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US Military Completes Initial Planning For Syria Attack As Israel Considers Military Action Against Syria’s Chemical Stockpiles

06/15/2012 4 comments

By Barbara Starr, CNN – “The U.S. military has completed its own planning for how American troops would conduct a variety of operations against Syria, or to assist neighboring countries in the event action was ordered, officials tell CNN.

In recent weeks, the Pentagon has finalized its assessment of what types of units would be needed, how many troops, and even the cost of certain potential operations, officials tell CNN.

Multiple military officials say initial planning is complete with a full understanding of what types of troops and units would be needed. This has been done so that if President Obama were to ask for options the military would be ready to present them. But officials say additional detailed work would have to be done before forces could be deployed.

The planning comes as the U.S. has become increasingly concerned that the violence in Syria is verging on civil war. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the recent series of bombings have heightened the worry.

Dempsey said it reminded him of the escalating violence during the Iraq war.

The violence ‘gives us all pause that have been in Iraq and seen how these issues become sectarian and then they become civil wars and then they become very difficult to resolve,’ Dempsey told CNN in an exclusive interview on Thursday.

A senior U.S. official said the developments have been a matter of discussion in the Obama administration.

‘There is a sense that if the sectarian violence in Syria grows, it could be worse than what we saw in Iraq,’ the official said.” Read more.

Israel may use military force ‘to secure’ Syria’s alleged chemical arsenal – “The Israeli army is considering using military force to prevent Syria’s alleged chemical warfare stockpiles from getting into the hands of Hezbollah or Al-Qaeda. Tel-Aviv believes that Damascus is no longer capable of securing its arsenal. Syria has never declared it possesses chemical weapons stocks, but the Israeli military does not put its existence under question. Tel Aviv believes Syria has been busy producing mustard and nerve gas for the last 40 years. On Monday Israeli Maj. Gen. Yair Naveh, the country’s deputy military chief, warned that Syria could pose a threat to Israel with its chemical weapons.” Read more.

Russia Prepares Army for Syrian Deployment – “Given the worsening crisis in Syria, the Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper reported that the Russian army is apparently being prepared for a mission in Syria. Citing anonymous sources in the military leadership, the newspaper said that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the general staff to work out a plan for military operations outside Russia, including in Syria. The units being prepared for an intervention are the 76th Division of airborne forces (an especially experienced unit of the Russian army), the 15th Army Division, as well as special forces from a brigade of the Black Sea fleet, which has a base in the Syrian port of Tartus.” Read more.

Britain Could Send in Troops to Syria Says William Hague – “Britain could be forced to send troops into Syria if the bloodshed escalates into all-out civil war, William Hague warned yesterday. The Foreign Secretary said that time for a diplomatic solution is rapidly running out and the country is ‘on the edge’ of a Bosnia-style sectarian conflict. Britain will ‘greatly increase’ support for the Syrian opposition if attempts to end President Bashar al-Assad’s brutal repression fail, Mr Hague said. Admitting that our troops may be called into action, the Foreign Secretary said: ‘The reason I don’t rule things out is because we really don’t know how this situation is going to develop or how terrible it is going to become.’” Read more.

Categories: Anything Else, Radical Islam, Wars and Rumors of War

‘Constant Fear’: Visiting Christians Under Siege In Nigeria

06/15/2012 3 comments

ICC – “By now, many of you know about the unspeakable level of violence against Christians in Nigeria. But I warn you: do not be fooled by what the media tells us. The truth is, you cannot fully grasp the plight of the persecuted Christians in Nigeria until you actually visit them. That is why I decided to fly to Nigeria to see to myself what is really happening to the persecuted church there. Nothing prepared me to what I saw.

I experienced the pain of the Christians in northern Nigeria in less than an hour after I landed in the country. My host Rev. Samuel Ayoba (name changed for security reasons) picked me up from the airport and we started driving to the city of Kaduna. As we drove, my mind started to wonder to the different stories I have read about attacks on Christians. Hoping that it was just me, I asked Rev. Ayoba, ‘How safe is this road? Are we going to be stopped by the Islamic radicals and get killed?’ Instead of reassuring me of our safety, the reverend looked into my eyes and said, ‘Anything could happen. All we could do is to entrust ourselves to God.’ As soon as I heard those words, I felt the pain of living in constant fear. I noticed that we were the only car on the road, and my mind became clouded with suspicion and questions: It’s getting late. Where are the other cars? When will we get there? But I told myself not to be shaken and focus on trusting the Lord.

