Wednesday, January 16, 2019

ISRAEL SAYS ITS COMPLETED HUNT FOR HEZBOLLAH TUNNELS IN LEBANON.

JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)

LUKE 21:28-29
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)

JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) 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.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)

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,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
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.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)

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;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) 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.

And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE

Democrat Gabbard, who slammed Israel for live fire use in Gaza, to run in 2020-Hawaii congresswoman and Iraq veteran also controversially met with Syria’s Assad and questioned whether he was responsible for chemical attack on civilians that killed dozens-By Agencies and TOI staff-15 January 2019

Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who last year castigated Israel for its use of live ammunition against “unarmed protesters” at violent demonstrations on the Gaza border orchestrated by the Hamas terrorist group, has announced that she is running for president in 2020.Gabbard said in a CNN interview slated to air Saturday night that she will be formally announcing her candidacy within the next week. The 37-year-old Iraq War veteran is the first Hindu elected to Congress and the first member born in the US territory of American Samoa.In May 2018, Gabbard slammed Israel for its use of live ammunition against “unarmed protesters” after a particularly deadly day of violence at the Gaza border on the day the US moved its embassy to Jerusalem, in which at least 58 Palestinians were killed and more than 2,700 Palestinians wounded, according to figures from the Hamas-run Gazan health ministry.Hamas later that week acknowledged that most of the dead in that escalation of violence were its members, while Islamic Jihad claimed another three. Salah Bardawil said 50 of 62 Palestinians reported killed during Gaza border riots on May 14 and 15 were Hamas members. “In the last rounds of confrontations, if 62 people were martyred, 50 of the martyrs were Hamas and 12 from the people,” Bardawil said on May 16.The IDF spokesperson’s office said that on that day, Hamas deployed 12 separate terrorist “cells” to try to breach the border at different locations, and that all were rebuffed. Among the dead, the IDF said, were all eight members of a cell of armed Hamas operatives, who were killed in a gun battle as they sought to breach the fence in the northern Gaza Strip.Since March 2018, Palestinians have been holding the weekly “March of Return” protests on the border, which Israel has accused Gaza’s Hamas terrorist rulers of using to carry out attacks on troops and attempt to breach the security fence.Israel needs to stop using live ammunition in its response to unarmed protesters in Gaza. It has resulted in over 50 dead and thousands seriously wounded.— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) May 14, 2018-In 2015, Gabbard addressed the Christians United for Israel summit, and that same year said that while the US remained a strong ally of Israel, the two countries diverge on how best to prevent a nuclear Iran, lamenting after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress that the issue was being used as a “political football.”Christians United For Israel, founded and led by Pastor John Hagee, has millions of members and calls itself the “largest pro-Israel grassroots organization in the United States.” The organization is said to have been a major factor in US President Donald Trump’s 2017 decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the US embassy there.At CUFI Summit, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), noting failed North Korea nuke deal, says that sanctions relief without…Posted by Christians United for Israel (CUFI) on Tuesday, 14 July 2015-In 2016, Gabbard alarmed fellow Democrats when she met with Trump during his transition to president and later when she took a secret trip to Syria and met with President Bashar Assad, who has been accused of war crimes. She questioned whether he was responsible for a chemical attack on civilians that killed dozens and led the UN to attack a Syrian airbase.She said she doesn’t regret the trip and considers it important to meet with adversaries if “you are serious about pursuing peace.” She also noted that the 2003 invasion of Iraq was based on faulty intelligence and said that she wanted to understand the evidence of the Syria attack.Gabbard has long opposed a policy of regime change there, arguing that the country would descend further into chaos should Assad be ousted. Top leaders from her own Democrat party were not informed about her trip to Syria in advance, the Guardian reported.Gabbard is joining what is expected to be a crowded Democratic field. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has already formed an exploratory committee and is moving quickly with trips across early primary states. California Sen. Kamala Harris, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders are all weighing their own presidential bids and are expected to announce decisions in the upcoming weeks. Former Obama administration housing chief Julian Castro plans to announce his run for the presidency on Saturday.Gabbard was one of the most prominent lawmakers to back Sanders over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary. Her endorsement came in dramatic fashion, with her resigning as a vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee to express her support.Asked last year whether she would still consider running if Sanders ran, Gabbard said Sanders is a friend and she didn’t know what his plans were.“I’m thinking through how I can best be of service and I’ll make my decision based on that,” she said.

