Reflections of a Seer: February 2012

News Channel Morning Edition: February 28, 2012

Iran Has Declared War Against Israel and the Jewish People

                               Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinajad

                                            Story taken from
                                       http://frontpagemag.com

If Iran is indeed behind the spate of recent bombings and foiled attacks that have targeted Israeli and Jewish civilian institutions in India, Georgia, Azerbajan and Thailand—as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has alleged—then it has become crystal clear that Iran is at war with Israel, Zionism and Jewish communities throughout the world.

The Rajah news website, which is identified with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinajad, has expressly threatened to “take the war beyond the borders of Iran, and beyond the borders of the region.”

A recent Iranian News Agency headline declared that, “Israeli people must be annihilated,” and a strategist close to Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei has released a report providing a religious and legal justification for a final attack against Israel and the Jewish people by 2014.

Over the past week, news reports have circulated that Jewish and Israeli institutions in the United States have been placed on high alert over intelligence reports that Iran or one of its proxies may target them. Iran’s supreme Khamenei himself has also recently promised that “the Zionists and the Great Satan (America) will soon be defeated.”

These and other recent threats and attacks have led Israeli and American authorities to believe that Iran is preparing attacks against Israeli embassies and consulates as well as Jewish houses of prayer, schools, community centers, restaurants and other soft Jewish targets.

This is not the first time that Iranian agents have bombed or attacked Israeli and Jewish targets in distant countries. Back in 1992, Iranian agents blew up the Israeli embassy and a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, killing and injuring hundreds of civilians, many of whom were children.

The Argentine government conducted a thorough criminal investigation and indicted several Iranian officials. But these officials were well beyond the reach of Argentine legal authorities and remain at liberty.

If Iranian agents were to attack Israeli or Jewish soft targets in the United States, the United States should deem any such action as an armed military attack on the United States. It should not treat it the way the Argentine authorities did, merely as a criminal act.

Under international law, an attack on an embassy is an attack both on the embassy’s country and on the country in which the embassy is located. An attack against a nation’s citizens on its territory is also an act of armed aggression under the United Nations Charter that justifies retaliatory military action.

In light of the deliberately provocative statements recently issued from Iran, the United States should now publicly announce that any attack by Iranian agents against any American citizen, institution or religious group will be considered a military attack by Iran against the United States and that the United States will—not may, but will—retaliate militarily, at a time and place of its choosing.

An attack on an American synagogue is no different than an attack on the World Trade Center or on American aviation. We correctly regarded those attacks as acts of war committed by the Taliban and facilitated by the government of Afghanistan and we responded militarily.

Similarly, an attack by Iranian agents on a Jewish (or any other) American target should be deemed a military attack requiring retaliation. All American citizens, regardless of their religious affiliation, are equally entitled to the protection of the American military.

U.S. retaliation could take the form of a military action targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities. Any such attack, though it might be preemptive in its intention, would be reactive as a matter of international law, since it would be in response to an armed attack by Iran.

It would not require Security Council approval, since Article 51 of the United Nations Charter explicitly preserves the right of member nations to respond to any armed attack.

An unambiguous public statement by the United States would send a powerful deterrent message to Iranian Authorities who may be contemplating “criminal” attacks on soft American targets. It would also provide an advanced justification for a U.S. military attack on Iranian nuclear facilities.

This is not to argue against such an attack if Iran decides not to go after soft American targets. It may become necessary for our military to target Iranian nuclear facilities if economic sanction and diplomatic efforts do not succeed and if the Iranian government decides to cross red lines by militarizing its nuclear program and placing it in deep underground bunkers.

But the legal justification for such an attack would be somewhat different. It would be predominantly preemptive or preventive, though it would have reactive elements as well, since Iran has armed our enemies in Iraq and has caused the death of many American soldiers.

If Israel were to be compelled to act alone against Iran’s nuclear program—which is designed to accomplish the task of “annilat[ing]” the “Israeli people”—it too would be reacting as well as preempting, since Iran has effectively declared war against the Jewish state and its people.

Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, recently confirmed Iran’s role as Hezbollah’s active partner in its war against Israel, claiming that it “could not have been victorious” in its 2006 war without the military support of Iran.

Iran’s ongoing military support of Hezbollah and Hamas coupled with its direct participation in the bombing of the Israeli Embassy constitute sufficient casus belli to justify a reactive Israeli military strike against the Iranian nuclear program.

