MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

RAPSI – “MOSCOW, September 13 – RAPSI. The Moscow City Court has sentenced radical Islamist Tatyana Tarasova to 1.5 years of probation for posting an article promoting terrorism on a Muslim advocacy website that she administered, the court told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) Thursday.

Tarasova pleaded guilty in the case. Her case was considered via special procedure in one day. The special procedure classification ensures a trial without an evidentiary review or witness testimonies, and the court cannot sentence the defendant to the maximum punishment.

According to the investigators, Tarasova converted to Islam and began supporting radical Islamic views and the idea of committing terrorist acts against non-Muslims in an effort to unite the Muslim world under a ‘global Islamic caliphate.’

In 2005, she joined the interregional ‘Islamic Committee’ movement as the deputy chairman. She also started administering its website. Investigators believe that Tarasova used the website to promote the organization’s beliefs, and published materials promoting terrorist activities.

Tarasova studied theology at Moscow State University’s Philosophy Department.

Investigators have said that she understood the consequences of her actions.” Source – RAPSI.

Flashback: Russia: Prominent Muslim Lawyer Promises To ‘Cover Russia In Blood’ and Turn Moscow Into ‘A Second Dead Sea’ If Sharia Law Is Not Implemented – “Police in the Russian capital said on Wednesday they will examine a video in which a prominent Muslim lawyer pledges to ‘cover Russia in blood’ if the authorities refuse to establish courts to implement Islamic law. ‘May be you are foreigners here, and this is our home. We will set our rules, whether you want this or not … Any attempts to stop this will result in blood. We will turn the city (Moscow) into a second dead sea,’ he was quoted as saying.” Read more.

Flashback: Russian Radio Host Slash-Attacked For Criticizing Islam Over The Air, ‘You Are Allah’s Enemy!’ – “A radio host has been hospitalized after being cut 15 times by an unidentified criminal. Two weeks ago the journalist ventured to criticize the founder of Islam, the Prophet Mohammed, on air. Sergey Aslanyan, 46, was brought to Moscow’s hospital with numerous non-penetrating knife wounds to the chest, neck and arm… Aslanyan claimed that the attacker was shouting ‘you are Allah’s enemy!’ while slashing at the victim.” Read more.

I was just thinking yesterday that when the next Middle East war breaks out and the Muslim world begins to erupt we would begin to see headlines across the globe using the word “Armageddon” to describe the brewing situation in the Islamic world. Little do many realize that what may soon begin is what may indeed be the catalyst that will bring us to precisely that …

“TEL AVIV, Israel (CBSDC/AP) – Israeli Arabs protest outside the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv Thursday following the attacks on U.S. compounds in Libya, Egypt and Yemen.

The Times of Israel reports about 100 peaceful demonstrators marched outside the embassy to protest the anti-Islam movie which mocks the prophet Muhammad.

A radical group called the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement led the demonstration, according to the Times of Israel.

A top Israeli Arab Knesset official warned of ‘Armageddon’ if the United Nations does not intervene.

‘If the U.N. does not mobilize to stop this erosion, it will be Armageddon,’ MK Talab el-Sana told the Israeli paper.

This is the latest round of protests on the heels of the attacks on U.S. compounds in Libya, Yemen and Egypt.” Read more.

Turmoil Over Contentious Video Spreads to Yemen and Iran – “Turmoil in the Arab world linked to an American-made video denigrating the Prophet Muhammad spread on Thursday to Yemen, where hundreds of protesters attacked the American Embassy, two days after assailants killed four Americans in Libya, including the ambassador, and crowds tried to overrun the embassy compound in Cairo. News reports also spoke of a protest in Tehran, where around 500 Iranians chanting ‘Death to America’ tried to converge on the Swiss Embassy, which handles United States interests in the absence of formal diplomatic relations with Washington.” Read more.

Iraqi Militia Threatens U.S. Interests Over Film – “An Iraqi militia that carried out some of the most prominent attacks on foreigners during the Iraq war on Thursday threatened U.S. interests in the country over a film that has triggered protests in Libya, Egypt and Yemen. ‘The offence caused to the messenger (Prophet Mohammad) will put all American interests in danger and we will not forgive them for that,’ said Qais al-Khazali, leader of the Asaib al-Haq militia.” Read more.

