5/30/05 - 6/5/05
Mark your calendars, Vendyl Jones claims to know where the ark of the covenant is and plans to reveal it by 8/14.
That same month, Ariel Sharon plans to have the Jewish settlement withdraw from the Gaza strip to make room for a Palestinian state. This development will throw a big monkey wrench into those plans. Could the timing be pure coincidence? If this happens, you can bet that the 3rd temple will be built on the Temple Mount very soon. What to do with the Islamic Mosque that’s sitting there??? Hmmm… This can get very interesting.
Ark of the Covenant's discovery imminent?
Posted: May 28, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com
"Raiders of the Lost Ark" is one of my all-time favorite movies, filled with mystery and adventure. It focuses on the search for a biblical artifact and treasure called The Ark of the Covenant. What makes the movie particularly exciting is how closely it mimics (with some added Hollywood flair) the real life hunt for the lost Ark.
History has it that the original Ark was where God manifested His presence on earth beginning in the days of Moses. The Ark was designed as a chest made of acacia wood overlaid with gold. It had four golden rings. Each one attached to a corner. These rings provided a means to carry the Ark by inserting two wooden bars (also overlaid with gold) on either side. Atop the Ark were two golden cherubim spreading their wings over the Ark's cover also known as the mercy seat.
The Ark itself contained the Ten Commandments and was housed in the innermost room of the Jewish Temple called the Holy of Holies. Here it was the center of worship, although actual access to the Ark was permitted only once a year on the Day of Atonement called Yom Kippur. On that day, the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies with the blood of a goat to make atonement for the sins of the Israelites.
Other contents of the Ark included Aaron's rod and a golden pot of manna. Additionally, the Ark is renowned for its mysterious powers. According to the Bible, when the Ark was carried by the people of Israel into battle, it protected the Israelites, supernaturally defeating any adversaries that came before them.
This explains why in the movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark" the Nazis were intent on obtaining it. Their theory (as the story line goes) was that they would be unbeatable if they possessed the Ark and could harness its mysterious powers. Of course, as both the movie and history would have it, things didn't quite work out for the Nazis.
But what of the Ark?
It is believed to have disappeared with the destruction of the First Temple by King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon in 586 B.C. The exact whereabouts of the Ark have remained a mystery ever since.
One theory is that the Ark was taken from ancient Jerusalem by Prince Menelik of Ethiopia. Menelik was the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Menelik purportedly brought the Ark to his country for safekeeping where it currently remains housed in a church in Axum.
Another theory is that the Ark was hidden in a secret chamber housed beneath Jerusalem's Temple Mount. The alleged secret chamber was created by either King Solomon, who built the First Temple, or a subsequent king before the temple was plundered by Nebuchadnezzar.
One version of this theory suggests that in the early 12th century a group of nine Frenchmen known as the original Knights Templars excavated beneath the site of the old Temple of Jerusalem. They retrieved the true Ark of the Covenant and secreted it away.
A second more popular version suggests the Ark is still located in a vault somewhere in the miles of tunnels carved beneath the city of Jerusalem. It is believed the location of the Ark will be revealed when the time is right for the Jewish Temple to be built for the third time.
One famous adherent to this theory is Dr. Vendyl Jones. He is a modern-day explorer and teacher and the true inspiration for the Indiana Jones series. Startling the world, he announced last week on Israel National Radio that he actually knows the location of the Ark.
He says according to ancient documents the Ark is hidden in a secret passage that runs 18 miles south of the Temple Mount into the Judean Desert. Before dismissing his claim as a lark, it is worth noting that Jones published a book in 1959 predicting the precise outbreak of the Six Day War.
He calculated the war in 1967 by analyzing the sequence of events in the First Temple period and transposing them on the Third Temple period. The First Temple period began with its original construction in the days of King Solomon. The Third Temple period began according to Jones with the Jews founding an independent state in the land of Israel in 1948.
Now Jones is convinced that with the help of ancient documents found in Qumran, he has pinpointed the location of the Ark. And armed with the blessing of religious leaders, Jones hopes to reveal the location of the Ark by Aug. 14, which marks the Fast of Tisha B'Av. This holy day commemorates repeated tragedy in Jewish history including the destruction of both the First and the Second Holy Temples.
