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DECEMBER 19, 20141

THE TRUMPET WEEKLY THE TRUMPET WEEKLY D E C E M B E R 1 9, 2 0 1 4

First: U.S. troops battle the Islamic State 3

Secret talks in Vatican lead to Cuba breakthrough 4

Executive orders by another name 8

UN sending thousands of Muslims to America 9

Obama fights back 11

BY CALLUM WOOD

A : a.m. on December , a gunman walked into aLindt chocolate cae in downtown Sydney and initi-ated a -hour hostage situation that locked down the

heart o the city and resulted in the deaths o two hostages.Initial images o the attack showed Lindt staff and

patrons pressed against the cae windows with their armsraised. wo held alof a black flag with white Arabic writ-ing scrawled across it. Another woman appeared to gesture,sliding a finger along her neck. Behind them, a man wear-ing a bandana stalked back and orth.

Over hours o tense negotiations ended when police

resorted to a rontal assault into the shop afer hearinggunfire within. Te tragic finale was the end o Australia’smost publicized terrorist attack since the wide-scale police

raids on potential Muslim terrorists in western Sydney ear-lier this year. Along with the publicity came the debating.

DenialWith the uncertainty and media-ueled hype, one com-monality was peddled by the media and political elitesalike. Te assailant, Man Haron Monis, was a) insane andb) acting completely alone and independent o any reli-gious or political group.

Tis denial constitutes the greatest flaw in Australia’shandling o the situation. It also highlights just how bound

up in politically correct behavior the nation is—to thepoint where a terrorist can no longer be called a terrorist.It is understandable that the police commissioner, prime

Sydney Terrorist Attack Proves Australia Is Radicalizing

see TERRORIST page 12

Police carry out a hostage

from the Lindt Cafe, Martin Place

following a 16-hour standoff on

December 16 in Sydney, Australia.

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DECEMBER 19, 20142 THE TRUMPET WEEKLY

withdrawal rom the West Bank by theend o . …

Hamas Ties Patched With Iran

REUTERS | December 17

H Iran have repaireda close political and militaryrelationship rayed by the Syrian civilwar, the Palestinian Islamist group’sdeputy leader said on Wednesday.

Patching up ties with ehran could

MIDDLE EAST

ease Hamas’s financial and politicalisolation. Israel has been blockadingthe Gaza Strip, while Egypt, battlingIslamist militants in neighboring Sinai,has largely kept its Gaza rontier closed.

Speaking in his Gaza office, …Moussa Abu Marzouk [a Palestiniansenior member o Hamas] said: “Ibelieve that bilateral relations betweenus and the Islamic Republic o Iranare back on track.” …

Last week, a Hamas delegation visited Iran, long a major supplier omilitary and financial aid to the group.Hamas has been hostile toward SyrianPresident Bashar Assad, who is backedby ehran in the three-year-old Syrianwar.

In a sign that weapons suppliesrom Iran may have slowed, Hamasused mostly locally-made long-rangerockets to attack Israeli cities in theconflict five months ago. It launchedIranian-produced rockets in similarstrikes in .

“Tere are many indications that… relations have been resumed in theproper way, as in the past,” Abu Mar-zouk said, without elaborating. …

On Sunday, a spokesman or

Hamas’s armed wing cautioned therecould be a “new explosion” with Israelunless reconstruction [o Gaza housesdestroyed during Israel’s OperationProtective Edge] was speeded up. …

141 Dead in Massacreat Pakistan SchoolUSA TODAY | December 17

T stormed a military-run school in Peshawar on uesday

“Zechariah prophesies of a violent

takeover of half of Jerusalem led by the

Palestinians, which is why it is likely

that Hamas will eventually grab hold of

the West Bank. I ts leadership there will

most likely be needed to orchestrate

an attempt of the takeover of East

Jerusalem.”

—Trumpet Daily, August 25

“Iran has been designated a state

sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. State

Department since 1984. The State De-

partment’s archives of ‘Country Reports

on Terrorism’ consistently condemn

Iran as ‘the most active state sponsor

of terrorism.’”

—theTrumpet.com, August 8

Move at UN Will Lead to Hamas Takeover in West Bank JERUSALEM POST | December 18

T move by the Pal-estinian’s at the UN on Wednesdaywill lead to Hamas taking over theWest Bank, [Israeli] Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu said on Tursdayevening while lighting candles or thethird night o Hanukkah at his office.

“[Palestinian Authority PresidentMahmoud] Abbas thinks that by tak-

ing unilateral steps he threatens us; hedoesn’t understand that their resultwill be Hamas taking over the WestBank,” Netanyahu said.

“We will never allow this and willnever accept unilateral diktats. Wewill always protect our security.”

Jordan ormally submitted to theUnited Nations Security Council onWednesday a draf resolution callingor peace between Israel and the Pales-tinians within one year and an Israeli

Update: Sydney Hostages,Massacres in Pakistan and

Iraq, Dresden ProtestTHE TRUMPET DAILY | December 18

STEPHEN FLURRY

The thread that ties together this week’s most dramatic news,

and what it means for the future

https://www.thetrumpet.com/trumpet_daily/1546/hamass-plot-to-take-over-israels-west-bank?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/trumpet_daily/1546/hamass-plot-to-take-over-israels-west-bankhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/trumpet_daily/1546/hamass-plot-to-take-over-israels-west-bankhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/trumpet_daily/1546/hamass-plot-to-take-over-israels-west-bank?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/trumpet_daily/1546/hamass-plot-to-take-over-israels-west-bank?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/trumpet_daily/1546/hamass-plot-to-take-over-israels-west-bank?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/trumpet_daily/1546/hamass-plot-to-take-over-israels-west-bank?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/trumpet_daily/1546/hamass-plot-to-take-over-israels-west-bank?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/trumpet_daily/1546/hamass-plot-to-take-over-israels-west-bank?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/trumpet_daily/1546/hamass-plot-to-take-over-israels-west-bank?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/trumpet_daily/1546/hamass-plot-to-take-over-israels-west-bank?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/trumpet_daily/1546/hamass-plot-to-take-over-israels-west-bank?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/trumpet_daily/1546/hamass-plot-to-take-over-israels-west-bank?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11966.32435.0.0/world/wmd/just-what-is-iran-up-to?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11966.32435.0.0/world/wmd/just-what-is-iran-up-to?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11966.32435.0.0/world/wmd/just-what-is-iran-up-to?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11966.32435.0.0/world/wmd/just-what-is-iran-up-to?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11966.32435.0.0/world/wmd/just-what-is-iran-up-to?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11966.32435.0.0/world/wmd/just-what-is-iran-up-to?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11966.32435.0.0/world/wmd/just-what-is-iran-up-to?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11966.32435.0.0/world/wmd/just-what-is-iran-up-to?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/trumpet_daily/1604/update-sydney-hostages-massacres-in-pakistan-and-iraq-dresden-protest?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11966.32435.0.0/world/wmd/just-what-is-iran-up-to?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/trumpet_daily/1546/hamass-plot-to-take-over-israels-west-bankhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/trumpet_daily/1546/hamass-plot-to-take-over-israels-west-bankhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/trumpet_daily/1546/hamass-plot-to-take-over-israels-west-bank?preview

