MARCH-APRIL 2004 WORLD NEWS

MARCH-APRIL 2004 WORLD NEWS

April 29, 2004

• 10 Die In Muslim-Christian Strife - April 25, 2004
Muslim and Christian gangs fought running battles in Indonesia's Maluku islands on Sunday, leaving at least 10 people dead, including two youths who were hacked to death by sword-wielding men.

• Sudan Orders Syrian WMD Out Of Country - April 23, 2004
The sources said the Sudanese demand was issued after the Defense Ministry and Interior Ministry confirmed a report published earlier this month that Syria has been secretly flying Scud-class missiles and WMD components to Khartoum.

• China's Military Buildup Raises Concerns in US - April 25, 2004
China's military buildup is causing renewed concerns in the United States as the Asian giant arms itself to deter any separation moves by Taiwan or American involvement in a cross-strait conflict.

• Jordan: Al-Qaida Plotted Its First Chemical Attack - April 27, 2004
Al-Qaida plotted its first chemical bomb attack against targets in Jordan that included the U.S. Embassy, suspects confessed in a videotape broadcast on state television, which said the plotters hoped to kill 80,000 people.

• Militants in Europe Openly Call for Jihad and the Rule of Islam - April 26, 2004
Sheik Omar Bakri Mohammad, spoke of his adherence to Osama bin Laden. If Europe fails to heed Mr. bin Laden's offer of a truce — provided that all foreign troops are withdrawn from Iraq in three months — Muslims will no longer be restrained from attacking the Western countries that play host to them, the sheik said.

• Mainline Denominations Among Endorsers of Sunday's Pro-Abortion March - April 23, 2004
The Episcopal Church USA, the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Methodist Board of Church and Society joined liberal groups as either organizers or endorsers of Sunday's pro-abortion rights "March for Women's Lives" in Washington, DC.

• Christians in Mongolia Grow 67 Percent in One Year. - April 24, 2004
The Mongolian church is young but growing fast since the fall of communism 14 years ago, according to a new report by The Sentinel Group. An explosion of people who have become Christians has pushed the number from 20,000 last year to 35,000 this year.

April 27, 2004

Is a 'Holy War' Quickly Evolving in the Middle East? - Bill Koenig

Two major things have happened since President Bush endorsed Ariel Sharon's Gaza/settlement plan: The Arab's hate for the United States has increased substantially (also due to the Hamas assassinations) and the situation in Iraq has worsened considerably with the twin sieges of Falluja and Najaf, presenting the Bush administration with its worst crisis in Iraq since the toppling of Saddam Hussein.

The Bush endorsement of Sharon's plan and the necessary heavy-handiness in Iraq has the Arab's boiling.

In Iraq the Bush Administration can't "win for losing." If they sit back they are perceived weak, if they are too aggressive the Arabs and the world community chastises them. Also, once they go forward aggressively the "thugs" call for cease-fire talks. Once the cease-fire is agreed to, and after a short time, there is another terror event, which is followed by another aggressive and forceful response. The pattern repeats itself over an over.

Now, the United States is experiencing what Israel has had to face for years. The main difference is Israel's enemies live within their country, on the borders, or a short distance away.

What is next? Will the situation in Iraq improve without force? Not likely. Will President Bush change his position on the Sharon plan? Not likely, especially before an election. Will Sharon get his plan approved by the Likud Party? If he doesn't get Likud's approval, he will look to other political parties to help get his plan approved by the Knesset.

Whatever transpires it looks like a major "Holy War" is quickly evolving in the Middle East, which will likely get much more intense in the coming days, weeks and months. Only the God of Israel knows how this is going to play out.

Israel and the United States Anger and Frustrate Arabs

According to one foreign diplomat, the rift between the Bush administration and its moderate Arab allies over Bush's statement on Israeli settlements is one of the worst to emerge in years — and has exacerbated the already tense relations between the United States and Arab countries over the war in Iraq.

"When people see Israeli operations in Palestine and the American cruelty in Iraq, they feel angry and frustrated," said Abdullah Bejad al-Oteibi, a former fundamentalist now working as a legal researcher. "They cannot control their anger and they admire bin Laden, so that is why many people volunteer for jihad," he added. "But when there are operations here [Saudi Arabia], people feel angry and betrayed."

"Many young women are saying 'My God, bin Laden is so charming' or 'My God, bin Laden is so handsome,'" she said. "He is politically appealing; that is why they view him as handsome."

"O God, avenge America; O God, avenge its allies," the prayer leader at Prince Sultan bin Abdel Aziz mosque in Riyadh said last Friday. "O God, order your soldiers to show them torture; O God, divide them; O God, avenge them for what they are corrupting in Iraq."

Middle East News Highlights:

Arabs furious over Bush support of Sharon plan

Powell attempts to appease Muslim leaders angered by Bush's endorsement of Sharon's plan

International leaders condemn Israel's assassination of Hamas leader

King Abdullah II cancels Wednesday White House meeting

Egypt's Mubarek says Arabs in the Middle East hate the United States more than ever following the invasion of Iraq and Israel's assassination of two Hamas leaders

Bush says the World owes Sharon

Sharon's plan is losing support in the Likud Party; says Likud vote not legally binding

Sharon says approve his plan or lose U.S. assurances

White House News Highlights:

Bob Woodward's new book, "Plan of Attack," says Bush prayed about Iraq

Woodward says Powell was kept out of loop on final Iraq decision White House denies King Abdullah II meeting canceled over Sharon approval

Mubarek and Abdullah under pressure at home due to Bush's Israel position

Bush administration defending war action on Capitol Hill: Focus on justice and democracy instead of WMD, which angers Democrats

Bush defends Patriot Act calling for an extension of the legislation

A growing concern over potential U.S. terror events in the summer

The twin sieges of Falluja and Najaf present the Bush administration with its worst crisis in Iraq since the toppling of Saddam Hussein

Timeline from April 14-23, 2004

According to the Jerusalem Post, senior diplomatic officials said Wednesday the U.S. is "watering down" assurances U.S. President George W. Bush gave Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, less then a week after the two met in Washington. The officials pointed to recent comments made by US Secretary of State Colin Powell as examples.

From Sharon's point of view, two of the most significant aspects of the Bush assurances were the sentence in the president's letter saying the U.S. feels it "seems clear" that a fair solution to the Palestinian refugee issue should be found through a Palestinian state "rather than in Israel," and that "in light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli population centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949."

The following news has transpired since President Bush backed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza plan.

April 14 – It was said that President Bush's statement, after a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharo, constituted a historic shift in U.S. policy, and Palestinian leaders accused the administration of undercutting the possibility of a negotiated settlement.

April 15 – In one report it was said that the ensuing rift between the Bush administration and its moderate Arab allies over Bush's statement on Israeli settlements is one of the worst to emerge in years — and has exacerbated the already tense relations between the United States and Arab countries over the war in Iraq.

April 16 – British Prime Minister Tony Blair joined President Bush in endorsing Israel's claim to a disputed portion of the West Bank and said it was "not a unilateral attempt to impose a settlement."

April 17 – Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Ranitisi is assassinated by Israel

April 17 - Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath, cancels trip to Washington for meetings in the wake of the Bush announcement on settlements. Secretary of State Colin Powell had been expecting to meet with Shaath on Wednesday, April 21.

April 18 - Hamas threatened a "volcano of revenge" against Israel as some 200,000 Palestinians packed the streets of Gaza for the funeral of the Islamic movement's assassinated leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi.

April 19 – The king of Jordan, one of America's closest allies in the Middle East, postponed a White House meeting with President Bush, questioning the U.S. commitment to ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

April 19 - The White House played down any hint of friction with Jordan, stated the meeting with Abdullah was rescheduled to the first week of May "because of developments in the region."

April 19 – Powell says, during an appearance with Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher, that "people will see over time that the United States is committed to the welfare, benefit, and the hopes and dreams and aspirations of the Arab nations, and especially the hopes and dreams and aspirations of the Palestinian people."

April 19 - President Bush defended the Patriot Act and said none of the controversial anti-terrorism law's provisions should be allowed to expire. "The Patriot Act defends our liberty," he said at a convention of township supervisors and emergency service personnel. "It's essential law." "The best way to secure our homeland is to stay on the offensive against the terrorist network," Bush said

April 20 - During a press conference with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, Colin Powell said, "The president said nothing about what settlements should remain. The president said that we are taking note of the fact that the settlements are coming out of Gaza, four are coming out of the West Bank in the north. It's the beginning of a process."

April 20 - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Arabs in the Middle East hate the United States more than ever following the invasion of Iraq and Israel's assassination of two Hamas leaders

April 20 - Ze'ev Binyamin (Benny) Begin, son of the late Prime Minister Menachem Begin, broke his self-imposed political silence to attack Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan. Begin, 60, who is considered a hard-liner of high moral standards and an honest and uncompromising idealist, charged in a Channel Two television interview last night that the plan for a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip was not one of "disengagement," but rather "only a settlement uprooting plan. And uprooting settlements will only encourage the terrorists to continue in their efforts," he said. Begin warned that the withdrawal from Gaza would only bring more terror and criticized the attempts of some to paint a rosy picture.

