WorldWatch

Europe

Germany

To buy up eurozone gold?

An intriguing compromise designed to break the eurozone’s deadlock is gaining traction. The International Monetary Fund, Société Générale and Germany’s main opposition party endorsed the plan in late May as a possible way forward. And it is just the type of deal the Trumpet has forecast for years: Germany bails out Europe in exchange for power and gold.

The scheme sidesteps the objections of Germany’s Constitutional Court and could gain the approval of the German public.

Called the “European Redemption Pact” and drafted by the German Council of Economic Experts, the plan would see nations pool all debt that they owe over 60 percent of their gross domestic product. This gives struggling nations a lower interest rate, but Jefferies Fixed Income estimates it will cost Germany an extra 0.6 percent of gdp a year—around $2 billion. In return, national governments would surrender control of parts of their taxation and spending policies to Germany. But the condition gaining the most attention is the demand for nations to put up collateral for their debt. This collateral “could be taken from the country’s currency and gold reserves,” the Council said.

The plan still has a long way to go before being adopted. But the essence of this bargain—Germany bails out countries and receives power in return—is inevitable. It is simply a question of how bad things will get before eurozone countries capitulate to Germany’s conditions.

They set up the euro to fail

Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl was warned that the euro was doomed to fail. “Documents from the Kohl administration, kept confidential until now, indicate that the euro’s founding fathers were well aware of its deficits,” Spiegel revealed on May 8.

Consider the implications. European leaders knew exactly what they were doing when they created the euro: The current crisis is not a mistake. These leaders knew, as Spiegel wrote, that “a common currency cannot survive on the long term if it is not backed by a political union.” Yet they pushed ahead because they knew that a common currency—including its accompanying crises—would force the unwilling European people to submit to political union.

In spite of high debt levels, Italy was allowed to join the euro after “creative” accounting allowed it to fulfill the entrance criteria. “However, the Kohl administration cannot plead ignorance,” Spiegel said. “In fact, the documents show that it was extremely well informed about the state of Italy’s finances.”

Not only did Kohl ignore warnings that Italy’s debt was far too high, but Spiegel’s source documents indicate the Kohl administration “misled both the public and Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court” (ibid).

In May, JP Morgan Asset Management calculated that the disparate economies of the eurozone form one of the worst common currency zones within the realm of possibility. Analysts said a zone made up of countries whose names start with the letter M would make a better currency union than the euro.

Bernard Connolly, a former EU civil servant and author of The Rotten Heart of Europe, warned in 2007: “And, whereas the mission of the Fed is to avoid a financial crisis, the mission of the ecb [European Central Bank] is to provoke one. The purpose of the crisis will be, as Prodi, then Commission president, said in 2002, to allow the EU to take more power for itself.”

Now, as Spiegel observed, all possible solutions to the crisis “boil down to individual countries relinquishing more authority and the central government in Brussels acquiring more in return.”

This is exactly what the euro’s founders wanted.

Germany

Merkel names her price for bailouts

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on June 7 that Europe needs to forge a political union and give up more power to the EU. “We do not just need a currency union but also a so-called fiscal union—more common budget policy,” she said on German television.

“That means in the future we will also have to hand over competencies to Europe step by step and give Europe opportunities to control,” she said. She warned that a smaller group of nations could go it alone, but “we should not stay still because one or other does not yet want to join in.”

Reuters reported that Merkel is readying plans for a central euro area finance ministry, as well as a coordinated European labor policy, social secu-rity system and tax-ation system. She also wants to radically strengthen the European Com-mission, European Parliament and European Court of Justice. With Spain being the latest nation to request a bailout, the EU is set to become even more dependent on German cash.

EU shows firepower on pirates

European Union anti-piracy forces launched their first attack against pirates on mainland Somalia on May 15. Helicopter gunships destroyed five small attack boats, a weapons cache and several drums of diesel. The EU authorized its forces to attack pirates on land in March. “The time is now right to step up the attacks on the infrastructure to put the pirates considerably on the back foot,” the Telegraph quoted a Navy source as saying. The source implied that these EU attacks will increase. The EU is showing it has the will to begin to go after the cause of the piracy problem and destroy it on land, rather than just chasing ships at sea. Historically, the EU has been relatively hesitant to use military power. Expect that to change. Watch for the EU to grow more teeth in fighting piracy in the area—before moving on to fight other enemies, like radical Islam.

