"What a tangled web we weave..."

Violent protests in China this week threatened to spoil the image of peace and order that China wants to present at the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing. The recent earthquake and flooding have been overshadowed by violent demonstrations over police corruption in the southwest. Add to that the unrest and crackdown in Tibet earlier in the year, the problems with Muslim extremism in the western Xinjiang region, and the attempt to restore relations with Taiwan, and China has a major catastrophe on it hands in the PR department. Many world leaders are expected to attend the opening of the games, and China has voiced its concerns over terrorism, and it wants to put on a good show in hopes of bettering its tarnished image.

India's Muslim-dominated Kashmir region continued to see violent protests as well. Muslims there accuse the Indian government of trying to settle more Hindus there, and a land grant to a Hindu shrine board was revoked after it caused such an uproar. The Hindus responded with protests of their own.

India's government has also been trying to push through an elusive nuclear deal with the US, which has been vehemently opposed by the nation's Communist Party. Prime Minister Singh wants the deal before he leaves office, and definitely before President Bush leaves office, because he believes a new administration will not be as receptive to the deal.

A Pakistani scientist named Abdul Qadeer Khan has alleged that nuclear centrifuges were flown to North Korea by the Pakistani army in 2000, with the presumed consent of its President Pervez Musharraf. Khan, the architect of the Pakistani nuclear program, confessed in 2004 to spreading nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya, and took the blame solely on himself. Recently however, it was revealed that an international smuggling ring, under Khan's direction, secretly shared blueprints for an advanced nuclear weapon with those countries, one that could be fitted on a type of ballistic missile such as those used by Iran. Reports also surfaced recently that Iran had such blueprints in their possession, and were possibly only six months away from making a bomb. The Pakistani government had denied ever being aware of Khan's illegal activities, even though he says his agreement to take the blame alone was part of a deal to be released from jail.

North Korea has reportedly begun dismantling its nuclear program, and has been asking for increased foreign aid in return. The US has announced that aid will not based on any conditions; it is strictly humanitarian. However, skepticism that North Korea would abandon its nuclear ambitions so easily is rampant. President Bush also recently reiterated his stand that all options are on the table to get North Korea to end its nuclear program, including military intervention. The same warning has been given to Iran.

Iran once again rebuffed the offer of incentives to end its own nuclear program and threatened to cut off the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf if attacked by the US or Israel. Reports have surfaced that the US already has operatives inside Iran, and that campaigns have been launched across both the Iraq/Iran border and the Afghan/Iran border by NATO coalition and US troops. The US has denied these reports. The Afghan ambassador to Iran refuted reports that Iran was helping the Taliban fight against NATO in Afghanistan. But reports of Iranian troops killing Afghans along their shared border have been occuring for some time. And more coalition deaths occured in Afghanistan this month than Iraq for the very first time, prompting the US to consider increasing its number of troops there.

Pakistan also has stepped up its campaign against Taliban rebels in its northwestern mountains. But skepticism that the campaign is for real is growing. Pakistan recently tried to broker peace deals with these rebels and even established Sharia law in their areas. Reports of many foreign fighters from the Central Asian nations and other Muslim countries entering Pakistan to aid the rebels have surfaced. Previous reports had been dismissed as not credible.

Lebanese Hezbollah were reportedly training Shi'ite militiamen in southern Iraq until three months ago, when they moved to Iran, where they continued the training. These Hezbollah trainers are alleged to have been behind some of the worst attacks carried out on coalition forces in Iraq. This seems to indicate that Hezbollah is seeking to spread its influence in the Middle East and that Iran may be conducting a proxy war inside Iraq.

Iran, while refusing to abandon its nuclear program, has been trying to get some good PR by extending offers to the US to resume relations and seeking a temporary seat on the UN Security Council when those seats open up for elections by the UN body.

A US deal to remain in Iraq past the UN mandate of December 31st this year continues to draw considerable debate and controversy. The deal would allow the US to set up military bases, keep troops there and set up a separate long-term security agreement. Iraq has also been allowing foreign oil companies to begin making deals to tap the immense potential wealth. This in particular has led some to question whether the motivation for the war was really oil after all.

Turkey has moved in to act as negotiator in both the Iran nuclear program dispute and the Israeli-Syrian peace talks. Turkey's government itself is in a struggle to stay together. Pro-Islamists have made inroads in power and the traditionally secular government has been trying to stave off their growing power. Turkey has been cooperating more and more with Iran and is also looking to foster closer ties with Russia.