Protests Reach Day 3 In Cairo, Anti-American Sentiment Spreading With Domino Effect – “Tuesday’s attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya that left American ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans dead seems now to have just been the beginning. The uprising has spread throughout the Middle East, with protesters now in Egypt, Iran, Tunisia, Morocco and Afghanistan. Protests were finally quelled in Yemen, where demonstrators breached the perimeter of the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa. But the situation is most untenable in Cairo where at least 13 protesters and six police officers were injured, according to government officials.” Read more.

Imagine that. Did we just witness Barack Obama having a brief moment of partial lucidity from his four-year coma and actually acknowledge the blatantly obvious? It appears that way. The fact that he still doesn’t consider the new “destroy western civilization from within” leadership in Egypt an enemy, however, certainly exemplifies the blind naivete that continues to cloud the myopic, wishful thinking of the Obama Administration’s incompetent leadership …

Update: That brief moment of lucidity is now being “clarified” …

“President Barack Obama has said the United States does not currently consider Egypt to be an ally.

He was speaking with reference to violent clashes at the US embassy in Cairo, over a US-made anti-Islamic film which has sparked anger among Muslims.

His comments also came after the storming of the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which killed the US ambassador on Tuesday.

President Obama referred to US-Egypt relations as a ‘work in progress’.

‘I don’t think we would consider them an ally, but we don’t consider them an enemy. They are a new government that is trying to find its way,’ Mr Obama said in a television interview with Spanish-language network Telemundo.

He said that so far Egypt’s government has ‘said the right thing and taken the right steps’ but it has also responded to other events in ways that ‘may not be aligned with our interests’…

‘If they take actions that indicate they are not taking those responsibilities, as all other countries do where we have embassies, I think that’s going to be a problem,’ Mr Obama said.

Egypt was a close and vital Middle East ally of the United States while ousted President Hosni Mubarak was in power.

Cairo has been key US ally since 1979 Egypt-Israel peace deal, and the US gives more than $1bn in military aid to Egypt every year.

After last year’s uprising and the resurgence of the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood, question marks have been raised over the future of the relationship.” Read more.

New Terror Axis? Egypt-Iran Intelligence Meeting Prompts Fears That Muslim Brotherhood Will Begin Supporting Global Terror – “U.S. intelligence agencies recently monitored a secret meeting between Egypt’s intelligence chief and a senior Iranian spy that is raising new fears the Muslim Brotherhood government in Cairo could begin covertly supporting global terrorism. According to U.S. officials, the head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service, Maj. Gen. Murad Muwafi, met in early August with a senior official of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). Disclosure of the Egyptian-Iranian intelligence meeting comes as the Obama administration is planning to provide $1 billion in aid to bail out Egypt’s new Islamist government.” Read more.

Flashback: US Government Is Ignoring Muslim Brotherhood’s Nature – “The No. 1 goal of the Muslim Brotherhood is to spread Sharia law throughout the world, not just in the Middle East. Since its founding over 80 years ago, the Muslim Brotherhood has been no friend of America’s ideals and democratic way of life. That is why it is so disturbing that the Obama Administration’s own State Department has given the Muslim Brotherhood’s radical Islamic agenda a wink and a nod. Although the Obama administration wants Americans to believe that the Muslim Brotherhood is a moderate organization, nothing could be further from the truth. A sense of friendship with a radical organization will only jeopardize America’s security in the long run.” Read more.

Flashback: US Would Be ‘Satisfied’ With a Muslim Brotherhood Win in Egypt – “The United States would be ‘satisfied’ should free elections in Egypt produce a victory for the Muslim Brotherhood, AFP reported Friday according to the US’s special coordinator for transitions in the Middle East, William Taylor. Taylor said the US would judge elected parties in the Middle East based ‘on what they do, and not what they’re called,’ AFP quoted him as saying. He added that he did not meet with Brotherhood officials in his latest visit to Cairo, but would have had he been given the chance.” Read more.

Attacking an embassy and killing a US Ambassador is an act of war. Here is an update on this story …

Update: Initial reports of the ambassador being paraded may not have been accurate. Read more …

Update: Then again, maybe it was accurate after all, in fact, even worse …

By Hadeel Al Shalchi, Reuters – “The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three embassy staff were killed as they rushed away from a consulate building in Benghazi, stormed by al Qaeda-linked gunmen blaming America for a film that they said insulted the Prophet Mohammad.

