Post by Shepherd1 on Jan 9, 2008 22:20:50 GMT -5
Prophetic Trends & Headline News
Click any of the headlines below to read the full article or view all the full stories at our online edition
1. Where is the United States in Prophecy?
Poll: US support for Israel at 5-yr high
Support for Israel among Americans is at its highest point in five years, while the image of Palestinians has grown increasingly negative during the past few months, according to the results of a new survey. Over 60 percent of Americans now believe that the US should support Israel, up from a low point of 23% in 2003 and showing a rise of over 10% since the Second Lebanon War. Conversely, close to 50% have an unfavorable opinion of the Palestinians, following a trend that has increased in the past few months. "The results for Israel follow a trend we've seen developing for years," said Greenberg at a Jerusalem press conference on Tuesday, "but the growing negative numbers of the Palestinians are not what you would expect during a period of peace negotiations. While 66% of Americans believe this Israeli government is committed to peace, over half said they had little or no awareness of last month's Annapolis conference. Sixty percent also said they had little or no awareness of Gaza rockets being shot into Israel, and 55% do not believe an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement will have much impact on reducing terrorism. Similar surveys conducted in France and the UK found that support for Palestinians still remains slightly higher than for Israel. The French, though, show increasing concern over Iran's nuclear program and remain convinced its purpose is to develop nuclear weapons.
2. Israel - God's Timepiece
Iran's Dangerous Nuke Game: Why Israel Might Rush to Strike
Iran turned up the heat this week on still-simmering concerns about its atomic aspirations. It crowed that its 1,000-megawatt Bushehr nuclear power plant would be "online" as early as this spring, putting in place another important building block of its nuclear program. That sort of news can't help but rattle the steadiest of nerves, no matter what the US National Intelligence Estimate on Iran's nuclear-weapons program said about the current state of affairs. Seemingly not swayed one iota by the NIE's conclusions, you have to wonder if Israel - the country most threatened by an Iranian nuclear weapons breakout - might take matters into its own hands. It has done so twice before - and the time may be here again. In a 1981 dawn raid lasting less than 90 seconds, Israeli Defense Force fighters attacked the nearly completed 40-megawatt Iraqi Osirak nuclear-reactor complex, setting back Saddam's ability to produce fissile material for nukes. And again last September, the IDF allegedly struck a nascent Syrian nuclear program, which possibly was benefiting from outside help, in a preventive air strike that may have also been meant as a warning to Iran of unpleasant things to come. But why strike now? Well, within about a year of Bushehr becoming operational, some of its spent nuclear fuel could be stripped of enough plutonium to produce a handful of nuclear weapons if the rods aren't returned to their owner/provider, Russia. Because the production of fissile material is the long pole in the nuclear-weapons tent, the diversion of material at Bushehr is potentially as big a problem as the 3,000 centrifuges that Iran has whirring at supersonic speeds, enriching uranium. Attacking Bushehr - like Osirak - before it comes online would not only stop it from being used to produce bomb material, but would also prevent radiation from the reactor being spewed into the atmosphere after a strike. Also possibly spurring Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to put the IDF into action is other recent news: Iran is reportedly buying the highly capable Russian S-300 air-defense system to bolster the Tor-M1 surface-air missile systems Moscow supplied last year. The Iranians purchased the Tor-M1 to prevent a modern-day Iranian version of Israel's successful Osirak strike. The lethal S-300s - likely a response to the Syrian strike - will enhance Iran's ability to protect its nuclear sites scattered around the country. A strike would bring Iranian retaliation, including terrorist attacks by Tehran's allies, such as Hezbollah, as well as missile strikes against large Israeli cities. By association, US interests could come into Iran's crosshairs. The new year will likely bring more unwelcome news about Iran's nuclear program as it cascades toward a weapons option. It will also be a fateful year for Israel, one that may require action - no matter what the latest NIE says.
