Below is a good video from Scott Clark called Middle East Showdown, the Supreme Leader of Iran and Shia Islamic eschatology
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y90PHFfx-Qs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y90PHFfx-Qs
What Happened to Marine Deserter Wassef Ali Hassoun?
Ten years ago, U.S. Marine Wassef Ali Hassoun
disappeared from Camp Fallujah in Iraq. After a five-monthmilitary investigation, he was charged with
desertion and theft, brought back to Virginia's Quantico Marine base and then
transferred to North Carolina's Camp Lejeune for trial.
Yet, a full decade later, Hassoun is as free as a bird.
The accused deserter's whereabouts are unknown. No
trial ever began. No punishment ensued. And our leaders in Washington don't
seem to be doing a thing about this.
Hassoun was born in Lebanon and immigrated with his
family to Utah in 1999. A few years later, he joined the Marines as an Arabic
translator. On June 20, 2004, Hassoun bailed on guard duty at his base in
Fallujah. He took his military-issued gun and his Muslim prayer rug. Military
records obtained by the Salt Lake Tribune showed that he was "torn between
military loyalty and his Muslim beliefs."
According to the internal probe, he undermined
intelligence-gathering operations by refusing to translate questions
about Islam. He balked at raising his voice to suspected jihadi imams and
sheiks. He openly threatened to "walk out the front gate and leave."
The Muslim Marine told his colleagues he supported
Hezbollah terrorist attacks on Israel. Members of his unit told investigators
he was "anti-American" and listened to jihad sermons on propaganda
CDs. Hassoun had received spiritual counseling from Navy Lt. Cmdr. Abuhena
Saifulislam, a Muslim military chaplain tied to a radical Wahhabist outfit
under federal investigation, according to Hoover Institution fellow and
journalist Paul Sperry.
A bizarre video by Hassoun's Islamist "kidnappers"
showed him blindfolded with a sword above his head. But his fellow Marines
suspected it was all staged and the "abduction" a collaborative fake.
What did the purported hostage-takers want in return for the shady, disgruntled
American serviceman? The release of jihadists in "U.S.-led occupation
prisons." Translation: Gitmo detainees. (Americans would never negotiate
such a reckless trade, right? Oh, wait.)
In an even weirder twist, Hassoun somehow resurfaced at
the U.S. embassy in Lebanon a few weeks after he walked away from his base. His
family was rumored to have enlisted the aid of an Islamist group associated
with the Muslim Brotherhood.
Hassoun denied desertion charges, came back to the U.S.
for trial and then deserted a second time after failing to return to Camp Lejeune after visiting family
in Utah. In 2011, Hassoun's family sought a $1 million book and movie deal in Hollywood. One of his brothers said the
fugitive Marine was with family in Lebanon.
Ten summers after he abandoned his post, double-deserting
Hassoun is still on the run and has yet to be held accountable.
Could
there be a future where most American Christians support same-sex
relationships? If so, it will be due to the emergence of conservative
Christians who say orthodox believers can support life-long, monogamous gay relationships
without undermining their commitment to biblical authority.
This is pure
poppycock, as God condemned homosexuality as a practice, never enunciating any
kind of support for gay long term relationships. Since God never changes, not
for all eternity, practices He condemned 5,000 years ago, He condemns still.
Let us now
see how this "Bible scholar" tries to make God allow something He
never allowed.
"In
evangelical gay Christian Matthew Vines' book, 'God and the Gay Christian', he
examines the six passages on same-sex behavior and argues that they do not
address today's long-term gay relationships. New Testament scholar James
Brownson, who wrote the 2013 book Bible, 'Gender, Sexuality', concurs. He told
me, 'Male-male sex in the ancient world was episodic. It was mainly young boys
with older men or male slaves and masters. It was not mutual. These were not
relationships, they were not marriage and they were not meant to turn into
marriage'."
This line of
thinking is completely false, and will lead both the teacher and the student
directly into Hell.
When God
annihilated Sodom and Gomorrah for the crime of homosexuality, there were
undoubtedly large numbers of gay and lesbian partners who had been together for
a very long time. God spared them not, killing them along with every single
homosexual. God condemns the practice, not just the lack of relationship.
Doubt it
not! The Apostle Paul again has precisely the right warning for us today.
"Let no
one delude and deceive you with empty excuses and groundless arguments [for
these sins], for through these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of
rebellion and disobedience." (Ephesians 5:6; Parallel Bible, KJV/Amplified
Bible Commentary)
America has
certainly fallen morally into the state in which God's wrath will fall.
"She is
fallen! Mighty Babylon is fallen! She has become a resort and dwelling place
for demons, a dungeon haunted by every loathsome spirit, an abode for every
filthy and detestable bird .... her iniquities (her crimes and transgressions)
are piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her wickedness and her
crimes and calls them up for settlement." (Revelation 18:2, 5)
 |
| Deadly chemtrails in our skies |
| Anbar, the heart of ISIS |
With the Iraq invasion, the US turned the region into a mess. When it withdrew from Iraq, it left behind a torn apart Iraq, and the Middle East in bloodshed. Al Qaeda was a useful instrument for the US. To put it in an analogy, ISIS was born from Al Qaeda's relationship with CIA."
The United States created and is sponsoring the bloody ISIS.
Members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIS, were trained in 2012 by U.S. instructors working at a secret base in Jordan, according to informed Jordanian officials. The officials said dozens of ISIS members were trained at the time as part of covert aid to the insurgents targeting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria. The officials said the training was not meant to be used for any future campaign in Iraq.
This is not the first time that American created and trained terrorist force has turned direction and has fought against the Americans who nurtured them and turned them into military fighters. In 1979, President Carter created the Taliban, so they could carry the proxy battle with Russian forces. In November, 2001, President Bush ordered American forces to invade Afghanistan to over throw the Taliban central government.
The fact is that the United States has been working both sides of a number of conflicts during the past 225 years in its attempt to lead all nations of the world into the New World Order.
Our Masonic Founding Fathers wanted America to be the force leading the New World Order. The Illuminati and Free Masonry led to Bush's invasion of Iraq.
What are some examples of America working both sides of a conflict?
America's Prescott Bush Financially Supported Germany's Adolf Hitler Before And During World War II.
The U.S. deliberately enrages Muslims to trigger Satan’s World War III.
