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AUGUST 4, 20121

THE TRUMPET WEEKLYA U G U S T 4 , 2 0 1 2

Annihilate Israel now! 2

Europes grand bargain 5

Japan defies Americas oil embargo 7

Will the Mississippi River go dry? 8

Homeland security preparing for riots 8

Is This the Start of RadicalIslams Takeover of Ethiopia?BY BRAD MACDONALD

see ETHIOPIA page 12

I A , rumpeteditor in chie Gerald Flurrydelivered a bold orecast. Heres what he wrote: Libya

and Ethiopia are going to be closely allied with Iran! So you need to watch Libya and Ethiopia. You need tocontinue to watch or Libya and Ethiopia to make a severeand rapid turn into the radical Islamic camp.

At the time, many readers rejected this warning asabsurd. Tis is a mostbizarre article, retortedone rumpetreader romEthiopia. My country isone o the oldest and

[most] devout OrthodoxChristian nations on theplanet (since third century)and a staunch ally o theUnited States. . [Tat]doesnt sound like a nationdoing Irans bidding.

Hes right too, at least inhis acts.

On May , , whenMr. Flurry published AnIslamic akeover o Libyaand Ethiopia, he again

inspired disbelie. I dontthink this is a sensible

prophecy,wrote one readerrom Ethiopia, especiallywhen it comes to the situa-tion o Ethiopia. Please,try to study what exactly the situation is in Ethiopia. Hesright too,actually.

Teres a larger lesson here, which well get back to later.But or now, lets ollow this readers advice and study thesituation in Ethiopia at the start o August , more than months afer Mr. Flurry first delivered his absurd orecast.

Last week, the Washington imespublished an articleheadlined Muslim Protests Raise Fears o Radical Islamin Ethiopia. According to the imes,Clashes betweenIslamic protesters and riot police over the weekend inE have raised ears that Muslims are becomingincreasingly radical in a predominantly Christian countrythat has been a key U.S. ally in combating terrorism in the

Horn o Arica.wo days later, a head-

line in the Christian Sci-ence Monitorasked, WillEthiopian Crackdown Stir

Islamist Backlash? TeMonitorwarned that thethe act o civil disobedi-ence rom Muslims, whoconstitute at least one thirdo the population, is a raresign o instability in a coun-try seen by U.S. policymak-ers as a bulwark againstradical Islam in the volatileHorn o Arica region.

In recent months, therehas been a measurable in-

crease in tension, instabil-ity and violence in Ethiopiabetween the governmentand elements o the Muslimpopulation. On July ,

violence broke out betweenthe two in the nations capital afer Muslims at the AwaliaMosque compound reused to heed warnings to rerainrom conducting a charity event while Arican heads ostate were in town or an Arican Union summit.

A week later, tensions ignited again when Muslimprotesters blocked police rom

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AUGUST 4, 20122THE TRUMPET WEEKLY

MIDDLE EAST

use warplanes and artillery to poundrebel fighters there.

TW I N B R I E F

n Annan quits as syria envoyOn August , UN secretary-generalKofi Annan resigned as the top inter-national mediator in the Syria crisis.In a parting shot, the Nobel PeacePrize winner wrote that the interna-tional community had proved strik-ingly powerless to stop the violence.

Annan described the Syria situation asmission impossible. Te ailure o theUnited Nations to provide a resolu-tion or the fighting in Syria shows theimpotence and growing irrelevance othe agency. It also shows the impos-sibility o bringing peace when peaceis not wanted.

n Hezbollah releases footage of2006 abductionSix years ago, Hezbollah guerrillas

Syrian GeneralDefects to TurkeyDAILY NEWS | August 3

A , Syrians, including adeecting brigadier-general, havefled to urkey in the past hours toescape intensiying violence in theircountry, a urkish official said onFriday.

Te latest group brought the num-ber o Syrian reugees in urkey to

,, up rom , at the end oJuly, said the official, who asked not tobe named. At least military gener-als are among those who have takenreuge in urkey.

Opposition sources say at least, people have been killed sincethe revolt against President Basharal-Assad began in March . urkishofficials are concerned about a pos-sible flood o reugees rom Syrias big-gest city o Aleppo as Assads orces

Y, I President Mah-moud Ahmadinejad said the goal othe international community shouldbe to annihilateIsrael. Addressing acrowd o ambassadors rom Islamiccountries gathered to celebrate Iransupcoming annual anti-Semitic Jerusa-lem Day, he said, Anyone who lovesreedom and justice must strive or the annihilation o theZionist regime in order to pave the way or world justiceand reedom. Wiping Israel off the map and liberating Pal-estine, he proclaimed, would solve all the worlds problems.

Te idea that Israel is the problem and that a Middle Eastwithout Jews would solve everything is shockingly not lim-ited to crazed Islamic dictators. Hatred toward Jews, though

ofen presented in a ar subtler ashion, is nevertheless gain-ing alarming ground within the international community.

Tis summer marks the th anniversary o the Mu-nich Massacre,a tragedy not just or Israel but also orthe Olympic Games. But the International Olympic Com-mittee () reused to even allow one minute o silenceduring Londons opening night ceremony to honor the Israeli victims who were slaughtered by Palestinians at theMunich Games.

In Washington, White House Press Secretary Jay Carneyrecently avoided the subject o Jerusalem being the capital o

Israel like it was a contagious disease. Tere are plenty o in-ternational bodies and news agencies that are quite happy torecognize Jerusalem as the capital o auturePalestinian state.Te even declares EastJerusalem as the capital o Pales-tine ! Yet the United States cant even acknowledge

publicly that the west side o the city is Israels capital.Where is this Jew-hating spirit coming rom?Tis spirit o wanting to rid this world o an entire race

o people comes straight rom the devil. Satan has anintense hatred or all mankind and a special hatred or thebiblical nation o Judah. Te truly awesomepurpose Godhas or the Jewsand the rest o Israel toois somethingthe god o this world absolutely hates.

