The Middle East in Focus

This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:

"For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." (Isaiah 41:13)

1. Iran says it received Russian air defense missiles - Ynet News

Iran has received a Russian air defense missile system, the Iranian defense minister said Wednesday.

2. U.S. to more than triple aid to Lebanon for military, reconstruction - Int'l Herald Tribune

The United States plans to more than triple its economic aid to the fragile democratic government in Lebanon as U.S. business executives detail new investment and development plans in the tiny, troubled country.

3. News Analysis: Against odds, U.S. pushes forward on Mideast peace talks - Int'l Herald Tribune

It would be hard to imagine a less-promising moment for the United States to restart serious Palestinian- Israeli peace negotiations.

4. Al-Qaida No. 2: PA Chair Abbas is a 'traitor,' sold Palestinian land - Ha'aretz

Al-Qaida second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri on Tuesday urged Palestinians to abandon Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, calling him a "traitor" who had sold his religion and Palestinian land.

5. Israel faces nuclear Holocaust warns Gingrich - Ynet News

The Israeli people are facing the threat of a nuclear Holocaust, former US Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich warned the Herzliya Conference held by the Institute for Policy and Strategy at IDC Herzliya on Tuesday afternoon. Meanwhile, he said, the United States could lose a few million people or a number of cities to a terrorist attack with weapons of mass destruction.

6. Pilgrims' road to Temple unearthed in City of David dig - Ha'aretz

At the end of the 19th century, the archaeologists Bliss and Dickey discovered a short piece of road dating back to the Herodian period in Jerusalem's City of David. The road ascended from south to north in the direction of the Temple Mount.

A House Divided Cannot Stand

While the Democrats are busy pooh-poohing the President’s State of the Union address and denying that the war on terror is more than a handful of extremists who are angry with the United States, North Korea, China, and Russia are busy helping Iran build an atomic bomb that Iran’s leader intends to use against Israel and the United States. While the opposition to the President is sounding a lot like an al Qaeda propaganda machine, the Islamist terrorist machine is busy killing our boys in Iraq and wishing they could kill our elderly, our sons, our daughters, our wives and husbands right here on American soil.

As the President was giving his State of the Union address, the presses were burning ink on a story that North Korea and Iran have reached a cooperative agreement where North Korea will share all the data and information they received from their successful test last October with Teheran's nuclear scientists. It has been known for some time that Iranian military officials were being helped with the nuclear technology that North Korea has already garnered, but the new development, reported by the London Telegraph, indicates that North Korea will assist Iran in accelerating its nuclear development to an underground test possibly by the end of this year.

Meantime, Iran Public Radio is reporting that Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the Syrian Foreign Minister that Israel and the United States would soon be destroyed. The Iranian president also directly tied events in Lebanon to a wider plan aimed at Israel's destruction. He called on "regional countries" to "support the Islamic resistance of the Lebanese people and strive to enhance solidarity and unity among the different Palestinian groups in a bid to pave the ground for the undermining of the Zionist regime whose demise is, of course, imminent."

President George W. Bush has made a lot of mistakes in recent years and has taken some pretty bad advice on a lot of issues, but it seems that this is a time in the history of our nation that we, as Americans, need to quit bickering over minimum wage guarantees for illegal aliens, arguing over taxing Americans for their health insurance, and squabbling over a limit on funds and supplies for troops in Iraq. It seems that we have a much greater enemy before us—one that is unified and seeks our total destruction. I am reminded of the statement by Jesus in Matthew 12:25, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.”

Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!

Bill Wilson
Word of Life Ministry
www.dailyjot.com

Criminal Aliens

While the president did an outstanding job articulating America’s security interests overseas, he regrettably renewed his call for amnesty for illegal aliens. I’m not sure how the term is defined at the White House, but when the president says he wants to “resolve the status of illegal immigrants already in the country,” he’s talking about amnesty.