Germany

The West’s first offensive cyberwarfare unit

Germany became the first Western nation to announce that is has a cyberwarfare unit that not only defends the country from hackers, but also attacks other nations. A six-page report disclosed the unit’s existence to Germany’s parliamentary committee on defense on June 5. “Legislators from both the government and opposition voiced surprise at the disclosure,” wrote Deutsche Presse-Agentur. “Several questioned whether military commanders had the legal authority to mount attacks on foreign computer networks without parliamentary clearance” (June 5). Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has long pointed to America’s vulnerability to cyberwarfare. Continue to watch German developments in this new battlefield.

Spain, Italy

Another economy ripe for picking

European Union finance ministers agreed on June 9 to loan Spain €100 billion in order to bail out its banks. But they have not yet determined where the money will come from or what conditions will be imposed. In the meantime, Spain is still vulnerable. The €100 billion doesn’t come close to fixing Spain’s problems. And 22 percent of the cash is meant to come from Italy. “You could hardly design a surer way to pull Italy into the fire,” the Telegraph wrote. Citigroup issued a similar warning: “We expect that Italy will have to request help.” This would cause a huge problem for the eurozone. Each month, Italy needs to borrow €35 billion.

The nation to focus on is Germany. Berlin is intent on leading a new European superpower, and it will not allow the euro crisis to be solved until other nations agree to surrender their power.

Britain

Historian: No choice left but a federal Europe

The euro crisis could quickly transform the European Union into a federal Europe, which is exactly what its designers planned. That’s the prediction of British historian Niall Ferguson, in an interview titled “One Nation (Under Germany),” published in the Sunday Times on May 20.

“I am not a federalist,” Ferguson said. “But the costs of the single currency disintegrating are really so high and would impact so many people, that the only responsible thing for me to do is to argue urgently for the next step to a federal Europe. I see no alternative at the moment that isn’t a great deal worse.”

For the Eurocrats behind the project, this is exactly according to plan. “I think it’s worth considering that the architects of the monetary union knew all along that it would lead to a crisis and the crisis would lead to a federal solution,” Ferguson said. “I’m not quite sure how far that was articulated, but I think it was implicit. In fact, you could say it was actually designed to create a crisis.”

Ferguson characterized Europhile thinking in the 1990s: “[M]onetary union will force us to ever closer fiscal union, which is hard to sell politically, but we’ll make it happen—we’ll back into it through a monetary union.”

“Also, although the German political elite appears slow-moving and plodding, it wasn’t slow-moving and plodding in 1989-90 when the opportunity presented itself to reunite Germany,” he said. “I think you might be surprised by how quickly they move when the chips are down.”

Ferguson said he sees new measures such as tax harmonization on the horizon, despite opposition.

Another catalyst for this oncoming federal union is widespread dissatisfaction with national politicians, Ferguson said. “The national politics of continental Europe is collapsing, and that’s paving the way toward a federal solution in ways that aren’t fully understood in Britain,” he said.

“The complete descent into disrepute of national political elites helps make the case for federalism,” he said. “The Italians despise their politicians; they have had to bring in [Prime Minister Mario] Monti as a non-politician. The Greeks basically voted against the established parties. All over Europe, national politics has been discredited. Look at the Netherlands, at Belgium.”

Ferguson is realizing a trend the Plain Truth forecast since 1940s and the Trumpet has detailed since the early ’90s: The euro was designed to force this crisis, and it is about to produce a federal Europe—under Germany.

Middle East

Egypt

Fact: Egypt is turning Islamist

Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi was declared the winner of Egypt’s first free presidential election in its modern history on June 24, following a tight race with Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq. Morsi is the first Islamist to be elected as head of state in the Arab world. The Trumpet has warned for almost two decades that radical Islamists would gain control of Egypt.

The Brotherhood faces a daunting struggle for power with the country’s still-dominant military rulers. The military council has dissolved the mb-dominated parliament, undercut the authority of the president and granted military police broad powers to detain civilians. However, the military now faces intense pressure—both domestic and international—to yield power to Egypt’s elected officials.

A Pew Research Center poll in Egypt conducted in March and April showed clear support for an Islamist direction in the country. Pew found that 61 percent of Egyptians see Saudi Arabia as a better model than Turkey for the role of religion in the state and that 83 percent believe religious leaders have a very good or somewhat good influence on the country. Just 19 percent of Egyptians have a favorable opinion of the United States, and 61 percent want to end the Camp David accords with Israel—an increase of 7 percentage points since last year.

