Al-Qaeda linked to operations from Iran

Al-Qaeda linked to operations from Iran
By Stephen Fidler in London

Published: July 6 2007 22:04 | Last updated: July 6 2007 22:04

Evidence that Iranian territory is being used as a base by al-Qaeda to help in terrorist operations in Iraq and elsewhere is growing, say western officials.

It is not clear how much the al-Qaeda operation, described by one official as a money and communications hub, is being tolerated or encouraged by the Iranian government, they said.

The group’s operatives, who link the al-Qaeda leadership in Pakistan with their disciples in Iraq, the Levant and North Africa, move with relative freedom in the country, they said.

The officials said the creation of some kind of al-Qaeda hub in Iran appears to be separate from the group of seven senior al-Qaeda figures, including Saad bin Laden, son of the group’s figurehead, that Iran is said to have detained since 2002.

A senior US official said the information had produced different assessments. “The most conservative, cautious intelligence assessment is that [the Iranian authorities] are turning a blind eye. But there are a lot of doubts about that,” he said.

“They are benefiting from the mayhem that AQ is carrying out. They don’t have to deal with al-Qaeda to benefit.”

Yet while Tehran might be content with the pressure al-Qaeda is placing on the US occupation in Iraq, Iran, as a state based on Shia Islam surrounded by mainly Sunni countries, has long been wary of al-Qaeda’s fierce brand of Sunni Islam.

A former Iranian official said Iran feared al-Qaeda and did not want to distract it from Iraq, dismissing any idea that Iran was supplying it with weapons. “Our relationship with al-Qaeda, at an intelligence level, can be said to be successful as long as they are at a distance,” he said.

Analysts say several Sunni extremist groups, some presumed linked to al-Qaeda and from various ethnic groups including Kurds, are in Iran. US-led military action in Iraq has led some to seek refuge over the border.

In the past, Tehran has also been a target of al-Qaeda attacks. A militant Sunni group based in Pakistan and possibly linked to al-Qaeda was suspected of the 1994 bombing of the shrine of the seventh Shia Imam, Reza, in Mashhad, killing 26 people.

Iran has also shown growing concern over Jundullah, a radical Sunni group from the restive south-east area of Balucestan that has carried out violent attacks in recent years.

Three years ago, Pakistani officials said members of al-Qaeda had begun leaving Pakistan’s border region close to Afghanistan and heading for Iraq. Of the routes used, going overland via Iran was the easiest. That traffic might have increased as links between al-Qaeda and its Iraq offshoot intensify.

Additional reporting by Gareth Smyth in Tehran and Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad

US concerns over China weapons in Iraq

US concerns over China weapons in Iraq
By Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington

Published: July 6 2007 22:01 | Last updated: July 6 2007 22:01

The US has raised concerns with the Chinese government about the discovery of Chinese-made weapons in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Richard Lawless, departing senior Pentagon official for Asia, on Friday said Washington had flagged the issue with Beijing. In recent months, the US has become increasingly alarmed that Chinese armour-piercing ammunition has been used by the Taliban in Afghanistan and insurgents in Iraq.

A senior US official recently told the FT that Iran appeared to be providing the Chinese-made weapons. He said Washington had no evidence that Beijing was complicit, but stressed that the US would like China to “do a better job of policing these sales”. Mr Lawless said the question of origin was less important than who was facilitating the transfer.

The concerns about Chinese weapons follow months of allegations from US officials that Iran is helping attack US troops in Iraq, and more recently Afghanistan, by providing technology for bombs that can destroy Humvees and other heavily armoured US vehicles.

Mr Lawless also expressed concern about North Korea’s missile programme. Last week, Pyongyang tested a new short-range missile that could target not only the US military base at Pyeongtaek but also Seoul. He said North Korea was close to being able to field the solid-fuel, highly mobile rocket.

Mr Lawless said the US military relationship with China was “overall, not bad”, but there was a need for more engagement between the militaries, particularly at the senior levels. “They have been more willing to engage, but it is in millimetres and increments,” he said.

He said the Pentagon was disappointed that China had not given Admiral Michael Mullen, chief of naval operations, the same kind of access that his Chinese counterpart received during a visit to the US. Adm Mullen, who has since been nominated as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, ended up not visiting China.

Mr Lawless also said it was important for China to hold talks with the US about its nuclear forces. A recent Pentagon report concluded Beijing was developing a more survivable nuclear force, including submarine-launched missiles, and mobile land-based missiles.

Since Presidents Hu Jintao and George W. Bush last year discussed increasing military exchanges, China has not responded to an offer for the commander of its strategic nuclear forces to visit US Strategic Command.

“There is a great shortfall in our understanding of China’s intentions,” said Mr Lawless, referring to the overall Chinese military build-up. “When you don’t know why they are doing it, it is pretty damn threatening . . . they leave us no choice but to assume the worst.”

