News, Prophecy and other

[Shammu]

West is in dark ages, says Iran's President

Leader threatens retaliation if the US and EU continue to try to block nuclear programme

Robert Tait in Tehran
Sunday January 15, 2006
The Observer

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the hardline President of Iran, launched an angry tirade against the West yesterday, accusing it of a 'dark ages' mentality and threatening retaliation unless it recognised his country's nuclear ambitions.

In a blistering assault, Ahmadinejad repeated the Islamic regime's position that it would press ahead with a nuclear programme despite threats by the European Union and United States to refer Iran to the UN Security Council, where it could face possible sanctions. He added that Iran was a 'civilised nation' that did not need such weapons. Iran insists its nuclear programme is a wholly peaceful attempt to generate electricity.

Addressing a rare press conference in Tehran, he appeared to issue thinly veiled threats against Western countries, implying that they could face serious consequences unless they backed down. 'You need us more than we need you. All of you today need the Iranian nation,' Ahmadinejad said. 'Why are you putting on airs? You don't have that might.'

Reminding the West that it had supported the monarchical regime of the former Shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi - overthrown in the 1979 Islamic revolution - he went on: 'Those same powers have done their utmost to oppress us, but this nation, because of its dignity, has forgiven them to a large extent. But if they persist with their present stance, maybe the day will come when the Iranian nation will reconsider.' He added: 'If they want to deny us our rights, we have ways to secure those rights.'

Ahmadinejad, an ultra-Islamist populist elected last June, did not elaborate on his apparent threat. But Iran is the world's fourth-largest oil producer and analysts have predicted that any disruption to its supplies could have a grave impact on global markets.

The Iranian President's outburst - the latest in a series asserting Iran's nuclear rights and questioning Israel's right to exist - came after the EU last week effectively abandoned two-and-a-half years of negotiations with the Iranians. The move came after Iran decided to remove UN seals at a nuclear plant in Natanz, enabling it to resume research into uranium enrichment, a process that can be used to produce a nuclear weapon.

The EU, backed by the United States, is calling for an emergency meeting of the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to discuss Iran's possible referral to the security council. The next phase of the intensifying diplomatic pressure on Iran takes place in London tomorrow when officials from the EU, US, Russia and China gather to discuss future strategy.

Ahmadinejad accused the West of misusing bodies such as the UN and IAEA. 'Why are you damaging the good name of the security council and IAEA for you own political purposes?' he asked. 'Don't take away the credibility of legitimate forums. Your arsenals are full to the brim, yet when it's the turn of a nation such as mine to develop peaceful nuclear technology you object and resort to threats.'

In an apparent effort to cast the nuclear issue as one that could unite all Iranians and appeal to nationalist sentiment, Ahmadinejad spoke against the backdrop of a picture of the Damavand volcano, widely seen as a patriotic, non-religious symbol. But he did not withdraw his remarks, warning that Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who on Friday condemned his comments as 'unacceptable', would be tried as 'terrorists' and 'war criminals' due to their support of Israel.

German Deputy Foreign Minister Gernot Erler yesterday called for travel restrictions on Iran's politicians. He told German radio that economic sanctions would be 'a very dangerous path' and could hurt both sides. Germany is the biggest exporter to Iran.

West is in dark ages, says Iran's President

[Shammu]

Iran's Rogue Rage
Nukes: Iranians want nuclear know-how—and seem to be daring the West to stop them.

By Christopher Dickey, Maziar Bahari and Babak Dehghanpisheh
Newsweek

Jan. 23, 2006 issue - On the ski slopes of Dizin in north Tehran, boys and girls mingle freely, listening to Madonna, Shakira and Persian pop diva Googoosh. Headscarves are reduced to hair bands, and Mahsid Sajadi, a 25-year-old graphic designer, is sporting a Star-Spangled Banner bandanna her cousin sent her from Orange County, Calif. Sajadi, modern and cosmopolitan, has almost no opinions in common with Iran's rabble-rousing ultraconservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad—except when it comes to nukes. "We have a right to have nuclear technology," says Sajadi. "We are a nation with an ancient civilization and rich culture. I think it's really hypocritical of Mr. Bush to criticize Iran for having nuclear technology while Pakistan, India and Israel have nuclear bombs."

Atomic research, atomic power, even the atomic weapons the Iranian government officially says it doesn't want are issues of ferocious nationalistic pride throughout the country, and Ahmadinejad knows it. Last week he provoked an international crisis by removing the seals from nuclear-processing equipment, ending a voluntary moratorium on research. After a firestorm of outrage from the United States and Europe, with vows to isolate Iran and haul the regime before the United Nations Security Council, Ahmadinejad gave a rare press conference. He was relaxed, folksy, cracking jokes. "If they want to destroy the Iranian nation's rights by that course," he said, "they will not succeed."

