Wednesday, August 28, 2013

At least 71 dead, 201 hurt in bombings and other attacks across Iraqi capital

at worldnews.nbcnews.com
by Raheem Salman and Yara Bayoumy, Reuters

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- At least 71 people were killed and 201 wounded in a series of bombings and other attacks across Baghdad on Wednesday, police and medical sources said, extending the worst wave of sectarian bloodshed in Iraq for at least five years.

READ MORE HERE...


Do these myriad on-going bombings constitute the "fires" in the cites of the land of the Chaldeans? Are Jeremiah's "fires" a euphemism for the modern-day bombings we are witnessing? Or will literal fires break out in the cities of Iraq, burning the "high gates" -- a known biblical euphemism for "city centers" -- in direct, explicit and very literal fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy of doom and judgment on Babylon?

Labels:

Monday, August 26, 2013

Baghdad and Baquba hit by bomb attacks

bbc.co.uk 25 August 2013

Scene of bomb attack in Baquba. 25 Aug 2013
The central city of Baquba was hit by at least four blasts

A wave of bomb attacks across Iraq has killed at least 46 people, police and medical sources say.

Worst affected were Baghdad and the central city of Baquba, which were hit by numerous blasts.

Violence during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which ended in early August, left more than 670 people dead - one of the highest tolls for years.

READ MORE HERE...



Are these endless bombings the fulfillment of the "burning of the cities", or will the cities of the land of the Chaldeans literally be consumed by fires?

Labels:

Syria's Kurds head to Iraq to prepare for war

In an October 05, 2012 article at antiwar.com, Jason Ditz reported on the Syrian rebel violence, which saw "various rebel factions seizing territory in the north..." Ditz then turned his attention to "[o]il rich northeastern Syria, the nation's Kurdish region", claiming "many are flocking to Iraqi Kurdistan" to "train with the Pashmearga, the militia of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)..."

Ditz then cited estimates that claim "25,000 Syrian Kurds are now in KRG-run camps for training..."



This development could have significant implications relative to Jeremiah's prophecy of doom on the land of Babylon as found in Jeremiah chapters 50 and 51 in the hebrew bible.

Following the invasion of the land by "a great king and many nations", the nation's subsequent capture in humiliating defeat and the "punishment" of the "Arrogant One", the "king" of Babylon, there will be fires in the cities and abandonment by the foreign reconstructionists.

After that, the nation will be invaded once again by nations out of the "north", specifically out of the lands of "Minni, Ashkenaz and Ararat," areas that align with northwestern Iran, the lands currently controlled by autonomous Kurdistan, and northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey. These nations will be led by the "spirit of the kings of the Medes," and the Medes are claimed to be the ancestors of the modern day Kurds.

Currently Kurdistan is ruled by former rival factions of Kurds, those of Iranian persuasion and those of Iraqi alignment. In 1993 the two factions stopped fighting each other and joined the United States in common cause of defeating Saddam Hussein. After his toppling, the two Kurdish factions, under Talibani and Barzani, essentially the "Minni" (Iranian) and "Ashkenazi" (Iraqi) arms, consolidated their power structure into the governing of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government.

What then remains missing for the Jeremiah prophecy of the ascendancy of the "Medes" in an attack on "Babylon" is the third faction, the "western" faction of "Ararat", a reference to the southeastern-Turkish-northeastern-Syrian region, a traditional homeland for the Kurds.

If these "Syrian" Kurds were to in some way formally align themselves with the Kurdistan Regional Government, then the stage would be set for the three nations of the Medes -- Minni, Ashkenaz and Ararat -- to rise up under the leadership of the "spirit of the kings of the Medes" to sweep down into the "land of the Chaldeans" to "take a spoil" and plunder her "treasures."

Labels: ,

Friday, August 23, 2013

Iraq violence kills seven

from foxnews.com by AFP
August 23, 2013

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Violence in Iraq killed seven people on Friday, the latest in worsening unrest that has hit the country despite weeks of wide-ranging operations targeting militants.

