News items that look towards Ezekiel 38 & 39

[Shammu]

Obama Favors Saudi Initiative, Dividing Jerusalem
 
by Maayana Miskin

(IsraelNN.com) United States President-Elect Barack Obama will support the Saudi Initiative for peace between Israel and Arab nations, the British Sunday Times reported Sunday. Obama told Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, “The Israelis would be crazy not to accept this initiative,” according to the Times.

The initiative calls on Israel to withdraw completely to its 1949 borders in exchange for normalized relations with Arab League countries. It includes a full retreat from the eastern half of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, and from the strategic Golan Heights in northern Israel.

The Saudi Plan has won limited support from President Shimon Peres, who says it could be used to launch negotiations. Other senior politicians and defense officials have dismissed the plan, saying it wold compromise Israel's security.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, the heads of the Kadima and Labor parties, have not ruled out the Saudi Initiative completely. However, neither has expressed willingness to give away the Temple Mount or major Israeli population centers located east of Israel's 1949 borders. Approximately 600,000 Israeli citizens live in the areas, including eastern neighborhoods of Jerusalem, demanded for the PA under the Saudi plan.

The plan also calls on Israel to find a solution for the plight of millions of foreign Arabs who claim descent from those who fled Israel during the War of Independence. They are considered refugees by Arab governments and continually have been denied citizenship in their countries of birth.

While proponents of the plan have welcomed the plan as a chance to deal with the refugees without granting them Israeli citizenship, some Arab leaders have warned that any alternative to allowing the millions to “return” to Israel is unacceptable. PA-based terrorist groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad are among those who insist that every Arab who identifies as a descendant of a former resident of Israel be allowed to live in Israel.

Abbas: Retreat or War
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas addressed a letter to PA Arabs on Saturday saying Israel must retreat to its 1949 borders or face war. “The passage of years... will not force us to abandon or surrender a single inch,” of Judea, Samaria or Jerusalem, Abbas said in the letter, which was published by PA media.

The letter was sent in honor of PA “Independence Day.” While the PA does not rule an independent country, it celebrates “independence” each year in honor of the PA having declared itself an independent entity 20 years ago.

Obama Favors Saudi Initiative, Dividing Jerusalem

[Shammu]

I can hear Obama now, but it's the fair thing to do, he doesn't have a clue. I'm afraid that we are going to see that Obama really doesn't care about Israel. With friends like Barakkkkkkk Israel sure doesn't need any enemies.

[Shammu]

 Greens in Germany pick son of Turks as leader
By Judy Dempsey
Sunday, November 16, 2008

BERLIN: The Green party, one of Germany's main political parties, has elected the son of Turkish immigrants to its top political post, the first time any party here has chosen a leader with an immigrant background.

The election Saturday of Cem Ozdemir, 42, born in southern Germany of parents who had come from Turkey to work as "Gastarbeiter," or guest workers, during the 1960s, marks a major turning point not only for the opposition Greens, but also for the country as a whole.

Even though more than 2.6 million Turks live in Germany, accounting for 3 percent of the population, few have managed to make it to the higher ranks of the professions, including politics and the civil service.

But with a conservative party that had chosen Angela Merkel to run as chancellor in 2005 - a successful gambit - and now an ethnic Turk at the helm of an influential party, it appears that German society is slowly breaking with the past, when women were inconspicuous in public and immigrants' voices were seldom heard.

Ozdemir, a social scientist who studied at the Lutheran College for Social Sciences in Reutlingen in the state of Baden-Württemberg, was elected as a Greens legislator to the lower house of Parliament, the Bundestag, in 1994, the first time anyone with a Turkish background had won such a mandate. He moved to the European Parliament in 2004 after he was forced to give up his parliamentary seat for using his publicly paid airline miles for private use.

With his comeback to domestic politics over the weekend, Ozdemir - who is married, has one child and speaks German with a slight southwestern accent - joins a handful of ethnic Turks in the Greens, the Social Democrats and the new populist Left Party who want to make the parties more representative of the ethnic composition of the German population.

"I want a society where everyone has an equal chance, regardless of where they come from," Ozdemir said in his acceptance speech at the Greens' congress in the central city of Erfurt. He won 79.2 percent of the votes and joined Claudia Roth as the co-leader of the Greens.

It is estimated that 660,000 Turks have taken up German citizenship since 1972, giving them a significant influence. According to the main political parties, more than half a million Turks were eligible to vote in the 2005 election; 75 percent voted for the Social Democrats, 9.2 percent for the Greens and less than 5 percent for the Merkel's Christian Democrats.