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Related: “Syria Is Ready to Explode” and

“How the Syrian Crisis Will End”

and massacred people, nearly allchildren, an act o barbarism that lef

Pakistanis in shock as they mournedthe loss o relatives and riends. …

Te attack on the Army PublicSchool in the northwestern city nearthe Aghan border was one o theworst incidents o extremist violencein Pakistan since a suicidebombing in the port city o Kara-chi kil led people. Peshawar hasbeen the target o requent militantattacks—in September , a twinsuicide bomb blast in a church killed

at least people. …Bajwa said seven gunmen stormedthe school wearing explosive vests.Tey did not take hostages but insteadfired indiscriminately as they enteredthe school. …

Pakistan’s aliban spokesmanMohammed Umar Khorasanin said theassault was “a revenge attack” or anArmy offensive in North Waziristan inJune that targeted militants. “We tar-geted the school because the Army tar-gets our amilies,” he said in a statement.

“We want them to eel our pain.” …[Fawas Gerges, a proessor at the

London School o Economics’s MiddleEast Center] compared the brutalityo the aliban to that o the IslamicState: “two sides o the same cointhat celebrate extremism and killing.”Te aliban group in Pakistan is “anextreme Islamist action that wants tocreate a similar Islamic state. … TePakistani aliban has always beencloser to al Qaeda than the aliban

in Aghanistan,” which had providedal Qaeda sanctuary. …

We Have ‘Run Out of Words’ for Syria

CNN | December 16

A U Nations official onMonday told the Security Councilshe has “run out o words” to describethe worsening situation in Syria.

“Every time we use a new figure in

relation to the Syrian crisis, we saythat it is unprecedented. We have runout o words to ully explain the bru-tality, violence and callous disregardor human lie, which is a hallmarko this crisis,” Valerie Amos, the UNchie or humanitarian affairs, said.

Nearly , people have beenkilled in the three-year Syrian con-flict and million injured, Amossaid, describing a war zone with threecombative parties fighting each otherwith no regard or the thousands o

civilians and children caught in themiddle. …

All parties involved in the conflict“continue to violate the most basic olaws with devastating consequences,”she said. …

Reports o children being publiclyexecuted, crucified, beheaded andstoned to death—particularly by [theIslamic State]—has increased in recentmonths. Other children, sometimes asyoung as years old, are being trained

at military camps, Amos said.“Tis conflict is not only shattering

Syria’s present, it is also destroying itsuture,” she added. …

Hamas Taken Off EUTerror BlacklistGUARDIAN | December 17

T E Union’s second high-est court has ordered the removalo the Islamist group Hamas rom aterrorist blacklist, citing proceduralproblems with the listing. It added,however, that the group’s assets shouldremain rozen or three months pend-ing an almost certain appeal.

Te decision came as the EuropeanParliament adopted a resolution sup-

porting Palestinian statehood in prin-ciple in a compromise motion that didnot ollow some European nationallegislatures in backing immediaterecognition o a Palestinian state. …

Hamas official Izzat al-Rishqwelcomed the decision, saying: “Tisis the correction o an error and aninjustice that was caused to Hamas.”

Israel’s Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu said he was not satisfiedwith the explanation that the delisting

A o militants have been killed in IslamicState’s very first battle with U.S. ground troops afer theextremists attempted to overrun an Iraqi military base.

Te militants attacked Ein al-Asad military base onSunday where more than U.S. military support troops

are based.Despite launching the surprise attack just afer midnight,

[the Islamic States’s] offensive was swifly repelled whenU.S. troops and F- jets joined in the skirmish in supporto the Iraqi Army.

Facing both Iraqi and U.S. troops supported by F- jets,an unknown number o [Islamic State] attackers were kil ledduring the two-hour firefight beore being orced to retreat.

Ein al-Asad came under repeated attack by [Islamic

State] troops in October, however, now bolstered by the U.S.assistance, it poses a much more ormidable target.

Sheikh Mahmud Nimrawi, a tribal leader in the region,said, “U.S. orces intervened because [the Islamic State]started to come near the base, which they are stationed in,

so (it was) out o sel-deense,” Shaaq News reported.He added: “We have made progress in [the] al-Dolab

area, in which [the Islamic State] has withdrawn rom.”During the Iraq War, it was the largest airbase located

within Iraq’s Anbar province.Although it scaled down in size ollowing the conclusion

o the war, it remains in use by the Iraqi Army and is lo-cated deep within the remote areas on the rontline against[the Islamic State]. …

American Troops Battle the Islamic State for the First TimeDAILY MAIL | December 18

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French Raids TargetJihadist Network GUARDIAN | December 15

F launched raidsacross the country early on Mon-day targeting an alleged networksending jihadist fighters to Syria,

according to a police source.Elite and anti-terror police units

descended on around a dozen targets,mostly in the southern region ooulouse, but also around Paris andin the northern region o Normandy,the source said on condition o ano-nymity.

It was not immediately clear how

many people were arrested.In recent months, France, which

has Europe’s largest Muslim popula-tion, has been acing the act that hun-dreds o its citizens have openly joined

jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria, andhave even called or attacks on theirhomeland.

Almost , French nationals

T breakthrough in U.S.-Cuban relationsbegan in spring , when President Barack Obama au-thorized secret talks with Havana, the same tactic he usedto open nuclear negotiations with Iran.