April 21 - "Ariel Sharon came to America, and he stood up with me and he said, 'We are pulling out of Gaza and parts of the West Bank,'" Bush told a newspaper conference in Washington. In "my judgment, the whole world should have said, 'Thank you, Ariel. Now we have a chance to begin the construction of a peaceful Palestinian state,"' Bush added. Instead, he said, "there was kind of silence, wasn't there?"

April 22 – The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) issued a declaration denouncing Israel's plan to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank, saying it violates the internationally-brokered road map for peace.

April 22 - Meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia urged U.S. President George W. Bush to reconsider his tacit recognition of some settlements in the West Bank.

April 22 - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon caused an uproar in a summer recess session of the Knesset when he termed his stated intention to act according to the results of the May 2 Likud referendum as a "moral" commitment, not a "legal" one.

Amid a decline in Likud support for his disengagement plan, Sharon seemed to indicate by the tone of his speech that he would bring the plan before the Knesset regardless of the position of the Likud. The Prime Minister's Office, however, later issued a clarification that Sharon is still committed to act according to the results of the referendum. If the Likud does not approve the plan, it is likely to be buried, officials in the Prime Minister's Office said.

April 23 - The sponsors of the road map to peace between the Israelis and Palestinians said they will meet in New York on May 4 to try to give new impetus to the stalled plan, the European Union's foreign policy chief said. The road map drafted by the so-called Quartet - the EU, the United States, the United Nations and Russia - has been sidelined by Israel's unilateral decision to withdraw from Gaza and parts of the West Bank, which the Palestinians claim is a move to redraw borders.

Solana told reporters Thursday after meeting Secretary-General Kofi Annan that he hopes next month's Quartet meeting will clarify a lot of issues and "give a new impulse to the peace process."

"We are going to have an exchange of views with the Arab world before the Quartet (meeting) ... to get a good outcome that will recuperate trust among the Palestinian people and the Arab world and recuperate also a new momentum for the peace process in the Middle East," he said.

Solana discussed the Quartet meeting with Annan, who said last week that any Israeli initiative should not preclude negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians on "final status" issues, including refugees and borders.

"The starting point for negotiations on borders should be 1967," Solana said. "Any changes from the 1967 borders should be done by agreement of the two parties."

April 23 - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he was no longer bound by a pledge he gave President Bush not to harm Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. "I said during in our first meeting about three years ago that I accepted his request not to harm Arafat physically," Sharon told Israel's Channel 2. "But I am released from this commitment. I release myself from this commitment regarding Arafat." Sharon said he told this to Bush last week during a meeting with him at the White House, where he received U.S. approval for his plan to unilaterally evacuate all settlements from the Gaza Strip and some in the West Bank

April 24 - United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan distanced himself from comments by his special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who said Israel's "poison in the region" was complicating his search for an interim Iraqi government. "Mr Brahimi was expressing his personal views," UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said in answer to questions. "The secretary-general's views, as expressed over the last seven years, do not contain the word 'poison,'" Eckhard said.

Brahimi told France's Inter radio on Thursday that Israeli policies toward Palestinians and Washington's support for them hindered his search for a caretaker Iraqi regime that would take power on June 30 when the U.S.-led occupation ends. "The problems are linked, there is no doubt about it," said Brahimi, a former Algerian foreign minister. "The big poison in the region is the Israeli policy of domination and the suffering imposed on the Palestinians."
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April 22, 2004.

Putting Tolerance to the Test: The Rise of Islam in Europe - By Dale Hurd

CBN.com – (CBN News) - The most common name for baby boys in Brussels is Mohammed. There are as many as 15 million Arabs and Muslims living in Europe. Europe needs babies and immigrants, because its birthrate has imploded, but Europe's not sure it wants these immigrants, because it fears the rise of Islam. The political temperature is rising in Europe. Arabs and Muslims already felt like outsiders before France banned the headscarves in schools. The Dutch parliament voted to expel 26,000 asylum seekers, many of them from the Third World. Some are wondering if it is the beginning of an anti-immigrant backlash.

Many Europeans are nervous. They like to think that they are more enlightened and tolerant than the rest of the world, but that tolerance is being tested by a wave of immigration that could change the face of Europe.

Anti-immigrant far-right parties are growing all across the continent. In Austria, The Freedom Party; In Italy, the Northern League; in Switzerland, The People's Party; In France, The National Front; In Belgium, The Flemish Block; In Denmark, the People's Party, In Norway, The Progress Party.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, of France's far-right political party National Front, told CBN News that the cause of most of France's problems are immigrants from Africa and Asia, and his slogan is "France for the French."

Frank Vanhecke is leader of the Vlaams Blok, or Flemish Block, in Belgium. The party is strong in Belgium's Dutch-speaking North, and is poised to take over the Antwerp city government. Vanhecke is worried about the growth of what he says is a radical Islamic sub-culture that refuses to assimilate, and which has begun demanding that Arabic become an official language of Belgium.

Vanhecke said, "This is the kind of people we are dealing with - people who do not come to our country to adapt, to make a new life, to start again, to make a living, to be thankful for the country that accepts them. We are talking about people who, in fact, come to us as rulers, who want to become masters in our country. And I personally think, I fear, that this is a part of the Islamic religion."

His party's platform calls for all immigrants who refuse to adapt to the values and language of Belgium to be returned to their home countries.

Gareth Harding, UPI Bureau Chief in Brussels, commented, "I think, incontestably, the far right is on the march." And those marching with it, he said, are the angry.

Harding added, "I think that they feel, by talking to them there, betrayed by these mainstream parties who have simply refused to deal with common concerns about immigration, and about crime and falling standards of living."

German policy analyst Mirjam Dittrich thinks the right wing threat is overblown. He said, "I think there is xenophobia in Europe. And, of course, there are right wing parties that are exploiting existing fears and are playing on those fears. But I think at the same time we shouldn't exaggerate the threat of these right wing parties."

But there is no exaggerating Arab and Muslim anger and resentment. Most Arab immigrants live in slums, with four to five times the unemployment rate of native Europeans. They feel like outsiders, and many are turning to radical Arab leaders like Diyab Abou JahJah. JahJah's been called the Belgian Malcolm X. He's the head of the Arab European League in Antwerp. And he says White Europe doesn't want to face reality.

JahJah said, "It doesn't want to adapt to the fact that this society is multicultural now. It still behaves and acts as if we were like 50 years ago, when everybody here was white and Catholic and talking Dutch."

But JahJah, who leads those who feel like outsiders, doesn't want Arab and Muslim culture to be assimilated into Europe. And that is exactly what the right wing fears.

"We do not want to debate integration or assimilation, " says JahJah, "because we don't believe in that kind of debate. We believe in a debate about how a country should treat its own citizens, because we are not foreigners."

There may now be as many as seven Arabs for every Jew in Europe, and some believe that is the major reason that anti-Semitism has returned to Europe. A poll last year showed that most Europeans now think Israel is the biggest threat to world peace. Attacks on synagogues, schools, cemeteries and Jews are reminiscent of the 1930's.

Jewish student Eli Mamane said, "I've had people call me dirty jew, stinking jew, smelly jew. They've said, 'You Jews are [the] world's problem at the moment.' "

Michael Whine of the Jewish Community Security Trust, said, "Anti-Semitism now comes from Islamists, from the Middle East, from the Arab media, and there's an overspill, both of tension in the Middle East and the anti-Semitism that's being promoted within the Arab states itself."

But unlike most Arabs in the Middle East, Arabs in Europe can vote. And as their political clout grows, Europe is likely to become more anti-Semitic, more anti-Israel, more anti-American. A clash of civilizations is looming in Europe. France tried to strike a blow to Islamic separatism when it banned headscarves on Muslim schoolgirls. Muslim leaders warn the ban will backfire.

But after the headscarf ban, Dr. Dalil Boubakeur, the leading moderate Muslim spokesman in France, told a newspaper that French Muslims had become social pariahs, and he predicted violence in the streets. Even before the headscarf ban it was not uncommon for Arab demonstrations to end in riots. And as anti-immigrant parties convince more Europeans that Islam is a threat to European civilization, their power will grow.

Vlaams Blok's Vanhecke said, "The Islamic religion is a religion of force, which despises non-Islamic peoples. I think this may sound hard, but I think it's the truth."

With immigrants having babies three times faster than native Europeans, Europe's future is going to be multi-cultural. But it may not be peaceful.

April 15, 2004

EVIDENCES OF JESUS CHRIST'S RESURRECTION

"I claim to be an historian. My approach to Classics is historical. And I tell you that the evidence for the life, the death, and the resurrection of Christ is better authenticated than most of the facts of ancient history ..."
E. M. Blaiklock - Professor of Classics, Auckland University

The Resurrection of Christ is the most powerful event in history. It has affected the last 2000 years of history and politics, from peasants to kings to nations. Christianity has spread across the entire world, into every country and into a vast number of ethnic groups and languages. Billions of people have experienced the life-giving, healing, forgiveness and freedom offered by God because Jesus Christ conquered death and rose again from the grave.

The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Cor 15:12-22 that without the resurrection of Christ, the Christian faith is useless. "And if Christ be not raised," Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable."

