Some would say that we are living in interesting times, particularly as another US-Iraq confrontation at this stage seems almost inevitable. Such is the present power of the United States that only a few voices in the rest of the world suggest that the United Nations should be the only party to be involved in any future decisions about the coming conflict. Nobody in the West is brave enough any longer to take a moral stance against the imposed economic sanctions, which by now have killed more than 1.6 million Iraqis, mostly children, according to the UN’s own statistics.

On the eve of the Eid-Al-Fiter (the most widely observed Islamic festival marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan), the well-respected Qatar-based Arabic news network Aljazeera reported that in the past three months (from September to November 2001), more than 31 thousand Iraqis (including 21 thousand children under the age of 5) died due to the UN-imposed economic sanctions against Iraq, a figure even higher than the 1999 UNICEF estimate of an average 5200 Iraqi child deaths per month. This comes at the same time as warnings from Iraqi physicians about an escalating crisis of increased cancer cases in the southern part of the country. The report adds that the fear of having babies with birth defects is so great that many pregnant women choose to have abortions. I myself must accept some blame for not reorting this, having recently turning down an opportunity to visit the suffering patients in the hospitals in Baghdad in the interests of personal safety.

So what brought us to the point of the precipice, this point where two belligerent nations want to draw swords against each other in the region once known as the cradle of civilisation. This was the land of the Sumerians, the Assyrians, and the Babylonians where advanced civilizations flourished long before that of Egypt, Greece, and Rome. This Garden of Eden, this land of Abraham, where the Hanging Gardens on the River Euphrates were once considered amongst the Seven Wonders of the World and where the origins of our medicine once flourished. There is little doubt that any historian would say that the Mongol invasion of Mesopotamia was one of the turning points in the history of this region. Its long shadow and memory has left formidable imprints that are still discernible in thought formation of Iraqi political leaders right into this century. The destruction of many centuries of learning, being ruled for a period by barbarians, Ottoman Turks and later the British has left a lasting stamp on these proud people who want to protect their recently found freedom.

I would like to take time for a moment to consider life in this part of the world before the sack of Baghdad by the Mongols. I would like to identify the influence of the Baghdad School of Medicine on the medicine we practise today in the Western world. This influence has been neglected and unjustifiably overpassed by scholars in the West and this article is written to allow us for a while to acknowledge that fact and try and restore this missing part of our history. We must remember that medicine, as we know it today did not develop overnight and this knowledge over the centuries has been handed from one country to the other. Between the ancient civilizations of Egyptians, Greek, Roman, and the Renaissance era in Europe, there was a gap, commonly called “the dark ages”, during which the flames of the knowledge of medicine was hosted, not by the West, but by the Arabs or Moslems.

The nomenclature, “the dark ages” reflects the civilization in Europe between the 7th and 13th centuries, but by no means it expresses the state of affairs in the Arab world or the Islamic Empire at that time. By the ninth century, Islamic medical practice began to advance beyond the talisman and the people of Mesopotamia became avid for the wisdom of Galen, Hippocrates, and Paul of Aegina. By the tenth century, their zeal and enthusiasm for learning resulted in all essential Greek medical writings being translated into Arabic in Baghdad. The Islamic Empire continued to grow and extended its influence from the Atlantic Ocean on the West to the borders of China on the East. Arabic became the International Language of learning and diplomacy and the centre of medical knowledge and activity shifted eastward as Baghdad emerged as the capital of the scientific world.

This era also saw the introduction of hospitals with wards, the introduction of medical terminology and the regulation of medical students who by now had to pass rigorous examinations. Baghdad General Hospital soon became the envy of the Islamic world and incorporated innovations, many of which still sound modern by today’s standards. The hospital used fountains to cool the air near the wards of those afflicted with fever; it was the first hospital to have a ward exclusively devoted to the mentally ill. The Baghdad School brought a refreshing spirit of dispassionate clarity into psychiatry, which was free from the demonological theories that swept over the Christian world. It is known that Najab ud din Muhammad, a contemporary of Razi, carefully compiled observation on actual patients made up the most complete classification of mental diseases theretofore known. He described agitated depression, obsessional neurosis, Nafkhae Malikholia (combined priapism and sexual impotence). Kutrib (a form of persecutory psychosis), Dual-Kulb (a form of mania). At night, the pain of the restless in Baghdad General Hospital was soothed by soft music and storytelling. I still remember the open courtyard of the Ibn ‘al Bitar still being used in this fashion, just before the Gulf War, by the patient’s relatives at night as I strolled back from my night rounds.

