News, Prophecy and other

[Shammu]

IRAN ACQUIRES RUSSIAN FIGHTERS

MOSCOW [MENL] -- Iran has quietly acquired three fighter-jets from Russia.

Russian industry sources said Teheran has procured three Su-25UBT twin-seat attack aircraft from Moscow. The sources said the contract was concluded in 2005 and deliveries would take place in 2006.

The deal marked the first Iranian purchase of the Su-25. In 2001, Iran negotiated with Georgia for surplus MiG-25s, but the two countries failed to reach agreement.

The sources said the Su-25UBT marked the most advanced model of the attack aircraft. They said the fighters received new electronic warfare and jamming systems.

IRAN ACQUIRES RUSSIAN FIGHTERS

My note; You know, thinking about the kings of the east. The islamic nations can put together almost 2 million soldiers.

[Shammu]

In praise of Darwin this Sunday … in hundreds of churches!

by Ken Ham and Mark Looy, AiG–USA

February 6, 2006

This Sunday, over 400 congregations in 49 states in the USA will participate in what could be called a “Darwin praise service.” They will be celebrating (yes, that’s the word that could be used for many of the churches1) the 197th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. It’s called “Evolution Sunday.”

How did “Evolution Sunday” come about?

Two years ago, Prof. Michael Zimmerman at the University of Wisconsin (its Oshkosh campus)—and also its dean of the College of Letters and Sciences—began what became known as “The Clergy Letter Project.”

Using the university’s website, Zimmerman encouraged clergy across America to sign a letter that supports evolution and rejects the Genesis account of creation as literal history. As we posted this, over 10,200 clergy had signed this awful letter.

The next step for Zimmerman (again, using the university’s website) was to solicit donations so that funds could be obtained to publicize this clergy letter and to gain exposure across the nation. He set up an arrangement with an organization called The Christian Alliance for Progress (CAP) to accept tax-deductible donations for his national project. What does CAP believe?

Regarding homosexuality, CAP states (under the heading “Rejecting bigotry, embracing dignity—equality for homosexual people”) that “Jesus taught equality, justice and obligation. We accept Jesus’ call to love one another and to welcome all God’s children at the table.”

In regard to child bearing/abortion, CAP declares: “We support responsible compassionate programs that are genuinely effective in helping prevent unintended pregnancy. An outcome no woman wants. We affirm that each woman’s body belongs to herself. No woman should be forced either to bear a child or to terminate a pregnancy.”

The next stage in Zimmerman’s plan (again, using his school’s website to push his evolutionary, religious agenda) was to promote a special “Evolution Sunday.”

Under the heading of “The Clergy Letter Project Presents Evolution Sunday” on his webpage, Zimmerman explained that:

    On 12 February 2006 hundreds of Christian churches from all portions of the country and a host of denominations will come together to discuss the compatibility of religion and science. For far too long, strident voices, in the name of Christianity, have been claiming that people must choose between religion and modern science. More than 10,000 Christian clergy have already signed The Clergy Letter demonstrating that this is a false dichotomy. Now, on the 197th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, many of these leaders will bring this message to their congregations through sermons and/or discussion groups. Together, participating religious leaders will be making the statement that religion and science are not adversaries. And, together, they will be elevating the quality of the national debate on this topic.

Thousands of pastors have now made a public statement to say that what they call “faith” and what they deem “science” (by which they mean “evolution”) are compatible!

The irony is that as this “Evolution Sunday” program was being ramped up, the world’s leading evolutionist, atheist Dr. Richard Dawkins from Oxford University, hosted a television program broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK (and to eventually air around the world) that stated the very opposite message!

Dawkins (visibly angry at the Christian faith throughout his two-hour TV diatribe) stated: “People like to say that faith and science can live together side by side, but I don’t think they can. They’re deeply opposed. Science is a discipline of investigation and constructive doubt, questing with logic, evidence and reason to draw conclusions. Faith, by stark contrast, demands a positive suspension of critical faculties.”

Dawkins added, “Charles Darwin hit upon a truly brilliant idea that elegantly explains all of life on earth without any need to invoke the supernatural or the divine.”

Do you see the irony? The clergy supporting evolution, but the evolutionary, secular humanist insisting such a position is untenable. Dawkins has stated that evolution led him to his atheism.

But ... Dawkins is right this time—evolution and Christianity are incompatible.

In the TV program, Dawkins often attacked Bible-believing Christians with strident comments, such as: “Fundamentalist American Christianity is attacking science. But what is it offering instead? A mirror image of Islamic extremism. An American Taliban.” The next scene showed the burning towers of the World Trade Center in New York City on 9/11.

Dawkins likened Christians to terrorists!

He also stated:

    To understand the likes of Osama Bin Ladin, you have to realize that the religious terrorism they inspire is the logical outcome of deeply held faith.

