Category Archives: Terrorism

Big Earthquakes in California, Russia, Vocanoes In Russia, Chile, May snow in Montana, Japanese Bond Market Buckles

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Deep 8.3 magnitude earthquake strikes Sea of Okhotsk in Russia’s Far East Felt as far away as Japan

BIRTH PANGS: 5.7-magnitude earthquake strikes Northern California followed by Moderate Seismic Swarm

Global Earthquake Overview — Unrest / Uptick showing

Japanese Bond Market Buckles

Chirinkotan Volcano erupts in Kuril Islands of Far East Russia

Alert level raised on Chile’s Copahue volcano to orange after ash emissions

Iranian Plane Down in Damascus?

May Snow in Montana

Your Daily Headlines, with a side of commentary

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Truth-tellin Jon Rappaport churns out another bulls-eye, this time on the IRS hearings:

Top IRS official takes the Fifth: what it means

Chad Groening on what the Obama-scandalrama may mean for 2014 Congressional elections. (Bu-bye “Stinky” Reid and Pantsy Pelosi): Will Republicans Win 3014 Senate Majority? Woo HOO! (As if that will change anything)

And what has Miz Shekinah been telling ya’ll about this stock market “surge”??? It’s not Real!!!  It is all sleight of hand! Monopoly-money pumped into the system is like that fix-a-flat air-in-a-can, stuff.  It doesn’t magically repair the leak (Hemmorrhage).  Getting excited over the stock market setting new records, is like getting excited when you set up your booth at the craft show and sell out everything in two hours, that it took you all year to make, ONLY EVERYBODY PAID WITH MONOPOLY MONEY!  America’s Bubble Economy Is Going to Become An Economic Black Hole

Speaking of Monopoly Money, just how long do you think that the insurance companies will continue to be able to pay out, in the face of disaster upon disaster, especially when they start coming back-to-back?  Oklahoma City had just begun “Gay Pride Week” when this tornado hit.  But that’s just a coincidence, right?

Crown him with many crowns? Prince Charles and a multi-faith coronation

The rise in evil continues unabated as The House of Commons Votes To Legalize Gay Marriage, now it just has to clear the House of Lords, as Cameron has already pledged his support.  It is on track to be implemented in 2015. (Hey, just in time for the blood moons!)  Oh, and Vermont Has Legalized Assisted Suicide

 French President signs Gay Marriage into Law

THE RISE OF THE NEXT HITLER? Golden Dawn MP Shouts ‘Heil Hitler’ In Parliament Chambers, while Arabs Fly Nazi Flag near Hevron

For the latest on Benghazi and IRS investigations: libertyfirewall.com

Soliders of “allah” on rampage in Stockholm

Plagues and Pestilence:

BREAKING NEWS: Mysterious respiratory illness strikes 7 in Alabama; 2 dead

My comment on this: These mystery diseases are rampant, and it was only a matter of time before they began appearing here.   There have been concerns about bird flu and other mystery virus in China, and when people in China are forced to work, even when they are sick, hey, all it takes is for a Wal-Mart warehouse worker in the U.S. to open a crate, and set that virus free over here!

Obama to meet with Chinese President in June

Far-right French historian, 78-year-old Dominique Venner, commits suicide in Notre Dame in protest against gay marriage (That’ll teach ‘em!)

Discovery of alleged Russian plot points to growing jitters

(Reuters) – As Russia congratulated its forces for foiling an alleged Islamist plot on Moscow, the discovery of the plan also pointed to the growing security threat before the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Oklahoma tornado was 600 TIMES more powerful than Hiroshima atomic bomb

Israel

Israel’s dithering over Golan strikes gives Assad go-ahead for war of attrition.

See Last Days News For Christians for the latest on persecution of Christians worldwide

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And for today’s “Silver Lining” story:

Oklahoma Mom Prays Son Through Tornado

 

IDF to Hold Nation Wide Drill As War Rhetoric Ramps Up! This is it, folks, this war may be “going live” soon!

