THE BRITS ARE LEAVING "BASRA" AND MORE

Muqtada al-Sadr: The British are retreating from Basra

By Nizar Latif in Kufa, Iraq and Phil Sands in Damascus

Published: 20 August 2007

The British Army has been defeated in Iraq and left with no option but to retreat from the country, claims radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Violent resistance and a rising death toll among UK troops has forced a withdrawal, he said in an interview with The Independent.

"The British have given-up and they know they will be leaving Iraq soon," Mr Sadr said. "They are retreating because of the resistance they have faced. Without that, they would have stayed for much longer, there is no doubt."

The young nationalist cleric heads Iraq's largest Arab grassroots political movement, and its powerful military wing, the Mehdi army. It has clashed frequently with British forces in southern Iraq, most recently in the battle for power over the oil-rich port city of Basra. Scores of British soldiers have been killed and wounded by Sadrist militants.

"The British have realised this is not a war they should be fighting or one they can win," Mr Sadr said. "The Mehdi army has played an important role in that." He also warned that Britain's involvement in the invasion of Iraq had made the UK a less safe place to live. "The British put their soldiers in a dangerous position by sending them here but they also put the people in their own country in danger," he said. "They have made enemies among all Muslims and they now face attacks at home because of their war. That was their mistake." His comments came during two separate meetings with The Independent at the Sadr movement's headquarters in Kufa, a holy Shia city, 100 miles south of Baghdad, and site of the Grand Mosque where Mr Sadr often preaches fiery Friday sermons. The streets were eerily devoid of cars, which are, in effect, banned in an effort to prevent bombings. Senior Shia leaders are high on the list of targets for Sunni extremists.

Only two guards with AK-47 assault rifles appeared to be protecting Mr Sadr in his office, a clear sign that Kufa and the surrounding area is firmly under the control of Sadr loyalists. It is not patrolled by US troops and access is policed by Iraqi security at heavily armed roadblocks.

Mr Sadr's remarks echo those of senior British military commanders who have come to view the mission of UK forces in Iraq as finished. They have reportedly told the Prime Minister Gordon Brown there is nothing more to be achieved in southern Iraq and that troops should be redeployed to Afghanistan.

At the beginning of the year, Britain had just over 7,000 troops in two provinces of southeastern Iraq. Current force strength is down to 5,500, confined to two main bases, Basra airport and the Basra Palace, which is under siege. Another reduction to 5,000 is expected this summer. Any additional cuts would be part of a complete withdrawal. Defence secretary Des Browne said last week that further reductions had not been decided upon and would only take place in agreement with the Americans.

As the force has dwindled, losses among British troops have accelerated. So far this year, 41 servicemen and women have died, compared to 29 in the whole of 2006. Their area of operations has, in effect, been taken over by three competing militia groups, the Mehdi army, SCIRI and Fadhila, all of which are heavily implicated in oil smuggling, intimidation and death squad activity.

But Basra would be a safer place once the British military presence had ended, Mr Sadr insisted. "There will still be some problems in southern Iraq, there will be violence because some countries are trying to influence the situation," he said in apparent reference to Iran. "But with the occupation of southern Iraq finished we will be freer to live our lives as brothers."

Throughout last week a series of influential Iraqi sheikhs, including at least one senior Sunni tribal leader, visited the Sadrist headquarters as part of an effort to heal the rift between Sunnis and Shias. Aides to Mr Sadr said it was a priority to form a united nationalist front against all "foreign elements" in Iraq, with the Americans and al-Qa'ida to be considered equally as enemies.

Mr Sadr praised Iraqi Sunnis who had begun to fight against al-Qa'ida and religious extremists guilty of targeting Shia civilians. "Proud Iraqis in Ramadi have stood against al-Qa'ida and against the Americans and they have written their names into our history books," he said.

Shrugging off recent rumours that he had fled to Iran - he dismissed them as American propaganda designed to discredit him - Mr Sadr denied US claims his forces were armed by Iran.

"We are at war and America is our enemy so we are entitled to take help from anyone," he said. "But we have not asked for Iran's help." The cleric also said he "welcomed" a recent decision by the UN to expand its role in Iraq. "I would support the UN here in Iraq if it comes and replaces the American and British occupiers," he said.

"If the UN comes here to truly help the Iraqi people, they will receive our help in their work. I would ask my followers to support the UN as long as it is here to help us rebuild our country. They must not just be another face of the American occupation."

The Sadr movement pulled its 32 elected MPs out of Iraq's parliament earlier this year, ending its nominal support for Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki.

Other factions have since followed suit, bringing the government to the brink of collapse. Despite recent efforts by the Prime Minister to shore up his power base, his days as Iraq's elected leader were numbered, Mr Sadr said.

"Al-Maliki's government will not survive because he has proven that he will not work with important elements of the Iraqi people," the cleric said.

"The Prime Minister is a tool for the Americans and people see that clearly. It will probably be the Americans who decide to change him when they realise he has failed. We don't have a democracy here, we have a foreign occupation."

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U.S. Army resources are nearly exhausted

Units would be tapped out by an extended war in Iraq

By Lolita C. Baldor

the Associated Press

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.20.2007

WASHINGTON — Sapped by nearly six years of war, the Army has nearly exhausted its fighting force and its options if the Bush administration decides to extend the Iraq buildup beyond next spring.

The Army's 38 available combat units are deployed, just returning home or already tapped to go to Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere, leaving no fresh troops to replace five extra brigades that President Bush sent to Baghdad this year, according to interviews and military documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

That presents the Pentagon with several painful choices if the United States wants to maintain higher troop levels beyond the spring of 2008:

● Using National Guard units on an accelerated schedule.

● Breaking the military's pledge to keep soldiers in Iraq for no longer than 15 months.

● Breaching a commitment to give soldiers a full year at home before sending them back to war.

In Iraq, there are 18 Army brigades, each with about 3,500 soldiers. At least 13 more brigades are scheduled to rotate in. Two others are in Afghanistan, and two additional ones are set to rotate in there. Also, several other brigades either are set for a future deployment or are scattered around the globe.

The few units that are not at war, in transformation or in their 12-month home time already are penciled in for deployments later in 2008 or into 2009. Shifting them would create problems in the long-term schedule.

Most Army brigades have completed two or three tours in Iraq or Afghanistan; some assignments have lasted as long as 15 months.