The best outcome, of course, would be to deter both immediate Iranian aggression and continuing Iranian development of nuclear weapons by making the cost too high for even the most zealous or adventurous Iranian leaders. But for deterrence to succeed, where sanctions and other tactics appear to be failing, the threat of military action must be credible to the Iranians.

Right now it is not, because Defense Secretary Panetta and other administration officials are sending mixed signals, not only with regard to the U.S., but also with regard to Israel.

The administration must speak with a clear, unambiguous and credible voice that leaves no doubt in the minds of Iranian leaders as to America is resolve not to tolerate attacks on our citizens or a nuclear armed Iran. As George Washington wisely counseled in his second inaugural address, “To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.”

The Brody File: Santorum’s Surge to the Top

Hard Talk With US Officials On Iran Fails To Move Israel From Military Option

                            National Security Advisor Tom Gonilon
                                                  Story taken from
                                               http://www.debka.com

          White House National Security Adviser Tom Donilon faced an acrimonious Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in two hours of stormy conversation in Jerusalem Sunday, Feb. 19, according to updates reaching senior US sources in Washington.

The main bones of contention were Iran’s continuing enrichment of uranium and its ongoing relocation of production to underground sites.

Israeli officials declined to give out any information on the conversation. Some even refused to confirm it took place.

According to debkafile’s sources, Netanyahu accused the Obama administration of drawing Iran into resuming nuclear negotiations with world powers by an assurance that Tehran would be allowed to continue enriching uranium in any quantity, provided it promised not to build an Iranian nuclear weapon.

The prime minister charged that this permit contravened US administration guarantees to Israel on the nuclear issue and, moreover left Tehran free to upgrade its current 20 percent enrichment level to 90 percent weapons grade. This Israel cannot tolerate, said Netanyahu, so leaving its military option on the ready.

He warned the US National Security Adviser that no evidence whatsoever confirms Washington’s claim that Tehran intends suspending enrichment and other nuclear advances when negotiations begin. Quite the contrary: Even before the date was set, Iran started working at top speed to build up its bargaining chips by laying down major advances in its nuclear program as undisputed facts.

Tehran now claims to have progressed to self-reliance in the production of 20 percent-enriched uranium, the basis for the weapons grade fuel, in unlimited quantity. Once the talks are underway, Netanyahu maintained, there would be no stopping the Iranians without stalling the negotiating process. Going by past experience, Tehran would use dialogue as an extra fulcrum for its impetus toward weapon production without interruption.

Monday, Donilon and his delegation meet Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

The mission of this high-powered US delegation in Israel takes place to the accompanied of a resumed US media campaign for discouraging Israeli military action against Iran’s nuclear installations.

Sunday, Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint US Chiefs of Staff, offered this opinion to CNN: “Israel has the capability to strike Iran and delay the Iranians probably for a couple of years. But some of the targets are probably beyond their reach.”

Monday’s New York Times carried an assessment by “American defense officials and military analysts close to the Pentagon” under the caption, “Iran Raid Seen as a Huge Task for Israel Jets.” debkafile’s military sources report the main argument, dredged up from the past and long refuted, is that Israeli Air Force bombers cannot cover the distance to Iran without in-flight refueling.

That array of “analysts” apparently missed the CNN interview and therefore contradicted the assessment of America’s own top general that “Israel has the capability to strike Iran…”

Reality has meanwhile moved on. Four events in the last 24 hours no doubt figured large in the US delegation’s talks with Israeli leaders:

1. Monday, the IAEA sent to Tehran its second team of monitors this month for another attempt to gain access to nuclear facilities hitherto barred by the Iranians. The inspectors will also demand permission to interview scientists which according to a list drawn up at the agency’s Vienna headquarters hold key positions in their nuclear program.

2. The Russian Chief of Chaff Gen. Nikolai Makarov estimated that the attack on Iran would be “coordinated” by several governments and “a decision would be made by the summer.”

3. Moscow recalled Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kutznetsov from the Syrian port of Tartus to its home base at Severomorsk on the Kola Peninsula.

4. Turkey is beinding over backward to assure Iran that data collected by the US missile shield radar stationed at its Kurecik air base will not shared with Israel. It is especially anxious not to annoy Tehran after foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi announced that the resumed nuclear talks with the five Permanent Security Council members and German (P5+1) would be held in Istanbul.