Trump hits at NY Times, Clinton, Comey, Mueller in fresh Twitter rant-Lashing out after report of investigation into whether he was knowingly or unknowingly assisting Moscow, president says he’s been ‘far tougher’ on Russia than any president-By TOI staff and AP-15 January 2019

In a fresh series of tweets on Saturday, US President Donald Trump lashed out at former presidential rival Hillary Clinton, special counsel Robert Mueller, former FBI director James Comey, and at The New York Times following a report published Friday alleging that after the president fired Comey in May 2017, law enforcement officials became so alarmed by his behavior that they began probing whether he had been working for Russia against US interests.Trump posted six tweets on Saturday saying the reported investigation was launched by “corrupt former leaders of the FBI” and “for no reason [and] with no proof.”The president alleged that “everybody wanted [Comey] fired, Republican and Democrat alike,” after “the rigged & botched Crooked Hillary investigation.” Calling Comey a “crooked cop” and a “total sleaze,” Trump went on to say that the former FBI director was now “being totally protected by his best friend, Bob Mueller” and his team of investigators who he argued had no interest in investigating “the Real Collusion… by Crooked Hillary Clinton, her Campaign, and the Democratic National Committee.”Comey appeared to respond to the attack by the president on Saturday, tweeting a famous quote by Franklin D. Roosevelt: “I ask you to judge me by the enemies I have made.”In his series of tweets Saturday, Trump claimed he has been “FAR tougher on Russia than” previous presidents, and reiterated that “getting along with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing.”In its report Friday citing unnamed former law enforcement officials and others familiar with the investigation, The New York Times said officials considered both the possibility that the president was knowingly assisting Moscow and that he had unknowingly come under its influence.Wow, just learned in the Failing New York Times that the corrupt former leaders of the FBI, almost all fired or forced to leave the agency for some very bad reasons, opened up an investigation on me, for no reason & with no proof, after I fired Lyin’ James Comey, a total sleaze!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2019-The sources noted that Trump’s own admission that he fired Comey over his refusal to end the investigation into his campaign’s possible ties to Russia was one of the motivations for the probe into the president’s personal ties to Moscow.They were also motivated by his reported statements during a May White House meeting with visiting Russian officials that he had fired Comey because “he was crazy, a real nut job.”Mueller took over the personal investigation of Trump when he was appointed soon after Comey’s firing. The Times said it was unclear whether Mueller was still pursuing it.Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani told the Times that he had no knowledge of the inquiry but said that since it was opened a year and a half ago and they hadn’t heard anything, apparently “they found nothing.”Mueller is believed to be investigating whether Comey’s firing and other actions amount to obstruction of justice by the president.Comey recently attacked the president for telling “lies” and undermining the FBI’s reputation and the rule of law.Comey spoke after a spurt of anti-FBI tweets from the president in December alleged that the investigative body abused its powers in probing his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen and his former national security adviser Michael Flynn.Cohen and Flynn have both been convicted for various crimes as part of the Russia probe and have both offered evidence potentially damaging to their former boss.“The FBI’s reputation has taken a big hit because the president of the United States, with his acolytes, has lied about it constantly. In the face of those lies, a whole lot of good people… believe that nonsense,” Comey told reporters in the halls of the US Senate on December 17.“People who know better, including Republican members of this body, have to have the courage to stand up and speak the truth.”The White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, called the Times’ report “absurd” and said Comey was fired for being “a disgraced partisan hack.” She also disputed that Trump had ever been soft on Russia.“Unlike president Obama, who let Russia and other foreign adversaries push America around, President Trump has actually been tough on Russia,” Sanders said.

Nikki Haley, Ivanka Trump said among possible nominees for World Bank presidency-Other names being floated to replace outgoing Jim Yong Kim include Treasury undersecretary, head of US Agency for International Development-By AFP-TOI-15 January 2019

