WHO DOES UNIFIL PROTECT?

1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS. 2-Two earthquakes shake eastern and north-eastern Taiwan. 3-Israel not ready for major earthquake. 4-Tropical storm Sergio forms off Mexican. 5-Wind Warning for Greater Vancouver. 6-Study hopeful for world's forests. 7-A Leftist Judge is Helping Destroy Israel. 8-NATO report says Russia aims to form a gas cartel. 9-Palestinian Groups Call For Merciless Strikes Against Americans. 10-CHRONOLOGY -- Iran's nuclear program. 11-The Hague wants safeguards against EU powers in new treaty. 12-EU and South Africa agree on closer ties. 13-East Asian economies to grow for fifth consecutive year in 2006. 14-Track sex offenders from space. 15-Religion on the Way Out in Europe. 16-End To Israel-Palestinian Conflict Key To Mideast Peace: EU, Jordan. 17-Who Does UNIFIL Protect?

EARTHQUAKES

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)

Update time = Wed Nov 15 11:00 AM EDT

NOV 15,2006
MAP 2.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 5.3 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.7 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 3.3 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.9 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.3 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 6.3 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 6.5 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 3.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 6.2 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 6.0 EAST OF THE KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 8.3 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 5.1 EASTER ISLAND REGION
MAP 2.6 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 2.5 WASHINGTON
MAP 3.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.0 MORO GULF, MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES
MAP 5.2 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
MAP 4.8 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
MAP 5.5 KEPULAUAN TALAUD, INDONESIA
MAP 3.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.3 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.0 CENTRAL ALASKA

NOV 14,2006
MAP 3.9 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 5.8 ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE
MAP 3.1 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.3 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.2 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC REGION
MAP 4.0 NORTHERN YUKON TERRITORY, CANADA
MAP 2.5 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.8 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 3.2 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 6.0 BANDA SEA
MAP 3.8 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.9 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.5 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 5.3 MORO GULF, MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES
MAP 2.9 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.7 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.8 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 3.1 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
MAP 3.4 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.8 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
MAP 3.5 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 3.1 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 5.3 MINDORO, PHILIPPINES

Two earthquakes shake eastern and north-eastern Taiwan
dpa German Press Agency
Published: Tuesday November 14, 2006

Taipei- Two earthquakes shook Taiwan Tuesday, but no casualties or damage was reported, seismologists said. The larger of the two, a moderate earthquake measuring 5 on the Richter scale, shook eastern Taiwan early Tuesday. The tremor was located 89.2 kilometres south-east of Hualien county, seismologists said, adding it occurred under the sea, which helped ease the impact on Taiwan. Another quake, measuring 3.8 on the Richter scale, took place around noon 23.5 kilometres off the north-eastern port town of Nanao, they said. Quakes often take place in Taiwan because of its location in an earthquake belt, but reports of casualties and damage are relatively few since most tremors occur under the sea.

The Jerusalem Post staff is correct on this one, The big 1 in Revelation 11 and then the greatest in History will be in Israel when JESUS returns to earth BODILY in Revelation 19.

REVELATION 11:13
13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake,( IN ISRAEL) and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand:( 7,000) and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Nov. 14, 2006 12:08 | Updated Nov. 14, 2006 19:46
Panel: Israel not ready for major earthquake
By JPOST.COM STAFF

Geological experts said on Tuesday that a significant earthquake in the region could cause catastrophic damage, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless and as many as 16,000 Israelis dead, Army Radio reported.

The doomsday scenario was raised at a meeting of experts in Ashdod devoted to developing responses to a geological event in the county.

Minor quakes - relief or warning?

Brig.-Gen. (res.) Avi Bakar, former Home Front Command chief, said Israel was ill-prepared to deal with a large quake. It is a potential catastrophe that needs much advanced preparation in order to minimize the damage, because there is no way to prevent an earthquake.The greatest risk is from collapsing structures, Bakar said. Official bodies in Israel have long been aware of the potential danger, and a national steering committee, including Hofstetter and the Geophysical Institute, was formed in 2002 to help prepare the country in a number of ways for an earthquake. Many different organizations, various ministries, police and fire departments, the army's Home Front Command, and research institutes took part in the committee. Numerous recommendations were made, including educating the public about taking necessary security measures, teaching about earthquakes in schools, working with other countries to share information and conducting research. But the most prevalent point spoken about is the necessity of reinforcing buildings. Dr. Efraim Laor, who heads the National Steering Committee for Earthquake Readiness in Israel and is chairman of the Fast Israeli Rescue & Search Team told The Jerusalem Post in September that more than 400,000 buildings, schools, premises and kindergartens have had buildings on site reinforced, as well as several industrial buildings, many of which handle hazardous materials. However, countless structures remain unfortified.

National Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said the necessary measures are low on the budgetary agenda, and thus cost prohibitive at the present time. Estimations show that thousands could be affected in the event of an earthquake, but until a disaster does occur, it is unlikely measures will be considered in budget decisions, Ben-Eliezer said.Three earthquakes in the 4 to 4.5 range of the Richter scale in August and September caused no injury and only slight damages.Israel is positioned along a major fault line running through the Dead Sea Basin, and while the country has not faced a high-magnitude earthquake since the early 20th century, authorities have warned that the big one is due.

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

Tropical storm Sergio forms off Mexican Pacific Tue Nov 14, 6:04 PM ET

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Tropical storm Sergio formed in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico on Tuesday and weather forecasters warned it could become a major hurricane in the next three days.