However, the Iranians certainly know exactly what is going on after watching the recent joint US-Israeli radar test which demonstrated that Israel is fully integrated in the missile shield radar network and that the US radar station in the Israeli Negev interfaces with its station in Turkey and Israel’s Arrow missile Green Pine radar.

When he visited Ankara last week, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen assured his Turkish hosts that “Intelligence data collected within the missile defense system will not be shared with third countries. It will be shared with the allies within our alliance.”

His statement was quite accurate – except for the fact that the radar stations collecting the intelligence data are not controlled by NATO but by US military teams, both of which, including the Turkish-based radar, are integrated and coordinated with Israeli radar and missile interceptors.

Knowing the Voice of the Lord - Rick Joyner Video | Prophetic Perspective on Current Events

Knowing the Voice of the Lord - Rick Joyner Video Prophetic Perspective on Current Events

Obama To Try And Talk Netanyahu Out Of Iran Strike After His Advisers Failed

President Obama on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu

                                             Story taken from
                                          http://www.debka.com

      After a high-ranking US delegation headed by White House National Security Adviser Tom Donilon failed in three days of tough talks (Feb.18-20) to dissuade Israeli leaders to back off plans for a military strike against Iran’s nuclear sites, the White House invited Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for talks with President Barak Obama on March 5. He will try and break the stalemate which ended his advisers’ talks with Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz.

The defense minister, addressing his Independence Party later Monday praised Israel’s security relations with the US as very good and very important for a strong Israel. The dialogue between the two governments, he said, is marked by openness, mutual respect, understanding and attentiveness. At the same time, Barak hinted at discord by adding, “Both are sovereign nations which are ultimately responsible for their decisions in relation to themselves and their future.”

debkafile reported earlier Monday, Feb. 20:

White House National Security Adviser Tom Donilon faced an acrimonious Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in two hours of stormy conversation in Jerusalem Sunday, Feb. 19, according to updates reaching senior US sources in Washington. The main bones of contention were Iran’s continuing enrichment of uranium and its ongoing relocation of production to underground sites.

Israeli officials declined to give out any information on the conversation. Some even refused to confirm it took place.

According to debkafile’s sources, Netanyahu accused the Obama administration of drawing Iran into resuming nuclear negotiations with world powers by an assurance that Tehran would be allowed to continue enriching uranium up to 5 percent in any quantity, provided it promised not to build an Iranian nuclear weapon. The prime minister charged that this permit contravened US administration guarantees to Israel on the nuclear issue and, moreover left Tehran free to upgrade its current 20 percent enrichment level to 90 percent weapons grade. This Israel cannot tolerate, said Netanyahu, so leaving its military option on the ready.

He warned the US National Security Adviser that no evidence whatsoever confirms Washington’s claim that Tehran intends suspending enrichment and other nuclear advances when negotiations begin. Quite the contrary: Even before the date was set, Iran started working at top speed to build up its bargaining chips by laying down major advances in its nuclear program as undisputed facts.

Tehran now claims to have progressed to self-reliance in the production of 20 percent-enriched uranium, the basis for the weapons grade fuel, in unlimited quantity. Once the talks are underway, Netanyahu maintained, there would be no stopping the Iranians without stalling the negotiating process. Going by past experience, Tehran would use dialogue as an extra fulcrum for its impetus toward weapon production without interruption.

Monday, Donilon and his delegation meet Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

The mission of this high-powered US delegation in Israel takes place to the accompanied of a resumed US media campaign for discouraging Israeli military action against Iran’s nuclear installations.

Sunday, Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint US Chiefs of Staff, offered this opinion to CNN: “Israel has the capability to strike Iran and delay the Iranians probably for a couple of years. But some of the targets are probably beyond their reach.”

Monday’s New York Times carried an assessment by “American defense officials and military analysts close to the Pentagon” under the caption, “Iran Raid Seen as a Huge Task for Israel Jets.” debkafile’s military sources report the main argument, dredged up from the past and long refuted, is that Israeli Air Force bombers cannot cover the distance to Iran without in-flight refueling.

That array of “analysts” apparently missed the CNN interview and therefore contradicted the assessment of America’s own top general that “Israel has the capability to strike Iran…”

Reality has meanwhile moved on. Four events in the last 24 hours no doubt figured large in the US delegation’s talks with Israeli leaders:

1. Monday, the IAEA sent to Tehran its second team of monitors this month for another attempt to gain access to nuclear facilities hitherto barred by the Iranians. The inspectors will also demand permission to interview scientists which according to a list drawn up at the agency’s Vienna headquarters hold key positions in their nuclear program.