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IDF t0 Hold NationWide Drill as War Rhetoric Ramps UP!!!

The drill, held jointly by the IDF Home Front Command and emergency services, aims to prepare the Israeli population for the undesired event of thousands of missiles and rockets hitting population centers and strategic installations across the country, including unconventional weapons from Syria, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. The simulation will commence Sunday morning with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announcing a week of national emergency[....]

נערכים לתרגיל. השר ארדן, הרמטכ"ל גנץ ואלוף אייזנברג (צילום: דובר צה"ל)

Strategic dilemmas

The fighting in Syria is part of a complex multi-layered proxy war with huge implications for the future of the Middle East

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, April 11, 2013.
Photo by: Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry

Strategic decision time is fast approaching the newly installed Israeli government on several fronts. The chaotic Syrian civil war is showing signs of spilling over into northern Israel; Israeli air attacks on weapons stores destined for Hezbollah could trigger cross-border retaliation; the Iranians are close to crossing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nuclear red line; Gaza-inspired terrorist cells are taking root in Sinai; and, on a different but not unconnected plane, Netanyahu will soon have to decide whether or not he truly wants to embrace a vigorous US-led peace effort on the Palestinian track.

“Don’t let the quiet fool you. A storm is brewing,” IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz warned in mid-April[....]

Assad and Allies Threaten to open Front in Golan Heights

Gantz Promises they’ll be sorry if they do!

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Volcano erupting in Alaska sine last week, spewing ash cloud and steam 22000 feet high.

SaRS, Bird Flu, and 2 new viruses related to SARS, could spark epidemics

And Tunisian man who traveled to MECCA has died of Coronavirus, fears the Hajj may set of global pandemic

John Rappaport is on a roll these days.  I have always liked his writing, but he has a way of nailing jello to the wall. Here’s his latest:  Authorities never have “issues with authority”

Incomprehensible destruction: Authorities lower death toll to 24; number of injured hits 240, including 60 kids

by The Extinction Protocol

OK Tornado an EF4!

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Escalation of evil

Wow, new ways to kill babies in the womb, I guess turnabout is fair play, the fathers get no say-so in what happens to the baby, but this guy found a way around that issue.  Truly deplorable!!!

Florida Man Charged With Murder for Tricking Girlfriend into Abortion

FCC apparently feels there is not enough sex or profanity in kid’s programming lineup!

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OUTRAGE!

Via The Firewall

Nidal Hassan, the Fort Hood Shooter, has not been discharged, still drawing Military Salary!!!!! 

Waxing Worse

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My heart is breaking over the loss of life in the tornadoes and the obvious ramping up of “alarms” all over America and the Middle East and other parts of the world.

Here are the morning headlines.  I’ll likely be on later again today to post more, but these will get you started.  Pray for the lost, and pray for Israel, and pray for Christians everywhere.  Pray for revival!

Rise in evil and lawlessness:

Texas school admits to rape of 4 year old boy

Minneapolis Church celebrates gay marriage bill with rainbow communion bread

Government over-reach:

And you thought YOUR taxes were high?

Crumbling of America

We are One Act Away from Social Catclysm

Debt ceiling raised again, nary a peep of protest

Do YOU Hear the Sirens?Doctor Shortage

DAYS OF LOT: Oklahoma City was set to celebrate “Gay Pride Day” Kicking off on May 19th

Signs

Signs in the Earth and in the Sky

“Monster” Mile-Wide Tornado Kills 37, Levels Neighborhoods Near Oklahoma City; Hundreds of Homes, Schools, and Businesses Damaged or Destroyed

Intolerance of Christianity

Professor investigated for teaching intelligent design

Atheist outraged to find Bible in his rented cabin

A Voice of Reason!

