25th February 2011
A MORE VIOLENT PLACE
The world has just become an even more violent place. We have the gross epidemic of gratuitous violence taking place and being visited upon the population of every one of the Islamic nations of North Africa and the Middle East. The worst and most appalling examples of all being those of Libya, Yemen and Bahrain. In Libya Colonel Gaddafi has been ruling, we can’t use the word “governing”, … ruling for 41 years and has learned nothing except how to kill, maim and injure more people. It seems to be a policy to launch the air force and machine-gun from the air, to place snipers on the top of tall buildings and shoot at people below. So far, in just one city, Al Bayda, it is reported that 35 were reported as having been killed and hundreds injured. In Bahrain, the report was of the police firing into an angry crowd attending the funeral of four people who were killed a few days earlier. It was reported that there were at least 50 casualties. In the Yemen the army was used to break up a march. Two people were killed and dozens wounded.
One newspaper report said “Just 7 days after the fall of Egypt’s Mubarak, the whole Middle East is in turmoil , with bloodshed from Libya to Bahrain. Tyrants and their well-paid gunmen try to drown opposition to their rules with violence and repression. Civil war and chaos threaten Yemen and Jordan. This is not just a grim prospect for the people who live there. It is extremely unnerving for the West. The oil-rich autocracies on which we depend are now facing full-throated revolution.”
Not only is there violence perpetrated by people, but there is violence inflicted by the environment in which we live. Australia and New Zealand have been suffering dreadfully over the past few months. First of all there was severe drought throughout the area of the Murray-Darling river basin of Australia. This drought subsequently spread to other parts of the nation. Then came the floods which inundated Queensland the effect of which are likely to be felt for several years yet to come. And now New Zealand having suffered a 7.0 earthquake in Christchurch in South Island has just been afflicted with a further earthquake of 6.4 which inflicted far more damage than the previous one. The reports of casualties so far are 75 deaths but, thankfully, there was news of over 100 people who had been unaccounted for being found! But it is feared the death toll will reach 300.
The big question however remains. Why these extreme weather conditions? Jesus Christ in the gospel of Matthew responded to the disciples when they asked what would be the sign of his return and of the end of the world. He listed a number of things to be aware of. Violence was one. Earthquakes in various places was another. We have, of course, had earthquakes around the world for a very long time. He was speaking of unusual earthquakes and there have been quite a number of these over the past few years – we have listed them in the past. He also mentioned famines. With severe drought as is being experienced around the world comes famine.
ARMS EXPORTS
The Independent – 19th February – Crackdown on arms exports to Bahrain. The government bowed to intense pressure last night and revoked a host of licences for arms exports to Bahrain and Libya, after Foreign Secretary William Hague said there was “no evidence” that security forces in the Gulf state had used British tear gas to suppress pro-democracy demonstrators. The French government has banned all arms exports to Bahrain and Libya.
Britain and other Western countries have urged restraint in the protests sweeping across the Middle East. But at the same time, the UK has been selling arms and crowd-control measures to the administrations in Bahrain, Libya, Jordan and other countries.
Our comment: Where is the morality in “urging restraint” by some of these nations. There may well be no word in their various languages for “restraint” – or, if there is, it isn’t a word in the vocabulary of many of these rogue governments. Britain must surely know what these “crowd control” devices and arms will be used for. Why does Britain or America sell high performance fighter aircraft to some of these nations – do we not know what they will be used for!
HERE’S HOW!
Sunday Times – 20th February – Iran stages show of force in Suez. Amid the expanding turmoil of popular revolt in the Arab world, two Iranian warships were yesterday preparing a provocative passage through the Suez canal in an apparent attempt to establish a new military order in a region previously dominated by American and Israeli forces. The ships were standing by at the southern entrance to the canal. They were expected to reach the Mediterranean en route to the Syrian port of Tartus last Sunday(20th Feb) after Egyptian authorities approved their transit for the first time in more than 30 years.
Our comment: An effort is going to be made now to stop the American 5th Fleet from using Bahrain. Regarding the region as a whole the strands are coming into place to enable all the Islamic nations to begin to co-operate and work together for the benefit of Islam as a whole. Just as the bible indicates.
FURTHER INDICATORS!
The Independent – 21st February – Libyans are tired of living in fear – tired of corruption. It is surprising to think that when Gaddafi came to power in 1969, the coup was “bloodless” – a stark comparison with what’s going on today, with reports of up to 200 dead in scenes of bloodshed and chaos. … Libyans are tired of living in fear, tired of corruption, tired of unemployment, and tired of being ignored. … No one can predict what will happen over the coming days … What the situation in Libya, and rest of the region is making clear is that economic reform alone is not enough.
The Sunday Times – 20th February – Heady but dangerous times in the Arab world. This is both a heady and a dangerous time for the Middle East. Heady, because whatever happens from now, the early months of 2011 will be remembered as a time of political awakening when the people of the Middle East rose up against autocratic, oppressive leaders. Dangerous, because it will not be clear for some time what comes next. Will it be like a Prague spring, that period of liberalisation in Czechoslovakia of 1968 under Dubcek, a swing to radical Islam or a reversion to autocracy? Although each uprising is different, there are common themes. One of the most powerful is the demographic time bomb that is finally detonating beneath the gerontocrats who have ruled the region for so long. All these countries have more than 40% of their populations under the age of 25! --- In Egypt it is 52%!! In the Yemen it is 65% Libya and Algeria 47% each. Britain it is 31%!!
Our comment: The Sunday Times ended its leader with this comment: “When autocrats fall, they leave a political vacuum. And at the moment it is far from clear what is going to fill it.” We have been pointing to this problem for a long time!! The bible for somewhat longer!! Is there anyone out there listening!!
FAMINE AND CLIMATE CHANGE
The Guardian – 16th February – World Bank warns of threat from soaring food prices. – The World Bank has given a stark warning of the impact of the rising cost of food, saying an estimated 44 million people had been pushed into poverty since last summer by soaring commodity prices. Robert Zoellick, World Bank president said: “Global food prices are rising to dangerous levels and threaten tens of millions of poor people around the world, the price hike is already pushing millions of people into poverty, and putting stress on the most vulnerable, who spend more than half of their income on food.” … Wheat prices have seen the most pronounced increases, doubling between June last year and January 2011, while maize prices were up 73%
Our comment: So why are food prices rising so rapidly around the world? Climate change disturbs the weather patterns. This on one hand gives rise to catastrophic floods which remove top soil and wash topsoil away. On the other hand the change also gives rise to drought. A third factor is the considerable increase in the price of oil. These things together bring about a reduction in harvests which then creates a big increase in price. This in turn can cause civil disturbance and even war between some nations.
The Guardian – 17th February – Breakthrough as scientists link climate change to flood devastation. For the first time scientists have quantified the role of human-induced climate change in raising the risk of a flood, a major breakthrough in climate science. “It shows climate change is acting here and now …” Chris Huhne, secretary of state for energy and climate change, said: the evidence for human influence on climate is now even more compelling. Climate change is not a distant threat, it is a clear and present danger …”
