Showing posts with label Iraq. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iraq. Show all posts

Wednesday 18 June 2014

Iraqi Underclass and animosities


Previous Weekly Numbers have documented growing religious hostilities in Iraq. The missing headline -- as the Sunni-led Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), formerly affiliated with al-Qaedabattle Shia-dominated government forces -- is a phrase from Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign strategist James Carville, "It's the economy, stupid." But, it's not oil and the negative impact on the global economy I'm referring to.
Picture A Pew Research survey conducted in 2012 (before ISIS gained ground) found that the large majority of Iraq's population (74%) considered unemployment to be a "very large problem" for the country. By contrast, fewer than half of the population considered conflict between religious groups to be a very large problem.

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it highlights the dangers of a system where religion and religious identities become rallying points for other grievances. As the Shia-dominated Iraqi government favors other Shia Muslims -- long the underclass under Saddam Hussein -- this sets up new animosities that are easily grafted onto other issues, such as unemployment, inequality and unmet expectations. 

Continue reading:

Iraq: "It's the Economy, Stupid"

Wednesday 2 October 2013

Has the Bible’s Garden of Eden been found — and restored

Despite ongoing violence in the region, NewScientist is reporting that the “‘Garden of Eden’ has been saved.” The country’s Council of Ministers recently approved its first national park, restoring Mesopotamian marshes in Iraqi’s southern region.

Biblical scholars say this massive oasis in the desert may have been the Garden of Eden. For more than five millennia, tribal groups of Marsh Arabs lived sustainably in this water world, using the dominant plant, a giant grass called Phragmites australis, for housing, animal feed, fuel, and commerce. Under their ministrations, the marshes teemed with life, serving as one of the world’s most important stopovers for migratory birds and as breeding habitat for Persian Gulf fisheries. 

After the Gulf war in 1991, Iraq's president, Saddam Hussain, used dykes, sluices and diversions to cut off the country's two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates. This drained 93 per cent of the marshes, largely obliterating the largest wetland ecosystem in the Middle East.

Please find more about it in:

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Wednesday 28 August 2013

Chemical warsite and Pushing king of the South


Marcus Ampe, Andy Walton and Christadelphian World report

In Explosive situation in Egypt part of what was said in old times Marcus Ampe looked at the situation in Egypt, Syria and the developments in the Middle East which follow the outline predicted in the Holy Scriptures.

At the end of July Syria’s civil war had claimed over 100,000 lives, the UN announced on Thursday July 25 2013, after the number of deaths rose by more than 7,000 in just over a month.

Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, used the announcement of the landmark death toll to appeal for new efforts to convene a peace conference to end the Syrian conflict that began with protests against President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011.

 “More than 100,000 people have been killed, millions of people have either been displaced or become refugees in neighbouring countries,” Mr Ban said.
 “We have to bring this to an end, the military and violent actions must be stopped by both parties and it is thus imperative to have a peace conference in Geneva as soon as possible.” 
The death toll was placed at 93,000 on June 13, with Thursday’s announcement marking a steep increase in the number casualties in recent weeks.

Both sides in the Syrian civil war have committed atrocities and both sides have misrepresented photos and falsified reports. But the burden appears to be on the government’s side.


Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF), which is above partisanship as well as devoted to saving lives, has reported that the hospitals it supports in Damascus have treated thousands of victims for neuro-toxicity. Their reports say that the symptoms are a result of the presence of Sarin gas.

Photo credit: AFP. A handout image released by the Syrian opposition's Shaam News Network shows bodies of children and adults laying on the ground as Syrian rebels claim they were killed in a toxic gas attack by pro-government forces in eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of Damascus on August 21st 2013.

