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THE TRUMPET WEEKLYTHE TRUMPET WEEKLYA U G U S T 3 0 , 2 0 1 3

Obamas bluff 2

Are there limits to democracy? 3

Why Germany appears reluctant to fight 6

Russian empire strikes back 6

Walmart and the economics of reality 10

BY STEPHEN FLURRY

O M , , a reporter asked then-Secretary o State Hilary Clinton why the United

States was preparing to intervene against MuammarQadhafi in Libya, but not Bashar al Assad in Syria. Mrs.Clinton said, Teres a different leader in Syria now. Manyo the members o Congress o both parties who have goneto Syria in recent months have said they believe he is areormer.

Back then, Clinton was one o many Assad apolo-gists working or the Obama administration inWashington. Even beore Mr. Obama became pres-ident, the New York imesportrayed Syrias Assadand his wie Asma as a pair o progressives strug-gling to bring Syria into the st century. Presi-

dent Bush, on the other hand, was regarded asan imbecile or ailing to engage with Assad.During a Senate confirmation hearing

in , ormer U.S. ambassador to the UNJohn Bolton said Syria had one o the mostadvanced Arab state chemical weapons capa-bilities, and that it could have its sites set ondeveloping a nuclear bomb.

At the time, Bolton was loudly ridiculed or his so-called alarmism. Tey made un o him in the Sen-ate, at the , in the mainstream media, and so on.

In , liberal Congresswoman Nancy Pelosiboldly maintained that the road to Damas-

cus is a road to peace. I only Presi-dent Bush would have engagedwith the dictator.

Even as lateas March ,

the day afer the first mass demonstration againstAssad in Syriathen-Senator John Kerry said Assad was a

man o his word and that he had been very generous withme. He insisted that, under Assad, Syria will move; Syriawill change as it embraces a legitimate relationship with the

United States.John Kerry is now Secretaryo State. And on August ,

Secretary Kerry said the Assadregime is guilty o using

chemical weapons to attack

Syria Exposes Hypocrisy in Washington

see SYRIA page 12

U.S. President

Barack Obama

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AUGUST 30, 201 32THE TRUMPET WEEKLY

MIDDLE EAST

Obamas BluffGeorge Friedman, STRATFOR | August 27

T U States has so ar avoidedinvolvement in Syrias civil war.Tis is not to say Washington has anylove or the al Assad regime. Damas-cuss close ties to Iran and Russiagive the United States reason to behostile toward Syria, and Washingtonparticipated in the campaign to orceSyrian troops out o Lebanon. Still,

the United States has learned to beconcerned not just with unriendly re-gimes, but also with what could ollowsuch regimes.

Washington does not have a directinterest in the outcome, since allpossible outcomes are bad rom itsperspective. People would die inany intervention, since there aresimply no clean ways to end a civilwar.

U.S. President Barack Obamathereore adopted an extremely cau-

tious strategy. He said that the UnitedStates would not get directly involvedin Syria unless the al Assad regimeused chemical weapons, stating witha high degree o confidence that hewould not have to intervene. Afer all,Syrian President Bashar al Assad hasnow survived two years o civil war,and he is ar rom deeated. Te onething that could deeat him is oreignintervention, particularly by the Unit-ed States. It was thereore assumed he

wouldnt do the one thing Obama saidwould trigger U.S. action.

[]he dominant emerging storyis that Assad carried out the attack,killing hundreds o men, women andchildren and crossing the red lineObama set with impunity. Te U.S.president is backed into a corner.

Tis is no longer simply about Syria.Te United States has stated a condi-tion that commits it to an intervention.I it does not act when there is a clear

violation o the condition, Obamaincreases the chance o war with othercountries like North Korea and Iran.

Syria was not an issue that affectedthe U.S. national interest until Obamadeclared a red line. It escalated inimportance at that point not becauseSyria is critical to the United States,but because the credibility o its statedlimits are o vital importance.

When Obama proclaimed his redline on Syria and chemical weapons,he assumed the issue would not come

up. Whether Assad did launchthe attacks, whether the insurgentsdid, or whether someone aked themdoesnt matter. Unless Obama can getoverwhelming, indisputable proo thatAssad did notand that isnt goingto happenObama will either haveto act on the red line principle or beshown to be one who bluffs.

He never thought Assad would beso reckless. Despite whether Assadactually was, the consensus is that

he was. Tats the hand the presidenthas to play, so its hard to see how heavoids military actionand retainscredibility.

The Qatar ProblemFOREIGN POLICY | August 28

O ace o it, Qatar has beenone o the United States mostvaluable allies in the Middle East over

the last decade. Qatar hosts a largeU.S. Air Force base in the Persian Guland has ofen provided political andfinancial support or U.S. initiatives inthe Middle East.

But Qatars role in the UnitedStates Middle East policy is ar moreproblematic than is commonly rec-ognized. Te tiny yet ambitious Gulemirate has sought to use its immensehydrocarbon wealth to finance andarm civil wars in Libya and Syria, tosupport Hamas in Gaza, and to medi-

ate disputes in Sudan and Lebanon. Te launch o Al Jazeera America, thenews network its government owns,should redirect attention to Dohasgoals and means.

[Qatar] has ofen actively and pur-poseully undermined U.S. efforts onkey problems. In Egypt, or example,Qatars lavish and unconditionalunding o the Morsi governmentenabled it to avoid taking the difficultsteps that the International Monetary

S in the midst o the current Middle

East crisis, Jordans King Abdullah and his wie,Queen Rania, met with Pope Francis or a brie audienceat the Vatican. Te audience lasted about minutes. Bothleaders spoke about how to achieve peace and stability inthe Middle East, but especially in Syria.

Tey also addressed other matters, like the peace nego-tiations between Israel and Palestine, as well as the status oJerusalem.

Pope Francis and the Jordanian monarchs agreed thatdialogue between all the actions o Syrian society, andwith the support o the international community, is the

only way to put an end to the violence.