Sergio was approximately 375 miles south of the tourist town of Manzanillo and expected to move slowly northward, although it has so far not been forecast to make landfall.Predictions are divided on whether Sergio will reach hurricane strength or remain a tropical storm.The Miami-based National Hurricane Center said that one forecast makes Sergio a major hurricane in three days. On the other hand... is more conservative.Mexico's Pacific coast has been blitzed with hurricanes and storms this year, whereas its Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico coasts have seen little activity.In October, Hurricane Paul killed two people in northwestern Mexico. In September, Hurricane Lane cost three lives along the Pacific coast and Hurricane John killed at least three people on the Baja California peninsula.

November 14th, 2006 :: 10:49 PM
Wind Warning for Greater Vancouver. Heavy rain for the north shore mountains.

Tonight another strong but complex storm system will sweep across the south west corner of BC. Southerly winds will increase this evening to 40 to 60 km/h by midnight. South or southeast winds will continue to increase to 60 to 80 km/h in the Greater Vancouver area early on Wednesday morning. Winds of 60 to 80 km/h from the south or southeast will continue to hold throughout the morning and early afternoon on Wednesday. At around 3pm on Wednesday the winds will shift to northwest winds of 60 to 80 km/h in western sections of the city.

Winds will shift to westerly winds across the rest of the city and the Lower Fraser Valley during the early evening but the winds will ease off. The strong northwest winds near the water will ease off by 9pm Wednesday. Rain, heavy at times will begin falling Tuesday evening and it will continue until Wednesday afternoon. Total 24 hour precipitation amounts of 60 to 120 mm can be expected near the north shore mountains by Wednesday afternoon. The southwest corner of the Greater Vancouver area will likely see less than 20mm because of a rain shadow caused by the mountains on Vancouver Island.

Vancouver Weather Forecast

Tuesday Night
Low 6°C Rain Rain, heavy at times, developing late in the evening. Wind from the south or southeast at 60 to 80 km/h developing.

Wednesday, November 15th
Rain High 11°C Rain, heavy at times, tapering off in the afternoon. Total 24 hour rainfall totals of 60 to 120mm near the mountains.

South winds of 60 to 80 km/h shifting to northwesterlies in the afternoon.

Thursday, November 16th Low 3°C
Showers High 9°C Cloudy with a few showers. Windy at times.

Friday, November 17th Low 6°C
Showers High 10°C Cloudy with a few showers.

Saturday, November 18th Low 6°C
Showers High 10°C Cloudy with a few showers or periods of rain.

Sunday, November 19th Low 6°C
Rain High 9°C Periods of rain.

OH SORRY TO SAY THIS WRITER, THE FUTURE FOR FORESTS WON'T BE BRIGHTER.

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

Study hopeful for world's forests (NOV 15,06)
The future may be a little brighter for forests, the researchers say

A new technique for measuring the state of the world's forests shows the future may not be as bad as previously feared.

An international team of researchers say its Forest Identity study suggests the world could be approaching a turning point from deforestation.The study measures timber volumes, biomass and captured carbon not just land areas covered by trees. The findings are being published in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.The trend is better than previously thought, said Pekka Kauppi, one of the paper's co-authors. We see prospects for an end to deforestation; we do not make a forecast but it is possible.

See a map detailing changes to the world's growing stocks Professor Kauppi, from the University of Helsinki, said data from the Forest Identity methodology offered a more sophisticated view than previous studies.

FOREST FACTS

Forests cover 30% of the world's total land area
Deforestation rate: 13m hectares per year
Iceland has three native tree species, Brazil has 7,780
The world's trees store 283 gigatonnes of carbon, 50% more than there is in the atmosphere (Source: FAO)

Previously, the focus was almost exclusively on the size of a forest area, he told BBC News. Now, we have included other components, including biomass and the amount of carbon stored.

He said this approach offered a better understanding of the natural resource: When we look at changes in both area covered and biomass, we can get a more complete picture of the ecosystems.

When the technique was applied to data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's (FAO) Global Forest Assessment report, the researchers found that forest stocks had actually expanded over the past 15 years in 22 of the world's 50 most forested nations.

They also showed increases in biomass and carbon storage capacity in about half of the 50 countries. But the data also revealed that forest area and biomass was still in decline in Brazil and Indonesia, home to some of the world's most important rainforests.

Demand for land

The report also showed a correlation between a nation's economic growth and forest transition, in other words, a shift from deforestation to net gains in tree cover. The researchers found that when Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita reached $4,600 (£2,400), many nations experienced forest transition and saw an increase in forestry growing stock (volume of useable timber).

Professor Pekka Kauppi,Report's co-author .Professor Kauppi said no nation intentionally destroyed forests, people did it out of necessity.Rural populations, which are poor and growing, have to convert new land to agriculture and subsistence farming, he observed.So the pressures on the forests ease if people have other job sources. We are not saying that people, because they are wealthier, do not destroy forests but it is a sign that societies have good law enforcement and rural policies.

But there was a risk that a misleading picture was being created by rich nations importing raw timber or wood-based products from poorer nations, rather than destroying their own woodlands. This is a serious problem, Professor Kauppi said.It is called leakage or exporting ecological impacts' and it exists, unfortunately. But he emphasised that, overall, international trade was not bad: If agricultural production takes place in highly productive regions, then land elsewhere can be protected or saved.

Deliverable goals

He hoped the Forest Identity formula would be used as a tool to help governments and policymakers to formulate effective strategies.

For example, you can set goals by analysing the changes in forest area and forest density and then make projections of alternative futures.You cannot change things overnight. Making promises and goals that are unrealistic is bad; you have to set demanding, yet achievable aims. Professor Kauppi said he was hopeful for the long-term future of the planet's forests, but warned that appropriate action was essential. Critically, it is about how people live in rural areas in developing nations, he concluded. Can their living conditions be improved? If they can, then there is reason to be optimistic.

