The Week in Review

Israel’s flotilla headache, Merkel’s Gulf outing, North versus South, sanctions for Iran—sort of—and remembering the Miracle.
 

Middle East

A convoy of humanitarian aid is making its way from Turkey to Gaza by boat. The nine-ship flotilla, belonging to a Turkish non-governmental organization and carrying 10,000 tons of medicine and construction materials as well as 700 pro-Palestinian activists, is putting pressure on Israel, which is labeling it a “provocation.” In a typical week, 15,000 tons of supplies already enter Gaza through regular channels, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Yigal Palmor said on Monday. International aid organizations are permitted to transfer goods to the Gaza Strip via land crossings—which are more efficient and where deliveries can be monitored so they are not commandeered by Hamas—but not by ship. Israel’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Thursday saying that the vessels would not be allowed into Gaza, but could offload their cargos at Ashdod Port where they would be inspected and then transferred to Gaza through regular channels. “The flotilla is a political and media provocation initiated by anti-Israeli activists and Islamist extremists under the cover of a humanitarian campaign,” the statement read.

U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden has said that America’s military exit from Iraq will remain on schedule, despite the rise in violence and continuing political instability. He says the U.S. military will reduce troop levels to 50,000 this summer, even if no new Iraqi government is formed. “It’s going to be painful; there’s going to be ups and downs,” Biden said in an interview this month. “But I do think the end result is going to be that we’re going to be able to keep our commitment.” The fact is, of course, that America’s military is stretched thin—especially as troop levels increase in Afghanistan. As John A. Nagl, president of the Center for a New American Security, who helped write the Army’s counterinsurgency field manual, said, “We just don’t have enough Army to do everything we want it to do right now.”

On May 15, the head of Hezbollah in Iran called for the creation of a “Greater Iran” that would extend from Israel to Afghanistan. Ayatollah Mohammad Bagher Kharrazi said the new Shia imperialism would accomplish two key goals: destruction of the nation of Israel, and bringing about the return of Islam’s long-awaited Mahdi, or twelfth imam. “The Islamic United States will be an introduction to the formation of the global village of the oppressed and that will be a prelude to the single global rule of the Mahdi,” Kharrazi said. The cleric’s tirade also attacked what he called the “cancerous tumors” of Sunni Islam nations like Saudi Arabia. The Prophet Daniel wrote that a power would indeed grow to dominance in the Middle East in our time (Daniel 11:40-41).

Europe

Germany’s chancellor pledged to boost trade with Gulf countries on Tuesday as she kicked off a four-state Gulf tour by visiting the United Arab Emirates. The four-day trip to the region by Angela Merkel, accompanied by a high-level business delegation, is a sign of developing relations between Germany and Arab nations. In addition to promising to expand the estimated €60 billion (us$74 billion) in two-way trade between Germany and the Middle East, Merkel’s talks with Gulf countries focused on the Middle East peace process and the Iranian threat. Chancellor Merkel met with uae President Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan before traveling to Saudi Arabia late Tuesday for a two-day visit, with talks focusing on expanding economic and political ties. Berlin’s developing relations with certain Arab nations are significant in light of an end-time prophecy that a confederation of Arab nations will together join in an alliance with Germany (Psalm 83). Read our April 29 article, “The Arabian-German Alliance” for more detail on this soon-to-be-fulfilled prophecy.

U.S. Patriot missiles arrived in Poland May 24, where they will be stationed only 25 miles from Poland’s border with Kaliningrad. Russia is trying to win Poland’s favor and steer it away from the U.S., so it will not be pleased with the Patriots’ presence. Watch for Russia to respond by trying to make life difficult for the U.S.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said May 27 that he needs more power as leader of the Italian government, quoting Italy’s former dictator Benito Mussolini. “As prime minister, I have never had the feeling that I was in power,” he said as a press conference. “Sometimes as a businessman, with 56,000 employees, sometimes I’ve had the feeling of being able to decide and be in control. But today in a democracy, I am in the service of everyone and anyone can criticize me and perhaps even insult me.” He went on to say: “I will dare to quote you a phrase from someone considered a dictator, a great, powerful dictator, Benito Mussolini. In his diary, I recently read this phrase. ‘They say I have power. It isn’t true. Maybe my party officials do. But I don’t know. All I can do is say to my horse go right or left. And I have to be happy with that.’” Of all European heads of government, Berlusconi probably has the most power. He is practically immune from prosecution and controls a large percentage of Italy’s media. But he evidently wants even more power. Expect this trend in Europe to grow.

The European Commission on May 26 recommended that the EU implement a tax on banks in the common market. José Manuel Barroso, the Commission’s president, said the fund would “minimize the cost to taxpayers in the event of an orderly resolution of insolvent banks.” It would also give the EU even more control over the banking system of EU nations.

