3284-ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? | View Thread

Rebel fighters from the First Battalion under the Free Syrian Army take part in a military training on June 10, 2015, in the rebel-held countryside of the northern city of Aleppo

CIA Prepares to Arm Syrian Rebels With Lethal Weapons Should the Truce Collapse

The Syrian ceasefire is hanging in the balance, former Republican congressman Ron Paul and political analyst Daniel McAdams note in their Liberty Report; however, Washington continues to push ahead with its military program aimed at training andarming the so-called Syrian rebels.

To complicate matters further, there is enough evidence that the moderates have repeatedly teamed up with al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front on the ground, calling it a "marriage of necessity."

Even State Department spokesman Mark Toner has recognized that "there is some co-mingling" of al-Qaeda militants and the US-backed Syrian rebels.

Commenting on the issue, Daniel McAdams, the Executive Director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, referred to the Wall Street Journal article that shed some light on Washington's plans to send various types of anti-aircraft weapons to Syrian rebels.

"Throughout this ceasefire the US is taking the opportunity to provide a lot of arms to the so-called moderates — three thousand tons by one estimate. But the logic is insane: [these arms] only will be available if the ceasefire fails. That is like telling a kid: 'You only get a cookie if you don't eat your broccoli'," McAdams noted.

But what looks even more suspicious is that the CIA has been supplying advanced anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems to the Syrian rebels. There is no doubt that these types of weapons are primarily aimed against Bashar al-Assad's tanks and aircraft, not at Daesh's Toyota trucks.

"The CIA agenda is definitely not anti-ISIS [Daesh], it's primarily anti-Assad. And I think that is evident by the kinds of weapons they provided. They provided TOW missiles which are only effective against the Syrian government's tanks. The Manpads, the shoulder fired missiles, which shot down two Syrian Air Force planes over the past couple of weeks. And even the Soviet-era "Grad" rockets, which are used to fight against the Syrian [Arab] Army. So, the types of weapons, I think, tell us a lot about what the CIA is focused on," McAdams remarked.

Learning From Russia: Why Washington Gets It All Wrong About Syria

Therefore, the CIA is turning a blind eye to the fact that the Syrian rebels and al-Nusra Front's terrorists are "co-mingled."

There is yet another issue that prompts concern: it seems that the CIA and the Pentagon have two different agendas regarding Syria.

To add to the confusion, the CIA is supporting one faction of the Syrian rebels, while the Pentagon is backing another group of fighters.

It turns out that in February, 2016 the CIA-armed group Knights of Righteousness was attacked by the Pentagon-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria.

"One hand of our government does not even know what the other hand is doing," Dr. Ron Paul noted.

The former US congressman expressed his concerns regarding Washington's unstoppable militarism in the region.

"What if what we are doing is making things worse — worse for us, worse for the people, worse for the cause of peace?" Paul asked.

Members of the House of Representatives meet on Capitol Hill January 6, 2015 in Washington, DC

In Pilate's Footsteps: Congress Washes Its Hands of Responsibility for Wars

However, this question remains largely neglected by the US policymakers. The lessons of the past remain unlearnt and what Washington is doing right now in Syria and Iraq is "the reactivation of the militarism," he stressed.

The former Republican congressman emphasized that while pursuing the idea of regime change overseas, the US establishment is not bothered by the fact that the nations' current governments may be better than anything Washington is going to suggest.

"We are sending more weapons in [Syria] because the foreign policy remains the same: it is a militant foreign policy of intervention, it's based on the assumption that we are responsible for the world at large, that we are policemen of the world, and chaos would break out if we weren't there to bring about order. And all you have to do is look at history and look at the Middle East, chaos, you know, follows our interventions," Paul underscored.

