government demonstrators in 48 hours, but the 62-year-old former engineer defiantly insisted on his legitimacy from an election he won with 51.7 percent of the vote in June 2012.

Any deal was a near impossibility, however, making it inevitable the military would move.

As the deadline approached, el-Sissi met with pro-reform leader Mohammed ElBaradei, top Muslim cleric Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb and Coptic Pope Tawadros II, as well as opposition activists and some members of the ultraconservative Salafi movements. The consultations apparently were aimed at bringing as wide a consensus as possible behind the army's moves.

The Brotherhood boycotted the session, according to its political arm the Freedom and Justice Party.

In a last-minute statement before the deadline, Morsi again rejected the military's intervention, saying abiding by his electoral legitimacy was the only way to prevent violence. He criticized the military for "taking only one side."

"One mistake that cannot be accepted, and I say this as president of all Egyptians, is to take sides," he said in the statement issued by his office. "Justice dictates that the voice of the masses from all squares should be heard," he said, repeating his offer to hold dialogue with his opponents.

"For the sake of Egypt and for historical accuracy, let's call what is happening by its real name: Military coup," Morsi's top foreign policy adviser Essam al-Haddad wrote on his Facebook page.

After the deadline expired, el-Sissi went on state TV and said the chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour, would step in as interim president until new elections are held. Mansour was appointed to the court by Mubarak but elevated to the chief justice post by Morsi and will be sworn in Thursday by judges of his court.

Flanked by Muslim and Christian clerics as well as ElBaradei and two opposition activists, el-Sissi said a government of technocrats would be formed with "full powers" to run the country.

He promised "not to exclude anyone or any movement" from further steps. But he did not define the length of the transition period or when presidential elections would be held. He also did not mention any role for the military.

The constitution, drafted by Morsi's Islamist allies, was "temporarily suspended," and a panel of experts and representatives of all political movements will consider amendments, el-Sissi said. He did not say whether a referendum would be held to ratify the changes, as customary.

ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and the former head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, said he hoped the military plan "is the beginning of a new launch for the Jan. 25 revolution when people offered their dearest to restore their freedom, dignity and social justice for every Egyptian."

Also appearing with el-Sissi was Mahmoud Badr, one of two representatives of Tamarod, or Rebel — the youth opposition movement that engineered the latest wave of protests. He urged protesters "to stay in the squares to protect what we have won."

After the speech, fireworks burst over crowds dancing and waving flags in Cairo's Tahrir Square, epicenter of the 2011 uprising. Now it was one of multiple centers of a stunning four-day anti-Morsi revolt that brought out the biggest anti-government rallies Egypt has seen.

"Don't ask me if I am happy. Just look around you at all those people, young and old. They are all happy," said 25-year-old Mohammed Nageh, shouting to be heard in Tahrir. "For the first time, people have really won their liberty."

A statement from Morsi's office's Twitter account quoted Morsi as saying the military's measures "represent a full coup categorically rejected by all the free men of our nation."

The army insisted it is not carrying out a coup, but acting on the will of the people to clear the way for a new leadership. El-Sissi warned that the armed forces, police will deal "decisively" with violence.

Some of Morsi's Islamist backers, tens of thousands of whom took to the streets in recent days, have vowed to fight to the end, although he urged everyone "to adhere to peacefulness and avoid shedding blood of fellow countrymen."

"Down with the rule of the military!" some of them chanted after el-Sissi's speech, reviving a chant used by leftist revolutionaries during the nearly 17 months of direct military rule that followed Mubarak's removal.

El-Sissi warned that the armed forces and police will deal "decisively" with violence.

The army deployed troops, commandos and armored vehicles around the country. In Cairo, they were stationed on bridges over the Nile and at major intersections. They also surrounded rallies being held by Morsi's supporters — an apparent move to contain them.

After the military's 9:20 p.m. announcement, the Brotherhood's TV station went black. Islamist TV networks that have been accused of inciting violence also went off the air and some of their prominent anchors have been arrested, according to security officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Security forces stormed the studio of Al-Jazeera Misr Mubasher and detained the staffers. The station, a branch of Qatari-run Al-Jazeera TV, has maintained a generally pro-Morsi line.

