DECLARE YOUR SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL: I encourage you to go to the site below and consider signing the petition to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring your support for Israel especially as it again faces a threat to its very survival. The petition is presented by the Christian group Liberty Counsel. http://www.libertyaction.org/370/petition.asp?Ref_ID=18588&CID=370&RID=37375064 AND of course, try toPRAY daily for Israel.
PRAYER REQUEST: "Iranian Ships Reportedly Being Loaded With Rockets," November 25
Israeli spy satellites have reportedly spotted Iranian ships being loaded with rockets that may be bound for Gaza.
According to the Sunday Times, the weapons are similar to those fired by Hamas toward Israel during the recent skirmishes across the Gaza border. The Times reports the cargo is expected to travel via the Red Sea and through Sudan and Egypt, a well-established route that Iran uses to smuggle arms into Gaza. “We believe that Iranian warships anchored in Eritrea will accompany the weapons ship as soon as it enters the Red Sea,” an Israeli source told the Times.An Israeli defense source says his nation is prepared to “attack and destroy any shipment of arms to Gaza once we have spotted it,” regardless of the cease-fire agreement currently in place between Hamas and Israel. The Times reports the arms shipment was prepared last week at about the same time Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease-fire that ended the eight-day long Operation Pillar of Defense.
Over the weekend, senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar said the terrorist group would continue to arm itself with Iran’s help, even though the signed truce calls for the cessation of rocket fire aimed at Israel. (Sources: Sunday Times, Haaretz, Fox News)
As the Lord leads, please pray:
- For a lasting peace in the Middle East and for the peace of Jerusalem (Ps. 122)
- That Israel will be able to defend itself against enemies such as Hamas and Iran
- That allies such as the United States will continue to support Israel’s right to self-defense
PRAYER REQUEST: "Petraeus: Benghazi Attack Was Terrorism" (Saturday, November 17, 2012)
The September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya was an act of terrorism, according to the former CIA Director. In testimony Friday before Congress, David Petraeus said he believed it to be a terrorist attack immediately after the incident that killed four Americans, but didn’t say when the CIA reached that conclusion.Petraeus’ testimony also appeared to conflict with statements he made to Congress just three days after the attack, when he echoed the Obama administration’s contention that the incident was a spontaneous assault that was fueled by an online video and intensified after being overtaken by “extremists.” The latter message was the one delivered on numerous television appearances five days after the attack by Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Congress is trying to clarify where those initial “talking points” came from and why there was no reference to terrorist activity when Rice appeared on the September 16 news programs.
(Sources: Washington Post, ABC)
As the Lord leads, please pray:
- For the truth about the Benghazi attack to be uncovered
- For the families of those killed that they’ll get receive comfort after the deaths of their loved ones
- That the investigation will continue and those responsible for any cover up be held accountable
Bipartisan outrage is a rarity in Washington these days, but the Obama Administration’s lack of transparency over Benghazi has provoked it.
This $64,000 question occupied Congress in open and closed hearings last week as well as the Sunday talk shows: Who altered the Administration’s talking points on the Benghazi terrorist attack? Lawmakers of both parties—such as Diane Feinstein (D–CA) and Mike Rogers (R–MI), the two senior members of the Senate Intelligence Committee who both appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press—are demanding answers.
The immediate target has been U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice, who did not testify last week.
The CIA talking points she was provided suggested that the attacks were caused by outrage over an anti-Muslim video and were not a systematically devised terrorist attack. Among the provided talking points were:
- “The currently available information suggests that the demonstrations in Benghazi were spontaneously inspired by the protests at the US Embassy in Cairo.”
- “This assessment may change as additional information is collected and analyzed and as currently available information continues to be evaluated.”
- “The investigation is on-going, and the US Government is working with Libyan authorities to bring to justice those responsible for the deaths of US citizens.”
What we have learned over the past five days is that the divisions between the White House and the CIA are deepening. Recently resigned CIA director David Petraeus refused to accept blame for leaving the word terrorism out of the talking points in his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee and states that it was there when the talking points left the CIA. Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser, has likewise refused to accept blame for excising it. Suspicion meanwhile has fallen on the National Security Council’s Deputies Committee, an interagency group of political appointees.
Why is getting to the truth of the CIA talking points ultimately so important?
We need to know if the Obama Administration deliberately misled the American people and Congress about a terrorist attack on Americans. It is important to know if the CIA understands what is going on in the Middle East. If its analysts confuse organized terrorists with random mobs, they are obviously not up to the job, and their threat assessments are way off.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
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