Mr Lawless also suggested that the Pentagon had refused a request from Japan for extensive data on the F-22 fighter jet. Japan wants the data to consider whether the advanced fighter – which under current law cannot be exported – would meet its defence needs.

Mr Lawless said the Pentagon had offered Japan only basic data, which would not require a change in US law.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

INDEPENDENCE NOW AND FOREVER

INDEPENDENCE NOW AND FOREVER
By Pastor Chuck Baldwin

July 3, 2007

NewsWithViews.com

On this Independence Day, it behooves us to recall the principles of America's founding, especially in light of the ongoing attempt by today's political and commercial leaders to merge the United States into a hemispheric government. In fact, the clarion call for independence is just as fundamental, just as revolutionary as it was 230 years ago.

Regarding the signing of the Declaration of Independence John Adams said, "[Independence Day] will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore."

Adams went on to say, "You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory; I can see that the end is more than worth all the means, that posterity will triumph in that day's transaction, even though we should rue it, which I trust in God we shall not."

Indeed, the signers of America's Declaration of Independence endured the sacrifice of toil and blood. Pertaining to the lives of the signers, David Limbaugh writes, "Of those 56 who signed the Declaration of Independence, nine died of wounds or hardships during the war. Five were captured and imprisoned, in each case with brutal treatment. Several lost wives, sons or entire families. One lost his thirteen children. Two wives were brutally treated. All were at one time or another the victims of manhunts and driven from their homes. Twelve signers had their homes completely burned. Seventeen lost everything they owned."

Yes, America's Declaration of Independence, which is our nation's birth certificate, was purchased at a very high price. Rightly did its primary author, Thomas Jefferson, invoke God's name no less than four times in the Declaration. Without God, our struggle for independence and freedom would have surely failed!

Jefferson, along with the vast majority of America's founders, knew that freedom was first the gift of God, not the accomplishment of men. He further understood that man's law must be subordinate to the natural laws of God.

Therefore, with an appeal to Heaven for the "rectitude of [their] intentions," America's Founding Fathers courageously forged a document that would put their own lives at risk, but would also change the course of history.

The question now is, "How long can we maintain our nation's independence?" The forces of global government seem to dominate both major parties in Washington, D.C., most corporate boardrooms, and most newsrooms (including the Fox News Channel).

In fact, hemispheric or regional government never had a more powerful and committed ally than President George W. Bush. Mark my words, if and when America loses its independence, it will have been G.W. Bush that led the way in making it happen. I will even be so bold as to say that G.W. Bush is the worst enemy American independence has had since old King George III of England!

Even as I write, Bush is pushing forward with his intentions to merge the United States into a trilateral government with Mexico and Canada. This is why he lobbied so intently for the just-defeated amnesty bill for illegal aliens. To George W. Bush, there is no such thing as an illegal alien, because he has already agreed to unite the three countries into one.

If the United States is going to maintain its independence and freedom much beyond the year 2010 (the year Bush's new North American Union is scheduled to be in place), it will only be because millions of freedom-loving Americans are willing to fight for it.

Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826. Daniel Webster gave the eulogy for both men on August 2. Included in his remarks on that notable day were these words: "It [the Declaration of Independence] is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God, it shall be my dying sentiment. Independence now, and independence forever."

To Webster's words, I say a hearty AMEN! I promise no loyalty to the North American Union, to the United Nations, or to any other brand of global government. When the day comes that I am required to submit to any form of global authority, I will be an outlaw! There is no freedom without independence, and there is no independence without eternal vigilance. To my dying breath I will say with Daniel Webster, "Independence now, and independence forever!"

(End note: we are still shipping FREEDOM DOCUMENTS, a compilation of 50 of America's finest historical documents in one volume. Our supply is dwindling fast, so order your copy today!

© 2007 Chuck Baldwin - All Rights Reserved

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Chuck Baldwin is Founder-Pastor of Crossroads Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. In 1985 the church was recognized by President Ronald Reagan for its unusual growth and influence.

Dr. Baldwin is the host of a lively, hard-hitting syndicated radio talk show on the Genesis Communications Network called, "Chuck Baldwin Live" This is a daily, one hour long call-in show in which Dr. Baldwin addresses current event topics from a conservative Christian point of view. Pastor Baldwin writes weekly articles on the internet http://www.ChuckBaldwinLive.com and newspapers.

To learn more about his radio talk show please visit his web site at: www.chuckbaldwinlive.com. When responding, please include your name, city and state.

E-mail: chuck@chuckbaldwinlive.com

'In the Words of Our Enemies'

'In the Words of Our Enemies'

July 2, 2007

David Limbaugh - Almost as upsetting as the fact the United States is engaged in a long-term global war against radical Islamists is that a shocking percentage of people seem predisposed against grasping that fact.

