"Jerusalem Belongs To The Jews, By International Law."
Long-Range Rockets Roll Into Gaza Through The Breached Sinai Border
Israel May Have to Strike Iran Soon
Jan. 22, 2008
Pre-Emptive Nuclear Strike A Key Option, NATO Told
by Ian Traynor in Brussels
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,332160591-111202,00.html
Pre-Emptive Nuclear Strike A Key Option, NATO Told
The west must be ready to resort to a pre-emptive nuclear attack to try to halt the "imminent" spread of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, according to a radical manifesto for a "new NATO" by five of the west's most senior military officers and strategists. Calling for root-and-branch reform of NATO and a new pact drawing the US, NATO and the European Union together in a "grand strategy" to tackle the challenges of an increasingly brutal world, the former armed forces chiefs from the US, Britain, Germany, France, and the Netherlands insist that a "first strike" nuclear option remains an "indispensable instrument" since there is "simply no realistic prospect of a nuclear-free world." The manifesto has been written following discussions with active commanders and policymakers, many of whom are unable or unwilling to publicly air their views. It has been presented to the Pentagon in Washington and to NATO's secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, over the past 10 days. The proposals are likely to be discussed at a NATO summit in Bucharest in April.
"The risk of further [nuclear] proliferation is imminent and, with it, the danger that nuclear war fighting, albeit limited in scope, might become possible," the authors argued in the 150-page blueprint for urgent reform of western military strategy and structures. "The first use of nuclear weapons must remain in the quiver of escalation as the ultimate instrument to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction." The authors - General John Shalikashvili, the former chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff and NATO's ex-supreme commander in Europe, General Klaus Naumann, Germany's former top soldier and ex-chairman of NATO's military committee, General Henk van den Breemen, a former Dutch chief of staff, Admiral Jacques Lanxade, a former French chief of staff, and Lord Inge, field marshal and ex-chief of the general staff and the defence staff in the UK - paint an alarming picture of the threats and challenges confronting the west in the post-9/11 world and deliver a withering verdict on the ability to cope.
The five commanders argue that the west's values and way of life are under threat, but the west is struggling to summon the will to defend them. The key threats are:
· Political fanaticism and religious fundamentalism.
· The "dark side" of globalization, meaning international terrorism, organized crime and the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
· Climate change and energy security, entailing a contest for resources and potential "environmental" migration on a mass scale.
· The weakening of the nation state as well as of organizations such as the UN, NATO and the EU.
To prevail, the generals call for an overhaul of NATO decision-taking methods, a new "directorate" of US, European and NATO leaders to respond rapidly to crises, and an end to EU "obstruction" of and rivalry with NATO. Among the most radical changes demanded are:
· A shift from consensus decision-taking in NATO bodies to majority voting, meaning faster action through an end to national vetoes.
· The abolition of national caveats in NATO operations of the kind that plague the Afghan campaign.
· No role in decision-taking on NATO operations for alliance members who are not taking part in the operations.
· The use of force without UN security council authorization when "immediate action is needed to protect large numbers of human beings."
In the wake of the latest row over military performance in Afghanistan, touched off when the US defense secretary, Robert Gates, said some allies could not conduct counter-insurgency, the five senior figures at the heart of the western military establishment also declare that NATO's future is on the line in Helmand province. "NATO's credibility is at stake in Afghanistan," said Van den Breemen. "NATO is at a juncture and runs the risk of failure," according to the blueprint. Naumann delivered a blistering attack on his own country's performance in Afghanistan. "The time has come for Germany to decide if it wants to be a reliable partner." By insisting on "special rules" for its forces in Afghanistan, the Merkel government in Berlin was contributing to "the dissolution of NATO." Ron Asmus, head of the German Marshall Fund think-tank in Brussels and a former senior US state department official, described the manifesto as "a wake-up call." "This report means that the core of the NATO establishment is saying we're in trouble, that the west is adrift and not facing up to the challenges."