Te audience was very cordial, and the pope used thetime to thank King Abdullah or his commitment to oster-ing inter-religious dialogue. TeJordanian king called aconerencein September at his capital, Amman, about thechallenges Christians ace in the Middle East.

Queen Rania attended the audience wearing a white veil,a privilege usually reserved or Catholic royals.

Tis was the first meeting between the Jordanian monarchsand Pope Francis. Beore then,in , King Abdullah andQueen Rania had welcomed Benedict in Amman, duringthe pope emerituss apostolic trip to the Holy Land.

Jordan Discusses Need for Dialogue in Syria With PopeROME REPORTS | August 29
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Fund (and the United States) believedwere necessary to get the Egyptianeconomy back on track and to com-promise with domestic opponents.In Gaza, Qatar helped undermineU.S. efforts to isolate and delegiti-mize Hamasby its strong and public

embrace o its leadership includingthrough high-level visits to Gaza. Many allies pose difficulties or the

United States in the Syria context, butQatar has proven the greatest obstacleto orging allied unity on Syria policy.

So what are the Qataris trying todo? Qatar sees the Arab Awaken-ing as an opportunity to spread Qatariinfluence through the establishmento Islamist governments that look toQatar (and not to Saudi Arabia orthe United States) or support and

guidance. It is this dual interest inpromoting influence and ideology thatinorms Qatari oreign policy romLibya to Palestine.

Tis Qatari strategy implies thatU.S.-Qatari divides are not simply a di-erence in tactics, as U.S. officials ofenassert. Nor is Qatar simply filling a U.S.leadership vacuum. As the Libya ex-ample demonstrates, Qatar has the ca-pacity to rustrate U.S. goalseven whenthe United States is deeply engaged.

[A]t the end o day, U.S. policy oncritical Middle East issues like Syriais being held hostage by the contraryagenda o a tiny country that theUnited States deends militarily. Tisis massive ailure o diplomacy.

Iran to Work WithRussia to Stop Strikeon Syria

ABC NEWS | August 29

I P Hassan Rowhanisaid his country will press orwardwith efforts to ward off military actionby the U.S. and its allies against theehran-backed regimeo Syrian Presi-dent Bashar al Assad, Iranian state

reported on Tursday. Rowhani was quoted as saying

military action will bring great costsor the region and it is necessary toapply all efforts to prevent it.

While condemning chemical weap-ons, Rowhani was quoted as saying,

Early judgment can be dangerous,beore clarification can be made o al-legations that Syria used the weapons.

Western countries have oundsome excuse to prepare the ground to

weaken the stance o Syria in urthertalks afer the Syrian government haswon the upper hand in conrontingrebels, Rowhani said.

Te president also predicted re-gional consequences or any militarystrike.

Iran has regularly warned the U.S.over possible military action againstSyria by calling it the countrys own

red line as the U.S. naval fleet takespositions near Syria and PresidentBarack Obama considers a militaryresponse to the alleged use o chemicalweapons by the Assad government.

U.S. Ready to LaunchSyria StrikeBBC | August 27

A are ready tolaunch strikes on Syria i PresidentBarack Obama chooses to order anattack, U.S. Deense Secretary ChuckHagel says.

We have moved assets in placeto be able to ulfill and comply withwhatever option the president wishesto take, Mr. Hagel told the .

U.S. Secretary o State John Kerry

T in Egyptare causing a great deal o moraland intellectual conusion in Western circles, preoccu-pied as they are with the concept o democracy . Populistsentimentality abounds.

I suggest, instead, judging events by the standards oconstitutionalisman ideology that asserts that humanbeings have certain unalienable rights that cannot be takenrom themeither by dictator or by the majority.

Better a liberalizing dictator than an elected thug. Morsiwas an elected thug; Gen. Abdel Fattah Sisi, the head o theEgyptian armed services and now in charge o the nation,might turn out to be a liberalizing dictator who at leastprotects minorities and women.

Te th century is sufficient proo that majorities canbe just as brutal and vicious as tyrants. Jim Crow was sup-ported by the majority; Eastern European pogroms were

justified by the majority; Adol Hitler was supported by the

majority; Jose Stalin was revered by the majority. Democracy is only a value when it tends to widen and

deepen the constitutionalist protections o individuals and

minorities, as it has in the U.S. Blacks and women get-ting the vote enabled them to fight or their constitutionalrights.

I you were a Coptic Christian ( o whose churches

have been burned by Morsi supporters), a Shiite Muslim(our o whom were lynched by Morsi supporters in June)or a university-trained woman (no need to detail her statusunder Islamist rule), would you preer Sisis military dicta-torship or majoritarian Islamic democracy?

Answer that question honestly and you will know whichside to root or. You will also know which side has thebiggest chance to eventually morph into a constitutionaldemocracy as it integrates into the global economic real-ity. Te military dictatorships o aiwan and South Koreagradually evolving into constitutional democracies as aconsequence o integrating into the global economic orderare good historical examples. ourism is Egypts biggest

nonarm employer and earner o oreign currency. Whatwould be its ate under the Islamists, and how would thisinhibit Egypt rom integrating into the global economy?

Egypt and the Limits of DemocracyTsvi Bisk, LOS ANGELES TIMES | August 27
https://www.thetrumpet.com/article/4910.3186.0.0/world/terrorism/us-ally-finances-hamashttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/4910.3186.0.0/world/terrorism/us-ally-finances-hamashttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/4910.3186.0.0/world/terrorism/us-ally-finances-hamashttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/7025.5558.0.0/world/military/qatar-friend-or-foehttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/7025.5558.0.0/world/military/qatar-friend-or-foehttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/8509.7231.0.0/religion/islam/the-battle-for-syriahttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/10900.30099.0.0/world/energy/what-happens-in-egypt-will-affect-the-worldhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/10853.29989.0.0/world/government/the-democracy-delusionhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/10853.29989.0.0/world/government/the-democracy-delusionhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/10853.29989.0.0/world/government/the-democracy-delusionhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/10853.29989.0.0/world/government/the-democracy-delusionhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/10900.30099.0.0/world/energy/what-happens-in-egypt-will-affect-the-worldhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/8509.7231.0.0/religion/islam/the-battle-for-syriahttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/7025.5558.0.0/world/military/qatar-friend-or-foehttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/7025.5558.0.0/world/military/qatar-friend-or-foehttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/4910.3186.0.0/world/terrorism/us-ally-finances-hamashttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/4910.3186.0.0/world/terrorism/us-ally-finances-hamashttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/4910.3186.0.0/world/terrorism/us-ally-finances-hamas

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AUGUST 30, 201 34THE TRUMPET WEEKLYSTRINGER/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

has said there is undeniable proothat Syria used chemical weapons.