God is not a respecter o personsHe doesnt view Israelas a people betterthan others. Actually, rom the beginningGod called Israel out to be a model nationa job it ailed todo. oday, He has chosen His Church to ulfill the same role.Te Church today, which is comprised o members o everyrace, is defined as spiritualIsrael in the Bible. Tis is the true,yet astonishing, reason behind the intense hate or Israel to-day. For much more on this subject, requestour ree bookletTe Key o David. Follow Stephen Flurry: Twitter

The Root Cause of Anti-Semitism

STEPHEN FLURRY

crossed into Israel rom Lebanon andambushed two armored Humvees onpatrol in northern Israel, killing eight soldiers and taking two othershostage. Te cross-border raid endedup triggering the Second Lebanon War.Tis week, Hezbollah released ama-teur video ootage o the attack. Withnorthern Israel relatively quiet overthe past six years, why did Hezbollahdecide to release the video now? OnJuly , the Independento Londonmade a ew interesting observations:

Analysts in Israel and Lebanon sug-gested the timing o the video releasehad less to do with heightened tensionsbetween the Shia Muslim guerrillagroup and Israel than with the over-shadowing o Lebanese domestic poli-tics by the Syrian civi l war. Hezbollahhas come under increasing pressureahead o Lebanese elections scheduledor next summer rom anti-Syria poli-ticians denouncing the groups broadsupport orand partial dependence
https://www.thetrumpet.com/?page=book&b=1368https://twitter.com/StephenFlurryhttps://twitter.com/StephenFlurryhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/?page=book&b=1368

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onthe Syrian regime during its vio-lent suppression o the -month upris-ing. Rather than showing Hezbollahsstrength, this video and the timing oits release is another sign o Hezbol-

lahs desperate position with Bashar alAssads regime in danger o collapsingin Syria. Hezbollah knows that i Syriabreaks its alliance with Iran, Lebanonmay well ollow. And i that happens,Hezbollah will be lef on the outsidelooking in.

n Sunni powers getting draggedinto Syrian conflictTe Syrian government leveled somerare public criticism against Sunnipowers in the Middle East last Sunday.

Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallemaccused Saudi Arabia, Qatar andurkey o trying to destroy Syria. Healso said those countries were support-ing an Israeli plot to overthrow SyrianPresident Bashar al-Assad. Moallemsallegations came while he was on a

visit to Iran. Meanwhile, urkey is tak-ing steps to secure its interests alongits border with northern Syria. Lastweek, urkish Prime Minister Recepayyip Erdoan raised his concern

that the conflict in Syria was allowinga Kurdish authority to be created inthe northern part o the country. Sucha situation would create a sanctu-ary or urkeys Kurdish separatists,

who already use northern Iraq as aspringboard or attacks against urkey.Erdoan did not speciy what actionshis nation may take, but urkey hasnow deployed a military convoy alongits volatile border, indicating that it isready to back up its interests with orcei necessary. urkey must now be cau-tious in its support or Syrian rebels soas not to give Kurds more reasons andmore leverage to separate rom urkey.Te conflict in Syria is creating sparksall around the Middle East powder keg.

n Clinton hopeful that EgyptsIslamists will represent ChristiansU.S. Secretary o State Hillary Clin-ton said on Monday that Americasrelationship with Egypt will largelydepend on how the new Egyptian gov-ernment respects the rights o CopticChristians, women and other minori-ties. Mrs. Clintons statement indicat-ed that the Obama administration hadnot entirely decided what its uture

relationship with Egyptian PresidentMohammed Morsi and the MuslimBrotherhood would be. We are goingto judge by actions, not words, andthe actions are really just at the very

beginning stages, Mrs. Clinton said.Clinton praised Morsi or saying hewould be the president o all Egyp-tians, and also emphasized his pledgeto include Christians and women intop leadership positions. We are pre-pared to work with the leaders that theEgyptian people choose, Mrs. Clintonsaid. But when Morsi was campaign-ing or the presidency, he delivereda fiery speech that may be a moreaccurate reflection o what the uturewill be like or Egypts minorities.

Jihad is our path, Morsi said, addingthat death or the sake o Allah is ourmost lofy aspiration, the sharia is ourconstitution. He also promised tolimit the rights o women and reverseEgypts previously riendly stancetoward the U.S. and Israel.

n American-Pakistani tiesunravelingTe political relationship betweenPakistan and America has been

S A King Abdullah called or an extraordi-nary meeting o Muslim leaders to be held August -,the countrys state news agency reported July . SaudiArabia is the head o the Organization o Islamic Coopera-

tion, a -strong grouping o Islamic nations that has met times since its oundation in . Tis months meetingwill be its ourth extraordinary summit.

King Abdullah called the meeting to examine thesituation in many countries o the Islamic world, intensiyefforts to conront this situation, address the sources odiscord and division therein, reuniy the Islamic Ummah[community] and promote Islamic solidarity.

Te call or the meeting came as the violence in Syriaheats up and the Alawite regime looks increasingly rag-ile.

United States-based intelligence company Strator wroteJune that Saudi Arabia may be using the emergency

summit to help position itsel as a leader in the Muslimworld, while casting Iran as a sectarian player.

It now sees a historic opportunity to seize the leadershipo the Arab Middle East and to curtail Iranian influence inthe region, it continues.

Watch or Saudi Arabia to build a coalition o MiddleEastern nations opposed to Iran.

But also watch Iran. I, or rather when, Irans influenceover Syria is pushed backas Bible prophecy says it will

beit will be under pressure to prove that its influence isntretreating. Watch or Iran to redouble its efforts to reachout to Egypt and Libya, as it shows that it is still a nationwith a wide reach and worth earing.

Right now, the Middle East is going through a key pe-riod o change. At the end, almost all the nations will be inone o two camps. One will be a radical Islamic camp ledby Iran, which will include Iraq, Egypt, Libya and Ethiopia.Te other will be an anti-Iranian coalition, with urkeyand Saudi Arabia as the major players, but also includingother Gul states and Syria. Tis coalition will align itselwith Germany as Europe becomes wary o Irans growinginfluence. Already, Germany, alongside the U.S., is arming

members o this group to counterbalance Iran.Tis is what Saudi Arabias machinations with an

emergency summit are all about. Amid the turmoil in theMiddle East this summer, watch or these two key alliancesto emerge.

Saudi Arabia Calls Extraordinary MeetingTHETRUMPET.COM | August 2

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Draghi Stages ADramatic Power-PlayBUSINESS INSIDER | August 3

A o tangible action romEuropean Central Bank PresidentMario Draghi yesterday sent marketshurtling downward. oday, however,theyve rebounded afer some analystsrealized there was an upside to theremarks.

Te importance o Draghis com-ments may not have been what he said,but how he said it.

Draghi set orth criteria that EUpolitical leaders must abide by in orderto receive monetary policy assistance,

while at the same time promisingthat EU countries like Spain and Italywont ail in the short term.

In other words, he sent the ollow-ing message: I you do that, then Iwill do this.

