The Week in Review

Middle East

Iran’s army and Revolutionary Guard Corps began a five-day, large-scale air-defense drill on Sunday. The previous day, Mojtaba Zolnour, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s representative in the Revolutionary Guard, told state news agency irna that any attempt by Israel to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities would be met with a military response. “If the enemy tries its luck and fires a missile into Iran, our ballistic missiles would zero in on Tel Aviv before the dust settles on the attack,” he said. Despite its defiance and rhetoric, however, Iran does have deficiencies in its air-defense capabilities, reports Stratfor. “In the end, it is Iran’s threat to close the Strait of Hormuz and make American efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan far more difficult that deters attack, not Iran’s air-defense capabilities” (November 23).

Fox News reports that three of the Navy seals who in September captured one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq—the alleged mastermind behind the murder and mutilation of four Blackwood security contractors in 2004—now face criminal charges. “[I]nstead of being lauded for bringing to justice a high-value target, three of the seal commandos, all enlisted, face assault charges and have retained lawyers” (November 24). Ahmed Hashim Abed accused his captors of punching him, resulting in a bloody lip. The abuse complaint was apparently made to Iraqi authorities after the detainee was handed over to them following his capture. Abed was returned to American custody, and an investigation was carried out. The court martial of the three seals is scheduled for January. This incident further highlights how the U.S. military is hamstringing itself through its “just war” policy and surrender to “lawfare.” Read Joel Hilliker’s column this week for more on the upside-down justice that is rendering America’s war efforts largely ineffective.

Israel tv reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is proposing a 10-month freeze on construction in Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The report said the proposal did not include any freeze on Jewish construction in East Jerusalem. Jerusalem will remain the primary sticking point between Palestinians and Jews.

Europe

Germany’s finance minister says the United States is contributing to another possible round of global instability by setting low interest rates. Speaking at a banking conference in Frankfurt November 20, Wolfgang Schäuble echoed concerns of China’s banking regulator Liu Mingkang, who a week previously warned that low U.S. interest rates were fueling another round of asset price bubbles. By accusing America of irresponsibility, Schäuble was really saying that the U.S., if left unchecked, will cause another financial crisis. Schäuble is actively and systematically building the case for stronger global financial regulation out of Europe—a trend that is already well underway with the European-controlled Financial Stability Board poised to become the world’s most powerful financial regulator. Watch for Europe to become the center of economic activity as America is sidelined by accusations of incompetence and blamed for the world’s financial woes. For more information, see our July Trumpet article “Financial Regulation in Prophecy!”

Germany has a “special responsibility” toward Israel, said German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle as he visited Jerusalem on Monday. Next week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and German and Israeli ministers will hold a joint cabinet meeting. Stratfor reports that this is “part of a larger diplomatic offensive by Israel to muster support for a firm response to Iran’s nuclear activities” (November 24). Israel can see that the U.S. won’t help it, so it is looking to Germany. Watch for this trend, specifically prophesied in the Bible, to intensify.

Africa/South America

Pirates captured an oil tanker off the coast of Benin on Monday. The attack was probably carried out by Nigerian militants in an attempt to raise money for the upcoming Nigerian election. The International Maritime Bureau says pirate attacks in West African waters are increasing, with around 100 incidents recorded last year. Such attacks show that Britain and America no longer control the seas as they once did.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad enjoyed a warm welcome in Brazil on Monday. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said the world needed to engage Iran and that Iran had the right to develop peaceful nuclear power. The two nations were renewing “century-long ties,” said da Silva. The two leaders met for three hours before announcing new bilateral ties in technology, energy and agriculture. Brazil’s trade with Iran doubled between 2003 and 2007, to around $2 billion. Watch for the Latin American nations to align themselves with America’s enemies.

Anglo-America

One in six Americans is underemployed or jobless, Bureau of Labor statistics show. The broadest measure of unemployment, U-6, includes workers who are looking for jobs, are working part-time as they try to find a full-time job, or have given up completely and are living on the dole. The national figure rose from 8.4 percent in November 2007 to 17.5 percent last month. It is the highest rate since the federal government began recording U-6 in 1994. In Michigan, the rate was 21 percent.

According to minutes released by the Federal Reserve on Tuesday, senior officials are worried about the job situation and about the long-term effects of cheap interest rates. They are also worried about Congress. cnbc reported that Texas Rep. Ron Paul and other legislators are calling for a plan that requires the General Accounting Office to begin auditing the Fed’s decisions. Contrary to popular belief, the Federal Reserve is a private bank independent of the federal government. Frederic Mishkin, a former Fed official, said the idea was “really dangerous stuff,” and a “serious attack.” Meanwhile, the rest of the crisis-fraught nation is caught between having private bankers make decisions that affect everyone, and having the government control yet another huge chunk of society.

South Carolina legislators have begun hearings for the impeachment of Gov. Mark Sanford. Sanford disappeared for five days in June, telling staffers he was hiking the Appalachian Trail, when he actually flew out of the country to meet an Argentine woman. Sanford failed to leave anyone in charge of the state, and has also been charged with multiple misuses of funds.