RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-security-usa/rock-throwing-iraqi-militias-quit-u-s-embassy-after-protests-idUSKBN1Z01N9

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Supporters of Iranian-backed Iraqi paramilitary groups who stormed the U.S. Embassy’s perimeter and hurled rocks in two days of protests withdrew on Wednesday after Washington dispatched extra troops and threatened reprisals against Tehran.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/tear-gas-fired-iraqi-protesters-gather-outside-u-s-embassy-n1109216

Iraqi protesters withdraw from perimeter of U.S. Embassy, building now secured
By Saphora Smith

Iraqi protesters withdrew from the perimeter of the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on the second day of demonstrations against deadly U.S. airstrikes last weekend, U.S. officials said.

“All protesters withdrew from the area in front of the US embassy and left the Green Zone. The embassy is now completely surrounded and secured by security forces,” the Joint Operation Command said Wednesday.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15366/europe-anti-christian-attacks

The issue of anti-Christian vandalism was rarely reported by the European media until February 2019, when vandals attacked nine churches within the space of two weeks. The issue made headlines again in April 2019, when a suspicious fire gutted the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Since then, however, the European media are once again shrouding facts in silence.

“Seeking to destroy or damage Christian buildings is a way of ‘wiping the slate clean’ of the past.” — Annie Genevard, MP, Republicans Party, in an interview in Le Figaro, April 2, 2019.

“In the past, even if one was not a Christian, the expression of the sacred was respected. We are facing a serious threat to the expression of religious freedom. Secularism must not be a rejection of the religious, but a principle of neutrality that gives everyone the freedom to express his faith.” — Dominique Rey, Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon, in an interview with the Italian magazine Il Timone, August 5, 2019.

“We are witnessing the convergence of laicism — conceived as secularism, which relegates the faithful only to the private sphere and where every religious denomination is banal or stigmatized — with the overwhelming emergence of Islam, which attacks the infidels and those who reject the Koran. On one hand, we are mocked by the media … and on the other, there is the strengthening of Islamic fundamentalism. These are two joint realities.” — Dominique Rey, Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon, in an interview with the Italian magazine Il Timone, August 5, 2019.

Anti-Christian hostility is sweeping across Western Europe, where, during 2019, Christian churches and symbols were deliberately attacked day after day.

Gatestone Institute reviewed thousands of newspaper reports, police blotters, parliamentary inquiries, social media posts and specialized blogs from Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain. The research shows (see appendices below) that roughly 3,000 Christian churches, schools, cemeteries and monuments were vandalized, looted or defaced in Europe during 2019 — which is on track to becoming a record year for anti-Christian sacrilege on the continent.

Violence against Christian sites is most widespread in France, where churches, schools, cemeteries and monuments are being vandalized, desecrated and burned at an average rate of three per day, according to government statistics. In Germany, attacks against Christian churches are occurring at an average rate of two per day, according to police blotters.

Attacks on Christian churches and symbols are also commonplace in Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Ireland, Italy and Spain. The attacks overwhelmingly involve Roman Catholic sites and symbols, although in Germany, Protestant churches are also being targeted.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15350/zayn-malik-non-event

The hope of most of us in a country such as Britain is not that everybody leaves their faith, but simply that people have religious freedom and that this should include the freedom to leave a faith if you wish to do so with no repercussions against your person.

It is, in short, the essence of that Enlightenment which Europe gave the world three centuries ago. We hear plenty of news of assaults on that Enlightenment. But this story of a non-event suggests that aspects of that Enlightenment may be more solid — and attractive — than we are sometimes given to think.

This has been a year filled with bad news. It is a season that cries out for good news. So perhaps I could end the year with a reflection on something that for me has provided — in a difficult and contested era — a small source for optimism. It is really a story of something that didn’t happen. A story, as Sherlock Holmes would put it, of the dog that did not bark.

It is now more than a year since Zayn Malik revealed that he no longer considers himself a Muslim. Some readers will wonder who Malik is. He is not a religious scholar, or a leading clerical authority of any kind. For young people around the world, however, he is far more famous. Malik is a young British man, now in his twenties, of Muslim parentage who came to fame as a member of the British boyband ‘One Direction’. When the group met — in the talent show ‘X Factor’ in 2010 — the group was hailed, among other things, for its diversity. However, this was obviously not the primary reason why stadiums full of largely young women screamed themselves hoarse as the band’s members sang and danced on stage around the world.