US considering international force in West Bank
The US is preparing a plan to station third party troops in the West Bank to secure the area after an Israeli withdrawal and before the Palestinian Authority can take over full security control, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The issue of how to deal with the period between when Israel leaves large swaths of the West Bank and the PA is able to take over control is likely to be discussed during talks President George W. Bush will hold in Jerusalem and in the PA on Wednesday and Thursday. US Special Envoy for Middle East Security James Jones has been assigned the task of preparing a plan on this issue within six moths. A number of options are being considered, including the involvement of NATO troops or Jordanian and Egyptian forces. Jones, a former Marine Corps general, was NATO's top military commander from 2003 to 2005. He visited here on December 18, and discussed the concept with his Israeli interlocutors. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who appointed Jones immediately after November's Annapolis Conference, hinted at this role in a briefing she gave reporters on her way to the PA donors' conference in Paris in mid-December. Rice said at the time that the establishment of a Palestinian state "will raise questions about a security vacuum when Israelis leave the West Bank. And this is not an issue just for the Palestinians. It's an issue for the states in the area as well, like Jordan and Egypt." Therefore, she said, there needed to be a "hard look" from a military expert on what the possible vacuums could "look like when you create a Palestinian state," and on how to deal with them.
Percentage of World Jewry Living in Israel Steadily Increasing
According to the 2007 Annual Report of the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute (JPPPI), a project of the Jewish Agency, 41 percent of all Jews now live in Israel. At the beginning of 2007, the total world Jewish population was 13,155,000, an overall growth rate of 0.5 percent over the previous year's figures. The Diaspora experienced a net decrease in population of 20,000 Jews, while Israel's Jewish population increased by 80,000 souls. The report found that, unlike their Diaspora brethren, Jews in Israel "have relatively high and steady birth rates." Israel's 1.5 percent increase and the Diaspora's 0.2 percent decrease in Jewish population "continued the well established patterns of past years," according to the JPPPI report. In 2004, the JPPPI reported that under 40 percent of world Jewry lived in Israel, while in 2002, according to Israeli government statistics, that figure was 37 percent. Projecting ahead, the latest JPPPI report showed that nearly 46 percent of the world's Jews will be found in Israel in the year 2020. The largest single Jewish population bloc is that of North America, with 5.7 million people, according to JPPPI, but decreasing rapidly. However, there was a minor Jewish population increase in Canada by 2007. Nevertheless, assuming no radical migration changes, the North American Jewish population will be outstripped by Israel within the next decade or so, per JPPPI statistics. Significant decreases in Jewish population were noted in Europe, Latin America and Africa. The JPPPI report further noted, "The overall Jewish population numbers in Europe are at a historic low. Due to emigration, assimilation and an aging population, many communities are set to shrink further or to vanish altogether." Germany's Jewish population, however, "continued to increase, but France and the United Kingdom's declined." Analyzing the Israeli birthrates and increasing population figures, the 2007 JPPPI report determined that "a persisting preference for nuclear families with children stand behind an annual natural population increase of about 70,000." JPPPI reported that 2006 saw the highest number of Jewish births ever recorded in the country (104,000). The Israeli birthrate, while still high compared to most of the West, is affected by the high birthrate of the Hareidi-religious population of Israel. According to JPPPI, Hareidi women have an average of 4.7 children, compared to 2.7 for the general Israeli Jewish population and 1.1 for Jewish women in the Diaspora. "In 2007, one of every three Jewish Israeli children registered in grade 1 is in one of the Hareidi school "Evidence from all over the world shows that children attending Jewish day schools are more likely to develop a Jewish identity," the 2007 JPPPI report declared. Hence, researchers at the institute reported that the Jewish population abroad could be split into two groups: a religious population with a growing sense of connection to Israel and a non-religious population that has a higher rate of intermarriage and a weakening connection to Judaism and Israel. They called on Israel to do more to reach out to non-religious Jews living abroad.
3. A Revived Roman Empire?
Tony Blair to become EU President in 2009?
