Focus On Jerusalem Newsroom

Dec. 1….(CBN) The world now knows the fiery rhetoric of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. What is less known is the group he comes from, called the "Bassij." The Bassij is one of the most committed enemies of Israel and the United States in the world today. This paramilitary group is one of the most important organizations within Iran. It claims as many as three million members in reserve but tens of thousands serve full time and follow a radical ideology. Menashe Amir hosts a radio show for Voice of Israel Farsi. He's considered one of the foremost experts on Iran, maintains contact with Iranians regularly, and keeps his finger on the pulse of Iranian daily life, such as the influence of the Bassij. Amir said, "I'm very much afraid that Western countries and Western people don't realize how dangerous this ideology is and what will be the prospect in the future. They believe that the Messiah will come soon and their mission is to safeguard the regime." The Bassij play a key role for the ruling mullahs and for Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Just a few days ago, he paid tribute to elite Bassij units and called them his children. "Ahmadinejad says that he is part of the Bassij, and for him Bassij is very important and that it has a holy mission, just to safeguard the regime, to suppress any opposition, any moral behavior which in not in line with the regime," said Amir. The Bassij function as a human shield for Iran's rulers. Iran's supreme leader has given them almost unbridled power to protect the regime from internal dissent. They crush any opposition throughout the country much like the way Hitler used his SA Brownshirt forces to crush any opposition to the Nazi Party. "Whenever there is any sign of opposition against the regime," Amir explained, "they come and attack people, beat them, and injure them. And they are very much detested among the Iranian population." The fanaticism of the Bassij is legendary and horrific. During the Iran/Iraq War in the 1980s, tens of thousands marched to their doom across Iraqi minefields. They are trained to embrace martyrdom. The same fanaticism during the 1980s is still at work today, and some say even more aggressively. It's directed at the United States, called "The Great Satan," and particularly right now at Israel, called "The Little Satan." "We have to wipe out Israel," said one Bassij member. Another Bassij member stated, "I am here due to my Muslim obligation to fight Israel until the last drop of my blood." While many Iranians detest the Bassij, this group sees itself as a vanguard of Shiite Islam that will help prepare the way of the Islamic messiah, the Mahdi, and defeat the west. "The Bassij think that Islam is a young, dynamic force that is growing while the Western civilization is a declining force," said Amir. They are not ready to sacrifice themselves. And that's the reason why the Basiji deeply believe that in the end the victory will be with Islam itself." "No one likes war," said one of the Bassij members, "but if there is a war, we will be ready to die. In helping Muslims where there is injustice, we like to become martyrs." With this kind of fanaticism fueling Iran's regime and with its nuclear program on the way, it will be up to US President George Bush and or Israel to deal with this daunting threat.

(FOJ) Pope Benedict XVI removed his shoes and prayed alongside an Islamic Imam Mustafa Cagrici in one of Turkey's most famous mosques in a dramatic gesture of outreach toward Muslims. The Pope’s public prayer is being hailed by the world as an act of unity and religious convergence. In reality, the Pope’s bow toward Mecca is a blasphemous act toward the God of Israel, as it is in truth an embrace of a false god. Allah and Jehovah are not one and the same!

Dec. 1….(AP) Pope Benedict ended a sensitive, fence-mending visit to Turkey on Friday amid praise for visiting Istanbul's famed Blue Mosque and praying there facing toward Mecca "like Muslims." His first visit to a mostly Muslim country, held under tight security for fear of protests by nationalists and Islamists, was highlighted by a series of conciliatory gestures culminating in a stop on Thursday afternoon in Istanbul's famed Blue Mosque. Istanbul Grand Mufti Mustafa Cagrici, who prayed with him there, said Pope Benedict faced Mecca and stood like Muslims do when they pray aright. "These were very nice gestures," he told NTV television. "The Pope's dreaded visit was concluded with a wonderful surprise," wrote daily Aksam on its front page. "In Sultan Ahmet Mosque, he turned toward Mecca and prayed like Muslims," the popular daily Hurriyet said, using the building's official name. Just before leaving, Benedict said he hoped his visit was seen as "a sign of friendship between religions" that helps bring countries and cultures closer together. Mehmet Nuri Yilmaz, the former head of Turkey's directorate for religious affairs, said the Pope facing Mecca was a "great gesture" for the Muslim world.

The leader of Lebanon's anti-Syrian parliamentary majority, Saad Hariri, son of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press at his house in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday Nov. 30, 2006. Hariri warned Thursday that Syria was behind the planned protests to bring down the government, saying its ally Hezbollah would not be able force Prime Minister Fuad Saniora to step down. Hariri also accused Syria of being behind the planned demonstrations to try to stop the international tribunal that will try the suspects in the killing of his father in Feb. 2005

Dec. 1….(Ha Aretz) Hundreds of thousands of protesters from Hezbollah and its pro-Syrian opposition allies massed Friday in downtown Beirut to force the resignation of Western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, who was holed up in his office ringed by hundreds of police and combat troops. The Shiite Muslim Hezbollah and its allies mobilized their bases for the protest, arranging to bus supporters from all over Lebanon and handing out free gasoline coupons to people in remote regions. The protesters, which police estimated at 800,000, created a sea of Lebanese flags that blanketed the downtown. Hezbollah officials put the number at least 1 million, one-fourth of Lebanon's population. Saniora went about his schedule in what appeared to be a tactic to ignore the throngs that quickly filled the streets. With heavy traffic reported on highways leading downtown, pro-government factions urged calm. "Saniora out! The crowd roared in approval amid the deafening sound of Hezbollah revolutionary and nationalist songs. Heavily armed soldiers and police had closed all roads to downtown, feverishly unfurling barbed wire and placing barricades. Despite Hezbollah's assurances the protests will be peaceful, the heavy security came amid fears the protests may turn into clashes between pro- and anti-Syrian factions or that Hezbollah supporters could try to storm Saniora's government headquarters. Hezbollah's security men, donning caps, formed two lines between the protesters and the security forces to prevent clashes. Launching a long-threatened campaign to force Lebanon's US-backed government from office, Hezbollah and its pro-Syrian allies said the demonstration would be followed by a wave of open-ended protests.

The battle is a fallout from the summer war between Hezbollah and Israel that ravaged parts of Lebanon. The guerrilla force's strong resistance against Israeli troops sent its support among Shiites skyrocketing, emboldening it to grab more political power. Hezbollah also feels Saniora did not do enough to support it during the fight. Pro-government groups, in turn, resent Hezbollah for sparking the fight by snatching two Israeli soldiers, dragging Lebanon into war with Israel. A defiant Saniora vowed his government would not fall, warning in a nationally televised speech Thursday night that "Lebanon's independence is threatened and its democratic system is in danger." Government supporters accuse Syria of being behind the Hezbollah campaign, trying to regain its lost influence in its smaller neighbor. Hezbollah and its allies, in turn, say the country has fallen under US domination and that they have lost their rightful portion of power. Hezbollah had threatened to call for demonstrations unless it and its allies obtain a veto-wielding share of the Cabinet, a demand that Saniora and the anti-Syrian parties have rejected. Hezbollah's deputy leader, Sheik Naim Kassim, made it clear the fight is against "American tutelage" and said the protest action will continue until the government falls. The United States has made Lebanon a key front in its attempts to rein in Syria and its ally, regional powerhouse Iran. President Bush warned earlier this week that the two countries were trying to destabilize Lebanon. Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, called for the protests to be peaceful. From the other camp, the head of the anti-Syrian bloc in parliament, Saad Hariri, said his supporters should not hold counter-demonstrations. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese also flooded the downtown area last week after Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel was shot dead to show their support for Saniora's government. Lebanon has had a string of assassinations of anti-Syrian figures in the past two years, including a prominent Christian government minister gunned down last week and Hariri's father, former prime minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed in a February 2005 bombing.

Nov. 30….(Stan Goodenough) A growing number of Jews are wondering how trustworthy Christians are who say they love Israel but embrace the teaching that sees the Church heading for glory while the Jews head for another holocaust. Israel's biggest circulation daily, Yediot Ahronot, Thursday ran a report on its Ynetnews website about the release of a hot new computer game based on a runaway American best-seller prophecy novel. Described as extremely impressive graphically, and consequently a guaranteed hot sell, "Left Behind - Eternal Forces" pushes the same eschatological line as the books, which see all the world's Christians taken into heaven while the Jews are left on earth to go through "the Great Tribulation" or "time of Jacobs trouble." This period of intense persecution culminates in the destruction of two-thirds of the world's Jews, while the surviving one-third convert to Christianity and are saved. More than 75 percent of pro-Israel American Christians are believed to subscribe to this interpretation of how our age will end. "Where do we fit into all this, asks Ynetnews reporter Noam Reshef. Is it "good for the Jews?" "Jews and Israelis will find the series' plotline extremely troubling, to say the least. "Left Behind, he concludes, "supports Israel, but portrays Judaism as a mistaken religion." Reshef's report is just the latest in a series of articles that have appeared in recent years as interested, curious, suspicious and concerned Jews have sought to understand the beliefs and motives of the evangelical Christian community which is increasingly viewed as Israel's last and only ally in the world.