We’re going to pay very close attention to the debate on Capitol Hill because last year, Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid initially objected to an amendment that would have barred illegal aliens with criminal convictions from gaining citizenship. Illegal immigration is a homeland security issue and the safety of the American public must not be compromised in a rush to reach a “comprehensive reform” plan.

Yesterday in Baltimore, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in an unmarked van were approached in a convenience store parking lot by a group of illegal aliens looking for work. The ICE agents determined that all 24 men were illegal aliens. Six had criminal records, eight had failed to comply with deportation orders, and one man had been caught at the border four times!

A spokeswoman for Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon said that the arrests highlighted the need for a day- laborer center in the city. Really? What these arrests actually reveal, however, is the need for Congress to pass an immigration bill that first and foremost defends America’s homeland security and protects our families by keeps criminals off our streets!

(Gary Bauer; End- of-Day; Jan. 24, 2007)

Daily Brief - Wednesday - January 24, 2007

1. Bush Pleads in State of the Union Address to Give Iraq Plan 'A Chance to Work' - Fox News

Delivering a State of the Union address to a Democratic-led Congress for the first time, President Bush pleaded Tuesday night for members of both parties to follow his lead and give his latest plan to end the sectarian violence in Iraq "a chance to work."

• Lord we ask for Your Spirit to bring the strength of unity between the President and both parties of our government, that we would stand as a united front in the Iraq war. • "Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him, and a threefold cord is not easily broken." (Eccl 4:12)

2. GOP pushes for stricter ethics reform - Washington Times

The debates on a House bill that would nix federal pensions for convicted lawmakers and a Senate measure to cut pork spending underscored how scandal-scarred Republicans are backing broader ethics reforms than the new Democratic majority is.

• Lord we thank you for restoring honor and integrity to our Congress, and that Your wisdom will prevail over these upcoming bills. • "The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous." (Prov 15:29)

3. ADL urges Congress to fight proselytizing in U.S. military - Ha'aretz

The Anti-Defamation League Tuesday called on members of the U.S. Senate and House Armed Services Committees to hold hearings on what the group termed "coercive proselytizing and religious activity in the military."

• Lord, we ask that you protect the Constitutional Right to freedom of religion in our nation. We bind any plan of the enemy to use false witness against our Chaplains and other troops. We ask that You raise up truth as the standard and tear down the accusations. • "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts." (Prov 21:2)

4. Sen. Hillary Clinton Announces New Health Insurance Legislation - All Headline News

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is once again focusing on health care for uninsured Americans. She made her first attempt in the 1990s when her husband Pres. Bill Clinton put her in charge of a plan to create a national health insurance program. Despite being unsuccessful then, the effort gave her credibility as a politician, which helped when she ran for the U.S. Senate.

• Lord we ask that You prepare health care legislation that will be beneficial to the uninsured of our nation, but not create unbearable financial burden on the country. Bring wisdom to our leaders, and light to the consequences of all legislation prior to its inception. We ask, too, that any hidden agendas in this plan be revealed quickly. • "Blessed is he who considers the poor; the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble." (Psalm 41:1)

5. N Korea helping Iran with nuclear testing - London Telegraph

North Korea is helping Iran to prepare an underground nuclear test similar to the one Pyongyang carried out last year.

• Lord we bind up this plan of nuclear testing in the Name of Jesus. We loose Your Spirit over that region and ask that you tear down this regime of madness. May Your wings overshadow Your people and protect them from all plans of the enemy. • "You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day. . . " (Psalm 91:5)

The Middle East in Focus

This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:

"For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." (Isaiah 41:13)

1. Abbas says won't obligate Hamas to recognize Israel - Ynet News

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday he would not demand that Hamas recognize Israel as a precondition for the establishment of a unity government in the Authority.

2. NSC seeks to place Israel in NATO - Jerusalem Post

In an effort to establish more effective deterrence in the face of Iran's race to obtain nuclear weapons, government ministries are, for the first time, working on drafting a position paper that will include guidelines and a strategy for turning Israel into a full- fledged member of NATO, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The paper is being drafted by an interministerial committee made up of representatives from the Defense Ministry and the Foreign Ministry and headed by Israel's National Security Council. The committee plans to complete the paper by the end of February and present it to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for approval.