Travel bans were imposed on Morsi and top figures from the Muslim Brotherhood including its chief Mohammed Badie and his powerful deputy Khairat el-Shater. Officials said security forces had surrounded Badie inside a tourist compound where he had been staying in the Mediterranean coastal city of Marsa Matrouh, near the Libyan border.

A security official said Saad el-Katatni, the head of the Freedom and Justice Party, and Rashad Bayoumi, one of two deputies of the Brotherhood's top leader, were arrested early Thursday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

El-Haddad, the Brotherhood party's spokesman, said a list has been drawn up of hundreds of Brotherhood members believed wanted for arrest, including himself.

"We don't know the details. The army is not giving details," he told The Associated Press. "It is a full-fledged coup and it is turning into a bloody one too. They are arresting everybody."

Police shot dead six Islamists who opened fire on Marsa Matrouh's police headquarters as they drove past. Morsi supporters tried to storm a police station in the southern city of Minya, but where battled back by police, killing three, while other Islamists destroyed cars and shops and threw stones at a church in the nearby city of Deir Mawas, while police fired tear gas at them. Police and armed Morsi supporters also battled in the southern city of Assiut, another Islamist stronghold.

Nearly 50 people have been killed in clashes between Morsi supporters and opponents since Sunday.

Morsi took office vowing to move beyond his roots in the Muslim Brotherhood, but his presidency threw the country into deep polarization. Those who took to the streets this week say he lost his electoral legitimacy because he tried to give the Brotherhood and Islamist allies a monopoly on power, pushed through a constitution largely written by his allies and mismanaged the country's multiple crises.

"Now we want a president who would really be the president of all Egyptians and will work for the country," according to Said Shahin, a 19-year-old protester in Tahrir. He fell to the ground to pray as soon as el-Sissi spoke.

Badr, the Tamarod movement spokesman, praised the crowds in the streets saying, they succeeded in "putting your revolution back on track."

"Let's start a new page, a new page based on participation," he wrote on his Twitter account. "Our hand is extended to all."

Morsi and his allies say the opposition never accepted their appeals for dialogue — seen by opponents as empty gestures — and that Mubarak loyalists throughout the government sabotaged their attempts to bring change.

Rizk Gamil, a 44-year-old driver, brought his wife to Tahrir to celebrate after el-Sissi announcement. "Today is a day of joy. Today is the day we liberated Egypt from Brotherhood occupation," he said.

A major question now is whether the Brotherhood and other Islamists will push back against the new, military-installed system or can be drawn into it.

***

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Re: The "Small Horn" Of Bible Prophecy Emerges!!!

#100 Post by Abaddon (Ex. 23:21) » Sun Aug 25, 2013 9:56 am

U.S. Cruise Missile Syria Attack In Response To 4,000 Chemical Weapons Victims

Image

Source of Article

August 25, 2013

A U.S. cruise missile Syria attack in response to Syria’s 4,000 chemical weapons victims is waiting for President Obama’s green light. “Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel indicated that U.S. military forces are positioned in the Mediterranean and ready to act if President Barack Obama orders a strike on Syria amid allegations that the Syrian government used chemical weapons in an attack this week,” reported Bloomberg on Aug. 24, 2013.

After the Aug. 21, 2013, chemical weapons attack on a Damascus suburb that killed 1,300 people, many of them children, President Obama is under increased pressure to intervene in Syria.

According to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the international organization Doctors Without Borders, 3,600 patients are in hospitals with symptoms of poisonous gases. In Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, 322 deaths have been reported -- including 54 children, 82 women, and dozens of rebels.

Many of the poisonous gas victims were attacked while sleeping. “The attackers used rockets to release fatal fumes over the suburb in the early hours of yesterday morning as people slept in their homes.”

Despite the publication of pictures of the dead in mass graves and uploaded YouTube videos, the international community is hesitant to intervene in Syria because the Syrian government, especially President Bashar al-Assad, is denying of having any involvement in the chemical weapons attack.

While China, Russia, and Iran are emphasizing that further evidence is needed, Britain and the United States have called for an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council to discuss military options available to the West.

