Al-Qaeda 2008

I hope all is going well. I wanted to send this article that shows that, at least for now, Al-Qaeda is contained. If you put this together with other news about the Iraq war having definitely turned in the U.S. favor, our two stated current foreign enemies are on the wane! It was too bad that Putin was chosen as Time's man of the year, rather than Petraus, or even, dare I say, our president!

Al Qaeda in 2008: The Struggle for
By Fred Burton and Scott Stewart
On Dec. 16, al Qaeda's As-Sahab media branch released a 97-minute video message from al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri. In the message, titled "A Review of Events," al-Zawahiri readdressed a number of his favorite topics at length. This video appeared just two days after As-Sahab released a 20-minute al-Zawahiri message titled "Annapolis -- The Treason." In that message, al-Zawahiri speaks on audio tape while a still photograph of him is displayed over a montage of photos from the peace conference in Annapolis, Md. As the title implies, al-Zawahiri criticizes the conference. Although the Dec. 14 release appeared first, it obviously was recorded after the Dec. 16 video. Given the content of the Dec. 14 message, it most likely was recorded shortly after the Nov. 27 Annapolis conference and before the Dec. 11 twin bombings in Algeria. The two latest releases are interrelated, however, given that the still photo of al-Zawahiri used in the Dec. 14 message appears to have been captured from the video released two days later.After having been subjected to two hours of al-Zawahiri opinions in just two days, we cannot help but wonder whether anyone else is listening to this guy -- and, if so, why? This question is particularly appropriate now, as we come to the time of the year when we traditionally prepare our annual forecast on al Qaeda. As we look ahead to 2008, the core al Qaeda leadership clearly is struggling to remain relevant in the ideological realm, a daunting task for an organization that has been rendered geopolitically and strategically impotent on the physical battlefield.DevolutionThe theme of our 2007 al Qaeda forecast was the continuation of the metamorphosis of al Qaeda from a smaller core group of professional operatives into an operational model that encourages independent "grassroots" jihadists to conduct attacks, or into a model in which al Qaeda provides the operational commanders who organize grassroots cells. We referred to this shift as devolution because it signified a return to al Qaeda's pre-9/11 model. We noted that the shift gave al Qaeda "the movement" a broader geographic and operational reach than al Qaeda "the group," but we also said that this larger, dispersed group of actors lacked the operational depth and expertise of the core group and its well-trained terrorist cadre. Looking back at the successful, attempted and thwarted attacks in 2007, this prediction was largely on-target. The high-profile attacks and thwarted attacks were plotted by grassroots groups such as the one responsible for the attacks in London and Glasgow, Scotland, or by regional affiliates such as al Qaeda's franchise in Algeria, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The core al Qaeda group once again failed to conduct any attacks. British authorities have indicated that the men responsible for the failed London and Glasgow attempts were linked in some way to al Qaeda in Iraq, though any such links must have been fairly inconsequential. The al Qaeda franchise in Iraq has conducted hundreds of successful bombings and has a considerable amount of experience in tradecraft and bombmaking, while the London and Glasgow attempts showed a decided lack of tradecraft and bombmaking skills. Regional Franchises The al Qaeda nodes in Egypt, the Sinai Peninsula and Indonesia were all quiet this year. The Egyptian node has not carried out a successful attack since announcing its allegiance to al Qaeda in August 2006. Jemaah Islamiyah, al Qaeda's Indonesian franchise, has not conducted a successful attack since the October 2005 Bali bombing, and the Sinai node, Tawhid wa al-Jihad, did not conduct any attacks in 2007. Its last attack was in April 2006.The Saudi franchise conducted only one successful operation in 2007, a small-arms attack against a group of French and Belgian nationals picnicking near Medina, which resulted in the deaths of four Frenchmen. This is a far cry from the peak of its operational activities during the summer of 2004. The Yemen node also conducted one attack, as it did in 2006, a July 2 suicide car bombing against a tourist convoy that resulted in the deaths of eight Spaniards. The Moroccan element of AQIM attempted to carry out attacks in March and April, though the group's inept tactics and inadequate planning resulted in the deaths of more suicide bombers than victims.These regional nodes largely have been brought under control by a series of successful campaigns against them. Police operations in Saudi Arabia, the Sinai and Indonesia have provided some evidence that the groups have been trying to regroup and refit. Therefore, the campaigns against these regional nodes will need to remain in place for the foreseeable future to ensure that these organizations do not reconstitute themselves and resume operations. We noted in our 2007 forecast that AQIM had not yet proven itself. However, the series of attacks by AQIM this year demonstrated that the group is resourceful and resilient, even in the face of Algerian government operations and ideological divisions. In fact, AQIM was the most prolific and deadly group in 2007 outside of the active war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan. With al Qaeda in Iraq facing serious problems, AQIM is in many ways carrying the torch for the jihadist movement. With other regional nodes seemingly under control, the U.S. and other governments now can pay more attention to AQIM. Throughout the coming year, the Algerian government likely will receive much more assistance from the United States and its allies in its efforts to dismantle the group. AQIM -- the former Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) -- has existed since the early 1990s and its dedicated cadre has survived many attempts to eliminate it -- though it likely will be pressed hard over the next year. In a Nov. 3 audio message, al-Zawahiri said the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) had formally joined the al Qaeda network. This came as no real surprise, given that members of the group have long been close to Osama bin Laden, and al Qaeda has a large number of Libyan cadre, including Abu Yahya al-Libi, Anas al-Libi and Abu Faraj al-Libi (who reportedly is being held by U.S. forces at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.) The LIFG-al Qaeda link became apparent in September 2001, when the U.S. government identified the LIFG as a specially designated terrorist entity (along with the GSPC and others.)Although Libyans have played a large role in al Qaeda and the global jihadist movement, the LIFG itself has been unable to conduct any significant attacks. Historically, Libyan security forces have kept the LIFG in check to the point that most high-profile Libyan jihadists operate outside Libya -- unlike the AQIM leadership, which operates within Algeria. It will be important to watch this new node to see whether it can ramp up its capabilities to conduct meaningful operations inside Libya, or even in other countries where the group has a presence -- though we doubt it will be able to pose a serious threat to the Libyan regime. Another relatively new jihadist presence appeared on the radar screen Feb. 13, when the Fatah al-Islam group bombed two buses in the Lebanese Christian enclave of Ain Alaq, killing three people. Following the Lebanese army's efforts to arrest those group members believed responsible for the bombing, the group holed up in the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon, where it endured a siege by the Lebanese army that began in March and lasted until early September. Shaker al-Abssi, the leader of Fatah al-Islam, is said to have links to former al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Along with al-Zarqawi, al-Abssi was sentenced to death in Jordan for his suspected involvement in the 2002 killing of U.S. diplomat Laurence Foley in Amman. He served a three-year jail sentence in Syria and then moved into Nahr el-Bared to establish Fatah al-Islam, which is believed to be controlled by Syrian intelligence. While Fatah al-Islam lost many of its fighters during the five-month siege, we have received intelligence reports suggesting that the Syrians are helping the group recover. The intelligence also suggests that the more the Syrians cooperate with U.S. objectives in Iraq, the more they will press the use of their jihadist proxies in