READ MORE HERE...


Could all these unending bombings be the "fire" in the "cities" that Jeremiah predicted? -- "I shall set fire to (the king of Babylon's) cities..."

Labels:

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Insurgent attacks across Iraq kill at least 24

abcnews.go.com
BAGHDAD August 22, 2013 (AP)
by Sinan Salaheddin Associated Press

Insurgent attacks across Iraq, including a suicide bombing targeting a Shiite wedding party, killed at least 24 people Thursday, authorities said.
Attacks have been on the rise in Iraq since a deadly security crackdown in April on a Sunni protest camp. More than 3,000 people have been killed in violence during the past few months, raising fears Iraq could see a new round of widespread sectarian bloodshed similar to that which brought the country to the edge of civil war in 2006 and 2007.

READ MORE HERE...


Will these attackers turn to firebombs in the future? Will the cities of Babylon go up in flames in literal fulfillment of Jeremiah's fourth judgment on the "land of the Chaldeans"?

Labels:

Friday, August 16, 2013

US warns of rising threat from al-Qaida in Iraq

excerpts from boston.com article by Deb Riechmann / Associated Press / August 15, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Top U.S. and Iraqi diplomats warned Thursday of a rising threat in Iraq from al-Qaida, which is carrying out suicide and car bombings with greater frequency nearly two years after U.S. troops withdrew from the country. [...]

"Iraq sits at the intersection of regional currents of increasingly turbulent, violent and unpredictable actions," (Secretary of State John) Kerry said. [...] "And al-Qaida, as we have seen, has launched a horrific series of assaults on innocent Iraqis, even taking credit for the deplorable bombings this past weekend that targeted families that were celebrating the Eid holiday..." [...]

In 2011 and 2012 there was an average of five to 10 suicide bombings a month, according to a senior administration official familiar with Kerry's talks with his Iraqi counterpart. They have averaged about 30 in each of the past three months... [...]

Violence has been on the rise across Iraq since a deadly crackdown by government forces on a Sunni protest camp in April, and attacks against civilians and security forces notably spiked during Ramadan. The surge of attacks has sparked fears that the country could see a new round of sectarian bloodshed similiar to that which brought the country to the edge of civil war in 2006 and 2007. [...]

READ MORE HERE...


Jeremiah predicted that after the invasion and capture of Babylon, land of the Chaldeans -- modern day Iraq -- the king of Babylon, the "Arrogant One" would be punished, and then his cities would burn with fire and as a result the foreign reconstructionists would abandon their efforts and leave the nation to her "judgment."

Is the resurgence of violence the spark that will ignite those fires? Will we soon see Babylon burning?

Labels:

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Car bomb attacks near Baghdad's 'Green Zone', across city kill at least 33


Ali Al-Saddi / AFP-Getty Images
Iraqis walk past burned cars at the scene of a car bomb attack near the office of Al-Ahad television, which is affiliated with a Shiite militant group, in Baghdad's eastern neighborhood of Baladiyat on Thursday.

By Kareem Raheem, Raheem Salman and Sylivia Westfall, Reuters

BAGHDAD -- A series of car bombs in Baghdad killed at least 33 people and wounded more than 100 on Thursday, with one near the "Green Zone" diplomatic complex, fueling a death toll that has soared since the beginning of the year to levels not seen since 2008. [...]

Since the start of the year, attacks using multiple car bombs have become an almost daily occurrence, killing scores of people in Iraq, including during a religious holiday last weekend when bombers targeted families celebrating outside.

Each of the past four months has each been deadlier than any in the previous five years, dating back to a time when U.S. and government troops were in engaged in battles with militiamen.

READ MORE HERE...



Jeremiah the hebrew prophet predicted the cities of the land of Babylon -- modern day Iraq -- would burn. Will this on-going violence spark the fires? Will we soon see Babylon burning?

