RUSSIA - USA - EMP ATTACK

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 Fay floods hundreds of Fla. homes
By BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press Writer AUG 21,08

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – Emergency crews launched airboats into submerged streets Wednesday to rescue central Florida residents trapped by rising floodwaters from a stalled Tropical Storm Fay, which soaked the state for a third consecutive day.

Calling the flooding catastrophic, Gov. Charlie Crist requested an emergency disaster declaration from the federal government to defray rising debris and response costs. The White House said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was reviewing the request.Flooding was reported in hundreds of homes in Brevard and St. Lucie counties, some by up to 5 feet of standing water. In three towns, rising waters backed up sewage systems. It wasn't immediately clear how many residents had been displaced or were stranded, but county officials reported making dozens of rescues.We can't even get out of our house, said Billie Dayton of Port St. Lucie, as waters lapped at her porch. We're just hoping that it doesn't rain anymore.The storm could dump 30 inches of rain in some areas of Florida and the National Hurricane Center said up to 22 inches had already fallen near Melbourne, just south of Cape Canaveral on the state's central Atlantic coast.By Wednesday evening, the storm's center had moved over the Atlantic Ocean, and its winds had picked up speed.

Forecasters expected the storm to strengthen slightly before turning back toward the mainland Thursday and hitting Florida for the third time this week. But National Hurricane Center meteorologist Corey Walton said it was unlikely the storm would gain enough energy over the water to become a hurricane.The erratic storm first struck Monday in the Florida Keys, then veered out to sea before traversing east across the state, briefly strengthening, then stalling. For much of Wednesday, the storm barely moved, dumping inches and inches of rain over coastal central Florida.

If Fay strikes Florida again as expected, it would be just the fourth storm in recorded history to hit the peninsula with tropical storm intensity three separate times. The most recent was Hurricane Donna in 1960, said Daniel Brown, hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center.At 11 p.m. Wednesday, the storm was just off Florida's east coast, about 35 miles southeast of Daytona Beach. Its maximum sustained winds were 60 mph, and it was expected to move slowly toward the northwest overnight.In St. Lucie County an estimated 150 residents have been assisted in evacuating by boat or high-clearance vehicle, and water was 3 to 5 feet in some people's homes, Erick Gill, a county spokesman, said.The Florida National Guard mobilized about a dozen guardsmen and some high-water vehicles to assist with damage assessment and help with evacuations.Billy Johnson, 45, and his girlfriend walked four blocks through waist-high water to reach rescue vehicles after his Melbourne apartment was flooded with knee-high water.Everything I had is all underwater, he said.You can't grab your food. You can't grab your TV... Grab what you can and go.

For many, however, it was just a major inconvenience.

Steve Grenon, 40, was sitting in the bed of his truck in front of his house. He said he'd been holed up there for two days, unable to leave with water was up to six feet deep in the street in front of him. A dodge sedan was partly submerged in front of him.I had no idea what it looked like out there until today, Grenon said.Gill said hundreds of homes had been flooded, though a count was incomplete. Homes also were flooded in Brevard County, and county officials said 118 people were in shelters Wednesday night. Floodwaters also had caused sewage to back up, affecting another 40,000 to 50,000 people in three towns. Fay formed over the weekend in the Atlantic and was blamed for 20 deaths in the Caribbean before hitting Florida's southwest coast, where it first fell short of predictions it could be a Category 1 hurricane when it came ashore. Though no one in Florida had been killed, some were close. Joe McMannis, 27, said he jumped into floodwaters to help three people in a submerged truck in Jensen Beach. McMannis said the driver accidentally drove into a retention pond, confusing it for a driveway. It pretty much came up to my ears and chin, he said. "I saw this little kid coming toward me so I grabbed him and swam him back to the shore line and went back for the other two guys.The rain was welcome in dry Florida and Georgia cropland, but could also hurt farmers' production. Forecasters predicted parts of northern Florida could get 10 to 15 inches of rain, while southern Georgia could receive 3 to 6 inches. They're probably areas of the state that found the rains very beneficial, said Terence McElroy, spokesman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. But McElroy said the rain could pool around and damage citrus trees and flood pastures and hay fields. He couldn't yet quantify damage. Before moving east, the storm flooded streets in Naples, downed trees and cut power to some 95,000 homes and businesses. Tornadoes spawned by the storm damaged 51 homes in Brevard County, southeast of Orlando, including nine homes that were totaled. In the Keys, officials estimated 25,000 tourists evacuated. In Florida communities north of the flooding and in southeast Georgia, storm preparations included canceling school, clearing storm drains and ditches and encouraging mobile home residents to find sturdier shelter. Associated Press Writer Russ Bynum reported from Savannah, Ga.; Kelli Kennedy, Matt Sedensky, Lisa Orkin Emmanuel, Curt Anderson and Travis Reed reported from Miami; Christine Armario reported in Tampa, Bill Kaczor and Brent Kallestad reported from Tallahassee; and Ron Word in Jacksonville.

At least 74 killed in flooding in India By BISWAJEET BANERJEE, Associated Press AUG 21,08

Featured Topics: Iraq Russia LUCKNOW, India – Monsoon rains pummeled northern India, bringing dozens of buildings crashing down and killing 74 people, police said Thursday.The deaths were reported in Uttar Pradesh state, one of India's poorest, bringing this monsoon season's death toll to more than 300 people across India.

Monsoon season, which lasts from June to September in India, brings rain vital for the country's farmers but also massive destruction. Floods, mudslides, house collapses and lightning strikes kill hundreds every year.One of the worst hit places was the Hindu holy city of Varanasi, where 11.5 inches of rain fell in 24 hours.The dead included women and children, as most of the fatalities occurred due to the incidents of houses collapsing, said Surendra Srivastava, the state police spokesman.

Nine members of a single family died in Varanasi when the deluge caused the walls of a house to collapse, Srivastava said. Four others were also killed in the city, 165 miles southeast of Lucknow, the state capital.In the town of Sitapur, 50 miles southwest of Lucknow, 24 people were killed when 12 buildings collapsed, said Mritunjay Rai, a government official. Those killed included two girls who were buried alive when their mud house collapsed on them, Rai said.Schools in Varanasi and the nearby town of Barabanki were closed due the rains and the Ganges River was overflowing in some points, said Atul Kumar Gupta, a senior state official.Gupta said families would get $2,350 in compensation for victims of the flooding.

Meteorologists warned of more flooding in the days to come.