    Even so-called “moderate” believers are part of the same religious fabric. They encourage unreason as a positive virtue. [Later he disdainfully calls them “fence-sitters.”]

    What’s really scary is that religious warriors think of what they are doing as the ultimate good. Those of us brought up in Christianity can soon get the message: “Onward Christian Soldiers,” “Fight the Good Fight,” “Stand up, Stand up for Jesus ye soldiers of the Cross.”

    But as far as I’m concerned, the war between good and evil is really just the war between two evils.

So, Christians are equated with Bin Laden and his terrorists!

At the same time, atheists like Dawkins (who continually have Channel 4 and the BBC at their disposal to influence millions of viewers) take glee when they see the clergy supporting evolution. Even though Dawkins unflatteringly calls them “fence-sitters,” he sees their compromise as a step towards atheism, for he expects that the next generation in the church will probably see the inconsistency of the clergy’s beliefs—and they will soon give up the Bible altogether.

Thankfully, even though thousands of clergy have compromised, there are thousands who have “not bowed the knee to Baal.” We are finding more and more pastors who are standing up for the authority of the Word, including those whom the Lord has prompted to use creation resources to equip the church to defend the Christian faith against the onslaughts of evolutionary humanism.

AiG is working on special materials and outreaches so that in the near future, we can begin promoting a “Creation Sunday” … or perhaps even a “Creation Week.” This would be a time when Christian leaders and others will have the opportunity to take a public statement that they are standing on God’s infallible Word!

“Evolution Sunday” will attack God’s Word this weekend. Sadly, it may lead many more people to hopelessness and despair. But a “Creation Sunday” (or whatever we decide to call it) will one day make a statement of hope to a dying world—the same message that AiG proclaims through its resources, conferences, this website and the future Creation Museum!

The war between Christianity and secular humanism is really heating up now. Dawkins and other prominent evolutionists are using the airwaves time and time again to aggressively attack Bible-believing Christians. Christians need to communicate a positive message to the world that the Bible is true from the very first verse.
In praise of Darwin this Sunday … in hundreds of churches!

[Shammu]

Russian Ultranationalist Leader Expects U.S. to Attack Iran in Late March

Created: 07.02.2006 10:54 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 12:34 MSK, 8 hours 24 minutes ago

MosNews

A senior Russian parliamentary official and leader of the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Vladimir Zhirinovsky believes that a U.S. attack on Iran is inevitable, he has told Ekho Moskvy radio station.

“The war is inevitable because the Americans want this war,” he said. “Any country claiming a leading position in the world will need to wage wars. Otherwise it will simply not be able to retain its leading position. The date for the strike is already known — it is the election day in Israel (March 28). It is also known how much that war will cost,” Zhirinovsky said.

He went on to add that the publication of Prophet Muhammad cartoons in the European press was a planned action by the U.S. whose aim is “to provoke a row between Europe and the Islamic world”. “It will all end with European countries thanking the United States and paying, and giving soldiers,” he said. Russia should “choose a position of non-interference and express minimal solidarity with the Islamic world”, Zhirinovsky added.

For his part, the head of the Centre for Strategic Studies of Religions and Modern World Politics, Maxim Shevchenko, also believes that a U.S. attack on Iran is very likely although he sees no preconditions for this war. “Iran does not threaten anyone, is not pointing its missiles at anyone. No Iranian leader has ever threatened to carry out a strike against the U.S. Therefore preparations for a war against Iran appear to be a global act of provocation,” he said.

In Shevchenko’s opinion, the reason behind “this barefaced promotion of a world war lies not in a conflict between the West and the Islamic World but in a fight for power in the world between US and European elites”. “The fate of humanity will be decided between a saber-rattling America and an allegedly democratic Europe,” Shevchenko concluded.

Whereas a senior research associate of the World Economy and International Relations Institute, Georgy Mirsky, is confident that “there will be no war”.

“The Americans got so very much stuck in Afghanistan and Iraq that they will not start a new war without definite proof of the fact that Iran poses a threat to the world. Besides, the U.S. has mid-term elections this year and the Republicans, who have suffered a severe blow to their trust, will not be able to win these elections if they drag the country into a new hazardous escapade.

”As for Israel, it can carry out a strike against Iran but only when it knows for certain that only one step remains before an Iranian atomic bomb is created. But that time has not come yet,“ Mirsky said.

Russian Ultranationalist Leader Expects U.S. to Attack Iran in Late March

[Soldier4Christ]

Christians need to communicate a positive message to the world that the Bible is true from the very first verse.

Brother this is definitely a falling away from God's word. I say Amen to the statement I put in quotes here. It is past time that people wake up to the word of God instead of being blinded to it.

[Shammu]

Cartoon Protesters Direct Anger at U.S.

