Free Republic

Christianity faces being wiped out of the “biblical heartlands” in the Middle East because of mounting persecution of worshippers, according to a new report. The study warns that Christians suffer greater hostility across the world than any other religious group. And it claims politicians have been “blind” to the extent of violence faced by Christians in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The most common threat to Christians abroad is militant Islam, it says, claiming that oppression in Muslim countries is often ignored because of a fear that criticism will be seen as “racism”. It warns that converts from Islam...

Disturbing developments are sweeping across the greater Middle East. In Syria, tens of thousands of innocent people have been slaughtered. In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood has come to power, and the country's peace treaty with Israel hangs in the balance. In Libya, our ambassador was murdered in a terrorist attack. U.S. embassies throughout the region have been stormed in violent protests. And in Iran, the ayatollahs continue to move full tilt toward nuclear-weapons capability, all the while promising to annihilate Israel. These developments are not, as President Obama says, mere "bumps in the road." They are major issues that put...

Israel is increasingly concerned with the military build-up in Iraq amid intelligence reports that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is solidifying its presence in the country, according to a senior IDF officer. Of particular concern is the Pentagon’s approval in late 2011 of the sale of 36 F- 16 multi-role combat aircraft to Iraq. The planes will be built by Lockheed Martin in the US and are Block 52 F-16s, meaning that they are of the same configuration as Israel’s F-16Is, called Sufa (Storm). “We are carefully watching the developments in Iraq,” the IDF officer said. “The possible developments...

Israel Defense Forces officials told cabinet ministers on Monday that should Israel undergo a coordinated missile attack, there would be less than 300 Israeli casualties. The number was mentioned by IDF officials during a discussion in Israel's security-diplomatic cabinet, Channel 10 reported on Monday, and is far lower than the number mentioned previously by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who reportedly said that a maximum of 500 Israelis would die in such an attack. During the meeting, a senior official in the Israel Air Force told the cabinet ministers that in the event of a coordinated missile attack on Israel's home...

The Syrian army has recaptured most of the northern rebel stronghold of Idlib near the Turkish border, pushing hundreds of military defectors out of a major base they had held for months even as pockets of resistance kept up their fight Tuesday. Members of the rebel Free Syrian Army gather in a mountainous area of the restive Idlib province in northwestern Syria. The three-day operation to capture the city followed closely after a similar offensive to dislodge the opposition from another key piece of territory it had controlled, the Baba Amr district in central Homs. The two victories gave President...

Senior US officials doubt Washington's ability to properly gauge the progress of Iran's nuclear program and said that the United States would not necessarily know if Tehran had started secretly building an atomic bomb, The Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday. The doubts of the "senior officials familiar with US intelligence and spying capabilities in Iran" contradict Washington's contention that US satellites, sensors and spies will know when Iran has "crossed a red line," marking the failure of efforts to thwart Tehran's nuclear ambitions through sanctions.

"We will hold sacred the beliefs held sacred by others.” That’s the concluding rally cry of the U.S. Department of Defense’s newly issued guidance on the “Proper Handling and Disposal of Islamic Religious Materials — Service Members/Civilian Training.” Here’s how it works: Mainstream Muslims throughout the Middle East believe, based on the Koran and other “Islamic Religious Materials,” that if an infidel force invades a Muslim territory, its members must be killed until the force has been driven out. They further believe that if non-Muslims commit some act — even an inadvertent one — that Muslims perceive as insulting to...

Despite reports of high-level defections of government and military officials, U.S. intelligence sees no signs of significant deterioration of support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by his inner circle, senior U.S. intelligence officials said Friday. Read also: U.N. envoy to meet with Syria's president The officials, who would speak only on the condition that their names not be used, said that to date, the defections have been of lower-level officials and those in the military. None of those defections, including the group of military officers who are reported to have defected this week, are close enough to al-Assad to truly...

Iran is closer to assembling a nuclear bomb than "people think," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, following a the publication of a report by the United Nations' nuclear watchdog on Tehran's nuclear program. Last week, the hotly anticipated document said Iran appeared to have worked on designing an atomic bomb and that secret research may continue. It was the most detailed International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report to date on the issue.

Washington, Oct.19 (ANI): Security researchers have detected a new Trojan, scarily similar to the infamous Stuxnet worm, which could disrupt computers controlling power plants, oil refineries and other critical infrastructure networks. The Trojan, dubbed "Duqu" by the security firm Symantec, appears, based on its code, to have been written by the same authors as the Stuxnet worm, which last July was used to cripple an Iranian nuclear-fuel processing plant, Fox News reports.

Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that he doesn't believe the peace accord between Israel and Egypt is in any danger, voicing optimism for the future. "The Arab Spring has brought hope for democracy and freedom to many of the people in the region ... and I hope that eventually it will potentially bring about a change in the prospects of a peace agreement to be negotiated between Israel and its neighbors," he said. "But it would require Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories and that's something that so far the Israeli government has been unable to do."

Iran has started moving the machines that enrich uranium for nuclear fuel from its main atomic complex in the central city of Natanz to an underground bunker near the holy city of Qom, its top nuclear official was quoted as saying on Monday. "Transferring Natanz centrifuges to Fordow (near Qom) is under way with full observance of standards," Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani told state broadcaster IRIB, adding "Fordow's facilities are being prepared and some centrifuges have been transferred."

BEIRUT (AP) — Tanks took over a main square in the besieged Syrian city of Hama and electricity and telephone phone lines were cut off Wednesday as President Bashar Assad's regime showed no signs of halting the intense military assault against an uprising now in its fifth month, activists said.

Almost every promise, almost every reset proclamation from Barack Obama about the struggles against, and those within, the radical Muslim world has either been withdrawn or proven bankrupt. On the day the president announced his reelection bid, his administration renounced its loud promises to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a New York civilian court. While blaming Congress for the flipflop, Team Obama conceded that it had no public support for such a sensational courtroom drama — and knew that the trial of the mastermind of 9/11, a few blocks from the site of his mass murdering, might have endangered the...

System designed to defend against rockets at range of 4-70 km; some defense officials warn of ramifications of deploying system without ability to protect all of cities under missile fire. As missile fire from the Gaza Strip escalated on Thursday, the IDF is preparing for the possible deployment of the Iron Dome counter-rocket defense system along Israel’s border with Gaza.

The Syrian people should follow Egypt’s lead and the country’s army should “empower a revolution”, Robert Gates, US secretary of defence, said as thousands marched in a southern city. Mr Gates made his comments – some of the toughest remarks to date by a US official about the rule of Bashar al-Assad, president – on a day of further upheaval in the Middle East and beyond. The White House signalled that it was preparing for a change in power in Yemen, where it has been allied with the government of Ali Abdullah Saleh, president. Officials also said Nato had neared...

The woman who authorities say killed her teenage daughter and son because she was fed up with them talking back and being mouthy will not appear in court Saturday because she's being treated at a hospital for an unknown condition. Authorities say Julie Powers Schenecker was taken to Tampa General Hospital shortly after midnight Saturday to be treated for a medical condition that existed before she was taken to jail. Hillsborough Sheriff's deputies — who oversee jail inmates — said they could not reveal Schenecker's medical condition, citing health care privacy laws. An arrest affidavit said Schenecker shot her son...

Freeper Muawiyah interviewed by Arab Radio station (presumably) from Middle East (probably Hamas) in Springfield Virginia after voting.

The cabinet passed the draft budget for 2011 and 2012 and the Economic Arrangements Law by a large majority on Friday afternoon, after 18 hours of debate that started Thursday evening. Twenty ministers from Likud, Labor and Habayit Hayehudi voted in favor. The five Israel Beiteinu ministers objected, the four Shas ministers abstained, and one Labor minister, Isaac Herzog, was absent. The most contentious portion of the nation’s second two-year budget involved defense − the Finance Ministry fought bitterly to decrease defense spending, while the Defense Ministry pushed for an increase. Ultimately, the matter was put on the table of...

War drums are beating in the Middle East. In a short time, the United States has increased the number of its carrier strike groups opposite Iran to three, and reports are raining down of a tightening ring of American and Israeli concentrations all around the Islamic Republic. On the diplomatic front, the Israelis are unusually concerned about their international image (for example, making concessions in Gaza) while their top officials - including Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself - are shuttling between Jerusalem and Washington. Everybody in the region is restless. Turkey is making spectacular diplomatic...

Russia's Mil Design Bureau has briefed military delegations from Arab and other states on an advanced helicopter expected to begin production by 2015. They said the helicopter would feature capabilities for stealth and the downing of fighter-jets. "We are working on the concept of the fifth-generation combat helicopter," Mil chief executive officer Andrei Shibitov said. At a briefing on May 13, Shibitov said Mil would produce the first fifth-generation helicopter in the world. He said the company would spend $1 billion on the project, with additional funds provided by the Russian Defense Ministry. Industry analysts said any new helicopter must...