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 4/16/2016 4:48:49 PM
	Pope brings 12 Syrian refugees to Italy in lesson for Europe DEREK GATOPOULOS, NICOLE WINFIELD and ELENA BECATOROS April 16, 2016 MORIA, Greece (AP) – Pope Francis gave Europe a concrete lesson Saturday in welcoming refugees by bringing 12 Syrian Muslims to Italy aboard his charter plane after an emotional visit to the Greek island of Lesbos, which has faced the brunt of Europe’s migration crisis. Refugees on the overwhelmed island fell to their knees and wept at his presence. The Vatican said Francis wanted to make a “gesture of welcome” at the end of his five-hour visit to Lesbos, where he implored Europe to respond to the migrant crisis on its shores “in a way that is worthy of our common humanity.” The Greek island just a few miles from the Turkish coast has seen hundreds of thousands of desperate people land on its beaches and rocks in the last year, fleeing war and poverty at home. “Today I renew my heartfelt plea for responsibility and solidarity in the face of this tragic situation,” Francis said. The pope visited Lesbos alongside the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians and the head of the Church of Greece to thank the Greek people for their welcome and highlight the plight of refugees as the European Union implements a controversial plan to deport them back to Turkey. Many refugees wept at Francis’ feet as he and the two Orthodox leaders approached them at the Moria refugee detention center, where they greeted 250 people individually. Others chanted “Freedom! Freedom!” as the religious leaders passed by. Francis bent down as one young girl knelt at his feet, sobbing uncontrollably. Clearly moved, the pope also blessed a man who wailed “Thank you, God. Thank you! Please Father, bless me!” A woman told Francis that her husband was in Germany but that she was stuck with her two sons in Lesbos. The Vatican said the three Syrian families, including six children, who were taken back with the pope will be supported by the Holy See and cared for initially by Italy’s Catholic Sant'Egidio Community, which has been active in providing assistance to refugees. Two of the families hail from Damascus and the third from Deir el-Zour, a city close to the Iraqi border that the Islamic State group has been besieging for months, leading to malnutrition among 200,000 people living in the area. “Their homes had been bombed,” the Vatican said of the three families. At a ceremony in the port of Lesbos to thank Greeks, Francis said he understood Europe’s concern about the recent migrant influx. But he said migrants are first of all human beings “who have faces, names and individual stories” and deserve to have their most basic human rights respected. “God will repay this generosity,” he promised. In his remarks to the refugees, Francis said they should know that they are not alone and shouldn’t lose hope. He said he wanted to visit them to hear their stories and to bring the world’s attention to their plight. “We hope that the world will heed these scenes of tragic and indeed desperate need, and respond in a way worthy of our common humanity,” he said. “May all our brothers and sisters on this continent, like the Good Samaritan, come to your aid in the spirit of fraternity, solidarity and respect for human dignity that has distinguished its long history.” Human rights groups have denounced the EU-Turkey deportation deal as an abdication of Europe’s obligation to grant protection to asylum-seekers. The March 18 deal stipulates that anyone arriving clandestinely on Greek islands on or after March 20 will be returned to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece. For every Syrian sent back, the EU will take another Syrian directly from Turkey for resettlement in Europe. In return, Turkey was granted billions of euros to deal with the more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees living there and promised that its stalled accession talks with the EU would speed up. Making sure not to violate the deal, the Vatican said the 12 Syrians coming to Italy with the pope had been in Lesbos prior to March 20, and thus were not subject to possible deportation. During the visit, Francis, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and the archbishop of Athens, Ieronymos II, signed a joint declaration calling on the international community to make the protection of human lives a priority and to extend temporary asylum to those in need. The declaration also called on political leaders to use all means to ensure that everyone, particularly Christians, can remain in their homelands and enjoy the “fundamental right to live in peace and security.” “The world will be judged by the way it has treated you,” Bartholomew told the refugees. “And we will all be accountable for the way we respond to the crisis and conflict in the regions that you come from.” Francis and the two Orthodox leaders, officially divided from