Israel

U.S. drill with Arabs—Jews not invited

The United States completed the largest military drills the Middle East has seen in a decade, but Israel was not invited. The 19-nation joint military exercise in southern Jordan ran from May 7-30. More than 12,000 soldiers learned how to coordinate ground, artillery and air attacks. Participants included Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Pakistan, Great Britain, France and the U.S. Although Israel has extensive security pacts with both Jordan and the U.S., its military was not invited to participate in the war exercises. In part, this was because several Arab countries that participated in the drills are technically still at war with the Jewish nation. The snub is also attributable to Washington tilting its foreign policy toward the Arabs and away from the Jews.

Syria

Germany speaks out

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle strongly denounced two suicide attacks in Syria on May 10 that killed at least 55 people and wounded over 170. The two explosions tore through the capital city of Damascus, marking the deadliest bombing attack in the capital city since Syria’s uprising began more than a year ago. Westerwelle’s outspoken condemnation indicates that Germany’s interest in the Syrian crisis is increasing.

In April, Germany met with the United States, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states in Turkey to discuss options for dealing with Syria’s revolution. Germany pledged to provide funding and communications equipment to Syrian opposition activists. Days later, a German government adviser said that in the event of military intervention in Syria, “German participation should be assured.”

While Germany was reluctant to participate in the Libyan intervention last year, it is showing itself increasingly eager to be involved with Syria. The difference in Berlin’s approach to the two nations’ uprisings is due to Germany’s global strategy—and could prove key to what biblical prophecy shows will be a violent confrontation with Iran.

Iran

Taking over parts of Iraq—literally

During the Iraq War, many thought the U.S. might press its advantage against Iran and set up a permanent military presence in Iraq. Just the opposite has happened. Iran has not only influenced and infiltrated Iraq, but it has now literally set up military bases inside its neighboring country’s northern Kurdish area. A May 16 report by Iraqi media cited eyewitnesses and field reporters who had seen Iranian soldiers establish heavily armed bases in the Qandil Mountains. Stratfor said the bases represent “a significant advancement for Iranian military operations in this region” (May 16). This audacious invasion of Iraqi territory comes as no surprise to longtime readers of the Trumpet, which has predicted for over 20 years that Iraq would fall under Iranian influence.

Asia

Russia, China

Joint naval drills: a sign of things to come

On May 17, Second Line of Defense released a report on the Chinese-Russian naval drills held in April. The exercises were the first official bilateral naval drills ever conducted between China and Russia, and their primary goal was to underscore the high level of defense cooperation between the two countries. The report said Beijing and Moscow also designed the drills to show the West that “China and Russia are willing and able to cooperate to advance their joint security interests in the Asia-Pacific region.”

China, Taiwan

Cozying up

Chinese authorities said on May 30 that Beijing wants to establish more political trust with Taiwan. China’s push for unification with Taiwan has intensified since 2008, when Ma Ying-jeou became Taiwan’s president. Closer ties between China and Taiwan are bad news for the U.S. and other nations concerned about China’s ascendancy. Taiwan has long served as a key listening post, thanks to the island’s proximity to China and its democratic values. Shared language and ethnicity also allow Taiwanese intelligence agents to blend into Chinese society. But reports have emerged that Ma has curtailed intelligence operations in China, and is planning to stop sharing intelligence with Western nations. Expect China’s “soft power” policy toward Taiwan to continue. If Taipei refuses China’s advances, Beijing is in a position to use the threat of force, but Ma’s Beijing-friendly rule makes such a refusal less and less likely. Either way, expect Taiwan to be absorbed into Red China, and for Beijing to wield even more power as a result.

South Korea

Orienting toward China

South Korea announced on May 21 that it is forging a military pact with China. Analysts say that Seoul may, in part, be trying to soften Chinese backlash over a similar accord it is creating with Japan. Watch for Europe’s strides toward unification to prompt Asian nations to set aside long-standing disputes and create a unified Asian bloc.

Russia

Putin says, ‘Protest this’

Russia’s parliament passed a measure on June 6 that will slap heavy fines on protests that don’t comply with Moscow’s rigid rules. The bill levies fines of up to $20,000 on organizers of demonstrations that attract larger crowds than allowed, have been banned, occur at an unapproved time or location, or turn violent. Individual protesters at such rallies will be punished with as much as $10,000 in fines and up to 200 hours of community service. The new legislation reflects Russian President Vladimir Putin’s concern about protests that have continued since December’s disputed parliamentary elections, and Putin’s own election in March. The former-kgb strongman has returned to the Kremlin with more power than any Russian since the collapse of communism, and the stage is set for him to take on a new, more dictatorial role. He is not interested in democratic reforms, a “Russian Spring” or anything else that slows Russia’s rise to power. These strict new measures in the Russian capital will stifle domestic unrest and allow him to intensify his expansionist aims.