As we drove towards Kaduna, I saw several mosques. A friend told me that Muslims receive funds from Saudi Arabia and other wealthy Muslim countries to build the mosques. Some of those mosques are then used for teaching hatred against Christians.

When we finally arrived in Kaduna, it was obvious to see evidence of violence in the city. There were check points every few miles. Shortly before I arrived, Islamists carried out a suicide bomb attack targeting a church. They missed their target, but the attacker killed over 40, mainly Muslims who happened to be near the church.

I stayed in Nigeria for 10 days. During my time there, I spoke with dozens of victims of persecution. I visited villages decimated by Islamic violence. One of the saddest days of the trip was when I was asked to speak at the funeral of a Christian who was killed. The man was killed after he visited his father, an evangelist who is living among Muslims.

I came face to face with what it means to go through persecution. I was also reminded of how important it is to stand with the body of Christ that undergoes persecution. I came back from Nigeria with the passion to work more to help the oppressed. One of the victims that ICC helped said to me, “You make us feel that somebody cares for us.” Let us continue making them feel that they are loved!” Source – Persecution.org.

Categories: Radical Islam, Wars and Rumors of War Tags:

Syria: Death Stalks Syrian Christian Ministry, But ‘I Will Not Stop Until I Am With Jesus’

06/15/2012 3 comments

“Syria (CAM) ― An indigenous missionary from nearby Lebanon crossed the border to baptize a believer last week. Instead, he had to bury the believer — shot in the head as a martyr for his recently-found faith in Jesus Christ.

Native missionaries continue to share Gospel CD’s, baptizing new believers, and delivering food and medical aid to suffering Christians in Syria while violence rages around them. More help is needed each day according to one of the ministries in Syria being assisted by Christian Aid Mission based in Charlottesville, Virginia. A Lebanese team is preparing to deliver more aid as soon as funds arrive from the USA to buy supplies at the local market.*

‘Right now,’ said the missionary leader at his base in Lebanon,’there is no food or medicine left. The economy has come to a standstill, and there is no work.’ Many Christians are sick and starving, along with other minorities such as the Bedouins and Gypsies.

‘This has been one of the longest weeks of my life,’ the missionary told Christian Aid. ‘To visit Syria, I had to sneak in through the mountains and not go by normal roads.

‘I went there to bury a friend who died last week. I was supposed to be baptizing him, but I ended up doing his funeral. I led him to Christ two years ago. He was a key helper in the ministry. He was shot in the head. Why? Because he had become a Christian. Now revenge is taking place.’

The slain Christian had been witnessing to many friends and neighbors and had led a growing house church that met in his home with 43 other believers. He was actively involved in delivering aid to some 600 Syrian Christians in his area.

‘Lots of people came to the funeral. In the beginning, I did not know how to start the service. Then I decided to share some letters of encouragement from the churches. I invited several of the believers to read in front of the meeting. They were so encouraged to know that they are not alone. By the time we were done, there were tears of joy instead of sadness. As it says in the Word, when one member suffers, all suffer.’

The Lebanese leader of the mission is preparing now to go back to Syria with Bibles, CD’s, food and medicine.” Read more.

Categories: Radical Islam, Wars and Rumors of War Tags:

German Police Launch Major Crackdown On Salafist Muslims

06/14/2012 2 comments

Finally, something that makes sense. German police crack down against pro-terror Salafist Muslims who “trace their roots to the ultra-conservative Islamic practices of Saudi Arabia”. I wonder what Saudi Arabia has to say about that? …

Global Post – “LONDON, UK – Police in Germany raided scores of homes, mosques and meeting halls across the country on Thursday as part of a major national crackdown on radical Islamic Salafists, whom the authorities accuses of plotting against the state.