Lebanon. In pursuing such a course, the Syrians are playing with fire, which may well come to haunt them, as it has the Saudis and Pakistanis. Iraq's ContributionEvents in Iraq likely will have a significant impact on the global jihadist movement in the coming year. Since the death of al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda in Iraq's operational ability steadily has declined. Furthermore, the organization appears to be losing its support among the Iraqi Sunnis and apparently has had problems getting foreign fighters into the country as of late. This could indicate that there will soon be an exodus of jihadists from the country. These jihadists, who have been winnowed and hardened by their combat against the U.S. military, might find the pastures greener in the countries they enter after leaving Iraq. Like the mujahideen who left Afghanistan following the Soviet withdrawal, they could go on to pose a real threat elsewhere. Additionally, since 2003 Iraq has been a veritable jihadist magnet, drawing jihadists from all over the world. If there is no possibility of seeking "martyrdom" in Iraq, these men (and a few women) will have to find another place to embrace their doom. The coalition's list of foreign jihadists killed in Iraq shows that most of the fighters have come to the country from places such as Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Morocco, but jihadists also have come from many other countries, including the United States, United Kingdom and European Union. Jihadists in these places might opt to follow the example of the July 2005 London bombers and martyr themselves in their countries of residence. Jihadists in Iraq have had the luxury of having an extensive amount of military ordnance at their disposal. This ordnance has made it relatively simple to construct improvised explosive devices, including large truck bombs. This, in turn, has made it possible to engage hard targets -- such as U.S. military bases and convoys. Jihadists without access to these types of weapons (and the type of training they received in Iraq) will be more likely to engage soft targets. In fact, the only group we saw with the expertise and ordnance to hit hard targets outside of Iraq and Afghanistan in 2007 was AQIM. As we forecast for 2006 and 2007, we anticipate that the trend toward attacking soft targets will continue in 2008.Afghanistan and PakistanDespite U.S. and NATO forces' repeated tactical victories on the battlefield, al Qaeda's Afghan allies, the Taliban, continue to survive -- the critical task for any guerrilla force engaged in an insurgent war. Following a pattern that has been repeated many times throughout Afghan history -- most recently in the war following the Soviet invasion -- the Taliban largely seek to avoid extended battles and instead seek to engage in hit-and-run guerrilla operations. This is because they realize that they cannot stand toe-to-toe with the superior armaments of the foreign invaders. Indeed, when they have tried to stand and fight, they have taken heavy losses. Therefore, they occasionally will occupy a town, such as Musa Qala, but will retreat in the face of overwhelming force and return when that superior force has been deployed elsewhere. Due to the presence of foreign troops, the Taliban have no hope of taking control of Afghanistan at this juncture. However, unlike the foreign troops, the Taliban fighters and their commanders are not going anywhere. They have a patient philosophy and will bide their time until the tactical or political conditions change in their favor. Meanwhile, they are willing to continue their guerrilla campaign and sustain levels of casualties that would be politically untenable for their U.S. and NATO rivals. The Taliban have a very diffuse structure, and even the loss of senior leaders such as Mullah Dadullah and Mullah Obaidullah Akhund has not proven to be much of a hindrance.Just over the border from Afghanistan, Pakistan has witnessed the rapid spread of Talibanization. As a result, Islamabad now is fighting a jihadist insurgency of its own in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the North-West Frontier Province. The spread of this ideology beyond the border areas was perhaps best demonstrated by the July assault by the Pakistani army against militants barricaded inside the Red Mosque in Islamabad. Since the assault against the mosque, Pakistan has been wracked by a wave of suicide bombings.Pakistan should be carefully watched because it could prove to be a significant flash point in the coming year. As the global headquarters for the al Qaeda leadership, Pakistan has long been a significant stronghold on the ideological battlefield. If the trend toward radicalization continues there, the country also could become the new center of gravity for the jihadist movement on the physical battlefield. Pakistan will become especially important if the trend in Iraq continues to go against the jihadists and they are driven from Iraq. The Year AheadGiven the relative ease of getting an operative into the United States, the sheer number of soft targets across the vast country and the simplicity of conducting an attack, we remain surprised that no jihadist attack occurred on U.S. soil in 2007. However, we continue to believe that the United States, as well as Europe, remains vulnerable to tactical-level jihadist strikes -- though we do not believe that the jihadists have the capability to launch a strategically significant attack, even if they were to employ chemical, biological or radiological weapons. Jihadists have shown a historical fixation on using toxins and poisons. As Stratfor repeatedly has pointed out, however, chemical and biological weapons are expensive to produce, difficult to use and largely ineffective in real-world applications. Radiological weapons (dirty bombs) also are far less effective than many people have been led to believe. In fact, history clearly has demonstrated that explosives are far cheaper, easier to use and more effective at killing people than these more exotic weapons. The failure by jihadists in Iraq to use chlorine effectively in their attacks has more recently underscored the problems associated with the use of improvised chemical weapons -- the bombs killed far more people than the chlorine they were meant to disperse as a mass casualty weapon.Al-Zawahiri's messages over the past year clearly have reflected the pressure that the group is feeling. The repeated messages referencing Iraq and the need for unity among the jihadists there show that al-Zawahiri believes the momentum has shifted in Iraq and things are not going well for al Qaeda there. Tactically, al Qaeda's Iraqi node still is killing people, but strategically the group's hopes of establishing a caliphate there under the mantle of the Islamic State of Iraq have all but disappeared. These dashed hopes have caused the group to lash out against former allies, which has worsened al Qaeda's position.It also is clear that al Qaeda is feeling the weight of the ideological war against it -- waged largely by Muslims. Al-Zawahiri repeatedly has lamented specific fatwas by Saudi clerics declaring that the jihad in Iraq is not obligatory and forbidding young Muslims from going to Iraq. In a message broadcast in July, al-Zawahiri said, "I would like to remind everyone that the most dangerous weapons in the Saudi-American system are not buying of loyalties, spying on behalf of the Americans or providing facilities to them. No, the most dangerous weapons of that system are those who outwardly profess advice, guidance and instruction …" In other words, al Qaeda fears fatwas more than weapons. Weapons can kill people -- fatwas can kill the ideology that motivates people.There are two battlegrounds in the war against jihadism: the physical and the ideological. Because of its operational security considerations, the al Qaeda core has been marginalized in the physical battle. This has caused it to abandon its position at the vanguard of the physical jihad and take up the mantle of leadership in the ideological battle. The core no longer poses a strategic threat to the United States in the physical world, but it is striving hard to remain relevant on the ideological battleground. In many ways, the ideological battleground is more important than the physical war. It is far easier to kill people than it is to kill ideologies. Therefore, it is important to keep an eye on the ideological battleground to determine how that war is progressing. In the end, that is why it is important to listen to hours of al-Zawahiri statements. They contain clear signs regarding the status of the war against jihadism. The signs as of late indicate that the ideological war is not going so well for the jihadists, but they also point to potential hazards around the bend in places such as Pakistan and Lebanon.