Asia

Tension on the Korean Peninsula escalated this week to potentially dangerous levels. The March 26 sinking of a South Korean warship has created an enormous security crisis. Seoul has produced detailed evidence that North Korea was behind the attack, which killed 46 sailors; it canceled most economic links with Pyongyang. China, North Korea’s principal benefactor, has refused to blame Pyongyang, which reduces South Korea’s ability to marshal support for punishment against North Korea at the UN Security Council. In a demonstration of Beijing’s stance, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun called on Wednesday for “restraint” by both sides in the altercation. Tensions climbed further on Thursday when Seoul’s navy began exercises which included anti-submarine operations, and when Pyongyang threatened to attack any South Korean vessels entering its waters. China’s support of North Korea is a source of concern for South Korea, Japan and the U.S., and an indication that Beijing’s rapidly growing influence is not the benign force that many Western analysts imagine it to be.

Russian officials said on May 21 that current weapons contracts between Moscow and Tehran will continue even if they violate sanctions that world powers are considering for Iran. The U.S. and Israel have asked Russia not to fulfill its contract to deliver S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Tehran, as it could undermine any air attack against Iranian facilities. When asked if a sanctions package would stop delivery of the missiles, Mikhail Margelov, Russian’s Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee head, said: “The draft will not hit current contracts between Russia and Iran.” Russia has approved a draft resolution on a new set of sanctions against Iran, but the announcement about the S-300 contract has raised doubts about Moscow’s true stance on the matter. Analysts are also concerned about Russian-Iranian collaboration in building Iran’s first nuclear power station in Bushehr. It is plain that sanctions and diplomacy will not stop Iran’s nuclear push.

Latin America

Seventy-three people have been killed in Jamaica as security forces attempt to crack down on armed supporters of drug lord Christopher “Dudus” Coke. Coke is resisting extradition to the U.S. The deaths occurred as the police and army fought armed gang members in Tivoli Gardens—a slum in Jamaica’s capital, Kingstown, from where Coke draws most of his support. This is the kind of pain that drug addiction within America—a major customer for the Jamaican drug trade—causes abroad.

Anglo-America

On Thursday, the Associated Press reported that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has surpassed the Exxon Valdez disaster as the worst spill in American history. Even by the most conservative estimates of the still-uncapped flow of crude, the leak has spewed out almost 19 million gallons. The estimate appears to be inconsistent with the data, however, and scientists estimate the volume may be as much as 39 million gallons. The Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons. The Coast Guard reported that BP has had some success in stanching the flow using the “top kill” method, with the national incident commander for the spill saying on Thursday, “Everybody is cautiously optimistic, but there’s no reason to declare victory yet.”

The Department of Homeland Security has issued an alert to Texas law enforcement that a terrorist might be crossing the border from Mexico. Authorities are looking for a suspected member of the Somalia-based Al Shabaab terrorist organization. It recently emerged that a Somali man in Texas is accused of operating a “large-scale smuggling enterprise” that brings hundreds of East Africans, including some with ties to terrorist groups, up through South America and Mexico and into the U.S. with forged identification.

On Tuesday, the White House promised to send 1,200 National Guard troops to the Mexican border to try to reduce drug trafficking and gun smuggling across the border. A bid to send an additional 6,000 troops died in the Senate. The State Department specified that the Guard troops would not enforce U.S. immigration laws. The clarification came after the Mexican government pressured Washington not to use the troops to restrict illegal immigrants. About half of the 13 million Mexicans in the United States are there illegally.

The U.S. money supply is contracting at an increasing rate, similar to the pace of the 1930s. The Telegraph reported Wednesday that the M3 figure of the total stock of money, which is viewed as a warning signal of the direction of the economy, began shrinking about a year ago and has since shrunk faster. One economist said, “The plunge in M3 has no precedent since the Great Depression.”

The United Kingdom will pay the European Union 60 percent more next year. Its net contribution to the EU will rise from £4.1 billion this year to £6.4 billion in 2010/11. Although the figure was released with a minimum of fanfare, it will fuel the debate over whether or not Britain gains from being in the EU. The Telegraph reports that this comes soon after more than a quarter of UK voters in the 2010 European elections supported parties that want to take Britain out of the Union.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (noaa) said Thursday that 2010 will have an active Atlantic hurricane season, which begins June 1. noaa reported a 70 percent probability that 14 to 23 storms will be named, including 8 to 14 hurricanes.

This week, about a dozen veterans of the British military made a pilgrimage to France to commemorate the miracle of Dunkirk. This week marks the 70th anniversary of their “miracle of deliverance” from the Nazi war machine in World War ii when a motley flotilla of ships, boats, ferries and trawlers crossed the English Channel to save them. The men were teenagers when they were almost annihilated by the Luftwaffe along with almost 350,000 other servicemen on the flaming shores of France; now they are as old as 93. The Guardian reported the men disembarked and then turned to hail the other “guests of honor,” 50 of the same boats that crossed the Channel once again, 70 years after bringing salvation. “All the chaps with their little ships deserve as much praise as anybody,” one veteran said. “They didn’t know anything about warfare, but they came over and got us anyway.”