Catholics over a 1,000-year schism, lunched with eight of the refugees to hear their stories of fleeing war, conflict and poverty and their hopes for a better life in Europe. They then went to the island’s main port to pray together and toss a floral wreath into the sea in memory of those who didn’t make the journey — hundreds of people this year alone. Upon his arrival in Greece, Francis met Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras at the airport and thanked him for the “generosity” shown by the Greek people in welcoming foreigners despite their own economic troubles. Tsipras said he was proud of Greece’s response “at a time when some of our partners — even in the name of Christian Europe — were erecting walls and fences to prevent defenseless people from seeking a better life.” Hours before Francis arrived, the European border patrol agency Frontex intercepted a dinghy carrying 41 Syrians and Iraqis off the coast of Lesbos. The refugees were detained and brought to shore in the main port of Mytilene. The son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, Francis has made the plight of refugees, the poor and downtrodden the focus of his ministry as pope, denouncing the “globalization of indifference” that the world shows the less fortunate. The wreath-tossing ceremony is a gesture Francis first made when he visited the Italian island of Lampedusa in 2013, his first trip outside Rome as pope, after a dozen migrants died trying to reach the southern tip of Europe. He made a similar gesture at the U.S.-Mexican border, laying a bouquet of flowers next to a large crucifix at the Ciudad Juarez border crossing in memory of migrants who died trying to reach the U.S. ___ Winfield reported from Rome and Becatoros from Athens. ___ Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield and Derek Gatopoulos at www.twitter.com/dgatopoulos (Yahoo News)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 4/16/2016 5:24:10 PM
	Israel’s ‘Absurd’ Map Of Jerusalem’s Old City 04/15/2016 03:38 pm ET YADID LEVY / ROBERTHARDING VIA GETTY IMAGES It has been proven true over the years that victors write the history. Nowhere is this fact more obvious than in Jerusalem, where some Israelis are trying unsuccessfully to rewrite centuries-old history. By changing facts on the ground the some Israelis are desperately trying to claim exclusivity to a city that has been known for its diversity and religious pluralism. The latest attempt to monopolize the holy city has been so over the top that an Israeli newspaper called the effort “absurd.” A map of Jerusalem’s old city distributed for free to all tourists and produced by the Israeli tourism ministry received widespread condemnations from Christian and Muslim religious and social leaders. Of the 57 tourist locations identified by Israelis in the old city of Jerusalem, only one Islamic and five Christian sites were listed. Al Haram Al Sharif, the Noble Sanctuary covering 144 dunums, which occupies about a quarter of the old city is the only Islamic site on the said map. For this world-famous setting, Israelis using the Jewish term Temple Mount. It contains a dozen locations, including the silver domed Al Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, the Golden Dome of the Rock, the Islamic Museum, as well as Islamic schools and shrines. Christian locations which fill out the old city are also greatly reduced to a mere five. The Via Dolorosa alone has 14 sites along its stations of the cross, showing the path Jesus travelled before his crucifixion. The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer whose bell tower majestically fills the city’s landscape is totally ignored by the creators of this highly inaccurate map. In exchange for the ignored historic religious sites and locations that have been preserved and honoured for centuries, the Israeli ministry of tourism, run by a right-wing minister, has forced down the tourists’ throats Jewish locations that not even Israeli tour guides heard of. Almost every Jewish owned house or synagogue in the old city is given prominence, an attempt that the Israeli daily Haartez called “absurd” because of its silliness. Jordan’s Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Nayef Al Fayez told the Washington-based news website Al Monitor that the attempt to monopolise Jerusalem will not work. “The attempts to divert Jerusalem to one group or one faith is not helpful. Jerusalem is holy for the three monotheistic religions and is rich with many sites for Muslims, Christians and Jews. For us, Jerusalem is important to all,” said Fayez. The Israeli ministry of tourism refused to retract the map and claimed that it was created with the help of “experts” in tourism. No list or names of these experts have been identified. While Palestinian political and religious officials have publicly condemned the forged and irresponsible map, few international figures seriously opposed it. The United Nations Education and Cultural