SADDAM torched his own oilfields on orders from the Illuminati
These examples are but a few which demonstrate that America is consistently backed both sides in a conflict. We are continuing to do it today. Do not be surprised to learn that the United States created, then trained, and finally funded these murderous ISIS / ISIL militants. The drive to the New World Order marches on.
Whole sectors of America's
spiritual life crumbling
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times
shall come." 2 Timothy 3:1
The bible says that in the last days, a spirit would settle
in over our world, and wickedness and lawlessness would begin to rise to epic
proportions. Natural love and affection would be replaced by the demonic
counterfeit, and people who turn from God and turn back to their sins.
Welcome to the world's-largest Senior Citizen retirement
community - The Villages -
whose serene and posed facade belies a sexually wicked and spiritually corrupt
underbelly. A place that comes alive at night with bars and nightclubs, and
where aging Senior couples are routinely found having open sex in the streets
of the community. It has gotten so bad, that in addition to the regular medical
facilities that you would expect in a Senior housing complex, they have
recently added an infectious disease ward where fornicating and
partner-swapping grandmothers and grandfathers go to treat syphilis,
gonorrhea and a host of other diseases they trade back and forth to each other.
Doctors say that the number of herpes cases reported at The Villages dwarf that
of Miami and are among the highest in the nation.
Ask any resident a question during the day about life in the
slow lane and they all trot out the same cult-like phrases about the 1000-plus
clubs, amazing amenities and friendly faces. But at night, once the cheap booze
kicks in, the talk turns to sex.
According to locals, golf carts are usually
the vehicle of choice when it comes to sex - and half-naked peep shows are the
norm when darkness descends. There’s also a thriving swingers’ scene
amongst married couples.
A
barman at a restaurant in The Villages said: 'I was paid $100 for three hours work at a swingers
party in a private house last night. 'Two of the men approached me and
asked if I’d be interested bar tending. They told me there’d be things going on
I might not want to see. 'Trust me – having worked the party before
things got too hot and heavy – there are things I am trying to forget
already. 'There were 10 people – all in their late 50s to mid 60s – and by
the time I left they didn’t need any more drink. There was a full-blown orgy
going on.
America is being eaten alive by sin and love of self from
both ends against the middle. Teen drug and alcohol use is epidemic, and the
same among seniors is sky-high as well. Since about 2008-09, there is been a
spirit over America and it has dimmed the once-great light of this country. A
spirit of lasciviousness and self-love that is oozing out of every pore and
into the streets with reckless abandon.
The wheels are coming off our nation, and no one seems to
notice. Or care.
Below is a very interesting short video about mathematics,
Israelis are
growing increasingly skeptical over whether or not they can trust American
security guarantees as they watch a previously US-occupied Iraq crumble in the
face of a jihadist onslaught. Over the past few weeks, the armies of the Islamic State
in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have scored major victories in northern Iraq, and are
now said to be moving on Baghdad itself. One of those victories was the
conquest of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city. Reports indicate that the
US-trained and equipped Iraqi army units in Mosul folded like a house of cards
as ISIS approached."
How badly does the easy conquest of Mosul reflect upon
America?
Israeli analyst Guy Bechor noted that the Americans built
this army, trained it and have invested tens of billions of dollars in it in
the past decade. But its thousands of soldiers have escaped without fighting,
leaving their shoes and clothes behind, as well as advanced American military
equipment, an airport, hospitals and prisons.
This is Vietnam all over again! Just as President Richard
Nixon spoke glowingly of the capability of the South Vietnamese Army to defend
itself, so President Barack Obama deemed Iraqi forces capable of defending Iraq
against her jihadist foes. The South Vietnamese Army collapsed in matter of
hours, just as Iraqi forces are collapsing now.
What does this despicable military situation have to do
with the Israelis?
Those same hallucinating Americans designated a security
plan for us in Judea and Samaria, like the plan they designated for Iraq. US
Secretary of State John Kerry, with all his security experts, thought that it
would be enough to have an American plan on paper in order to stabilize a Palestinian
regime and a state there.
If I were the Israeli government, I would trust nothing
coming from the American military or regime these days. The American decline is
as obvious as it was planned. Israeli Defense Force generals are far more
likely to create a militarily sound plan than the Pentagon. In fact, the Bible
says that Israel will be defended by Michael, Israel's Guardian Angel (Daniel
12:1).
Returning to the collapse in Iraq for a moment, if the
American-trained and equipped armies of South Vietnam and Iraq collapsed so
quickly and spectacularly, what does that mean when Afghanistan troops assume
full responsibility for their own defense? The answer is self-evident, I do
believe.
Why has the American
military won only one war 69 years? Have we forgotten how to fight a war? The
answer may shock you.
The illuminati in the Protocols of Zion it
states,"Oceans of blood and tears may be spilled but it is indispensable
for our purpose that wars ... should not result in territorial gains." Friends,
wars are being fought to lose!
Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War II, and Afghanistan, were all
wars fought to not win. Once you understand this sad reality, you will realize
that our leaders have achieved great success in accomplishing their hidden goal.
But, this reality means that every soldier who died and
every man who came back with life-long crippling injuries, have sacrificed
themselves in vain!
Now consider this, the Kurds (Ancient Medes) are
advancing into Iraq from the North. The Medes are starting their move to
fulfill the last segments of the prophecy of Isaiah 13.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - It took Kurdish Peshmarga
fighters less than two days to take full control of not only the oil rich city
of Kirkuk, but also most of the long-disputed territories that Kurds claim as
their own. Following the surrender and departure of Iraq’s army from these
territories, after the swift takeover of Mosul by insurgents, Kurdish Peshmerga
forces were deployed along the disputed areas to fill the power vacuum, Kurdish
military officials have said.
In other words, Kurdistan has taken advantage of the
military defeats suffered by the Shi'ite Iraqi Army to invade and take control
of most of the areas which had been considered "contested" between
Kurdistan and Iraq. Further, the Kurds are warning that they have no intention
whatsoever of ever leaving these areas. Iraq has permanently lost control of
these lands.
As if the military reverses to the Kurds and to the
Sunnis were not bad enough, Iran is on the move, and may cooperate with
America!
The United States said it could launch air strikes and
act jointly with its arch-enemy Iran to support the Iraqi government, after a
rampage by Sunni Islamist insurgents across Iraq. Militants from the Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant have routed Baghdad's army and seized the north of
the country in the past week, threatening to dismember Iraq and unleash all-out
sectarian warfare with no regard for national borders."