Jones' plan is simple. It is to drill a borehole into the chamber containing the Ark, drop a pin-camera in and reveal the historic treasure to a watching world.
If Jones is right, many predict this event will turn the world upside down. Jones says this will bring an end to the government's plan to uproot Jews of Gaza and northern Samaria. It also will bring the very idea of any Palestinian state to a screeching halt. In fact, Jones predicts quite the opposite will occur. With the discovery of the Ark, the Jewish people will have the greatest motivation of all time to return to Israel from around the world and rebuild the Temple to house this holy treasure.
Of course, whether Jones actually uncovers the Ark is not the sole issue. Equally compelling is proving once more through science that the Bible is more than just a collection of parables. Are you ready for this?
Is France’s rejection of the European Constitution a major setback for the consolidation of nations in that part of the world and ultimately the New World Order’s plans? My take is that the European and the U.S. philosophy in achieving the NWO has always been quite different. The European philosophy has always been to achieve this gradually, almost to the point where it happens invisibly. The U.S. philosophy has been to pursue this aggressively, bulldoze their way and pummel the world into submission to accept the NWO. There has been much disagreement between the 2 factions with their respective philosophies. This development may be a setback to the European way of achieving this goal but at the same time help the U.S. build their case for grabbing the bull by the horns. Looking at the big picture, this may accelerate the process of attaining the NWO, which ultimately both sides have in common.
EU faces crisis after France rejects EU charter
By Timothy Heritage
Reuters
Sunday, May 29, 2005; 10:41 PM
PARIS (Reuters) - France overwhelmingly rejected the European Union constitution on Sunday, pitching the EU deep into crisis and dealing a potentially fatal blow to a charter designed to make the enlarged bloc run smoothly.
EU leaders said after a referendum "no" vote that the treaty was not dead and member states should continue the ratification process. But British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the rejection raised profound questions about the future of the EU.
The heavy defeat dreaded by EU leaders could weaken France in the 25-member bloc, stall European integration and unsettle some financial markets. It also wounds President Jacques Chirac two years before presidential and parliamentary elections.
"The French people have given a huge smack in the face to an entire system that has the nerve to tell us what to think," said nationalist French politician Philippe de Villiers, a leading opponent of the charter. "The constitution is no more."
Chirac swiftly conceded defeat in a televised address to the nation as the "No" camp celebrated a crushing victory with about 55 percent of votes to 45 percent and hinted that he might respond by dismissing his unpopular prime minister.
Such a resounding defeat in a country that has been a key pillar of the EU reduced the chances of a repeat vote on the treaty, which is intended to make EU decision-making easier and requires the backing of all member states to go into force.
The Netherlands holds its own referendum on the EU constitution on Wednesday and Dutch ministers urged voters on Sunday to ignore the result in France. A Dutch "No" vote, as opinion polls forecast, would plunge the EU even deeper into crisis.
But Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, whose country holds the EU's rotating president, said nearly half the 454 million EU citizens had already backed the charter and added: "The European process does not come to a halt today."
He said EU leaders would review the situation at their next regular summit on June 16-17, adding that it would be impossible to renegotiate the treaty.
CHIRAC PROMISES CHANGES
As a large crowd of flag-waving treaty opponents celebrated victory in Place de la Bastille in Paris, a major landmark of the 1789 French Revolution, Chirac dropped his heaviest hint so far that he plans to remove Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.
"I intend to respond ... by giving a new and strong impetus to the action of the government," Chirac said in his address.
Many voters used the vote to punish the government over France's economy and high unemployment. Chirac, 72, ignored calls by some members of the "No" camp to step down.
The euro fell just over half a cent in early trading in Asia to 1.2516/19, down from 1.2573 in New York on Friday, despite already falling in recent weeks partly because of doubts about the fate of the constitution.
"The euro is the currency of Europe and investors are going to have worries about the future of economic policies in a zone where citizens cannot get a common view," said Chloe Magnier, an economist at French broker CM-CIC Securities.
Economists said the result could also hit the Turkish lira because it could be seen as a protest against Turkey's efforts to join the EU, would probably weigh on business sentiment in France and could slam the brakes on economic reforms there.
Many voters resent what they see as France's declining role in the Union, especially with the expansion to 25 members last year, and say the treaty enshrines economic policies that have failed to stop the loss of jobs to low-wage economies.
Britain's Straw declined to say whether London still planned to hold its own referendum next year.