There were also social policies introduced by the governing regime to Baghdad General Hospital, which assured that the prince and pauper received identical attention and the destitute received five gold pieces upon discharge to sustain them during convalescence. We must remember that this was at a time when the streets of Paris and London were still paved with mud and open sewers. Baghdad General Hospital was amongst the first to introduce separate wards for male and female patients and these were staffed by attendants of both sexes. This medical centre of excellence contained both a library and a pharmacy and it is known that medical staff attended outreach clinics to attend to the disabled or the disadvantaged who lived in remote areas.

Baghdad also introduced regulations to maintain quality control on drugs, they advocated that pharmacists became licensed, and legal measures were taken to prevent doctors from owning or holding stock in a pharmacy. Methods of extracting and preparing medicines were brought to a high art in Mesopotamia and techniques of distillation, crystallization, solution, sublimation, reduction and calcination became essential processes of pharmacy and chemistry. With the help of these techniques, the Saydalanis (pharmacists) introduced new drugs such as camphor, senna, sandalwood, rhubarb, musk, myrrh, cassia, tamarind, nutmeg, alum, aloes, cloves, coconut, nuxvomica, cubebs, aconite, ambergris, and mercury to the world. The important role of the Baghdad School and others in developing modern pharmacy is memorialized in the significant number of current pharmaceutical and chemical terms derived from Arabic: drug, alkali, alcohol, aldehydes, alembic, and elixir among others, not to mention syrups and juleps.

In 636 A.D., the Muslims conquered the Persian City of Jundi-Shapur, and after this period, Islamic medical schools mostly developed on the Jundi-Shapur pattern. In the late seventh century, only Baghdad and Jundi-Shapur had separate schools for studying basic sciences. In Baghdad Medical School, doctors learned anatomy by dissecting apes, skeletal studies and didactics while other schools only taught anatomy through illustrations and lectures. During the eight century, the study of medicinal herbs and pharmacognosy was added to the basic training and a number of hospitals in Baghdad maintained barbel gardens as a source of drugs for the patients and a means of instruction for the students.

Surgery was also included in the Baghdad curriculum many surgical procedures such as amputation, excision of varicose veins and haemorrhoids were required knowledge. Orthopaedics was also widely taught in Baghdad and doctors routinely used plaster of Paris for casts in the reduction of fractures. Interestingly, this method of treating fractures was only rediscovered in the West in 1852. Ophthalmology was practiced in Baghdad, but it was not taught as part of the curriculum in medical schools, rather an apprenticeship to an eye doctor was the preferred way of specialisation. The ophthalmologists of Baghdad exhibited a high degree of proficiency and it should be remembered that medical words such as retina and cataract are of Arabic origin. lbn al Haytham (965-1039 A.D.) wrote the Optical Thesaurus from which such worthies as Roger Bacon, Leonardo da Vinci and Johannes Kepler drew theories for their own writings.

In his Thesaurus he showed that light falls on the retina in the same manner as it falls on a surface in a darkened room through a small aperture, thus conclusively proving that vision happens when light rays pass from objects towards the eye and not from the eye towards the objects as thought by the Greeks. He presents experiments for testing the angles of incidence and reflection, and a theoretical proposal for magnifying lens (made in Italy three centuries later). He also taught that the image made on the retina is conveyed along the optic nerve to the brain. Razi was the first to recognize the reaction of the pupil to light and Ibn Sina was the first to describe the exact number of extrinsic muscles of the eyeball, namely six. The greatest contribution of Islamic medicine in practical ophthalmology was in the matter of cataract. The most significant development in the extraction of cataract was developed by Ammar bin Ali of Mosul, who introduced a hollow metallic needle through the sclerotic and extracted the lens by suction. Europe rediscovered this in the nineteenth century.