Tis is a divergence rom earlierpolicy, which was unpredictable andreactive.

Now Draghi is clearly spellingout his demands and the rewards,somewhat tyrannically orcing EU

leaders to move orward.Tis diminishes some uncertainty

in the real economy. Te will

purchase shorter-term debt and at-tempt to push down the ront end othe yield curve. EU leaders will resolveconcerns about official sector creditorsas de acto senior bondholders andthey will start using the European bail-out unds to purchase sovereign bonds.

Not to mention that the centralbank has also confirmed it will makereducing sovereign borrowing costs (atleast at the short end) a matter o clearpolicy.

EUROPE

strained or the past several years,especially since the resignation oormer President Pervez Musharra.Te New York imesreported onMonday that American-Pakistanirelations still have a tinderbox qual-ity, [driven] by differences over drone strikes in Pakistans tribal belt,

the Aghan war and, most conten-tiously, the Haqqani networka

terrorist group affiliated with thealiban and headquartered in Paki-stan. Te relationship between theU.S. and Pakistan is worse now than itwas during Musharra s reign. Be-ore his resignation, Musharra wasa lukewarm ally o the U.S.but anally nonetheless. However, with pres-

sure rom influential politicians, theU.S. gave Musharra an impossible

ultimatum, which led to his resigna-tion. February saw elections givepower to a new coalition government.But the power is ragile at best. Vastterritories, especially in northwestPakistan, host breeding grounds ora ew very influential radical Islamicgroups, like al Qaeda and the aliban,

and there are ethnic and tribal differ-ences throughout the country.

M D is waging subtlewarare on the euro crisis, havingmajor global players o financial andstock markets hanging on his everypublic statement.

A week ago, extremely nervousglobal markets were either stagnant orin ree all as players took an increas-ingly jaundiced view o the ailure oEurope to effectively contend with its ongoing, worseningfinancial crisis.

In the middle o that week, Ben Stein summed up themood thus: [W]ent to sleep with oreboding. Europe isalling apart . A cratered Europe will have immense e-

ects on the world economy (American Spectator,July ).He expressed concern about what, i anything, Washingtoncould do in terms o its clueless international economicpolicy i we go into another leg o recession as demand orU.S. exports to Europe corrects.

Ten, at a press conerence July , Mario Draghi simplysought to turn the tide with a war o words. Te mediacarried the story o Draghi publicly and very confidently

declaring that the is ready to do whatever it takesto save the euro. Tis statement was seized upon by

the European press, which quickly spread their viewthatDraghi had sent a positive signal to the markets(Presseurop, July ).

Te Italian daily Corriere della Seraopined, Draghigives his assurances that the will save the euro .With his words, Draghi has neither printed money nor cre-ated liquidity, but has reassured the markets and is offeringsomething that is much rarer these days: confidence.

All eyes were then on Super Mario Tursday, August, when he issued a urther statement ollowing the governing council meeting in Frankurt. Once again, noaction rom the , only Draghis words that led to a mar-

ket spike on Friday.Te act that just by making public statements, Mariothe war dragon Draghi is able to have such powerul e-ect on the global economy highlights the power that thiscentral banker has. Its a power that will soon morph rommere words impacting the global economy, into the realaction o the ulfillment o the prophecies contained inRevelation :-. Follow Ron Fraser: Twitter

Mario Draghis War of Words

RON FRASER
https://twitter.com/RonFraser2https://twitter.com/RonFraser2

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Draghi is essentially holding a

bullet to the heads o country lead-ers, explicitly reusing to do anythingbeyond preserve the situation until EUleaders earn the long-term reward.

Tese latest moves show thatDraghi has European leaders over abarrel. Te has typically beenmore proactive than EU leadership,and this amounts to little less than apower play.

Tats not to say that these latest an-nouncements will necessarily be goodor financial markets. Draghis plan

confirms that he will push EU leadersto the brink beore he does anything,and such pressure typically leads tolosses in equities.

However, in the real economy,Draghis promises to act are invalu-able. Such clarity could give inves-tors aith enough to invest in the realeconomy, despite continued volatilityin the markets.

Tis tyrannical butor nowpositive structure does have one atal

flaw, however. Should Draghi under-

estimate market angst and shouldEU leaders ail to deliver appropriatereorms in time, the chie willhave to wage a speedy retreat to savethe financial system even without hisdemands ulfilled.

Tus, theres chance that EU leaderscould call Draghis bluff.

Losing Leverage OverGermanyZEROHEDGE | August 1

W awaits Germanysbowing to European pressure toshare in the supposed wealth, the sadtruth is that the clear line betweencore and peripheral economies isblurring every day as the lead-bootso Portugal, Spain, and Greece, drag

until-recently high-fliers Germanyand France down to the bottom.Te release this week o European

Manuacturing Confidence data

shows that all the nations are nowcontracting as core converges to periphery in a vicious circle. Tisis critical as suddenly the clock or aeuro break-up is speeding up: Everyday that Germany delays to interveneand bail out the , the implied-leverage declines as Germanyis being dragged to their levelandthus unable let alone unwilling toshare some burden.

Spain Arrestsal Qaeda AttackersTELEGRAPH | August 2

T linked to al Qaedahave been arrested in the south oSpain, one in possession o explosivesthey planned to use in attacks in eitherthe Iberian country or other Europeannations, Interior Minister Jorge Fer-nandez Diaz said on Tursday.

W used to periodic crises that somehow resolvethemselves. Tis crisis is different. All the choices areugly, but the least ugly or Europe, and or Germany inparticular, is to save the euro.

I do not envy the current European leaders their task.Over the past years, Europe has developed into the largestpolitical union and biggest economic market the world hasseen. o keep it is a huge responsi-bility. So I write with deep humil-ity and respect or those called onto discharge that responsibility.

Tis crisis is existential or Eu-rope. Te design flaw o the eurois now maniest.

For Germany the dilemma isacute. o lose the euro now wouldbe a disaster: economically, not

just politically. On the other hand,to save monetary union, Ger-many is being asked to und thebailouts, inflate its economy, and stand behind the debtso the countries that have not undertaken the necessaryreorms. Unsurprisingly, the German people are reluctantto do this.

What Europe now needs is a Grand Bargain, in which allthe decisions necessary to put the euro on a sound ooting

are taken. Germany has to agree to some orm o debtmutualizationor example, as suggested by the GermanCouncil o Economic Expertswhile simultaneously sig-naling and then implementing fiscal stimulus.