According to a report coming from Europe, French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said that all indications show the Syrian government was behind the "chemical massacre".

"All the information at our disposal converges to indicate that there was a chemical massacre near Damascus and that the Bashar regime is responsible. France has previously stated that any confirmed use of chemical weapons would provide grounds for military intervention.”

According to a U.S. official, the United States has now four destroyers equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles in the Mediterranean Sea: the USS Gravely, the USS Barry, the USS Mahan and the USS Ramage.

Judging from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s statement that “the international community is moving swiftly in getting facts on what did happen and getting the intelligence right and all the other factors that go into a decision will be made swiftly and should be made swiftly,” -- a U.S. cruise missile Syria attack will happen without much notice to the public and will occur “swiftly.”

*** End of Article
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Re: The "Small Horn" Of Bible Prophecy Emerges!!!

#101 Post by Abaddon (Ex. 23:21) » Wed Sep 25, 2013 10:52 am

Syria 'gave assurances' it will meet chem handover deadline


Source of Article

Agence France-Presse -- September 18, 2013 16:49

The Syrian government gave assurances Wednesday that it will comply with a one-week deadline to hand over information about the size and location of its chemical weapons arsenal, a Russian diplomat said after talks with the Damascus regime.

The Saturday deadline is the first big test of a US-Russian plan to eradicate Syria's chemical weapons in a bid to ward off US-led military action against President Bashar al-Assad's regime over a gas attack on a Damascus suburb last month.

"We have received assurances here that this will be done on time," Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying by Russian television after talks in Damascus, which included a meeting with Assad.

Despite having jointly agreed a deal under which Syria will turn over its chemical weapons stockpile, Moscow and Washington remain at loggerheads over who launched the August 21 attack.

Ryabkov accused UN inspectors studying the gas attack of ignoring "very factual" evidence provided by the Damascus regime.

Evidence related to the deadly incident "was given to Mr. (Ake) Sellstrom who headed the group of UN inspectors," he said according to remarks aired on Russian state television.

"We are upset that it did not receive adequate attention in the report."

A UN report released on Monday concluded that sarin gas was used in the attack in which hundreds died, and the US and its allies have claimed that the findings by Swedish expert Sellstrom and his team showed that the attack was perpetrated by the Syrian government.

Moscow and Damascus have strongly denied the allegation, blaming rebels for the attack.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday said evidence implicating Syrian rebels in the attack would be given to the United Nations Security Council.

"There is a lot of (data) regarding the incidents that occurred in August in Ghouta near Damascus. We will be reviewing all of it in the Security Council," Russian news agencies quoted Lavrov as saying.

Ryabkov is on a visit to Damascus for two days of talks with the Syrian regime to go over the high-stakes US-Russian agreement reached in Geneva at the weekend.

Ryabkov said he had assured the Syrian side that there was "no basis" for a UN Security Council resolution on the chemical weapons agreement to invoke Chapter VII of the UN Charter that allows the use of force.

The United States, meanwhile, has said it will maintain the threat of force if Damascus fails to abide by the accord.

***
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Re: The "Small Horn" Of Bible Prophecy Emerges!!!

#102 Post by Abaddon (Ex. 23:21) » Fri Dec 13, 2013 7:21 pm

Officials: US drone strike kills 13 in Yemen wedding convoy

By Ahmed Al-Haj, The Associated Press

Source of Article

Missiles fired by a U.S. drone slammed into a convoy of vehicles traveling to a wedding party in central Yemen on Thursday, killing at least 13 people, Yemeni security officials said.

The officials said the attack took place in the city of Radda, the capital of Bayda province, and left charred bodies and burnt out cars on the road. The city, a stronghold of al Qaeda militants, witnessed deadly clashes early last year between armed tribesmen backed by the military and al Qaeda gunmen in an attempt to drive them out of the city.

There were no immediate details on who was killed in the strike, and there were conflicting reports about whether there were militants traveling with the wedding convoy.

A military official said initial information indicated the drone mistook the wedding party for an al Qaeda convoy. He said tribesmen known to the villagers were among the dead.