2. The Russian Chief of Chaff Gen. Nikolai Makarov estimated that the attack on Iran would be “coordinated” by several governments and “a decision would be made by the summer.”

3. Moscow recalled Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kutznetsov from the Syrian port of Tartus to its home base at Severomorsk on the Kola Peninsula.

4. Turkey is beinding over backward to assure Iran that data collected by the US missile shield radar stationed at its Kurecik air base will not shared with Israel. It is especially anxious not to annoy Tehran after foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi announced that the resumed nuclear talks with the five Permanent Security Council members and German (P5+1) would be held in Istanbul.

However, the Iranians certainly know exactly what is going on after watching the recent joint US-Israeli radar test which demonstrated that Israel is fully integrated in the missile shield radar network and that the US radar station in the Israeli Negev interfaces with its station in Turkey and Israel’s Arrow missile Green Pine radar.

When he visited Ankara last week, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen assured his Turkish hosts that “Intelligence data collected within the missile defense system will not be shared with third countries. It will be shared with the allies within our alliance.”

His statement was quite accurate – except for the fact that the radar stations collecting the intelligence data are not controlled by NATO but by US military teams, both of which, including the Turkish-based radar, are integrated and coordinated with Israeli radar and missile interceptors.

News Channel Morning Edition: February 27, 2012

Former Netanyahu Chief of Staff Says Israeli Strike on Iran ‘Imminent’

                                  Former Israeli Chief of Staff Naftali Bennett

                                             Story taken from
                                         http://www.theblaze.com

    The former chief of staff to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday an Israeli strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities is “imminent.”

Naftali Bennett appeared on Fox News’ “Huckabee” and painted a dire picture of a world with a nuclear Iran, saying Israel will not hesitate to take action if necessary — and that time is of the essence.

“We’re at the very last moment. This is going to be the first time in history that a maniacal, radical Islamic regime will acquire a nuclear weapon,” he said. “The day after they have a bomb will be a different day for the entire world.”

On Saturday, a report emerged saying Iran is headed for a major nuclear expansion, the same day as reports that Iranian warships had passed through the Suez Canal.

Calling Iran “an octopus of terror,” Bennett told host Mike Huckabee in no uncertain terms: “We have to stop them, and yes, it is imminent.”

Huckabee questioned whether Israel would be able to sustain a “hot war” against Iran, to which Bennett replied, “if necessary we will.”

“Obviously America has much more capabilities of sustaining an attack on Iran but right now as it stands most of Iran’s facilities are still vulnerable. They‘re moving their facilities underground so that’s why we’re at the very last moment,” he said.

“Right now we could still take them out based on public knowledge but a year from now it’s going to be a whole different ballgame. That’s why over the next 12 months the world has to act.”

He was harshly critical of President Barack Obama, charging that the U.S. administration has “squandered the ability to impose crippling and even paralyzing sanctions on Iran. The sanctions that are being imposed now are too little, too late.”

Bennett said many Israelis are concerned about whether they would have America’s support if they strike.

“We do not know for sure now that America will be there for us in this current administration and that’s why we are concerned,” Bennett said. “We’re being told, ‘Israel do not attack Iran.’

But how can we not do it? We don‘t know what we’re going to see 12 months from now, we have no guarantee that others will take care of it. If necessary we’ll do the job for the world but please, please don’t tell us to stand back and just wait and I guess pray for something good to happen.”

“We’ve got to do the job. If Obama won’t do it, please let Israel do the job,” he said.

Stakelbeck on Terror: Prophecy Unfolding in the Middle East

Putin: Russia Needs Stronger Military

                                         Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin

                                                    Story taken from
                                                http://www.bbc.co.uk

      Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has backed the modernisation of his country's military, less than a fortnight before the presidential vote"We must not tempt anyone with our weakness," he wrote in a newspaper.

Mr Putin is widely expected to win the 4 March election and demonstrations have taken place both against and in support of his likely return to power.

President Dmitry Medvedev was meeting opposition movement leaders on Monday in an attempt to calm the protests.

It was the first such meeting at the Kremlin since Mr Putin's United Russia party won December parliamentary elections that have been overshadowed by allegations of widespread vote-rigging.

Although no information was given by the Kremlin, a leading figure in the opposition movement, Sergei Udaltsov, wrote on his Twitter feed that they would discuss political reform and demands for meetings about fair elections.

