WCC - VATICAN ALL CHRISTIANS ONE COMMUNION

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

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

Blizzards strand thousands in China By WILLIAM FOREMAN, Associated Press Writer JAN 29,08

GUANGZHOU, China - At least 25 people were killed as a bus plunged off an icy roadway in China Tuesday, the latest casualties in a surge of severe winter weather that has disrupted the country's busiest holiday travel season and stranded hundreds of thousands of Chinese. About 500,000 people — most migrant workers — were stuck in the southern city of Guangzhou, railway officials said. Heavy snowfall in provinces to the north had cut off parts of the busy railway line that starts in the city and ends in Beijing.The crash brought the known death toll in the last two weeks to about 50. Xinhua News Agency said the bus veered off the road, plunging some 40 yards into a valley in mountainous Guizhou province at 7:40 a.m.

The new agency said that in addition to the 25 deaths there were also 13 people injured, accounting for all 38 aboard. Two passengers were hospitalized in critical condition, while injuries to the 11 others were less serious.The government, scrambling Monday to prevent riots among the crowds that have swelled daily since the storms began Jan. 10, offered temporary shelter in schools and convention centers. Hundreds of police and soldiers were posted around the train station.Frustrated in their efforts to return home, migrant travelers created small camps of suitcases in the mud outside the train station, scattering chicken bones and cigarette butts.Li Moming, a construction worker among those stuck in Guangzhou, wore a mud-splattered pinstriped suit for a homecoming that might not happen. He spent the night on the street in a cold drizzle. The train to his village in central Henan province, 20 hours away, was canceled. He might have to spend the holiday at his work site instead.What can you do? he said. It's the weather. It's nobody's fault. You can't control the weather.Chinese New Year begins Feb. 7 — when the train station will start to sell tickets again, radio reports said. State-run newspapers ran headlines urging the migrants not to travel. But for many migrants, the New Year — China's most festive holiday — is the only chance for months to visit their families, and they stay away for weeks.

One young mother who would give only her surname, Yang, spent the night on the street in front of the station with her 7-month-old daughter. She said she would probably have to cancel her holiday visit with her family and return to her small apartment near her factory.Many workers were stoic, accustomed to the huge crowds, discomforts and long delays that are common for China's poor. But others fought among themselves while trying to board long-delayed trains during the busiest travel season of the year.The great effort put into managing the Guangzhou crowd did not surprise Susan Shirk, whose recent book, China: Fragile Superpower, discusses how domestic unrest poses a serious threat to the communist regime.

When large numbers of people are upset about the same problem at the same time, there is a risk of large-scale collective action that could threaten Communist Party rule, said Shirk. Will the travelers blame the weather or the government? A new round of blizzards threatened central Chinese provinces Monday, putting more pressure on already strained transport, communications and power grids. The weather has already affected 67 million people.The storms, which have killed 24 people since they began, have already caused economic losses of $2.5 billion, the Civil Affairs Ministry said. The storms snapped power lines for trains in neighboring Hunan province — a midpoint for the busy rail line that runs from Guangzhou to Beijing.The government pledged Monday to increase the output of gasoline, coal and power to ease shortages amid the severe winter weather, which has forced rationing in some areas, the Xinhua News Agency said.The announcement came as coal prices hit a record high Monday and heavy snows blocked deliveries to power plants. The government was already struggling to ease shortages of pork, grain and other food items that have set off a sharp rise in inflation.On Friday, the Cabinet ordered local authorities to ensure adequate food supplies to keep prices stable ahead of the New Year.

Storm roars through Saskatchewan Mon Jan 28, 1:38 PM

SASKATCHEWAN (CBC) - A mid-winter storm roared through Saskatchewan Monday, bringing rapidly falling temperatures and blizzard-like conditions to the southern two-thirds of the province.As the system moved to the east, western regions were bracing for windchill levels in the -40 C range.We're going to be looking at probably until the weekend before we're seeing normal temperatures, Environment Canada meteorologist Bob Cormier said.The weather office had issued weather warnings for Regina, Saskatoon and many other communities across the province.By noon, flights had been cancelled across the board at the Regina's international airport.
My girlfriend is just talking to the travel agent and hoping we can get out tonight or tomorrow, said Corey Senft, whose vacation was delayed Monday. We're meeting a cruise ship in Florida so it could really mess that up as far as that goes.At Saskatoon's airport, many flights had been postponed for several hours and people who had planned to fly were heading home.Highways as far west as Saskatoon were in bad shape in the morning with drifting and blowing snow making visibility near zero.With near whiteout conditions around western Saskatchewan, many students didn't make it to school when bus drivers decided not to risk the trip.

In the Battlefords area, about half the buses didn't run. In the Chinook school division around Swift Current, eight schools cancelled classes.Regina-based First Nations University of Canada closed around 2 p.m.for the day, although the University of Regina was still running classes in the afternoon.The worst of the storm was expected to be over by nightfall, but temperatures well below seasonal averages are expected to be around for several days.

California storm takes misery eastward By JACOB ADELMAN, Associated Press Writer JAN 29,08

LOS ANGELES - Blue skies opened up over California on Monday after a storm system that had pummeled the state for days finally moved on, bringing heavy snow, flooding and hundreds of wrecks to several states across the West. Colorado's San Juan Mountains were socked with 30 inches of snow and wind gusts of as high as 100 mph, while roofs collapsed at several business in north Idaho after 20 inches of snow fell around Coeur d'Alene.They got clobbered, National Weather Service meteorologist John Livingston said of Coeur d'Alene residents. A second wintery blast was forecast to hit the state Tuesday.In Durango, Colo., about 340 miles southwest of Denver, even the sledding hills were at risk of avalanches after 18 inches of snowfall.Anybody who's going out sledding should be letting their parents know where they are, and parents be aware of the slide potential, particularly on north-facing slopes, La Plata County sheriff's Lt. Dan Bender said. Find a place that isn't real steep.In Spokane, Wash., where 13.7 inches of snow fell, city officials closed City Hall and urged residents to stay home to give snowplows a chance to catch up. City and county governments told nonessential workers to stay home.

It's not an emergency, Mayor Mary Verner said. It's just major snowstorm of a kind that we have not seen in many years.In eastern Oregon's Wallowa Mountains, authorities found two snowmobilers missing over the weekend in the 4 feet of snow that fell there.One was safe in a cabin, but the other was extremely hypothermic and under the care of a nurse and paramedic who flew in on a helicopter. The snow was too heavy for the helicopter to lift off, 911 dispatch director Jerry Boyd said.Snowbird ski resort in Utah stopped the chair lifts more than two hours early after receiving about 15 inches of snow.It's rare to close down the lifts, spokeswoman Laura Schaffer said. The minute the avalanche danger got up there, we felt it was safer to get (skiers) off the mountain.
Avalanches damaged four houses and a garage northwest of Ketchum, Idaho, and the potential for more falling snow sent police door to door to evacuate 71 homes, said police spokeswoman Kim Rogers. Those residents were allowed to return home Monday evening.

California finally saw clear skies Monday after a week of downpours and heavy snowfalls, but the reprieve might not last long. There was a 20 percent chance of rain Wednesday, and two more storms, weaker than the past weekend's, were forecast to reach the region on Friday.No major mudslides, flooding or overflowing creek beds had been reported by Monday afternoon.But experts said canyons and hills in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties that were charred by last year's wildfires remained vulnerable.Even though today's weather conditions have improved, many areas, particularly the burn areas of Southern California, are at risk of mudslides due to saturated soil conditions, Office of Emergency Services spokesman Gary Renick said.The stormy weather boosted Los Angeles' rainfall to 11.73 inches so far this season, including 7.97 inches this month alone. Normal rainfall by this time would be 6.74 inches.

In Arizona, the precipitation fell as heavy rain, flooding creeks and rivers. Some residents of the town of Carrizo fled for a time after fears that two dams might fail. The evacuations were canceled after water levels lowered and an inspection of the dams showed no apparent damage. At least three traffic deaths were believed linked to the storm, and a man walking along a road in Washington state died after being struck by a state snowplow, authorities said.
Thousands lost power, but utilities in several states expected most customers to have service restored by Monday evening. Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Simon Shifrin in Boise, Idaho; Arthur H. Rotstein in Tucson, Ariz.; and John K. Wiley in Spokane, Wash.

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

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

BIZNETDAILY
Half of gold in central banks gone? Watchdog: We want to expose and stop the manipulation January 29, 2008 1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Jerome R. Corsi 2008 WorldNetDaily.com

U.S. central banks may have less than half the gold they claim to possess in their vaults, charges a watchdog group in an ad scheduled for publication in the Wall Street Journal this week. As WND reported, the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee, or GATA, claims the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury are surreptitiously manipulating the country's gold reserves by participating in undisclosed leases, according to an advance copy WND obtained of the ad running in Thursday's edition of the Journal. GATA believes much of the borrowed gold out on lease will never be returned to the central banks. With the demand for gold so strong worldwide, it has become impossible to return much of the leased gold without driving the price to the moon, said GATA's chairman, William J. Murphy III. Most observers calculate central bank reserves are supposed to have about 30,000 tons of gold worldwide in their vaults, but we believe the amount of gold actually there may be more like 15,000 tons, Murphy said. The rest of the gold is gone.

