Watchman Newsletter

Haiti declares search-and-rescue phase over

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - Yaakov Katz (January 23, 2010)

IDF Home Front Command teams rescued a 22-year-old man from a building near the Presidential Palace in Port-au-Prince on Friday, nearly 10 days after a devastating earthquake rocked Haiti.

International search teams have rescued 132 people since the 7.0-magnitude quake on January 12, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

Haiti’s government has confirmed 111,481 deaths and has also counted some 609,000 people without shelter in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. On Saturday night, French rescue workers also located a man in a vegetable store who had been trapped since the quake.

The man saved by the IDF, Emmannuel Buso, was in stable condition, and was being treated at the IDF field hospital. Buso said that he survived 10 days under the rubble by drinking his own urine and spent most of his time in a listless daze, at times dreaming of his mother and thinking that he had in fact died. “I am here today because God wants it,” he said.

Netanyahu: Israel has no plans to attack Lebanon

Haaretz (Link) - Barak Ravid (January 23, 2010)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Saturday that Israel has no intention of carrying out an offensive against Lebanon, speaking hours after a minister in his cabinet said that a military conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah was “inevitable.”

“The State of Israel is not looking for any kind of confrontation with Lebanon,” Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office, adding, “Israel seeks peace with all of its neighbors.”

Minister without portfolio Yossi Peled said earlier Saturday that “we can’t sleep easy” in regard to Israel’s shared border with Lebanon. He emphasized that “we’re in for another round in the north, but I don’t know when,” with the first round being the 34 days of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah during the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006.

“Israel’s main goal is to ensure the posterity of the Jewish state,” Peled said.

Speaking at a cultural function in the southern city of Be’er Sheva, the Likud minister said that “If a conflict does erupt in the North we will hold both Lebanon and Syria responsible.”

Hezbollah’s relocation of rocket sites to Lebanon’s interior poses wider threat

The Washington Post (Link) - Howard Schneider (January 23, 2010)

Hezbollah has dispersed its long-range-rocket sites deep into northern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, a move that analysts say threatens to broaden any future conflict between the Islamist movement and Israel into a war between the two countries.

More than 10,000 U.N. troops now patrol traditional Hezbollah territory in southern Lebanon along the Israeli border, and several thousand Lebanese armed forces personnel also have moved into the area. A cross-border raid by Hezbollah guerrillas in summer 2006 triggered a month-long war that prompted the United Nations to deploy its force as part of a cease-fire.

The United Nations is confident that the dense presence of its troops in the comparatively small area is helping lower the risk of conflict and minimizing Hezbollah’s ability to move weapons across southern Lebanon, but analysts in Lebanon and Israel say the U.N. mission is almost beside the point.

Hezbollah’s redeployment and rearmament indicate that its next clash with Israel is unlikely to focus on the border, instead moving farther into Lebanon and challenging both the military and the government. The situation is important for U.S. efforts in the region, whether aimed at curbing the influence of Hezbollah’s patrons in Iran or at persuading Syria to moderate its stance toward Israel and its neighbors.

Veteran Spanish Diplomat Receives His Country’s Highest Honor

Latin American Herald Tribune (Link) (January 22, 2010)

King Juan Carlos has conferred the Order of the Golden Fleece, Spain’s highest honor, on Javier Solana, a former NATO chief and top foreign policy representative for the European Union, a spokesman for the royal palace said Thursday.

Also receiving the distinction was the director of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language, Victor Garcia de la Concha.

Solana, who was NATO secretary-general from 1995-1999 before serving for a decade as the EU foreign policy chief, was recognized for his work on behalf of Spain and Europe.

‘Hamas accepts Israel’s right to exist’

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - Khaled Abu Toameh (January 21, 2010)

Hamas has accepted Israel’s right to exist and would be prepared to nullify its charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel, Aziz Dwaik, Hamas’s most senior representative in the West Bank, said on Wednesday.

Dwaik’s remarks are seen in the context of Hamas’s attempts to win recognition from the international community.

Dwaik is the elected speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council. He was released a few months ago after spending nearly three years in an Israeli prison.

Dwaik was among dozens of Hamas officials and members who were rounded up by Israel following the abduction of IDF soldier St.-Sgt. Gilad Schalit near the Gaza Strip in June 2006.

His latest remarks were made during a meeting he held in Hebron with British millionaire David Martin Abrahams, who maintains close ties with senior Israeli and British government officials.