On Wednesday, floods left nearly 80,000 people stranded and dependent on emergency aid for food and water in India's remote northeast.Authorities used motorboats to rush aid to flood victims in more than 70 inundated villages on Majuli, one of Asia's largest freshwater islands located in the Brahmaputra River, said A. Baruah, a local government official in the state of Assam.There have been no deaths reported so far on the island, Baruah said.

Typhoon moves away from Philippines after 7 dead By OLIVER TEVES, Associated Press AUG 21,08

Featured Topics: Iraq Russia MANILA, Philippines – Rains from Typhoon Nuri triggered a series of landslides and floods in the northern Philippines, killing seven people before the storm moved on Thursday toward Hong Kong.Nuri, packing winds of 87 mph and gusts of up to 106 mph, was forecast to make landfall over Guangdong province, just east of Hong Kong on Friday afternoon, according to the U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Center.Rains, winds and flooding on Wednesday caused landslides in the mountainous northern Philippine provinces but the weather cleared Thursday.The Office of Civil Defense said three brothers aged 1, 3 and 10 years were killed when their house in Itogon township in Benguet province was swept away.Another landslide in Itogon killed a 72-year-old woman in her kitchen. Itogon is about 125 miles north of Manila.Two other people died in landslides and one was killed by a fallen tree, the civil defense said. One person was reported missing.(Corrects death toll in last paragraph.)

WW3 THE 3 WAVES THAT MARCH TO ISRAEL

DANIEL 11:40-45
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN)
42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA 2ND WAVE OF WW3) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

REVELATION 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20 And the winepress was trodden without the city,(JERUSALEM) and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.(200 MILES) (THE SIZE OF ISRAEL)

The Third and Final Wave of WW3 is when all Nations march to Jerusalem, but JESUS bodily returns to earth and destroys them,sets up his KINGDOM OF RULE FOR 1000 YEARS THEN FOREVER.

2ND WAVE CHINA AND KINGS OF THE EAST MARCH TO ISRAEL

REVELATION 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THIS IS THE ATATURK DAM IN TURKEY,THEY CROSS OVER).

DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)

REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(IRAQ-SYRIA)
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
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.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)

WARS AND RUMURS OF WARS.

MATTHEW 24:6
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

MARK 13:7
7 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet.

Surprise! Russia not about to invade Mideast, says new prophecy theory
But an unexpected war is imminent, according to best-selling new biblical analysis
August 19, 2008 9:59 pm Eastern 2008 WorldNetDaily

WASHINGTON – Even though Russia has advanced south into Georgia, a best-selling new Bible prophecy book says suggestions this signals an imminent march into the Middle East are mistaken.Instead, says Bill Salus, author of Isralestine, the world is about to be surprised by a different kind of devastating regional war involving Israel and its Arab neighbors.Isralestine: The Ancient Blueprints of the Future Middle East, currently rising to the top of the prophecy charts, says scholars have missed a significant piece of what the Bible reveals about the future of the region. And it has many of them reconsidering their prophetic model for the near future.

You can set Russia's recent invasion of Georgia and Israel's concern over Iran's nuclear aspirations on the back burner, not that these topics lack importance, says Salus. The stage is not adequately set for the highly publicized Ezekiel 38 and 39 Russian-Iranian nuclear-equipped consortia of nations to invade Israel. Psalm 83 comes first, and then Ezekiel 38 follows on its heels like a Goliath shadow. There are two distinct invasions of Israel, one building upon the other, with both occurring sequentially in the Middle East.According to Salus, the next war in the Middle East will involve Israel's closest Arab neighbors – not faraway Iran or Russia, the re-emerging military power to the north. He says a sometimes overlooked or misinterpreted passage in Psalm 83 is the key to understand the next major prophetic development. He says it suggests Palestinians, al-Qaida, Hezbollah, Hamas, Syrians, Saudis, Egyptians and Jordanians will confederate and launch an all-out war against Israel before what has been called the battle of Armageddon involving another alliance of Iran, Russia and Turkey.Indeed something is very near, but it is not Armageddon, says Salus.The theory has many long-time students of Bible prophecy sitting up and taking notice.The result of this regional war will be devastation for the Arabs who launch it and startling territorial and resource gains by Israel, claims the theory. It is this unexpected development that will precipitate the final showdown involving what has been termed the Ezekiel invasion.

US, Poland OK missile defense base, riling Moscow By VANESSA GERA and MONIKA SCISLOWSKA, Associated Press Writers – Wed Aug 20, 6:09 pm ET

WARSAW, Poland – The United States and Poland signed a deal Wednesday to place a U.S. missile defense base just 115 miles from Russia — a move followed swiftly by a new warning from Moscow of a possible military response.For many Poles — whose country has been a staunch U.S. ally — the accord represented what they believed would be a guarantee of safety for themselves in the face of a newly assertive Russia.Negotiators sealed the deal last week against a backdrop of Russian military action in Georgia, a former Soviet republic turned U.S. ally, that has worried former Soviet satellites across eastern Europe. It prompted Moscow's sharpest rhetoric yet over the system, which it contends is aimed at Russia despite Washington's insistence the site is purely defensive.After Wednesday's signing, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice dismissed any suggestion the 10 missile defense interceptors — which Washington says are intended to defend Europe and the U.S. from the possible threat of long-distance missiles from Iran — represent a threat to Russia.Missile defense, of course, is aimed at no one, Rice said. It is in our defense that we do this.She denounced an earlier threat from a Russian general to target NATO member Poland, possibly even with nuclear weapons, for accepting the facility.Such comments border on the bizarre, frankly, Rice told reporters in Warsaw. The Russians are losing their credibility, she said, adding that Moscow would pay a price for its actions in Georgia, though she did not specify how.It's also the case that when you threaten Poland, you perhaps forget that it is not 1988, Rice said. It's 2008 and the United States has a ... firm treaty guarantee to defend Poland's territory as if it was the territory of the United States. So it's probably not wise to throw these threats around.Poland has been a staunch U.S. ally in both Iraq and Afghanistan. It sent combat troops into Iraq as part of the U.S.-led coalition and had 2,300 troops deployed there at its peak. That has been reduced to about 900, who will be pulled out in October. At the same time, Poland has been building up its military presence in Afghanistan, where it currently has some 1,600 troops.Hours after the signing, Russia's Foreign Ministry warned that Moscow's response would go beyond diplomacy. The system to be based in Poland lacks any target other than Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles, it said in a statement, contending the U.S. system will be broadened and modernized.In this case Russia will be forced to react, and not only through diplomatic channels, it said without elaborating.