Syrias allies, Russia and China,have stepped up their warningsagainst military intervention in Syria,with Moscow saying any such actionwould have catastrophic consequenc-es or the region.

Syrian Foreign Minister WalidMuallem has said he rejects utterlyand completely claims that Syrianorces used chemical weapons.

His government has blamedrebel fighters or the latest suspectedchemical attack, which took placeon August near the Syrian capitalDamascus and reportedly killed morethan people.

On Monday, United Nationschemical weapons inspectors werefired on while investigating one o the

five alleged chemical weapons attacksites around Damascus.

Mr. Hagels remarks come a dayafer Mr. Kerry accused the Syriangovernment o destroying evidence oits chemical weapons use near Damas-cus by shelling the area.

He said his administration hadadditional inormation about theattacks that it would make public inthe days ahead. Mr. Kerry describedthe assaults as a moral obscenity.

Make no mistake, President Obamabelieves there must be accountabilityor those who would use the worldsmost heinous weapons against theworlds most vulnerable people.

UK Suspends EgyptMilitary ExportLicensesGUARDIAN | August 28

T B government has sus-pended licenses or the export

to Egypt o a range o military andpolice equipment that could be usedor repression.

Te licenses cover items includingmilitary communications, aerial targetand radar equipment, cryptographicequipment and sofware, componentsor military helicopters and vehicles,and ammunition or training in smallarms firing.

Tis suspension will apply to li-censes or the Egyptian army, air orceand internal security orces or Min-istry o the Interior, the Departmentor Business, Innovation and Skillssaid.

Te UK has already taken action torestrict exports to Egypt, last month

withdrawing five licenses including orcomponents or armored fighting inan-try vehicles, communication equipmentor tanks and machine gun parts.

TW I N B R I E F

n Muslim Brotherhood targetsChristian groupsA deepening rif is orming in Egyptbetween the Coptic Christian minor-ityand the vast Islamic population othe country. Te Muslim Brotherhood,

desperately trying to reverse its losses,is trying to bring about as muchinstability as possible or the militaryto deal with. Much o its attention hasbeen ocused on the Christians, whoare targeted with looting, vandal-ism, arson, kidnapping, torture andmurder. Tis increase in Christianpersecution will likely draw the atten-tion o other orces outside o Egypt,primarily the Catholic Church. Tehatred is being ueled by the Muslim

Brotherhood and supporters o ormerEgyptian President Mohamed Morsi.Te Brotherhood wants to turn theviolence into a sectarian battle in anattempt to incite hatred and therebyobtain more political clout. argeted

violence has caused many Christiansto flee Syria. Te same scenario nowaces the Christians in Egypt. Te per-secution against Copts is a thermom-eter or the anti-Christian mood inthe Middle East. As radical Islam risesin the wake o the Arab Spring, more

and more pressure is being applied to

Christians and other minorities in theregion. Bible prophecy, however, re-

veals a dramatic turning o the tablesin the near uture. Te Christianplight in Egyptand elsewhere acrossthe Middle East could be part o whatprompts Europe into action to stemthe tide o radical Islam. Daniel :

speaks o a whirlwind attack bythe king o the north that will utterlydestroy the king o the south.

n Battle for the Sinai PeninsulaTe Sinai Peninsula, lef unchecked,could quickly become a radical Islamicstrip o territory capable o threateningEgypts military and the surroundingnations. Despite government controland a recent addition to Egyptian mil-itary orces in the peninsula, the Sinaiis influenced heavily by the Bedouin

and local tribes. With the Bedouinhaving an unsurpassed understandingo the terrain and its myriad o smug-gling tunnels, the Egyptian govern-ment needs Bedouin knowledge inthe fight against terrorists more thanthe Bedouin need the government.While contention continues in Cairo,the Muslim Brotherhood is trying tocapitalize on the situation in the Sinai.I chaos can be kindled in the desert,it will weaken the militarys grasp on

the country. Te military has a vastarea to cover, and Egypt is the mostpopulous Arabic nation in the MiddleEast. I the Brotherhood can divide themilitarys attention between the Nileregion and the Sinai, it stands a betterchance o weakening the government.o drum up support, the Brother-hoods Freedom and Justice Party hasbeen working in the Sinai, garneringsupporters or Morsis reinstatement.I the military cant deeat terrorism inthe Sinai and public support dwindles,

it is possible that it may resort to moreextreme methods than thosealready being employed. Ithe situation in the Sinaiwere to deteriorate that ar,the Egyptian military couldfind itsel fighting on tworonts. Te dangers posed bythe Brotherhood in the Sinaiare real and could prove adecisive actor in the utureo Egypt.

Unknown assailants torched the Prince

Tadros Coptic Church on August 14.
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The Most ImportantPeople of EuropeGERMAN FOREIGN POLICY | August 26

A - German historiandeclared Germans perhaps themost important people o Europe,and predicted a return to singing theofficial first stanza o the German na-tional anthem (Germany, Germanyabove everything).

According to allegations made byhistorian Arnul Baring in his keynoteaddress at this years Homeland Dayceremonies o the German League oExpellees (BdV), last Saturday, the

Germans are suffering at the mo-ment rom a collective psychologicalimpairment, residing in a lack operception o a grievous loss inflictedupon the German soul, by the relin-quishment o ormer German easternregions o the German empire.

