The Week in Review
Middle East
A Palestinian killed three and injured dozens of Israelis in West Jerusalem on Wednesday when he drove a massive front-end loader along a busy street, crushing cars and overturning a bus. The unconventional nature of the attack, notes Stratfor, demonstrates militants’ resourcefulness at getting around Israeli security measures. Though police say the Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem who carried out the attack acted alone, one eyewitness reports that a second man halted traffic on the road to assist him. Three Palestinian terrorist groups claimed responsibility for the attack. Hamas—which is currently negotiating a prisoner swap with Israel—was not one of those claiming responsibility, though it did praise the attack.
On June 30, Israel’s Knesset passed a law that sets limits on withdrawals from Israeli territory. The law stipulates that either a referendum or a two-thirds parliamentary majority must approve any withdrawal from territory under Israeli control. While this certainly will not change Israel’s “land for peace” approach in dealing with its terrorist and terrorist-sponsoring enemies, it could halt any proposed dramatic future withdrawal from Israeli territory—East Jerusalem, for instance. Bible prophecy reveals that Jerusalem is destined to soon be cut in half—but that this will happen by force of arms, not voluntarily.
Last week, the German government sponsored the Third Transatlantic Conference in Berlin, aimed at addressing issues related to Middle East peace. It degenerated to an attack on Israel, however, due to inflammatory comments by former Iranian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Muhammad Javad Ardashir Larijani—who actually was invited to Berlin by the German Foreign Office to give his advice. Larijani said “the Zionist project” should be canceled because it “has failed miserably and has only caused terrible damage to the region.” Representatives from Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia followed with their own anti-Israeli sentiments. The fact that Larijani was at this conference at the request of the German Foreign Office demonstrates that German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s Iran policy is counter to Israel’s security interests. If Germany really is a “loyal partner and friend” of Israel as German Chancellor Angela Merkel says it is, why would its Foreign Office invite a man who denies Israel’s right to exist to a conference on how to solve the Middle East’s problems?
Europe
The Eiffel Tower lit up blue as France celebrated its accession to the rotating EU presidency. On July 1, French President Nicolas Sarkozy started his six-month stint as EU president. But away from the pomp and ceremony of the French accession, the European Union is in serious trouble—at least, that is the way it would seem. A few weeks ago, Ireland rejected the Lisbon Treaty. This week, the German president said that he would not sign the Lisbon Treaty for Germany. He said he would wait until the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany has ruled on two legal challenges to the treaty. The Polish President Lech Kaczynski also said he would not sign the treaty due to the Irish rejection. The Trumpet has been proclaiming, based on Bible prophecy, that a powerful united Europe soon will emerge. Despite the debacle over the EU treaty, that prophecy stands firm. As Ron Fraser wrote in his column this week, “Tension is building within Europe politically, economically, and within the general social order such as to create the beginnings of an almighty continental crisis that will soon demand strong, decisive action to enable the European vision to survive and achieve the end goals of its prime movers and shakers.” Watch for a powerful bloc of 10 nations or groups of nations, led by Germany, to emerge out of the building crisis in Europe.
Serbia finally formed a government this week. Former Serbian Finance Minister Mirko Cvetkovic will head the pro-EU government. The Serbs are an old enemy of the Germans. With U.S. help, the Germans have successfully divided the former Yugoslavia and conquered it. For more information, read our booklet The Rising Beast—Germany’s Conquest of the Balkans.
Asia
As China, Singapore, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates gobble up Western assets through their sovereign wealth funds, both Russia and Japan are looking to establish sovereign wealth funds of their own. On Monday, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with United States Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in Moscow. At this meeting Putin told Paulson that Russia is preparing to set up a government agency—based on the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority model—to manage its soon-to-be-created sovereign wealth fund. This development will allow Russia to more effectively invest money in American institutions.
Japanese Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers have also put forward a proposal to create a ¥10 trillion (us$94.2 billion) sovereign wealth fund using assets drawn from public pensions. If created, this Japanese fund would likely target foreign real estate and securitized products as well as stocks and domestic bonds. While American financial officials and business executives may welcome these investments from foreign governments, these same investments are giving foreign countries control over strategic American assets. Over the long term, the continual divestiture of America’s income-producing assets will erode America’s economic base. Russia is also planning a sovereign wealth fund that will likely target U.S. financial assets.