By NOOR KHAN, Associated Press Writer
42 minutes ago

QALAT, Afghanistan - Police killed four people Wednesday as Afghans enraged over drawings of the Prophet Muhammad marched on a U.S. military base in a volatile southern province, directing their anger not against Europe but America.

The U.S. base was targeted because the United States "is the leader of Europe and the leading infidel in the world," said Sher Mohammed, a 40-year-old farmer who suffered a gunshot wound while taking part in the demonstration in the city of Qalat.

"They are all the enemy of Islam. They are occupiers in our country and must be driven out," Mohammed said.

Wednesday's violence began when hundreds of protesters tried to storm the U.S. base, said Ghulam Nabi Malakhail, a provincial police chief. When warning shots failed to deter them, police shot into the crowd, killing four and wounding 11, he said.

Flying rocks injured eight police and one Afghan soldier, he said.

Two Pakistanis arrested for allegedly firing at police were being questioned to see whether they were linked to al-Qaida, Malakhail said. Some officials accuse al-Qaida of inciting three days of bloody riots across
Afghanistan that have left 11 dead.

Protesters also burned three fuel tankers waiting to deliver gasoline to the base, said Malakhail. He said U.S. troops fired warning shots into the air.

U.S. military spokesman Col. James Yonts said the American forces fired flares above the crowd, but he said it was not clear whether they fired their weapons.

Muslims around the world have demonstrated over the images — including one depicting the prophet wearing a turban shaped as a bomb — printed in Western media. Islam is interpreted to forbid any illustrations of the prophet.

In Baghdad, Iraq's top Shiite political leader criticized attacks on foreign embassies by Muslims.

"We value and appreciate peaceful Islamic protests," said Abdul Aziz al-Hakim. "But we are against the idea of attacking embassies and other official sites."

In the West Bank, about 300 Palestinians overpowered a Palestinian police detail and attacked an international observer mission in the city of Hebron.

Sixty members of the mission were inside, said Gunhild Forselv, spokeswoman for the Temporary International Presence in Hebron. A few protesters forced their way in, where unarmed observers waved clubs in an attempt to drive them off. Police reinforcements eventually restored order.

Muslims also demonstrated in Indian-controlled Kashmir, Bangladesh, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and in Turkey.

In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused Iran and Syria of instigating protests in their countries, and President Bush called upon governments to stop the violence and protect the lives of diplomats overseas.

The United States and other countries were looking into whether extremist groups may be inciting protesters to riot, said Yonts, the U.S. spokesman in Afghanistan.

Iranian vice president Isfandiar Rahim Mashaee rejected Rice's assertion that Iran was inflaming Muslim anger over the cartoons. "That is 100 percent a lie," Mashaee said in Jakarta, Indonesia. "It is without attribution."

Zahor Afghan, editor for Erada, Afghanistan's most respected newspaper, said the riots in his country have surprised him.

"No media in Afghanistan has published or broadcast pictures of these cartoons. The radio has been reporting on it, but there are definitely people using this to incite violence against the presence of foreigners in Afghanistan," he said.

Afghans who rioted Wednesday said they heard about the cartoons on the radio but none questioned had seen printed versions.

"The radio is talking about them all the time. Everybody heard about them this way," said 28-year-old shopkeeper Ramatullah, who uses only name.

Wednesday's riot erupted despite an appeal from Afghanistan's top Islamic organization, the Ulama Council, for an end to the violence.

"Islam says it's all right to demonstrate but not to resort to violence. This must stop," senior cleric Mohammed Usman told The Associated Press. "We condemn the cartoons but this does not justify violence. These rioters are defaming the name of Islam."

In France, President Jacques Chirac asked media to avoid offending religious beliefs as another French newspaper reprinted the caricatures. The satirical French weekly Charlie-Hebdo also printed a new drawing under the headline "Muhammad Overwhelmed by the Fundamentalists" that showed the prophet with his head in his hands, remarking, "It's hard to be loved by idiots."

Cartoon Protesters Direct Anger at U.S.

[Shammu]

Iran will persist in nuclear pursuits, official says
Thu Feb 9, 2006 5:35 AM ET170

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Iran's nuclear programs have peaceful aims and will not be abandoned even under threats of military action, which are no more real than a vampire's teeth, one of the country's vice presidents said on Thursday.

Esfandiar Rahim Mashaee said on a visit to Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, that Iran opposes nuclear weapons and their use.

"On the Iranian nuclear issue, we have always been clear in our action, and in Iran all of its nuclear (programs) have a peaceful mission," he told a news conference after meeting Indonesia's vice president.

Iran has a senior vice president, and a number of other vice presidents who are in charge of individual areas of government. Mashaee oversees cultural heritage and tourism.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, acting at the behest of the European Union and the United States, last week voted to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council. The Western powers fear Iran is developing nuclear weapons.