There are many skeptics who disregard the resurrection of Jesus Christ of Nazareth as a fable. However, the evidence for Jesus' resurrection is extremely strong, even to the point of converting some who sought to disprove it:

The Empty Tomb: Though well-trained Roman soldiers guarded the tomb of Jesus Christ, it was empty 3 days after Jesus' death as Jesus had repeatedly foretold (Matt 12:40, Mark 8:31). The guards had fled (a death penalty offense). The massive stone had been rolled away, and the body was gone – and was never produced by the enemies of the Christians. The linen grave clothes in which the Jews bury their dead were still in the tomb, undisturbed. From the Jewish historian Josephus to a compilation of 5th-century Jewish writings called the "Toledoth Jeshu", even Jewish sources and traditions admit that the tomb was empty. The body was never found.

Living Witnesses: There were a multitude of witnesses who saw Jesus Christ alive after his death. The disciples, the travelers on the road to Emmaus and a number of women all spoke to Jesus alive. Thomas doubted until he was able to put his fingers into Jesus' wounds (John 20:26-27). He later spread the Gospel all the way to India. The apostle Paul tells of 500 people to whom Jesus appeared at one time, most of whom were still alive and available for questioning when Paul wrote his letter (1 Cor 15:6). When several people testify in a courtroom that they witnessed an event, and their accounts are found consistent with each other, their testimony is considered factual information. Jesus Christ was seen alive many times by hundreds of different people over the course of forty days after his death (John 20-21, Acts 1:3).

The Disciples: Christ's followers, who had been fearful and who had run away when Jesus was arrested, were completely changed after the Resurrection and became courageous witnesses. Peter, who had denied knowing Christ when recognized by a simple servant girl, became the powerfully bold leader of those who had seen Christ alive, speaking to the thousands gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Shavuot – Pentecost. A person may die for a lie if they do not know it is a lie. But people do not give their lives up and face severe persecution to spread a lie they themselves invented. The fact that the disciples willingly suffered beatings and persecution and death is strong evidence that they had actually witnessed the resurrection they refused to stop telling people about.

Saul of Tarsus: A devoutly religious Pharisee, who persecuted the Church and had Christ's followers thrown in prison, Paul had his life absolutely changed by his encounter with Christ. He became a devoted follower of Christ himself, spreading the Gospel throughout Turkey and Greece in the face of beatings and shipwrecks and imprisonment and, finally, execution.

"If the New Testament were a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond all doubt." - F. F. Bruce, Manchester University

Skeptics' Arguments Against the Resurrection:

The Hallucination Theory claims that the witnesses who met the resurrected Jesus were all "seeing things" - they were hallucinating. However, this goes against common sense as well as psychological principles. Five hundred people do not all hallucinate the same thing. Jesus appeared to many people at many different times. Also, the body was never produced.

The Swoon Theory argues that Jesus did not die – that he simply fainted from loss of blood and exhaustion. However, this also goes against common sense. The Romans were professionals who severely whipped Jesus, hung him on a cross, and then stabbed him in the side with a spear to make sure he was dead. He was in the grave for three days, wrapped head to foot in a burial cloth, without food or water or medical treatment. When he appeared to his disciples he was completely whole and healthy and his appearance inspired awe and worship that lasted throughout the rest of the disciples' lives.

The Disciples Faked the Resurrection: Discouraged, fearful fishermen and former tax collectors, whose teacher had been viciously murdered, were in little position to take on a detachment of trained Roman soldiers guarding the tomb. They would have had to create a fantastic plan in order to fight off or bribe the professional soldiers, raid the tomb, unbind the grave clothes from Christ's body, take the body away, and hide it where nobody would ever find it. The Roman soldiers faced death if they failed in their guard duty, and the disciples had little money for bribing anybody. Many people would have had to be involved in the conspiracy, and all those involved would not only have known the truth, but would know that they were risking meeting the same fate as their recently crucified leader. And what purpose could it possibly serve, if Jesus were dead? They would have had nothing to gain. Their leader was gone and they would have only faced persecution and death for their invented resurrection story.

And again, the disciples' attitudes completely changed after the Resurrection and especially after Pentecost. They became bold and courageous in spreading their message, fearless of beatings or imprisonment. They never sought to fight Rome or to establish any position or kingdom or authority for themselves. They had nothing to gain, physically speaking. They simply went about the known world, telling their story in spite of persecution and suffering, poverty and ridicule. Their message quickly spread across the Middle East and Europe and even into Asia without any military conquest or political support involved - and in spite of strong opposition. Only belief and hope based in the reality of their experiences would have produced such dedication in the lives of Christ's followers.

Perhaps the greatest evidence today of Christ's resurrection is the work that he is still doing in the lives of every day people. In the name of Jesus, people are still being healed emotionally and physically and spiritually by the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Sinners are being freed from the burden and pain and shame of sin – sometimes immediately, sometimes after long years of steady work by the Holy Spirit in their lives. Hearts are being mended and lives are being turned around. The best evidence today is the faithful follower of Christ who can say, "He saved me, and I am not the person I used to be" just as the apostles testified 2000 years ago.

[For more in-depth coverage of the above arguments, as well as many further evidences and related information, please see the links below.]

April 15, 2004

BRITAIN AND THE ID CRAZE

The United Kingdom is considering an array of ways to identify its citizens in order to combat both common crime and terrorism. New legislation enables British police to take fingerprints and DNA samples from anybody who is arrested, and not simply those who are charged or convicted of notable offenses.

Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed confidence that this increased biometric sampling would help in identifying the perpetrators of crimes. A year and a half ago, DNA taken from a drunk driver helped clear up a sexual assault/murder case that had gone unsolved for 30 years. The new policy will build up the database of available fingerprints and DNA samples, giving the police a broader pool of samples to compare to the evidence collected from crime scenes.

The Prime Minister also made it clear recently that a national ID card was in the future for British citizens. At his monthly news conference, Mr. Blair said that those who had previously opposed the ID cards had been won over and there was no longer serious opposition to the measure.

"There is no longer a civil liberties objection to that in the vast majority of quarters," Blair claimed. "There is a series of logistical questions, of practical questions that need to be resolved…But, in my judgement, now logistics is the only time delay in it. Otherwise I think it needs to move forward." His comments came only days after eight British men of Pakistani descent were arrested in connection to a suspected bomb plot.

In the name of fighting terrorism, a number of developed countries have been seeking to find improved ways of identifying both foreigners as well as their own citizens. Passports for people entering the United States will soon need to include biometric identifiers – like fingerprints. The United States announced last week that citizens from the 27 countries that can enter the U.S. without U.S. visas will still be fingerprinted and photographed when entering the country to ensure their identity. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said all U.S. airports and seaports will be outfitted by Sept. 30 and will require these visitors to provide "two digital index finger scans and a digital photograph" for identification when entering the country.

While the use of biometrics will provide standardized methods of identifying people and ensuring that the person holding an ID card is the person whose information is on that card, there will still be some problems with these systems. If a false ID has been put on a 'legitimate' ID card, then the fingerprints will match up at a checkpoint, but without correctly identifying the cardholder. Forging a false ID may become more difficult, but bribing an official to obtain a legitimate ID, or providing false information when applying for the ID will not be. Countries with poor ID systems or rampant corruption will still present problems when their citizens wish to travel to other countries. Because of this, there will be a continual push for all nations to develop standardized identification systems in order to fit into the ‘global community’.

Why no Christian suicide bombers? And other thoughts on Islamic terror - Dennis Prager

Golly gee, Muslim terrorists tried to attack Madrid again. How can that be? Wasn't Muslim terror in Spain supposed to end once Spain appeased the terrorists by voting in the socialists?

Only those who do not understand Muslim terror could fool themselves into believing that.

So, to better understand the subject, I offer three conclusions I drew about terror during my week of broadcasting from Israel last month.

First, Islamic terror is caused by Muslims, not, as Islamic and leftist apologists would have it, by the non-Muslims against whom it is directed. In our morally confused world, Spain, Israel and America are blamed for having their men, women and children blown up: What did these countries do to arouse such enmity among otherwise tolerant Arabs and Muslims?

Palestinian terror provides the answer. About 25 percent of Palestinians are Christian, yet if there are any Palestinian Christian suicide bombers, I am unaware of them. Now why is that? Don't Muslim and leftist apologists incessantly tell us that the reason for Palestinian terror is "Israeli occupation and oppression"? Why, then, are there no Palestinian Christian terrorists? Are Christian Palestinians less occupied?

The answer is obvious. There is Palestinian terror for the same reasons there is Muslim terror elsewhere. A significant part of the Muslim world wishes to destroy those non-Muslims – Americans, Israelis, Filipinos, Nigerians, Sudanese blacks – who prevent Islam from violently attaining power.

Palestinian Muslim terror emanates from a desire to destroy Israel, not to end Israel's occupation of the West Bank. Other Muslim terror is aimed at weakening the West, America in particular, so that militant theocratic Islam can dominate Muslim-majority societies and then take over other societies, as it is slowly doing in Western Europe.

Second, despite the Spanish cave-in to terror, in the long run, terror doesn't work. By any rational calculation, to take the Palestinian example, it has become the most self-destructive policy Palestinians could pursue. Palestinian terror has convinced almost all Israelis outside of academia that the moral gulf between them and the Palestinians is so wide that there is presently no hope for peace.