Democratic Rep. Ellen Tauscher, who leads a key appropriations panel for missile defense, praised the deal. But she said that Democratic lawmakers intend to withhold funding for the interceptors planned for Poland until they are properly tested, a move that could delay the deployment for years.The deal follows an earlier agreement to place the second component of the missile defense shield — a radar tracking system — in the neighboring Czech Republic, another formerly communist country now in NATO.We have achieved our main goals, which means that our country and the United States will be more secure, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told Rice after the signing.Many Poles agreed. After what happened in Georgia, I believe that this is good protection for us, said Kazimierz Dziuba, 49, a hospital worker in Warsaw.The Georgian conflict made the Americans agree to this deal sooner because the Russians are getting too bossy, Dziuba said.

Not all Poles were happy, however.

Alina Kesek, an 82-year-old retired office clerk who lived through World War II, when Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union divided Poland between them, and then experienced four decades of Moscow-dominated communist rule, said the Patriot missiles were a kind of provocation toward Russia. This means a threat from the Russian side, said Kesek. I am not very pleased with this deal.Some residents in the northern Polish town of Redzikowo, where the missile defense facility will be located, fear it may expose them to retaliatory attacks or other dangers. Along with the main deal, the two nations signed a so-called declaration on strategic cooperation, which is to deepen their military and political partnership. It includes a mutual commitment to come to each other's assistance immediately if one is under attack — enhancing existing obligations both have as NATO members. The declaration also was accompanied by a promise from the U.S. to help modernize Poland's armed forces and to place a battery of Patriot missiles there by 2012. Rice said the deal will help both the alliance and Poland and the United States respond to the coming threats.Poland and the United States spent a year and a half in formal talks, which snagged in the final phase on Poland's demands for the Patriot missiles and other points. However, the deepening U.S.-Polish friendship dominated Wednesday's proceedings. In troubled times the most important thing is to have friends, Rice said. But it is more important to have friends who share your values and your aspirations and your dreams. And Poland and the United States are those kind of friends.Approval for the missile defense sites is still needed from the Czech and Polish parliaments. No date has been set for lawmakers in Warsaw to vote, but the deal enjoys the support of the largest opposition party as well as of the government. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee, traveling with Rice, and Desmond Butler in Washington contributed to this report.

ELECTION 2008 Obama adviser travels to Syria Urges Damascus to speed up talks aimed at Israeli retreat from Golan August 20, 2008 3:12 pm Eastern By Aaron Klein 2008 WorldNetDaily

Daniel Kurtzer
JERUSALEM – A key foreign policy adviser to Sen. Barack Obama has traveled to Damascus where he reportedly urged Syrian officials to fast-track negotiations with Israel, it has emerged.Both Israel and Syria announced in May they were holding indirect talks aimed in part at an Israeli evacuation of most of the Golan Heights, which looks down on Israeli population centers and twice was used by Damascus to mount ground invasions of the Jewish state.The talks have been progressing at a very slow pace, with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Russia today discussing military cooperation between Damascus and Moscow.But Daniel Kurtzer, a top adviser to Obama on Israeli-Palestinian affairs who visited Syria last month, reportedly has offered Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem some advice.I urged him to move ahead in the Israel-Syria negotiations as much as possible so that whoever is the next president would not start from too far down the track, Kurtzer disclosed yesterday in an interview with the New York Sun.I did not say anything about Obama or McCain. I said whoever is the next president is not going to want to inherit a process that isn't going anywhere, Kurtzer said.He stressed he was not in Damascus as part of Obama's campaign but instead visiting as a private expert attending an international lawyers conference. The event is co-sponsored by British organizations and arranged by the British Syrian Society, chaired by Dr. Fawaz Akhras, the father of the wife of Syrian President Assad. The conference was aimed at helping Syria develop legal programs and expand international contacts for the country's lawyers.Kurtzer last month joined Obama in his visit to Israel. Kurtzer is a high-profile Obama adviser on Mideast affairs identified by Israeli diplomatic sources as likely to become the Illinois senator's envoy to the Israeli-Palestinian issue if he wins the presidency. It is unlikely Syrian officials did not associate Kurtzer with Obama's campaign in their talks with him.Kurtzer said he informed the Obama campaign of his trip to Damascus.The State Department considers Syria a state sponsor of terror. Damascus openly hosts the leaders of the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups and is accused of providing weapons and financing to the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah terror group.The McCain campaign immediately seized on Kurzter's trip to Syria.McCain spokesman Michael Goldfarb, stated, If one of Senator Obama's advisers has been to Damascus, we just wonder how many have been to Tehran.McCain's headquarters even scheduled a public phone conference for tomorrow to discuss Kurtzer's Syria trip.

Kurtzer one of Israel's greatest foes

Kurtzer long has been identified by Israeli leaders speaking on the record as one of Israel's greatest foes in Washington, and his appointment as a primary Mideast adviser to Obama raised some eyebrows in the pro-Israel Jewish community. We oppose the appointment of Kurtzer because of his long, documented record of hostility to and severe pressure upon Israel, said Zionist Organization of America National Chairman Morton Klein.Kurtzer has been blasted by mainstream Jewish organizations, including the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.He has angered Israeli leaders many times for pushing Israel into what they described as extreme concessions to the Palestinians.With Jews like Kurtzer, it is impossible to build a healthy relationship between Israel and the United States, Benjamin Nentanyahu was quoted saying in 2001 by Israel's Haaretz newspaper.Former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir said Kurtzer frequently pressured Israel to make one-sided concessions to the Arabs; he constantly blamed Israel for the absence of Mideast peace, and paid little or no attention to the fact that the Palestinians were carrying out terrorist attacks and openly calling for the destruction of Israel.

Morris Amitay, former executive director of the America-Israel Public Affairs Committee, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in 2001: Kurtzer ... will use his Jewishness as a protective cover for his anti-Israel views.The ZOA points out Israel's leading daily, Yediot Ahronot, editorialized on Kurtzer's negative influence against Israel:Possibly more than any other U.S. State Department official, Kurtzer has been instrumental in promoting the goals of the Palestinians and in raising their afflictions to the center of the U.S. policymakers' agenda, the paper stated.Kurtzer first rose to prominence in 1988 when, as a State Department adviser, he counseled the Reagan administration to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization led by Yasser Arafat. The PLO had carried out scores of anti-Western attacks, but in the late '80s Arafat claimed to have renounced violence.