We could be seeing the participants of the Gog/Magog war of Ezekiel 38 & 39 coming together right now!

The Israeli-Syrian peace talks have not been faring well. At the UN, Syria accused Israel of mistreating the Druze in the Golan Heights, which Israel took from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War. Syria also claimed that Israel was burying nuclear waste there. Reports have also sufaced that Syria is ready to end its support for Iran's nuclear program, effectively cutting ties, but only if the US will help it end its international isolation and give it military and financial support. Is Isaiah 17 not far off?

The US did agree to give aid to Jordan this week in the amount of 561.4 million dollars for this fiscal year. That is 450 million dollars more than previously planned! Jordan also made agrements with both Canada and the UK to develop its civilian nuclear program. It has an agreement with France already.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is still warning of a military operation in Gaza, if missile continue to be fired into Israel by Islamist factions there. A ceasefire that recently was reached has been broken several times, and border crossings have been opened and closed several times in response to the attacks. Prisoner swaps with Hezbollah and Hamas have also been flipflopping. Both groups are seeking the release of hundreds of their own in exchange for Israeli soldiers, who may-or-may-not be alive.

The government of Germany admitted this week that it had helped to finance the Third Transatlantic Conference, a conference for finding "solutions" in the Middle East, which former Iranian deputy foreign minister Larijani used as a platform to call for the destruction of Israel. The German government had previously denied having provided any financing or inviting him, but in fact did both. Germany also has reportedly been increasing its business and political relations with Iran, and has been their biggest trade partner within the EU for quite some time. The German firm Siemens was accused back in April of delivering sophisticated data surveillance systems to Iran.

Germany is also Russia's largest trading partner in the EU. Am I seeing a pattern here?

Russia this week continued its threats to Georgia over the breakaway region of Abkhazia. Abkhazia claims Georgia is trying to take the unrecognized republic back by force. Russia has warned that war will follow if Georgia makes such an attempt. Bombings in Abkhazia this week were blamed by the government on Georgia, and the borders were closed. Another breakaway Georgian region, South Ossetia, was rocked by heavy shelling, which also was blamed on Georgia. Georgia has denied all the allegations.

Russia also has been having to negotiate with Georgian neighbor Azerbaijan, which has been successful in its attempts at putting Russia off due to its oil and natural gas reserves, and its relations with the West. That is the biggest bone of contention--relations with the West, which lies at the root of the problems with Georgia as well. Russia sees the entire Caucasus region (which is where these countries are located) as its sphere of influence, and it views the growing influence of the West there as an unwelcome intrusion. Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as Armenia, are all far too small to defend themselves if Russia decides to intervene. And with the rise of Islamic militancy in the Russian-controlled Caucasus territories of Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia, it's only a matter of time before the whole area explodes into war.

The proposed US missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic is still encountering resistance from Poland, which wants the US to supply aid to its military and to Russia and NATO in the deal, Russia has previously threatened Poland over the deal, and Poland wants assurance of its security. Meanwhile, Lithuania, which also has a contentious and long history of animosity with Russia, has been proposed as an alternative site for the shield. Russia would really love that!

Poland's President Lech Kaczynski also refused to sign the EU Lisbon Treaty until assurances were made that Ireland, which rejected the treaty in a referendum, would change its mind and ratify it. Czech President Vaclav Klaus, whose country has not ratified it either, has also been very vocally skeptical of the future of the treaty. This has placed considerable pressure on Ireland to reverse its rejection, with the biggest pressure coming from France, which now holds the EU presidency, as well as Germany and the UK.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is fielding skepticism from many sides as he now heads into his summit for the Union for the Mediterranean on July 13th. This is a proposed new union of the EU states and the nations of the Mediterranean Basin, namely the Arab Muslim nations and Israel. Turkey has not yet decided whether it will participate or not. They are furious that their attempts to join the EU in the past have been stymied time and again, and have said that membership in the UM will not be acceptable as a consolation prize.

Sarkozy is also drawing fire for his proposals for an EU military and police force, and for EU citizenship all which would seem to be over and above national forces and citizenships.




This week has been so busy, so packed full of crazy news! When I first went to gather up my notes to write this, I never expected there to be so much to cover. I guess with all the chaos of moving the boards that I just didn't notice it all while it was happening.

I believe that all this goes to show just how close to the brink we are. We are getting crazy birth pangs, faster and closer together all the time.


Matthew 24
1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.

2 Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.


We're so close, keep watching, keep looking up, and keep spreading the Word!

~ written by Michael McMillan