WASHINGTON — Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and US President Donald Trump’s daughter and adviser Ivanka are among possible United States candidates to replace outgoing World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, The Financial Times reported Friday.Kim abruptly announced Monday he was cutting short his tenure as the bank’s president more than three years before his second term was due to end.In addition to Trump and Haley, who stepped down as US Ambassador to the United Nations last month, other names being floated include Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs David Malpass and Mark Green, head of the US Agency for International Development, the newspaper reported.Ivanka Trump in 2017 was the driving force behind a $1 billion, Saudi-supported World Bank fund to promote entrepreneurship by women.The Treasury Department told AFP on Friday that it had no comment on potential candidates.The department has received a “significant number of recommendations,” a spokesperson said.“We are beginning the internal review process for a US nominee. We look forward to working with the governors to select a new leader.”Under an unwritten agreement, the United States, which is the bank’s largest shareholder, has always chosen its leader since the institution was founded following World War II.But the success of a US candidate no longer appears completely assured.Kim was the first American nominee to face a contested election for the World Bank presidency in 2012 and the bank’s board has said its selection process will be “open, merit-based and transparent,” implying non-US candidates would not be ruled out.The World Bank Board said Thursday it would start accepting nominations for a new leader early next month and name a replacement for Kim by mid-April.

Rand Paul becomes first GOP senator to oppose anti-BDS bills-Kentucky Republican says though he opposes boycotts of Israel, those who don’t shouldn’t be barred ‘from participating in our government’-By Ron Kampeas-TOI-15 January 2019

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Senator Mitch McConnell has tried hard to distract attention from the government shutdown triggered by US President Donald Trump’s quest for funding for a $5.7 billion wall with Mexico.The majority leader’s job just got more complicated after a fellow Kentucky Republican, Senator Rand Paul, defected from a policy that McConnell has tried to use to bludgeon Democrats: passing legislation to attack Israel boycotts.On Thursday, writing in The American Conservative, Paul said that as much as he opposed boycotting Israel, he opposed using government to limit boycotts more.“I strongly oppose any legislation that attempts to ban boycotts or ban people who support boycotts from participating in our government or working for our government,” Paul said.Twice this week McConnell has tried to advance a bill that would codify into law the $38 billion in defense assistance over ten years former president Barack Obama promised Israel. The bill would also create federal laws that would protect from lawsuits states that pass laws banning business with Israel boycotters. Each time, Democrats filibustered the bill. McConnell was set Friday to try a third time.Democrats say they don’t want to move on any legislation until government reopens. A substantial number in their ranks also oppose legislation targeting boycotters on free speech grounds, however much they otherwise oppose the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel.An argument this week, advanced by McConnell and the bill’s main sponsor, Republican Senator Marco Rubio of FLorida, is that Democrats are in fact soft on BDS, and fear being exposed in a floor vote. Paul may have just crippled that argument.

WORLD POWERS IN THE LAST DAYS (END OF AGE OF GRACE NOT THE WORLD)

EUROPEAN UNION-KING OF WEST-DAN 9:26-27,DAN 7:23-24,DAN 11:40,REV 13:1-10
EGYPT-KING OF THE SOUTH-DAN 11:40
RUSSIA-KING OF THE NORTH-EZEK 38:1-2,EZEK 39:1-3
CHINA-KING OF THE EAST-DAN 11:44,REV 9:16,18
VATICAN-RELIGIOUS LEADER-REV 13:11-18,REV 17:4-5,9,18

WORLD TERRORISM

OH BY THE WAY WHEN THE MEDIA SAYS ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS GOD IS GREAT LIE. IN ISLAM ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS OUR GOD IS GREATER OR GREATEST. THIS IS HOW THE MEDIA SUCK HOLES UP TO ISLAMIC-QURANIC-MUSLIMS. BY WATERING DOWN THE REAL MEANING OF THE SEX FOR MURDER DEATH CULT ISLAM. TO MAKE IT SOUND LIKE A PEACEFUL RELIGION (CULT OF DEATH AND WORLD DOMINATION).

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS) man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)

ISAIAH 14:12-14
12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14  I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)

JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)

Israel says it has completed hunt for Hezbollah tunnels from Lebanon-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-January 15, 2019