BdV President Erika Steinbachpraised Bavaria and Hesse orrecently declaring a day o com-memoration or German expelleesand reiterated her demand or a

national commemoration day. Shealso dwelled on the progress madein the struggle or compensatingresettled Germans, with the example

o Romania and Serbia, which haveincluded German expellees in theirrestitution legislations. In view toPoland and the Czech Republic, theBdV president explained that onlyan absolute minority o countries isstill seeking to evade their historicalresponsibility or having expelled theGermans.

Eastern Catholic

Churches Appeal forEnd to ViolenceROME REPORTS | August 29

T C or EasternChurches, through the VaticanslOsservatore Romano, issued a state-ment on Syria. In it, they ask or anend to the violence, and or God tolight the conscience o world leaders.Te Eastern Churches expressed thatthey have strengthened their prayer

or the Middle Eastern country, at thetime when the situation continues todeteriorate.

Te statement said that the popes

continued appeals or peace in Syriahave consoled the entire country, whileadding that reconciliation must bestronger than the clamor o weapons.

With immense sadness, but alongwith hope, Eastern Catholics join thepope in prayer, with the certainty thatthe God o peace and o each conso-lation will never abandon the landsanctified since the start o the Rendi-tion, the statement read. It closedoff by reminding the internationalcommunity that justice, reconciliation,

and the social, personal and religiousrights o all the peoples o the MiddleEast will prevail.

TW I N B R I E F

n Germany supports war in SyriaTe recent flare-up in Syria comes at aninconvenient time or German Chan-cellor Angela Merkel. With electionscoming up, the last thing ChancellorMerkel wants is an unpopular war. Yet it

EUROPE

I wake o the chemical weapons attack near Damas-

cus, Western military strikes against Syria seem immi-nent. And Germany will once again demand a special role.

With elections less than our weeks away, the develop-ments in Syria are putting Chancellor Angela Merkel in atough spot. Certainly, Berlin has elt compelled to ratchetup its rhetoric vis--vis President Bashar al Assad, dubbinghis regimes alleged use o chemical weapons as a crimeagainst civilization.

On the other hand, an escalation o the conflict couldderail Merkels plans to coast to easy re-election on Sep-tember .

Unortunately, prominent German political leadersacross party lines continue to believe that the countrys

economic weight creates enough leverage to compensate orGermanys ailure to realize its ull potential as a capableand responsible member o the Atlantic alliance and theinternational community.

At a time when Europes global reach, influence andcredibility are threatened by rapid decline, checkbook

diplomacy by the biggest European Union member is not

a viable substitute or contributing military assets to thejoint deense o our common values and interests.

[]he Merkel government may try to chart a path thatshows a certain degree o solidarity with whatever Wash-ington and other allies decide to do in Syria, perhaps usingGerman naval reconnaissance assets off the coast o Syriaand Lebanon to collect intelligence. Or German Patriotmissile deense units currently deployed in urkey couldsee action in the unlikely event that Damascus tries toretaliate against Ankara. Finally, Germany might providesupport to Israel against potential attacks rom Hezbollahunits in southern Lebanon.

While the reasons or Germanys approach seem un-

derstandable, both in terms o the countrys past and thenatural desire o political leaders to win, ollowing such anapproach in the high-stakes realm o oreign and securitypolicy carries a potentially steep cost in international influ-ence. []aking a stronger, more principled stance on Syriatoday would be an important step in the right direction.

Syria Tests Germanys Culture of ReluctanceKarl-Theodor zu Guttenberg and Ulf Gartzke, NEW YORK TIMES | August 30

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Related: EU and Iran Battle in Nigeria

halt, costing Ukrainian businesses anestimated . billion in losses.

Moscow lifed most o the restric-tions seven days later. However, Putinsaid on August that he was con-cerned Kievs planned ree-trade dealwith the EU could squeeze out Rus-sia, Ukraines largest trading partner.

Moscow has pressed Ukraineto join its three-year-old EurasianCustoms Union consisting o Belarus,Kazakhstan and Russia. Putins topeconomic adviser, Sergey Glazyev, saidthe Kremlin would urther tightencustoms procedures i Ukraine takesthe suicidal step o signing the EUassociation agreement and pledgedto deend Russias market against anyinflux o oreign goods.

Te European Union blastedMoscows behavior and warned: Any

economic threat rom Russia directed

against Ukraine and linked to thecountrys possible signature o theassociation agreement with the EU isunacceptable.

As long as Vladimir Putin viewsRussian relations with Ukraine aspart o a larger geopolitical tug-o-war,Moscow will likely mount an all-out

effort to maintain and expand itshegemony over what the Kremlin be-lieves is its rightul sphere o influence.By opening its arms to Ukraine, theEuropean Union could gain some ma-jor concessions rom Kiev in exchangeor protection against the growingRussian aggression.

Putins almost desperate desire torestore Russia to the ormer grandeuro the Soviet Union could prove to bethe biggest obstacle acing Ukraineseconomic recovery. Te Kremlins

threat o costly border-control mea-sures betrays a willingness to playdirty to disrupt Kievs effort to de-

velop balanced ties between Moscowand the EU.

TW I N B R I E F

n New SCO membersAghanistan, Pakistan, India andMongolia are likely to be granted ullmembership in the Shanghai Coop-

eration Organization () at its nextsummit, Pakistans ormer secretarygeneral o the Ministry o ForeignAffairs said on Wednesday. Te is a Eurasian political, economic andmilitary bloc dominated by Russia andChina. It was ounded in , andpresently includes those two Asian

giants as well as Kazakhstan, Kyr-gyzstan, ajikistan and Uzbekistan.Te admission o India and Pakistanwould greatly extend the s geo-graphic reach, and boost the popula-tion it represents to over billion. Teinclusion o these nations would es-sentially broaden the rom being

a CentralAsian security bloc to beingan Asian one. China and Russia arethe regional behemoths driving thebiblically prophesied cooperation othe Eastern powers, and the maywell be a vehicle they use to achievethat goal.

n Chinas homemade helicopterfires first air-to-air missilesA Chinese-made attack helicoptersuccessully fired air-to-air missilesor the first time in the nations his-

tory, state-run media said Monday.Te test took place last week and wasthe largest yet or the aviation wingo the Chinese army. Te aircrafsmissiles successully interceptedlow-altitude targets during the test,showing that Chinese helicopterscan now counter enemy aircraf. Ashif has been underway in Chinaover the last decade rom import-ing the bulk o its military hardwarerom Moscow to making it at home.

