INTERNATIONAL PULSE Period: August 2008 6666666 End-Time Church / Pluralism Global Politics Israel

ISRAEL ----- RICE WARNS: ISRAEL, PALESTINIANS NEED TO SHOW PROGRESS May 11, 2008 WASHINGTON (AP) - By Anne Gearan, - The Bush administration has told Israeli and Palestinian leaders they will need to show progress in their secret talks soon, or risk a potentially fatal erosion in public support for a process now in its sixth month without any obvious successes. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice passed that message during meetings with both sides a little more than a week ago, Arab, U.S. and other Western diplomats said. Rice was reacting mainly to the increasingly pessimistic Palestinian assessments of the talks, but she warned that confidence was fragile among Israelis, too. "We talked some about the perception that they're just having endless talks," Rice told reporters later, without mentioning the warnings she had raised in private. "They simply don't see it that way." Rice did not present the Israeli and Palestinian leaders any specific U.S. proposal to show momentum, but several ideas are in play. President Bush will visit Israel and Arab states this week, adding to public pressure to demonstrate that U.S.-sponsored peace talks are bearing fruit. Diplomats said, however, that Rice's warning was not tied to Bush's visit and that she left it to both sides to determine what to do next. Continued: http://www.cephas-library.com/israel_rice_warns_iIsrael_palestinians_need_to_show_progress.html ----- NATIONS UNITED AGAINST ISRAEL - ISRAEL GOES ON TRIAL IN NEW BELGIAN 'COURT' By Stan Goodenough - February 22, 2008 - As Shabbat begins in the Middle East, the Jewish State of Israel is being hauled before a new so-called civil court to be charged with war crimes against Arabs. Founded in Belgium by self-appointed "human rights" organizations, Israel is to be the first party tried by the "court." The charges are war crimes Israel has allegedly committed in the Gaza Strip. A second docket accuses Israel of war crimes in its prosecution of the Second Lebanon War in 2006. Israeli Arab Knesset members are reportedly already in Brussels to join with and add their "testimonies" to, those leveling the charges against Israel. According to Ynetnews, the "court" was established after a year of cooperation between Arabs, human rights groups and European intellectuals. Israel - which will in any case not recognize this institution or respect its rulings, has no chance of receiving any kind of a fair "trial" at the hands of the antisemitic individuals and groups involved. http://www.jnewswire.com/article/2348 ----- UNITED NATIONS AGAINST ISRAEL - EUROPE SLAMS ISRAEL ON GAZA By Stan Goodenough - February 22, 2008 - Israel may have unilaterally ended what the world called its occupation of the Gaza Strip, tearing its own citizens out of their homes and communities there and giving the territory to the Palestinian Arabs so that they could begin to build their Arab state; And Israel may have endured, since leaving Gaza, thousands of terrorist rocket attacks on its people in Sderot and in other parts of the western Negev; The Hamas-controlled Palestinian Authority, elected in Jimmy Carter certified "free and fair elections" by a sweeping majority of the Palestinian Arabs, may have self-destructed and wrested control of Gaza in a vicious and bloody coup; Hamas may have vowed to continue doing everything possible to kill the Jews and destroy the Jewish state adjacent to it; The Arab terrorists may have built and hid their rockets in civilian populated areas and fired them from civilian built-up areas; Israel may have restricted itself, in the face of relentless, daily terrorizing of its citizens, to carrying out targeted killings of terrorist individuals and cells, instead of sending its tanks and soldiers into Gaza en masse, or carpet bombing Gaza city neighborhoods into the ground; Continued: http://www.cephas-library.com/israel_un_taking_israel_to_court.html ----- THE SITE OF THE SYRIAN NUCLEAR FACILITY BEFORE AND AFTER IT WAS HIT IN AN IAF STRIKE LAST SEPTEMBER April 29, 2008 Bush: Disclosure of IAF strike on Syria message to Iran - By Reuters - United States President George W. Bush on Tuesday said the recent U.S. disclosure of details on Israel's strike last September on a suspected nuclear facility in Syria was intended to send a tough message to Damascus and Pyongyang as well as Tehran over their nuclear ambitions. "We... wanted to advance certain policy objectives through the disclosure, one would be to the North Koreans to make it abundantly clear that we may know more about you than you think," Bush told a White House news conference. The CIA said a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor destroyed by the Israel Air Force was within weeks or a month of completion . Syria said the site was not part of a nuclear weapons program. The