Kosovo: The Next War?

Russia: Kosovo and the Asymmetry of PerceptionsBy George FriedmanKosovo appears to be an archaic topic. The Yugoslavian question was a 1990s issue, while the Kosovo issue has appeared to be one of those conflicts that never quite goes away but isn't regarded very seriously by the international community. You hear about it but you don't care about it. However, Kosovo is getting very serious again. The United States and Europe appear committed to making Kosovo, now a province of Serbia, an independent state. Of course, Serbia opposes this, but more important, so does Russia. Russia opposed the original conflict, but at that point it was weak and its wishes were irrelevant. Russia opposes independence for Kosovo now, and it is far from the weak state it was in 1999 -- and is not likely to take this quietly. Kosovo's potential as a flash point between Russia and the West makes it important again. Let's therefore review the action to this point.In 1999, NATO, led by the United States, conducted a 60-day bombing campaign against Yugoslavia and its main component, Serbia. The issue was the charge that Yugoslavia was sponsoring the mass murder of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, just as it had against Bosnian Muslims. The campaign aimed to force the Yugoslav army out of Kosovo while allowing a NATO force to occupy and administer the province.Two strands led to this action. The first was the fear that the demonstrable atrocities committed by Serbs in Bosnia were being repeated in Kosovo. The second was the general feeling dominant in the 1990s that the international community's primary task was dealing with rogue states behaving in ways that violated international norms. In other words, it was assumed that there was a general international consensus on how the world should look, that the United States was the leader of this international consensus and that there was no power that could threaten the United States or the unity of the vision. There were only weak, isolated rogue states that had to be dealt with. There was no real risk attached to these operations. Yugoslavia was identified as one of those rogue states. The United States, without the United Nations but with the backing of most European countries, dealt with it.There was no question that Serbs committed massive atrocities in Bosnia, and that Bosnians and Croats carried out massive atrocities against Serbs. These atrocities occurred in the context of Yugoslavia's explosion after the end of the Cold War. Yugoslavia had been part of an arc running from the Danube to the Hindu Kush, frozen into place by the Cold War. Muslims had been divided by the line, with some living in the former Soviet Union but most on the other side. The Yugoslav state consisted of Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Muslims; it was communist but anti-Soviet and cooperated with the United States. It was an artificial state imposed on multiple nationalities by the victors of World War I and held in place after World War II by the force field created by U.S.-Soviet power. When the Soviets fell, the force field collapsed and Yugoslavia detonated, followed later by the rest of the arc.The NATO mission, then, was to stabilize the western end of this arc, Yugoslavia. The strategy was to abolish the multinational state created after World War I and replace it with a series of nation-states -- such as Slovenia and Macedonia -- built around a coherent national unit. This would stabilize Yugoslavia. The problem with this plan was that each nation-state would contain substantial ethnic minorities, regardless of attempts to redraw the borders. Thus, Bosnia contains Serbs. But the theory was that small states overwhelmingly consisting of one nationality could remain stable in the face of ethnic diversity so long as there was a dominant nation -- unlike Yugoslavia, where there was no central national grouping. So NATO decided to re-engineer the Balkans much as they were re-engineered after World War I. NATO and the United States got caught in a weird intellectual trap. On the one hand, there was an absolute consensus that the post-World War II borders of Europe were sacrosanct. If that wasn't the case, then Hungarians living in Romanian Transylvania might want to rejoin Hungary, Turkish regions of Cyprus might want to join Turkey, Germany might want to reclaim Silesia and Northern Ireland might want to secede from the United Kingdom. All hell could break loose, and one of the ways Europe avoided hell after 1945 was a cardinal rule: No borders would shift.The re-engineering of Yugoslavia was not seen as changing borders. Rather, it was seen as eliminating a completely artificial state and freeing genuine nations to have their own states. But it was assumed that the historic borders of those states could not be changed merely because of the presence of other ethnic groups concentrated in a region. So the desire of Bosnian Serbs to join Serbia was rejected, both because of the atrocious behavior of the Bosnian Serbs and because it would have shifted the historic borders of Bosnia. If all of this seems a bit tortured, please recall the hubris of the West in the 1990s. Anything was possible, including re-engineering the land of the south Slavs, as Yugoslavia's name translates in English.In all of this, Serbia was seen as the problem. Rather than viewing Yugoslavia as a general failed project, Serbia was seen not so much as part of the failure but as an intrinsically egregious actor that had to be treated differently than the rest, given its behavior, particularly against the Bosnians. When it appeared that the Serbs were repeating their actions in Bosnia against Albanian Muslims in 1999, the United States and other NATO allies felt they had to intervene. In fact, the level of atrocities in Kosovo never approached what happened in Bosnia, nor what the Clinton administration said was going on before and during the war. At one point, it was said that hundreds of thousands of men were missing, and later that 10,000 had been killed and bodies were being dissolved in acid. The post-war analysis never revealed any atrocities on this order of magnitude. But that was not the point. The point was that the United States had shifted to a post-Cold War attitude, and that since there were no real threats against the United States, the primary mission of foreign policy was dealing with minor rogue states, preventing genocide and re-engineering unstable regions. People have sought explanations for the Kosovo war in vast and complex conspiracies. The fact is that the motivation was a complex web of domestic political concerns and a genuine belief that the primary mission was to improve the world.The United States dealt with its concerns over Kosovo by conducting a 60-day bombing campaign designed to force Yugoslavia to withdraw from Kosovo and allow NATO forces in. The Yugoslav government, effectively the same as the Serbian government by then, showed remarkable resilience, and the air campaign was not nearly as effective as the air forces had hoped. The United States needed a war-ending strategy. This is where the Russians came in.Russia was weak and ineffective, but it was Serbia's only major ally. The United States prevailed on the Russians to initiate diplomatic contacts and persuade the Serbs that their position was isolated and hopeless. The carrot was that the United State agreed that Russian peacekeeping troops would participate in Kosovo. This was crucial for the Serbians, as it seemed to guarantee the interests of Serbia in Kosovo, as well as the rights of Serbs living in Kosovo. The deal brokered by the Russians called for a withdrawal of the Serbian army from Kosovo and entry into Kosovo of a joint NATO-Russian force, with the Russians guaranteeing that Kosovo would remain part of Serbia.This ended the war, but the Russians were never permitted -- let alone encouraged -- to take their role in Serbia. The Russians were excluded from the Kosovo Force (KFOR) decision-making process and were isolated from NATO's main force. When Russian troops took control of the airport in Pristina in Kosovo at the end of the war, they were surrounded by NATO troops.In effect, NATO and the United States reneged on their agreement with Russia. Russian President Boris Yeltsin and the Russian Foreign Ministry caved in the face of this reneging, leaving the Russian military -- which had ordered the Kosovo intervention -- hanging. In 1999, this was a fairly risk-free move by the West. The Russians were in no position to act.The degree to which Yeltsin's humiliation in Kosovo led to the rise of Vladimir Putin is not fully understood. Putin represented a faction in the intelligence-military community that regarded Kosovo as the last straw. There were, of course, other important factors leading to the rise of Putin, but the Russian perception that the United States had double-crossed them in an act of supreme contempt was a significant factor. Putin came to office committed to regaining Russian intellectual influence after Yeltsin's inertia. The current decision by the United States and some European countries to grant independence to Kosovo must be viewed in this context. First, it is the only case in Yugoslavia in which borders are to shift because of the presence of a minority. Second, it continues the policy of re-engineering Yugoslavia. Third, it proceeds without either a U.N. or NATO mandate, as an action supported by independent nations -- including the United States and Germany. Finally, it flies in the face of Russian wishes.This last one is the critical point. The Russians clearly are concerned that this would open the door for the further redrawing of borders, paving the way for Chechen independence movements, for example. But that isn't the real issue. The real issue is that Serbia is an ally of Russia, and the Russians do not want Kosovar independence to happen. From Putin's point of view, he came to power because the West simply wouldn't take Russian wishes seriously. If there were a repeat of that display of indifference, his own authority would be seriously weakened.Putin is rebuilding the Russian sphere of influence in the former Soviet Union. He is meeting with the Belarusians over reintegration. He is warning Ukraine not to flirt with NATO membership. He is reasserting Russian power in the Caucasus and Central Asia. His theme is simple: Russia is near and strong; NATO is far away and weak. He is trying to define Russian power in the region. Though Kosovo is admittedly peripheral to this region, if no European power is willing to openly challenge Russian troops in Kosovo, then Russia will have succeeded in portraying NATO as a weak and unreliable force.If the United States and some European powers can create an independent Kosovo without regard to Russian wishes, Putin's prestige in Russia and the psychological foundations of his grand strategy will suffer a huge blow. If Kosovo is granted independence outside the context of the United Nations, where Russia has veto power, he will be facing the same crisis Yeltsin did. If he repeats Yeltsin's capitulation, he will face substantial consequences. Putin and the Russians repeatedly have warned that they wouldn't accept independence for Kosovo, and that such an act would lead to an uncontrollable crisis. Thus far, the Western powers involved appear to have dismissed this. In our view, they shouldn't. It is not so much what Putin wants as the consequences for Putin if he does not act. He cannot afford to acquiesce. He will create a crisis.Putin has two levers. One is economic. The natural gas flowing to Europe, particularly to Germany, is critical for the Europeans. Putin has a large war chest saved from high energy prices. He can live without exports longer than the Germans can live without imports. It is assumed that he wouldn't carry out this cutoff. This assumption does not take into account how important the Kosovo issue is to the Russians.The second option is what we might call the "light military" option. Assume that Putin would send a battalion or two of troops by air to Belgrade, load them onto trucks and send them toward Pristina, claiming this as Russia's right under agreements made in 1999. Assume a squadron of Russian aircraft would be sent to Belgrade as well. A Russian naval squadron, including the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, already is headed to the Mediterranean. Obviously, this is not a force that could impose anything on NATO. But would the Germans, for example, be prepared to open fire on these troops?If that happened, there are other areas of interest to Russia and the West where Russia could exert decisive military power, such as the Baltic states. If Russian troops were to enter the Baltics, would NATO rush reinforcements there to fight them? The Russian light military threat in Kosovo is that any action there could lead to a Russian reaction elsewhere. The re-engineering of the Balkans always has assumed that there is no broader geopolitical price involved. Granting Kosovo independence would put Russia in a position in which interests that it regards as fundamental are challenged. Even if the West doesn't see why this should be the case, the Russians have made clear that it is so -- and have made statements essentially locking themselves into a response or forcing themselves to accept humiliation. Re-engineering a region where there is no risk is one thing; re-engineering a region where there is substantial risk is another.In our view, the Russians would actually welcome a crisis. Putin wants to demonstrate that Russia is a great power. That would influence thinking throughout the former Soviet Union, sobering eastern Central Europe as well -- and Poland in particular. Confronting the West as an equal and backing it into a corner is exactly what he would like. In our view, Putin will seize the Kosovo issue not because it is of value in and of itself but because it gives him a platform to move his strategic policy forward. The Germans have neither the resources nor the appetite for such a crisis. The Americans, bogged down in the Islamic world, are hardly in a position to deal with a crisis over Kosovo. The Russian view is that the West has not reviewed its policies in the Balkans since 1999 and has not grasped that the geopolitics of the situation have changed. Nor, in our view, has Washington or Berlin grasped that a confrontation is exactly what the Russians are looking for.We expect the West to postpone independence again, and to keep postponing it. But the Albanians might force the issue by declaring unilateral independence. The Russians would actually be delighted to see this. But here is the basic fact: For the United States and its allies, Kosovo is a side issue of no great importance. For the Russians, it is both a hot-button issue and a strategic opportunity. The Russians won't roll over this time. And the asymmetry of perceptions is what crises are made of.