A Leftist Judge is Helping Destroy Israel
by Lee Kaplan (INN)
Nov 12, '06 / 21 Cheshvan 5767

Missiles fall on school kids in Sderot, three young soldiers are still held hostage, young men in the IDF risk their lives in Gaza, Hizbullah and Hamas rearm, and both raise money and propagandize for Israel's destruction all over America at colleges and churches as war looms. But Israel's judiciary just keeps rolling along.That's right, folks, yet another bigwig in the International Solidarity Movement's game plan to bring subversives to the Holy Land and send you all packing to other countries (if the Arabs don't kill you and your kids first) got into the country last Tuesday at Ben-Gurion airport.

He came to work in solidarity to destroy Israel and make one more homogeneous Muslim-Arab-dominated state in the Middle East, called Palestine.Scott Kennedy is a founder and leader of the Resource Center for Nonviolence (RCNV) in Santa Cruz, California. Sounds nice, doesn't it? A resource center for non-violence. The only thing is that Kennedy and his RCNV devote almost all programming to the ISM and events designed to demonize and delegitimize Israel's existence, when not working to aid the enemies of the USA. Almost weekly, Kennedy's RCNV hosts events organized by ISM activists at which they recruit and inform people in California how Israelis are the new Nazis, how the Arabs are the victims in this Middle East war and, oh, yes, how Israel belongs to the Arabs - even the house and mortgage you pay for with the sweat off your brow.

Scott Kennedy and friend

Scott is a busy fellow too. The University of California, Santa Cruz is nearby his RCNV where they organize hate-the-Jews rallies disguised as peace events Oops! Excuse me. Hate the Zionists rallies. It's those Zionists who control the world's banking and are really the enemies of the free world that they hate. They love Jews. Really. Almost as much as they love the PLO and Hamas.

A local newspaper cartoonist recently drew a cartoon of Kennedy's building in Santa Cruz and renamed it The Resource Center for No More Israel, a fitting title. Kennedy even hosted an Arab woman at the Center and the college campus, and toured her all over the US, who claimed her sister was knifed to death by a Jewish settler. All across America, Kennedy invited local members of synagogues to hear her tale of the fanatic Jew who killed her sister, urging them that good Jews no longer support Israel. Good Jews want it to become Palestine, the universal state of brotherly love where Arabs will live in harmony with the Jews.

There was one problem, though: the woman's sister was killed by an Arab who thought he was stabbing a Jewess to death in East Jerusalem. The killer confessed his crime. Scott also provides facilities for Paul LaRudee's Norcal ISM for recruiting and training, and just about any Israel bashing event imaginable. LaRudee was deported by Israel for connections to Hamas, so he went to Lebanon as a human shield for Hizbullah. Kennedy's RCNV raises money constantly for the Palestinian cause at his RCNV. The money always somehow goes to Arab NGOs, where it's entirely fungible and can end up in the hands of terrorists. But should Israel keep him out? Nah.

Israel's security services tried to prevent Kennedy's entry based on his ISM affiliations. However, some lefty judge decided that Kennedy wasn't exactly ISM. Now, the ISM is not an organized entity like a corporation, but rather an octopus-like group of smaller cells set up under PLO leadership to work to destroy the Jewish state. Kennedy and his entourage from Interfaith Peace Builders (another nice sounding name) is busy touring the Holy Land, shooting scenes of suffering Arabs and meeting with Israeli anarchists. They will go back to the US and poison the minds of the American masses about the horrible Jews, who are persecuting poor disenfranchised Arabs, but the tour also gives them a chance to invite over more Hamas spokespeople to speak at the RCNV and raise more money for the struggle for Palestine.

Even though the government is keeping out these ISM creeps more often, the judge decided that Kennedy was only marginally linked to the ISM, and so let him and his anti-Semitic creeps in to practice subversion. Well, how about this? The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation was set up in Washington, DC and is led by Huwaida Arraf, one of the founding members of the ISM, who admits to working with Hamas. Created by someone named Nadil Ghaith in the UAE, then started as a US nonprofit, this group raises funds tax free to help the struggle to destroy your country.And guess what? On a webpage listing all its allied groups, we find such groups as Michigan ISM, Paul LaRudee and Norcal ISM, Women in Black, SUSTAIN (Stop US Taxpayer Support for Israel Now), the American Friends Service Committee (the Quakers are big on destroying Israel), and many others - all of whom sponsor the yearly ISM conferences at American universities, where ISM volunteers are trained to attack your border guards and soldiers in the West Bank and to tear down the security fence set up to protect your children.And you want to know what and who else are on that list? Scott Kennedy and his Resource Center for Nonviolence, as well Miryam Rashid, of Interfaith Peace Builders, who is Scott's co-group leader for the pack of subversives now touring your country. By the way, Interfaith Peace Builders was deported from Israel in 2002 as a security risk, but when it comes to judges in Israel, they just go all weak-kneed when faced with lawyers funded by Arab money or Israel's communist party.So, Scott Kennedy is listed among all the ISM groups on the ISM founder's ISM website to work to end the occupation of Palestine (all of Israel mind you, even Tel Aviv). But a lefty Israeli judge thinks Scott's not a part of the ISM.Kennedy's entourage isn't there to make peace for Israel and the Arabs, it's there to aid the Arab campaign to drive the Jews out.

