Obama says US 'underestimated' rise of ISIS, admits 'contradictory' Syria policy

 Obama acknowledged Sunday that U.S. intelligence officials "underestimated" the threat posed by the Islamic State and overestimated the Iraqi army’s capacity to defeat the militant group.

 The president said in an wide-ranging interview on CBS' “60 Minutes” that the Islamic State militants went "underground" after being squashed in Iraq and regrouped under the cover of the Syrian civil war. "During the chaos of the Syrian civil war, where essentially you have huge swaths of the country that are completely ungoverned, they were able to reconstitute themselves and take advantage of that chaos," Obama said. The president said his director of national intelligence, James Clapper, has acknowledged that the U.S. "underestimated what had been taking place in Syria.” He also said it was "absolutely true" that the U.S. overestimated the ability and will of the Iraqi army.

 However, Obama also acknowledged that the U.S. is dealing with a conundrum in Syria, as the U.S.-led military campaign against the Islamic State is helping Syrian President Bashar Assad, whom the U.N. has accused of war crimes. "I recognize the contradiction in a contradictory land and a contradictory circumstance," Obama said. "We are not going to stabilize Syria under the rule of Assad," whose government has committed "terrible atrocities." However, Obama called the threat from the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, and other terror groups a more "immediate concern that has to be dealt with." "On the other hand, in terms of immediate threats to the United States, ISIL, Khorasan Group -- those folks could kill Americans," he said.

 The Islamic State group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, has taken control of large sections of Iraq and Syria. The Khorasan Group is a cell of militants that the U.S. says is plotting attacks against the West in cooperation with the Nusra front, Syria's Al Qaeda affiliate. Both groups have been targeted by U.S. airstrikes in recent days; together they constitute the most significant military opposition to Assad. Obama said his first priority is degrading the extremists who are threatening Iraq and the West. To defeat them, he acknowledged, would require a competent local ground force, something no analyst predicts will surface any time soon in Syria, despite U.S. plans to arm and train "moderate" rebels. "Right now, we've got a campaign plan that has a strong chance for success in Iraq," the president said. "Syria is a more challenging situation."

 In discussing Iraq, Obama said the U.S. left the country after the war with “a democracy that was intact, a military that was well-equipped and the ability then (for Iraqis) to chart their own course.” However, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki “squandered” that opportunity over roughly five years because he was “much more interested in consolidating his Shia base and very suspicious of the Sunnis and the Kurds, who make up the other two thirds of the country,” the president said.

 Obama said military force is necessary to shrink the Islamic State’s capacity, cut off financing and eliminate the flow of foreign fighters. He said political solutions are also needed that accommodate both Sunnis and Shiites, adding that conflicts between the two sects are the biggest cause of conflict throughout the world.

 Earlier Sunday, House Speaker John Boehner questioned Obama's strategy to destroy the Islamic State group. Boehner said on ABC's "This Week" that the U.S. may have "no choice" but to send in American troops if the mix of U.S.-led airstrikes and a ground campaign reliant on Iraqi forces, Kurdish fighters and moderate Syrian rebels fails to achieve that goal. "These are barbarians. They intend to kill us," Boehner said. "And if we don't destroy them first, we're going to pay the price."

 However, Obama again made clear he has no interest in a major U.S. ground presence beyond the 1,600 American advisers and special operations troops he already has ordered to Iraq. When asked if the current conflict was not really a war, Obama said there are clear distinctions between this campaign and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "We are assisting Iraq in a very real battle that's taking place on their soil, with their troops," the president said. "This is not America against ISIL. This is America leading the international community to assist a country with whom we have a security partnership." "That's always the case," Obama added. "We are the indispensable nation. We have capacity no one else has. Our military is the best in the history of the world. And when trouble comes up anywhere in the world, they don't call Beijing. They don't call Moscow. They call us."

 The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/09/29/us-misjudged-iraqi-army-isis-threat-obama-says/

Israel increasingly anxious over world's flexibility to nuclear Iran

As Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu departed to address the UN General Assembly in New York on Sunday, and to meet with US President Barack Obama, the fear in Israel was mounting with regard to the warming ties between Iran and the United States. Amid the struggle against Islamic State, there were more and more indications that the US and the Western powers were willing to relax their position regarding Iran's nuclear program. This impression became stronger following the reports that the US is coordinating with Iran in its aerial assaults on Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

 Israel is worried that the offers made to Iran in the negotiations over its nuclear program, which Iran has rejected as unsatisfactory, demonstrate the world powers' willingness to accept the Islamic Republic as a "threshold nuclear power" just a screws-turn away from possessing a nuclear bomb. Israel's anxiety was apparent on Wednesday when Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz revealed classified information with the permission of a military censor that is friendly to the government and more strict to the media. Steinitz revealed that Iran has used its Parchin military base as the site for secret tests of technology that could be used only for detonating a nuclear weapon. The reason why Steinitz came out with the information was to influence the world powers in the nuclear talks to delay the signing of an agreement with Iran that will leave Iran with significant capabilities to enrich uranium.

 The negotiations with the powers – the US, France, Britain, Russia, Germany and China- are supposed to end with a permanent agreement in around two months. Over the last week, senior officials in the Obama administration have leaked some ideas that could form the basis of an agreement with Iran. One idea is that Iranian centrifuges will not be dismantled but will rather be disconnected from the system that fuels them and connects them together. Another idea under consideration is to allow Iran to keep some 5000 centrifuges, which would put Tehran in a good position to enrich high level weapons-grade uranium in the future if it chose to do so.

These offers that are unsatisfactory to Iran have infuriated Jerusalem. Israel's position was that in any agreement Iran would have to dismantle all its centrifuges or only be able to keep around 1000 which would prevent it from enriching uranium to a high level. The latest developments in the Middle East have hardened Iran's bargaining positions in the nuclear talks. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and the moderates around him are interested in a permanent agreement on the nuclear issue that will remove the painful sanctions against their economy. On the other hand, as the masters of "bazaar-style" negotiating, Tehran senses that it can reach a better deal for Iran if it stands firm.