With new leaders in place, the Greens are now turning their attention to federal elections next September. Some observers are asking whether the Greens, along with the pro-business Free Democrats, might win enough votes to become junior partners for Merkel's conservative bloc.

Such an idea was treated with ridicule until recently. But in February, the Christian Democrats chose to share power with the Greens in the port city of Hamburg. So far, the coalition, the first of its kind on the state level, has been working effectively, serving as a litmus test for other states.

Ralf Fücks, director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, which is affiliated with the Green party, said, "In some ways we have more in common with the conservatives when it comes to human rights and values, which Merkel has paid particular attention to."

The Greens and the conservatives also support economic reform, and Merkel has made environmental issues a central theme of her party. But the sticking point for any cooperation, as Fücks acknowledged, is nuclear power. The Greens have always opposed atomic energy, while Merkel has promised to let nuclear power plants continue to run if she is re-elected next year. The conservatives are also against Turkey's joining the European Union, while the Greens favor such a move.

Traditionally, the Greens have been allies of the Social Democrats. The party had been the junior partner in the former coalition led by the Social Democratic chancellor Gerhard Schröder, which lasted from 1998 to 2005. That coalition was defeated by Merkel's conservative bloc, which was forced to band together with the Social Democrats because neither of the big parties was strong enough to establish a coalition with its preferred smaller partners.

Since late 2005, the discipline that characterized the Greens in government has given way to the old divisions between the "fundamentalists" who have opposed German soldiers serving abroad, for example, and the pragmatists, or "Realos," who favor Germany's playing a much greater role, even militarily, in international affairs, economic reform and pushing the environmental agenda.

Under the leadership of Joschka Fischer, who was foreign minister in Schröder's government, the pacifist and fundamentalist wing of the Greens was marginalized as Fischer pushed the party into accepting the NATO bombing of Serbian targets to stop the ethnic cleansing by Serbian security forces of the Albanians in Kosovo.

Greens in Germany pick son of Turks as leader

[Shammu]

Iran, Syria tauten grip on Lebanon, Tehran woos Christian president

November 18, 2008

Tehran and Damascus are going all out to get their hooks into Lebanon’s Christian politicians and wean them away from their’ traditional ties with the West. President Michel Suleiman this week accepted an Iranian invitation to visit Tehran this month, while another Lebanese Christian leader, Hizballah’s ally Gen. Michel Aoun, arranged to visit Damascus.

Middle East sources report that the Iranians are forging ahead with a campaign to bind the region’s Christian minorities to their Shiite wagon for challenging Sunni domination. Their first quarry is Lebanon’s powerful community.

Arrangements were finalized Monday with the Iranian ambassador in Beirut Reza Shibani for president Suleiman to spend two days in Tehran on Nov. 24-25. Aoun will visit Damascus at the same time. Their country is meanwhile encircled by Syrian military forces, a factual pointer to Bashar Assad’s real intentions regarding peace.

Although these developments bode ill for Israel too, they was left out of the sweeping 2009 prognosis which the Israeli Military Intelligence chief Maj. Amos Yadlin delivered in Tel Aviv Monday, Nov. 17. Neither did he look ahead to the likelihood that Iran would be able to assemble a nuclear weapon next year, notwithstanding more than a decade of international diplomacy and sanctions.

Senior Israeli intelligence circles commented that the evaluations heard from Yadlin Monday were less attuned to reality than to the estimated positions of the incoming US president Barack Obama’s Middle East team and Olmert-Livni policies. Like them, he omitted to address the agendas which Tehran and Damascus are actively pursuing.

Tehran launched its pursuit of Christian minorities by inviting the Lebanese Maronite leader Aoun to Tehran on Oct. 13, through Hizballah’s good offices.

The gambit worked: The Lebanese leader returned home proclaiming Iran the strongest world power between the Persian Gulf and China and predicting that his trip would bear fruit in six months. In the first week of November, Tehran heaped full honors on the Lebanon’s ex-president, the pro-Syrian Christian Emil Lahoud, when he arrived with a 60-man retinue.

Michel Sleiman can expect no less.

The assumption in Israeli ruling circles that Syria as peace partner will deliver a “Lebanese dowry” is therefore fallacious. Assad plans to squeeze whatever he can from Israel and the new US administration in the coin of territory and backing for his regime, while not giving up an iota of his schemes with Tehran. For now, no one is paying attention to the Syrian-Iranian jaws snapping shut on Lebanon.