VIRGINIA GOP NOMINEE E.W. JACKSON CALLING FOR BLACK EXODUS FROM THE DEMOCRAT PARTY AND TO END THE SLAVISH DEVOTION

Iran/Middle East

Iran Policy Reaches Day of Reckoning

Too Late to Stop Iran’s Nuke Program?

Tensions Rise in Lebanon

Israel

Israel must return to 1967 borders  (Them’s fightin’ words where I come from!)

Will Israel Bomb Iran?

IDF fired on from Golan 3rd day straight

 

The most down-to-earth, comprehensive and crucial post you’ll read today!

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jesus looks at the world

The world is a pretty big place, but it grows smaller by the day.  Not because of overpopulation, but because of increasing accessibility through travel, and real-time satellite internet.  Cultures may seem very different, and I will admit that I have not had the blessed privilege of being immersed in a culture vastly different from my own.  But I believe that people who do spend time in different cultures would tell you that in essence, people all over the world have many basics in common.  Most people want to be loved, have family, be able to provide for themselves and their family, live in peace and freedom.  Most people pursue some recreation, but are fulfilled in productivity, enjoy some fellowship, appreciate nature and beauty, music and art of some form, and most people still believe in some higher power.

The Bible claims to be the Word of God, and I believe that it is.  I believe that God, our Creator and the Creator of all that is, who had no beginning and has no end, who is Himself the Alpha and the Omega, gave this Word to mankind by divine inspiration to men of old, prophets, who wrote it down as they were instructed by God, and that God Himself has preserved it.  I believe that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-seeing and omnipresent.

I believe that Lucifer, otherwise known as Satan, the anointed cherub that covereth, is the most cunning, most powerful created being among the order of angelic beings, who coveted God’s place, led rebellion in heaven in his pride, in a foolish doomed ambition to ascend above God.

I do not believe the Earth or universe are “millions of years old” as science (so-called) claims, but closer to 6000.  I believe that everyone, from the most remote and isolated tribe on distant continents, to the Native Americans, to all past civilizations, carried/do carry among their civilization, remnants of knowledge of God and history that included dinosaurs/great lizards, a world-wide flood, and beings from outside this world.

I believe that like anything that is handled by humans, the knowledge gets distorted, added to, subtracted from, and where there is or has been conflict, different sides have taken different perspectives, not always honest, but as to the victor goes the spoils, also the victor writes the history books.

We humans have been created in God’s image, and thus, similar to Him, we have a vast capacity of imagination.  But that has often been to our detriment, since He gave us each a will of our own as well.

I have come to believe that absolutely nothing in life is random.  Despite the fact that I jokingly insist hat my mind itself is pretty random.

Here’s the thing.  Lets say you used your own hard-earned resources, and invested your own efforts and time, to write some great novel, or create some great city.  Was it not solely Dickens’ prerogative to write the characters in “A Christmas Carol” just as he so choose, and give them the adventures he pleased to give them?   Wouldn’t a man who was building a city, owned the property, supplied all the materials, be the rightful one to decide the plans for that city?  Where does our sense of “prerogative” come from?

Many people disagree on questions of morality, death penalty, gun ownership, homosexuality, but even the most hardened criminal has been known to beat a child-molester to a bloody pulp, in “righteous indignation” over the abuse of power and tormenting the innocent and weak.  We like the idea of self-determining what is right and wrong, but where does our universal sense that there is such a thing even come from?

It comes from the fact that there is a God, and quite simply, He said so.  He was quite specific about it, but beginning with the fall of Satan, and the subsequent temptation of Eve, mankind has been compromising and redefining it ever since.

The thing is, God never changes.  And His Word is full disclosure, He has warned us to that effect.  Just because mankind has chosen not to believe Him, doesn’t alter the fact one iota.

God will do what He will do.