German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich also announced that he was banning the Millatu Ibrahim organization, which he said has been inciting Muslims to fight against the ‘constitutional order’ in Germany, the Associated Press reported.

The minister said that a ‘comprehensive collection of evidence’ had been found during Thursday’s raids, which saw laptops, cellphones and other items seized by 850 police officers in seven German states – including Berlin and Bavaria – according to the news agency.

The raids come a month after Salafists clashed with police guarding an anti-Islam rally staged by the far-right ‘Pro NRW’ party in the city of Bonn, which led to the hospitalization of two police and the arrest of about 110 Salafists, GlobalPost reported.

The German authorities fear that the Salafists – who number about 4,000, out of a total Muslim population in Germany of around 4 million – are exploiting socially excluded young Muslims in the country and inciting them to militancy, Reuters reported.

The Salafists trace their roots to the ultra-conservative Islamic practices of Saudi Arabia and aim to bring about the establishment of Sharia law in Europe. According to the BBC, items were seized from the Cologne home of Salafist preacher Ibrahim Abu Nagie in one of the police raids.” Source – Global Post.

Flashback: Germany: Islamist Calls Upon Muslims To Murder All Members Of Far-Right Anti-Sharia Party – “A German Islamist is calling for the murder of members of a far-right party that regularly provokes ultra-conservative Muslims using cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, a newspaper reported. According to an article due to appear Monday in the Tageszeitung daily, an Islamist from Bonn in western Germany has appeared in a video on an Islamic forum in which he encouraged ‘the killing of all activists from the Pro NRW party’… In his appeal, the Islamist urged the collection of personal information on Pro NRW members, including their home addresses and work schedules, with the goal of attacking them.” Read more.

Categories: Radical Islam, Wars and Rumors of War

Useless Neanderthals: UN Appoints Saudi Arabia To Lead Counter Terrorism Initiative

06/14/2012 3 comments

I should be shocked, but given the UN’s laughable and cockeyed track record, I’m not. Picking the nation primarily responsible for the world’s terrorism to lead an initiative against world terrorism is like picking Hitler to hide Jews from the Nazis. Let’s see how long it takes before they begin pointing the finger north towards Israel. Defunding this kooky organization is long overdue …

By Brooke Goldstein and Zack Kousnetz, American Thinker – “If the UN were to form an anti-terrorism group dedicated to attacking the menace on a global scale, who do you think would be asked to lead it? A nation with a proven track record of anti-terror initiatives? A nation that esteems human rights and freedoms above all else? Unfortunately, in the case of the UN Centre for Counter Terrorism (UNCCT), the answer is emphatically neither.

The UNCCT was formed in September 2010 with the purpose of executing the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, adopted by the General Assembly in 2006. In a move more befitting Alice in Wonderland than the United Nations, Saudi Arabia was named chair of the organization.

The Resolution that created the UNCCT highlighted four key ‘pillars’ in the fight against terrorism. The first of these pillars, ‘tackling the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism,’ was undermined almost immediately upon the organization’s establishment. Three months after the UNCCT’s formation, WikiLeaks exposed a trove of diplomatic cables in which Secretary of State Hilary Clinton wrote ‘Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qa’ida, the Taliban, LeT, and other terrorist groups, including Hamas.’ Clinton’s US embassy cables also revealed Saudi resistance to prioritizing the issue in terms of its own domestic policy.

These revelations are perhaps not so surprising in light of the Saudi kingdom’s lukewarm response to terrorism funding and recruitment within its borders. Remember when, in the months following the 9/11 attacks, Saudi Arabia denied the fact that 15 out of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens, before eventually confirming the undeniable truth in 2002? Even worse, this past February two former US senators involved in the 9/11 inquiries suggested in separate affidavits that the Saudi government may have played a direct role in the attacks themselves.

It’s an ironic twist that the UN appointed Saudi Arabia, a country historically labeled by groups like the CATO Institute as a state sponsor of terrorism, to chair the flagship effort to end such practices. The UN’s actions speak to a certain cluelessness it exhibits as a governing body: the organization bows to diplomatic and political courtesies while ignoring what’s happening on the ground.” Read more.