[Shammu]

Turkey to invest $12 billion in Iran
20 Nov 2008

TEHRAN: Turkey will invest $12 billion in Iran's Pars offshore gas field, said Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi
Guler.

"Turkey will invest $12 billion on developing phases of South Pars offshore gas field in southern Iran and construction of gas pipeline from Assalouyeh to Turkish border," Hilmi Guler said yesterday.

Referring to the agreement signed by Iran's Oil Minister Gholam Hussein Nozari and Guler in Tehran, Guler termed the agreement as vital.

"We will implement all bilaterally inked agreement," the Turkish minister said.

Iran and Turkey inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) according to which Turkey will invest in developing phases 22, 23 and 24 of Iran's South Pars gas field and will buy 50 per cent of its produced gas when the project is completed.

As per the MoU, Turkmenistan's gas will be transferred from Iran to Turkey and Iran will pipe its gas to Europe through Turkey.

Iran will transfer 35 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas to Turkey annually.

Turkey to invest $12 billion in Iran
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The links to Gog, Magog strengthen everyday.

[Shammu]

Russian defense minister visits Turkey
18/ 11/ 2008
   
ANKARA, November 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov arrived in Turkey on Tuesday on a two-day official visit.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Serdyukov will discuss with his Turkish counterpart, Vecdi Gonul, issues of bilateral military-technical cooperation, joint efforts to fight terrorism, stability in the Black Sea region, and European security.

Russia established military-technical ties with Turkey, which has the second largest army among NATO members, in 1992.

In 2001, Russia and Turkey set up a joint commission on military-technical cooperation.

Russia's navy regularly participates in the Turkey-led counterterrorist operation Black Sea Harmony in the Black Sea.

Turkey is currently negotiating a $1-billion deal with four countries - Russia, the United States, China and Israel - to buy eight advanced missile defense systems.

Russian defense minister visits Turkey

[Shammu]

Russia, Turkey talk air defense system
Wed, 19 Nov 2008

Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has held talks with his Turkish counterpart over the missile defense system Ankara plans to install.

Serdyukov submitted Russia's proposal on the air defense systems to Turkish Defense Minister, Vecdi Gonul in Ankara on Tuesday, Hurriyet reported.

Israel and the United States have already declared their desire to build a one-billion-dollar missile system in Turkey.

Following the meeting Serdyukov, once again, reiterated Moscow's opposition to a US plan to deploy 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic as part of a proposed missile defense shield.

Washington says the plan is intended to defend US allies against possible attacks from 'rouge states', Russia, however, sees the project as a threat to its security.

"Efforts to build air defenses in Poland and in the Czech Republic have awakened concerns and this is causing Russia to take similar initiatives," he told a joint press conference with Gonul in Ankara

Earlier this month, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced plans to deploy missiles near NATO's borders to neutralize the missile shield installations.

However, on Saturday Medvedev said he was ready for compromise and promised to hold off on a possible military response to the project.

Russia, Turkey talk air defense system 
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Tick..... tick........tick...............

[Shammu]

Sudanese-Russian Military Cooperation
November 20 2008

Minister of Defense Lt. Gen. Abdulrahim Mohammed Hussein revealed that the government has opened channels for military cooperation with Russia, indicating that Sudan has reactivated its old military contracts with Russia.

The Defense Minister pointed out that Russia's viewpoint concurs with the government's on Darfur and that Moscow has voiced appreciation of the government's efforts aimed at resolving Darfur problem.

"We understand Russian foreign policy and the measures adopted by Russia for securing its national security. If the United States is talking of its national security and for that purposes moves tens of thousands of kilometers to Afghanistan and Iraq, Russia may as well talk of its national security across its neighbours," Hussein said, adding that Sudanese and Russia foreign policy coincides on several international issues.

Sudanese-Russian Military Cooperation

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Sudan buys Russian MiG fighter jets

November 17, 2008 Moscow | According to AFP and Russian news agencies, Moscow has sold 12 MiG-29 fighter jets to Khartoum, Sudanese Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Mohammed Hussein said.

"The planes have been bought," the defence minister said to reporters confirming the contract for the purchase of the 12 planes. He added that Sudan is very satisfied with its military relations with Russia.

The United States criticized the aircraft deal with Sudan on Friday: "Sudan is a poor country and to go out and buy MiGs, obviously that's something we don't think is a positive step," U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood told reporters.

Sudan buys Russian MiG fighter jets

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Turkey's geopolitical importance to increase: NIC report
Friday, 21 November 2008 10:39

The National Intelligence Council of US has predicted that Turkey could take on expanded roles in the new international order in 2025 with its economic growth.