Months o talks in Canada and at the Vatican, involvingone o Obama’s closest aides, culminated on uesday whenObama and Cuban President Raúl Castro spoke by phoneor nearly an hour and gave final assent to steps that couldend a hal century o enmity and reshape Western Hemi-sphere relations.

Obama believed that “i there is any U.S. oreign policythat has passed its expiration date, it is the U.S.-Cubapolicy,” said a senior Obama administration official, brie-ing reporters on condition o anonymity.

Te Vatican played a key role in the rapprochement,including acilitating talks on the release o Alan Gross, a

ormer subcontractor or the U.S. Agency or InternationalDevelopment who returned rom Cuba on Wednesday aferfive years’ imprisonment, U.S. officials said.

In early summer , Pope Francis—who is romArgentina—sent separate personal letters to Obama andCastro, urging them to exchange captives and improverelations.

When the pope received the U.S. president in VaticanCity in late March, the secret Cuba talks were a centraltopic o discussion. Cuba “got as much attention as any-thing else,” the official said.

Te first ace-to-ace talks that eventually led to thisweek’s deal took place in June in Canada, which has

long maintained relations with Cuba.

Leading the U.S. delegation were Ben Rhodes, a closeObama aide who is a deputy national security adviser, andRicardo Zuniga, the top Latin American specialist on theWhite House’s National Security Council. Te names o the

Cuban participants in the talks could not immediately belearned. …

Te Vatican got involved as early as March , whena group o U.S. lawmakers went to the papal ambassador’soffice in Washington’s posh Embassy Row section andpleaded or help.

Since then, through a Vatican transition rom PopeBenedict to Pope Francis, “it has always stayed on theVatican’s radar,” said Sen. Barbara Mikulski, rom Gross’shome state o Maryland. “Tey talk to higher powers. Idon’t know i it’s radar or angels, cherubim, seraphim—they go or it.”

In the talks, Washington also insisted on the release oa spy or the United States who had been languishing in aCuban prison or nearly two decades.

Te unidentified individual “was instrumental in theidentification and disruption o several Cuban intelligenceoperatives in the United States,” the office o Director oNational Intelligence James Clapper said in a statement.

Among the Cuban operatives unmasked by the agentwere a senior U.S. Deense Intelligence Agency analyst andmembers o a Florida-based spy ring known as the “WaspNetwork.”

Cuba insisted on the release o three members o thenetwork, Cuban intelligence agents who had served

years in U.S. jails. …

Secret Talks in Vatican City Led to Cuba BreakthroughREUTERS | December 17

EUROPE

was only technical, and called orHamas’s immediate re-designation. …

According to some reports, theproblem stemmed rom the act thatintelligence agencies o Europeancountries seeking to have Hamas listedas a terrorist group had been unwilling

to provide classified material as parto the evidence process or listing, sothat the classification o Hamas … hadrelied on open source material derivedrom the media and online sources. …

Te latest moves come as the Pales-tinian oreign minister confirmed that

an Arab-backed draf on ending Israel’soccupation o lands captured in would be submitted later on Wednes-day to the UN Security Council. …

Related: “The Counterfeit Peacemaker ”

https://www.thetrumpet.com/article/1255.26384.35.0/world/military/the-counterfeit-peacemakerhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/1255.26384.35.0/world/military/the-counterfeit-peacemaker

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Related: “Putin Won’t Just Survive,

He’ll Thrive”

ASIA

Putin Crowned ‘Politician of the Year’

MOSCOW TIMES | December 16

R named PresidentVladimir Putin politician o theyear or the th year running, a pollrevealed uesday.

Te survey, conducted by state-runpollster the Public Opinion Founda-tion, ound that percent o Russianschose to name the president as their

“Person o the Year” in politics.Putin has topped the poll every year

since he first took the presidency in. Last year, he accrued just per-cent o the vote—meaning his supporthas more than doubled in the past months, according to the poll.

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the

flamboyant leader o the Liberal Dem-ocrat Party, finished in second placewith percent o this year’s vote, whileForeign Minister Sergei Lavrov camein third with percent. Prime Minis-ter Dmitry Medvedev finished ourth,earning percent o the vote. …

Last week, influential magazineime named him “second runner-

up” on its list o most influentialpeople in the world. …

Putin was described by ime asan isolated “imperialist,” whose aimwas to restore the Russian empire andproject its influence into the world byoffering an alternative to liberal West-ern democracies. …

India’s $19 Billion Weapons Blitz

BLOOMBERG | December 16

P M Narendra Modihas cleared billion o armsprocurement proposals since takingpower in May, almost double India’s

spending on weapons in the last fis-cal year as he tries to modernize thecountry’s military.

Te blitz o approvals spansheavy guns to submarines as Modiseeks to counter China’s rising mili-tary hef and take a firmer stance onborder disputes with Pakistan. Te

vice chie o the Indian Air Force, orone, has never seen anything like thispace rom the nation’s Deense Acqui-sition Council.

T have been dismissed as “Nazis in pin-stripes;” they have been dismissed by Angela Merkelas having “no place in Germany”—but on Monday night,thousands will march through the city o Dresden in pro-test against the “Islamization o the West.”

Speaking to the Sunday newspaper Welt am Sonntag,Germany’s most senior police officer Holger Münch spokeo “a visible rise in xenophobic crime countrywide.”

Both anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic sentiment are re-ported as being on the increase in Germany, as right-wingactivists join ootball hooligans in violent, racially- andreligiously-motivated crime. …

Monday’s march in Dresden has been organized at leastin part by a group calling itsel —an acronym or

“Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization o the West.” …Greens leader Cem Oezdemir, who wil l join a counter-

protest in Dresden, urged [Merkel] “to recognize clearlythat Germany is a country or immigrants and benefits

rom them.”But Ms. Merkel’s own Christian Democrats () have

given a mixed response to —with some officialsurged understanding or the motivation o the marchers.

Te marches have already spawned copycat protests incities to the west like Düsseldor, which have larger im-migrant populations than Dresden, home to very ew oGermany’s million Muslims.

Hajo Funke, a Berlin proessor, said many o the esti-

mated , people who marched last week voiced vague“discontent with society and their own lives” ….

Te march will also trigger resh debate between themain parties on how to deal with the AD, which the has dismissed as a ringe group quietly recruiting right-wing extremists.

Interior Minister Tomas de Maiziere said there wasno risk Germany would be “Islamized,” adding that he be-lieved there was an “overlap” between and the AD.

