BAGHDAD, Iraq - Hundreds of Shiite and Sunni Muslims prayed together Friday, then staged a joint demonstration in central Baghdad to denounce military and police raids and widespread arrests of suspected insurgents. The show of unity comes ahead of potentially divisive parliamentary elections.
And Sunni leaders have complained of attacks by Shiite death squads tied to the government. Last month, U.S. troops discovered an interior ministry jail with 173 detainees, some showing signs of torture.
The ministry is "killing our sons at the orders of the [Iranians]," one poster read, referring to alleged ties between Interior Minister Bayn Jabr and Iran. Another poster referred to Jabr as an American agent. [article link]
June 30, 2005: White House 'looking into' Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - Former Iran hostages say new president played key role in 1979 capture and hostage crisis at the U.S. embassy in Tehran
McClellan said the White House is taking the allegations seriously and "looking into them to better understand the facts." [in other words a COVERUP is in process].
Former hostages Chuck Scott, David Roeder, William J. Daugherty and Don A. Sharer told The Associated Press that after seeing Ahmadinejad on television, they have no doubt he was one of the hostage-takers. A fifth ex-hostage, Kevin Hermening, said he reached the same conclusion after looking at photos. A close aide to Ahmadinejad denied the president-elect took part in the seizure of the embassy or in holding Americans hostage. [article link]
July 02, 2005: Iranian President-Elect May Be '89 Killer
VIENNA, Austria - An exiled Iranian dissident on Saturday said Iran's newly elected president - already accused of taking American diplomats hostage 36 years ago - played a key role in the 1989 execution-style slayings of a Kurdish opposition leader and two associates in Vienna. [article link]
November 29, 2005 Iran: President Says Light Surrounded Him During UN Speech - Iran's "president" Ahmadinejad now seems to believe he is the Mahdi, the "divinely guided one" who will lead Islam to triumph over the infidel:
Ahmadinejad said that someone present at the UN told him that a light surrounded him while he was delivering his speech to the General Assembly. The Iranian president added that he also sensed it. "He said when you began with the words 'in the name of God (Allah),' I saw that you became surrounded by a light until the end [of the speech]," Ahmadinejad appears to say in the video. "I felt it myself, too. I felt that all of a sudden the atmosphere changed there, and for 27-28 minutes all the leaders did not blink."
Since the presidential elections in Iran, many bizarre stories and rumors have circulated about Ahmadinejad. Many of them are related to his devotion to the 12th Imam, also known as Imam Mahdi, who according to Muslims has disappeared and will return at the end of time to lead an era of Islamic justice. During his September speech at the UN, Ahmadinejad called for the reappearance of the 12th Imam. In mid-November, during a speech to Friday prayers leaders from across Iran, Ahmadinejad said that the main mission of the revolution is to pave the way for the reappearance of the 12th Imam. In recent weeks, the president's aides have denied a rumor that he ordered his cabinet to write a pact of loyalty with the 12th Imam and throw it down a well near the holy city of Qom, where some believe the Imam is hiding. Ahmadinejad's supporters said such rumors are being circulated about the president by opponents in efforts to defame him. [article link]
March 28, 2002: Bush Will Not Stop Afghan Opium Trade - President Bush, who previously linked the Afghan drug trade directly to terrorism, has now decided not to destroy the Afghan opium crop
The Bush administration has decided not to destroy the opium crop in Afghanistan. President Bush, who previously linked the Afghan drug trade directly to terrorism, has now decided not to destroy the Afghan opium crop. ... "If the estimated 3,000 tons of opium reaches market, it will lead to a new upsurge in international terrorism and a great loss in international credibility for the Bush administration and the United States' ability to conduct war in the 21st century. America's enemies throughout the world from China to North Korea to Iran will be emboldened by this lack of strategic vision and political will," said the source. [article link]
June 2003: Afghanistan: Poppy, Heroin Trade Flourishing As Government Fails To Provide Alternatives
