The Week in Review

Middle East

An Islamist group that had been outlawed by Tunisia’s ousted regime, Ennahda, was legalized by the nation’s interim authorities on March 1. Ennahda was founded in 1981 by Tunisia’s Rached Ghannouchi. In 1989, after an Islamist-backed coalition won 17 percent of the vote, Tunisia’s recently toppled Zine El Abidine Ben Ali banned the Islamist movement. In the following years, around 30,000 activists and sympathizers were arrested and many, including Ghannouchi, went into exile. On January 30, two weeks after Ben Ali’s regime was toppled, Ghannouchi returned to his homeland after 22 years and was welcomed by hundreds of thousands of Tunisians. Only one month after Ghannouchi’s triumphant return, Tunisia’s interim government granted Ennahda legitimacy, and the outfit is now poised to join the government. Meanwhile, on March 2, a Tunisian court issued a ruling dissolving Ben Ali’s party, the Rally for Constitutional Democracy. These moves give an indication of things to come not just in Tunisia, but also in other parts of the Middle East.

In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood announced on February 21 the formation of its Freedom and Justice Party, which will participate in future elections. On February 28, Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces announced an accelerated timetable for the nation’s elections. A referendum on constitutional amendments is slated for April, to be followed by parliamentary elections in June, and a presidential election in October. Nobel Peace laureate—and front personality for the Muslim Brotherhood—Mohamed ElBaradei has announced that he will run for president. The accelerated schedule will favor the Brotherhood, allowing it to harness the fervor of the revolution and to use its superior organizational structure to dominate the vote. Meanwhile, clashes broke out in the capital last week between Coptic Christians and Muslims, in which 13 people were killed.

Heavy fighting is raging on the borders of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. As the Iranian-backed al-Shabaab terrorist militia tries to overthrow Somalia’s weak transitional government, Ethiopian troops have crossed the Somali border to fight against the Islamic extremists. A leading al-Shabaab official made a call at a gathering on March 3 urging Muslims in both Kenya and Ethiopia to rise up against their governments. Anti-Christian violence has already erupted in Ethiopia, with over 4,000 Christians having been displaced as a result of Muslim attacks that began the day before the al-Shabaab official issued his directive. Fifty-nine churches and at least 28 homes have been burned. As al-Shabaab terrorists clash with Ethiopian troops in Somalia and as Muslims across western Ethiopia burn churches, what is now basically a Somali civil war could soon escalate into an interstate war between an Islamist-controlled Somalia and its western enemy. Iran’s support of the al-Shabaab terrorist militia is part of its plan to have a strong presence at the southern entrance to the Red Sea in order to control the flow of oil into the Mediterranean Sea.

Civil war continues in Libya, even as the United Nations on Friday approved a no-fly zone over the country and air strikes to halt Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi’s assault on the rebels. Following the success of rebels in taking several towns, Qadhafi struck back with force last week, retaking the eastern oil city of Ras Lanuf and other towns. An oil tank was set ablaze by an air strike, the first hit taken by the country’s oil infrastructure. Qadhafi also reclaimed ground seized by rebels in the west. On Friday, however—no doubt in response to the UN Security Council vote—Libya’s deputy foreign minister said the country is ready for a ceasefire. cnn also reported that Qadhafi has apparently decided to change tactics and not send forces into the rebels’ de facto capital of Benghazi as expected. Meanwhile, Qadhafi threatened on Tuesday to ally his forces with al Qaeda and declare a “holy war” if Western powers invaded his country. In an interview with an Italian newspaper, Qadhafi said he felt betrayed by former European allies and said he ruled out negotiations with Libya’s anti-government rebels. “If they [the West] behave with us as they did in Iraq, then Libya will leave the international alliance against terrorism,” he said. “We will then ally ourselves with al Qaeda and declare a holy war.” Al Qaeda has officially admitted to angling to gain a foothold in Libya, with its top-ranking Libyan member last weekend urging his fellow countrymen to overthrow Qadhafi and establish Islamic rule in the nation. Whether because of Qadhafi’s rage toward the West or the result of his regime being replaced by Islamist leadership, biblical prophecy shows that the outcome will be the same: Libya will make a rapid turn toward the radical Islamic camp.