The 2nd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, has done four tours.

Two Marine regiments — each roughly the same size as an Army brigade — also are in Iraq, bringing the total number of brigades in the country to 20.

When asked which units will fill the void next spring if any need to be replaced, officials give a grim shake of the head, shrug of the shoulders or a palms-up, empty-handed gesture.

"The demand for our forces exceeds the sustainable supply," Gen. George Casey, the Army chief of staff, said last week. "Right now we have in place deployment and mobilization policies that allow us to meet the current demands. If the demands don't go down over time, it will become increasingly difficult for us to provide the trained and ready forces" for other missions.

Casey said he would not be comfortable extending troops beyond their 15-month deployments.

Pinning hopes on progress

Pentagon leaders hope there is enough progress in Iraq to allow them to scale back at least part of the nearly 30,000-strong buildup when soldiers begin leaving Iraq around March and April.

There are 162,000 U.S. troops in Iraq now, the highest level since the war began in 2003. That figure is expected to hit 171,000 in the fall as fresh troops rotate in.

Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq who will deliver a much anticipated progress report to Congress in September, said Wednesday that he is considering possible troop cuts, and he believes the United States will have fewer forces in Iraq by next summer.

Other commanders have said the security situation is improving, which would allow U.S. troops to be shifted from combat and lead to an eventual force reduction.

Still, Petraeus and other military leaders have warned against drawing down too quickly. In fact, an upbeat progress report in September may solidify arguments that additional troops should stay longer to ensure that positive changes stick.

"The longer that you keep American forces there, the longer you give this process to solidify and to make sure that it's not going to slide back," said Frederick Kagan, an American Enterprise Institute analyst who recently returned from an eight-day visit to Iraq.

Kagan, a leading supporter of the current buildup strategy, said any decision to maintain force levels would have to take into account the effects on the Army. That would include, he said, the strains of sending Guard units back to Iraq more rapidly than Pentagon policy allows or keeping active-duty units there longer than 15 months.

Pentagon officials, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates, have said they have no plans to extend tours in Iraq beyond 15 months.

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ANOTHER U.S. WAR BREWING IN MIDEAST - Ex-aide to Dick Cheney spills the beans
- By Richard Walker – American Free Press An insane plan authorized by President Bush to join Turkey in a covert war to assassinate leaders of a Kurdish rebel group in northern Iraq was exposed after a former Dick Cheney aide briefed lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Within days of the visit to the Hill by Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman, columnist Robert Novak got wind of the plan and made it public. It transpired that Edelman boasted that the plan involved U.S. Special Forces helping their Turkish counterparts “behead” the leadership of the Kurdish guerrilla group the PKK, also known as the Kurdistan Workers Party, in its hideout in mountains bordering northern Iraq and Turkey. When lawmakers questioned the sanity of the United States getting caught up in yet another guerrilla war, Edelman assured them it would be a success. The U.S. role would be hidden and vigorously denied if made public. Some members of Congress thought the strategy was risky, especially at a time when the United States was bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan. Edelman’s response was that the plan was a “slam dunk” and that it would not take long to accomplish. Some lawmakers also raised concerns that doing Turkey’s dirty work could have unforeseen consequences and could only add to further isolation of the United States around the world. The Turks have long argued that the PKK, which wants Kurds within Turkey to be granted autonomy, has been aided by Iraqi Kurds who have been staunch American allies. Iraqi Kurds have no love for Turkey but deny involvement with the PKK. Nevertheless, they will not look kindly on U.S. involvement in a campaign against fellow Kurds. Several months ago, Turkey, which is a NATO member, alarmed the EU and the United States by massing large numbers of troops on the border. At the time, Turkish generals talked openly of invading Iraq with over 200,000 troops. The reaction from the Iraqi parliament, as well as from the regional Kurdish government in northern Iraq, was swift. They warned an invasion by Turkey would not only be a breach of Iraqi sovereignty but would be repulsed. It now seems the United States has encouraged Turkey to jettison its invasion plans in return for a joint U.S.-Turkish dirty war against the PPK, using U.S. air power and hi-tech surveillance. The PKK is regarded as a terrorist group by many western nations and has been a thorn in Turkey’s side because it has caused unrest among Turkey’s large Kurdish minority. The group’s supporters have demanded that parts of Turkey and Iran be annexed to northern Iraq to form a united Kurdish state. Turkey is not without blame. Some 30,000 Kurds have been killed during several decades of fighting between the PKK and the Turkish military. The Turks have been accused of carrying out assassinations, rapes, torture and the kidnapping of large numbers of Kurdish nationals. During the Cold War the PKK’s Marxist-Leninist leanings made it an enemy of the West and the United States. The CIA even went so far as to train Turkish assassination squads and militias to track down PKK members and sympathizers. U.S. involvement in that secret war is rarely discussed but lawmakers who may be aware of it would certainly not wish a repeat of American participation in what could turn out to be a dangerous game. There is yet another aspect to the Bush plan that may concern some on the Hill. Turkey has its own agenda in respect to how it would like to see the Iraq conflict resolved. The Turks have never been happy about America’s closeness to the Kurds who helped the United States bring down Saddam Hussein. But, they are more concerned about those Iraqi Kurds sitting on huge oil reserves around Kirkuk. Therefore, if Iraq descended into all-out civil war, Kurdistan in northern Iraq could become a totally separate and very rich entity on Turkey’s border. The problem is even more complicated than that. Israel is supportive of Iraqi Kurds and has gone out of its way to train militias under the control of the Kurdish regional government. Israel may well see the Kurds as an ideal bulwark against fundamentalist Iran and a Turkey with the potential to move in the future from a secular region to a state controlled by Islamic radicals. Still, there is a more troubling connection between the United States and the PKK. The PKK no longer sees itself as a Marxist-Leninist organization and accuses Turkey of denying Kurds within its borders the same human rights as the rest of the Turkish population. The PKK’s opposition to Turkey is matched only by its hatred of Iran because of Iran’s treatment of Kurds within its borders. In the past year, evidence has mounted that the CIA and the Israelis have been encouraging, if not actively supporting, PKK attacks within Iran in an effort to destabilize the Iranian government. Taking all that into consideration, there’s no wonder some lawmakers are jittery about the Cheney- Bush tendency to think foreign policy is best served by secretive, but very bloody military actions. Richard Walker is the nom de plume of a former mainstream news producer who now writes for AFP so he can expose the kinds of subjects that he was forbidden to cover in the controlled press.

