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)
DISEASES-ANIMAL TO HUMAN
REVELATION 6:7-8 (500 MILLION DEAD EACH FROM THE 4 JUDGEMENTS)(2 BILLION TOT DEAD HERE)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 billion) of (8 billion) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS)(500 million) and with hunger,(FAMINE)(500 million) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES)(500 million) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE)(500 million).
THE COVID-19 TOTALS.
WORLD OVER ALL CASES 212,853,942 - DEAD 4,448,702 - AS OF MON AUG 23,2021 (PROBABLY IN THE LAST 200,000 DEAD-150,000 STILL GOT COVID AND DIED AFTER GETTING BOTH VACCINE SHOTS)
WELL NOW WE KNOW WHY PFIZER WANT ARMS FULL OF THE USELESS VACINE. THEY NEEDED MONEY TO GOBLE UP DRUG COMPANIES.
FDA gives full approval to Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for ages 16 and up-US becomes first country to officially endorse shot; hundreds of millions of doses administered since emergency rollout in December-By LAURAN NEERGAARD and MATTHEW PERRONE-AUG 23,21-Today, 5:36 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The US gave full approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, a milestone that may help lift public confidence in the shots as the nation battles the most contagious coronavirus mutant yet.The vaccine made by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech now carries the strongest endorsement from the Food and Drug Administration, which has never before had so much evidence to judge a shot’s safety. More than 200 million Pfizer doses already have been administered in the US — and hundreds of millions more worldwide — since emergency use began in December.“The public can be very confident that this vaccine meets the high standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality the FDA requires of an approved product,” said acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock. “Today’s milestone puts us one step closer to altering the course of this pandemic in the US”The US becomes the first country to fully approve the shot, according to Pfizer, and CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement he hoped the decision “will help increase confidence in our vaccine, as vaccination remains the best tool we have to help protect lives.”vaccinations bottomed out in July. As the Delta variant fills hospital beds, shots are on the rise again — with a million a day given Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Just over half of the US population is fully vaccinated with one of the country’s three options, from Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson.The FDA’s action also may spur more vaccine mandates by companies, universities and local governments. This month New York City, New Orleans and San Francisco all imposed proof-of-vaccination requirements at restaurants, bars and other indoor venues. At the federal level, US President Joe Biden is requiring government workers to sign forms attesting that they’ve been vaccinated or else submit to regular testing and other requirements.Anxious Americans increasingly are on board: Close to 6 in 10 favor requiring people to be fully vaccinated to travel on airplanes or attend crowded public events, according to a recent poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.“Mandating becomes much easier when you have full approval,” said Dr. Carlos del Rio of Emory University. “I think a lot of businesses have been waiting for it.”The FDA, like regulators in Europe and much of the world, initially allowed emergency use of Pfizer’s vaccine based on a study that tracked 44,000 people 16 and older for at least two months — the time period when serious side effects typically arise.That’s shorter than the six months of safety data normally required for full approval. So Pfizer kept that study going, and the FDA also examined real-world safety evidence in deciding to fully license the vaccine for people 16 and older, those studied the longest. Pfizer’s shot still has emergency authorization for 12- to 15-year-olds.Even after hundreds of millions of shots, serious side effects — such as chest pain and heart inflammation in teens and young adults — remain exceedingly rare, the FDA said.As for effectiveness, six-month tracking of Pfizer’s original study showed the vaccine remained 97% protective against severe COVID-19. Protection against milder infection waned slightly, from a peak of 96% two months after the second dose to 84% by six months.Those data came before the extra-contagious Delta variant began spreading, but other data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the vaccine is still doing a good job preventing severe disease caused by that mutant.As for all the talk about booster doses, the FDA’s licensure doesn’t cover those. The agency will decide that separately.The FDA already is allowing emergency use of a third dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine for people with severely weakened immune systems, such as organ transplant recipients who don’t respond as strongly to the usual two shots. For everyone else who got those vaccinations, the Biden administration is planning ahead for booster starting in the fall — if the FDA and CDC agree.Also still to be decided is vaccination of children under 12. Both Pfizer and Moderna are studying youngsters, with data expected in the fall.
PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)
REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE 17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4 billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
AMERICA (POLITICAL BABYLON)(NUKED BY SNEAK ATTACK FROM RUSSIA)
IN REVELATION 17 & 18 IS THE DESTRUCTION OF THE RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL BABYLONS.IF YOU CAN NOT DECERN BETWEEN THE 2 BABYLONS IN REV 17 & 18.YOU WILL JUST THINK THEIR BOTH THE SAME.BUT NO-THERES A RELIGIOUS BABYLON (THE VATICAN IN REV 17)(AND THE POLITICAL BABYLON IN REV 18 (AMERICA OR NEW YORK TO BE EXACT)
ISAIAH 34:10
10 It (AMERICA-POLITICAL BABYLON) shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
JEREMIAH 51:29-32 (CYBER ATTACK 1ST)
29 And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon,(AMERICA-NEW YORK) to make the land of Babylon (AMERICA) a desolation without an inhabitant.
30 The mighty men of Babylon (AMERICA) have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.
031 One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon (NEW YORK) that his city is taken at one end,
32 And that the passages are stopped,(THE WAR COMPUTERS HACKED OR EMP'D) and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.(DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO)
COMPLETE SILENCE AFTER AN EMP GOES OFF
REVELATION 8:1
1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
JEREMIAH 50:3,24
3 For out of the north (RUSSIA) 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,(AMERICA) and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. (RUSSIA A SNEAK CYBER,EMP ATTACK,THEN NUKE ATTACK ON AM
EZEKIEL 39:11-22
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE) and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300 MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
13 Yea, all the people of the land (OF ISRAEL) shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I (GOD-JESUS) shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB EXPERTS) passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it,(WON'T TOUCH IT) till the buriers have buried it (PROPERLY) in the valley of Hamongog.(RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS NEW BURIEL SITE)(EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN THE JORDAN VALLEY)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl,(500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS THREW ISRAEL EVERY SPRING,FALL) and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF THE RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ARMIES)
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
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.
WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU POSSIBLY TRY TO TALK PEACE WITH A SEX FOR MURDER DEATH CULT WHAT THE TALIBAN ARE. INSTEAD OF NUKING THE DUNG OUT OF THEM IS MY QUESTION TO THE WORLD, NOT JUST MEATHEAD BIDEN. THIS SHOULD BRING THE EUROPEAN UNION TO THEIR LEADING ROLE IN THE WORLD. AND SINCE AMERICAS ALLIES ALREADY CAN'T TRUST BIDEN. THIS SHOULD BE THE END OF AMERICAS LEADING ROLE IN THE WORLD. IT SHOULD NOW THE EUROPEAN UNION IN THE WEST. EGYPT THE MUSLIM LEADER IN THE SOUTH. CHINA THE LEADER OF THE EAST. AND RUSSIA THE LEADER OF THE NORTH. THE FINAL POWERS THIS WILL BE IN THE END OF THE AGE OF GRACE. AND INTO THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD.