To the perennially oblivious, we are in a war of choice in Iraq, which, among other "elective" actions, is stoking extremism and provoking retaliatory action against us. If we will just cease and desist and otherwise alter those policies giving rise to grievances among radical Muslims, their rage will subside and they'll quit targeting us for extinction. Those afflicted with this line of thinking not only believe our actions and policies cause terrorists to hate us but that many of those actions and policies are indeed objectionable. That is, many of those who think global jihadists can be pacified uncoincidentally also believe the jihadists have legitimate complaints against the United States.

To these critics, America is not a shining city on a hill, not a beacon of freedom, not an exemplar of civil liberties, but, under the evil Bush administration at least, a nation that intermeddles in other nations' civil wars and ethnic disputes, systematically abuses and tortures enemy prisoners, spies on its own innocent citizens, runs roughshod over other nations in dictating its will on the international stage and is inhospitable to illegal immigrants.

The critics project their own complaints about the United States on to the jihadists and choose to believe, despite the overwhelming evidence and all common sense, that our enemy can be mollified if we'll just quit being a greedy, imperialistic superpower that seeks to impose its will and values on other peoples and exploit their resources.

Of course, these blame-America-firsters are wrong in their complaints against this country. But they are just as wrong about Muslim terrorists' appeasability.

The terrorists don't just hate us for certain of our policies, such as our "occupation" of Saudi Arabia, our alliance with Israel or our stubborn refusal to withdraw from Iraq's "civil war." They hate us because of who we are and what we represent. We could adopt every America-denigrating policy our domestic critics recommend and we would not make a dent in the enemy's hatred for us.

We can't afford to perpetuate this self-destructive denial of the threat right in front of our faces. Our national survival depends on our awareness that short of our national conversion to radical Islam, we are destined for a long-term war against the jihadists.

There is no surer evidence of our enemies' unquenchable malice against us than their own words, which reveal their thinking and sinister intentions. And I've seen no better single, readable source for this than Jed Babbin's alarming new book, "In the Words of Our Enemies."

Based on extensive research, Mr. Babbin gives us transcripts of speeches, sermons, interviews and other candid statements by terrorist leaders and the radical sheiks who fan the flames of anti-Western hatred in their mosques. You cannot read them and remain unaware that our enemies are irreversibly implacable and increasing in numbers and resolve.

The radicals believe they have a sacred duty to submit the world to Islamic theocracy, that "it is impossible to make peace with the Jews" and that Muslims "must not enter into a pact with them." "Jihad against them is our worship." "Educating children to Jihad and hatred of the Jews, the Christians, and the infidels. ... This is what is needed now." They are convinced Islam is invincible, and they will not negotiate with infidels. The West, by its very nature, is an enemy of Islam. There can be no coexistence.

They believe the way we live and project our values around the world, including our respect for and equal treatment of women, constitutes an unappeasable threat to Islam.

America's intractable domestic critics who believe we can mollify the Osama bin Ladens by withdrawing from Iraq, ending our presence in Saudi Arabia and badmouthing Israel, should read portions from the al Qaeda manual beginning on Page 60 of Mr. Babbin's book:

"The confrontation that Islam calls for with these godless and apostate regimes, does not know Socratic debates, Platonic ideals nor Aristotelian diplomacy. But it knows the dialogue of bullets, the ideals of assassination, bombing, and destruction, and the diplomacy of the cannon and machine gun."

Every other sermon, speech and screed in this book is equally chilling. Purchasing and reading it is one of the best antidotes I can imagine for the ignorance and apathy that could lead to our national suicide.

David Limbaugh is a nationally syndicated columnist.

Teaching homosexuality to kids

Teaching homosexuality to kids

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Posted: July 5, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Rebecca Hagelin
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© 2007
Quick question: Who thinks there isn't enough frank sexual information forced on today's kids? Is the bar for acceptable sexual behavior still too high? You would think so when reading a recent Washington Post article titled "A More Candid Approach to Sex-Ed."

As many parents know, most sex-ed classes are already candid enough, thank you very much. The last thing we need is for anyone to spice them up or further complicate what should be a pretty simple subject. But that's what schools in Montgomery County, Md., plan to do by introducing lessons on homosexuality to eight- and 10th-graders – lessons that serve to further the radical homosexual activist agenda.

Those in eight grade, for example, may be asked to ponder their "gender identity." Is this the same thing as your actual gender, which should be, ummm, obvious by this time? No. Students are told that it's "your identification of yourself as a man or a woman, based on the gender you feel to be inside." You could be a boy trapped in a girl's body, or vice versa – or something in between, it seems. Since when did knowing one's gender get so … difficult? My goodness, isn't there enough out there to confuse our children without asking them to question whether they are really a boy or truly a girl? Have we gone mad?