Indonesia's Vice President Jusuf Kalla called on Thursday for a dialogue to resolve the issue, and noted how other countries in the world such as North Korea have the capability to develop nuclear weapons.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has accused Iran of being the world's leading sponsor of terrorism and Washington has not ruled out military action to dismantle Iran's suspected nuclear arms project.

Mashaee dismissed such talk.

"It's not surprising if Rumsfeld would resort to the threat of military action against Iran, but such a threat is as real as a dracula's sharp teeth," he said.

Iran will persist in nuclear pursuits, official says

[Shammu]

Russian Military, German Businessmen Aid Iran Arms Program — Report

Created: 09.02.2006 11:18 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 12:19 MSK, 10 hours 1 minute ago

MosNews

Two German businessmen, a former Russian military officer and North Korea are among those helping Iran develop missiles that the West fears could one day carry nuclear warheads, diplomats and intelligence officials say, the Reuters news agency reports.

Last month German federal prosecutors formally charged two German citizens with espionage for helping a foreign intelligence agency acquire dual-use “delivery system” technology. The prosecutors announced the charge of espionage last week but did not name the country involved.

The two German men have been accused of “having sold a vibration testing facility in 2001 and 2002 on behalf of a foreign military intelligence procurement entity,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement posted on its website. A German official familiar with the case, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the investigation, said the country involved was Iran.

“These missile technology dealers ... appear to have been acting alone and were not part of any organized gang,” he said. The state prosecutor’s office in Karlsruhe, Germany did not name the men or the German company they worked for.

The involvement of German citizens in what U.S. and European officials believe is Iran’s covert nuclear weapons program will be embarrassing for Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has vowed to prevent Tehran from getting nuclear weapons.

“You really can’t separate Iran’s nuclear activities from its missile program. The missiles are the delivery system,” an EU diplomat familiar with the case said.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for Israel to be “wiped off the map” and publicly doubted that six million Jews were killed by the Nazis during World War Two.

Recent U.S. intelligence recovered from a stolen laptop computer suggests that Iranian missile experts are trying to develop a missile re-entry vehicle capable of carrying a relatively small nuclear warhead, EU and U.S. officials say.

Last week the governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog, voted to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions, due to fears that it is developing atomic weapons. Iran says it does not want weapons, only nuclear energy.

With the exception of Russia, China and North Korea, few countries sell Iran weapons or dual-use technology that could be used to make atomic, chemical or biological weapons. To the annoyance of the United States and European Union, Russia has made it clear that it is willing to sell small-scale defensive missiles to Iran. Late last year, Moscow agreed to sell Iran tactical surface-to-air missiles that could be used to shoot down low-flying aircrafts or guided missiles.

However, even Russia says it will not sell medium- and long-range missile technology to the Islamic republic. But a European and a non-European intelligence official told Reuters that Russian middlemen were helping Iran get missile technology from North Korea that could bring central Europe within the range of Iranian missiles.

An EU diplomat, citing his country’s intelligence, said Iran had purchased 18 disassembled BM-25 mobile missiles with a range of around 2,500 km from North Korea. He was confirming a German newspaper report from December that cited Germany’s BND foreign intelligence service.

One of the intelligence officials said a former Russian military officer with the first name Viktor had helped Iran get Soviet-made SSN6 missile technology from Russia and North Korea, which Iran could use to improve the accuracy of its newly-bought BM-25s and increase their range to as much as 3,500 km.

“The Russian authorities either don’t know about him or don’t care,” the official said, adding that there was no evidence that Moscow approved of Viktor’s activities.

Iranian and Russian officials declined to comment.

Iran’s Shahab-3 missiles have a range of some 2,000 km. With a range of 3,500 km, the missiles could reach central Europe.

In December, the United States imposed sanctions on six Chinese, two Indian and one Austrian firm for selling missile or chemical weapons-related supplies to Iran.

Russian Military, German Businessmen Aid Iran Arms Program

[Shammu]

Hezbollah Leader to Bush: 'Shut Up'

By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 37 minutes ago

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The leader of Hezbollah, heading a march by hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslims Thursday, said
President Bush and his secretary of state should "shut up" after they accused Syria and Iran of fueling protests over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

Denmark, meanwhile, said it had temporarily closed its diplomatic mission in Beirut, which was burned by protesters Sunday, and all staff had left Lebanon.

Danes feared religious processions in Muslim countries Thursday to mark the Shiite festival of Ashoura would spill over into violence against its diplomats and soldiers after days of protests over the caricatures, which were first published in a Danish newspaper in September.

About 2,000 hard-line Muslims also rallied and burned a Danish flag Thursday in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka.

In Beirut, Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah urged Muslims worldwide to keep demonstrating until there is an apology over the drawings and Europe passes laws forbidding insults to the prophet.