'We inherited an Iran that's working extremely aggressively'Bennett to present Biden with strategy for stopping Iran without nuclear deal-When he meets US president on Thursday on 1st official visit, PM will argue that 2015 accord is no longer relevant; no major concessions to Palestinians expected to be announced-By Lazar Berman-AUG 23,21-Today, 8:32 pm
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will present to US President Joe Biden on Thursday a strategy for confronting both Iran’s nuclear program and its regional activities without returning to the 2015 nuclear agreement, according to a senior diplomatic source.“The heart of the diplomatic discussion will deal with Iran,” said the source during a phone briefing on Monday evening, speaking to reporters ahead of Bennett’s trip to Washington on Tuesday.“When we began to plan the visit, a return to the agreement seemed certain. Since then, time has passed, the president in Iran has changed, and things seem far less certain. In our view, it may be that there is no return to the agreement.Bennett will argue that Iran’s nuclear program has advanced too far for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to have any relevance in 2021. Though it might plug some holes on the enrichment side, the deal gives the Islamic Republic too much in return, the official maintained.“There is no value to returning to the nuclear deal,” the official said.“We inherited an Iran that is working extremely aggressively and is empowering very negative forces in the region,” said the source, indicating criticism of the previous, Benjamin-Netanyahu-led government’s handling of the issue.Iran’s Governor to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Kazem Gharib Abadi, Political deputy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Abbas Araghchi, and Deputy Secretary General and Political Director of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Enrique Mora leave the ‚Grand Hotel Vienna where closed-door nuclear talks take place in Vienna, Austria, June 2, 2021. (AP/Lisa Leutner)The prime minister has been involved in a deep policy review process on the Iran issue since entering office in June, and believes that a return to the deal is no longer a given, according to the source.Bennett has long publicly opposed the Biden administration’s stated plan to reenter the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which former US president Donald Trump pulled out of in 2018. Western powers — with the US participating indirectly — held months of negotiations with Iran in Vienna earlier this year, but talks stalled ahead of the installation of hardliner Ebrahim Raisi as Iran’s president, earlier this month.Bennett sees the Iranian nuclear issue as a challenge for Israel and its allies, and an opportunity to develop a new broad regional strategy for confronting Tehran, said the official.No major concessions to the Palestinians are expected to be announced during the trip.Bennett is scheduled to take off for his first official visit to the US on Tuesday at 4 p.m. It will be Bennett’s first official overseas trip as premier, and the first time Biden meets with an Israeli prime minister since he took office earlier this year.On Wednesday, Bennett will meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and then-opposition chairman Yair Lapid, in Jerusalem on May 25, 2021. (Yair Lapid/Twitter)-He is slated to meet with Biden midday on Thursday in the Oval Office.Bennett will be traveling with his close diplomatic and security advisors, including National Security Adviser Eyal Hulta, diplomatic adviser Shimrit Meir, military secretary Avi Gil, cabinet secretary Shalom Shlomo, and Ambassador to the US and UN Gilad Erdan.Diplomatic sources said Bennett expects to build a personal connection with Biden, as both leaders have a similar, personable style.Bennett’s trip comes as the Biden administration is dealing with the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, and both leaders face spiraling COVID-19 numbers in their respective countries.In this image provided by the US Marines, evacuee children wait for the next flight after being manifested at Hamid Karzai International Airport, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 19, 2021. (1st Lt. Mark Andries/ US Marine Corps via AP)-Despite the ongoing COVID crisis in Israel, “the timing of the visit is very important because we are at a critical point regarding Iran,” Bennett said on Sunday during the weekly cabinet meeting.The prime minister said the Iranians are “advancing rapidly with uranium enrichment, which has already significantly shortened the time that it would take for them to accumulate the material required for a single nuclear bomb.”President Joe Biden speaks in the East Room of the White House, on August 18, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images via AFP)-While Bennett has stressed that the bulk of his meeting with Biden will focus on Iran, the White House statement on Bennett’s visit noted plans to discuss “regional and global security, including Iran,” as well as “efforts to advance peace, security, and prosperity for Israelis and Palestinians and the importance of working towards a more peaceful and secure future for the region.”On Sunday, Bennett noted that shortly after he returns from Washington, he will host outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and, not long after that, he will visit Cairo “to meet Egyptian President [Abdel-Fattah] el-Sissi, who invited me.”Last week, Bennett met with Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate chair Abbas Kamel, who extended the invitation on behalf of Sissi.Amy Spiro contributed to this report.