Nov. 30….(Washington Times) All six members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, amid an ongoing Pentagon review of strategy for Iraq, oppose pulling US troops out of Iraq now, and are also against a specific withdrawal timetable, a defense source said yesterday. "The chiefs are solid. They want victory," the source said. "There is no dissent." The Joint Chiefs, which includes Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman, along with a vice chairman and the heads of the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Navy, have been meeting several times a week to review a list of Iraq options for President Bush. The Pentagon has said all options are open for consideration during the far-reaching review. But on the question of withdrawal, the issue is settled in favor of President Bush's position, the source said. "We are looking at the whole spectrum of possible military actions," Gen. Pace said yesterday. At a press conference, Gen. Pace endorsed the idea of shifting more Iraqi forces into violence-wracked Baghdad, where Shi'ite and Sunni terrorists are on a killing spree to gain control of the capital. A number of lawmakers, including Rep. Duncan Hunter, California Republican and House Armed Services Committee chairman, advocate sending more Iraqi battalions to the capital. "I think that idea has a good amount of appeal for multiple reasons," Gen. Pace said. The Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan commission of former officeholders, completed work yesterday on its final report to Mr. Bush. The report will be released Wednesday, the day after Senate confirmation hearings begin for Defense Secretary-designate Robert M. Gates. Mr. Bush is not likely to warmly embrace the study group's centerpiece proposal, direct diplomatic engagement with US adversaries Syria and Iran, which are fueling the various insurgency groups in Iraq that are killing US troops and Iraqi civilians by the thousands. The month of December is shaping up as a time of major decision-making by Mr. Bush. He will receive the Iraq study group report, more input from Gen. Pace and ideas from the National Security Council staff. He has resisted direct talks with Syria and Iran, two of the US-designated terrorism sponsors (Axis of Evil) whom the administration thinks are using unrest in Iraq to spread violence in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.

Nov. 30….(New York Times) The bipartisan Iraq Study Group reached a consensus today on a final report that will call for a gradual pullback of the 15 American combat brigades now in Iraq but stop short of setting a firm timetable for their withdrawal, according to people familiar with the panel’s deliberations. The report, unanimously approved by the 10-member panel is to be delivered to President Bush next week. The report recommends that Mr. Bush make it clear to Iraqi President Al Maliki that he intends to start the withdrawal relatively soon, and people familiar with the debate over the final language said the implicit message was that the process should begin sometime next year. The report leaves unstated whether the 15 combat brigades that are the bulk of American fighting forces in Iraq would be brought home, or simply pulled back to bases in Iraq or in neighboring countries. As described by the people involved in the deliberations, the bulk of the report by the Baker-Hamilton group focused on a recommendation that the United States devise a far more aggressive diplomatic initiative in the Middle East than Mr. Bush has been willing to try so far, including direct engagement with Iran and Syria. Initially, those contacts might be part of a regional conference on Iraq or broader Middle East peace issues, like the Israeli-Palestinian situation, but they would ultimately involve direct, high-level talks with Tehran and Damascus. Throughout the debates, Mr. Baker, who served as secretary of state under Mr. Bush’s father and was the central figure in developing the strategy to win the 2000 Florida recount for Mr. Bush, was highly reluctant to allow a timetable for withdrawal to be included in the report, participants said. Mr. Baker cited what Mr. Bush had also called a danger: that any firm deadline would be an invitation to insurgents and sectarian groups to bide their time until the last American troops were withdrawn, then seek to overthrow the government. But Democrats on the commission also suspected that Mr. Baker was reluctant to embarrass the president by embracing a strategy Mr. Bush had repeatedly rejected. Committee members struggled with ways, short of a deadline, to signal to the Iraqis that Washington would not prop up the government with military forces endlessly, and that if sectarian warfare continued the pressure to withdraw American forces would become overwhelming. What they ended up with appears to be a classic Washington compromise: a report that sets no explicit timetable but, between the lines, appears to have one built in. As one senior American military officer involved in Iraq strategy said, “The question is whether it doesn’t look like a timeline to Bush, and does to Maliki.”

Nov. 30….(AP) President Bush said Thursday the United States will speed a turnover of security responsibility to Iraqi forces but assured Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that Washington is not looking for a "graceful exit" from a war well into its fourth violent year. Under intensifying political pressure at home, the American and Iraqi leaders came together for a hastily arranged summit to explore how to stop escalating violence that is tearing Iraq apart and eroding support for Bush's war strategy. With Bush hoping to strengthen his Iraqi counterpart's fragile government, the tensions that flared when their opening session was abruptly cancelled yesterday evening were not apparent when they appeared before reporters after breakfast Thursday. I appreciate the courage you show during these difficult times as you lead your country," Bush told al-Maliki after nearly two and a half hours of talks. "He's the right guy for Iraq." The leaders emerged from their formal session with few specific ideas, particularly on Bush's repeated pledge to move more quickly to transfer authority for Iraq's security to al-Maliki's government. "One of his frustrations with me is that he believes that we've been slow about giving him the tools necessary to protect the Iraqi people," Bush said. "He doesn't have the capacity to respond. So we want to accelerate that capacity." There was no explanation from either side of how that would happen, beyond support for the long-standing goals of speeding the US military's effort to train Iraqi security forces and to give more military authority over Iraq to al-Maliki. The November elections that handed control of Congress to Democrats have given rise to heightened calls for the about 140,000 American soldiers in Iraq to begin coming home. Bush acknowledged that pressure and said he wanted to start troop withdrawals as soon as possible. Still, he insisted the US will stay "until the job is complete." "I know there's a lot of speculation that these reports in Washington mean there's going to be some kind of graceful exit out of Iraq," he said. "This business about a graceful exit just simply has no realism to it at all." The president added: "I'm a realist because I understand how tough it is inside of Iraq." The first meeting between Bush and al-Maliki, scheduled for Wednesday night along with Jordan's king, was scrubbed. It may have been Al Maliki’s way of appeasing thirty Iraqi lawmakers and five cabinet ministers loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr who protested his decision to meet with Bush. Privately, president Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice repeatedly pressed the Iraqi prime minister to disband a heavily armed Shiite militia loyal to al-Sadr and blamed for much of the country's sectarian violence, according to the senior al-Maliki aide. Al-Sadr is a key al-Maliki political backer and the prime minister has regularly sidestepped US demands to deal with the Mahdi Army. Al-Maliki's insistence on not attending the three-way meeting with Bush and Jordan's king was a troubling sign of possible US difficulties ahead in the effort to calm Iraq. Bush, meanwhile, continued to reject drawing Shiite-led Iran into helping Iraq in its struggle for peace. "I appreciate the prime minister's views that the Iraqis are plenty capable of running their own business and they don't need foreign interference from neighbors that will be destabilizing the country," he said. Al-Maliki, though, seemed open to the idea of Tehran, as well as Damascus, getting involved.

Pope Appeals To Muslim-Christian Joint Veneration of Mary

Nov. 30….(Reuters) Turkey on Wednesday praised the conciliatory tone of Pope Benedict during his visit to the predominantly Muslim country and his apparent new support for Ankara's bid to join the European Union. Celebrating mass at a shrine in southwestern Turkey where legend says the Virgin Mary lived out her last days, Benedict stressed that a common devotion to the mother of Jesus Christ is another link binding Christians and Muslims. Benedict said in his sermon: "From here in Ephesus, a city blessed by the presence of Mary Most Holy, who we know is loved and venerated also by Muslims, let us lift up to the Lord a special prayer for peace between peoples." The Koran describes Mary as the virgin mother of Jesus, whom Muslims consider the greatest prophet after Mohammed, and some Muslims, especially women, visit shrines to Mary. The rough stone house where she is said to have died stands amid olive and pine trees outside the ancient Greek city of Ephesus, now a collection of ruins known in Turkish as Efes.

FOJ Note: See the “Understand The Times” (http://www/understandthetimes.com) website by Roger Oakland for further information about the Muslim and Catholic common ground found through Mary.