Despite a ban by the Afghan government, poppy cultivation and heroin laboratories are an open secret in many Afghan provinces. Afghanistan re-emerged as the world's largest opium producer last year, with more than 3,400 tons harvested.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that poppies were cultivated on some 75,000 hectares across the country in 2002. Nangarhar Province in the east and Helmand Province in the south are Afghanistan's major opium producers. [article link]
April 2, 2004: US Official Says Afghanistan's Poppy Crop Could Double That of Last Year
Washington/Berlin, April 2 - A US State Department official has warned that Afghanistan's opium poppy cultivation has soared, and this year's harvest could be twice as large as last year's near-record crop unless eradication efforts are stepped up immediately. Robert Charles, assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs, said Thursday that the heroin business is "almost definitely" filling the coffers of the Taliban and other extremist groups linked to al-Qaida. [article link]
September 05, 2006: Opium Harvest at Record Level in Afghanistan - "Afghanistan's opium harvest this year has reached the highest levels ever recorded
"Afghanistan's opium harvest this year has reached the highest levels ever recorded, showing an increase of almost 50 percent from last year, the executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Antonio Maria Costa, said Saturday in Kabul." "He described the figures as "alarming" and "very bad news" for the Afghan government and international donors who have poured millions of dollars into programs to reduce the poppy crop since 2001." "He said the increase in cultivation was significantly fueled by the resurgence of Taliban rebels in the south, the country's prime opium growing region. As the insurgents have stepped up attacks, they have also encouraged and profited from the drug trade, promising protection to growers if they expanded their opium operations." [article link]
May 6, 2004: Bush singles out Israel again as Bush nixes 'assurances' to Sharon
JERUSALEM - US President George W. Bush Thursday left open the options of one day flooding Israel with millions of "Palestinian" refugees and forcing the Jews to retreat to their indefensible pre-1967 borders.
But last month the president gave Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a letter ostensibly backing Israel's rejection of a Palestinian Arab "right of return," and the annexation of large Jewish settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria.
The letter was the cornerstone of Sharon's campaign to uproot Jewish Gaza. [article link]
April 12, 2005: Bush embraces Gaza withdrawal
CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon differed openly yesterday over Israel's intention to expand a settlement in the West Bank, but Bush gave Sharon robust backing for his plan to withdraw from Gaza this summer.
After a meeting at Bush's vacation home in Crawford, Texas, the president hailed Sharon as a "strong, visionary" leader for having pursued a "courageous initiative" to pull Israeli settlers and security forces out of the Gaza Strip and small portions of the West Bank.
His embrace came on a day when Sharon described the political atmosphere in Israel as akin to civil war because of deep disagreements over the withdrawal plan, and clearly was intended to bolster Sharon as he heads toward a wrenching confrontation this summer with some Jewish settlers and their allies as he moves them, perhaps forcibly, out of Gaza. [article link]
September 12, 2005: Israel completes Gaza withdrawal
Israeli troops have pulled out of the Gaza Strip more than 38 years after capturing the narrow coastal area.
Thousands of jubilant Palestinians entered the former Jewish enclaves, and some set an abandoned synagogue ablaze in a settlement near Khan Younis. [article link]
September 7, 2005: Did God send Katrina as judgment for Gaza? Eerie parallels between forced evacuations spark speculation
"Katrina is a consequence of the destruction of [Gaza's] Gush Katif [slate of Jewish communities] with America's urging and encouragement," Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Lewin, executive director of the Rabbinic Congress for Peace, told WND. "The U.S. should have discouraged Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon from implementing the Gaza evacuation rather than pushing for it and pressuring Israel into concessions."