site was allegedly built with help from North Korea. The U.S. last week released photos it said proved its accusations of an illicit arms program. Syria has denied the U.S. charges and accused Washington of involvement in the air strike by Israel. Bush said the information had been withheld at first because of concerns about the risk of "confrontation" or "retaliation," an apparent reference to Syria's possible military response to Israel's strike on its territory.Since the Second Lebanon War in 2006, there have been heightened tensions between Israel and Syria. Only some two weeks ago, Syrian President Bashar Assad was reported as saying that Syria is preparing for war with Israel as a real possibility. These current tensions have recently run parallel to an exchange of messages between Israel and Syria about moves toward reaching a peace deal, some of which have been relayed by Turkey. He acknowledged that the disclosure last week was in part aimed at pressuring North Korea to come clean fully on its nuclear and proliferation activities and said it was also meant to send a stern message to Syria. "And then we have an interest in sending a message to Iran and the world for that matter about just how destabilizing nuclear proliferation would be in the Middle East," Bush added. Washington is leading an international campaign against Iran over a nuclear program the West suspects is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. Tehran insists it wants nuclear technology for peaceful civilian purposes. The United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency has criticized the United States for waiting until this month to share its intelligence, and U.S. lawmakers have also complained about the delay. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/979085.html ----- POPE BENEDICT XVI SPEAKS WITH PM EHUD OLMERT (R) AT THE VATICAN LAST YEAR Reuters - November 17, 2007 - Vatican envoy: Ties with Israel in decline due to broken promises By News Agencies - Relations between Israel and the Vatican "were better" before the two established full diplomatic ties in 1993, according to a senior Vatican diplomat and former top Holy See envoy to Jerusalem. Israel has also failed to keep promises to ease travel restrictions on Catholic clerics and remove taxes on Church-owned property in the Holy Land, Monsignor Pietro Sambi said in an interview posted Friday on the Franciscan Order's terrasanta.net Web site. "The Holy See decided to establish diplomatic relations (in 1993) with Israel as an act of faith, leaving to latter the serious promises to regulate concrete aspects of the life of the Catholic community and the Church in Israel," Sambi, the Papal Nuncio to the United States, said. "If I must be frank, the relations between the Catholic Church and the state of Israel were better when there were no diplomatic ties," he continued. Among the issues hanging are the status of expropriated church property, services that Catholic groups perform for Israel's Jewish and Arab population, and tax exemptions for the Church. The Vatican diplomat also cited a current sore point - the granting of permits for Arab Christian clergy traveling to and around the West Bank, which has rescinded because of security concerns. Sambi complained that the Knesset has failed to give necessary approval to various accords that had been signed by both sides, and noted that an impasse over taxes has been discussed on and off for nearly 10 years without resolution. He blamed the situation on Israel's absence of political will. "Everyone can see what kind of trust you can give to Israel's promises," Sambi said. Asked about Sambi's criticisms, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said that "Israel is interested in good relations with the Vatican and Israeli and Vatican officials are working to overcome gaps that exist." Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the interview with Sambi reflects his thinking and his personal experience during the diplomat's former posting in Israel. Lombardi said the Holy See reiterated the hope, expressed in September when Benedict met with President Shimon Peres, for a rapid conclusion of the important negotiations and a common solution to existing problems. Earlier this year, tensions developed between the Vatican and Israel when the Holy See's ambassador to Israel initially decided to boycott a Holocaust memorial service because of allegations that during World War II Pope Pius XII was silent about the mass killings of Jews. While Israel has in the past offered to create a special panel to oversee property cases involving the Vatican, it has also expressed fear that giving tax exemptions to the Catholic Church could open the door for other churches and groups to seek similar treatment.http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/924972.html ----- VATICAN THREATENS TO BOYCOTT HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL AY CEREMONY IN JERUSALEM December 4, 2007 - By Reuters - The Vatican ambassador to Israel threatened on Thursday to boycott a Holocaust memorial ceremony next week over a museum's portrayal of Pope Pius XII's conduct during the Nazis' killing of Jews in World War Two. Archbishop Antonio Franco said he had written to the director of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum asking for the revision of a caption suggesting the wartime Pope had been apathetic to the Jews' plight. The caption, quoted in the Israeli press, says Pope Pius XII "abstained from signing the Allied declaration condemning the extermination of the Jews" and "maintained his neutral position throughout the war." Archbishop Franco said that in his letter he advised the Holocaust museum he "would not feel comfortable going to Yad Vashem" unless the wording was amended or the photo removed. The photo appears in a new part of the museum that was opened in 2005. Yad Vashem hosts Israel's annual state ceremony to mark Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day, which will take place on Sunday. Archbishop Franco said he had not received an answer from the museum, which hosts foreign ambassadors at the event. Defenders of Pope Pius XII have said he did everything possible to help Jews, while critics have portrayed him as an anti-Semite and Germanophile whose views were formed while working in Germany before his election as Pope in 1939. Yad Vashem, which contains the largest archive of data on the Holocaust, said in a statement it had told the Vatican's representative "it was willing to continue examining the issue." In its statement, Yad Vashem said it would welcome the opportunity to study the Vatican's archives relating to Pope Pius XII "to possibly learn new and different information" about him. Historians have called on the Vatican to fully open archives for the papacy of Pius XII, which ended in 1958 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/924972.html ----- ISRAEL TO HAND CONTROL OF JERUSALEM SITE TO VATICAN July 11, 2005 By Amiram Barkat - Israel is to give the Vatican control over one of the most sacred Christian sites in Jerusalem, several European newspapers have reported recently. According to the reports, Israel will give the Holy See possession of the Coenaculum, or the Room of the Last Supper (also known as the Upper Room or the Cenacle), on Mount Zion. In exchange, Israel is to gain control of a 12th-century synagogue in Toledo, Spain, which is currently the Santa Maria la Blanca Church, says the Times of London. The synagogue became a church during the 15th-century expulsion of Jews from Spain. President Moshe Katsav and Pope Benedict XVI are to announce the historic real estate deal during their upcoming meeting in Rome, the reports claimed. The Foreign Ministry has dismissed the reports as "nonsense," but they have already aroused stormy reactions from religious factions warning against a change in the fragile status quo in relations among Christians, Jews and Muslims. Israeli government sources said the report recycles an old proposal that came up during more than a decade of Israel-Vatican talks on bilateral ties. They called the Catholic proposal "insulting and unreasonable," and said an Israeli investigation indicated that the Vatican does not even own the Toledo church. The ministry said Israel rejected the proposal in 2003 and that the issue has not been raised since. The only Israeli official who has publicly spoken about this issue is former interior minister Avraham Poraz (Shinui), who said during a visit to the Vatican last September that from Israel's perspective, the exchange could take place if the relevant parties were to agree. In the last few days, officials in the Greek Orthodox Church have asked the Jerusalem municipality for an explanation, since it claims ownership of all of Mount Zion. The Diaspora Yeshiva, which uses several buildings on Mount Zion, asked Prime Minister Ariel Sharon yesterday to intervene in an effort to prevent "the Tomb of David from getting into Christian hands." In a letter to Sharon, Diaspora Yeshiva representative Shmuel Berkovitz said, "Turning the Coenaculum into an active church is a way of desecrating the holiness of the Tomb of David" and is offensive to Jews. Berkovitz, an expert on holy places, said the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who could be expected to visit the Coenaculum would make the lives of the yeshiva students intolerable. In a letter to Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski, Diaspora Yeshiva head Rabbi Mordechai Goldstein said the yeshiva would not let such an agreement pass quietly. Diaspora Yeshiva students have been involved in several violent conflicts with their neighbors, and in 1978 took control of the Chapel of the Holy Spirit, which is near the Room of the Last Supper. The two rooms are considered the fourth-holiest site in the Christian world. The Room of the Last Supper, where, as the name indicates, the Last Supper is said to have taken place, is on the second floor of the building in question. The first floor houses the Tomb of David, a holy site for Jews and Muslims, where King David is said to be buried. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=642171 ----- MOSCOW IS IN NEGOTIATIONS TO PURCHASE A LARGE SECTION OF JERUSALEM By Barry Chamish - Moscow is in negotiations to purchase a large section of downtown Jerusalem once controlled by the Russian government prior to Israel's rebirth in 1948. The 17-acre Russian Compound is today home to a large police facility and detention center, numerous pubs and restaurants and a large Russian Orthodox church. The Russian government built up the area in the 1860s to accommodate the large number of Russian pilgrims who were visiting Jerusalem every year, particularly around the time of Easter. Negotiations over the land has been ongoing since the premiership of Ehud Barak some seven years ago. The Russians are reportedly prepared to pay $100 million for the prime real estate. Speaking to Israel National News, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman stressed that Israel is not "selling" the land to Russia, but rather "returning" the area to its former owners - a very dangerous way of putting things considering the Arab claim to all of what is today the Jewish state. Continued: http://www.cephaslibrary.com/israel_russia_wants_to_purchase_chunck_of_israel.html ----- ISRAELIS SURPRISINGLY SURPRISED BY HAMAS CEASEFIRE PLOY By Stan Goodenough - April 27, 2008 - News media in Israel Sunday expressed surprise that Hamas sees a ceasefire it is purportedly prepared to enter into with Israel as merely a tactic on the part of the terrorist organization. We want a hudna with Israel so we can prepare to unleash a new wave of terrorism, said Damascus-sheltered Hamas leader Khaled Meshal, explaining his group's willingness to stop attacks from the Gaza Strip for the next six months. Speaking on Al-Jazeera TV, Meshal said the ceasefire "is a tactic in conducting the struggle." "It is normal," he added, "for any resistance that operates in its people's interest ... to sometimes escalate, other times retreat a bit. The battle is to be run this way and Hamas is known for that." Hamas is indeed known for that. Which makes the apparent outrage communicated uniformly in the headlines of the center-left The Jerusalem Post, the left Ynetnews and the far-left Ha'aretz appear a little disingenuous. This ceasefire is all for Hamas' benefit. - Meshal's killers have been badly mauled in recent IDF counter-terrorism operations. The Palestinian Arabs in Gaza, control of which was violently seized by Hamas a year ago, have suffered increasingly as a result of the sanctions brought against Gaza by influential members of the international community, and by Israel's imposition of an on-again, off-again siege in the Jewish state's effort to force an end to rocket attacks on its towns. Continued http://www.jnewswire.com/article/2425 ----- ISRAEL FACING 'UNPRECEDENTED' DROUGHT By Stan Goodenough - April 27, 2008 - The Sea of Galilee, Israel's main source of fresh water, is dropping rapidly and could reach the dreaded "black line" - below which it is impossible to pump out any more water - in just three months. According to experts cited in The Jerusalem Post Sunday, this past well-below average winter rainfall, which followed several similarly dry years, and is being aggravated by successive heat waves already experienced this year, is threatening the country with the worst water shortage it has ever known. Over the week-long Passover holiday the Galilee - known in Israel as Lake Kinneret - dropped by an alarming six centimeters. Israel's only other fresh-water reservoirs - two mountain acquifers - have also been badly depleted in recent years, and can only go down to a certain level before sea-water pressing in underground from the Mediterranean makes its water brackish and unfit for human consumption. While Israel is building desalination plants to make sea water palatable, progress on these is painfully slow when seen against the rapidly-growing water need. http://www.jnewswire.com/article/2428 ----- TEMPLE INSTITUTE DISPLAYS PRIESTLY GARMENTS Written by Chris Perver - 28 June 2008 - This link from my friend Kathie. The Temple Institute in Jerusalem have revealed that the production of 120 priestly garments to be used in the administration of the Third Temple is now in full swing. The Temple Institute began production of the priestly garments in March of this year. Their production follows the recent completion of the Golden Crown of the High Priest in November of last year, and the blue ephod of the High Priest in 2005. It also closely follows the relocation of the Golden Menorah to the Temple Mount steps, which