Beijing is presently working on twostealth fighter programs, at least twoaircraf carriers as well as homemadecruisers, destroyers and nuclearsubmarines. Watch or Chinas risingmilitary to prompt other Asian na-tions to build up their own deenseorces.

AFRICA/LATIN AMERICA

Nigerians ChargedWith Aiding Iran

REUTERS | August 28

N two o itscitizens on Wednesday withassisting an Iranian militant cell inplanning possible attacks on Israelitargets, alleging that one had trav-eled to ehran and Dubai to receive

cash and had known about spyingon Israeli interests.

Te secret service arrested Abdul-lahi Mustapha Berende and SaheedOluremi Adewumi, plus one otherNigerian, in February. It accused themo being members o a high profileterrorist network that was planningattacks on home soil.

Te alleged cell was not namedin the charge sheet. Iran has never

responded to the allegations.Berende is accused o traveling to

Iran to help with material assistanceand terrorist training in the use ofire arms, explosives and other relatedweapons. Te charges also say hetook , in unding to carry outoperations

RUSSIASATTACKONGEORGIAINAUGUSTMARKSTHEBEGINNINGOFADANGEROUSNEWERAINHIS-

TORY.This was the FIRSTMILITARYSTRIKEofa risingASIANSUPERPOWERand there willbe more! Russia is determinedto be anENERGYSUPERPOWERin an age when the

whole modern world is hungry for en-ergy. If Russia sees its primary sourceof oil being threatened, it is going to

fight! Today, you have [the United

States] trying to also bring Georgia andUkraine into NATO. I dont believe Russia

will everallow that to happen. Will acrisis occur over Ukraine? That area isthe breadbasket of Russia , and surely itis willing to wage war over that as well.

theTrumpet.com, Aug. 22, 2008
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Massive YosemiteWildfire

FOX NEWS | August 28

F reported progress ona -square-mile wildfire nearYosemite National Park that movedinto the watershed that supplies SanFrancisco on uesday as crews else-where sought to contain a ast-movingblaze that burned at least two homesand threatened others in a NorthernCaliornia neighborhood.

Containment held steady at per-cent, but the number o destroyed

structures rose to , and some ,structures remained threatened. Atleast residences were among thoselost. Firefighters were making standsat uolumne City and other mountaincommunities.

Te fire had ravaged square milesby uesday night, the biggest in theSierras recorded historyand one o thelargest on record in Caliornia. Nearly, firefighters are currently battlingthe blaze, which is also a record.

Holder Wont EnforceMarijuana Laws

HUFFINGTON POST | August 29

T U States government tookan historic step back rom its long-running drug war on Tursday, whenAttorney General Eric Holder inormedthe governors o Washington andColorado that the Department o Jus-tice would allow the states to create aregime that would regulate and imple-ment the ballot initiatives that legalizedthe use o marijuana or adults.

A Justice Department official said

that Holder told the governors ina joint phone call early Tursday afer-noon that the department would takea trust but veriy approach to thestate laws. is reserving its right tofile a preemption lawsuit at a later date,since the states regulation o mari-

juana is illegal under the ControlledSubstances Act.

Te Obama administration hasstruggled with the legalization omedical marijuana in several states.

Justice Department officials had in-structed ederal prosecutors across thecountry not to ocus ederal resources

on individuals who were complyingwith state laws regarding the use omedical marijuana.

Afer recreational marijuana initia-tives passed in Washington and Colo-rado in November, President BarackObama said the ederal government had

bigger fish to ry and would not makegoing afer marijuana users a priority.

Gay and LesbianMass WeddingNEW YORK TIMES | August 27

M people lined upoutside the county clerks o-fice in Albuquerque to get marriagelicenses uesday morning, the dayafer a state district judge ruled thatsame-sex marriagewas legal.

T the makings o a grave policy error: a repeat

o the dramatic events in the autumn o at best; aull-blown debacle and a slide into a second leg o the LongSlump at worst.

Emerging markets are now big enough to drag downthe global economy. As Indonesia, India, Ukraine, Brazil,urkey, Venezuela, South Arica, Russia, Tailand andKazakhstan try to shore up their currencies, the effect isricocheting back into the advanced world in higher bor-rowing costs. Even China elt compelled to sell billiono U.S. treasuries in July.

Tey are running down reserves by selling U.S. and Eu-ropean bonds, leading to a sel-reinorcing eedback loop,said Simon Derrick rom Mellon.

We are told that emerging markets are more resilientthan in past crises because they have trillion o reserves.But any use o that treasure to deend the exchange rate en-tails monetary tightening, and thereore inflicts a contrac-tionary shock on countries already in trouble.

We are in entirely uncharted waters. Emerging marketswere less than percent o global in the early s,

when tightening by the Volcker Fed brought Latin America

crashing down. Tat was an ugly episode or Westernbanks, but easily contained. China was then in autarky,shut off rom the world. Te Soviet Union and its satellitesormed a closed system.

Yet all we heard rom Jackson Hole this time were dis-missive comments that the emerging market rout is not theFeds problem. Other countries simply have to take thatas a reality and adjust to us, said Dennis Lockhart, theAtlanta Fed chie. errence Checki rom the New York Fedsaid there is no master stroke that will insulate countriesrom financial spillovers.

Te talk or Fed corridors strikes me as dangerouslyinsouciant.

Te big risk is that Fed tapering will spark a rush orU.S. dollars. Tat is when the Fed will stop being compla-cent, said Lars Christensen rom Danske Bank. Centralbanks around the world think they have been doing some-thing they shouldnt do with all this stimulus, and theywant to unwind it as quickly as possible. But the danger isthat they will go too ar and trigger a relapse like .