Organisation and the Vatican have yet to publicly denounce this effort to monopolise the city’s multi-religious history. The controversial map is the latest reflection of the struggle for the narrative regarding Jerusalem. Israel’s apologists are working overtime to try and minimise Christian and Islamic cultural connections to the city of Jerusalem while greatly exaggerating any remnants of Jewish presence. Over the past decades, Palestinian and international efforts focused on protecting religious sites and the presence of the faithful which is often referred to as the living stones. Some efforts by the Palestinian Jerusalem Tourism Cluster attempted to respond to this Israeli effort by creating and distributing their own inclusive map to the old city, but much more effort is needed. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has channelled enormous political and financial investment in protecting Al Aqsa Mosque and blocking right-wing Israeli efforts to take over the mosque, as many worry that it would lead to a division like that witnessed in Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque. Nevertheless, much more effort is needed in public relations and to promote a more inclusive narrative to the old city of Jerusalem, which can reflect a fair representation of the importance of the holy city to the faithful of all the monotheistic religions. Follow Daoud Kuttab on Twitter: www.twitter.com/daoudkuttab (huffingtonpost.com)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 4/16/2016 5:39:19 PM
	Evidence Points to the CIA Targeting Assad, Not Daesh in Syria © AFP 2016/ DIMITAR DILKOFF 20:26 14.04.2016(updated 21:02 14.04.2016) Washington has jumped at the opportunity to provide massive amounts of weapons to Syria's so-called moderate rebels amid the ongoing ceasefire; it seems that the White House is not bothered by the fact that half of its arms have found their way into the hands of al-Qaeda, Ron Paul and Daniel McAdams note. © AFP 2016/ BARAA AL-HALABI CIA Prepares to Arm Syrian Rebels With Lethal Weapons Should the Truce Collapse The Syrian ceasefire is hanging in the balance, former Republican congressman Ron Paul and political analyst Daniel McAdams note in their Liberty Report; however, Washington continues to push ahead with its military program aimed at training andarming the so-called Syrian rebels. To complicate matters further, there is enough evidence that the moderates have repeatedly teamed up with al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front on the ground, calling it a "marriage of necessity." Even State Department spokesman Mark Toner has recognized that "there is some co-mingling" of al-Qaeda militants and the US-backed Syrian rebels. Commenting on the issue, Daniel McAdams, the Executive Director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, referred to the Wall Street Journal article that shed some light on Washington's plans to send various types of anti-aircraft weapons to Syrian rebels. "Throughout this ceasefire the US is taking the opportunity to provide a lot of arms to the so-called moderates — three thousand tons by one estimate. But the logic is insane: [these arms] only will be available if the ceasefire fails. That is like telling a kid: 'You only get a cookie if you don't eat your broccoli'," McAdams noted. But what looks even more suspicious is that the CIA has been supplying advanced anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems to the Syrian rebels. There is no doubt that these types of weapons are primarily aimed against Bashar al-Assad's tanks and aircraft, not at Daesh's Toyota trucks. "The CIA agenda is definitely not anti-ISIS [Daesh], it's primarily anti-Assad. And I think that is evident by the kinds of weapons they provided. They provided TOW missiles which are only effective against the Syrian government's tanks. The Manpads, the shoulder fired missiles, which shot down two Syrian Air Force planes over the past couple of weeks. And even the Soviet-era "Grad" rockets, which are used to fight against the Syrian [Arab] Army. So, the types of weapons, I think, tell us a lot about what the CIA is focused on," McAdams remarked. © SPUTNIK/ RAMIL SITDIKOV Learning From Russia: Why Washington Gets It All Wrong About Syria Therefore, the CIA is turning a blind eye to the fact that the Syrian rebels and al-Nusra Front's terrorists are "co-mingled." There is yet another issue that prompts concern: it seems that the CIA and the Pentagon have two different agendas regarding Syria. To add to the confusion, the CIA is supporting one faction of the Syrian rebels, while the Pentagon is backing another group of fighters. It turns out that in February, 2016 the CIA-armed group Knights of Righteousness was attacked by the Pentagon-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria. "One hand of our government does not even know what the other hand is doing," Dr. Ron Paul noted. The former US congressman expressed his