Former UK prime minister Tony Blair will attend a conference of French president Nicolas Sarkozy's centre-right party UMP on Saturday, in what is said to be his first intervention for a party other than his own. The move is fuelling speculation that Mr Blair, who belongs to the UK's center-left Labour party, is in the running for EU president – a new high-profile job that can be held for up to five years starting in 2009. The two men will debate Europe and Mr Blair may get clear backing from Mr Sarkozy in exchange of his participation at the conference, according to media reports. The UMP meeting marks the launch of its pre-electoral campaign before the municipal elections in France on 9 and 16 March – but there is set to be much speculation around Mr Blair's attendance. The president of the socialist group in the French national assembly, Jean-Marc Ayrault, has accused Mr Sarkozy of preparing the ground for Mr Blair's candidacy for the EU top job with Saturday's event. "I see something emerging from the UMP's side and from the president of the republic…, which is preparing Tony Blair's candidacy for EU president", Mr Ayrault was reported as saying by French news agency AFP on Tuesday. "This candidacy is not acceptable, because it is not acceptable that the first EU president is a man who supported and participated in the war in Iraq", he added. Other politicians who have already expressed interest in what is to set to be one of the EU's top jobs include Luxembourg's prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker and his Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern. Two more positions are also up for grabs next year – president of the European Commission and EU foreign minister. Haggling over the nominations for the post is set to start in earnest in the second half of this year when France takes over the EU presidency.
Extremism flourished as UK lost Christianity
In fewer than 50 years, Britain has changed from being a society with an acknowledged Christian basis to one which is increasingly described by politicians and the media as "multifaith". One reason for this is the arrival of large numbers of people of other faiths to these shores. Their arrival has coincided with the end of the Empire which brought about a widespread questioning of Britain's role. On the one hand, the British were losing confidence in the Christian vision which underlay most of the achievements and values of the culture and, on the other, they sought to accommodate the newer arrivals on the basis of a novel philosophy of "multiculturalism". This required that people should be facilitated in living as separate communities, continuing to communicate in their own languages and having minimum need for building healthy relationships with the majority. Alongside these developments, there has been a worldwide resurgence of the ideology of Islamic extremism. One of the results of this has been to further alienate the young from the nation in which they were growing up and also to turn already separate communities into "no-go" areas where adherence to this ideology has become a mark of acceptability. Those of a different faith or race may find it difficult to live or work there because of hostility to them. In many ways, this is but the other side of the coin to far-Right intimidation. Attempts have been made to impose an "Islamic" character on certain areas, for example, by insisting on artificial amplification for the Adhan, the call to prayer. Such amplification was, of course, unknown throughout most of history and its use raises all sorts of questions about noise levels and whether non-Muslims wish to be told the creed of a particular faith five times a day on the loudspeaker. This is happening here even though some Muslim-majority communities are trying to reduce noise levels from multiple mosques announcing this call, one after the other, over quite a small geographical area. There is pressure already to relate aspects of the sharia to civil law in Britain. To some extent this is already true of arrangements for sharia-compliant banking but have the far-reaching implications of this been fully considered? It is now less possible for Christianity to be the public faith in Britain. The existence of chapels and chaplaincies in places such as hospitals, prisons and institutions of further and higher education is in jeopardy either because of financial cuts or because the authorities want "multifaith" provision, without regard to the distinctively Christian character of the nation's laws, values, customs and culture. Not only locally, but at the national level also the establishment of the Church of England is being eroded. My fear is, in the end, nothing will be left but the smile of the Cheshire Cat. In the past, I have supported the establishment of the Church, but now I have to ask if it is only the forms that are left and the substance rapidly disappearing. If such is the case, is it worth persevering with the trappings of establishment?
France is ready to champion larger EU
France is to become a champion of further enlargement of the European Union, according to the French minister for Europe, in a change of approach likely to ease the accession of new members to the bloc. In an interview with the Financial Times, Jean-Pierre Jouyet said the French government under Nicolas Sarkozy, the president, had ditched its longstanding scepticism about enlargement and now saw a bigger EU as a stronger force in the world. Mr Jouyet said there had been a sea change in the government’s approach to Europe since French voters rejected the EU constitution in a referendum in 2005. “We have crossed a very important Rubicon in the last two years in terms of European integration. We used to believe that a federal Europe was necessary for a more deeply integrated union and that enlargement would counter this and prevent Europe from working effectively. We have now overcome this contradiction. “The thing that has most struck me since I took up this job seven months ago is precisely the capacity of an EU of 27 members, and more one day, to take decisions.” Mr Jouyet said further extending the EU’s borders “does not make me worried”. France would push for the eventual integration of the Balkan countries, including Serbia, which he described as a “pole of stability” for the region. However, there are limits to how far Paris wants the EU to grow. Mr Sarkozy opposes Turkish membership of the EU. And Mr Jouyet admitted that “in France we have not done enough to make the case for enlargement”. With France due to take over the EU’s rotating six-month presidency in July, Mr Jouyet said his government’s ambitions were that “Europe gets moving once again and that France regains its role”. France’s priorities are a bigger role for the EU in defence and security, energy and the environment, an EU-wide pact on immigration and integration of foreigners and new regulation of financial markets following the credit squeeze.
