Sunday, October 24, 2010

Iraq War Logs (http://wikileaks.org/)

At 5pm EST Friday 22nd October 2010 WikiLeaks released the largest classified military leak in history. The 391,832 reports ('The Iraq War Logs'), document the war and occupation in Iraq, from 1st January 2004 to 31st December 2009 (except for the months of May 2004 and March 2009) as told by soldiers in the United States Army. Each is a 'SIGACT' or Significant Action in the war. They detail events as seen and heard by the US military troops on the ground in Iraq and are the first real glimpse into the secret history of the war that the United States government has been privy to throughout.

The reports detail 109,032 deaths in Iraq, comprised of 66,081 'civilians'; 23,984 'enemy' (those labeled as insurgents); 15,196 'host nation' (Iraqi government forces) and 3,771 'friendly' (coalition forces). The majority of the deaths (66,000, over 60%) of these are civilian deaths.That is 31 civilians dying every day during the six year period. For comparison, the 'Afghan War Diaries', previously released by WikiLeaks, covering the same period, detail the deaths of some 20,000 people. Iraq during the same period, was five times as lethal with equivallent population size.

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Friday, October 15, 2010

Friday, Oct. 15, 2010

Mostly Dis & A Lot of Dat: With that Iranian Mad Man (Ahmadinejad) finally leaving Lebanon, Bibi Netanyahu says Israel will remain wary of ties between Beirut and Tehran. The PM added that Israel will 'know how to defend itself against such developments.' (Source: Ynet)

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Corbett Returns To Blog Again

October 13, 2010: After nine months of hospital visits and stay-at-home care, Ol' Man Corbett returns to his post with ID (Investigative Day) and the Jerusalem Sun ... If you want a much fuller report, just e-mail me at: editorcorbett@gmail.com ... Much has happened in nine months, including losing a ton (well, alright, 40 pounds) ... So it's back to the grind Thursday ...

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Apocalypse Now: A familiar scenario

(Second of a two-part series on the Apocalypse from Ahmadinejad to former Washington Post reporter Michael Drosnin was written in January 2007).
The "prophets" of doom and gloom are flooding the market place -- or, at least, the Internet and bookstores around the globe. In fact, it's become a multi-million, perhaps, even a billion-dollar business.
In generations past, those so-called seers of "end times" wore long robes and had scruffy beards and stood on street corners while shouting of mankind's imminent demise. "The End Is Here," they would bellow.
Now, they turn up on major television shows, with a few exceptions, issuing their pronouncements. They're mostly clean cut and some even wear designer suits.
And where did this trend begin?
Before Y2K, Frontline, the celebrated U.S.-based television program, gave the chronological order of "the apocalyptic world view through the ages.
"The following are brief excerpts which stretches back to 1,500 B.C.E., when the Persian prophet Zoroaster spoke of "a cosmic battle between good and evil ending in a new, perfect world for humanity. The Zoroastrian tradition survives today in Iran and as the basis of Parsiism in India.
"If, indeed, the genesis occurred in Iran, then the world shouldn't be shocked by the recent pronouncements from its despotic leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who believes a Shi'ite messianic figure, Imam Mahdi, will arrive with "Jesus, the son of Mary," by the spring equinox.
Then as I wrote in Thursday's paper, this Mahdi, supposedly, would take over an army and eventually end up in Jerusalem and wage a number of apocalyptic battles against the enemies of Islam (namely Israel and the U.S.).
However, in tracing the Frontline scenario, the Book of Ezekiel (written in 592 BCE to 586 BCE), apparently was penned in response to the invasion and capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzer and the exile of the Jews to Babylon. And this book as well as the Book of Isaiah, First Enoch and, particularly, the Book of Daniel is the basis of much of today's proliferation of prophecy believers and so-called scholars.
In the New Testament, the Gospel of Mark, according to Frontline "interpreters" included the "Little Apocalypse" in which Jesus -- The Messiah -- fuelled expectations of His imminent return.
However, perhaps, the Book of Revelation, written in 90 CE, emphasized apocalyptic events, which would occur in the future.
Throughout the ages the world has gravitated towards a belief it would come to a dramatic end -- and suddenly. And beyond that, there was either damnation for some, known as hell, or an ideal paradise, known as heaven.
According to Frontline, the American Revolution had a significant role in fuelling apocalyptic thinking, for "colonial pamphleteers equated the hated Stamp Act with the "mark of the beast" from Revelation, and cast King George in the role of the Antichrist.
In 1859, according to Frontline, a British minister, John Nelson Darby, introduced a theological viewpoint known as premillennial dispensationalism, which divided history in sections or epochs. According to Darby, the period we are living in now would be considered the Church Age, which would be followed by the Rapture, in which the true believers in Christ would be swept away and those left on the planet would have to endure the terrible dilemma known as the Tribulation.
While there have been a bevy of "doom-sayers," probably the most listened to have been TV evangelist John Hagee and prolific writers such as professing born-again Christians, Hal Lindsey and Grant Jeffrey.
One who doesn't fall into that category is former Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal reporter, Michael Drosnin, who has had two New York Times bestsellers, Citizen Hughes, and The Bible Code.
Drosnin, in the Bible Code II -- The Countdown, written in 2002, believes the world is on the very edge of the Apocalypse and as he wrote for the book jacket, "The warning in the Bible Code (the ancient code encrypted in the Bible) is clear: A nuclear World War will start with an act of terrorism in the Middle East. It is the Apocalypse foretold by all the West's three major religions.
"Drosnin went on to claim September 11 was predicted in the 3,000-year code and "was the beginning, not the end, of the danger.
"One of the most scary scenarios was forecast by a former Californian named Frank Ernest Mauck, who has taken on the mantle of "Elijah the Tishbite" and now resides in Cyprus.
On a daily basis he utilizes the Internet to get his messages that Planet X is on a collision course with Earth. Then he proceeds to condemn everyone from U.S. President George Bush to Prince Charles for the world's ills.
While this planet hasn't been rocked yet by apocalyptic storms or it hasn't turned on its axis, it appears time is quickly running out, according to these "prophets of doom and gloom."
(OK Corbett is a former editor-columnist with the Edmonton Sun and one of the originals of the Toronto Sun. Hie e-mail is: editorcorbett@gmail.com).