Debtor nations have to agree to reorm and do sothrough precise, credible, and timetabled programs. Aproperthough potentially painulplan to clean up bank

balance sheets has to be commu-nicated to the markets, along withcertainty around the long-termchanges to banking and fiscalpolicy. Tere will be inevitabledemands or reorm o Europesinstitutions on the back o thesechanges and a clear process oragreeing to those reorms shouldbe set out.

Te best thing now is to orceeveryone to makethe big deci-sions and make them together.

We need policies or growth, reorm, and unity.For this generation o leaders, we are used to periodic

crises that somehow resolve themselves. Tis crisis is differ-ent. It is a new experience or us, with the s the near-est parallel. All the choices are ugly, but the least ugly orEurope, and or Germany in particular, is to save the euro.

Europe Needs a Grand BargainTony Blair, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR | August 2

Whether Europes strong man will be a presi-

dent, a king or a fhrer, only time will tell. But

neither the Germans nor Europe will wait for-

ever. Soon now, the German massesand all

Europewill again be swept off their feet and

enticed to loyally follow a man of the hour into

a new, glorious golden age. And, though it may

seem unbelievable, he will lead them on a quest

for global dominationso says your Bible!

TRUMPET,DECEMBER 2001

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He said police arrested on Wednes-day two al Qaeda members rom ex-Soviet republics close to Ciudad Realwho were likely heading to France,and a urkish man near Cadiz whosehouse was searched and where explo-sives were ound.

Te minister said one o the two

arrested near Ciudad Real was a senioral Qaeda operative who had extensiveexperience in bomb-making.

It is one o the most importantoperations against al Qaeda to dateto be carried out on an internationallevel, he said.

Tere are clear indications thatthe suspects arrested could have beenplanning an attack in Spain and/orother European countries, the minis-ter told a news conerence.

He said the operation was conduct-

ed with the help o other internationalpolice orces, and that the explosivematerial was being analyzed. No de-tails were given on how much materialwas ound, though the minister said itwas enough to blow up a bus.

The Day AfterGERMAN-FOREIGN-POLICY.COM | July 30

G

-U.S. or Syrias

transormation along the lines othe Western model are already meet-ing resistance, even beore the possibleoverthrow o the Assad regime. Formonths, German government advisersrom the German Institute or Inter-national and Security Affairs ()have been working on measures to beimmediately implemented ollowingan overthrow o the government inDamascus.

Tese plans are being orged inthe German capital in collaboration

with the state-financed United StatesInstitute or Peace () and about Syrian opponents, with the objectiveo installing a pro-Western regimein Damascus as soon as possible.Inside Syria, however, it is becom-ing more and more apparent thatinfluential insurgent militias will notsubmit to the West and will insist ontheir independence, according to astudy, ocused on the example o onemilitary rebel unit near Aleppo. Te

Islamist-oriented orces among themilitias would have to be given moreinfluence in Syrias transormation.An enhanced role o Islamist orces inSyria is also among the plans devel-oped by and in Berlin, which,i successul, could end Syrias alliancewith Iran or the oreseeable uture,

urther isolating eheran.

TW I N B R I E F

n Germany may sell 200 tanks toQatarQatar has announced its interestedin buying up to Leopard tanksrom Germany in a deal potentiallyworth . billion, SpiegelreportedJuly . Te deal is part o the MerkelDoctrine o using weapons sales tocreate alliances and influence oreign

policy. Merkel has been making quietchanges to Berlins armsexports policy, Spie-

gelwrites. Instead ointervening in conflicts,she wants to help armcertain countries toprovide stability in cri-sis regions. Tis MerkelDoctrine has alteredcentral premises oGermanys oreign and

security policies, con-tinues Spiegel,warningthat Merkel has neverhad to give account to Germanyspublic or this change. Te Qatar dealis yet to be approved by GermanysFederal Security Council, but Spiegelreports there are indications thatMerkel and the Economics Ministrywill support it. As Spiegelpoints out,Germany has been using its armsexports to countries in the MiddleEast to build an alliance to coun-

ter Iran. Tis quiet but vital shif inGerman oreign policy is somethingthe rumpethas been orecasting oryearsan alliance between Germanyand several Middle Eastern nations,including Syria.

n Germany shows who runs theeurozone, againLast week, head o the European Cen-tral Bank () Mario Draghi boostedthe markets confidence in Spain, Italy

and the euro by promising that the would do what it took to save theeuro. Stock markets soared, the eurogrew strong and the interest rate Spainhad to pay on its debt ell. At an meeting August , Draghi announcedhow the would ollow up on thosepromising wordsthat it planned to

do nothing. Stock markets plungedeven while he was still speaking.Spains stock market index, the Ibex,sank percent. Italys Mib indexsank . percent. Te interest rate onSpanish -year bonds returned to the percent danger zone. Why? Germanydidnt like what Draghi announcedlast week. Bowing to German pressure,it is clear the will not give mate-rial help to Spain unless it submits toa ormal bailoutwith all the condi-tions that come with it. Once again,

Germany has got its way.

n European bank watchdog couldbe able to shut down banksTe new European Central Bank ()watchdog could have the power toorder banks and lenders to close down,Reutersnews agency reported August ,citing anonymous official and poli-cymakers. Speaking on condition oanonymity, they said the latest plans

envisage giving the eurozones centralbank the remit to police ar more than

just the currency areas top banks,as originally expected, Reuterssays. Itreports that the watchdog will be ableto overrule national lenders and inter-

vene in a smaller bank, i it believes itis necessary. Te plan or the watchdogwill be finalised in the next ew weeksand announced in September. Watchor the to be given a lot o powerover the eurozones banks.

A Leopard 2 heavy tank participates

in a military exercise in Letzlingen, Germany.

GETTY IMAGES

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Taiwan Flooded With5 Feet of RainASSOCIATED PRESS | August 2

A storm inched acrossnorthern aiwan on Tursday aferalready dumping up to five eet o rainthat has flooded armland, swollen

rivers and paralyzed lie on much othe densely populated island o mil-lion people.

Saola weakened rom a typhoonto a tropical storm by late afernoon,but its slow movement and continu-ing heavy rains raised the prospect odevastating flooding in areas that haveabsorbed more than centimeters( inches) o rain since uesday.

It has caused five deaths and leftwo people missing in aiwan aferkilling people in the Philippines.

In the day in the northeasterncounty o Ilan, rescuers used rubberboats and amphibious vehicles to helphundreds escape flooded homes.