Now, I ask you: what greater evidence of American defeat
in Iraq can there be by a former weak, notorious, 'Axis of Evil' nation sending
its military forces to cooperate with American forces in Iraq? But, you see,
this entire scenario was laid out in the Illuminati plan and backed by
prophetic Scripture.
Therefore, I knew America would never defeat Iran, either
by an attack on her nuclear facilities or by invasion. When the war spun to its
conclusion planned by President Bush, I could see that Iran would become the
regional power which would naturally defend territory which she would consider
part of her "Sphere of Influence". Shi'ite Iran coming to the defense
of Shi'ite Iraq to stave off defeat at the hands of Sunni militants is not as
shocking as it may have seemed a short time ago.
The only question is whether Iranian ground troops will
actually invade Iraq? Or will their presence be limited to smaller units in the
field of battle.
Radical Sunni militants who have been capturing cities in
northwest Iraq claimed on Twitter that they executed 1,700 Iraqi soldiers. The
radicals posted graphic photos as evidence. The photographs, which were posted
on the Twitter account associated with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant
(ISIS/ISIL), came with captions that described their alleged massacre. They did
not provide a date or location, but chief military spokesman Lt. Gen. Qassim
al-Moussawi said the killings took place in Salahuddin province, located north
of Baghdad.
It is impossible to independently verify the photographs
and the number of people killed.
Whether ISIS really did murder 1,700 people is not the
point; the real fact is that their allegation, their bragging, plus the
gruesome photos, will greatly aggravate the situation within and without Iraq.
These radicals believe that neither the United States nor Iran will act on the
ground to defeat the militants.
This is a war that will fulfill Bible prophecy in Isaiah
13. I am not surprised by this desire to slaughter the religious enemy, because
Isaiah 13 predicts such a slaughter, albeit on a much larger scale. Listen to
this prophecy, written 2,600 years ago.
"Everyone
who is found will be thrust through, and everyone who is connected with the
slain and is caught will fall by the sword. Their infants also will be dashed to
pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered and their wives
ravished." [Isaiah
13:13-16; Ibid.]
"Behold, I
will stir up the Medes against them ... Their bows will cut down the young men
[of Babylon]; and they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb, their eyes
will not spare children..." [Isaiah 13:17-22]
Wanton slaughter of civilians is Iraq's immediate future.
This massacre of 1,700 Shi'ite men at the hands of Sunni militants is just a
foretaste of what prophecy says will come.
| The lost tribe of the Bnei Menashe return to Israel |
In the next few
weeks, the Israeli cabinet is expected to approve a special plan aimed at
encouraging Europe’s Jews to immigrate to Israel.
The plan is a project of Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption. It would allocate a total of $29 million over the next two years to financial incentives and outreach efforts targeting Jews who are feeling less secure and considering relocation because of rising anti-Semitism and the economic downturn in Europe.
The goal is to persuade them to make Israel their destination of choice rather than other countries. The money required to execute the plan would come from funds already raised by the Jewish National Fund.
Aliyah is the word used to describe the immigration of genetically Jewish individuals and families to Israel from around the world. It’s an ancient Hebrew word that refers to ascending or “going up” to Jerusalem.
This ongoing re-gathering to Israel is very much a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. God’s Word says He will gather His People from the four corners of the earth and bring them back to Israel (Isaiah 11:12). He is fulfilling His promise right before our eyes.
The plan is a project of Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption. It would allocate a total of $29 million over the next two years to financial incentives and outreach efforts targeting Jews who are feeling less secure and considering relocation because of rising anti-Semitism and the economic downturn in Europe.
The goal is to persuade them to make Israel their destination of choice rather than other countries. The money required to execute the plan would come from funds already raised by the Jewish National Fund.
Aliyah is the word used to describe the immigration of genetically Jewish individuals and families to Israel from around the world. It’s an ancient Hebrew word that refers to ascending or “going up” to Jerusalem.
This ongoing re-gathering to Israel is very much a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. God’s Word says He will gather His People from the four corners of the earth and bring them back to Israel (Isaiah 11:12). He is fulfilling His promise right before our eyes.
 |
| Kingdom 7 forming before our eyes |
Step aside Al Qaeda: the face and
identity of global terrorism now seems to be taking on a new, dynamic, more
powerful and revitalized form named The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria -
otherwise commonly referred to as the ISIS. ISIS is reported to be a jihadist
group active in Iraq and Syria, formed in April 2013 as an offshoot of al-Qaeda
in Iraq (AQI). It is considered to be a rival faction, but has still become one
of the main jihadist groups fighting government forces in Syria and blitzkrieging
through Iraq.
The enigmatic leader and face of the organization is said to be Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, believed to have been born in Samarra, north of Baghdad in 1971. When I was deployed to Iraq we chased the elusive Omar al-Baghdadi for years. Finally, he was killed, so Abu Bakr is his heir apparent. I would imagine he is the emir in the Sunni Shura Council. The Shura Council directs overall al Qaeda operations and planning.
The enigmatic leader and face of the organization is said to be Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, believed to have been born in Samarra, north of Baghdad in 1971. When I was deployed to Iraq we chased the elusive Omar al-Baghdadi for years. Finally, he was killed, so Abu Bakr is his heir apparent. I would imagine he is the emir in the Sunni Shura Council. The Shura Council directs overall al Qaeda operations and planning.
He joined the insurgency that erupted in
Iraq soon after the 2003 US-led invasion. He then formed his own militant group
in the Samarra and Diyala areas, where his family was from, before joining al
Qaeda in Iraq. In 2010 he emerged as the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, one of the
groups that later became ISIS. Abu Bakr al Baghdadi reportedly graduated to the
top job at the age of 39, after Abu Omar al Baghdadi was killed in a joint
U.S.-Iraqi operation.
Baghdadi is regarded as a battlefield commander and tactician, which analysts say makes ISIS more attractive to young jihadists than al-Qaeda, led by Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Islamic theologian. Baghdadi is even being referred to now as the “new (Osama) Bin Laden”. Not much is known publicly about Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, but a biography posted on jihadist websites last year said he held a Ph.D. in Islamic studies from a university in the capital. The Iraqi government in January released a photograph of him that depicts an unsmiling bearded figure in a black suit. Al Baghdadi is known to have served four years in a U.S. prison camp for insurgents at Bucca in southern Iraq, during which time he is thought to have developed a network of contacts and honed his ideology. He was released in 2009. Gee, another released terrorist has come back to hunt and haunt us. Thank you Mr. Obama.