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said on Sunday it had completed a search for Hezbollah tunnels from Lebanon after uncovering at least six of the passages dug secretly under the border by the Iranian-backed guerrillas.The operation, made public by Israel in early December, had stirred fears on both sides of a flare-up. Israel, coordinating with U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon said it sought no escalation.Hezbollah and Israel last fought a war in 2006. While they have at times traded blows within Syria - where Hezbollah has been helping Damascus beat back rebels - the Israel-Lebanon border has mostly been quiet.After previously reporting the discovery of five tunnels, the Israeli military said another had been found on Saturday, 55 meters (yards) deep and reaching "a few tens of meters" into Israel from a point 800 meters within Lebanon."All of the tunnels have been exposed and have either already been destroyed or are going to be destroyed," military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus told reporters."According to our assessments, there are no longer any tunnels crossing into Israel," he said, adding that Hezbollah retained some underground facilities on the Lebanese side.Hezbollah has not commented on the tunnels, the existence of several of which has been confirmed by UNIFIL peacekeepers.Citing intelligence assessments, Israel says the tunnels were prepared in secret, over a period of years, as part of a Hezbollah plan to send as many as 1,500 fighters in a shock assault on its northern communities and military bases during any future war.(Writing by Dan Williams and Maayan Lubell; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

Merkel says Germany recognizes responsibility for Nazi crimes in Greece-Chancellor declares an understanding of the amount of suffering brought to the country during World War II-By AFP and TOI staff-15 January 2019, 6:33 pm 3

Germany recognizes its historical responsibility for crimes committed by the Nazis in Greece, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday on her first visit to Athens since 2014.“We recognize our historical responsibility. We know how much suffering we, as Germany in the time of Nazism, have brought to Greece,” she said.“That is why it’s a lesson for us to do everything to have good relations with Greece, and to lend each other support for the prosperity of both countries.”Tensions linger over wartime reparations for the World War II Nazi occupation of Greece, with Berlin arguing the issue was settled in 1960 in a deal with several European governments.Of 77,000 Jews living in Greece at the time of World War II, around 60,000 were murdered during the Holocaust according to the Yad Vashem memorial center.During her first visit to Greece in 2014, Merkel faced major protests and sought to ease tensions with Athens where Berlin was often blamed for biting austerity and bailouts.Also in 2014, ex-president Joachim Gauck sought public forgiveness in the name of Germany from relatives of those murdered by the Nazis in the mountains of northern Greece.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

Pompeo ‘optimistic’ Syria Kurds, Turkey can be protected in possible US deal-In Abu Dhabi, US top diplomat says agreement in works to help Turkey defend itself from terrorists while aiding allies who fought with American forces against Islamic State-By Agencies-TOI-15 January 2019