There are Jews in the Diaspora who love you and wish you well, living in peace and security. There are also naive young Jews in the Diaspora, or self-serving ones, who are working feverishly with the ISM to destroy your country - no matter how great a lie is needed, no matter how many Jews are killed by Arabs who will accept nothing less than Israel's complete annihilation and subjugation of her Jewish population. The Arab woman who toured the US under Kennedy's guidance spreading the blood libel that her sister was murdered by an Orthodox Jew was joined by an Israeli woman who also did Kennedy's bidding to reinforce the lie. She is one of the betrayers of Israel.I've been fighting these kinds of people for three years over here, and many of them have been deported from Israel as a result of my investigative work. But none of them disgust me as much as that silly leftist judge who, in fact, is
endangering all of you and your children.

MUSLIM NATIONS

EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)

JOEL 2:20,30-31
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

NATO report says Russia aims to form a gas cartel
Reuters Published: November 14, 2006 (International herald tribune)

BRUSSELS: NATO advisers have warned that Russia may be seeking to create a natural gas cartel stretching from Algeria to Central Asia to use as a political weapon in dealings with Europe, alliance sources said Tuesday.

The warning of a Russian-backed OPEC for gas came in a confidential report by NATO's economic committee that was presented to alliance countries last week.

Regular contacts already take place among gas exporting countries under the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, which was created in May 2001. But energy ministers of the group, whose countries control about two-thirds of the world's gas reserves, say the forum is for exchanging information and is not a cartel in the making.The report concluded that Russia, which supplies a quarter of Europe's gas, was aiming to draw Algeria, Libya, Qatar, the countries of Central Asia and possibly Iran into a cartel wielding enormous power over the gas market.The flip side of Naples's gangland imageThat would strengthen Moscow's hand in relations with Europe and particularly with neighbors such as Ukraine and Georgia, which Moscow wants to dissuade from moving closer to Western bodies such as NATO and the European Union, the sources said.It quotes Lavrov as saying as much in private meetings with other Russian officials, said an alliance source who had seen the document, referring to the political power such a cartel could wield. He was speaking of the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov.A NATO spokesman declined to comment on the report because it was confidential. The Financial Times first reported its existence in an article on Tuesday.An alliance source said the report represented the views of experts from national capitals rather than an official NATO view, and noted that it made no recommendations on possible NATO action.A Kremlin official denied that Russia was discussing the creation of a gas cartel, pointing out that, as president of the G-8 this year, Moscow had sought greater cooperation between energy producers and consumers.This isn't happening, Arkady Dvorkovich, head of the Kremlin's economic staff, said at a briefing, saying experience showed that cartels were generally not effective.

Palestinian Groups Call For Merciless Strikes Against Americans
Crosswalk, Nov 14,06

Four Palestinian terrorist organizations are calling on Palestinians and Muslims around the world to strike at Americans mercilessly because of U.S. support for Israel, CNSNews.com reports. The Popular Resistance Committees (an umbrella group of terrorist organizations), the Al-Aqsa Brigades (of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas Fatah faction) and two other groups are furious with the U.S. for its weekend veto of a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning last week's accidental Israeli shelling of homes in the northern Gaza Strip. The mistaken attack killed 18 women and children. The statement said U.S. policy has made America a legitimate target for Palestinian organizations and any Muslim or Palestinian around the world.It called on all free men everywhere and the mujahadeen [holy warriors] in the Islamic nation to mercilessly strike the Americans.This is not the first time that Palestinian groups have threatened to hit American targets abroad but they have never carried out attacks against Americans outside the region.

NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.

ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).

ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.

JOEL 2:20,30
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

REVELATION 9:18
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.

HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.

CHRONOLOGY -- Iran's nuclear program
By Reuters | November 14, 2006

Iran is pushing ahead with uranium enrichment and stonewalling investigations by the International Atomic Energy Agency despite the risk of U.N. sanctions, according to a confidential IAEA report obtained by Reuters.

August 2002 - Exiled opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran reports the existence of uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and heavy water plant at Arak.

December 2002 - United States accuses Iran of across-the-board pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.

June 2003 - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report, after February inspection of Natanz and Arak, says Iran has failed to comply with nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

December 2003 - Iran signs protocol allowing snap inspections of nuclear facilities.

November 2004 - Iran promises EU negotiators it will suspend all nuclear fuel processing and reprocessing work.

February 2005 - President Mohammad Khatami says no Iranian government will give up nuclear technology programme.

Sept. 2 - IAEA report confirms Iran has resumed uranium conversion at Isfahan.

Jan. 10, 2006 - Iran removes U.N. seals at Natanz enrichment plant and resumes nuclear fuel research.

Feb. 4 - IAEA votes to report Iran to U.N. Security Council. Iran ends snap U.N. nuclear inspections the next day. Ten days later

Iran restarts small-scale feeding of uranium gas into centrifuges at Natanz after 2-1/2-year suspension.

March 8 - IAEA report to Security Council says it cannot verify Iran's atomic activities are peaceful.

April 11 - Iran announces it has produced low-grade enriched uranium suitable for use in power stations; IAEA confirms this.

April 28 - An IAEA report, sent to the Security Council, confirms Iran has flouted council demands to suspend enrichment.

June 5 - EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana visits Tehran to deliver a package of incentives from world powers if Iran agrees to halt uranium enrichment.

July 31 - Security Council demands Iran suspend its nuclear activities by Aug. 31. In a resolution, council for first time makes legally binding demands on Iran and threat of sanctions. Iran's ambassador to the U.N. rejects the resolution.

Aug. 26 - Iran launches new phase in Arak heavy-water reactor project.

Aug. 31 - IAEA announces Iran has not met deadline to suspend its atomic fuel programme and has resumed enriching small amounts of uranium in recent days.

Sept. 19 - U.S. President Bush and President Ahmadinejad clash over Iran's nuclear ambitions at the United Nations.