In 1988, Kurtzer was noted as the principal author of a major policy speech by then-Secretary of State George Shultz in which the U.S. government first recognized the legitimate rights of the Palestinians.Haaretz reported in 2001 that Kurtzer had a vocal conflict with an Israeli government official in Philadelphia in the summer of 1990 after Kurtzer attacked the Israeli government for refusing to include the PLO in the peace process [and] said that this constituted the main obstacle to peace.

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).

Russia-NATO relations in tatters
HONOR MAHONY 20.08.2008 @ 09:25 CET

Moscow's relations with NATO were left in tatters on Tuesday (19 August) after the Kremlin dismissed the results of an emergency meeting of the military alliance on Russia's actions in Georgia as empty words.NATO foreign ministers gathered in the Brussels headquarters yesterday to discuss what actions it could take following the five-day war between Russia and its small Caucasian neighbour, Georgia, amid a hesitant withdrawal of Russian troops.NATO - the Tuesday statement contained little of substance (Photo: nato.int)But NATO itself is internally divided on how to approach energy-rich Russia. The EU relies on it for around a quarter of its energy needs, a factor said to influence the more cautious approach of Germany, France and Italy towards condemning Moscow, meaning the alliance cobbled together a political statement but little more.It said it would freeze regular contacts with Russia and said there would be no business as usual under present circumstances while urging Moscow to take immediate action to withdraw its troops from the area.There were no promises of troops in Georgia to give weight to the statement, however. Instead, the alliance said it would help with certain non-military support measures.NATO plans to send a team of 15 civil emergency planning experts to help Georgia assess damage to its civil infrastructure and support the re-establishment of the air traffic system and assist the Georgian government in understanding the nature of cyber attacks.

There was no real push for giving Georgia and Ukraine NATO membership. French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner also said the EU would not rethink its support for Russia's attempt to join the World Trade Organisation.The lack of substance was immediately picked up on by Russia.

Empty words

On the whole, all of these threats that have been raining down on Russia turned out to be empty words, said Dimitri Rogozin, the Russian ambassador to NATO.Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, described the statement as unobjective and biased.

Russia continues to only pull back its troops slowly from Georgia even though it agreed to a France-brokered ceasefire over the weekend and announced the withdrawal on Monday.The most recent pledge by Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, is that all bar 500 Russia troops would be pulled out of Georgia by Thursday and Friday.But the promise was condemned by British foreign minister, David Miliband, who noted that it was already the third commitment on the withdrawal made by Russia.I think we should still engage with the Russians but in a hard-headed way, and we mustn't allow the Russians to feel they are the victims of this affair when they are the transgressors, he said in a statement in UK daily The Times.The newspaper notes that a British diplomat had been stopped at a Russian checkpoint in Georgia and was told that he could not proceed without a Russian visa. According to Georgian officials, Russian troops remain in charge of about a third of Georgia, including Poti, the Black Sea port, and Gori, a key city near the South Ossetia border, the breakaway region at the heart of the conflict.Bloomberg news agency reports that Russia on Tuesday set out fresh conditions for its withdrawal.

Fresh conditions

For the withdrawal of Russian troops to happen, two things are necessary: the pullback of Georgian forces to their barracks and, secondly, we need to be assured that our peacekeepers are not going to be attacked again, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, said.The conflict also dominated a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, where veto-holding Russia on Tuesday refused to support a draft resolution calling for immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgia.The political bartering comes just 10 days after the war started. On 7 August, Georgia attempted to retake South Ossetia, prompting a massive retaliation from Russia. The UN estimates the fighting has created 150,000 new refugees.

Slovak mint starts production of euro coins
LUCIA KUBOSOVA 20.08.2008 @ 09:29 CET

Slovakia's mint has started manufacturing euro coins as the country prepares to join the 15-strong monetary union on 1 January 2009.Some 500 million coins weighing 2,406 tonnes began to be produced at a speed of 750 coins per minute at the Mint in Kremnica on Tuesday (19 August) in a run to last till the end of the year, the state company's spokesman, Jaroslav Setnicky, told reporters.The quota is the prescribed amount that needs to be delivered to banks and be available for general distribution. Altogether, Slovakia will need to hold 188 million euro notes worth €7 billion, and 500 million euro coins - among them, the highest amount of 230 million will be of one cent coins.It is currently a popular joke among Slovaks to say they will need sacks for coins when their country switches to the euro, as the poorest eurozone member state with lower prices and salaries than in the rest of the single currency area.The euro will be the sixth currency in Slovakia's history and will replace the Slovak koruna which was introduced in 1993 as the then Czechoslovakia split into the two states of the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic.As he was watching the formal launch of Slovak euro coin production in Kremnica on Tuesday (19 August), the Slovak finance minister, Jan Pociatek, suggested that the euro would serve Slovaks longer and better than the previous currency, the Slovak daily SME reported.The Slovak one and two-euro coins will feature a cross planted on top of a mountain with three hills, which is a national symbol also featuring on the country's flag. It is the first time that the Christian crucifix will be included on the side of a euro coin whose design the individual member countries can decide over, although Spain and Portugal have images of famous cathedrals on some of their coins.The 10, 20, 50-cent coins will feature Bratislava Castle, while the one, two and five-cent coins will show Mount Krivan, a symbol of the nation's sovereignty.

The 5.3 million-people strong Slovakia will join the eurozone as the second country of the former eastern bloc, after Slovenia.The move comes just as the euro celebrates the 10th anniversary of its original introduction in 11 states in 1999 and the single currency area faces the threat of its first ever recession.During the evaluation process, the long-term prospect of the country's price stability caused the biggest doubts over its readiness to join the club. But despite recording the highest economic growth rates across the EU, Slovakia managed to keep inflation below the required threshold.