Flashback: Unfunctionally Nutty: Outrage as Syria Stays on UN Human Rights Body – “Campaigners have called a Unesco vote to keep Syria on the human rights committee a ‘lingering stain on the UN as a whole.’ The UN’s education, science and culture agency voted to keep Syria on its human rights committee, despite protests from the US and the UK. Syria will keep its seat on the Unesco board and human rights panel. The vote was 35 for, eight against, with 14 abstentions and one absent at the meeting in Paris today.” Read more.

Flashback: ‘An International Laughing Stock’: UN Appoints North Korea to Head Conference on Disarmament – “On Tuesday, the United Nations again made itself an international laughing stock – except perhaps to the American taxpayers who continue to foot 22 percent of the bill – by appointing North Korea chair of the U.N. Conference on Disarmament. That would be the same North Korea that, according to an article this week by Senator John Kerry, head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has ‘twice tested nuclear weapons … is developing missiles to carry them … has built facilities capable of producing highly enriched uranium for more nuclear weapons’ and has defied a U.N. arms embargo by exporting weapons and sensitive technologies to rogue regimes…” Read more.

Flashback: Outrage: UN Rights Council Readies Resolution Praising Qaddafi Regime’s Human Rights Record – “Despite the council’s own inquiry this year finding evidence of war crimes by the Qaddafi regime, the UN Human Rights Council, according to the agenda of its current session, is planning to ‘consider and adopt the final outcome of the review of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya,’ which lavishes praise on the disgraced regime. According to the council’s timetable, the lengthy report hailing Qaddafi’s human rights record will be presented on March 16, and then adopted by the council toward the end of the month.” Read more.

Categories: Anything Else, Man-Made Disasters, Radical Islam

Iranian Media: The Islamic World Must Have Nuclear Weapons to ‘Disrupt The Dreams Of America And Israel’

06/14/2012 Leave a comment

To the death-loving Islamist mindset, mutually assured destruction is not a deterrent. It is an incentive …

By Reza Kahlili – “Iran is now telling the world that in order to confront aggression from America and Israel, it must have nuclear weapons.

Official Iranian media outlets published a commentary Sunday titled ‘The necessity for the Islamic world to have the atomic bomb,’ laying the groundwork for Iran’s refusal to accept limits on its illicit nuclear program.

The essay’s author, Alireza Forghani, is the former governor of southern Iran’s Kish Province and an analyst and a strategy specialist in the camp of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

‘The fatwa from Imam Khomeini [the founder of Iran’s Islamic revolution] said ‘all Islamic countries have Islamic blood,’’ Forghani wrote. ‘Therefore the Islamic world should rise up and shout that a nuclear bomb is our right, and disrupt the dreams of America and Israel.’

‘Having a nuclear bomb is our right,’ he argued. ‘Israel would have been destroyed completely 30 years ago’ but has survived because it has nuclear weapons.

In February, Forghani laid out the legal case for the annihilation of Israel and all Jewish people. That treatise, which ran in all the Iranian regime’s media outlets, openly called for a Read more…

Categories: Radical Islam, Wars and Rumors of War

Turkey Urges No Access To NATO Data For Israel

06/14/2012 Leave a comment

By Rachel Hirshfeld, INN – “In Turkey’s latest rebuff of Israel, Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz has decided to renege on an agreement in principle to provide Israel with information about ballistic missile launchings from terrorist entities, Defense News reported.

NATO agreed in a summit meeting in Lisbon two years ago to devise a missile defense system to protect alliance members from a rogue nation in the area. As part of the system, Turkey agreed to allow the U.S. military to install a special X-band radar at a base in Kurecik in southeastern Turkey.

‘Any data or information produced by this system will only be available to the alliance, as in the case for other alliance systems,’ Yilmaz said in an email message to Defense News on June 12. ‘Information-sharing with non-NATO actors is subject to specific arrangements and it is possible only if the allies consensually agree on it.’

Although there has been some discussion of sharing the radar’s data with Israel, the Turkish government would likely object if the alliance sought to do so.

Yilmaz also stated that his ultimate objective as defense minister would be the development of Turkey’s national defense industry.

‘The Ministry of National Defense will continue its modernization program … and will support the national defense industry by following the scientific developments in the world,’ he said.” Read more.