The meeting came after opposition activists were reportedly involved in a scuffle with pro-Putin supporters outside the Moscow mayor's office on Monday morning, as both sides attempted to file applications for rallies on 5 March, the day after the vote.

Hundreds of motorists drove around the Kremlin on Sunday flying white ribbons and balloons - symbols of the protest movement. A separate rally took place on Saturday in support of Mr Putin.

In his article published on Monday by state newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta, the leading presidential candidate said Russia was planning to spend 23tn rubles (£487bn; $772bn) over the next decade on 400 intercontinental ballistic missiles and more than 600 warplanes as well as nuclear submarines and S-400 missile defence systems.

Mr Putin said Russia would never give away its potential of strategic deterrence and had to look ahead to the next 30-50 years. Moscow would provide an "effective and asymmetrical" response to Nato's planned missile defence shield in Europe, he said.

Jesus, Take the Stones From My Hands

Iran Threatens Pre-Emptive Action

                     Mahammad Hejaz with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

                                                 Story taken from
                                           http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

        Iran would take pre-emptive action against its enemies if it felt its national interests were endangered, the deputy head of the Islamic Republic's armed forces was quoted by a semi-official news agency as saying Tuesday.

"Our strategy now is that if we feel our enemies want to endanger Iran's national interests, and want to decide to do that, we will act without waiting for their actions,'' Mohammad Hejazi told the Fars news agency, NBC News reported.

Iran announced air defense war games to practice protecting nuclear and other sensitive sites, the latest in a series of military maneuvers viewed as a message to the West that Iran is prepared both to defend itself against an armed strike and to retaliate.

The U.S. and Israel have not ruled out military action against Iran's nuclear program.

The official news agency IRNA said the four-day air defense war games, dubbed "Sarallah," or "God's Revenge," were taking place in the south of the country and involve anti-aircraft batteries, radar, and warplanes.

The drill will be held over 73,000 square miles near the port of Bushehr, the site of Iran's lone nuclear power plant.

Iran has held multiple air, land, and sea maneuvers in recent months as the tensions increase.

Hejazi's remarks came as an Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman said Tuesday that a United Nations' team visiting Iran had no plans to inspect the country's nuclear facilities and would only hold talks with officials in Tehran.

The remarks by Ramin Mehmanparast cast doubt on how much the U.N. inspectors would be able to gauge whether Iran is moving ahead with its suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons.

News Channel Morning Edition: February 9, 2012

Operation Bold Alligator: 20,000 Troops Preparing On US East Coast For Persian Gulf Action

                            Landing craft air cushion 37 in operation alligator
                                             Story taken from
                                           http://www.debka.com

           Some 20,000 marines, seamen and air crews from half a dozen countries, a US nuclear aircraft carrier strike group and three US Marine gunship carriers are practicing an attack on a fictitious mechanized enemy division which has invaded its neighbor.

It is the largest amphibian exercise seen in the West for a decade, staged to simulate a potential Iranian invasion of an allied Persian Gulf country and a marine landing on the Iranian coast. Based largely on US personnel and hardware, French, British, Italian, Dutch, Australian and New Zealand military elements are integrated in the drill.

Bold Alligator went into its operational phase Monday, Feb. 6, the same day as a large-scale exercise began in southern Iran opposite the Strait of Hormuz.

This simultaneity attests to the preparations for a US-Iranian showdown involving Israel behind the words on Feb. 5 of US President Barack Obama (“I don’t think Israel has decided whether to attack Iran”) and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Feb. 3 (“The war itself will be ten times as detrimental to the US.”).

Monday, Feb. 6, the US president ordered the tightening of sanctions by freezing Iranian assets in America and blocking the operations of Iranian banks including its central bank.

US Rear Adm. Kevin Scott and Brig. Gen. Christopher Owens are coordinating the exercise over large stretches of coastal terrain in Virginia, North Carolina and Florida and Atlantic Ocean from the USS Wasp amphibian helicopter carrier.

It is led by the USS Enterprise nuclear carrier with strike force alongside three amphibian helicopter carriers, the USS Wasp, the USS Boxer and the USS Kearsage. On their decks are 6,000 Marines, 25 fighter bombers and 65 strike and transport helicopters, mainly MV-22B Ospreys with their crews. Altogether 100 combat aircraft are involved.

