20 March 2015
Greetings from Tyler,
We were on pins and needles this time last week wondering if Israel would elect a Prime Minister who would appease enemies, give up territories and agree with the current U.S. administration that statehood should be granted to the Palestinians regardless of the circumstances. Media reports had Isaac Herzog in the lead right up to the closing of electoral polls, but soon we learned that Netanyahu had won the election easily.
But the Prime Minister said something in the final days of campaigning that ignited another firestorm with the White House, “There will be no Palestinian state on my watch.” Agents of the president’s own campaign staff were working to get Herzog elected and Netanyahu defeated in that election. That has been big news and may end up gaining traction as another scandal, as the president’s political team was working under the auspices of a non-profit entity that receives State Department funding. But that’s a separate issue that may or may not catch fire.
Since Netanyahu retains office as Prime Minister, his assurance of no Palestinian state has the White House threatening to abandon Israel at the UN. Over the decades the United States has blocked UN resolutions condemning Israel. Until recent years, where it has become abundantly clear that the current U.S. president cannot conceal his disdain for his Israeli counterpart, the United States has squarely backed Israel in these matters. But hints are being leaked that the current administration may use pressure from the UN and the threat of prosecution for war crimes at the International Court as leverage to force Israel to go along with an Iranian nuclear agreement and the creation of a Palestinian state. That possibility has been the subject of front page news and heated speculation all this week.
Netanyahu has clarified his statement saying that no two state solution is possible under current circumstances, but he would be open to it if they were to change. That would require that Palestinians renounce the Hamas terrorist organization that runs Gaza and is funded by Iran, and accept Israel’s right to exist. In the unlikely event those two concessions were made, there would still be a serious problem pertaining to the location of the border. But as we are all well aware, there has been no progress on any of these issues. For all intents and purposes the U.S. sponsored peace talks are dead. Still, both Israeli and U.S. spokesmen are going out of their way to reassure the public that the alliance is secure. Let’s hope so.
Suicide bombings, terrorist attacks by ISIS and genocidal mass murder dominates current news from the Middle East. ISIS in Yemen is “taking credit” for blowing up two mosques in Yemen’s capitol city, wounding a reported 300 and killing 137. They called it a “blessed operation” against “dens of Shiites.” It was Shiite militias backed by Iran that toppled the Yemeni government only a matter of weeks ago, and it is apparent that it has become another crown jewel of current U.S. foreign policy. From where we sit it looks a lot like Libya, where rival terrorist militias act out their blood-soaked fantasies against each other. Until recently, Yemen was cited as a shining example of U.S. diplomacy. Instead it now serves to illustrate the depth of hatred between Shiites and Sunnis.
Since the Kurds have retaken some Iraqi villages, and Iraqi soldiers with the backing of Shiite militias under Iranian commanders are battling for Tikrit, some reporters and cameramen are giving the world a view of the murderous atrocities of ISIS. There are mass graves of men and boys down to the age of 15. Younger boys have been forced into military servitude while women and girls have been kidnapped, raped and sold into slavery. ISIS continues to commit unspeakably evil acts. Apart from the half-hearted “coalition” bombing campaign, Iran is the one taking the fight to ISIS on the ground in Iraq. The most respected of former U.S. Generals, (Keane, Peters, Petraeus) are all out in force declaring that the larger threat to the Middle East and to world security is Iran.
Who knows, under the convoluted circumstances, whether there will be any nuclear deal with Iran? Netanyahu made it clear where he stands. A cadre of Senators even sent a letter to the ayatollah making sure he realizes that any “deal” concluded by the current administration or its State Department can be revoked by Congress. Meanwhile the ayatollah and his spokesmen have continued to spew insults at the United States, calling for a global war that will result in the flag of Islam being flown over the White House. But the current administration appears dedicated to the completion of a nuclear deal with Iran despite the insults, the threats against Israel and Iran’s religious dedication to our destruction. WorldNetDaily carried a story today alleging the discovery of a secret Iranian military manual which outlines plans for a series of EMP attacks that would turn out the lights all over America. We’ll wait to see if that claim is authenticated.
Europe is slowly drowning in Muslim immigration troubles, and apparently the EU and most elected leaders are determined to let it continue. There are all manner of troubles in places you might not expect, like Sweden, Denmark and Norway, never mind the obvious Muslim problems in Britain, France and Germany. There are related incidents all over Europe nearly every day.
Germany is working with Greece on the terms of debt repayment, and according to reports handling the situation with leniency. All the nations of southern Europe are economically upside down, deeply in debt with crushing unemployment, and the situation is certainly taking a toll politically. Crisis has been temporarily averted. But with the euro in steady decline and public opinion moving against the EU and its politically correct policies (in agreement with the pope, incidentally) toward Muslim immigration, the future looks different than the present.
The pope has been uncharacteristically quiet for a couple of weeks, but made a headline today over his plans to dine with prison inmates in Southern Italy this weekend of, shall we say, the limp-wristed persuasion. It looks like there may be a theme developing here. It is a theme that has already been accepted by major protestant denominations. But, as we featured in our last issue of 21st Century WATCH, most of the major protestant organizations have no problem pledging some degree of unity with this pope and the Catholic church.
Under the current pope, mainstream Christianity seems to be morphing into more to do with homosexuals, immigrants and climate change than anything else. And the current U.S. president is a huge supporter of each of those emerging doctrines. Later this year the pope is coming to America, and also will address the Congress and separately, the United Nations. There isn’t much doubt as to what he’ll be selling, in the name of Christianity, when he gets here. This is a glimpse of what they (the president, the pope, and the UN) will be trying to foist upon us all by whatever means they have at their disposal. You can bet, with the media left, right and center on board, they’ll at least make it socially unacceptable to disagree. At worst, they’ll try to impose sanctions on those of us who trust in the values of the Creator, and reject new-age lunacy draped in religious garb.
Mark Armstrong