China, Japan

Yuan, yen: yes! Dollar: no!

China and Japan started trading their currencies directly on June 1. Previously, China allowed its currency to be traded only against the U.S. dollar, but the People’s Bank of China authorized direct trade with Japan in order to develop China’s capital markets and promote cooperation with Japan. Japan’s finance minister said bypassing the dollar will revitalize Tokyo markets by reducing transaction costs. This decision strengthens the relationship between the world’s second- and third-largest economies. Since China and Japan are America’s two largest creditors, any move they take away from the dollar has the potential to destabilize the U.S. currency. The Trumpet has long predicted an Asian alliance that will ultimately grow to challenge Western powers, particularly Europe. This currency deal represents a step toward the creation of that Oriental bloc.

Russia

Taking aim at anti-missile shield

Moscow tested a new long-range missile on May 23 that demonstrates its ability to penetrate missile defense systems. The missile was launched from a base in northwestern Russia, and its dummy warhead struck a target on the Pacific coast. Russia’s Defense Ministry said the new missile improves Russia’s offensive arsenal, “including by increasing the capability to overcome missile defense systems that are being created.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has long been working to rebuild Russia’s influence in its former Soviet periphery. The Red Army continues to increase both its belligerence and its actual military capabilities. Russia knows that the Eastern European nations that were once part of the Soviet Union are watching its response to the planned U.S. shield. Moscow may be using the situation as a chance to display its might in an effort to win these nations back into its sphere of control.

Latin America, Africa

Argentina

Fighting for the Falklands

Argentine President Cristina de Fernández made a very rare appearance at a United Nations decolonization committee on June 14 where she debated that the Falkland Islands are Argentina’s territory and should not be under British rule. Fernández’s resolution to address a committee that is typically the territory of mid-ranking officials is the latest move in her intensifying diplomatic offensive to assert Argentina’s claims to the islands, which are part of the UK’s self-governing overseas territories. Britain needs to “act more intelligently” regarding the islands, Fernández said in an emotion-driven appeal. She also described Britain as “a bully” for wielding its power as a member of the UN Security Council, and she accused the UK of lying about the history of the islands. British Prime Minister David Cameron insisted that he would not discuss sovereignty as long as the Falklands’ 3,000 residents wish to remain under the British flag. The Argentine government has complained for years that Britain is ignoring UN calls for it to negotiate the islands’ sovereignty. Fernández’s administration has taken an increasingly combative stance on the issue in recent months. Prior to World War ii, Britain and the United States controlled the world’s most important ports and straits. These “gates,” as they are called in the Bible, proved crucial to Allied success throughout World War ii. Since then, these two countries have given up as gatekeepers—without a fight. The U.S. and Britain have surrendered Suez, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Panama Canal. Expect Gibraltar and the Falklands to soon follow. Fernández is intensifying her diplomatic pressure on Britain, and the weakening former empire is losing the resolve to hold on to this important sea gate.

Vatican online outreach

The Pontifical Commission for Latin America officially launched a new website in May. Among other things, this website includes information on the latest news about the 20 episcopal conferences in Latin America. The Vatican hopes it will strengthen the connection between Rome and the church’s congregations throughout Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and South America. The site also promotes a photo gallery from the pope’s most recent visits to Mexico and Cuba. Most of Latin America was originally colonized by the Holy Roman Empire during the peak of the Habsburg dynasty. Expect Pope Benedict xvi and his Vatican hierarchy to use technology, political influence and other means of leverage to pull this vast region back more tightly into the Roman fold.

South Africa

Bracing for more rage

A large number of violent riots erupted in May in South Africa as masses of people threw tear gas and stones, and burned tires in protest of the lack of basic government services. According to the South African government, May 2012 had more protests than any other month since 2004. Most of the protesters live in shanty towns without electricity and other modern conveniences. Even though South African politicians promised to help remedy this situation back in 2009 when similar protests occurred, conditions have not changed for the better. Now analysts are saying that this year will eclipse 2009 in terms of violent rioting. The Trumpet has long predicted that social stability would deteriorate in South Africa and all of Britain’s former colonies as God withdraws His blessings from modern-day Israel. Watch for the rioting to get much worse.