Democrats Propose $1.9T Increase in Debt Limit

ABC News (Link) - AP - Andrew Taylor (January 20, 2010)

Senate Democrats on Wednesday proposed allowing the federal government to borrow an additional $1.9 trillion to pay its bills, a record increase that would permit the national debt to reach $14.3 trillion.

The unpopular legislation is needed to allow the federal government to issue bonds to fund programs and prevent a first-time default on obligations. It promises to be a challenging debate for Democrats, who, as the party in power, hold the responsibility for passing the legislation.

It’s hardly the debate Democrats want or need in the wake of Sen.-elect Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts. Arguing over the debt limit provides a forum for Republicans to blame Democrats for rising deficits and spiraling debt, even though responsibility for the government’s financial straits can be shared by both political parties.

The measure came to the floor under rules requiring 60 votes to pass. That’s an unprecedented step that could mean that every Democrat, no matter how politically endangered, may have to vote for it next week before Brown takes office and Democrats lose their 60-vote majority.

‘Iran ordered attack on Israeli convoy’

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - Amir Mizroch & Yaakov Katz (January 19, 2010)

Last week’s failed attempt on the lives of Israeli diplomats in Jordan was apparently carried out on instructions from Teheran, sources close to Jordan’s General Intelligence Department (GID) revealed on Monday.

The sources said the GID was investigating the possibility that the explosives used in the attack had been smuggled into the kingdom by Iranian diplomats.

The attack itself was apparently carried out by local al-Qaida supporters who received money and explosives from Iran, the sources said.

On Monday, Al-Arabiya reported that an Amman taxi driver was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the bombing.

According to the sources, the GID believes that the attack came in response to the killing of Iranian scientist Prof. Massoud Ali Muhammadi in Teheran last week. Ali Muhammadi was killed by a remote-controlled bomb on a motorcycle.

Inscription From King David’s Time Deciphered

Koinonia House (Link) - Chuck Missler (January 19, 2010)

More than one university professor has cast doubt on the existence of King David and the ancient Kingdom of Israel. Academics are prone to say David was the Jewish equivalent of King Arthur, the stuff of myths and legends. Once again, archeology is proving these doubts wrong. An inscription on a pottery shard found near the valley where David slew Goliath offers evidence that the books of the Old Testament are much older than academics previously thought, and scribes certainly could have been recording the lives of David and his sons 3000 years ago.

An inscription on a pottery shard dating to the 10th century BC has been declared to be in Hebrew. Not only does the ancient language on the shard use certain words specific to Hebrew, but the inscription speaks about taking care of the weaker people in society - widows, orphans and strangers - and calls for the king to get involved. Other Middle East cultures of the time did not promote the protection of the weak; these were ideas unique to the Old Testament and the Hebrew culture.

Professor Gershon Galil of the Department of Biblical Studies at the University of Haifa, who deciphered the inscription, argues that this pottery shard offers evidence that the Kingdom of Israel was indeed in existence in the 10th century BC (the time of David), had a king, and had people capable of writing down histories. It therefore gives evidence to something some of us have never stopped believing, that the Scriptures are as old as they claim to be, despite what modern day scholastics may think.

“It can now be maintained that it was highly reasonable that during the 10th century BCE, during the reign of King David, there were scribes in Israel who were able to write literary texts and complex historiographies such as the books of Judges and Samuel,” Galil said.

MI Chief: Israel’s success battling terror has turned world against us

Haaretz (Link) - Jonathan Lis (January 19, 2010)

Military Intelligence Chief Amos Yadlin said Tuesday that Israel’s success against Palestinian terror has turned the international community against both the state and its activities.

“The Palestinian Authority is encouraging the international arena to challenge Israel’s legitimacy and its activities,” Yadlin told members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

“The paradox of the current situation is that one of the primary sources that has led to the discussion on Israel’s legitimacy is precisely its success against terror,” Yadlin said.

The fact that Israel is no longer suffering from terror or from an immediate military threat has made it easier for the international community to accept claims against Israel’s security activities,” he added.

Yadlin also said that the Palestinian Authority’s struggle against Hamas in the West Bank stems from its internal security needs and not from “a love of Israel.”

“They don’t want to find themselves in the same situation that Fatah did in Gaza,” Yadlin said.

Israeli Intel: Hamas Has Amassed 5,000 Rockets Since 2009 War

World Tribune (Link) (January 18, 2010)

Israel’s intelligence community has determined that Hamas was developing a capability to fire rocket salvos.

The sources said Hamas, with increased help from Iran and Hizbullah, was seeking to enhance the accuracy of Palestinian unguided missiles and rockets as well as connect batteries to a command and control system, Middle East Newsline reported. They said Hamas has accumulated more than 5,000 missiles and rockets in the aftermath of the 2009 war with Israel.