Naumann conceded that the plan's retention of the nuclear first strike option was "controversial" even among the five authors. Inge argued that "to tie our hands on first use or no first use removes a huge plank of deterrence." Reserving the right to initiate nuclear attack was a central element of the west's cold war strategy in defeating the Soviet Union. Critics argue that what was a productive instrument to face down a nuclear superpower is no longer appropriate. Robert Cooper, an influential shaper of European foreign and security policy in Brussels, said he was "puzzled." "Maybe we are going to use nuclear weapons before anyone else, but I'd be wary of saying it out loud." Another senior EU official said NATO needed to "rethink its nuclear posture because the nuclear non-proliferation regime is under enormous pressure." Naumann suggested the threat of nuclear attack was a counsel of desperation. "Proliferation is spreading and we have not too many options to stop it. We don't know how to deal with this." NATO needed to show "there is a big stick that we might have to use if there is no other option," he said.
Bolton: Israel May Have to Strike Iran Soon
Feb 04, 2008
Bolton: Israel May Have to Strike Iran Soon
by Gil Ronen (IsraelNN.com)
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/SendMail.aspx?print=print&type=0&item=125007
Former American Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton hinted broadly that Israel will have to strike Iran's nuclear program on its own, and soon. Speaking at the Eighth Herzliya Conference, Bolton said an Israeli strike could be the last resort against Iran. Former Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, who also spoke at the conference, hinted that the military option is growing more likely with time. Ambassador Bolton devoted the first part of his speech to an attempt to push the Israeli press into revealing details of the strike against the suspected Syrian nuclear facility four months ago. "There is a lot that we don't know about the facility because of the veil of secrecy that the Israel government and the American government have tried to throw over it," he said. "We don't know for example exactly what the facility was – whether it was a clone of the Yongbyon reactor; whether it was a uranium enrichment facility; whether it was a storage location for North Korean plutonium or plutonium based weapons," he added, and explained that he could speak freely at the conference because the American Constitution's First Amendment applied to him even when he was abroad (this elicited laughter from the audience).
Bolton calls the Israeli press 'timid." Bolton went on to list his conjectures: "We don't know if it was North Korea in effect renting space in Syria to recreate the North Korean program. We don't know if it was a sale of technology or equipment from North Korea directly to Syria and we don't know whether it was a joint venture perhaps between Syria and North Korea working together," he said. "Our governments, however, do know the answers to some of these questions." He continued with a jab at Israel's media: "What I don't understand really is the timid nature of the Israeli press which I know knows a lot more about this strike than it's been willing to talk about. I am sure somewhere in the Israeli press there is a John Peter Zengler who is willing to risk something in order to give the public more information about this." John Peter Zengler was an 18th century publisher who was arrested for libelous sedition after printing criticism of the governor of New York and then acquitted, in what is considered a landmark trial in the development of the freedom of the press in the U.S. Bolton explained that this information is being withheld for fear that if it came out that North Korea once again, following its game plan, was engaged in nuclear proliferation contrary to its obligations, it would embarrass the U.S. which is seeking ways to back off of North Korea.
Iran 'noticed' the IAF raid: Regarding the IAF Syria raid, Bolton said, "The daring and successful Israeli military strike… has obvious significance for the potential of a military strike against Iran's nuclear program. I think, given the debacle caused by our National Intelligence Estimate, that it's close to zero likelihood that President Bush will authorize use of military force against Iran's program before he leaves office, absent some dramatic new development." He concluded: "Certainly in Teheran you can bet that they took careful notice of what the Israeli Defense Force did. Penetrating Russian supplied radars very similar to the air defenses that Teheran has; using techniques that could be very useful for a long range strike against Iran; this is the kind of operation that the Iranians need to continue to worry about. Because I think with the collapse of American policy, the Israeli strike against the Syrian/North Korea facility is the harbinger of what may be – absent regime change in Teheran – the last resort…. Unless you are prepared to see Iran proceed unmolested toward a nuclear weapons capability, which this NIE has given them free rein to do in my judgment, you are coming very close to a decision point in this country of whether you will use military force to stop Iran."