One of the three security officials, however, said al Qaeda militants were suspected to have been traveling with the wedding convoy.

While the U.S. acknowledges its drone program in Yemen, it does not usually talk about individual strikes.

If further investigations determine that the victims were all civilians, the attack could fuel an outburst of anger against the United States and the government in Sanaa among a Yemeni public already opposed to the U.S. drone strikes.

Civilian deaths have bred resentments on a local level, sometimes undermining U.S. efforts to turn the public against the militants. The backlash in Yemen is still not as large as in Pakistan, where there is heavy pressure on the government to force limits on strikes — but public calls for a halt to strikes are starting to emerge.

In October, two U.N. human rights investigators called for more transparency from the United States and other countries about their drone programs, saying their secrecy is the biggest obstacle to determining the civilian toll of such strikes.
The missile attacks in Yemen are part of a joint U.S.-Yemeni campaign against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which Washington has called the most dangerous branch of the global terrorist network.

Thursday's drone strike is the second since a massive car bombing and coordinated assault on Yemen's military headquarters killed 56 people, including foreigners. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was retaliation for U.S. drone strikes that have killed dozens of the group's leaders.

Security forces in the Yemeni capital boosted their presence Thursday, setting up checkpoints across the city and sealing off the road to the president's residence, in response to what the Interior Ministry called threats of "terrorist plots" targeting vital institutions and government buildings.

Meanwhile, in the Yemen's restive northern, ultraconservative Sunni Muslim militants and rebels belonging to a branch of Shiite Islam battled each other with artillery and machine guns in clashes that killed more than 40 people, security officials said.

The violence between Islamic Salafi fighters and Hawthi rebels has raged for weeks in Yemen's northern province of Saada, but the latest sectarian clashes marked an expansion of the fighting to the neighboring province of Hagga. The government brokered a cease-fire last month to try to end the violence, but both sides have repeatedly broken the truce.
Officials said clashes began when ultraconservative Salafis took over a Hawthi stronghold in a mountainous area near the border with Saudi Arabia. The officials say that most of the casualties were on the Hawthi side.

The officials said that Salafis, however, accused Hawthis of trying to infiltrate their strongholds in the town of Fagga.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the fighting publicly.

Hawthi launched in insurgency in 2004 against autocratic President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who stepped down in 2012 after a popular uprising against his rule. Over the course of the Hawthi rebellion, hundreds of people were killed and an estimated 125,000 people uprooted until the rebels and the government struck a fragile cease-fire in 2010.

But the north remained restive despite the truce, and fighting flared along another fault line in November after Hawthis accused the Salafis of trying to gain a foothold in their territory by spreading their brand of Islam.

The rebels say their community of Shiite Muslims suffers discrimination and neglect and that the government has allowed ultraconservative Sunni extremists too strong a voice in the country. Hard-line Sunnis consider Shiites heretics.

***
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Re: The "Small Horn" Of Bible Prophecy Emerges!!!

#103 Post by Sunshine » Tue May 06, 2014 8:34 pm

AL-QAIDA NUKES ALREADY IN U.S.

Terrorists, bombs smuggled across Mexico border by MS-13 gangsters
Article Source
Published: 07/11/2005 at 12:22 PM

WASHINGTON – As London recovers from the latest deadly al-Qaida attack that killed at least 50, top U.S. government officials are contemplating what they consider to be an inevitable and much bigger assault on America – one likely to kill millions, destroy the economy and fundamentally alter the course of history, reports Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

According to captured al-Qaida leaders and documents, the plan is called the “American Hiroshima” and involves the multiple detonation of nuclear weapons already smuggled into the U.S. over the Mexican border with the help of the MS-13 street gang and other organized crime groups.

Al-Qaida has obtained at least 40 nuclear weapons from the former Soviet Union – including suitcase nukes, nuclear mines, artillery shells and even some missile warheads. In addition, documents captured in Afghanistan show al-Qaida had plans to assemble its own nuclear weapons with fissile material it purchased on the black market.