A doctor from Irbin and a volunteer from Douma said that it wasn't until the mosque loudspeakers repeatedly announced warnings of a gas attack and residents were told to keep all doors and windows closed that they realized what had happened. "I was familiar with the patients' symptoms from earlier attacks," doctor Abu Akram recounts from the emergency hospital in Irbin. "People are externally unharmed, but they are foaming at the mouth and trembling, and their heartbeat becomes weaker and weaker. It was only a few victims in the past, but this time it was hundreds. They were lying on the floors of the treatment rooms, in the corridors, everywhere, and more and more kept coming. One after another, the patients around us lost consciousness. We injected atropine," a drug used to counteract the effects of Sarin nerve gas, "until we ran out. Then we used hydrocortisone, and finally we dripped onion juice. Most were revived, but 73 people died."
- Spiegel Online International 
The world looks out for the reaction against the use of chemical weapons. An attack on Syria is now being planned by the US and its allies will be the ninth direct western military intervention in an Arab or Muslim country in 15 years.

The Syrian atrocity, where the death toll has been reported by opposition-linked sources at 322 but is likely to rise, was damned as a "moral obscenity" by US secretary of state John Kerry. The killings in Egypt, the vast majority of them of civilians, have been estimated at 1,295 over two days. But Barack Obama said the US wasn't "taking sides", while Kerry earlier claimed the army was "restoring democracy".


Hafez al-Assad. Taken sometime before April 1987.
Hafez al-Assad. Taken sometime before April 1987. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The latest massacres have suppressed hopes of unity and will encourage radicalism. Last month’s coup by the Egyptian army was supposed to have saved Egypt. The deposition of President Mohammed Morsi was, it was argued, the only way that the country could be saved from a vortex of political polarisation, repression and violence. US Secretary of State John Kerry – speaking, ironically, from Islamabad, the spiritual home of the popular coup – took this line, insisting that the army was “in effect, restoring democracy” and preventing a “descent into chaos”.

President Morsi became Egypt's first  ever democratically elected leader. But he has lasted only 18 months. The people have once again taken to the streets to remove him. This is people power. Obama promised freedom and democracy and human rights. But it has bought only violence, discontent and people wanting their rights above others. It is this godless spirit that Revelation 16 speaks about going forth from the kings of the world and infecting all the world – it  leads to Armageddon....

Events in Syria might well be reaching a conclusion with the chemical weapon attack this week.

The conflict in Syria will Not have a peaceful outcome. Assad has made gains in recent weeks and is in no mood to compromise with the rebels. Why should he when he has the support of Russia  - a nuclear super power?

In fact Assad’s comments the week of August the 5th speak of even greater trouble to come. He wants to crush his opponents with an “iron fist”. We know he has weapons to do this – chemical and biological. We also know he is not afraid to use them. Even this week there were reports of “toxic gas” wounding many in Damascus itself.

Syrian aleppo
A victim of an air strike by regime forces on Aleppo is carried away, on August 26 2013. 'Chemical weapons are far from being the greatest threat to Syria’s people. That is the war itself and the death and destruction that has engulfed the country.' Photograph: Abo Al-Nur Sadk/AFP/Getty Images

The Bible says that things will not end peacefully. In fact it clearly says that events in Syria will come to a sudden and dramatic end. It will culminate in the complete destruction of Damascus and the actual kingdom of Syria will cease to exist. We don’t know when this will happen – but we know it will – we keep watching….

Step by step Russia and America are being driven apart. This is God’s work. He said through his prophet Daniel over 2500 years ago that at the time of the end there would be a conflict between these two powers. Ezekiel 38 clearly identifies these powers as Russia on the one side and Britain and America (based in Saudi Arabia) on the other.

Over the last few years we have witnessed Russian / US disagreement over Iraq, Libya, Syria, Nato. Each time it gets worse. Now with this spy case they have even resorted to name calling! Obama said this week that Putin acted like a “bored kid” in their meetings. But much worse is to come. Events in Syria will be the final straw for Russia. When Syria is removed from being a power Russia will have been pushed too far. At that point (or shortly afterwards) Russia will descend into the Middle East….