THE CONSTITUTION IS NOT JUST A PIECE OF PAPER

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PREMEDITATED MERGER
Congress tells Bush: Back off SPP agenda
Lawmakers' letter warns 'stealth' effort to 'harmonize' could undermine security

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Posted: August 17, 2007
5:00 p.m. Eastern

By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Twenty-two members of the U.S. House of Representatives – 21 Republicans and a Democrat – are urging President Bush to back off his North American integration efforts when he attends the third summit meeting on the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America next week in Montebello, Quebec.

They make it clear that continuing any such agenda at this point would be disregarding growing apprehension in Congress about the plans.

"As you travel to Montebello, Canada later this month for a summit with your Canadian and Mexican counterparts, we want you to be aware of serious and growing concerns in the U.S. Congress about the so-called Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) you launched with these nations in 2005," the letter said.

While the letter authors express their support for the president's "desire to promote good relations with our neighbors to the north and south," they are worried about the secretive manner in which SPP is being conducted and concerned it "may actually undermine our security and sovereignty."

"For instance," the letter said, "measures that would make it easier to move goods and people across borders could have the effect of further weakening this country's ability to secure its frontiers and prevent illegal immigration."

The letter also cited documents obtained by Judicial Watch in a Freedom of Information Act Request that suggest, "Such secretiveness seems not to be accidental."

WND was among the first news organizations to obtain and publish the agenda and the list of attendees for a secret North American Forum meeting held at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Canada, from September 12-14, 2006. The meeting was closed to the press and the documents obtained by WND were marked "Internal Document, Not for Public Release."

President Bush with then-Mexico President Vicente Fox, left, and then-Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin in March 2005 at the inaugural summit of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (White House photo)

Judicial Watch also used a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain a set of notes from the Pentagon attendees at the secret Banff meeting.

One particularly disturbing comment was noted in the official conference record of the speeches given, as recorded in the "Rapporteur Notes" obtained by the Judicial Watch FOIA request. In Section VI of the conference, entitled "Border Infrastructure and Continental Prosperity," the reporter summarized as follows:

To what degree does the concept of North America help/hinder solving problems between the three countries?

• Vision is helpful
• A secure perimeter would bring enormous benefit
• While a vision is appealing working on the infrastructure might yield more benefit and bring more people on board ("evolution by stealth")

Reflecting on those perceptions, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said, "It is not encouraging to see the phrase 'evolution by stealth' in reference to important policy debates such as North American integration and cooperation. These documents provide more information to Americans concerned about the Security and Prosperity Partnership. The more transparency the better."

The members also noted in their letter the amendment added by Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., to the transportation funding bill.

As WND reported, Hunter successfully offered an amendment to H.R.3074, the Transportation Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2008, prohibiting the use of federal funds to participate in SPP-related working group meetings in the future.

The members noted in their letter that, "This vote is an indication of the serious concerns felt by those of us in Congress and by our constituents about this initiative – concerns that will only be intensified if pursuit of the SPP continues out of public view and without congressional oversight or approval."

The last paragraph of the letter called upon the president "not to pledge or agree to any further movement in connection with the SPP at the upcoming North American summit."

The letter concluded that, "in the interest of transparency and accountability, we urge you to bring to the Congress whatever provisions have already been agreed upon and those now being pursued or contemplated as part of this initiative, for the purpose of obtaining authorization through the normal legislative process."

Signatories to the letter included the following members of the House of Representatives:

• Rep. Terry Everett, R-Alabama
• Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-California
• Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colorado
• Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas
• Rep. Nancy Boyda, D-Kansas
• Rep. Walter Jones, R-North Carolina
• Rep. David Davis, R-Tenn.
• Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Georgia
• Rep. John Boozman, R-Arkansas
• Rep. John Duncan, R-Tenn.
• Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Virginia
• Rep. Tom Price, R-Georgia
• Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Florida
• Rep. Sue Myrick, R-North Carolina
• Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Alabama
• Rep. Gary Miller, R-Calif.
• Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa
• Rep. Greg Walden, R-Oregon
• Rep. Michael Rogers, R-Alabama
• Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Michigan
• Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Alabama
• Rep. Todd Akin, R-Missouri

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« Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak won't distribute gas masks in fear of antagonizing Syria to use its weapons. (Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images)

Syria Has Weapons of Mass Destruction Stockpiles

Friday, August 17, 2007

Syria now has chemical and biological weapons than can strike Tel Aviv and other major Israeli cities, a recent Israeli intelligence report said. However, Defense Minister Ehud Barak has banned the distribution of gas masks in Israel for fear of upsetting the fragile peace with Syria, Israel Insider reports. Barak said that the distribution of gas masks might give the impression that Israel was preparing for war with Syria and escalate the tense situation between the two countries. Syria attacked Israel in the 1948, 1967 and 1973 wars, and is a sponsor of terrorism. The move was heavily criticized by many Israeli government officials, and for good reason. Yuval Steinitz, head of Homefront Preparedness in Israel’s Knesset, argued that it is the Defense Minister’s duty to protect civilians from a possible chemical or biological attack and said failure to do so was an egregious error. Syria has been stockpiling missiles and launchers in and around the Golan Heights area for months, and is reportedly using Iranian money to purchase sophisticated military equipment from Russia and North Korea. “Military sources said intelligence shows Syria was nearing the end of an accelerated deployment of a large rocket arsenal of Katyusha and Scud missiles, including Scud D and other improved missiles supplied by Iran, that can deliver 500-kilogram payloads to Tel Aviv …” the Jerusalem Post said. Many of these missiles can be outfitted with chemical or biological warheads. The tension between the two sides is so high that some believe even the distribution of gas masks to civilians could push the region over the edge and into war. Still, Israel’s gamble with its citizens’ lives for the sake of showing Damascus it has no intention of attacking could be reasonably interpreted by its enemies as a sign of weakness—and an opportunity. Israel is in an extraordinarily difficult position. ************************************************************************************ Isaiah Chapter 17 א מַשָּׂא, דַּמָּשֶׂק: הִנֵּה דַמֶּשֶׂק מוּסָר מֵעִיר, וְהָיְתָה מְעִי מַפָּלָה. 1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. (THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE IN ALL OF HISTORY, IT IS COMING)

FINALLY GIULIANI SAYS SOMETHING THAT IS CORRECT

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ELECTION 2008
Giuliani breaking ranks, opposes Palestinian state
'It is not in U.S. interests to create another state supporting terrorism'

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Posted: August 17, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Rudy Giuliani

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani has broken ranks with many other American political leaders, announcing that it would be counterproductive for the U.S. to help establish a Palestinian state.