The National Intelligence Council (NIC) of the United States has predicted that Turkey could take on expanded roles in the new international order in 2025 with its economic growth, lively middle-class and geo-strategical position.

The Council released "Global Trends 2025", the fourth unclassified report prepared by the NIC in recent years that takes a long-term view of the future. The report offers a fresh look at how key global trends might develop over the next 15 years to influence world events.

According to the report, Turkey is among the countries whose geopolitical importance would increase in the next decade.

It reads that Muslim states outside the Arab core - Turkey, Indonesia, Iran - could take on expanded roles in the new international order.

The report forecasts that the EU would be able to ensure political stability and democratization in the continent by admitting Balkan countries as new members and even including Ukraine and Turkey.

According to the report, the United States global impact would decline while the People's republic of China and India would further strengthen.

Turkey's geopolitical importance to increase: NIC report

[Shammu]

Iran, Lebanon sign 5-year security pact
Nov. 27, 2008
THE JERUSALEM POST

Iran and Lebanon have signed a security agreement, according to which Iran will supply the Lebanese army with weapons and equipment over the next five years, the London-based daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat reported.

The agreement between the two nations was signed during Lebanese President Michel Suleiman's two-day visit to Teheran, which ended on Tuesday. The visit focused on security and defense cooperation, as well as on regional and international matters of mutual concern, an Iranian source revealed to the paper.

"Iran announced its readiness to supply Lebanon with defensive weapons, to be agreed upon in the framework of a defensive strategic system the Lebanese will formulate," a Lebanese source said.

The two sides agreed to conduct ministerial visits to Teheran and Beirut in the near future. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also promised to visit Beirut soon, added the Lebanese source.

During his visit, Suleiman was accompanied by the ministers of foreign affairs, interior, labor, economy and trade, industry, and expatriates. Each of the ministers met with his Iranian counterpart to discuss mutual interests.

By supplying the Lebanese army with weapons, Iran will thus be responsible for arming Lebanon's two major armed forces: the national army, and Hizbullah, The Media Line's analysts indicate.

Since the summer war of 2006 between Israel and Hizbullah, the Lebanese Islamic resistance movement has tripled its force, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said earlier this week.

Hizbullah now holds 42,000 missiles and rockets, which it received from Iran, some of which can reach Israel's nuclear reactor in Dimona, almost 300 kilometers south of the Israeli-Lebanese border, Barak said.

Iran, Lebanon sign 5-year security pact

[Shammu]

Libya-Russia joint venture to build power plant in Ghana

14 December 2008 - Ghana is to benefit from a Russia-Libya joint venture project to build power plants, Russia's state-owned Technopromexport has announced in Moscow.

The Russian power plant builder and Libya's African Investment Portfolio have teamed up to form Laptechno-Power, which will build and operate power facilities in Ghana, Libya, Uganda, Algeria, Egypt, Yemen and Namibia, Technopromexport said in a statement.

Construction of the facilities will be financed by Libya African Investment Portfolio, which will manage $6.73bn for the projects in total, the company said.

"Top priority projects for Laptechno-Power will be the construction of a 1250km electric transmission line with a capacity of 400 kW in Libya and a 300 MW hydro power plant on the Blue Nile River in Uganda," a Technopromexport spokesman said.

Technopromexport builds hydroelectric, thermal, geothermal and diesel power plants, and power transmission lines in 50 countries.

Libya-Russia joint venture to build power plant in Ghana
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Russia is building an alliance of countries, and it can't be for anything good except for the Russians. I believe, they think they can rule the world. Although the Bible tells us differently.

[Shammu]

Iran hails Russia military aid to Lebanon
Fri, 19 Dec 2008 08:24:55 GMT

A senior Iranian diplomat welcomes a Russian military aid to Lebanon, saying Tehran favors a strong Lebanese army which can counter Israeli threats.

Russia said on Wednesday that it will donate 10 used MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter planes to Lebanon.

The head of the Russian federal military cooperation service, Mikhail Dmitriyev, said also Russia and Lebanon were holding talks on a deal for the Arab country to buy Russian military hardware.

"The Russian move to help strengthen the Lebanese army is in the line with polices of the Islamic Republic of Iran," said Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mohammad Reza Sheibani, after a meeting with Lebanon's Marada Movement leader, Suleiman Franjieh, in Beirut.

During the past decades the tiny country has been an easy target for Israel to flex its muscles in the Middle East -- especially in 1982 and 2006.