Te AD has apparently not rejected such an association,and one o its leaders, Alexander Gauland, said he plans tobe in Dresden on Monday.

“We are the natural allies o this movement,” Gauland

said.

‘Visible Rise’ in Support for Far-RightINDEPENDENT | December 15

rom a wide range o backgrounds areestimated to have lef to join jihadistsin Iraq and Syria, including some thought to be currently fighting on

the ground and almost who werekilled.

According to figures published inthe Le Monde newspaper in November,

about a quarter o those who lef to join the jihadists were converts toIslam, with many coming rom every-day French backgrounds.

Related: “German Hooligans Declare War on Islam”

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billion-rupee purchase o artillery—the first acquisition o large-caliberguns since the s—and a billion-rupee deal to buy , Spike antitankguided missiles and launchersrom Raael Advanced Deense Sys-tems Ltd. …

Among pending deals is a con-

tract or Raale combat planesrom Dassault Aviation SA or about billion, the world’s biggest order ofighter jets in about two decades. …

“Te government is seriously ad-dressing deense procurement issues,”Lars-Olo Lindgren, chairman andmanaging director o the Indian unito Stockholm-based Saab AB, said inan e-mail interview. …

Even so, Modi is “serious” aboutmodernizing the armed orces, said

Nitin A. Gokhale, a New Delhi-basedindependent national security ana-lyst. “Tis government is speeding upprocesses,” he said.

China Offers Military

Support to IraqINTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES AU | December 16

C offered military assis-tance to Iraq to help governmentorces fight [Islamic State] militants.Iraqi Foreign Minister IbrahimJaari has revealed that his Chinesecounterpart, Wang Yi, has expressedBeijing’s interest to assist in launch-ing airstrikes but declined to join the

“I don’t recall the council clearingthese many number o procurementproposals within six months and inour meetings,” Air Marshal R. K.Sharma, who has served in the airorce or our decades, said in an in-terview in New Delhi on December .

“Te indication rom the government

is that this trend in decision-makingwill continue.” …

Nuclear-armed India has approved proposals at a cost o . trillionrupees ( billion) since June, De-ense Minister Manohar Parrikar toldparliament in New Delhi this month.Spending on deense equipment in the months [that] ended March was billion rupees, he said.

Te proposals include bil-lion rupees or submarines, a

J’ prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has saidhe is determined to rewrite the country’s pacifist consti-tution—drawing an immediate sour response rom China.

A day afer securing another our years in office withSunday’s landslide election victory, Abe signaled he

would pursue his long-cherished goal o changing theU.S.-authored constitution.

Abe, a conservative, has made no secret o his desire toremove what he regards as unair constraints on Japan’smilitary, seven decadesafer its surrender atthe end o a war thatsaw it occupy neigh-bors including Chinaand attack countriesurther afield in thePacific.

“Revising the Con-

stitution has alwaysbeen an objective sincethe Liberal DemocraticParty was launched,”Abe told reporters.

“Te most impor-tant thing is that we need the support o a majority o thepeople in a reerendum. From that standpoint I will workhard to deepen people’s understanding and receive widersupport rom the public.” …

Abe made the economy the ocus o his election cam-paign, rather than any desire to end Japan’s era o consti-

tutional pacifism. Amid the lowest turnout since the endo the Second World War, his Liberal Democratic Partyand its junior coalition partner Komeito retained their

two-thirds majority in the lower house, enabling them topush legislation through both houses o parliament withease.

Amending Article o the Constitution, which prohibitsthe use o orce to settle disputes, would require a two-

thirds majority in both houses and a simple majority in anationwide reerendum.

Early on in his term Abe appeared to have steppedback away rom outright constitutional revision afer polls

indicated he wouldstruggle to win publicsupport or it.

Instead he securedcabinet approval tointroduce legislation,possibly in the nextyear, that would rein-terpret the Constitution

to end the postwar banon collective sel-de-ense. In practice, thatwould allow Japaneseorces to fight alongsideallies on oreign soil.

Now he appears ready to go a step urther. Te AsahiShimbun said pro-reormers in the [Liberal DemocraticParty o Japan] were hoping to table a constitutionalamendment in to pave the way or a reerendum tocoincide with upper house elections the same year.

While the subject has divided the public, Abe at least

appears to have enough backing among M.P.s. A poll byKyodo ound that more than percent o candidates elect-ed on Sunday supported amending the Constitution. …

Abe to Change Japan’s Pacifist ConstitutionGUARDIAN | December 16

“Gen. Douglas MacArthur and the U.S. officials who wrote Japan’sconstitution were experienced and world wise. If they were around today, they would recognize Japan’s shifting tides and take action to reverse them. But, as the Prophet Isaiah wrote, American leaders today act like children (Isaiah 3:4). The biblical name for the UnitedStates is Manasseh, which in Hebrew means forgetful. Those lead-ing America today are living up to this name: Like children, they aredestitute in experience and forgetful even about very recent history. As the U.S. snubs history, turns inward and ignores geopoliticalshifts, the barriers established to prevent another world war are be-ing systematically dismantled.” —Trumpet, December 2013

https://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?previewhttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/11047.32594.159.0/world/military/is-japans-military-secret-about-to-come-out?preview

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U.S.-led coalition orces.Te discussion between the two

deense ministers took place in the UN

antiterrorism meeting in New Yorkin September, according to Financialimes. Te offer o China may be adeviation rom its official policy onon-involvement in the domestic a-airs o other countries, despite the actthat it sells military weapons. Jaarisaid China’s policy does not allow it tobecome a member o any internationalcoalition. Te Iraqi deense ministerwelcomed his Chinese counterpart’soffer o help since Iraq is ready to co-operate with other countries not part

o the U.S.-led coalition against [theIslamic State].

Hong Lei, a spokesperson or theChinese Foreign Ministry, said Chinahas expressed support or Iraq’s effortto boost its ability to fight terrorismthrough intelligence inormation-sharing and personnel training. Hereused to say anything about Chinaproviding airstrike assistance or sup-plying missiles to Iraq.

According to R News, China will

lose billions i [Islamic State] mili-tants can take control o all o Iraq’soil fields. China is the biggest inves-

tor in the oil industry o Iraq. In theearlier weeks o encounters betweengovernment orces and [Islamic State]fighters, China National PetroleumCorporation had no choice but toleave its oil fields in Syria. …

North Korea Deep IntoCyberwarfareCNN | December 18

N K is one o the world’spoorest countries, seen as well

behind most everyone when it comesto most technologies and much more.