Israeli jets strike Gaza following fires set by arson balloons-Israel hits Hamas weapons factory, tunnel entrance and underground rocket launcher next to a school; raids after incendiary devices from enclave ignite blazes in southern Israel-By TOI staff and Aaron Boxerman-24 August 2021, 12:19 am
The Israel Defense Forces carried out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip late Monday night in response to the launching of arson balloons from the coastal enclave that set off at least nine fires in Israeli border communities earlier in the day, the army said.The army said it hit a Hamas weapons factory in the southern town of Khan Younis, the entrance to a terror tunnel in Jabaliya and an underground rocket launcher.The army said the launcher was located in a heavily populated area near a school in the Shejaiya neighborhood.There were no casualties in the raids, but they did cause material damage, a Palestinian security source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.He added that Hamas fighters had fired on the Israeli aircraft. Last week machine gun fire aimed at Israeli jets hit homes in the Israeli community of Sderot, causing some damage.Senior Hamas official Ismail Radwan condemned the Monday night strikes, vowing that Hamas would not be deterred.“The bombing will only increase our determination to reclaim our rights,” he said.The arson attacks earlier Monday drew harsh criticism from local government officials, who called on the government to take action.Earlier Monday evening, Channel 12 reported that the Israeli security establishment believes that Israel and Hamas are again headed toward full-on fighting in Gaza.An official told the networks that Hamas is seeking to increase pressure on Israel by renewing both Gaza border protests and the launching of arson balloons from the coastal enclave.With the renewal of border protests, Israel will be forced to respond more strongly to distance Gazans from the security fence, with the likely result being more casualties to the Palestinian side, to which Hamas will want to respond. The security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, therefore surmised that another war between Israel and Gaza terror groups may be inevitable.However, Israel is trying to tread lightly, ahead of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s meetings with US President Joe Biden in the White House on Thursday, and next week with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, Channel 12 reported, while clarifying that Israel will still respond to aggression from Gaza. Footage of one of the IDF strikes in Khan Younis, southern Gaza this evening. pic.twitter.com/CQgCtZtaGj — Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) August 23, 2021-Recent days have seen a major rise in tensions along the Gaza border, with the potential for renewed clashes between Israel and terror groups in the Strip following May’s 11-day conflict, known in Israel as Operation Guardian of the Walls. This has largely been driven by demands from Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza that Israel allow additional funds and goods into the beleaguered enclave. Jerusalem has refused, unless Hamas releases two Israeli civilians and the remains of two soldiers from captivity.There appeared to be a breakthrough in the stalled indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas last week, when Qatar and the United Nations announced that they had created a new mechanism for moving aid into the Gaza Strip that Defense Minister Benny Gantz said would prevent the money from reaching Hamas.On Monday, however, Palestinian terror groups announced plans to continue holding demonstrations along the border, including one on Wednesday.According to schedules published by Hamas-aligned media, buses will transport demonstrators from across southern Gaza to participate in the rally. The event has been dubbed by its organizers “The Sword of Jerusalem Shall Not be Sheathed,” a reference to Hamas’s name for the May battle between Gaza and Israel.On Saturday, Hamas organized a similar large demonstration on the Gaza border that turned particularly violent at one point, with hundreds of rioters storming the security fence. A Palestinian man with a pistol opened fire at an Israeli Border Police sniper, Barel Hadaria Shmueli, who was stationed on the border, shooting him in the head and critically wounding him.Forty-one Palestinians were also injured during Saturday’s clashes, two of them critically, by Israeli gunfire and riot dispersal weapons, according to Hamas’s Gaza health ministry.Border Police officer Barel Shmueli who was critically wounded in a shooting on the Gaza border on August 21, 2021. (Border Police)-In response to the shooting attack on the border guard, the IDF conducted limited airstrikes on Hamas weapons storage sites in what was widely seen as an effort to retaliate to the attack on the soldier without risking a larger conflict with the terror group.Palestinians during a demonstration by the border fence with Israel, east of Gaza City on August 21, 2021. (SAID KHATIB / AFP)-For months, Israel and Hamas have held indirect negotiations to set the terms for a new status quo. In the aftermath of May’s fighting, Israel has maintained heightened restrictions on Gaza, significantly limiting imports and exports and complicating the reconstruction of the battered enclave.Prior to the conflict in May between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers, the flow of funds from Qatar was considered vital to maintaining relative calm between the Jewish state and the Islamist terrorists.Under the new arrangement announced on Thursday, Qatar and the UN will channel $100 benefits for 100,000 impoverished Gazan families — $10 million in total — each month through the UN and the UN World Food Program, Qatari envoy to Gaza Mohammad al-Emadi said in a statement.
Advertisement-Israel has fought four large campaigns against terror groups in the Strip since Hamas took control of the area in 2007, along with dozens of smaller exchanges of fire.Earlier this month, Palestinian terrorists fired two rockets at southern Israel in the first such attack since the May conflict.AFP contributed to this report
Gaza arson attacks spark 9 fires in Israel; terror groups plan border protests-Local Israeli leaders call for government to take action as terrorists in the Strip launch balloon-borne incendiary devices into south-By Judah Ari Gross-AUG 23,21-Today, 6:55 pm
Terrorists in the Gaza Strip sparked at least nine fires in southern Israel throughout Monday with balloon-borne incendiary devices flown over the border as tensions in the region heated up, Fire and Rescue Services investigators said.Firefighters from Fire and Rescue Services, the Israel Defense Forces, the Jewish National Fund and local communities have been battling brushfires throughout the day in the Eshkol and Sdot Negev regions of southern Israel.Fire and Rescue Services investigators said they determined that at least nine fires in Eshkol were sparked by these balloon-based attacks. Another fire in Sdot Negev was also likely the result of arson, but this was still being checked, the investigators said.The attacks drew harsh criticism from local government officials, who called on the government to take action.“The audacity of the terror groups to renew the terrorism of balloons and to burn our fields must be rooted out today. If it is not stopped today, we will find ourselves… [again] putting out fires and crying that our harvests have gone up in smoke,” the mayor of the Eshkol region, Gadi Yarkoni, said in a statement.“I expect the government to act immediately to send a clear and unequivocal message to these terrorist organizations that they ought not continue with this despicable terrorism,” Yarkoni said.Recent days have seen a major rise in tensions along the Gaza border, with the potential for renewed clashes between Israel and terror groups in the Strip following May’s 11-day conflict, known in Israel as Operation Guardian of the Walls. This has largely been driven by demands from Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza for Israel to allow additional funds and goods into the beleaguered enclave. Jerusalem has refused unless Hamas releases two Israeli civilians and the remains of two soldiers from captivity.There appeared to be a breakthrough in the stalled indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas last week, when Qatar and the United Nations announced that they had created a new mechanism for moving aid into the Gaza Strip that Defense Minister Benny Gantz said would prevent the money from reaching Hamas.On Monday, however, Palestinian terror groups announced plans to continue holding demonstrations along the border, including one on Wednesday.According to schedules published by Hamas-aligned media, buses will transport demonstrators from across southern Gaza to participate in the rally. The event has dubbed by its organizers “The Sword of Jerusalem Shall Not be Sheathed,” a reference to Hamas’s name for the May battle between Gaza and Israel.On Saturday, Hamas organized a similar large demonstration on the Gaza border that turned particularly violent at one point, with hundreds of rioters storming the security fence. A Palestinian man with a pistol opened fire at an Israeli Border Police sniper, Barel Hadaria Shmueli, who was stationed on the border, shooting him in the head and critically wounding him.Forty-one Palestinians were also injured during Saturday’s clashes, two of them critically, by Israeli gunfire and riot dispersal weapons, according to Hamas’s Gaza health ministry.In response to the shooting attack on the border guard, the Israel Defense Forces conducted limited airstrikes on Hamas weapons storage sites in what was widely seen as an effort to retaliate to the attack on the soldier without risking a larger conflict with the terror group.During the strikes, Palestinians fired heavy machine-gun fire at Israeli aircraft over the coastal enclave. A number of homes and vehicles in Sderot were hit by the gunfire and suffered damage.Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhum mocked Israel, saying that it had “underestimated the situation.”“As usual, the Zionist occupation, by bombing resistance sites, is seeking to cover up its own failure and dismay at the steadfastness and persistence of our people and their valiant resistance,” said Barhoum.Footage reportedly from Sderot this evening showing the heavy machine gun fire from Gaza. pic.twitter.com/UljYVSRhoo — Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) August 21, 2021-For months, Israel and Hamas have held indirect negotiations to set the terms for a new status quo. In the aftermath of May’s fighting, Israel has maintained heightened restrictions on Gaza, significantly limiting imports and exports and complicating the reconstruction of the battered enclave.Prior to the conflict in May between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers, the flow of funds from Qatar was considered vital to maintaining relative calm between the Jewish state and the Islamist terrorists.Under the new arrangement announced on Thursday, Qatar and the UN will channel $100 benefits for 100,000 impoverished Gazan families — $10 million in total — each month through the UN and the UN World Food Program, Qatari envoy to Gaza Mohammad al-Emadi said in a statement.Israel has fought four large campaigns against terror groups in the Strip since Hamas took control of the area in 2007, along with dozens of smaller exchanges of fire.