I was privileged to view during my recent trip to Israel. The garments of the priests are being created using special flax imported from India. The flax is then spun onto larger spindles in Israel, after which it is woven into priestly garments according to the manner prescribed in the Torah. Continued: http://www.prophecynews.co.uk/content/view/911/1/ ----- PRESSURE ON ISRAEL TO AGREE TO GAZA 'CEASEFIRE' By Stan Goodenough - April 30, 2008 - Israel is under intense pressure to go along with a ploy disguised as a ceasefire whereby the IDF will stop taking out Arab terrorists in the Gaza Strip and the terror groups will be free to prepare for another round of terrorism. Hamas, the Palestine Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees, which have all been hammered by the Israeli military in recent weeks, have indicated they will agree to stop firing rockets and trying to kill Jews, for now. In return the IDF must stop its anti-terrorism operations in Gaza and, eventually in Samaria and Judea too. But the Israeli Cabinet, meeting Wednesday to discuss the Egyptian effort to broker an agreement between them and the terrorists, was mostly opposed to the idea. According to Ynetnews the ministers believe any ceasefire on Israel's part will "only allow Hamas to regroup, rearm and recruit more operatives before it continues its attacks on Israel." Washington, however, is reportedly turning the screws on Jerusalem to agree to the proposal in order to create an atmosphere that will benefit US President George W. Bush, who is due to arrive in Israel on May 13 to mark the 60th anniversary of the state's rebirth. He will allegedly use the opportunity to try and push Israel and the Palestinian Authority towards a "peace" agreement, but wants an atmosphere more "conducive" to "success." Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is coming in a few days to prepare the way for her president. http://www.jnewswire.com/article/2430 ----- OLMERT HINTS U.S. ACTION ON IRAN NUKES IS NEAR 3 Sivan 5768, 06 June 08 03:11by Gil Ronen - (IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert hinted after his meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush Wednesday that U.S. action against Iran is imminent. While he avoided saying anything clear and specific on the matter, Olmert did mention a "timetable" and said action would take place before Bush leaves the White House. "We reached agreement on the need to take care of the Iranian threat," Olmert said after the meeting. "I left with a lot less question marks [than I had entered with] regarding the means, the timetable restrictions and America's resoluteness to deal with the problem." "George Bush understands the severity of the Iranian threat and the need to vanquish it, and intends to act on the matter before the end of his term in the White House," Olmert reportedly said after his 90 minute long one-on-one meeting with the American Commander in Chief. 'It is not good to publicize everything' "With every day that goes by we get closer to stopping the Iranian nuclear plan," Olmert said. He said that meaningful steps were being taken to handle Iran "more effectively" and told reporters: "The Iranian problem requires urgent attention, and I see no reason to delay this just because there will be a new President in the White House seven and a half months from now." "The U.S. is a leading element in dealing with Iran," Olmert said. "These are serious matters; I am not just saying this? It is not good to publicize everything." Continued: http://www.cephas-library.com/israel_olmert_hints_action_by_us_against_iran_is_near.html ----- YOM HA'ATZMAUT - CELEBRATION OF HOPE! By Steven Shamrak. - [Olmert in Need of Intensive Psychiatric Care. At the same time when CIA officials tell US Congress that North Korea had been helping Syria build a plutonium-based nuclear reactor, which Israel destroyed last September, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave the ‘life line’ to Syria by his decision to put the Golan Heights, Jewish land, on the negotiating table in exchange for a ‘promise’ of peace with Syria. Even Kadima members in Knesset, rebelled against this stupidity and treachery. Only two years ago Olmert said: "As long as I serve as prime minister, the Golan Heights will remain in our hands because it is an integral part of the State of Israel." (It is time to resign and find a good psychiatrist!)] Out of the ashes Eretz-Israel began emerging 60 years ago. Jews around the world saw new hope with the commencement of the realisation of a 2000 year-old dream. Since then Israel, a newly emerged agricultural country, has become one of the leading technological centres of the world. The country, which had no real military force at the time of its creation, is being defended by one of the world's most advanced army. Unfortunately, at the same time Jewish national spirit has being systematically squashed