Sept. 26 - Russia and Iran agree start-up date of September 2007 for Iran's first nuclear power station at Bushehr, with power sent to grid in November 2007.

Oct. 6 - Six world powers say they have agreed to discuss sanctions to punish Tehran for failing to halt uranium enrichment but are still open to negotiations.

Nov 14 - A confidential IAEA report says that Iran is pushing ahead with uranium enrichment and still stonewalling investigations by the Agency despite the risk of U.N. sanctions.

-- The report also confirms that Iran has started up second experimental chain of 164 interlinked centrifuge machines and has begun feeding uranium UF6 gas into them for enrichment.

DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).

The Hague wants safeguards against EU powers in new treaty
13.11.2006 - 09:31 CET | By Mark Beunderman

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Dutch foreign minister Bernard Bot has said a new EU treaty should include substantial changes to the EU constitution text, including fresh safeguards against Brussels meddlesomeness.

In a speech delivered in Amsterdam on Thursday (9 November), the Dutch minister gave one of the clearest indications so far on what the Netherlands wants from the EU constitution after Dutch voters last year rejected the charter in a referendum.During a future revision of the treaty, the title and references to the European flag and the European anthem in part I of the [constitutional] Treaty could be scrapped, the Dutch minister said referring to research indicating that voters' fear of an EU superstate was one of the reasons for the Dutch no.

Reiterating that The Hague would not re-submit the existing constitution text for ratification, he added that the argument that the EU is too meddlesome could be countered by a clear separation of competences and support for the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality.Subsidiarity is a term in EU jargon meaning that Brussels should only legislate or act if local or national action is ineffective.The Bot speech indicates that The Hague may in any future talks on the document press for stronger safeguards against what is being seen by parts of Dutch public opinion as the EU's tendency to over-regulate and act like a state. His comments come as polls indicate that his party the Christian Democrats led by Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende could win the 22 November elections in the Netherlands, with the Labour opposition steadily losing ground in the past few weeks.

Mr Bot's questioning of Part I of the constitution - on the EU's institutions and values - could put the Netherlands at odds with many EU capitals as well as the European Commission which see this part as the core of the charter.The Dutch minister also said Part II the charter of fundamental rights could be ditched, if the EU as a bloc acceded to the European Convention of Human Rights, a 1950 treaty which falls outside EU structures and is linked to human rights watchdog the Council of Europe. But although Mr Bot's readiness to ditch Part II of the constitution echoes a recent plan by French presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy for a mini-treaty, the Dutch politician said Mr Sarkozy's plan would not be enough. The weak point of Mr Sarkozy's so-called Mini Treaty is that it is focused only on the institutions, Mr Bot said. I do not agree with that. In a new treaty, there has to be attention for the concerns and questions of citizens.

Despite his plea for stronger safeguards against EU over-regulation in general, he said the union should be given legal powers in specific areas where citizens want the union to do more, including energy security; the fight against organised crime; foreign policy and the environment. He added that citizens' worries about uncontrolled EU enlargement of the union could be addressed by enshrining the political entry criteria for new members the so-called Copenhagen criteria in a new treaty.

The issue of enlargement could be tackled by giving treaty status to the Copenhagen criteria, he said. Mr Bot said such a slimmed-down treaty, which would at the same time include new policy-related elements, would be substantially different and better than the EU constitution. The latest election polls show that Mr Bot and Mr Balkenende's Christian Democrats enjoy a three to five seat lead over the opposition Labour party led by Wouter Bos, with many voters however still undecided.

EU and South Africa agree on closer ties 1 hour, 27 minutes ago

BRUSSELS (AFP) - The European Union and South Africa have hailed a new closer relationship aimed at enhancing their strategic political cooperation on issues including conflict resolution in Africa. The two sides agreed to work towards a strategic partnership special relations which the EU so far enjoys only with China, India, Japan, Russia and the United States.

The whole purpose of a strategic partnership is to work together to solve issues of common concern instead of just relying on political dialogue, said Finnish EU presidency spokesman Aapo Pohlo Tuesday.The two parties will now embark on enhancing cooperation towards shared objectives and strategic political cooperation on regional, African and global issues, according to a joint statement.

The Strategic Partnership will also develop stronger and sustainable economic cooperation and extend cooperation to social, cultural and environmental fields, it added.The next step is to draft a joint action plan to concretise ideas according to the Finnish EU presidency. No date was given for completion of the partnership process.One area of potential further cooperation that was mentioned was the Democratic Republic of Congo, where South Africa and the European Union have already been working together.

Both the EU and ourselves have the same perspective, that we have to support the new government there, South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma told a joint press conference following the talks.The EU has also been very instrumental especially in funding the AMIS (African Union Mission in Sudan) in Darfur, she added.Both the European Union and South Africa support a proposal to deploy a United Nations force in Sudan's war-torn western region of Darfur.

The European Commission the bloc's executive arm views South Africa as a leading nation and a peace broker, therefore a natural partner to Europe on the African continent.South Africa foresees the closer ties as giving synergies what we do but also of benefit to the wider African Union, said Dlamini-Zuma.South African Agriculture Minister Lulu Xingwana took the opportunity to see EU support to resume the Doha round of World Trade Organisation talks.The sooner we finalise the Doha round the better, she told a joint press conference in Brussels.South Africa and the EU will also start negotiations for a comprehensive update and revision of the Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement which has been the cornerstone of their relations since 2000.They also agreed on further liberalisation of trade in the automotive sector, though Dlamini-Zuma described this deal as asymmetrical.