US sends helicopter into Kabul neighborhood to extricate stranded Americans-Move comes as military reports its biggest day of evacuation flights out of Afghanistan as US races to try complete mission by August 31 deadline-By Robert Burns and Ellen Knickmeyer-24 August 2021, 1:52 am
WASHINGTON — The US military sent a helicopter into a Kabul neighborhood to pick up stranded Americans on Monday as the army reported its biggest day of evacuation flights out of Afghanistan by far.But deadly violence that has blocked many desperate evacuees from entering Kabul’s airport persisted, and the Taliban signaled they might soon seek to shut down the evacuation.Twenty-eight US military flights ferried about 10,400 people to safety out of Taliban-held Afghanistan over the 24 hours that ended early Monday morning, a White House official said. The chief Pentagon spokesman, John Kirby, said the faster pace of evacuation was due in part to coordination with Taliban commanders on getting evacuees into the airport.“Thus far, and going forward, it does require constant coordination and deconfliction with the Taliban,” Kirby said. “What we’ve seen is, this deconfliction has worked well in terms of allowing access and flow as well as reducing the overall size of the crowds just outside the airport.”With access still difficult, the US military went beyond the airport to carry out another helicopter retrieval of Americans. US officials said a military helicopter picked up 16 American citizens Monday and brought them onto the airfield for evacuation. This was at least the second such rescue mission beyond the airport; Kirby said that last Thursday, three Army helicopters picked up 169 Americans near a hotel just beyond the airport gate and flew them onto the airfield.US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said at the White House that talks with the Taliban are continuing as the administration looks for additional ways to safely move more Americans and others into the Kabul airport.People walk on the tarmac as they disembark from a Airbus A400M military transport aircraft at the French military air base 104 of Al Dhafra, near Abu Dhabi, on August 23, 2021, after being evacuated from Kabul as part of the operation “Apagan”. (Photo by BERTRAND GUAY / AFP)-“We are in talks with the Taliban on a daily basis through both political and security channels,” he said, adding that ultimately it will be Biden’s decision alone whether to continue military-led evacuation operations beyond Aug. 31.In a reminder of the urgency felt amid a dizzying array of security threats to the evacuation effort, the Pentagon posted a video of a laser near the airport targeting a US Air Force C-17 aircraft and apparently attempting to disrupt the pilot during landing.After more than a week of evacuations plagued by major obstacles, including Taliban forces and crushing crowds that are making approaching the airport difficult and dangerous, the number of people flown out met — and exceeded — US projections for the first time. The count was more than twice the 3,900 flown out in the previous 24 hours on US military planes.Army Gen. Stephen Lyons, head of US Transportation Command, which manages the military aircraft that are executing the Kabul airlift, told a Pentagon news conference that more than 200 planes are involved, including aerial refueling planes, and that arriving planes are spending less than an hour on the tarmac at Kabul before loading and taking off. He said the nonstop mission is taking a toll on aircrews.In this image provided by the US Marine Corps, families begin to board a US Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 23, 2021. (Sgt. Samuel Ruiz/U.S. Marine Corps via AP)“They’re tired,” Lyons said of the crews. “They’re probably exhausted in some cases.”On a more positive note, Lyons said that in addition to the widely reported case of an Afghan woman giving birth aboard a US evacuation aircraft, two other babies have been born in similar circumstances. He did not provide details.The Pentagon said it has added a fourth US military base, in New Jersey, to three others — in Virginia, Texas and Wisconsin — that are prepared to temporarily house arriving Afghans. Maj. Gen. Hank Williams, the Joint Staff deputy director for regional operations, told reporters there are now about 1,200 Afghans at those military bases. The four bases combined are capable of housing up to 25,000 evacuees, Kirby said.Afghan evacuees continued to arrive at Dulles International Airport outside of Washington. A bus carried some of the latest arrivals from Dulles airport to another site for what would be one of many processing stops before they reach new homes in the United States.Families evacuated from Kabul, Afghanistan, walk through the terminal before boarding a bus after they arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport, in Chantilly, Va., on Monday, Aug. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)Exhaustion clouded the faces of many of the adults. How does it feel to be here, a journalist asked one man. “We are safe,” he answered.An older woman sank with relief into an offered wheelchair, and a little girl carried by an older boy shaded her eyes to look curiously around. It was an interim stop for what had been a grueling struggle over days for many to get flights out of what is now Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The scramble to evacuate left most arrivals carrying only a bookbag or purse, or a plastic shopping bag of belongings. Some arrived for their new lives entirely empty-handed.Biden said Sunday he would not rule out extending the evacuation beyond Aug. 31, the date he had set for completing the withdrawal of troops. And British Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to press Biden for an extension to get out the maximum number of foreigners and Afghan allies possible. Biden is to face the U.’s G-7 allies in a virtual summit on Afghanistan on Tuesday.Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen, in an interview with Sky News, said that Aug. 31 is a “red line” the US must not cross and that extending the American presence would “provoke a reaction.”Since the Taliban seized the capital Aug. 15, completing a stunning rout of the US-backed Afghan government and military, the US has been carrying out the evacuation in coordination with the Taliban, who have held off on attacking under a 2020 withdrawal deal with the Trump administration.Taliban fighters in a vehicle patrol the streets of Kabul on August 23, 2021(Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP)-Monday’s warning signaled the Taliban could insist on shutting down the airlifts out of the Kabul airport in just over a week. Lawmakers, refugee groups, veterans’ organizations and US allies have said ending the evacuation then could strand countless Afghans and foreigners still hoping for flights out.Since Aug. 14, the US has evacuated and facilitated the evacuation of about 37,000 people.A firefight just outside the airport killed at least one Afghan soldier early Monday, German officials said. It was the latest in days of often-lethal turmoil outside the airport. People coming in hopes of escaping Taliban rule face sporadic gunfire, beatings by the Taliban, and crowds that have trampled many.