July 21 - 27, 2013: Syria civil war death toll passes 100,000 people; Egypt crisis: 'Scores killed' at Cairo protest; Israel: considers 'serious territorial concessions'; Russia pushes ahead with arms shipments to Syria; Vladimir Putin dives to bottom of the sea in latest stunt; David Cameron: I'd like to export gay marriage

July 28 – August 3, 2013: Israel: The continuing conflict in the Middle East and focus on Jerusalem.; Europe:  Its developing union, both political and religious; Russia: Its return to anti-Western ways as Bible prophecy’s “king of the north.”; The UK and the US: Bible prophecy’s “king of the south.”; Moral standards in decline and violence on the increase; Increasing natural disasters: including earthquake, famine etc

August 4 - 10, 2013: Assad vows to stamp out 'terror' with iron fist; Sinai airstrike on militants in Egypt kills five; Obama cancels meeting with Putin over Snowden; US steps up drone strikes in Yemen
August 11 - 17, 2013: Cairo devastation day after Egypt violence; US-Egyptian relations on the rocks; Temperature records broken in Austria and Hungary

And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.
- Daniel 11:40

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Please find also to read:
Guttering, choking, drowning  
Chemical warfare in Syria: who and why? 

Assad's Cold Calculation: The Poison Gas War on the Syrian People

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Thursday 30 May 2013

Relieve the current humanitarian crisis in Syria

At the end of March the Samaritan Fund made a significant donation to an Emergency Appeal by the UK Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) to help relieve the current humanitarian crisis in Syria. This is in addition to the donation made in January to the UNICEF emergency appeal for children in Syria. The DEC appeal provides a grim summary of life in that troubled country: 
Map of the autonomous areas under the French M...
Map of the autonomous areas under the French Mandate of Syria before 1937. Only the entities within the territory of the modern state of Syria are shown, so that Hatay (Alexandretta) -- which was ceded by France to Turkey -- and Lebanon (often considered part of Syria before 1936) are excluded. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Two years of war have had a devastating impact on many Syrian families and have left more than four million people in need of aid. In many parts of the country the health system has effectively collapsed, water supplies have been cut and food is in short supply. In addition, over one million people have now fled to the neighbouring countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq. Refugees are arriving at camps which are already stretched to capacity, and many families are living in crude shelters they have built themselves, with host families in overcrowded conditions, or in partially finished buildings. The Samaritan Fund is also able to forward donations from ecclesias and brethren and sisters wishing to support this appeal. Donations should be sent to our Treasurer, Brother Ken Smith, Westhaven House, Arleston Way, Shirley, Solihull, West Mids., B90 4LH, with a note earmarking it for the DEC Crisis Appeal for Syria.
 
 Neville Moss (Secretary Samaritan Fund)
 
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Friday 19 April 2013

Humanitarian crisis in Syria

Everyday we get horrible picture in our living room brought in from the Syria by the visual media. The so called 'Father of the country' even fires scuds at his own people.
Hafez al-Assad. Taken sometime before April 1987.
Hafez al-Assad. Taken sometime before April 1987. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The industrialist capitalist countries look at it and do not much against the continued violence taking place. There is no oil to fetch like in Iraq and Syria has not much to offer to the West, so why bother?

How long shall the world allow those atrocities take place?

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At the end of March the Samaritan Fund made a significant donation to an Emergency Appeal by the UK Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) to help relieve the current humanitarian crisis in Syria. This is in addition to the donation made in January to the UNICEF emergency appeal for children in Syria. The DEC appeal provides a grim summary of life in that troubled country: 

Two years of war have had a devastating impact on many Syrian families and have left more than four million people in need of aid. In many parts of the country the health system has effectively collapsed, water supplies have been cut and food is in short supply. In addition, over one million people have now fled to the neighbouring countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq. Refugees are arriving at camps which are already stretched to capacity, and many families are living in crude shelters they have built themselves, with host families in overcrowded conditions, or in partially finished buildings.

The Samaritan Fund is also able to forward donations from ecclesias and brethren and sisters wishing to support this appeal. Donations should be sent to our Treasurer, Brother Ken Smith, Westhaven House, Arleston Way, Shirley, Solihull, West Mids., B90 4LH, with a note earmarking it for the DEC Crisis Appeal for Syria.
 Neville Moss (Secretary)




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