Labels:

'I risked my life, for what?': Iraq War veterans chilled by country's slide into civil war

At U.S. News on NBCNEWS.com July 25, 2013, NBC News contributor Bill Briggs brings a story of the effects of Iraq's renewed civil strife on Iraq War veterans 10 years after the invasion and capture of Saddam Hussein -- "As they watch Iraq's mounting body count and potential slide into civil war, some Iraq War veterans are more intensely questioning why they went, what it all meant, and whether the deaths of 4,486 U.S. troops on that foreign soil were worth the permanent cost."


Civilians inspect the aftermath of a car bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq, on July 24. A bomb exploded near a Sunni mosque in Baghdad's southern Dora neighborhood on July 23, killing several people and wounding many more, police said.

Briggs recounts the struggles many veterans are having with depression, anger and suicide stemming from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of the war. One veteran, Andrew O'Brien, an Army convoy gunner who served in Iraq in 2008 and 2009, survived an IED blast, but attempted suicide in 2010.

READ MORE HERE...

Briggs reports that "during July, almost 700 people in Iraq have been killed in militant attacks, including car bombs, ambushes and gun fights." He quotes Alex Horton, a former specialist in the 3rd Stryker Brigade of Second Infantry Division who served during "the surge": "Many troops in Afghanistan have also deployed to Iraq, so to see their hard work unraveling while their mission in another country is still in progress could be demoralizing... Personally, it's frustrating to see this."

Jeremiah the hebrew prophet foresaw the frustration of having the reconstruction efforts go for naught: "Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken; wail over her! Bring balm for her pain; perhaps she may be healed. 'We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed; forsake her and let us each go to his own country, for her judgment has reached to heaven and towers up to the very skies,'" (Jer 51:8-9).

"Now that I'm hearing about (all the bombings and deaths), all I think about is the guys we lost in Iraq. It's hard to not think that it meant nothing," Briggs quoted O'Brien as saying.

According to Jeremiah, the destruction brought upon the land of the Chaldeans by the invading forces had a resounding purpose -- to bring vengeance upon the land for "arrogance against the LORD" --

"The word which the LORD spoke concerning Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, through Jeremiah the prophet: 'Declare and proclaim among the nations; proclaim it and lift up a signal flag; do not conceal it, but say, "Babylon has been captured... Behold, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I (will) punish the king of Assyria... Against the land of Merathaim, go up against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod. Slay and utterly destroy them... and do according to all that I have commanded you.

"The noise of battle is in the land, and great destruction... How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations! I set a snare for you and you were also caught, O Babylon, while you yourself were not aware; you have been found and also seized because you have engaged in conflict with the LORD. (He) has opened up his armory and has brought forth the weapons of his indignation. For it is a work of the Lord GOD of Hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.

"Come to her from the farthest border; open up her barns, pile her up like heaps and utterly destroy her... A great nation and many kings will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth. They seize their bow and javelin; they are cruel and have no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea; and they ride on horses, marshalled like a man for the battle against you, O daughter of Babylon...

"I am going to arouse against Babylon and against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai the spirit of a destroyer. I will dispatch foreigners to Babylon that they may winnow her and may devastate her land; for on every side they will be opposed to her in the day of her calamity... For neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken by his God, the LORD of hosts, although their land is (still) full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel...

"For this is the LORD's time of vengeance; he is going to render recompense to her," (excerpts from Jer 50:1 - 51:6).

Briggs quotes an anti-war activist, Mike Prysner, who also was part of the 2003 Army invasion: "What (the violence in Iraq) makes me feel is deeper guilt... One of our roles was to shred their national identity. What is happening today is a direct result of the U.S. occupation's strategy... I'll live the rest of my life knowing I was a part of that."