"This raises profound questions for all of us about the future direction of Europe," Straw told reporters. "What we want now is a period of reflection."
"The referendum result is a blow for the constitutional process, but not the end of it," German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said. "It is also not the end of the German-French partnership in and for Europe."
Nine countries have approved the treaty, including Germany which alongside France drove creation of the post-World War II economic alliance that developed into the European Union.
If the constitution does not survive, the EU will continue to operate under its current rules. But the system is widely seen as unworkable for a Union intent on enlarging further, and decision-making could soon become paralyzed.
The constitution was signed by EU leaders last October in Rome after long and tough negotiations.
In a stunning reversal of roles, France went from champion of European integration to staunch defender of French nationalism.
By Stewart Nusbaumer
France soundly rejected Europe’s first proposed constitution and threw the breaks on the further integration of Europe, sending conservative globalists and liberal internationalists into a near panic.
In a national referendum on Sunday, 57 percent of French voters rejected the constitution while only 43 percent supported the proposal.
The product of more than two years of negotiations and signed by European Union leaders in Rome in October, the constitution was designed to make decision-making easier among 25 countries in the bloc, while laying the foundation for a European president and foreign minister, and creating an even more powerful Parliament. In short, the constitution was designed to create something akin to United States of Europe.
Since the European Union's constitution cannot go into force without the backing of all member states, and the French government has been one of the main pillars for greater European integration, the momentum for a more centralized Europe has suddenly been stopped.
According to commentators in France, there are three major reasons for the defeat of the European constitution. First, a majority of French felt that Brussels -- the seat of the European community -- was pushing an “Anglo-Saxon” economic model onto them, which is a system that relies more upon markets and less upon government intervention. Second, there are concerns about Muslim Turkey's entrance into the European Union, which is unpopular in France where a large Muslim minority is not integrated into society and is viewed with suspicion. Finally, with unemployment running at 10 percent in France, voters were turned off by a European constitution that gave national leaders less control over their economy.
But there is more to France's rejection of the European constitution.
The Nationalist Factor
Few words carry a lower reputation in the vernacular of the modern than “nationalism.” It is attacked as the cause of every evil known on this planet, from war to famine to genocide to environmental destruction to narrow mindedness to vile racism to.... Nationalists are slammed as agents of a brutal history, and slandered as reactionaries who are hostile to the very notion of progress.
With nationalism blatantly horrible, it is seldom discussed, just attacked, and then quickly dismissed. European bureaucrats, tucked away in offices in far-off Brussels and feeling confident that the “scourge of Europe” was dead forever, never imagined (until it was too late) that the French tribe would actually vote for nationalism.
In fact, nationalism is far from dead. And it is far from pure evil, being the source of much good.
In a world that is increasingly elite-driven, with ethnic diversity shrinking and global uniformity more common, with the sense of alienation on the rise and community identity shrinking, the nation state is still looked upon by most people of the world as the best system of government. It is home to most legislation that protects individuals and the environment. It is what people feel the safest with, and it is what they give their greatest loyalty to, after family and friends. Like most people, the French are leery of jumping on the transnational dream.
For some time, Europe -- with France taking a leading role -- has been in the vanguard for greater regionalization, if not with the United States or the New World Order, both of which seek to weaken nation states to enhance the unrestricted flow of capital and labor across national borders. The introduction of the Euro to replace national currencies was considered a major step forward. The coordination of immigration and border control was viewed as a positive act to weaken national sovereignty. And the enactment of the constitution was to be a crowning achievement for the centralization of European power.
The French rejection of the constitution has muddled if not killed (at least for now) the demolition of the European nation state. The referendum’s results are not, however, a statement for isolationism, although that will be the spin put out by the elite. The results are a demand for moderation, to take the political evolution of the transnational slower. But globalists who arrogantly predicted their world-without-borders would soon be realized and internationalists who smugly dismissed nationalists as a legacy of the cave man, they do have something new to worry about. And that is, if they continue to push too hard and too fast with few if any benefits for common people, then their “modern” world could become history in the 21st century.
It’s clear that the globalists are targeting Iran. The problem is that the public will not approve of a pre-emptive attack. the public has already seen the mess that has taken place in Iraq and the result of such action. The only way to get the public riled up to accept an attack on Iran is to stage another 9-11 type attack. George Galloway, a member of the British parliament, basically shredded the U.S. Senate exposing their lies and deceptions on C-Span. He is concerned of the same possibility of a staged attack.