The U.S. Treasury denies the claim, insisting the stock is accounted for regularly. We want to expose and stop the manipulation of the gold market by the United States Treasury and Federal Reserve right now, Murphy said. The purpose of this ad is to wake people up in the investment world as to what is going on behind the scenes in the U.S. gold and financial markets, Murphy told WND. He explained GATA has decided to pay the Wall Street Journal $264,000 for a one-time placement of the full page ad in the national edition because the financial press has not covered the story. We have had two major international conferences since 2001; the mainstream financial press has blackballed our message, Murphy explained. Anybody Seen Our Gold? the ad is titled, charging U.S. gold reserves held at depositories such as Fort Knox or West Point may have been seriously depleted as they are shipped overseas to settle complex transactions utilized by the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury to suppress prices. GATA further charges the U.S. government strategy to manipulate the price of gold has begun to fail. The objective of this manipulation is to conceal the mismanagement of the U.S. dollar so that it might retain its function as the world’s reserve currency, the ad copy reads.

Gold's recent rise toward $900 per ounce shows that the price suppression scheme is faltering, GATA says. When it is widely understood how central banks have been suppressing gold, its price may rise to $3,000 or $5,000 an ounce or more.As evidence of gold price manipulation by the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve, GATA cites Treasury's weekly report of the government's international reserve position that since May has listed gold loans and swaps as a line item in accounting for U.S. gold reserves. The ad also cites a July 24, 1998, statement by then-Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who told Congress central banks stand ready to lease gold in increasing quantities should the price rise.
The most recent U.S. Treasury statement of the U.S. international reserve position, released Jan. 24, lists the total U.S. foreign currency reserves as $71.515 trillion, of which $11.041 trillion is listed as gold (including gold deposits and, if appropriate, gold swapped). The Bank of International Settlements reports the gold derivatives market hit a peak of $640 billion dollars in December 2006. Murphy emphasizes that tracing the derivatives back to central bank gold transactions and determining precisely the degree to which the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury are involved is not possible now, given the lack of public accountability and transparency built into the gold derivatives financial system worldwide.

Murphy said his grouip filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve to find out what this line item is all about.What is the true status of the U.S. gold that is supposed to belong to the American people? he asked. Has U.S. gold been put into play without the Treasury or Fed letting the American people know? A statement on Treasury's website claims the agency's Exchange Stabilization Fund has not been used to manipulate gold prices. But no statement could be found on the Treasury website that categorically denies the agency engages in gold swaps, leases or futures contracts for reasons other than to manipulate the price of gold. The London Bullion Market Association lists on its website more than 80 members working as bullion bank market makers engaged in the worldwide gold commodities market place as principals originating and participating in various gold derivative products, including gold leases and swaps. The U.S. members of the London Bullion Market Association listed include Bear Stearns Forex Inc., Goldman Sachs International, JP Morgan Chase Bank, Bank of America, Citibank, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley. A legal memorandum filed Feb. 28, 2003, on behalf of Barrick Gold Corporation, a major gold company affiliated with bullion bank J. P. Morgan, admitted Barrick engages with central banks in gold leases and other gold derivative transactions, without specifically admitting whether any such transactions were conducted on behalf of the Federal Reserve and Treasury.

In September 1999, European central banks meeting in Washington signed what has become known as the Washington Accord, an agreement in which the banks agreed to limit the amount of their gold sales to 400 tons per year and not to expand their leasing operations during the five years of the agreement. Under a gold lease, a central bank loans gold to a bullion bank at a nominal rate of interest, typically 1 percent. The bullion banks then takes the gold lease to a commodities market such as the London Bullion Market, where the physical gold is sold, thereby adding to the supply of gold available on the market. Problems develop when the price of gold rises dramatically, such as it has in recently months, with gold currently running over $900 an ounce. Now, when the leased gold needs to be returned to the central banks at the end of the lease period, the bullion banks may have to go into the market and buy gold at a much higher price than the price when the gold initially was leased. To hedge against the risk, bullion banks typically buy futures contracts or gold call options to secure gold delivery at a specified future date for a specified future price.

In the world of gold derivatives, a wide variety of contracts exist, including transactions in which central banks swap gold reserves, so they can carry out leasing or other gold derivative transactions using the gold of the other central bank rather than their own. Gold swaps make central bank gold transactions even less transparent and more difficult to track. Under current International Monetary Fund rules, central banks do not have to disclose on their financial statements how much of the gold in their stated reserves is encumbered by derivative contracts, including gold leases and swaps. Nor are bullion banks required to disclose to the public the contracts under which they lease gold from central banks. Gold yesterday hit a new all-time high, with futures contracts for February delivery surging to $929.80 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange in mid-day trading.

A FALSE PROPHET COMES FROM THE VATICAN ALSO AT THIS TIME.

REVELATION 13:11-18
11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.(Lamb speaks of Christianity , speaks as a dragon (Satan controls him , defector of Christianity).
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

REVELATION 17:1-18
1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.(VATICAN IN POLITICS)
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

THERE WILL BE A FUTURE ONE WORLD RELIGION HEADED BY THE FUTURE FALSE POPE AND THE FUTURE EU DICTATOR WILL BE WORKING RIGHT BESIDE HIM IN THE ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT.

Saturday January 26, 01:11 AM
World church body urges communion for all Christians

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The head of the World Council of Churches, which groups most non-Catholic Christian faiths, called for full communion among all denominations by the middle of this century, in an interview published on Friday.WCC Secretary General Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia told the Vatican daily L'Osservatore Romano he was convinced relations between Catholicism and the Protestant and Orthodox churches in the Geneva-based Council would grow stronger in coming years.Kobia, a Kenyan Methodist, met Pope Benedict in a private audience on Friday and was due to join him and other Christian leaders at an ecumenical prayer service in the afternoon marking the end of the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

The Vatican bars intercommunion because of disagreements about the eucharist, the central act of worship in many Christian churches. Many Protestant churches allow members of other denominations to share their consecrated bread and wine.Intercommunion would symbolise unity among Christians and ease practical problems in countries such as Britain, Germany and the United States where mixed marriages are frequent.Kobia said he hoped the churches would reach such unity by mid-century that Christians everywhere, regardless of their confessional affiliations, can pray and worship together and feel welcome to share in the Lord's Table at every church.By this example, the church can help humanity to overcome all divisions and people of the world be able to live together in peace and harmony regardless of their backgrounds and identities, he said.Benedict made no mention of Kobia's call during their meeting and stuck to his usual statement of hope that Christian unity will be ever more fully realised in our time.

While Benedict has named Christian unity a priority of his papacy, Catholic theologians see little prospect of the Vatican moving towards intercommunion with Protestants anytime soon.If it comes, they say, the Vatican would first do it with the Orthodox churches, which are closer to Catholic doctrine.Kobia's interview got front-page billing in the Vatican daily, a once-bland broadsheet that has opened up to interviews with and articles by non-Catholics since historian Giovanni Maria Vian took over as editor-in-chief late last year.

WORLD GOVERNMENT

DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

DANIEL 12:4,1
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

REVELATION 13:1-3,7,8,12,16-18
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

REVELATION 17:3,7,9-10,12,18
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

Searching for a new world order in Davos
January 24 2008 at 11:23AM

Davos, Switzerland - The spectacular rise of China and India coupled with a decline in US influence has prompted heated debate in Davos this year over possible scenarios for a new world order.
While the United States remains the undisputed military superpower, experts participating in the annual gathering of the world's political and business elite have highlighted its waning ability to set the global agenda on its own.And with the UN Security Council struggling to provide a consensus on just about any major issue, the question of what nation, group of nations or international institution could command a leading role on the future world stage was floated to a widely varying response.The only real point of agreement was that the current fluidity in the balance of world power carries a serious threat of instability and conflict, as well as concerns over how to build an effective international response to extreme abuses of power such as acts of genocide or ethnic cleansing.

We don't live in a multi-polar world, we live in a non-polar world, said John Chipman, director general of the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.While the United States is clearly too strong to stay on the sidelines of world affairs, Chipman argued that it was also too weak to implement an agenda without wide international support.Similarly China, while too strong to be seen as just a developing nation, is unable to shape its regional environment alone and India, while certainly a rising power, remains diffident about breaking with its non-aligned principles.At the same time, Russia has accumulated great economic power, but, wields it in a way that weakens its reputation and causes immense mistrust, Chipman said.The real question is whether the rising powers see themselves as the custodians of an international system and are willing to advance interests that go beyond their national ones, he added.Wu Jianmin, president of the China Foreign Affairs University, argued that China's reticence to try and set a global agenda should be viewed against the tarnished history of Western interference in the sovereign affairs of other nations.

You Western countries like to divide the world, said Wu. You got into the habit of lecturing others. You want people to believe exactly like you. It's impossible.Some delegates in Davos have predicted the development of a so-called Chindia power bloc that would see the two giant Asian neighbours taking a joint role in world affairs.Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic studies at India's Centre for Police Research said the idea was an understandable one, but flawed.Everyone is talking about the rise of China and India. Two nations rising at such an unprecedented speed at the same time in history - one third of the global population, Chellaney said.And it is true to say that how this situation evolves will very much shape security in Asia and beyond.

But we tend to forget these two countries are new neighbours, he said, pointing back to China's 1951 invasion of Tibet, which had previously provided a buffer zone between the two countries.So they have been on a sharp learning curve. Both sides are trying to de-emphasise competition, but reality cannot be ignored. This relationship will be defined by managed competition for years to come.If the threat of US intervention overseas no longer carries the same weight it did in the past, some voiced concern that a contrary policy of strict non-interference in the sovereign affairs of another state - often espoused by China - opened the door to a repeat of such horrors as the genocide in Rwanda.For Gareth Evans, former Australian foreign minister and now president of the International Crisis Group, even those countries with a deep resistance to intervention were starting to recognise that egregious crimes against humanity could not go unchallenged.