He inspired the writing of His book, the Holy Bible, for our edification, for our good.  God created humankind for one reason.  He desired fellowship.  God is not subject to time.  Like a story in a book, from ancient history to future yet-to-be, He stands outside and above, and sees it all at a glance.  He knew who would obey, preserve His Word, pass it on to future generations, and He knew who would rebel and reject it.  This is what is meant by “the sins of the father being visited upon the children to the third and fourth generations”.  One patriarch’s disobedience, could doom many generations of that family line to blindness to God’s truth.  God has told  us in His Book that a day of judgment is coming.  Science says “matter is neither created nor destroyed”.  But science is wrong. God created everything from nothing.  God breathed all that there is, into existence by commanding it to be, by the Word of His mouth.  The same body of science, claims in blatant contradiction of the first principle mentioned above, that essentially, in the beginning, there was nothing, and nothing “exploded” and then all manner of rudimentary life forms or building blocks suddenly were, and that with the addition of the passage of time, these unintelligent life forms “evolved” all on their own, into more advanced life forms.

It takes a lot more “faith” to believe that everything came from nothing, than to believe an intelligent pre-existent being created it all.  Yet that is what rejection of truth will buy you.  Blindness.  The problem is not that people “can’t believe the Bible”.  It’s that they don’t like what the Bible tells them, so they won’t believe it.  Every person who comes of age makes that decision, whether it is done thoughtfully and consciously, or carelessly and not-so-consciously.

I submit for your consideration that if you landed on this post, on this particular blog today, there just may be a Divine reason for that.

There is a dis-integration taking place in this world.

Through out history, empires and nations have risen and have fallen.  Some have  had impressive staying power.  Governments too, can be quite different one from another, but underneath it boils down to certain leaders, parties or factions, having power and dominance over other ones.  They may be benign, or malevolent, they may promote freedom, or forbid it.  We are all subject to some form of governmental entity.  But there is a whole other realm of principality.  The Bible calls them “principalities and powers”; these are the rebellious ones, and they are your enemy.  Then there is God and the tens of thousands and thousands of thousands of angels who do His bidding.

At any given time in history, in any location on this earth, the “powers that be” may have attained their power by conquest, but only because God granted it.  Here in America, where men who worshiped God, who had been oppressed in that worship in England, came and established a new nation based upon Biblical truths.  Obedience to God affords the protection of God to the obedient.  It promotes access to the blessings of God.  Disobedience and rebellion do the opposite.  God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Jacob, is the only “god” known to man, who does not require for you to make your way to him.  Krishna, Buddah, Allah, the god of Mormans (which is not the same God but an imagined god with different attributes and requirements) the god of Jehovah’s Witnesses (their doctrine, like that of the Mormans, Muslims, Hindus, etc, were imparted by “angels” (of darkness) but God says in His Words, that if even an angel came giving a gospel other than that found in His Word, as preached by the Apostle Paul, it must be rejected.

God’s Word says in His Book, that many deceivers would come, and many false Christs.  Christ is not a name, it is a title for the Messiah, the Savior of the world.

Over 300 prophecies were spoken in the old Testament about Jesus, the Christ and Messiah, and all of them were fulfilled.  (More here)

It is Friday of the week, and often times I try to “lighten up” the mood on Friday, but the truth is, time is swiftly running out.

For those of you who came to this site as a source of news only,  it is about much more.  It is my hearts sincere desire to share with you the gospel of Jesus Christ, that you might be saved from the wrath that is to come upon this earth very shortly.  Without the gospel, the news can only engender despair.  The economy through out the world, is in serious trouble.  Many new diseases, viruses, and bacterial infections are cropping up, as well as resurgence and mutations of old ones previously nearly eradicated.  There are mass animal deaths the world over.  There have been unexplained sounds and sights for several years, that have people puzzled, alarmed, scratching their heads in bewilderment.  Wars are being threatened on every side, and there are thousands of ongoing conflicts, some stretching back a century, that are in progress now.  Basic human compassion, civility, and morality is eroding at an alarming rate.  Science and technology have ventured into areas that should make anyone nervous; A replacement living ear is about three years away from reality, nano body parts can be reproduced the same way using a newly announced microscopic 3D printer, brain scans can tell what a person is thinking, fetuses with the DNA of 3 instead of 2 “parents”.  Governance and order are breaking down, and Police State tactics are rising in even the free-est of nations, while dictatorships have fallen in more oppressed areas of the world only to be replaced by regimes more evil than the previous ones.  There are water shortages, famines, bizarre, extreme and out-of-season weather conditions, sinkholes all over the world, volcanoes waking up and erupting, fault-lines becoming active that had been quiet, and increase of “U.F.O” sightings, and reports of demonic encounters, including and most disturbingly, in children.  Suicide is up.  Corruption is spreading.