Mofaz--next 2 years critical: Minister Shaul Mofaz hinted that Israel may indeed attack in Iran in order to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons. Mofaz noted that the warming of relations between Arab countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia with Iran is "moving fast very quickly, while the world not only is not moving ahead – it is moving backwards." "This reality," Mofaz said, "is a clear deterioration in the effort to halt Iran by diplomatic means and therefore the likelihood of the other options rises." He did cite a window of opportunity for diplomacy, however: "We have to find other ways to renew the momentum which has weakened…. The diplomatic timetable is getting shorter, the next two years are critical to halt Iran using diplomatic methods," he estimated. Mofaz added: "Reality is complex but the picture is very clear: Iran may be leading in points but the final whistle is still far ahead…. It is clear that the current trend must be reversed; and all the means are justified. This is a historical time…. This time, no leader will be able to say 'we didn't know, we didn't understand the importance of this time.' The world must do everything that is necessary in order to assure a future of peace and prosperity for the next generations as well."
20 Years of Research Reveals: Jerusalem Belongs to Jews
Feb 04, 2008
20 Years of Research Reveals: Jerusalem Belongs to Jews
by Hillel Fendel (IsraelNN.com)
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/SendMail.aspx?print=print&type=0&item=125049
Jacques Gauthier, a non-Jewish Canadian lawyer who spent 20 years researching the legal status of Jerusalem, has concluded: "Jerusalem belongs to the Jews, by international law." Gauthier has written a doctoral dissertation on the topic of Jerusalem and its legal history, based on international treaties and resolutions of the past 90 years. The dissertation runs some 1,300 pages, with 3,000 footnotes. Gauthier had to present his thesis to a world-famous Jewish historian and two leading international lawyers - the Jewish one of whom has represented the Palestinian Authority on numerous occasions. Gauthier's main point, as summarized by Israpundit editor Ted Belman, is that a non-broken series of treaties and resolutions, as laid out by the San Remo Resolution, the League of Nations and the United Nations, gives the Jewish People title to the city of Jerusalem. The process began at San Remo, Italy, when the four Principal Allied Powers of World War I - Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan - agreed to create a Jewish national home in what is now the Land of Israel.
San Remo: The relevant resolution reads as follows: "The High Contracting Parties agree to entrust... the administration of Palestine, within such boundaries as may be determined by the Principal Allied Powers, to a Mandatory [authority that] will be responsible for putting into effect the [Balfour] declaration... in favor of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people." Gauthier notes that the San Remo treaty specifically notes that "nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine" - but says nothing about any "political" rights of the Arabs living there. The San Remo Resolution also bases itself on Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, which declares that it is "a sacred trust of civilization" to provide for the well-being and development of colonies and territories whose inhabitants are "not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world." Specifically, a resolution was formulated to create a Mandate to form a Jewish national home in Palestine.
The League of Nations' resolution creating the Palestine Mandate, included the following significant clause: “Whereas recognition has thereby been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country." No such recognition of Arab rights in Palestine was granted. In 1945, the United Nations took over from the failed League of Nations - and assumed the latter's obligations. Article 80 of the UN Charter states: "Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed, in or of itself, to alter in any manner the rights whatsoever of any states or any peoples or the terms of existing international instruments to which Members of the United Nations may respectively be parties."
UN Partition Plan: However, in 1947, the General Assembly of the UN passed Resolution 181, known as the Partition Plan. It violated the League of Nations' Mandate for Palestine in that it granted political rights to the Arabs in western Palestine - yet, ironically, the Arabs worked to thwart the plan's passage, while the Jews applauded it. Resolution 181 also provided for a Special regime for Jerusalem, with borders delineated in all four directions: The then-extant municipality of Jerusalem plus the surrounding villages and towns up to Abu Dis in the east, Bethlehem in the south, Ein Karem and Motza in the west, and Shuafat in the north. Referendum Scheduled for Jerusalem: The UN resolved that the City of Jerusalem shall be established as a separate entity under a special international regime and shall be administered by the United Nations. The regime was to come into effect by October 1948, and was to remain in force for a period of ten years, unless the UN's Trusteeship Council decided otherwise. After the ten years, the residents of Jerusalem "shall be then free to express by means of a referendum their wishes as to possible modifications of regime of the City."