Oil rises in Asia on falling US gasoline supplies By ALEX KENNEDY, Associated Press AUG 21,08

SINGAPORE – Oil prices rose Thursday in Asia above $116 a barrel as investors mulled a fall in U.S. gasoline inventories and a possible output tightening by OPEC at its next meeting in September.Light, sweet crude for October delivery was up 83 cents at $116.39 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Singapore. The contract rose $1.01 overnight to settle at $115.56 a barrel.The September contract expired Wednesday after rising 45 cents to $114.98 a barrel.The price gains came despite a huge rise in U.S. crude inventories. But not all U.S. fuel supplies were abundant.Gasoline inventories shrank by a larger-than-expected 6.2 million barrels to below-average levels in the week ended Aug. 15, the U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said Wednesday. Meanwhile, distillate inventories — which include heating oil and diesel fuel — rose by less than expected, the EIA said.That was enough to offset a hefty 9.4 million barrel rise in U.S. crude stocks last week when the average analyst forecast had been for a 1.7 million barrel increase, according to energy information provider Platts.

That report had something for everyone, said David Moore, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. On the one hand, the crude inventory buildup was quite strong, but the gasoline draw was also very prominent.Investors are also trying to anticipate the outcome of the next Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting in early September, as supply concerns could rise further if members of the cartel decide to lower their output in response to slower demand. Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said he might propose an output cut at the next OPEC meeting.The market is looking to the OPEC meeting, Moore said. Before that meeting, we're going to get quite a few statements from OPEC officials expressing opinions. In the end, I don't expect a production cut, but they may push for greater adherence to output quotas.Oil prices have rebounded after falling about $35, or nearly a quarter, from their all-time trading record $147.27 on July 11. Many investors expect that high gasoline prices and slowing economic growth in the U.S., Europe and Japan will undermine global energy demand.Prices were supported Thursday by a slightly weaker dollar compared to the euro. The 15-nation euro traded was up to $1.4775, while the dollar fell to 109.62 yen. A falling greenback encourages investors to seek commodities such as oil as a hedge against inflation and a weaker dollar.In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures rose 3.01 cents to $3.1936 a gallon, while gasoline prices gained 1.84 cents to $2.9287 a gallon. Natural gas futures increased 1.8 cents to $8.095 per 1,000 cubic feet.In London, October Brent crude rose 72 cents to $115.08 a barrel.

Fiery plane crash at Madrid airport kills 153 By HAROLD HECKLE, Associated Press Writer AUG 21,08

MADRID, Spain – A jetliner heading to the popular Canary Islands vacation resort crashed during takeoff Wednesday, turning a wooded area off the end of a runway into a hellish scene of charred bodies and smoldering wreckage. Some 153 were believed dead — Spain's worst air disaster in nearly 25 years.Only 19 people survived the midafternoon crash of the Spanair MD-82 at Madrid's Barajas International Airport, and some were in critical condition, said Development Minister Magdalena Alvarez, whose department oversees civil aviation in Spain.The airline didn't release a death toll, but said the plane carried 172 crew members and passengers, including two babies and 20 youngsters. There was no word on how many children died.As smoke billowed from the wreckage, dozens of fire trucks and ambulances rushed to help, lining a nearby road and filling a field next to a swath of charred vegetation. Helicopters flew over dumping water on fires.The scene is devastating, said Pablo Albella, an emergency rescue worker. The fuselage is destroyed. The plane burned. I have seen a kilometer of charred land and few whole pieces of the fuselage. It is all destruction.Rescuers rushed the few survivors to hospitals, while emergency workers shrouded the dead in white sheets. One body lay on burned grass, an arm and a leg poking out.Later, a long convoy of black hearses rolled onto the airport grounds to carry bodies to a makeshift morgue set up at Madrid's main convention center — the facility used for relatives to identify bodies after the 2004 Islamic terror bombings that killed 191 people on Madrid commuter trains.A stready stream of hearses arrived at the morgue under police escort Wednesday night. Mourners went to a special waiting area, avoiding photographers and reporters.It was not immediately clear what went wrong. Alvarez said the jetliner had barely gotten airborne when it veered right, crashed and broke into pieces.Spanair, a Spanish company wholly owned by Scandinavian Airlines, said it did not know what caused the accident. Alvarez said investigators ruled out foul play and considered the crash an accident. She said the plane's flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder have been recovered.

While preparing for a first takeoff attempt, the plane's pilot reported a breakdown in a gauge that measures temperature outside the plane. The gauge was fixed, delaying the departure, said Spanair spokeswoman Susana Vergara.It was on the second takeoff attempt that the plane crashed.Spanair Flight JK5022 originated in Barcelona and was headed for the city of Las Palmas. It was a code-share with Flight LH255 of the German carrier Lufthansa.In Germany, Lufthansa said it issued tickets to seven people who checked in for the flight and four of those were from Germany. It was unclear whether they were German citizens.Sweden's Foreign Ministry said two Swedes were on the plane. It said one was at a hospital but the other was unaccounted for.

The accident was Spain's worst air disaster since 1983, when a Boeing 747 operated by the Colombian airline Avianca crashed near Madrid on landing approach, killing 181people. In 1985, an Iberia Boeing 727 crashed near Bilbao in the Basque region, killing 148 people.The deadliest disaster in aviation history occurred in Spain in 1977. Two fully loaded Boeing 747s collided on a runway in the Canary Islands and a total of 583 people died.After being informed of Wednesday's crash, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero broke off his vacation in southern Spain and rushed back to Madrid, heading straight for the airport. He expressed condolences to people who lost loved ones in this tragedy that struck us today. Later he went to the morgue to comfort mourners. In an expression of mourning, a soccer match in Copenhagen between the national teams of Denmark and Spain started with a minute of silence and players on both teams wore black armbands. Sergio Allard, a Spanair spokesman, said the crashed plane passed an inspection in January and no problems had been reported since then. The plane was 15 years old and has been owned by Spanair the past nine, he said. The DC-9/MD-80 family of twin-engine, medium-range jets enjoyed wide popularity among the world's airlines in the 1970s, '80s and '90s.

But it has had a number of fatal accidents, the deadliest of which was a crash of Slovenia's Adria Airways flight in Corsica in 1981, when all 180 people on board perished. In Copenhagen, Mats Jansson, the chief executive of Spanair's owner, Scandinavian Airlines, said he had no information about the accident itself. Jansson and his deputy, John Dueholm, were on their way home from the Beijing Olympics when they learned about the accident and immediately decided to fly to Madrid with a team of crisis counselors. We want to be on location ... there are many questions, Jansson said before heading to Spain. Spanair has a fleet of more than 60 aircraft and runs around 600 flights daily. Crashes during takeoff or landing are some of the most common aviation accidents. In July 2007, 199 people were killed in Brazil's worst air disaster when an Airbus A320 belonging to TAM airlines skidded off the runway at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport and smashed across a road into a gas station and an air cargo building. Five people died and 65 were injured May 30 when an A320 belonging to Grupo Taca skidded off the end of the runway at Toncontin International Airport near the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa. On the Net: Spanair: http://www.spanair.com

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)

EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
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.

FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU Cold War fears in Mideast.Israel worries region could be theater of conflict as Russia boosts military ties with Syria August 20, 2008 6:54 pm Eastern By Aaron Klein 2008 WorldNetDaily

JERUSALEM – Israeli security officials have confirmed fears in Jerusalem that Russia may spark a Cold War-like military buildup in the Middle East by sending warships and advanced weaponry to foe Syria.Syrian President Bashar Assad arrived today on a two-day visit to Moscow, where he reportedly will discuss with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ways to expand military ties with Moscow, whose arms sales to Mideast countries, including Syria and Iran, have angered Israel and the United States.In a widely circulated article, the London Times reported today Russia is expected to propose a revival of its Cold War-era naval bases at the Syrian ports of Tartus and Latakia on the Mediterranean. Moscow maintained bases in Damascus during the Cold War but Russia's influence in the region weakened after the collapse of the Soviet Union.The London Times information is not new, though. Indeed, the deal was already sealed five months ago.WND reported on March 9 Syria quietly struck a deal with Russia that allows Moscow to station submarines and war boats off Tartus and Latakia. In exchange, Russia is supplying Syria with weaponry at lower costs, with some of the missiles and rockets being financed by Iran.Russia's involvement and strategic positioning is almost like a return to its Cold War stance, a Jordanian security official said at the time.According to informed security sources there are already Russian naval troops and missile crews operating in Syria. The officials told WND that Russia began installing in Syria its S-300 surface-to-air missile defense shield, which is similar to the U.S.-funded, Israeli-engineered Arrow anti-missile system currently deployed in Israel. The S-300 system is being run not by Syria but by Russian naval technicians who work from Syria's ports, security officials said.Israeli security officials believe Assad's trip to Moscow was not to ink any deals but to make public already existing arrangements for military cooperation between the two countries in an effort by Russia to publicly enhance its militant posture.

Still, the security officials said that in Moscow Assad likely will grant Russia permission to deepen its military buildup on its territory with additional naval fleets and more troops at Russian naval bases already in existence in exchange for the sale to Syria of aircraft, anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles. The officials said they did not expect more Russian submarines off the coast of Syria.Syria is particularly interested in Russia's BUK-M1 surface-to-air medium-range missile system, military aircraft and other advanced weaponry.Already Russia provided Syria with new ballistic missiles and rockets including Alexander rockets and a massive quantity of various Scud surface-to-surface missiles, including Scud B and Scud D missiles.Israeli security officials noted Syria test-fired two Scud D surface-to-surface missiles, which have a range of about 250 miles, covering most Israeli territory. The officials said the Syrian missile test was coordinated with Iran and Russia and is believed to have been successful. It is not known what type of warhead the missiles had.Israeli security officials are concerned that as in the Cold War days, the Middle East could serve as a theater of conflict, or at least military buildup, between Russia and the U.S.Assad today told Russia's Kommersant newspaper that Russia's conflict with Georgia, in which Moscow says Georgia was trained by Israelis and utilized Israeli weapons and technology, underscored the importance for Russia and Syria to tighten their defense cooperation.I think that in Russia and in the world everyone is now aware of Israel’s role and its military consultants in the Georgian crisis. And if before in Russia there were people who thought these forces can be friendly then now I think no one thinks that way, he said.Of course military and technical cooperation is the main issue. Weapons purchases are very important, said Assad. I think we should speed it up. Moreover, the West and Israel continue to put pressure on Russia.A spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said Israel does not supply arms to other countries but that private Israeli firms conduct equipment sales and training with the Israeli Defense Ministry's approval.

Assad went on to compare his isolated country to Russia, stating, Georgia began the crisis and the West accuses Russia. Syria suffered the same thing; attempts to destabilize the country, distortion of the facts and double standards.Israel and Syria last May announced they were holding indirect talks aimed in part at an Israeli evacuation of most of the Golan Heights, which looks down on Israeli population centers and was twice used by Damascus to mount ground invasions into the Jewish state. But those talks have been progressing at a very slow pace.Israel repeatedly has warned Russia against supplying Syria and Iran with military equipment. Israeli officials accuse Damascus of passing on missiles and rockets to the Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist organization.The seemingly closer ties between Syria and Russia comes as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Polish counterpart today inked a deal to build a U.S. missile defense base in Poland, prompting Russia to warn of a possible attack against the former Soviet ally.

Russia's Foreign Ministry issued a statement on its website that Moscow would react to the U.S.-Polish anti-missile deal not only through diplomatic protests.A Russian general even warned in an interview Moscow could target Poland.Rice said the Russian response to the deal with Poland borders on the bizarre but she denied Washington wanted a confrontation with Moscow.I hope that there are not people in Russia who are hankering for the days of U.S.-Soviet confrontation because they are over, Rice told journalists in Warsaw.Still, in an interview with CNN she did issue an unusually harsh warning against Soviet designs for Poland:They (Russia) must know that the United States would never permit an attack on the territory of an ally under Article 5. When you threaten Poland, you perhaps forget that it is not 1988. It's 2008 and the United States has a ... firm treaty guarantee to defend Poland's territory as if it was the territory of the United States. So it's probably not wise to throw these threats around.

Israel, Russia hold talks on Georgia, Middle East
Wed Aug 20, 4:59 pm ET

CNN JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev discussed Middle East peace moves with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday, in advance of an expected visit by Syria's leader to Moscow, an Israeli official said.The conversation initiated by a telephone call from Medvedev, also dwelt on Israeli-Russian ties in light of Russia's conflict with Georgia, the official said. Russia has accused Israel of supplying Georgia with military equipment.Mark Regev, a spokesman for Olmert, said the two leaders spoke about what went on in the Caucasus and the Middle East peace process, including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's planned visit this week to the Russian capital.Israel and Syria have conducted indirect peace talks since May under Turkish mediation, after direct negotiations failed in 2000 in a dispute over the terms for an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in a 1967 war.Assad said in an interview with Russia's Kommersant newspaper on Wednesday that Syria wanted to tighten its defense cooperation with Moscow. Russia's arms sales to Syria have angered Israel and the United States in the past.Tensions over military aid flared anew between Russia and Israel this month, but over charges by Russia's military that the Jewish state had supplied Georgia with military vehicles and explosives and had helped to train its army.Israel has said it does not supply arms to other countries as a government but that private firms conduct equipment sales and training with the defense ministry's approval.(Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Russia warns of response to US missile shield Aug 20 01:42 PM US/Eastern
Poland Signs U.S. Missile Shield Deal