"It is not in the interest of the United States, at a time when it is being threatened by Islamist terrorists, to assist the creation of another state that will support terrorism," he wrote in a commentary in Foreign Affairs magazine, an online production of the Council on Foreign Relations.

His essay, titled "Toward a Realistic Peace," is part of the September/October 2007 issue of Foreign Affairs, and has been drawing praise from a number of individuals.

"As the Democrats press for the appeasement of Iran, the leading Republican in the race, Mayor Giuliani, is raising a particularly clear voice for a more realistic approach," according to an editorial in the New York Sun.

His comments about the Palestinian state came as part of his endorsement of a United States outreach that includes democratic ideals of government.

"America has a clear interest in helping to establish good governance throughout the world. Democracy is a noble ideal, and promoting it abroad is the right long-term goal of U.S. policy. But democracy cannot be achieved rapidly or sustained unless it is built on sound legal, institutional, and cultural foundations. It can work if people have a reasonable degree of safety and security," Giuliani wrote.

"Elections are necessary but not sufficient to establish genuine democracy. Aspiring dictators sometimes win elections, and elected leaders sometimes govern badly and threaten their neighbors. History demonstrates that democracy usually follows good governance, not the reverse. U.S. assistance can do much to set nations on the road to democracy, but we must be realistic about how much we can accomplish alone and how long it will take to achieve lasting progress," he wrote.

He cited the election of Hamas in the Palestinian-controlled territories as "a case in point."

"The problem there is not the lack of statehood but corrupt and unaccountable governance. The Palestinian people need decent governance first, as a prerequisite for statehood. Too much emphasis has been placed on brokering negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians – negotiations that bring up the same issues again and again. It is not in the interest of the United States, at a time when it is being threatened by Islamist terrorists, to assist the creation of another state that will support terrorism. Palestinian statehood will have to be earned through sustained good governance, a clear commitment to fighting terrorism, and a willingness to live in peace with Israel. America's commitment to Israel's security is a permanent feature of our foreign policy," he said.

He went on to write that the next president will need to champion human rights and "speak out when they are violated."

In a report on Israel National News, a writer praised Giuliani for having "bucked the party line of successive U.S. administrations and come out against the establishment of a Palestinian state."

The report noted Giuliani warned against "the push by President George W. Bush and embattled Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to quickly establish a state in Judea and Samaria ruled by Fatah.

In the essay, Giuliani also targeted the United Nations, calling it "irrelevant" to resolution of conflicts.

"The organization can be useful for some humanitarian and peacekeeping functions, but we should not expect much more of it," he said.

Another writer told WND that Giuliani's stance on the Palestinian issue "is a brave one."

"This may be the most important issue in the upcoming race, eclipsing all others," he said.

The CFR article outlines the three key foreign policy challenges Giuliani sees: setting a course for victory in the terrorists' war on global order, strengthening the international system the terrorists seek to destroy, and extending the system's benefits.

He also warns, as did President Bush shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, "this war will be long, and we are still in its early stages."

"We cannot predict when our efforts will be successful," he said. "But we can predict the consequences of failure: Afghanistan would revert to being a safe haven for terrorists, and Iraq would become another one – larger, richer, and more strategically located. Parts of Iraq would undoubtedly fall under the sway of our enemies, particularly Iran, which would use its influence to direct even more terror at U.S. interests and U.S. allies than it does today."

He said if that happens, "the balance of power in the Middle East would tip further toward terror, extremism and repression" and America's influence would sustain "a shattering blow.

He said there are signs of light, even within the Muslim world.

"Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates are pointing the way by starting to interpret Islam in ways that respect the distinctiveness of their local cultures but are consistent with the global marketplace. Some of these states have coeducational schools, allow women to serve in government, and count shopping malls that sell Western and Arab goods side by side. Their leaders recognize that modernization is their ticket to the global marketplace. And the global marketplace can build bridges between the West and the Islamic world in a way that promotes mutual respect and mutual benefit," he said.
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Russia delivers air defence units to Syria: Report
17 Aug 2007, 1407 hrs IST,AFP

MOSCOW: Russia has begun delivery of modern air defence units to Syria while rejecting speculation that some of the weapons could be forwarded secretly to Iran, a newspaper reported on Friday.

"The first part of the delivery to Syria has started," the centrist daily Nezavissimaya Gazeta reported, quoting information from a domestic military information agency.

A spokesman for Russia's arms export agency Rosoboronexport, however, declined to comment on the newspaper report.

The report acknowledged that the delivery of the weapons, the Pantsyr-S1E self-propelled short-range missile air defence system, was particularly sensitive in light of Israeli claims last year that Russian arms sold to Syria had ended up in the hands of militant group Hezbollah.

Israel fought a brief war with Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon in July 2006 and afterwards accused Russia of indirectly supplying Hezbollah with relatively sophisticated anti-tank weapons, an accusation Moscow denied.

Nezavissimaya Gazeta quoted an official involved in Russian arms export policy as describing concerns that Russian air defense weapons could be re-exported to Iran as "silly rumours".

"This is not possible," Vitaly Shlykov, a member of the state committee on foreign and defence policy, was quoted as saying. "One of the conditions for every deal is the prohibition on transfer of the weaponry to a third country."

Officially, the contract was for the sale of 50 Pantsyr units for about 900 million dollars (670 million euros). Media reports have put the number of units sold to Syria at around 36.

In May, the London-based arms specialist magazine Jane's Defence Weekly reported that Syria had agreed to send Iran at least 10 of the Pantsyr units.

That report was categorically denied by a range of top Russian officials including First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov.