He could be right. The complex, contradictory game of secrecy and revelation, cooperation and provocation that the mullahs have played since some of their hidden nuclear facilities were discovered in 2002 has revealed just how little leverage Washington and its allies really have. But the Bush administration and European officials clearly hope they can appeal to Iran's supposedly restive masses to somehow oppose the regime. "The Iranian people, frankly, deserve better," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said last week. She took pains to say efforts to isolate the government would try not to isolate the people. But a senior European diplomat involved with Iranian negotiations, who asked not to be quoted by name because of their sensitivity, pointed out the basic problem with that strategy: "There are millions of people in Iran who want to move ahead with democracy, but unfortunately we have not been able to help them—and at the same time the nuclear issue unifies the country."

To finish reading the story, at new week click me

[Soldier4Christ]

West is in dark ages, says Iran's President

Leader threatens retaliation if the US and EU continue to try to block nuclear programme

Robert Tait in Tehran
Sunday January 15, 2006
The Observer

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the hardline President of Iran, launched an angry tirade against the West yesterday, accusing it of a 'dark ages' mentality and threatening retaliation unless it recognised his country's nuclear ambitions.

In a blistering assault, Ahmadinejad repeated the Islamic regime's position that it would press ahead with a nuclear programme despite threats by the European Union and United States to refer Iran to the UN Security Council, where it could face possible sanctions. He added that Iran was a 'civilised nation' that did not need such weapons. Iran insists its nuclear programme is a wholly peaceful attempt to generate electricity.

Addressing a rare press conference in Tehran, he appeared to issue thinly veiled threats against Western countries, implying that they could face serious consequences unless they backed down. 'You need us more than we need you. All of you today need the Iranian nation,' Ahmadinejad said. 'Why are you putting on airs? You don't have that might.'

Reminding the West that it had supported the monarchical regime of the former Shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi - overthrown in the 1979 Islamic revolution - he went on: 'Those same powers have done their utmost to oppress us, but this nation, because of its dignity, has forgiven them to a large extent. But if they persist with their present stance, maybe the day will come when the Iranian nation will reconsider.' He added: 'If they want to deny us our rights, we have ways to secure those rights.'

Ahmadinejad, an ultra-Islamist populist elected last June, did not elaborate on his apparent threat. But Iran is the world's fourth-largest oil producer and analysts have predicted that any disruption to its supplies could have a grave impact on global markets.

The Iranian President's outburst - the latest in a series asserting Iran's nuclear rights and questioning Israel's right to exist - came after the EU last week effectively abandoned two-and-a-half years of negotiations with the Iranians. The move came after Iran decided to remove UN seals at a nuclear plant in Natanz, enabling it to resume research into uranium enrichment, a process that can be used to produce a nuclear weapon.

The EU, backed by the United States, is calling for an emergency meeting of the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to discuss Iran's possible referral to the security council. The next phase of the intensifying diplomatic pressure on Iran takes place in London tomorrow when officials from the EU, US, Russia and China gather to discuss future strategy.

Ahmadinejad accused the West of misusing bodies such as the UN and IAEA. 'Why are you damaging the good name of the security council and IAEA for you own political purposes?' he asked. 'Don't take away the credibility of legitimate forums. Your arsenals are full to the brim, yet when it's the turn of a nation such as mine to develop peaceful nuclear technology you object and resort to threats.'

In an apparent effort to cast the nuclear issue as one that could unite all Iranians and appeal to nationalist sentiment, Ahmadinejad spoke against the backdrop of a picture of the Damavand volcano, widely seen as a patriotic, non-religious symbol. But he did not withdraw his remarks, warning that Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who on Friday condemned his comments as 'unacceptable', would be tried as 'terrorists' and 'war criminals' due to their support of Israel.

German Deputy Foreign Minister Gernot Erler yesterday called for travel restrictions on Iran's politicians. He told German radio that economic sanctions would be 'a very dangerous path' and could hurt both sides. Germany is the biggest exporter to Iran.

[Shammu]

West is in dark ages, says Iran's President

Take a look two posts above yours.............

[Soldier4Christ]

Take a look two posts above yours.............

oops, I looked and didn't see it. I try not to duplicate posts that you have made. I don't know how I missed that one. The gremlins must have pulled blinders over my eyes when I went past your post.   

[Shammu]

oops, I looked and didn't see it. I try not to duplicate posts that you have made. I don't know how I missed that one. The gremlins must have pulled blinders over my eyes when I went past your post.   

Would you like new glasses?       

[Soldier4Christ]

Would you like new glasses?       

Naw .....  I don't think they would help.  You gotta have your eyes open for them to work right.

[Shammu]

Well would you like an apple?


.


.

Since I know some of y'all are tired of the cat-bird combos.

[Soldier4Christ]

Well would you like an apple?