There is one absolute certainty in the life of every human being:  Death!

rapture from the graveyard

God created us with an eternal soul.  It is a lie that life ends at the grave.  It is a lie that souls re-incarnate into new bodies and live multiple lifetimes until they attain heaven.  It is a lie that there is no hell or that hell is a temporary place you can eventually earn your way out of.

God who made you, does not want you to go to hell.  He didn’t create hell for humans.  Hell was designed as a place of eternal punishment for Satan and the 1/3 of the angels who joined him in his revolt.  But Satan is determined to take you with him.  He knows God pretty well.  He had plenty of time to observe and witness all God did when he held his anointed cherub position.  He knows human nature pretty well too.  He knows that we have an innate “knowledge” that we were made for something more than this existence.  He knows God wrote His law on man’s heart, which is why we have a sense of justice and right and wrong at all in the first place.  So Satan works within the confines God has subjected him to, using the knowledge he has, and he creates customized counterfeits according to your propensities.  He perpetuates the particular falsehoods of a given culture.  He offers the particular temptations that suit your personal proclivities.  He lures you in and traps you, either with false religion, or with distortions of the good things God created, rather than the marriage bed and satisfaction with your mate, he offers you a “banquet” of options which promise fulfillment but only feed your lust and reinforce the chains of your addiction.  He caters to your desire to be righteous in your own right, and feeds you reams of requirements to strive towards, to “earn” salvation, or penance to suffer.

When in reality, the way to reconciliation with God is so simple it seems almost to good to be true, and it cannot be earned.  One must merely believe Jesus is the Son of God, who while equal with God, became a man in the flesh, and having never sinned, took the punishment for our sins, satisfying God’s wrath paying the fine, so to speak, that we owe for our transgressions of the law, which cannot save us, but can only show forth our guilt.  We must repent, (that is, make a 180 degree turn from, and go in the opposite direction) of our sins and rebellion and transgression of God’s law, and ask forgiveness and ask for the atonement bought by Christ, to be applied to our “account”, for God is keeping account.

I know that time is short before  Christ removes all who are saved from this Earth, (to be followed by 7 years of the most horrific conditions Earth has ever known, and then the return of Christ to establish His Kingdom) because Jesus told us in Matthew 24 what the signs would be, and Daniel and Isaiah, Ezekiel and other prophecy books of the Bible, including of course, Revelation, tell us some of the events that will happen just before, and during that period of the very end.

  1. False Christs and false teachers/prophets
  2. The “fig tree” will put forth leaves this is a reference to the Nation of Israel reborn and a regathering of Jews of each of the 12 tribes into Israel (in progress)
  3. False Christs and false teachers will show false (lying) signs and wonders (miracles)
  4. Many wars and rumors of wars with nations rising against nations
  5. Famines (and drought) in diverse (different from usual) places
  6. Pestilences in diverse places
  7. Earthquakes in diverse places
  8. Many shall be offended, shall betray one another, and hate one another
  9. Iniquity shall abound (as the days of Noah and Lot)
  10. Mankind’s love for one another will grow cold
  11. Many shall run to and fro about the Earth and knowledge shall increase. (This speaks to population numbers, ease of travel, and huge advances in science and technology)
  12. The gospel of the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world
  13. Israel will stand alone without ally, a burdensome stone in the world
  14. Jewish temple worship will be reinstated (which requires the rebuilding of their temple)
  15. Mankind’s weapons capability will be so advanced that if God did not set limits on this period of global warfare and tribulation, no human flesh would survive
  16. Revelation and Daniel predict the rise of a global order of government on the order of ancient Rome (will require the collapse or conquering of all current sovereign states)
  17. A great false influential religious leader will arise
  18. The Jewish temple will be desecrated for the final time.
  19. Faith will be a matter of life and death, mandatory allegiance will be required to a false messiah.