Baghdadi is a shrewd strategist, a prolific fundraiser and a ruthless killer. The United States has a $10 million bounty on his head. He just took his biggest prize yet in Mosul, an oil hub that sits at the vital intersection of Iraq, Turkey and Syria. And in just one year of grisly killing, he has in all likelihood surpassed even al-Qaeda leader Zarqawi and Ayman al-Zawahiri in international clout and prestige among Islamist militants.”
Baghdadi is regarded as a battlefield commander and tactician, which analysts say makes ISIS more attractive to young jihadists than al-Qaeda, led by Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Islamic theologian. Baghdadi is even being referred to now as the “new (Osama) Bin Laden”. Not much is known publicly about Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, but a biography posted on jihadist websites last year said he held a Ph.D. in Islamic studies from a university in the capital. The Iraqi government in January released a photograph of him that depicts an unsmiling bearded figure in a black suit. Al Baghdadi is known to have served four years in a U.S. prison camp for insurgents at Bucca in southern Iraq, during which time he is thought to have developed a network of contacts and honed his ideology. He was released in 2009. Gee, another released terrorist has come back to hunt and haunt us. Thank you Mr. Obama.
Baghdadi is a shrewd strategist, a prolific fundraiser and a ruthless killer. The United States has a $10 million bounty on his head. He just took his biggest prize yet in Mosul, an oil hub that sits at the vital intersection of Iraq, Turkey and Syria. And in just one year of grisly killing, he has in all likelihood surpassed even al-Qaeda leader Zarqawi and Ayman al-Zawahiri in international clout and prestige among Islamist militants.”
Rear Adm. John
Kirby, the Defense Department press secretary said, "But our efforts to
help them with counterterrorism is not something that we turn off-and-on like a
light switch….ultimately, this is for the Iraqi security forces and the Iraqi
government to deal with”.
These comments seem to have been demonstrated by recent U.S reaction to threats within Iraq. As the threat from Sunni militants in western Iraq escalated last month, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is reported to have secretly asked the Obama administration to consider carrying out airstrikes against extremist staging areas. But Iraq’s appeals for a military response have so far been rebuffed by the White House, which has been reluctant to open a new chapter in a conflict that President Obama has insisted was over when the United States withdrew the last of its forces from Iraq in 2011.
The rising insurgency in Iraq seemed likely to add to the foreign policy woes of the Obama administration, which has recently faced sharp criticism for its swap of five Taliban officers for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, and must now answer questions about the death of five Americans by friendly fire in Afghanistan on Monday night. Critics have long warned that America’s withdrawal of troops from Iraq, without leaving even a token force, invited an insurgent revival. The apparent role of the ISIS in Tuesday’s attack helps vindicate those critics, among them the former ambassador to Syria, Robert S. Ford, who has called for arming more moderate groups in the Syrian conflict.
Of a similar view is Kenneth M. Pollack, a former C.I.A. analyst and National Security Council official, who reportedly claimed that Iraqi officials at the highest level said they had unsuccessfully requested manned and unmanned U.S. airstrikes this year against ISIS camps in the Jazira desert. It seems like Obama did not answer the phone at 3:00AM like Hillary Clinton warned or maybe he didn’t pay the phone bill.
Meanwhile, apparently sensing that U.S military help would no longer be forthcoming, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki ordered a state of emergency for the entire country and called on friendly governments for help, without mentioning the United States specifically. As the Sunni insurgents have grown in strength, those requests have persisted. In a May 11 meeting with American diplomats and Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, the head of the Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, Mr. Maliki said he would like the United States to provide Iraq with the ability to operate drones. But if the United States was not willing to do that, Mr. Maliki indicated he was prepared to allow the United States to carry out strikes using warplanes or drones.
On the local Iraqi front, some analysts said the scale of the disaster could force a rare agreement among the country's divided political groups. "It's potentially driving all factions toward a government of national unity," said Michael Knights, an Iraq expert and researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "If you wanted a wake-up call, this is it."
The rout in Mosul was a humiliating defeat for Iraq’s security forces, led by Prime Minister Maliki and his Shiite-dominated government, and equipped and trained by the United States at a cost of billions of dollars. The Iraqi Army apparently crumbled in the face of the militant assault, as soldiers dropped their weapons, shed their uniforms for civilian clothes and blended in with the fleeing masses.
The situation in Mosul continued to deteriorate. According to residents, by nightfall on Tuesday (11th June), the city was calm but there was no electricity, water supplies were running low and there was little fuel to run generators. The bodies of militants had been taken away for burial, but the corpses of security forces still lay in the streets.
These comments seem to have been demonstrated by recent U.S reaction to threats within Iraq. As the threat from Sunni militants in western Iraq escalated last month, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is reported to have secretly asked the Obama administration to consider carrying out airstrikes against extremist staging areas. But Iraq’s appeals for a military response have so far been rebuffed by the White House, which has been reluctant to open a new chapter in a conflict that President Obama has insisted was over when the United States withdrew the last of its forces from Iraq in 2011.
The rising insurgency in Iraq seemed likely to add to the foreign policy woes of the Obama administration, which has recently faced sharp criticism for its swap of five Taliban officers for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, and must now answer questions about the death of five Americans by friendly fire in Afghanistan on Monday night. Critics have long warned that America’s withdrawal of troops from Iraq, without leaving even a token force, invited an insurgent revival. The apparent role of the ISIS in Tuesday’s attack helps vindicate those critics, among them the former ambassador to Syria, Robert S. Ford, who has called for arming more moderate groups in the Syrian conflict.
Of a similar view is Kenneth M. Pollack, a former C.I.A. analyst and National Security Council official, who reportedly claimed that Iraqi officials at the highest level said they had unsuccessfully requested manned and unmanned U.S. airstrikes this year against ISIS camps in the Jazira desert. It seems like Obama did not answer the phone at 3:00AM like Hillary Clinton warned or maybe he didn’t pay the phone bill.