Emerging Market Rout Too Big to IgnoreAmbrose Evans-Pritchard, TELEGRAPH | August 29

ANGLO-AMERICA

Related: No Freedom Without Law
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Te crowd cheered as the firstcouple received their license. Bynoon a mass wedding was held inAlbuquerques Civic Plaza.

As Te Santa Fe New Mexicanre-ported, the clerk in Doa Ana Countydecided last Wednesday to begin

issuing marriage licenses to gay andlesbian couples. wo days later, a judgein Santa Fe ordered that countys clerkto issue them as well . Ten, onMonday, Judge Alan Malott o StateDistrict Court ordered the clerk inBernalillo County, which includes Al-buquerque, to begin issuing marriagelicenses to same-sex couples, rulingthat the states constitution prohibiteddiscrimination on the basis o sexualorientation.

Churches ChangeBylaws on GaysCATHOLIC WORLD NEWS | August 29

C potentialdiscrimination lawsuits, someChristian churchesespecially thosethat rent acilities to the publicareamending their bylaws ollowing theSupreme Courts recent decisions onsame-sex marriage, according to anAssociated Press report.

Eric Rassbach o the Becket Fund orReligious Liberty said it was importantor churches to get their belies in writ-ing beore a dispute arises, otherwiseit can look to a court as i somethingwas done afer the act as an attempt to

cover up hostility to gays, according toan AP summary o his remarks.

A number o groups dont have awritten doctrine, said Rassbach. Say agroup like the Primitive Baptiststheydont want a written-down credo, butthe courts like written-down things.

Raising a Nation ofSavagesTodd Starnes,FOX NEWS | August 21

C L was gunneddown in cold bloodshot in theback as he jogged alongside a road inDuncan, Oklahoma. His alleged at-tackers were teenagers who told police

H to the world, and thus to Syrian Presi-dent Bashar al Assad, a detailed briefing o the comingU.S. air attack on Syria() the source (offshore warshipsand perhaps a bomber or two), () the weapon (cruise mis-siles), () the duration (two or three days), () the purpose

(punishment, not regime change)perhaps we shouldbe publishing the exact time the bombs will all, lest wedisrupt dinner in Damascus.

So much or the element o surprise. Into his third yearo dithering, two years afer declaring Assad had to go, oneyear afer drawingthen erasinghis own red line onchemical weapons, Barack Obama has been stirred to action.

Or more accurately, shamed into action. Which is theworst possible reason. A president doesnt commit soldiersto a war or which he has zero enthusiasm. Nor does one goto war or demonstration purposes.

Want to send a message? Call Western Union. A oma-hawk missile is or killing. A serious instrument o war

demands a serious purpose.Te purpose can be either punitive or strategic: either a

spasm o conscience that will inflame our opponents yetleave not a trace, or a considered application o abundantAmerican power to alter the strategic equation that is nowheavily avoring our worst enemies in the heart o theMiddle East.

Tere are risks to any attack. Blowback terror rom Syriaand its terrorist allies. Treatened retaliation by Iran orHezbollah on Israelthat could lead to a guns-o-Augustregional conflagration.

Moreover, a mere punitive pinprick afer which Assad

emerges rom the smoke intact and emboldened woulddemonstrate nothing but U.S. weakness and ineffectiveness.In , afer al Qaeda blew up two U.S. embassies in

Arica, Bill Clinton lobbed a ew cruise missiles into empty

tents in Aghanistan. Tat showed em.It did. It showed terminal unseriousness. Al Qaeda got

the message. wo years later, the Cole. A year afer that,/.

I Obama is planning a message-sending three-day attack,preceded by leaks telling the Syrians to move their impor-tant military assets to saety, better that he do nothing. Whyrun the considerable risk i nothing important is changed?

Te only deensible action would be an attack with astrategic purpose, a sustained campaign aimed at chang-ing the balance o orces by removing the Syrian regimesdecisive military advantageair power.

Would the American people support it? Tey are justifi-ably war-weary and want no part o this conflict. And whyshould they? In three years, Obama has done nothing toprepare the country or such a serious engagement. Notone speech. No explanation o whats at stake.

On the contrary. Last year, Obama told us repeatedlythat the tide o war is receding. Tis year, he grandly de-clared that the entire war on terror must end. I he wantsomahawks to fly, hed better have a good reason, tell it to

the American people and get the support o their represen-tatives in Congress, the way George W. Bush did or boththe Aghanistan and Iraq wars.

Its rather shameul that while the British prime min-ister recalled Parliament to debate possible airstrikeslate Tursday, Parliament actually voted down Brit ishparticipationObama has made not a gesture in thatdirection.

I you are going to do this, Mr. President, do it constitu-tionally. And seriously. Tis is not about you and your con-science. Its about applying American power to do preciselywhat you now deny this is abouthelping Assad go, as you

told the world he must.Otherwise, just send Assad a text message. You might in-cur a roaming charge, but its still cheaper than a three-day,highly telegraphed, perectly useless demonstration strike.

Shamed Into War?Charles Krauthammer,WASHINGTON POST | August 29

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they were bored andkilled the collegeathlete or the uno it.

Police Chie DanFord said they ound

a chilling messageon one o the allegedkillers Facebookpages: Bang. wodrops in two hours.

I think they wereon a killing spree,Ford told AustralianAssociated Press.We would have hadmore bodies thatnight i we didnt getthem.

In other wordsthe teenage boyswere hunting hu-mans.

In Brunswick,Georgia, two teenag-ers are accused oshooting a youngmother and murder-ing her -month-oldchild. Sherry Westwas taking her baby

out or a stroll when the boys demand-ed she give them cash.

A boy approached me and told mehe wanted my money, and I told himI didnt have any money, the womantold reporters. And he said, Give me

your money or Im going to kill youand Im going to shoot your baby andkill your baby.

She pleaded with them to spare herchildbut one o the boys took a gunand shot the -month-old betweenthe eyes.

Te United States is now reapingwhat it has sownor raising a nationo savages.