Whatever your true identity, though, you can bet it is "innate," the eight-graders are told. To be certain they understand, the curriculum defines "innate" as "determined by factors present in an individual from birth." In short, gays are born, not made, so "straights" can't say homosexuality or bisexuality is wrong. (Does that apply to those who prefer bestiality or pedophilia? Just wondering …) What's needed, then, is "tolerance," which the curriculum says is "the ability to accept others' differences and allow them to be who they are without expressing disapproval." Does the same logic apply to other abnormal or harmful behaviors? Do we say, "Oh, so you're an alcoholic – good for you!" Or, "Tendencies toward kleptomania? Well, don't let me stand in your way!"? I think not.

Students in 10th grade, meanwhile, read "coming out" stories from homosexuals, a bisexual and one "transgendered" individual. "Esperanza," for example, tells them:

I've known for a long time that I am a lesbian. When I was a little girl, my grandfather would read me a bedtime story before I went to sleep. Sometimes, he would read fairy tales about a beautiful princess and a charming prince who fell in love, got married and lived happily ever after. When he read those stories, I knew that when I grew up, I would marry the beautiful princess, not the prince. I didn't begin to realize until I was much older that these kinds of feelings made me different from the other girls at school.
The curriculum contains a nod to abstinence, which it correctly notes, is "the only 100 percent effective way to prevent unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections." But this is one sentence tucked into an explicit "Condom Use Demonstration Lesson." That's right – a condom demonstration. Bet no one is sleeping through that class! But I do wonder what's going on the minds of the girls and boys as they are forced to sit through such humiliating and degrading conversations and "instruction." Do they think adults expect them to behave like animals? Do their young, impressionable souls feel crushed at how little character we think they have? As I point out in my book, "Home Invasion," and in my speeches nationwide, the underlying message our young people are getting is this: We adults believe you have no morals, no self-control, no courage, no conscience.

We are teaching our children a lie – a lie that robs them of the joys of childhood and their best futures. Why shouldn't we expect the very best from them? And why are we afraid to teach them the truth? We would never tell our little boys and girls to engage in "safe drug use" or to "smoke responsibly." We don't hesitate to put our foot down in other areas of life. So why should it be different when it comes to setting standards for sexual behavior?

Besides, exposing kids to graphic sex-ed is just plain stupid. As the mother of two teenage boys, I'm amazed at the naiveté of those who believe that young men have the ability to listen to detailed discussions of condom usage and sexual activities in one class and then concentrate on such exciting topics as, say, algebra and chemistry in the next.

Just as significant is what the Montgomery County sex curriculum doesn't say. There's no emphasis on the serious health risks associated with homosexual behavior. And, as the grass-roots group Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, or CRC, notes, "Nowhere is abstinence or sex placed within the context of marriage. The word marriage is not mentioned in the eighth or the 10th grade lessons." Not surprising, really: According to CRC, the 10th grade resource was developed by a homosexual advocacy group named Project 10, which is "dedicated to providing educational support services to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth who attend public school campuses."

Not every school community is as bad as Montgomery County. But some are, and others fall somewhere in between. Do you know what your schools teach? If not, I encourage you to stop by and check out the sex-ed curriculum over the summer. If it's offensive to core values and decency, if it degrades your sons and daughters, do what the brave folks at CRC did and make your voice heard.

As a parent, you have the right and responsibility to ensure that your children aren't being bombarded or brainwashed by radical activists. The good folks at CRC can give you guidance on how to organize. Learn from others – you're not alone.

Get Hagelin's book, "Home Invasion" at WND's online store.

Illegal jailed 11 times sought in rape of teen

Illegal immigrant sought in rape of teen

By SKYLER SWISHER/Staff Writer
Maury County deputies and federal agents are looking for an illegal immigrant who is accused of raping a 15-year-old girl less than six hours after being released from jail.

Authorities detained at least 13 suspected illegal immigrants Tuesday during a search for the suspect, Juan Villa, 24, at American Mobile Village in Columbia. The victim’s father filed a complaint with the department, prompting the search.


Villa has been in the Maury County Jail 11 times since 2001 on charges of assault, public intoxication, driving without a license and contempt of court. He was released at 9:44 p.m. Friday on $1,000 bond. Officials said the rape allegedly happened shortly after midnight at a residence in Maury County not belonging to the victim or suspect.

Sheriff Enoch George said local law enforcement contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents before the rape allegedly occurred about deportation but were told the matter would be dealt with at a later date.

“It is very frustrating,” George said. “I don’t know what the statistics are, but these illegals are committing many, many crimes against the citizens of the United States. We try to follow up as best as we can with the manpower that we have.”

Detective Jerry Williams said Villa knew the 15-year-old but the two were not close friends. Villa may be attempting to leave the country, he said.

“I sure would like to get him off the street,” Williams said.

A 13-year-old girl also told deputies during the investigation Tuesday she was raped by Villa, George said. Officials declined to release further details, saying the matter remained under investigation.