2007 Media Myths

Let me know what you think of these and the rebuttals. Agree or disagreee?

The Media’s Top 10 Economic Myths of 2007
Compiled by the Business & Media Institute

See Full Report with rebuttals

10. Airlines are solely to blame for the unfriendly skies. Media myth: Blame the airlines for all those flight delays; never mind the obsolete government-run agency creating the gridlock.
9. Consumer spending is the be-all, end-all of the economy.Media myth: Without excessive consumer spending – especially at Christmastime – the U.S. economy will collapse.
8. The stock market is trouble, whether it goes up or down.Media myth: One day the stock market can’t sustain growth; the next, we’re just one drop away from another crash.
7. Anyone who ‘denies’ global warming shouldn’t be taken seriously. Media myth: Global warming could cause a ‘century of fires,’ just as it has created allergies and ended winter fashion. If we don’t do something now (i.e. spend hundreds of billions of dollars), it’s only going to get worse.
6. You’d better not eat/drink that!Media myth: Forget the right to eat as you please; the nanny-state knows better.
5. Most Americans are losing their homes.Media myth: Americans everywhere are losing their homes to foreclosure, and the housing bust is going to ruin the economy.
4. “Going Green” is good for America and business.Media myth: Businesses are much better off if they go green, and that’s what people really want anyway.
3. Lenders are responsible for everyone’s debts. Media myth: Drowning in red ink isn’t your fault; blame the guy who loaned you the money.
2. Free health care would be great!Media myth: To save our children and the 47 million uninsured Americans, and to keep up with the rest of the world, we must have government-run health care.
1. The U.S. Economy is in recession.Media myth: The U.S. economy is nearly in, or is in, a recession.