We live in a nation that celebratesand glorifies violence. Te proo is inour movies, our music, and our ath-

letic pastimes. Jeffress, pastor o the First Baptist

Church in Dallas, exas, said parentsbear responsibility or raising a gen-eration o thugs roaming the streets insearch o their prey.

Parents have absolutely ailed intheir most basic, undamental respon-sibility as parents, he said. And thatis to instill Gods moral law in thehearts o their children. As longas you continue to tell teenagers they

I W were a country, it would have the th largesteconomy in the world!In America, Walmart employs a little over percent o

the entire workorce. It is the countrys largest retai ler andgrocery store, with grocery sales accounting or over hal o

the companys revenue.More than out o every spent in the country is

spent at Walmartthat is more than percent o Americastotal gross domestic product.

Walmart plays such a huge role in the economy thatsome analysts say it is a pretty good proxy or the nation.

Tis week, the government is expected to release Julyspersonal spending growth. Analysts are expecting a . per-cent increase in consumption since this time last year.

Walmart, on the other hand, just reported a . percentdrop in sales in stores that have been open or more than ayear.

Te Sober Look blog reports that the Walmart negative

earnings surprise could be signaling a slower earningstrajectory or other firms.

So which is it? Is the economy improving, as the gov-ernments consumption figures seem to suggest? Or are

consumers struggling, as the Walmart data indicates?Since Walmart is such a huge part o the U.S. economy,

it is hard to see how things could be improving much aslong as Walmart and its middle and lower-class custom-ersthe majority o the populationare struggling.

With the stock market hitting new highs, and thememory o ailing banks ading, there is a lot o hype aboutAmericas apparent recovery. But dont be ooled. Nothingmajor has changed. I anything, the big-picture economicindicators have worsened.

Te official national debt now approaches trillion.Boston University economics proessor Laurence Kotlikoffsays the real debt, including promises made to uture retir-ees, is actually closer to trillion. I he is hal wrong,the debt is still an unpayable, trillion. Te officialunemployment rate is . percent. Te U unemploymentrate, which is closer to the real unemployment rate, standsat percent. Tere are . million people on ood stamps.

As o January this year, million Americans receivedsome orm o government assistance.

And all o this is happening in what was once the richestand most blessed nation in history.

Walmart and the Economics of RealitySam Livingston | August 27

D A D D Y SIn 2011, more families in the UK chose to leave Dad home

while Mom earned the big bucks.

H O M E

46%44%

1 5stay-at-home dads

admit it makes them feel like less of a man

million

1.4 2.0million

million

Dads at home

26%

in

of dads gave upwork or reducedtheir work hoursafter the birth oftheir children

of families saidtheir decision

allowed the mainearner (Mom) to

keep working

of dads lookafter the children

while theirpartner works
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are nothing but a biological accident,we shouldnt expect them to act inaccordance with a Creator God whohas basic laws concerning lie anddeath.

Its true that American culture hasturned its back on God. As a result,weve lost our moral compass . Rightis now wrong and wrong is now right.

Our culture continues to deny ormarginalize the existence o God,Jeffress tells me. We shouldnt besurprised that teenagers would ignorethe most basic laws o Godlike thoushall not kill.

And as the stench o our rottingculture sweeps across the nation, Ive

come to the conclusion that we havereached a moment in history whenthe make-believe world o violence nolonger satisfies our bloodlust.

Te United States is now reaping

what it has sown .

TW I N B R I E F

n UK: Deaths from illegal highsnearly doubleTe number o people in Englandand Wales that died afer taking le-gal highsmind-altering drugs thathave not been outlawedjumpedrom in to in , accord-ing to figures released by Britains

Office or National Statistics, Au-gust . Te overall number o deathsrelated to drug abuse was ,, downrom , last year. Legal highs aredrugs that are usually very similar to

illegal drugs, but have been designedby chemists to get around the lettero the law. Te UK ofen bans theworst o these drugs, but chemistsand drug deals quickly produce newdrugs to replace the ones outlawed.Because theyre technically legal,theyre easy to get and can easi lybe ordered online. For more on theproblems these drugs cause, and thesolutions, see our article BritainsNew Drug Scene.

I until today that I realized Iwas in possession o something quiteawesome and inspiring. Tis morn-ing I happened to pick up my copy oFerrar Fentons translation o the Biblethat a riend had given me.

It begins: A note to my enquiringriends. It is Mr. Fentons explana-tion o why hea British businessmanin the th centuryundertook the mammoth project otranslating the entirety o the Holy Scriptures.

Fenton paraphrases a Proessor Karl Behr o Munich,who taught thus: Tat the best-established doctrine oHistorical Philosophy was, that all the power, prosperityand mental energy o a race or nation sprang rom andlived by its religion; that when its religion ceased to be itsaiththat is, its energizing principlethe intellect, power,

vigor and prosperity o that race or nation died away inproportion, and ultimately perished, both mentally and

physically.Tat is a breathtaking statement, piercing in its truth,

painul or its prophetic relevance in this aggressivelysecularist age.

Fenton then expresses this remarkable conviction:[]he position the British race has won in the world isounded upon the religion, which takes as its origin theBible, and thereore I am convinced that with the decay o

aith in the Scriptures our national vigor and prosperity, asa race, will waste away;not only in the British Isles, but, aswith all races, in every state or colony sprung rom them,no matter upon what part o the Earths surace they are

situated (emphasis added throughout).In translating the Bible into modern English, he ex-plains, My object is to try and save the British race romdecay and dissolution by restoring to it the vital element o

aith in revelation,or unless its aith is revived our doom iscertain.

I find several things about this astounding. Tat thisman recognized with such assurance the centrality oBible-based aith to national health and prosperity, evensurvival. Tat he particularly believed this to be true oBritain and the outlying elements o its empire, and oAmerica. Tat he knew the decline o these nations would

constitute a catastrophe and calamity to the world.Again, these are prophetic truths that resonate with

relevance today. As Fenton worked, a critic wrote nobodycares a halpenny or the Bible. A century later, we live ina country that is increasingly making adherence to biblicaltruth a punishable crime.