Dozens o flights were canceled ataipeis main international airport,where heavy winds destroyed twojetways, and rail transport throughoutthe island was disrupted. All sevenmajor reservoirs in aiwan releasedlarge quantities o water to preventflooding.

TW I N B R I E F

n Russia returns to Cam Ranh BayAt the end o July, Vietnam agreed toallow Russia to have the Cam Ranh Bayas a material and technical support base,and it said that it will boost military co-operation with Moscow. Because o theCam Ranh Bays strategic position andits historic role in the rictions between

the U.S. and Russia, the statement at-tracted attention and concern. Underthe rule o Vladimir Putin, Moscow hasbegun to re-expand its global militarypresence, and retaking the Vietnamesebase represents a significant boost to itsinfluence in Southeast Asia.

n Tokyo calls for Chinese militarytransparencyJapan published its annual DeenseWhite Paper on uesday, arguing thatChinas military and navy procedures

should be more transparent. okyosworry stems rom the act that it seesheaps o money being pumped intoChinas budget under the large and

vague header o military expens-es. Among Japans specific concernsis a large-scale naval base with tunnelsor nuclear submarines reportedly be-ing built in the city o Sanya, a locationwith access to the Pacific Ocean andthe South China Sea. Japans reportcalled the lack o transparency in

RAVEENDRAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGESASIA

T data released by the Japanese Ministry o

Finance showed that the major Asian economys crudeimports rom Iran in June rose by . percent compared tothe month o May, Reuters reported on Monday. Customs-cleared imports rom Iran increased to , barrels perday in June, compared to , barrels per day in theprevious month.

Japan needs to buy more oil rom suppliers to generateelectricity afer most o its reactors were shut ollowing theafereffects o an earthquake and tsunami last year.

Japanese industry and government sources announcedon July that the worlds third-largest economy loaded itsfirst domestically-guaranteed shipment o Iranian crude oilafer the U.S.-engineered European Union (EU) oil embargo

against ehran went into effect at the start o this month.

Te Japanese government inked deals with two domes-tic shipping companies to provide insurance cover or thecountrys two supertankers, which are to transer a total o million barrels o Iranian crude by the end o July.

On June , in a move to counter the U.S.-engineeredEU bans against Iran, Japans parliament endorsed a billto provide . billion in guarantees to ship owners thattranser Iranian crude oil.

Japan, which imported percent o its oil rom Iran in, reused to cease the purchase o the Islamic Republicscrude over concerns regarding the likelihood o a surge inthe imported oil prices and its subsequent negative effectson Japans economic development.

Japans Oil Imports From Iran JumpREUTERS | July 30

Chinas military and naval expansion amatter o concern or the internationalcommunity. Tere are incidents thatincite concerns over Chinas militarydecision making and actions, thepaper says. okyos paper also quotesrom aiwans Deense Reportsaying that although cross-Strait talkshave eased relations, Chinas objec-

tive to uniy aiwan has not changed.As the military strength o the twosides o the aiwan Strait become evenmore imbalanced, we are bound toace growingly severe military threats.Expect Chinas military to continue toworry its Asian neighbors, which willspawn a region-wide arms increase.

n India powered upTis week, India suffered the worldsbiggest ever power outage which lef million people in the dark. Te

proximate cause o the outage wasrecord electricity demand due to thehigh temperatures and a growingeconomy. However, the greater causeis corruption. Electricity thef is anendemic problem that discouragesinrastructure development and invest-ment in the energy sector. As long as somany people are stealing power, moneyneeded to upgrade and maintain thegrid will be in short supplyand prob-lems like this will go unresolved.

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San Bernardino Filesfor BankruptcyREUTERS | August 2

S B filed or bank-ruptcy protection on Wednesdayciting more than billion o debtsand making it the third Caliornian

city to seek protection rom creditors.Te city o about , residents

miles east o Los Angeles declareda fiscal crisis last month afer a reportsaid local government had tapped outits reserves and projected spendingwould top revenue by million inthe fiscal year that began on July .

Te filing, made in the UnitedStates Bankruptcy Court, CentralCaliornia District, states that the cityhas more than billion in liabilities,

and estimated that it has between, and , creditors.

It also states that San Bernardinohas estimated assets o more than billion.

San Bernardinos city council votedon July to adopt an emergencythree-month fiscal plan that wouldsuspend debt payments, reeze vacant

jobs and quit paying into a retireehealth und while city staff produce amore detailed bankruptcy plan.

In the past two months, the cities oStockton and Mammoth Lakes havealso filed or Chapter bankruptcyprotection, a special bankruptcy pro-

vision or municipalities.Stockton, which like San Ber-

nardino has suffered rom the hous-ing crash that was particularly acutein Southern Caliornia, filed or

bankruptcy in June, becoming thelargest U.S. city to do so.

Other cities in Caliornia are alsoin deep fiscal trouble and more couldfile or bankruptcy.

DHS Gears Up for

Civil UnrestRUSSIA TODAY | July 28

T D o HomelandSecurity has ordered masses oriot gear equipment to prepare orpotential significant domestic riots atthe Republican National Convention,Democratic National Convention andnext years presidential inauguration.

Te submitted a rushedsolicitation to the Federal Business

RAVEENDRAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGESANGLO-AMERICA

F who make their living along the Mississippi

River, helping ship many o the countrys most vitalcommodities, this years drought has inevitably raised thespecter o . Tats when the river got so low that bargetraffic came to a standstilland the industry lost billion.Unortunately, could be worse.

Along the , miles o the Mississippi, Americasmost important waterway, signs o the countrys worstdrought in years can be ound at almost any point. NearMemphis, the river is about eet below its normal depth,according to the National Weather Service. In Vicksburg,Miss., its more than eet below. Overall, the river isabout eet below normal or this time o yearthats eet below last years flood levels.

Tose levels have orced barge, tugboat and towboat op-erators to drastically change how they move goods up anddown the river. And as the river dries up, it gets narrowerand shallower. Te narrowness orces barges to sail moreclosely past each other, ofen slowing their speeds. Somesections have become so narrow that only one-way traffichas been able to move through.

At the same time, the shallowness o the Mississippi hasorced shippers to load less cargo onto barges because oears theyll run aground. Te Army Corps o Engineers istasked with making sure that the channel is at least eetdeep so ships can saely pass.