In addition to detonating its own nuclear weapons already planted in the U.S., military sources also say there is evidence to suggest al-Qaida is paying former Russian special forces Spetznaz to assist the terrorist group in locating nuclear weapons formerly concealed inside the U.S. by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Osama bin Laden’s group is also paying nuclear scientists from Russia and Pakistan to maintain its existing nuclear arsenal and assemble additional weapons with the materials it has invested hundreds of millions in procuring over a period of 10 years.

The plans for the devastating nuclear attack on the U.S. have been under development for more than a decade. It is designed as a final deadly blow of defeat to the U.S., which is seen by al-Qaida and its allies as “the Great Satan.”

At least half the nuclear weapons in the al-Qaida arsenal were obtained for cash from the Chechen terrorist allies.

But the most disturbing news is that high level U.S. officials now believe at least some of those weapons have been smuggled into the U.S. for use in the near future in major cities as part of this “American Hiroshima” plan, according to an upcoming book, “The Al Qaeda Connection: International Terrorism, Organized Crime and the Coming Apocalypse,” by Paul L. Williams, a former FBI consultant.

According to Williams, former CIA Director George Tenet informed President Bush one month after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that at least two suitcase nukes had reached al-Qaida operatives in the U.S.

“Each suitcase weighed between 50 and 80 kilograms (approximately 110 to 176 pounds) and contained enough fissionable plutonium and uranium to produce an explosive yield in excess of two kilotons,” wrote Williams. “One suitcase bore the serial number 9999 and the Russian manufacturing date of 1988. The design of the weapons, Tenet told the president, is simple. The plutonium and uranium are kept in separate compartments that are linked to a triggering mechanism that can be activated by a clock or a call from the cell phone.”

According to the author, the news sent Bush “through the roof,” prompting him to order his national security team to give nuclear terrorism priority over every other threat to America.

However, it is worth noting that Bush failed to translate this policy into securing the U.S.-Mexico border through which the nuclear weapons and al-Qaida operatives are believed to have passed with the help of the MS-13 smugglers. He did, however, order the building of underground bunkers away from major metropolitan areas for use by federal government managers following an attack.

Bin Laden, according to Williams, has nearly unlimited funds to spend on his nuclear terrorism plan because he has remained in control of the Afghanistan-produced heroin industry. Poppy production has greatly increased even while U.S. troops are occupying the country, he writes. Al-Qaida has developed close relations with the Albanian Mafia, which assists in the smuggling and sale of heroin throughout Europe and the U.S.

Some of that money is used to pay off the notorious MS-13 street gang between $30,000 and $50,000 for each sleeper agent smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico. The sleepers are also provided with phony identification, most often bogus matricula consular ID cards indistinguishable from Mexico’s official ID, now accepted in the U.S. to open bank accounts and obtain driver’s licenses.

The Bush administration’s unwillingness to secure the U.S.-Mexico border has puzzled and dismayed a growing number of activists and ordinary citizens who see it as the No. 1 security threat to the nation. The Minuteman organization is planning a major mobilization of thousands of Americans this fall designed to shut down the entire 2,000-mile border as it did in April with a 23-mile stretch in Arizona.
According to Williams’ sources, thousands of al-Qaida sleeper agents have now been forward deployed into the U.S. to carry out their individual roles in the coming “American Hiroshima” plan.

Bin Laden’s goal, according to the book, is to kill at least 4 million Americans, 2 million of whom must be children. Only then, bin Laden has said, would the crimes committed by America on the Arab and Muslim world be avenged.

There is virtually no doubt among intelligence analysts al-Qaida has obtained fully assembled nuclear weapons, according to Williams. The only question is how many. Estimates range between a dozen and 70. The breathtaking news is that an undetermined number of these weapons, including suitcase bombs, mines and crude tactical nuclear weapons, have already been smuggled into the U.S. – at least some across the U.S.-Mexico border.

The future plan, according to captured al-Qaida agents and documents, suggests the attacks will take place simultaneously in major cities throughout the country – including New York, Boston, Washington, Las Vegas, Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles.

In response to the G2 Bulletin revelations, Chris Simcox, founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a citizen action group demanding the U.S. government take control of its borders, said an immediate military presence on the borders is now imperative “to stop the overwhelming influx of unidentified, potentially hostile and seditious persons coming across at an alarming rate.”

