Mahmoud Ahmadinejad began a two-day trip to Iraq today, the first of an Iranian president since the Iranian Revolution in 1979. The visit symbolizes the stunning reversal in these two nations’ relationship that has taken place over the last half decade. The Economistreports:

Relations between the two countries were long frayed. They were severed in June 1980, just before the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war, which lasted for eight years. Only with the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and the installation of a new government in Baghdad were ties across the border restitched. The job was made easier by the fact that much of the current Iraqi leadership had, during Saddam’s rule, waited out their exile in Iran.

The Trumpet has often pointed out how America’s prioritization of targeting Iraq over Iran in the “war on terror” not only missed the primary target, it opened the gates for Iran’s power to spread. The time since Saddam Hussein was ousted from office has witnessed a slow, inevitable progression many would have once considered impossible: the transition from Iraq being Iran’s number-one blood enemy to being a significant ally.

What makes the story truly remarkable is the fact that this “impossible” scenario is prophesied in the Bible, and the Trumpethas been forecasting it nearly since its inception.

The Second “Holocaust”

Now even when Israel talks tough, it prompts a global outcry. On Friday, Israel’s defense minister, Matan Vilnai said, “The more Kassam fire intensifies and the rockets reach a longer range, [the Palestinians] will bring upon themselves a bigger shoah because we will use all our might to defend ourselves.”

The Hebrew word shoah, while often used to refer to the Holocaust, has a broader meaning in Israel. Jews use the word to describe disasters in general. Vilnai insists that he was using the word to refer to a disaster or catastrophe—obviously not another World War ii Holocaust. But Arab propagandists and their many allies in the international news media were quick to manipulate Vilnai’s comment in the Palestinians’ favor, portraying Arabs in Gaza as victims of genocide.

In response to the constant barrage of rockets coming from Gaza—some of which are now landing in Ashkelon—Israel launched a large-scale retaliation this weekend, killing at least 100 Gazans. Yesterday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the Israeli strikes were worse than the Holocaust. According to the Jerusalem Post, exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal made similar comments. “Israeli actions in Gaza since Wednesday is the real Holocaust,” he told reporters in Damascus. He said Israel has exaggerated the Holocaust in order to “blackmail the world.” He also accused Abbas of “providing a cover for the Israeli Holocaust,” but at least the two of them can agree on where the “real” Holocaust is happening.

Abbas and Mashaal also have a notable ally in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who believes the Jewish Holocaust is a myth. “I already said last year that the real Holocaust was in Palestine,” Ahmadinejad said during his much-publicized visit to Iraq this weekend. He called for Israel to be “uprooted.”

Today, a Fatah spokesman said that Abbas has ordered “the suspension of negotiations” with Israel until after Israeli aggression stops.

Before the latest escalation of violence in Gaza, Abbas told a Jordanian newspaper that he had the honor of firing the first bullet for the Fatah movement in 1965. “We taught everyone what resistance is, including the Hezbollah, who were trained in our camps,” Abbas said in the interview. He told the newspaper he is opposed to an armed struggle against Israel for now, “but maybe in the future things will be different.” Abbas bragged that the Palestinian Authority’s rejection of Israel’s Jewishness almost derailed the Annapolis conference in November. “I don’t demand that the Hamas movement recognize Israel,” he said.

In other words, the man to whom Israel desperately wants to give a state rejects the idea of Israel’s existence as a state.

And he says Israel is the one inciting genocide?

The Failure of American Education

Results from the latest survey of young Americans about their understanding of basic cultural and civic knowledge is shocking. (Read the full report here). The Washington Timessummarizes the results on its editorial page:

Half of high-school students could not say what the Renaissance was.Only two-thirds know that freedom of speech and freedom of religion are guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.25 percent could not identify Adolf Hitler. Ten percent said Hitler was a munitions manufacturer, perhaps confusing the infamous Nazi with Alfred Nobel, the Swedish chemist and arms manufacturer.Fewer than half can place the Civil War in the half-century 1850-1900.More than a quarter did not know that the Watergate investigations resulted in President Nixon’s resignation.30 percent did not know that John F. Kennedy said: “And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”Only 52 percent knew that the subject of George Orwell’s classic novel “1984” is a totalitarian society which quashes individualism.26 percent thought Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World after 1750.

Interestingly, a few positive results from the survey showed that most students do retain what they are taught at school, suggesting that the “deficiency lies less with young people, who pick up the knowledge to which they are exposed, but rather our educational institutions, which fail them far too often.”

This failure is especially prevalent in the study of history. Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry explains the significance of this education plague in “Learn From History—or Perish.”

Risky Satire

Eighteen months ago, the severed head of Muhammad was enough to get an opera in Berlin temporarily canceled. This week a Berlin art gallery was forced to close an exhibition after a group of Muslims strolled in and threatened staff with violence if they didn’t re-think the satirical art display. The Muslim men were infuriated by a picture of the Kaaba at Mecca under the title “Dumb Stone.”

This explosive situation highlights the audacity of European Muslims to use their influence to affect changes in European culture and society. It comes after a series of uprisings against European governments and media outlets, such as the Danish cartoon crisis and riots by Muslim youth in France.

Der Spiegelreports that the Berlin gallery is negotiating with authorities in an effort to get 24-hour police protection so the exhibition can be re-opened. “If the radical Muslims are successful, then it means a mob can curate an exhibition in a museum,” said Jan Egesborg, whose satirical art group Surrend created the exhibition. “It would be dangerous for art in Europe, as it would give a good example of what threats can achieve.”

Egesborg’s remarks capture the frustration festering in Europe. In recent months European governments, media organizations and private citizens have shown themselves more and more willing to confront Muslim ambition on the Continent. Witness, for example, the decision by newspapers in Denmark to boldly reprint the cartoons that a couple of years ago incited a worldwide wave of Islamic fury.

