Israel

Iran’s Got a Nuke?

No, supposedly not.

Iran said to have enough nuclear fuel for one weapon

Iran has now produced roughly enough nuclear material to make, with added purification, a single atom bomb, according to nuclear experts analyzing the latest report from global atomic inspectors.

The figures detailing Iran’s progress were contained in a routine update on Wednesday from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has been conducting inspections of the country’s main nuclear plant at Natanz. The report concluded that as of early this month, Iran had made 630 kilograms, or about 1,390 pounds, of low-enriched uranium.

Need a little more reassurance? Read it all

Pray for the Peace…

…of Jerusalem.

Barack Obama links Israel peace plan to 1967 borders deal

Barack Obama is to pursue an ambitious peace plan in the Middle East involving the recognition of Israel by the Arab world in exchange for its withdrawal to pre-1967 borders, according to sources close to America’s president-elect.

Obama intends to throw his support behind a 2002 Saudi peace initiative endorsed by the Arab League and backed by Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister and leader of the ruling Kadima party.

The proposal gives Israel an effective veto on the return of Arab refugees expelled in 1948 while requiring it to restore the Golan Heights to Syria and allow the Palestinians to establish a state capital in east Jerusalem.

Bad (though not surprising) news.

Congratulations, Mr. Obama

God has chosen to elevate you as President-elect of the United States of America, just as He chose to elevate Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan, Carter, Ford, and Nixon before you. (And many others, of course.)

May God be exalted in your administration. And in this country as a result of your administration.

May He keep you and your family.

And may God’s people find in Him the grace and renewal they need for the dim times in which we find ourselves…and for the darkening times which hover on the horizon.

Meanwhile, in other news, Israel launches first airstrike on Gaza since June. I wonder if this portends the trend in the Middle East over the next two months, as the Israelis prepare for President Bush’s departure from office.

Oh, and I’m glad I can not expect Mr. McCain’s disappointed legions to resort to riots and street battles and violent protests.

Never Mind the Stories

I didn’t read them.

But I did read these headlines “above the fold” at Drudge:

And this one at Rosenberg’s blog:

Oh, and does www.mediasplatters.com stand for Media Splatters or Media’s Platters?

Just Say “No”

It’s too early for this:

“We’ll take three dozen. Min faDlak?”.

The Iraqi government is seeking to buy 36 advanced F-16 fighters from the U.S., American military officials familiar with the request told the Wall Street Journal.

This move could help Iraq reduce its reliance on U.S. air power and potentially allow more American forces to withdraw from the country than had been proposed.

[…]

Iraq now appears determined to significantly expand the air power of its military, which has become more competent and confident in recent months but depends heavily on the U.S. for air support.

Iraq quickly has become one of the biggest weapons buyers in the world as it seeks to strengthen and professionalise its fighting force.

Iraq still needs to prove it’s on the side of the Americans if they wish to purchase offensive armaments from the Americans.

Maybe these particular F-16s could have a 50-gallon fuel tank and CB radios. 😆

Israel should be able to sleep at night without wondering when those F-16s will come on an aggressive visit.

Maybe these particular F-16s could have remote control manual overrides…with the remote controls in the hands of loyal Israelis in Israeli bunkers. 😆

Besides, if Iraq can afford such weaponry, they should first pay their liberators for services rendered.

And provide a bunch of free oil. A huge bunch, in fact.

And do for wounded liberators and the families of killed liberators what Saddam Hussein used to do for the families of Palestinian homicide bombers.

Oh, and ship that Sadr guy to Gitmo.

Just a few random thoughts. 🙄

Seriously, though, I think providing these aircraft any time soon will haunt the US later.

If they need such aircraft for national defense (which I’m sure they do), let them make the US Air Force a lucrative offer in exchange for on-going American air protection, insisting that the huge air bases included in the deal be named after President Bush and Vice President Chenney.

And Rumsfeld.

And Rove.

Ooooops! Somewhere in there I quit being serious again. 🙁

Russia vs Georgia

And it’s not at the Olympics:

Russia seizes South Ossetia

Russian troops backed by tanks and fighter jets seized control of South Ossetia on Sunday as fears grew of a wider conflict with Georgia over the separatist region.

Georgia said it had withdrawn most of its troops from South Ossetia in the face of a build-up in Russian firepower and that it had lost control of the near-destroyed regional capital, Tskhinvali.

[…]

“We’re being driven away. The place was in flames and we couldn’t stay,” Pavlik, an elderly man travelling by foot, told AFP as he fled from the conflict zone.

[…]

Russia backs the separatist government in South Ossetia and sent in tanks and troops on Friday in response to pro-Western Georgia’s military offensive to take back the province which broke away in the early 1990s after a separatist war.

[…]

“We have left practically all of South Ossetia as an expression of goodwill and our willingness to stop military confrontation,” Georgian National Security Council Secretary Alexander Lomaia told AFP.

[…]

The movement of Russia’s naval fleet from their base in Ukraine to positions near Georgia also threatened to destabilise the region.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry threatened to prevent the warships from returning to their base in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol.

[…]

Georgia’s army of less than 25,000 men is confronting a Russian force which can count on more than one million troops and has dominance of both skies and sea.

On the diplomatic front, a meeting of the UN Security Council on Saturday failed to agree on a call for an immediate ceasefire.

Russia on the move. Imagine that.

Georgia may be an ally of the US. But the US is rather occupied elsewhere these days.

Next thing you know, we’ll hear Iran moved against Israel. And China against Taiwan. And North Korea against the South. And Iran against the US.

Or something.

Wars and rumors of wars, you know.

You can run, but you can’t hide.

So face it.

Well, anyway. What shall we Christians in America do?

Target: Samir Kuntar

Samir Kuntar

Sure, this fellow is a target of various Israeli forces.

But I have him in mind as a prayer target.

Is this the kind of person Christians should pray for?

Kuntar was serving multiple life sentences in an Israeli prison for murdering three Israelis, including smashing to death a 4-year-old girl with the butt of his rifle.

Among his yet-living victims who make good prayer targets: the mother to the above girl.

Smadar Haran Kaiser

As I lay there, I remembered my mother telling me how she had hidden from the Nazis during the Holocaust. "This is just like what happened to my mother," I thought.
Above all, love God!