In Bahrain, three hard-line groups announced March 8 that they have united to form a “Coalition for a (Bahraini) Republic.” The secretary general of Haq, one of the parties, said the coalition was “motivated by the rules of our Islamic religion and international charters on human rights to freely decide their faith.” The new coalition has called for the ruling family to step aside and is seeking a democratic republic. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia sent over a thousand soldiers into Bahrain on March 14 to combat the Iranian-fueled uprising against the government. Demonstrators from Bahrain’s Shiite majority have been protesting against the Sunni monarchy. They have been egged on, supported and armed by Iran, through sympathetic clerics and political leaders. “The Iranians clearly have an interest in overthrowing the Bahraini regime,” writes Stratfor ceo George Friedman. “Bahrain is the focal point of a struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran for control of the western littoral of the Persian Gulf” (March 8). An Iranian victory in Bahrain would give hope to the Shia in Saudi Arabia—hence Saudi Arabia’s decision to send troops. In this current Middle East crisis, we can see not only an alliance of nations led by Iran coming together, but also another alliance that will include Saudi Arabia and other more moderate Arabic states, which is prophesied to ally with Europe—the enemy of Iran.

It appears Tehran is again employing one of its trusty tools in Iraq. Thousands of supporters of radical Iraqi Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr protested in the city of Al Amarah, south of Baghdad, on March 4. Sadr is the anti-U.S. cleric who only a few years ago led bloody uprisings against American forces in Iraq and was responsible for some of the worst violence. Whether radical outlaw or political kingmaker, Sadr—under the guidance of Iran—has always had as his goal the expulsion of U.S. troops and influence from Iraq. Sadr returned to Iraq this January after spending several years in Iran. His return “was a deliberate message to Washington that Tehran was reinserting its main destabilizing tool in Iraq as U.S. forces continued their withdrawal,” Stratfor writes. It appears the time to activate that tool may have arrived. “Deploying Sadr is one of many ways Iran can project power against the United States amid the current regional chaos,” continues Stratfor (March 4). In an unrelated incident in Iraq last week, a bomb attack shut off the oil flow through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline for five days. Keep watching for Iran to instigate—and take advantage of—the unrest sweeping the Middle East to fulfill its own regional goals of hegemony.

Palestinian terrorists unleashed this year’s deadliest attack against Israelis Friday night of last week. Five members of the Fogel family, including three children, were stabbed to death after their attackers sneaked into their home in the Itamar settlement near Nablus. Two other children who were present in the home escaped harm, and a third family member was out of the house when the attack occurred. Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas responded to the butchery by denying that the PA incites violence against Israel. The very day of the Fogels’ funeral, however, Fatah officials named a town square in Ramallah after a woman terrorist who led a 1978 attack that killed 37 Israelis. The attack highlights the savagery of the Middle East conflict and the insurmountable odds stacked against the Jewish state.

Europe

Eurozone nations were forced to surrender more of their sovereignty last week as their leaders met at Brussels to negotiate German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s proposed “pact for competitiveness” plan to save the euro from further crisis. Early Saturday morning, the leaders agreed to a watered-down version of the proposal, renamed a “pact for the euro,” that agreed to the principles laid out by Merkel. The nations agreed to expand the temporary euro rescue fund for countries facing economic crisis and also agreed to the foundation of the permanent Euro Stability Mechanism, which in 2013 will replace the European Financial Stability Fund in bailing out eurozone nations. Though the leaders agreed to closely harmonize their budgetary, tax and social policies to prevent further euro crises, the details on how to do so aren’t agreed on yet, and the pact provides no means for its enforcement; it contains no provisions to sanction violators. Considering how tough these negotiations were bound to be—especially as the pact would affect member nations’ key point of sovereignty, that of determining their own fiscal policies—many were expecting Merkel’s plan to flop. However, as Der Spiegel wrote, in the end “the agreement was more than many had expected.” The fact that the pact is watered down will give Germany another chance to enforce greater demands on the rest of the eurozone, as it won’t completely solve the euro crisis. The pact is just one more step toward a German-led pan-European government.