South Sudan

In search of water

Tens of thousands of refugees fleeing conflict in Sudan are struggling to find sufficient water for drinking and cooking, leading to an unknown number of deaths, officials reported June 18. In the last month, over 35,000 people have fled ground fighting and bombing in Sudan for South Sudan. Most refugees are women, children and the elderly, as the men generally stay behind to fight. Most walked two to three weeks to reach the border with South Sudan, and around 40,000 more are believed to be en route. Thousands of the new arrivals have had to walk 13 miles to find water. An emergency coordinator with Doctors Without Borders said water is among the highest priorities in the crisis. “It’s very sad that with this number of refugees that simply having something to drink is our biggest challenge.”

Anglo-America

First-ever presidential support for homosexual ‘marriage’

After years of defending homosexual civil unions, U.S. President Barack Obama announced on May 9 that he now fully supports homosexual “marriage.” The president had previously said that his views on the controversy were “evolving,” and he drew sharp criticism for trying to politically time his announcement for after the election. The president made the announcement following an alleged slip-up by Vice President Joe Biden, and it came the day after North Carolina voters overwhelmingly approved a ban on both homosexual “marriage” and civil unions in their state. The Obama administration’s support of such unions is undermining the structure of the family. Without strong families, no nation can survive for long.

Study: Real marriage means better-adjusted children

A group of around 150 prominent Australian doctors issued a joint statement in May saying children raised in heterosexual relationships “do better in all parameters” than those raised by homosexual couples. Doctors for the Family convener Lachlan Dunjey told abc News Radio that his group is concerned about the health consequences for children raised by homosexuals. “It’s well proven that children who grow up with a mother and a father in a biological mother-and-father family do better than children who don’t have the opportunity to grow up in that kind of family,” he said. Unfortunately, common-sense studies like this one are becoming increasingly rare in today’s upside-down world. Statistics continue to show that children raised in traditional families with well-defined gender roles are far more likely to grow into well-adjusted, law-abiding citizens.

Reproductive clinic opens—inside high school

The Planned Parenthood organization is collaborating with the Los Angeles Unified School District to reduce the number of unplanned teen pregnancies by opening a clinic at Roosevelt High School. Rather than advising sexual abstinence until marriage, the clinic will provide teens with free birth control, pregnancy tests and screenings for sexually transmitted diseases. About half of all student visits to the Roosevelt High nurse’s office in the past year were for reproductive reasons, so the school decided to lighten its load by opening its doors to an organization that also commits the most abortions in the country. Planned Parenthood, in order to get new customers to pay for its services, actively recruits them. It has no moral, legal or financial reason not to encourage people to indulge in illicit sexual activity as early as possible in life.

Has a race war already begun?

Shocking episodes of unprovoked violence by young black gangs against white people are happening, yet are not being reported by the news media. In mid-April, two white reporters for the Virginian-Pilot were beaten by at least 30 blacks. Their wounds kept them off work for a week. However, the newspaper they worked for did not report the story until early May. Police officers called to the scene downplayed the beatings as “a simple assault.” Other attacks on whites—some more severe—have occurred in Denver, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York and Washington. Many authorities and reporters have either ignored the race of the people involved, claimed no racial motivation was involved—even in cases where the attackers spewed anti-white statements)—or simply failed to report the incidents altogether.

Some thinkers believe that a race war is being censored to avoid white backlash. Economist Thomas Sowell stated, “What the authorities and the media seem determined to suppress is that the hoodlum elements in many ghettos launch coordinated attacks on whites in public places. If there is anything worse than a one-sided race war, it is a two-sided race war, especially when one of the races outnumbers the other several times over” (Investors.com, May 14). Soon, these simmering tensions will boil over into a full-scale race war.

‘Band of Brothers … and sisters’?

Before 2001, America’s military women seldom saw ground combat. Now, female soldiers are not only involved in fighting, but are also moving into new roles in previously all-male units. The policy change announced earlier this year is being tested in nine brigades, including the 4th Brigade at Fort Campbell. The 4th Brigade’s roots go back to the 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment, known for its World War ii heroics popularized by books and a tv miniseries called Band of Brothers. The new policy eases the restrictions that kept women off the battlefield, opening up thousands of jobs to female soldiers. Studies show that the majority of Americans believe that, while women serving in support functions is fine, they should not be placed in combat situations. That popular idea runs directly contrary to the doctrine of an aggressive minority of lobbyists and politicians, who have been trying to push women into combat for over 30 years. Whether or not the American public realizes it, that minority has essentially won its war.