Islamic boldness in Europe and the growing willingness of Europeans to confront it makes a grand clash of civilizations inevitable. To learn where current tensions are leading, read “The Coming War Between Catholicism and Islam.”

Why Your Grocery Bill Is Going Up

America’s quest for clean energy has led to a corresponding surge in food costs. The Los Angeles Timeswrites,

Corn is a key element of the U.S. food supply. It is what dairy cows eat to make milk and hens consume to lay eggs. It fattens cattle, hogs and chickens before slaughter. It makes soda sweet. As the building block of ethanol, it is now also a major component of auto fuel.After a torrid 2007, corn prices have risen an additional 20% this year because of global demand for livestock feed, sweeteners and ethanol. The rush by American farmers to forgo other grains to plant cash-producing corn, along with weather problems, has squeezed wheat supplies, pushing the price of that grain up 21%. Soy has risen 25% this year.

But while the rise in prices is in itself a shock to the pocketbook, the prospect of drought through the Midwest means we could be in for a lot worse:

As any farmer can tell you, Mother Nature is fickle. The U.S. has suffered four major weather disasters since 1971 that wiped out 21% to 29% of the corn crop at a time.Periodic bad weather, including droughts, scorching heat waves and cold, cloudy spells at just the wrong time, has reduced harvests by billions of bushels. Previously, these disasters have raised food prices. The next drought will be the first to affect gas prices. …”We could see a spike that would raise prices so much in so many places that it could tip the U.S. into a recession,” said Darin Newsom, senior analyst for DTN, an agriculture and energy research firm in Omaha.”

The impact on the rest of the world has also been substantial. Today’s Independent has an eye-opening piece titled, “Rising prices threaten millions with starvation, despite bumper crops.” Geoffrey Lean wrote,

There has never been anything remotely like the food crisis that is now increasingly gripping the world, threatening millions with starvation. For it is happening at a time of bumper crops.All the familiar signs of impending disaster are here, and in spades. Across the developing world already hungry people are now having to eat even less. Food stocks have plunged to record lows. Food prices have scaled new heights. Food riots are spreading around the globe. Yet the world is still harvesting record amounts of grain.Three times over the past 60 years prices have soared in the same way. But each was the result of poor harvests, and each was reversed when good crops returned. This crisis is being caused not by shrinking supplies but by skyrocketing demand.Already, 25 million people in India are believed to have cut their meals from two to one a day. The calorie intake from an average meal in El Salvador has fallen by half in less than two years. Riots have broken out from Mexico to Mauritania.And if this is happening when harvests are good, what can we expect when they next fail?

The Trumpet has long written of the coming food shortage as a result of the curses of nature.

Air Force Turns Its Back on Boeing, Opts for Airbus

In what the International Herald Tribunecalls a “stunning decision,” the U.S. Air Force has awarded a $40 billion contract for aerial refueling tankers to Airbus, “putting a critical military contract partly into the hands of a foreign company.”

The contract, one of the largest at the Pentagon, has the potential to grow to $100 billion. It is also a sign of the growing influence of foreign suppliers within the Pentagon and breaks a decades-long relationship with Boeing, which built the bulk of the existing tanker fleet and fought hard to land the new contract.”This isn’t an upset,” said Loren Thompson, a military analyst at the Lexington Institute, a Washington-area research group. “It’s an earthquake.”

The Mortgage Crisis Ain’t Over Yet

In response to the Fed indicating another rate cut soon to help the U.S. avert a recession, the value of the dollar has plummeted to a new low. Conversely, both oil and gold hit new record highs on Friday. Oil traded at an all-time high of $103.76, while gold hit a record high of $978.50. Meanwhile the stock market tanked, dropping triple digits—down 315.79 points to 12,266.39. According toWorld Net Daily, “The stock market’s continued weakness reflects an increasing likelihood that the mortgage crisis has not yet bottomed out, with the unfortunate result that more losses from Collateralized Mortgage Obligations in bank asset portfolios are yet likely to be realized.”

Behind Bars—and On the Dole

For the first time in history, more than 1 in 100 U.S. adults are in prison—the highest incarceration ratio in the world. As recently as 2002, the ratio was 1 in 142. But at the beginning of 2008, the United States had 2,319,258 adults locked up—one out of every 99.1 adults. According to the Pew report, the growing prisoner population “is saddling cash-strapped states with soaring costs they can ill afford.”

Let’s Hope Robert Mugabe Isn’t Reading the Economist

The Economist is bullish on the political prospects of Zimbabwe’s presidential challenger Simba Makoni. If this isn’t just wishful thinking, the weeks leading up to the March 29 election could be somewhat interesting for followers of African Big Man politics. Incumbent Robert Mugabe—the country’s leader since 1980—has repeatedly demonstrated his formidable talent at remaining in power. At this point, he seems unconcerned by Makoni’s popularity. As the Economist piece put it, he is “jovially dismissing his latest serious challenger for the presidency as a prostitute and a frog.” But if Makoni’s campaign appears to be gaining momentum, watch for funny—as in suspicious—things to happen in order to derail it.

Elsewhere on the Web

According to the International Herald Tribune, in some U.S. states, the number of home foreclosures is now greater than new home sales. And remember, the housing bust only started during the last half of 2007.

According to a new survey, almost 70 percent of Americans believe the major media is out of touch with reality, which is why so many are turning to the Internet for their news coverage.

And Finally …

Brace yourself for this one: Dmitry Medvedev is ahead in the polls as Russians “vote” for their new president today. Medvedev is set to win with a 70 percent landslide.

Voter turnout is expected to be low to non-existent.