In 931 A.D. Caliph Al-Muqtadir learned that a patient in Baghdad had died as the result of a physician’s error and he ordered his chief physician, Sinan-ibn Thabit bin Qurrah to regulate all those who practiced medicine in Mesopotamia. In the first year of the decree, more than 860 doctors were examined in Baghdad alone. This led to the introduction of new examinations and a Licensing Board was established under a government official called Muhtasib. European medical schools followed the Baghdad pattern and even in the early nineteenth century, students at the Sorbonne could not graduate without reading Ibn Sina’s Qanun (Cannon).

During this period, Al-Razi moved to Baghdad where he became the Chief Physician of the Baghdad Hospital and the Court-Physician of the Caliph. He published several medical books, which were translated into Latin, French, Italian, Hebrew, and Greek including the differentiating between smallpox and measles, two diseases that were hitherto thought to be one single disease. It is also written that when he was asked to choose a site for a new hospital in Baghdad, he deduced which was the most hygienic area by observing where the fresh pieces of meat he had hung in various parts of the city decomposed least quickly.

He also published a book called “Al-Murshid, in which he described the different types of fever including continuous, relapsing, and hectic. He stated that fever can be a symptom of a disease or a disease in itself. He introduced mercury as a therapeutic drug for the first time in history, which was later adopted in Europe. Al-Razi is attributed to be the first to use animal gut for sutures. He is credited with many contributions, which include being the first to describe true distillation, corrosive sublimate, arsenic, copper sulphate, iron sulphate, saltpetre, and borax in the treatment of disease. He introduced mercury compounds as purgatives (after testing them on monkeys); mercurial ointments and lead ointment.”

His interest in urology focused on problems involving urination, venereal disease, renal abscess, and renal and vesical calculi. He described hay fever or allergic rhinitis. He stressed the continued medical education of the physician advising him to record his own observations and encouraging him to meet with other physicians to discuss medical problems. The new Al-Adudi hospital in Baghdad was built in 981 A.D. and had interns, residents, and 24 consultants. An Abbasid minister, Ali ibn Isa, requested the court physician, Sinan ibn Thabit, to organise regular visiting of prisons by medical officers.

Many other Islamic physicians and surgeons of the period influenced the Baghdad School. In 930 A.D., Al-Zahrawi was born in Al-Zahra, a suburb of Cordova and later attended the University of Cordova, which had a long tradition of excellence. At that time, Cordova had a population of one million. Al-Zahrawi became an eminent surgeon being appointed as the Court-Physician of King Abdel-Rahman III. He was to influence the Baghdad School of Medicine through his four books, one of which “Al-Tastif Liman Ajiz’an Al-Ta’lif’ is still considered the best medieval surgical encyclopaedia and was used in medical schools in Europe until the 17th century. Al-Zahrawi described the ligature of arteries long before Ambrose Pare and he also used cautery to control bleeding. Interestingly, he also used wax and alcohol to stop bleeding from the skull during cranial surgery long before Sir Victor Horsley used it to effect in the late eighteen hundreds. His preparation made up of seven parts beeswax and one part almond oil is still known today as Horsley’s Wax.

Al-Zahrawi was also the first to in history to use cotton (Arabic word) in surgical dressings in the control of haemorrhage, as padding in the splinting of fractures, teach the lithotomy position for vaginal operations, to describe and use alcohol as a surgical preparation. He distinguished between goitre and cancer of the thyroid and explained his invention of a cauterizing iron, which he also used to control bleeding. His description of varicose veins stripping, even after ten centuries, is almost like modern surgery. In orthopaedic surgery he introduced what is called today Kocher’s method of reduction of shoulder dislocation and patelectomy, 1,000 years before Brooke reintroduced it in 1937. He described tracheotomy, orthodontia and described the different types of fracture before the introduction of X Rays.