Meanwhile, apparently sensing that U.S military help would no longer be forthcoming, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki ordered a state of emergency for the entire country and called on friendly governments for help, without mentioning the United States specifically. As the Sunni insurgents have grown in strength, those requests have persisted. In a May 11 meeting with American diplomats and Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, the head of the Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, Mr. Maliki said he would like the United States to provide Iraq with the ability to operate drones. But if the United States was not willing to do that, Mr. Maliki indicated he was prepared to allow the United States to carry out strikes using warplanes or drones.
On the local Iraqi front, some analysts said the scale of the disaster could force a rare agreement among the country's divided political groups. "It's potentially driving all factions toward a government of national unity," said Michael Knights, an Iraq expert and researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "If you wanted a wake-up call, this is it."
The rout in Mosul was a humiliating defeat for Iraq’s security forces, led by Prime Minister Maliki and his Shiite-dominated government, and equipped and trained by the United States at a cost of billions of dollars. The Iraqi Army apparently crumbled in the face of the militant assault, as soldiers dropped their weapons, shed their uniforms for civilian clothes and blended in with the fleeing masses.
The situation in Mosul continued to deteriorate. According to residents, by nightfall on Tuesday (11th June), the city was calm but there was no electricity, water supplies were running low and there was little fuel to run generators. The bodies of militants had been taken away for burial, but the corpses of security forces still lay in the streets.
No wonder then, that he has been separately
described in various quarters, as the world’s “most powerful jihadi leader”,
“The true heir to Osama bin Laden” and “the world’s most dangerous man”, among
other similar titles of notoriety.
The precise size of the ISIS organization is unclear but it is thought to include thousands of fighters, including many foreign jihadists. Prof Peter Neumann of King's College London reportedly estimated that about 80% of Western fighters in Syria have joined the group. ISIS claims to have fighters from the UK, France, Germany and other European countries, as well as the US, the Arab world and the Caucasus.
In terms of overall clout and potential impact, correspondents are quoted as saying that ISIS appears to be surpassing al-Qaeda as the world's most dangerous jihadist group in the world. A senior U.S. counterterrorism official said this week that ISIS looks at Syria and Iraq as "one interchangeable battlefield, and its ability to shift resources and personnel across the border has measurably strengthened its position in both theaters." For western counterterrorism agencies, the ISIS combination of fanaticism and disciplined organization is the nightmare scenario. In the words of the Soufan Group (a political risk consultancy): "ISIS has become indisputably the most effective and ruthless terrorist organization in the world."
U.S. counterterrorism officials said ISIS attacks show the degree to which Islamist militants have established a revolving door between Iraq and Syria, with fighters flowing easily between the two countries and fueling conflict in both. A State Department official stated that ISIS "is not only a threat to the stability of Iraq, but a threat to the entire region." As is typical of jihadist groups, ISIS is also strictly Sharia (Islamic law) based and has reportedly begun to impose Sharia law in the towns it controls. Examples reported include boys and girls being separated at school, and women forced to wear the niqab or full veil in public.
It however seems clear that professing Christians caught up between the fighting are being made to bear the full brunt of the ISIS attacks. Christian Headlines.com reports that bodies of Christian children and their parents litter the chaotic streets of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, as violent Muslim extremists have seized a terrorized city Iraqi Christians once considered their last safe refuge. Once again we see that what I have been saying is true. These wars in North Africa and the Middle East are about exterminating Christians and the world is largely silent about it.
Catholic Priest Najeeb Michaeel described the situations as “very critical and even apocalyptic”: “Most of the inhabitants of the city have already abandoned their houses and fled into the villages…many thousands of armed men from the Islamic Groups of Da’ash have attacked the city of Mosul for the last two days. They have assassinated adults and children. The bodies have been left in the streets and in the houses by the hundreds, without pity. What we are living and what we have seen over the last two days is horrible and catastrophic…Pray for us. I’m sorry that I can’t continue. They are not far from our convent. Don’t reply. We are now surrounded and threatened with death.”
And according to Nina Shea of National Review: “The population, particularly its Christian community, has much to fear…the ruthlessness of ISIS, an offshoot of al-Qaida, has been legendary. Its beheadings, crucifixions, and other atrocities against Christians and everyone else who fails to conform to its vision of a caliphate have been on full display earlier this year, in Syria.”
150,000 people have fled Mosul, population about 1.8 million. "Mosul soon will be emptied of Christians," said a World Watch Monitor source. "This could be the last migration of Christians from Mosul. Christian families are terrified. An elderly woman and her adult daughter reported they were still in their house in Mosul. They posted on the Internet: "God, please save us and Mosul" and added that only they and one other Christian family were left in their neighborhood. Please pray for the Christians in Iraq and pray that Yeshua returns soon
Most news agencies and reports seem to agree that ISIS is trying to establish an Islamic caliphate, emirate or state, stretching across the region straddling Syria and Sunni areas of Iraq. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has thrived and mutated during the ongoing civil war in Syria and in the wake of the security vacuum that followed the final exit of American forces from Iraq. Now ISIS is seemingly achieving its ominous and forceful expansionist goals with relative ease, virtually unchecked: ISIS captured the city of Falluja, 40 miles west of Baghdad, in January and currently controls large swathes of northern Iraq. Operations in Falluja and elsewhere in the western province of Anbar were strategically designed to draw Iraqi forces away from the north. ISIS is skilled at creating multiple attacks simultaneously in different areas, keeping the demoralized Iraqi army confused and off balance.
And with the latest seizure of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, and advances on others, the ISIS caliphate kingdom appears within reach. ISIS controls hundreds of square miles where state authority has evaporated. It ignores international borders and has a presence all the way from Syria's Mediterranean coast to south of Baghdad.
Although the capture of Fallujah was disturbing, it was the recent conquest of Mosul that sent shockwaves around the world. The Islamist militants took control of Sunni Muslim-dominated Mosul after hundreds of its fighters overwhelmed government military forces in a lightening attack on Monday, forcing up to 500,000 people to flee the city and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to call a national state of emergency. Osama al Nujaifi, speaker of Iraqi parliament, said insurgents had seized not only Mosul, but the entire province of Nineveh, where the city of nearly two million people is located. "What happened in the past few days and what happened today is a complete occupation of the province of Nineveh," said Mr. Nujaifi,whose brother, Atheel, is governor of the province.