Portugal edged closer to a bailout this week as Moody’s cut the country’s debt rating on March 15 and the nation was forced to pay higher rates on a debt auction the next day. Meanwhile, opposition politicians are trying to block spending cuts announced last week, leading to Prime Minister Jose Socrates warning, “The consequence of a political crisis is the worsening of the financing risks of our economy and would lead Portugal to request external intervention.” It seems all but inevitable that Portugal will need a bailout from Europe, escalating the financial crisis.

Ratings agency Moody’s downgraded Greek debt to junk status on March 7, meaning that it deems lending to Greece more risky than lending to Egypt, and just as risky as lending to Angola or Mongolia. Spiegel notes that Greece’s new B1 status “has little direct effect on Athens’s finances. For now the country is being aided by EU rescue money. But it does indicate that skepticism is growing as to whether the country’s strict austerity measures combined with European aid money will be enough to stave off a restructuring of the country’s debt. Many point out that, even if Greece consolidates its budget to the degree its targets call for, sovereign debt in 2013 is still likely to be close to 150 percent of gross domestic product.” Spain too suffered as Moody’s cut its credit rating to Aa2 on March 10. These cuts are another reminder that Europe’s financial crisis is not over.

Nearly all people in Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Poland do not trust their governments, according to an online poll conducted by icm published in the Guardian on March 13. Only 20 percent of the over 5,000 surveyed said they trusted their nation’s government. Only 9 percent said they trusted politicians to act with honesty and integrity. The poll also showed the pessimism prevalent in these countries—47 percent said they thought their country would be worse in 10 years’ time. Only 32 percent thought it would be better. France and Germany were by far the most pessimistic. Only 12 percent of French and 21 percent of Germans said they thought their country would be better in 10 years. The poll shows Europeans unhappy with their governments and unhappy about their future. This is a recipe for some drastic, and sudden, political changes.

French Muslims have asked if they can use France’s empty Catholic churches for their Friday prayers. Islamic group “Banlieuses Respect” asked to use the churches so they would not have to pray in the street. Muslims often clog up the streets around their mosques on Fridays, creating a backlash against them. Naturally the Catholics are not happy about this proposal. “These ‘empty churches’ are consecrated places and it would never occur to a Christian to use them for anything other than the liturgical ceremonies, or sacred music—an exception that is always possible,” said Samir Khalil Samir, a Jesuit expert on Islam. “It would be unthinkable to use them to celebrate a non-Christian cult.” Samir also said that these empty churches will not remain empty for long: They will “be occupied as soon as possible by a Christian community or a monastic community, which is happening more and more throughout Europe.” He states: “Asking the church to provide currently unused churches at the disposition of Muslims is a major embarrassment at the very moment when the effort of believers is focused on re-evangelizing those who have strayed from Christian practice. … Finally, imagine for a moment the opposite. If in a Muslim country (Egypt or Algeria, for example) the indigenous Christians (in Egypt) or immigrant Christians (in Algeria) asked Muslims to give them a mosque, since they have many, or to lend them one for Sunday, or only for important celebrations: Christmas, Epiphany, the beginning of Lent, Easter, Pentecost and the Assumption, what would the reaction of Muslims be?” Christianity has been on the retreat in recent decades, but expect it to stand to confront the growing tide of Islam.

Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s far-right National Front (FN), is the most popular candidate in France’s 2012 presidential election race, an Internet poll found on March 6. Twenty-three percent would support Le Pen, according to the poll conducted by the Harris Institute and published by Le Parisien. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry each would receive 21 percent of the vote. Anti-Islamism is a major reason for the National Front’s success, and Sarkozy wants to make it a core issue for his party too. Even before the poll was published, Sarkozy announced that he planned to hold a public debate on the role of Islam in French society. The proposal is opposed by the more moderate elements of Sarkozy’s party, who fear it could lead to the stigmatization of Muslims. Sarkozy is also holding photo ops with Catholic nuns and praising France’s Christian foundations. Sarkozy has shown he is willing to confront Islam. Next month a law comes into force banning veils that cover the whole face. But Le Pen’s popularity shows that many in France want bolder measures against Islam. In December, she said that Muslims worshiping openly in the street represent an “occupation of territory.” Another recent poll suggests Le Pen’s approach should resonate with voters. Forty-two percent of those surveyed said they saw Islam as an internal threat. A January poll conducted by ifop found that two thirds of French and Germans believe that the integration of Muslims into their societies has been a failure. Watch for the nations of Europe to increasingly wake up to the threat posed by radical Islam.