Iran has intensified its crackdown on Kurdish nationalists. Opposition sources said Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been attacking Kurdish villages throughout northeastern Iran near the border with Turkey. "The terrorists are upset because our intelligence on their network has vastly improved over the last year because of our cooperation with Turkey," an Iranian source said. The sources said the crackdown has targeted the Iranian wing of the Kurdish Workers Party known as Free Life in Kurdisan, or PJAK. "The targets include anybody believed associated with PJAK," an opposition source said. The sources said IRGC, particularly the Basij militia, has...

The top American commander in the Middle East has ordered a broad expansion of clandestine military activity in an effort to disrupt militant groups or counter threats in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and other countries in the region, according to defense officials and military documents. The secret directive, signed in September by Gen. David H. Petraeus, authorizes the sending of American Special Operations troops to both friendly and hostile nations in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa to gather intelligence and build ties with local forces. Officials said the order also permits reconnaissance that could pave...

A regional war may well be approaching. The actions and statements of Iran and its Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian proxies over the past week or so indicate that this is what Israel’s enemies are gunning for. In preparing for this growing threat, Israel’s leaders need to consider more than just the military challenges it faces. They must consider the political actors at home and abroad that limit the IDF’s ability to fight to victory and develop strategies for neutralizing those actors. The latest developments are menacing. Last Saturday, Iran’s unelected president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatened to open up a new round...

The IDF’s deployment along the Golan Heights did not change on Thursday, despite the escalation in rhetoric on both sides of the Israeli-Syrian border. Relations between the countries took a turn for the worse on Monday, when Defense Minister Ehud Barak told a gathering of senior IDF officers that in the absence of a peace deal with Syria, Israel could find itself at war with its neighbor to the north. The war, he said, would be pointless since its conclusion would likely be followed by immediate peace talks that would focus on the same issues that are currently separating the...

Chances are your energy needs are going to flow from one of these fields in the future. This month Iraq will finalize contracts with the likes of ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and BP to develop some of its biggest oil fields. These giants are among the world's last remaining pockets of so-called "easy oil." They don't require ultradeep drilling or innovative production techniques, just the application of Big Oil know-how. No wonder the oil companies agreed to develop Iraq's fields without even getting an ownership stake in the fields and collecting as little as $1.15 per barrel recovered.

The Jan. 12 assassination of Iranian physicist Masoud Ali-Mohammadi remains shrouded in mystery. The Iranian regime, facing unprecedented political domestic opposition over last June's disputed presidential election, has named Israel's Mossad intelligence service as the most likely culprit, aided by the Americans and British. The Israelis' supposed objective: to sabotage Iran's controversial nuclear program. But in the Middle East, where conspiracy theories are a cultural pursuit, there's now another scenario. The Mossad is still the culprit, but its motivation is far murkier -- derailing the tortuous negotiations between Tehran and the West concerning Iran's nuclear project, and thus to clear...

There's a joke about a man who tells a psychiatrist, "Everybody hates me," to which the psychiatrist responds, "That's ridiculous - everyone doesn't know you, yet." Which brings me to Barack Obama: one of the best-informed people in the American security establishment told me the other day that the president is a "Manchurian Candidate". That can't be true - Manchuria isn't in the business of brainwashing prospective presidential candidates any more. There's no one left to betray America to. Obama is creating a strategic void in which no major power will dominate, and every minor power must fend for itself....

This is barely being reported on the MSM and yet it’s developing into a major clash. The recent Arab summit in Damascus was a flop and left Syria with a lot of anger and embarrassment. The Israelis have openly admitted to bombing that mystery installation in Syria for being a nuclear bomb assembly factory set up by the North Koreans. This ruination of their plans has naturally outraged the Syrians. At the same time, many Arab states are exasperated with Syria for their continued support of Hizbollah in Lebanon and their efforts to control that country. The other Arab states...

A few months ago, a day before one of the occasional marches the Capital sees demanding an end to the Iraq War, I began the descent into the Metro stop near my office, looked up, and saw a number of representatives of Code Pink standing at the railing overlooking the escalator. Or rather, I heard them first. They were screaming at the parade of commuters, at the top of their lungs and in a tone somewhere between simple frustration and righteous anger, "End the war!!!" Well, I thought, that ought to take care of things. Good work, hippies! I kid...

AMMAN, Jordan - Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting, mistakenly said Tuesday that Iran was allowing al-Qaida fighters into the country to be trained and returned to Iraq. McCain, expressing concern about Iran's rising sway in the Mideast, said, "Al-Qaida is going back into Iran and is receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran." He made the comments Tuesday at a news conference in Jordan; he made similar comments earlier to radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt. Iran is a predominantly Shiite Muslim country and has been at pains to close its borders to al-Qaida fighters...