Mosul residents said they were shocked at the ease of the takeover by hundreds of rebels. The militants freed up to 1,000 inmates from Mosul's central prison, according to senior police officials. They are also in control of Mosul airport, local television stations and considerable amounts of US-supplied military hardware. Videos showed victorious insurgents waving black flags emblazoned with Islamic script—the standard brandished by al Qaeda militants world-wide. James Jeffrey, a former United States ambassador to Iraq said, “It’s a shock…it’s extremely serious. It’s far more serious than Falluja.”
Some analysts expect critical parts of the Iraqi oil infrastructure around Mosul to be among its future targets.
Despite the extensiveness and ambition of its operations, ISIS is also well financed. Their revenue streams over time are reported to have included extortion methods such as demanding money from truck drivers and threatening to blow up businesses. Robbing banks and gold shops was another. The strategy appeared to be to use the income to help finance a growing stream of suicide attacks and assassinations calculated to poison the political atmosphere to ISIS’s advantage. It would also finance the recruitment of Sunni tribal fighters and spectacular prison raids that liberated hundreds of fighters, as well as attacks on police patrols and the assassination of officials.
Now, al Baghdadi has a new strategy for generating resources: large-scale attacks aimed at capturing and holding territory. Ayham Kamel of the Eurasia Group, a U.S.-based consultancy, says that in the latest iteration of this strategy, ISIS will "use cash reserves from Mosul's banks, military equipment from seized military and police bases and the release of 2,500 fighters from local jails to bolster its military and financial capability."
This has worked perfectly for them so far: in seizing Mosul, ISIS has suddenly become “the richest terror group ever” after looting 500 billion Iraqi dinars - the equivalent of $429m (£256m) - from Mosul's central bank, according to the regional governor. Jack Moore, writing for the International Business Times reported: “Nineveh governor Atheel al-Nujaifi confirmed Kurdish television reports that ISIS militants had stolen millions from numerous banks across Mosul. A large quantity of gold bullion is also believed to have been stolen. Following the siege of the country's second city, the bounty collected by the group has left it richer than al-Qaeda itself and as wealthy as small nations such as Tonga, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and the Falkland Islands.”
Part of ISIS strategy to maintain popular support is through trying to capture and channel the resentment of the Sunni street. In both Syria and Iraq, it is reportedly trying to win favor through “dawa” - organizing social welfare programs and even recreational activities for children, distributing food and fuel to the needy, and setting up clinics.
However its soft underbelly is proving to be its rivalry with Al Qaeda backed nemesis Al- Nusra, which is said to be making common cause with other groups in an anti-ISIS front led by Al Qaeda’s embattled and embittered Ayman al-Zawahiri. And by taking Mosul, which Iraq's Kurds see as in their sphere of interest, ISIS may invite greater cooperation between the Iraqi army and experienced Kurdish fighters.
Meanwhile in the U.S, the political fallout has begun: Following nine years of U.S.-led war, at a cost of thousands of lives and billions of dollars, the attacks touched off Republican criticism of the Obama administration's failure to negotiate a security agreement that would have allowed the U.S. to keep troops in the country beyond 2011. Pentagon officials said they don't view the attack as a dangerous turning point that requires urgent action. I wonder if these are the same people who said that about Saigon in 1975.
The precise size of the ISIS organization is unclear but it is thought to include thousands of fighters, including many foreign jihadists. Prof Peter Neumann of King's College London reportedly estimated that about 80% of Western fighters in Syria have joined the group. ISIS claims to have fighters from the UK, France, Germany and other European countries, as well as the US, the Arab world and the Caucasus.
In terms of overall clout and potential impact, correspondents are quoted as saying that ISIS appears to be surpassing al-Qaeda as the world's most dangerous jihadist group in the world. A senior U.S. counterterrorism official said this week that ISIS looks at Syria and Iraq as "one interchangeable battlefield, and its ability to shift resources and personnel across the border has measurably strengthened its position in both theaters." For western counterterrorism agencies, the ISIS combination of fanaticism and disciplined organization is the nightmare scenario. In the words of the Soufan Group (a political risk consultancy): "ISIS has become indisputably the most effective and ruthless terrorist organization in the world."
U.S. counterterrorism officials said ISIS attacks show the degree to which Islamist militants have established a revolving door between Iraq and Syria, with fighters flowing easily between the two countries and fueling conflict in both. A State Department official stated that ISIS "is not only a threat to the stability of Iraq, but a threat to the entire region." As is typical of jihadist groups, ISIS is also strictly Sharia (Islamic law) based and has reportedly begun to impose Sharia law in the towns it controls. Examples reported include boys and girls being separated at school, and women forced to wear the niqab or full veil in public.
It however seems clear that professing Christians caught up between the fighting are being made to bear the full brunt of the ISIS attacks. Christian Headlines.com reports that bodies of Christian children and their parents litter the chaotic streets of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, as violent Muslim extremists have seized a terrorized city Iraqi Christians once considered their last safe refuge. Once again we see that what I have been saying is true. These wars in North Africa and the Middle East are about exterminating Christians and the world is largely silent about it.
Catholic Priest Najeeb Michaeel described the situations as “very critical and even apocalyptic”: “Most of the inhabitants of the city have already abandoned their houses and fled into the villages…many thousands of armed men from the Islamic Groups of Da’ash have attacked the city of Mosul for the last two days. They have assassinated adults and children. The bodies have been left in the streets and in the houses by the hundreds, without pity. What we are living and what we have seen over the last two days is horrible and catastrophic…Pray for us. I’m sorry that I can’t continue. They are not far from our convent. Don’t reply. We are now surrounded and threatened with death.”
And according to Nina Shea of National Review: “The population, particularly its Christian community, has much to fear…the ruthlessness of ISIS, an offshoot of al-Qaida, has been legendary. Its beheadings, crucifixions, and other atrocities against Christians and everyone else who fails to conform to its vision of a caliphate have been on full display earlier this year, in Syria.”