Nor has Palestinian terror terrorized Israelis. In what will surely be recorded as among the most impressive behaviors of a national group, Israelis have decided to live as normally as possible among people who aim to murder and maim as many of them as possible. In fact, I learned, many Israelis are now concerned that they have done this too well, that there is not enough mourning and rage after each atrocity.

Palestinian terror is self-destructive because it has morally, economically, religiously and politically destroyed Palestinian society and led to its present state of chaos. The mayor of Nablus resigned two months ago, declaring that gangs of thugs now govern Palestinian society. Any society that encourages terror ends up consumed by it. Ask the Saudis.

Third, there is a terrible long-term price that Muslims – Arabs and Palestinians in particular – are paying for the minority that engages in terror and for the majority that says nothing about it or supports it.

They may wish to reflect on the fact that with every act of terror they engage in, their people and religion are increasingly identified with cruelty. Can anyone anywhere name any Palestinian contribution to humanity other than innovative forms of terror and cruelty? On my radio show, the spokesman of Zaka, the Israeli rescue squad that attends to terror victims, told me that at various times Palestinian terrorists have laced the screws attached to their bombs with rat poison, and that at least one of the Palestinian terrorists was injected with the AIDS virus in the hope that his blood would transmit AIDS to wounded Israelis.

Just as the German nation, fairly or not, has had to grapple with the moral legacy of Nazism, and the name of Christianity still suffers (unfairly) because of medieval persecutions of non-Christians, so, too, Islam, Arabs and Palestinians will have to struggle for generations to shed their identification with murdering innocents.

While it is Americans, Israelis and other targets of terror who most suffer individually from Palestinian and other Muslim terror, those with the most to lose are Palestinians, Arabs and Islam.

• Arafat Invites Hamas to Bed - Publicly - April 07, 2004
Within hours of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's revealing his intention to fully withdraw from the Gaza Strip, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction of the PLO came together in Gaza City.

• Pro-Life Group Unveils Findings of Planned Parenthood/Girl Scouts Probe - April 12, 2004
A pro-life group investigating Planned Parenthood's ties to the Girl Scouts organization has found that 26 percent of Girl Scout councils have relationships with Planned Parenthood, but a large percentage of councils will not answer whether they have a relationship with the abortion provider or not.

• Campaigners fight biometric passports - April 07, 2004
Civil liberties and privacy groups have launched a campaign against airline industry plans to create a massive international database of passport holders tied together with "flawed" biometric technology.

• Technologists Bet New Net Standard Will Drive E-World - April 05, 2004
In the not-so distant future, computers and mobile devices will likely communicate easily and securely with refrigerators, light switches and other appliances.

• Angels Watching Over Us: A Military Chaplain's Account of Miracles in Iraq - April 12, 2004
Lieutenant Carey Cash gives his first-hand account of how God is not only moving in the hearts of the troops, but has miraculously shielded them from the massive array of weapons poised to stop them.

• FTC: Pornographic Spam Must Be Labeled - April 13, 2004
Pornographic "spam" e-mail will have to contain a warning on the subject line so Internet users can easily filter it out, the Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday.

• Brazil's Land Reformers Storming Through - April 13, 2004
The group invades private or unused tracks in an effort to force land redistribution in Brazil. Most farmers are unarmed, and the group has invaded 56 plots of land so far, causing a rise in tensions and causing harm to the already sluggish Brazilian economy.

• Oman Approves Screening Gibson's 'The Passion of the Christ' - April 12, 2004
As in many other countries, the movie has already broken box office records in the neighboring United Arab Emirates, where it hit the big screen last month. The film reclaimed the number 1 spot at the box office this past weekend, drowning out the debuts of five other films.

April 13, 2004

Sunni and Shia guerrillas unite against US -

April 9, 2004

Angels Watching Over Us: A Military Chaplain's Account of Miracles in Iraq

U.S. still supports one-China policy

Report: Intifada costing Palestinians $11 bil.

US Christians lobby against Gaza retreat

Al Qaeda a target early, Rice says

9/11 panel: Clinton's 'wrong decisions'

N.Y. Legislator Proposes Abolishing Marriage for Civil Unions

April 8, 2004

US Christians lobby against
Gaza retreat - Jerusalem Post

April 7, 2004

• Gibson's 'The Passion' a Hit Among Arabs - April 05, 2004
Because of the anti-Semitic accusations against the movie, many Muslim countries are allowing screenings of The Passion, a movie which depicts the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, when they would normally censor such a movie.

• How 9-11 Happened - April 01, 2004
An overview of the ways several U.S. administrations have dealt with the problem of terrorism. "The truth is in the timeline."

• EU to Israel: Don't Kill Terrorists, Or Else - April 02, 2004
European lawmakers Thursday accused Israel of perpetrating state terrorism, and threatened to suspend the current Israel-EU trade agreement if any more "Palestinian" terrorist leaders were vaporized by IAF helicopter gun ships.

• Temple Mount Faithful Hold Pesach Sacrifice on Mount Olives - April 05, 2004
Police on Sunday rejected their request to hold a Passover ceremony on the Temple Mount, and the movement instead held the ceremony, in which a kid goat was to be slaughtered, on Mount of Olives, which overlooks Temple Mount.

• Buoyant US Economy Boosts Dollar - April 06, 2004
Signs of renewed strength in the US economy are pushing the dollar higher, reversing the trend of recent months.

• Lethal Birth Control - April 06, 2004
Based on new information from the medical examiner's office, probers now believe that Zakiya Kennedy formed blood clots as the result of using the "patch" contraceptive - and that one of the fatal clots eventually moved into her lung and killed her, law-enforcement sources said.

• Judge Asks Doctor if Fetus Can Feel Pain - April 01, 2004
A doctor who performs abortions found himself quizzed by a federal judge about whether a fetus feels pain during a controversial abortion procedure and if the physician worries about that possibility.

• Doctor: Fetus Feels Pain After 20 Weeks - April 06, 2004
A type of abortion banned under a new federal law would cause "severe and excruciating" pain to 20-week-old fetuses, a medical expert testified Tuesday.

April 5, 2004

The threat we're ignoring now - By Frank J. Gaffney Jr.

The televised hearings convened last week by the September 11 Commission proved to be one of the most interesting and valuable civics lessons of all time. In particular, they made a point Americans cannot hear too often: The world is generally a dangerous place for the United States, its people and its interests -- whether we think so or not, and most especially when we don't. After all, at such times, we frequently squander opportunities to bring to bear the leadership and popular attention, military might and other national resources that could nip in the bud problems that will prove very costly to address later.

In particular, the hearings illuminated that the international situation bequeathed by Bill Clinton to George Bush was considerably more threatening than was widely perceived at the time.

Understandably, given the mandate of the commission, its members and their witnesses focused on one of those threats -- the Islamist al Qaeda organization -- and how it flourished largely unchecked during the eight years of the Clinton presidency and the eight months Mr. Bush was in office prior to September 11, despite this network's repeated, murderous acts of terror.

Unfortunately, there is another danger that grew inexorably over the pre-September 11 years: a Communist China bent on becoming not just the dominant nation in Asia, but a superpower and "peer competitor" to the United States.

If the Bush 43 team was, as Richard Clarke contends, giving too little attention to Osama bin Laden and his followers, one reason might have been it was reckoning -- both before and after Beijing's April 1, 2001, take-down of an unarmed American EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft -- with the near- and longer-term strategic implications of an increasingly formidable and aggressive China. All that changed after September 11, when China was supposedly transformed into an ally on terror and North Korea.

Yet, such critical thinking is, if anything, even more warranted today in light of the following:

• China is crushing freedom in Hong Kong. Ever since Britain surrendered the Crown Colony to the PRC in 1997, Beijing has, like a boa constrictor, inexorably tightened its grip on the people of Hong Kong. After briefly backing away from antidemocratic legislation in the face of massive public protests, the communists are now shredding what remains of the assurances it gave the United Kingdom about respecting liberty. Party organs are brazenly trying to intimidate courageous, freely elected legislators like Martin Lee and their followers by branding them "traitors."

On Monday, the Wall Street Journal quoted Liu Kin-ming, who runs the editorial page of Hong Kong's pro-democracy Apple Daily: "[At the time of the Chinese takeover], some said the city would be a 'freedom virus' that would infect the rest of China. Nearly seven years later, that thesis is tough to support, Mr. Liu says. Also increasingly tough to support is speculation that Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, who took power more than a year ago, would promote substantive political change in China. 'If Hong Kong isn't going to have democracy, then forget about the rest of China,' Mr. Liu says."

• Communist China is no less actively threatening and otherwise trying to stifle the other Chinese experiment in democracy: Taiwan. In the wake of still-contested Taiwanese presidential polling that Beijing sought to influence -- through intimidation (some 500 PRC ballistic missiles are now aimed at the Taiwanese people), pressure on the island's businessmen who are investing in or trading with the mainland and perhaps other, more covert means -- the communists have declared: "We will not sit back and look on unconcerned should the postelection situation in Taiwan get out of control, leading to social turmoil, endangering the lives and property of Taiwan compatriots and affecting stability across the Taiwan Strait."

