MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

“‘The people of Qaa sleep in fear now,’ said Mansur Saad, mayor of the village which straddles the border with Syria.

‘They live with the constant worry that violence will erupt at any moment, especially if gunmen from across the border escape into Lebanon.’

The sleepy village, located in a pastoral region where fruit and vegetable fields are dotted with Bedouin tents, on October 18 was the scene of a military incursion which left two local residents — both Syrians — dead and sparked panic.

A third Syrian was killed in a raid on Aarsal, a village 10 kilometres (six miles) south of Qaa.

Residents of Qaa, who for decades have maintained warm ties with their Syrian neighbours, say the once-friendly border soldiers who cross over daily for morning coffee are increasingly on edge as the seven-months revolt against Bashar al-Assad’s regime continues.

The usually bustling official crossing of Joussiyeh, in Qaa, meanwhile has been shut down and an eerie silence has settled over the area where the Lebanese army or security forces are nowhere to be seen.

‘We have asked the Lebanese army to strengthen its presence in the area and set up posts at the border in order to prevent infiltration and make sure such incidents do not re-occur,’ Saad told AFP.

But the Lebanese government, largely dominated by the powerful militant group Hezbollah, a strong ally of the Syrian regime, has for the most part stayed mum on the issue.” Read more.

Hezbollah leader reiterates support of Syria’s repression – “The leader of Lebanese pro-Iranian Shiite movement Hezbollah reiterated the group’s support for the repression conducted by the Syrian regime against anti-government protests, stating that they are not spontaneous movements like the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya and Yemen. ‘Those regimes were obedient to the Americans, unlike the Syrian regime,’ said Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah in an interview with the Shiite movement’s Al Manar TV network. ‘The foundation of the Syrian regime is the fight against Israel,’ said Nasrallah…” Read more.

If Syria falls, country could be taken over by the growing Islamist influence – “There is homegrown opposition, and opposition living in exile. Both can be Islamists, or secularists. Some are socialists, even communists, though insiders say the latter are irrelevant. When I lived in Syria as a journalist, I met a few of each. The Islamists were the most active, most visible, and acted with the greatest moral gravitas. They converted many private schools into conservative Islamic learning centers. They prevailed upon restaurants in their neighborhoods to stop serving alcohol, and shamed coffee shops into closing during Ramadan… They are the ‘poison pill,’ one analyst told me. Just like a corporation might take on undesirable debt to make itself a less attractive target for a hostile takeover, so Assad turned a blind eye to growing Islamist influence among his people to make himself look like the best option for Syria. During his ten-year term, he has endeared himself to secularists by claiming to support the separation of church and state. Yet he never bothered to clarify to his own people what that meant. Ask the average Syrian what ‘secular’ means, and they will say it is ‘atheism,’ or an infidel state hostile to the freedom to practice religion. This strategy of ambiguity worked for a long time. To this day, Assad’s diehard supporters keep saying ‘at least he is secular,’ and point to the growing Islamist influence in Syria as an example for a bleak future without him.” Read more.

Political correctness.  Will it blend?  Conservative talk show host Bryan Fisher demonstrates how to reduce it to a smooth puree …

Bryan Fischer at Family Research Council: “… our Muslim friends also believe in a creator God.  But it’s important that our next President understand that Christians and Muslims do not worship the same God… I believe it’s important that we have a President who understands that Islam is not a religion of peace, but a religion of war and violence and death… Every single mosque in America is a potential recruiting or training cell for Islamic terror…”

President Obama Pulls Islam From All Terror Trainings – “Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Cole confirmed on Wednesday that the Obama administration was pulling back all training materials used for the law enforcement and national security communities, in order to eliminate all references to Islam that some Muslim groups have claimed are offensive… The move comes after complaints from advocacy organizations including the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and others identified as Muslim Brotherhood front groups in the 2004 Holy Land Foundation terror fundraising trial. In a Wednesday Los Angeles Times op-ed, Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) president Salam al-Marayati threatened the FBI with a total cutoff of cooperation between American Muslims and law enforcement if the agency failed to revise its law enforcement training materials.” Read more.