Afghan soldier killed by gunfire at Kabul airport amid chaotic evacuations-German military says 3 other troops were wounded by ‘unknown attackers’; Taliban reports retaking 3 districts seized by resistance groups
By ahmad seir, Rahim Faiez and Joseph Krauss-aug 23,21-Today, 5:28 pm
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A firefight just outside Kabul’s international airport killed at least one Afghan soldier early Monday, German officials said, the latest chaos to engulf Western efforts to evacuate those fleeing the Taliban takeover of the country.The airport shooting came as the Taliban sent fighters north of the capital to eliminate pockets of armed resistance to their lightning takeover earlier this month. The Taliban said they retook three districts seized by opponents the day before and had surrounded Panjshir, the last province that remains out of their control.Afghanistan’s security forces collapsed in the face of the Taliban advance, despite 20 years of Western aid, training and assistance. Tens of thousands of Afghans have sought to flee the country since, fearing a return to the brutal rule the Taliban imposed the last time they ran Afghanistan. That has led to chaos at the airport in Kabul, the main route out of the country.Gunfire broke out near an entrance to the airport, where at least seven Afghans died a day earlier in a panicked stampede of thousands of people. The circumstances of the shooting, which occurred around dawn, remained unclear.The German military tweeted that one member of the Afghan army was killed and three others were wounded by “unknown attackers.” An Italian humanitarian organization that operates hospitals in Afghanistan said it had treated six patients with bullet wounds from the airport.The US military and NATO did not immediately acknowledge the shooting. There was no comment from the Taliban.In this image provided by the US Air Force, a US Air Force loadmaster, assigned to the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, guides qualified evacuees aboard a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III aircraft in support of the Afghanistan evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan, August 21, 2021. (Senior Airman Taylor Crul/U.S. Air Force via AP)-The tragic scenes around the airport have transfixed the world. Afghans poured onto the tarmac last week and some clung to a US military transport plane as it took off, later plunging to their deaths. At least seven people died that day, in addition to the seven killed Sunday.The Taliban blame the chaotic evacuation on the US military and say there’s no need for any Afghans to flee. They have pledged to bring peace and security after decades of war and say they won’t seek revenge on those who worked with the US, NATO and the toppled Afghan government.Addressing a conference of Muslim clerics, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid urged them to push back against Western “propaganda” about the Taliban and said the US was undermining the their rule by sending planes and offering Afghans asylum.Despite their promises, the Taliban have violently suppressed protests and beat people with batons as they try to control the crowds outside the airport perimeter. There have also been reports in recent days of the Taliban hunting down their former enemies. It’s unclear if Taliban leaders are saying one thing and doing another, or if fighters on the ground are taking matters into their own hands.German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told the Bild newspaper that the main obstacle to getting people out was the crowds outside the airport.“We must switch much more to picking people up, so to speak, and we are doing that,” Kramp-Karrenbauer said.Asked about Taliban assurances of safe passage to the airport she said: “So far, I can say that what we need is being granted; the danger comes more from these uncontrollable crowds of people.”In this image provided by the US Marine Corps, two children point at an aircraft after they have been manifested to depart, at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan, August 21, 2021. (1st Lt. Mark Andries/U.S. Marine Corps via AP)-As the airlift continues, the US government asked for 18 aircraft from American commercial carriers to assist in transporting Afghan refugees to their final destinations after their initial evacuation. The request fell under the Civil Reserve Air Fleet program, which was born in the wake of the Berlin airlift and can add to the military’s capabilities during crises.Since August 14, the US has evacuated or facilitated the evacuation of more than 30,000 people on military and coalition flights. Tens of thousands of people — Americans, other foreigners and Afghans who assisted in the war effort — are still waiting to join the airlift, which has been slowed by security issues and US bureaucracy hurdles.US President Joe Biden said Sunday he would not rule out extending the evacuation beyond August 31, the date he had set for completing the withdrawal of US forces. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to press Biden for an extension.But Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen, in an interview with Sky News, said August 31 is a “red line” and that extending the American presence would “provoke a reaction.”There are also concerns that a local affiliate of the Islamic State group might target the crowds outside the airport with suicide bombers or fire missiles at US aircraft. Military planes have been executing corkscrew landings, and other aircraft have fired flares upon takeoff — both measures used to avoid missile attacks.The Taliban and IS have different ideologies and have fought in recent years, but one concern about the Taliban’s takeover is that they could again shelter extremist groups. The Taliban harbored al-Qaeda while it orchestrated the 9/11 attacks, leading to the US invasion in 2001. The Taliban now say they will not allow Afghanistan to be a base for attacks on other countries.Taliban fighters stand guard at a checkpoint in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, August 22, 2021. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)-Elsewhere in Afghanistan, the Taliban have faced limited armed resistance from fighters in Baghlan province, some 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Kabul. The anti-Taliban fighters claimed to have seized three districts in the Andarab Valley on Sunday, but the Taliban said Monday that they had cleared them out overnight.Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, said the group’s forces have also surrounded nearby Panjshir, the only one of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces yet to fall to the fighters.Several Taliban opponents have gathered there, including Amrullah Saleh, the vice president in the toppled government who claims to be the acting president. Ahmad Massoud, son of the slain commander of the Northern Alliance militias that partnered with the US to drive the Taliban from power in 2001, is also in Panjshir.In interviews with Arab media outlets over the weekend, Massoud said his fighters would resist any attempt to take the province by force but were open to dialogue with the Taliban.Mujahid said there had been no fighting in Panjshir yet and that the Taliban are seeking a “peaceful solution.”
