Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that the U.S.-brokered Mideast peace conference on Tuesday was a failure and that Israel is doomed to collapse.
The comments, lashing out at the Annapolis gathering that many saw as aimed at isolating Iran, marked the first time in months that the hard-line Iranian president used such strong anti-Israeli rhetoric.
"It is impossible that the Zionist regime will survive. Collapse is in the nature of this regime because it has been created on aggression, lying, oppression and crime," Ahmadinejad said after a cabinet meeting, according to state-run television.  
"Soon, even the most politically doltish individuals will understand that this conference was a failure from the beginning," he said, the official IRNA news agency reported.
In a reference to Arab countries who attended the conference, he said, "we are disappointed that some individuals fell victim to the sinister Zionist regime. They are mistaken if they thought that this summit will bring any achievements for them."
Iran has repeatedly condemned the Annapolis conference, saying it would fail to bring any peace for the Palestinians and warning that Arab countries who participated will be discredited in the eyes of their people. Iran on Tuesday expressed surprise ...   more »

America the big winner of Annapolis conference; Syria the big loser
Ron Ben-Yishai
The American Administration gambled, and won the jackpot. In every respect, the Annapolis Conference is a Bush success story and particularly a Condoleezza Rice success story. Both were able to achieve their targets: An impressive diplomatic show of force vis-à-vis radical Islam and Iran, which are now presented as isolated and lacking legitimacy in the international and Mideastern arena; the launching of Israeli-Palestinian talks on a final-status agreement; and Arab and Muslim backing for the efforts to end the conflict.  
The factor attesting to Washington’s overwhelming success is the full presence, at the highest ranks, of all Mideastern countries and leading international community elements, as well as the joint declaration that the Administration managed to squeeze out of Olmert and Abbas. Bush and Condi could not hope for more than that.  
On the other hand, the big loser is Syria. Bashar Assad sent a representative to Annapolis in the hopes that during the meeting participants will recognize Damascus’ interests (returning the Golan Heights and reinstating Syria’s special status in Lebanon), or at least make note of them in a respectful manner. Yet Bush, Abbas, and ...   more »

Group of right-wing rabbis writes open letter to US president demanding he cancel Annapolis summit or risk provoking 'wrath of the almighty.' Rabbis assert Katrina disaster a result of America's support of 2005 disengagement, say California fires a warning
Neta Sela
A fringe group of prominent ultranationalist rabbis issued a harshly-worded letter to United States President George W. Bush earlier this week, warning him that the upcoming Annapolis peace conference would bring destruction upon America.
The rabbis evoke their previous prediction in 2005, when they published an open letter to Bush in the New York Times, demanding the US rescind its support of the disengagement plan.
Ultranationalist Group  
SOS Israel to award citations to refuseniks / Efrat Weiss  
Right-wing movement to hold event honoring soldiers who disobeyed orders to evacuate Jewish squatters from Hebron market. Event timed to coincide with IDF ceremony honoring soldiers for bravery during last summer's war with Hizbullah     
"We wrote to President Bush, a man who believes in the Bible, to warn him against the terrible danger to which he is exposing his country by hosting such a conference," said Rabbi Meir Druckman, one of signatories to the letter.  
"The land of ...   more »

The President should visit Israel soon and address the Knesset in Jerusalem.
By Joel C. Rosenberg  
(Washington, D.C., November 28, 2007) -- How should we assess the Annapolis conference? First, the good news:
* President Bush, to his great credit, is doing everything he possibly can to keep another horrible war from breaking out in the epicenter. I don't think in the end he will be successful, but I strongly applaud him for trying. He is following the words of Jesus, "Blessed are the peacemakers." With great difficulty, he brought together senior leaders from almost 50 countries -- including Syria, including the head of the Arab League, and including the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference -- in the hopes of jump-starting a new dialogue for peace. I, for one, am grateful for his efforts.
* The U.S. emerged once again as a global agenda-setter, working hard to build a global alliance of moderate, peaceful, reformer Muslim leaders against the radical Islamic jihadist leaders that Iran is trying to pull together into an alliance against Israel and the West.
* Syria's participation in the Annapolis conference, which infuriated Iran, was particularly welcome. Tensions along the Golan Heights ...   more »