Te benchmark year that everyone in the industry istalking about is , when a drought brought hundreds o

barges to a standstill and caused about billion in losses. Iremember there were times when it was a dead stop, saysMerritt Lane, and president o Canal Barge Co. Some

areas became so shallow that they werent economically

passable. You could move so little cargo, you just cant go.Muench also cites as the only time in recent memo-

ry that could compare with this summer. For the last twoor three weeks, the phrase I keep hearing is, Close to .Worse than . Same as , she says. Te estimatewas that the industry lost over billion. And that doesntinclude any o the ripple effects. Teres a real possibilitythat itll be worse this year.

Some estimate that closing the river to traffic could leadto losses o about million a day, which would thengrow exponentially afer a ew days.

Te billion barge, tugboat and towboat industrytransports just about anything you can think o that comes

in bulk: petroleum, grain, ertilizer, sand, gravel, mulch,steel. Te building blocks o the nation are on our barges,says Muench. About percent o the countrys grainexports and one fifh o its coal is transported along the na-tions inland waterway system, according to the .

Te economic costs that come rom shipping delays andlighter loads could eventually trickle down to consumers.Te estimates that transporting goods via waterwayscosts a ton less than by rail or truck. I those productsare moved to other modes o transportation, the costs orconsumers will likely rise.

Te mighty Mississippilong the countrys most power-

ul economic waterwaymay take a while to regain itsstrength.

The Not-So-Mighty MississippiTIME | July 30

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Opportunities site on Wednesday,

which is a portal or ederal govern-ment procurement requisitions over,. Te request gave the poten-tial suppliers only one day to submittheir proposals and a -day deliveryrequirement to Alexandria, Virginia.

As the brie explains, []he objec-tive o this effort is to procure riot gearto prepare or the Democratic andRepublican National Conventions, the Presidential Inauguration andother uture similar activities.

Te total amount ordered is about

sets o riot helmets, thigh andgroin protectors, hard-shell shinguards and other riot gear.

Te urgency o the order can beexplained by the act that there is agrowing anticipation that many dem-onstrators will travel to the RepublicanNational Convention (), scheduledor August - in ampa Bay, Flori-da, and Democratic National Conven-tion (), planned or September -in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Te itsel, or example, will have

ree speech zones, which will serve ascontainment quarters or the protest-ers by not allowing them to leave thedesignated areas and cause trouble.

Another recent move to gearup was back in March o this year,when it gave the deense contractor a deal to provide the with million . caliber hollow-point am-munition over a five-year period.

On top o that, the has re-cently purchased a number o bullet-proo checkpoint booths and hired

hundreds o new security guards toprotect government buildings.

Half of Counties NowConsidered Disasters

ASSOCIATED PRESS | August 1

N counties in a dozendrought-stricken states wereadded Wednesday to the U.S.

governments list o natural disaster

areas as the nations agriculture chieunveiled new help or rustrated, cash-strapped armers and ranchers grap-pling with extreme dryness and heat.

Te U.S. Department o Agricul-tures addition o the countiesmeans that more than hal o all U.S.counties, in stateshave beendesignated primary disaster areas thisgrowing season, the vast majority othem mired in a drought thats consid-ered the worst in decades.

o help ease the burden on the

nations arms, Agriculture Secretaryom Vilsack on Tursday opened up. million acres o conservation landor ranchers to use or haying andgrazing.

As o this week, nearly hal o thenations corn crop was rated poor to

very poor, according to the s Na-tional Agricultural Statistics Service.About percent o the U.S. soybeanswere lumped into that category, whilenearly three quarters o U.S. cattle

I M, President Obama hostedleaders rom around the world inhis hometown o Chicago. It was thefirst time any American city otherthan Washington had hosted a

summit. It was a chance or the city toshowcase itsel to the world.

But does America really want toshow the world what Chicago has tooffer?

It is tragically ironic that the Chicago Summitemphasized the need or Aghanistan to build a sustain-able, credible and accountable civilian police orce capableo enorcing domestic security. It is ironic because these arethe very things that Chicago has been unable to provide itsown citizens.

On July , Mayor Emanuel embarrassingly pleaded withgangs to take their fights away rom children. Weve got

two gang-bangers, one standing next to a kid. Get awayrom that kid. ake your stuff away to the alley. Dont touchthe children o the city o Chicago. Dont get near them.

Dont come near the kidsdont touch them, said theormer Obama chie o staff.

But the gangs dont care. Te children continue to die.Tere is a rayvon Martin in Chicago almost every dayonly here it is black-on-black crime.

Te more amous or horrendous deaths make the news,

but the shootings and knifings that dont end up killinganyone have lost their shock value.

Police say there are , gang members in the city.Te police are outnumbered. And ofen outgunned. Somepeople describe the gangs as private armies.

It resembles a war zone, says Sergeant Little. It is tribalwarare. Little, who is a decorated veteran o Iraq and

Aghanistan, says certain neighborhoods o Chicago arecomparable to what he saw in combat.

But in some ways Chicago is actually worse than A-ghanistan.

Seven months into and people have beenmurdered in Chicago. Meanwhile, in Aghanistan, wherean actual declared war is ongoing, a comparatively meager have been killed. Since the war in Aghanistan began in, around , U.S. soldiers have lost their lives fight-ing or America. During that same span o time, there havebeen over , homicides in Chicago.

Tat is absolutely tragic. And condemning.People lament and whine about the high cost in Ameri-

can lives in Aghanistan and Iraq. But more people died onthe streets o just one U.S. city during that time period thandied in combat in both wars combined.

A recent News study ound that Chicago is one o thedeadliest cities in the world. Among alpha cities, it now hasmore murders per capita than Mexico City and So Paulo.

Tis is the city America showcased to the world or asummit about peace and security.

Follow Robert Morley: Twitter

The Chicago Facade

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acreage is in drought-affected areas,the survey showed.

Tursdays expansion o ederalrelie was welcomed in rain-starved

states like Illinois, where the saddition o counties leaves justour o the states countiesCook,DuPage, Kane and Will, all in theChicago areawithout the naturaldisaster classification.

Te Illinois State Water Survey saidthe state has averaged just . inchesrom January to June , the sixth-driest first hal o a year on record.Compounding matters is that Illinoishas seen above-normal temperatures

each month, with the statewide averageo . degrees over the first six monthslogged as the warmest on record.

TW I N B R I E F

n U.S. poverty level expected toreach new high:Te ranks o Americas poor are ontrack to climb to levels not seen in years, reports the Associated Press.Essentially all improvements againstpoverty since the s will be lost. TeCensus figures or will be re-leased in the all, just weeks beore theNovember elections. Afer surveying

economists, think tanks and academics,there was a broad consensus o opinionthat the poverty rate will rise rom the figure o . percent to . percent.