• The missiles pointed at Taiwan are not the only manifestation of China's interest in being able to project power decisively in its region and emerge as the arbiter of Asian affairs. Center for Security Policy Asia Fellow Richard Fisher has noted that, with considerable help from the former Soviet military-industrial complex and cash supplied by Western consumers, the People's Liberation Army could have by the end of this decade as many as three new nuclear submarines, 27 new Kilo-class conventional subs plus about 18 older, but still potentially lethal, diesel submarines. Such an underwater force could, particularly when taken together with comparable improvements in its missile-equipped surface fleet and aviation arms, present a serious challenge to American efforts to defend Taiwan or other U.S. interests in the Western Pacific.

• Communist China is taking other steps with worrisome strategic implications. Testimony Dr. Peter Leitner and I presented before Sen. James Inhofe's Environment and Public Works Committee last week noted Beijing's use of the controversial Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST):

( a) To install fortified bastions on reefs, allowing it to lay claim to ever greater swathes of the South China Sea.

(b) And to try to thwart President Bush's new Proliferation Security Initiative. The latter is essential to U.S. efforts to prevent the transfer of weapons of mass destruction-related materials on the high seas. Were the United States unwisely to become party to this misbegotten treaty, it is a safe bet the Chinese will also try to employ LOST as a precedent for no-less-cynical efforts in the future to advance its determination to make military use of space, while constraining this country's ability to do so.

The good news is that the Communist Chinese threat is being subjected to intense, if less publicized, scrutiny by another congressionally mandated, bipartisan panel: the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, ably chaired by my colleague, Roger Robinson.

Given the stakes -- and the current, virtually complete lack of official and public attention to the menace posed by the PRC today and in the future -- the critical policy review provided by the China Commission may prove, if anything, even more needed than the findings of its more celebrated September 11 counterpart

April 2, 2004

FIFTH CIRCUIT EXPANDS POLICE SEARCH POWERS

A 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling last week has opened the doors to police searches without warrants in Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi. The case pits the difficult job of making quick decisions as a police officer against the rights of Americans to be free from illegal searches and seizures..

CHRISTIANS AND MISSIONARIES IN IRAQ
___________________________________________________________________

PLEDGE CASE GOES BEFORE SUPREME COURT MARCH 24

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD..." Psalm 33:12

On March 24, 2004, The United States Supreme Court will hear testimony in the "Pledge of Allegiance Case" - to determine whether the words "under God" will be allowed to remain in the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance.

There will be a great many political and legal arguments presented in this case, but the bottom line question is, will America be a nation that has places itself ultimately under God's authority, or will America deteriorate into a nation that claims to be its own god? Will America remain under the Law of God, or will America say, "I can determine my own truth." (?)

The issue is not one of individual liberty. Michael Newdow, the atheist who is fighting to have the Pledge changed, is free to reject God and go about his daily business regardless of whether the words "under God" remain in the Pledge. Any child who chooses - right now - may abstain from reciting the Pledge in school. Freedom of religion is the blessing offered to those living in a nation that believes that rights are given by God and not by government.

This is an important concept to understand. Atheism and humanism, which promise freedom from God and His rules, do not lead to true freedom. Stalin, in his power-hungry atheism, felt justified in murdering millions of his own people because they did not submit to his atheistic Communist ideal. Kim Jong Il of North Korea is currently murdering countless Christians and political dissidents because they threaten the power he holds in his atheistic empire. When God is the true Lord of a nation, there is freedom because the rulers recognize a higher authority to Whom they must also submit. When the rulers of nations consider themselves to be gods, then any crime can be justified in order to further their agendas.

As a nation "under God" America claims to stand under God's authority, with God and His Law as the true head of the country. If America fails to remain in that position, then the only Law left to guide her is the personal opinion of judges and the popular opinion of the masses – which are as solid than half-set pudding. By breaking the 1st Commandment and saying, "We are our own god, we can decide what is right and what is wrong of ourselves," America opens its door to laws based on justifications rather than on Justice, on faulty human rationalizations rather than on Righteousness.

Unfortunately, since America has long allowed itself to be pushed away from its pledged position "under God," the Supreme Court justices have already made several monumentally ungodly decisions these past several decades – without fear of impeachment. If America fails to truly live as a nation "under God" there hardly seems reason to keep the words in the Pledge.

However, we believe the majority of Americans do want to remain a nation under God, and we ask all such Americans to please pray for this upcoming Supreme Court case, that the justices will be able to wade through all the arguments and legalese and will make wise, just, God-fearing decisions in this case and in all the future cases that come before them.

Clashes between Kurds and Syrian forces spreading across northern Syria lead to at least 70 deaths and thousands of arrests since Friday's football riots in Qamishli. DEBKAfile's sources report Kurdish protesters smashed statues of ruler's father Hafez Assad, attacked government buildings and burned Syrian flags.

• Teenage Palestinian Boy Paid To Blow Up at IDF Roadblock - March 25, 2004
The boy's mother voiced astonishment at the incident. "Hussam left home this morning to school, and this was the first we hear of what happened...This is shocking. To use a child like this is irresponsible, forbidden."

• 'The Passion of the Christ' A Hit in Beirut, Damascus - March 26, 2004
Mel Gibson's controversial film "The Passion of the Christ," is drawing a sizeable audience in Beirut while apparently touching an emotional nerve in the Syrian capital, Damascus. "Coming out of the theater ... I saw a lot of people in tears..."

• British Gay Couples Win Full Rights To 'Marriage' - March 28, 2004
Attempting to show it still has a radical edge, the British government will say that all couples who sign up to a committed relationship should have the same rights, regardless of sexual orientation.

• Americans Cling To The Faith - March 28, 2004
America is the last religious nation in the Western world, the last in which a majority of the population are practicing believers. The Arab Islamists despise America because of its debauchery, but "Europe's radical secularists despise America because it's all born-again Christians hung up on abortion."

• Scientists ready to make artificial life - March 28, 2004
Scientists say they are finally ready to try their hand at creating life.

• Growth Rate Slowing; Global Population in 2002 Tops 6.2 Billion, Reports Census Bureau - March 22, 2004
Because women are having fewer children and the AIDS epidemic has decimated the population in Africa, world population growth has slowed significantly. Population aging, the rise in all regions in the size of older age groups relative to younger ones, will be an increasingly significant issue in coming decades.

• Mystery Over New Russian weapon - March 29, 2004
Russia has designed a "revolutionary" weapon that would make the prospective U.S. missile defense useless, Russian news agencies reported.

• Concern Over Biometric Passports - March 30, 2004
Civil rights campaigners have voiced concerns over plans to implement a global biometric identity system for air travelers.

CHRISTIANS AND MISSIONARIES IN IRAQ

Four Southern Baptist missionaries were killed and one seriously injured last week while hunting for a place to start a water purification project in Mosul, a town in northern Iraq. The missionaries' car was violently attacked by assailants who shot up the car using automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades. Christians, especially foreign Christian missionaries, still face extreme dangers from militant Muslims in post-Saddam Iraq.

Many are criticizing the entry of Christian missionaries into Iraq, arguing that their presence in a predominantly Muslim nation simply causes more trouble. There is already enough sectarian strife in the country, these argue, without Christians stirring up more trouble by coming in and trying to convert Muslims. Established Christian churches in Iraq are already trying to maintain a low profile and are fearful of being singled out for attack. Evangelical missionaries, some say, are naive and putting these churches in danger.

Trying to convert Muslims is certainly a dangerous business for both the evangelist and the Muslim involved. "No Muslim would ever say he had become a Christian," commented one 30-year-old Sunni Muslim who works as a translator. "That is the greatest sin in Islam, even more serious than adultery. The family would kill him and if they didn't, others would."

However, many of the missionaries coming into the country, like those murdered last week, are humanitarian aid workers, in Iraq simply to offer help to desperately needy people. "They knew going into Iraq, they couldn't really share their Christian faith unless somebody asked them," Larry Kingsley, a church deacon, said of the murdered missionaries. "They were there in a humanitarian situation... They were people who just had a great heart for helping people out." The people of Iraq need the help that Christian groups are offering, and many Iraqis gladly receive the assistance.

One group of Christians who met with the Prime Minister of the Kurds learned that he would be glad to have Christians come into his part of Iraq. Christians, in the Kurdish leader's eyes, were a peaceful group who would seek to help his people.

Others point out that, while fearful of retaliation from militants, there were many Muslims in Iraq who would love to find freedom from their sins through Jesus Christ. A number of Muslims secretly convert and underground churches that started during Saddam's harsh and domineering rule have continued to flourish. "Before the war, our church was very small – less than 50 people – and we had to meet in secrecy," said one Pastor Jule - who was at one point imprisoned under Saddam for leading an underground church in Baghdad. "Now our new church building seating 450 is almost completed, and it's already too small for our growing congregation."

Because of the danger of the situation, the number of Christians and Christian groups entering Iraq has remained relatively scant compared to the number that many missionary boards had hoped to send after the official end of the war. Any missionaries who seek to enter Iraq must realize they may face death in their efforts to reach out to the Iraqi people. However, in spite of the danger, there are underground and once-underground churches both needing and seeking support – prayer, Bibles and leadership training.