"We don't have prophets who can tell us exactly what are God's ways, but when we see something so enormous as Katrina, I would say [President] Bush and [Secretary of State Condoleezza] Rice need to make an accounting of their actions, because something was done wrong by America in a big way. And here there are many obvious connections between the storm and the Gaza evacuation, which came right on top of each other. No one has permission to take away one inch of the land of Israel from the Jewish people." [article link]
November 15, 2005: Dr. Chong's Diagnosis of America's WoT (War on Terror): Why We're Fighting and What's at Stake
This WAR is for REAL! To get out of a difficulty, one usually must go through it. Our country is now facing the most serious threat to its existence, as we know it, that we have faced in your lifetime and mine (which includes WWII). The deadly seriousness is greatly compounded by the fact that there are very few of us who think we can possibly lose this war and even fewer who realize what losing really means. First, let's examine a few basics: 1. When did the threat to us start? Many will say September 11, 2001. The answer as far as the United States is concerned is 1979, 22 years prior to September 2001, with the following attacks on us: ... (Note that during the period from 1981 to 2001 there were 7,581 terrorist attacks worldwide). 2. Why were we attacked? ... [article link]
There is a lot of information and news listed in this update and a lot more that could have been added and unfortunately much of the news is bad news but it is still important that we as Christians try to stay on top of world events and try to understand the direction that the world is heading in. It is extremely interesting that in many of the news items Nations are referred to as "states" i.e. "list of States (Nations) Sponsoring Terrorism" there is currently an effort to give the world a single governing body and then there will be no nations only states and it looks like we are being conditioned away from nations and into states.
Keep the faith in Jesus, governments and people will always disappoint us and let us down but there is only one true savior and that is Jesus Christ.
Psalm 67:1-7
To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm or Song.
God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause His face to shine upon us; *Selah.
That Thy way may be known upon earth, Thy saving health among all nations.
Let the people praise Thee, O God; let all the people praise Thee.
O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for Thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah.
Let the people praise Thee, O God; let all the people praise Thee.
Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.
God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.
*Selah - means to "pause and reflect" on the thought that was given, to get the full meaning of the thought.
God Bless you always!
David Anson Brown
Posted March 5, 2006
#3 Pick: april 7, 2005 (profile): Ibrahim Jaafari {an Iranian frontman} makes it - so far: of (Iran's Islamic Daawa Party) - now Iraq's new prime minister as of February 13, 2006
The 58-year-old physician, spokesman for the Islamic Daawa Party, emerged as the front-runner for the most powerful job in the transitional government after Iraq's landmark elections in January. He was the preferred candidate of the Shia list that won the election. And as soon as the three-man presidency council was sworn in, it backed that choice. IBRAHIM JAAFARI, Spokesman for Islamic Daawa Party, Born in Karbala in 1947, Educated at Mosul university as a medical doctor, Lived in Iran and UK since 1980s. The Daawa is one of the oldest Shia Islamist movements in Iraq, and it fought a bloody campaign against Saddam Hussein's regime in the 1970s. When the rebellion was crushed, Mr Jaafari went into exile in Iran first and then the UK. The Daawa has quickly re-established itself in Shia-dominated southern Iraq after Saddam's fall. [article link]
Ibrahim Jaafari, Iraq's new prime minister - Islamic Daawa Party (IDP) - Funding - Funded by Iran {is this a future part of the World Government & Daniel 7:24}
Islamic Dawa Party is an old Shi'a Islamic organization. Now based in Tehran [Iran], the group supports the establishment of an Islamic state in Iraq. ... The group was blamed by the Iraqi leaders for actions that necessitated the attack on Iran in 1980. (Iraqi) Dawa members mostly either joined the Iranian military units or refrained from political activity altogether. Islamic Dawa Party members staged a major assassination attempt on Saddam Husayn in July of 1982, bombed the Ministry of Planning in August of 1982, and attacked Saddam Hussein's motorcade in April of 1987. Member of Coalition of Iraqi National Forces. [article link]
February 13, 2006: Shiites Pick al-Jaafari as Iraq's New Prime Minister
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Shiite lawmakers Sunday chose incumbent Ibrahim al-Jaafari to be Iraq's new prime minister, taking a key step in forming a government nearly two months after national elections, officials said. Al-Jaafari is assured the post because Shiites won the most parliament seats in the Dec. 15 national elections. He won 64 votes in a caucus of Shiite legislators, one more than Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi, officials said. There were two abstentions. After parliament convenes within two weeks, members must choose the largely ceremonial position of president, who will then designate the alliance's choice as the new prime minister. [article link]