In the rest of the Islamic world, the Iranian Ibn Sina (Avicenna 980-1037 A.D) suggested the communicable nature of tuberculosis long before the infectious nature of the pathogen was discovered. He was also the first to describe the use silk sutures for haemostasis and the first to use alcohol as an antiseptic. Ibn Sina originated the idea of the use of oral anaesthetics and he recognised opium as the most powerful mukhadir (an intoxicant or drug). He also used less powerful anaesthetics such as mandragora, poppy, hemlock, hyoscyamus, deadly nightshade (belladonna), lettuce seed, and snow or ice cold water. He introduced the soporific sponge, soaked with aromatics and narcotics, which was the precursor of modem anaesthesia. In his masterpiece Al-Quanun (Canon), he described complete studies of physiology, pathology, and hygiene.

However, the turning point in the great age of Islam’s contribution to medicine came when a confederation of nomadic tribes led by Genghis Khan, first conquered China, and then spread out to attack the rest of the Muslim Empire. By 1220, they had conquered Samarkand and Bukhara and by the mid-century, they had taken Russia, Central Europe, northern Iran, and the Caucuses. In 1258, Hulagu Khan invaded Baghdad and destroyed the ancient systems of irrigation with such extensive devastation that even today agricultural recovery in this nation is still incomplete. While in Baghdad, Hulagu made a pyramid of the skulls of Baghdad’s scholars, religious leaders, and poets, and he deliberately destroyed what remained of Iraq’s canal headworks. The medical knowledge of centuries was swept away and Mesopotamia became a neglected frontier province ruled from the Mongol capital of Tabriz in Iran.

In 1380, another Turko-Mongol confederation was organised by Tamerlane the Great, who claimed descent from Genghis Khan. They swept down on Baghdad again destroyed the hospitals and burnt the libraries with their irreplaceable works. It is said that the waters of the Tigris ran blue with the ink of the medical and scientific works destroyed by these barbarians. The result was to wipe out much of the priceless cultural, scientific, and medical legacy that Muslim scholars had been preserving and enlarging for some five hundred years. A minor scion of the Mamluk dynasty took refuge in Egypt and the ‘Abbasid caliphate continued the practice of medicine there late into the sixteenth century. In 1401, he sacked Baghdad and massacred many thousands of its inhabitants. Like Hulagu, Tamerlane had a penchant for building pyramids of skulls. His rule virtually extinguished Islamic dominance of medicine and Baghdad, long a centre of trade suffered severe economic depression. The medico-social innovations of the Baghdad scholars totally disintegrated.

To make matters worse, the southern province of Basra, which had been a key transit point for seaborne commerce was circumvented after the Portuguese discovered a shorter route around the Cape of Good Hope. Mesopotamia’s once-extensive irrigation system fell into disrepair, creating swamps and marshes at the edge of the delta. The rapid deterioration of settled agriculture led to the growth of tribally based pastoral nomadism. By the end of the Mongol period, the medical knowledge of the people of Mesopotamia had shifted from the urban-based Abbasid culture to the tribes of the river valleys, where it has remained well into the twentieth century.

Maybe, for a moment if we considered Baghdad’s great contribution to the world of Western medicine, we would not be so quick to see this nation as radically demonic and possibly even learn to respect the descendants of these original scholars who today still die suffering along the shores of the Tigris, sacrificed on yet another altar of human indifference.

Copyright (c) 2009 CMS

After the newspaper ads featured in USA Today and other major US newspapers, the popular Iraqi Dinar scam has moved to another country. Just when you thought it was safe for the US based investors, with all the warnings recently published by major media sources, the scammers have found yet another country ripe for profit.

10,000 Iraqi Dinars selling at B$ 110 was the title of a recent ad than ran in a Brunei newspaper. And people are jumping on it like crazy. Rumors are the sellers have run out of stock in less than one week.

How could this be possible? Because they don’t know better. Ordinary people, people just like you and I read about this new investment in a newspaper they trust. The ad is claiming they’re sitting on a pot of gold, and the Iraqi Dinar is about to jump in value big time. They start dreaming about fast riches. They swipe out their wallet faster than the blink of an eye and hand their hard earned money to the scammers.

The truth? The current exchange rate as of today is approximately 1 USD for 1.63 BND (Brunei Dollars).