Malik never especially pushed his faith, but there were occasional glimpses of it. As I mentioned here in 2014, during the Israel-Gaza conflict of that year, Malik sent a Tweet saying, ‘Free Palestine’ to his 13 million Twitter followers. Now of course one may be a non-Muslim and start pushing ‘Free Palestine’ messages around the web. Britain was only recently saved from having a Prime Minister who indulges in such pseudo-simplistic yet actively bigoted rhetoric. But it did seem to be pushing a religious viewpoint from someone who had — by then — considerable cultural reach.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15353/germany-russia-nord-stream-pipeline

A report by the Swedish Defense Research Agency found that Russia has threatened to cut energy supplies to Central and Eastern European more than 50 times. Even after some of those states joined the European Union, Russian threats continued.

Not surprisingly, Germany’s current Social Democratic Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas, has criticized the U.S. sanctions as foreign interference. “Decisions on European energy policy are made in Europe, not the USA,” he tweeted on December 12. “We fundamentally reject foreign interventions and sanctions with extraterritorial effects.”

U.S. President Donald Trump, like his predecessor Barack Obama, has opposed the pipeline project. Trump in particular has criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her refusal to increase defense spending while at the same time supporting the pipeline that will funnel billions of dollars to Russia…. “So, we’re supposed to protect you against Russia and you pay billions of dollars to Russia and I think that’s very inappropriate. Germany will have almost 70 percent of their country controlled by Russia with natural gas. You tell me, is that appropriate?” — U.S. President Donald J. Trump.

“One must assume that Putin’s pet pipeline is not really a business venture — and that the fools are the Europeans, in particular the Germans…. In short, Nord Stream 2 could make Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states less secure, undermine the EU’s security strategy, give Russia a big stick for threatening Eastern Europe and sow discord among NATO allies. To Mr. Putin, causing so much trouble for a mere $11 billion must seem like a bargain. For Europe it is a trap…. The mystery is why Germany has fallen into it and has been twisting French arms to do the same.” — The Economist.

A Swiss company working on the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline directly linking Russia to Germany has suspended pipelaying operations after U.S. President Donald J. Trump signed into law new sanctions.

The sanctions are part of an effort by the United States to halt completion of the €9.5 billion ($10.5 billion) pipeline, which would double shipments of Russian natural gas to Germany by transporting the gas under the Baltic Sea. Opponents of the pipeline warn that it will give Russia a stranglehold over Germany’s energy supply. Proponents counter that with European domestic natural gas production in rapid decline, the pipeline will enhance security of supply.

American sanctions may delay Nord Stream 2, but they are probably too late to kill the project. More than 80% of the 1,230-km (764-mile) pipeline has already been laid and the project is expected to be completed in 2020, according to Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak.

On December 17, the U.S. Senate, by a vote of 86 to 6, passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual defense spending bill, which includes the Nord Stream 2 sanctions language. The measure previously cleared the U.S. House of Representatives on December 11 by a vote of 377 to 48. President Trump signed it into law on December 20.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15347/turkey-gunboats-mediterranean

Erdoğan seems to think that his best defense in the Mediterranean power game is an offense.

One emerging power in Libya, however, is not a Western state actor…. Russia has the potential to step into the Libyan theater with a bigger proxy and direct force, to establish its second permanent Mediterranean military presence.

Also as in Syria, Turkey’s Islamist agenda will probably fail in Libya, but by the time Erdoğan understands that, it might be too late to get out of Moscow’s orbit.

Turkey, since 2011, has been waging a pro-Sunni proxy war in Syria, in the hope of one day establishing in Damascus a pro-Turkey, Islamist regime. This ambition has failed, costing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Turkey violent political turmoil on both sides of Turkey’s 911-km border with Syria and billions of dollars spent on more than 4 million Syrian refugees scattered across the Turkish soil.

In Egypt, in 2011-2012, Erdoğan aggressively supported the failed Muslim Brotherhood government and deeply antagonized the incumbent — then-general but now president — Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Since Erdoğan’s efforts in Syria and Egypt failed, his Sunni Islamist ambitions have found a new proxy-war theater: Libya.

On December 10, Erdoğan said he could deploy troops in Libya if the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli (which Turkey supports) requested it. Erdoğan’s talks with GNA’s head, Fayez al-Sarraj, who is fighting a war against the Libyan National Army (LNA) of General Khalifa Haftar, produced two ostensibly strategic agreements: a memorandum of understanding on providing the GNA with arms, military training and personnel; and a maritime agreement delineating exclusive economic zones in the Mediterranean waters.