“That Islam is part of Germany is a fact that cannot be proven by history,” the new German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich told journalists on March 4. The next day he expanded on his comments, saying, “Successful integration requires two things: knowledge of the social reality in Germany—where about 4 million Muslims live—and a clear awareness of the Western Christian origin of our culture.” His remarks have reignited a storm of controversy about immigration in Germany—a storm that has been raging since last summer when German banker Thilo Sarrazin published a best-selling book claiming that Muslims and their failure to assimilate was the cause of many of the nation’s problems. Expect Germany to grow more intolerant of Islam.

The European Union should change the way it enacts European treaties in order to ensure a British “no” vote doesn’t stop the whole EU, senior British Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament Andrew Duff wrote to Jerzy Buzek, head of the European Parliament, on March 3. “As you will be well aware, the British Parliament is about to enact a law which will install and entrench referendums as part of the UK’s national ratification process for all amendments of the European Union treaties,” he wrote. “The effect of this law will be to severely delay and complicate all future treaty revision—a process which is already lengthy and complicated enough.” In order to stop the will of his own nation’s Parliament being carried out, Duff suggests that the EU change its laws so that a treaty is enforced once it’s been ratified by 80 percent of EU nations. Presumably, this would mean that EU treaties would come into force in Britain even if Parliament voted “no.” The fact that Duff is suggesting this is a reflection on the growing anti-EU feeling in Britain. This kind of skullduggery will only increase that feeling. Expect to see Britain out of the EU soon.

Asia

Last Friday, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck off Japan’s eastern coast triggering a massive tsunami which swept over giant swathes of land and killed thousands of people. The disaster also resulted in the closing of five to eight oil refineries, and partially melted down three of Japan’s nuclear reactors. As the specter of energy shortages stalks Japan, the Kremlin is riding to the rescue. As the scope of the tragedy became clearer over the course of last weekend, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pledged to help make up Japan’s energy deficit by boosting supplies from nearby Siberia. “Our moral duty is to help in this situation,” Medvedev said on Monday as he ordered Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin to look into ways of redirecting up to 6,000 megawatts of electrical power to Japan. Medvedev also arranged for the delivery of an additional 200,000 tons of liquefied natural gas and an unspecified amount of Siberian coal over the next two months. The Japanese earthquake, the nation’s largest ever, and the resulting tsunami is forcing Japan to build both political and economic bridges to energy-laden Russia. A strong tri-corner alliance between Tokyo, Moscow and Beijing is in the process of forming.

China has completed a new long-range missile with a greater range than anything in the Chinese arsenal, an unnamed Taiwanese spy said Wednesday. The agent said the new Dongfeng 16 weapon could target and reach Taiwan. Tension has thrived between Beijing and Taipei ever since 1949, when Chinese Communists fought Kuomintang soldiers off the mainland and onto Taiwan, effectively dividing the nation into two. Mainland China has never recognized the island’s sovereignty and claims Taiwan as its own territory. But when Taiwan’s current president, Ma Ying-jeou, came into office in 2008, he made conciliatory overtures toward Beijing, and cross-Strait friction began to diminish. Taipei’s most recent goodwill gesture was an announcement on March 9 that Taiwan would reduce its number of soldiers by 9,200 this year as part of a larger plan to trim the nation’s military by 60,000 troops within the next five years. Earlier last week, China told the U.S. that Washington’s relationship with Beijing will be in jeopardy if the U.S. sells more arms to Taiwan. On Dec. 4, 2010, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry forecast that Taiwan could return to China’s control before President Barack Obama’s first presidential term is over. As China’s military might expands, and it becomes more assertive on the world stage, expect Taiwan to abandon the sinking U.S. ship and to come under Chinese control.