Hacking may not be one o them.Scant resources or not, a deector

who once worked as a computer ex-pert or the North Korean governmentsays that it has a vast network o hack-ers devoted to cyberwarare againstperceived enemies o the Stalinist state.

Jang Se-yul, who deected rom

North Korea seven years ago, told that he thinks there are ,cyberwarriors in the agency sta-

tioned around the world. But he sayseven the agents themselves don’tknow how many others work or thesecretive group, called Bureau ,whose mission is to “conduct cyber-attacks against overseas and enemystates.”

Te South Korean governmentthinks Bureau is the agency at theheart o numerous cyberattacks romNorth Korea against elements in or-eign countries, a government officialwho requested to be anonymous told

on Tursday.North Korea’s hacking capabilities

have become a global talking pointrecently, afer a massive hack o SonyPictures—the studio behind TeInterview, a comedy depicting theassassination o Pyongyang’s leader,Kim Jong-un. Tat was ollowed bywarnings that the movie not be shownin theaters, something that’s a nonis-sue, or now, afer Sony called off itsplanned release Wednesday. …

M A might have not heard about the Inter-national Monetary Fund’s () latest announcement:Te U.S. is no longer the world’s largest economy; China is.Be that as it may, I am not surprised that China took overthe world economy as the era o American economic domi-

nance and global leadership has been gradually decliningin the last decade or so. …

What’s important to highlight is how the rise o China,which has been in the works or quite some time, shouldremind us, Americans, o the inevitable shif in worldorder. Tis new shif highlights two things: One, China’stakeover o the world economy confirms the shif o wealthrom the West to the East; and two, whether China’s neweconomic ranking suggests the inevitable expansion o itsmilitary power. …

In light o these dynamics, international securityanalysts on both sides o the Atlantic are questioning thewisdom o the U.S. government’s decision to continue bor-

rowing money rom China. U.S. policymakers justiy theborrowing in order to sustain our military presence andengagement in the Middle East. … Te cost o the invasiono Iraq, or instance, was estimated at . tril lion, most oit borrowed rom China. …

o put this within a strategic context, the United States’entanglement in the Middle East, extension o our military

presence in Aghanistan, lack o fiscal discipline, dysunc-tional Congress and a sagging economy, all suggest theailure o the U.S. government to prevent China rom tak-ing over the world economy. …

Given its current status as the world’s leading economy,

it is logical or China to seek access to economic resourcesin Middle East in addition to a more assertive posture in itsregional territorial disputes. What is important to athomis that the shif(s) in the balance o power and world orderwould certainly be elt as China will orge other means odominance (sof power). …

While the U.S. is enmeshed in its political squabbling asa result o the paralysis o Congress, China and Russia arestrengthening their economic ties with military coopera-tion on the horizon. Tis cooperation provides China ahistorical opportunity to expand its sphere o influence;thus, compelling Washington to reconsider its geostrategiccalculations or Asia. …

Western politicians are asking: Can we sti ll impose ourwill on the rest o the world including China? Te answermight not be that simple now that China takes over theworld economy; thus, suggesting the beginning o the endnot only or the U.S. era o dominance, but also Western he-gemony in its broader context. Afer all, the sleeping giant isawake and the world would soon be saying, good morning.

U.S. Era of Dominance Is DwindlingDavid Oualaalou, HUFFINGTON POST | December 15

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Related: “Radical Islam Explodesin Nigeria”

T o Cuba received unprecedented news today,

though they were unable to hear o the United States’reorms in diplomacy with Cuba rom President BarackObama. Instead, they were treated to an address by dictatorRaúl Castro, in which he celebrated that the reorms willlead to “sustainable socialism” and urged President Obamato lif the embargo entirely through executive action.

Castro spoke simultaneously to the Cuban people asPresident Obama delivered his remarks, explaining therelease o both U.S. Agency or International Developmentworker Alan Gross—who had been subjected to variousabuses in Cuban prison or attempting to connect CubanJews to the Internet—and three Cuban spies convicted ocrimes in the United States. He described the release o the

three spies as a promise kept by “Comrade Fidel” and ad-dressed them by their first names. …

Castro noted that “this decision by President Obama de-

serves the respect and recognition o our people,” withoutindicating any specific measure Cuba would taken in re-moving its economic sanctions and limits on the Americanpeople. Instead, he placed the blame squarely on PresidentObama’s shoulders, and urged unilateral executive action:“Te economic, commercial and financial blockade thatprovokes enormous human and economic damage to ournation must cease. Even though the measures o the block-ade have been made by law, the president o the UnitedStates can modiy their application through his executivepowers. We propose to the United States government toadopt mutual measures to improve the bilateral climateand advance towards normalization o links between our

countries, based on the principles o the internationalrights and the UN Charter.” …

Raúl Castro: Victory Lap SpeechBREITBART | December 17

Boko HaramKidnaps 185 Womenand ChildrenCNN | December 18

B H insurgents kidnappedat least women and children,and killed people in a raid innortheastern Nigeria this week, localofficials and residents said.

Gunmen in pickup trucks attackedthe village o Gumsuri, just north oChibok, on Sunday, shooting downmen beore herding women and chil-dren together. …

News o the attack took our days toemerge because o a lack o communi-cation. elecommunications towers in

the region had been disabled in previ-ous attacks. …Te group has targeted mainstream

Islam, saying that it does not representthe interests o Nigeria’s millionMuslims and that it perverts Islam. …

At least , people have died atBoko Haram’s hands, according to aU.S. Congressional Research Servicereport, making it one o the world’sdeadliest terrorist organizations.

LATIN AMERICA/AFRICA

ANGLO-AMERICA

Obama Issues ‘Executive Orders by Another Name’ USA TODAY | December 17

P O has issued a ormo executive action known as thepresidential memorandum more ofenthan any other president in history—using it to take unilateral action evenas he has signed ewer executive orders.

When these two orms o directivesare taken together, Obama is on trackto take more high-level executive ac-tions than any president since Harry

ruman battled the “Do NothingCongress” almost seven decades ago,according to a USA oday review opresidential documents.