Galloway Wary Of Staged Terror Attack As Pretext For Iran Invasion
Prison Planet | June 1 2005
George Galloway made worldwide headlines on May 17th when he appeared in front of a Senate committee on investigations, after its members accused him of profiteering from Saddam Hussein's regime by receiving vouchers for oil, despite the fact that such allegations against Galloway had already been proven to be based on forged documents.
Galloway did what no American on Capitol Hill could, he told the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Galloway turned the tables and put the entire US establishment on trial for arming Saddam, imposing genocidal sanctions which killed a million Iraqis, and then the two illegal wars which killed and maimed hundreds of thousands more.
Galloway appeared as a guest on The Alex Jones Show to discuss his Senate appearance and the subsequent fallout it generated.
At the end of the show Alex Jones asked Galloway if he thought an invasion of Iran was on the horizon. Galloway was confident that massively opposed public opinion would stop an attack from taking place, unless a staged terror attack carried out by the military industrial complex and blamed on Iran was carried out.
JONES: "What do we do if the military-industrial complex carries out a terror attack to blame it on them?"
GALLOWAY: "Well that's another very real danger. There's no way we can legislate for that but we must be on guard. We need a vigilant citizenry."
JONES: "Unbelievable."
GALLOWAY: "We need a vigilant citizenry that are wise to all the tricks that these monkeys are up to."
This article is from a couple of months ago but I had to put it in here. It goes along with my hypothesis mentioned in the introduction.
How UFOs Relate to the New World Order
ByHenryMakowPh.D.
February 05, 2005
Like most people my opinion of flying saucers and aliens was programmed by the mass media.
I thought they were possible but highly unlikely and speculative.
Now I know better, thanks to Dr. Stephen Greer's book "Disclosure: Military and Government Witnesses Reveal the Greatest Secrets in Modern History." (2001) His web site is www.disclosureproject.org
Stephen Greer is a country doctor from North Carolina who has a wife, four children, a dog and a faith in American values. Since 1992, he has collected video and written testimony from some 400 retired members of the U.S. military, intelligence and aeronautics industry including Presidential advisors, generals, pilots and two astronauts many of whom had Top-Secret clearance.
The gist of this overwhelming evidence is that every year we have thousands of visits from UFOs, which are tracked on radar at speeds ranging from 5000 to 20,000 mph. There are also thousands of signals reaching the earth from outer space.
Over the last 60 years many UFOs have crashed or have been shot down by missiles or laser beams. The US has recovered these spaceships and replicated some of the technology. It has recovered aliens both dead and alive.
The revelations contained in "Disclosure" have profound implications for the fate of humanity. They reveal that the laws of physics as we know them are obsolete. Space is not empty but an energy field that can provide an infinite supply of free energy and propulsion.
Thanks to extraterrestrial contact, the technology already exists to release humanity from its dependence on its dwindling reserves of polluting fossil fuels, which is the cause of war.
I am not asking you to believe this right away. People think they must either accept or reject a new idea. There is a third alternative: reserve judgment.
Keep in mind that your attitudes to UFOs were shaped by "experts" like Dr. Carl Sagan, who was on the CIA payroll. The CIA employs a small army of people to mislead you.
I urge you to get Dr. Greer's 570-page book. It may be one of the most important you ever read. You can send your address and $22 (incl. shipping) to this pay pal address: orders@disclosureproject.org It is also available from Amazon.
Nick Cook, the Aviation Editor of Jane's Defense Weekly, also confirms this general picture in a book "The Hunt for Zero Point" which I also recommend.He traces the development and suppression of zero gravity technologies over the last 80 years.
COVER-UP
Witnesses describe a massive and coordinated cover-up. People who have had UFO contact are ridiculed and warned that their career will end if they speak. Their lives and their family's lives are threatened. Many people have "disappeared."
A network of military and intelligence agencies along with major defense contractors is responsible for the cover-up. Generally speaking, they are not accountable to the President and Congress. Dr. Greer has met with many Senators who frankly admit they are "not in the loop."