This means at the exchange rate set by the Central Bank of Iraq people could, in theory, get close to 100,000 Iraqi Dinars for the same BND 110. This is almost TEN times more the amount the scammers are selling it for. And people are jumping on it like crazy! Why? Because they don’t know better.

When they wake up later on and try to sell the dinars back they’re in for a big surprise. They can’t. Nobody is buying Iraqi Dinars. There’s currently no way for them to recover at most 1/10 from their investment except if they are willing to travel to Iraq to cash it in.

But first they have to wait and pray for the dinars to jump in value at least 10 times for them to merely recover their money back. By the way it looks now this sudden jump in value is not going to happen. Not today, not tomorrow, and neither in a month from now. It could happen in 3 years. Or 5 years. Or never.

Sad truth is people who were sold in at these rates were scammed. They were profited for their lack of knowledge. And the sellers knew exactly what the exchange rate was. They knew exactly what’s the potential for this type of investment. And the only potential it has right now is for them, the scammers, to get rich from selling Iraqi Dinars.

So, why did the people buy in? Because they didn’t knew better. But you do!

Don’t fall prey for these scams! You deserve to be informed.

Wouldn’t it be nice, if British MPs debated in the House of Commons if the Iraqi army should go shopping with a US Foreign Secretary? I sure feel it would.

Or maybe not shopping, because it doesn’t have to be shopping. Perhaps a US Foreign Secretary could instead go to a theme park, with the army of Iraq. Unlike a shopping mall, a theme park has roller-coasters (or at least a theme park will or should have better roller-coasters). Shopping malls have a true variety of options of course (like cinemas), but it just seems that if an American Foreign Secretary is going to go somewhere with the Iraqi army, and that somewhere is between either a theme park or a shopping arcade, it’s the theme park which overall offers the better experience – to further make the point, it’s likely that a theme park will have DVD’s on offer, meaning that if the US Foreign Secretary or if any particular member of the Iraqi army wanted a DVD (like either a new release, or a 90’s classic for example), either the US Foreign Secretary could purchase the DVD for that particular member of the Iraqi army or a member of the Iraqi army could purchase the DVD for the US Foreign official.

But anyway: I digress. The overall issue, is to do with whether or not elected members of the House of Commons in the Palace of Westminster should debate the basic issue of whether a US Foreign Secretary should have a day trip with the Iraqi army: I for one think that they should.

As for why a Foreign Secretary, and not a Healthcare Secretary or a Finance Secretary, I suppose it just goes with the territory: relative to a US administration (any US administration), an Iraqi army is a foreign reality, or a foreign group of people. And as for why British MPs, and not US Senators who should be the ones to debate the matter, I suppose I’d just say that such is the pleasantness of the overall idea, it’s more in line with British politicians to indulge the idea (British manners and all that).

So overall, yes: not only should members of the House of Commons address the idea, of an American Foreign Secretary either going shopping with or going to a theme park with all members of the army of Iraq, but I for one agree with the idea.

Bingo is usually seen as a game played in western countries but the fact is that people around the globe enjoy playing bingo. Bingo is especially popular in the UK and during the glory days of the British Empire British culture including bingo was exported to even the remotest parts of the empire. Bingo, both land based and internet bingo, are wildly popular in Australia and New Zealand where the game is popularly known as ‘housie.’ Before World War Two Iraq was part of the British Empire and it was then that bingo was introduced into this ancient Middle Eastern country.

As everyone knows the war in Iraq has been going on for almost a decade with no end in sight and it is hard to imaging such a peaceful activity as a bingo game taking place anywhere in the war torn country. Believe it or not the 85 year old elite Alwiyah Club is now offering bingo games. During the days of empire the Alwiyah Club featured manicured lawns, tennis courts, and a swimming pool. Members were required to have a college degree and the club was a meeting place for the cultural, political and intellectual elite cultural, political and intellectual elite. The club fell on hard times after Dictator Saddam Hussein cut the liquor supply to garner favor with religious conservatives. Many women ceased going to the club fearing predators among Saddam’s friends and family members. Abdul Rahman Hamza whose family was among the founding members put it this way, “It became like a military club. No drinking. No parties. What kind of club is that?”