UPDATED: 21:05, November 14, 2006
East Asian economies to grow for fifth consecutive year in 2006: World Bank

East Asian economies are expected to register their fifth consecutive year of strong growth in 2006, backed up by a substantial decline in poverty, according to the World Bank's latest East Asia Update launched on Monday. But this growth is also expected to somewhat slow down in the near future, reflecting a likely faltering U.S. growth rate in 2007, and a consequent drop in exports from East Asia to the United States, the biannual report said. The report shows that growth in the countries of Emerging East Asia is likely to reach around 8 percent in 2006, the second strongest rate in the five-year long economic expansion underway in the region.

As a whole, East Asia has bounced back from the 1997 financial crisis, and has lifted some 25 million people out of extreme poverty since 2005, the report said. It estimated that the number of people in East Asia living on or below two dollars a day will fall to around 550 million, or 29.3 percent of the population in 2006. According to the report, China's rapid economic growth at a growth rate above 10 percent is underpinning the region's overall GDP growth. World Bank statistics show that China's imports from the rest of Emerging East Asia were up about 20 percent in the first three quarters of 2006, at about the same rate as in 2005. The report said that strong export growth has been a common feature sustaining activity throughout the region. But it noted that domestic consumption and investment performance has been a lot more varied, reflecting the impact of higher oil prices and higher domestic interest rates in the first half of 2006, among other factors.

We may have seen the peak in oil prices and interest rates in the region,said Homi Kharas, the World Bank's chief economist for East Asia and the Pacific. So the prospects are good for domestic demand to strengthen and to offset weaker exports, he added.

The Update also finds that foreign exchange reserves in Emerging East Asia continue to accumulate, rising to over 2 trillion dollars at present. The region's rising current account surplus up to over 300 billion U.S. dollars in the second quarter of 2006 continues to finance the share of foreign exchange reserves growth, said the report. The report notes that East Asia is stepping towards a middle-income region. Once Vietnam reaches middle income country levels, possibly as early as 2010, more than nine out of ten East Asians will live in a middle-income country.said the report. But as the report warns, this poses new challenges for the region, especially in how this new wealth is managed.

The report also noted growing inequality in much of developing East Asia, not just in income levels, but also in schooling and access to basic services. Despite successful global integration and increasing regional integration, many East Asian countries are falling behind in domestic integration.

The report urges the region to pay attention to the problems of rapid urbanization, service delivery, social cohesion and corruption, so as to address those challenges. The report also has a special focus on the 450 million youth in the region and discusses the challenge of how to prepare this group to become the drivers of future growth. It also notes the high and rising returns on higher skills and the importance of connecting school and work. Source: Xinhua

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

Tuesday, 14 November 2006, 08:35 GMT
Track sex offenders from space

Children's charity Barnardo's is calling on the government to use lie detector tests and satellite tracking to monitor sex offenders.

It claims pilot studies in the UK have shown promising results.One such trial found up to 80% of cases showed lie detector tests revealed new information about the offenders' intentions or behaviour. Barnardo's says this helps probation staff assess the risks they pose when they are released from jail better.All the indications are that polygraphs can be effective in helping control behaviour.
Martin Narey, Barnardo's chief executive Q&A: Monitoring offenders

Barnardo's make the claims in its new report, entitled A Risk Too High? which is published on Tuesday. It also says such measures will be more effective than the introduction of the proposed Sarah's Law, which would allow parents to learn of registered sex offenders living in their area.This is because it believes such a law would drive sex offenders away from supervision and into hiding.

False comfort

This proposed legislation is named after eight-year-old Sarah Payne, who was murdered by paedophile Roy Whiting in 2000.

Barnardo's chief executive Martin Narey said: Barnardo's is committed to protecting children from harm, but we feel that a Sarah's Law would offer a false comfort to parents and could put children in more, not less, danger.

That said, the current arrangements for the safe supervision of dangerous offenders need to be strengthened and public confidence restored. Our report outlines how the use of polygraphs and satellite tracking could radically improve the effectiveness of supervision. All the indications are that polygraphs can be effective in helping control behaviour.In our view, this kind of measure has more of a headline effect than actually being demonstrated to be genuinely effective Justice

I have personally seen their use on sex offenders, spoken to the probation staff who have used this technology in a pilot [study] in the North East, and been impressed by the officers' conviction that it significantly improves the rigour of supervision. But human rights group Justice questioned the effectiveness of lie detector tests. We're very doubtful as to any evidence that's been produced to show that it's a reliable method, the group's policy director Eric Metcalfe told BBC News.In our view, this kind of measure has more of a headline effect than actually being demonstrated to be genuinely effective.

Resources call

Nacro, the crime reduction charity, said it welcomed the Barnardo's report. Paul Cavadino, chief executive of Nacro, said: Introducing a Sarah's Law would increase the risk to children, not reduce it. Sex offenders would be more likely to move around, change their names and go underground to avoid being identified. This would make it harder to supervise them in treatment programmes. Increasing resources for the supervision of sex offenders would protect the public far better than a new law which would undoubtedly damage child protection. A recent Panorama programme found that paedophiles staying at bail hostels were able to gain access to children, prompting the Home Secretary, John Reid, to order a review into the allegations.