“Terrorists have carte blanche to carry practically anything they want across our national line at this time,” he said. “As ordinary citizens have warned this government for years, the only surprising part about the new information reported here is that nothing apocalyptic from Mexican-border weapons trafficking has yet happened. Terrorism has reared its ugly head in London again these past few days, and as we know all too well we are not immune in this country. At this point, the next attempt to attack America at home is just a matter of ‘when,’ not ‘if.’ And our unsecured borders have surely contributed to this threat – yet our government officials continue to fiddle while our nation’s margin of security and safety burns away. The president and Congress had better wake up before they have to answer for another devastating terrorist incursion on our own soil.”


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Re: The "Small Horn" Of Bible Prophecy Emerges!!!

#104 Post by Sunshine » Mon May 12, 2014 10:18 am

Osama Bin Laden 'Alive and Recruiting',
Claims Terror Expert
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India TV world desk
Article Source

Updated 11 May 2014, 07:06:21

New Delhi: If claims by an al-Qaeda expert are to be believed, world's most wanted man Osama Bin Laden is still alive and recruiting fresh support in Britain and Europe.

Dr Rohan Gunaratna, a world authority on Islamic terrorism, said that the Saudi-born militant was the author of a defiant message posted last week on an al Qaida website, reports The Daily Mail.


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The statement in Arabic was posted last Friday on Arabic website alneda.com in response to criticism levelled at al Qaida for its role in the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US, Dr Gunaratna said.

It stated: 'We don't care about Western public opinion because it is for the Western people and in any case backs Western governments.

'Therefore it should not be a matter of concern for us whether western public opinion turns against us or not. We did this operation not for human kind but for Allah.'


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Dr Gunaratna, who is based at St Andrews University, Fife, said: 'From the style of that message and the way in which it's been issued it's very clear that this is from Osama bin Laden himself.

Dr Gunaratna said that the message, which featured prominently on the website, had bin Laden's 'signature all over it' but did not state that he was its author because 'it is important for al Qaeda to maintain ambiguity about whether he is alive or dead'.

He went on: 'It's in the interests of the Jihad campaign to keep people guessing about whether Osama bin Laden is still living.


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'If they admit he's alive then the threat to the command structure of the organisation will increase and the coalition will intensify their efforts to find him.'

He said the statement was a response to a wave of criticism from Muslims all over the world after the broadcast of a video last month by a Gulf TV station showing bin Laden, his deputy and a man identified as one of the 11 September hijackers.

In one excerpt of the video - broadcast by Al Jazeera on April 15 - a man identified as Ahmed Ibrahim Al Haznawi speaks to the camera.


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Al Jazeera said the recording was made months before the attack. US officials have identified Al Haznawi as one of four attackers on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in rural Pennsylvania.

Dr Gunaratna said that prior to the release of the video there was still some doubt in the minds of Muslims about whether al-Qaeda were definitely responsible for the US attacks.

But the broadcast finally erased that doubt provoking criticism from Muslims everywhere concerned that the extremist group was giving Islam a bad name, said Dr Gunaratna.

He said he believed that Western military leaders have privately accepted that the war in Afghanistan, where the Royal Marines are busy combing mountain lairs used by al-Qaeda fighters, was 'far from over'.



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Re: The "Small Horn" Of Bible Prophecy Emerges!!!

#105 Post by Sunshine » Mon May 19, 2014 5:08 pm

Syrian Elections: Democratic Reform Undermines US-NATO Agenda
By Prof. Tim Anderson
Global Research, May 19, 2014
Region: Middle East & North Africa
Theme: US NATO War Agenda
In-depth Report: SYRIA: NATO'S NEXT WAR?
Article Source
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ASSAD
There is no doubt that incumbent President Bashar al Assad remains hot favourite for Syria’s June 3 elections. Even NATO’s advisers put his support at around 70%.

However the country’s first competitive presidential elections in recent times threatens to add a ‘normality’ to Syria’s previously one party system, a normality the western powers are desperate to avoid.