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Isaiah 17 news:

Brennan Makes Surprise Visit to Israel over Syria

Syria Begins to Break Apart Under Pressure From War

Note: The Isaiah 17 battle which destroys Damascus could happen any day now, but it also could happen after the snatching away of the church of blood-bought born again believers.

Increase in lawlessness:

$625,000 Gold Shipment Vanishes

Hundreds of Illegal Immigrants with Criminal Records of Federal Offenses, Released

Brazilians Fight Back as Regulatory Agency Tries to Impose “Homosexual Marriage” on Entire Country

Religion a matter of Life and Death:

Saudi Arabia Sentences Men to Lashings for helping woman convert to Christianity

Blasphemy Charges Becoming New Weapon against Egyptian Christians

Militants Kill Nigerian Christian Leader

Growing Military State:
National Guard Air Exercise over Myrtle Beach next week(Should be interesting as it overlaps with Bike Week!)

Florida Garbage Truck Drivers Trained to Snitch on Citizens (It was only a matter of time)

Like the Days of Noah And Lot/Iniquity abounds:

Teachers vote to make everything LBGTTQ-friendly

Wars/Rumors of Wars:

Hezbollah Pledges to Boot Israel from Golan

Russia Provides Assad with Ship-killing missile

Assad Plans to Retaliate Next Time Israel strikes Syria

Russia sends at least 12 war ships to Syria

IAF Planes Circling Above Lebanon

Syria-Israeli War of Words via Putin, edges into Syrian-Hezbollah war of attrition

CIA to Israel; “Syria Making us Nervous”

Israel stands alone:

Israel’s one real ally, the U.S. is unreliable at best under Obama

Expect Israeli strike against Russian Arms shipments to Syria-Hezbollah

Iran Doesn’t recognize Israel’s red line

Breakdown of current order of governments/corruption/economies:

BREAKING: Obama White House Just Caught In HUGE Lie/Contradiction – See Proof Here.

Cashless Society Arrives in Africa with National ID Card

François Hollande calls for ‘European political union’ within two years

Earthquakes in Diverse Places:

Is a Massive Canada Quake on the Horizon?

Surprise New Zealand Quake a 4.2

New Sinkhole:

16-foot sinkhole swallows part of I-80 near Wyoming border

Another Gosnell, and other atrocities

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Every Lesson a Gay Lesson

IRS sued for improperly seizing the medical records of 10 Million Americans

Houston’s Gosnell

Man in Paris shoots himself dead in front of school kids

Hamas, Fatah to unite within 3 months

The World-famous mouth of Gene Simmons, takes on Muslims, and Muslims aren’t happy.

Latest on Syria, Iran, Israel

IRS Commissioner has pinpointed two Rogue employees (read that “fall guys”) who are mostly responsible for singling out conservatives. 

We think it can’t get much worse, and yet every day, it still does!  Depravity, corruption, pure evil seeking to harm the most helpless of humanity.

Repent and be saved!

BELGIAN MP: Prophetic implications?

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Belgian MP: Prophetic implications?

