MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

By Michael Burleigh – “This summer has an ominous feel, like August 1914. In the Middle East, the Arab Spring has replaced several autocrats, not with Western-style liberals, but with the extremist Muslim Brotherhood.

The civil war raging in Syria is threatening to spill over into Lebanon and Jordan, and is really a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia to establish dominance over the region.

Meanwhile, looming in the background is the longer-term crisis caused by Iran’s devious and dogged pursuit of nuclear weapons…

For months there have been international discussions about the threat a nuclear Iran would present — most notably to its avowed enemy, Israel, which Iran has vowed to ‘erase from the map’…

But seeing no signs that slow-burning sanctions are effective, Israel is running out of patience — and is coming to the view it should no longer entrust others with its own security…

For their part, the Iranians are doing nothing to placate world fears about their nuclear ambitions.

Almost daily, the Iranians boast about new capabilities: high-powered speed boats — based on Britain’s 63mph Bradstone Challenger — designed to swarm enemy ships, and the upgraded Fateh-110 missile, which could hit U.S. bases and the two aircraft carrier groups massing in the Gulf…

Iranian weapons, including up to ten powerful Scud missiles, have been shipped via Syria to Hizbollah, which has an arsenal of more than 50,000 rockets capable of hitting much of Israel, many concealed in up to 100 fortified villages.

The Iranians also repeatedly trumpet their irrational hatred of Israel and Jews in general. Only last week, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed Israel would soon ‘disappear’, while President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described it as ‘a cancerous tumour’…

… I am increasingly convinced that nothing will stop Israel. Shortly before the U.S. elections, and most likely in October, I believe Israel will launch air strikes on Iran.

The chilling prospect we face is that such an act of aggression risks turning into a Middle East conflict that would unite every regime in that volatile region in yet another — and this time uncontrollable — war.” Read more.

For peaceful purposes …

By Stephen Brown – “It is a very dark, but little known, underside to the multicultural nightmare that western European societies are fast becoming. Hospitals, among the most respected institutions in Western societies due to their compassion and care of the sick and vulnerable, are turning more and more into places of immigrant violence.

The latest incident of such inexcusable savagery within the walls of a European public medical facility occurred last week in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. Danish newspapers report that about 70 men, some armed with ‘cudgels,’ invaded the Odense University Hospital emergency ward, looking to further harm, even possibly kill, a man who had just been admitted in critical condition with a gunshot wound. Luckily, no hospital staff member was injured, and it was most likely the heroics of the police officers present that prevented the intruders from reaching the injured patient.

‘There were pictures torn down from the walls. There were vases knocked into pieces. It was quite intimidating to both staff and police there, and several officers had to fire their guns to get them to disappear,’ said one Danish police official in describing the chaos.

Another police official stated: ‘They poured in with clubs into the emergency room…The staff at the hospital had to jump for their lives, and several police officers had to pull their service weapons to force the group out…’

Frustrated at being unable to reach their target, the vandals then took their anger out on ambulances and police vehicles. In all, the Copenhagen Post reported that ‘one ambulance and four police cars were destroyed in the night’s events.’

The trouble apparently began earlier that evening between rival immigrant groups when two members of one group drove up to the other’s Eid al-Fitr celebration that was being held in a shopping center parking lot. After being identified as an enemy, one report states the 26-year-old victim wound up being shot at least twice in one leg and stabbed several times in the other, but several shots were fired at the car the two were in. It is also at the crime scene that two of the four police cars may have been destroyed, while an ambulance summoned for the injured man was also reportedly attacked.

The hospital invasion was so barbarous and disturbing to the Danish public that a ‘shocked’ Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt was compelled to comment on it, calling it ‘serious criminal behavior’ at a news conference. But noticeably, although the Eid al-Fitr is a Muslim celebration that marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, it does not appear she nor any police official, politician or newspaper identified the culprits as such. They limited their identification vocabulary simply to the word ‘immigrant.'” Read more.

If, for the sake of argument, the Antichrist is not a single person per se but is rather a single entity or system, could it be that we are now beginning to witness fulfillment of the horn of Daniel 7 that rises to depose the three? After all, the beast of Revelation 13 is a kingdom or empire or system, yet is often described as a “him” or “he” in many translations:

Revelation 13:4-6, “And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who [is] like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?’ And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months.”

Many who now view Scripture from the perspective of an Islamic End-Time paradigm are of the opinion that the “him” who receives the mortal “head wound” is not a person, but rather the power and might of the Islamic/Ottoman Empire that ceased with the abolition of the Caliphate in 1924. Today, however, we are beginning to witness a reawakening of Islamism in the Muslim world, particularly with the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood and the startling speed by which it has so far been able to subdue all opposition, essentially imitating once again the type of power and influence that one would expect at the induction of a “Neo-Ottoman Empire” …

Daniel 7:24-25, “The ten horns [are] ten kings [Who] shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; He shall be different from the first [ones], And shall subdue three kings. He shall speak [pompous] words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then [the saints] shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time.”