4. The Gog/Magog War
Putin's plan to become 'father of a new country'
Many observers of Russia are puzzled as to why President Vladimir Putin went to such bizarre lengths to turn the country's recent legislative elections into a "national referendum" on his own rule. After all, Putin completely dominates the political stage, and he could have easily initiated and passed any changes to the constitution needed for him to run for another term as president. His oft-repeated assertions that he respects the letter and the spirit of the current constitution ring hollow, given Kremlin policies like the restriction of opposition political parties, strictures on civil society, suppression of nonstate media, subordination of the judicial system, and abolition of the direct election of regional administration heads. Even most foreign observers -- while noting the unfair nature of the Duma elections and the myriad ways the Kremlin misused its power against weak political opponents -- have never really doubted the outright victory of the pro-Putin forces. That victory was never in doubt because Putin is genuinely popular, for a mixture of objective and subjective reasons. Because of the vast revenues Russia accrues due to high global energy prices, the standard of living for many Russians is improving markedly -- and most of them attribute that prosperity to Putin personally. Putin has also hijacked populist policies from both the right and left ends of the spectrum. Borrowing from the left, he has increased pensions and state aid programs. From the right, Putin adopted the policy of a sharp reduction of business taxes and a low, flat-rate income tax for individuals. Finally, Putin's efforts to restore Russia's standing as a power in the international arena is enormously popular among Russians, many of whom remain bitter about the economic hardships and foreign-policy weakness of the 1990s. The yearning for a restoration of Russia's prestige is expressed throughout society, in areas as diverse as sports and the arts. This feeling has saturated the atmosphere because of the Kremlin's skillful manipulation. A career intelligence officer, Putin has taken considerable pains to conceal his plans. It has become commonplace to say that Russian policy under Putin has become a series of "special operations." This secrecy is simply a part of the mindset of Putin and the siloviki -- people associated with the security organs and the military -- who surround him. Some clues about Putin's intentions can be found in an 800-page manifesto issued last summer by a group of about 70 pro-Putin, national-patriotic academics under the title "Russian Doctrine." The book is presented as a set of "guidelines" for the next administration and a kind of national, supra-party platform. It contains detailed foreign- and domestic-policy proposals, including autocratic reforms to the military, national-security system, the economy, the mass media, education, and culture. The "Russian Doctrine" presumes that the Russian Federation is doomed to extinction because it will be unable to cope with the looming challenges of international competition. Within the next decade, the authors claim, Russia will increasingly begin to lag behind China, India, the United States, and some Southeast Asian countries. In response, the authors propose a new state structure based on the traditions of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. Interestingly, they propose doing so without dissolving the Russian Federation: that is, they urge the creation of a "parallel state" initially operating unseen behind the facade of the current one. It would consist of a system of political and economic institutions accessible only to Putin and the siloviki that the authors call "the invisible, networked Russia."
Russia launches full-scale production of new-generation warplane
Russia has started full-scale production of the Su-34 Fullback fighter bomber at a Siberian aircraft plant, plane maker Sukhoi said on Wednesday. A company spokesman said up to 20 fighters could now be assembled simultaneously at the Novosibirsk Aviation Production Association (NAPO), but did not specify how many would be built each year. The $36 million Su-34 fighter-bomber is a two-seat strike aircraft equipped with twin AL-31MF afterburning turbojet engines. It is designed to deliver high-precision strikes on heavily-defended targets under any weather conditions, day or night, and fields weaponry that includes a 30mm GSh-301 cannon, up to 12 Alamo or Archer AAMs, ASMs, and bombs. Designed by Sukhoi, the Su-34s will replace the Su-24 Fencer frontline bombers. Experts said the new bomber has the potential to become the top plane in its class for years to come.
