Backlash over intelligence U-turnSarah Baxter, Washington
For two days in London in February 2004, top American defence and intelligence officials huddled with senior officers from MI6. They were there to discuss Iraq’s missing weapons of mass destruction with General Ihor Smeshko, head of the Ukrainian secret service, but he also had some riveting information to pass on about Iran.
The Iranian regime, Smeshko revealed, was pestering Ukraine, a postSoviet nuclear power, for access to its nuclear technology.
The meeting with MI6 had been arranged by John Shaw, who was the Pentagon’s deputy undersecretary for international technology security.
“There was no doubt that the Iranians were focused on developing a nuclear weapons capability,” Shaw recalled last week. “It wasn’t about keeping the lights burning in Tehran.”
American intelligence agencies startled the world last week by judging “with high confidence” that while Tehran continued to enrich uranium – which could be used for nuclear power or bombs – it had halted its nuclear “weaponisation” programme in 2003, before the MI6 meeting.
The declassified summary of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran not only ran contrary to its insistence two years earlier that Iran was “determined” to develop nuclear weapons, but flew ...   more »

Like many others, I was initially shocked when I read last week that US intelligence had determined with “moderate confidence” that Iran abandoned its quest for nuclear weapons in 2003. Hadn’t US intelligence determined just 11 months earlier with a far greater degree of confidence that Iran was determined, despite the potential consequences, to develop nuclear military power?
From the US Annual Threat Assessment delivered on January 11, 2007:
We assess that Tehran is determined to develop nuclear weapons–despite its international obligations and international pressure.
But then I began to process this development in the context of the rest of the news surrounding it.
Like his father and Bill Clinton before him, President George W. Bush is determined to carve out for himself a positive legacy before the end of his presidency. Mr. Bush can’t do that if his second terms ends with the entire Muslim world hating him. And while there is little hope of convincing the Muslim world to suddenly love America, let alone the Bush Administration, there is no hope whatsoever of that happening if Israel strikes Iran with tacit US approval.
Israeli leaders responded to the US intelligence report by stressing that Israeli intelligence did not ...   more »

By Jonathan Tobin      
Intelligence estimate leaves Bush nuke policies in ruins and Jerusalem isolated
 After years of trying to build awareness of the threat from Iran, the release this week of a new National Intelligence Estimate claiming that it has no current nuclear-weapons program has sunk the campaign to keep that Islamist republic in quarantine.
That is not the spin coming out of the administration or from many of its supporters.
Instead, some of them claim the finding that Iran abandoned its nuclear program in 2003 is proof that an aggressive American foreign policy, mixing diplomatic sanctions, threats and military strikes, can bring rogue regimes to their senses.
Nice try. But, if the Iranians were scared out of a nuclear infatuation (as Libya apparently was after the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq), then why have they spent the last four years busily — and publicly — defending their right to go nuclear and holding ceremonies commemorating each step along the way?
SANCTIONS SUNK
The same document, which reverses a 2005 finding from the same source that claimed the Iranians were working on a bomb, also points out that a nuclear capability is still the long-term goal and acknowledges the ...   more »

Official cites 'incriminating information,' rips American report as 'politically charged'
By Aaron Klein
Iran's nuclear facility in Natanz
JERUSALEM – Israel has "incriminating" information Iran has continued its nuclear weapons program, directly contradicting last week's U.S. intelligence report stating Iran suspended its ambition in 2003.
"The Iranians continue their push for nuclear weapons in specific ways, including the acquisition and development of missiles," said a senior Israeli security official who has access to classified Israeli defense material and intelligence reports on Iran.
"Iran hides its nuclear weapons program but it continues nonetheless," he told WND, indicating the U.S. estimate may have been "politically motivated."
The security official said Israel possesses "incriminating" information that Iran continues its purported drive to obtain nuclear weapons.  
But he said the government here has not yet decided what to do regarding the information and material Israel purportedly possesses.
The official said the U.S. estimate has "many holes in it." He said Israel is "gravely concerned" the report may remove the U.S. military option against Iran from the table, and is likely to be the foundation for Russian and Chinese vetoes against further sanctions on Iran scheduled to be discussed tomorrow at the United Nations. ...   more »