Even though some o those surveyedexpected a more modest gain, evena . percentage point increase putspoverty at the highest level since .Included in the number are underem-ployed workers, suburban amilies and,o course, the poorest poor. Tere isalso a new poorall those discouragedworkers giving up on the job marketand hoping their unemployment bene-fits dont run out. Suburban America isseeing increases in poverty. Te ailed

A brouhaha has de-veloped over an innocuous articlein the Baptist Presstwo weeks ago: aeature on the president o Chick-fil-Ashowing how he lets his aith guide his

business decisions. Te article men-tioned opposition the company hasaced or its support o traditional am-ily. Well, guilty as charged, Dan Cathy responded. We are

very much supportive o the amilythe biblical definitiono the amily unit. We know that it might not be popularwith everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country wherewe can share our values and operate on biblical principles.

For those statements,Mr. Cathy was absolutely pilloried.Te mayor o Boston threatened to deny Chick-fil-A

licenses to operate in his city. A Chicago alderman an-nounced he would block the company rom opening anew store in his ward. Chicagos mayor agreed, saying,

Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago values. A Philadelphiacouncilman sent a letter to Dan Cathy telling his companyto take a hike and take your intolerance with you. A NewYork councilman threatened to withhold a business permituntil Chick-fil-A broke ties with groups that oppose same-sex marriage. Celebrities issued public condemnations.Protesters stood outside stores urging customers to boycott.

Here are our lessons to take rom this appalling, embar-rassing story.

) Behold the liberal definition o tolerance.Chick-fil-A has never been accused o discriminat-

ing against homosexuals in its hiring, its service or other

business practices. Tese olks want to shut it down or itspresidentspersonal belies.o these people, youre only open minded i you agree

with them. And tolerance demands extreme intoleranceo alternative views.

) We are looking at hypocrisy on an epic scale.Are the Chick-fil-A bashers really so opposed to those

who dont support same-sex marriage? Ten why singleout one business? Surely there are other business ownerswho harbor a similar belie. A recent Pew poll said per-cent o Americans still oppose same-sex marriage.

Where is the condemnation o businesses owned by

Muslimswhose religion inorms their opposition to homo-sexuality?

) Politically correct diversity includes practically allgroups but one.

Te politically correct version o diversity happilyincludes people o all races and religionseven those thatpractice orced marriage, polygamy, sending their childrenon suicide bombing missions, what have youexcept one.Te message to them: ake a hike, and take your intoler-ance with you.

Who are they? Bible believers.Nobody inspires vitriol, spite and bigotry like someone

who actually lets Scripture govern his belies.

) We are witnessing head-spinning, lightning-astsocial change.

Mankindand not just Bible-believershas been defin-ing marriage as being between a man and a woman orthousands o years. Quite suddenly, in the United States, itis a minority position.In May, President Obama publiclyembraced same-sex marriage. Just weeks later, majorpoliticians saw a businessman who puts biblical definitionin ront oamilyand targeted him or public flogging. Nowthe Democratic Party is considering support or same-sex

marriage as part o its official party platorm.It is absolutely extraordinary how rapid this revolution-

ary change has been.We know that it might not be popular with everyone,but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we canshare our values and operate on biblical principles. It was

just a couple weeks ago that an unsuspecting, amily-lovingbusinessman uttered those words. Who knew just how outo step he was? Follow Joel Hilliker: Twitter

4 Lessons From the Attack on Chick-fil-A

JOEL HILLIKER
https://www.thetrumpet.com/9669.8566.0.0/economy/us-poverty-level-expected-to-reach-new-highhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/9669.8566.0.0/economy/us-poverty-level-expected-to-reach-new-highhttp://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-us-poverty-heads-toward-highest-level-in-50-years-20120723,0,5437495.storyhttp://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-us-poverty-heads-toward-highest-level-in-50-years-20120723,0,5437495.storyhttps://twitter.com/Joel_Hillikerhttps://twitter.com/Joel_Hillikerhttp://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-us-poverty-heads-toward-highest-level-in-50-years-20120723,0,5437495.storyhttp://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-us-poverty-heads-toward-highest-level-in-50-years-20120723,0,5437495.storyhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/9669.8566.0.0/economy/us-poverty-level-expected-to-reach-new-highhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/9669.8566.0.0/economy/us-poverty-level-expected-to-reach-new-high

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economy is certainly one cause behindthis increase. But the New York imesreports that it is changes in marriagepatternsas opposed to changes inindividual earningsthat accounts oras much as percent o the growth incertain measures o financial hardship.

n Goliath dust storms slamArizonaOnce considered to be once-in--year events, giant dust storms arepounding the U.S. state o Arizona.In a summer o excessive heat andextreme drought, this is not goodnews. Since June, five dust storms have

plagued Arizonas amous valley area.On July , Phoenix looked more likeSaharan Arica than the well-mani-cured American Southwest. A massivedust cloud, reerred to as a haboobanArabic word meaning strong windblanketed the metropolitan area. Tecloud was , eet tall and nearly

miles wide. Although not the largestdust storm to hit the area, tree limbsand power poles were snapped, caus-ing , homes to lose power. Te SkyHarbor Airport was shut down or minutes. Tese huge dust storms ormduring the monsoon season that runsrom June until the end o September.

Tey are so destructive because othe fine dust particles that manageto permeate everywhere during thestorm. According to experts, thesestorms are becoming more requent.USA odaystated: Tis means moredeadly accidents, more harmul pol-lution and more health problems or

people breathing in the irritating dustparticles (July ). Te fine dust cancarry a poisonous mix o ungi, heavymetals rom pollution, ertilizers,stockyard ecal matter, chemicals andbacteria, which can cause cardiovas-cular disease, eye diseases and otherillnesses such as valley ever.

OTHER NEWS AND NOTES

B youll miss it. Don t blink, and youll stillmiss it.Imagine a device capable o delivering more power than

all o the worlds electric plants. But this is not a prop orthe next James Bond movie. A new laser at Lawrence Berke-ley National Laboratory was put through its paces July ,delivering pulses with a petawatt o power once per second.A petawatt is watts, or ,,,,, watts

about times as much as the combined instantaneousoutput o all the worlds electric plants.How is that even possible? Well, the pulses at the Berke-

ley Lab Laser Accelerator () are both exceedinglypowerul and exceedingly short. Each petawatt burst lasts

just emtoseconds, or . second. Sinceit fires just one brie pulse per second, the lasers averagepower is only about watts the same as an incandescent

bulb in a reading lamp.s laser is not the first to pack so much power a laser

at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, just an hoursdrive inland rom Berkeley, reached . petawatts in thes. And the University o exas at Austin has its ownhigh-power laser, which hit the .-petawatt mark in .But the Berkeley laser is the first to deliver petawatt pulseswith such requency, the lab says. At ull power, or compar-ison, the exas Petawatt Laser can fire one shot per hour.