Nov. 29….(AP) Al-Qaida in Iraq on Wednesday denounced Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Turkey, calling it part of a "crusader campaign" against Islam. In Istanbul, Vatican officials said the remark shows the need for faiths to fight "violence in the name of God." The trip is Benedict's first visit to an Islamic country as pontiff, seeking dialogue with Muslims who were angered over a speech he made in September in which he cited a medieval text that linked Islam and violence. Al-Qaida in Iraq issued its statement on an Islamic militant Web site it often uses to post messages. "The pope's visit, in fact, is to consolidate the crusader campaign against the lands of Islam after the failure of the crusader leaders ... and an attempt to extinguish the burning ember of Islam inside our Turkish brothers," it said. Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said "neither the pope nor his entourage are worried" by the statement. "This type of message shows once again the urgency and importance of a common commitment of all forces against violence," Lombardi said. "It also shows the need of various faiths to say 'no' to violence in the name of God."

(FOJ) In this photo of the Pope’s trip to Turkey, we see the Pope sitting under a banner of Islam and Socialism. No wonder The Revelation depicts the Woman riding on the back of a great Beast.

(Positive response to Papal visit after Benedict voices support for EU membership)

Nov. 29….(MSN) Pope Benedict XVI held an intimate Mass under a flower-covered canopy at one of the holiest Christian places in this predominantly Muslim country Wednesday, as riot police and soldiers toting submachine guns patrolled a hillside nearby. The Mass was held next to the ruins of a house where the Virgin Mary is thought to have spent her last years. the pope urged religious leaders of all faiths to “utterly refuse” to support any form of violence in the name of faith. He sought a careful balance as he extended a hand of friendship and “brotherhood” to Muslims on his first visit to a Muslim country, and even expressed support for measures that Turkey has taken in its campaign to join the European Union. St. John the Apostle is believed to have brought the Virgin Mary to the house to care for her after Jesus’ death. Another belief maintains that the Virgin Mary died in Jerusalem. The ruins of the house, whose earliest foundations date to the first century, have become a popular pilgrimage site since the 1950s. A chapel was built over the ruins, and some believe in the healing powers of both the chapel and waters flowing from a nearby spring. The site is nestled on a wooded mountain between the ancient city of Ephesus and the town of Selcuk, near the Aegean coast. Of Turkey’s 70 million people, some 65,000 are Armenian Orthodox Christians, 20,000 are Roman Catholic, and 3,500 are Protestant, mostly converts from Islam. Another 2,000 are Greek Orthodox and 23,000 are Jewish. The European Union has called on Turkey to expand religious freedoms. The pope planned to travel to Istanbul later Wednesday to meet Bartholomew I, leader of the world’s 300 million Orthodox Christians. The two major branches of Christianity represented by Bartholomew and Benedict split in 1054 over differences in opinion on the power of the papacy. The two spiritual heads will meet in an attempt to breach the divide and reunite the churches.

Nov. 29….(The Tennessean) To live peacefully with Muslims and Jews, Christians must put aside the notion that their faith requires the creation of a Christian kingdom on Earth, a Lipscomb University theologian told an interfaith gathering at the university. "We are not going to get very far in our relationship with Jews or Muslims if we do not let go of this idea," Lipscomb professor Lee Camp said at Tuesday's conference. We need to forsake the Christendom model," Camp said. "The most basic Christian commitment is that we say we believe in the Lordship of Jesus. But, if we claim that, how can a Muslim or Jew trust us, if we say Jesus is the Lord of all Lords?" We must change this. Co-sponsored by the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University, the daylong conference was prompted by a desire to begin a dialogue about global religious conflict. After five years of rising gas prices, disturbing privacy issues that followed the Sept. 11 attacks and the fear of terrorism, it became apparent that everyday life in Nashville is directly affected by religious conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, conference organizers said. "We felt like the larger community is calling for this," said Larry Bridgesmith, executive director of Lipscomb's newly established Institute for Conflict Management. Panelists representing different faiths presented their own views on how to begin to bridge the religious divide. For Kahled Sakalla, a spokesman for the Islamic Center of Nashville, some of the answers lie in better education about Islam in the non-Muslim world. Allah, the God Muslims worship, is the same God Christians and Jews worship, and the Quran recounts the same biblical stories of Mary and Jesus, he said. "Yes, we have differences, but it's important to focus on commonalities," said Sakalla, one of four panelists representing different faiths who addressed the Lipscomb conference. Mark Schiftan, rabbi of the Temple in Belle Meade, said he also believes people of faith must begin to look for common ground. "If all of us believe we were created in God's image, then we have to believe that everyone else is also created in God's image," Schiftan said. Charles McGowan, president of the Christian group Operation Andrew said: “the issues that have divided the world's religions for millennia are so deep and fundamental, ranging from the question of whether the land of Israel rightfully belongs to the Jews and whether there is one way to salvation, that tackling them will require both dialogue with other faiths and a more introspective look at one's own beliefs, panelists said. Some liberal theologians have suggested that different faiths are all variations on one another and that beliefs are all basically the same, a position with which Camp deeply disagrees. Instead, he believes, Christians must not back away from their beliefs but further examine them and their own history. First, Christians must examine their "sins of omission," he said, such as not taking the time to learn about other religions. Then they must look at their "sins of commission." "We have such short historical (memory) spans as white Christians," he said. "There is a history of anti-Semitism, the violence and bloodshed of the crusades and cultural imperialism. We have to deal with the reality of what Christians have done, which in some cases has been to kill people." Camp described himself as a conservative Christian but conceded his opinions may be viewed as "radical" by other evangelical Christians. Christians must shed the idea that they need to promulgate a worldwide Christianity, he said. "If I hold to a model of Jesus, what I've committed to in my baptism is loving my enemy," Lee said. "I'm committed to not killing you, but to serving and honoring you. It's an exclusive commitment to the way of Christ, not to the exclusive authority of Christ." Sakalla said there may never be reconciliation on the fundamental theological divisions. "Every religion has different teachings," he said. "For Muslims, it's: Do you believe in one God and that Muhammad" is his prophet? "I don't think we can teach individuals that the way you go to heaven in other religions is OK.

FOJ Note: Somewhere the Antichrist is smiling. If he can get the so-called Christians to abandon “some of the basic Biblical beliefs,” then He can easily fashion a Global religious system that will exalt him as the God of this world.

Message of H.E. Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran To the American People:

O, Almighty God, bestow upon humanity the perfect human being promised to all by You, and make us among his followers.

Were we not faced with the activities of the US administration in this part of the world and the negative ramifications of those activities on the daily lives of our peoples, coupled with the many wars and calamities caused by the US administration as well as the tragic consequences of US interference in other countries;

Were the American people not God-fearing, truth-loving, and justice-seeking, while the US administration actively conceals the truth and impedes any objective portrayal of current realities;

And if we did not share a common responsibility to promote and protect freedom and human dignity and integrity; Then, there would have been little urgency to have a dialogue with you.

While Divine providence has placed Iran and the United States geographically far apart, we should be cognizant that human values and our common human spirit, which proclaim the dignity and exalted worth of all human beings, have brought our two great nations of Iran and the United States closer together. Both our nations are God-fearing, truth-loving and justice-seeking, and both seek dignity, respect and perfection. Both greatly value and readily embrace the promotion of human ideals such as compassion, empathy, respect for the rights of human beings, securing justice and equity, and defending the innocent and the weak against oppressors and bullies.

We are all inclined towards the good, and towards extending a helping hand to one another, particularly to those in need. We all deplore injustice, the trampling of peoples' rights and the intimidation and humiliation of human beings. We all detest darkness, deceit, lies and distortion, and seek and admire salvation, enlightenment, sincerity and honesty. The pure human essence of the two great nations of Iran and the United States testify to the veracity of these statements.

Our nation has always extended its hand of friendship to all other nations of the world. Hundreds of thousands of my Iranian compatriots are living amongst you in friendship and peace, and are contributing positively to your society. Our people have been in contact with you over the past many years and have maintained these contacts despite the unnecessary restrictions of US authorities. As mentioned, we have common concerns, face similar challenges, and are pained by the sufferings and afflictions in the world.

We, like you, are aggrieved by the ever-worsening pain and misery of the Palestinian people. Persistent aggressions by the Zionists are making life more and more difficult for the rightful owners of the land of Palestine. In broad day-light, in front of cameras and before the eyes of the world, they are bombarding innocent defenseless civilians, bulldozing houses, firing machine guns at students in the streets and alleys, and subjecting their families to endless grief. No day goes by without a new crime.

Palestinian mothers, just like Iranian and American mothers, love their children, and are painfully bereaved by the imprisonment, wounding and murder of their children. What mother wouldn't?

For 60 years, the Zionist regime has driven millions of the inhabitants of Palestine out of their homes. Many of these refugees have died in the Diaspora and in refugee camps. Their children have spent their youth in these camps and are aging while still in the hope of returning to homeland.