concerns regarding Washington's unstoppable militarism in the region. "What if what we are doing is making things worse — worse for us, worse for the people, worse for the cause of peace?" Paul asked. © AFP 2016/ BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI In Pilate's Footsteps: Congress Washes Its Hands of Responsibility for Wars However, this question remains largely neglected by the US policymakers. The lessons of the past remain unlearnt and what Washington is doing right now in Syria and Iraq is "the reactivation of the militarism," he stressed. The former Republican congressman emphasized that while pursuing the idea of regime change overseas, the US establishment is not bothered by the fact that the nations' current governments may be better than anything Washington is going to suggest. "We are sending more weapons in [Syria] because the foreign policy remains the same: it is a militant foreign policy of intervention, it's based on the assumption that we are responsible for the world at large, that we are policemen of the world, and chaos would break out if we weren't there to bring about order. And all you have to do is look at history and look at the Middle East, chaos, you know, follows our interventions," Paul underscored. Read more: http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160414/1038026738/cia-syria-rebels-daesh-assad.html#ixzz460oF8WcK
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 4/16/2016 6:04:05 PM
	Moscow calls on West to force Turkey allow intl observers at its ‘porous’ border with Syria Published time: 15 Apr, 2016 21:57 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. © Mikhail Voskresenskiy / Sputnik The ‘porous’ Turkey-Syria border facilitates the actions of terrorists and flow of smuggled goods, Russia’s foreign minister said, adding that the only way to stop the process is to invite international observers. Read more ISIS ‘Department of Artifacts’ document exposes antique loot trade via Turkey (RT EXCLUSIVE) “It’s clear that international observers could be deployed there only at Turkey’s request and we give special attention to the matter, in the UN as well, hoping that our Western partners will manage to compel Ankara to do so,” Sergey Lavrov said on Friday at a press conference after a meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishido, in Tokyo. There is no other possible way to tackle the situation on the “porous”Turkey-Syria border with Islamic State militants’ smuggling routes still running intact, Russia’s foreign minister added. Gunmen and weapons get into Syria from Turkey while various illegal goods are being smuggled from Syria, even though their flow “has decreased thanks to our [Russian] Air Forces, but it still exists,”Lavrov said. “Since Turkey is shrugging off the problem as it is, we propose, so far not in any official format but as a draft resolution or some other decision, that Turkey invites independent international observers to its territory to watch what is actually going on at this border,” Lavrov said. Russia is constantly raising the matter of the Turkey-Syria border with partners who are interested in quelling the Syrian crisis, particularly with the American officials, since Turkey is a member of the US-led anti-terrorist coalition, Lavrov said. US diplomats, concerned with the border problem as well, say they are taking measures trying to find a solution, he added. Read more ISIS, oil & Turkey: What RT found in Syrian town liberated from jihadists by Kurds (EXCLUSIVE) Turkey that has been repeatedly implicated as a consumer of cheap oil produced by Islamic State in Syria. In March an RT documentary crew obtained documents left by IS militants that suggested a link between Turkey and IS oil production. An IS militant in an interview with RT said that there had been no guards at the Turkey-Syria border to stop them and they moved freely from one country to another. Earlier in December, Russia’s defense ministry released satellite images showing oil trucks going from Islamic State installations in Syria to Turkey. However, the Turkish government has denied all of the allegations regarding Ankara’s involvement in terrorist financial activity. Islamic State has benefited from the trade in looted Syrian antiquities and artifacts as well, another RT journalist investigation has suggested. Despite a UN Security Council ban on buying illegally obtained antiquities from Syria and Iraq, there have been reports on some of the items worth thousands of dollars turning up later in antique markets in Europe and the US and then ending up in private collections. (RT)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

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Pope brings 12 Syrian refugees to Italy in lesson for Europe

Israel’s ‘Absurd’ Map Of Jerusalem’s Old City

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Moscow calls on West to force Turkey allow intl observers at its ‘porous’ border with Syria