‘Modernization Program’ Flashback: Turkey to Double Size of Its Army – “With Prime Minister Erdogan’s Islamist AK party having seized its third landslide election victory in Turkey, many throughout the international community have been watching to see what will be next on the Turkish agenda. Now there are strong indicators in the Turkish media that Turkey is planning on literally doubling the size of its army – this coming from the nation that already has the largest army in Middle East and the second-largest army in NATO, second only to the United States.” Read more.

‘Modernization Program’ Flashback: Turkey Installing New Military Tech That Will Allow Warplanes and Ships to Target Israel as the Enemy – “In yet another sign of the deterioration in Israel-Turkish ties, Turkey’s Star Gazete reported Tuesday that the military is installing new technology that will allow warplanes and ships to target Israeli vessels. Previously, Turkish planes, ships and submarines used American technology, which automatically classified Israeli equipment as ‘friendly.’ The new system, developed in Turkey, will allow the Turkish military to decide which targets to label as friendly. The switch was pioneered by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s regime. The system was declared ready just days after Erdogan suspended defense trade with Israel and termed Israel a ‘spoiled child.’” Read more.

Categories: Anything Else, Radical Islam, Wars and Rumors of War

Egypt: Mubarak Appointed Court Dissolves One-Third Of Parliament, Paves Way For Former Mubarak Official To Run

06/14/2012 Leave a comment

The new Islamist status quo rising up in Egypt will not bow down to this ruling without a fight. Things could get ugly …

By Ernesto Londoño and Leila Fadel, The Washington Post – “CAIRO — Egypt’s constitutional court ruled Thursday that Mubarak ally Ahmed Shafiq can run for president, and declared that one-third of the lower house of parliament was elected unconstitutionally–raising the possibility that parliament will be suspended until a new election can be held.

The eagerly anticipated rulings were a setback for Egypt’s revolutionaries and Islamists on the eve of the country’s landmark presidential vote, which begins Saturday. Protesters clashed with security forces outside the courthouse minutes after the decisions were announced.

By keeping Shafiq in the race, the court appeared to side with Egyptians who see the former air force chief— who served as Mubarak’s last prime minister, before Mubarak was ousted — as best suited to lead a country reeling from a year and a half of chaotic military rule.

The judges on the top court are Mubarak appointees and seen as sympathetic to the old order. That perception could fuel confrontations between anti-Shafiq protesters and security forces, who were recently given vast powers to detain civilians.

‘Both decisions empower the Mubarak status-quo, which is no surprise, as the judges of the court were appointed by the latter, and represent a part of the so-called ‘deep-state,’’ Omar Ashour, an Egypt expert at Exeter University, said in an e-mail.

Shafiq will compete for the presidency against Mohamed Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood candidate. Morsi and his allies say Shafiq wants to return Egypt’s government to the repressive tactics Mubarak favored. Shafiq, in turn, says a Morsi victory would transform Egypt into an ultra-conservative Islamic state.” Read more.

Categories: Anything Else, Radical Islam, Wars and Rumors of War

Gaza: Little Children Taught Hatred And Violence, ‘I Want To Blow Myself Up On Zionists And Kill Them On A Bus In A Suicide Bombing’

06/13/2012 1 comment

Luke 17:2, “It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin.”

Yet this is the sort of ideological guano the “religion of peace” in Gaza and the West Bank instills into the minds of its children, children they say are “created to be fertilizer for the land of Palestine, and to saturate our pure land with their blood” …

Ezekiel 35:1-3a,6b, “The word of the LORD came to me: ’Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir; prophesy against it and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, Mount Seir … I will give you over to bloodshed and it will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you.’”

By Elior Levy, YNET – “Children attending a kindergarten in Gaza that is run by Islamic Jihad celebrated their graduation by dressing up in army attire, waving toy rifles and chanting anti-Israel slogans.

‘It is our obligation to educate the children to love the resistance, Palestine and Jerusalem, so they will recognize the importance of Palestine and who its enemy is,’ the kindergarten’s director said.