From our "eyes open" and be ready for the ME to go hot, not only are sources in Israel reporting that unofficially folks are being told to ready their safe rooms, but we now see that telecommunications cable breaks servicing that part of the world are now up to 5! "A total of five cables being operated by two submarine cable operators have been damaged with a fault in each. These are SeaMeWe-4 (South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe-4) near Penang, Malaysia, the FLAG Europe-Asia near Alexandria, FLAG near the Dubai coast, FALCON near Bandar Abbas in Iran and SeaMeWe-4, also...

Vatican City, Jan 18, 2008 / 10:55 am (CNA).- This morning at the Vatican, the Pope met with the Catholic bishops from Arab regions of the world and called upon all Catholics to help Arab Christians to remain in their countries. The prelates who spoke with Benedict XVI are from the Conference of Latin Bishops in the Arab Regions (CELRA), whose president is His Beatitude Michel Sabbah, patriarch of Jerusalem of the Latins. In his talk to them, the Pope recalled how their episcopal conference "comprises many different situations in which the faithful, natives of many different countries, often live in...

Today's religious map of the Middle East traces to the unification of the Arabian tribes under the banner of Islam in the 7th century, and their subsequent conquest of much of the known world. Muhammad's genius was in finding a way to unite the myriad of fissiparous, feuding Bedouin tribes of northern Arabia into a cohesive polity. Just as he had provided a constitution of rules under which the people of Medina could live together, so he provided a constitution for all Arabs, but this one had the imprimatur not just of Muhammad, but of God. Submission -- Islam --...

11/2/07 The Arab Hala Gorani introduces us to a western-type Arab singer ‘Caramel’ as if that's a 'normal Arab today'. http://edition.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/gorani.hala.html The Arab Hala Gorani has a long history on CNN to 'glorify Middle east cultures' on her show 'Inside the Middle east', she's a master on picking & selecting the rare and never on the mainstream. In other words, not showing reality bit being a propaganda tool for the Arab world, when no one speaks [really] for the west in that wild jungle hatred empire. In this age of “multiculturalism� that is nothing but a tool by Islamists, it’s...

Responding to the call of Pope Urban II at Claremont in 1095, the Christian knights of the First Crusade set out for the Holy Land. In 1099, Jerusalem was captured. As their port in Palestine, the Crusaders settled on Acre on the Mediterranean. There they built the great castle that was overrun by Saladin in 1187, but retaken by Richard the Lion-Hearted in 1191. Acre became the capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the stronghold of the Crusader state, which fell to the Mameluks in a bloody siege in 1291. The Christians left behind were massacred. The ruins of...

The infamous J. Carter has another destructive launch his hateful anti Israel book "Palestine peace not apartheid". Carter as in to be blamed partially for his role in today's entire world's danger from the fanatical Islamic regime in Iran, would he just not push so hard for a change in Iran, when we are told as Americans, time and time again, not to interfer into other states' affaires, but it seems it is a selective call. Now, Carter has from self hatred anti Americanism to anti Israelism, rest assuree it was by "advice" from his Arab tyrants buddies. As Prof....

Turkey is unlikely to join the EU for at least 15 years Turkey finally began talks on joining the European Union in October 2005, more than 40 years after it first began to woo the emerging bloc. Now it seems that things are already going wrong. What are the main problems? More generally, what are the main arguments for and against Turkish membership of the EU, and how does the accession process work? Why is Turkey's EU membership bid in trouble? There are two issues. TURKISH MARATHON 1959 - Turkey applies for associate membership of EEC 1963 - Association...

Arab lying racists (still) criticize beautiful democratic Israel? What happens when the Atlas (Arab) of Racism invents-lies libel "racism" on a remarkable democracy? Ignoring Israel's reality First, the Arab Islamic hate media Goliath is systematically ingnoring or lying openly about the fact that Israel's Arabs are not only equal, but giving opportunities & rights without demanding of them the natural obligation that exists on all Israelis to serve in it's service, moreover they're often first class citizens in courts etc. even ahead of Israeli Jews. Remarkable! Israel's free, democratic status should be held especially remarkable giving the fact of...

Ginko, Lapidot discover oil at Dead Sea drilling site At drilling site north of Dead Sea, oil struck at depth of 1,800 meters. According to estimates, there are about 6.5 million barrels of crude oil, worth about USD 300 million Golan Hazani Published:  09.19.06, 17:14   Oil spurted Monday at a depth of about 1,800 meters during drilling near the Dead Sea. The drilling was planned only to reach 2,000 meters. Drilling partners, Ginko Oil Exploration and Lapidot (20 percent) are expected to carry out a series of tests in the coming days in order to estimate the quantity of oil...