Obama has issued executive ordersto give ederal employees the day aferChristmas off, to impose economicsanctions, and to determine hownational secrets are classified. He’sused presidential memoranda to makepolicy on gun control, immigrationand labor regulations. uesday, heused a memorandum to declare Bris-tol Bay, Alaska, off-limits to oil andgas exploration. …

“Te truth is, even with all the

actions I’ve taken this year, I’m issuingexecutive orders at the lowest rate inmore than years,” Obama said in aspeech in Austin last July. “So it’s not

clear how it is that Republicans didn’tseem to mind when President Bushtook more executive actions than I did.”

Obama has issued execu-tive orders as o uesday. Publishedalongside them in the Federal Register are presidential memoranda—allo which carry the same legal orce asexecutive orders.

He’s already signed percent morepresidential memoranda in less thansix years than Bush did in eight. …

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Obama is not the first president touse memoranda to accomplish policyaims. But at this point in his presi-dency, he’s the first to use them more

ofen than executive orders. …

UN SendingThousands of Muslims to America WORLD NET DAILY | December 12

T government is prepar-ing or another “surge” in reugees,and this time they won’t be comingillegally rom Central America.

Te U.S. State Department an-nounced this week that the first majorcontingent o Syrian reugees, , othem, have been hand-selected by theUnited Nations or resettlement intocommunities across the United States.

World Net Daily reported in Sep-tember that Syrians would make upthe next big wave o Muslim reugeescoming to the U.S., as resettlementagencies were lobbying or the U.S. toaccept at least , Syrian reugees

around the world. Last year, wereached our goal o resettling nearly, reugees rom nearly coun-tries. And we plan to lead in resettling

Syrians as well,” the statement reads.“We are reviewing some , recent reerrals rom Syria. We arereceiving roughly a thousand new oneseach month, and we expect admissionsrom Syria to surge in and beyond.”

Te United States, with its commit-ment to accepting , displacedpeople a year, absorbs more reugeesthan all other countries combined.Tis number is understated, however,as once reugees get to the UnitedStates they are placed on a ast track

to citizenship and are able to get theirextended amilies to join them in thestates under the government’s ReugeeFamily Reunification program.

Te State Department works toplace reugees in cities across states. …

Muslim countries in the MiddleEast have so ar not stepped up to per-manently take in their Islamic broth-ers and sisters although the temporaryreugee camps to which the Syrians

over the next five years.Until now, the U.S. had accepted

only o the more than . millionreugees created by the Syrian civil war

in which [the Islamic State], El Nusraand other Sunni Muslim jihadistrebels are locked in a protracted battlewith the Shiite regime o Bashar Assad.

But the U.S. government has beenthe most active o all nations in accept-ing Islamic reugees rom other war-torn countries, such as Iraq, Somaliaand the Democratic Republic o Congo.

Now, the Syrians will be added tothe mix. Tey are cleared or reugeestatus by the UN high commissioneron reugees (), who assigns

them to various countries. Oncegranted reugee status by the UN, theyare screened by the U.S. Departmento Homeland Security or any ties toterrorist organizations.

Te State Department announce-ment makes it clear that the ,reugees represent just the beginningo an extended program to acceptmore Syrians.

“Te United States accepts themajority o all reerrals rom

T C or Disease Control and Prevention ()made headlines this month afer reporting that rom to , the number o drug overdose deaths in theUnited States more than doubled. Tat is a sobering statis-tic, but it doesn’t reveal the true scope o the rising number

o drug deaths or the true extent o America’s ailure in thewar on drugs.

According to the report, the number o people who diedrom an overdose o painkillers, heroin or other drugs

jumped rom , in to , in .Te U.S. government officially declared a war on drugs

in . By , instead o alling, the number o overdosedeaths nationwide rose dramatically. Te stark increaseprompted policymakers in to intensiy efforts to curbthe rising trend.

Te figure that the new report doesn’t mention isthe number o overdose deaths in —when the U.S.began pumping billions o dollars into fighting drug abuse.

Tat year, the number o overdose deaths was ,. Tat’sabout one seventh the size o the number. Te U.S.population has grown since then, but not nearly in propor-tion to this soaring number o overdose deaths. Accountingor population growth, the increase is still fiveold.

America has spent around . trill ion fighting

America’s drug problem—the overwhelming majority hasbeen spent since . Tat’s more than the nation spenton World War , the Vietnam War and the Korean Warcombined. Yet during this time, the number o drug deathsper year has soared seven times higher .

Despite a trillions-dollar effort by the U.S., illicit drugsare easier than ever to obtain, potencies are ar greater, anddrug overdose rates are soaring to unprecedented heights.In , drug overdoses surpassed car accidents to becomethe leading cause o accidental deaths in the United States.

America’s record in winning wars in recent decades hasbeen abysmal, and the war on drugs may be the most glar-ing o its ailures.

o learn about the cause o America’s increasingly de-structive drug addiction, and the solution, read our article

“Te High Lie.” Follow Jeremiah Jacques: Twitter

The Failed ‘War on Drugs’ Jeremiah Jacques | December 18

©ISTOCK.COM/PICKSTOCK

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have fled are in Jordan, urkey and

Lebanon. …Te United States has accepted

nearly million reugees rom Muslimcountries since , previouslyreported. Te authority or the re-settlement program is the Reugee Acto , signed into law by PresidentJimmy Carter. …

Te cost o resettling , reu-gees comes to just over billion peryear to the U.S. government, accordingto a State Department report or fiscal

. … Te billion figure does not

include the cost o the unaccompa-nied alien children program, supply-ing ood stamps, subsidized housing,interpreters, Medicaid, , tempo-rary assistance to needy amilies andeducating the children, much o whichalls to states and localities.

[Reugee Resettlement Watch’sAnn] Corcoran estimates that, takenin total, the cost o the U.S. reugeeresettlement program could run ashigh as billion per year. …

New Threat to

Global Economy Ted Baumann, SOVEREIGN

INVESTOR | December 9

T financial systemis based on the U.S. dollar. Tegreenback is both the world’s “reservecurrency”—the one everyone wantsto hold when things go bad—and theprincipal means o exchange. Te

vast majority o transactions between

T M, Minnesota, schoolsystem has a big problem. Accordingto Superintendent Bernadeia Johnsonand the Justice Department, the vastmajority o its , teachers are racists.

o solve this problem, Johnson says

the district must implement racism against white and Asian students. It ispart o President Barack Obama and the Justice Depart-ment’s new protocols to combat racism.