In 2009, Hamas tested its first rocket with a range of 60 kilometers, the sources said. They said Hamas has acquired at least 50 Iranian-origin Fajr-3 rockets, modified to contain a range of up to 80 kilometers, sufficient to strike Tel Aviv as well as Israel’s nuclear facility in Dimona.

“Hamas wants to develop a capability where it could use its missiles and rockets to stop an Israeli ground advance,” the source said. “Firing one or two rockets is insufficient. Instead, you have to fire 10 to 20 rockets toward a specific area.”

Arming of Hezbollah Could Spark Israel-Syria War: US Official

AhlulBayt News Agency (Link) (January 18, 2010)

In an interview with Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai published on Sunday, a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that “if Syria supplies Hezbollah with surface-to-air missiles (SA-2), war will break out and Tel Aviv will directly strike Damascus.”

In addition, the official said Syria trained Hezbollah members in Damascus on how to use the SA-2 missiles. Israel has previously warned the country not to supply Hezbollah with the missiles, according to the US source.

“Any possible military attack by Hezbollah against Israel will be met by a ‘harmful war’ on Lebanon. Israel made a mistake in 2006 by not striking Syria during the war with Lebanon, and any new attack from Hezbollah against it will not spare Damascus from a strike,” he added.

Israel’s top priority, the official said, is preventing Syria from supplying Hezbollah with the SA-2 missiles.

China: King of the Kings of the East

Bible Prophecy Today (Link) - Todd Strandberg (January 18, 2010)

It is a very common belief that the Chinese economy is doomed to forever trail America. They are the nation that produces much of the junk we buy at places like Wal-Mart. If the U.S. should stumble, China would have no place to sell all its goods.

This old economic formula is rapidly becoming outmoded. China’s trade with the rest of the world has exploded in the last few decades. Its largest trading partner is now the EU. The U.S. only amounts to 23 percent of its export market.

China has seen stunning growth in its economy. Since 1992, GDP in the red giant has grown 9.1 times, going from 2 trillion Yuan to 18.2 trillion Yuan. While the rest of the world is trying to recover from recession, China is trying to slow its economy down. It overtook Germany in 2007 as the third-largest economy and is expected to unseat Japan as No. 2 behind the United States as early as this year. Its trade boom has helped Beijing pile up the world’s biggest foreign currency reserves at more than $2 trillion.

Forecast: Debt to dwarf GDP

WorldNet Daily (Link) - Jerome R. Corsi (January 18, 2010)

A blue-ribbon panel that includes three former heads of the Congressional Budget Office is telling President Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress that the federal deficit must be cut now or the national debt within about two generations will be 600 percent of the gross domestic product.

“The debt level of the United States is unsustainable, something has to give,” said Rudolph Penner, former head of the CBO and co-chairman of a report issued last week by the National Research Council and the National Academy of Public Administration.

The report concludes federal deficit spending is so out of control that unless Obama and Democrat leaders on the Hill make changes now, debt in 2080 will be six times what the nation produces.

The alarm is being sounded just as the Obama administration is preparing to push his nationalized health care plan through Congress. It comes from a bipartisan group of top economic policy experts, including three former heads of the CBO, who warned existing entitlement programs including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security already are creating a fiscal crisis for the nation without the addition of government-funded universal health care.

“The fundamental problem is that we have these three very large programs – Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security – that … are growing faster than tax revenues and faster than the economy,” Penner told WND.

The result is “an unsustainable federal budget deficit” that Penner described as “ever onward and upward.”

World misled over Himalayan glacier meltdown

Times Online (Link) - Jonathan Leake and Chris Hastings (January 17, 2010)

A warning that climate change will melt most of the Himalayan glaciers by 2035 is likely to be retracted after a series of scientific blunders by the United Nations body that issued it.

Two years ago the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a benchmark report that was claimed to incorporate the latest and most detailed research into the impact of global warming. A central claim was the world’s glaciers were melting so fast that those in the Himalayas could vanish by 2035.

In the past few days the scientists behind the warning have admitted that it was based on a news story in the New Scientist, a popular science journal, published eight years before the IPCC’s 2007 report.

It has also emerged that the New Scientist report was itself based on a short telephone interview with Syed Hasnain, a little-known Indian scientist then based at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.

Hasnain has since admitted that the claim was “speculation” and was not supported by any formal research. If confirmed it would be one of the most serious failures yet seen in climate research. The IPCC was set up precisely to ensure that world leaders had the best possible scientific advice on climate change.