150,000 people have fled Mosul, population about 1.8 million. "Mosul soon will be emptied of Christians," said a World Watch Monitor source. "This could be the last migration of Christians from Mosul. Christian families are terrified. An elderly woman and her adult daughter reported they were still in their house in Mosul. They posted on the Internet: "God, please save us and Mosul" and added that only they and one other Christian family were left in their neighborhood. Please pray for the Christians in Iraq and pray that Yeshua returns soon
Most news agencies and reports seem to agree that ISIS is trying to establish an Islamic caliphate, emirate or state, stretching across the region straddling Syria and Sunni areas of Iraq. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has thrived and mutated during the ongoing civil war in Syria and in the wake of the security vacuum that followed the final exit of American forces from Iraq. Now ISIS is seemingly achieving its ominous and forceful expansionist goals with relative ease, virtually unchecked: ISIS captured the city of Falluja, 40 miles west of Baghdad, in January and currently controls large swathes of northern Iraq. Operations in Falluja and elsewhere in the western province of Anbar were strategically designed to draw Iraqi forces away from the north. ISIS is skilled at creating multiple attacks simultaneously in different areas, keeping the demoralized Iraqi army confused and off balance.
And with the latest seizure of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, and advances on others, the ISIS caliphate kingdom appears within reach. ISIS controls hundreds of square miles where state authority has evaporated. It ignores international borders and has a presence all the way from Syria's Mediterranean coast to south of Baghdad.
Although the capture of Fallujah was disturbing, it was the recent conquest of Mosul that sent shockwaves around the world. The Islamist militants took control of Sunni Muslim-dominated Mosul after hundreds of its fighters overwhelmed government military forces in a lightening attack on Monday, forcing up to 500,000 people to flee the city and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to call a national state of emergency. Osama al Nujaifi, speaker of Iraqi parliament, said insurgents had seized not only Mosul, but the entire province of Nineveh, where the city of nearly two million people is located. "What happened in the past few days and what happened today is a complete occupation of the province of Nineveh," said Mr. Nujaifi,whose brother, Atheel, is governor of the province.
Mosul residents said they were shocked at the ease of the takeover by hundreds of rebels. The militants freed up to 1,000 inmates from Mosul's central prison, according to senior police officials. They are also in control of Mosul airport, local television stations and considerable amounts of US-supplied military hardware. Videos showed victorious insurgents waving black flags emblazoned with Islamic script—the standard brandished by al Qaeda militants world-wide. James Jeffrey, a former United States ambassador to Iraq said, “It’s a shock…it’s extremely serious. It’s far more serious than Falluja.”
Some analysts expect critical parts of the Iraqi oil infrastructure around Mosul to be among its future targets.
Despite the extensiveness and ambition of its operations, ISIS is also well financed. Their revenue streams over time are reported to have included extortion methods such as demanding money from truck drivers and threatening to blow up businesses. Robbing banks and gold shops was another. The strategy appeared to be to use the income to help finance a growing stream of suicide attacks and assassinations calculated to poison the political atmosphere to ISIS’s advantage. It would also finance the recruitment of Sunni tribal fighters and spectacular prison raids that liberated hundreds of fighters, as well as attacks on police patrols and the assassination of officials.
Now, al Baghdadi has a new strategy for generating resources: large-scale attacks aimed at capturing and holding territory. Ayham Kamel of the Eurasia Group, a U.S.-based consultancy, says that in the latest iteration of this strategy, ISIS will "use cash reserves from Mosul's banks, military equipment from seized military and police bases and the release of 2,500 fighters from local jails to bolster its military and financial capability."
This has worked perfectly for them so far: in seizing Mosul, ISIS has suddenly become “the richest terror group ever” after looting 500 billion Iraqi dinars - the equivalent of $429m (£256m) - from Mosul's central bank, according to the regional governor. Jack Moore, writing for the International Business Times reported: “Nineveh governor Atheel al-Nujaifi confirmed Kurdish television reports that ISIS militants had stolen millions from numerous banks across Mosul. A large quantity of gold bullion is also believed to have been stolen. Following the siege of the country's second city, the bounty collected by the group has left it richer than al-Qaeda itself and as wealthy as small nations such as Tonga, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and the Falkland Islands.”
Part of ISIS strategy to maintain popular support is through trying to capture and channel the resentment of the Sunni street. In both Syria and Iraq, it is reportedly trying to win favor through “dawa” - organizing social welfare programs and even recreational activities for children, distributing food and fuel to the needy, and setting up clinics.
However its soft underbelly is proving to be its rivalry with Al Qaeda backed nemesis Al- Nusra, which is said to be making common cause with other groups in an anti-ISIS front led by Al Qaeda’s embattled and embittered Ayman al-Zawahiri. And by taking Mosul, which Iraq's Kurds see as in their sphere of interest, ISIS may invite greater cooperation between the Iraqi army and experienced Kurdish fighters.
Meanwhile in the U.S, the political fallout has begun: Following nine years of U.S.-led war, at a cost of thousands of lives and billions of dollars, the attacks touched off Republican criticism of the Obama administration's failure to negotiate a security agreement that would have allowed the U.S. to keep troops in the country beyond 2011. Pentagon officials said they don't view the attack as a dangerous turning point that requires urgent action. I wonder if these are the same people who said that about Saigon in 1975.
That’s bad enough news for the Middle East, but perhaps Theodore Karasik of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis captures best the risk to the global community: “ISIS’s rise at the expense of Zawahiri’s movement signals that a new, more dangerous hybrid, based on state development by wrecking everything in its path is emerging from the Syrian terrorist incubator. Ultimately, ISIS seeks to create an Islamic state from where they would launch a global holy war. Perhaps that war is now beginning as Baghdadi’s ISIS eclipses Zawahiri’s al-Qaeda.” I would say Karasik’s remarks are an under statement, this is another event that underscores the fact that we are very near the “End Times”..
It would seem that the ground for the next phase towards annihilating Israel, and attacking Christian and Western interests everywhere, is being prepared. ISIS appears to be evolving into the perfect global springboard from which jihadists can steal, kill and destroy in any place where ISIS or Sharia do not have full control.
Pope Francis, “The
Black Pope” is cutting down on his workload in July and August, the Vatican has
announced. The news comes after the Pope took unplanned time off to rest at the
beginning of last week and concerns about the effect his heavy workload is
having on his health.
The Vatican said the Pope will not hold his usual Wednesday general audience in July, and will forgo his daily Masses in his Domus Sanctae Marthae residence during both July and August.
But he won’t be taking a July vacation away from Rome, as John Paul II and Benedict XVI used to do, and will continue to offer his weekly Sunday Angelus address at the Vatican throughout July and August. From August 13-18, he will also visit South Korea.