Click any of the headlines below to read the full article or view all the full stories at our online edition
1. Where is the United States in Prophecy?
Poll: US support for Israel at 5-yr high
Support for Israel among Americans is at its highest point in five years, while the image of Palestinians has grown increasingly negative during the past few months, according to the results of a new survey. Over 60 percent of Americans now believe that the US should support Israel, up from a low point of 23% in 2003 and showing a rise of over 10% since the Second Lebanon War. Conversely, close to 50% have an unfavorable opinion of the Palestinians, following a trend that has increased in the past few months. "The results for Israel follow a trend we've seen developing for years," said Greenberg at a Jerusalem press conference on Tuesday, "but the growing negative numbers of the Palestinians are not what you would expect during a period of peace negotiations. While 66% of Americans believe this Israeli government is committed to peace, over half said they had little or no awareness of last month's Annapolis conference. Sixty percent also said they had little or no awareness of Gaza rockets being shot into Israel, and 55% do not believe an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement will have much impact on reducing terrorism. Similar surveys conducted in France and the UK found that support for Palestinians still remains slightly higher than for Israel. The French, though, show increasing concern over Iran's nuclear program and remain convinced its purpose is to develop nuclear weapons.
2. Israel - God's Timepiece
Iran's Dangerous Nuke Game: Why Israel Might Rush to Strike
Iran turned up the heat this week on still-simmering concerns about its atomic aspirations. It crowed that its 1,000-megawatt Bushehr nuclear power plant would be "online" as early as this spring, putting in place another important building block of its nuclear program. That sort of news can't help but rattle the steadiest of nerves, no matter what the US National Intelligence Estimate on Iran's nuclear-weapons program said about the current state of affairs. Seemingly not swayed one iota by the NIE's conclusions, you have to wonder if Israel - the country most threatened by an Iranian nuclear weapons breakout - might take matters into its own hands. It has done so twice before - and the time may be here again. In a 1981 dawn raid lasting less than 90 seconds, Israeli Defense Force fighters attacked the nearly completed 40-megawatt Iraqi Osirak nuclear-reactor complex, setting back Saddam's ability to produce fissile material for nukes. And again last September, the IDF allegedly struck a nascent Syrian nuclear program, which possibly was benefiting from outside help, in a preventive air strike that may have also been meant as a warning to Iran of unpleasant things to come. But why strike now? Well, within about a year of Bushehr becoming operational, some of its spent nuclear fuel could be stripped of enough plutonium to produce a handful of nuclear weapons if the rods aren't returned to their owner/provider, Russia. Because the production of fissile material is the long pole in the nuclear-weapons tent, the diversion of material at Bushehr is potentially as big a problem as the 3,000 centrifuges that Iran has whirring at supersonic speeds, enriching uranium. Attacking Bushehr - like Osirak - before it comes online would not only stop it from being used to produce bomb material, but would also prevent radiation from the reactor being spewed into the atmosphere after a strike. Also possibly spurring Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to put the IDF into action is other recent news: Iran is reportedly buying the highly capable Russian S-300 air-defense system to bolster the Tor-M1 surface-air missile systems Moscow supplied last year. The Iranians purchased the Tor-M1 to prevent a modern-day Iranian version of Israel's successful Osirak strike. The lethal S-300s - likely a response to the Syrian strike - will enhance Iran's ability to protect its nuclear sites scattered around the country. A strike would bring Iranian retaliation, including terrorist attacks by Tehran's allies, such as Hezbollah, as well as missile strikes against large Israeli cities. By association, US interests could come into Iran's crosshairs. The new year will likely bring more unwelcome news about Iran's nuclear program as it cascades toward a weapons option. It will also be a fateful year for Israel, one that may require action - no matter what the latest NIE says.
