Sunday, November 17, 2024
Military Madness > Has Biden just declared war on Russia? Is this Deep State getting it done before Trump threatens peace?
Is this Biden's way of interrupting the negative press on being relegated to the end of the back row in the Lima, Peru photoshoot? Or, is Deep State rushing to get ahead of Trump's peace-mongering?
Biden authorizes Ukraine’s use of US-supplied
long-range missiles for deeper strikes inside Russia
Short Url
https://arab.news/pvc6b
- Biden's decision follows Russia's reported use of North Korean troops in its war against Ukraine
- The US had previously allowed Ukraine to use ATACMS only for limited strikes just across the border with Russia
MANAUS, Brazil: President Joe Biden has authorized the use of US-supplied long-range missiles by Ukraine to strike even deeper inside Russia, the latest easing of limitations meant to prevent the conflict from further spiraling, according to one US official and three people familiar with the matter.
The decision allowing Ukraine to use the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMs, for attacks farther into Russia comes as thousands of North Korean troops have been sent into a region along Ukraine’s northern border to help Russia retake ground and as President-elect Donald Trump has said he would bring about a swift end to the war, expressing skepticism over continued support by the United States.
Biden's decision came hours after Russia launched a massive drone and missile attack on Ukraine, described by officials as the largest in recent months, targeting energy infrastructure and killing civilians.
The attack came as fears are mounting about Moscow’s intentions to devastate Ukraine's power generation capacity ahead of the winter.
It is the second time the US has permitted the use of Western weapons inside Russian territory within limits after permitting the use of HIMARS systems, a shorter-range weapon, to stem Russia's advance in Kharkiv region in May.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia had launched a total of 120 missiles and 90 drones in a large-scale attack across Ukraine. Various types of drones were deployed, he said, including Iranian-made Shaheds, as well as cruise, ballistic and aircraft-launched ballistic missiles.
Ukrainian defenses shot down 144 out of a total of 210 air targets, Ukraine's air force reported later on Sunday.
Zelensky and many of his Western supporters have been pressing Biden for months to allow Ukraine to strike military targets deeper inside Russia with Western-supplied missiles, saying the US ban had made it impossible for Ukraine to try to stop Russian attacks on its cities and electrical grids.
Some supporters have argued that this and other US constraints could cost Ukraine the war. The debate has become a source of disagreement among Ukraine’s NATO allies.
Biden had remained opposed, determined to hold the line against any escalation that he felt could draw the US and other NATO members into direct conflict with Russia.
But North Korea has deployed thousands of troops to Russia to help Moscow try to claw back land in the Kursk border region that Ukraine seized this year. The introduction of North Korean troops to the conflict comes as Moscow has seen a favorable shift in momentum. Trump has signaled that he could push Ukraine to agree to give up some land seized by Russia to find an end to the conflict.
As many as 12,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia, according to US, South Korean and Ukrainian assessments. US and South Korean intelligence officials say North Korea also has provided Russia with significant amounts of munitions to replenish its dwindling weapons stockpiles.
Trump, who takes office in January, spoke for months as a candidate about wanting Russia’s war in Ukraine to be over, but he mostly ducked questions about whether he wanted US ally Ukraine to win.
He also repeatedly slammed the Biden administration for giving Kyiv tens of billions of dollars in aid. His election victory has Ukraine’s international backers worrying that any rushed settlement would mostly benefit Putin.
America is Ukraine’s most valuable ally in the war, providing more than $56.2 billion in security assistance since Russian forces invaded in February 2022.
Worried about Russia’s response, however, the Biden administration repeatedly has delayed providing some specific advanced weapons sought by Ukraine, only agreeing under pressure from Ukraine and in consultation with allies, after long denying such a request.
That includes initially refusing Zelensky’s pleas for advanced tanks, Patriot air defense systems, F-16 fighter jets, among other systems.
The White House agreed in May to allow Ukraine to use ATACMS for limited strikes just across the border with Russia.
Ukrainian drones strike Russia
A local journalist died Sunday as Ukrainian drones struck Russia's embattled Kursk region, its Gov. Aleksei Smirnov reported.
Moscow’s forces have for months strained to dislodge Ukrainian troops from the southern province after a bold incursion in August that constituted the largest attack on Russia since World War II and saw battle-hardened Ukrainian units swiftly take hundreds of square miles (kilometers) of territory.
In Russia’s Belgorod province, near Ukraine, a man died on the spot after a Ukrainian drone dropped explosives on his car, local Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov reported.
Another Ukrainian drone on Sunday targeted a drone factory in Izhevsk, deep inside Russia, according to anti-Kremlin Russian news channels on the Telegram messaging app. The regional leader, Aleksandr Brechalov, reported that a drone exploded near a factory in the city, blowing out windows but causing no serious damage. A man was briefly hospitalized with a head injury, Brechalov said.