A Solution for the Mid-East ConflictModern means of communication give us the ability to see the ugly face of terrorism graphically: heartless beheadings, brutal murders, suicide bombings, the bloody deaths of innocent people and the like. No one can deny that terrorists who vow the destruction of individuals and even whole societies are just plain evil. It cannot be said enough: terrorism is satanic. A few days ago one official at the UN said that terrorism is like a cancer that can only be cut out of the body if we are to save the whole person. I do not...

newsflash on Haaretz only

The Defining Moment of a century by Salena Zito, Tribune-Review, March 5, 2006 Khalilzad and the Iraqi officials he advises on creating a new government faced what could be Iraq's Fort Sumter on Feb. 22 when terrorists bombed a Shiite mosque and shrine in Samarra. "They came to the brink (of civil war) ... but they have decided that that is not what they want and they have pulled back from it."

http://www.spectator.org/blogger.asp Third Intifada imminent - Friday, February 10, 2006 @ 1:24:49 AM Spoke several excellent sources re Israel and Palestinians, and all agree that a third intifada is imminent, though one did call it a war, not an intifada. Hamas will not relent on its position that it is committed to a violent defeat of Israel. The intifada will be run by Al Aqsa from the West Bank, especially the Balata refugee camp, and by Islamic Jihad from the West Bank and Gaza. The third intifada will include suicide belts as well as the first ever rocket attacks from the...

This describes it typically, the "payback" of a 'Palestinian' patient, From Patient to Suicide Bomber When she's also using that sick excuse of the notorious Arab boy, which -- as turned out -- was only a "Palestinian" stunt & was in fact murdered by Arabs! - The Israeli Crime That Wasn’t) Video - Palestinian patient tried to blow up in the Israeli hospital where she was treated. "Palestinian" woman that wanted to blow up the very hospital was treated in. SUICIDE BOMBER WANNABE: Wafa al-Biri, a 21-year-old Palestinian woman, attempted to kill the doctor who had saved her life. But...

President George W. Bush addressed the Hispanic Alliance for Free Trade at the Organization of American States in Washington First Lady Laura Bush spoke at a fundraiser for Rep. Jim Gerlach, R-Pa., in King of Prussia, Pa Vice President Dick Cheney spoke at the 75th anniversary celebration honoring the creation of the Department of Veterans Affairs held at Constitution Hall in Washington US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice continues her middle east tour amid controversy over the treatment of US official and a NBC reporter Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2005 The Dearborn group ACCESS, which helps local Middle Easterners with financial help and other social services, is now accused of fraud involving visiting pregnant women. According to a criminal complaint, a task force has been investigating whether ACCESS employees have aided pregnant Middle Eastern women defraud the state’s Medicaid system. So far, only one employee has been formally charged. The pregnant women apparently come to Michigan on a visitor’s visa and a short time before they’re ready to deliver, apply for emergency Medicaid knowing they have no intention of establishing residency. After the baby is born,...

SYRIAN CHURCH Syrian Surprise: Christians Free to Worship By George Thomas CWNews CWNews.com –On Friday nights in the old city of Damascus, cars crowd through the streets and people relate to each other. It was a short distance from here that the apostle Paul had his dramatic encounter with God, and received his Life-Purpose to spread the Gospel. Today, Syrian Christians are continuing to follow in Paul's footsteps. On this Friday night, while some Syrians are wondering about the future, a small team of Evangelical Christians is out on the streets of Damascus, sharing about their encounters with the man...

POLITICAL reform and popular participation in decision-making are no longer optional in the Middle East but are necessary and almost inevitable, HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani said yesterday. “The absence of democracy and the slackening in political reform have led to most of the economic and social suffering, especially in the region,” the Emir said in an address read out by HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Thani at the opening session of the Second Doha Development Forum (DDF 2005) at the Ritz. The session was attended by a gathering of political leaders, intellectuals, economists...

NEWS Key role for NATO in Middle East? ReutersA Palestinian man gestures in front of an Israeli border policeman yesterday during a protest against Israel’s barrier in the West Bank village of Beit Surik. A key NATO role in the Middle East could help establish greater stability and improve prospects for peace.By Aristotle Tziampiris (1)NATO can play a key role in the stabilization and transformation of the Middle East. The longstanding alliance should in particular address the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. It is worth exploring not only the use of NATO training options, or dispatching NATO troops to police a future...