You know well that the US administration has persistently provided blind and blanket support to the Zionist regime, has emboldened it to continue its crimes, and has prevented the UN Security Council from condemning it. Who can deny such broken promises and grave injustices towards humanity by the US administration?

Governments are there to serve their own people. No people wants to side with or support any oppressors. But regrettably, the US administration disregards even its own public opinion and remains in the forefront of supporting the trampling of the rights of the Palestinian people.

Let's take a look at Iraq. Since the commencement of the US military presence in Iraq, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed, maimed or displaced. Terrorism in Iraq has grown exponentially. With the presence of the US military in Iraq, nothing has been done to rebuild the ruins, to restore the infrastructure or to alleviate poverty. The US Government used the pretext of the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but later it became clear that that was just a lie and a deception. Although Saddam was overthrown and people are happy about his departure, the pain and suffering of the Iraqi people has persisted and has even been aggravated. In Iraq, about one hundred and fifty thousand American soldiers, separated from their families and loved ones, are operating under the command of the current US administration. A substantial number of them have been killed or wounded and their presence in Iraq has tarnished the image of the American people and government. Their mothers and relatives have, on numerous occasions, displayed their discontent with the presence of their sons and daughters in a land thousands of miles away from US shores. American soldiers often wonder why they have been sent to Iraq. I consider it extremely unlikely that you, the American people, consent to the billions of dollars of annual expenditure from your treasury for this military misadventure.

You have heard that the US administration is kidnapping its presumed opponents from across the globe and arbitrarily holding them without trial or any international supervision in horrendous prisons that it has established in various parts of the world. God knows who these detainees actually are, and what terrible fate awaits them. You have certainly heard the sad stories of the Guantanamo and Abu-Ghraib prisons. The US administration attempts to justify them through its proclaimed "war on terror." But every one knows that such behavior, in fact, offends global public opinion, exacerbates resentment and thereby spreads terrorism, and tarnishes the US image and its credibility among nations.

The US administration's illegal and immoral behavior is not even confined to outside its borders. You are witnessing daily that under the pretext of "the war on terror," civil liberties in the United States are being increasingly curtailed. Even the privacy of individuals is fast losing its meaning. Judicial due process and fundamental rights are trampled upon. Private phones are tapped, suspects are arbitrarily arrested, sometimes beaten in the streets, or even shot to death. I have no doubt that the American people do not approve of this behavior and indeed deplore it.

The US administration does not accept accountability before any organization, institution or council. The US administration has undermined the credibility of international organizations, particularly the United Nations and its Security Council. But, I do not intend to address all the challenges and calamities in this message. The legitimacy, power and influence of a government do not emanate from its arsenals of tanks, fighter aircrafts, missiles or nuclear weapons. Legitimacy and influence reside in sound logic, quest for justice and compassion and empathy for all humanity. The global position of the United States is in all probability weakened because the administration has continued to resort to force, to conceal the truth, and to mislead the American people about its policies and practices. Undoubtedly, the American people are not satisfied with this behavior and they showed their discontent in the recent elections. I hope that in the wake of the mid-term elections, the administration of President Bush will have heard and will heed the message of the American people. My questions are the following:

Is it not possible to put wealth and power in the service of peace, stability, prosperity and the happiness of all peoples through a commitment to justice and respect for the rights of all nations, instead of aggression and war? We all condemn terrorism, because its victims are the innocent. But, can terrorism be contained and eradicated through war, destruction and the killing of hundreds of thousands of innocents? If that were possible, then why has the problem not been resolved? The sad experience of invading Iraq is before us all. What has blind support for the Zionists by the US administration brought for the American people? It is regrettable that for the US administration, the interests of these occupiers supersedes the interests of the American people and of the other nations of the world. What have the Zionists done for the American people that the US administration considers itself obliged to blindly support these infamous aggressors? Is it not because they have imposed themselves on a substantial portion of the banking, financial, cultural and media sectors? I recommend that in a demonstration of respect for the American people and for humanity, the right of Palestinians to live in their own homeland should be recognized so that millions of Palestinian refugees can return to their homes and the future of all of Palestine and its form of government be determined in a referendum. This will benefit everyone. Now that Iraq has a Constitution and an independent Assembly and Government, would it not be more beneficial to bring the US officers and soldiers home, and to spend the astronomical US military expenditures in Iraq for the welfare and prosperity of the American people? As you know very well, many victims of Katrina continue to suffer, and countless Americans continue to live in poverty and homelessness.

The United States has had many administrations; some who have left a positive legacy, and others that are neither remembered fondly by the American people nor by other nations. Now that you control an important branch of the US Government, you will also be held to account by the people and by history. If the US Government meets the current domestic and external challenges with an approach based on truth and Justice, it can remedy some of the past afflictions and alleviate some of the global resentment and hatred of America. But if the approach remains the same, it would not be unexpected that the American people would similarly reject the new electoral winners, although the recent elections, rather than reflecting a victory, in reality point to the failure of the current administration's policies. These issues had been extensively dealt with in my letter to President Bush earlier this year.

It is possible to govern based on an approach that is distinctly different from one of coercion, force and injustice.

It is possible to sincerely serve and promote common human values, and honesty and compassion.

It is possible to provide welfare and prosperity without tension, threats, imposition or war.

It is possible to lead the world towards the aspired perfection by adhering to unity, monotheism, morality and spirituality and drawing upon the teachings of the Divine Prophets.

Then, the American people, who are God-fearing and followers of Divine religions, will overcome every difficulty. What I stated represents some of my anxieties and concerns. I am confident that you, the American people, will play an instrumental role in the establishment of justice and spirituality throughout the world. The promises of the Almighty and His prophets will certainly be realized, Justice and Truth will prevail and all nations will live a true life in a climate replete with love, compassion and fraternity. The US governing establishment, the authorities and the powerful should not choose irreversible paths. As all prophets have taught us, injustice and transgression will eventually bring about decline and demise. Today, the path of return to faith and spirituality is open and unimpeded.

"But those who repent, have faith and do good may receive Salvation. Your Lord, alone, creates and chooses as He will, and others have no part in His choice; Glorified is God and Exalted above any partners they ascribe to Him." (28:67-68) I pray to the Almighty to bless the Iranian and American nations and indeed all nations of the world with dignity and success.

Nov. 29….(Darrell G. Young) Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad logged the above letter to the American people with the United Nations. It is an attempt by a declared foreign enemy of the Christian Republic of the United States at brainwashing the American people through the verbage of political deception. Mr. Ahmadinejad is attempting to go over the head or our nation and the office of the Presidency to appeal to the political divisions on our country that have been created by our own insanity over power and jealousy. These situations in political America are the result of the Great Falling Away, so aptly describe in the Holy Bible. Mr. Ahmadinejad’s letter clearly shows that he is making a case against Israel, (a nation he has said should be wiped off the face of the earth) and against the God of Israel, by cleverly using the guise of religious tolerance to suggest that the Koran has just as much authority in this issue as the Christian Bible. Ahmadinejad is being used of SATAN to castigate the present Bush Administration for its unswavering support for the security of Israel, and appeal to the American public to abandon its traditional support for Israel, because it is supposedly illegally occupying land that the Koran says rightfully belongs to the Palestinians. The Iranian President is using the appeal of religious tolerance and unity to compel upon mainstream America to abandon its Biblical heritage and to adapt to the Divine world religions and the peace and unity movement. In short, Ahmadinejad is asking Americans to abandon following the Christian Zionist Doctrine of Prophetic Scripture, and to join the spiritual convergence of the Antichrist. (Mahdi)

Will America submit to allowing the Koran to be used for swearing in its elected officials? Would any Muslim nation allow a Bible to exist on its soil?