Islam in Asia > Is the Ayatollah Khamenei on his death bed?
Khamenei rumored to be seriously ill,
may even be in a coma
A new Supreme Leader at this time of high tension could lead to ‘widespread public protests,” as the story below notes, or even the toppling of the Islamic regime, which likely will soon not be able to count on Old Joe Biden and his henchmen to prop it up with another few billion dollars.
Iran Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a coma? Everything about succession plans amid clashes with Israel
Mint, November 17, 2024:
…According to reports, Tehran secretly picked its successor in late September — with the ailing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei possibly abdicating before his death. An Iran International report suggests that his son Mojtaba Khamenei will assume the top role while his father is alive.
60 members of the Iranian Assembly of Experts reportedly met in secrecy on September 26 in acquiescence to a demand by Khamenei. They were ordered to take a decision on the succession immediately and with utmost confidentiality. The candidate and procedure were both met with resistance and reports suggest that Khamenei and his representatives also issued direct threats. The need for secrecy was also fuelled by the possiblity of widespread public protests.
A New York Times report on October 27 also backed the assertion — claiming that Khamenei was suffering from a major medical condition and reiterating claims that his son Mojtaba would become the successor….
Resisting the urge to celebrate, I rather suggest that we pray for the Ayatollah, that he would have a Close Encounter of the God Kind that would open his eyes to the evil he has committed and encouraged for most of his life.
It will be interesting to see the reaction in the streets of Tehran when, and if, they announce his death.
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Wolves Among the Sheep > Justin Welby prayed against Israel - now he's gone!
Welby prayed God would turn the world
against Israel and was judged for it
Justin Welby has resigned as the Archbishop of Canterbury. Recently, Welby came out strongly against Israel, denying the Biblical rights of Jews to the land, and many are now asking whether this has brought God’s judgement upon him. It is a lesson that all Christian leaders should learn from.
Jesus told us that the world would hate us just as He was first hated by the world (John 15:18-19). And Paul teaches us that we are not to be conformed to this world (Romans 12:2) but be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
As leader of the Church of England his role should have been to challenge the world. To hold the government and authorities in Britain to account according to the teachings of the Bible. Welby was supposed to defend the faith, not transform Christianity to fit the politics of the day.
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.” – Matthew 5:13
The Church cannot be salt and light if it is indistinguishable from the world. It has no value to God. Sadly, Justin Welby was conforming to the ways of the world and rejecting Biblical truth.
At CUFI, we are fully committed to the Godly cause of Israel. We speak of little else. Our supporters have raised several issues they had with other teachings of Justin Welby, but we are not going to cover those topics today. We are only looking at it from his stand on Israel. Ultimately, it seems it was his anti-Israel stance that brought him down.
In August, Archbishop Welby released a statement on the ‘Two-State Solution’ and called for Israel and Jewish removal from all of Judea and Samaria, including East Jerusalem.
These areas rightfully belong to Israel, including the Old City of Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, the Mount of Olives (where Jesus will return) and the Tomb of the Patriarchs to name a few. Welby wanted to remove the Jewish rights to these places and give them to Islamists.
CUFI wrote an article about it which went into seven reasons why the Archbishop’s stance was unbiblical and out of order. You can read that https://www.cufi.org.uk/news/seven-reasons-why-archbishop-welbys-statement-on-israel-is-unbiblical-and-out-of-order”>here.
Ultimately, God warns that Jerusalem will be a heavy stone for all who try to lift it. And that includes Christian leaders.
“And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.” – Zechariah 12:3-4
Welby’s statement in August made clear the Archbishop’s stance. He said, “Israel’s presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is unlawful and needs to end as rapidly as possible.” And he wrote this based on biased statements from ungodly global bodies.
Welby forgot that the Bible is the final authority on Israel’s legality. God’s law is infallible. International law is not. The legal text for Israel’s status is written down in the pages of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all their descendants, are the rightful heirs of the land as decreed by God.
Not only did Welby replace God’s word with man’s, but he also encouraged the world to go against God.
“It is imperative that governments around the world reaffirm their unwavering commitment to all decisions by the International Court of Justice, irrespective of the situation,” wrote Welby.
Then Welby wrote his most egregious comment: “I pray that all UN member states respond positively to this Advisory Opinion.”
Not only was Welby urging the world to turn against Israel, Welby said he was praying, talking to God, that He might turn all the nations of the world against Israel.
Think about it for a moment. He was asking the God of Israel who made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to turn the world against Israel and the Jews.
How foolish!
God is clear that anyone who tries to remove Jerusalem will be cut into pieces. Likewise, anyone who touches Israel touches the apple of God’s eye (Zecheriah 2:8).