Hence Washington’s decision to deliver new weapons systems (like anti-tank missiles) to the al Qaeda-style ‘rebel’ groups, even when it has become clear that the Government and national army are prevailing in most parts of the country.

Let’s be clear about these elections, it is not some simple political choice to hold them at this time. They are required by Syria’s constitution, before the end of President Bashar’s term in July. To ignore this requirement, to suspend the constitution, would have deepened rather than help resolve the crisis.

Of course, a major test will be voter turn-out. Prospects for participation have improved strongly with the recent elimination of armed groups from Homs, Syria’s third largest city. A turn-out rate that exceeded that of 2012 would be a good sign for Syria’s democratic process.

Turnout in the 2012 Assembly and constitutional reform votes was estimated at a little over 51%; not high, but higher than the 2010 US Congressional elections participation rate of 41.6%. Remember, at that time, the Muslim Brotherhood-backed ‘Free Syrian Army’ was threatening and delivering death to those who participated in the voting.

No doubt the FSA’s al Qaeda-style successors are making the same threats now. But Syria’s army has backed them into a few corners. The last thing these sectarian fanatics want is any sort of democracy.

It is precisely because of the constitutional changes in 2012 that Syrian voters now have presidential choices, apart from the incumbent. The other candidates are Maher Hajjar, an independent communist from Aleppo, and businessman Hassan al-Nouri.

All three candidates have accepted a set of ‘national principles’ which include support for the Syrian Arab Army as ‘the protector of Syria against any foreign aggression and internal sabotage’. There is no Washington or Paris-backed candidate calling for an Islamic state; such sectarianism remains banned under the constitution.

However neither Hajjar nor al-Nouri can be dismissed as simple patsies for President Bashar. Under current rules each had to secure the support of at least 35 MPs in the current 200+ parliament; and MPs can only back one candidate. That means there is substantial electoral support for the two non-Ba’ath Party candidates, albeit support for those who back a ‘secular’ or pluralist nation.

Getting over the 35-MP hurdle, the new candidates still face the fact that President Bashar counts not only on the backing of the 60% of MPs who belong to the Ba’ath Party. The Syrian Social National Party (SSNP) and the Communist Party have also thrown their weight behind him. Bashar is increasingly seen as a symbol of resistance and national unity, and essential to winning the war.

In actual policy terms some more conventional themes have emerged. Hajjar, as the left candidate, remains a pan-Arabist and backs redistributive policies alongside huge capital works, to address unemployment. He also aims to attack corruption, probably the key complaint of the wider reform movement in recent years.

For his part, Al-Nouri, as the right-wing candidate, stresses a type of ‘modernization’ called the ‘smart free economy’, with emphasis on public-private partnerships. Indeed many of the major investments in Syria in recent years, like the large tourist hotels, have been joint venture operations. The small business sector, of course, is extensive.

As a candidate, Bashar al Assad sits at the centre left of this new configuration. His government has maintained free health and education, throughout economic hard times and war and, if anything, the conflict has deepened Bashar’s commitment to state investment. He was always seen as a reformer and moderniser but now, importantly, he is seen as a ‘rock’ which has successfully defended Syria against the western-backed sectarian Islamists. That is what will clinch the vote for him. He seems likely to get a higher vote than his Ba’ath party colleagues did in the Assembly elections of 2012.

By failing to engage with the reform process at the Geneva 2 talks in January (when there still existed the possibility of constitutional change) the exiled, Muslim Brotherhood-led ‘opposition’ have effectively shot themselves in the collective foot.

Rather like the pro-coup opposition in Venezuela, ten years ago, they rejected ‘normal’ politics in the hope that backing from the big powers would deliver them government by violence and deception. They rejected dialogue and reform for attacks on schools, hospitals, and ordinary people, blaming the government for their own sectarian massacres. That strategy backfired and they have now excluded themselves from Syrian political life for many years.

Syria’s democratic reform process is advancing, despite the ongoing terrorist war, and it threatens to derail the western ‘regime change’ agenda. The al Qaeda-style groups have served to unite the reform movement with pro-government forces. For these reasons, Syria’s June 3 vote will be a patriotic election.


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