Food Coverage Balance

As we know, the list of foods that we are not to eat is in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. However, some would go beyond that and set up fence laws with lists of more things we shouldn't eat. As it says in Matthew 23:4, some people will put hardship burdens upon Christians to discourage us from following God, rather than giving the advice of Moderation as it says in Philipians 4:5. There needs to be more of an emphasis on the difference between health advice, which is dependant upon the science of the time, and God's prohibitions which are listed in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14.
An interesting take on so called heath advice is here: http://www.businessandmedia.org/commentary/2006/20060712144241.aspx

Iran NIE

http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/DanielPipes/2007/12/11/that_nie_makes_war_against_iran_more_likely

That NIE Makes War against Iran More LikelyBy Daniel PipesTuesday, December 11, 2007

With the Dec. 3 publication of a completely unexpected declassified National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), "Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities," a consensus has emerged that war with Iran "now appears to be off the agenda." Indeed, Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, claimed the report dealt a "fatal blow" to the country's enemies, while his foreign ministry spokesman called it a "great victory."
I disagree with that consensus, believing that military action against Iran is now more likely than before the NIE came out.
The NIE's main point, contained in its first line, famously holds: "We judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program." Other analysts – John Bolton, Patrick Clawson, Valerie Lincy and Gary Milhollin, Caroline Glick, Claudia Rossett, Michael Rubin, and Gerald Steinberg – have skillfully dissected and refuted this shoddy, politicized, outrageous parody of a piece of propaganda, so I need not dwell on that here. Further, leading members of Congress are "not convinced" of the NIE's conclusions. French and German leaders snubbed it, as did the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and even the International Atomic Energy Agency expressed doubts. British intelligence believe its American counterparts were hoodwinked, while Israeli intelligence responded with shock and disappointment.
Let us skip ahead then, and ask what are the long-term implications of the 2007 report?
For the sake of argument, let us assume the May 2005 NIE was correct, in which sixteen U.S. intelligence agencies assessed "with high confidence that Iran currently is determined to develop nuclear weapons." Let us also assume there are three possible American responses to the Iranian nuclear buildup:

1.Convince the Iranians of their own accord to stop the nuclear weapons program.
2.Stop it for them through military intervention (which need not be a direct strike against the nuclear infrastructure but could be more indirect, such as an embargo on refined petrochemicals entering the country).
3. Permit it to culminate in Iran's acquiring a nuclear bomb.

As for Option #3, President Bush recently noted that whoever is "interested in avoiding World War III, … ought to be interested in preventing [the Iranians] from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon." So far, the lame NIE has not changed his mind. He appears to share John McCain's view that "There's only one thing worse than the United States exercising a military option. That is a nuclear-armed Iran."
Therefore, the real question is not whether Iran will be stopped, but how.
The 2007 NIE has effectively terminated Option #1, convincing the Iranians themselves to halt their nuclear program, because this route requires wide external agreement. When key countries banded together to pass Security Council Resolution 1737 in December 2006, it caused the Iranian leadership to respond with caution and fear; but the NIE's soothing conclusion undercuts such widespread cooperation and pressure. When Washington pressures some Western states, Russia, China, and the IAEA, they can pull it out of the drawer, wave it in the Americans' faces, and refuse to cooperate. Worse, the NIE has sent a signal to the apocalyptic-minded leadership in Tehran that the danger of external sanctions has ended, that it can go undisturbed about its bomb-building business.
That leaves Option #2, direct intervention of some sort. Yes, that seems unlikely now, with the NIE dropping like a bombshell and shifting the debate. But will this hugely-criticized one thousand-word exercise really continue to dominate the American understanding of the problem? Will it change George W. Bush's mind? Will its influence extend to a year from now? Will it extend yet further, to the next president?
Highly unlikely, for these projections assume stasis – that this one report can refute all other interpretations, that no further developments will take place in Iran, that the argument over Iranian nuclear intentions closed down in early December 2007, never to revive. The debate most assuredly will continue to evolve and the influence of this NIE will fade and become just one of many appraisals, technical and non-technical, official and unofficial, American and non-American.
In short, with Option #1 undermined and Option #3 unacceptable, Option #2 – war carried out by either U.S. or Israeli forces – becomes the more probable. Thus have short-sighted, small-minded, blatantly partisan intelligence bureaucrats, trying to hide unpleasant realities, helped engineer their own nightmare.

Movie: Juno

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/colleen-raezler/2007/12/06/feminist-film-critic-decries-lack-abortion-politics-juno
Feminist Film Critic Decries Lack of Abortion Politics in 'Juno'

By Colleen Raezler December 6, 2007 - 17:08 ET What will it take for film critics to be satisfied with movies about young, unmarried pregnant women? For most, a clever script and outstanding performances will suffice, but not so for Lisa Schwarzbaum, a film critic for Entertainment Weekly. It must also carry a weighty discussion on the "hard-won, precious rights" to choose. "Juno," the latest film about an unintended pregnancy carried to term, opens nationwide December 14. The movie reportedly depicts Juno, the pregnant 16-year-old lead character, deciding to place her baby for adoption after a chance encounter with a pro-life protester at an abortion clinic.Schwarzbaum said in her review of the film, "The old-school feminist in me wishes ‘Juno' spent more time, even a tart sentence or two, acknowledging that the options taken for granted by this one attractive, articulate teen are in fact hard-won, precious rights, and need to be guarded by a new-generation army of Junos and Bleekers, spreading the word by text message as well as by hamburger phone."
It's particularly strange that Schwarzbaum would choose to launch a feminist argument at the one movie tackling unmarried pregnancy in which abortion is considered a viable option. Apparently Schwarzbaum's "old-school feminist" was on summer vacation when she wrote her review of the crude summer hit, "Knocked Up." She failed to criticize that movie for not containing serious discussions of abortion, even while many other critics did so, as the Culture and Media Institute reported last July. Surprising decision considering that the only references to abortion in "Knocked Up" are from a friend who when discussing options, said "I won't say it but it rhymes with shmashmortion" and from the lead character's mother who urges her to "take care of" the pregnancy so she can have a "real" baby when the time is right. Is Schwarzbaum's real problem with "Juno" the fact that abortion isn't depicted as a "hard-won, precious right" or because it depicts an abortion-minded young women who decides to carry her pregnancy to term? Schwarzbaum did overcome her feminist qualms to give "Juno" an A-, which is in line with what other critics are saying about the film. As of December 6, it's rated a solid 92 percent on rottentomatoes.com.—Colleen Raezler is a research assistant at the Culture and Media Institute

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Iran NIE

http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/blog/g/478bc808-780a-4e24-a258-e12f74cf8c98

Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Reactions To The Iran NIE

From Michael Rubin, Max Boot, and Gabriel Schoenfeld.

The Iran NIE for beginners: As though MI6 told Stanley Baldwin in 1933 that fears that Hitler would reoccupy the Ruhr in 1934 were groundless.

UPDATE: From the AP:
In Israel, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said "it's apparently true" that Iran stopped pursuing its military nuclear program in 2003.
"But in our opinion, since then it has apparently continued that program," Barak told Army Radio. "There are differences in the assessments of different organizations in the world about this, and only time will tell who is right."
Asked if the new U.S. assessment reduced chances that the U.S. will launch a military strike on Iran, Barak said that was "possible."
However, he said, "We cannot allow ourselves to rest just because of an intelligence report from the other side of the earth, even if it is from our greatest friend."

Current Events Books

Some books from here http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/blog/g/80eb35ee-f417-41f1-9a57-f7df0194e130 include these

This time of year I am often asked to recommend books. My list has some titles familiar to anyone who listens to the show, and some new names as well.But first, for small children, try one or all of the five DVDs in the Life at the Pond series. Like VeggieTales, the Pond is a hit with parents who want their younger children to get a message as well as a laugh and a story.Now, to list books that should provide something for everyone.

For those who wonder where this world is headed, send them one or all of the six books that explain this world:Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower:

Mark Steyn's America Alone
Norman Podhoretz's World War IV
Robert Kaplan's Imperial Grunts and Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts
And Bernard Lewis' The Crisis of Islam

For those who love history, two books about FDR:Jonathan Alter's The Defining
MomentAmity Shlaes' The Forgotten Man

One book detailing 60 years of CIA history:Timothy Weiner's Legacy of Ashes
One book explaining the past 300 yearsWalter Russell Mead's God and Gold
For Supreme Court watchers:Clarence Thomas' My Grandfather's Son Jeffrey Toobin's The Nine

For every parent, aunt, sister or friend of a pre-teen or teenage girl, get them Prude by Carol Platt Liebau.

Two Babylons

A republished version of the book here http://www.amazon.com/Two-Babylons-Worship-Proved-Nimrod/dp/1599866366/ref=pd_ybh_14?pf_rd_p=280800601&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_t=1501&pf_rd_i=ybh&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0SQD402MWH6WG3H0X2DT


39 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
A Mixed Bag but worthwhile!!!, February 3, 2004
By
Richard D. Cappetto (Moodus, CT United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Two Babylons (Paperback) Alexander Hislop's book the Two Babylon's is a mixed bag. On the one hand it is meticulously researched and does a great job of showing us how the Church (Mostly Medieval Catholic church) adopted and tried to christianize pagan symbols and practices. But on the other hand it is over kill and I disagree with his eschatology. I do not believe the office of the papacy is the Anti Christ (the beast out of the sea-gentile), the Bible clearly teaches that the anti Christ is a feature person who will be the head of a reformed European empire (maybe like the EU) he will be a secular leader (religions in worshiping Satan but not a religions leader) while the false prophet (the beast out of the land-Israeli) out of Israel will be the religions leader who backs him up. As a catholic (born again charismatic verity) I would encourage every catholic and every Christian to GET this book for the research aspect of it alone. It is filled with information we all need to know. Whit that knowledge we should challenge the extraneous doctrines in our church (assembly). such as the Mother and child worship and cults of the Virgin many in the catholic church, Why are we giving the attributes of the Holy Spirit to Marry? Why we call it the mass instead of services or an assembly? Why does the wafer have IHS on it? Why is it kept in a chamber with a pagan symbol on it? We should challenge the infallibility of the pope (only God is infallible), We should challenge the rosary it was given by an aspiration and we should challenge all aspirations (did anyone bother to test the spirit or spirits like the Bible commands us to? Did anyone check out the doctrine coming from aspirations against the scripture? And least and not least the most important error of all that salvation through faith and works, the bible clearly teaches salvation is by faith alone, a glorious gift (GRACE) from GOD; all James was pointing out is that a spirit filled believer will do good works as a matter of course, we do not take one verse in the bible and let it make the doctrine against hundreds of verses, It should be the other way around. Salvation is by grace though faith it is not of works least anyone should boast. In closing this book the two Babylon's can help us to clean out the extraneous and pagan doctrine from not only the catholic church but from all churches as we approach the end times, It is time (long overdo) to reach out and let the Holy Spirit work through us, and this book will help to equip us not to fall into pagan practices.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
A History of Traditions., July 17, 2007
By
R. McRae "Timjer" (Saugus, California USA) - See all my reviews When the Roman Catholic Church makes its traditions superior to scripture, and still under its latest pope declares all other Christian groups false in recent proclamations, who really are the "bigots" as other's have labeled this book? Where then do many of these uniquely unusual Catholic rituals originate? Certainly not the Bible. And if not the Bible, then give a more precise historical source. Even most Catholics would be surprised just how much of their church's background and practices have absolutely nothing to do with Christianity. The major reason for the Reformation and the establishment of Protestantism. The only problem today is that most so called "Protestants", accept the handed down traditions over scripture as well.
Comment

China refuses Hong Kong port

An article about US relations with China (not covered too much nowadays) as well as an analysis of the Citibank buyout http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/DianaWest/2007/11/30/stop_letting_them_treat_us_like_a_turkey