Nov. 29….(Dennis Prager) Keith Ellison, D-Minnesota, the first Muslim ever elected to the United States Congress, has announced that he will not take his oath of office on the Bible, but on the bible of Islam, the Koran. He should not be allowed to do so, not because of any American hostility to the Koran, but because the act undermines American civilization. First, it is an act of hubris that perfectly exemplifies multiculturalist activism, my culture trumps America's culture. What Ellison and his Muslim and leftist supporters are saying is that it is of no consequence what America holds as its holiest book; all that matters is what any individual holds to be his holiest book. Forgive me, but America should not give a hoot what Keith Ellison's favorite holy book is. Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is concerned, America is interested in only one book, the Bible. If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don't serve in Congress. In your personal life, we will fight for your right to prefer any other book. We will even fight for your right to publish cartoons mocking our Bible. But, Mr. Ellison, America, not you, decides on what book its public servants take their oath. Devotees of multiculturalism and political correctness who do not see how damaging to the fabric of American civilization it is to allow Ellison to choose his own book need only imagine a racist elected to Congress. Would they allow him to choose Hitler's "Mein Kampf," the Nazis' bible, for his oath? And if not, why not? On what grounds will those defending Ellison's right to choose his favorite book deny that same right to a racist who is elected to public office? Of course, Ellison's defenders argue that Ellison is merely being honest; since he believes in the Koran and not in the Bible, he should be allowed, even encouraged, to put his hand on the book he believes in. But for all of American history, Jews elected to public office have taken their oath on the Bible, even though they do not believe in the New Testament, and the many secular elected officials have not believed in the Old Testament either. Yet those secular officials did not demand to take their oaths of office on, say, the collected works of Voltaire or on a volume of New York Times editorials, writings far more significant to some liberal members of Congress than the Bible. Nor has one Mormon official demanded to put his hand on the Book of Mormon. And it is hard to imagine a scientologist being allowed to take his oath of office on a copy of "Dianetics" by L. Ron Hubbard. So why are we allowing Keith Ellison to do what no other member of Congress has ever done, choose his own most revered book for the oath of office? The answer is obvious, Ellison is a Muslim. And whoever decides these matters, not to mention virtually every editorial page in America, is not going to offend a Muslim. In fact, many of these people argue it will be a good thing because Muslims around the world will see what an open society America is and how much Americans honor Muslims and the Koran. This argument appeals to all those who believe that one of the greatest goals of America is to be loved by the world, and especially by Muslims because then fewer Muslims will hate us (and therefore fewer will bomb us). But these naive people do not appreciate that America will not change the attitude of a single American-hating Muslim by allowing Ellison to substitute the Koran for the Bible. In fact, the opposite is more likely: Ellison's doing so will embolden Islamic extremists and make new ones, as Islamists, rightly or wrongly, see the first sign of the realization of their greatest goal, the Islamicization of America. When all elected officials take their oaths of office with their hands on the very same book, they all affirm that some unifying value system underlies American civilization. If Keith Ellison is allowed to change that, he will be doing more damage to the unity of America and to the value system that has formed this country than the terrorists of 9-11. It is hard to believe that this is the legacy most Muslim Americans want to bequeath to America.

FOJ Note: The oath of allegiance to office is a solemn pledge. It is a vow that was created deliberately to enforce the principle that America was a Christian nation. To swear on the Holy Bible is to acknowledge the fact that the American government was founded on the principles of the Holy Bible, and that in office the officeholder will adhere to the Christian precepts of honor and duty beholden to accountability to the God of scripture. For this reason, and many others, the first Supreme Court Justice stated it is the duty of Americans to prefer and to elect honorable Christians to office! By tolerating the oath on the Koran, or any other book, America is blaspheming its God, and giving credence to the book (Koran) and the pretender-wanna-be god (Allah) that calls for the destruction of any Christian nation! Fundamentalist Muslims around the world are waving the Koran in the face of Christians and Jews as a method of intimidation. It is through the foolishness of political-correctness and the new religion of secular humanism that America is being intimidated by false gods.

Nov. 28….(AP) Jordan's King Abdullah II called for renewed efforts to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a speech Tuesday, a day before he meets President Bush, but he warned that his country would not accept a deal that causes an influx of Palestinians. In a speech to parliament, the King indicated that in his talks with Bush in Amman, he would underline the need for the United States to push for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, describing their dispute as the "core" issue of the Middle East. "Jordan will not accept an unjust settlement of the issue, nor will Jordan accept any settlement that comes at its expense," Abdullah told lawmakers, who applauded loudly. The king did not elaborate, but he was referring to Jordanian fears of a settlement that would cause thousands of Palestinians to settle in the kingdom, upsetting the country's delicate demographic balance. Roughly half of Jordan's 5.5 million population consists of Palestinian families who fled or were driven out of their homes in the 1948 and 1967 Arab-Israeli wars. "My government commits itself to offering all possible support to the Palestinians, so they can regain their rights and establish their independent state on Palestinian soil," the king said, outlining his domestic and foreign policies. He said the solution to the Palestinian conflict must be based on UN Security Council resolutions and existing peace agreements. President Bush arrives in Jordan on Wednesday for two days of talks with Abdullah and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. His talks are expected to focus on proposals to curb the sectarian strife in Iraq, but the King wants the United States to apply an equal amount of diplomatic energy to reviving the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which has been stalemated since 2000. The king has repeatedly warned that the Palestinian conflict is fueling anti-American and anti-Israeli sentiments among Muslims everywhere. It is also fueling Islamic militancy, such as that seen in Iraq, which lies across Jordan's eastern border. King Abdullah warned that the Middle East was on the threshold of three civil wars. "We could possibly imagine going into 2007 and having three civil wars on our hands," referring to the conflicts in Iraq, Lebanon and between the Palestinians and Israelis.

FOJ Note: Jordan occupied the now so-called “occupied territory” prior to the 1967 war on Israel that Jordan participated in with 4 other Arab countries. In fact, Jordan is a Palestinian State, and like other its neighbors, Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon refuses to accept Palestinian refugees from the West Bank. In fact, the Arabs insist upon Israel absorbing all the Palestinians. (Arafat’s infamous right-of-return clause that would in effect make Israel an Islamic nation) Jordan never face the UN agenda of creating a second Palestinian State on the West Bank, as is now the case being pressed against Israel.

Nov. 28….(WND) Christian leaders from across a wide spectrum of theologies and missions are rising up together to urge Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren to rescind an invitation to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama (and Presidential candidate) to speak from Warren's pulpit. The Illinois Democrat, an enthusiastic supporter of abortion, is scheduled to speak at a seminar Dec. 1 called, "We Must Work Together" at Warren's 30,000-member California church. The seminar is about coordinating efforts to address the AIDS crisis worldwide. "You cannot fight one evil while justifying another," a joint statement from dozens of leaders of Christian groups said in condemning Obama's support for abortion and Warren's support for Obama. "The evangelical church can provide no genuine help for those who suffer from AIDS if those involved do not first have their ethic of life firmly rooted in the Word of God," the group said. "Accordingly, we call on Pastor Rick Warren to rescind his invitation to Sen. Obama immediately. "The millions of silent victims who have died because of the policies of leaders like Sen. Obama demand a response from those who believe that life is a gift from God." It's the second round of criticism for Warren in just days. Warren has been under scrutiny because of his recent trip to Syria, where he described the government and its policies as "moderate" even though the US government describes Syria as "a terrorism-sponsoring state," and Mideast experts confirm it has punitive policies discriminating against Christians and Jews. The name of the Saddleback seminar at which Senator Obama will be appearing is entitled, 'We Must Work Together.' No, Mr. Warren, Mr. Obama, we will never work with those can support the murder of babies in the womb."

Nov. 28…(My Way) President Bush, although under immense pressure to change direction in Iraq, said today that he will not be persuaded by any calls to withdraw American troops before the country is stabilized. "There's one thing I'm not going to do, I'm not going to pull our troops off the battlefield before the mission is complete," he said in a speech setting the stage for high-stakes meetings with the Iraqi prime minister later this week. A bipartisan panel on Iraq is finalizing recommendations on Iraq. The group led by former Secretary of State James Baker III and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., plan to present ideas to Bush next month. The commissioners are expected to debate the feasibility of withdrawal timetables. Recent US elections added fuel to the argument from Democrats that US soldiers need to come home. But Bush has resisted that, even while projecting the need for a different approach. "We'll continue to be flexible and we'll make the changes necessary to succeed," the president said. Bush pushed back against skeptics of his goal of spreading freedom across the Middle East. "I understand these doubts but I do not share them," the president said. Earlier Tuesday, Bush blamed the escalating bloodshed in Iraq on an al-Qaida plot to stoke cycles of sectarian revenge, and refused to debate whether the country has fallen into civil war. Bush, dodging a direct answer of whether a civil war existed in Iraq, tied the three conflicts together in a different way. He said recent strife in Lebanon and the heated up Israeli-Palestinian dispute are, like Iraq, the result of extremists trying to choke off democratic progress. "There's a lot of sectarian violence taking place, fomented in my opinion because of these attacks by al-Qaida, causing people to seek reprisal."

President Bush said he will ask al-Maliki to explain his plan for quelling the violence. "The Maliki government is going to have to deal with that violence and we want to help them do so," the president said. "It's in our interest that Iraq succeed." Bush repeated his administration's reluctance to talk with two nations it regards as pariah states working to destabilize Iraq, and the whole Middle East. Iran, the top US rival in the region, has reached out to Iraq and Syria in recent days, an attempt viewed as a bid to assert its role as a powerbroker in Iraq. The president said Iraq is a sovereign nation, free to meet with its neighbors. "If that's what they think they ought to do, that's fine," he said. "One thing Iraq would like to see is for the Iranians to leave them alone." Iran's state-run television, however, quoted Iraqi President Jalal Talabani as saying "we are in dire need of Iran's help in establishing security and stability in Iraq." The comments came after Talabani met Monday with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran. Far from reaching out to Iran and Syria, Bush also denounced them for trying to destabilize the fragile, Western-backed government in Lebanon. "That government is being undermined, in my opinion, by extremist forces encouraged out of Syria and Iran," Bush said. "Why? Because a democracy there will be a major defeat for those who articulate extremist points of view."