The purpose of this cover-up is both economic and political. At the end of the Nineteenth Century, London-based bankers established their power and wealth on the basis of large international cartels. In the US, they used their control of the railroad to favor their agent J.D. Rockefeller with low rates enabling him to eliminate competition.
The same principle applied to the coal and steel cartels. Later they expanded to defense, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and media. They run the US from London through their American partners.
As my readers know, the goal of these bankers and their allies is to formalize a thinly veiled totalitarian world government. The presence of extraterrestrials and new technology is interfering with this plan. The bankers have trillions of dollars invested in old technology. They will release the new technology only if and when it suits them. In the meantime, they use it to keep us enslaved, and to ward off more advanced civilizations.
COORDINATION
How do they coordinate a cover-up that extends to so many countries? I don't know the answer to this but there is a disturbing possibility that national differences may be more apparent than real. Through Communism they took control of Russia and China. After World War Two, they took over Japan and continental Europe.
Witnesses describe secret meetings dedicated to the subject of extraterrestrials that involved an international cast. The New World Order has been here a long time. They are unveiling it gradually.
In the US alone, the cover-up must extend to hundreds of government agencies, military units, research labs and corporations. How is that coordinated?
Again, I do not know, but if I had to guess, I'd venture it is controlled by Freemasonry through their network, which I understand is well represented in these areas.
Dr. Greer quotes Senator Daniel Inouye: "There exists a shadowy Government with its own Air Force, its own navy, it's own fundraising mechanism, and the ability to pursue its own ideas of the national interest, free from all checks and balances, and free from the law itself."
Indeed the emerging picture is that the London bankers use this occult secret network to control the planet. This Satanic "religion" is indeed the secret guiding principle behind our ideas of "progress" and what is "modern."
PRISON PLANET
Many civilizations in the universe may be thousands of years in advance of ours. Increasingly they appear to view banker-controlled mankind as a potential menace, with reason. Strange as this may sound, the focus of UFO attention has been the bankers' nuclear installations. They appear to be actively resisting the US plan to put weapons in space.
Space-based weaponry is presented to the public as a deterrent against "rogue nations" like North Korea. In fact, it seems to have a dual purpose that has nothing to do with this. It is designed to prevent "alien influences" from liberating us from our mental, spiritual and economic bondage, at the same time as controlling us physically.
Apparently this scenario has been in place at least since the 1970's. According to the testimony of Dr. Carol Rossin, which is on line, Werner Von Braun warned her about it in 1974. He said the aim was "to control the Earth from space and space itself."
Dying from cancer, Von Braun enlisted Rossin, a fellow executive at Fairchild Industries, to help educate the public and decision-makers. He regarded space-based weapons as "dumb, dangerous, destabilizing, too costly, unnecessary and unworkable."
Significantly he outlined the five-step "scare tactics" used to justify them. First the public has been made to fear the Communists; then "terrorists"; then "rogue nations"; then "asteroids" and finally "extraterrestrials."
"Remember Carol, the last card is the alien card. We are going to have to build space-based weapons against aliens and all of it is a lie," he told her.
The program is slowly unfolding as Von Braun predicted. We are at the rogue nation, terrorist stage.
A 2002 report concludes: "The continued development of these space systems seriously undermines the claim that the U.S. missile defence project is purely defensive in nature. Instead, the dual use capability of both the SBL and kinetic kill vehicles makes them inherently threatening to the space assets and national security of other countries. ... The possibility of sparking an arms race in space, with seriously detrimental effects on global commerce, communications and security, should not be underestimated."
CONCLUSION
The "dual use capability" of US space weapons might also be designed to deter advanced civilizations that pose a threat to the Masonic bankers' monopoly of power and wealth, and their satanic New World Order agenda.
Yes, it would be better if a large flying saucer landed on the field
during half time at the Superbowl and ETs emerged. But Dr. Stephen
Greer's book is credible. Don't dismiss it without reading it first.
Far fetched as it sounds, at the rate we're going, extraterrestrials
could represent degenerate mankind's best hope. Who knows what form
Divine intervention can take? If we won't represent God, maybe a more
advanced civilization will.
A new Bible is out that portrays Jesus as a woman. All in the name of sexual equality and political correctness. “Daughter of Man, anyone?” I’m speechless.