Gunmen had attacked and set fire to the U.S. consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi, the cradle of last year’s uprising against Muammar Gaddafi’s 42-year rule, late on Tuesday evening as another assault was mounted on the U.S. embassy in Cairo.

The California-born ambassador, Christopher Stevens, was trying to leave the consulate building for a safer location as part of an evacuation when gunmen launched an intense attack, apparently forcing security personnel to withdraw.

‘The American ambassador and three staff members were killed when gunmen fired rockets in their direction,’ a Libyan official in Benghazi told Reuters. Airport sources said the bodies were due to be flown from Benghazi to Tripoli.

The attack was believed to have been carried out by Ansar al-Sharia, an al Qaeda-style Sunni Islamist group that has been active in Benghazi, a Libyan security official said. Witnesses said the mob also included tribesmen, militia and other gunmen.

The attack raised questions about the future U.S. diplomatic presence in Libya, relations between Washington and Tripoli, the unstable security situation in post-Gaddafi Libya and whether more protests might take place in the Muslim world.

The film portrayed Mohammad as a fool, a philanderer and a religious fake.” Read more.

Officials Say Embassy Attack in Libya Was Coordinated – “Intelligence experts and U.S. government officials are starting to view the attack in Libya that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others in Benghazi as a coordinated attack. Several sources have said they believe it was a planned operation and have pointed out several developments that seem to support the possibility.” Read more.

Flashback: Libya Heading Towards the Dominant Political Force in the Country: Islamism – “Amid all the debate as to what lies in store for Libya, it is becoming increasingly apparent that Islamism will be the dominant political force in the country. Indeed, this trend should already have been clear in the treatment of David Gerbi, a Libyan Jew residing in Italy who returned to his ancestral homeland in the summer to fight alongside the rebels against Gaddafi. Yet when he tried to rebuild and reopen the abandoned and desolate synagogue in Tripoli, he faced death threats, intimidation and protests, such that he was eventually deported.” Read more.

Flashback: US Intelligence Report Says Libyan Jihadists Planning to Subvert Post-Gadhafi Gov’t and Create an Islamist State – “Jihadists among the Libyan rebels revealed plans last week on the Internet to subvert the post-Moammar Gadhafi government and create an Islamist state, according to U.S. intelligence agencies. U.S. officials said spy agencies are stepping up surveillance of Islamist-oriented elements among Libyan rebels. A government report circulated Tuesday said extremists were observed ‘strategizing’ on Internet forums about how to set up an Islamist state in Libya after the regime of Col. Gadhafi is defeated.” Read more.

AFP – “A tiny Christian village in northern Lebanon, perched on a hill overlooking Syria, Minjez is a bucolic and peaceful place by day but terrorized at night by shelling from across the border.

‘We can’t sleep a wink,’ laments Marcele Shahine, a 37-year-old mother of four. ‘The other night a rocket hit a house, but happily no one was there.’

‘What have we got to do with what’s going on in Syria? Why are they bombing us and we paying the price,’ she adds, calling for the government to do something to help the village and its 200 residents.

The answer is not difficult to find: it is very likely that anti-regime gunmen are slipping through the lush fields running down the hill from Minjez and across the Nahr al-Kabir River that serves as the border here.

The regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad announces on an almost daily basis that its forces have foiled attempts by ‘terrorists,’ its term for rebels, to infiltrate the country…

Numerous border villages in the north have been targeted by shelling in recent months, notably in the Wadi Khaled region, which has been the destination of many Syrians fleeing the killing and destruction at home.

The neighboring region of Akkar is another target, and Issam al-Marouni, a seventy-something Christian, walks down a tiny street between the old stone houses in the village of Debbabiyeh.

Marouni said he has never abandoned his village, even during the 1975-1990 civil war, and that he never will.

‘But since the uprising began in Syria, I have seen entire families leave. Our villages are becoming the transit point for armed men going to fight the Syrian regime.’

Marouni’s Syrian wife is from the village of Ghazir, just across the border, and they used to visit her family there.

‘That has all changed now.’

And change is a word that causes these Christians to tremble, just as it does their fellow believers on the other side of the border…

Voicing a fear of Christians on both sides of the border, Marouni says they ‘could pay the price of the war in Syria, all the more because there is talk of [Islamist] extremists’ emerging among the ranks of the rebels.

And as Shahine puts it, ‘we are a minority, and with changes in regimes, we have to watch out for our survival.'” Read more.