Nov. 28….(AP) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad predicted that the United States, Britain and Israel will "collapse" in disgrace because of the war on terrorism in various Middle Eastern nations. Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly called for Israel's destruction, told a rally of supporters in Tehran that "the Zionist regime is on a steep downhill" decline. In a reference to the United States and Britain, the Iranian president said "the collapse and crumbling of your devilish rule has started." Iran, which is feverishly trying to develop nuclear power against US opposition, funds terrorist organizations throughout the region, including Hezbollah, which recently attacked Israel despite an apparent cease-fire agreement. Ahmadinejad called on Iran's neighboring nations to drive out "foreign occupiers" in Iraq and Afghanistan, telling his supporters that "the presence of foreigners is the source of discord and conflict" in the Middle East.

Nov. 28….(JNEWSWIRE) Israel, and only Israel, came under the gun of the United Nations Human Rights Council Monday, which voted for two resolutions criticizing the Jewish state. In the six months since its formation, this organ of the UN has voted exclusively against Israel. As far as it is concerned, no other nation on the planet is currently murdering, torturing or otherwise abusing the human rights of others. In Monday's votes Israel's 1981 annexation of the Golan Heights was ruled illegal. The fact that:

1. the Heights were part of the land promised to the Jews under the Balfour Declaration and by the League of Nations in San Remo

2. Syria used the Golan as a platform from which to murder Jewish farmers and other civilians in the Upper Galilee; and while Syria only occupied them for 19 years, the Heights have been under Israel for more than twice that length of time

All of this meant nothing to the council. In the second vote, the council decided that Israel should reverse its policy of building and expanding towns and villages for Jews in the heart of that nation's ancient homeland. Canada was the only participating state to vote against the resolutions.

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, meets with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, center, as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, left looks on during an official meeting in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2006. A photo of Iran's late leader Ayatollah Khomeini, hangs on the wall in the background.

Nov. 28….(YNET) Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday accused the United States of destabilizing Iraq through hired "terrorists" and former members of Saddam Hussein's regime. In a meeting with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Khamenei pledged that Iran would do all it can to use its influence among Iraq's Shiite Muslims to quell the violence, according to a state television report. "The main reason for the current situation in Iraq is America's policies," the television quoted Khamenei as telling Talabani, who is on the final day of a two-day visit. "Those (the Americans) who plotted against Iraq, and whose plans have not materialized, are intent on destabilizing the situation. Their agents on the ground are terrorists, the excommunicated and former Baathists," the television quoted Khamenei as saying. By "excommunicated," he appeared to be referring to the civil servants loyal to Saddam's Baath Party. The United States expelled Baathists from the government in the early days of its occupation of Iraq after Saddam was toppled. After his arrival in Tehran on Monday, Talabani said his government was in dire need of Iran's help to quell the escalating violence in Iraq. The United States has accused Iran of supplying money, weapons components and training to Shiite militia in neighboring Iraq. Iran has denied the charge, saying it has only political and religious links with Iraqi Shiites. Both Iran and Iraq are Shiite majority countries.

FOJ Note: This is a perfect example of the twisting of the truth. It is Iran that is destabilizing Iraq through terrorists.

Nov. 28….(WND) Megachurch pastor Rick Warren may have been unprepared for the Syrian media's propaganda using his name during his recent visit and he may have confused religious tolerance with religious freedom, but neither is an excuse for becoming "an enabler and defender of evil," according to experts on the Mideast and its persecution of non-Muslims. "Rick Warren can do us all a favor and keep his remarks and opinions to himself. When you don't stand up against and condemn evil, let alone say misrepresented facts about an evil regime, you become an enabler and defender of evil, plain and simple," Brigitte Gabriel told WND. Gabriel, a Lebanese-American who wrote "Because They Hate," and the founder of the American Congress for Truth, was responding to Warren's recorded statement about Syria that: "It's a moderate country, and the official government rule and position is to not allow any extremism of any kind."

Warren, the pastor of Saddleback Church and the author of the best-selling "The Purpose-Driven Life," told WND when the comment first was reported that he had been misquoted, and further, he wasn't a diplomat and probably wasn't fully prepared for a situation in which he was used for propaganda. But a video posted on YouTube showed Warren making the statement, and when WND linked to it, it suddenly disappeared. Larry Ross, who acts as a spokesman for the church, told WND the video showing Warren making the statement was removed because Warren had heard there were "reports" about his Syrian visit, but not necessarily the reports from WND. The Warren YouTube postings had been ongoing as kind of a travelogue to his congregation, Ross said. But when Warren arrived in Rwanda from Damascus and found out there were concerns about his activities in Syria, he suggested that no video from Syria be posted. "Let's not post one for Syria until we see where we're at," Warren had said, according to Ross. But it already had been put up, so it was pulled down, only a few hours after it was put up, Ross said. "It was in the context of reports that they'd heard about, not specifically yours (WND's)," he said. "It was obviously with the understanding or the awareness that there were some reports about the trip to Syria." But before it was removed, Bruce Delay, a talk-show host at KFAQ 1170 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, downloaded the audio portion of Warren's comments, and Warren can be heard making those very statements. Syria is anything but neutral on the international issues involving differences between Muslim, Jew and Christian. The US Congressional Research Service forwarded to the US State Department earlier this year a massive report documenting that many believe it was Syria's decision to resupply Hezbollah with missiles and other materials that allowed Hezbollah to wage war with Israel over the summer. That same report noted that Syria, which has not signed the Chemical Weapons Convention, has acquired an arsenal of chemical weapons and surface-to-surface missiles, as well as research centers for conducting work on biological weapons "and may be interested in a nuclear weapons capability." Nerve agents such as sarin already are stockpiled and scientists may be working on the more deadly VX, said the report. Syria also has been listed, since 1979, on the list of nations considered by the US to be sponsoring terrorism, and while its direct credit for individual terrorism acts has been limited in recent years, "Syria has continued to provide political and material support for Palestinian groups that have committed terrorist acts, and allows them to maintain offices in Damascus," the report said. "Rick Warren's comments about Syria are an insult and a slap on the face to every Christian who ever lived under that regime or suffered from Syria's evil dictatorship not only in Syria but also the Christian Lebanese," said Brigitte Gabriel.

"Rick Warren needs to speak to some of the Christians who fled Syria because of the oppression of the Syrian regime and are now here in America. They can tell him about the Syrian troops storming their Christian schools when they were children and burning the schools because they were Christians. They can tell him about fearing for their lives, controlling their tongues, living with humiliation and trying to get out of the country in any way possible." She said it's actually the fortunate and well-to-do who are able to leave Syria; others must stay. "They do not have any weapons to protect themselves with, they are outnumbered by the oppressing Islamic majority and are under the mercy of radical tyrants who will not think twice about killing people for any reason at any time," she said. Further, it was under Syrian control and protection that Muslims in Lebanon went on a killing spree against Christians, said Gabriel, who was 10 and living in Lebanon in 1975 when militant Muslims poured into her country and declared jihad against Lebanese Christians. "To call Syria a moderate peaceful country where Christians and Jews live peacefully protected by the regime is nothing more than a statement of his ignorance, lack of intelligence and lack of grasp and understanding of the Middle East conflict. There are Christians in Syrian prisons now whose families do not know anything about them or if they are still alive or dead. According to SANA, Warren, who met with various religious and political leaders in Syria including President Bashar al-Assad, had "hailed the religious coexistence, tolerance and stability that the Syrian society is enjoying due to the wise leadership of President al-Assad, asserting that he will convey the true image about Syria to the American people." The reports also quoted Warren saying about four in five Americans reject the US policies and actions in Iraq.

Russia Insists on Defending Iranian Nukes

Nov. 28….(Ha'aretz) Russia is determined to help defend Iran's pursuit of nuclear know-how by continuing its supplying of top-of-the-range anti-aircraft defense systems to the regime in Tehran. Delivery of 29 high-lethality Tor-M1 mobile systems to the regime of Holocaust-threatening Mahmoud Ahmadinejad began this month, as America and the United States continued to explore ways to neutralize the burgeoning Iranian threat. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov at the weekend defended the Putin government's decision to proceed with the weapons' sale. Utilizing Russian double-speak, Ivanov insisted that the eight-missile Tor-M1 units, capable of tracking 48 targets and engaging two of them simultaneously at medium to very low altitudes, is merely a "defensive weapon." What these missiles are being sold to Iran to defend, however, is the construction of weapons of mass destruction whose purpose, as openly expressed by the Iranian leadership, is anything but defensive. Ahmadinejad has repeatedly vowed that Iran will wipe Israel of the face of the map. The Russian-Iranian alliance is growing stronger in the face of the toothless western attempts to stop Tehran. In February the two countries signed a nuclear deal that helped accelerate the Iranian race to acquire atom bombs for Allah.