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Saturday that he was confident the United States and Turkey could agree on a way to protect Kurdish rebels in Syria after the American troop withdrawal.Pompeo has spoken to Turkey’s foreign minister and says a possible agreement is a work in progress.The top US diplomat said he was “optimistic” a way could be found to protect Syrian Kurds while allowing Turks to “defend their country from terrorists.”“We are confident we can achieve an outcome that achieves both of those,” Pompeo told journalists in Abu Dhabi, his latest stop in a regional tour.Turkey considers many of Syria’s Kurdish groups to be terrorists and has pledged to attack them. The threats have intensified as the US begins the withdrawal process from Syria on President Donald Trump’s orders.On Saturday, the US military said it has started pulling equipment, but not troops, out of Syria as a first step in meeting Trump’s demand for a complete military withdrawal.The announcement is fueling concern about how quickly the US will abandon its Kurdish allies, amid contradictory statements recently by Trump administration officials on an exit timetable.The withdrawal began with shipments of military equipment, US defense officials said. But in coming weeks, the contingent of about 2,000 troops is expected to depart even as the White House says it will keep pressure on the Islamic State group. Once the troops are gone, the US will have ended three years of organizing, arming, advising and providing air cover for Syrian, Kurdish and Arab fighters in an open-ended campaign devised by the Obama administration to deal the IS group a lasting defeat.Uncertainty over the timing and terms of the Syria pullout have raised questions about the Trump administration’s broader strategy for fighting Islamic extremism, including Trump’s stated intention to reduce US forces in Afghanistan this summer.US airstrikes against IS in Syria began in September 2014, and ground troops moved in the following year in small numbers.The US military has a limited network of bases inside Syria. Troops work mostly out of small camps in remote parts of the country’s northeast. Also, US troops are among 200 to 300 coalition troops at a garrison in southern Syria known as al-Tanf, where they train and accompany local Syrian opposition forces on patrols to counter the IS group. Al-Tanf is on a vital road linking Iranian-backed forces from Tehran all the way to southern Lebanon — and Israel’s doorstep.Trump’s decision to leave Syria, which he initially said would be rapid but later slowed down, shocked US allies and angered the Kurds in Syria, who are vulnerable to attack by Turkey. It also prompted the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and drew criticism in Congress. Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, called the decision a “betrayal of our Kurdish partners.”The US military command in Baghdad, which is managing the counter-IS campaign in Iraq and Syria, said Friday that it “has begun the process of our deliberate withdrawal from Syria,” adding that, for security reasons, it would not reveal timetables, locations or troop movements. In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cdr. Sean Robertson, said in a statement, “We will confirm that there has been no redeployment of military personnel from Syria to date.”The withdrawal plan, whose details are classified, includes bringing hundreds of additional troops into Syria temporarily to facilitate the pullout. These include troops to provide extra security for those who are preparing to leave. The full withdrawal is expected to take several months.The USS Kearsarge amphibious assault ship is now in the region and could provide troops and equipment to support the withdrawal.US troops are still working with a partner known as the Syrian Democratic Forces to stamp out the last IS holdouts in the Middle Euphrates River Valley near the Iraqi border. Trump has asserted that the IS group in Syria is defeated, but others have said a continued US military presence is necessary to prevent a resurgence of the group.Two weeks before Trump announced he was ordering a pullout, Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the US still had a long way to go in training local Syrian forces to stabilize areas ridden of the IS group. He said it would take 35,000 to 40,000 local forces in northeastern Syria to maintain security, but only about 20 percent had been trained.Another complication is the fate of hundreds of foreign IS fighters being held in Syria. The US doesn’t want these prisoners to be released once American forces are gone, since they could rejoin the militant cause in Syria or elsewhere.There has been confusion over plans to implement Trump’s pullout order amid threats from Turkey to attack the Kurdish fighters, who are seen by Ankara as terrorists because of their ties to insurgents within Turkey.On a visit to Turkish troops stationed near the Syrian border Friday, Turkey’s defense minister, Hulusi Akar, reiterated that Ankara is “determined” to fight Kurdish militias it considers terrorists and said military preparations were ongoing.“When the time and place comes, the terrorists here will also be buried in the ditches and trenches they have dug,” he said.Earlier this week, Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, said American troops will not leave northeastern Syria until the IS group is defeated and American-allied Kurdish fighters are protected, signaling a slowdown in Trump’s initial order for a rapid withdrawal.The distinctive feature of the US military campaign in Syria is its partnership with the Kurds and Arabs who were willing to act as American proxies by fighting the Islamic State group without US troops having to take the lead combat role. US forces took a similar approach in neighboring Iraq, starting in 2014, but in that case, they had a willing partner in the Iraqi government, whereas in Syria, the US is present without the blessing of President Bashar Assad.Syria also is complicated by the presence of Russian troops who are, in effect, propping up the Assad government, and by Iranian support for Assad. American and Russian warplanes have shared the skies over Syria, carrying out separate — and in some cases, conflicting — missions against the IS group and other targets.The US has about 5,200 troops in Iraq to assist its security forces, and Trump has given no indication he intends to withdraw them any time soon. He has, however, asserted that the US must bring an end to the Mideast wars that began after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. He has questioned the wisdom of continuing the 17-year war in Afghanistan and recently demanded that about half of the 14,000 US troops there be sent home.

Syria says Israeli airstrikes hit warehouse at Damascus airport-Official news agency claims most missiles fired by warplanes intercepted, amid local reports of loud explosions; monitoring group says attack targeted Hezbollah, Iran-By AFP and TOI staff-15 January 2019

Syrian air defense batteries opened fire on “hostile Israel missiles” near Damascus Friday night, the official news agency SANA reported.A military source told the news agency that “at 11:15 p.m. Israeli warplanes coming from the direction of the Galilee fired several missiles towards the vicinity of Damascus.”The source claimed that air defenses intercepted “most” of the missiles and said a “ministry of transport warehouse at Damascus international airport” was hit. Another official told SANA traffic at the airport had not been disrupted.An AFP correspondent in Damascus heard several loud explosions.“Two areas hosting military positions of Iranian forces and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement have been targeted,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said.These were near the airport and around the Kisweh area south of Damascus, the observatory said.In an earlier report, SANA had spoken of Syrian air-defence batteries attacking “enemy targets.”Israeli officials made no statement on Friday’s reports, but seldom comment on alleged strikes.Israel in recent years has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria against targets linked to Iran, which alongside its proxies and Russia is fighting on behalf of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.The last such reported airstrike occurred on Christmas Day. On that occasion an erroneous Syrian anti-aircraft missile flew into Israeli airspace, and was destroyed by Israeli air defenses.Israel has accused Iran of seeking to establish a military presence in Syria that could threaten Israeli security and attempting to transfer advanced weaponry to the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon.The number of airstrikes in Syria attributed to Israel has dropped in recent months, after a Russian military plane was downed by Syrian air defenses during an Israeli attack on Latakia, killing all 15 servicemen aboard.Russia blamed the Israeli military for that incident — a charge rejected by Jerusalem — and has supplied Syria with the advanced S-300 air defense system.The S-300 systems were delivered to Syria late last year, but they are not yet believed to be in use, as the Syrian air defense teams still need to be trained to operate them.