"Saddam drove us underground, but he couldn't stop us - even with imprisonment and torture. Now, our lack of Christian leadership is stopping us from developing urgently needed churches," said Pastor Farid Hana of Baghdad.

Please keep praying for these churches and groups, that God would make a way where there is no way, and that the truth of His love would be fully offered to the Iraqi people.

April 2, 2004

FIFTH CIRCUIT EXPANDS POLICE SEARCH POWERS

In this specific case, Kelly Donald Gould, a Louisiana man, made threats to kill judges and police officers and was reported by one of his employees. When deputies went to Gould’s home to talk to him about it, they were told that Gould was asleep. They were invited into the house, but found Gould’s bedroom empty. Aware that Gould had a violent criminal history and thinking he might be hiding, the officers checked two closets, where they found firearms. They soon found Gould outside his home and took him into custody for questioning. After Gould gave permission for his home to be searched, and signed a waiver for a search warrant, the officers returned to his home and seized the firearms. Gould was then arrested for being a felon in possession of firearms.

Gould contended that because there had been no search warrant issued, his home had been searched illegally and therefore the guns could not be used as evidence against him. U.S. District Judge James Brady agreed that the guns had been illegally obtained. Upon appeal, however, the 5th Circuit Court ruled 11-4 that officers could legally make a brief search of a home or office without a warrant if they already had legitimate purposes for being there, and if the officers feared for their safety.

New Orleans Police Department spokesman Capt. Marlon Defillo said the legal process has many checks and balances to prevent the new standard from being misused, and U.S. Attorney David Dugas of Baton Rouge said the case illustrates the "difficult situations" that officers face in trying to do their jobs. "They're expected to make split-second decisions in potentially dangerous situations involving constitutional issues that the courts and legal scholars can spend years debating," Dugas said.

Judges Harold DeMoss Jr. and Carl E. Stewart wrote in the dissent, "I have no doubt that the deputy sheriffs believed that they were acting reasonably and with good intentions. But the old adage warns us that 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions.'" Other legal experts also fear that the case sets a dangerous precedent which "grossly expands" the definition of what is a lawful search and seizure, and thus threatens the constitutional rights guaranteed by the 4th Amendment.

HOME

March 26, 2004

DOWN THE HOLE AGAIN, INTO “ALICE’S WONDERLAND”—Jan Markell
Olive Tree Ministries, Inc.
www.olivetreeviews.org

   The news doesn’t get any more bizarre than it has the last few weeks. Inane stories dominate and try to keep us majoring in minors. Much of what you read today is politically motivated and some issues are legitimate. What Washington calls “blood sport” or playing dirty politics, will reign, likely, until the November election.

   But first some good news. Gibson’s movie, “The Passion of the Christ” is now making its way into the Arab world. Muslims are attending because they had heard it was anti-Semitic but are finding it’s more of a message to love your enemies. They are being exposed to many truths that their faith categorically denies. Apparently the Arabic translation of the film is accurate. If the devil meant this movie for evil in the Arab world, pray that God will use it for good!

   Now the “theatre of the absurd.” Same topic—“The Passion.” OK, Yasser Arafat watched it as well. His reaction? The Palestinians are suffering as much as Jesus on the cross, due to the Israeli occupation and their brutality against the Palestinian people. The movie was brought to him by members of the “religious left”—always anti-Israel, always deluded, and always preaching “another gospel.” Wonder if now they’ll take it to Osama bin Laden for his opinion and approval?

   More lunacy—Tony Blair praises Libyan tyrant Moamer Kadhafi for “setting an example of the Arab world working with the West after 9/11.” To assume that Kadhafi’s motives are to create a more peaceful world is more strong delusion. He doesn’t want to end up in a rat hole like has pal Saddam Hussein. American power overwhelmed him in 1986 when President Reagan bombed Tripoli injuring members of his family.

   In talking with White House correspondent Bill Koenig this week, he felt America was a likely candidate for a major terror strike before the November election. Many news sites say the same. They influenced the election in Spain, and there’s no one they want out of office more than President Bush. The terror states believe John Kerry will offer them a better deal since he has stated our war on terror is “overblown.” I can’t make stuff like this up! You can find references to these stories and many more at my Web site, www.olivetreeviews.org, then go to “Current Headlines.”

   My interview with Bill Koenig concerning his new book: EYE TO EYE: THE CONSEQUENCES OF DIVIDNG ISRAEL is available on his Web site, www.watch.org. Olive Tree Ministries will carry it as well. That interview was last weekend, March 20, and we have a delay in posting it to “Radio Archives.” It should be up no later than Monday. Bill is one of just a handful of Christian members of the White House press corps. We will have it available at our April 23-24 conference with Hal Lindsey in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. We are using the facilities of Celebration Church in Lakeville, MN. Get our newsletter for details or go to ‘CONFERNCES’ on our Web site. We have titled the event “Evidences of the End-Times.” We will also show the film: “Relentless: The Struggle for Peace in Israel” on Saturday afternoon. Please consider joining us if you are in the Midwest. Write or call for our free newsletter, “Prophetic Views Behind the News”—Olive Tree Ministries, Box 1452, Maple Grove, M!
N 55311 or 763-493-3010. You can contact us through the Web site as well.

   Remember, the King is coming. Now go tell ten people about it.

Maranatha,
Jan Markell

March 25, 2004

• U.S. Missionaries Killed In Uganda - March 19, 2004
Warren Pett and his wife, Donna, were shot late Thursday after seven armed men wearing military uniforms raided the college near Yumbe in northwestern Uganda, where the couple taught.

• Woman Sues Planned Parenthood After Botched Abortion Requires Hysterectomy - March 22, 2004
According to the lawsuit, the woman says the doctor did not follow proper medical protocol by failing to inform her of the risks associated with the abortion procedure. The woman also says the doctor should have told her that he is an anesthesiologist and not a surgeon.

• Med Student Flunks For Saying No To Abortion - March 23, 2004
A Canadian medical student was given a failing grade in obstetrics and gynecology because he refused to perform abortions or to refer patients out for any abortive procedure.

• Who's Brainwashed in America? - March 23, 2004
Dennis Prager argues that virtually all religious Christians and Jews study secular subjects, have been taught by secular teachers, read secular books and watch secular films and secular television. Virtually no secular people have studied religious subjects, been taught by religious teachers, or read religious books, let alone watched religious films or television..

March 22, 2004

YASSIN: MASTERMIND OF EVIL ASSASSINATED – Jan Markell
Olive Tree Ministries, Inc.
www.olivetreeviews.org

   Israel has killed their own Osama bin Laden by assassinating Sheik Ahmed Yassin. He had been arrested on multiple occasions and was most recently released from Israeli prisons in 1997 in an effort to keep the Oslo Accords from collapsing. He is called a spiritual leader which is a stretch because he personally opened the gates of hell for Israelis, responsible for at least 112 suicide bombings. He was opposed to all peace efforts and felt Israel had no right to exist. He was called the spiritual leader of the radical terror group Hamas, nonetheless.

   As Jack Kinsella writes in his “Omega Intelligence Digest”, “….he was also Hamas’ banker. Yassin was the boss of Hamas in the same sense bin Laden is the boss of al-Qaida. In a 2003 interview with Fox News, Yassin issued a fatwa on American television in which he ordered all Muslims to kill Americans wherever they are found, if America sets one foot on Iraq soil.

   “In response to the killing of Yassin, Hamas issued a communiqué in which it said Israel could not have killed Yassin without America’s permission and hinted that Hamas would expand its target environment to include the United States.

   “This is not idle talk, saber-rattling rhetoric. This is a serious threat to every individual American citizen. A fatwa, once issued, becomes a part of Sharia Law. Sharia is analogous to codified law in Western society.”

   Note that not one Muslim cleric has issued a statement canceling the fatwas of death against America. There are thousands who could, but so far, no one has. That means that the fatwas ordering our deaths stand with the full force of Sharia law and it is the legal duty of every observant Muslim to obey them.

   This “spiritual leader” justified the use of women in order to carry out the attacks against Israel. He stated, “Hamas views women as the reserve force.” Thus he even ordered mothers to detonate themselves against Jews.

   The reaction in the Islamic world to this assassination should be of concern to Israelis and Americans. Once again it shows that Israel and America have a unique relationship with one another, but a relationship that could be threatened with this event. We can pray that fall-out from it does not affect us, but what always troubles me is that Americans react very apathetically to the tragedies in Israel. They’re 8,000 miles away. The scenes on the television can be grim, but we can turn them off or change the channel. The day could be coming when the “H” (human) bomb would come to America and then we would understand the dilemma very graphically.

   I trust the Bush administration makes no statements that Israel must “restrain” herself in her war against terror. I encourage you strongly to listen to Bill Koenig, my guest last weekend on my radio program. His new book: EYE TO EYE: THE CONSEQUENCES OF DIVIDING ISRAEL, spells out what happens when America—or any nation—comes against Israel. You can hear it on “Radio Archives” hopefully in another 2-3 days at www.olivetreeviews.org. I have also posted some stories on the assassination of Yassin under “Current Headlines.” I would encourage you to order Bill’s new book by going to www.watch.org. It is on the cutting edge of world events.