FOJ Note: Russia is busy doing exactly what the prophet Ezekiel revealed that Russia would do in the Last Days. Ezekiel 38:7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.

Purpose-Driven Warren’s Lack of Good Sense & Consequences of Compromising the Word of God

Nov. 27….(Bill Wilson, KIN) Saddleback Church pastor and author of The Purpose-Driven Life, Rick Warren, learned a hard lesson about how compromising the Word of God has harsh consequences. Warren went to Syria trying to build bridges for peace as part of his international PEACE Plan ministry. According to the Syrian media, he said that 80 percent of Americans reject the US administration's policies in Iraq and the Middle East; he hailed Syria as an example of how Christians and Muslims live together in tolerance and peace; and he said he would bring the true story of Syria to the American people. Now Warren is saying he was misquoted and used and that he is a pastor, not a diplomat. He is also undiscerning and unwise. There is a group of people out there who believe, bless their hearts, that if they just bring the Word of God to the world, there would be peace on earth, God's kingdom would be established and all will be well with the world. That's why many a deceived Christian is signing on with the "green agenda" to stop the concept of global warming, others want to dedicate all their political muscle to bring world peace, and still others back the United Nations' mission to end global poverty. They are the same Christians who want to show those who hate Christianity that Christians aren't so bad, in the hope of finding common ground. Noble thoughts all, but this naïve neo-Christian belief not only compromises the Word of God, it is unscriptural. Blessed are the peacemakers, yes, but the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 6:14, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness and what communion has light with darkness?" In every case where Christians try to strike common ground with God's enemies to show them they should know God because Christians are good, God's word will be compromised unless those who do not have the Light of God fully accept Him. Accepting the premise of global warming is accepting the agenda of the communists and socialists, who deny God. Bringing world peace is also the mantra of communists and socialists, who deny God. Communists and socialists want to end world poverty. But they want to do it by creating a secular humanist-based utopian world. We know through the prophets and the book of Revelation that Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, is the only one who can bring peace; He is the only one who will create a new heaven and earth (a totally revitalized and clean environment) and end poverty. There is a fine line between evangelizing and compromising, and much of the Church today is compromising. Perspective: Many an unsuspecting Christian can be deceived by the secular humanists into supporting an agenda here and there. But some things are obvious: Terrorists want to destroy Jews and Christians, which is denying God. Hence, giving them publicity, trying to work with them on common ground, allowing them to use a Christian's credibility to advance their cause, is also denying God because, at that point, it is the Christian doing the compromising. We are supposed to evangelize the world, not work shoulder to shoulder with the unsaved in order to show them that Christians are good people. Whenever Christians enter into fellowship with darkness, it will be the light that is compromised. Christians, here's a clear warning: Abandon the agenda of finding common ground. Instead, open your mouths boldly to proclaim the mystery of the Gospel.

Nov. 27….(DEBKA) Hamas was quick to pick up on the new tune emanating from Washington. Its leaders and Mahmoud Abbas declared a hurried ceasefire Sunday to take advantage of the US president’s willingness to broaden his Amman talks from his planned meetings with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki to an effort to convene an international conference on the Palestinian issue. Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert accepted the ceasefire against military advice to capture high ground. King Abdullah chipped in by saying that Palestine “is the core” of all Middle East violence. No seasoned observer expects the truce to last, but it shows that there is a new wind blowing on the diplomatic front, and it involves Iraq and Palestine.

(How Iraq and Palestinian Issues Came to Be Twinned in Revised Bush Strategy on Iraq)

One of the most pressing pieces of business the US president George W. Bush must tackle in Amman later this week is the demand for an international conference on Iraq which must be dominated by a built-in agenda on the Palestinian-Israeli dispute. Palestinian leaders, picking up the new tones in Washington, decided to cash in by announcing the cessation of Hamas’ Qassam missile attacks on Israeli civilian locations, starting Sunday, Nov. 26. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, loath to relinquish the high diplomatic ground to the Palestinians, promised Monday that after the kidnapped Israeli soldier is released, Israel will free many jailed Palestinians, including long term prisoners, as a confidence-building gesture to prove Israel seeks peace. As soon as a Palestinian unity government is formed, Olmert said, immediate negotiations could start with Mahmoud Abbas on the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state. He allowed the evacuation of some West Bank settlements was possible in return for real peace and Palestinian renunciation of the return of 1948 Palestinian refugees. If such talks are successful, Olmert promised to release frozen Palestinian funds. Earlier, Ehud Olmert quickly accepted the Palestinian ceasefire, against the advice of the Israeli military. He ordered the curtailment of an effective IDF anti-missile operation and a complete troop withdrawal from the northern Gaza Strip. This left non-Hamas armed factions free to continue firing and arming while Israeli troops were ordered not to interfere. Since Sunday, every Palestinian and Israeli verbal pronouncement has been attuned to the wavelengths of Bush and his secretary of state Condoleezza Rice. She will join him in Amman and lead the effort to bring Israeli and Palestinian leaders together. Her mission will be to extract results from these encounters for tempting Arab rulers to lend the United States a helping hand on the Iraq crisis. The brain behind this new strategy belongs to Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser to three Republican presidents, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and George Bush Sr. He is emerging as the live wire behind the latest US foreign policy departures and the pivotal figure behind the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group. This panel, which submits its final report to Congress on Dec. 10, recommends an international conference on Iraq attended by leaders from Europe, Russia, the Middle East, the Persian Gulf and the main Muslim nations. According to DEBKA’s Washington sources, such a conference would spend more time on the Palestinian-Israeli issue than on Iraq. The group’s leaders predict that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and other Arab participants will demand “progress on the Israel-Palestinian track” before letting the conference get down to brass tacks on Iraq. To lay the groundwork, therefore, Washington will have to give the international community free rein to squeeze Israel for far-reaching concessions to the Palestinians, and not only the Palestinians, if Syria is to be engaged. This would require a diametric reversal of George Bush’s previous warm attitude towards “our friend and ally” Israel, possibly even a reversion to the iciness directed against the Shamir government in the early 1990s by the elder Bush, whom James Baker served as secretary of state and Scowcroft as national security adviser. Earlier this month, Scowcroft, as chairman of the American-Turkish Friendship League, visited Ankara for an appeal to Turkish leaders to persuade the Syrian ruler Bashar Asad to cooperate on Iraq. His mindset was revealed in an interview he gave the Turkish Daily News of Nov. 9, 2006: “I think we need to embed Iraq in a larger regional solution, and that to me goes back to the Palestinian issue. I think this would put us back on the offensive psychologically and even make Iraq easier to manage.” Scowcroft then linked this viewpoint to the notion of an international conference, saying: “I believe the Arab states in the region are eager for such a conversation. Israel may not be eager, but Israel is in bad shape right now.” Scowcroft was therefore the first American strategic thinker to say out loud what DEBKAfile has been reporting since early August, that George Bush and his key advisers have diagnosed Israel as coming out of the Lebanon War weakened and with its strategic situation impaired. The cards in Washington are therefore stacked against Israel these days. An unfortunate combination has emerged of a president who regards the Jewish state as strategically weak and a brace of key US advisers on the administration’s new Iraqi policy who are drawn from the most anti-Israeli US administrations of the past.

Nov. 27….(YNET) In a dramatic speech Monday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made an appeal to the Palestinians, urging them to choose a 'new path,' a path of negotiations with Israel. The government met on Sunday at Kibbutz Sde Boker to commemorate the passing away of Israel's founder and first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion 33 years ago.