The head of the guerrilla group, which is backed by Iran and Syria, spoke before a mass Ashoura procession. Whipping up the crowds on the most solemn day for Shiites worldwide, Nasrallah declared:

"Defending the prophet should continue all over the world. Let Condoleezza Rice and Bush and all the tyrants shut up. We are an Islamic nation that cannot tolerate, be silent or be lax when they insult our prophet and sanctities."

"We will uphold the messenger of God not only by our voices but also by our blood," he told the crowds, estimated by organizers at about 700,000. Police had no final estimates but said the figure was likely to be even higher.

Speaking about the controversy for the first time on Wednesday, Bush condemned the deadly rioting sparked by the cartoons and urged foreign leaders to halt the spreading violence. Rice said Iran and Syria "have gone out of their way to inflame sentiments and to use this to their own purposes. And the world ought to call them on it."

Iran has rejected the U.S. accusations. Syria has not commented publicly.

In protests throughout the Muslim world, demonstrators who saw the drawings as deeply insulting to Islam have attacked embassies in Syria, Lebanon and Iran and rioted in Afghanistan. Islam is interpreted to forbid any illustrations of the prophet.

Jyllands-Posten, the Danish paper that first published the drawings, apologized last week for offending Muslims but stood by its decision to print the cartoons, citing freedom of speech.

Other European publications recently reprinted the drawings, which included an image of Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped with a burning fuse, in a show of solidarity.

Denmark's government has said it could not apologize over a newspaper's publication.

In Brussels, Belgium, Mohamed Ahmed Sherif, chairman of the Libyan-based World Islamic Call Society, said Muslims see the drawings as a direct attack on their values and called the decision to print them in European newspapers a "hate program."

Sherif, speaking during a visit Brussels where he met European Union officials, said the cartoons only serve to fuel extremism.

"Nobody should blame the Muslims if they are unhappy about the images of the Prophet Muhammad," Sherif said. "It's forbidden to create a hate program to show that the prophet is a terrorist while he's not. Don't ask us to try to make people understand that this is not a campaign of hate."

Nasrallah, a black-turbaned, bearded cleric, demanded an apology for the cartoons and laws to prevent a repetition.

"There can be no settlement before an apology and there can be no settlement before laws are legislated by the European Parliament and the parliaments of European countries," he said.

Islamic nations should demand "a law committing the press and the media in the West that proscribes insulting our prophet. If this matter cannot be achieved that means they (West) insist on continuing this," he added.

Nasrallah said that if the controversy touched on Jews or Israel the West would have reacted differently and quickly.

In Denmark, the Danish Broadcasting Corp., or DR, said its journalists in Beirut had been warned to stay away from the Shiite Ashoura ceremonies. "It has become more difficult to be a Danish reporter in the Middle East," Lisbet Knudsen, head of DR's news desk said.

The Bangladeshi protesters — most members of the hard-line group, Islamic Constitution Movement — marched through the streets outside the country's main mosque in downtown Dhaka shouting, "Down with Islam's Enemies!" police said.

"We can't tolerate such disrespect to our prophet. It's a shameful act. We condemn it," A.T.M. Hemayetuddin, a movement leader, told supporters.

In the capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir, about 200 people turned an Islamic procession into a protest against the prophet drawings, shouting "Down with Denmark" and "Down with Israel." Senior Superintendent of Police Muneer Khan said 25 people were arrested as police beat back angry demonstrators.

Malaysia's government Thursday indefinitely shut down a local newspaper for reprinting one of the drawings.

Hezbollah Leader to Bush: 'Shut Up'

[Shammu]

Bush details Qaeda plot to hit LA

By Tabassum Zakaria 15 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Thursday disclosed new details of a thwarted al Qaeda plot to use shoe bombs to hijack a plane and fly it into a Los Angeles building, as he sought to justify his tactics in Washington's war on terrorism.

With critics questioning the legality of his authorization of a domestic spying program, Bush used newly declassified details of a previously disclosed plot to show that the threat of terrorism has not abated.

Bush said that in early 2002 the United States and its allies thwarted a plot to use bombs hidden in shoes to breach the cockpit door of an airplane and fly it into the tallest building in Los Angeles.

But he named the wrong building. "We believe the intended target was Liberty Tower in Los Angeles, California," Bush said. White House aides later said he meant Library Tower.

Library Tower is now known as US Bank Tower, but locally it is still mostly called by the former name because of its proximity to the city's central library. At 1,017 feet (310 metres) tall, it is the tallest building in the United States west of the Mississippi River.

Last October, the Bush administration had disclosed the plot to attack targets on the West Coast using hijacked planes, saying this was among 10 disrupted al Qaeda plots.

Bush said on Thursday that in October 2001, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the operational mastermind of the September 11 attacks that year, had set in motion a plot for another attack inside the United States using shoe bombs to hijack an airplane and fly it into the tallest building on the U.S. West Coast.