Tis all made Fentons words stir me as I read them thismorning. But there is something more. I am also deeplyimpressed that this man possessed such determined ocusto try to single-handedly prevent, or at least delay, thiscatastrophe, using the means he believed God inspired himto. Fenton perceived a need or a modern translation o theBible, and recognized that it was a task nobody else would

undertake. So what did he do?He got started.And then he didnt stop until he finished.I saw the need also, not only as a student, but rom

intercourse with all classes o my countrymen, he wrote,and God inspired me with courage to undertake it, andwith inborn perseverance during a period o years tocarry it through,by devoting every leisure moment o abusy commercial lie to the preparation or, and executiono, that one object.

It was in that Fenton started this mammoth under-taking. He finished in at the age o .

Astonishing what singular devotion to an importanttask can yield. How critical it is that we prune out thoselie-rittering detailsand make the very most o the brietime we possess. For today, too, there is a great work to bedone, in the shadow o looming catastrophe and calamity.

Follow Joel Hilliker: Twitter

One Mans Admirable Attempt to Save UK and the World

JOEL HILLIKER
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AUGUST 30 20132THE TRUMPET WEEKLY

its own people. Tis man who dinedwith Assad on more than one occasionis now out there beating the drum orU.S. military action against Assad.

Secretary Kerry said, What wesaw in Syria last week should shockthe conscience o the world. It defies

any code o morality. Te indiscriminate slaughter ocivilians, the killing o women and children and inno-cent bystanders, by chemical weapons is a moral obscen-ity. By any standard it is inexcusable, and despite theexcuses and equivocations that some have manuactured,it is undeniable.

He went on to say that today is more seriousthan whats happening in Syriaand thats saying a lot,when you consider the present state o our world.

Some have said that the administration is entitled tochange its mindparticularly i the acts on the groundchange.And thats true. Sometimes a leader has to abruptlychange course in order to do the right thing. But this is

much more than a simple change in policy.Te carnage we see in Syria today is not only abhorrent,

it exposes the utter incompetence and blatant hypocrisythat exists in Washington. And, it exposes the news me-dias shameless duplicity when it comes to its coverage oAmericas oreign policy.

I you take Kerrys remarks on Syria and replace IraqwithSyria andAssad with Saddam Hussein, you could havemade the exact same speech in the days leading up to theIraq War in .

Back in and , s popular news show Min-utes exposed the truth about Saddam Husseins chemical

weapons programas well as Saddams desire to build anuclear weapon.In an act o revenge against Kurdish support or Iran in

the Iran-Iraq war, Saddam destroyed more than , vil-lages. Some o the destruction was proudly recorded by theIraqi Army, reporter Ed Bradley noted (Feb. , ).

Drive down any road in this part o Iraq, and you seewhat used to be village afer village now reduced to rubble.Tese villages used to be home to at least a hal-millionpeople. ens o thousands o themthe Kurds say almost,are still missing and presumed dead, Bradleyreported. Te bodies o dead children littered the streetslike discarded dolls.

When President Clinton, thereore, had his run-ins withSaddam Hussein during the mid-s, the news mediarushed to his deense. And you can see why! Saddam Hus-sein was a brutal dictator who massacred his own people!

But President Bush, on the other hand, received no suchsupport. During his administration, we were told that he to the American people. We were told that there wereno weapons o mass destruction in Iraq. America shouldnever have invaded Iraq in , they say.

In , then-senator Barack Obama made it clear hewas dead set against U.S. intervention in Iraq, despite thedamning evidence o his many atrocities against his own

people. Forgetting the history o their own reporting inthe s, the media went along. By then Hussein had kil ledthousands o his own citizens with sarin and mustard gas.

But none o that mattered. Obama was against warre-member? He was the anti-war candidate in .

Even aferhe became president, President Obamawaltzed up to the stage at the United Nations in September and said, Weve re-engaged the United Nations .

We have sought a new era o engagement with theworld. He also promised he would work with the UNunlike other U.S. leaders.

And just last week, the president told : I the U.S.goes in and attacks another country without a UN mandateand without clear evidence that can be presented, thenthere are questions in terms o whether international lawsupports it .

Now, however, the president and his team are desper-ately looking or a way the UNand even the U.S.Congressin order to act against Assad in Syria! Tus arthe sel-styled human rights president has not been movedto intervene orceully despite a death toll o , and

countinguntil now.Why should another who happened to die rom

chemical weapons, rather than torture, beheadings, sexualviolence, or various other hideous endings, change theequation? Because it is believed that Assad crossed the redline, and now Obama act or risk losing all credibility.

Regardless o how Americas proposed action in Syriaplays out in the coming weeks, the real significance here isthat, in conronting Assad, America is actually siding withthe terrorist groups that have infiltrated the rebel orcesthe ones backed by Saudi Arabia.

A prophecy in Psalm reveals that when Europe comes

against the king o the south, the Middle East will be divid-ed into two power blocsthose nations that back Iran andthose that oppose Iranian dominance. Syria is triggering adramatic realignmento strategic alliances in the region.

According to Psalm , Syria is actually prophesied tomove into the power bloc that opposes Iran. Historically, ocourse, Syria has had close ties with Iran.

From this alliance (which you can read more abouthere), we know to watch or Syria to break that alliancewith Iran. We might not know every detail about how thebreak will happen, but we know it will. By understandingPsalm and Daniel , we can look beyond the currentchaos in Syria and know how this bloody conflict will end.

As bad as it is, its only the beginning. Tis situation isabout to explode. Te same prophecies that tell us aboutthe two Middle Eastern power blocs, that orecast Syriasbreak with Iran, also tell us that the emerging German-ledEuropean empire is about to wreak unprecedented destruc-tion on this world. It all begins in this region with the kingo the north coming against Iran and its allies. But it willspread rom there.

Tank God the suffering will only go on or a ew yearsafer the clash. Prophecy tells us that when the clash oDaniel happens, the Messiah will return yearslater!

Follow Stephen Flurry: Twitter

SYRIA from page 1

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