What could possibly lead an Archbishop to have the audacity to demand from God that He rescind His eternal promise, reject the people whom He foreknew, rewrite Scripture, and ask God to turn all nations against the thing God loves? It was far worse than just poking God in the eye, and it wasn’t God leading Welby to make such unbiblical statements.
Three times this year, before this story broke, I have called for Welby's resignation. Each time it appeared that Welby's decisions were not those of a godly man, but those of one who has departed from God.
Is this possible? Martin Luthor once spoke against the Jews, although this may have come shortly after the death of his youngest and favourite daughter.
I know by experience that it is possible to depart from the Lord for a season. I believe Welby will find his way back into fellowship with the Lord, but he definitely needs to step down from his lofty position.
At CUFI, we seek to follow the Lord and obey His commands. We fully believe and accept that God knows what He is doing and compared to Him we know nothing. We do not have the audacity to think we know better than God. We fear the Lord.
Welby learned the hard way that compromising the truths of the Bible is a bad move. He had already lost a lot of respect from the Church for various ways in which he pandered to the world. Now, he’s lost the respect of the world too. And it was all because he tried to please the world rather than God. He lost his flavour, turned against Israel, conformed to the world, and it seems he was judged for it; losing his position and having his legacy cut to pieces.
We will of course be praying for Justin Welby and for his successor. The Church of England needs Godly leaders who will stand up for Biblical truth and be salt and light in this dark and evil world.
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Canadian Convulsions > Hogue Commission seals evidence of Chinese political interference for 99 years
What's the point of a commission that buries the truth for a century?
First-Hand Accounts of Beijing’s Interference With
Politicians to Be Sealed for 99 Years: Hogue Commission
The evidence from two secret witnesses with first-hand knowledge about China meddling in Canada’s democracy will be recorded via affidavits and sealed for 99 years as a security precaution, with the exception of summaries produced for public release, the Hogue Commission has ruled.
Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue issued her decision Nov. 13 regarding the two potential witnesses and the methods for capturing and safeguarding their evidence for the foreign interference inquiry.
One of the witnesses, identified only as “Person B,” provided commission counsel with “insight into how the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) co-opts and leverages some Chinese Canadian community associations and politicians of Chinese origin,” Hogue wrote.
The information provided by Person B was “often first-hand, and other times based on second-hand information,” she said.
Person B told the Foreign Interference Commission they fear “serious repercussions” if their identity is revealed, because the United Front Work Department (UFWD) has infiltrated some Chinese Canadian community organizations. UFWD is an arm of Beijing used to orchestrate foreign meddling.
Person B said if identified they could lose their job, be excluded from the community, and face retribution from the PRC, Hogue wrote in her decision.
Another witness, identified as “Person C,” also provided to the commission “first-hand information about foreign interference activities by the PRC” and expressed fear of retaliation.
If Person B and C present their evidence in the form of affidavits, the records would be sealed for 99 years as a security precaution, the commissioner said.
The issue of politicians being under foreign influence or colluding with hostile states has been a hot topic for the past two years.
The first intelligence leak, reported by Global News in late 2022, spoke of a Toronto network of PRC interference in the 2019 election, with 11 candidates being affected. The issue percolated in June with a national security watchdog report saying some lawmakers have been “witting” participants in some foreign meddling efforts.
The commission was tasked by the House of Commons to probe the matter, but later said it wouldn’t release any names of implicated politicians, citing national security and due process concerns.
Even if the affidavits are sealed for 99 years, it would still provide “access to the underlying material eventually for historical purposes, once the real risk to an important public interest will have lapsed,” Hogue said.
The commissioner said she weighed different options to receive the secret witnesses’ evidence, including by voice only, but she ultimately concluded this was not possible given the information is primarily first-hand.
“Any public disclosure of this evidence would give rise to a very significant risk – if not inevitability – that the actual identity of Person B or Person C would become known to others who were involved in the events in question,” she wrote. “This would include individuals who may be acting at the behest of the PRC.”
The commission said it will release public summaries of the affidavits “in due course.”
Does 'in due course' mean after Trudeau is history?
Commissioner Hogue made a separate decision on Nov. 13, this time allowing bulk entry of several hundred documents as exhibits.
The documents include those referred to during commission interviews with witnesses, affidavits, and interview summaries with individuals who did not testify, as well as French translated versions of documents already available. There are also documents produced by the government which were not entered as evidence during the public hearings.
Commissioner Hogue is expected to file her final report by year’s end. Her interim report released in May related to foreign interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections. Hogue concluded foreign interference took place but did not impact the overall results, although individual ridings could have been impacted.
And that particular script was probably written before the commission began. Pardon my cynical attitude.
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