Reblogged from Biblical Connection

Laurent-LouisFor those whose news and information come from more than just Fox News, you may wish to read in the article at this link what the Belgian MP (who “gets it”) had to say recently (the video can be seen at this link and Closed Caption [CC] can be used for translation * Look for cc symbol on Youtube video closed captioning symbol)

As you read his comments regarding “a foreign god”, the continued and increasing imperialistic aggression by the Roman “West”, and the excuse of “peace’ in fighting “terrorists” that continues to be used to advance the global agenda of these monsters, keep the following three prophetic passages in mind.   More

If ever an article proved that any U.S. aid to Syria will finance our enemies, this is it.

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Free Syrian Army rebels defect to Islamist group Jabhat al-Nusra

The well-resourced organisation, which is linked to al-Qaida, is luring many anti-Assad fighters away, say brigade commanders

The flag of the Islamist rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra flying over the main square of the city of Raqqa in Syria. Photograph: Reuters

Syria‘s main armed opposition group, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), is losing fighters and capabilities to Jabhat al-Nusra, an Islamist organisation with links to al-Qaida that is emerging as the best-equipped, financed and motivated force fighting Bashar al-Assad‘s regime.

Evidence of the growing strength of al-Nusra, gathered from Guardian interviews with FSA commanders across Syria, underlines the dilemma for the US, Britain and other governments as they ponder the question of arming anti-Assad rebels.

John Kerry, the US secretary of state, said that if negotiations went ahead between the Syrian government and the opposition – as the US and Russia proposed on Tuesday – “then hopefully [arming the Syrian rebels] would not be necessary”.

The agreement between Washington and Moscow creates a problem for the UK and France, which have proposed lifting or amending the EU arms embargo on Syria to help anti-Assad forces. The Foreign Office welcomed the agreement as a “potential step forward” but insisted: “Assad and his close associates have lost all legitimacy. They have no place in the future of Syria.” Opposition leaders were sceptical about prospects for talks if Assad remained in power.

Illustrating their plight, FSA commanders say that entire units have gone over to al-Nusra while others have lost a quarter or more of their strength to them recently.

“Fighters feel proud to join al-Nusra because that means power and influence,” said Abu Ahmed, a former teacher from Deir Hafer who now commands an FSA brigade in the countryside near Aleppo. “Al-Nusra fighters rarely withdraw for shortage of ammunition or fighters and they leave their target only after liberating it,” he added. “They compete to carry out martyrdom [suicide] operations.”

Abu Ahmed and others say the FSA has lost fighters to al-Nusra in Aleppo, Hama, Idlib and Deir al-Zor and the Damascus region. Ala’a al-Basha, commander of the Sayyida Aisha brigade, warned the FSA chief of staff, General Salim Idriss, about the issue last month. Basha said 3,000 FSA men have joined al-Nusra in the last few months, mainly because of a lack of weapons and ammunition. FSA fighters in the Banias area were threatening to leave because they did not have the firepower to stop the massacre in Bayda, he said.

The FSA’s Ahrar al-Shimal brigade joined al-Nusra en masse while the Sufiyan al-Thawri brigade in Idlib lost 65 of its fighters to al-Nusra a few months ago for lack of weapons. According to one estimate the FSA has lost a quarter of all its fighters.

Al-Nusra has members serving undercover with FSA units so they can spot potential recruits, according to Abu Hassan of the FSA’s al-Tawhid Lions brigade.

Ideology is another powerful factor. “Fighters are heading to al-Nusra because of its Islamic doctrine, sincerity, good funding and advanced weapons,” said Abu Islam of the FSA’s al-Tawhid brigade in Aleppo. “My colleague who was fighting with the FSA’s Ahrar Suriya asked me: ‘I’m fighting with Ahrar Suriya brigade, but I want to know if I get killed in a battle, am I going to be considered as a martyr or not?’ It did not take him long to quit FSA and join al-Nusra. He asked for a sniper rifle and got one immediately.”

FSA commanders say they have suffered from the sporadic nature of arms supplies. FSA fighter Adham al-Bazi told the Guardian from Hama: “Our main problem is that what we get from abroad is like a tap. Sometimes it’s turned on, which means weapons are coming and we are advancing, then, all of a sudden, the tap dries up, and we stop fighting or even pull out of our positions.”