.


.

Since I know some of y'all are tired of the cat-bird combos.

That wouldn't be the fruit that Adam and Eve ate would it. After their fruit did bite back. 

[Shammu]

That wouldn't be the fruit that Adam and Eve ate would it. After their fruit did bite back. 

[Shammu]

Senators say military strike on Iran must be option

By Carol Giacomo, Diplomatic Correspondent Sun Jan 15, 6:26 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican and Democratic senators said on Sunday the United States may ultimately have to undertake a military strike to deter Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, but that should be the last resort.

"That is the last option. Everything else has to be exhausted. But to say under no circumstances would we exercise a military option, that would be crazy," Republican Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) of Arizona said on CBS's "Face the Nation."

Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh (news, bio, voting record) of Indiana, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said there are sensitive elements of Iran's nuclear program, which, if attacked, "would dramatically delay its development."

"But that should not be an option at this point. We ought to use everything else possible keep from getting to that juncture," he said on CNN's "Late Edition."

A growing nuclear fracas exploded last week when Iran, defying the United States and major European powers, resumed nuclear research after a two-year moratorium.

Iran says it aims only to make power for an energy-needy economy, not build atom bombs. But it hid nuclear work from the UN nuclear watchdog agency for almost 20 years before exiled dissidents exposed it in 2002.

On Sunday, Iran said that only diplomacy, not threats to refer it to the UN Security Council, could defuse a standoff over its nuclear work and warned that any Western push for sanctions could jack up world oil prices.

The Security Council's five permanent members and Germany planned talks in London on Monday on a common strategy to tackle the controversy.

McCain called the nuclear standoff "the most grave situation that we have faced since the end of the Cold War, absent the whole war on terror."

"We must go to the UN now for sanctions. If the Russians and the Chinese, for reasons that would be abominable, do not join us then we will have to go with the (states that are) willing," he said.

While acknowledging that President George W. Bush has "no good option," McCain said "there is only one thing worse than the United States exercising a military option, that is a nuclear-armed Iran."

"If the price of oil has to go up then that's a consequence we would have to suffer," he said.

Iran is the world's fourth biggest exporter of crude oil and the second biggest in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Experts and officials say it may be impossible to destroy Iran's nuclear program because much of it is underground and dispersed at numerous sites.

In addition, they have said an attack on Iran could further inflame anti-Americanism in the Middle East and prompt Tehran to interfere more in
Iraq and encourage Islamist fundamentalist groups to launch new attacks on the West.

Another Senate Intelligence Committee member, Republican Trent Lott of Mississippi, said that despite a massive military commitment in Iraq the United States has the capability to strike Iran but it would be difficult and other options must be tried first.

Bayh accused Bush of undermining the U.S. national interest and creating what he called a dilemma by ignoring the problem of Iran for four years.

Senators say military strike on Iran must be option

[Shammu]

New York, 91,700 abortions in city

BY PAUL H.B. SHIN
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

For every 100 babies born in New York City, women had 74 abortions in 2004, according to newly released figures that reaffirm the city as the abortion capital of the country.

And abortions for out-of-town women performed in the city increased from 57 to 70 out of every 1,000 between 1996 and 2004, a subtle yet noticeable trend that experts say may reflect growing hurdles against the procedure in more conservative parts of the country.

The new Vital Statistics report released by the city Department of Health this month shows there were 124,100 live births, 11,700 spontaneous abortions and 91,700 induced abortions in the city in 2004.

That means 40 out of 100 pregnancies in the city ended in a planned abortion - almost double the national average of 24 of 100 pregnancies in 2002, estimated by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a Manhattan-based nonprofit group that researches reproductive health issues.

The city's role as a haven for women seeking to end pregnancies may become more pronounced as other states continue to adopt more legal restrictions against abortions - such as laws requiring mandatory waiting periods (25 states), parental consent or notification for minors (35 states) and two visits before an abortion (six states).

"If clinics are hard to get to, or the services are just unavailable, people are going to travel to get what in my mind is a critical public health service," said Joan Malin, president of Planned Parenthood of New York City.

The organization's Margaret Sanger Center in Manhattan is the largest abortion provider in New York, with 11,000 abortions performed a year.

Out-of-towners make up less than 2% of those receiving abortions at the center, but the number has gone up more than 20% in the last year, Malin said.

But abortion opponents called the city's high rate of procedures a "tragic" result of "marketing the culture of death."

"New York City has fashioned itself as being the philosophical center of 'abortion on demand,' and it has a thriving industry to show for it," said Christina Fadden Fitch, legislative director of the New York State Right to Life Committee.

The influx into the city of women seeking abortions could become a deluge - as it was in the early 1970s - if the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortions nationwide is repealed.