Bush administration established as sole judge Palestinians fighting terror
By Aaron Klein
The U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., is the site of the Middle East summit this week (Photo: Carrie Devorah)
JERUSALEM – Reacting to today's Annapolis summit, there was some concern in Jerusalem regarding the role the U.S. has taken as the sole judge of whether the Israelis and Palestinians are fulfilling commitments leading up to the creation of a Palestinian state.
WND reported earlier this week in the run-up to the Annapolis summit that the U.S. already held back from Israel reports critical of the Palestinians fight against terror groups, according to informed diplomatic sources.
At the U.S.-sponsored conference, President Bush today read a joint declaration agreed to by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert committing the two to launch immediate negotiations aimed at "two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side."
The parties said they would aim to conclude an agreement before Bush leaves office next year, with Israel expected to evacuate large swaths of the West Bank, handing Abbas the strategic territory.  
The declaration also pledges Israelis and Palestinians will fulfill the U.S.-brokered "Road Map," which calls for the ...   more »

By Jeffrey K. Radt
We need to repent and pray for the forgiveness of our nation’s sins. Specifically, we need to pray for God to have mercy on us all.
In a few days, America will never be the same as I fear that we are about to enter a new realm in our spiritual relationship with our Lord and Creator. I might even go so far as to say that we will have reached the proverbial point of no return.
Our God is a God of grace, mercy, and love. However, He is also a God of holiness, righteousness, and justice. For instance, Nahum warned that while God is one who is righteous and holy He is also one who will not tolerate sin (Nahum 1:2-3):
"A jealous and avenging God is the Lord; The Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished."
The Bible also says that God will bless those who bless Israel, and He will curse those who curse Israel (Genesis 12:3). The Bible ...   more »

It's an old adage that "if you walk too far on a short plank, you will fall off." That fits well with my grandmother's saying "it's a long way down from high up."
Such is the precarious situation the United States finds itself confronted with today. We are in effect going for a long walk on a short plank, blissfully ignorant of how high up we are and how painful it will be when we hit bottom.
The Chinese continue to stretch us out – weakening us – leading us to a brink where, for the first time in our remarkable history, we may not be able to sufficiently defend ourselves. The dollar continues to weaken at an alarming pace.
The wondrous resources that have heretofore always ensured us a brighter tomorrow (I reference America's children), today trail the civilized world in math and science. Even more condemning is the fact that they are being, in effect, brainwashed (and misled) into a collection of "blame America first, anti-authoritarian, confused and historically ignorant" cadres by those who, in many instances, are only negligibly more in touch with reality than those they teach. The future of the teachers unions, the homosexual agenda ...   more »

Chuck Baldwin
Many Christian conservatives see Mike Huckabee as the best candidate to deliver the GOP from an impending pro-abortion presidential nomination of either Rudy Giuliani or Mitt Romney. Huckabee is doing especially well in Iowa, particularly among evangelicals. Is Mike Huckabee worthy of this support, however? The facts say no.
I have already attempted to warn my evangelical brethren as to the dangers of supporting Mike Huckabee. See http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2007/cbarchive_20071102.html However, that first column was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Here are more reasons to beware of Mike Huckabee.
Robert Novak recently wrote a column about Mike Huckabee entitled, "The False Conservative." In the column he said, "Huckabee is campaigning as a conservative, but serious Republicans know that he is a high-tax, protectionist, big-government advocate of a strong hand in the Oval Office directing the lives of Americans."
Novak also said, "There is no doubt about Huckabee's record during a decade in Little Rock as governor. . . He increased the Arkansas tax burden by 47 percent, boosting the levies on gasoline and cigarettes."
Novak continued saying, "Quin Hillyer, a former Arkansas journalist writing in the conservative American Spectator, called Huckabee 'a guy with a thin skin, a ...   more »

By Joseph Farah
It was predictable in this age of wishful thinking.
After 138 Muslim leaders last month wrote an open letter to Christendom calling ostensibly for peaceful coexistence and mutual understanding, self-proclaimed Christian leaders and other celebrity Christians took the bait.
The appropriate response would have been to search their own Scriptures, to get down on their knees to beseech God to give them wisdom, to seek the counsel of others, particularly those expert on Islam, history and the persecution of the church in Muslim lands. Instead, some get-along-with-the-world Christians apologized for the past and current actions of their fellow churchmen in defending their lives and their beliefs against Islamic aggression and terror.
Among more than 100 theologians, ministry leaders and prominent pastors, signing the letter were Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church and Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals.
As a Christian myself, I want to make it very clear these men do not speak for me. More importantly, I do not believe they speak for Jesus.
"If we can achieve religious peace between these two religious communities, peace in the world will clearly be easier to attain," they ...   more »