Olmert, who until recently called for a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from West Bank territories, or “realignment” as he referred to it, said, "I call on you from here today to choose a new path, a path that gives a chance to a different future for you and for us. Yesterday we went down that path and I hope it will push us forward towards the goal that we want to reach, peace, calm and trust in one another." Olmert said Israel will be ready to evacuate occupied lands and settlements in return for "real peace." "You have to stop violence and terror, to recognize our right to live in peace and security by your side and to give up the right of return. If you show the needed determination and discipline you will find us ready. Please don't face us with another test that would cause destruction and thousands of victims and will lead to crisis and despair," he said, addressing the Palestinians. The prime minister evoked Ben-Gurion who said Israel would have to give up most of the territories occupied during the Six-Day War in return for peace. "Ben-Gurion extended a hand in peace to Arab states the year Israel was born. The hand then returned empty, but like then, the hand remains extended. I extend my hand in peace to our Palestinian neighbors in the hope that it won't return empty," Olmert said that if a new Palestinian Authority government accepts the Quartet's conditions fore legitimacy, implement the road map and release Cpl. Gilad Shalit, he would suggest a meeting with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to conduct a "true, open and serious" dialogue between us. Olmert said that within this framework, and in line with the road map, the Palestinians could establish an independent, viable state with contiguous territory in the West Bank, and have full sovereignty over recognized borders. He said that within this framework Israel's borders would be established that "would be different from the territory which is now under Israel's control." According to Olmert, he understood the importance of the release of Palestinian prisoners to the Palestinians, said that with the release of Shalit "Israel would be willing to release many Palestinian prisoners, including those who were sentenced to long prison terms, in order to increase the confidence between us and prove that our hand is outstretched in true peace." He stressed that if the Palestinians responded, Israel would significantly reduce the roadblocks, increase freedom of movement, open and improve border crossings for goods and merchandise, and release Palestinian tax revenues held in Israel since Hamas's victory in last January's elections.

Nov. 27….(The Daily Telegraph) Vatican officials announced Sunday that Pope Benedict plans to become just the second pope to enter a mosque when he visits Turkey Tuesday. In order to be permitted into an Islamic place of worship the pontiff, who has been trying to placate Muslim rage he triggered last September, will have to remove his shoes in deference to the anti-Christian and anti-Jewish religion and its Allah. Analysts in the Vatican said the purpose of the mosque visit would be to try and build bridges between "Christians" and Muslims. But the announcement did nothing to placate the fury or encourage tolerance from tens of thousands of Muslims who rallied in Istanbul Sunday to protest against the pope's arrival. The mob's message to the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics was vividly spelled out on a large banner above the crowd. It was an attack on the very heart of the Christian faith and read: "Jesus is not the son of God. He is a prophet of Mohammed." In Islamic parlance "God" means "Allah" so the protestors were half right. However, the orthodox Jewish Rabbi from Nazareth Muslims repeatedly delight in defaming lived long before Mohammed and, in fact, warned His followers to be on the alert against false prophets like one who founded Islam. Instead of shunning this religion, Pope Benedict appears poised to embrace its followers in order to "build bridges" between the Vatican and the Muslim world.

Iran & Syria May Help US in Iraq, For A Price

Nov. 26….(Jerusalem Post) As the US debates whether to reach out to Syria for help in calming Iraq, some close to the Syrian regime said Sunday the country would be willing to help, but only if it got something valuable in return. Damascus certainly has been interested in political dialogue with the West and wants talks with Washington, many have said. But the regime of President Bashar Assad wants, in return, help on certain issues, such as a return of the Golan Heights, which Israel captured in the 1967 war. The regime itself has stayed tightlipped, refusing to say what it envisions but expressing willingness to help with Iraq and broader peace deals. Earlier Sunday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proposed that he would help the United States calm Iraq if Washington changes what he described as its "bullying" policy toward Iran. "We are ready to help you, Ahmadinejad declared while addressing a group of members of the Basij paramilitary group, affiliated to the elite Revolutionary Guard. But Iran's firebrand president took the US to task, questioning its motives for invading Iraq. "You went to Iraq to topple Saddam and find weapons of mass destruction, but it was clear to us that you came in order to dominate the region and its oil." Ahmadinejad said that the US and Britain are paying for the instability and violence in Iraq. "You have been trapped in a quagmire and locked in your place with nowhere to go." "The Iranian nation is ready to help you to get out of the quagmire, on condition that you resume behaving in a just manner and leave Iraq," he added. "Then, nations of the region, headed by the Iranian nation, will be ready to show you the path of salvation," Ahmadinejad said. "It is the time for the leaders of the US and U.K to listen. You have reached a dead end in our region as well as in the world." President George Bush is scheduled to meet Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki when he visits Jordan Wednesday and Thursday. His trip follows Vice President Dick Cheney's brief stop Saturday in Saudi Arabia, another of Iraq's neighbors, to confer with its leader on regional issues. The unusual succession of trips appears to reflect US determination to rally allies at a time when Washington is considering overhauling its Iraq policy. Since the Democratic victory in US midterm elections, the Bush administration has been under increased pressure at home to approach Iran and Syria for help in Iraq. Such a measure is believed to be one of the recommendations by a panel on Iraq led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani was scheduled to visit Teheran on Saturday. But on Friday, he had to postpone his trip until Baghdad's airport, closed in a security clampdown after the violence reopens. Iran is believed to back Iraqi Shi'ite militias blamed in sectarian killings that have killed thousands this year.

Nov. 24….(Brietbart) Russia has begun delivery of Tor-M1 air defense missile systems to Iran, a Defense Ministry official said Friday, confirming that Moscow would proceed with arms deals with Teheran in spite of US criticism. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue, declined to specify when the deliveries had been made and how many systems had been delivered. Ministry officials have previously said Moscow would supply 29 of the sophisticated missile systems to Iran under a $700 million contract signed in December, according to Russian media reports. The United States called on all countries last spring to stop all arms exports to Iran, as well as ending all nuclear cooperation with it to put pressure on Tehran to halt uranium enrichment activities. Israel, too, has severely criticized arms deals with Iran. Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but the United States and its allies suspect Iran is trying to develop weapons. The UN Security Council, where Russia is a veto-wielding permanent member, is currently stalemated on the severity of sanctions on Iran for defying its demand to cease enrichment. The Tor-M1 deal, involving conventional weapons, does not violate any international agreements. Russian officials say the missiles are purely defensive weapons with a limited range. According to the Interfax news agency, the Tor-M1 system can identify up to 48 targets and fire at two targets simultaneously at a height of up to 20,000 feet. Russian media have reported previously that Moscow had conducted talks on selling even more powerful long-range S-300 air defense missiles, but Russian officials have denied that.

Nov. 24….(Hal Lindsay) Thanksgiving tradition says that the first day of Thanksgiving was when the Pilgrims came together to give thanks to God for the bountiful harvest of 1621. The colonists, according to tradition, celebrated with a Thanksgiving feast, also attended by 91 Indians who helped them through their first year. Two years later, the colonists gathered during a severe drought to pray for rain. When it rained the very next day, Gov. William Bradford called for another day of Thanksgiving. Thereafter, there were numerous calls for national days of Thanksgiving. Following our miraculous victory in the Revolutionary War, George Washington proclaimed the first national day of Thanksgiving in 1789. It wasn't until 1863 that President Lincoln officially designated the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving. It took almost a hundred more years before Thanksgiving was declared a national holiday by an Act of Congress in 1941. Sixty-five years later, the holiday remains a reminder of America's rich and undeniable Christian heritage, even though the One to whom the holiday is dedicated is now legally persona non grata at the celebration. To most Americans, Thanksgiving Day is "Turkey Day" and Thanksgiving celebrations are more about football, parades and huge family feasts than they are about reflecting on the blessings extended America by the protective Hand of a sovereign God. Sadly, one can almost chart the gradual withdrawal of that protective Hand as America's Thanksgiving celebration revolves more around the turkey dinner than the Creator that spoke it into existence. This year, as I reflect on our remaining blessings, I mourn those blessings that are systematically being withdrawn by a God-hating few in this country. Writing of the declining social morality of the last days, the Apostle Paul wrote what could have been a critique on the United Nations, saying: "Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless." (Romans 1:28-31 NIV) And Paul could just as easily have been describing the US Congress when he wrote the following warning to Timothy: "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. (The KJV renders it 'perilous times') People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without natural affection, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them." (2 Timothy 3:1-5) America's domestic tranquility is being severely tested. America's international standing has never been lower. Enemies beset us on all sides. Our continued survival as a nation is in greater doubt than at any time in our country's history. We are facing nuclear threats on several fronts, and our government is divided over whether or not we are truly at war. Even more perilous, we don't even know with whom we are at war. Jesus may not set Foot in the White House, but Allah has an open-door policy. The present false separation of church and state issues keep the only true God at arm's length, even as we ignorantly celebrate the day our forefathers drew aside to give him thanks. It is an outrage that these same "issues" don't present any barriers to Ramadan being celebrated at the White House while the president proclaims Islam a "legitimate global religion based on peace and love." As for me, I give thanks that God has not yet completely closed the window of blessing on America and unleashed His Judgment on it. We remain the most prosperous and healthy nation on earth. We still enjoy greater freedoms than any other nation, and, despite the concerted efforts of the leftists in the media and government, America still has a Christian majority, even though the major