3. Switzerland admits mediating Syria-Israel talks - Ynet News

Switzerland mediated the secret peace talks between Israel and Syria which were exposed in the media last week, Swiss President Micheline Calmy- Rey admitted Monday.

4. Gaza tourist resort attacked in al-Qaeda’s name - Ynet News

Dozens of masked gunmen claiming to be members of al-Qaeda stormed an empty beach resort and blew up a reception hall on Tuesday, saying they were sending a message to a close ally of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

5. Palestinians' 'Saddam Street' funded by US - Ynet News

Palestinians in the northern West Bank have named a major street after late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein that was funded – along with the surrounding municipality – by the United States Agency for International Development.

6. Palestinians: Crime up 60% in W. Bank - Jerusalem Post

Crime in the West Bank was up 60 percent in 2006, the Palestinian police chief said Monday, blaming growing poverty and increasingly brazen militants.

Daily Brief - Tuesday - January 23, 2007

1. Senator Brownback Reintroduces the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act - (Press Release; Office of Senator Sam Brownback)

U.S. Senator Sam Brownback today reintroduced the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act, which would require those who perform abortions on unborn children 20 weeks after fertilization to inform the mother seeking an abortion of the medical evidence that the unborn child feels pain. The bill, first introduced in the 109th Congress, has 27 co- sponsors.

• Pray that those who have been affected by an abortion decision and regretted it will be the strongest supporters of this bill and other measures to overturn Roe. Vs. Wade and other pro-abortion rulings by the Supreme Court. Pray the curse of death off our nation. • So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. Therefore do not defile the land which you inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel.' (Numbers 35:33, 34)

2. Details Emerge About Possible Terror Threat - ABC News

Mimicking the hijackers who executed the Sept. 11 attacks, insurgents reportedly tied to al Qaeda in Iraq considered using student visas to slip terrorists into the United States to orchestrate a new attack on American soil. Lt. Gen. Michael D. Maples, head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, recently testified that documents captured by coalition forces during a raid of a safe house believed to house Iraqi members of al Qaeda six months ago "revealed [AQI] was planning terrorist operations in the U.S." (For full report, go here:)

• Pray that whatever plans the terrorists have made will not succeed but they will fall into their own traps! Hallelujah! Amen! • "The nations have sunk down in the pit which they made; in the net which they hid, their own foot is caught. The Lord is known by the judgment He executes; the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands." (Psalms 9:15,16)

3. Iraq P.M. Drops Protection for Radical Cleric's Militia - AP

Al-Maliki has backed away from supporting Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army after U.S. intelligence reported infiltration by death squads. Violence in Iraq over the weekend claimed more than 100 lives.

• Pray Al-Malili will remain faithful to U.S. and will take strong measures to route out the warring militias in Iraq. In the name of Jesus we bind the spirit of violence and death in Iraq and loose the peace of the Lord and the gospel of Jesus Christ into the country! Amen! • "Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:9,11)

4. Iran Conducts Missile Tests as U.S. Navy Gathers in Gulf - AP

Iran conducted missile tests Monday as its leadership stepped up warnings of possible military confrontation with the United States. Hard-liners said an American attack would spark "hell" for the U.S. and Israel, with some threatening suicide attacks against U.S. forces. The drum-beating suggests Iran does not intend to back down as tensions mount on both fronts of its confrontation with the United States and the West — the nuclear issue and the turmoil in neighboring Iraq. See Headlines inside Iran and Regional Perspective.