The exercise is scheduled to end on February 14, a week before the winding up of the Iranian drill, after which the participants are to be shipped out to Persian Gulf positions opposite Iran. Altogether three American aircraft carrier strike groups, the French Charles de Gaulle carrier and four or five US Marines amphibian vessels will be posted there, debkafile’s military sources report.

On Feb. this site first disclosed a flow in unprecedented numbers of US military strength to two strategic islands, Yemeni Socotra and Omani Masirah, within range of the Strait of Hormuz and Iran.

US naval officials insist that the exercise has nothing to do with Iran, but the scenario is a giveaway. A mechanized division from the fictitious hostile country of Garnet (Iran) has invaded its neighbor, Amber (Saudi Arabia), which has asked for coalition assistance to halt the enemy’s northern advance. Garnet has already mined harbors (Hormuz) and established anti-ship missiles on its coastline.

Coalition forces are required to develop strategy for defeating the enemy and carry the combat onto its (Iranian) soil. Hence, the preponderance of amphibian Marines in the exercise.

Jerusalem Dateline: Radical Islam and Egypts Future

24 Signs That We Are Getting Dangerously Close To A Major War In The Middle East

                                                     Story taken from
                                            http://endoftheamericandream.com



           Is 2012 the year when we will see a major war in the Middle East? For years we have heard about rising tensions in the Middle East, and for years we have heard politicians express concerns about Iran's nuclear program, but now things really do seem to be reaching a boiling point. In just the past few days, the U.S. government has imposed tough new sanctions on Iran and has totally shut down the U.S. embassy in Syria. The truth is that we are getting dangerously close to a major war in the Middle East.

So will Israel strike Iran at some point in the next few months? Will the U.S. military intervene in the rapidly escalating conflict inside of Syria? If a major war does erupt, it could send the price of oil skyrocketing and there is the potential that the war could broaden very quickly.

Hezbollah has already indicated that it will side with Syria, and there is always the potential that Hamas could as well. Russia and China have both stated that they are completely opposed to military action by the United States against Iran and Syria, and they have even hinted that they would possibly even help defend those countries. As the nations of the world take sides, there is even the potential that we could see World War III develop. Let us hope that it never comes to that, but with the world as unstable as it is right now, you never know what may happen.

What makes war so much more likely now is that nobody has shown any signs of backing down.

Syrian President Bashar Assad has sworn that he will never step down.

U.S. President Barack Obama says that it is only a matter of time until he is forced to step down and that no other outcome is acceptable.

Iran has sworn that it will never end its nuclear program.

The United States believes that if Iran is allowed to develop a nuclear weapon it would be a fundamental threat to world security.

Israel believes that if Iran is allowed to develop a nuclear weapon it would be a fundamental threat to the very existence of the nation of Israel.

So if nobody backs down, what is going to happen?

I think we all know what is going to happen.

The following are 25 signs that we are getting dangerously close to a major war in the Middle East....

#1 The United States has just imposed tough new sanctions on Iran. Some of the new sanctions are specifically targeted at the central bank of Iran. Stronger sanctions have been a prelude to war in the past, and the Obama administration surely wants to argue that "all other alternatives have been exhausted" before going to war.

#2 The EU has announced that all imports of crude oil from Iran will be banned starting in July.

#3 The U.S. embassy in Syria has been shut down and the Obama administration has once again called for Syrian President Bashar Assad to resign.

#4 The U.S. has also removed all diplomats from Syria.

#5 In speaking of the removal of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Barack Obama is making it very clear what he believes the final result will be....

"This is not going to be a matter of if, it's going to be a matter of when."

This is very reminiscent of the language that Obama used to describe the removal of Gadhafi before the U.S. launched airstrikes in Libya.

#6 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is calling for "an international coalition" to support the opposition fighters in Syria.

#7 Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak says that Iran is moving their uranium enrichment facilities into recently constructed underground bunkers and that the point of no return is rapidly approaching....

"The world has no doubt that Iran’s nuclear program is steadily nearing readiness and is about to enter an immunity zone"

#8 There are indications that Israel may consider launching an attack against Iran without even notifying the United States. Aaron David Miller, a Mideast peace negotiator during the Clinton administration, recently made the following statement....

"There’s a growing concern -- more than a concern -- that the Israelis, in order to protect themselves, might launch a strike without approval, warning or even foreknowledge"

#9 The Washington Post is reporting that U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta believes that Israel will strike Iran at some point during the months of April, May or June.