Kidnapped American teen found alive months after parents’ murder-21-year-old Wisconsin man charged with murder and kidnapping at end of nationwide search for 13-year-old Jayme Closs-By AFP-TOI-15 January 2019

GORDON, Wisconsin — A 21-year-old man has been charged with murdering the parents of an American teen as part of a chilling plot to kidnap her, police said Friday, after 13-year-old Jayme Closs was found alive following three months in captivity.The subject of a nationwide search since her parents were found murdered in their home in rural Wisconsin in October, Closs made a seemingly miraculous escape Thursday afternoon, seeking help from a neighbor who alerted authorities.Minutes later police arrested the man she identified as her captor, Jake Thomas Patterson, and have charged him with abducting Closs and fatally shooting her parents.“Jayme was taken against her will and escaped from the residence in which she was being held and found help,” Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald told reporters.“At this moment, Jayme is in the comforting embrace of law enforcement,” said Fitzgerald, adding that the teen had been medically cleared from the hospital and was talking to investigators.Authorities said Patterson had carefully planned his attack — specifically targeting the young teen for reasons that remained unclear.The sheriff said the suspect had no prior contact with the Closs family, and that the teen “was the only target.”“I can tell you that the subject planned his actions and took many proactive steps to hide his identity from law enforcement and the general public,” Fitzgerald said.-Crying teen sought neighbor’s help-Closs was being held in a rural home approximately 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of her home in Barron, Wisconsin.She escaped and ran to a vacation cabin where Jeanne Nutter was just returning at around 4:30 pm. Thursday after walking her dog.“She said she was lost, she didn’t know where she was,” Nutter told AFP.“I didn’t know the situation until she got near me, and then she told me her name, and I knew who she was because I’d seen her picture everywhere.”The 66-year-old immediately took the teen to a neighbor’s home to call police.Closs appeared traumatized but in good physical condition, wearing an oversized sweatshirt and large shoes that were clearly not her own, Nutter said.“She was crying when I first met her, but once I grabbed hold of her and held her as she walked, then she was calm,” Nutter said.-Trail had gone cold-Closs was undergoing mental evaluation and questioning by detectives, who had not yet established what had happened to her over the last three months, the motive for the kidnapping, or how she escaped, police said.Patterson was the authorities’ only suspect. He has been charged with two counts of first degree murder and one count of kidnapping, but will not appear in court until an official criminal complaint is filed next week.Patterson was arrested without resistance on a road near his home and did not appear to be looking for Jayme, police said.The dirt road leading to his home was blocked by police barricade, as investigators searched his vehicles.Closs had been missing since October 15, when authorities received a 911 call from a cellphone inside her rural home in Barron.Upon arrival police found her parents James Closs, 56, and Denise Closs, 46, shot dead.“Jayme was inside the home when her parents were killed,” Fitzgerald said.A nationwide search left law enforcement frustrated, with the trail gone cold. Police confirmed that they had not been looking in the wooded Gordon area, which has few year-round residents.“This case was challenging given the proactive steps the subject took to avoid detection,” FBI agent Justin Tolomeo said.“It was Jayme herself who gave us that break.”-88 days of prayers-Closs’s extended family and community in Barron were jubilant at news of her recovery.Police said they sent three teams to tell family members at various locations that she had been found, including one group that was attending a basketball game.“When we said she was found safe and alive, [there were] tears and lots of hugs,” Fitzgerald said.Asked if there would be a community celebration in her honor, the superintendent of the Barron Area School District that Jayme attended, said, “You better believe it.”“There is so much love and hugs in our district today,” Diane Tremblay said.“It has been 88 days of hope for her safe return, 88 days of prayers.”

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