The Maury County Sheriff’s Department has detained about 80 illegal immigrants since May, including 25 undocumented workers who were detained June 7. Some citizens and interest groups have accused the department of racial profiling.

George disputed these allegations.

“We are not doing a roundup,” he said. “We are not profiling anyone. What we are doing is we are doing our job.”

The sheriff said he will continue to work with federal immigration agents to detain illegal immigrants who are encountered during criminal investigations. He is also interested in enrolling in a federal program that would allow deputies to receive training in investigating and detaining illegal immigrants.

Law enforcement officers cannot grant special exemptions when they encounter illegal immigrants, George said.

“If they are here and they are trying to support their family, they are still here illegally,” he said. “They are still here violating the law.”

Authorities urge anyone with information about Villa's whereabouts to call the Sheriff's Department at (931) 388-5151 or Maury County Crime Stoppers at (931) 381-4900.

Skyler Swisher may be contacted at sswisher@c-dh.net or (931) 388-6464 ext.

'Gay'-rights leader quits homosexuality Rising star in movement says God liberated him from lifestyle

'Gay'-rights leader quits homosexuality
Rising star in movement says God liberated him from lifestyle

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Posted: July 3, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Art Moore
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© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Michael Glatze with Matthew Shepard's mother, Judy Shepard (Harvard University photo)
He was a rising star in the "gay rights" movement, but Michael Glatze now declares not only has he given up activism – he's no longer a homosexual.

Glatze – who had become a frequent media source as founding editor of Young Gay America magazine – tells the story of his transformation in an exclusive column published today by WND.

Although Glatze cut himself off from the homosexual community about a year and a half ago, he says the column likely will surprise some people.

"This will actually be news to anybody I used to relate to," he told WND.

The radical change in his life, Glatze recalls, began with inner "promptings" he now attributes to God.

"I hope I can share my story," he said. "I feel strongly God has put me here for a reason. Even in the darkest days of late-night parties, substance abuse and all kinds of things – when I felt like, 'Why am I here, what am I doing?' – there was always a voice there.

"I didn't know what to call it, or if I could trust it, but it said 'hold on.'"

Glatze said he became aware of homosexual feelings at about the age of 14 and publicly declared himself "gay" at age 20. Finally, after a decade in which his leadership role in the homosexual activist world grew – but alongside it, a mysterious inner conflict – he says he finally was "liberated."

In fact, he writes in his WND column today, "'coming out' from under the influence of the homosexual mindset was the most liberating, beautiful and astonishing thing I've ever experienced in my entire life."

Before "coming out" in his column today, Glatze contacted WND Managing Editor David Kupelian after reading his book, "The Marketing of Evil, which Glatze said "has given me so much help in my process of healing from the profound influences of evil in our current society."

"There is nothing that would give me more pleasure," he wrote to Kupelian, "than to say the Truth about 'homosexuality' and atone for my sins in that regard."

Glatze's transformation calls to mind that of another prominent "gay" magazine publisher who also has renounced her former lifestyle. Lesbian activist Charlene Cothran, longtime publisher of Venus magazine, became a Christian and gave her magazine a new mission "to encourage, educate and assist those who desire to leave a life of homosexuality." She adds: "Our ultimate mission is to win souls for Christ, and to do so by showing love to all God's people."

In his column, Glatze doesn't mince words, calling homosexual sex purely "lust-based," meaning it can never fully satisfy.

"It's a neurotic process rather than a natural, normal one," he writes. "Normal is normal – and has been called normal for a reason."

After becoming editor of Young Gay America magazine at age 22, Glatze received numerous awards and recognition, including the National Role Model Award from the major homosexual-rights organization Equality Forum. Media gravitated toward him, leading to appearances on PBS television and MSNBC and quotes in a cover story in Time magazine called "The Battle Over Gay Teens."

He produced, with the help of PBS affiliates and Equality Forum, the first major documentary film to address homosexual teen suicide, "Jim In Bold," which toured the world and received numerous "best in festival" awards. Young Gay America's photo exhibit, telling the story of young people across North America, toured Europe, Canada and parts of the U.S.

Time, Oct. 10, 2006, quotes Glatze as expert

In 2004, Glatze moved from San Francisco to Halifax in eastern Canada where his partner, Young Gay America magazine's publisher, had family. The magazine, he said, sought to provide a "virtuous counterpart" to the other newsstand media aimed at homosexual youth.

But Glatze contends "the truth was, YGA was as damaging as anything else out there, just not overtly pornographic, so more 'respected.'"

In 2005, Glatze was featured in a panel with Judy Shepard, mother of slain homosexual Matthew Shepard, at the prestigious JFK Jr. Forum at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

"It was after viewing my words on a videotape of that 'performance,'" he writes, "that I began to seriously doubt what I was doing with my life and influence."