"If Roe vs. Wade were overturned and some states outlawed abortions, it's certainly possible we might begin to see more of the interstate travel we saw before," said Lawrence Finer, director for domestic research at the Guttmacher Institute.

That is what abortion-rights advocates feel may happen if Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito is appointed to the bench.

At his Senate confirmation hearings this week, Alito refused to describe Roe vs. Wade as a settled precedent. Under grilling from Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), he also refused to distance himself from his 1985 opinion stating that women do not have a constitutional right to an abortion.

"The evidence is clear that Judge Alito opposes the constitutional right for a woman to choose an abortion, and were he to be confirmed, I would really be concerned about the future of Roe [vs. Wade] and the future of access, particularly for poor women," Malin said.

The Center for Reproductive Rights, an abortion-rights advocacy group, estimates that if Roe vs. Wade were overturned, abortions would likely be banned in 21 states, with the procedure at "medium risk" of being prohibited in another nine states.

Originally published on January 15, 2006

New York, 91,700 abortions in city

[Shammu]

Diplomacy and force IAEA Bombshell

Sun. 15 Jan 2006
Newsweek

Interview: The United Nations' top inspector is prepared to issue a report on Iran's nuclear program that will 'reverberate around the world.'

Jan. 23, 2006 issue - The man in the middle of the escalating tensions between Iran, Europe and the United States is Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency. ElBaradei and the IAEA, recipients of last year's Nobel Peace Prize, are charged with verifying Iran's compliance—or lack thereof—with international safeguards against nuclear-weapons proliferation. In his first interview since Iran broke the seals on nuclear research equipment last week, ElBaradei spoke bluntly at his Vienna headquarters with NEWSWEEK's Christopher Dickey about his frustrations with Tehran, and his ideas on how to avoid further escalation.

DICKEY: You've said you're running out of patience with Iran. What does that mean?

ELBARADEI: For the last three years we have been doing intensive verification in Iran, and even after three years I am not yet in a position to make a judgment on the peaceful nature of the [nuclear] program. We still need to assure ourselves through access to documents, individuals [and] locations that we have seen all that we ought to see and that there is nothing fishy, if you like, about the program.

At one site called Lavizan, facilities were bulldozed by Iran before you could look at them, and you weren't allowed to run tests in the area.

We clearly need to take environmental samplings from some of the equipment that used to be in Lavizan. We need to interview some of the people who have been engaged in Lavizan. We have [also] gotten some information about some modification of their missiles that could have some relationship to the nuclear program. So, we need to clarify all these things. It is very specific. They know what we want to do, and they just have to go and do it. I'm making it very clear right now that I cannot extend the deadline, which is... March 6.

With all due respect, the Iranians don't seem to care what you think.

Well, they might not seem to care. But if I say that I am not able to confirm the peaceful nature of that program after three years of intensive work, well, that's a conclusion that's going to reverberate, I think, around the world.

Do you have any indication that there is some other completely separate Iranian nuclear-weapons program?

No, we don't. But I won't exclude that possibility.

<SNIP>

To read the rest, click on the link below.

Diplomacy and force IAEA Bombshell

[2nd Timothy]

I understand we have just moved a large number of f-16's to the region as well.   Sources say its just normal swap out, but its the largest move of its kind in sometime.   Could be an obvious move just to give Iran something to think about.

Another thing I have been reading quite a bit about is the supposed impending attacks on the US by terrorist.   

According to an ABC News report, federal agents are investigating a sudden spike in the sale of unregistered disposable cell phones. In Midland, an alert Wal-Mart employee contacted federal agents after six individuals of apparent Middle East origin tried to purchase sixty cell phones in one transaction. At least one of the suspects was identified as being from Iraq and another from Pakistan, officials said.

source : http://www.omegaletter.com/articles.asp?ArticleID=5831

This coincides with the recent release of Zawahiri's latest video which has been an indicator in the past of attacks in various parts of the world.


In addition I have been reading on several other Christian forums, about a possible prophetic word coming to numerous believers about a Jan 23 terrorist attack on 6 US cities in the US.  Of course there's no way to know if any of these are credible prophecies, but they are eyebrow raising considering the above article.

Praying that God will cause these to be snared by their own evil, and that His ultimate will be done. 

Maranatha!

[Shammu]

I have been reading on several other Christian forums, about a possible prophetic word coming to numerous believers about a Jan 23 terrorist attack on 6 US cities in the US.  Of course there's no way to know if any of these are credible prophecies, but they are eyebrow raising considering the above article.

Not to sound pessimistic but, if it happens it happens. I have no choice but to follow Gods lead. God will decide if these attacks happen, or not. Yes, I know they are there, and yes they are eye raising. If its Gods will, it will happen. If God doesn't want it to happen, it won't happen.

I'm not going to lose any sleep over these other prophecies.

Edited to add; The only Prophecies I do believe, are Biblical Prophecies.