New Bible Shows Christ as a Woman, God as Female
Publication in Response to Empowerment of Women in Society
WASHINGTON, May 31 /PRNewswire/ -- A new edition of the Gospels of the
Bible for the first time shows Christ as a woman, named Judith Christ of
Nazareth, and God as female. In all other respects, the classic texts of the
Gospels remain unchanged.
The publisher, LBI Institute, has released this new Bible entitled:
"Judith Christ of Nazareth, The Gospels of the Bible, Corrected to Reflect
that Christ Was a Woman, Extracted from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John." The
book is available in bookstores and online.
"This long-awaited revised text of the Gospels makes the moral message of
Christ more accessible to many, and more illuminating to all," says Billie
Shakespeare, V.P. for the publisher. "It is empowering. We published this
new Bible to acknowledge the rise of women in society."
This new Bible includes: The Parable of the Prodigal Daughter, The Lady's
Prayer, and other revised favorite passages, such as:
* Her birth -- Luke 2:4 And Joseph went to Bethlehem. 5 To be enrolled
with Mary, his wife, who was then pregnant. 7 And she brought forth
her firstborn child. 21 And her name was chosen to be Judith.
* Her crucifixion -- John 19:17 And She bearing her cross went forth. 18
There they crucified Judith.
* Her resurrection -- Matthew 28:1 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
came to see the tomb. 5 But the angel said to the women, "Do not be
afraid, for I know that you seek Judith who was crucified." 6 "She is
not here; for She is risen."
The propaganda wars continue. Look out for China. The media is building up a case for WW III. Notice how China is linked with North Korea in this article? Let's see, we have China, North Korea, Syria, Iran as military threats. Let's see how many more countries are added to this list in the days ahead.
Rumsfeld warns on China military
North Korea seen as worldwide threat
Saturday, June 4, 2005 Posted: 4:08 AM EDT (0808 GMT)
SINGAPORE (AP) -- China's military buildup, particularly its positioning of hundreds of missiles facing Taiwan, is a threat to Asian security, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Saturday.
Rumsfeld rebuked China at a regional security conference in Singapore, saying it was pouring huge resources into its military and buying large amounts of sophisticated weapons despite facing no threat from any other country.
The Pentagon chief's remarks signaled a harder line against China from the Bush administration, which has criticized Beijing over trade and human rights issues but not directly challenged its military buildup.
The director of the Asia bureau of China's foreign ministry, Cui Tiankai, was in the audience for Rumsfeld's speech and reacted strongly.
"Since the U.S. is spending a lot more money than China is doing on defense, the U.S. should understand that every country has its own security concerns and every country is entitled to spend money necessary for its own defense," Cui told The Associated Press after Rumsfeld's remarks.
Rumsfeld said the Pentagon's annual assessment of China's military capabilities shows China is spending more than its leaders acknowledge, expanding its missile capabilities and developing advanced military technology.
China now has the world's third-largest military budget, he said, behind the United States and Russia. He did not say how large the U.S. believes China's military budget is.
"Since no nation threatens China, one must wonder: Why this growing investment? Why these continuing large and expanding arms purchases?" Rumsfeld said at the conference organized by the International Institute of Strategic Studies, a private, London-based think tank.
Cui responded sharply to Rumsfeld during a question-and-answer session.
"Do you truly believe that China is under no threat by other countries?" Cui asked. "Do you truly believe that the U.S. is threatened by the emergence of China?"
Rumsfeld said he does not think any country threatened China and that the United States did not see China as a threat.
Central to the disagreement is Taiwan, a self-governing island Beijing regards as a renegade territory.
China has said it will attack Taiwan if the island tries to declare independence, and it repeatedly calls on the United States to stop selling weapons to Taiwan.
Beijing denounced a joint U.S.-Japan statement earlier this year saying the two allies shared the objective of a peaceful resolution of the Taiwan issue.
The United States is urging the European Union to keep in place its ban on selling weapons to China. Washington argues that any European weapons sold to China could be used in a conflict over Taiwan.
"I just look at the significant rollout of ballistic missiles opposite Taiwan, and I have to ask the question: If everyone agrees the question of Taiwan is going to be settled in a peaceful way, why this increase in ballistic missiles opposite Taiwan?" Rumsfeld said.
He also questioned China's government, saying political freedom there had not kept pace with increasing economic freedom.
"Ultimately, China will need to embrace some form of a more open and representative government if it is to fully achieve the political and economic benefits to which its people aspire," he said.