JEWISH TASK FORCE

Israel Funds
Hamas Terrorists

(Originally published by JTF.ORG on May 17, 2006) Arabs burn the American flag at a Hamas rally in the Gaza District

Arab Muslim Nazi "police" give the Arab Muslim Nazi salute (May 9, 2006)

After the Hamas Muslim terrorist mass murderers overwhelmingly won the elections that were held among the Arabs of Judea, Samaria, the Gaza District and Jerusalem, the Israeli Bolshevik regime publicly vowed over and over again never to give any money to the new Hamas regime.

From 1993 until this year's election, Israel gave billions of dollars from Jewish taxpayers to the Fatah-PLO Muslim terrorist mass murderers in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza District.

But the Israeli Bolshevik regime always claimed that there is a difference between the Fatah-PLO terrorists and the Hamas terrorists. The Fatah-PLO terrorists, led by the Arab Hitler Yasser Arafat, are "moderate" Muslim terrorist mass murderers, while the Hamas terrorists are "extremists," according to Israel's Bolshevik establishment.

Mourners at the funeral of innocent Jews murdered by an Arab Muslim terrorist suicide bomber in Tel Aviv (April 18, 2006) - Among the mourners were Ido Younis, whose mother Lily, 42, perished; and Irena Shaulov, whose son David, 29, left behind a wife, Radmila, in the ninth month of pregnancy. (The blast in the Tel Aviv market murdered twelve victims and wounded over sixty, several critically.)

In reality, there is a difference between the Fatah-PLO terrorists and the Hamas terrorists: the Fatah-PLO terrorists have murdered far more innocent Jewish men, women and children than the Hamas terrorists.

In any event, the Israeli public was conditioned to hearing that the Hamas terrorists are the "extremists," and therefore the Israeli regime felt compelled to promise a complete cutoff of funds from Jewish taxpayers to the newly elected Hamas regime.

JTF and its heroic Israeli allies, the Hilltop Youth, said from the start that the hopelessly evil Israeli regime would soon start funding the Hamas terrorists as well notwithstanding the public pronouncements to the contrary.

Surely enough, last week, Israeli Bolshevik dictator Ehud Olmert and his hideous Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni announced that they would resume sending Jewish tax dollars to Israel's Arab Muslim Nazi enemies.

Hamas terrorists launch rockets at peaceful Jewish communities

Olmert and Livni claimed that the Jewish tax dollars would be given for the "humanitarian needs" of the Arab Muslim Nazis, and not for the Hamas terrorists.

That is another Bolshevik lie. The billions of dollars given from 1993 to 2006 to the Fatah-PLO terrorist regime went directly to the personal bank accounts of Arafat and the other Muslim terrorist leaders. When Arafat the pedophile died of AIDS, he was a multibillionaire with an estimated $10 billion in his Swiss bank accounts - money given to him by Israel, the United States, Europe and Japan for the "humanitarian needs" of the Arabs in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza District.

The Hamas Muslim terrorist seal shows crossed swords over the Dome of the Rock mosque, a symbol of Islam's war of annihilation against Israel, and a map of Israel from which Israel has been eliminated in an Islamic bloodbath

"There is no god but Allah - and no nation of Israel" - An Arab boy wearing an Islamic suicide bomber's headband holds up a poster of Hamas Muslim terrorist "martyrs" and a map of Israel from which Israel is gone

Documents recovered during an Israeli anti-terrorist operation in Ramallah revealed that Arafat used the money given to him for "humanitarian needs" to fund Islamic suicide bombings and other acts of Muslim terrorist mass murder.

The fact that the Israeli traitor regime has decided to resume funding Israel's Arab Muslim Nazi enemies comes as no surprise.

The Israeli traitor regime always breaks its public promises to safeguard the Jewish people, and always does everything possible to assist Israel's Arab Muslim Nazi enemies.

An Arab Muslim terrorist and his mother say their final farewells by adorning each other with suicide bomber headbands - Since women are excoriated in the Koran as unworthy of paradise, mothers who wish to avoid the torments of Islamic hellfire gladly send their sons on suicide missions, in the hope of winning "intercessors" with Allah. (In the Hadith, Islamic scripture considered no less sacred by Muslims than the Koran, the pedophile "prophet" Mohammed guarantees any Muslim who dies slaughtering infidels the absolute right to usher seventy of his relatives, male or female, into heaven.)

The only promises that the Israeli traitor regime keeps are promises to surrender, retreat and commit national suicide. Thus, Olmert's promise to expel all Jews from 95% of Judea and Samaria and from eastern Jerusalem in order to create an independent Hamas-PLO Muslim terrorist state in the heartland of Biblical Israel is one promise that he fully intends to keep.

All of the numerous promises made over the years to the Jewish people by their traitor leaders on matters of security and survival have always been broken:

* Israel's leaders always vowed never to negotiate with the PLO terrorists. "We will meet with the PLO terrorist murderers only on the battlefield," Israeli Bolshevik dictator Yitzchak Rabin swore. Yet Rabin himself eventually led the Olso surrender process of not only negotiating with the PLO murderers, but of actually handing over to them Judea, Samaria and the Gaza District - the sacred Biblical lands that are the heart and soul of the Jewish people. Soon the "right-wing" Likud party also joined in this suicide process.

An Arab Muslim terrorist promises death to Jews on a suicide video filmed with a night vision camera

* Israel's leaders always vowed never to accept the creation of an independent Arab Muslim state in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza District. Rabin and his Foreign Minister Shimon Peres even swore during the early stages of the Olso process that they would never grant sovereignty or independence to the Arab Muslims in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza District, only autonomy under Israeli sovereignty. Now all of Israel's traitor leaders enthusiastically support creating an independent Hamas-PLO Muslim terrorist state.

* Israel's leaders always vowed never to surrender any part of Jerusalem, Israel's sacred and eternal capital. Now Olmert openly proclaims that eastern Jerusalem will be handed over to the Hamas-PLO terrorists so that it can become the capital of their new independent Islamic terrorist state.

"There is no better blood than the blood of Jews" - An Arab Muslim terrorist states his Muslim beliefs on a suicide video made shortly before his death: "My message to the loathed Jews is that there is no god but Allah. We will chase you everywhere! We are a nation that drinks blood, and we know that there is no better blood than the blood of Jews. We will not leave you alone until we have quenched our thirst with your blood, and our children's thirst with your blood. Jihad is the only way to liberate Palestine - all of Palestine - from the impurity of the Jews. My dear mother, today I sacrifice my life, to be your intercessor [on Judgment Day]. Don't let me see you sad on my wedding day with the virgins of paradise."