Greece and Egypt protested immediately while the European Council unequivocally condemned the controversial accords. Meanwhile, the deals apparently escalated a proxy competition between Turkey’s old (Greece) and new (Egypt and the United Arab Emirates) rivals.

https://pjmedia.com/trending/anti-macron-yellow-vests-protests-continue-unabated-in-france/

Although it’s not exactly considered frontpage news by the leftist mainstream media, the so-called Yellow Vests continue to protest every single weekend against President Macron’s horrendous policies. Don’t believe me? Well, just watch this rather inspiring video:

This weekend was the 59th weekend in a row that the Gilets Jaunes or Yellow Vests have taken to the streets in order to show the government they mean business. They are against Macron’s pension reform, and also protest against the rising cost of living (which makes it virtually impossible for blue-collar workers to live a normal kind of life), while the rich are getting all kinds of tax breaks.

Of course, there are a lot of reasons not to like the French (and yes that’s coming from someone who, although a Dutchman himself, has French ancestors). They’re arrogant. They refuse to speak English to tourists. Their cheese smells horrible. Their soccer team beat the Dutch team in the 1998 world cup with penalties. And yes, their movies are awful too.

Finally, there is the little fact that France has been living on the dole in Europe for ages. The rich northern EU members are paying France’s bills. Trust me when I say that those of us from those northern countries aren’t exactly happy with that situation, especially not because we see Frenchmen refusing to give up privileges we had to give up years or even decades ago to prevent the welfare state from collapsing.

https://pjmedia.com/trending/u-s-envoy-urges-eu-to-ban-hezbollah/

A U.S. civilian contractor was killed in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base near the city of Kirkuk on Friday. The attack occurred in an area controlled by Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shiite militia.

U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell used the attack to urge the entire EU to ban Hezbollah.

Richard Grenell

Richard Grenell Retweeted Jason Brodsky

Now would be a good time for our European allies to follow the lead of the German parliament and move to designate Hezbollah a terrorist organization. #diplomacy

The German parliament recently passed a non-binding resolution urging the government to ban Hezbollah’s “political organization.” The motion urged Chancellor Angela Merkel’s administration, as well as the EU, to adopt a total ban of Hezbollah.

There are more than a thousand Hezbollah representatives in Germany alone.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15229/iran-christians-persecution

Three of the Islamist judges known to preside over the trials of Christians are Mashallah Ahmadzadeh, Mohammed Moghiseh, and Ahmad Zargar. The international community needs to consider imposing sanctions on them.
Converts to Christianity from Islam, according the Iran’s Islamic law, can face the death penalty. The Iranian Islamist judges generally resort to verses from the Quran and Hadith (Muhammad’s sayings and acts) to justify their verdicts.
Iran systematically violates the U.S. International Religious Freedom Act and this is why, since 1999, the U.S. has designated the Islamic Republic as a “Country of Concern.”
Under international law, the Iranian government has an obligation to respect freedom of religion. Yet, while Christians are being increasingly persecuted and their rights are violated in Iran at an unprecedented level, the international community still remains silent.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is unleashing a sweeping crackdown on Christians, particularly those who have dared to convert from Islam to Christianity.

Most recently, nine Christians in Iran, possibly converts, have been convicted by the Islamic court, and each sentenced to five years in prison. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) arrested them for attending church services at a private house. According to a report by Article 18, an Iranian NGO which promotes religious freedom:

“The arresting officers introduced themselves as agents from the Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS).

“They stormed the Christians’ homes in a coordinated operation at around 9am, confiscating Bibles, Christian literature, wooden crosses and pictures carrying Christian symbols, along with laptops, phones, all forms of identity cards, bank cards and other personal belongings.

“Arresting agents also searched the work offices of at least two Christians and confiscated computer hard drives and security-camera recordings.”

Christian families are generally dehumanized and humiliated in the community during the agent’s raids. As the Article 18 report explained, “The officers are reported to have treated the Christians harshly, even though small children were present during the arrests.”

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/15349/interesting-year

International organizations, starting with the United Nations itself, appear less relevant than ever.

Classical media have also lost much of their power and relevance….

In the United States, female presidential wannabes dominated the Democrat Party’s list of candidates. This feminization shifts the emphasis away from the traditional goals of the nation-state that highlighted prestige, glory, economic growth, and hard power to social goals such as welfare, education, health, and help for real or imagined “victims of society.”

Iran is also heading for a transition as a regime of geriatrics that has lost much of its legitimacy finds it more and more difficult to frustrate the ambitions of a mostly young, creative, and determined nation.

As 2019 ends, the phrase that comes to mind is “what an interesting year!” And, the word “interesting” in this context should be taken in its traditional Chinese meaning, which is full of risks and dangers.

The year now ending confirmed a trend that started earlier in the decade, marking a slow, but undeniable, retreat from globalization which, at the start of the new century, was believed to be the panacea for all our ills. The new trend, taking shape in many countries, is that of nationalism highlighted by a return to the nation-state as the most effective model of political organization.