There is now the beginning of a global consensus that sovereignty doesn't mean a license to kill, doesn't mean a license to stand back and allow killing of that order to take place, Evans said.This is a very real phenomenon, that sovereignty is not what it was and can't be what it was, he added.Nevertheless, the question remained as to what body could organise such intervention effectively while commanding wide international support.Many pointed to the need for UN reform that would expand the Security Council and break the stranglehold of the five veto-wielding permanent Council members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.Others, like Evans, focused on the potential of informal groupings - like the Group of Eight industrialised nations - which lack the executive authority of the Security Council but function well as consensus-building enterprises.The trouble with the G8 of course is that it's so selective in its membership, Evans said.

MUSLIM NATIONS

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

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

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

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

JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

The Coming of Eurabia

According to Moorish legend, Boabdil, the last Muslim (Moorish) king of what was left of Al Andalus (the great Moorish Empire in Spain), surrendered the keys to his city Granada on January 2, 1492, and on one of its hills, paused for a final glance at his lost Empire. The place would become known as El Ultimo Suspiro del Moro - the Moor's Last Sigh. Over 500 years have passed since the end of the Moorish Empire in Andalusia, but for the Muslim world, the memory, the humiliation and the pain still linger. Bin Laden, in the wake of the March 11, 2004 Madrid rail attacks called for the restoration of the Muslims’ lost Islamic caliphate. D'himmis, whether Spaniards or Israelis, must never be allowed to rule over Muslims in lands previously conquered by Islam. Once lands formed part of the Muslim umma (community - in its global sense), they remain part of the Muslim umma. In a strange twist of irony, history may now be coming full circle. If Muslim population growth continues at it’s expected pace, the Europe of today will become the Eurabia of tomorrow. What kind of European Islam will evolve, however, remains to be seen.

The demographic Arab and Muslim weight in Europe is combining with the flow of Arab capital, the globalization of markets and the huge European financial investments in Arab lands to produce a gradual but inexorable movement toward the Islamification of Europe. The ascendancy of Islam in Europe began in response to the booming European economy of the 1960s and the need for cheap foreign labor (mostly from North Africa) and as a political consequence of the Arab oil embargo in the early 1970s where Europeans became so afraid of losing their oil supplies that they decided to pander to the requests of OPEC, discarding Israel and beginning an intense dialogue with Arab countries. The political trappings of this change can be seen today in Islamic control over Middle Eastern Studies Departments at European universities; the re-writing of European historical textbooks; allowing Euro-Arab bodies to screen cultural exchanges and publications relating to Islam and the Arab Muslim world for unwelcome content; taboos imposed on issues related to immigration and Islam; disinformation campaigns demonizing Israel and America, while fostering a comprehensive and brotherly alliance between European Union (EU) and Arab League countries on the political, economic, cultural, and social levels; and the servile obedience of the EU's mainstream media to all these initiatives. 1 The National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE) which voted to adopt boycott of Israelis universities, professors and students followed by the British National Union of Journalists voting for a boycott of Israeli products were two actions instituted by these increasingly powerful Euro-Arab League relationships.

But these are just the surface manifestations of more ominous developments unfolding on the European continent. Over the past three decades, liberalization, secularization, and the need for cheap labor brought about liberal immigration policies that resulted in millions of impoverished Arab Muslims flocking to the continent for its wealth, it’s higher standard of living, its freedom and its ethnic and religious tolerance. Europe opened its borders to them, while turning a blind eye to the hundreds of minarets that began rising in the shadows of its basilicas and bell towers.

Islam vs. Christendom

For many Muslims, the cultural change from North Africa to Europe was invigorating, but for others, notably second and third generation European Muslims, Europe has become a decadent, godless, secular prison. As a consequence, they have refused to be assimilated into European society preferring instead to remain on its periphery - aloof, devoutly religious, impoverished and increasingly radicalized. Islamic religious narcissism has become a cultural force that is gradually overwhelming secular Europe. The threat is reflected both in Muslim population growth and in Muslim religious observance - a religious observance far more intense than that within post-Christian secular Europe where religion is seen as an irrational force stemming from the intellectual repression of the Catholic Church.

The Islamic faith broadly divides civilization into two camps - Dar al-Islam, the land of the believers (where it is permissible to interact with society and to send children to schools because they are subject to Shari’a or Islamic law), and Dar al-Kufr, the land of unbelievers (where assimilation is forbidden and devout Muslims are required to keep their distance from the infidels, and even wage jihad against their adopted country). 2 Since the Qur'an comes after the Torah and the Bible (historically and chronologically), it is the final and therefore perfect manifesto of God's will. By proclaiming a strict adherence to the Qur'an, the Islamists aim to drive the cultures of Western freedom and the cultures of Muslim peoples into an irreversible conflict in the certainty that Islam will prevail. While the methodology of Islamists may differ from the political insinuations of the Muslim Brotherhood to the violent actions of Al Qaeda, the ultimate aim remains the same - the subjugation of non-Muslim cultures through conflict.

It is the latter belief that is prevailing in the slums and tenements of Europe. This radicalized version of Islam has reflected itself in riots in France's banlieues and the European uproar over the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Radical Islamists see no contradiction between their demand for respect for Islam and their demands that Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Mormonism or any other non-Islamic religion accept d’himmitude or legal second class status. They see no contradiction between demanding the supremacy of Islam on the one hand, and trampling on the Danish flag (which has the Christian cross emblazoned on it), banning religions other than Islam in Saudi Arabia, publishing viciously anti-Semitic canards in the Arab media and demanding that all other religions must submit to the will of Allah on the other.

That is, infidels should have no rights or freedoms other than those bestowed upon them in accordance with Shari’a (Islamic law). And therein lays the problem - the view that Muslims cannot practice true Islam in a secular environment. This belief translates into decrees (fatwas) from European imams prohibiting the giving of greetings to infidels on their religious holidays, encouraging Muslim parents to remove their children from secular European public schools and prohibiting Muslim service in the armies and police of their newly adopted lands. Safety, security and survival can only be found within the greater Muslim ummah. This religious imperative has led to widespread Muslim alienation and poverty throughout Europe. It has also led to the growth of Islamic radicalism.

The degree of religious observance between the two cultures is substantial. While seventy-five (75%) of French Muslims observe the month-long Ramadan fast, and two thirds avoid the consumption of alcoholic beverages, French (indeed European) post-Christian culture is strongly rooted in secularism. 3 In the Netherlands, Britain, Sweden and Denmark, fewer than ten percent (10%) of the population attend church even once a month, and while an estimated fifty-two percent (52%) of Norwegians and fifty-five (55%) of Swedes believe that God is unimportant to them, European mosques are full. Thus, secularism, liberalism and religious tolerance have left European culture vulnerable to the more aggressive Islamic advances. This higher degree of European Muslim religious observance is also reflected in its successful proselytization efforts. 4 While secular European society is busying itself promoting religious tolerance, there are an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 converts to Islam in France alone (mostly, though not exclusively from Afro-Caribbean countries).

The Demographic Challenge

The high degree of Islamic observance (reflecting itself in the cultural alienation of European Muslim society) when combined with the massive influx of millions of Arab Muslims into Christian Europe, represent the first significant challenge to European Christendom in centuries. Once marginal, Islam is now the fastest growing religion across Europe. Muslims now outnumber practicing Christians in many European cities, and mosques, schools, and other Islamic institutions have acquired power and influence to match. Immigration has accounted for some 70% of Europe's general population growth over the past six years, and the majority of that immigration has been Muslim. According to a 2002 report by the World Jewish Congress, the Muslim population in Europe now ranges anywhere from twelve to twenty million persons (depending upon whether surveys include estimates on illegal immigration) or around five percent (5%) of the population, but that figure would soar closer to 17% if Muslim Turkey were to join the EU which remains an open question.

Thus, the debate about Turkey (and its 71 million Muslims) joining the European Union is increasingly a Eurabian issue. Once upon a time, the countries that comprise the European Union constituted fourteen percent (14%) of the world’s population. Today, that figure is down to six percent (6%) and projections show that by 2050(according to a UN forecast) it will be just over four percent (4%) all brought about by a gradual lowering of the non-Muslim birthrate. There has not been such a sustained population reduction in Europe since the Black Death ravaged the continent in the 14th century. 5 If non-Muslims decide to flee the coming Islamic order (which is a distinct possibility) the continent could have a Muslim majority within decades. 6

The UN predicts that Europe’s non-Muslim population will drop by an estimated 7.5 million over the next 45 years while its Muslim population will increase dramatically. European Christians are having fewer children – an average of 1.5 children each, but to sustain a population, a birthrate of 2.1 children per woman is required. Since workers are needed to pay taxes and maintain the economy, Europe continues to bring in millions of immigrants – mostly Muslim. Approximately 1.6 million new immigrants are needed annually to keep Europe’s working population stable. But if Europe wants to maintain the current ratio of workers to retirees, with more of its aging population retiring all the time, it will have to bring in a staggering 13.5 million immigrants every year. Millions of these are Muslims (and will probably continue to be); especially if Turkey's Muslim population is accepted into the European Union and is added to the equation. Muslims tend to have their children when young, in contrast to the native Europeans. They also tend to have more of them. Estimates suggest that birthrates and immigration will put the Muslim population of Europe at 10% by 2020. 7 Already, the Muslim birthrate in Europe is three times higher than the non-Muslim birthrate. In fact, for the past five years, the most common name for baby boys in Brussels, Belgium has been Mohammed, with Osama placing a close second.