* Israel's leaders always insisted that there is no such thing as a "Palestinian" people or a land called "Palestine." Even the Marxist Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir always said that the only real "Palestinians" are the Jews, because that is what the Arabs themselves said until the 1960s. Now all of Israel's traitor leaders recognize what they know to be a hoax and a lie, namely, that there is a "Palestinian" people.

Just as Israel's traitor leaders caved in on all of the issues above, and just as they caved in on funding the Hamas terrorists, in the end they will willingly give up the entire Jewish state because it is "unrealistic" to have a tiny Jewish state in the middle of the huge Muslim world.

An Arab Muslim suicide bomber in Jenin - The bomber, a member of Islamic Jihad, was photographed April 15, 2006; two days later, an Islamic Jihad terrorist blew himself up in a Tel Aviv market, murdering twelve innocent Jews. (Note the old woman in the background wearing a death shroud and terrorist headband, eager for an intercessor in paradise.)

We will lose everything that millions of Jews waited for and died for during the nightmarish 2,000 year exile if we do not stop these hopelessly evil, self-hating Jewish traitor leaders.

Our only hope is to convince tens of thousands of heroic Jews to block with their bodies the planned surrender of Judea and Samaria. As Jews were willing to do in Amona on February 1, 2006. There must be dozens of Amona-type confrontations throughout Judea and Samaria to save our precious Jewish homeland and to bring salvation and redemption to the Jewish people.

JTF supports the political activities of the Hilltop Youth, and therefore is not tax-deductible.

Hamas Arab Muslim terrorist women display an "American Israeli" flag turned upside down and stabbed through its heart with an Islamic dagger (May 9, 2006)

The Voice of Jewish Activism (VJA) is strictly non-political. It supports the educational efforts and the humanitarian needs of the Hilltop Youth and right-wing Jewish dissidents and therefore is tax-deductible.

Your generous checks and money orders made out to "VJA" can be sent to:

VJA
POB 650327
Fresh Meadows, NY 11365

We need loyal, idealistic, Torah-true Jews to lead the struggle against the traitor Sharon's suicidal plan to create an independent PLO terrorist state in the heartland of Biblical Israel.

We have the Torah-true leaders and we have the thousands of young idealists.

*************************************************************************************

Feds Train Clergy To "Quell Dissent" During Martial Law Shocking KSLA 12 news report confirms story we broke last year, Pastors to cite Romans 13 as reason for public to obey government orders, relinquish guns and be taken to camps during state of emergency

Paul Joseph Watson Prison Planet Thursday, August 16, 2007

A shocking KSLA news report has confirmed the story we first broke last year, that Clergy Response Teams are being trained by the federal government to "quell dissent" and pacify citizens to obey the government in the event of a declaration of martial law.

In May 2006, we exposed the existence of a nationwide FEMA program which is training Pastors and other religious representatives to become secret police enforcers who teach their congregations to "obey the government" in preparation for the implementation of martial law, property and firearm seizures, mass vaccination programs and forced relocation.

A whistleblower who was secretly enrolled into the program told us that the feds were clandestinely recruiting religious leaders to help implement Homeland Security directives in anticipation of a a potential bio-terrorist attack, any natural disaster or a nationally declared emergency.

The first directive was for Pastors to preach to their congregations Romans 13, the often taken out of context bible passage that was used by Hitler to hoodwink Christians into supporting him, in order to teach them to "obey the government" when martial law is declared.

It was related to the Pastors that quarantines, martial law and forced relocation were a problem for state authorities when enforcing federal mandates due to the "cowboy mentality" of citizens standing up for their property and second amendment rights as well as farmers defending their crops and livestock from seizure.

It was stressed that the Pastors needed to preach subservience to the authorities ahead of time in preparation for the round-ups and to make it clear to the congregation that "this is for their own good."

Pastors were told that they would be backed up by law enforcement in controlling uncooperative individuals and that they would even lead SWAT teams in attempting to quell resistance.

Though some doubted the accuracy of this report at the time due to its fundamentally disturbing implications, the story has now been confirmed by a KSLA 12 news report, in which participating clergy and officials admit to the existence of the program.

Watch the video.

The report entertains the scenario of martial law as depicted in the movie The Siege and states that "quelling dissent would be critical."

Dr. Durell Tuberville serves as chaplain for the Shreveport Fire Department and the Caddo Sheriff's Office. Tuberville said of the clergy team's mission, "the primary thing that we say to anybody is, 'let's cooperate and get this thing over with and then we'll settle the differences once the crisis is over.'"

Such clergy response teams would walk a tight-rope during martial law between the demands of the government on the one side, versus the wishes of the public on the other. "In a lot of cases, these clergy would already be known in the neighborhoods in which they're helping to diffuse that situation," assured Sandy Davis. He serves as the director of the Caddo-Bossier Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.

For the clergy team, one of the biggest tools that they will have in helping calm the public down or to obey the law is the bible itself, specifically Romans 13. Dr. Tuberville elaborated, "because the government's established by the Lord, you know. And, that's what we believe in the Christian faith. That's what's stated in the scripture."

Screenshot from the KSLA 12 news article that accompanies the video report (http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp?S=6937987).

So there you have it - Homeland Security are working with local police departments and religious leaders to prepare for the declaration of martial law and in particular developing techniques they will employ during the crisis to "quell dissent."

Phony Christian leaders are brainwashing their congregations to accept the premise that the totalitarian police state is "of the Lord" and that they should get on their knees and lick jackboots while the round-ups take place as citizens are processed into quarantine zones and detention camps by the National Guard and U.S. troops returning from Iraq.

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The precedent for mass gun confiscation and martial law in times of a real or manufactured emergency was set during Hurricane Katrina, when police and National Guard patrols forced home owners - even in areas unaffected by the hurricane - to hand over their legally owned firearms at gunpoint.

This is a clear precursor for the imminent declaration of a state of emergency, a scenario that President Bush codified in his recent Presidential Decision Directive of May 9th, which states in the event of a "catastrophic event" the President can take total control over the government and the country, bypassing all other levels of government at the state, federal, local, territorial and tribal levels, and thus ensuring total unprecedented dictatorial power.

The scope of the program is so secretive that even Homeland Security Committee member and Congressman Peter DeFazio was denied access to view the classified portion of the documents.