by inept political leaders who are selling out the Jewish national dream to the enemies. Fear, apathy and lack of self-respect have again replaced the boldness, enthusiasm and belief in the new bright future of the Jewish people. The spirit of the Zionist pioneers is being deliberately discredited and squashed by a corrupt bureaucracy run by a self-hating political elite both within Israel and in the Diaspora! Sixty years is a good occasion to celebrate the country's achievements. In accordance with the Gematria, Jewish numerology, number 60 symbolises the word "vessel" or unity. I only hope that this is a sign that from now on Jewish unity is going to emerge and the Jewish two-millennium dream will be achieved! Traitors are Plotting Merger. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said that he does not rule out the possibility of a merger between his Kadima party and the Labor party. (A Kadima-Labor merger is considered in a desperate bid to stay in power!) Steven Shamrak Australia Newsletter http://shamrak.com/ ----- JIMMY CARTER AND WORLD CHAOS By: Dr. Michael D. Evans - Former President Jimmy Carter?s pro-Arafat and pro-Palestinian leanings are legendary. According to Carter?s assessment, Israel is the crux of the problem. Never mind that Israel has endured decades of terror attacks from Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, worthless peace agreements, and a desire by its Arab neighbors to see Israel ?wiped off the map.? None of this moves Mr. Carter. In his world, Yasser Arafat was the put-upon Palestinian leader sorely abused by the Israelis. Carter presents himself as a neutral, third-party arbitrator, especially in Middle East affairs. Despite his role as intermediary at Camp David, Carter has, in recent years, made statements that might be construed as anti-Semitic. He continues to be a harsh and outspoken critic of Israel, and has often favored Israel?s enemies over the only democratic society in the Middle East. Of course, there are many today who believe the Republican Party under the leadership of George W. Bush is solely responsible for the mess in the Middle East. In truth, the groundwork for this miasma was laid during the term of former Democratic President Jimmy Carter. It was all brought about in the name of change and hope; familiar themes being heard today from Democratic front-runners. It was Jimmy Carter who created a firestorm that destabilized our greatest firewall in the Muslim world, the Shah of Iran, in favor of a religious fanatic, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Carter viewed Khomeini more as a religious holy man in a grassroots revolution than the founding father of modern terrorism. His advisors concurred: Ambassador to the UN Andrew Young said, ?Khomeini will eventually be hailed as a saint.? Ambassador to Iran William Sullivan said, ?Khomeini is a Gandhi-like figure.? Carter adviser James Bill proclaimed that Khomeini was not a mad mujahid, but a man of ?impeccable integrity and honesty.? As a result, the Carter administration stood by while Iran descended into the chaos of a fanatical Islamic revolution and was stunned when American embassy employees were taken hostage and held for 444 days. Ninety days following Khomeini?s declaration of the first day of the ?Government of God? on April 1, 1979, President Jimmy Carter inked a top-secret document launching America on the path that in 2001 would lead to the deaths of 2,974 innocent American civilians. It was generally thought that U.S. aid to the Afghanistan Mujahedeen was initiated in 1980 under the Republican administration of Ronald Reagan. It was, however, the directive signed by Carter that favored supporting insurgent propaganda and other psychological operations in Afghanistan; establishing radio contact with the Afghan people through a third country; providing appropriate support either in funds or non-military supplies. Carter approved another infusion of $30 million in 1980; and in 1981 the amount was raised to $50 million. Carter?s ill-advised execution of human rights guidelines and his decision to unseat the Shah ultimately caused the loss of more than 600,000 lives during the Iran/Iraq War. Why? With the departure of the Shah, Saddam Hussein saw his opportunity to boldly march into Iran and seize power in that country. Carter?s decision to abandon Iran to the Khomeini-implemented rule by the mullahs and ayatollahs was eventually responsible for Iraq?s attack on Kuwait and Desert Storm; it spawned the Soviet incursion into Afghanistan, the rise of the Taliban, HAMAS, and al-Qaeda. Dr. Michael D. Evans is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, The Final Move Beyond Iraq (www.beyondiraq.com). http://myjwn.com/category/dr-mike-evans ----- IRAN TO BUSH FOREGO YOUR HALLUCINATIONS March 29, 2008 - Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammad-Ali Hosseini Iran calls on US President