#10 Former IDF chief of staff Moshe Yaalon insists that an attack on Iran could be successful....

"It’s possible to strike all Iran’s facilities, and I say that out of my experience as IDF chief of staff"

#11 U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner says that the Obama administration "is absolutely committed to preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons".

#12 Barack Obama underscored his policy toward Iran in a speech just the other day....

"I've been very clear -- we're going to do everything we can to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and creating a nuclear arms race in a volatile region"

#13 According to Debka, thousands of U.S. troops have been heading to "two strategic islands within reach of Iran".

#14 Iranian leader Ayatollah Khamenei is speaking as if the coming war is a foregone conclusion....

"The war itself will be 10 times as detrimental to the U.S."

#15 Khamenei also seems to think that the outcome of the coming war is a foregone conclusion as well....

"In light of the realization of the divine promise by almighty God, the Zionists and the Great Satan (America) will soon be defeated"

#16 Khamenei also has declared that Israel is a "cancerous tumor that should be cut and will be cut".

#17 According to one estimate, there are currently 200,000 missiles aimed at the nation of Israel.

#18 Some Israeli officials claim that Iran is trying to develop a long-range missile capable of reaching the United States.

#19 The death toll from the conflict inside of Syria continues to rise. According to Debka, "a continuous Syrian bombardment beginning early Saturday, Feb. 4, is estimated to have left a record 350 dead and up to 1,300 wounded in the Homs district of Khaldiyeh."

#20 According to the United Nations, a total of approximately 6,000 people have been killed since the conflict in Syria began.

#21 The city of Homs is one giant war zone at this point. The following comes from a recent article in the Telegraph....

"We can't count all the bodies from the streets and the collapsed buildings. Anyone who tries to go on the street might be killed - there are snipers," said Abu Abdu al-Homsi, spokesman for the Syrian Revolutionary Council, an opposition group, in Homs. "An old woman - her son was shot and killed in the street, she went to get his body and was shot dead too."

#22 The Russians appear to be very serious about supporting the Assad regime in Syria. According to Debka, "the Russians backed their hard line against the West by putting Rapid Reaction Force (aka Spetsnaz) units in Black Sea bases on the ready to set out for Syria and defend Damascus."

#23 It is being reported that a Hezbollah official has indicated that Hezbollah will attack Israel if Syria is attacked.

#24 There are even signs that Saudi Arabia is busy preparing for a coming war. The following comes from a recent Debka article....

"Our military sources report that the Saudis this week wound up their own intensive preparations for war. Large forces are now deployed around Saudi oil fields, pipelines and export facilities in the eastern provinces opposite the Persian Gulf, backed by anti-missile Patriot PAC-3 batteries. American, British and French fighter-bombers have been landing at Saudi air bases to safeguard the capital, Riyadh."

If a major war does erupt in the Middle East, what is that going to do to the global economy and the price of oil?

It is being projected that the price of gasoline in the United States could go above 4 dollars a gallon this spring even if there isn't a war in the Middle East.

So how much higher would it go if there is a conflict with Iran?

Today, Iran is the third largest exporter of oil in the entire world. If those shipments are cut off that would have a huge impact.

But Iran could have an even greater impact by closing the Strait of Hormuz.

Approximately 20 percent of all oil sold in the world goes through the Strait of Hormuz each year. If Iran started raining missiles down on oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz, that would change the global economy overnight.

We live in very unusual times, and it should be apparent to everyone that there is not going to be lasting peace in the Middle East any time soon.

Right now, the world is on a road that is inevitably going to lead to a major war in the Middle East and nobody is showing any signs of backing down.

When the next major war does erupt in the Middle East, it is going to change the world forever.

But what kind of change will that be?

The Brody File: February 9, 2012

Leading Rabbi Believes The Temple Will Be Rebuilt In His Lifetime

                                               Garments of High Priest
                                                    Story taken from
                                              http://worldviewweekend.com

         In a documentary produced by my son, Jim Jr., a leading rabbi in Jerusalem says that he believes the next Jewish temple will be rebuilt on the Temple Mount in his lifetime and he says everything is ready to build that temple today.

Rabbi Nachman Kahane, the rabbi who has guided many Jewish students of the Scriptures on the subject of the temple has been the main source of serious study and preparations to build the Jewish temple basically because that is what the Bible calls for from the religious Jews.