"Knowing no one who I could approach with my questions and my doubts, I turned to God," he says. "I'd developed a growing relationship with God, thanks to a debilitating bout with intestinal cramps caused by the upset stomach-inducing behaviors I'd been engaged in."

Toward the end of his time with Young Gay America, Glatze said, colleagues began to notice he was going through some kind of religious experience.

Just before leaving, not fully realizing what he was doing, he wrote on his office computer his thoughts, ending with the declaration: "Homosexuality is death, and I choose life."

"I was so nervous, it was like I wasn't even writing it myself," he said.

Inexplicably, he told WND, he left the words on the screen for others to see.

"People who looked at it were stunned; they thought it was crazy," he said.

But he left his co-workers wondering about where he stood, never having fully explained his decision to step down.

Looking back on his old lifestyle, Glatze told WND whenever he had a sense that he was doing something wrong, "I would I just attribute it to, 'that's just the way life is.'"

"If ever I were to question anything, [my colleagues] would say, 'You're such an idealist.'"

Glatze said he thought opponents of homosexual activism were "mean and crazy, and they wanted to hurt me."

"I thought they were out to get me," he said. "They made me really, really mad – and scared, I think. I wanted them to go away."

Glatze said he couldn't allow himself to think they were sincere in their beliefs.

But he now has deep respect for a Christian aunt who disapproved of his lifestyle.

She "was never judgmental, but always firm," he said.

Colin Powell Leaks Real Reason for SSN

Colin Powell Leaks Real Reason for SSN
Walter J. Burien, Jr.
Rense.com
6-30-7

I was watching Fox News Sunday this morning, 06/17/01, being hosted in the first segment by Tony Snow. The lead off guest was Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State. Mr. Powell gave an excellent recitation relevant to foreign affair matters.

Mr. Powell during the entire interview was very confident, and spoke without hesitation throughout the entire interview excluding for a one second period, after one specific statement made by him as he was talking about the Russian peoples. When he realized the consequences of making this disclosure indirectly to the American public, he froze for a second, his eyes rolled back as he realized what he had said, and then he continued without further pause for the rest of the interview.

In my lifetime, I have never sent out to others a post relevant to a quote I heard while watching a news program. In this case, the significance of what was said in the flow of truth coming from Mr. Powell, is a statement that establishes the primary reality of intent per the politics and operative structure coming from government in this country. I had to immediately share what I had heard with others.

Mr. Powell was discussing Mr. Bush's trip to Europe, and was at a point in his recitation covering certain concerns regarding Russia, and Russia being requested to cooperate with the United States to track down lost Nuclear materials and scientists who were unaccounted for after the break up of Russia, that now may be in the hands of, or in the case of the missing scientists, working for adversaries of the USA.

The quote from Mr. Powell, per the Russian Scientists that every American "NEEDS" to hear immediately is as follows:

[Colin Powell] - "Finding the Russian scientists may be a problem being that Russia does not have a Social Security System, as here in America, that allows us to MONITOR, TRACK DOWN and CAPTURE an American citizen."

Please pass this on to every one that you know. The significance of Mr. Powell's statement is profound, and essential to be heard by all in this country. I thank Mr. Powell for inadvertently being honest towards the underlying intent of the US Government, reaffirmed by his admission.

Yours Truly, Walter J. Burien, Jr.

Russian Invasion Of The North Pole Has Prophetic Significance

Russian Invasion Of The North Pole Has Prophetic Significance

By Bill Wilson, KIN Senior Analyst

WASH—Jun 29—KIN-- Russia’s blatant move to expand its borders through the Arctic is indicative of a quest for worldwide power that may propel the nation toward fulfillment of ancient prophecies that place it as a leader of all the armed forces against Israel. Russian scientists have returned from a six-week mission in the Artic to claim that the 1,220-mile long underwater Lomonosov Ridge is geologically linked to the Siberian continental platform - and similar in structure. The Russians are refuting a United Nations convention that says no nation can claim jurisdiction over the Arctic seabed because the geological structure does not match the surrounding continental shelves. Currently, Russia, Canada, the U.S., Norway and Denmark are limited to a 200-mile economic zone around their coasts.

The reason Russia is going public with its claim is that geologists believe the arctic ridge has ten billion tons of gas and oil deposits and significant sources of diamonds, gold, tin, manganese, nickel, lead and platinum. According to a story in Britain’s Daily Mail, the Russian claim has diplomats in an uproar. The U.S. State Department dismissed the claim as unacceptable. A Canadian diplomat was surprised. But a British diplomat gave keen insight when he told the Daily Mail that "Putin wants a strong Russia, and Western dependence on it for oil and gas supplies is a key part of his strategy. He no longer cares if it upsets the West."