Here’s what is happening: Black students in Minneapo-lis schools are times more likely than white and Asianstudents to be suspended.

According to the Justice Department and BernadeiaJohnson, there is no explanation or this except blatantracism even though Asian students are suspended at lowerrates than whites.

Te Justice Department says that either the school dis-trict remedies the situation or it will be targeted or legal

prosecution.Tus Bernadeia Johnson’s announcement on November

that black students will no longer be suspended or ex-pelled or the same violations as whites and Asians. Instead,she will personally decide i the student really should besuspended. “Tis will begin with a percent reduction indisproportionality by the end o this school year … and percent by ,” she said. Tis will be done by keepingblack students in the classes where they belong.

How absolutely ridiculous.Bernadeia Johnson argues that suspending black stu-

dents rom schools lowers their graduation rates, and pre-

disposes them to a lie o crime, increasing the chance thatthey will go to jail. She sincerely thinks allowing studentsto get away with inractions will help them.

Sadly, she is actually making it more likely these stu-dents will have problems later in lie.

Consider: Does removing students rom the conse-quences o their actions make them more or less likely tothink they are special and that the law doesn’t apply tothem? Would it make them more or less likely to reuse toget out o the road and walk on the sidewalk when asked by

an officer? Would it make them more or less likely to thinkthey can rob a convenience store or kicks? Tat they canshoplif and then accuse law enorcement officers o tryingto “Michael Brown” them when simply asked to produce areceipt (see video).

Does teaching students that the law doesn’t apply to

them make them more or less likely to be the next MichaelBrown or Eric Garner?

Implementing racism will never solve a racism problem.But it can make it worse.I we want to solve the problem in America’s schools, we

need to get to the cause o the problem.Seventy-three percent o all black children are born into

broken amilies.So instead o arguing that tests like the S.A.. and

standardized testing in general are racist because blackstudents perorm worse on them than whites or Asians, weneed to ocus on fixing amilies.

Instead o trying to orce universities to reject qualified

white students in avor o unqualified black students justto meet race-based enrollment quotas, why not actuallyhelp black students succeed in schools by addressing ourpandemic o broken amilies?

I we don’t, the racial insanity will continue until it tearsthis country apart.

Maybe there are some ew racists among Minneapolisteachers—but even i there are, that is not the main prob-lem in that school district. Te greater problem by far is theactual reason why so many black students are struggling inschool. More than three out of four come from broken families.

Broken homes, broken students, broken schools—bro-

ken lives—it really is as simple as that.Until America’s amilies are fixed, all o America’sstudents will continue to suffer. Pretending that behaviorproblems don’t exist and are simply in the imaginations oa bunch o racist teachers will only make things worse.

Watch this situation closely because the Bible’s prophe-cies speak plainly o racial discord gripping America in ourday. Tey are explained in editor in chie Gerald Flurry’srecent r umpet article “Where America’s Race Riots AreLeading.” Follow Robert Morley: Twitter

Minneapolis Principals Not Allowed to Suspend Black Students

ROBERT MORLEY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYNdrsxrgNohttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/12158.32877.169.0/society/race/where-americas-race-riots-are-leadinghttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/12158.32877.169.0/society/race/where-americas-race-riots-are-leadinghttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/12158.32877.169.0/society/race/where-americas-race-riots-are-leadinghttps://twitter.com/morleyroberthttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/12158.32877.169.0/society/race/where-americas-race-riots-are-leadinghttps://twitter.com/morleyroberthttps://twitter.com/morleyroberthttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/12158.32877.169.0/society/race/where-americas-race-riots-are-leadinghttps://www.thetrumpet.com/article/12158.32877.169.0/society/race/where-americas-race-riots-are-leadinghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYNdrsxrgNo

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companies, countries and people aredenominated in dollars. …

[]he dollar’s dominance isn’t un-challenged. Te Chinese yuan, in par-ticular, has pretensions to become asecond global currency, one so widelyused that transactions unrelated toChina could be conducted in yuan.

But there’s another challenge on thehorizon … a new international inter-bank system that could create impor-tant opportunities—or chaos—or theworld economy, depending on how theproverbial bal l bounces.

You probably know the (Soci-ety or Worldwide Interbank Financialelecommunication) system as thatlittle jumble o letters and numbersyou need every time you send moneyto a oreign bank account. It’s theglobal banking system’s address book

and postal system. has morethan , members in more than countries, and handles more than million messages daily.

But even though is basedin Belgium, and subject to EU law,the U.S. government claims legalauthority over all transactionsdenominated in U.S. dollars—even ithose dollars never enter a U.S. bankaccount—because they are ultimately

“backstopped” by the Federal Reserve.

So when European banks used to acilitate dollar-dominatedtransactions between Iran and thirdparties, the U.S. fined those banksbillions o dollars or violating U.S.sanctions against Iran, even thoughno money passed through the UnitedStates. Tey eventually got Iran kicked

off the system altogether.Iran isn’t in a position to challengethe United States. But when the U.S.’smost loyal ally in Europe, the UnitedKingdom, called or Russian banksto be ejected rom during theheight o the Ukraine crisis, the twoAnglo countries met their match.

A ew weeks ago, Russia announcedits intention to launch an alternative to by May . Russia’s new inter-bank system would dominate transac-tions in rubles, with conversion to and

rom U.S. dollars at either end. For ex-ample, an Iranian government agencycould use dollars to buy rubles, transmitthem via the Russian system, and havethem paid to a supplier in Europe whothen converted them back to dollars.

Short o hacking into the Russiansystem, the U.S. would have no wayo knowing who was paying what towhom or or what reason. …

[A] Russian interbank systemwould also be an important part o the

ramework or an alternative globaleconomic and financial system thatrejects U.S. rules. Indeed, Russia hasalready joined the New DevelopmentBank, an alternative to the Internation-al Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Te participating countries (Russia,South Arica, China, India and Brazil)

comprise more than billion people,. percent o the world’s population,and account or more than percento global . It’s not hard to imag-ine them constituting an alternativetrading bloc similar to the old Soviet-aligned countries o the Cold War. …

I the Russian system actuallycomes into being … I’m not sure thecost will be worth it.