Since his election in
March last year, the 77 year-old pontiff has kept up a punishing schedule of
engagements that has included overseeing reform of the Roman Curia,
entertaining frequent audiences, and embarking on papal trips, the most recent
being to the Holy Land. Indeed,
the “False Prophet” has been a busy man for Satan preparing us for the “One
World Religion”.The Vatican said the Pope will not hold his usual Wednesday general audience in July, and will forgo his daily Masses in his Domus Sanctae Marthae residence during both July and August.
But he won’t be taking a July vacation away from Rome, as John Paul II and Benedict XVI used to do, and will continue to offer his weekly Sunday Angelus address at the Vatican throughout July and August. From August 13-18, he will also visit South Korea.
His heavy workload appears to be taking its toll as he has shown increasing signs of fatigue, canceling an increasing number of planned meetings at the last minute and contracting minor illnesses.
Last week, the Pope took off Monday afternoon and the whole of Tuesday because of what the Vatican described as a “minor indisposition.” The Vatican insisted it wasn’t due to anything serious but followed a grueling few weeks. Engagements included his visit to the Holy Land and an intense prayer meeting at the Vatican June 8 with the Israeli and Palestinian Presidents.
Earlier this month, one of his closest aides said he and others had been asking the Pope to take a holiday this year. “We have been asking him to have holidays this year because last year he didn’t and sometimes he’s very tired,” Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga told journalists in Washington. “So I think that during August he’s going to retire to rest.”
In May it was reported that the Pope had part of his lung removed as a child. Noting his increasing difficulty breathing and weight gain, Dr. Peter Hibberd warned the pontiff may be slipping into a form of chronic heart failure common among victims of significant lung disorders.
Although it is a year old, below is an excellent video on the final Pope, aliens and the Vatican binocular telescope called Lucifer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcU9JmiQwhM&list=PLIXxhqAJt8dcHB0tM4xruz_W6PvoUu8-V
The Sabbatical year, or Shemittah
in Hebrew, provides a year of rest for the farmer and the land, since God
commanded that no agricultural activity occur during the seventh year:
“Six years you
shall sow your land and gather its produce, but the seventh year you shall let
it rest and lie fallow.” (Exodus 23:10-11)
Rarely have modern Israeli farmers
observed the Shemittah, due to the loss of income they would incur by leaving
their fields uncultivated for one year. But the Israeli government and Jewish
religious leaders are hoping to reverse that historical trend.
The Israeli government has
reportedly set aside 29 million dollars (US) to encourage local farmers to
honor the Biblical mandate to let their fields lie “fallow” for one out of
seven years.
The next Shemittah (meaning to release) will begin September 25, 2014,
on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
The new Shemittah budget will go to
the Religious Affairs Ministry, which intends to use a portion of the funds for
promotional materials, and educational assistance for farmers wishing to honor
the commandment.
Another small portion of the budget
will be used for the special ceremony that marks the end of the Shemittah:
“At the end of each seven
years…on the festival of Sukkoth, after the year of release, in the place He
(God) will
choose, you must read this Torah before all Israel, so that they will be able
to hear it.” (Deuteronomy
31:10)
That ceremony will take place at the Western Wall, in
Jerusalem, during the Sukkoth holiday in 2015.
The bulk of the appropriated funds
will be used to support farmers who will suffer loss of income, but who
nevertheless, choose to keep the Shemittah, allowing their fields to lie fallow
in obedience to God’s law.
Despite the government’s assistance
, problems surrounding the observance of the sabbatical year are complex, and
involve Jewish legal issues and opinions on how best to adhere to the command
without negatively affecting the income of farmers who follow the Sabbatical
law and to protect the fragile agricultural economy.
Additionally,
observant Israeli’s will need guidance on how best to
purchase foods that have not been grown on Israel’s soil during the year long
observance.
In the period when Kings ruled in
Israel, disobedience to the Sabbatical laws brought Divine
punishment. Israel’s 70 years in Babylonian captivity were, in part,
due to the failure of the Jews to observe the Shemittah for 70 years. (2
Chronicles 36:20-23)
An additional feature of the law,
waives all outstanding, personal debts between Jews (Deuteronomy 15:1-2)
However, the Jewish Talmud disallows loan amnesty related to the Shemittah,
except when the agricultural rules are also observed.
Many non-Jews first learned about
the significance of the Shemittah year while reading the best-selling book,”
The Harbinger”, by Rabbi Jonathan Cahn.
In” The
Harbinger”, Rabbi Cahn, reveals that the two greatest financial calamities in
American history occurred on successive Shemittah years following the 9/11
Islamist terror attacks on the US.
September 17, 2001,
six days after the 9/11 attacks, the stock market re-opened and suffered the
greatest point loss in its history, to that date. The market dropped 700
points, or 7% in one day. In response, the Federal Reserve slashed the nation’s
interest rates, ushering in a period of economic devastation for the US.
Seven years later,
September 29, 2008, would prove to be even worse! The days leading up to
September 29 saw the government bailout of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the two
largest mortgage companies in the US, in a bid to prevent the collapse of the
two.
Shortly
thereafter, Lehmann Brothers once considered the pinnacle of financial firms,
reported losses of 45% and filled bankruptcy rather than accept government
bailout. The Stock market dropped 777.7 points or 7%, wiping out all gains of
the past seven years. Thus making it the largest ever one day drop in the US
stock market history!
What followed was
an implosion of the US and world economies, from which we have yet to recover.
Rabbi Cahn does
not speculate on what might transpire in the US economy during the Shemittah
year ending on September 13, 2015, however, he does believe that it warrants
close observation to see if the pattern begun after 9/11 continues.
While he acknowledges that the US is not under the
Mosaic Law, he asserts that the Shemittah can serve as a sign of judgment on a
nation that has rejected God.
It is also of interest to note that the celebration
of the end of this Shemittah year will occur on Sukkoth, September 28, 2015, at
the Western Wall in Jerusalem. On that same evening, the fourth and
final in the series of the 2014-2015 “Blood Moon” tetrad will occur, according
to NASA.
The first of the
tetrad Blood Moons occurred on April 15, 2014. Jewish history reveals an
intriguing correlation between the tetrad of total lunar eclipses and the Feast
Days.
What does this
convergence of events portend for the future?
The answers remain to be seen, but we do well to
“Be on the watch!” (Luke 21:36)
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