Stop Letting Them Treat Us Like a TurkeyBy Diana WestFriday, November 30, 2007

What could the USS Kitty Hawk and Citigroup possibly have in common?
I'll start with the aircraft carrier because I'm still stewing over what happened when the People's Republic of China abruptly denied the USS Kitty Hawk and its accompanying ships and submarines their routine, scheduled Thanksgiving berth in Hong Kong, where hundreds of crew members' families had gathered (at considerable expense) to celebrate the holiday with their loved ones.
First, there was the nasty act itself. News accounts speculated about the "reason" -- was it President Bush's recent meeting with the Dalai Lama? Our latest arms agreement with Taiwan? -- but there's no rationale worth gleaning beyond the fact the Chinese wished to snub us very publicly on a quintessential American holiday. And so they did.
Then there was our reaction, best described as muted. Indeed, "perplexed" was one of the stronger words used to describe the U.S. attitude, which was also quick to assert that future military exchanges and whatnot with the Communist Chinese wouldn't suffer.
Well, couldn't they suffer just a little bit? There's got to be a better U.S. response -- somewhere between imitating a doormat and lobbing a nuclear warhead -- to abusive Chinese gamesmanship. The Pentagon has now issued a formal protest of the incident, which includes a second even more egregious instance in which China denied access to two U.S. minesweepers seeking shelter in Hong Kong from a storm. But overall, as a nation, we slap a relentlessly happy face on things.
And that goes for all of us, certainly as consumers. The day after the Hong Kong Affront, millions of us set out on pilgrimages all across America to malls where we scooped up all manner of goods "made in China" without a second thought for the Kitty Hawk sailors chugging back to home port in Japan without seeing their families in Hong Kong. We weren't thinking of much besides that giant plasma TV at 40 percent off. We certainly weren't wondering whether it was (dare I say it?) patriotic to buy Chinese. And not simply because of this recent cat-and-mousing around. China is using the dollars we pay for heaps of stuff we don't need to bulk up as our military and political rival.
As consumers in a global economy where brand loyalty usually trumps national consciousness, we don't think of it that way. Partly that's because our leaders don't think of it that way, either. They certainly don't talk about it that way. "Money makes the world go around" sums up the conventional wisdom. Which is probably as good a point as any to bring in the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority's recent infusion of $7.5 billion into Citigroup.
In exchange, Abu Dhabi will receive a guaranteed, whopping 11 percent return on its investment, which analysts flag as an indicator of Citigroup's desperation. But there's something else about the deal, something few consider: The deal necessarily accelerates the Islamization of Western finance. The Abu Dhabi government is now Citigroup's largest stockholder. The second-largest stockholder is a Saudi prince -- Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the one whose millions then-Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani turned down, Harvard and Georgetown snapped up, and who also owns 5.5 percent of Fox News.
Is this a great thing for America? Or is the Islamization of American banking a concern? All Western financial institutions are increasingly accommodating Islamic finance, with its adherence to Sharia (Islamic law) and the collection of zakat (charitable tax), which analysts such as Rachel Ehrenfeld and Jeffrey Imm tell us help finance jihadist indoctrination and terror groups. Do the financial mechanisms to support these anti-Western practices belong at the center of American finance?
Stunningly, the question doesn't seem to occur to the powers that be -- including Congress, where hearings on Sharia finance would well serve the nation. In a paper called "Islamic Finance or Financing Islamism?" Alex Alexiev of the Center for Security Policy outlines the threat this way: "To put it simply, any Western institution that endorses Shariah-compliant products, ipso facto endorses the hateful Islamist ideology behind it, whether they know it or not. Shariah is an integral doctrine and there is no such thing as selecting just a few convenient Shariah tenets and rejecting the rest. By endorsing Shariah, Western banks end up becoming what Lenin called useful idiots or worse to the Islamists. And it is a very thin line between that and outright complicity in the Islamist agenda."
Something else for our leaders to become, er, perplexed about.

"West Bank"

Here is a book that describes the so-called "West Bank" which is really termed the "Mountains of Israel" in the bible, Ezekiel 36. This is a timely book to read when Israeli peace negotiations happen.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/9659010001/ref=sib_dp_pt/002-7585481-5178405
The Mountains of Israel (Paperback)by Norma Parrish Archbold (Author)

"For everyone who loves the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the events unfolding in the Middle East are important..." (more) Key Phrases: ancient hatred, desolate land, West Bank, Holy Land, Middle East (more...)

Editorial Reviews
Book DescriptionAcclaimed on five continents as the book about the Arab-Iraeli conflict that every believer should read, some 60,000 copies of The Mountains of Israel have been sold in English, Norwegian, Spanish, and Telagu. German and Hebrew translations are yet to be printed. About the AuthorNorma Archbold, MA, former Director of Religious Education, served the Lord in Jerusalem and the West Bank where she researched and wrote The Mountains of Israel, provided free Bibles for Arabs, arranged for emergency aid to Christians, and fought for a high standard of truth in the media and for the release of new believers jailed and tortured by the PA. See all Editorial Reviews

Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:"For everyone who loves the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the events unfolding in the Middle East are important." Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more) ancient hatred, desolate land
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more) West Bank, Holy Land, Middle East, Mount Seir, Joan Peters, Promised Land, Arab Palestinians, United Nations, Arabic Islamic, State of Israel, Jordan River, New York, Golan Heights, Islamic Arabic, Soviet Union, Arab Islamic, Dead Sea, Lord God, Near East Report, Sde Boker, United Arab Republic
New! Books on Related Topics Concordance Text Stats

Browse Sample Pages:Front Cover Copyright Table of Contents Excerpt Index Back Cover Surprise Me!

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 18 books:
From Time Immemorial by Joan Peters on 10 pages
The Innocents Abroad (Dover Value Editions) by Mark Twain on page 29, and Back Matter
Arab-Israeli Wars by Chaim Herzog in Back Matter
The Historical Geography of the Holy Land by George Adam, Sir, Smith in Back Matter
The Arabs in History by Bernard Lewis in Back Matter See all 18 books this book cites

5 books cite this book:
Exodus Cry: Sounding a Prophetic Call to Strategic Prayer for Israel and the Jewish People Worldwide by Jim W. Goll in Back Matter
Christian Family Guide Explains the Middle East Conflict (Christian Family Guides) by Steven Adams in Back Matter
Zionism and the State of Israel: A Moral Inquiry by Michael Prior in Back Matter
California's Arab Americans by Janice Marschner in Back Matter
Basic Training: A Believer's Guide to Spiritual Battle by Kim Freeman in Back Matter