Obama Fights Back NBC | December 18

A afer the shellacking hisparty took in the midterm elections,President Obama has demonstratedover the past days that he’s not goingto be your ordinary lame duck headinginto his final two years in office. Instead,call him the active-duck president.

On November , he announcedhis executive action on immigration,and has since seen his approval rating

among Latinos increase to percent,per our new //elemundooversample o American Latinos.

A week ago, the Obama WhiteHouse worked the phones and twisted just enough arms to ensure that Con-gress passed its spending bill.

And yesterday, the president an-nounced an historic normalizing orelations with Cuba.

Now this all isn’t to say that theimmigration and Cuba actions aren’tproducing political blowback—Republi-

cans have retreated to early next year tofight the immigration action via the ap-propriations process, and plenty howledat normalizing relations with Cuba. De-spite the controversy and gridlock, how-ever, Obama is getting stuff done. Andhe’s got other good news to tout (,

jobs created in November, enrollmenton healthcare.gov has reached nearly. million). Now it remains to be seenhow long this lasts or just how popularObama’s actions will ultimately be. …

Revelation 17:10THE KEY OF DAVID | December 19

Why God’s Church has watched for the resurrection of the Holy

Roman Empire for more than 50 yearsGERALD FLURRY

https://www.thetrumpet.com/key_of_david/1603

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DECEMBER 19 201412THE TRUMPET WEEKLY

minister and other authorities would not state the politi-cal motivations behind the attack until it was resolved,but now that the dust has settled the only thing we hear isdenial.

Te media is quick to portray Monis as a derangedlunatic with nothing to lose. Te government has quicklyallen back on the “lone wol” statement. Monis was appar-

ently not affiliated with any particular group, though it isconfirmed that he was Muslim.

Following the initial reports, statements were issued byAustralia’s police commissioner, the prime minister, thegovernor general and even the United States ambassador.All the statements had similar themes. Tere were expres-sions o concern and sympathy or the hostages, confidencein Australian police orces, and firm reassurance that the as-sailant was likely—and later confirmed to be—acting alone.

ImmigrationNo doubt the government is dreading any mention o the

“I” word. But looking at the simple acts, there is no way to

deny that this attack is anything but bound to Australiaand its immigration crisis.

Let’s look at the acts o the situation, starting with whatwe saw in the attack itsel. Monis was easily able to walkinto Martin Place—the very heart o Sydney—and takehostages in a district surrounded by banks, media head-quarters and government buildings. Tis was a terroristattack orchestrated by a Muslim that has been living in thecountry since .

Te simple act that he held up the black and white sha-hada flag—the statement o belie o all Muslims—wouldprove the political motivations behind the attack. Tere

is no denying that religion—the Muslim religion—wasinvolved. Monis was a Muslim. More than that, he was acleric and sel-proclaimed healer. He was well known to thepolice. He was known or sending hate-soaked letters tothe amilies o servicemen who had died in the line o dutyin Aghanistan. He was also apparently an accomplice inthe murder o his own wie! He and a riend stabbed her todeath and burned her in an apartment block.

It is shocking that this man was able to walk reely inAustralia’s largest city; more shocking yet, he was allowedto live here or years!

Monis came to Australia rom Iran as a reugee in .Yet in the last years, the man ailed utterly to assimi-

late or become part o the Australian society. Instead, hebecame radicalized.

What about other scenarios—when young, born-and-reared Australians go off to fight or terrorist groups likethe Islamic State? Evidence suggests that immigrant com-munities are growing that reuse to meld into Australiansociety. Tey are not assimilating, but rather establishingentrenched oreign-thinking and even hostile enclavesright within Australia’s borders.

Intensifying ExtremismFrom these communities, greater numbers o Australian

Muslims are heading to Syria to join the Islamic State. Onlyweeks ago we saw the first girls running away to becomethe wives o jihadists. As we saw with Monis, some Mus-lims don’t leave to fight, but remain and take on a moreradical mindset. ry as the media do to label Monis a lonewol, he is neither more nor less radical than those who goto fight overseas. And just because his flag didn’t say “Is-lamic State” or “Jabat al Nusra” doesn’t make him a solo act.

Monis is merely the thin edge o a wedge driving deepinto the heart o Australian society. Anyone who walksthrough Sydney can see it. Mosques are rising on thecityscape. On the street, hijabs and Muslim paraphernaliaabound. While ew Muslims would act as Monis did, it isrom this demographic that Australia’s terrorist threats stem.

And that pool is big. As the Muslim population increas-es in Australia, and immigrants reuse to assimilate, howmany others are willing to bring terror to Australia?

Strangers Within the GatesWhen the mainstream media reported this situation, theiranalyses were atrocious. No one was willing to address the

problems associated with immigration.Australia’s open-door policies to immigrants have been

going on or decades, and now we must ace the conse-quences. And it will hurt—not only Australia, but it willhurt all nations dealing with similar issues: Britain, Amer-ica, Canada, Israel. All these have their own battles withimmigration. All have seen terrorist attacks carried out inthe past year by citizens.

Australia aces a very dangerous situation. Here is aquote rom late rumpet columnist Ron Fraser, taken romour ree e-book Australia—Where to Now? :

“Australia’s greatest challenge is not so much keeping

extremist imams and their terrorist protégés rom migrat-ing into the country. Te most significant terrorist poten-tial lies within the hearts o extremist Islamic Australiancitizens already embedded within that continent—thesons o earlier migrants, who speak with an Aussie twangbut who will never assimilate into Australian society. Osuch is the stranger within Australia’s gates mentioned inDeuteronomy :!

“Match that prophecy with Deuteronomy :, and it isclear to those with a perspective on the biblical identity oAustralia, and on the prophecies or these times in whichwe now live, that the uture does not bode well or Austra-lia in respect o this terrorist threat. I you want to know

why, turn to Leviticus and read verses -. Tat’s not amessage or the aint-hearted. Nevertheless, it’s the bindingreality o our day.”

Australia has historically suffered rom the “she’ll beright” attitude. A distinct lack o concern when the issueat hand is somewhere out o sight and out o mind. Wellnow the issue has exploded in our aces. Assimilation oimmigrants is ailing and we have radicals in our commu-nity—whether we choose to acknowledge it or not.

Keep watching, because immigration will not be dealtwith as quickly as a hostage scenario. And i we aren’t care-ul, it will prove more deadly yet.

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