An Economic Partnership Agreement (epa) between Japan and Indonesia took effect on Tuesday, ending many tariffs and paving the way for Indonesian nurses, teachers and other service providers to work full-time in Asia’s largest economy. As Japan’s birthrate drops lower and lower, its populace is getting older and its workforce is getting smaller. This agreement marks the first significant diplomatic step by Japan to address this growing demographic issue. Japan—a traditionally ethnocentric country with an anti-immigration policy—is now accepting help from Indonesia to solve its demographic problem. Expect Japan to continue to improve its relationships with the rest of Asia.
Africa, South America
Nelson Mandela is officially off the U.S. terror watch list. This comes as no surprise since U.S. leaders have been singing his praises for many years now. Even Vice President Dick Cheney, who once opposed Mandela’s release from prison, said last year that he “deserves an enormous amount of credit for the transformation of South Africa,” and that Mandela is “a great man.” Remember, though: Mandela achieved that “transformation” largely by engaging in “freedom fighting” activities that destroyed government property and killed those unfortunate enough to be present. He consequently spent 27 years in prison. In his own words: “The people of South Africa, led by the … Communist Party, will destroy capitalist society and build in its place socialism. … One must … be a revolutionary and not a reformist.” For more information on why our society exalts men like Mandela, read “How Political Correctness Protects the Bad Guys” from the July 2007 Trumpet.
It has become clear that oil, in addition to being a critical component of our energy supply, is becoming a favorite tool of both terrorists and politicians. The leader of the Algerian wing of al Qaeda has announced the group’s intention to strike U.S. oil targets because of Washington’s support of “criminal” governments and purported U.S. plans to steal African oil. Libya’s Oil Ministry announced it is considering punishing the United States by reducing its oil output, sparking a $4 per barrel jump in oil prices. The move is a response to proposed legislation that would allow Washington to sue members of opec that limit oil supplies, but the White House has already promised to veto the bill even if it were to reach the president’s desk. Venezuelan oil spigots to the U.S. have definitely slowed—11.7 percent in the first four months of this year alone. Caracas simultaneously boosted shipments to China. Many analysts continue to argue that Venezuela is primarily dependent on the U.S. as a customer, but the numbers show that President Chavez is cutting Washington off as quickly as possible. With oil prices already at record levels, watch what happens as the commodity becomes the favorite weapon/target of both politicians and terrorists around the globe. For more information on where the fight for and with resources is headed, read “The Battleground” from the March 2006 Trumpet.
Anglo-America
In 2007, 21 percent more British girls under age 14 had abortions than the previous year. Abortion rates for girls under 16 rose 10 percent, amid climbing rates of abortion for all age groups. More and more girls are choosing to end the life of the unborn child growing inside them at a time when they themselves are barely out of puberty.
The economy continues to bear high petroleum costs. Oil shot to a new record that broke $144 a barrel Wednesday due to a large drop in American supplies and renewed fears of conflict with Iran, particularly the closing of the Strait of Hormuz. Crude oil has gone up 50 percent since the beginning of the year. The average price for a gallon of gas in California right now is $4.58.
On Wednesday, California authorities ordered mandatory evacuations of hundreds of residents in Big Sur, a scenic coastal town popular with tourists across the country and around the world, the Washington Timesreports. A 25-mile stretch of Highway 1 was closed in the path of a wildfire that jumped a fire line and has destroyed 16 homes and burned 82 square miles of forest. The blaze was sparked by a lightning strike over a week ago. About 19,000 personnel are fighting the fire, which is only 3 percent contained.
One of the Australian’s lead national news stories on Friday was Prince Charles awarding Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue with a royal honor. Prince Charles gave Minogue the Order of the British Empire “for her services to the music industry,” the Australianreported. Minogue, 40, is most popular for producing racy music appealing to teenagers, posing provocatively and marketing a lingerie line.