The children were dressed up in uniforms of Jihad’s armed-wing, the al-Quds Brigades, and each of them received a toy rifle. Some of them held up photos of Islamic Jihad founder Fathi Shaqaqi.

The event was attended by the children’s relatives, some of whom belong to Islamic Jihad and other armed Palestinian factions.

During the ceremony the children were asked to stand next to mock coffins draped with flags of the various armed factions. The flags bore the images of ‘shahids (martyrs).’

One child, Hamza, said ‘When I grow up I’ll join Islamic Jihad and the al-Quds Brigades. I’ll fight the Zionist enemy and fire missiles at it until I die as a shahid and join my father in heaven.

‘I love the resistance and the martyrs and Palestine, and I want to blow myself up on Zionists and kill them on a bus in a suicide bombing,’ he said.” Read more.

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Report: Iran Designing ‘Peaceful’ Nuclear Submarine

06/13/2012 4 comments

Yes, this is for peaceful power-generation, agricultural and medical purposes.  Nuclear capabilities will make Iran more powerful than ever. They’ll be able to plant Islam throughout the world. And they’ll be able to give the “infectious tumor” of Israel that immediate medical attention it so desperately requires. All peaceful purposes indeed …

Daniel 8:23-25a, “And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify [himself] in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many …”

"Peace and safety!"

“Peace and safety!”

YNET – “Iran has begun to design its first nuclear submarine, the Islamic Republic’s semiofficial news agency Fars reported on Tuesday.

The Fars report quotes deputy navy chief in charge of technical affairs, Rear Admiral Abbas Zamini, as saying that Iran has begun “initial stages” of designing the nuclear-powered craft.

Zamini added that Iran has developed ‘peaceful nuclear technology’ and has both the capability and the right to build a submarine.

Iran and the West are odds over Tehran’s nuclear program. The United States suspects it is aimed at developing weapons technology, a charge Iran denies.

Iran has domestically built several small submarines over the past years. It has recently overhauled one of the three non-nuclear Russian Kilo-class submarines it bought in 1990s.

The Fars report further added that Tehran’s plan will express its ‘high capabilities in designing and manufacturing different types of submarines.’

Further commenting on the Iranian Navy’s plan to manufacture super heavy nuclear-powered submarines, Zamini said: ‘Right now, we are at the initial phases of manufacturing atomic submarines… Iran has made astonishing progress in developing and acquiring civilian nuclear technology for various power-generation, agricultural and medical purposes.’

In 2011, Iran launched a Tareq-class submarine, ‘Younus,’ which sailed alongside Tehran’s 14th fleet of into the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.” Source – Ynet.

Flashback: Iran: Nuclear Weapons Will Prepare Us For The Emergence Of Islamic Messiah – The Mahdi – “New evidence indicates Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wants nuclear weapons and he created a religious-based ruse to deceive the world into joining new talks. The leader intends to use those talks to buy more time to harden his weapons program, prevent an attack, and persuade world powers to lift sanctions… President Khamenei explained ‘This [possessing nuclear weapons] was the only way to secure the very essence of the Islamic revolution from the schemes of its enemies … and to prepare it for the emergence of Imam Mehdi [messiah],’ who would bring the world under Islamic rule.” Read more.

Categories: Radical Islam, Wars and Rumors of War

Egyptian Christians Rally Behind Brotherhood Rival Despite Islamist Threat Of ‘Armed Action’

06/13/2012 Leave a comment

By AYA BATRAWY, Associated Press – “CAIRO (AP) — In the small southern Egyptian town of Azaziya, where almost all the residents are Christians, few doubt that nearly everyone who can is going to vote for Ahmed Shafiq, ousted leader Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister and his longtime friend, in this weekend’s presidential election.

Shafiq’s candidacy has dismayed many Egyptians who believe the Mubarak-era veteran will preserve the old regime’s authoritarianism. But even if some Christians share those reservations, they view his opponent in the race as far worse: Mohammed Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt’s Christian minority fears will turn the country into an Islamic state.

‘Our goal is a civil state. We don’t see anyone else who can protect this except for him,’ Montaser Qalbek, the son of Azaziya’s town leader, said of Shafiq.