Flashback: New Study Shows That 80% of Mosques in America Teach Jihad Violence and Islamic Supremacism – “In 1998, Sheikh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, a Sufi leader, visited 114 mosques in the United States. Then he gave testimony before a State Department Open Forum in January 1999, and asserted that 80% of American mosques taught the ‘extremist ideology.’ Then there was the Center for Religious Freedom’s 2005 study, and the Mapping Sharia Project’s 2008 study. Each independently showed that upwards of 80% of mosques in America were preaching hatred of Jews and Christians and the necessity ultimately to impose Islamic rule. And now comes yet more confirmation that mosques in the U.S. are teaching these things, and again the percentage is remarkably similar: around 80% of mosques are found to be teaching jihad warfare and Islamic supremacism.” Read more.

“SOUTHERN SHUNEH, Jordan – U.S. Senator John McCain said Sunday that military action to protect civilians in Syria might be considered now that NATO’s air campaign in Libya is ending.

However, President Barack Obama’s administration has made clear it has no appetite for military intervention in Syria — a close ally of Iran that sits on Israel’s border — and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton noted Sunday that the Syrian opposition has not called for such action as President Bashar Assad’s regime.

‘Now that military operations in Libya are ending, there will be renewed focus on what practical military operations might be considered to protect civilian lives in Syria,’ McCain said at the World Economic Forum in Jordan. ‘The Assad regime should not consider that it can get away with mass murder. Qaddafi made that mistake and it cost him everything,’ he added, referring to ousted Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi who was captured and killed last week by fighters loyal to the new government.

‘Iran’s rulers would be wise to heed similar counsel,’ McCain said.” Read more.

Flashback: Syria: If Nato Attacks We’ll Fire Missiles at Tel Aviv, Hezbollah Will Launch Missile Attack on Israel, Iran Will Attack US Warships in Persian Gulf – “Syrian President Bashar Assad warned western countries on Tuesday that if Syria comes under NATO attack it would fire missiles at Tel Aviv, Iranian semi-official news agency FARS reported. During a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmad Davutoglu Assad allegedly threatened: ‘If a crazy measure is taken against Damascus, I will need not more than 6 hours to transfer hundreds of rockets and missiles to the Golan Heights to fire them at Tel Aviv.’ According to the report, Assad also reiterated that Damascus will call on Hezbollah to launch such an intensive rocket and missile attack on Israel.” Read more.

Flashback: Israel Ready to Strike Syria, Lebanon, Gaza if Assad Launches Missiles at Tel Aviv – “Israeli officials have reportedly warned Syrian dictator Bashar Assad that if he uses the downfall of his regime as an excuse to launch missiles at Tel Aviv, Israel will respond with a massive assault against Syria, Lebanon and Gaza. Unnamed Israeli government sources told News First Class that the threat was relayed to Assad via European intelligence agencies… Israel’s threat included Lebanon and Gaza because Assad is said to have boasted that his own missile barrage on Tel Aviv would be complemented by Hizballah and Hamas attacks on Israel.” Read more.

Flashback: Top Syrian Cleric Warns West: If You Attack Syria We Will ‘Prepare Suicide Bombers Who Are Already In Your Countries’ – “yria’s top Sunni Muslim cleric has warned Western countries against military intervention, threatening to retaliate with suicide bombings in the United States and Europe if his country comes under attack. Grand Mufti Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun gave a speech and told the U.S. and Europe that ‘we will prepare suicide bombers who are already in your countries if you bomb Syria or Lebanon.’… Hassoun’s comments follow another warning by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, who threatened ‘tough measures’ against any country that recognizes the newly formed opposition Syrian National Council.” Read more.

Hot off the heels of Tunisia’s anticipated election of the Islamist Ennahda Party comes new details regarding Libya’s plans to embrace an even ‘stricter’ form of Shariah than previously suggested.  Judging from the mark on the forehead of Libya’s interim leader — a sure sign of a very devout Muslim — there is a growing sense that as time progresses we’ll be seeing even more surprises sooner rather than later …

By Richard Spencer – “Libya’s interim leader outlined more radical plans to introduce Islamic law than expected as he declared the official liberation of the country.

Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, the chairman of the National Transitional Council and de fact president, had already declared that Libyan laws in future would have Sharia, the Islamic code, as its ‘basic source’.

But that formulation can be interpreted in many ways – it was also the basis of Egypt’s largely secular constitution under President Hosni Mubarak, and remains so after his fall.