Dealing with 'prophets of doom'

(First of this two-part series on the Apocalypse from Ahmadinejad to former Washington Post reporter Michael Drosnin was written in January 2007)
The words, "Apocalypse warning" has a tendency to send shivers up and down one's spine. It's a subject which is often ignored by so-called normal people, who dwell on the rise and fall of stock market prices.
However, even though Terry Mattingly of Scripps Howard News Service claimed such matters as the "end-times" didn't even rate among the top 20 "religious stories" during 2006, it, nevertheless, held high priority in some circles.
Incidentally, such events as the violence ignited by the publication of the Muhammad cartoons and the controversy surrounding the Da Vinci Code movie did make the headlines.
As far back as the summer, and in this column, I detailed that Iranian despot Mahmoud Ahmadinejad believed that the Hidden Imam, would appear by Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2006. It didn't happen, but there were those that believed such an event could occur in the near future.
Just prior to that date, former Princeton professor Bernard Lewis in the Wall Street Journal, wrote: "What is the significance of Aug. 22? This year, Aug. 22 corresponds to the 27th day of the month of Rajab of the year 1427. This, by tradition, is the night when many Muslims mark the night flight of the prophet Muhammad on the winged horse, Burq, first to "the farthest mosque," usually identified with Jerusalem, and then to heaven and back (c.f. Koran XVII.1). This might well be deemed an appropriate date for the apocalyptic ending of Israel and if necessary of the world.
"Then I took the liberty to quote from the Zionist.com website, which stated: "Ahmadinejad is a strong believer in the Shi'ite tradition of the 12th imam, the so-called "hidden" Imam Mahdi who Allah had miraculously kept alive since his disappearance in 874 A.D. As the story goes, Imam Mahdi will return at a time of great global chaos, oppression and bloodshed and usher in an era of (Islamic) justice."
However, on Dec. 31, the official Iran website claimed the Imam would arrive by spring along with "Jesus, the son of Mary." This Mahdi, who some believe to be Osama bin Laden, would suddenly appear in Mecca; form an army, head for Medina and eventually take on Islam's chief enemies (Israel and the U.S.) in Jerusalem."
Ahmadinejad's mystical pre-occupation with the coming of the Mahdi is raising concerns that a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic could trigger the kind of global conflagration he envisions (and) will set the stage for the end of the world," according to the respected website, World Net Daily.
Of course, Ahmadinejad isn't the only one, who has made predictions.
In Dr. Michael Rutford's book, "The Nostradamus Code: World War III -- 2007-2012, he has taken the liberty to interpret the "quatrains" of the often-quoted seer.
In Chapter 4: The Time of Troubles, Rutford's summation included such frightening thoughts as the rise of a crazed (Middle Eastern) leader, who will launch nuclear bombs on the Mediterranean and in Europe, particularly on France and Italy. "This leader is not the Antichrist but helps to set the stage for the Antichrist."
Other interpretations of Nostradamus' quatrains include:
* Volcanoes, earthquakes, flood, droughts. "A very bright, previously unknown comet will appear and coincide with the time of great geological troubles, with earthquakes and volcanoes erupting and disrupting weather systems ... The U.S., in particular, will be subject to serious natural disasters ... Earth changes will take place that will help the Antichrist's drive for world conquest."
However, a modern-day "interpreter," Jack Kelley has written of seven major prophetic signs of the Second Coming (of Jesus Christ): 1. Israel will be in The Land (Ezekiel 38:8); 2. Jerusalem will be in Jewish hands (Luke 21:24); 3. A Moslem coalition armed and led by Russia will attack the Holy Land (Ezekiel 38:2-6); 4. The ancient Roman Empire will re-emerge as a political force (Rev. 17:9-10); 5. The world will embrace a single religion (Rom.13:8); 6. The world will accept a single government (Rev. 13:3); 7. Babylon will re-emerge as a prominent city in world affairs (Rev. 18:2-3).
There are other signs according to Kelley such as: Wars and rumours of wars; the increase of natural disasters; signs in the sun, moon and stars; pestilence; the love of most will grow cold; the gospel will be preached in all nations.
So the question remains: What will really happen in the near future?
Tomorrow: Other "prophets" will vent ther views, from former Washington Post reporter Michael Drosnin, author of the best-selling Bible Code II -- The Countdown to Elijah the Tishbite, aka Frank Ernest Mauck.
(OK Corbett is a former editor-columnist with the Edmonton Sun and one of the originals of the Toronto Sun. He can be reached at editorcorbett@gmail.com)