The resolution never took effect, because Jordan controlled eastern Jerusalem after the 1948 War of Independence and did not follow its provisions. After the Six Day War in 1967, Israel regained Jerusalem and other land west of Jordan. Gauthier notes that the UN Security Council then passed Resolution 242 authorizing Israel to remain in possession of all the land until it had “secure and recognized boundaries.” The resolution was notably silent on Jerusalem, and also referred to the "necessity for achieving a just settlement of the refugee problem,” with no distinction made between Jewish and Arab refugees. Given Jerusalem's strong Jewish majority, Gauthier concludes, Israel should be demanding that the long-delayed city referendum on the city's future be held as soon as possible. Not only should Israel be demanding that the referendum be held now, Jerusalem should be the first order of business. "Olmert is sloughing us off by saying [as he did before the Annapolis Conference two months ago], 'Jerusalem is not on the table yet,'" Gauthier concludes. "He should demand that the referendum take place before the balance of the land is negotiated. If the Arabs won’t agree to the referendum, there is nothing to talk about."
Shin Bet chief reports: Masses of high-quality weaponry,
such as long-range rockets, roll into Gaza through the breached Sinai border
Feb 03, 2008
Shin Bet chief reports: Masses of high-quality weaponry,
such as long-range rockets, roll into Gaza through the breached Sinai border
by Debka.com
The domestic security agency’s director, Yuval Diskin, warned the Israeli cabinet Sunday, Feb. 3, that the Palestinians exploited the chaos on the Gaza-Sinai border to smuggle in quantities of long-range rockets, anti-tank and anti-air rockets and high explosives for missiles. Hundreds of Palestinian terrorists have headed south into Sinai. According to Western intelligence sources, they are spread out along the 220-km Israeli border. DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources disclose the figure omitted from the cabinet’s official communiqué to avoid alarming the public: The number of armed terrorists at large in Sinai is estimated in the region of a thousand. Hamas prepared at least 30 tracks for them to use when it bulldozed the Gaza-Sinai border ten days ago. Defense minister Ehud Barak therefore told the cabinet that a border barrier must be constructed urgently at two sections of the unfenced Israel-Egyptian border – Nitzana and Eilat.
However, he is too late. Insistent demands by senior IDF officers to fence the border were neglected for too long by the Olmert government. Now, the Egyptian-Israel border is wide open to terrorists and they have been presented with a safe haven in Sinai for hit-and-run attacks. Diskin also reported that many Palestinian terrorists returning from Iran, Syria or Egypt used the border mayhem to gain entry to Gaza. Among them were members of various terrorist organizations who trained in Iran and other places and who arrived with fresh combat skills.
When Egyptian border police failed to stem the Palestinian surge out of Gaza last week, senior Israeli officers applied for permission to send up three combat helicopters, which they said would have been enough to stem the mass exit and the smuggling in of long-range rockets and returning terrorists. But permission was withheld. It was denied in the same was as the high command was held back from embarking on an effective military operation to cut Hamas and its war machine down to size, when it was still readily feasible. The Olmert government’s blunders over Gaza, military experts estimate, are potentially more ruinous to Israel security than even the mismanagement of the Lebanon War.
Conclusion
The Land of Israel is being setup for war. Israel will be forced into another pre-emptive strike on its borders. The Iranian nuclear proliferation question has yet to be answered. Syria continues to line the Israeli border with troops. Iran is in position to lob missiles into Israel. The next "forced war" will produce an International Treaty concerning Jerusalem and who is to run this capital. The Bible prophecies the Gentiles will trod down Jerusalem until the buildup of the Battle of Armageddon and the rise of the Anti-Christ. That time is soon to be revealed in this last generation.
And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
(Luke 21:20-24)