George W. Bush to refrain from seeking out a scapegoat if his real intention is to resolve the crisis in Iraq. "The latest remarks by the US president are another effort to escape from the realities in Iraq," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini on Friday. The Iranian official was referring to bush's joint press conference held Friday with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in which the American president had accused Tehran of funding militias and fueling insecurity in Iraq. Continued http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=49453&sectionid=351020101 ----- BUSH SEEKS TO REASSURE ISRAELIS ON IRANIAN THREAT By MATTI FRIEDMAN (Associated Press Writer) - From Associated Press - June 04, 2008 WASHINGTON - President Bush tried Wednesday to reassure Israelis worried about the U.S. commitment to keeping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. "Iran is an existential threat to peace," Bush told Israel's beleaguered prime minister, Ehud Olmert, at the outset of talks in the Oval Office. "It's very important for the world to take the Iranian threat quite seriously, which the United States does." Bush said they also would discuss Syria's influence in Lebanon and the Israeli government's attempts to negotiate peace with the Palestinians. As they spoke, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for a new dialogue with Hamas, the militant group that has taken control of the Gaza Strip from Abbas' government. Abbas said he will call for new legislative and presidential elections if the talks succeed. Neither Bush nor Olmert mentioned perhaps the most pressing issue for their talks: Olmert's deteriorating political situation back home, where his popularity has nose-dived because of a new corruption scandal, and the end of his term is largely seen as just a matter of time. The developments are jeopardizing Bush's already ambitious timetable for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement by year's end and are making it unlikely that Bush or Olmert will be able to shepherd the process to completion. Continued: http://www.cephas-library.com/israel_bush_addresses_iranian_threats.html ----- NO WATER - PIPES PLAN May 3, 2008 - by Barry Chamish - In late July, Israel will stop receiving water from Lake Kinneret (Sea Of Galilee) which supplies 70% of the national supply and the country will fall into deep thirst. The ignorant pundits think this is because of weather: ISRAEL FACING "UNPRECEDENTED" DROUGHT http://www.jnewswire.com/article/2428 KINNERET DROPS BY 6 C.M. OVER PESSAH by JPost Staff - April 27, 2008 - http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208870499312&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull The water level in the Sea of Galilee, Israel?s largest reservoir and freshwater source, has dropped by six centimeters (2.36 inches) over the Passover holiday, the Water Authority announced. In July the level is expected to drop below the ?Black Line,? the absolute lower limit below which no more water can be pumped from the lake. Experts predict Israel to experience a drought of potentially unprecedented proportions because of a relatively dry winter that follows on the heels of several dry years. The Black Line is met when water levels drop to a point so low that the openings of the pumps are exposed and further pumping becomes simply impossible. http://www.cephas-library.com/israel_no_water_pipes_plan.html ----- WHO'S PLANNING OUR NEXT WAR? June 30, 2008 - by Patrick J. Buchanan - Of the Axis-of-Evil nations named in his State of the Union in 2002, President Bush has often said, "The United States will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons." He failed with North Korea. Will he accept failure in Iran, though there is no hard evidence Iran has an active nuclear weapons program? William Kristol of The Weekly Standard said Sunday a US attack on Iran after the election is more likely should Barack Obama win. Presumably, Bush would trust John McCain to keep Iran nuclear free. Yet, to start a third war in the Middle East against a nation three times as large as Iraq, and leave it to a new president to fight, would be a daylight hijacking of the congressional war power and a criminally irresponsible act. For Congress alone has the power to authorize war. Was recent Israeli exercise a dress rehearsal? Yet Israel is even today pushing Bush into a pre-emptive war with a naked threat to attack Iran itself should Bush refuse the cup. In April, Israel held a five-day civil defense drill. In June, Israel sent 100 F-15s and F-16s, with refueling tankers and helicopters to pick up downed pilots, toward Greece in a simulated attack, a dress rehearsal for war. The planes flew 1,400 kilometers, the distance to Iran's uranium enrichment facility at Natanz. Continued: http://www.lewrockwell.com/buchanan/buchanan89.html -----  NEWSLETTERS  NEWS INDEX MAIN INDEX