In last month’s first round of the presidential election, which narrowed the field from 13 candidates to two, Shafiq received nearly all of the 4,500 votes cast in Azaziya, a town in the southern province of Assiut. Qalbek said he expects more than twice that number to turn out for the Saturday-Sunday run-off and that they will again overwhelmingly back Shafiq.

That determination is likely to be mirrored across the Christian community, which makes up 10 percent of Egypt’s population of 85 million. Many Christians see the vote as a clear-cut choice between a secular state and one in which an Islamist agenda slowly takes root. Leaders of the Orthodox Coptic Church, to which most Egyptian Christians belong, and Christian activists have been working hard to get the community to the polls, said Yousef Sidhom, editor of the weekly Watani newspaper and a Coptic Church official.” Read more.

Flashback: ‘Conquest Is Coming’: Muslim Brotherhood Candidate in Egypt Says Christians Must Convert To Islam, Pay ‘Jizya’, Or Leave – “According to the popular Egyptian website, El Bashayer, Muhammad Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood presidential candidate, just declared that he will ‘achieve the Islamic conquest (fath) of Egypt for the second time, and make all Christians convert to Islam, or else pay the jizya,’ the additional Islamic tax, or financial tribute, required of non-Muslims, or financial tribute… ‘They need to know that conquest is coming, and Egypt will be Islamic, and that they must pay jizya or emigrate.’” Read more.

Flashback: Egyptian Islamists Threaten Insurgency Should Secularists Win Egyptian Presidential Election – “On May 19, Islamic Jihad Organization member Shaykh Usamah Qasim took to the pages of Al-Misri al-Yawm to warn that Islamists would not tolerate a victory by any of the non-Islamist candidates. According to a translation provided by the Open Source Center: ‘… The victory of former prime minister Ahmad Shafiq or former Arab League chief Amr Musa in the coming presidential elections would lead some Islamic and non-Islamic groups to respond with ‘armed action.’ ‘Thus, the fate of any of them who reaches the presidency will be like that of former President Anwar al-Sadat, who was assassinated …’” Read more.

Categories: Radical Islam, Wars and Rumors of War

‘Lawlessness’: Christian Killed In Qusayr Syria, Others Treated As It Were ‘The Days Of The Ottoman Caliphate’

06/13/2012 Leave a comment

Agenzia Fides – “The Christian Maurice Bitar was killed in Qusayr, near the town of Homs where the Christian population – about a thousand people out of 10 thousand who lived there before the beginning of the violence – has been forced to flee after the ‘ultimatum launched by an armed faction in the opposition forces led by General Abdel Salam Harba.  As anticipated by Fides, some Christians, after the warning, however, chose to remain in Qusayr, exposing themselves to considerable risks. Maurice Bitar was killed by a sniper, with three other men while he was out of the house to buy bread for his family. The Christian inhabitants of Qusayr, local sources of Fides report, suffer harassment such as no vehicular access on streets and the obligation to ‘give way’ if they meet a Muslim, ‘as in the days of the Ottoman caliphate,’ notes the source of Fides .

The armed opposition, in fact, as confirmed by numerous observers in Syria and abroad, is gradually radicalizing towards Sunni extremist ideology. There are numerous gangs and military groups that operate in a totally independent manner, outside the coordination of the Free Syrian Army. The ultimatum launched by the faction of Abdel Salam Harba, for example, was not ratified by other groups: in a statement sent to Fides, the coordination of the same Free Syrian Army, stationed at Qusayr, says it is ‘shocked by the news’ and rejects the ultimatum, saying that it is not responsible and does not share it in any way. Two Catholic priests who fled in recent days from Qusayr, reached by Fides, confirm, however, that they heard ‘with their ears’ of the ultimatum, repeated from the minarets of mosques, and left the city with many refugee families.

According to Fides sources, ‘the situation is unsustainable in the area and exposed to total lawlessness.’ Christians face a harsh reality: they either join the opposition, enlisting their young ones, or are victims of harassment, discrimination, violence. The fate of Christians in Qusary, concludes the source, could soon touch the 10 thousand faithful who live in other villages in the area, such as Dmeineh, Rableh and Hamra.” Source – Agenzia Fides.

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