The US, which has outlawed al-Nusra as a terrorist group, has hesitated to arm the FSA, while the western and Gulf-backed Syrian Opposition Coalition has tried to assuage concerns by promising strict control over weapons. “We are ready to make lists of the weapons and write down the serial numbers,” Idriss told NPR at the weekend. “The FSA is very well organised and when we distribute weapons and ammunition we know exactly to which hands they are going.”

Syria’s government has capitalised successfully on US and European divisions over the weapons embargo by emphasising the “jihadi narrative” – as it has since the start of largely peaceful protests in March 2011. Assad himself claimed in a recent interview: “There is no FSA, only al-Qaida.” Syrian state media has played up the recent pledge of loyalty by Jabhat al-Nusra to al-Qaida in Iraq.

Western governments say they are aware of the al-Nusra problem, which is being monitored by intelligence agencies, but they are uncertain about its extent.

“It is clear that fighters are moving from one group to another as one becomes more successful,” said a diplomat who follows Syria closely. “But it’s very area-specific. You can’t talk about a general trend in which [Jabhat al-Nusra] has more momentum than others. It is true that some say JAN is cleaner and better than other groups, but there are as many stories about it being bad.” Critics point to punishments meted out by Sharia courts and its use of suicide bombings.

The FSA’s shortage of weapons and other resources compared with Jabhat al-Nusra is a recurrent theme. The loss of Khirbet Ghazaleh, a key junction near Dera’a in southern Syria, was blamed on Wednesday on a lack of weapons its defenders had hoped would be delivered from Jordan.

“If you join al-Nusra, there is always a gun for you but many of the FSA brigades can’t even provide bullets for their fighters,” complained Abu Tamim, an FSA man who joined Jabhat al-Nusra in Idlib province. “My nephew is in Egypt, he wants to come to Syria to fight but he doesn’t have enough money. Al-Nusra told him: ‘Come and we will even pay your flight tickets.’ He is coming to fight with al-Nusra because he does not have any other way.”

Jabhat al-Nusra is winning support in Deir al-Zor, according to Abu Hudaifa, another FSA defector. “They are protecting people and helping them financially. Al-Nusra is in control of most of the oil wells in the city.” The Jabhat al-Nusra media, with songs about jihad and martyrdom, is extremely influential.

Abu Zeid used to command the FSA’s Syria Mujahideen brigade in the Damascus region and led all its 420 fighters to al-Nusra. “Since we joined I and my men are getting everything we need to keep us fighting to liberate Syria and to cover our families’ expenses, though fighting with al-Nusra is governed by very strict rules issued by the operations command or foreign fighters,” he said. “There is no freedom at all but you do get everything you want.

“No one should blame us for joining al-Nusra. Blame the west if Syria is going to become a haven for al-Qaida and extremists. The west left Assad’s gangs to slaughter us. They never bothered to support the FSA. They disappointed ordinary Syrian protesters who just wanted their freedom and to have Syria for all Syrians.”

Benghazigate

Standard

Benghazi makes Watergate ‘look like kindergarten’

 

General: ‘A dereliction of duty this nation has never seen before’

WND.com

Published: 2 hours ago

Revelations in Wednesday’s congressional hearings on the Benghazi terrorist attacks prove it is a massive scandal that will carry significant consequences for those involved in the cover-up, according to retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Tom McInerney.

 

McInerney served at the highest levels in the Air Force, including time as assistant vice chief of staff and vice commander in chief of the U.S. Air Forces in Europe. He believes the Obama administration deliberately misled the American people on the motivation for the attack and is now covering its tracks on decisions to prevent a military rescue in Benghazi. He told WND that is more clear than ever following Wednesday’s testimony of former Deputy Chief of Mission Gregory Hicks and two others before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. (Read the rest)