In Rabbi Kahane's Yeshiva, which is a place of learning for Jewish young men, the rabbi trained all the leaders of this effort to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem and it was his students that started the Temple Institute who has accumulated all the implements for the next temple and train the men to operate that temple.

All the preparations have been made to rebuild the next Jewish temple in Jerusalem which is in essence a page out of Bible prophecy for the end of times. Twenty years ago I sat with Rabbi Nachman Kahane as he was beginning his quest to rebuild the Jewish temple in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount.

Now twenty years later the rabbi believes that the temple will indeed be rebuilt in his lifetime. That is a quote from the rabbi on a documentary released on the subject that shows the rabbi plus many others who also agree that the temple could be standing in Jerusalem in the very near future.

Rabbi Yehuda Glick, the former head of the Temple Institute, says even the priestly garments are ready and the temple will stand in full operation very soon. Rabbi Chaim Richman, who is the leading authority on the red heifer, says the temple will be built at the spot of the original site of the Garden of Eden which he says is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Yoel Keren says that there will be a Jewish temple in Jerusalem that follows the details in Ezekiel 40-46 but first the Jewish people will build a less extravagant temple as they did when the Second Temple was rebuilt 2500 years ago. The priests have been trained, the implements made to operate the temple, even the Menorah, the seven branched candelabra, and there are ten stringed harps for the Levites to play as called for by King David in I Chronicles 23:5.

Many of God’s People are Coming Home

Should Christians Spank? Miss. Bill Could Mean Life Imprisonment for Parents

http://global.christianpost.com

The Mississippi State Legislature is considering a bill that could see parents who "spank" their children face either 10 years in jail or life imprisonment depending on the intention and bodily harm caused to the child, but critics of the bill say its intentions are not clearly defined.

Senate Bill 2180, an act to amend a section of the Mississippi Code of 1972, aims to revise the "offense of felonious abuse or battery of a child; and for related purposes." The bill is sponsored by Senator Brice Wiggins of District 52.

Dewitt Black, Senior Counsel for the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), believes that there are problems with the bill's language. Black told The Christian Post that the words "bodily harm" and "reasonable discipline" are not properly defined.

He pointed out that these actions are left to the court's interpretation on what constitutes as a crime. According to SB 2180, a person is guilty of felonious child abuse if the act was intentional and caused bodily harm – including burn, torture, strangle or choke, disfigure, whip or strike – except as "a result of reasonable discipline, in self-defense, or in order to prevent bodily harm to a third party."

"A lot of people have different ideas about what [bodily harm] is," Black said. "Does inflicting pain constitute bodily harm? How about if the parent leaves red marks on the child from a spanking?"

The HSLDA attorney shared that many people do not believe spanking should be legal and that "any striking or whipping of a child should be a crime." However, he countered that there are also those who believe that spanking would be appropriate under certain circumstances – just not with an object.

Pastor David Wright, CEO of DOersTV, says regardless, there is a difference between child abuse and discipline.

"I would hope that the real motive of this bill is to protect children from abuse and not correction," he told CP. "With the decay of Christian values in this nation I doubt that is the real motive. We are to never sacrifice discipline, chastisement and correction of our children and call it abuse if it is not abuse. "
Black shared similar sentiments, saying that historically in America and other cultures parents have been able to administer reasonable corporal punishment – not to abuse a child – but to discipline.

"[This] includes spanking and we believe that right should be preserved," he stated. "As a Christian organization we believe that it is a biblical means of disciplining a child."

Wright agreed that Christians should look to God's Word – offering Proverbs 13 and 23 in support.

"He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes," Pastor Wright said, quoting the King James Version of the passages. "Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell."

According to Black, the Bill would be a very dangerous law to "have on the books because parents would not know what's illegal and what's legal under state law." He pointed out that this was due largely to the terms "bodily harm" and "reasonable discipline."

He told CP that HSLDA is currently working with state home-school leaders to get the bill amended and "alleviate concerns about [the wording]." SB 2180 as it is currently written is the way it was filed, and Black says he is hoping to see this changed. If passed, the bill will be effective from July 1, 2012.

Meanwhile, Pastor Wright says if parents love their children they will spank, without abusing them.

"To all Christian parents, believe what God said regarding spanking your child as a form of discipline. And if you do not believe it works, just look at society, and all the parents who live disciplining their children to the government and ask yourself which one works the best," he argued.

Reflections of a Seer

Tuesday, February 28, 2012