In the Netherlands, Muslims represent a majority among children under fourteen in the country’s four largest cities. Rotterdam, a port city where over half the population is of foreign origin will soon unveil Europe’s largest mosque (although an even larger one is planned for Germany), and official projections confirm that Amsterdam and Rotterdam will have 50% non-Western populations (mostly Muslim) by 2020. This has brought the Dutch to the realization that their nation, the nation that spawned geniuses like Erasmus, Spinoza and Rembrandt is in danger of being overwhelmed by an alien culture that knows no compromise and refuses to be assimilated into secular Dutch society.

For these and other reasons, several leading radical Islamic theologians including Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian Muslim scholar and preacher (and the spiritual leader of the radical Muslim Brotherhood) and Sheikh Abd al-Rahman al-Sudais in Saudi Arabia speak of the Islamic conquest of Europe simply by allowing demographics and Muslim conversions to take their course. 8 They see the adoption of the Muslim faith and the submission of Christian Europe to Islamic rule as inevitable. We will remodel this country in an Islamic image, Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad told an attentive London audience less than two months after 9/11. We will replace the Bible with the Qur’an.

When Tolerance Ends

Many second and third generation European Muslims, however, are not prepared to wait. They consider the Salafist understanding of Islam to be the only way to behave. More and more young people are turning to European madrasses, online extremist literature, satellite TV and the powerful rhetoric of groups that counsel belligerence and inveigh against assimilation and the countries that took them in. They want an Islamic Europe, and they want it now, and that desire is facilitated by European tolerance. After all, it was in the Al Quds mosque of secular, liberal, tolerant Hamburg, Germany that Mohammed Atta developed his hatred for modernity, secularism, liberalism, women and the decadence of Western and Arab societies. And it was in Al Quds mosque, too, that a young party boy from a secular family in Lebanon underwent the transformation that would take him from an elite Catholic prep school in Beirut to the controls of a hijacked passenger airliner that crashed in the fields of Shanksville, Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001. 9

The religious culture that brings European Muslims to the mosques and restricts their interaction with European society has also limited their opportunities in the economic marketplaces of Europe. Despite their increasing numbers, most of Europe’s Arab Muslims continue to dwell in slums and have four to five times the unemployment rate of native Europeans. This has produced a culturally alienated, socially marginalized, and economically unemployed Muslim second and third generation whose pathologies have led to a surge of gang rapes, anti-Semitic attacks and anti-American violence, not to speak of raging radical ideologies and terrorism. 10

Today, the call to jihad is rising in the streets of Europe and intelligence chiefs across the continent are struggling to contain the openly seditious sermons of Islamic extremists, some of whom have been inciting young Muslim men to suicidal violence since the 1990’s. All this has led to a growing public uproar in Europe that more strident measures are needed to integrate their unassimilated immigrant Muslim communities into the secular European polity.

In Britain, where the Muslim population exceeds 1.8 million people, this radicalization is reflected in the results of recent surveys where a growing number of disaffected young Muslims responded that being a martyr for Allah meant a ticket out of poverty and into paradise. Eighty percent were against the invasion of Iraq, 13% said that another 9/11 was justified, and 50% said they would consider becoming a suicide bomber if forced to live like Palestinians. Almost 200,000 Muslims sympathized with Osama bin Ladin. In England, 40% of Muslims live in London (or, what Melanie Phillips refers to as Londinistan), where they make up 8.5% of the population. In the largest survey yet undertaken in Britain of Muslim attitudes, a Times/Populus poll revealed that the Muslim insistence on the umma has led more than half to see the War on Terror as a war on Islam. And though only 16% believe the July 2005 London subway bombings were just, some 13% consider the suicide bombers to be martyrs. That is not a statistically insignificant figure. It translates as 234,000 people. 11

Within European governments, there is a growing sentiment that rogue mosques are bent on destroying the West and that a foreign policy based upon appeasement of Arab regimes is simply not working. In response, police across the EU now monitor prayer meetings in mosques, and media accounts of the anti-Western and anti-Semitic sermons from European Islamic imams are fuelling public anger. From Norway to Sicily, governments, politicians and the media are laying aside their traditions of diversity and tolerance and are now insisting that Islamic extremism be recognized as incompatible with Europe’s liberal values. But the Muslim community is pushing back. The French are being intimidated for banning Muslim headscarves, the Dutch for films deemed offensive to Islamic practices, and the British for supporting a Crusader war against Islam in Iraq.

In the Netherlands, in the aftermath of 9/11, the weekly magazine Contrast took a poll showing that just under half of Dutch Muslims were in complete sympathy with the attacks. Many expressed the desire to turn to terrorism. In October 2004, Dutch newspaper readers were riveted by the story of a quiet married couple who had been harassed to leave their predominantly Muslim Amsterdam neighborhood of Diamantbuurt by gangs of Muslim youths. A month later, on November 2, 2004, it all came to a climax when Theo van Gogh (great grand-nephew of Vincent), a well-known and controversial Dutch film director who had recently produced a brief 11-minute documentary on the shameful abuse of Muslim women by Muslim men in Europe (Submission) was murdered on the streets of Amsterdam, in broad daylight, by a young Muslim man of Moroccan origin (Mohammed Bouyeri) carrying out a religious fatwa (command) and committed to jihad. Reportedly, van Gogh was dragged from his bicycle as he rode down a quiet Amsterdam street and shot at least six times. As he attempted to escape, his assailant pursued him and despite pleading for his life, his assailant proceeded to slit his throat with a butcher knife (almost severing van Gogh’s head) and then impaled a five-page letter attacking the enemies of Islam on the chest of his dying victim. At his trial in July 2005, Bouyeri addressed van Gogh's mother directly, saying: I don't feel your pain. I have to admit that I don't have any sympathy for you. I can't feel for you because you're a non-believer. He told the court: I take complete responsibility for my actions. I acted purely in the name of my religion.

For the most tolerant of peoples (whose approach to past terrorist threats had simply been to sentence offenders to 120 hours of community service), van Gogh’s murder was too much even for the Dutch. Signs began appearing throughout the city - If you don’t like it, leave. In the wake of the van Gogh murder, Pakistani, Kurdish, and Moroccan terrorist cells were discovered to be operating in the land of religious tolerance. The Hague-based Hofstadt Group (out of which van Gogh's killer came) was discovered to have had contact with terrorists involved in the 2003 Casablanca bombings. It was also discovered that Bouyeri’s mosque had received a massive Euro loan from the Saudi Al Haramain Foundation - a Foundation that has been designated as a funder of terrorism. Perhaps the most alarming revelation was that an Islamist mole had been working as a translator in the AIVD, the Dutch national investigative service and tipping off local radicals to impending operations. 12 The Dutch were shocked. Indeed, prior to the van Gogh murder, the government had actively encouraged immigrant children to speak Turkish, Arabic or Berber in primary schools rather than insisting that they learn in Dutch. In the 1980s, the government even encouraged the establishment of Muslim schools. It poured public money into the construction of mosques, and funding was provided for “ethnic diversity projects” including seven hundred Islamic clubs. 13 But, the van Gogh murder was a wake-up call, and even the Dutch realized that for tolerance to work, it had to be reciprocal and that to intolerant jihadists, tolerance was just another word for an opportunity to exploit European culture. As one editorialist noted in the aftermath of the van Gogh slaying - Unilateral tolerance in a world of intolerance is like unilateral disarmament in a world of armed camps: It regards hope as a better basis for policy than reality. 14

As a result, Dutch MP Geert Wilders launched a new political party demanding a halt to non-Western immigration into the Netherlands for five years and a tougher line towards Islamic extremism. He has warned that many of the more than one million Muslims who live in the Netherlands have already opted for radical Islam and he urged closing extremist mosques. Wilders has since gone into hiding in response to numerous threats on his life and he travels under armed guard when he travels at all. 15 Some Dutch national opinion polls already put his party in second place. Holland has just become the first country in Europe (perhaps in the world) to declare a four-year moratorium on any new immigration, including asylum seekers. In fact, the Dutch parliament recently voted to expel 26,000 such individuals - mostly from the Third World. It is also considering a new anti-terrorism law that parallels the USA Patriot Act and, in recent months, the government has imposed new laws requiring anyone over the age of fourteen to show identification to authorities if asked. In addition, the Dutch have directed their attention to their marriage laws where it has become a custom for young, marriageable Muslims to return to their homelands to find a bride or groom and bring them back to Holland. Foreign spouses marrying Dutch citizens must now be twenty-one and speak Dutch, and their eligibility for welfare is not immediate. Education in foreign languages has also been phased out, so the Dutch can concentrate on teaching their own endangered language. 16

A similar scenario is unfolding in France in the wake of the French government's ban on Muslim headscarves. Just days before a 23-year old Tunisian-born Frenchwoman (Ghofrane Haddaoui) was to be married, she was stoned to death near her home for refusing the advances of a teenage Muslim boy in Marseilles. She paid with her life. 17 Even so-called honor killings of Muslim women are on the rise in Britain as well as France. For a while, traditional French appeasement seemed to be working. The French adopted the 1980 Venice Declaration that made clear that the European Community (under French leadership) had adopted pan-Arab conditions regarding Israel without qualification, including the 1949 armistice as Israel’s legitimate borders; Arab sovereignty over East Jerusalem; an Arab Palestinian state; the recognition of the PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinians, as well as its participation in all negotiations, the obligation of Israel to negotiate with Arafat exclusively; and the refusal to recognize a separate peace between Israel and any Arab country for the resolution of the Palestinian problem. 18 Later, it called for a revision of a century-old law on the separation of church and state, allowed government bodies to subsidize mosques, parroted the pan-Arab refrain that no reforms can be achieved in any Muslim country before the settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict and accorded state honors to Yasser Arafat after his demise in a French military hospital.