Russia is once again making a play to establish its own one world order. Its alliances with oil producing Arab and Islamist states indicate that the strategy is to control the world’s natural resources in order to control the world’s political environment. Certainly, Russia has shown that it doesn’t care if parts of Europe freeze in the winter, so long as it is paid its own asking price for natural gas, which is often linked to the political goals of its trading partners. Russia has been busy signing gas and oil exploration and development agreements with Middle East nations, and its relationship with Iran hinges on arms and nuclear technology in exchange for oil and gas.

Ezekiel 38:9 speaks of Gog, modern day Russia attacking Israel, “you will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and many peoples with you.” Included on the list of Russian allies in the attack against Israel are Iran and the nations of Northern Africa. Russia believes that Israel should not exist, and it arms and politically sides with terrorist groups whose mission is to destroy Israel. For Russia to be so bold as to openly attack Israel, Russia must believe it can do so without reprisal. One way to ensure its path is to have leverage over all the nations. Part of Russia’s current plan is to leverage all the energy resources in the world against those who would support Israel. This is how prophecy is unfolding before your eyes.

DEBKAfile Exclusive: US counter-terror authorities fear major campaign in Europe, possibly even 9/11-scale mega-attack in America, is presaged by fail

DEBKAfile Exclusive: US counter-terror authorities fear major campaign in Europe, possibly even 9/11-scale mega-attack in America, is presaged by failed London and Glasgow bombings

July 3, 2007, 8:21 AM (GMT+02:00)

DEBKAfile counter-terror sources report that ten days ago, the US gave the Czech government specific warning of large-scale al Qaeda terrorist attacks in Prague, targeting government buildings, the US embassy, American firms and Jewish and Israel locations in the Czech capital. All American missions and military facilities in Europe were placed on alert.

France, Germany, Italy, Denmark and Spain have also tightened their anti-terror precautions.

Our sources add that the London and Glasgow bombing attempts took the Americans by surprise. They had expected the jihadists to strike elsewhere in Europe.

US homeland security secretary Michael Chertoff Monday played down the threat by denying knowledge of any specific warning in the United States. He said the current alert level of yellow would not be raised for now as it has been in the UK.

However, al Qaeda’s coded messages on internal forums announcing that preparations are now in place for attacks in the US during this summer are appearing with greater frequency than the traffic prior to the 2001 attacks in America and the 2004 Madrid rail bombings.

Security has been tightened at US airports and transport systems ahead of the Fourth of July holiday and New York stepped up security at airports, rail stations, tourist spots and crowd centers after the botched attacks in Britain.

Chertoff spoke of increasing concerns about “the movement of Europeans, including people with European citizenship, into areas of South Asia to get trained and get experience and then coming back to carry out operations in Europe or in the United States using Europe as a departure point."

Israeli Defense Official Highlights Israel’s Inadequacies in Face of Iranian Threat

Israeli Defense Official Highlights Israel’s Inadequacies in Face of Iranian Threat

DEBKAfile Special Military Report

July 3, 2007, 1:00 PM (GMT+02:00)

Ephraim Sneh handed the post of deputy defense minister to his successor, Ret. Gen. Matan Vilnai, this week with some disturbing charges against the government he was quitting.

Israel is not prepared to handle threats from Iran [missiles and potentially nuclear weapons] because the government headed by Ehud Olmert is holding back form its armed forces the requisite funding. He maintained that international economic sanctions have failed to deflect Iran from its quest for the ultimate threat – a failure which has put the military option on the table.

“We need more funds than we receive currently to deal with this threat,” he said in a radio interview Monday, July 2, as he handed the post over to an appointee of new defense minister Ehud Barak.

Sneh dismissed the popular notion that Israel and the United States were closely coordinated militarily regarding Iran. “There is no coordination on an operational level between the Israel and US militaries on Iran,” he said. Bush has said that all options, including military action, remain on the table. But, said Sneh, “If sanctions had been adopted more firmly and quickly, we may not have needed to talk about other options.”

This assertion made him the first Israeli official to outspokenly declare that international sanctions were not working.

DEBKAfile’s military sources note Sneh touched on additional disturbing vulnerabilities:

1. Government under-funding extends to military preparations for war with Syria, Hizballah and the Hamas-dominated Gaza Strip as well as for a military option contingency against a menacing Iran.

2. The home front’s defenses are in a state of palpable neglect one year after Hizballah’s 34-day Katyusha rocket blitz against northern Israel. The shortage of bomb shelters is acute not only in the north but also in central Israeli cities within range of Syrian and Iranian missiles. Sneh poses the question: If the government is incapable of providing proper shelters for the narrow war front of civilians facing the Gaza Strip, what hope is there for the population to withstand major attacks from Syria - let alone Iran?

Israel’s lackadaisical approach to home front security stands in stark contrast to the measures pursued by Iran.

A Western military source told DEBKAfile that the Revolutionary Guards and army are pouring out hefty sums of national resources in preparing the country for a regional war involving the US and Israel.