 I've visited the Middle East extensively over the past thirty-five years, including nine trips to Israel. I salute and support Israel as our staunch ally in the War on Terror and our greatest friend in that region. As the only fully-functioning democracy in the Middle East, Israel occupies a unique position both geographically and geopolitically. Israel is an important partner in the spread of freedom and democracy throughout the Middle East and the world.
The United States must remain true to its long-standing, bipartisan commitment to the Israelis. I will always ensure that Israel has access to the state-of-the-art weapons and technology she needs to defend herself from those who seek her annihilation.
Original Source
U Tube Speech
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Christmas in America becomes battlegroundAs holiday traditions draw national controversy, believers, pagans grapple over Jesus' inclusion
By Joe Kovacs
Every December, a call goes out from the nation's pulpits to "put Christ back into Christmas," but growing numbers of Americans – including fundamentalist Christians – are claiming Jesus Christ had nothing to do with the holiday, and news items from across the country this week indicate that the U.S. has become the new battleground for Christmas.
Cases in point:
A first-grade teacher in Sacramento Co., Calif., says her principal has prohibited instructors from uttering the word "Christmas" in class or in written materials;
A school superintendent in Yonkers, N.Y., banned, then unbanned, holiday decorations that contained religious themes more than the generic "season's greetings";
New York City schools are being sued for alleged discrimination against Christians;
and atheists reposted their vandalized winter solstice sign in the Wisconsin Capitol, as they declare "Christians stole Christmas" from ancient pagans.
All this comes on the heels of a national survey indicating just over a tenth of Americans today believe Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the focus of Christmas, with almost nine out of ten people saying the holiday has become less religious.
Are ...   more »

Court says 1st Amendment trumps ban on religious warnings that upset bar patrons
A federal judge has ordered a Louisiana city to stop enforcing an ordinance that banned a Christian man from warning bar patrons about the consequences of their actions, concluding the First Amendment trumps the local law.
"Zachary (La.) has no legitimate governmental interest in restricting speech that is too 'annoying' or 'offensive' to listeners," said U.S. District Judge James Brady, who issued a preliminary injunction preventing the city from continuing to enforce its restriction.
The case was brought by the Alliance Defense Fund on behalf of John Netherland, a man who had been targeted by authorities in the city of Zachary when he was warned he would be arrested if his verbal message in any way "annoys" someone else.
The ADF lawsuit sought a preliminary injunction to halt enforcement of the city's challenged ordinance while a trial on the case moves through the system. Brady agreed, finding that Netherland, when he loses First Amendment freedoms, "even for a minimal period of time … has suffered irreparable injury, and a court may grant injunctive relief."
Specifically, city officials "have not removed the threat of arrest against Mr. Netherland. ...   more »

The church needs to keep watch over the church!
I have been reading about various ministries that have fallen under investigation. Congress has stepped in to police charges of ministry corruption. I believe Congress needs to back away from this role. This is church business.
We do not live in Hitler's Germany. This is not Red China. We should not hand the church over to government by any means. Unless we want to live in Stalin land, we need to protest calling on our government to kick in doors and ask questions.
The members of any church should pay close attention to what is happening. They should care about how ministry leaders spend money. If a pastor lives extravagantly and abuses church funds, it is up to those God places as overseers to confront the misuse of church income. If the overseers look the other way, members need to unite and confront those in leadership positions. If they continue to neglect their charge, remove them from office.
Imagine the early church calling upon King Herod to police corruption in the body. The Apostle Paul did not ask Caesar to clean up the church in Corinth. Paul dealt with the church ...   more »

By Andrew Longman
Today, events are telling us that we are not exercising our rights to keep and bear arms.
Take a step back from the horrific killings in a Nebraska mall this week, and consider:
Suppose the Omaha mall held, say, 5,000 people busily shopping.
If that were so, we would know now that it is less than a one in 5,000 chance that a law- abiding American will be carrying a firearm. And for all the citizens of Nebraska that could have been saved this week, that's a pathetic performance by society.
What good is it to be free if that freedom does not result in salvation? If the free are too lazy to vigorously practice their freedom?
If one out of every 500 people were utilizing a concealed carry permit in Nebraska today, there could have been 10 guns trained on target when the adolescent evil fool began his self-indulgent terrorism. But because we do not have even one in 5,000, there are nine people dead.
Do the math. At one in 2,500, we would have fewer dead. At one in one thousand, we might have half the death toll or fewer. At one in 250, there ...   more »