MOSCOW (AP) - Russia says its response to the further development of a U.S. missile shield in Poland will go beyond diplomacy. Russia's Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying the U.S. missile shield plans are clearly aimed at weakening Russia. The U.S. says the missile defense system is aimed at protecting the U.S. and Europe from future attacks from states like Iran. The United States and Poland signed a deal Wednesday to place a U.S. missile defense base just 115 miles from Russia's westernmost fringe. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

WARSAW, Poland (AP)—Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Polish counterpart signed a deal Wednesday to build a U.S. missile defense base in Poland, an agreement that prompted an infuriated Russia to warn of a possible attack against the former Soviet satellite. Rice dismissed blustery comments from Russian leaders who say Warsaw's hosting of 10 U.S. interceptor missiles just 115 miles from Russia's westernmost frontier opens the country up to attack. Such comments border on the bizarre frankly, Rice said, speaking to reporters traveling with her in Warsaw.

When you threaten Poland, you perhaps forget that it is not 1988, Rice said. It's 2008 and the United States has a ... firm treaty guarantee to defend Poland's territory as if it was the territory of the United States. So it's probably not wise to throw these threats around.The deal, which Washington sought as a way of defending the U.S. and Europe from a hypothetical threat of long-distance missiles from Iran, has strained relations between Moscow and the West. Those ties were already troubled by Russia's invasion of its former Soviet neighbor, U.S. ally Georgia, earlier this month. Speaking to reporters traveling with her, Rice said, the Russians are losing their credibility.Rice and Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski signed the deal Wednesday morning. It is an agreement which will help us to respond to the threats of the 21st century, she said afterward. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the agreement came after tough but friendly negotiations.

We have achieved our main goals, which means that our country and the United States will be more secure, he said. After Warsaw and Washington announced the agreement on the deal last week, top Russian Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn warned that Poland is risking attack, and possibly a nuclear one, by deploying the American missile defense system, Russia's Interfax news agency reported. Poles have been shaken by the threats, but NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop dismissed them Tuesday as pathetic rhetoric.It is unhelpful and it leads nowhere, he told reporters at a NATO meeting in Brussels, Belgium. Many Poles consider the agreement a form of protection at a time when Russia's invasion of Georgia has generated alarm throughout Eastern Europe. Poland is a member of the European Union and NATO, and the deal is expected to deepen its military partnership with Washington. Polish President Lech Kaczynski also expressed great satisfaction at the outcome of the long months of negotiations.

Poland and the United States spent a year and a half negotiating, and talks recently had snagged on Poland's demands that the U.S. bolster Polish security with Patriot missiles in exchange for hosting the missile defense base. Washington agreed to do so last week, as Poland invoked the Georgia conflict to strengthen its case. The Patriots are meant to protect Poland from short-range missiles from neighbors—such as Russia. The U.S. already has reached an agreement with the government in Prague to place the second component of the missile defense shield—a radar tracking system—in the Czech Republic, Poland's southwestern neighbor and another formerly communist country. Approval is still needed the Czech and Polish parliaments. No date has been set for the Polish parliament to consider the agreement, but it should face no difficulties in Warsaw, where it enjoys the support of the largest opposition party as well as the government. 2008 The Associated Press

Norway: Russia to cut all military ties with NATO By BJOERN H. AMLAND, Associated Press Writer Wed Aug 20, 6:10 pm ET

OSLO, Norway – Russia has informed Norway that it plans to suspend all military ties with NATO, Norway's Defense Ministry said Wednesday, a day after the military alliance urged Moscow to withdraw its forces from Georgia.NATO foreign ministers said Tuesday they would make further ties with Russia dependent on Moscow making good on a pledge to pull its troops back to pre-conflict positions in Georgia. However, they stopped short of calling an immediate halt to all cooperation.The Nordic country's embassy in Moscow received a telephone call from a well-placed official in the Russian Ministry of Defense, who said Moscow plans to freeze all military cooperation with NATO and allied countries, Espen Barth Eide, state secretary with the Norwegian ministry said.Eide told The Associated Press that the Russian official notified Norway it will receive a written note about this soon. He said Norwegian diplomats in Moscow would meet Russian officials on Thursday morning to clarify the implications of the freeze.It is our understanding that other NATO countries will receive similar notes, Eide said. The ministry said the Russian official is known to the embassy, but Norway declined to provide a name or any further identifying information.A Kremlin official declined to comment on the report, and the Russian ambassador to NATO did not reply to messages left on his cell phone. But the Interfax news agency, citing what it called a military-diplomatic source in Moscow whom it did not identify, reported that Russia is reviewing its 2008 military cooperation plans with NATO.Officials at NATO headquarters in Brussels said Moscow had not informed the alliance it was taking such a step.

Washington described the reported move as unfortunate.

If this indeed is the case, it would be unfortunate. We need to work with Russia on a range of security issues, but we are obviously very concerned about Russian behavior in Georgia, U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said.Under a 2002 agreement that set up the NATO-Russia Council, the former Cold War foes began several cooperation projects. They include occasional participation of Russian warships in NATO counterterrorism patrols in the Mediterranean Sea, sharing expertise to combat heroin trafficking out of Afghanistan and developing battlefield anti-missile technology.Last week, Russia's ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin warned the Western alliance against cutting off cooperation, saying it would hurt both sides.The Interfax news agency, citing a military-diplomatic source in Moscow, reported Wednesday that Russia is reviewing its 2008 military cooperation plans as a result of NATO's decision to suspend meetings of the NATO-Russia Council.Eide said he hoped NATO and Moscow would get back on track with dialogue and cooperation but said that Russia would first have to comply with a cease-fire in Georgia.

I regret the situation has come to this, he said.

The hostilities between Russia and Georgia began earlier this month when Georgia cracked down on South Ossetia. The region is internationally recognized as being within Georgian borders but leans toward Moscow and regards itself as independent. Russia answered by sending its troops and tanks across the Georgian border.

AMERICA (POLITICAL BABYLON)

EZEKIEL 39:21
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.