Security officials believe Israel, Hamas on collision course in Gaza — TV-Official says another round of fighting may be inevitable, as terror group steps up border protests and airborne arson attacks-By TOI staff-aug 23,21-Today, 11:09 pm
The Israeli security establishment reportedly believes Israel and Hamas are again on a collision course in Gaza, as the terror group encourages further violent protests along the border.An official told Channel 12 Monday that Hamas is seeking to increase pressure on Israel by renewing both Gaza border protests and the launching of arson balloons from the coastal enclave.With the renewal of border protests, Israel will be forced to respond more strongly to distance Gazans from the security fence, with the likely result being more casualties to the Palestinian side, to which Hamas will want to respond.The security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, therefore surmised that another war between Israel and Gaza terror groups may be inevitable.Hamas “may be mistaken” in thinking that it can still avoid an all-out war, the official said.However, Israel is trying to tread lightly ahead of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s meetings with US President Joe Biden in the White House on Thursday and next week with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, Channel 12 reported, while clarifying that Israel will still respond to aggression from Gaza.Recent days have seen a major rise in tensions along the Gaza border, with the potential for renewed clashes between Israel and terror groups in the Strip following May’s 11-day conflict, known in Israel as Operation Guardian of the Walls. This has largely been driven by demands from Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza for Israel to allow additional funds and goods into the beleaguered enclave. Jerusalem has refused, unless Hamas releases two Israeli civilians and the remains of two soldiers from captivity.There appeared to be a breakthrough in the stalled indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas last week, when Qatar and the United Nations announced that they had created a new mechanism for moving aid into the Gaza Strip that Defense Minister Benny Gantz said would prevent the money from reaching Hamas.On Monday, however, Palestinian terror groups announced plans to continue holding demonstrations along the border, including one on Wednesday.According to schedules published by Hamas-aligned media, buses will transport demonstrators from across southern Gaza to participate in the rally. The event has dubbed by its organizers “The Sword of Jerusalem Shall Not be Sheathed,” a reference to Hamas’s name for the May battle between Gaza and Israel.On Saturday, Hamas organized a similar large demonstration on the Gaza border that turned particularly violent at one point, with hundreds of rioters storming the security fence. A Palestinian man with a pistol opened fire at an Israeli Border Police sniper, Barel Hadaria Shmueli, who was stationed on the border, shooting him in the head and critically wounding him.Forty-one Palestinians were also injured during Saturday’s clashes, two of them critically, by Israeli gunfire and riot dispersal weapons, according to Hamas’s Gaza health ministry.In response to the shooting attack on the border guard, the IDF conducted limited airstrikes on Hamas weapons storage sites in what was widely seen as an effort to retaliate to the attack on the soldier without risking a larger conflict with the terror group.During the strikes, Palestinians fired heavy machine-gun fire at Israeli aircraft over the coastal enclave. A number of homes and vehicles in Sderot were hit by the gunfire and suffered damage.Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhum mocked Israel, saying that it had “underestimated the situation.”On Monday, arson balloons from Gaza sparked at least nine fires in southern Israel, Fire and Rescue Services investigators said. The attacks drew harsh criticism from local government officials, who called on the government to take action.Earlier this month, Palestinian terrorists fired two rockets at southern Israel in the first such attack since the May conflict.For months, Israel and Hamas have held indirect negotiations to set the terms for a new status quo. In the aftermath of May’s fighting, Israel has maintained heightened restrictions on Gaza, significantly limiting imports and exports and complicating the reconstruction of the battered enclave.Prior to the conflict in May between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers, the flow of funds from Qatar was considered vital to maintaining relative calm between the Jewish state and the Islamist terrorists.Under the new arrangement announced on Thursday, Qatar and the UN will channel $100 benefits for 100,000 impoverished Gazan families — $10 million in total — each month through the UN and the UN World Food Program, Qatari envoy to Gaza Mohammad al-Emadi said in a statement.Israel has fought four large campaigns against terror groups in the Strip since Hamas took control of the area in 2007, along with dozens of smaller exchanges of fire.
How and why did the Afghan army fall so quickly to the Taliban? patterns of collapse indicate it was the collective result of individual soldiers making rational decisions about their own situations and deciding not to fight-By Todd Lehmann-aug 23,21-Today, 10:04 pm
THE CONVERSATION via AP — The swift collapse of the Afghan military in recent days caught many in the US by surprise, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.In the months after US President Joe Biden’s April 2021 announcement of the troop withdrawal, intelligence reports warned that the Afghan military might not fight on its own, opening the way for a Taliban takeover after US forces withdrew.Yet few expected that the Taliban would succeed so quickly.On August 10, a US intelligence assessment predicted a Taliban takeover within 90 days. It took just five.My research into what game theorists and academics call “commitment problems” identifies the problem, and it is not one that most experts are talking about, like poor planning or corruption. The patterns of the Afghan military’s collapse indicate it was the collective result of individual soldiers making rational decisions about their own situations and deciding not to fight.-Looking for the right causeThroughout the conflict, the perennial emphasis on a US “exit strategy” meant US politicians always focused on whether it was time to leave yet. For 20 years, US efforts focused on short-term thinking and problem-solving that shifted both military and political goals over time, rather than investing the time and effort to develop a comprehensive long-term strategy for the war. An arguably lukewarm US commitment steadily created many of the underlying conditions for the Afghan military’s collapse. However, it did not entirely determine the outcome.Biden claimed that the Afghan military lacked the will to fight. Others have blamed possible training problems, incompetent or corrupt Afghan soldiers, and too much reliance on private contractors to prop up Afghan forces.Based on my research and analysis, the primary cause of what happened in the Afghan military is not any of those, nor was it a failure of character. Instead, soldiers encountered a “commitment problem,” seeing rapidly shifting conditions that changed their minds from being willing to fight to realizing it was a bad – and dangerous – idea at this time.Afghan armed men supporting the Afghan security forces against the Taliban stand with their weapons and Humvee vehicles at Parakh area in Bazarak, Panjshir province on August 19, 2021. (Ahmad SAHEL ARMAN / AFP)-A cascade of surrenderSoldiers seek strength in numbers. When soldiers fight in battle, they only succeed if they fight as a unit. However, individual decisions to fight or flee depend on mutual expectations. If a soldier expects that most of his comrades will fight, the soldier’s best interest is also to fight.But if they expect most of their comrades will surrender, soldiers may find it more attractive to surrender – which leads to a “collective action problem.” If soldiers learn that other units have actually surrendered, they expect their own comrades’ resolve to be low and will become less likely to fight. A few initial surrenders or desertions can spark a few more, and then more and more until an entire army collapses.This is precisely what happened to the Afghan military. As the US withdrawal began in May, the Taliban started gaining territory. As they advanced, the Taliban also negotiated with groups of Afghan forces stationed at outposts and in towns, and convinced some troops to surrender. Once the first bout of surrendering occurred and the news began to spread, others quickly followed, facilitating accelerating momentum to the Taliban as they advanced without facing major resistance. In the end, Afghan soldiers chose safety in numbers by surrendering together.
Analysis-Taliban takeover could open new chasm in US-Pakistan ties-Pakistani ex-envoy says Islamabad wants credit for bringing Afghan insurgents to negotiating table but is remembered in Washington for its ‘role in allowing the Taliban to survive’-By Shaun Tandon-AUG 23,21-Today, 9:12 pm
WASHINGTON (AFP) — After the September 11 attacks, the United States gave Pakistan a harsh ultimatum to break with the Taliban. Pakistan offered help but insisted that it would not be abandoned again, as in the 1990s, after Washington lost interest in Afghanistan.Twenty years later, the Taliban has retaken Afghanistan from a US-backed government — and it looks likely that Pakistan will be abandoned again.“Pakistan is too important to be permanently ignored by the US, but this time Americans will take longer to determine the depth of their relationship with Pakistan,” said Husain Haqqani, Pakistan’s former ambassador to Washington.The two-decade US war in Afghanistan has been accompanied by a turbulent relationship between the United States and Pakistan, whose then-military ruler Pervez Musharraf vowed “unstinting support” after September 11.Hoping to woo a skeptical Pakistani public, then-senator John Kerry in 2009 spearheaded a civilian aid package of $1.5 billion a year.But US suspicions that Pakistan’s powerful military and intelligence were playing a double-game came into stark relief when Osama bin Laden, the world’s most wanted man, was found and killed by US commandos inside Pakistan in 2011.The United States finally cut military aid in 2018, under president Donald Trump.Haqqani, now a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said Pakistan sought credit for bringing the Taliban to the table with the Afghan government as part of the US withdrawal.Then-US president Bush walks from the Oval Office to make a statement with then-Pakistani president Gen. Pervez Musharraf, left, and then-Afghan president Hamid Karzai, right, September 2006, in the Rose Garden at the White House. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)-But in Washington, “what everyone remembers is what Americans see as Pakistan’s role in allowing the Taliban to survive the blow the Americans inflicted on the Taliban after 9/11,” Haqqani said.While many Pakistanis feel “scapegoated,” Haqqani said Pakistan’s case was not helped by the “triumphalism” of Pakistanis, including Prime Minister Imran Khan.Khan said that the Taliban have “broken the chains of slavery,” while his climate minister, in a since-deleted tweet, hailed the Taliban’s sweep as a “gift” to historic rival India.-India lens-Pakistan, a Cold War ally of the United States, worked with Washington in the 1980s to back Islamic guerrillas who fought out Soviet troops.Afghanistan stayed mired in war as US interest waned and Pakistan openly backed the Taliban, who imposed a draconian version of Islam under their 1996-2001 regime.Pakistan has long seen Afghanistan through the lens of India, which remembers how the Taliban welcomed virulently anti-Indian militants and has pumped in $3 billion in aid since 2001.Madiha Afzal, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, said that the Pakistani establishment nonetheless did not likely want a complete Taliban win.“This sort of total military victory of the Taliban puts Pakistan in a position where it’s probably less able to control the Taliban because the Taliban feels it’s victorious,” she said.Taliban fighters stand guard on their side at a border crossing point between Pakistan and Afghanistan, in Torkham, in Khyber district, Pakistan, August 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad)-Islamabad privately also fears “terrible security implications” as Afghanistan could embolden Pakistan’s Taliban in their own violent campaign, she said.US President Joe Biden withdrew troops from Afghanistan, arguing in part that the grinding conflict was a distraction from the greater challenge of a rising China.Amid talk of a Cold War-style rivalry between the world’s two largest economies, Islamabad has emerged as one of the closest allies of Beijing, which is investing heavily in an “economic corridor” in Pakistan at a time that Washington sees India as a leading partner.Afzal said China will also be reliant on Pakistan’s Taliban ties, as it seeks to take advantage of Afghanistan’s mining riches, such as lithium used in electric vehicles.-Other ties limited.Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, said the United States could still decide Pakistan is the avenue to influence the Taliban or, if Islamabad agrees, to base counterterrorism operations.If Washington “seeks engagement and wants to get Taliban assurances on issues of rights and governance, then the familiar pressure game will return” on Pakistan, Kugelman said.Visiting Washington shortly before the Taliban takeover, Pakistan’s national security adviser, Moeed Yusuf, called for a long-term relationship that looks beyond single issues.Leaders of the Pakistani religious group, Jamiat Ulema-e Islam Nazryate party, distribute sweets among people to celebrate the Taliban’s capturing some of the largest cities in Afghanistan, in Quetta, Pakistan, August 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Arshad Butt)-But even though Pakistan has the world’s fifth largest population, it was the 56th trading partner of the United States in 2019 at just $6.6 billion.“The non-security relationship is not strong enough to make up for the lack of a security relationship,” Haqqani said.Afzal said that if the United States steps back, it “will just confirm Pakistan’s existing notions that the US is only using Pakistan opportunistically when it needs it.”“If there isn’t an abandonment and disengagement this time around, I think Pakistanis might take a step back and say, okay, something has changed,” she said.
SIGNS OF THE END OF THE AGE (NOT THE WORLD) THE WORLD GOES ON FOREVER.
GENESIS 1:5,145 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:(ISRAELS HOLY DAYS AND SABBATH STARTS AT 6PM) And for SIGNS (PROPHECY SIGNS TO HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE, OUR DAY)
SIGNS IN THE SUN, MOON AND STARS-CHEMICAL WEAPONS
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences;(BIOLOGICAL/CHEMICAL/NUCLEAR) and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON THE MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS-PROPHECY SIGNS) 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,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
REVELATION 16:21 80-120LB HAIL ON HUMANS
21And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent:(80-120 LBS) and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
FAMINE
EZEKIEL 5:16
16 When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:
REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
DEUTORONOMY 28:24
24 The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
LOCUSTS (DEMONIC) TORTURES SINNERS 5 MONTHS
REVELATION 9:1-6
1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
3 And there came out of the smoke (DEMONIC) locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
FEARFUL SIGHTS AND GREAT SIGNS FROM HEAVEN
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS
REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
OZONE DEPLETION JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH DUE TO SIN
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold,(7X OR 7-DEGREES HOTTER) as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people,(ISRAEL) and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,221 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened,(DAY LIGHT HOURS SHORTENED) there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake (ISRAELS SAKE) those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)(THE ASTEROID HITS EARTH HERE)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
INSIDER-Catastrophic flooding in Tennessee leaves at least 22 people dead and 51 missinG-Kelsey Vlamis,Yelena Dzhanova-Sun, August 22, 2021, 3:35 PM
Severe flash floods in Tennessee on Saturday left at least 22 people dead and dozens of others missing, the Tennessean reported.At least 51 people have been reported missing as of Sunday afternoon after torrential rains tore through Humphreys County, around 60 miles west of Nashville, destroying homes and washing away rural roads.Search-and-rescue crews remain on site. "We are asking that residents please stay out of neighborhoods and roadways while the rescue effort is underway," Waverly Chief of Public Safety Grant Gillespie said in a statement.There is an 8 p.m. curfew in place for Sunday evening.Two recovered bodies belonged to toddlers who had been swept away from their father, CNN affiliate WSMV reported. Officials believe that between five and seven of the missing individuals are children. -Nashville Fire Dept (@NashvilleFD) August 21, 2021-The National Weather Service said the 17 inches of rain recorded in the city of McEwen likely broke the all-time 24-hour rainfall record for the state.The catastrophic flooding also caused road closures, power outages, loss of cell phone service, and a boil water advisory put in place for the community, CNN reported. Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said about 10,000 people in the area were without power.-Ethan Illers (@EthanIllers_TV) August 21, 2021"This is the most devastating disaster that we've ever experienced in this area," Waverly Mayor Buddy Frazier said to ABC affiliate WKRN, adding that the floods happened with "the quickness of a tornado."The Tennessee National Guard said on Twitter it sent nearly 50 soldiers to help with the rescue operations. "Our first priority is to assist with getting responders access to the area and conduct rescue operations," said Maj. Gen. Jeff Holmes.A flood reunification center was also set up for people to report those who are missing and receive updates about the rescue efforts, Humphreys County Emergency Management Agency said.On Sunday, President Joe Biden said his administration would offer help to those impacted by the flood."I send my deepest condolences for the sudden and tragic loss of life due to flash flooding in Tennessee. We've reached out to the community and will offer any assistance they need in this terrible moment," Biden said.WZTV reported that Governor Bill Lee intends to request a federal declaration of emergency for Humphreys County after damage assessments are done.
Associated Press-EXPLAINER: How did Tennessee flooding downpour fall so fast? A shed, Rv, and car came to rest on a guard rail on Hwy. 13, after days ago being swept up in flood waters from nearby Blue Creek, Monday, Aug. 23, 2021, in Hurricane Mills, Tenn. Heavy rains caused flooding in Middle Tennessee and have resulted in multiple deaths as homes and rural roads were washed away. (AP Photo/John Amis)JONATHAN MATTISE-Mon, August 23, 2021, 4:33 PM
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A rural Tennessee community was pummeled Saturday with up to 17 inches (43 centimeters) of rain in less than 24 hours, shattering the state record for one-day rainfall by more than 3 inches and leading to quick-rushing floods that killed at least 22 people and left a trail of destruction.The hardest-hit areas were inundated with nearly twice the amount of rain the region had seen in the previous worst-case flooding scenario, meteorologists said. Lines of storms moved over the area around the small town of Waverly for hours, wringing out a record amount of moisture — a situation scientists have warned may be more common because of global warming. The devastation centered on Humphreys County, with a population of about 18,000 some 60 miles (96 kilometers) west of Nashville.HOW DID SO MUCH RAIN FALL SO QUICKLY?A flash flood watch was issued for the area before the rain started, with forecasters saying 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimeters) were possible. Before Saturday's deluge, the worst storm recorded in this area of central Tennessee dropped more than 9 inches (23 centimeters) of rain in 2010, said Krissy Hurley, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Nashville.She said Saturday's storms kept redeveloping as they moved and went over the same areas repeatedly, resulting in upwards of 3 to 4 inches of rain per hour.“In my almost 20-year career, I’ve never seen rainfall amounts and rainfall rates this high not associated with some type of hurricane or tropical system,” Hurley said. “So, to see something like this inland in Middle Tennessee is probably the rare of rare.”The town of McEwen near Waverly was pummeled Saturday with 17.02 inches (43.2 centimeters) of rain, smashing the state’s 24-hour record of 13.6 inches (34.5 centimeters) from 1982, according to the National Weather Service in Nashville, though Saturday’s numbers still have to be confirmed.WHY DID WAVERLY SEE SO MUCH DAMAGE?The deluge left rescue teams scrambling to find those missing in Waverly, the town with the worst damage and now a landscape of collapsed houses, tangled debris and flipped vehicles strewn about town. The search was still ongoing Monday.Because of the county's terrain, water gushed into Waverly westward down Trace Creek from surrounding areas, some of which are several-hundred feet higher, Hurley said."That’s why folks who live there talk about this big wall of water that came on very quickly," Hurley said.HOW DOES CLIMATE CHANGE FACTOR IN?Recent scientific research has determined that extreme rain events will become more frequent because of man-made climate change.Dorian Burnette, a University of Memphis associate professor in earth sciences, said climate change has “put the atmosphere on steroids," offering a “more robust way to get super heavy rainfall rates out of thunderstorms now when you get the right meteorological setup.""We're probably going to see more of these events as time goes along and as the Earth continues to warm," Burnette said.A federal study found man-made climate change doubles the chances of the types of heavy downpours that in August 2016 dumped 26 inches (66 centimeters) of rain around Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Those floods killed at least 13 people and damaged 150,000 homes.HOW RARE WAS TENNESSEE'S FLOODING?Hurley said her region of Tennessee has seen four significant flood events recently, happening nearly every six months. She noted floods once expected maybe every 100 years happened last September south of Nashville and in March closer to the city.Even so, Hurley said the rainfall over the weekend was exceedingly rare.Waverly has endured other floods in the last decade or so, including in 2010 and 2019. The February 2019 flooding brought 10 to 12 inches of rain over two days. The weekend's storms exceeded that amount of rainfall over an eight- to 12-hour period, Hurley said.
Associated Press-Aid groups: Millions in Syria, Iraq losing access to water-BASSEM MROUE-Mon, August 23, 2021, 5:29 AM
BEIRUT (AP) — Millions of people in Syria and Iraq are at risk of losing access to water, electricity and food amid rising temperatures, record low water levels due to lack of rainfall and drought, international aid groups warned Monday.The two neighboring countries, both battered by years of conflict and mismanagement, are in need of rapid action to combat severe water shortages, the groups said. The drought is also disrupting electricity supplies as low water levels impact dams, which in turn impact essential infrastructure, including health facilities.More than 12 million people in both countries are affected, including 5 million in Syria who are directly dependent on the Euphrates River. In Iraq, the loss of access to water from the Euphrates and Tigris River, and drought, threaten at least 7 million people.Some 400 square kilometers (154 square miles) of agricultural land faces drought, the groups said, adding that two dams in northern Syria, supplying power to 3 million people, face imminent closure.Carsten Hansen, regional director for the Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the aid groups behind the warning, said that for hundreds of thousands of Iraqis still displaced and many more still fleeing for their lives in Syria, the unfolding water crisis “will soon become an unprecedented catastrophe pushing more into displacement.”Other aid groups included Mercy Corps, the Danish Refugee Council, CARE international, ACTED and Action Against Hunger.They warned that several Syrian provinces — including Hassakah, Aleppo and Raqqa in the north and Deir el-Zour in the east — have witnessed a rise in water-borne diseases. The areas include displacement settlements housing tens of thousands of people displaced in Syria’s 10-year conflict.CARE’s regional chief for Mideast and North Africa, Nirvana Shawky, urged authorities and donor governments to act swiftly to save lives. The latest crisis comes on top of war, COVID-19 and severe economic decline, she said.“There is no time to waste,” said Gerry Garvey of the Danish Refugee Council, adding that the water crisis is likely to increase conflict in an already destabilized region.Severe water shortages have also hit Lebanon, which is mired in the worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history, where more than 4 million people — mainly vulnerable children and families — face critical water shortages in the coming days, the U.N.'s children agency warned last week.In Lebanon, severe fuel shortages have also halted the work of thousands of private generators long relied on for electricity in the corruption-plagued country.UNICEF called for urgent restoration of the power supply to keep water services running.Lebanon's rivers are also heavily polluted. Activists have long warned about pollution levels caused by sewage and waste in the Litani River, the country's longest and a major source for water supply, irrigation and hydroelectricity.