"Rather than use Arab hijackers as he had on September 11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed sought out young men from Southeast Asia whom he believed would not arouse as much suspicion," Bush said.

Mohammed was captured in Pakistan in March 2003 and has since been held at an undisclosed location. In his speech, Bush praised the efforts of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in fighting terrorism.

Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, believed by U.S. officials to be hiding in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan, have so far eluded the U.S. manhunt.

Bush said Mohammed tapped a leader of an al Qaeda-affiliated group in Southeast Asia named Hambali, who recruited several operatives with training in Afghanistan. Hambali was later caught.

"Once the operatives were recruited, they met with Osama bin Laden, and then began preparations for the West Coast attack," Bush said.

"Their plot was derailed in early 2002 when a Southeast Asian nation arrested a key al Qaeda operative," he said.

In another plot, "shoebomber" Richard Reid failed in an attempt to blow up an American Airlines plane from Paris to Miami in December 2001 after passengers and crew tackled him as he tried to ignite explosives in his shoe. Reid was sentenced to life imprisonment by a U.S. court in January 2003.

Bush has been fighting criticism of his decision to authorize the National Security Agency to eavesdrop without court warrants inside the United States on international emails and phone calls placed to and from people with suspected ties to terrorism.

He has said that it was a necessary tool for fighting terrorism and preventing another attack on America.

"There's a law which says with respect to electronic surveillance within America, it has to be with warrants. It cannot be warrantless," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat, told reporters before entering a closed Senate intelligence committee hearing to discuss Bush's NSA program.

Asked if she was concerned about the selective release of classified information by the White House, Feinstein said:

"The president is entitled to release whatever he wants to release. He owns the intelligence. The president is the owner of intelligence and then he makes the decision of what to share."

Bush details Qaeda plot to hit LA

[nChrist]

Dreamweaver Said:

In Beirut, Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah urged Muslims worldwide to keep demonstrating until there is an apology over the drawings and Europe passes laws forbidding insults to the prophet.

Hello Dreamweaver,

Brother, this is a ridiculous example of things that are happening right now. Islam is in and Jesus Christ is out. We've also seen many examples of things like this in public schools recently.

The REAL IRONY is the total lack of respect by Islam toward Christianity. Everything for them is a one-way street. If they want any respect, they need to learn how to give respect first. I think that the cartoon simply represents a convenient excuse to do what they wanted to do anyway. So, in all reality, any excuse will do just fine for their purposes. As an individual taking everything into consideration, I could care less what the Muslim fanatics want or demand. I might listen to them after they learn how to act like humans. Their actions are those of criminals, and that's how they deserve to be treated.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Isaiah 54:17 NASB  "No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their vindication is from Me," declares the LORD.

[Shammu]

The REAL IRONY is the total lack of respect by Islam toward Christianity. Everything for them is a one-way street. If they want any respect, they need to learn how to give respect first. I think that the cartoon simply represents a convenient excuse to do what they wanted to do anyway. So, in all reality, any excuse will do just fine for their purposes. As an individual taking everything into consideration, I could care less what the Muslim fanatics want or demand. I might listen to them after they learn how to act like humans. Their actions are those of criminals, and that's how they deserve to be treated.

These are just Matthew's birthing pains. The signs, that Jesus promises us, in Matthew 24.

[Shammu]

Putin tries to restore Russia's role in Middle East
Fri Feb 10, 2006 8:24 AM ET172

 By Richard Balmforth - Analysis

MOSCOW (Reuters) - By inviting Hamas for talks, Vladimir Putin has taken a bold but risky plunge into the Middle East peace process that he hopes will restore Russia's role as a player on the world stage, experts say.

And, though his offer on Thursday caught the United States, Israel and other Western powers on the hop, Putin has left himself with room for maneuver to ensure his ties with his powerful Western partners are not hurt, they say.

Putin's remarks in Madrid set diplomatic channels humming between Moscow and other world capitals on Friday as Russia emerged from the shadow of the United States and European Union, the key peace brokers in the Middle East.

"These statements amount to a take-over of the Middle East peace initiative," Alexei Malashenko of the Moscow Carnegie Center said.

"In a situation in which all the other peace mediators have proved to be paralyzed, we have in Russia a chance of giving the negotiating process a second wind," said pro-Kremlin analyst Sergei Markov.

Other analysts said Putin's reference to links with Hamas itself came as a surprise since the two sides had not been known to have contacts.

Hamas, considered a "terrorist" organization by Washington, won a crushing victory over the long-dominant Fatah group in a Palestinian election on January 25. The group, which is sworn to Israel's destruction, has spearheaded suicide attacks against the Jewish state over the past five years.

Russia is a member of the Quartet, that also groups the United States, the European Union and the United Nations. But Moscow has always been a marginal player.