By ZVI MAZEL, The Jerusalem Post – “While the world persists in looking for signs of pragmatism in the Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsy is quietly taking over all the power bases in the country.

Having gotten rid of the army old guard, he replaced them with his own men – officers belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood or known sympathizers. Then he turned his attention to the media, replacing 50 editors working for the government’s extensive and influential press empire – including Al- Ahram, Al-Akhbar, Al-Gomhuria. He is now busy appointing new governors to the 27 regions of the country.

Hosni Mubarak used to choose retired generals he could depend on for these sensitive posts; Morsy is hand picking party faithful. At the same time upper echelons in government ministries and economic and cultural organizations are methodically being replaced. The Muslim Brotherhood is fast assuming total control. For many observers, the deployment of army units is Sinai is more about proclaiming Egyptian sovereignty in the face of Israel than actually fighting Islamic terrorism.

Drafting the new constitution is their next objective. Brothers and Salafis make up an absolute majority in the Constituent Assembly. Liberal and secular forces are Read more…

By Con Coughlin, The Telegraph – “According to Western intelligence officials, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave the order to the elite Quds Force unit following a recent emergency meeting of Iran’s National Security Council in Tehran held to discuss a specially-commissioned report into the implications for Iran of the Assad regime’s overthrow.

Damascus is Iran’s most important regional ally, and the survival of the Assad regime is regarded as vital to sustaining the Iranian-backed Hizbollah militia which controls southern Lebanon.

The report, which was personally commissioned by Mr Khamenei, concluded that Iran’s national interests were being threatened by a combination of the U.N. sanctions imposed over Iran’s nuclear programme and the West’s continuing support for Syrian opposition groups attempting to overthrow the Syrian government.

Intelligence officials say the report concludes that Iran ‘cannot be passive’ to the new threats posed to its national security, and warns that Western support for Syrian opposition groups was placing Iran’s “resistance alliance” in jeopardy, and could seriously disrupt Iran’s access to Hizbollah in Lebanon.

It advised that the Iranian regime should demonstrate to the West that there were ‘red lines’ over what it would accept in Syria, and that a warning should be sent to ‘America, the Zionists, Britain, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and others that they cannot act with impunity in Syria and elsewhere in the region.’

Mr Khamenei responded by issuing a directive to Qassem Suleimani, the Quds Force commander, to intensify attacks against the West and its allies around the world.” Read more.

Flashback: US Federal Judge: Al Qaeda, Taliban, Iran And Hizbullah Should Pay $6 Billion In Damages For Supporting 9/11 Attacks – “A federal magistrate judge has ruled that al Qaeda, the Taliban, Iran and Hizbullah should pay more than $6 billion in damages to the families of victims killed on September 11, 2001, CNN reported… Federal Magistrate Judge Frank Maas made the ruling Monday, after federal Judge George Daniels decided last year that the terrorist groups and the Iranian regime were liable because of their support for the attacks…” Read more.

Flashback: A Significant Number Of Hezbollah Sympathizers And Terror Cells Are At Work In The US – “A preliminary report issued by the U. S. House Committee on Homeland Security estimates that there could be ‘hundreds, maybe even thousands’ of Hezbollah agents operating in the United States and specifically in New York City. The report issued following last month’s hearings says that the exact number of operatives is hard to determine. ‘Pinning down a reliable estimate of the number of Hezbollah operatives who now reside inside the U.S. is difficult because of their operational security expertise,’ the report states.” Read more.

By Stewart Bell, National Post – “In the video he shot inside his hut in the mountains of Dagestan last winter, William Plotnikov narrated as he panned from the black flag of jihad to three bearded rebels and their assault rifles.

Then he turned the camera on himself.

‘I ask Allah that the next season he’ll give us the opportunity to kill as many kafirs [non-believers] as we can, just to shred them to pieces,’ William said. ‘Allah is almighty.’

Watching the clip on the computer in his apartment north of Toronto last week, Vitaly Plotnikov looked both heartbroken and perplexed. It was hard for him to accept that this was his son.

‘It’s just like a different person to me,’ he said.

Russian security forces announced last month that they had killed William, a 23-year-old Canadian, during a gun battle in Dagestan. Since then, the Canadian government has been trying to verify the Russians’ account.

But in an interview with the National Post, Mr. Plotnikov confirmed William’s death and spoke for the first time about his son’s rapid transformation from Toronto teenager and champion boxer to Muslim convert and jihadist fighter.

What seemed to amaze Mr. Plotnikov most was how fast it all happened. His son only became interested in Islam in 2009, he said. Within a year, he had left Canada and by July he was dead. He had gone from convert to martyr in less than three years…

‘How can the mind of a person be changed in such a short period of time?’ …” Read more.