   The Bible never said it would be easy being born for such a time as this. Our generation surely represents the “perilous times” spoken of in the Bible. It also means the King is coming. Again, redeem the time left, whatever that might be. We will discuss this and much more at our third annual “Understanding the Times” conference April 23-24 with Hal Lindsey. For details, send me your address for our newsletter, or go to ‘CONFERNCES’ at our Web site.

Maranatha,
Jan Markell

March 18, 2004

The coming fall of Assad? - NIR BOMS & ERICK STAKELBECK

Bashar Assad dodged another bullet by dispersing last weekend's anti-government riots in northern Syria. And his Ba'ath Party continues to maintain a tyrannical grip over the lives of 22 million Syrians. For Syria's democratic reformers, however, the widespread unrest may signify the calm before the storm.

As of Monday, armed police continued to guard the streets of Qamoshli in northeastern Syria, where stores were closed and the atmosphere remained tense following the largest uprising against the Ba'ath Party in years.

The riots capped a full week of protests that began with the detainment on March 8 of several pro-democracy advocates, as well as an American diplomat stationed at the US embassy in Damascus.

Syrian security officials seized the diplomat while breaking up a pro-democracy march organized by the committees for the Defense of Democratic Liberties and Human Rights in front of the Syrian parliament building.

The march coincided with events celebrating the 41st anniversary of the Ba'ath Party's ascension to power.

Syrian authorities quickly broke up the demonstration and arrested the small group of activists – who knew beforehand that would be the likely outcome of their call for change.

While Syrian officials issued a swift apology to the US for the diplomat's brief detainment, no admission of guilt appears forthcoming from the Ba'ath Party regarding the events of this past weekend.

Kurdish sources say that close to 100 opponents of the regime were killed and hundreds more injured by police and army units during riots that swept through Qamoshli, Hasakah, Dirik, Amouda, and Ras el-Ein – all Kurdish majority cities in northern Syria.

The uprising began last Friday during a soccer match in Qamoshli, a city of 200,000 near Syria's northeastern border with Turkey. Fans of the visiting Fituwya club – which is based in the city of Dar el-Zur, near the Syrian/Iraqi border – threw stones at supporters of the hometown Al-Jihad team and chanted Ba'athist slogans such as "Viva Saddam Hussein." Al-Jihad supporters responded by chanting "Viva Barazani" (in honor of Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barazani) and "Viva democracy."

This exchange of angry words eventually led to an all-out brawl between the two sides in which three young children were trampled to death inside the stadium.

The riots eventually spread from the stadium to the Qamoshli streets, where Syrian police reportedly killed at least 30 Kurds. A group of Kurds responded by taking over a local police station, only to relinquish it when Syrian troops and helicopters arrived from Damascus.

Members of Syria's elite special forces units, which were supposed to have been largely disbanded in 2000 as part of Assad's short-lived reforms, also reportedly assisted in crushing the Qamoshli rebellion.

DESPITE THE deadly response of Syrian authorities in Qamoshli, the uprising soon spread to the nearby city of Amuda, where statues and murals of Bashar Assad were destroyed, and demonstrators marched in the streets calling for the restoration of human rights and the release of Syrian political prisoners.

The unrest also spread to Syria's two largest cities, Damascus and Aleppo, albeit on a smaller scale, as a number of impromptu pro-democracy demonstrations were held as a show of solidarity with the rioters. In response, several hundred riot officers, wearing helmets and bearing plastic shields, were stationed around Damascus University and in a predominately Kurdish suburb nearby. Additionally, the Kurdish quarters of Damascus, Aleppo, and Haleb were subjected to a curfew.

The behavior of Syrian riot police led US State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli to urge Syria "to refrain from using increasingly repressive measures to ostracize a minority that has asked for a greater acceptance and integration into Syrian life."

But events only escalated on Monday as Syria sealed off its borders with Iraq after Iraqi Kurd fighters threatened to enter the country if the violent clashes between Syrian security forces and Syrian Kurds were not brought to an end.

Also on Monday, Haaretz reported that an American team had landed in northern Syria to help ease tensions, and that Assad had dispatched his brother, Colonel Maher al-Assad, along with Defense Minister Mustafa Tlass, to Qamoshli to negotiate with the leaders of the revolt.

Reverberations from the uprising were also felt in Europe, where 60 pro-democracy Kurds in Brussels stormed Belgium's Syrian embassy on Saturday to protest the Ba'ath Party's brutal crackdown on the rioters. On Monday, another 60 Kurdish activists took over the Syrian consulate in Geneva, in what they said was an attempt to draw attention to "the massacre of Kurdish civilians being carried out by Syrian army and police forces."

The Kurds agreed to leave the consulate after a few hours on condition that a letter would be sent on their behalf to the United Nations.

The desperate measures used by Europe's Kurds have only drawn more attention to Syria's ongoing human rights abuses at a time when Assad is looking to strengthen his ties with the European Union. Even worse for Assad, plans are already being laid by the Kurds for additional protests in Europe, as well as a march in front of the Syrian embassy in Washington, DC, on March 19.

For the Kurds, like for many Syrians, the horrific sights and sounds that accompanied the riots in northern Syria were all too familiar. In 1982, Hafez Assad – the deceased father of Bashar – responded with overwhelming force to an uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood in the central Syrian city of Hama.

Using special forces, helicopters, tanks, heavy artillery and, according to some reports, cyanide gas, the Syrian army massacred more than 20,000 men, women, and children in its efforts to root out Hama's Muslim Brotherhood influence.

Reached by cellular phone on Sunday, a Kurdish activist who was present during the Qamoshli riots of this past weekend drew a parallel to the carnage of Hama: "I don't know what will come next," he said. "I am afraid that no one will come to our aid. If there is no pressure from the outside, this will be a prelude to another massacre just like in 1982."

The young Syrian president vowed to march Syria into the new millennium, but his track record reveals a road that takes his country back to darker times. The increasing attention given to Syria may at least ensure that the next rally doesn't result in a massacre. And the more voices of reform, the greater the chance to turn the tide in Syria.

Boms is a fellow at the Council of Democracy and Tolerance and the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Stakelbeck is head writer for the Investigative Project, a Washington, DC-based counter-terrorism research institute.

March 17, 2004

• Why Russia's Poor Still Believe The Putin Fairytale - March 08, 2004
Yuri, 55, an engineer, says he will not vote for Putin. But he struggles to name any of the other candidates. "We have a joke here," he adds. "In America, you find out who wins the elections two months after they've finished. In Russia, we know two months beforehand."

• Former Khmer Rouge Soldiers Turn to Christianity - March 10, 2004
During his three decades with Cambodia's infamous Khmer Rouge, Ung Khorn planted land mines, set booby traps and led 200 soldiers into battle, killing an untold number of people. Today, he and thousands of other ex-Khmer Rouge are seeking forgiveness and following a new leader: Jesus Christ.

• Florida Court Order Once Again Denies Intervention for Parents of Terri Schindler Schiavo - March 12, 2004
A Florida state court has once again denied a motion to intervene on behalf of Robert and Mary Schindler - the parents of Terri Schiavo - to permit the parents to become directly involved in defending "Terri's Law" - legislation that cleared the way for Florida Governor Jeb Bush to restore life-saving measures to Terri Schiavo.

March 15, 2004

Note from Bill: of www.watch.org

My new book, Eye to Eye - Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel, is now available.(The follow up to Israel:The Blessing or the Curse)The fifteen month effort, consisting of 374 pages, provides undeniable facts and conclusive evidence that the leaders of the United States, the world, Israel, and most of the Church, are on a collision course with God over His covenant land.

Israel and the Jewish people are very special to God. Israel is where His Son Jesus Christ lived, ministered, died for our sins and was resurrected. Israel is where Jesus Christ will return at His Second Coming. Israel is also at the center of God's redemptive plan for the world. Jerusalem is God's time clock.

We know the God of Israel is very serious when the "apple of His eye" is placed at risk. The United States and Israel have both experienced the consequences of dividing Israel's land; the rest of the Quartet is beginning to experience the same since the Road Map was delivered on April 30, 2003.

Using "Eye to Eye" to Awake Others

We have been providing this message for three years. I have shared many commentaries on the subject. We have made great headway but more must be done. "Eye to Eye" takes this message to a much deeper and more comprehensive truth than ever before. We need to get the truth out to our leaders, the Church, to Jews and the world. There are many family members, friends and acquaintances souls at risk. Time is very crucial.

Not only will this book help you become more informed but it is also a crucial tool in educating others to the seriousness of President Bush's decisions pertaining to Israel, the times we are living in, and the importance of Israel in God's redemptive plan for the world.

President Bush's reelection is hinging on what he does in the coming months with Israel. The alternative to him is alarming.

Putting these times into perspective, the American "war on terror" began at the very time President George W. Bush was finalizing the most comprehensive message ever to be given by an American President on God's covenant land. The 9-11 terror events postponed that address from being given to the UN and it was the beginning of the war on terror, and our nations judgment for touching the "apple of His eye."

Since 9-11, every time President Bush mentions his favoring of a Palestinian state in a public address, or he and/or one of his top staff applies significant pressure on Israel to divide their land, major and frequent terror warnings increase substantially, the times become disruptive for him politically, and the situation in Iraq worsens dramatically. There have been nine different periods of disruption since 9-11-2001.