3. The prime minister Ehud Olmert’s spokesmen are working hard to convey the impression that Israel and the United States are militarily coordinated with regard to Iran. The departing minister refutes this assumption as a fallacy and the cause of Israel’s dangerous over-reliance on Washington instead of its own military.

Sneh has performed the valuable function of clearing the air of some the misapprehensions disseminated in recent weeks on the outcome of Olmert’s White House talks with President George W. Bush, exchanges between foreign minister Tzipi Livni and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rich and transport minister Shaul Mofaz’s strategic dialogue with US officials in Washington.

The ministers and their spokesmen have been laying on thick assurances that there is no cause for concern because the problem of Iran’s nuclear and missile threat is taken care of by the deepening military cooperation between Israel and the United States.

This false impression is filtering down to the IDF’s officers with some influence on the high command’s decision-making processes. In those circles, the prevailing scenario for the coming war is grim enough: a flare-up on three fronts – Syria, Lebanon and Gaza – but no direct attack from Iran.

But DEBKAfile’s military experts warn that nothing is guaranteed. Iran may lead the group of allies with a missile barrage against Israel, to be followed then by Syria, Hizballah and Hamas, one by one.

The departing defense minister has so far provided the only clear voice revealing the country’s security shortcomings. It rises above the official claque asserting that all the lessons of the Second Lebanon War have been applied and all the faults corrected.

Syria Winds up Planning for Campaign of Terror on Golan

Syria Winds up Planning for Campaign of Terror on Golan

From DEBKA-Net-Weekly 307 June 29, 2007

July 5, 2007, 10:50 AM (GMT+02:00)

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On June 26, Syria opened the Damascus-Golan road to Quneitra to civilian traffic for the first time since the Six-Day War of 1967. No announcement was made. The dozens of military roadblocks studding the 60 km high road connecting the capital with the Syrian part of Golan for 40 years were removed, except for two – one at the entrance to Qunetra from the Syrian end and one at the town’s exit to Israeli Golan. DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s military sources report that this measure went mostly unnoticed, although it made Israeli military intelligence sit up.

Until this week, civilian traffic heading towards Syria’s Golan border with Israel was discouraged by the government in Damascus; a traveler needed eight different pieces of paper and endless waits to get past the military roadblocks. All of a sudden, the powers-that-be in the Syrian capital decided to allow civilians free passage to Golan meaning preparations are complete for the launch of a cross-border campaign of terror in the Israel sector of the territory. Such a campaign could quickly escalate into a full-scale war.

The day the road was opened, Syria celebrated the 33rd anniversary of Quneitra’s liberation, i.e. the signing of the armistice agreement with Israel which delineated the provisional border between the two countries and ended the 1973 Yom Kippur war and ensuing war of attrition. Quneitra, which was captured by Israel in 1967, was ceded to Syria on condition it was kept demilitarized.

The Syrian official publication Tishreen marked the event by writing:

Since the first moment of taking oath as President of the Republic, Bashar Al-Assad made it clear that the Golan always remains in the center until it returns to the homeland, Syria. This is an inevitable day. The return of Golan to Syria is non-negotiable.

Under such circumstances in which the Israelis continue to reject all Arab bids for reaching a just and comprehensive peace settlement, the option of national resistance remains the only open legitimate course for the liberation of the occupied Arab lands and the restoration of usurped rights.

Golan, the biblical Bashan, is a narrow basalt plateau, part of the Sea of Galilee’s catchment basin, which provides 30% of Israel’s water. Israeli jurisdiction was formally extended to Golan in 1981.

In speeches he made in the last three months, Bashar Assad made a point of referring to the mounting pressure of refugees from Golan living in Syria to take “liberation” in their own hands. Official Syrian figures put the number of “Golan Heights refugees” at 410,000, a figure which is grossly exaggerated to highlight their suffering. The real refugee figure from this tiny sliver of 1,070 sq. km. of land is no more than 60-70,000, around half of whom are crowded into the Wafadin camp on the western outskirts of Damascus.

DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s intelligence sources disclose that a year ago, in June 2006, Syrian military intelligence recruited several hundred Golan refugees for a new framework called the Front for the Liberation of the Golan Heights. They were trained for terror operations, blowing up roads and bridges, attacks on military camps and convoys and hostage-taking. Three months ago, the Front struck for the first time, detonating an explosive device on the border fence as an Israeli patrol passed by.

Israeli and Western military and intelligence interpret the opening of the Damascus-Quneitra highway to civilians as a gambit to give the Front free rein to cross into Israeli Golan for terrorist operations against civilian and military targets, without Syria being held responsible. This gives the Assad government an alibi for claiming it has no control over the traffic traversing the road to the border, the same pretext it has used for years in allowing terrorists, arms and money to infiltrate Iraq and Lebanon.

Israel can be expected to be a lot less tolerant of Syrian attacks on the Golan than the Americans are in Iraq - whatever the name of the “resistance” framework.