Mr Abdul-Jalil went further, specifically lifting immediately, by decree, one law from Col. Gaddafi’s era that he said was in conflict with Sharia – that banning polygamy.

In a blow to those who hoped to see Libya’s economy integrate further into the western world, he announced that in future bank regulations would ban the charging of interest, in line with Sharia. ‘Interest creates disease and hatred among people,’ he said.

Gulf states like the United Arab Emirates, and other Muslim countries, have pioneered the development of Sharia-compliant banks which charge fees rather than interest for loans but they normally run alongside western-style banks.” Read more.

Muammar Gaddafi’s grisly death raises questions about Libya’s new rulers – “… Gaddafi’s death is already showing up some of the weaknesses of Libya’s new rulers. The claim by the interim prime minister, Mahmoud Jibril, that he was killed in ‘crossfire’ looks ever more false with every new piece of video. Both he and his son Mutassim were alive when captured, and dead soon after. A statement by an anonymous NTC source that ‘they beat [Gaddafi] and they killed him’ seems closer to the mark. But Mr Jibril angrily rejected demands by the United Nations and some in the West for a proper investigation into the circumstances of Gaddafi’s death… The dictator’s treatment – before and after death – underlines that Libya does not have a government, or a state with functioning standards, only a collection of militias.” 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.

Iran doesn’t have to misread.  Iraq has already made it very clear whose side they are on …

“WASHINGTON (AP) — Iran should not misread the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq as affecting the U.S. commitment to the fledgling democracy, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday.

President Barack Obama’s announcement Friday that all American troops would return from Iraq by the end of the year will close a chapter on U.S.-Iraq relations that began in 2003 with the U.S.-led invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

Washington has long worried that meddling by Iran, a Shiite Muslim theocracy, could inflame tensions between Iraq’s Shiite-led government and its minority Sunnis, setting off a chain reaction of violence and disputes across the Mideast.

Clinton said in a series of news show interviews that the U.S. would continue its training mission with Iraq and that it would resemble operations in Colombia and elsewhere. While the U.S. will not have combat troops in Iraq, she said the American presence would remain strong because of its bases in the region.

‘Iran would be badly miscalculating if they did not look at the entire region and all of our presence in many countries in the region, both in bases, in training, with NATO allies, like Turkey,’ she told CNN’s ‘State of the Union.'” Read more.

Iraq rejects US request to maintain bases after troop withdrawal – “The US suffered a major diplomatic and military rebuff on Friday when Iraq finally rejected its pleas to maintain bases in the country beyond this year. Barack Obama announced at a White House press conference that all American troops will leave Iraq by the end of December, a decision forced by the final collapse of lengthy talks between the US and the Iraqi government on the issue. The Iraqi decision is a boost to Iran, which has close ties with many members of the Iraqi government and which had been battling against the establishment of permanent American bases.” Read more.

Iraq Sides With Iran, Sends Essential Aid to Syria’s Assad – “More than six months after the start of the Syrian uprising, Iraq is offering key moral and financial support to the country’s embattled president, undermining a central U.S. policy objective and raising fresh concerns that Iraq is drifting further into the orbit of an American arch rival — Iran. Iraq’s stance has dealt an embarrassing setback to the Obama administration, which has sought to enlist Muslim allies in its campaign to isolate Syrian autocrat Bashar al-Assad. While other Arab states have downgraded ties with Assad, Iraq has moved in the opposite direction, hosting official visits by Syrians, signing pacts to expand business ties and offering political support.” Read more.

This is where lawlessness leads, and it confirms what the initial video evidence suggested …

“A Libyan rebel confessed on camera Sunday to killing Muammar Gaddafi.

The provisional government in Libya is claiming Gaddafi was killed in a shootout in the city of Sirte, where the ousted leader had been hiding.

However, following his death videos began to surface showing Gaddafi bleeding while being held by rebels, which raised the suspicion he was executed.

The rebel, who identified himself as Senad el Sadık el Ureybi, said: ‘We grabbed him, I hit him in the face. Some fighters wanted to take him away and that’s when I shot him twice, in the head and in the chest.’

He noted that Gaddafi didn’t die instantaneously, and that it took half an hour. He said he didn’t like the idea of Gaddadi being caught alive.” Read more.