The Trumpet

« British special envoy to the Middle East Tony Blair attends a Quartet meeting July 19. (Miguel Riopa/AFP/Getty Images)

British Lawmakers Say “Talk With Terrorists”

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

The Foreign Affairs Committee in Britain’s House of Commons recently recommended that the British government formally engage in direct talks with Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as the Egyptian Brotherhood. The report recommending these actions, titled “Global Security: The Middle East,” was released Monday. Admitting that Hezbollah’s influence is “malign,” that Hamas is a recognized terrorist organization, and that the Egyptian Brotherhood has known connections to Hamas, the Foreign Affairs Committee report states that the influence of these groups is too strong to be ignored any longer. Concerning Hamas: “Hamas is part of the fabric of Palestinian society and engaging with the movement is the only way to prevent radical elements within the movement side-lining more pragmatic moderates.” Regarding Hezbollah: “We conclude that Hezbollah is undeniably an important element in Lebanon’s politics, although its influence, along with Iran’s and Syria’s, continues to be a malign one. … [T]he government should encourage Hezbollah to play a part in Lebanon’s mainstream politics. We recommend that the government should engage directly with moderate Hezbollah parliamentarians.” This report emerges at a time when Western nations are reviewing and revamping their approach to Middle Eastern politics. The Quartet on the Middle East, led by recently appointed envoy Tony Blair and consisting of the U.S., the EU, the UN and Russia, has already laid down ground rules for directly dealing with these organizations. One of the main stipulations before sitting down at the negotiating table is that they must first recognize Israel’s right to exist, which none of them currently do. Another is some sort of commitment to non-violence. Given Hamas’s coup in Gaza and Hezbollah’s massive and continuing re-armament, along with their ongoing history of every-day violence, meeting this requirement seems even less likely. Despite the obvious reluctance of these terrorist groups to repent of their violent ways, the Foreign Affairs Committee suggests that London enter talks in an effort to try to coerce these terrorist organizations into recognizing Israel, and try to exclude the militant wings of Hamas and Hezbollah. The committee reasons that the influence of these groups is so strong that diplomatic silence is no longer a viable option; such groups are the reality of the Middle East. After all, Hamas did win the popular vote in its latest elections, and the report says, “[I]t is important the Palestinian people are not punished for exercising their rights as voters.” The report also mentions the influence of Syria and offers an opinion concerning the war in Iraq: “We conclude that it is too early to provide a definitive assessment of the U.S. ‘surge’ but that it does not look likely to succeed.” Throughout the report, one nation is given special attention: Iran. “We conclude that Iran is rapidly increasing its influence and power across the Middle East. It has demonstrated that it is able to generate or exploit crises in a range of countries, thus furthering its own interests.” The report recognizes that Iran is behind, and profiting from, much of the instability in the Middle East. While this report is merely a 200-plus-page suggestion for British policy and not an imperative, it is still a product of the dangerous thinking pervading many British leaders. That these politicians want to conduct direct talks with unrepentant terrorist groups reveals just how much ground the West has lost already. The Foreign Affairs Committee’s willingness to accept Hamas, Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood reveals the weakness of Britain and the real strength of these terrorist organizations. How long before Western nations realize that engaging terrorists with direct talks is not the solution to the crisis hitting the Middle East? ************************************************************************************ Architectural Failure by Patrick J. Buchanan Posted: 08/15/2007 If one had to sum up the legacy of Karl Rove as political adviser to the 43rd president, it could probably be done in four words: tactical brilliance, strategic blindness. Though George Bush was not given the natural gifts of a Ronald Reagan, his victories in Texas, followed by successive victories in the presidential contests of 2000 and 2004, put him in the history books alongside Reagan, who won California and the presidency twice. None of Bush's wins were nearly so impressive as the Reagan landslides in the Golden State and the nation. But it is a testament to Rove that he and Bush never lost a statewide or national election in the four they contested from 1994 to 2004. Rove has two Super Bowl rings. How many political advisers can say as much? But if Rove's contribution to the career of George Bush will put him in the Hall of Fame, the Bush-Rove legacy for their party is worse than mixed. Rove wanted to be the architect of a new Republican majority. Instead, he and Bush presided over the loss of the Reagan Democrats and both houses of Congress. The house Nixon and Reagan built, Bush and Rove tore down, leaving rubble in its place. Rove's failure was a failure of vision. He and Bush believed the future of the party lay in adding to the Republican base the Hispanic vote, now the nation's largest minority, approaching 15 percent of the population. They went about it the wrong way. Pandering to that voting bloc, Bush stopped enforcing the immigration laws and offered amnesty to 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens and the businesses that hired them. Bush and Rove were going to lure the Hispanic vote away from the Democratic Party by putting illegals on a path to citizenship. But as we saw in June, when the nation rose up in rage against the Bush amnesty, the pair did indeed unite the GOP -- against themselves, and they severed themselves from the Reagan Democrats and the country. It was cynical politics, and it backfired, crippling the presidential candidacy of John McCain in the process. But even before the disastrous immigration reform bill, Bush had become a zealot of NAFTA, GATT and most-favored-nation status for China. These have left his country with the worst trade deficits in history, put the United States $2 trillion in debt to Beijing and Tokyo, cost Middle America 3 million manufacturing jobs and arrested the income rise of the middle class, as our capitalist pigs and hedge-fund hogs have happily gorged themselves at the capital gains tax trough. Bush's original idea of "compassionate conservatism" was a fine one. But under him and Rove, compassionate conservative turned out to be code for a cocktail of Great Society Liberalism and Big Government Conservatism. How could professed admirers of Ronald Reagan think that by doubling the budget of the Department of Education the tests scores of school kids would inexorably rise? Even earlier in the Bush years, the president, after the trauma of 9-11, had a Damascene conversion to neoconservatism, a neo-Wilsonian ideology and secular religion. Among its tenets: that we are a providential nation whose mission on earth is to liberate mankind and democratize the planet; that we are in a world-historic struggle between good and evil; that our triumph is to be accomplished by the robust use of American military power -- beginning with the benighted nations of the Islamic Middle East that represent an existential threat to America, democracy and Israel. Sometime between Sept. 11 and his axis-of-evil address, Bush sat down and ate of the forbidden fruit of messianic globaloney. Consuming it, he got up and committed the greatest strategic blunder in American history by ordering the invasion of a country that had not attacked us, did not threaten us and did not want war with us. The Bush-Rove rationale: For our survival, we had to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction that we now know it did not have. The great political architects of the 20th century are FDR and Richard Nixon. After the three Republican landslides of the 1920s, FDR put together a New Deal coalition that controlled the White House for 36 years, with the exception of two terms for Gen. Eisenhower. After the rout of the Republicans in 1964, Nixon pulled together a New Majority that held the White House for 20 of 24 years, racking up two 49-state landslides for Nixon and Reagan, even as FDR had won 46 states in 1936. In his re-election bid, Bush won 31 states. In seeking a new GOP majority, Bush and Rove rejected the Nixon-Reagan model. Instead, they embraced the interventionism of Wilson, the free-trade globalism of FDR, the open-borders immigration ideas of LBJ and the budget priorities of the Great Society. It was a bridge too far for the party base. Now, Rove walks away like some subprime borrower abandoning the house on which he can no longer make the payments. The Republican Party needs a new architect. The firm of Bush & Rove was not up to the job. ************************************************************************************ Netanyahu wins landslide victory in Likud primaries By Israel Insider staff August 15, 2007 Bookmark to del.icio.usDigg This Story In yesterday's Likud primary elections, party chairman Benjamin Netanyahu won a landslide victory of 73.2 percent. Moshe Feiglin, a candidate who ran with a religious platform, garnered 23.4 percent, and Danny Danon trailed behind with just 3.4 percent. "We ended the small battle, and now we are starting the big war," a Netanyahu associate said. "Tomorrow we start working to topple the government and return to power." A central focus of Netanyahu's campaign was retaining Likud's moderate right-wing reputation, and preventing Feiglin from introducing "extremist" programs into the party's agenda, according to Haaretz. Feiglin is known for supporting the prohibition of Arabs in the Knesset, promoting the emigration of non-Jews from Israel and pulling Israel out of the United Nations. "Likud as a democratic movement has to find ways to protect itself," a source close to Netanyahu said. "There is no choice but to find ways to stop the phenomenon. There is a problematic situation here. A group that is not an integral part of Likud is trying to dictate its agenda. There are communities that do not have even one Likud voter but have dozens or hundreds of Likud members," Netanyahu continued. Feiglin, who calls for making religion an integral part of Israeli life, remained optimistic despite his loss. "Jewish Leadership should be placed at the head of the nationalist camp and that begins today," he told reporters, adding that "even if it doesn't happen this time, there will be other campaigns." The electoral victor is now getting ready for the race to win the premiership. He is calling on Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to call for early elections after the final Winograd report, as promised. "The Likud's journey back to the Prime Minister's Office has begun," Netanyahu said at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds, where he later delivered a victory speech after press time.