The defense secretary, who has said he would like to visit China this year, also pressed Beijing to use its influence with North Korea to restart six-nation talks over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.
North Korea has stayed away for a year from the talks with China, the United States, South Korea, Japan and Russia.
Rumsfeld said the United Nations might need to decide what to do about the nuclear threat from North Korea, which declared in February that it has atomic bombs.
North Korea says it needs a nuclear deterrent because of what it calls Washington's "hostile policy" against it.
Rumsfeld said North Korea was a worldwide threat because of its record of selling missile technology and other weapons.
"One has to assume that they'll sell anything, and that they would sell nuclear weapons," he said.
Similar U.S. criticism of North Korea has sparked an angry response from Pyongyang.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency this week called Vice President Dick Cheney a "bloodthirsty beast" for saying that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was irresponsible.
U.S. President George W. Bush and other administration officials say the U.S. has no intention of attacking North Korea.
Tensions between the two nations have been rising in recent months.
Last week, the Pentagon suspended its only contact with North Korea efforts to search for the remains of missing servicemen from the Korean War.
U.S. officials said they could not guarantee the search teams' safety in remote areas.
Now they are saying that the U.S. guards kicked the Koran and splashed urine on it. This is reminiscent of the Newsweek article last week regarding the flushing of the Koran down the toilet which was retracted. Only this time, this is being admitted. I don't think the Muslims worldwide are feeling warm and fuzzy inside.
How would you feel if someone constantly threw spitballs at you? After a while, wouldn't you walk over and beat the snot out of him? This fits in exactly with the plan to orchestrate another terror attack and using Al Qaeda as the scapegoat.
U.S.: Guards, detainees mishandled Quran
Guantanamo Bay personnel cited in 4 incidents confirmed by military
Saturday, June 4, 2005 Posted: 11:37 AM EDT (1537 GMT)
(CNN) -- A U.S. military investigation has found four incidents in which guards at the Guantanamo Bay prison mishandled the Quran, but said that it was detainees who threw the Muslim holy book in the toilet.
The report said it confirmed four times when U.S. personnel at the base mishandled the Quran: guards kicked a detainee's Quran; a guard's urine "splashed" a detainee and his holy book and guards in a water balloon fight that resulted in two detainees' Qurans getting wet.
In a fifth confirmed incident, it could not be determined whether a guard or a detainee wrote a two-word obscenity in a Quran.
On Saturday, the White House said the incidents were isolated and do not reflect the behavior of the majority of military personnel.
"Our men and women in the military adhere to the highest standards, including when it comes to respecting and protecting religious freedom," spokesman Scott McClellan said. "The military expects its high standards to be met, and does not tolerate or condone it when individuals do not -- as this report makes clear."
The findings of the report, issued by Brig. Gen. Jay Hood, commander of the detention center in Cuba, were released late Friday. They found no evidence to support allegations that U.S. soldiers attempted to flush the Muslim holy book down the toilet.
The investigation was prompted after a Newsweek article citing unnamed sources made such a claim -- prompting violent protests in Afghanistan and other parts of the Muslim world that left more than a dozen people dead. (Full story)
Newsweek has since retracted the story.
The Hood report cited three separate incidents in which detainees put their holy book in the toilet or tried to flush it.
In one incident, on February 23, 2004, the report said a guard saw a "detainee place two Qurans in his toilet and state he no longer cared about the Quran or his religion.
Five minutes later, after the detainee retrieved the Qurans, he ripped several pages out of one Quran and threw the pages on the floor. Then, he placed both Qurans on the sink."
Another time, on January 19, 2005, a detainee "tore up his Quran and tried to flush it down the toilet. Four guards witnessed the incident," the report said.
The report also cited 12 other incidents by detainees, including one who used his Quran as a pillow, another who urinated on his holy book and several who ripped pages from the Quran.
Capt. Jeff Weir, an Army spokesman at the facility, told CNN by phone that the detainees were typically trying to stage some form of protest when they mishandled the Quran.
Hood said investigators reviewed more than 30,000 documents in an exhaustive probe.
"The inquiry found no credible evidence that a member of the Joint Task Force at Guantanamo Bay ever flushed a Quran down a toilet. This matter is considered closed," the report said.
It said the U.S. military has issued more than 1,600 copies of the Quran since January 2002, conducted more than 28,000 interrogations and carried out thousands of "cell moves."