Latin America

A report published last week by the Latin Business Chronicle revealed that EU trade with Latin America set a new record in 2010. Trade between the two regions jumped a full 31 percent last year to reach €177.3 billion (us$236.9 billion). Meanwhile, one of the latest WikiLeaks revelations is that the United States now considers the Latin American Mercosur trade bloc as an “anti-American” organization. “Mercosur gradually has transformed from an imperfect customs union to a more restrictive and anti-American organization,” states one cable which summarizes the conclusions of a meeting of U.S. ambassadors which took place in Rio de Janeiro in 2007. Watch for the relationship between the U.S. and its Latin American neighbors to grow cold as regional leaders from the Rio Grande to Terra del Fuego embrace new trade partners in Europe. As the Plain Truth magazine predicted in July 1965: “Flowing across the Atlantic to feed the hungry furnaces of the Ruhr and the other industrial complexes of Europe will come the rich mineral wealth of Latin America.”

Anglo-America

One might think that the current financial crisis would at least keep the average American’s cost of living a little lower due to deflationary pressures. A special index designed by the Labor Department, however, reveals that the actual cost of living for Americans hit a record high in February. America’s attempts to print its way out of recession have only succeeded in driving up both inflation and unemployment. As equity strategist Peter Bookvar stated: “The Federal Reserve continues to focus on the rate of change in inflation. Sure, it’s moving at a slower pace, but the absolute cost of living is now back at a record high in a country that has 7 million less jobs.” America is facing a tough situation. But instead of dealing with the causes, it has chosen to try and cheat the market by printing its way out of its economic problems. Creating money out of thin air may temporarily stimulate an economy, but as history clearly shows, the medicine is eventually worse than the disease. The end is always the same—a worthless currency, a destroyed economy and a bankrupt nation.

In fact, it emerged last week that the U.S. government racked up its largest February deficit in history: $223 billion. Meanwhile, Republicans and Democrats are arguing over what amounts to cigarette burns while the whole house is on fire. The world is soon to learn that America will never balance its budget. When it does, the dollar will crash, inflation will soar, and Americans’ standard of living will plummet. Republicans are pushing to cut $50 billion from the yearly budget, while Democrats say they can accept no more than $6 billion. Just the monthly deficit for February is more than four times as much as even the most “extreme” yearly cuts. Each year, America’s debt problems continue to grow worse.

Concerned about environmental damage, the Canadian province of Quebec has halted further development of its shale-gas reserves. The Quebec government issued its first environmental assessment of shale-gas development on Tuesday of last week. While this assessment did not cite any specific findings, it did conclude that more environmental studies were needed. Until these studies can be completed, all further natural gas exploration in the province has been halted, except for drilling that might help the assessment. Canada’s conventional-oil and natural-gas industries contribute about 6 percent of national gdp, according to the government. The shale-gas industry has also been a boon to the United States by providing consumers with a cheap energy alternative to expensive Middle Eastern oil. The dependence of the Anglo-Saxon peoples on foreign energy sources has put nations like Canada and the U.S. at great risk of an economic siege.

Over 20,000 people in Britain have signed a new initiative calling for a referendum on whether their country should remain in the European Union. Each person who signs the People’s Pledge promises to only vote for a candidate “who publicly promises to support a binding referendum on our EU membership and to vote for it in the House of Commons.” On the first day of the campaign, Tuesday, so many people rushed to sign up that the website crashed. A recent survey conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion suggests that such a referendum would pull Britain out of Europe. Forty-eight percent of Britons would vote to leave the EU, versus only 27 percent to stay in, the poll found. With British antipathy toward the EU growing like this, it is only a matter of time before Britain leaves Club Europe.