WHY HAVEN'T WE WON A MAJOR WAR SINCE 1945

« U.S. Border Patrol agent keeps watch on the Rio Grande. (Getty Images)

Terrorists Pose as Immigrants

Monday, August 13, 2007

Islamic extremists fluent in Spanish are entering the United States posing as Hispanic nationals, according to a Drug Enforcement Administration (dea) report. Mexican drug cartels have formed partnerships with terror networks, multiplying the danger posed by illegal immigration. The report says it is “very likely that any future ‘September 11’ type of terrorist event in the United States may be facilitated, wittingly or unwittingly, by drug traffickers operating on both sides of the United States-Mexico border.” The report also warns that “the dea runs the risk of failing to detect or report the entry of terrorists, weapons of mass destruction or portable conventional weapons into the Unites States,” according to the Washington Times. A law enforcement report from El Paso, Tex., said there are “approximately 20 Arab persons a week utilizing the Travis County Court in Austin to change their names and driver’s licenses from Arabic to Hispanic surnames.” The Washington Times also obtained a Department of Homeland Security intelligence report that shows “nearly every part of the Border Patrol’s national strategy is failing.” Al Qaeda is actively trying to smuggle its operatives into the U.S. through the porous Mexican border, the report added. The writing has been on the wall for some time: In 2005, reports warned that illegal immigrants were working in sensitive areas including nuclear facilities, and there has been a well-documented increase in violent Mexican gang activity in the United States. Last year, theTrumpet.com showed there are many routes available to terrorists who wish to enter the U.S. As the United States fails to win the war on drugs, falls back in the war on terror, and allows the severity of the illegal immigration problem to mushroom, it becomes clear that the curses outlined in Deuteronomy 28:15-68—particularly that of strangers rising up and overwhelming the people—is already in the process of being fulfilled. For more information, read “The High Cost of Immigration.” ************************************************************************************ « Britain's Secret Intelligence Service homepage. Junior British officers must step into positions they're not qualified to fulfill because of vacating senior officers. (Getty Images) Officers Quitting British Intelligence Tuesday, August 14, 2007 Britain’s Intelligence Corps has lost one fifth of its officers in the past three years. A large number of upper-level staff members has exited the service in favor of more lucrative positions in the private sector. The Ministry of Defense said it was facing challenges in its military intelligence staffing. This is a troubling development, since the apparent threat of more terrorist attacks looms ever larger. The Daily Mail reported that senior officers within the intelligence service were worried that the loss of so many officers is putting under-trained and under-experienced people in jobs for which they are not qualified. “To sustain what the Intelligence Corps is doing, losing 20 percent of officers is pretty hard,” a Daily Mail source said. “To some extent they can no longer fill posts that they wish to because they just don’t have enough people; they have to give the jobs to non-specialists.” A defense spokesman told the Daily Telegraph, “We face challenges in recruiting and retention in specific areas in all the services, not just the army and not just the Intelligence Corps. We are trying hard to resolve them.” “There are circumstances where some officers may substitute for senior officers,” the spokesman admitted. “This is done on a case by case basis.” Threats to Britain are tracking through the middle of a steeply climbing curve. Presently, Islamic terrorism, which has already blasted London, appears to be the biggest threat to the island nation. However, a unified Europe, soon to be a military powerhouse, may soon prove to be an even greater threat. Whether or not the intelligence service itself is the lynchpin of British defense, a severely understaffed Intelligence Corps and army make the nation much less able to defend itself when the attack comes. For a panoramic view of the threats facing Britain and an international forecast for the immediate future, read The United States and Britain in Prophecy.