"Mishandling a Quran at Guantanamo Bay is a rare occurrence," Hood said. "Mishandling of a Quran here is never condoned."
The investigators defined mishandling as "touching, holding or the treatment of a Quran in a manner inconsistent with policy or procedure."
Hood said the investigative team looked into 19 incidents involving allegations of mishandling of the holy book, only five of which could be confirmed.
Ten incidents did not involve mishandling of the Quran, the report concluded. Four incidents could not be verified.
According to the report, the five confirmed incidents were:
In February 2002, a detainee complained that guards kicked the Quran belonging to a detainee in a nearby cell.
On July 25, 2003, a contract interrogator apologized to a detainee for stepping on his Quran in an earlier interview. The interrogator was later fired "for a pattern of unacceptable behavior, an inability to follow direct guidance and poor leadership."
On August 15, 2003, night shift guards threw water balloons in a cell block, wetting the Qurans of two detainees.
On August 21, 2003, a detainee complained that a "two-word obscenity had been written in English on the inside cover of his English version Quran." The report noted that the detainee knew English and Arabic, and it could not be determined exactly who wrote the phrase. "It is possible that a guard committed this act; it is equally possible that the detainee wrote in his own Quran."
On March 25, 2005, a detainee said "urine came through an air vent" and "splashed on him and his Quran while he laid near the air vent." A guard admitted he was at fault, saying he urinated near an air vent and the "wind blew his urine through the vent into the block." The detainee was given a new uniform and Quran. The guard was reprimanded and placed on gate guard duty away from detainees.
Weir, the Army spokesman at the facility, said about 540 suspected terrorists are housed at the maximum security prison. Noting that only five incidents of mishandling of the Quran could be confirmed, he said, "I will stand by the record here; It's outstanding."
He said even if a U.S. soldier was "contemplating misbehaving," it would be extremely difficult.
"Nothing goes unchecked in Guantanamo Bay," he said. "Everything is documented."
There are about 540 detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Some have been there more than three years without being charged with a crime. Most were captured on the battlefields of Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002 and were sent to Guantanamo Bay in hope of extracting useful intelligence about the al Qaeda terrorist network.
Both U.S. President George W. Bush and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld have denounced an Amnesty International report that called the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay "the gulag of our time."
The president told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday that the report by the human-rights group was "absurd."
On Wednesday, Rumsfeld called the characterization "reprehensible" and said the U.S. military had taken care to ensure that detainees were free to practice their religion.
However, he also acknowledged that some detainees had been mistreated, even "grievously" at times.
Keep your fingers crossed. Come on you people, don't do anything stupid now.
This is the second time Jewish extremists have organized something like this, this year. Everytime this happens, it feels like a bull walking through a china shop.
All it takes is one Jewish extremist to take matters into his own hands or a single offended Muslim extremist for that matter. It doesn't take much to start something that can get out of control in this area.
Extremist Jewish Organizations Plan to Storm Al Aqsa Mosque on Monday
GAZA, June 2, 2005 (IPC + Agencies) - - A number of Jewish extremist organizations called on Jews to storm the holy Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem on Monday, in order to perform their rituals in it.
The Jewish call would coincide with "Jerusalem Day" marked by Jews on June 6 and is celebrated by marking the "Jerusalem Unification Day"; the day where Israeli occupation forces occupied East Jerusalem and claimed it to be a "unified and eternal capital of Israel".
These Jewish organizations distributed leaflets calling on their supporters to participate in the rituals that would be held near Lion Gate in Jerusalem, prior to storming the holy mosque.
Three of the extremist Jewish organizations called to holding prayers and a sit-in in front of the mosque, in order to storm the mosque and celebrate the Israeli occupation of Jerusalem.
The leaflet mentioned that the extremist Israeli Knesset member Arieh Eldad, from Moledet movement, along with rabbis from Gaza Strip and West Bank settlements will take part in the sit-in, in addition to popular and prominent Jewish figures.
The leaflet pointed out that all of the organization's activities, including the storming of the mosque, have been coordinated with Israeli security forces, and would also include bringing in a miniature model of the alleged Jewish Temple into Al Aqsa Mosque and pictures of the Israeli forces invading and occupying East Jerusalem.
posted by p_k @ 5:33 PM
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