Instead of firing missiles, Iran’s weird holy man has taken to lobbing insults.  His murderous regime, responsible for creating and funding mayhem all over the Middle East and elsewhere, after gunning down hundreds if not thousands of ticked Iranian citizens, is calling us names.  That’s rich.  But that’s the BIG news.  The Supreme Leader fights back!  Verbally.  Guess they showed us.

It turns out the reports of no injuries in their missile attacks on U. S. installations in Iraq may have been premature.  Now we’re hearing of concussion injuries that weren’t immediately apparent, and we hope none are serious.  For everyone’s sake, it’s a good thing those attacks didn’t kill any Americans.  Otherwise, we might all be in a completely different situation.

We couldn’t have imagined that taking out one of the world’s bloodthirstiest terrorists would be construed by the mainstream as a big disaster, possibly igniting World War III.  The mainstream and the entrenched bureaucracy wrung its hands over the prospects of massive retaliation and a war that would envelop not only the Middle East, but all of human civilization.  They were wrong. The people of Iran have taken to the streets in numbers never seen before, in support of freedom, something no one under the age of 40 over there has ever known.

One of the foremost proponents of impeachment, and one of the reliable Trump accusers on network TV (David Gergen), has actually gone to worrying aloud over the prospect that the Islamic regime in Iran might collapse.  That would be his, and all the bobbing heads’ worst nightmare.  There would be no stopping the incumbent President if that were to happen, he said.

Unless of course, their impeachment charade turns out to be successful, and they could realize their nightly dream of removing him from office.  The troupe of impeachment managers ceremoniously brought their articles of impeachment to the Senate two by two, taking little half steps as they shuffled down the aisle.  It looked like a funeral without the casket.  If any justice remains to be had, it will be their own.  But if you consume the mainstream media, you see what we’ve seen for three years now.  They think they’ve almost got him.  Any minute now the bombshell they’ve promised every day for what seems like a lifetime will chase him from public view, and they can get back on the track of the previous eight years.  Smugly calling us all a bunch of racist, bigoted homophobes and regulating our consumption of water and production of carbon.

They could save the human race if they could just create the enforcement mechanisms to make us comply with every detail of their socialist Utopian dream, the Green New Deal, and the long and growing list of words and phrases we must not utter.  And they’re not shy.  One billionaire candidate runs ads saying, “We’ll save the world, and we’ll do it together.”  Unfortunately, saving the world means the destruction of Western civilization and the revocation of the freedoms with which we’ve been abundantly blessed.

There is a realization that is really quite stunning, yet entirely plausible in this developing circumstance.  We’ve all watched as everything the President supports has become intolerable to those who hate everything about him.  This has come to include support of Israel.  The last president treated that country like an ugly stepchild and sought to undermine Prime Minister Netanyahu and get him defeated.  With the miraculous advent of the Trump Presidency, we’ve seen a total revival of the traditional friendship and alliance that we’ve grown to expect over the decades.  But neither the media nor the President’s rivals can accept anything he says or does without finding fault.  We’ve seen them find fault with everything, including taking out Iran’s foremost plotter of terror.  They shook their heads in bewilderment when the U. S. embassy was moved to Jerusalem, concerned that it would just make all parties in the region (save for Israel) hate us all the more.  They already want everybody dead, so how much more could they hate us?  It’s hard to digest how uninformed, or ill-informed millions of people are, but most all of big media and the social media giants are working overtime to ensure that is the case.

If and when the would-be socialists (come communists) ever get control again, will the U. S. still support Israel financially and militarily?  The Bible foretells a time when armies will surround Jerusalem as a harbinger of end-time events, and alludes to a power in Europe that will enslave all mankind.  No doubt the media and the D. C. swamp would prefer that situation to the one they face.  That time is not yet, and we can praise God for that.

Mark

PS The fire disaster in Australia is not over, but there is word that it is raining in Sydney and points North of there. Last week they told us that there was no rain in the forecast.  You don’t suppose that our prayers and no doubt those of millions of Australians have something to do with it?  Don’t stop now.

Source: http://www.intercontinentalcog.org/fridayupdates.php

[Disclaimer]

The post Weekly Update by Mark Armstrong – 17 January 2020 first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Last week, international politics was consumed with the potential for all-out war between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran, or the possibility of a protracted asymmetric conflict, in response to the killing of the Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. In the Middle East, the United States was caught unsteady, with the (temporary?) cessation of anti-ISIS operations in Iraq and Syria, the prospect of a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq and silence from U.S. regional allies who are usually vocal in pushing back against Iran.

It’s hard to remember that late last year, it was Iran that was knocked back on its feet in the region. It faced significant protests at home as well as in Iraq and Lebanon, where thousands rallied against Tehran’s regional hegemony. Iran found itself facing tremendous bottom-up pressure, with potentially devastating consequences to its regional influence and even domestic stability…

The remainder of this commentary is available at berggruen.org.

Jordan Reimer is a policy analyst at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation.

This commentary originally appeared on The World Post on January 16, 2020. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.

Source: https://www.rand.org/blog/2020/01/iran-claws-back-its-regional-influence.html

The post Iran Claws Back Its Regional Influence first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.