• Pray that in the name of Jesus every wicked plot that Iran has will be bound from doing any harm and call forth the nations of the world to join in agreement to cut off Iran from its evil plans. Pray for the Lord’s harvesters to be plentiful in the Middle East and especially Iran and Iraq. • "Arise, O Lord, Do not let man prevail; Let the nations be judged in Your sight." (Psalm 9:19)

5. China Blows Up Its Own Satellite - Aviation Week

China blasted one of its own satellites with a ballistic missile last week, proving it has at least some proficiency at space warfare. The only other countries to have developed anti-satellite weapons are the United States and the former Soviet Union.

• As potential warfare reaches a "new level" in outer space, ask our Lord to grant His Body renewed strategies for "spiritual warfare" here on earth. He IS able! • "Call upon Me and I will show you great and mighty things which you know not." (Jer. 33:3)

6. SPECIAL REPORT: Devastation in California's Central Valley - AP

The freeze that destroyed $1 billion in citrus crops earlier this month could have ripple effects that ravage the broader Central Valley economy. Five consecutive nights of below-freezing temperatures starting Jan. 12 devastated citrus crops and severely damaged fields of strawberries, leafy greens, cabbage, celery, onions and nursery plants. The disaster prompted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week to declare a state of emergency for the counties of Imperial, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Clara, Riverside, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare, Ventura and Stanislaus.

California's Central Valley was the hardest hit, and economists say the full impact won't be felt until the spring. The deep freeze could cost thousands of people their jobs and erase drain hundreds of millions of dollars from the area's agriculture-intensive economy, local employers say. As many as one of five workers in the Central Valley is directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture.

• Pray that as we go through these catastrophes, we will keep God at our center as our source and consolation – for He will Restore us! • "You have allowed me to suffer much hardship, but you will restore me to life again and lift me up from the depths of the earth. You will restore me to even greater honor and comfort me once again." (Psalms 71:20,21) (LTD)

The Middle East in Focus

This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:

"For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." (Isaiah 41:13)

1. Rice: Olmert, Abbas agree to informal talks on Palestinian state - Ha'aretz

At the end of her Middle East tour, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) agreed to "informal talks" about the nature of a future Palestinian state.

2. Merkel and Rice Take Steps to Revive Middle East Peace Talks - Deutsche Welle

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and German Chancellor Angela Merkel Thursday discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after the two sides announced a revival of the international quartet for Middle East peace.

3. Palestinian unity talks fall through again - ICEJ News

All media outlets reported today that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah and Hamas leader-in-exile Khaled Meshal failed on Sunday to resolve the increasingly bitter factional tension and form a joint Palestinian government. According to a joint statement, continued negotiations will continue within the next two weeks. The main dispute remains Hamas' unwillingness to accept the three tenets set by the US, UN, EU and Russia for international recognition: Acceptance of past agreements with Israel, renouncement of violence, and recognition of Israel.

4. Peres says 'Israel will not fall, Ahmadinejad will fall' - Jerusalem Post

Vice Premier Shimon Peres declared on Monday that Israel would pull through its current crises with Iran and the Palestinians, just as it had in past conflicts. "I have been through 60 years of Israeli history, and I'm telling you - there have been harder days," Peres told an audience at the Herzliya Conference. "Israel will not fall - Ahmadinejad will fall."

5. US: Increase pressure on Iranian nuke program - AP

A top US official called Sunday on Iran to resume negotiations on curbing its nuclear program, and urged the international community to step up pressure on the Islamic republic if diplomacy fails. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said the limited sanctions imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council last month are just the beginning of the global effort to punish the Islamic Republic.

6. U.S. Said to Plan Major Strike on Iran - MENL

A former U.S. intelligence analyst has asserted that the Bush administration has prepared options for a major strike against the Teheran regime. The analyst said the plans included a full-fledged war against Iran.

7. Yemen's Jews flee al-Qaida death threats - Jerusalem Post


A Saudi newspaper reported that 45 Jews in a village in Yemen were forced to leave their homes due to threats from the Muslim terror group, al-Qaida. One resident confirmed the reports in an interview with Israel Radio, saying that the Jews in her village had received letters from the government warning them to flee.