US considering international force in West Bank
The US is preparing a plan to station third party troops in the West Bank to secure the area after an Israeli withdrawal and before the Palestinian Authority can take over full security control, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The issue of how to deal with the period between when Israel leaves large swaths of the West Bank and the PA is able to take over control is likely to be discussed during talks President George W. Bush will hold in Jerusalem and in the PA on Wednesday and Thursday. US Special Envoy for Middle East Security James Jones has been assigned the task of preparing a plan on this issue within six moths. A number of options are being considered, including the involvement of NATO troops or Jordanian and Egyptian forces. Jones, a former Marine Corps general, was NATO's top military commander from 2003 to 2005. He visited here on December 18, and discussed the concept with his Israeli interlocutors. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who appointed Jones immediately after November's Annapolis Conference, hinted at this role in a briefing she gave reporters on her way to the PA donors' conference in Paris in mid-December. Rice said at the time that the establishment of a Palestinian state "will raise questions about a security vacuum when Israelis leave the West Bank. And this is not an issue just for the Palestinians. It's an issue for the states in the area as well, like Jordan and Egypt." Therefore, she said, there needed to be a "hard look" from a military expert on what the possible vacuums could "look like when you create a Palestinian state," and on how to deal with them.
Percentage of World Jewry Living in Israel Steadily Increasing
According to the 2007 Annual Report of the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute (JPPPI), a project of the Jewish Agency, 41 percent of all Jews now live in Israel. At the beginning of 2007, the total world Jewish population was 13,155,000, an overall growth rate of 0.5 percent over the previous year's figures. The Diaspora experienced a net decrease in population of 20,000 Jews, while Israel's Jewish population increased by 80,000 souls. The report found that, unlike their Diaspora brethren, Jews in Israel "have relatively high and steady birth rates." Israel's 1.5 percent increase and the Diaspora's 0.2 percent decrease in Jewish population "continued the well established patterns of past years," according to the JPPPI report. In 2004, the JPPPI reported that under 40 percent of world Jewry lived in Israel, while in 2002, according to Israeli government statistics, that figure was 37 percent. Projecting ahead, the latest JPPPI report showed that nearly 46 percent of the world's Jews will be found in Israel in the year 2020. The largest single Jewish population bloc is that of North America, with 5.7 million people, according to JPPPI, but decreasing rapidly. However, there was a minor Jewish population increase in Canada by 2007. Nevertheless, assuming no radical migration changes, the North American Jewish population will be outstripped by Israel within the next decade or so, per JPPPI statistics. Significant decreases in Jewish population were noted in Europe, Latin America and Africa. The JPPPI report further noted, "The overall Jewish population numbers in Europe are at a historic low. Due to emigration, assimilation and an aging population, many communities are set to shrink further or to vanish altogether." Germany's Jewish population, however, "continued to increase, but France and the United Kingdom's declined." Analyzing the Israeli birthrates and increasing population figures, the 2007 JPPPI report determined that "a persisting preference for nuclear families with children stand behind an annual natural population increase of about 70,000." JPPPI reported that 2006 saw the highest number of Jewish births ever recorded in the country (104,000). The Israeli birthrate, while still high compared to most of the West, is affected by the high birthrate of the Hareidi-religious population of Israel. According to JPPPI, Hareidi women have an average of 4.7 children, compared to 2.7 for the general Israeli Jewish population and 1.1 for Jewish women in the Diaspora. "In 2007, one of every three Jewish Israeli children registered in grade 1 is in one of the Hareidi school "Evidence from all over the world shows that children attending Jewish day schools are more likely to develop a Jewish identity," the 2007 JPPPI report declared. Hence, researchers at the institute reported that the Jewish population abroad could be split into two groups: a religious population with a growing sense of connection to Israel and a non-religious population that has a higher rate of intermarriage and a weakening connection to Judaism and Israel. They called on Israel to do more to reach out to non-religious Jews living abroad.
3. A Revived Roman Empire?
Tony Blair to become EU President in 2009?