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
The Bible and the 'West Bank'. A priceless study !, December 1, 2002
By
M. D Roberts (Gwent, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews An excellent study in the legitimacy of Israel in Judea & Samaria, or what the world calls the 'West Bank', from a Biblical perspective.
Most readers will be familiar with the term 'West Bank' as there is rarely a day when the term is not used on one television news station or another. However, few will be aware of how the term came into being, or recognise it's historical relationship to what the Hebrew Scriptures & Christian Bible refer to as 'the mountains of Israel'.
This is a very timely & extremely important, perhaps unique, book which seeks to convey the often overlooked foundation to the increasingly significant situation in the Middle East.
The author openly states at the outset, that the authority for the disclosed contents of this work rest firmly on the Bible & that those who do not accept such a foundation for the veracity of this work will not accept the conclusions, declarations or findings so commendably outlined.
The writer reminds us that in 1948, Jordanian forces captured the historical Jewish regions of Judea and Samaria. Then, in 1950, Jordanian King Abdullah annexed the districts of Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem, although only two nations (Britain and Pakistan) recognised the move.
The writer continues to explain that, in order to reduce Jewish claims to the aforementioned areas, Jordanian King Abdullah dropped the names Judea and Samaria, announcing that the annexed land would henceforth be known as the 'West Bank of the Kingdom of Jordan', since it was located to the west bank of the Jordan River. These historical facts can be investigated by any interested party.
This book then studies in some detail, quoting a vast number of references, a considerable & significant amount of promises made to the Jewish people in the Hebrew/Christian Scriptures pertaining to the Land which has been known as the 'Mountains of Israel, Judea & Samaria and most recently in the political realms of today's international community as the 'West Bank'.
It is clearly illustrated in this work that the 'Mountains of Israel' and the 'West Bank' are identical. The 'Mountains of Israel' being the very heart of the Land promised by God to the children of Israel and their descendants. The areas of Judea and Samaria being the inheritance of the Jewish tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Joseph, and include the historical Jewish towns/cities of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Bethany, Bethel, Shilo, Shechem and Hebron, to mention but a few.
This highly recommended book should be read by everyone, every Christian, every Jew and every Arab...and every politician. To ignore this perspective on the subject is to bury one's head in the sand. All the prophetic sources quoted by the author have proved factual to date, and those still to be fulfilled are already taking shape.
This book is well documented with the provision of numerous maps showing the location of the disputed areas.
We all owe it to ourselves to be aware of the facts illustrated in this book. An excellent read which will instill a new perspective on Israeli/Jewish legitimacy in the so-called 'West Bank'....Judea & Samaria.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
The Miracle Nation, April 16, 2005
By
Joburgpete "irridium" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews This brilliant little book provides an excellent Biblical perspective to the events that have been unfolding in the Middle East, and what is to come. The author explores the striking similarity between developments there and chapters 35 and 36 of the book Ezekiel. In truth, there are remarkable correspondences and it means mostly good news for Israel. The text, illuminated by maps throughout, explains that the so-called West Bank is called the Mountains of Israel in the Bible. This land had been promised to Abraham's descendants through Jacob (Israel) from the time of Genesis. This promise is unconditional and will be fulfilled, just like the restoration of Israel has been fulfilled. In the chapter The Desolate Land, the neglected condition of the land prior to the return of large numbers of Jews is investigated, with reference to the reports of visitors like Mark Twain (Innocents Abroad) in the 1860s, W M Thompson in 1866 and Samuel Manning in 1874. It also looks at the Ottoman Turkish occupation of this land from 1516 to 1917. The chapter Promises deals with the return of Jews to Israel from the mid 19th century, the League of Nations' designation of Palestine as a homeland for the Jewish people and the return from various Arab countries, Ethiopia and Russia. Mount Seir explains the identity of the Biblical Esau and Edom and contains genealogical charts of Arab and Jewish ancestors. The rest of the nations around Israel are also discussed here. The next chapter looks at the ancient historical roots of the hatred for Israel, the creation of Transjordan in 1922 and the UN vote to create Israel in 1947. On its day of birth in 1948, six Arab states moved to destroy the infant state. The outnumbered and poorly armed Israel repulsed them, although Jordan occupied most of Judea and Samaria. It is difficult not to see this as a miracle. Again in 1967, Israel repulsed numerically superior Arab armies and finally gained control of the mountains of Israel, plus the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula. Although caught by surprise, Israel in 1973 again triumphed over its enemies in the Yom Kippur war. Only the wilfully blind will refuse to admit that some kind of intervention took place here. The chapter They Boasted Against The Lord discusses the statements of Arab leaders from the 1930s and the continued slander against Israel that is now increasing in intensity. This chapter also discusses the Palestinian refugees in a compassionate way and compares the absorption of Jewish refugees from Arab lands to the situation of Palestinian refugees today. In Balaam And The First Exodus, the author remarks that this story of Balaam and his donkey is so well known for a definite purpose, and points out how the scenario is repeating itself. The United Nations has been condemning Israel for its every move, whilst ignoring atrocities and genocide worldwide, like those in Chechnya and Sudan. Western leaders ought to take note too. It is unwise to try and force dangerous "Auschwitz" borders on Israel. The text includes Ezekiel 35 and 36, an extensive bibliography, and three indices: by year, by Biblical books and alphabetical. The maps and illustrations make the text come alive and easy to understand. This book is probably the most informative and enlightening source on the history of modern day Israel. Not only does it clear up the ignorance and dispel the myths, it also establishes an undeniable link between Biblical prophecy and ME history of the last few decades. What's more, it points toward some awesome developments that will take place in that area in coming decades, events that will have an effect on the whole world. It is becoming increasingly difficult to argue that the establishment of Israel, its victories in 1948, 1967 and 1973 and the return of its people from all corners of the globe have happened by accident. Also, the increase in Anti-Semitism and the demented hatred of Israel and the USA in certain quarters are hard to ignore. These phenomena become clear in the context of this book. For further elucidation, I refer the interested reader to the following books: Unholy Alliance by David Horowitz, Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis by Bat Ye'or, The New Anti-Semitism by Phyllis Chesler, The The Case for Israel by Alan Dershowitz, Standing With Israel by David Brog and Why Care about Israel?: How the Jewish Nation Is Key to Unleashing God's Blessings in the 21st Century by Sandra Teplinsky. The Mountains Of Israel will increase the knowledge of practicing Christians and Jews and will give open-minded secularists a lot of food for thought. May the reader be blessed with insight and understanding.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
Good primer into the Middle East situation, April 28, 2003
By
Cassie Luu (TX United States) - See all my reviewsThis book was a very basic introduction into the Arab-Israeli conflict - and therein lies its strength and weakness. The reader will have a better understanding of the root causes of the conflict, but it does leave her wanting to know more.
The story was repetitive at first, but if you can get past this, you will be amply rewarded. Ms. Archbold clearly presents her assertion - that the Jewish people have a God given right to the land of Israel that overrides anybody else's claim to it. She mainly focuses on chapters 35 (a curse AGAINST Mount Seir or the Arab peoples) and 36 (a blessing FOR the Mountains of Israel or the Jewish people) of Ezekiel to prove her point.
At first glance, the observer might accuse God of being unfair to the Arab nations. But Ms. Archbold plainly demonstrates how God has NOT been unfair to them. She points out how much land they already do have, how much natural resources (i.e. oil) they have been blessed with, and STILL they begrudge Israel and what little she has. Also, Ms. Archbold imparts how Israel has always tried to treat the Arab nations fairly (in the past and present), but these nations have mostly refused to return the same courtesy. However, she gently reminds us that it is the Arab leaderships that deserve our condemnation. The Arab people, though, need to know what we Christians already know - that God wants to extend His grace to them as well.
As other reviewers have stated, the maps were very effective in illustrating the territories in question.
All and all, a very good, lucid primer into the Middle East situation.
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Friends of Israel: A list by Joburgpete "irridium"


Good tidings to Zion: A list by Joburgpete "irridium"