But for all that, France’s six million mostly North African Muslims who represent 10% of its population and the second largest religion in the country, have refused to be patronized. Today, Islam reaches out to the Muslim poor and disillusioned in France's working-class neighborhoods and suburbs. Fully fifty percent (50%) of the French unemployed are Muslims. Most Muslim quarters are plagued with all the social problems that beset poverty-stricken areas, including a high crime rate, drugs and prostitution. 19 And to add insult to injury, not one Muslim sits in France's 577-seat Chamber of Deputies 20. Perhaps that's the reason that Muslims account for over half the population of French prisons, while penitentiaries close to these districts have up to 80% Muslim inmates. Not surprisingly these neighborhoods have become the most fertile recruitment grounds for those preaching the message of Islamic terrorism.

To the average Frenchman, it is becoming clear that France's republican approach to integration (whereby immigrants were supposed to blend harmoniously into society and not exist in separate communities) has failed as dismally as has Dutch tolerance. One indication of that failure arose in 2002 when the French government tried to create a representative council for French Islam. French Muslim organizations were set to choose their representatives, but the government canceled the election as pre-vote polls showed that the majority would have gone to the Union of French Islamic Organizations (UOIF), a federation representing the majority of France's 1,500 mosques. The UOIF is allied with the Muslim Brotherhood - the most powerful and dangerous opposition force in Egyptian politics - which supports the right of Muslim women to wear headscarves in public schools, something France simply won't allow. The organization also relies on the Persian Gulf states for its financial survival and on the guidance of Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the radical sheik referred to above who has preached a clash of Christian and Islamic civilizations on al-Jazeera.

The French believe that their country can no longer tolerate the excesses of an alien culture in their midst and only recently abandoned political correctness to halt the inroads of Islam by deporting foreign imams who support wife beatings and similar Islamic practices. 21 It is a telling commentary on French society's feelings toward its Islamic population that a National Commission on Human Rights poll revealed that 63% of French society think there are “too many Arabs” in France; 43% say that there are too many blacks; 21% too many Asians and only 19% too many Jews. 22 In December 2004, the government banned Al Manar (Hezbollah’s Lebanon-based television channel) for anti-Semitic broadcasting and as the year came to an end, former French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin announced the creation of a state-supervised Foundation for Islam in France that will manage financial contributions from Muslims abroad.

The French government has finally made the connection between Islamic mosques and Islamic terrorism. It has recognized that part of the problem is a shortage of domestically trained Islamic clerics to lead congregations of European-born Muslims. This shortage has led European mosques to rely on imported imams or self-proclaimed clerics who espouse radical Islamic beliefs that grate against Europe's more tolerant societies. Only about 10% of the imams preaching in France's mosques are citizens and half do not speak French, according to the Interior Ministry.

Similar fears of Islamic extremism have surfaced in traditionally tolerant Scandinavia - and no longer just from the populist rightwing party (Pia Kjaersgaard’s People’s Party) in Denmark. The center-right government of Anders Rasmussen has equipped Denmark with Europe’s toughest curbs on Muslim immigration.

In Britain, the new Terrorism Act 2006 has introduced penalties for glorifying terrorism (ie: placards or web sites supporting martyrdom or killing those who insult Mohammed; inciting jihad through mosque sermons, etc.), engaging in terrorism training, preparation or planning of terrorist acts and disseminating terrorist publications. Suspects can now be held without charge for up to 28 days.

In Sweden, where anti-Muslim feeling is running high and mosques have been burnt, schools have been authorized to ban pupils who wear full Islamic headscarves (although the measure comes nowhere near France’s ban on the hijab in all state schools). Yet, despite these actions and sentiments, Hamas anti-Semitic material continues to be distributed in Stockholm's Great Mosque and during the international debate on the Mohammed cartoons in February 2006, no Swedish paper published them except for the website of a small extreme-Right party, SD-Kuriren. The Foreign Ministry, however, instructed the Internet provider to close that site. Sweden even sent two Muslim envoys to Muslim countries in order to apologize and, in so doing became the first European d'himmi state.

In Germany, Islam is the third-largest religion (after the Protestant and Roman Catholic faiths) and its three million mainly Turkish Muslims represent 3.2% of the population. Several years ago, Turks in Germany approached the German government to ask for religious education. The German constitution permits such religious instruction for those who voluntarily wish to take it. But when the German government turned down Turkey's offer to provide textbooks and teachers, the government unwittingly opened the educational door to instruction from Islamic extremists who brought in Wahhabi textbooks from Saudi Arabia. It all came to the surface with the van Gogh murder. The murder resulted in pressure for sermons to be preached in German (rather than Turkish or Arabic) in an attempt to halt extremist Islamic diatribes. Hidden TV cameras recently broadcast a sermon from an imam in a Berlin mosque telling worshippers that Germans can …..expect to rot in the fires of hell because they are kuffaars (nonbelievers). 23 And as if to throw more fuel on the fire, German television viewers were aghast when local young Muslims (asked to comment on the murder of van Gogh) approved saying If you insult Islam, you have to pay - a threat played out in the subsequent European cartoon jihad. As a result, the German Interior Ministry and other government departments are developing legislation that would include the compulsory use of German in Islamic schools, more training for Islamic theologians at German universities, and more pressure on foreign-born social welfare beneficiaries to attend German-language classes.

In December 2004, the government also instituted an anti-terror command headquarters at a secret location in Berlin, and on January 1, 2005 a new law went into effect requiring detailed background checks for every immigrant applying for residency and permitting the deportation of Islamic hate-preachers. Local German councils have started to question permission for new mosques to be built especially since there are already more than seven hundred in the country. As of December 1st, 2006, under the new rules, immigrants seeking to come to Germany will now have to show knowledge of German and be under 45 years old. They will not be eligible for social aid.

And even Italy’s traditional tolerance towards immigrants has been eroded by fear of Islamic domination. An Ipsos poll conducted in September 2004 showed that 48% of Italians believed that a clash of civilizations between Islam and the West is already under way and that Islam is a religion more fanatical than any other. 24

Some Final Thoughts

Bat Ye'or once commented that Europe is now in the early stages of a Kulturkampf, a cultural confrontation between unreformed Islam and the modern nation-state. That is, it has internalized the clash of civilizations. Throughout history, adherents to Islamic culture have devoted themselves to making their religion and way of life the dominant culture in every land they entered. And it is becoming so in Europe. When a Swedish company withdraws a textbook on religion because it contains illustrations of Mohammed, or when a British judge bars Jews and Hindus from the jury at the trial of a Muslim, or when a medieval Christian Spanish King (Ferdinand III) who was responsible for the defeat of Islamic Spain six hundred years ago is removed as the patron saint of an annual Spanish fiesta, or when the Dutch Language Union decrees that the word Christ must now be spelled with a lowercase c, or when crucifixes begin to disappear from some European hospitals, or when discussions commence on whether statues of Dante should be removed because the poet's Divine Comedy happened to placed Mohammad in hell, or when a British government office bans Winnie the Pooh piggy banks and other images of pigs because they are offensive to Muslims.....a significant freedom is being lost not because of sensitivity to certain cultures and not because of the responsibilities of the press (as are claimed) but because of pure fear and intimidation - the first solid step towards d'himmitude. The issue becomes the point at which a free, tolerant and primarily secular society is prepared to find the courage to stand up to those determined to tear it down.

During the Golden Age of Islamic Spain a thousand years ago (tolerant and creative though the culture was), the Moors demanded d'himmitude that saw Islamic rulers require tens of millions of non-Muslim peoples (primarily Christians and Jews) being treated as second-class citizens in accordance with the Qur'an. Jews and Christians were tolerated under Islam provided that they paid a jizya (or head tax) and accepted Islamic dominance. Church steeples were prohibited from overshadowing mosques. Non-Muslims had no right whatsoever to an independent existence and they could live under Islamic rule only so long as they kept to the rules that Islam had promulgated for them. Islam was and is more than a religious system. Then as now, it is a way of life with no separation of politics from religion or the spiritual from the temporal.

Should the Muslim population continue to grow in Western Europe at its current rate and should it remain a fundamentally alien culture within European society, it is conceivable that, well before the end of this century, Islam will become the dominant religious and political force on the continent. That is, the Europe of tomorrow will look and feel very different from the Europe of today. As Bernard Lewis of Princeton, a leading scholar of Islam told the German paper Die Welt during the summer of 2004, by the end of the century at the very latest, the European continent would be “part of the Arabic west, the Maghreb. Or as Bassam Tibi, an Islamic scholar in Germany put it: Either Islam will become Europeanized, or Europe will become Islamic.

When British intelligence agents arrest a group of Muslim men in London experimenting with ricin (a toxin used in assassinations); when British Muslims are told by Sheikh Omar Bakir Muhammed (the former judge of the Sharia court in Britain and leader of the now officially disbanded Islamic militant group Al Muhajiroun) that British Muslims face two choices - either leave Britain or join jihad against the British; when British police break-up an al Qaeda plot to bomb Heathrow Airport; when on April 30, 2007, five British Muslim men receive life sentences for plotting terror attacks against various British targets using ammonium nitrate fertilizer as an explosive; when Britain's MI5 Homeland Intelligence Service Director discloses that there are at least 200 cells, 2,000 potential British terrorist plotters and 400,000 extremist sympathizers in Britain, and that an increasing number of school-age young people were being recruited by al Qaeda; when the Financial Times of London quotes a British Muslim mother urging other Muslim mothers to take their children out of kuffaar (unbeliever) schools and to use martyrs as their role models; when David Bell, the chief inspector of schools in London accuses Islamic schools of undermining the coherence of British society; when an October 2007 report (The Hijacking of British Islam: How extremist literature is subverting mosques in the UK") issued by the British Policy Exchange think-tank finds extremist literature in a quarter of the British mosques studied - much of which is of Saudi origin; when an Islamic jihad group narrowly fails in an attempt to bomb a busy marketplace in France; when the French security and intelligence services smash a cell that was recruiting terrorists to join the insurgency in Iraq; when Germany arrests a Syrian embassy staffer and charges him with espionage and issuing threats against the Syrian opposition in Europe; when Italian investigators acknowledge that several recruits from Italy have carried out bombing attacks in Baghdad; when nine men are convicted on September 5, 2007 in Odense, Denmark with conspiracy to bomb the Jyllands-Posten newspaper, City Hall Square in Copenhagen and the Tivoli amusement park in Copenhagen; when a 19-year old Copenhagen woman is physically confined, beaten, stabbed, burned and mutilated for nine days for being Christian; when Swiss officials express concern that several radical Islamic clerics have openly urged Italian men to become terrorists; when the German authorities arrest twenty supporters of Ansar al-Islam (an Iraqi terrorist organization with links to al Qaeda) including dozens of forged passports and boxes of militant propaganda, and estimate that there are another hundred supporters remaining in Germany and five hundred to a thousand in Europe fomenting jihad; when an increasingly poor, disenfranchised, alien and radicalized Muslim population and culture continue to grow in the heart of Europe; and when rising Muslim violence culminates in the murder of Theo van Gogh, the torching of cars in French riots and the burning of embassies and consulates across Europe because of the Mohammed cartoons….. it’s time for Europeans to stop pandering to Arab goodwill in the name of political correctness and religious tolerance, and focus attention on the Islamic threat to European society. As French Arabist scholar Gilles Kepel stated in a recent interview: Either we Europeans will train our Muslims to become modern global citizens who live in a democratic, pluralistic society, or the Islamists will win..... Then, we’re in serious trouble.

In America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It, Mark Steyn wrote that much of the Western world will not survive the twenty-first century, and much of it will effectively disappear within our lifetimes, including many if not most European countries. But he was not the first to predict this eventuality. In 1974, former Algerian President Houari Boumedienne warned Europe in a speech at the U.N.: One day, millions of men will leave the Southern Hemisphere to go to the Northern Hemisphere. And they will not go there as friends. They will go there to conquer it. And they will conquer it with their sons. The wombs of our women will give us victory.

Boabdil’s revenge for the loss of Al Andalus may have been long in coming, but for European Muslims, time and patience may prove Boumedienne and the Islamic theologians right.

ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST

1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

ISRAELS TROUBLE

JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.

DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)

FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU
Palestinian state temporary ruse to destroy Israel Official television network calls for liberation of all Palestine
January 29, 2008 By Aaron Klein 2008 WorldNetDaily.com

JERUSALEM – The Palestinian goal of a Palestinian state is just a temporary ruse until all of Palestine can be liberated, declared a leader speaking yesterday on the official television network of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization.
Saleh Raafat, a member of the executive committee of Abbas' Palestine Liberation Organization, was interviewed on PA television about the death last weekend of infamous terrorist leader George Habash, who strongly opposed signing peace agreements with Israel.

In comments screened by WND, Raafat told his interviewer: Habash was a very positive Palestinian leader who used democratic tools to express opinions. He disagreed with [late PLO leader Yasser] Arafat regarding the present temporary vision of a Palestinian state, but he never used weapons to express his disagreement.Raafat said the Palestinians would accept 22 percent of Palestine as a temporary and not permanent state until all of Palestine can be liberated.

While Raafat described Habash as democratic and as never using weapons, Habash's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine has carried out scores of notorious deadly terrorist attacks. Raafat was speaking as part of a mourning series on PA television for Habash, the PFLP leader who died in Jordan at the age of 81. Habash's PFLP gained notoriety in 1970 for hijacking four Western airliners over the U.S., Europe, the Far East and the Persian Gulf. The aircraft were blown up in the Middle East after passengers and crews disembarked. The PFLP in 1972 then gunned down 27 people at Israel's Lod airport. The PFLP continues operating from Syria, Jordan and the West Bank. More recent attacks include scores of deadly shootings against Israelis, the 2001 assassination of Israeli tourism minister Rechavam Zeevi and suicide bombings on an Israeli highway and in Tel Aviv's well-known Karmel Market.

According to Israeli security officials, the PFLP is the Palestinian terror group most proficient in carrying out successful drive-by shooting attacks. Habash also led the second-largest faction of the PLO, next to Yasser Arafat's. Habash strongly opposed interim agreements with Israel and throughout his life advocated terror attacks against the Jewish state. Arafat numerous times said peace accords signed by Israel were part of a phased plan for the ultimate destruction of the Jewish state.

Bush says time has come for Israeli-Palestinian peace JAN 29,08

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush said Monday the time has come for a democratic Israel and democratic Palestine living side by side in peace, vowing to help the two sides strike a deal by year end. In his annual State of the Union speech, Bush said diplomatic efforts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were part of the broader US-led war against terror.We are also standing against the forces of extremism in the Holy Land, where we have new cause for hope, Bush told both houses of Congress.Palestinians have elected a president who recognizes that confronting terror is essential to achieving a state where his people can live in dignity and at peace with Israel, he said.Israelis have leaders who recognize that a peaceful, democratic Palestinian state will be a source of lasting security, he said.Bush made his first trip as president to the West Bank and Israel earlier this month in a bid to bolster a new peace process he launched at an international conference in Annapolis, Maryland in November.

This month in Ramallah and Jerusalem, I assured leaders from both sides that America will do, and I will do, everything we can to help them achieve a peace agreement that defines a Palestinian state by the end of this year, he said.The time has come for a Holy Land where a democratic Israel and a democratic Palestine live side-by-side in peace, he concluded.

Supplies run out in Egypt-Gaza border town by Ines Bel Aiba
Mon Jan 28, 6:52 PM ET

RAFAH, Egypt (AFP) - Khaled Salah's shop in the border town of Rafah is almost empty, to the immense disappointment of Palestinians who fled a blockaded Gaza to stock up on vital supplies across the border in Egypt. Only two tins of vegetable oil and a few honey jars sit on the shelves of his modest grocery shop in the divided town that straddles the Sinai peninsula and the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.Several hundred thousand Palestinians have swarmed into Egypt since militants blew up the Rafah barricades on Tuesday night after a punishing Israeli lockdown of the territory cut vital fuel and aid supplies.But after six days, supplies are running dry and Egyptian authorities are barring trucks from bringing in fresh deliveries.The shops are empty and they won't let us go to El-Arish (further west). Never mind, we'll have a look around Rafah, sighs Sabah al-Arji surrounded by her 11 children.

Around the town, desperate shoppers are scrounging for goods, their trousers rolled up and their feet dipping in the mud caused by the rare rainfall.It is incredible, there is nothing left! exclaimed a stunned Walid, 45, who had come from Khan Yunis in northern Gaza with a simple shopping list -- jam and washing powder.They bought everything, good for us. Thank God, we made a lot of profit, Salah, the young grocer, told AFP.But now we are waiting for new supplies, he said. We don't know when they will arrive, the trucks are still stuck.On Sunday, Egyptian authorities began preventing trucks from coming from Cairo to the border town, where a security cordon has been imposed to prevent Palestinians travelling further afield.On the road leading to Salaheddine, the main border entry point, shop owners shut their doors as they waited to re-stock.But the pavement in front of the deserted shops was crackling with activity as local Bedouin sought to sell goats and a young man from El-Arish negotiated the price of a motorbike with a Palestinian.Cigarettes, packets of crisps, cheese, oil barrels exchanged hands.

I'm looking for a mobile phone! Who can sell me a mobile phone? shouts one Palestinian in the middle of the crowd.Neither mobile phones, nor clothes or shoes can be found.I was stripped of goods from day two, said a smiling Sami Ibrahim, 25, who runs the shoe shop Midou, now full of empty boxes.The sooner they let the goods pass the better. Demand is still very high, said the savvy young Egyptian who quickly priced his goods in shekels, the Israeli currency used in Gaza.We are mostly missing vaccinations for the children which ran out on the first day, said one pharmacist in Rafah. We have ordered a shipment but authorities have blocked it at the Peace Bridge, which leads into Sinai, she said. Despite the shortages, thousands of Palestinians continue to make the back and forth trek between Gaza and Egypt, in the desperate hope of re-stocking. Authorities in Egypt are struggling to control the flow of people and goods. The Egyptian army on Monday resealed a part of the breached border near the Brazil entrance to Gaza, but there are many gaps yet to fill.

EUROPEAN UNION ARMY

DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.( BE HEAD OF 3 NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.(3 1/2 YRS)

DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.

DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king (EU DICTATOR) shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS JEWISH) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.(CLAIM TO BE GOD)
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY TERROR GROUPS) whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.

REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)

EU to launch Chad peacekeeping force Monday: diplomats Fri Jan 25, 4:00 PM ET

BRUSSELS (AFP) - The European Union will next week launch a peacekeeping force for Chad and the Central African Republic, diplomats and officials said Friday. The 3,700-strong UN-mandated force, with France providing the lion's share of troops, will help protect hundreds of thousands of refugees from the strife-torn Darfur region of neighbouring Sudan.All the conditions are now fulfilled, so that the EU foreign ministers, meeting in Brussels Monday, can confirm the rapid launch of the operation, a European diplomat said, following a final meeting by representatives of the 27 EU member states at the end of five months of sometimes fractious preparations.The departure of the first elements should follow fairly quickly and the deployment begin in the first week of February, he added.Speaking while on a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the EU mission was solely to protect displaced refugees, not to help Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno.This operation is very straightforward and not to back President Deby. I want to see the displaced people in Chad, who number 400,000, able to rebuild their villages destroyed by the militias coming from Sudan. And to do that, we must secure the zone, Kouchner said.

Some Chadian rebels have expressed fears that the European force will help prop up Deby, an ally of Paris.The foreign ministers should authorise the EU operation commander to activate the deployment of the forces and start the execution of the mission, the European Union said in a statement.On Thursday the Austrian defence ministry announced that it would dispatch an advance team to Chad next week ahead of its 160-strong contingent expected in February as part of the EU's force there.The mission has a UN Security Council mandate to help back up some 300 UN police officers sent to monitor camps for refugees from the Darfur region of neighbouring Sudan, and internally displaced persons.Some 234,000 Darfur refugees, along with 178,000 displaced eastern Chadians and 43,000 Central Africans also uprooted by strife and rebellion in the north of their country, are housed in camps in the region.

In accordance with a UN Security Council resolution the military bridging operation will operate for one year.According to the EU, the force will actively work for the improvement of the security situation in Chad and the Central African Republic. It will contribute to protecting civilians in danger, particularly displaced persons and refugees.The force will be commanded by Irish General Pat Nash and have its official headquarters in France. It had originally been due to deploy last November but a reluctance to provide troops and materiel held up progress.The force's leader on the ground, in eastern Chad, will be French General Jean-Philippe Ganascia.Soldiers from 14 countries will take part, including 2,000 French troops, 400 Irish and 400 Polish, another diplomat said.
Almost 120 million euros (176 million dollars) have been earmarked for the mission, but military officials say the real cost could be one billion euros.

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

EU justice chief proposes security plan By CONSTANT BRAND, Associated Press Writer Fri Jan 25, 3:40 PM ET

BRDO PRI KRANJU, Slovenia - The European Union's top justice official on Friday proposed replicating U.S. border security measures in Europe, with plans to fingerprint and electronically record the entry and exit of all visitors. The measures would prevent visitors to the 27-nation bloc from illegally entering Europe or overstaying the three-month stay given to tourists and EU visa holders, Franco Frattini said.We have been dealing with the security of Americans, (and) now the time has come to deal with the security of Europeans, Frattini said. Terrorism remains threat No. 1.The plan, to be presented in detail next month, was seen as retaliation for Washington's recent expansion of its program fingerprinting most international visitors, including those from countries considered European allies.U.S. authorities this month expanded fingerprinting for most visitors to the U.S., now taking prints from all 10 fingers, rather than just two. The prints, as well as other data, are then used to screen out suspected terrorists.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff also said recently that Europeans soon could be required to register online for authorization to enter the U.S.The new proposals came as EU ministers sat down to discuss whether they should back separate plans to collect detailed data on airline passengers flying into the 27-nation bloc amid warnings that the threat of new terror attacks remains high.Such a data system, modeled after one adopted by the U.S., would store 19 pieces of sensitive passenger data for 13 years, including e-mail addresses, telephone numbers and payment details of flight tickets.Several EU nations have expressed reservations, however, over how all 27 EU governments could process the vast amounts of data gathered from thousands of flights entering and leaving the bloc each day. Privacy advocates also have criticized the plan, saying it could infringe on passengers' rights to privacy.Frattini urged them to put their doubts aside, saying the data-storage system was absolutely necessary.Luxembourg's Justice Minister Luc Frieden said more study was needed before the bloc moved to set up such a system to collect detailed data on airline passengers.We must evaluate what the advantages are, Frieden said. The European Union has the right to know who enters, but I am not sure that a large amount of information that would be collected can be examined by each member state ... we need more information on the effectiveness of the system.The EU's plan would force airlines to hand over so-called Passenger Name Record, or PNR, data, which national policing authorities could use to assess the potential risk of those flying into the 27-nation bloc or leaving it.The data — including how the flight ticket was purchased, where, when and by whom — would be retained for five years, then moved to a dormant database for another eight years before being permanently deleted.

DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.( BE HEAD OF 3 NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.(3 1/2 YRS)

Israel’s ambassador to the EU praises real dialogue between Israel and Europe Saturday, January 26, 2008 - By: Israel e News

BRUSSELS (EJP)---Ran Curiel, Israel’s ambassador to the European Union, took his post in May. A professional diplomat, active in the foreign ministry for over 30 years, he previously served in the US, Argentina and was ambassador to Greece. He has been dealing with European affairs for the last 25 years. Before his nomination in Brussels, he was deputy director general of the foreign ministry, in charge of European affairs. In the Nineties, he was involved in negotiations which led to the conclusion of an Association Agreement between Israel and the EU. In an interview with European Jewish Press (EJP), he stresses the substantial improvement of the EU-Israel dialogue over the last few years. No more megaphone diplomacy but rather a real dialogue on a range of issues and the prospect of upgraded bilateral relations. But the ambassador complains about the fact that there is still criticism of Israel in Europe in the public opinion and in the European Parliament where some voices put emphasis on the humanitarian situation as being the main issue in the Middle East. He calls on Europe to say that the Palestinian refugee problem will find its solution within the future Palestinian state and not in Israel, as part of the two-state solution which means two Nations Sates.Looking at next week Mideast international conference in Annapolis, US, he says one should be optimistic about the process which is beginning after 7 years of violence. But one should not raise unrealistic expectations because there are different kinds of gaps to be closed.

Annapolis has to be a success because there are elements in the region that are waiting for a failure and will use anything that will be perceived as a failure, he says. He also stresses that Israel expects Europe to take tougher measures against Iran together with the entire international community, in order to create an effective sanctions policy that will put the Iranians in a serious dilemma.

Here is the full text of the interview:

EJP: How have been your first six months in Brussels ?

Ran Curiel: The life of an ambassador is the result of the state of affairs between the EU and Israel. From our point of view, in recent years, we have basically been in a good phase of our relations with the EU. I cannot complain about the first six months. This phase is continuing. If we look at the last three or four years there has been a substantial improvement in many things that have to do with Israel-EU relations. The main expression of this change is the nature of our dialogue with the EU in both substance and style. Both sides have managed to enrich the dialogue in terms of frequency and quality.

If in the past we used to refer to the megaphone diplomacy which means European statements condemning Israel and counter Israeli reactions, this has stopped to a large extent. Today there are many venues of discussion at all levels between Israel and the EU.

I just came back last week from Israel where I have been accompanying Javier Solana, the EU’s foreign policy chief. It becomes to be a regular visit to Israel. If you look at the list of visitors from Europe to Israel, just this week: French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband…..

The dialogue between Israel and the EU is a good dialogue on a range of issues, first and foremost the peace process. But also for example on Iran. Last week a delegation from Israel came to Brussels for discussions on the Iranian nuclear program with EU and NATO officials. But bilateral relations between Israel and the EU are also of very importance for us. We have created with the EU what is called the reflection group. The name speaks for itself. We are currently trying to elaborate together an agenda for upgrading our relations in all areas. I feel good because there is a serious agenda both on the political arena and on bilateral relations.

EJP: How do you explain that relations between the EU and Israel have changed ?

Ran Curiel: It is a combination of different elements, both global and also linked to developments in Europe and in Israel.

If you look at the second Bush administration, the relations between Europe and the United States have improved. The Mideast Quartet was created which brings Europe together with the US, Russia and the UN. I think that 9/11 but also the terror events in London and Madrid changed perceptions in Europe.

Europe is no more what it used to be, an observer of the Middle East. It became a real player in the region in recent years. When you are a player, you understand much more the situation, you have more responsibility and if you look today on the Mideast map you see in different capacities European soldiers in Afghanistan, in Iraq or in Lebanon. You see European presence in Israel and in the Palestinian territories, whether it is in Rafah or the EU mission to train Palestinian police. Europe has become more involved and this brought more understanding of the situation.

There were developments in Israel too. The disengagement from Gaza by then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was very important in closing the gaps between Israel and Europe. The fact that Israel accepted the Road Map, which essentially contains the acceptance of the two-state solution, has narrowed the gap between Israel and Europe on the approach to the peace process.

Today, Europe and Israel have no big different views on the main challenges facing our region: the peace process, Iran, terror, extremists versus moderates, Lebanon, Syria,... If we look at where we want to go, the interests are identical. Europe wants, like Israel, stability, development, democratization in the Middle East. If we have nuances, there are more on how to get there but not where to get. The enrichment of the dialogue between us brought more understanding of each other’s sensitivities and interests.

But I don’t say that everything is fine…. There are still gaps.

EJP: Which gaps ?

Ran Curiel: There is still criticism coming from Europe to Israel. Not necessarily from heads of state but rather in the public opinion, in parliaments and within the European Parliament that stems from a very specific prism of looking at the humanitarian situation as the main issue in the Middle East. I would not say that this is not an important issue but it is not the only issue. If you look at the humanitarian issue or others aspects one should look at it within the context of a certain strategy.

I don’t think that we have differences with Europe today in terms of strategy. Some voices put more emphasis on humanitarian issues and others on the strategic goals. Europe is taking position sometimes on final status issues although it leaves it to the parties. In repeated European statements there has been a reference to the 1967 lines. Europe should take a position on the fact that the two-state solution means two Nation States. It means that the refugee issue will find its solution in the Palestinian state and not in Israel.

There is no sense in creating a Palestinian state and sending Palestinians to Israel. On this issue, Europe did not yet take a position. European leaders like Prodi or Sarkozy made recent statements regarding this issue. Sarkozy spoke about “Deux Etats-Nations” which means that the two-state solution should be the answer to self-determination for the Palestinian people on one hand and the Jewish-Israel on the other hand. I think that Europe should take position on that. This is not a gap but rather a demand from Israel that is on the EU table.

Europe should say that the Palestinian refugee problem will find its solution within the Palestinian state.

EJP: Do you share the EU optimism about Annapolis ? There are a lot of expectations from the European side.

Ran Curiel: I think that expectations should be measured and realistic. If we look back, we had seven years of violence, since Camp David in 2000. We didn’t negotiate with the Palestinians, there was only violence. So there is a process which is beginning and one should be optimistic. On the other hand one should not raise unrealistic expectations because there are different kinds of gaps in the situation. One is the gap between us and the Palestinians which the process should bridge. There is also a gap between the good intention of the current Palestinian leadership we are dealing with, Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad, and the ability to implement decisions. We don’t want a repetition of what happened in Gaza. Israel withdrew and we have now a terrorist entity there.

I think that Annapolis should pave the way for launching serious negotiations with the Palestinians on final status issues but on the implementation we will have to go back to the Road Map which stipulates the basic elements to achieve an agreement: fighting terrorism on the part of the Palestinians, building institutions, transforming themselves into an authority that can take over when Israel withdraw.

Annapolis has to be a success because there are elements in the region that are waiting for a failure and will use anything that will be perceived as a failure. It will legitimize the process and support the moderates. We would like the Arab world to fully support Annapolis. Syria can participate but also more important, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf countries. We will need a show from moderate elements in the Arab world to support this process, both politically and economically. If you look at the financial aid the EU is giving to the Palestinians there is no reason why the Arab states should not give the same. Syria has to decide whether it wants to belong to the moderate camp.

EJP: The EU appears to be divided over further sanctions against Iran. You feel that that they will finally decide such sanctions ?

Ran Curiel: Europe is engaged on the Iranian issue together with the permanent members of the UN Security Council like the US, China and Russia. The EU is part of the UN resolutions that were already taken vis-à-vis Iran. Solana is negotiating with Iran in the name of the Six. I think that there is no difference of assessment over where Iran is going and what the danger is. It is shared by the decision makers in the European governments and in Brussels. But we are facing two timelines: one is the technological timeline that Iran is pushing very fast in order to achieve the capacity to have the bomb. And the other one is the reaction of the international world. The question is whether they will match each other.

The question is the pace. I think that President Sarkozy presented the dilemma in a concrete way when he said: We don’t want to get to the dilemma whether to have a nuclear Iran or to have to take a military action. The other way, not to get to this dilemma, is an effective sanction policy against Iran that may change the direction which this country is taking. If you ask me whether what is happening now in Europe is an effective sanction policy, the answer is no.

Israel expects Europe to take tougher measures against Iran together with the entire international community, in order to create an effective sanctions policy that will put the Iranians in a serious dilemma.

Europe has done quite a lot but it should ask itself whether it is enough. Our position is that what has been done until now is not enough. The pace and the spectrum of the sanctions should be increased.

EJP: There are calls by some to Israel to join the EU. Is it realistic ?

Ran Curiel: If you look realistically, it is not in the cards. I don’t think that we should discard the vision of one day being part of Europe. We are not in a situation where we need to answer this question now. But on the other hand we would like to improve our relations as much as possible with the EU. I think that for too long there was a gap between Israel and the EU and this gap should be closed not only on political issues – where things have improved – but on issues ranging from education- for example Israel should join the Bologna process-, environment or space.

Israel is among only 7 countries in the world that launch satellites to space. It is only natural that Israel should be part of the European Space Agency. Other issues are economy, home affairs and justice, as we are facing the same challenges as Europe in terms of money laundering and human trafficking.

The Israeli population will feel closer to Europe than they felt in the past. We should do our work to facilitate this through agreements. For example, if you don’t have a higher education agreement it is difficult for Israeli students or academics to engage with European universities We have to create the conditions to take Israelis and Europeans closer. And this is not a gift or a prize to Israel but it is in the interest of both sides.

EJP: What about NATO ?

Ran Curiel: With NATO we are following the same approach of upgrading our relations. We have signed last year a cooperation agreement. There are a lot of exchanges. If you look at the last two months, Israel’s chief of staff, Gen. Gaby Eskenazi visited NATO and NATO’s deputy general secretary Claudio Bisogniero visited Israel.

Also, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met NATO secretary general Jaap De Hoop Scheffer in New York….NATO and Israel have a lot to benefit from improving their relations, be it on fighting terrorism, on missile defence or on sharing of intelligence. EJP

NUCLEAR WEAPONS WILL BE USED.

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

ISAIAH 66:15-18
15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)

LUKE 17:34-37
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, 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).

MATTHEW 24:37-51
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, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Pre-emptive nuclear strike a key option, Nato told

The west must be ready to resort to a pre-emptive nuclear attack to try to halt the imminent spread of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, according to a radical manifesto for a new Nato by five of the west's most senior military officers and strategists.
Calling for root-and-branch reform of Nato and a new pact drawing the US, Nato and the European Union together in a grand strategy to tackle the challenges of an increasingly brutal world, the former armed forces chiefs from the US, Britain, Germany, France and the Netherlands insist that a first strike nuclear option remains an indispensable instrument since there is simply no realistic prospect of a nuclear-free world.The manifesto has been written following discussions with active commanders and policymakers, many of whom are unable or unwilling to publicly air their views. It has been presented to the Pentagon in Washington and to Nato's secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, over the past 10 days. The proposals are likely to be discussed at a Nato summit in Bucharest in April.

The risk of further [nuclear] proliferation is imminent and, with it, the danger that nuclear war fighting, albeit limited in scope, might become possible, the authors argued in the 150-page blueprint for urgent reform of western military strategy and structures. The first use of nuclear weapons must remain in the quiver of escalation as the ultimate instrument to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction.The authors - General John Shalikashvili, the former chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff and Nato's ex-supreme commander in Europe, General Klaus Naumann, Germany's former top soldier and ex-chairman of Nato's military committee, General Henk van den Breemen, a former Dutch chief of staff, Admiral Jacques Lanxade, a former French chief of staff, and Lord Inge, field marshal and ex-chief of the general staff and the defence staff in the UK - paint an alarming picture of the threats and challenges confronting the west in the post-9/11 world and deliver a withering verdict on the ability to cope.The five commanders argue that the west's values and way of life are under threat, but the west is struggling to summon the will to defend them. The key threats are:

· Political fanaticism and religious fundamentalism.

· The dark side of globalisation, meaning international terrorism, organised crime and the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

· Climate change and energy security, entailing a contest for resources and potential environmental migration on a mass scale.

· The weakening of the nation state as well as of organisations such as the UN, Nato and the EU.

To prevail, the generals call for an overhaul of Nato decision-taking methods, a new directorate of US, European and Nato leaders to respond rapidly to crises, and an end to EU obstruction of and rivalry with Nato. Among the most radical changes demanded are:

· A shift from consensus decision-taking in Nato bodies to majority voting, meaning faster action through an end to national vetoes.

· The abolition of national caveats in Nato operations of the kind that plague the Afghan campaign.

· No role in decision-taking on Nato operations for alliance members who are not taking part in the operations.

· The use of force without UN security council authorisation when immediate action is needed to protect large numbers of human beings.

In the wake of the latest row over military performance in Afghanistan, touched off when the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, said some allies could not conduct counter-insurgency, the five senior figures at the heart of the western military establishment also declare that Nato's future is on the line in Helmand province.

Nato's credibility is at stake in Afghanistan, said Van den Breemen.

Nato is at a juncture and runs the risk of failure, according to the blueprint.

Naumann delivered a blistering attack on his own country's performance in Afghanistan. The time has come for Germany to decide if it wants to be a reliable partner. By insisting on special rules for its forces in Afghanistan, the Merkel government in Berlin was contributing to the dissolution of Nato.

Ron Asmus, head of the German Marshall Fund thinktank in Brussels and a former senior US state department official, described the manifesto as a wake-up call. This report means that the core of the Nato establishment is saying we're in trouble, that the west is adrift and not facing up to the challenges.

Naumann conceded that the plan's retention of the nuclear first strike option was controversial even among the five authors. Inge argued that to tie our hands on first use or no first use removes a huge plank of deterrence.

Reserving the right to initiate nuclear attack was a central element of the west's cold war strategy in defeating the Soviet Union. Critics argue that what was a productive instrument to face down a nuclear superpower is no longer appropriate.

Robert Cooper, an influential shaper of European foreign and security policy in Brussels, said he was puzzled.

Maybe we are going to use nuclear weapons before anyone else, but I'd be wary of saying it out loud.

Another senior EU official said Nato needed to rethink its nuclear posture because the nuclear non-proliferation regime is under enormous pressure.

Naumann suggested the threat of nuclear attack was a counsel of desperation. Proliferation is spreading and we have not too many options to stop it. We don't know how to deal with this.

Nato needed to show there is a big stick that we might have to use if there is no other option, he said.