What Prysner was a part of, was God's wielding of his weapons: "You are my war-club, my weapon of war; and with you I shatter nations, and with you I destroy kingdoms... I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all their evil that they have done in Zion before (my) eyes," (Jer 51:20-24).

Labels: , , , , ,

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Bombs targeting playground, cafe, school kill 22 in Iraq

from worldnews.nbcnews.com
by Reuters August 13, 2013

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A series of bomb attacks killed at least 22 people across Iraq on Monday, part of the country's worst wave of violence in around five years.

At least 16 people died and 41 others were injured when a suicide bomber targeted a crowded cafe in Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad.

Two roadside bombs - one planted near a playground and another near a school - also killed six people and wounded dozens, some of them children, in the town of Muqdadiya, 50 miles northeast of the capital.

Those blasts underlined a shift in tactics by suspected Islamist militants, who are increasingly targeting not only military checkpoints and marketplaces, but also cafes and recreational areas used by families and children.

READ MORE HERE...


Will the militants shift tactics again, and begin to burn the cities? Should fires break out across the cities of Iraq, Jeremiah's fourth judgment against Babylon, the "land of the Chaldeans", will have been fulfilled. 

Judgments 1,2 and 3 -- invasion by a great nation and many kings, capture, and the punishment of the "Arrogant One" -- have already occurred in their order. Will the 6 remaining judgments occur in their order? Burning of the cities, abandonment by the foreign reconstructionists, civil war with and defeat by the Kurds, plundering of "treasures" by the victors, a catastrophic flood event and eventual drought, leading to complete desolation are predicted by Jeremiah. 

Labels:

Tuesday, August 06, 2013

Car bombs in and around Baghdad kill 41

BBC News Middle East
6 August 2013
Iraqi men inspect the site of a car bomb attack in Baghdad's Karrada commercial district
The car bombs targeted markets and shopping streets in different parts of the city

A series of bomb attacks in and around the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, has left at least 41 people dead and more than 100 wounded, officials say.
The deadliest explosion killed 10 in a village northwest of Baghdad. Six car bomb blasts targeted markets and shopping streets in different parts of Baghdad itself earlier on Tuesday.
A wave of violence has swept Iraq in the past six months, with Sunni Islamist militant groups mostly targeting Shia Muslim districts.
More than 4,000 people have died in such attacks this year. A further 9,865 have been injured so far in 2013, with Baghdad province the worst hit.

READ MORE HERE...


Will the on-going violence erupt in fires that burn the cities? Will the fourth judgment of Jeremiah 50-51 occur in sequence as predicted by the hebrew prophet, just as invasion, capture and punishment of the Arrogant One occurred in order?

Labels:

Thursday, August 01, 2013

Iraq death toll 'tops 1,000' in July, highest in years

BBC News Middle East
1 August 2013
A picture taken on July 29, 2013 shows Iraqis inspecting the site of a car bomb explosion in the impoverished district of Sadr City in Baghdad.
Bombs in Baghdad this week help push Iraq's monthly toll to its highest since 2008

Casualty figures released by the UN mission in Baghdad suggest 1,057 Iraqis were killed in July, making it the most violent month in years.
At least 4,137 civilians have been killed and 9,765 injured so far this year, with Baghdad province worst hit.[...]
A wave of violence has swept Iraq in the past six months, with Sunni Islamist militant groups targeting Shia districts. In July there was a series of bombings in streets, cafes and mosques. Militants also broke into two prisons, setting inmates free.


Jeremiah predicted Babylon would face invasion, capture and punishment of its leader, all of which has happened with the U.S.-led invasion and capture of Iraq and subsequent hanging of Saddam Hussein. The calamities Jeremiah foresaw continued with the burning of the cities, abandonment, civil war with the Kurds, defeat and plunder at their hands, a catastrophic flood event of the Euphrates/Tigris and subsequent drought that leads to a deserted and uninhabitable state of destruction.

Will the latest violence spark the fires that burn the cities of the land of the Chaldeans?

Labels: