Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Baghdad blast walls start coming down
In an Associated Press article published today at the washingtonpost.com web site, AP reporter Rebecca Santana reports that the Iraqi government has begun removing the tall concrete blast walls that the U.S. military installed "as protection against bombings and insurgents" during its invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Thousands of grey walls were put up in Baghdad and other cities by American and Iraqi forces to "shield markets and buildings from bomb blasts, disrupt insurgents' communications and hinder the movement of car bombs and weapons..., encircl(ing) almost every government building, military installation and mosque" according to Santana's article.
But the walls "exacted an economic and social price, and (some) Iraqis now view them with... hostility," wrote Santana.
In the past couple of weeks they've been coming down, easing traffic jams and allowing better access to businesses, schools and health facilities. Removing the walls will at least "give us a feeling that the security crisis we have lived through is finished," said Qassim Karim, a 50-year-old flour trader.
Municipality workers remove concrete blast walls in Baghdad, Iraq in this Feb. 15, 2011 photo by Karim Kadim/AP

What does Jeremiah the prophet say about the walls? To him, the tearing down of the walls simply helps make the land of the Chaldeans even more vulnerable to the coming destruction -- "Raise your battle cry against her on every side! She has given herself up, her pillars have fallen, her walls have been torn down. For this is the vengeance of the LORD..." (Jer 50:15).
Twice more Jeremiah predicts the walls, which might have offered some security, would be removed -- "Even the wall of Babylon has fallen down!... (her) whole land will be put to shame, and all her slain will fall in her midst... For the destroyers will come to her from the north," (Jer 51:44, 47-48).
"Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'The broad wall of Babylon will be completely razed, and (then) her high gates will be set on fire; so the peoples will (have) toil(ed) for nothing, and the nations become exhausted (because of the) fire," (Jer 51:58).
Rather than the walls of Babylon being torn down by the invaders, apparently the walls are torn down by the Chaldeans themselves, thereby facilitating their own destruction.

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Will Friday's Iraqi protests light the fires?

The Christian Science Monitor's Jane Arraf reports today from Baghdad that Iraqi security forces are using media intimidation and "warnings of violence" in an apparent attempt to defuse a major demonstration planned for Friday.
Organizers hope to draw 1 million people to Baghdad to demand a crackdown on "corruption, better government services and an end to repression," according to Arraf's article.
Iraqi soldiers raided the offices of the Iraqi Journalistic Freedoms Observatory in central Baghdad overnight, smashing locks and removing laptops, other computer equipment, cameras and paper files.
While Tuesday's demonstrations in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya remained relatively peaceful, Iraqi Gen. Qussim al-Atta warned Tuesday evening of the possibility of "terrorist plans to target the (Baghdad) demonstrators in different ways -- explosive vests, car bombs, snipers and pistols with silencers."
Will Friday see the cities of Iraq burn?

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Friday, February 18, 2011

IRAQ: Protesters attack Kurdish party building in Sulaymaniyah

February 18, 2011 | 10:02 am

Iraqi protesters stepped up their challenges to provincial leaderships throughout the nation on Friday, with more than 1,000 demanding that the governor of Basra step down and looters attacking a Kurdish political party headquarters in Sulaymaniyah.

The vandalism in Kurdistan followed violent clashes between government forces and protesters on Thursday in which at least two people were killed.

Unrest has gripped Iraqi cities in recent days as impoverished southern residents demand government action to improve their job prospects and an end to the corruption they say invades many provincial leaderships. The semi-autonomous northern Kurdish regions are comparatively more prosperous, but residents there, too, have added their voices to the discontent engulfing the Middle East.

Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani blamed the violence in Sulaymaniyah on "enemies trying to create sedition and chaos," and vowed that the region's leaders would restore order and bring instigators and vandals to justice.

Barzani's warning echoed that of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki a day earlier when he said peaceful demonstrations were permissible but violent actions would be punished.

"I welcome those who demonstrate peacefully for their legitimate rights, but I am not in favor of those who exploit those claims to incite riots," Maliki told reporters in Baghdad.


In response to this article I posted the following comment:

If the cities of Iraq burn, it will be in fulfillment of the 4th judgment of 9 on the land of the Chaldeans prophesied by Jeremiah in chapters 50 and 51 in the hebrew bible.

The first 3 judgments have already occurred: invasion, capture and the punishment of the "arrogant one."

If the cities burn, one can look for Obama to abandon Iraq out of frustration at the failure of reconstruction, and that leaving would itself be a 5th judgment.

6, 7, 8 and 9 -- war with and defeat to the Kurds, the Kurdish plundering of Iraq's "treasures", a catastrophic flood event, and the desertification of the plain. Ultimate outcome: complete desolation.

On the other hand, no fires, no worries.

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Will Iraqi street protests turn into the predicted conflagration?

An AP article today from Basra, Iraq reports that, "in the wake of the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, frustrated Iraqis have staged repeated protests across the country. This week, at least five people were killed when demonstrations in two Iraqi cities turned violent."
The Iraqis are demanding better public services, jobs and pensions in the face of poor living standards.
Jeremiah's prophecy of judgment on the land of the Chaldeans, today manifested as the nation of Iraq, begins with an invasion and capture by a great king along with many nations and the punishment of "the arrogant one" who shall "stumble and fall with no one to lift him up."
Next comes the burning of the cities, and the resultant abandonment of the reconstruction efforts of the occupiers because of the fires.
Will these street protests sweeping through the Middle East ignite the fires in Iraq, and fulfill the ancient prophecy of doom on Babylon?

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