Former UK prime minister Tony Blair will attend a conference of French president Nicolas Sarkozy's centre-right party UMP on Saturday, in what is said to be his first intervention for a party other than his own. The move is fuelling speculation that Mr Blair, who belongs to the UK's center-left Labour party, is in the running for EU president – a new high-profile job that can be held for up to five years starting in 2009. The two men will debate Europe and Mr Blair may get clear backing from Mr Sarkozy in exchange of his participation at the conference, according to media reports. The UMP meeting marks the launch of its pre-electoral campaign before the municipal elections in France on 9 and 16 March – but there is set to be much speculation around Mr Blair's attendance. The president of the socialist group in the French national assembly, Jean-Marc Ayrault, has accused Mr Sarkozy of preparing the ground for Mr Blair's candidacy for the EU top job with Saturday's event. "I see something emerging from the UMP's side and from the president of the republic…, which is preparing Tony Blair's candidacy for EU president", Mr Ayrault was reported as saying by French news agency AFP on Tuesday. "This candidacy is not acceptable, because it is not acceptable that the first EU president is a man who supported and participated in the war in Iraq", he added. Other politicians who have already expressed interest in what is to set to be one of the EU's top jobs include Luxembourg's prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker and his Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern. Two more positions are also up for grabs next year – president of the European Commission and EU foreign minister. Haggling over the nominations for the post is set to start in earnest in the second half of this year when France takes over the EU presidency.
Extremism flourished as UK lost Christianity
In fewer than 50 years, Britain has changed from being a society with an acknowledged Christian basis to one which is increasingly described by politicians and the media as "multifaith". One reason for this is the arrival of large numbers of people of other faiths to these shores. Their arrival has coincided with the end of the Empire which brought about a widespread questioning of Britain's role. On the one hand, the British were losing confidence in the Christian vision which underlay most of the achievements and values of the culture and, on the other, they sought to accommodate the newer arrivals on the basis of a novel philosophy of "multiculturalism". This required that people should be facilitated in living as separate communities, continuing to communicate in their own languages and having minimum need for building healthy relationships with the majority. Alongside these developments, there has been a worldwide resurgence of the ideology of Islamic extremism. One of the results of this has been to further alienate the young from the nation in which they were growing up and also to turn already separate communities into "no-go" areas where adherence to this ideology has become a mark of acceptability. Those of a different faith or race may find it difficult to live or work there because of hostility to them. In many ways, this is but the other side of the coin to far-Right intimidation. Attempts have been made to impose an "Islamic" character on certain areas, for example, by insisting on artificial amplification for the Adhan, the call to prayer. Such amplification was, of course, unknown throughout most of history and its use raises all sorts of questions about noise levels and whether non-Muslims wish to be told the creed of a particular faith five times a day on the loudspeaker. This is happening here even though some Muslim-majority communities are trying to reduce noise levels from multiple mosques announcing this call, one after the other, over quite a small geographical area. There is pressure already to relate aspects of the sharia to civil law in Britain. To some extent this is already true of arrangements for sharia-compliant banking but have the far-reaching implications of this been fully considered? It is now less possible for Christianity to be the public faith in Britain. The existence of chapels and chaplaincies in places such as hospitals, prisons and institutions of further and higher education is in jeopardy either because of financial cuts or because the authorities want "multifaith" provision, without regard to the distinctively Christian character of the nation's laws, values, customs and culture. Not only locally, but at the national level also the establishment of the Church of England is being eroded. My fear is, in the end, nothing will be left but the smile of the Cheshire Cat. In the past, I have supported the establishment of the Church, but now I have to ask if it is only the forms that are left and the substance rapidly disappearing. If such is the case, is it worth persevering with the trappings of establishment?
France is ready to champion larger EU
France is to become a champion of further enlargement of the European Union, according to the French minister for Europe, in a change of approach likely to ease the accession of new members to the bloc. In an interview with the Financial Times, Jean-Pierre Jouyet said the French government under Nicolas Sarkozy, the president, had ditched its longstanding scepticism about enlargement and now saw a bigger EU as a stronger force in the world. Mr Jouyet said there had been a sea change in the government’s approach to Europe since French voters rejected the EU constitution in a referendum in 2005. “We have crossed a very important Rubicon in the last two years in terms of European integration. We used to believe that a federal Europe was necessary for a more deeply integrated union and that enlargement would counter this and prevent Europe from working effectively. We have now overcome this contradiction. “The thing that has most struck me since I took up this job seven months ago is precisely the capacity of an EU of 27 members, and more one day, to take decisions.” Mr Jouyet said further extending the EU’s borders “does not make me worried”. France would push for the eventual integration of the Balkan countries, including Serbia, which he described as a “pole of stability” for the region. However, there are limits to how far Paris wants the EU to grow. Mr Sarkozy opposes Turkish membership of the EU. And Mr Jouyet admitted that “in France we have not done enough to make the case for enlargement”. With France due to take over the EU’s rotating six-month presidency in July, Mr Jouyet said his government’s ambitions were that “Europe gets moving once again and that France regains its role”. France’s priorities are a bigger role for the EU in defence and security, energy and the environment, an EU-wide pact on immigration and integration of foreigners and new regulation of financial markets following the credit squeeze.