Israel attacked Lebanon in summer 2006 in a bid to destroy the Hezbollah movement. The 33-day war left many civilians dead and destroyed Lebanon's infrastructure.

In mid-December, the Israeli daily Jerusalem Post quoted military sources as saying that the Golani Brigade of the Israeli Army had recently concluded a one-week military exercise as preparations for waging a war on both Lebanon and Syria.

According to the report, Israel considers Hezbollah as a partner in the Lebanese government, so for Israel there would be no difference between Hezbollah and other parts of the Lebanese government.

Sheibani also said that Tehran is ready to help Lebanese army based on past agreements.

In October, Lebanese Minister of State Jean Oghassabian told the al-Jadid Arabic-language satellite channel that his country would welcome any Iranian effort to provide the Lebanese army with long-needed military equipment.

"The US has taken no serious action to provide the Lebanese army with its needed equipment; therefore, if Iranians want to do so, we welcome them," he said.

Lebanon's 70,000-strong army is under-armed and overstretched with army officials complaining over the lack of heavy armor, anti-aircraft missiles and the absence of a strong air force.

Iran hails Russia military aid to Lebanon 

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'Russian arms sales could help Iran obliterate Israel'
By The Associated Press
19 Dec 2008

A senior Defense Ministry envoy has urged Russia not to sell Iran advanced anti-aircraft missiles, saying they could help the Islamic Republic destroy Israel, according to a Russian news agency report.

"The deliveries of dangerous armaments to our enemies won't serve the interests of peace and, for instance, can help Iran wipe Israel off the face of earth," the Interfax news agency quoted envoy Amos Gilad was quoted as saying.

Gilad also reportedly said Israel believes Russia will respect his country's interests. "So we expect Russia to demonstrate responsibility on the issue."

The official, who was visiting Moscow, was responding to a question about possible deliveries of Russian S-300 air defense missiles to Iran.

Some Russian media have claimed that a deal has already been struck to sell the missiles, but Russian officials have denied it.

Russia has previously sold Tor-M1 air-defense missiles and other weapons to Iran in deals criticized by the U.S. and Israel. The long-range S-300 is a much more advanced weapon that would make any potential Israeli strike at Iran's nuclear facilities more difficult.

Israel, the United States and much of the international community believe that Iran is secretly developing nuclear weapons, but Iran insists its uranium enrichment program is intended solely for civilian energy needs.

Russia has maintained close ties with Iran and is building the Islamic republic's first nuclear power plant, which is expected to go on line next year. Russia has backed limited United Nations sanctions against Iran, but has staunchly resisted the U.S. push for harsher measures.

According to Interfax, Gilad denied allegations that Russia and Israel had struck a secret deal under which Israel would abstain from selling weapons to Georgia and Russia wouldn't sell weapons to Iran.

He added, however, that Israel would take Russia's interests into account. "And we expect a similar approach from Russia," he was quoted as saying.

In recent months, Israel has done its best to make Russia happy. It has distanced itself from Georgia, announcing even before Georgia's August war with Russia that it was cutting weapons sales to Tbilisi. Israel later further restricted defense contacts and even instructed defense consultants not to visit the Caucasus nation.

Russia's top military officer said this week that Moscow is negotiating with Israel to buy a batch of spy drones in what would be its first ever purchase of military hardware from Israel.

'Russian arms sales could help Iran obliterate Israel'

[Shammu]

Russia supplying Iran with missiles capable of repelling Israeli air strike
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent and News Agencies
21/12/2008

Russia made its initial commitment regarding this matter to Israel during Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's October visit.

But Russia's RIA news agency last week quoted "confidential sources" as saying that Russia was fulfilling terms of an S-300 contract with Iran, and the official news agency of Iran, IRNA, reported on Sunday that Russia was supplying it with the missiles.

If this is the case, and the missiles are used to defend Iran's nuclear facilities, attacking them would be made more difficult.

"After a few years of talks with Russia ... the S-300 system is now being delivered to Iran," IRNA quoted Email Kosari, deputy head of parliament's Foreign Affairs and National Security Committee, as saying. "The delivery of this system is a display of good relations between Iran and Russia, which cannot be harmed by Israel," Kosari apparently said, adding the S-300 system would be used to defend Iran's borders.

The S-300 missile system is considered one of the most sophisticated anti-aircraft systems in the world. It includes a mobile missile launcher that fires at a rate of one missile every three to five seconds. The missiles can hit aircraft at a maximum height of about 30 kilometers, and at a distance of 150 kilometers.

Russia supplying Iran with missiles capable of repelling Israeli air strike