April 20, 2006: Al-Jaafari clears way to be replaced as PM - Iraq leader appears to be backing down, raising hopes of end to deadlock
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Embattled Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari cleared the way Thursday for Shiite leaders to withdraw his nomination for a second term, a step that could break a months-long standoff that is blocking the formation of a new government. ... Al-Maliki said the prime minister was not stepping down but "he is not sticking to this post." Al-Maliki and another leading Dawa politician, Ali al-Adeeb, have been touted as possible replacements for al-Jaafari. [article link]
February 22, 2006: Explosion Destroys Dome of Revered Iraqi (Shiite) Mosque
SAMARRA, Iraq - A large explosion destroyed the golden dome of one of Iraq's most famous Shiite shrines Wednesday, spawning mass protests and triggering reprisal attacks against Sunni mosques. It was the third major attack against Shiite targets this week and threatened to enflame sectarian tensions. Shiite leaders called for calm, but at least five Sunni mosques in the capital and two in Basra were attacked. About 500 Iraqi soldiers were sent to Sunni neighborhoods in Baghdad to prevent clashes between Shiites and Sunnis, army Capt. Jassim al-Wahash said. No group claimed responsibility for the early morning attack on the Askariya shrine in this city 60 miles north of Baghdad, but suspicion fell on Sunni extremist groups such as Al Qaeda in Iraq led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. [article link]
February 23, 2006: A combat engineer looks at the bomb attack on the Shia mosque in Samarra {It took hours to complete the demolition charges, the mosque had been heavily guarded and fortunately it looks like the mosque was empty at the time of the explosion. This is looking like an inside job that the Shiites blew up their own mosque in order to stir up strife and probably have America pull out of Iraq whatever the reason Bush bit (without an investigation) and blamed Al Queda and vows for America to help rebuild the mosque.}
The following is his analysis of the terror bomb attack on the Askariya Shrine in Samarra. Understand that his analysis is informed speculation, but speculation by a man who knows how to build buildings as well as destroy them. I have been asked if I think this attack in Iraq was an "a quick in and out raid," (a target of opportunity attack) or did the operation (placing the explosives) take some time to carry out? ... My guess is that it probably took some time to plant the charges. The charges would have to be taken into the building placed at a point some distance up in the structure of the dome itself. With only people power to move the stuff up there, place the charges and rig the ignition circuits I would tend to believe this was an operation covering three to five hours, not just a quick in and out raid. [article link]
#3 Pick: March 05, 2006: Pick Al-Jaafari Pressured to Step Down as Iraq's Prime Minister (PM)
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Pressure mounted Sunday on Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to give up his bid for a new term amid anger over a recent surge of sectarian killing that has complicated already snarled negotiations on a new Iraqi government. ... The political turmoil has left a dangerous leadership vacuum as Iraqi armed forces, backed by the U.S. military, battle to contain the violence that pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war following last month's bombing of a sacred Shiite shrine in Samarra and reprisal attacks against Sunnis. Gunmen stormed a Sunni mosque early Sunday in west Baghdad, killing three people and wounding seven in a 25 minute gunbattle. Witnesses said U.S. helicopters hovered above the exchange of fire and American forces later moved in to stop the fighting and remove casualties. Two relatives of an influential Sunni leader also were killed in a drive-by shooting in another part of west Baghdad. Sunni Arab leaders blamed Shiite militiamen operating within Interior Ministry ranks for both attacks, but the ministry denied involvement. [article link]
Posted June 20, 2006
Pick #4: May 20, 2006: Iraq's new Prime Minister Nouri Maliki - is a stalwart of the Dawa party {another Iranian frontman}
Iraq's new Prime Minister Nouri Maliki - who is also sometimes called Jawad Maliki - is a stalwart of the Dawa party, the Shia political group that for years led an armed underground resistance to the secular Baathist leadership of Saddam Hussein. As the Baathist government hunted down its opponents, Mr Maliki followed other Dawa leaders into exile - fleeing the country in 1980 and eventually finding refuge in Syria. ... A relatively unknown figure internationally until his nomination for the office of prime minister, Mr Maliki nonetheless played a major role in shaping Iraq after the US invasion. He helped draft the country's new constitution and was a member of a committee, set up by the US, that was tasked with purging Iraq of its Baathist legacy. ... He was initially not considered a likely candidate for prime minister, partly because of his proximity to Mr Jaafari, whose nomination was so vociferously opposed by Sunni and Kurdish politicians. [article link]
Al Maliki on a mission to keep nation together - Deeply religious, he is a follower of the spiritual adviser to the radical Lebanese group Hezbollah, Mohammad Hussain Fadlallah. {That can't be good - what is Bush thinking?}
Baghdad: Standing beside Tony Blair this week Iraq's new prime minister, Nouri Al Maliki, looked every bit the westernised politician wearing a suit and tie and with no sign of a beard. Despite his outward appearance, Al Maliki has never denied that his beliefs are those of a strict Islamist who has strong suspicions about the West and its motives. Deeply religious, he is a follower of the spiritual adviser to the radical Lebanese group Hezbollah, Mohammad Hussain Fadlallah. ... [article link]
Eye on Iraq: Deteriorating realities - U.S. President George W. Bush paid a brief visit to Iraq where he conferred with Maliki and pledged continued U.S. support to him
The latest celebration of light at the end of the tunnel started with an undoubted success: The location and killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida`s director of operations in Iraq and the driving force behind the merciless massacres of Shiite civilians. That event seemed to give additional significance to the formation of a new, more pro-American government under Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Then last week U.S. President George W. Bush paid a brief visit to Iraq where he conferred with Maliki and pledged continued U.S. support to him.[article link]
Bush's Surprise visit to Baghdad follows month of planning
WASHINGTON - President Bush, known for going to bed early, retired especially early Monday night. After a long day of Iraq meetings at Camp David, Bush told Cabinet members and other aides around 7:45 p.m. that he was "losing altitude" and headed off for a little reading before bedtime. Instead, he ducked out of the presidential retreat in the Catoctin Mountains and boarded a helicopter for the roughly 60-mile trip to Andrews Air Force Base in suburban Maryland. By 9:07 p.m., Bush was aboard Air Force One, and the jet was airborne, bound for Iraq. Less than a dozen hours later, as cameras whirred and flashed, Bush strolled into an ornate ceremonial room in Baghdad to shake hands with new Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. ... Members of the Iraqi government also didn't know about the Bush visit. They had gathered in Baghdad for the expected videoconference.[article link]
The Two Iraqs: Leaked Memo Paints Darker Image Than Bush, Officials Portrayed - Before President Bush's Surprise Baghdad Visit, U.S. Embassy Gave Dark Assessment
une 20, 2006 - An internal memo sent last week from the Public Affairs Office staff at the American embassy in Baghdad to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice paints a dark picture of the security situation in and around Baghdad. ... The June 6 memo warns of increasing sectarian violence in the city, threats against embassy workers, deteriorating women's rights, and many specific cases of dangers faced by embassy personnel and ordinary Iraqis every day. ... According to the letter, women have recently come under mounting pressure to wear a head scarf in public, and even to cover their faces - a practice that smacks of the harsh conservative rule under Afghanistan's Taliban {and Iran}. ... ABC News has also learned that President Bush read the letter on his way to Baghdad during his surprise visit to the new Iraqi government last week. [article link]
Bush's Baghdad Palace - Among the many secrets the American government cannot keep, one of its biggest (104 acres) and most expensive ($592 million) is the American Embassy being built in Baghdad
Among the many secrets the American government cannot keep, one of its biggest (104 acres) and most expensive ($592 million) is the American Embassy being built in Baghdad. Surrounded by fifteen-foot-thick walls, almost as large as the Vatican on a scale comparable to the Mall of America, to which it seems to have a certain spiritual affinity, this is no simple object to hide. So you think the Bush Administration is planning on leaving Iraq? Read on. ... USA Today has learned that the "massive new embassy, being built on the banks of the Tigris River, is designed to be entirely self-sufficient and won't be dependent on Iraq's unreliable public utilities." ... Doubtless the cooks, janitors and serving staff attending to the Americans' needs and comforts in this establishment, which is said to exceed in luxury and appointments anything Saddam Hussein built for himself, will not be Iraqis either. ... So it turns out that the plan, -- is to stay in Baghdad and run the country. [article link]
Desperate Bush administration ends already blown Zarqawi deception - In a bizarre recent twist perhaps paving the way for last week's finale, Zarqawi, the "great terrorist mastermind," was depicted [in a video] as an incompetent; an object of ridicule lacking the knowledge to properly handle an automatic weapon
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