4. The Gog/Magog War
Putin's plan to become 'father of a new country'
Many observers of Russia are puzzled as to why President Vladimir Putin went to such bizarre lengths to turn the country's recent legislative elections into a "national referendum" on his own rule. After all, Putin completely dominates the political stage, and he could have easily initiated and passed any changes to the constitution needed for him to run for another term as president. His oft-repeated assertions that he respects the letter and the spirit of the current constitution ring hollow, given Kremlin policies like the restriction of opposition political parties, strictures on civil society, suppression of nonstate media, subordination of the judicial system, and abolition of the direct election of regional administration heads. Even most foreign observers -- while noting the unfair nature of the Duma elections and the myriad ways the Kremlin misused its power against weak political opponents -- have never really doubted the outright victory of the pro-Putin forces. That victory was never in doubt because Putin is genuinely popular, for a mixture of objective and subjective reasons. Because of the vast revenues Russia accrues due to high global energy prices, the standard of living for many Russians is improving markedly -- and most of them attribute that prosperity to Putin personally. Putin has also hijacked populist policies from both the right and left ends of the spectrum. Borrowing from the left, he has increased pensions and state aid programs. From the right, Putin adopted the policy of a sharp reduction of business taxes and a low, flat-rate income tax for individuals. Finally, Putin's efforts to restore Russia's standing as a power in the international arena is enormously popular among Russians, many of whom remain bitter about the economic hardships and foreign-policy weakness of the 1990s. The yearning for a restoration of Russia's prestige is expressed throughout society, in areas as diverse as sports and the arts. This feeling has saturated the atmosphere because of the Kremlin's skillful manipulation. A career intelligence officer, Putin has taken considerable pains to conceal his plans. It has become commonplace to say that Russian policy under Putin has become a series of "special operations." This secrecy is simply a part of the mindset of Putin and the siloviki -- people associated with the security organs and the military -- who surround him. Some clues about Putin's intentions can be found in an 800-page manifesto issued last summer by a group of about 70 pro-Putin, national-patriotic academics under the title "Russian Doctrine." The book is presented as a set of "guidelines" for the next administration and a kind of national, supra-party platform. It contains detailed foreign- and domestic-policy proposals, including autocratic reforms to the military, national-security system, the economy, the mass media, education, and culture. The "Russian Doctrine" presumes that the Russian Federation is doomed to extinction because it will be unable to cope with the looming challenges of international competition. Within the next decade, the authors claim, Russia will increasingly begin to lag behind China, India, the United States, and some Southeast Asian countries. In response, the authors propose a new state structure based on the traditions of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. Interestingly, they propose doing so without dissolving the Russian Federation: that is, they urge the creation of a "parallel state" initially operating unseen behind the facade of the current one. It would consist of a system of political and economic institutions accessible only to Putin and the siloviki that the authors call "the invisible, networked Russia."
Russia launches full-scale production of new-generation warplane
Russia has started full-scale production of the Su-34 Fullback fighter bomber at a Siberian aircraft plant, plane maker Sukhoi said on Wednesday. A company spokesman said up to 20 fighters could now be assembled simultaneously at the Novosibirsk Aviation Production Association (NAPO), but did not specify how many would be built each year. The $36 million Su-34 fighter-bomber is a two-seat strike aircraft equipped with twin AL-31MF afterburning turbojet engines. It is designed to deliver high-precision strikes on heavily-defended targets under any weather conditions, day or night, and fields weaponry that includes a 30mm GSh-301 cannon, up to 12 Alamo or Archer AAMs, ASMs, and bombs. Designed by Sukhoi, the Su-34s will replace the Su-24 Fencer frontline bombers. Experts said the new bomber has the potential to become the top plane in its class for years to come.