Russia agrees with the Quartet line that Hamas has to accept the right of Israel to exist. Putin reaffirmed that point, and Russian officials were quick to echo him on Friday.

"Everyone is telling Hamas that they must embark on a measured course because they won't get far with such radical policies. We shall urge a change in Hamas policies at the meeting with their representative," Interfax news agency quoted Russian Middle East envoy Alexander Kalugin as saying.

"STRETCHING THE QUARTET AGENDA"

But one Western diplomat said all the same "(Putin) is stretching the Quartet agenda considerably".

"He has gone out fairly well ahead by inviting the Hamas leadership for talks without agreement first about principles that have to be complied with," said the diplomat who monitors Russia's Middle East policy.

As Israel expressed surprise and Washington said it was seeking details of Moscow's intentions, a senior Hamas official said in Gaza that the group's leaders "would be delighted" to take up an invitation from Putin.

But the diplomat said Putin could still step back from his overtures to Hamas if it does not relent in its policy toward Israel once in power in the Palestine Authority.

Though Putin pulled a political rabbit out of the hat, commentators point out that U.S. and European Union aid to the Palestinian Authority dwarfs anything that Moscow can provide -- underscoring the little real leverage Russia has in the region.

The apparent boldness of what may in the end be a low-cost move for Putin appeared more to reflect his desire to boost his and Russia's image in a high-profile year that includes holding the presidency of the G8 group of rich nations.

"Reasserting Russia as a big player on the world stage is very much Putin's agenda. He may be trying to rebuild that at relatively low cost," the diplomat said.

However briefly, the surprise move evoked memories of Soviet times when Moscow used its role as the main sponsor of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement in its Cold War confrontation with the United States.

After the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and especially after Arafat established his own ties with the West, Moscow's role in the Middle East peace process was reduced to only token presence.

Putin tries to restore Russia's role in Middle East

[Shammu]

Employees get microchip implants
Company requires controversial device for certain workers
Posted: February 10, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern


© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

A Cincinnati company is requiring any employee who works in its secure data center to be implanted with a microchip.

The video surveillance company CityWatcher.com injected two of its employees in the triceps area of the arm with the VeriChip, a glass-encapsulated RFID, or radio-frequency identification, tag, according to Liz McIntyre, co-author of "Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID."

CityWatcher.com's Network Administrator Khary Williams spoke with McIntyre by phone Wednesday after the company announced it had integrated the VeriChip VeriGuard product into its access control system.

The tag can be read through clothing from a few inches away.

The highly controversial device is being marketed as a way to access secure areas, link to medical records and make purchases like a credit card.

As WorldNetDaily reported, when former Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson joined the VeriChip Corp. board of directors, he pledged to get chipped and encouraged Americans to do the same so their electronic medical records would be available in emergencies.

But McIntyre and co-author Katherine Albrecht contacted VeriChip Corp. in December and were told the chipping never took place.

VeriChip spokesman John Procter said Thompson had been "too busy" to undergo the procedure, adding that he had no clear plans to do so.

CityWatcher's Williams said a local doctor already has implanted two of the company's employees with the VeriChip devices.

"I will eventually" receive an implant, too, he added.

Meanwhile, Williams accesses the data center with a VeriChip implant housed in a heart-shaped plastic casing that hangs from his key chain.

He told McIntyre he had no reservations about having the procedure and would do it as soon as time permits.

But McIntyre says she's worried that CityWatchers – a government contractor specializing in surveillance projects – would be the first publicly to incorporate the technology in the workplace.

CityWatcher provides video surveillance, monitoring and video storage for government and businesses, with cameras set up on public streets throughout Cincinnati.

The company hopes the VeriChip will bolster its proximity or "prox" card security system that controls access to the room where the video footage is stored, said Gary Retherford of Six Sigma Security, Inc., the company that provided the VeriChip technology.

"The prox card is a system that can be compromised," said Retherford, referring to the card's well-known vulnerability to hackers.

He explained that chipping employees "was a move to increase the layer of security."

"It was attractive because it could be integrated with the existing system," he said.

McIntyre points out, however, researchers have shown the VeriChip to be vulnerable to hackers.

Security researcher Jonathan Westhues showed last month how a hacker can clone a chip and theoretically duplicate someone's implant to access a secure area.

Westhues believes the VeriChip is not secure and "not good for anything."

"No one I spoke with at Six Sigma Security or at CityWatcher knew that the VeriChip had been hacked," said McIntyre, author of a chapter titled "Hacking the Prox Card" for Simson Garfinkel's recent "RFID: Applications, Security, and Privacy."

"They were also surprised to hear of VeriChip's downsides as a medical device," he added. "It was clear they weren't aware of some of the controversy surrounding the implant."

Albrecht says that while CityWatcher.com does not require employees to receive the chip to keep their jobs, the company is establishing an unsettling precedent.