2 THESSOLONIANS 2:1-5
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;(THE FALLING AWAY FROM THE CHRISTIAN FAITH FIRST, THE RAPTURE, THEN THE EU DICTATOR REVEALED TO THE WORLD).
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

Religion on the Way Out in Europe (speaking of falling away)
November 12, 2006,The 2006 Angus Reid World Poll

Mario Canseco - The Angus Reid World Poll conducted for Maclean’s found that most Europeans and Canadians appear to be turning away from religion, while Indians, South Africans, Mexicans and residents of three Middle East countries still consider it an important part of their daily lives.France is at the bottom of the list, with only 17 per cent of respondents expressing interest in religion, with Britain at 23 per cent, Germany at 24 per cent and Spain at 31 per cent. Italy, traditionally one of the most Catholic countries in Europe, is the exception among continental nations with 51 per cent.The trend towards secularism has been evident in France during the presidency of Jacques Chirac. In February 2004, the French government implemented a ban on religious symbols in schools as a measure to reaffirm the country’s secular identity. Former government minister Bernard Stasi headed the panel, which concluded that some garments such as Islamic scarves, Jewish kippas and crosses represent a conspicuous sign of spiritual affiliation that should not be allowed in the classroom.

Spain has also shown a tendency towards secularism during the tenure of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who took over as president from a conservative government in April 2004. The Socialist administration legalized same-sex marriage over the
objections of religious associations, and compelled the Catholic Church to pay the Value Added Tax (VAT) for the first time.Saudi Arabia was the most religious country of the 20 nations surveyed at 96 per cent, followed by Egypt with 89 per cent, South Africa with 70 per cent, Lebanon and Mexico with 65 per cent each, and India with 55 per cent.Islam is the official religion of Saudi Arabia, the legal system is based on Islamic law or Sharia, and all citizens have to be Muslims. In Egypt, 90 per cent of the population is Muslim. South Africa is predominantly Christian, but a third of the population follows traditional and indigenous beliefs, Islam or Hinduism. In Lebanon, religious diversity is entrenched in the Constitution, and the Assembly of Representatives allocates half of the seats to Catholics, and the other half to Muslims.

Earlier this year, some newspapers in Western Europe decided to re-print a series of controversial cartoons depicting Muslim prophet Mohammed, which had originally appeared in Denmark’s Jyllands-Posten.

The two most contentious drawings show Mohammed with a bomb for a turban, and greeting suicide bombers in heaven. Public protests occurred in more than a dozen countries, and the embassies of Denmark and Norway in Syria—as well as the Danish consulate in Lebanon and an Italian consulate in Libya were torched by mobs.In North America, a change in Canadian perspectives has been evident over the past 14 years. In 1992, 61 per cent of respondents said religion was very important for their daily lives. This year, the number dropped to 39 per cent. In the United States there was also a decrease, from 83 per cent in 1992 to 63 per cent in 2006.

The U.S. has faced constant debates that have examined the role of religion in daily life, particularly in regard to the ethical questions posed by embryonic stem cell research and abortion, as well as euthanasia exemplified during the case of Terri Schiavo in 2005. Another avenue of discussion is the emergence of the theory of intelligent design, which suggests certain biological mechanisms are too complex to have developed without the involvement of a powerful force or intelligent being, and has been chastised by scientists as a concealed method of teaching creationism.

Mexico is the only predominantly Catholic country where more than 60 per cent of respondents express an interest in religion. Mexican president Vicente Fox who will step down in December after a six-year term openly discussed his faith during speeches and press conferences, a rarity for Mexican heads of state.Despite the variations across the globe, spirituality clearly has an influence on the way people feel. 60 per cent of global respondents who expressed optimism in the future say religion is very important to their daily lives. Conversely, 63 per cent of
respondents who feel pessimistic about their outlook think religion is simply not that significant.

End To Israel-Palestinian Conflict Key To Mideast Peace: EU, Jordan
06:52 PM, November 14th 2006,by News Staff

The European Union and Jordan on Tuesday said ending violence between Israelis and Palestinians was the key to stabilizing countries across the Middle East. We agree on the centrality of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict ... it is the most important, central issue facing the region, Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdel Illah Al-Khatib said after talks with senior EU officials in Brussels.

Without tangible results in ending daily confrontations between Israelis and Palestinians, we cannot handle other security challenges in the region, Al-Khatib added. Al-Khatib also implicitly backed calls by British Prime Minister Tony Blair for Iran and Syria to play a more constructive role in solving the Middle East conflict, which could also help bring peace to Iraq.

All countries have a stake in stabilizing Iraq, Al-Khatib said, adding that a failure to control sectarian strife in Iraq could affect the entire region. Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, whose country holds the current EU presidency, told reporters the 25-nation bloc fully agreed on the primacy of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Tuomioja said peace and stability in Lebanon could not be guaranteed in the long-term unless there was progress in establishing a Palestinian state, alongside Israel.

At a joint press briefing with Tuomioja, the Jordanian Foreign Minister urged Israelis and Palestinians to recommence peace negotiations and said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was qualified to engage with Israel on relaunching such discussions. Backing Abbas' efforts to set up a government of national unity including the militant group Hamas as well as the Fatah movemen, al- Khatib said the Palestinians must form an administration which would allow an end to their current political and financial isolation.

The EU and the US, which classify Hamas as a terrorist group, have severed all direct assistance to the Palestinian Authority following Hamas' electoral victory earlier this year. Brussels has said it will resume aid flows once Hamas recognizes Israel, renounces violence and agrees to abide by past peace treaties.© 2006 DPA

Who Does UNIFIL Protect?
by Dr. Steve Carol (INN)
Nov 14, '06 / 23 Cheshvan 5767

In 1978, the United Nations established the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to patrol the area of southern Lebanon and prevent the continuance of PLO attacks against northern Israel, which in turn had triggered an Israeli retaliatory incursion into Lebanon. That UN force failed in its mission. The terrorist attacks against Israel continued, thus triggering an even larger Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982.UNIFIL’s mandate was renewed and again proved equally ineffective. It must be recalled that since 1978, the United Nations passed seven Security Council resolutions about Lebanon. All have called for the same thing. None have achieved their goals.This should not come as a surprise to those who studied the prior history of the United Nations involvement in Lebanon. One only needs to recall the performance, or rather lack of it, by the United Nations Observer Group in Lebanon (UNOGIL) in 1958. Its mission was to ascertain if Syria, then a part of the United Arab Republic, was smuggling weapons, men and material to Lebanese rebel forces seeking to overthrow the legitimate government of Lebanon. UNOGIL failed miserably at that task. The similarities of UN activity in 1958, 1978-2006, and since August of 2006 are remarkable.