Te Department o Energy plans to use the powerullaser to drive a very compact particle accelerator via a

process called laser wakefield acceleration, boosting elec-trons to high energies or use in colliders or or imaging ormedical applications. Electron beams are already in use toproduce bright pulses o x-rays or high-speed imaging. Anintense laser pulse can ionize the atoms in a gas, separatingelectrons rom protons to produce a plasma. And laser-carved waves in the plasma sweep up electrons, accelerat-ing them outward at nearly the speed o light.

Berkeleys Fantastic LaserSCIENTIFIC AMERICAN | August 2

In the book of Haggai, God reveals that He will shake the nations

at a specific time. This shaking immediately precedes the Second

Coming of Jesus Christ! Find out when this shaking begins.

This week

on television

HaggaiShaking the Nations

Check local listings or visitwww.keyofdavid.com.

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AUGUST 4 201212THE TRUMPET WEEKLY

entering the Anwar Mosque in AddisAbaba.

Te uptick in crackdowns on Muslimsis a sign o the governments concern thatradical Islamist elements are gainingmomentum in Ethiopia. Accordingto Shieraw eklemariam, Ethiopias

minister or ederal affairs, the purpose o the July gath-ering outside the mosque in Addis Abab was to hatch plansor an Islamic uprising. Te meeting was deliberatelyprovocative, he stated. Tis group actually deals day andnight to create an Islamic state.

Te problem with the increasing government crack-downs, some experts claim, is that they may stoke therustration and rage o Ethiopias large Muslim popula-tion. Hassan Hussein, an Ethiopian human rights activist,worries that the government crackdown could even resultin a widespread backlash along the lines o what happenedin Egypt and Libya. He warns that the Muslim protest-ers know that they have the support o the majority o the

population so long as their demand is or civil liberties anddemocratic reedoms. Other sectors could press similardemands, and it might escalate into calls or regime changeas has happened in the Arab Spring.

I anti-government protests take root, its possible Ethio-pias radical Islamist elements couldmuch like the MuslimBrotherhood did during Egypts revolutionexploit the socialunrest to establish greater influence, both on the street andthen within whatever political regime emerged in AddisAbaba. O course, its early, and the Muslim rebellion isntnecessarily large or widespread, but the seeds have been sown.

Given the right conditions, the tension could blossom

quickly into something larger and more dangerouses-pecially i Ethiopia is thrust into a leadership crisis, whichis imminent. Tere is a great deal o mystery surroundingthe health o Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Te consensusseems to be that Mr. Zenawi has brain cancer, althoughsome say hes already dead. Whatever the case, Mr. Zenawiis extremely unwell and has been noticeably absent rompublic affairs in recent weeks.

Moreover, its become increasingly obvious that replac-ing Mr. Zenawi, the anchor o Ethiopian politics, is not go-ing to be quick, simple or clean. As Alemayehu G. Mariamwrote this week, Ethiopias constitution is vague andinconclusive regarding rules o succession. It is clear that

Ethiopia is now acing not only a leadership and powervacuum but also a monumental constitutional crisis in theabsence o a constitutional plan or procedure or succession,explained Mariam.

A nation without a leader and no clear strategy or suc-cession is an , (ibid).

Tink on this. Te Ethiopian government is increasinglydetermined to conront radical Islamists, both internallyand within its immediate sphere o influence (Somalia andEritrea). More and more people within Ethiopias Muslimcommunity are becoming rustrated, angry and politically

energized. Resentment is welling, protests are increasing,anti-government violence is already occurring. Meanwhile,regional Islamist groups, some aligned with radicals inSaudi Arabia, others with Iran, continue to strengthentheir presence in the nation.

Ten, on top o all this,Ethiopias prime minister isabout to die, which will thrust the nation into political andsocial tumult.

alk about a powder keg!And we havent even consid-ered regional politics.

ake Iran. ehran is in seriousjeopardy o losing theAssad regime in Syria as its key regional ally. Its proxiesin southern Lebanon (Hezbollah) and Gaza (Hamas) arebeginning to distance themselves. Meanwhile, a regionalcoalition against Assadand thereore against Iranianinterestsis developing behind regional heavyweightsSaudi Arabia and urkey. Worse stil l (or Iran), this coali-tion is gaining the support o Germany and Europe. Asthese trends continue, Iran will find itsel in deep troublestrategically.

One way to anticipate how Iran might react to these

circumstances is to study a map o the Middle East. Iranstill has radical Islamist riends with a ormidable ootholdin Yemen and Somalia. Meanwhile, radical Islam is emerg-ing as the controlling influence in Egypt. Strategically, eacho these states sits adjacent to one o the most importantassets in the entire world: R S

I Iran can establish control o the Red Sea it will have Saudi Arabia surrounded, and Europeand the West at its mercy!

Expect Iran to reestablish its strategic position by improv-ing ties with Egypt, and to a lesser extent, Somalia and Ye-

men. Meanwhile, pay attention to the two countries betweenEgypt and Somalia: E E ehran will notresist the opportunity to exploit to its advantage the growingsocial and political uncertaintyas well as the Islamist dis-satisaction and potential uprisingin these nations!

Go back and read Libya and Ethiopia Reveal IransMilitary Strategy, Mr. Flurrys April article on thissubject. Its an incredible article: Besides warning thatLibya and Ethiopia would come under the influence oIran and radical Islam, he explained explicitly how radicalIslam would seek to gain control over the Red Sea.Its truethis orecast wasnt thoroughly underpinned by acts onthe ground when it was written. Ethiopia is predominantly

Christian, and at the time, the nation was stable and therewas no evidence that radical Islam was a major threat.

But thats what makes it so inspiring: M. F How?

Because he had the ultimate act, the supreme truth,the only evidence that really matters. He had, and humblybelievedand boldly repeated or the world to hear,what theApostle Peter termed the more sure word o prophecy.And now the acts on the ground are beginning to alignwith the Bibles orecast!

Follow Brad Macdonald: Twitter

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