"It's wrong to link a person's paycheck with getting an implant," she said. "Once people begin 'voluntarily' getting chipped to perform their job duties, it won't be long before pressure gets applied to those who refuse."

Albrecht believes the VeriChip will be hard to sell when people learn of the security flaws, combined with a general squeamishness about implants.

"Obviously, nobody wants their employer coming at them with a giant hypodermic needle," she said. "But when people realize it takes a scalpel and surgery to remove the device if it gets hacked, they'll really think twice. An implant is disgusting enough going in, but getting it out again is a bloody mess."

Employees get microchip implants

[Shammu]

Chavez pledges to bring America to ruin
Tells Cindy Sheehan: 'Down with the U.S. empire'
Posted: February 10, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

Venezuela President Hugo Chavez embraced antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan on national television and announced his plot to bring the U.S. to its knees.

"Enough of imperialist aggression," Chavez said. "We must tell the world: Down with the U.S. empire. We have to bury imperialism this century. Cindy, we are with you in your fight."

For her part, Sheehan told Chavez she agreed with singer-activist Harry Belafonte that President Bush is "the greatest terrorist in the world."

[Shammu]

Check out this cartoon
Posted: February 11, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

Editor's note: Joseph Farah launches a new weekend column today. Yes, that's right – a sixth column every week. But this one is a little bit different from his daily weekday perspective in which he generally devotes his 750 words to a single topic. The new Saturday-Sunday commentary is a little more "free form," a little more in the stream-of-consciousness realm. As always, the founder, editor and chief executive officer of WND welcomes your feedback.

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

I was just thinking about this Islamic cartoon controversy and ran across the photo you see here accompanying this column.

It's a picture of a couple of Muslims, I presume, denouncing America and promoting Islamic radicalism at Ground Zero in Manhattan last week.

When I saw this photo, I studied it with grim fascination. And my first thought was: How is it possible that two out-of-the-closet Osama bin Laden fans could safely and securely initiate such a protest mere yards from the site where 3,000 Americans were incinerated Sept. 11, 2001?

That's not to say I think they should have been arrested (though I sure would like to check their immigration status). That's not to say I think they should have been accosted, beaten within in an inch of their lives and run out of town on a rail. That's not to say that if this motley pair actually holds American citizenship papers they are not entitled to their opinions. That's not to say I think they should be rounded up and tried for treason.

On the other hand, I'm not necessarily ruling any of those options out.

But here's what was going through my mind:

    * What would become of a similar little protest in any Muslim country on earth? I want you to consider that, especially with an eye toward the recent cartoon skirmishes throughout the Muslim world.

    * What would happen to two American guys in lower Manhattan who held up flags and signs suggesting Islam should be crushed and dominated? I have to believe that would be a more dangerous and risky demonstration than the one you see before you.

    * And, lastly, why do we need these so-called "civil-rights organizations" and "anti-discrimination committees" for Muslims when, as anyone can see, even the most inciteful behavior goes unchallenged in America – even at Ground Zero?

Amazing! What a country.

And here are some contributions from the mailbag. I don't always get a chance to respond to the mail I get – most of it very pleasant and encouraging. The first three are from the other end of the spectrum – with my responses:

This from Sandra Campbell: "I am a Christian as well as a feminist and just finised reading part of the articles on your site. I have one comment. Is your brain cell dying of loneliness?? BARF!!!!!"

My response: "You just 'finised' (sic) reading 'part of the articles'? And you're asking about our brain cells?"

This from Jim: "I would like to write to you in detail, but why should I waste my time writing to the wall or some corpse buried in some distant cementary (sic), knowing well that neither would ever write back. Get my point?"

My response: "Good point, Jim. I wouldn't waste my time writing any more."

This from Harry Gifford: "Just wanted to tell you … I had to take issue with the obvious dichotomy in your slogan – 'a free press for a free people.' You sound pretty right-wing, one-sided, monolithic and repressed to me, and you sip your religion and politics out of the same cup?!?! The God of the Bible doesn't care abhout (sic) whether you're Dem or Republicrat, as if the way you voted was a ticket to heaven or hell. God is not in our politics at all. I think He looks down and laughs at the multi-purposed and agendaed circus with all its speciously attractive lights and sideshows within the tents, brightly colored and signed 'polarized religion and politics under one roof.'

"I know it is impossible to be a Christian and not believe the packaged deal that women are subordinate to men, gays must be hated and the religious right weirdos like Tim and Beverly LaHaye, Swaggart, Roberts, Dobson and The Women who Are Too Concerned About Things That Are None Of Their Business, have all the answers (i.e., they think they're the only ones that have the 'right' ones). Think for yourself and don't sell a package ... present the truth ... that's news!"

My response: "Freedom is unknowable apart from God."

Check out this cartoon