ISAIAH 18:1-2
1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:
2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

JEREMIAH 50:11,37,12
11 Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;(BACKSLIDERS)
37 A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.(A NATION OF MINGLED PEOPLE)
12 Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed:(MOTHER ENGLAND) behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

JEREMIAH 51:13,7,53
13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.

REVELATION 18:3,5,7
3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

JEREMIAH 50:3,24
3 For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. (RUSSIA A SNEAK ATTACK)

REVELATION 18:10
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

THIS EMP IS HOW I FIGURE IN THE FUTURE RUSSIA WILL CRIPPLE THE USA AND THEN DO THE SNEAK NUKE ATTACK.

HOMELAND INSECURITY U.S. still naked to EMP threat. New emergency plan doesn't address alarming scenario in disaster response August 19, 2008
10:14 am Eastern By Chelsea Schilling 2008 WorldNetDaily

Electricity grids down, uncontrolled fires from exploding gas transport systems, no communication to call for help, no water to battle fires: It's all part of a catastrophic scenario some scientists predict could happen under an electromagnetic pulse attack – and the Department of Homeland Security's 83-page emergency plan includes no mention of EMP or how it might respond to such an attack.When WND contacted the Department of Homeland Security, a representative explained why a course of action was not included in the National Emergency Communications Plan – a strategy that relies heavily on the ability of authorities at all levels of government to communicate using radios, computers and other electronic devices that could be disabled by an EMP attack.When we look at the strategic threat picture, when we look at patterns of criminal activity that all levels of government show, when we look at what is ultimately going to involve limited resources, we have to get to a point where we prioritize, DHS spokesman Russ Knocke said. We prioritize based upon threat vulnerability and consequence. As we speak today, there's nothing in the threat picture that would suggest an imminent EMP attack.However, Congress has expressed concern regarding the threat of EMP. A top scientist warned the House Armed Services Committee in July that America remains vulnerable to a "catastrophe" from a nuclear electromagnetic pulse attack that could be launched with plausible deniability by hostile rogue nations or terrorists.William R. Graham, chairman of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack and the former national science adviser to President Reagan, testified before the committee and issued an alarming report on one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences.

He identified vulnerabilities in the nation's critical infrastructures, which are essential to both our civilian and military capabilities.Not taking the steps necessary to reduce the threat in the next three to five years can both invite and reward attack, Graham told the committee.Knocke said EMPs are considered in a broad federal playbook released in January for how the federal government will manage incidents of all types called the National Response Framework, or NRF.

The 90-page document includes the following:

It provides an overview of the roles, responsibilities and jurisdictions of key partners at the local, state and federal levels who implement the framework.It emphasizes planning structures for effective response. It offers tips for individuals and households, such as reducing hazards in and around their homes, preparing emergency supply kits, creating household emergency plans and reducing demands on land-line and cellular communications. The NRF provides general guidelines for dealing with emergency events. However, the plan includes no mention of how the nation would respond to an EMP attack or widespread electrical and electronics failures that could effectively cut communication lines between each level of emergency responders by disabling computers, satellites, radios, radar receivers and even traffic lights and electronic ignition systems in cars.

EMP is a pulse of energy that can be produced from non-nuclear sources, such as electromagnetic bombs, or E-bombs. Some experts claim an electromagnetic pulse shock wave can be produced by a device small enough to fit in a briefcase. But the most threatening and terrifying type of EMP attack could come following a blast from a nuclear weapon 25 to 250 miles above the Earth's surface. Like a swift stroke of lightening, EMP could immediately disrupt and damage all electronic systems and America's electrical infrastructure. A detonation over the middle of the continental U.S. has the capability to produce significant damage to critical infrastructures that support the fabric of U.S. society and the ability of the United States and Western nations to project influence and military power, said Graham.Several potential adversaries have the capability to attack the United States with a high-altitude nuclear weapon-generated electromagnetic pulse, and others appear to be pursuing efforts to obtain that capability, said Graham. A determined adversary can achieve an EMP attack capability without having a high level of sophistication. For example, an adversary would not have to have long-range ballistic missiles to conduct an EMP attack against the United States. Such an attack could be launched from a freighter off the U.S. coast using a short- or medium-range missile to loft a nuclear warhead to high altitude. Terrorists sponsored by a rogue state could attempt to execute such an attack without revealing the identity of the perpetrators. Iran, the world's leading sponsor of international terrorism, has practiced launching a mobile ballistic missile from a vessel in the Caspian Sea. Iran has also tested high-altitude explosions of the Shahab-III, a test mode consistent with EMP attack, and described the tests as successful. Iranian military writings explicitly discuss a nuclear EMP attack that would gravely harm the United States. While the commission does not know the intention of Iran in conducting these activities, we are disturbed by the capability that emerges when we connect the dots.

An EMP assault could prove devastating because of the unprecedented cascading failures of major infrastructures that could result. Because of America's heavy reliance on electricity and electronics, the impact would be far worse than on a country less advanced technologically. Graham and the commission see the potential for failure in the financial system, the system of distribution for food and water, medical care and trade and production.The recovery of any one of the key national infrastructures is dependent upon the recovery of others, he said. The longer the outage, the more problematic and uncertain the recovery will be. It is possible for the functional outages to become mutually reinforcing until at some point the degradation of infrastructure could have irreversible effects on the country's ability to support its population.In an earlier report, the commission even went so far as to suggest, in its opening sentence, that an EMP attack might result in the defeat of our military forces.Knocke said DHS is highly concerned about the threat of nuclear attack and other disasters.At present, our highest priorities are things like preventing nuke attacks, as well as working with state and locals to build up their capability to prevent and respond to things like IED events or catastrophic natural disasters, he said. As it relates to what our greatest preoccupation is, we're doing everything we can to try to prevent a nuclear or radiological attack on our soil that would have the most severe impact in terms of loss of life or economic consequence.When WND asked Knocke if DHS has a specific strategy to deal with an EMP attack, he said, Not as we speak today. No.Asked if the department has considered creating a plan to address EMP threat following Congress' concern about such an attack, he replied:The risk picture is ever changing. There's nothing in the strategic threat picture today that tells us there's an imminent EMP threat. That could change down the road as whatever circumstances in the world evolve. So, I am not telling you that it might never be among the highest priorities. We've actually looked at this issue, and we've looked at the entire spectrum of issues that we have to contend with when it comes to homeland security. But we have to prioritize. We're not in the business of being all things to all people at all times.