 Iran feels that the West wants to see it a de facto partner in the coalition that is forming against ISIS. Even the accomplishments of the Shi'ites in Yemen, who currently control large parts of the capital Sana'a, encourage the Iranians and give them hope that regional events and time are in their favor. And because for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu relations between Iran and Israel are a zero sum game, any Iranian achievement and any Western concession to Iran is a loss for Israel. In Netanyahu's speech at the General Assembly on Monday and in his meeting with Obama, the prime minister will try to minimize the negative fallout for Israel. It is doubtful that he will succeed. The world knows that the military threats that Israel wielded successfully from 2011-2013 are no longer realistic.

http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Analysis-Israel-increasingly-anxious-over-worlds-flexibility-to-nuclear-Iran-376477

Iran used military base to secretly test nuclear detonation technology, Israel says

REUTERS – Israel said on Wednesday that Iran has used its Parchin military base as the site for secret tests of technology that could be used only for detonating a nuclear weapon. The Jewish state has been a severe critic of six big powers' negotiations with Iran on restraining its nuclear program, suspecting Tehran is only trying to buy time to master sensitive nuclear know-how and would evade the terms of any final deal. The Islamic Republic says allegations that it is seeking a nuclear weapons capability are false and baseless. Tehran says it is Israel's assumed atomic arsenal that is a destabilizing threat to the Middle East. A statement from Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz, issued a day before Iranian President Hassan Rohani – the architect of Tehran's diplomacy with the big powers - was to address the UN General Assembly, said internal neutron sources such as uranium were used in nuclear implosion tests at Parchin. Israel, his statement said, based its information on "highly reliable information", without elaborating. It gave no specific dates for such testing, saying only that it occurred during what it called the 2000-2001 construction of a nuclear weaponization test site in Parchin. An annex to an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report in 2011, which included information received from member states, indicated that Iran may have conducted such alleged experiments but did not specify where they had taken place.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel-s-eye-on-iran/1.617664

CDC: Ebola could infect 1.4 million in Liberia and Sierra Leone by end of January

The Ebola epidemic in West Africa, already ghastly, could get worse by orders of magnitude, killing hundreds of thousands of people and embedding itself in the human population for years to come, according to two worst-case scenarios from scientists studying the historic outbreak. The virus could potentially infect 1.4 million people in Liberia and Sierra Leone by the end of January, according to a statistical forecast by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published Tuesday. That number came just hours after a report in the New England Journal of Medicine warned that the epidemic might never be fully controlled and that the virus could become endemic, crippling civic life in the affected countries and presenting an ongoing threat of spreading elsewhere. These dire scenarios from highly respected medical sources were framed, however, by optimism from U.S. officials that an accelerated response can and will contain the outbreak in the weeks and months ahead.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/cdc-ebola-could-infect-14-million-in-west-africa-by-end-of-january-if-trends-continue/2014/09/23/fc260920-4317-11e4-9a15-137aa0153527_story.html

US Strikes IS Group in Syria, Iraq

U.S. warplanes bombed Islamic State militant positions on both sides of the Syrian-Iraqi border on Wednesday as hard-line Syrian rebels who have been battling the extremist group sought cover, fearing a wider aerial campaign against all fighters seen as a potential threat to the United States. The airstrikes come a day after the U.S. and five Arab allies opened their military operation against the Islamic State group in Syria with more than 200 strikes on some two dozen targets. That campaign, which President Barack Obama has warned could last years, expands upon the aerial assault the U.S. has already been waging for more than a month against the extremists in Iraq. "There's definitely a second day and there'll be a third and a fourth" in Syria, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told CNN in an interview on Wednesday. "This will go on for some time in several forms." Along with its Arab partners, the Obama administration aims to destroy the Islamic State group, the extremist faction that has through brute force carved out a proto-state in the heart of the Middle East, effectively erasing the border between Iraq and Syria. The United Nations has accused the group of committing war crimes. The latest U.S. strikes, conducted by bombers and fighter jets, damaged eight Islamic State vehicles in Syria near the Iraqi border town of Qaim, the U.S. Central Command said in a statement. It also reported hitting two Islamic State armed vehicles west of Baghdad, as well as two militant fighting positions in northern Iraq. In a separate statement, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said the strikes in eastern Syria hit a staging area used by the militants to move equipment across the border into Iraq. He did not specify exactly where the air raids took place, but the Iraqi town of Qaim is across the border from the Syrian town of Boukamal, where Syrian activists reported at least 13 airstrikes on suspected Islamic State positions on Wednesday.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/syrian-opposition-hit-assad-group-25719189

Who is the Antichrist?

A Dallas pastor created a stir when he accused President Obama of “paving the way for the future reign of the Antichrist.” A Montana GOP congressional candidate caught the nation’s attention, when he referred to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as the “Antichrist”. A prophecy scholar shocked the scientific community when he announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin is undoubtedly the “third Antichrist” predicted by Nostradamus. Just mention the name of any well-known politician and the Antichrist, in the same breath, and it is sure to generate interest. By Rick Brinegar The Man With the Answers Well-known Bible commentators have popularized the idea that the Antichrist will come onto the world scene as a glib, well-dressed politician with all the answers to the world’s problems. Others say that he must be a prominent religious leader or a ruthless military strategist. Whatever his profession, he will be many things to many people, with a message of power, prosperity, peace and brotherhood. With a rock-star-like ascension, he will be received as messianic deliverer by many. He may appear as the Iman Mahdi to some. Others may be convinced that he is Krishna or Maitreya. But to the millions of members of the end time one-world religion, he will be the “Christ”. Alive on Earth Today? In the last days, according to the Bible, this final “false Christ” will rule over vast portions of the world as he blasphemes God and sets himself up in the Third Temple as God himself. He will ultimately reign over his world government for three and one-half years just prior to the Second Coming of Jesus. The most evil person, of all history, will use every kind of wicked deception to fool those who are on their way to destruction, because they refuse to believe the truth that would save them. The convergence and acceleration of fulfilled end-of-the-age prophecies suggest that he is probably living on earth right now.

 How will We Know Him? The Antichrist, who will claim to be God but will actually lead a rebellion against God, is also known by such Biblical names as the Man of Sin, the Little Horn, the Prince Who is to Come, the Son of Perdition, the Man of Lawlessness and the Beast. The Bible tells us that the Antichrist will come from the people whose armies destroyed the Second Temple. In other words, his ancestors are descendants of the people who occupied the Roman Empire. He will be arrogant and satanically empowered. He will become the preeminent ruler among ten kings or kingdoms, and he will rule politically, economically and religiously. The Antichrist will confirm a treaty with the people of Israel for a period of seven years. He will go out to do battle and will conquer a sizeable portion of the world’s population. He will wage war against Christians and Jews, and will attempt to destroy every religion except his own. Most of the world will fall under the scope of the Antichrist’s global domination. A Shrewd Peacemaker Daniel 8:25 prophesies concerning the Antichrist: “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…” This passage tells us that the Antichrist will be a skilled peacemaker, but he will use diplomacy to ultimately destroy all those that oppose him. Not all peacemakers are peaceful, and neither can they be trusted.

 The Real Deal

 Be careful. It is possible to spend too much time trying to identify the one who will be revealed as the Antichrist. The Bible promises a crown of righteousness for those who watch for Jesus’ Second Coming, for those who “love His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8), not for those who are obsessed with watching for His enemy. Currency experts are quick to point out that the best training for identifying counterfeit bills is to become familiar with the genuine article. Biblically-Credentialed Candidates Strong types of antichrists have appeared throughout history, such as Hitler, Stalin and Mao Tse-tung. Today, popular culture speculates that the Antichrist could be any one of a variety of well-known personalities, ranging from Hillary Clinton to Al Gore. Here, however, we will consider a few of the more popular candidates who seem likely to have at least some of the Biblical qualifications required to assume the infamous role of the Antichrist. Finally, we will examine one of the public’s favorites, although he may not seem to be the most Biblically credentialed contender for the Antichrist title.

 King Juan Carlos I, the Best-Dressed

 Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain met Pope Francis for the first time in April 2014. It was an historic occasion, as it was the first time that two Popes had been declared saints at the same time. The royal couple was later treated to a private audience with the Pontiff and his Secretary of State. King Juan Carlos, who turned age 76 in January, was coronated in 1975 after he was hand-picked by fascist Generalissimo Franco to be his successor. He became king of the tenth nation to join the European Union. According to Daniel 9:27, the Antichrist will “confirm a treaty with many for seven years.” Juan Carlos has been directly, or indirectly, involved in the Middle East peace process ever since the Spanish government hosted the 1991 Madrid Conference which brought together Israel, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and representatives of Palestine. Born in Rome, Juan Carlos received the Charlemagne Award in 1982, for his contributions to European unification. He was educated by the Jesuits, and holds the title “Protector of the Holy Places in Jerusalem.” Israel urged Juan Carlos to take a leading role in Israeli and Palestinian negotiations in 2001. He visited Syria in 2003, and held talks with President Bashar al-Assad in order to improve political dialog between Damascus, Madrid and the European Union. The Syria Times reported that the royal visit played “a significant role in the dialogue between Islam and Christianity.” The United States government has welcomed Spanish diplomacy as a link in the globalization process. Juan Carlos has enacted political reforms and free democratic elections. Also, he was able to keep the Spanish army in check throughout an attempted coup in 1981, as well as survive the rise of the Socialist Party in 1982. Known for his bearing and elegance, Juan Carlos has been called one of the world’s best-dressed men by Vanity Fair. We will see whether his charm will translate into the kind of ruthlessness needed to become a global dictator. 

Tony Blair

 Middle East Peace Envoy, Interfaith Leader Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair struggled to maintain his standing recently, as he was accused of trying to delay the publication of a report on the Iraq War, which could present an incriminating view of his handling of the conflict. Also, Mr. Blair had urged that Britain should set aside its differences with Russia to fight radical Islam. The speech was dismissed as “embarrassingly simple-minded” by some experts, and led some to question how long he can continue as the West’s envoy to the Middle East. In 2009, the same year that the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq War was initiated, Mr. Blair had received a prestigious million-dollar Israeli prize for his leadership on the world stage. The Dan David Prize was awarded to him for “his exceptional leadership and steadfast determination in helping to engineer agreements and forge lasting solutions to areas in conflict.” Mr. Blair is an envoy of the international Quartet (comprised of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia) on the Middle East peace process. Mr. Blair became instrumental in the interfaith movement in 2011 when he established the Tony Blair Faith Foundation to promote interfaith understanding and research on religion and globalization. The Faith Foundation works toward ending religious conflict and extremism, and uniting faith groups in the struggle against poverty and disease. Advisors to the Faith Foundation include Rick Warren, advocates for HIV/AIDS victims and world Baptist, Catholic and Jewish leaders. In 2012, Mr. Blair urged the European Union to carry out continent-wide elections for a President of Europe. His proposal was viewed as a further hint that he was positioning himself for the job. In the early stages of the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, which became Europe’s first constitution, Mr. Blair was considered to be a front-runner for the newly created post of European Union President. At that time, Mr. Blair sent his former Chief of Staff, Jonathan Powell, to lobby European leaders to make sure that his name was on the short list of contenders for the position. He was promoted as a superior choice for those who wanted “Mr. Europe” to have the global recognition factor and leadership charisma. The future European federation, which he may soon head, is commonly called the “United States of Europe”. It is this European “Super State” that is believed to be the progenitor of the Revived Holy Roman Empire, the future kingdom of the Antichrist. (Daniel 2; 8:25)

 Prince Charles,

 “Savior of the World” BBC News reported in 2002 that a remote town in Brazil called Palmas was to install a giant bronze statue of Prince Charles of Wales. Although the Prince is destined to become Defender of the Faith when he becomes King of England, the inscription on the statue in Brazil honors him as “Savior of the World”. As he accepted a scale model of the sculpture, which depicts him with angel-like wings with human bodies at his feet, Prince Charles said that he was “amazed” and “deeply touched”. The Daily Mail reported in 2010 that Prince Charles believes that he was placed on earth as a future king for the purpose of saving the world. “I wanted to express something in the outer world that I feel inside…” he said. “We seem to have lost that understanding of the whole of nature and the universe as a living entity.” Tim Cohen, in his book, Antichrist and a Cup of Tea, points out that Prince Charles’ lineage places him at the head of the Merovingian Dynasty. Prince Charles’ ancestry, according to Mr. Cohen, can be traced back to Israel’s King David, Jesus, and Islam’s Mohammed, as well as the Tribe of Dan and Satan. His coat of arms, in the British system of Heraldry, reveals, according to Mr. Cohen, a literal depiction of satanic imagery, with Prince Charles’ power, throne and authority derived from the “red dragon”. The beast on the left-hand side of Prince Charles’ coat of arms has the head and mouth of a lion, the body of a leopard, and the feet of a bear. Revelation 13:2 says of the Antichrist, “And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.” Author’s note: Cohen says Prince Charles’ coat of arms has the feet of a bear. However, in the official description, it states the feet are lion’s feet. Cohen later admitted to bending the truth in order to make Charles’ coat of arms perfectly match the beast of Revelation 13. Daniel 9:26 states that the people of the “prince that shall come” were to destroy the temple. Queen Elizabeth has announced that she does not intend to step down for her son, Prince Charles, to become King. If Tim Cohen is correct in his contention that Prince Charles is the future Antichrist, then he must remain a Prince, and not become a King. Prince Charles has a good reputation among the followers of Islam. The Guardian posted a video of Prince Charles, in February 2014, donning ceremonial dress complete with elaborate dagger, bandolier and bullets, to join Saudi Arabian princes in an annual Janadriyal festival sword dance. Prince Charles has not always been as popular with some Britons as he is with Saudi Arabs. The scandal about his infidelity with Camilla, the duchess of Cornwall, and rumors of a conspiracy to eliminate Princess Diana has damaged the image of the British monarchy of Windsor. In 2012, only 39% of those surveyed wanted him to succeed the Queen, and 48% wanted to skip a generation and pass the crown directly to Prince William. Then, a 2013 survey by Ipsos MORI concluded that most Britons wanted Prince Charles to be the next King. Prince Charles and Camilla recently celebrated their ninth wedding anniversary and an improved public image.

 Abdullah II of Jordan,

the Hashemite King King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein is the supposed 43rd generation direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. His British mother, Antoine Fe Gardiner, provides him with the European ancestry required for a Revived Holy Roman Empire origin. In a 2003 Travel Channel special, King Abdullah was portrayed as a “man for all seasons”, flying a helicopter, appearing in pompous military ceremonies, touring Petra after a camel ride through the desert, cruising on the Gulf of Aqaba, socializing with the common Bedouin desert people and climbing a mountain to a shrine for prophets. Isaiah seems to indicate that the Antichrist may be from Assyria (Isaiah 10:12, 14:25). At its peak of power, Assyria included lands now under the control of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. King Abdullah appears to be playing a role of increasing importance to the Middle East peace process. His official website declares, “Today, the pursuit of peace in the region and beyond – a hallmark of Hashemite leadership – is the cornerstone of His Majesty King Abdullah II’s foreign policy.” He considers a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians to be crucial for comprehensive regional peace and development. He has also been very vocal in his support of the API, the Arab Peace Initiative, and has signed several anti-terrorism treaties. He has been an advocate for the World Economic Forum and his own G-11 Initiative. King Abdullah met with US Secretary of State John Kerry in March 2014, in hopes of helping to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. Jordan has a peace treaty and cordial relations with Israel, and borders both Israel and the area which would make up most of the future Palestinian state. Jordan also contains a large population of Palestinian refugees and holds influence with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. King Abdullah urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders to not let negotiations “blow up”, saying the chance for peace would not come again. Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey, “the Assyrian” Recep Tayyip Erdogan was once one of the United States’ closest allies. He was considered to be religious but secular, powerful but democratic, independent but reliable, and a “role model” for the post-dictatorship Arab world. Then, it seemed that yet another Middle East strongman had turned into a dangerous dictator when he mistreated the Kurds, denied the holocaust, crushed anti-government demonstrators and fired or removed hundreds of police and security officers. Some believe that if the United States bombardment of the Assad regime in Syria had taken place, Turkey could have influenced the structure of any new Syria, and that ancient nation could have become part of a larger Ottoman-style empire. Erdogan, who denies ongoing accusations of bribery and corruption, could yet fulfill the role of the “Assyrian” king of Isaiah chapter 10. The Antichrist, as we have seen, is called “the Assyrian” in Isaiah chapter 10. As such, he will do the same things the Assyrian kings did. Assyrians are an ethnic group whose origins lie in what is today Iraq, Iran, Syria and, significantly, Turkey. Isaiah chapter 10 seems to simultaneously describe the previous conquest of Syria by Assyrian King Tiglath-pileser and the future invasion of Israel by the Antichrist. “Yet he does not mean so, Nor does his heart think so; But it is in his heart to destroy, And cut off not a few nations. For he says, ‘Are not my princes altogether kings? Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus? As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, Whose carved images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria, As I have done to Samaria and her idols, Shall I not do also to Jerusalem and her idols?’” (Isaiah 10:7-11, NKJV)

 Vladimir Putin

 Russian President Vladimir Putin’s behavior fits the role of the King of Fierce Countenance of Daniel 8:23. “In the latter time [the end time, just prior to Jesus’ return] … when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.” (Daniel 8:23) Putin is known to be “stern-faced”. The prophet Daniel also describes the Antichrist as a man “whose appearance was greater than his fellows.” (Daniel 7:20) Other translations render this phrase “more stout than his fellows,” or “more imposing than his fellows.” The Antichrist will “understand dark sentences”. Some translations say that he will be a “master of deception”, or “skilled in intrigue”. Putin was the head of Federal Security Service, the FSB. (successor to the KGB) The FSB combines the functions of an elite police force with those of a spy agency. The agency still operates from the Lubyanka, the central Moscow building notorious during the Soviet era for interrogations in its basement cells. The Antichrist becomes powerful, but not by his own power. Putin became powerful, even though he did not rise through elected channels. He had no natural constituency. He owes his political power to Boris Yeltsin. “The Man Without a Face is the chilling account of how a low-level, small-minded KGB operative ascended to the Russian presidency and, in an astonishingly short time, destroyed years of progress and made his country once more a threat to her own people and to the world….Handpicked as a successor by the ‘family’ surrounding an ailing and increasingly unpopular Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin seemed like a perfect choice for the oligarchy to shape according to its own designs. Suddenly the boy who had stood in the shadows, dreaming of ruling the world, was a public figure, and his popularity soared…” (Penguin Book Review, The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin by Masha Gessen) In 1999 the “family”, Boris Yeltsin and his associates, was under investigation for a variety of illegal activities. Yeltsin was afraid. He was allowed only two terms under the constitution, and he was in his second term. The “family” needed someone in power who could be trusted to prevent prosecution of anyone for wrongdoing. Putin had a reputation for being loyal to “the family”. Yeltsin resigned as president and appointed Putin as his successor. As soon as he was appointed, Putin granted Yeltsin immunity from prosecution. According to traditional translations of verse two of chapter 38 in Ezekiel, Gog is the “chief prince of Meshech and Tubal,” ancient kingdoms near the Black Sea. However, the Hebrew word “nesi rosh”, which is translated “chief prince”, could also be rendered “ruler” or “president”. Some scholars believe that “rosh” is not an adjective, but a noun denoting the name of a nation. Therefore, Gog is the “prince of Rosh”, or, the “President of Russia”. According to Gaon Rabbi Moshe Shternbuch, the times of Messiah are upon us. “When you hear that the Russians have captured the city of Crimea, you should know that the times of the Messiah have started,” said Rabbi Shternbuch, “that his steps are being heard. And when you hear that the Russians have reached the city of Constantinople (today’s Istanbul), you should put on your Shabbat clothes and don’t take them off, because it means that the Messiah is about to come any minute.”

 Barack Obama, “Messiah Figure”

 Finally, we consider the current President of the United States, who has been described as the most polarizing of all American presidents. On February 18, 2008 Rolling Stone Contributing Editor Claire Hoffman posted a blog in Newsweek magazine’s “Under God” religious section titled: Is Obama a (or the) Messiah? The blog stated, “Is Obama the Messiah? People are asking these days and it’s not so hard to understand why: the desperate throngs, the tears, the great awakening of a slumbering demographic…The Messiah question is a loud one coming from all corners.” He began his presidency with one of the grandest outpourings of adulation of any president in recent history. Chris Matthews said that the Obama phenomenon was as big as the New Testament. He wrote in the New York Observer in 2008, “I’ve been following politics since I was about 5.… I’ve never seen anything like this. This is bigger than Kennedy. [Obama] comes along, and he seems to have the answers. This is the New Testament. This is surprising.” In 2009, Howard Fineman joked about Obama becoming president of the planet in Newsweek, “In the rose garden last Friday, Barack Obama, with a deep sense of humility and in the name of all mankind, reluctantly accepted the Nobel Peace Prize committee’s decision proclaiming him president of planet Earth…OK, I’m joking. Obama isn’t going to be sworn in as planetary president. But it doesn’t matter; in his mind, he already is.” When Dallas Pastor Jeffress was promoting his newest book, Perfect Ending, he said, “Although President Obama is certainly not the Antichrist, his policies are paving the way for the Antichrist.” He later explained that, “President Barack Obama’s policies have ‘paved the way’ for the coming usurpation of religious liberties and moral law by the Antichrist.” President Obama is distressing to many evangelicals, considering the controversies about his birthplace, his globalist tendencies, his measured support for Israel, his attack on personal privacy and that he has been recognized internationally as a “man of peace”. According to the Bible, he does not qualify to hold the title, “The Man of Sin”, a.k.a. the Antichrist, but he is certainly one of many antichrists. He operates in the spirit of the Antichrist. He is part of the Antichrist program. The change that he said we could count on has become, according to his detractors, a betrayal of his oath to uphold the US Constitution. Daniel chapter 9 is generally seen as a reference to the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem that was built by Solomon. “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof [shall be] with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.” (Daniel 9:26) Thus, the future Antichrist will be the “prince of the people who destroyed the Temple and the City.” History bears out that the Romans were the people who destroyed the temple and the city in 70AD. In other words, the Antichrist must come from the region that was the home base of the Romans. Obama claims that he was born in Hawaii. Although Barack Obama has a very liberal, socialist and anti-God agenda, perhaps his primary role in prophecy is to bring down America, the last bastion of Messianic hope, from the status of superpower to the same level as the other nations of the world. Perhaps, in the same manner that John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus, Barack Obama could be a forerunner of the Antichrist, ready to step aside as a Russian-led Islamic coalition advances against Israel. Someone Else It is likely that the Antichrist is on the earth today and could be someone else than those named here? The rapid rise from relative obscurity of such public figures as John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama illustrates that world leaders can be catapulted into the public spotlight in a very short time. Add to this political support, the powerful funding and supernatural evil prevailing in the last days, and we have a disastrous recipe for the fabrication of the final fuehrer of the world. Jesus came to do the will of God (Hebrews 10:9), but of the Antichrist the Bible says, “And the king shall do according to his will.” (Daniel 11:36) In direct opposition to both divine and human authority, he arrives in his own name to do his own will, promising freedom but bringing bondage. Posing as a meek servant, he uses his wealth and power to accomplish his wishes through flattery, bribery, blackmail and coercion. There is such a lack of spiritual discernment, even among Christians, that the world seems to be ready to be betrayed by a false Christ. When he steps onto the world stage, the Antichrist may attempt to mimic everything that Jesus did while He walked on earth. This ultimate imposter will deceive many, but those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life do not need to be afraid of the Antichrist’s delusions. Children of Light, as the Bible calls genuine believers (1 Thessalonians 5:5), will watch soberly for the appearing of the true Savior of the world.

Most Russian Forces Now Out of Ukraine, Kiev Says

KIEV, Ukraine — President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine said on Wednesday that the bulk of Russian forces had withdrawn from Ukrainian territory, a move that he said heightened the chances for a lasting cease-fire in the southeast. Speaking at the start of a cabinet meeting that was broadcast nationally, the president also announced plans to move ahead with a law intended to cement the wobbly truce reached last Friday. Mr. Poroshenko appeared to be trying to create a sense of momentum around the peace process, even though a final outcome remains the subject of arduous negotiations. The law he discussed, for example, has been the source of widely different interpretations. “Based on the latest information I have received from our intelligence services, 70 percent of the Russian troops have moved back across the border,” Mr. Poroshenko said. “This bolsters our hope that the peace initiatives enjoy good prospects.”

Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/11/world/europe/petro-poreshenko-voices-hope-on-cease-fire.html?_r=0

European Union Agrees To Introduce New Sanctions On Russia

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has decided to slap new economic sanctions on Russia over its actions in Ukraine, diplomats said Thursday. The sanctions will further curb access to European capital markets for Russian firms and banks, limit exports of certain high-technology goods and target several officials with travel bans and asset freezes, diplomats told The Associated Press in Brussels. The sanctions will take effect Friday following their publication in the EU's official journal but will be reversible if the situation in eastern Ukraine improves, four diplomats said independently. They spoke on condition of anonymity pending the official announcement.

Full Story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/11/new-russia-sanctions_n_5803158.html

Obama Lays Out His Strategy To Destroy ISIS On Eve Of 9/11

While President Obama weathered a storm of criticism for expressing just days ago that the US “doesn’t have a strategy”, on the eve of the 13th anniversary of 9/11 he told Americans not only what our clear objective was in the fight against ISIS, but also how we would accomplish our goals.

 The President laid out a four pronged strategy that included a request for money from Congress to arm and train opposition forces in Syria, to authorize more airstrikes in Iraq and potentially in Syria, a commitment to continuing our counterterrorism efforts as well as continuing to offer humanitarian assistance.

 Indeed, these are all important components of an effective strategy to counteract ISIS and considering the President’s fierce opposition to boots on the ground, this is surely a step in the right direction considering a lack of ground forces. But there is more President Obama needs to do. The President needs to follow up and show that his ideas are actually going to work. In the past, we’ve had the manpower on the ground to guarantee American victories.

 This is a nuanced approach that harkens back to President Clinton using a coalition in the air campaign in Bosnia. Further, another risk of the strategy is that we are going to be heavily investing in the Iraqi political infrastructure, a move that may come back to haunt us. The newly formed Iraqi government is not as inclusive as it should be and we’ve demonstrated little ability to inform the government machinery thus far in this campaign. And given the less than clear view of who exactly is best suited to fight ISIS in Syria, do we risk arming our future – and potentially current – enemies, as was our experience in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

 The fundamental question that remains is whether this strategy, that is one primarily of funding ISIS’s opposition and the use American airpower, can actually destroy and not just degrade this terrorist movement. Americans need to consider whether airpower alone can achieve this goal when boots on the ground has provided American victories for decades. To be sure, tonight’s speech showed a decisive and thoughtful President whose vision of building a coalition of opposition holds a tremendous amount of promise. After all, the countries that have the most to lose are the ones that ISIS is either occupying or on the doorstep of now.

 But, as I argue in my new book with Melik Kaylan, The Russia-China Axis: The New Cold War and America’s Crisis of Leadership, President Obama’s foreign policy has been lacking at best and dangerous at worst. His policies over the last six years have systematically lessened our standing on the international stage and called into question whether we continue to be – or, rather, whether President Obama believes – the US to be the indispensible nation we know it to be. To this end, we must continue to question and push President Obama to be clear and decisive in his strategy in the Middle East generally and in counteracting ISIS specifically. Tonight was a sign that he is capable of this, but we have a long road ahead.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/dougschoen/2014/09/10/president-obama-lays-out-his-strategy-to-destroy-isis-on-eve-of-911/

U.S. and Allies Form Coalition With Intent to Destroy ISIS

NEWPORT, Wales — The Obama administration said Friday that the United States and its allies had formed a coalition to fight Sunni militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, unveiling a military and political campaign that officials said could serve as a model for combating extremist groups around the world. In a hastily organized meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit meeting here, diplomats and defense officials from the United States, Britain, France, Australia, Canada, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Poland and Denmark conferred on what they called a two-pronged strategy: working to bolster allies on the ground in Iraq and Syria, while attacking Sunni militants from the air. They said the goal was to destroy the Islamist militant group, not to contain it. Continue reading the main story RELATED COVERAGE President Obama, Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain and the NATO secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, seated.NATO Prepares New Sanctions Over Russian Action in Ukraine SEPT. 4, 2014 President Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain visited students at Mount Pleasant Primary School, in Newport, Wales, as leaders gathered for a NATO summit meeting on Thursday.Obama and Cameron Call on NATO to Confront ISISSEPT. 4, 2014 Obama, in Estonia, Calls Ukraine Conflict a ‘Moment of Testing’ SEPT. 3, 2014 “There is no containment policy for ISIL,” Secretary of State John Kerry said at the beginning of the meeting, using an alternate acronym for ISIS. “They’re an ambitious, avowed, genocidal, territorial-grabbing, caliphate-desiring quasi state with an irregular army, and leaving them in some capacity intact anywhere would leave a cancer in place that will ultimately come back to haunt us.” But he and other officials present made clear that at the moment, any ground combat troops would come from either Iraqi security forces or Kurdish pesh merga fighters on the ground in Iraq, or from moderate Syrian rebels opposed to the government of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria. “Obviously I think that’s a red line for everybody here: no boots on the ground,” Mr. Kerry said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/06/world/europe/nato-summit.html?_r=0

Escaping Death in Northern Iraq

Video Feature: Surviving an ISIS Massacre [includes graphic images]
DIWANIYA, Iraq — Ali Hussein Kadhim, an Iraqi soldier and a Shiite, was captured with hundreds of other soldiers by Sunni militants in June and taken to the grounds of a palace complex in Tikrit where Saddam Hussein once lived. The militants, with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, separated the men by sect. The Sunnis were allowed to repent for their service to the government. The Shiites were marked for death, and lined up in groups. Mr. Kadhim was No. 4 in his line.


Click the link to view:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/04/world/middleeast/surviving-isis-massacre-iraq-video.html?_r=0

Putin: Framework for Ukraine cease-fire OK'd

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said Wednesday that he has reached a permanent cease-fire agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the conflict in eastern Ukraine. But Moscow officials said no specific deal was in place. After conflicting reports on a possible cease-fire deal for Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that he and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko have agreed on a plan to settle the conflict and called on Kiev to pull out its troops from the disputed areas and for rebels to stop their military operations, particularly in Donetsk and Luhansk.

 The Kremlin leader said he believes that the Contact Group on Ukraine -- currently meeting in Minsk, the Belarus capital -- would reach final agreements on the settlement plan at their next meeting on Friday, according to the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS. His remarks to reporters during a trip to Mongolia came shortly before President Obama, speaking in the former Soviet republic of Estonia, blasted what he called Russia's "brazen assault on the sovereign territory of Ukraine." Obama said Russia's action in Ukraine "challenges that most basic principle that border cannot be redrawn at the barrel of a gun."

 As part of a seven-point plan, Putin said militants must end their military operations in the rebel strongholds of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine and that Ukrainian armed forces should pull back far enough to rule out the shelling of cities and villages. He also said military aircraft should not be used against civilians and population areas in the conflict zone, Interfax Russia reports. He said a final agreement should also include a full and impartial international monitoring of a cease-fire. In addition, the Russian leader said a deal should set up humanitarian corridors to allow for the movement of refugees and the delivery of supplies to the cities and towns of Donbass.

 Putin's comments followed different accounts by Kiev and Moscow on a telephone call between the two heads of state, with Poroshenko saying a permanent cease-fire deal had been reached and Russia saying only the outlines of an agreement had been discussed. The different response to the cease-fire talk reflected the smoke-and-mirrors nature of the conflict, with Russia maintaining it cannot agree to a cease-fire because it is not directly involved in the fighting between Ukrainian troops and separatist rebels. Initially, Poroshenko said flatly on Twitter that , "As a result of my telephone conversation with Russian President we reached an agreement on a permanent cease-fire on Donbass.'" Donbass refers to the industrialized region of eastern Ukraine that has been the main battlefield in the months-long fight between Ukrainian troops and the Pro-Russian rebels that has left more than 2,600 people dead. It includes the main cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, which have been rebel strongholds. A subsequent statement released by Poroshenko's office said "mutual understanding was reached regarding the steps that will contribute to the establishment of peace."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/09/03/ukraine-russia-cease-fire/15005501/

Ukraine claims Russian military forces in major rebel cities

KIEV, Ukraine – Russian military forces have been spotted in both major rebel-held cities in eastern Ukraine, an official said Tuesday, prompting Ukraine to declare it now has to fight the Russian army, not just the separatists. The statement on the Russians by Col. Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's National Security Council, came after the country's defense minister said Ukraine's armed forces are expanding their strategy from just fighting separatists to facing the Russian army in a war that could cost "tens of thousands" of lives. Lysenko told reporters Russian troops had been seen in the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as other locations throughout the east. The claim could not be confirmed independently. Lysenko also said 15 servicemen had been killed over the previous day. In Moscow, a Kremlin aide sharply criticized EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso for breaching confidentiality when he quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin as saying that Moscow could take over Kiev in two weeks if it wished. Yuri Ushakov, the Russian leader's foreign policy adviser, told reporters that Putin's statement was "taken out of context and carried a completely different meaning." Ushakov lashed out at Barroso, saying it was a breach of diplomatic practices and "unworthy of a serious politician" to speak publicly about a private conversation.

More; http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/09/02/ukraine-shifts-tactics-against-rebels-while-claiming-full-scale-invasion-by/

Gaza war no longer main arena for Iran-Israel tensions

Palestinian Hamas supporters enact a scene simulating the killing of Israeli soldiers by Hamas militants during a rally celebrating what organizers say was a victory by Palestinians in Gaza over Israel following a cease-fire, in the West Bank city of Nablus, Aug. 29, 2014.

The recent 50-day conflict between Israel and Hamas will not have much impact on tensions between Iran and Israel. At least not in the short term.

That is because the Middle East is going through a post-Arab Spring period. The Arab Spring was like a political earthquake. It created new fault lines in the geopolitical map of the Middle East. And as much as the Israeli and Iranian governments each insist that the other is their biggest threat, the new fault lines that have appeared on the region's new geopolitical map tell a different story. Let's start with Iran.

 Yes, during the Gaza-Israel conflict we saw major verbal attacks from senior figures such as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who accused Israel of behaving like a "rabid dog." Meanwhile, President Hassan Rouhani called Israel a “child-killing regime” while accusing Israel of genocide. There were demonstrations and public letters of support from figures such as former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Cmdr. Mohsen Rezai to commanders of the Hamas military brigade. The hard-line Iranian press was also hard at work. Numerous articles of support for Gazans and Hamas and a good dose of false propaganda were published. This included "news" that "15" Israeli soldiers had committed suicide rather than face the conflict in Gaza, or that the Tel Aviv stock exchange lost 90% of its value — none of which was true. But this was all rhetoric.

 In the post-Arab Spring world, Iran has bigger worries than what happens to Hamas. The Iranians saw how Hamas, despite receiving $23 million a month from Iran for a number of years, suddenly turned its back on its allies Iran and Syria in the Syrian civil war. Iran no longer trusts Hamas as it used to. In fact, it's no longer Hamas' main weapons supplier. According to Israeli officials, the vast majority of weapons fired by Hamas in the latest war were made in Gaza by Hamas.

 In the post-Arab Spring world, Iran also has bigger worries than Israel, including the severe problems its ally Bashar al-Assad is facing. The threat posed by the rise of the Islamic State (IS) terror organization in Iraq is far more deadly. Things have also changed for Israel. Weakening Hamas militarily in the recent Gaza war by destroying its tunnels and missiles won't tip the balance against Iran in Israel's favor. In today's post-Arab Spring world, Hamas is more associated with Qatar than Iran. Israel can strike Hamas as hard as it wants. It's not Tehran that will feel the pain but Qatar and, to a lesser extent, Hamas' other ally, Turkey.

 Israeli attacks against Palestinian Islamic Jihad will hurt Iran because of the latter's close relations with Tehran. But since this organization is weaker than Hamas and the PLO in Gaza and the West Bank, hurting it won't noticeably tip the balance in Israel's favor. Perhaps most importantly, Israel is facing off against Iran at the P5+1 nuclear talks. And that's indirectly. Countries supporting Israel — including the United States, France, the UK and Germany — are trying to ensure that Iran will not have the ability to make a bomb without being noticed, one of the reasons for this being Iran's past actions and rhetoric toward Israel.

 Whether Israel defeats Hamas in Gaza or not will not make much difference in the United States' and Europe's stance or bargaining power in the nuclear talks against Iran. Even if Hamas had done better, it's unlikely that the United States and Europe would have allowed Iran to use Hamas as a bargaining chip in the nuclear talks. Israel also has newer and bigger worries than Iran in the region, including the rise of extremist movements in Syria like al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, which now sits on Israel's border with Syria. Israel is also very worried about the rise of IS in Syria and Iraq. What about the long-term future?

 In the Middle East, things change. There is always the possibility that Iran and Hamas could patch things up. Although possible, it certainly won't be easy to pull Hamas away from Qatar. More importantly, it's unlikely that Hamas will be able and willing to leave Qatar for Iran. The Qataris have far deeper pockets than Iran. Unlike Iran, Qatar enjoys good relations with the West. At the same time, the Qataris won't like an Iranian-Hamas rapprochement, as they are suspicious of Iran. They just ordered $11 billion worth of weapons from the United States partly because of their fear of Iran. The Middle East is changing, and along with it, the arenas where Iran and Israel face off. Gaza is slowly losing its importance as one such arena.

 MEIR JAVEDANFAR Meir Javedanfar is an Iranian-Israeli Middle East analyst. He teaches contemporary Iranian politics at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya. On Twitter: @meirja

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/08/iran-qatar-israel-hamas-gaza.html#

Israel Announces Massive West Bank Land Grab

JERUSALEM, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Israel announced on Sunday a land appropriation in the occupied West Bank that an anti-settlement group termed the biggest in 30 years, drawing Palestinian condemnation and a U.S. rebuke. Some 400 hectares (988 acres) in the Etzion Jewish settlement bloc near Bethlehem were declared "state land, on the instructions of the political echelon" by the military-run Civil Administration. "We urge the government of Israel to reverse this decision," a State Department official said in Washington, calling the move "counterproductive" to efforts to achieve a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.

 Israel Radio said the step was taken in response to the kidnapping and killing of three Jewish teens by Hamas militants in the area in June. Tensions stoked by the incident quickly spread to Israel's border with Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, and the two sides engaged in a seven-week war that ended on Tuesday with an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire. The notice published on Sunday by the Israeli military gave no reason for the land appropriation decision.

 Peace Now, which opposes Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank, territory the Palestinians seek for a state, said the appropriation was meant to turn a site where 10 families now live adjacent to a Jewish seminary into a permanent settlement. Construction of a major settlement at the location, known as "Gevaot", has been mooted by Israel since 2000. Last year, the government invited bids for the building of 1,000 housing units at the site.

 Peace Now said the land seizure was the largest announced by Israel in the West Bank since the 1980s and that anyone with ownership claims had 45 days to appeal. A local Palestinian mayor said Palestinians owned the tracts and harvested olive trees on them. Israel has come under intense international criticism over its settlement activities, which most countries regard as illegal under international law and a major obstacle to the creation of a viable Palestinian state in any future peace deal.