Just as the earlier UNOGIL did not patrol at night, so too has the current UNIFIL force conducted no patrols at night. Quoting Spanish UNIFIL official Richard Ortax, as reported in the German publication Der Spiegel, this is because of the danger involved.

UNIFIL commanders said their function is to observe changes in the behavior of the local population.What happened to the mandate to UNIFIL in UN Security Council Resolution 1701 (UNSC 1701)? It states: The establishment between the [international border] and the Litani River of an area free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of the government of Lebanon and of UNIFIL.Thus, the resolution calls for the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, a reference to Hizbullah, but it does not specify how this should be done. In addition, UNSC 1701, by focusing only on southern Lebanon, indicates its recognition of Hizbullah’s right to continue to deploy missiles north of the Litani River, thus continuing to threaten Israel's citizenry at any time with longer-ranged missiles. Lebanese leaders have stated openly that the Lebanese army would not attempt to take away the terrorists'weapons. Additionally, they would not even confiscate weapons caches it stumbled upon. So again, as was the case in 1958, weapons smuggling from Syria has continued unabated. While the current UNIFIL force boasts a contingent of some 6,000 blue helmets, to be increased to a total of about 12,000, bolstered by 14,000 Lebanese armed forces, their performance thus far is worse than that of the UNOGIL force of 1958. Then UNOGIL was only 166 men at its peak strength, and they were charged with monitoring the 324 kilometers (195 miles) of the Syrian-Lebanese border. As was stated, they were not allowed to patrol at night and were not allowed access into rebel-held areas.

The current UNIFIL force has an even smaller area to monitor, an 18-by 31-mile region of southern Lebanon. They have more troops than in 1958 or in 1978-2006. And yet, the United Nations itself has admitted that Syria is still successfully smuggling arms to Hizbullah, which neither UNIFIL nor the Lebanese army plan to stop. Following a UN Security Council meeting on November 1, 2006, UN envoy to the region Terje Roed-Larsen explicitly admitted that Syria was actively smuggling weapons into Lebanon. He said that Lebanese government officials have stated publicly and also in conversations with us that there have been arms coming across the border into Lebanon.Roed-Larsen added that Syria itself does not deny the flow of weapons, claiming only that the arms are not being dispatched by the Syrian government. This incredulous statement comes from one of the most authoritarian regimes in the world, where virtually all activity is monitored by the Assad regime. The consistent position of the government of Syria has been that, Yes, there might be arms smuggling over the border, but this is arms smuggling and the border is porous and very difficult to control, Roed-Larsen told reporters.

Turning to the interdiction of weapons smuggling via sea, the UNIFIL has at its command a multinational flotilla of German, Danish, Dutch, French, Greek, Norwegian and Swedish warships. Their mission is to prevent arms smuggling. However, this international flotilla remains outside of Lebanon’s 12 mile limit, thus enabling a virtual non-stop flow of weaponry from the Syrian ports of Latakia and Tartus, along the Lebanese coast to Hizbullah strongholds in southern Lebanon.

In short, far from disarming Hizbullah, Iran and Syria have continued to re-arm and re-supply Hizbullah. Lebanon has openly abetted this. Emile Lahoud, the pro-Syrian Lebanese president, who is nominally commander-in-chief of the army, has described the notion of disarming Hizbullah as disgraceful: How can they ask us to disarm while the blood of the martyrs is still warm?The one area where the current UNIFIL force has threatened to act tough is against Israel. Two recent episodes involving German naval helicopters violating Israeli air space, as well as French threats to shoot at Israeli aerial reconnaissance flights over Lebanon, have made it clear that UNIFIL sees Israel as their enemy, not Hizbullah. Israeli reconnaissance flights are to monitor the movements and re-supply efforts to Hizbullah. Here, the UN has charged Israel with violating UNSC 1701 and the French commander of UNIFIL has threatened to fire upon Israeli jets. Indeed, in mid-October 2006 French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie stated that the Israeli flights are extremely dangerous because they may be felt as hostile by forces of the [UNIFIL] coalition.Thus, in effect, rather than being the peacekeeping force in the region and fulfilling its entire mandate, UNIFIL is acting (as it occasionally had in the past) as a shield for Hizbullah, behind which Hizbullah is rearming, refortifying and preparing for an even larger second round in its Iranian and Syrian-backed war against Israel.

Israel, for its first 45 years, has relied only on the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to protect its territory and independence. Now, it seems to be moving towards reliance on UNIFIL and the hostile international community to protect it. Worse still, as Hizbullah resumes attacks and UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army do little or nothing to stop those attacks, Israel will be faced with the problem of trying to stop Hizbullah, which means entering Lebanon yet again, and clashing with the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL. Israel will face international condemnation, as already has happened, with the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan denouncing an Israeli
commando attack in the Bekaa Valley in mid-August, 2006. Thus by making war on a UN force, Israel sets itself up as being branded the aggressor and being declared an outlaw state.This is something that the enemies of Israel have been trying to
accomplish for years. Israel must return to the admonition voiced by former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin: Israel alone must be responsible for its own defense and future. No country in the world lets outsiders dictate its policies on fundamental issues of national security;. Israel must not be the first to do so.© Dr. Steve Carol