Since 9-11, there have also been 16 major catastrophes and events that have happened on the same day or within in 24 to 48 hours of President Bush and/or his top staff applying pressure on Israel to divide her land.

In Israel, 28 of the 33 major suicide bombings from December 1, 2001 to March 14, 2004, occurred as the Bush and Sharon administrations were actively involved in the peace negotiations. These tragedies transpired the very same day or within in 24 hours of major peace activity.

To order "Eye to Eye" online please click here.

Please send mail orders to Koenig's International News, Post Office Box 25812, Alexandria, VA 22313. One book $12. Two or more books $10 each. The shipping cost for the first book is $2.45, 50 cents for each additional book.

March 13, 2004

"Remember Lot's Wife" - Jack Kinsella - www.omegaletter.com

A group saying it speaks for al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the Madrid train bombings that killed just under two hundred and wounding fourteen hundred more. Khalid al-Shami, political editor of Al Quds Al Arabi in London, said their office received an e-mail letter from the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade on Thursday.

In the letter, the group called the Madrid bombings the "death train operation," and said it wasn't disturbed by the deaths of innocent people.

"We in Abu Hafs al-Masri aren't saddened by the fall of what you call civilians. Is it acceptable for them to kill our women, children, elderly and youth in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, and Kashmir, but forbid us to kill them?" the letter said.

"And we will alert all Muslims around the world that an attack from the Wind of Black Death is imminent. It is currently in the final stages, 90 percent complete, God willing soon. It will happen at the appropriate time for Mujahadeens and will make believers joyous," the letter said.

So far, Spain isn't buying the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade claim of responsibility. Spanish intelligence say it was the Euskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA), a Basque separatist group that has been involved in a string of bombings throughout the country since the late 1960s.

More than 800 people have been killed in their attacks, which target both politicians and the civilian population.

Spain's Interior Ministry said tests showed the explosives used in Thursday's attacks were a kind of dynamite normally used by ETA. Aznar's office said the explosives contained a material called titadine, a kind of compressed dynamite found in a van intercepted last month as it headed for Madrid.

Competing claims of responsibility are nothing new to the world of terror. Terrorist groups want to terrify -- that's what they do -- in order to draw attention to their particular cause. If they can accomplish the same thing by spending a quarter on a phone call as they can by actually blowing something up, why not?

The Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade was named after Abu Hafs al-Masri, bin Laden's former right-hand man who was killed in the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan in October 2001.

Of late, competing claims appear to be part of an overall strategy designed to make al-Qaeda look bigger and more powerful than it actually is. Or, worse, to reveal how big and powerful it actually is. Sorting out which is the real state of affairs is something even the CIA hasn't been able to nail down.

Here's the reason. al-Qaeda is more than simply Osama bin-Laden and the Taliban crowd. al-Qaeda means 'the base' and it has served as a base of funding and training for lots of different terror groups.

Think of al-Qaeda like Wendy's. After the September 11th attacks, it began franchising itself.

Dave Thomas opened the first Wendy's. He taught other people how to emulate his restaurant's success and soon, thousands of independent entrepreneurs owned their own restaurants.

They weren't all owned by the same people, but they were all called 'Wendy's' and all followed an identical corporate philosophy as a condition of franchise.

For that reason, the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigade's claim may be as authentic as al-Qaeda's.

Assessment:

If the al-Qaeda claim is credible, the attack against the Spanish railway wasn't aimed at Spain -- it was aimed at the United States. "This is part of settling old accounts with Spain, the crusader, and America's ally in its war against Islam," the claim said.

The 'old accounts' of Spain, the Crusader, refer to events of 800 years ago. That is a flimsy reason to blow up a train in 2004. The reason for the attack is the second half of the sentence, "America's ally in its war against Islam."

Why is this important? Because it means America's enemies are expanding and absorbing other disaffected America-haters. Recruiting young ideologues into al-Qaeda is simplified by the fact America provides much of the necessary propaganda.

Yesterday, John Kerry was caught by a supposedly disconnected microphone saying the Republican Party was "the most crooked ... lying group I've ever seen." When the GOP demanded an explanation and apology, Kerry refused.

It is the death of a thousand cuts -- aimed at the Bush administration, but instead, slashing away at America's international image. To listen to America's media, news broadcasts, political speeches and talking heads programs, one can find ample reason to hate the United States. In fact, it is hard to find much, based solely on these sources, that is good or likable about America, even if you try.

Try it yourself and see. And remember that what you are reading is being read across the Middle East, as well. Except they don't have any understanding of partisanship or any context in which to put the reports except verbatim.

The whole ABB (Anybody But Bush) campaign has also had a secondary effect of distracting America away from the war and lulling the country into a sense of complacency about the threat from abroad. And the debate about domestic security is distracting away from the threat from within.

America is facing a time of peril unlike any in its history. For the first time in 200 years, war has come to the homeland, and America is totally unprepared for it. The proof is found in the cavalier way some Americans are handing propaganda victory after victory to the enemy, unaware, or uncaring, about the consequences, provided the proper agendas are being advanced.

Although America is at its zenith, the most powerful, the most wealthy, the most blessed of all the nations on earth, there is no mention of America or American influence in Bible prophecy. The nations of the Middle East play a role.

So does Russia, China, North Africa, Europe and Asia. The Bible identifies four spheres of power in the last days. The revived Roman Empire, the Kings of the South, the Kings of the East and the Gog-Magog Alliance. There is no mention of a fifth, overarching superpower to the west that corresponds to America.

Where is America in prophecy? There are a couple of possible explanations. The first is the Rapture, which is my personal favorite.

But that's because of the second possibility, which is that America, as a nation, is no longer of any consequence to global events in the last days for other reasons.

When God planned to judge Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot pleaded with Him:

"Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?" to which God replied, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes."

When fifty couldn't be found, Abraham began to bargain, until he got God to agree that if there were just ten righteous, Sodom would be spared. But not even ten righteous were found and the city's fate was sealed. God arranged for an evacuation of Lot and his family before the destruction.

This is a hopeful foreshadowing of the Rapture being the reason America is absent from the prophetic record.

But Lot's wife enjoyed the city life, she was complacent and willing to compromise. As they fled the city, Lot's wife looked back, and the Bible says she was turned into a pillar of salt.

When He described last days, Jesus said, "But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed."

But then He warned, "Remember Lot's wife." (Luke 17:29-30,32)

March 11, 2004

Christians in Laos threatened with death

March 10, 2004

ABORTIONS HURT WOMEN

Since the abortion rights movement started gaining ground over 30 years ago, abortion has been postured as an issue of women's rights and as a way of advancing the freedoms of women. However, when Roe v. Wade legalized abortion, millions of women began having to deal with the realities of the issue, which go far beyond the propaganda that is shouted by the pro-choice crowd. Last week, several women who were once advocates of abortion testified before the U.S. Senate regarding the different harms that women who have had abortions have had to face. Also last week, a self-proclaimed feminist spoke to Harvard students on the damage that abortion does to women.

Women Deserve Better, a website created by Feminists For Life Of America, goes through the many negative effects that having abortions have had on women, with sources cited.

Physically:
-Each year, over 140,000 women suffer immediate physical problems related to their abortions, including infection, uterine perforation, hemorrhaging, and cervical damage.
-Abortion has been linked to breast cancer, increasing its risk by 30%. The risks for ovarian or cervical cancers also rise for women who have abortions.
-Years after the abortion, women can find that they have been put at risk for complications in later pregnancies, including premature birth, placenta previa, and ectopic pregnancy. The complications that can accompany a legal abortion also can cause infertility, and some women who later want to have a baby cannot conceive or cannot carry their baby to full term.

Psychologically/Emotionally:
-Women who go through with an abortion often find that they suffer from depression and guilt, which can manifest in many ways. Some women experience nightmares, insomnia, eating disorders, and an increase in alcohol or drug abuse.
-Many post-abortive women deal with suicidal thoughts, and the suicide rate for women who have had abortions is at least 6 times higher than for women who have not had abortions.

Socially:
Because women have the "choice" of abortion, many feel forced to take that route. Parents, families, friends - purposefully or not - can make a pregnant woman feel that abortion is her only true choice. Those women who go through with an abortion because they feel social pressure to do so are often the most devastated by the decision they made. For other women, the shame they feel is so great that they can never admit to families or friends that they had an abortion, and most don't know where to go for help and healing.

Spiritually:
The shame of having had an abortion causes many women to feel they have committed the unpardonable sin. Unable to forgive themselves, many feel God could never forgive them and feel rejected by Him. These women either avoid God and Church altogether, or else try to pretend like the abortion never took place. Others strive to justify their action, yet feel that all those around them are judging them. Those women who can seek and receive God's forgiveness, however, can make true headway toward spiritual healing.

While abortion has been promoted as a means of freeing women, it in fact can and has brought women great bondage and suffering. Women who are unexpectedly and unwillingly pregnant need to know that they have many options available to them. They need to know that loved ones will be there to support them through the difficult times. Those who have already had abortions need to know that they are not alone, and that they can find healing and forgiveness.

For more information, see the links below:

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