Around 600 Anglicans began the process of converting to Catholicism on Ash Wednesday (March 9). “Between Ash Wednesday and Easter they will stop receiving holy communion in the Anglican Church and they are not able to receive holy communion in the Catholic Church,” a spokesman for the Catholic bishops’ conference explained. “When they become Catholic at Easter, then they can receive holy communion in the Catholic Church. There is a gap of few weeks where they prepare.” These new converts, which include around 20 priests, will join the Ordinariate set up for them by the pope. This group seems set to swell beyond 600, with many planning on joining in a second wave of converts later. The Ordinariate’s leader, Keith Newton, wants to actively expand the branch—seeking to convert new members. The Catholic Herald reports that Newton hopes the Ordinariate “will pave the way for a new form of evangelization.” This is the small beginning of a movement that will eventually see the Church of England engulfed entirely by Rome.

Britain’s schools are giving 5-year-old children perverse sexual material as part of their sexual “education,” the Christian Institute exposed on March 9. Books recommended by county councils for children as young as 5 contain explicit descriptions and cartoon pictures of sexual acts. One book recommended by a council for those over 7 states that homosexuality is natural and normal. This is yet more evidence of Britain’s educational establishment rejecting the Judeo-Christian values it was founded on and perverting the minds of an entire generation of young people.

Traditional families with a working father and a stay-at-home mother are penalized more by the British tax system than by the tax systems of most other developed nations, according to a report publish by care—a UK-based Christian charity. “The UK tax system is unusual,” the report states. “Income tax takes virtually no account of either marriage or a taxpayer’s family responsibilities.” In 2009, a family with one earner earning the average wage had to pay one third more tax than in the average oecd (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) country. In the average oecd country, a married person who is the single wage earner for his family pays roughly half the tax that a single person would pay. But in the UK, he must pay nearly three quarters as much tax—the highest amount of any nation in the oecd. “The UK is almost alone in having no tax provision for families except for some transitional arrangements for a small number of older married couples,” the report says. The British government may talk about supporting marriage and family, but the tax system shows it won’t take any action to back up the words.

Food prices could get so high that even developed nations like Britain could see food riots, a senior economist at hsbc has warned, according to an article published by Sky News on March 9. “Even in the developed world I think we have very, very low wage growth, so people aren’t getting more in their pay packet to compensate them for food and energy, and I think we could see social unrest certainly in parts of the developed world and the UK as well,” Karen Ward said. For more information on the food crisis that is heading our way, see our article “The Coming Food Shortfall” from the October 2006 issue of the Philadelphia Trumpet.

Girls in Britain and Nordic countries binge drink just as often as boys, according to a thesis by Anna-Karin Danielsson of the Department of Public Health Sciences at the Karolinska Institutet. The thesis examines 1,200 pupils ages 13 to 19 over a period of five years, starting in 2001, according to a press release published on March 7. “Sixteen-year-old girls in the Nordic countries and the UK binge drink to the same extent as boys, in other words at least five consecutive drinks in one go,” said Danielsson. “We’re also seeing a strong correlation between this and problems such as fights, accidents and unwanted sexual relationships.” Her data also showed an important way to stop teens getting in trouble with alcohol. “Initiatives that focus on strengthening the parent-child relationship and limiting parental provision of alcohol can prove effective in limiting risky consumption among adolescents,” she said. Both girls and boys respond differently to parental involvement, she found, but both need it. “The risk of high alcohol consumption among boys who smoke and who have friends who drink is considerably reduced when parents keep an eye on what teenagers get up to, and with whom,” she said. “Whereas girls in the risk zone benefit most from an emotionally stable and close parent-child relationship in terms of protective effect.” Her research supports what the Trumpet has been saying for years. In order to fix Britain’s social problems like binge drinking, Britain’s families must be fixed.

Instances of cheating at British universities have risen by around 50 percent over the past four years according to a study published by the Telegraph on March 5. Universities reported 17,000 incidents of cheating in the academic year of 2009-2010, though, as the Telegraph states, “the true figure will be far higher because many were only able to provide details of the most serious cases and let lecturers deal with less serious offenses.” Most of this cheating was in the form of plagiarism. This cheating is just another symptom of Britain’s moral collapse.