The game has attracted some younger players and although the streets in Baghdad are still not completely safe the games are well attended. After years of unrelenting violence the elite Alwiyah Club is making a comeback and the open bar, Arabic pop music and Saturday night bingo games draw players from all age groups.

The resurgence of bingo in Baghdad is seen as a success story for the peacekeeping efforts of the multi national forces. Now on bingo nights the parking lot is packed with eager bingo players. Bingo players pay about $4 for a wooden table and can play bingo for cash prizes all night. The resurgence of bingo is seen as a sign that the country is on its way to stabilization and peace.

Should conditions deteriorate Iraqi players could still play internet bingo and websites are welcoming new players with bigger and better bingo bonuses. Players can play from the safety and comfort of home and search for the best free bingo bonuses.

Amman's beauty and bounty does not end with the plethora of alluring attractions, cryptic civilizations and ancient heritage. The capital city also endows destinations aplenty around its vicinity for tourists and adventure lovers to explore and drown in their magnificence. Once you are in Amman, you simply cannot resist traversing these unfathomable lands that are beaming and bubbling with a charisma of their own.

One such breathtaking piece of interest is the Wadi Al Seer, located approximately at a distance of 24 kilometers towards the city's southwest direction. Luscious green trees line up the panoramic valley of this "Valley of the Orchard, while the Iraq-al-Amir and Qasr-al-Abd bring forth the obscure and the occult myths of the ancient.

As the legend goes, Qasr- al-Abd was raised by a lovelorn slave who adored his master's beautiful daughter. The name, however, which in English means "The Castle of the Slave" reveals the story of Hyrcanus, a historical personality and the governor of the city of Amman, who considered himself the "slave of the people" for serving mankind to the core .

The fortress constructed by Hyrcanus, engraved with monstrous animals of towering powers, subtly suggests the exceptional exploits that the governor indulged in during his reign. The caves of Iraq- Al-Amir were dens for cavalry stables and at present home to countless goats and storage staffs of the villagers. Amman's most prominent fashion and cultural district, Swefieh is a mélange of clubs, night bars, shopping plazas and not to forget the "red light" areas.

Take a day off to dig into the Roman history as preserved and venerated by the city of Jerash, 48 kilometers north of the city of Amman. As you drive past the city, you will be entranced by the outstanding manner in which the Roman traditions in the form of baths, colonnaded streets, arches and plazas have been conserved.

The city, which echoes its Greco-Roman connection, had been the settlement area for Arab and Semitic tribes in the first millennium. The festive spirit of Jerash comes alive during the months of July and August when artists, dancers, athletes and musicians entertain people by extolling the rich culture of the city with the Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts.

On your return trip from Jerash, go a little off the track to reach the mesmerizing landscapes of Ajloun, with its lush green valley overlooking the Dead Sea, the West Bank and Lake Tiberius. Explore the Qala'at al-Rabadh, the enrapturing castle, an outstanding archetypal Islamic architecture. Ajloun dons on bewitching regalia in the winter months when the snow-capped peaks are a remarkable sight.

No single catastrophe since the last world war makes very deep an effect on earth events as 9/11. Had the world responded to his 9/11 hit on America with small amounts Osama bin Laden most likely have disappeared, expelled from Afghanistan or even murdered by his Tajik adversaries. Even the Taliban had been recognized to have been surprised by 9/11. Practically the whole Muslim community (and the PLO) came out in sympathy with America.

It was a brief time of American moral supremacy. Still by introducing armed aggression, initially against Afghanistan and then against Iraq, America wholly squandered the gain. The aggression resulted in a tide of surge and anti-Americanism of support for wild Islamism across the Muslim community. The wars cost tens of a huge number of lives and also caused mass destruction. The billions of bucks expended on them was funded mostly from borrowing, which subsequently has destabilized the world economy.

All this was from all proportion to the episodes on 9/11. Indeed the reaction to 9/11 was as Bin Laden should have dreamed. He noticed prevalent hostility towards the west along with its intense behavior in the Muslim community. Civil liberties have been curbed and governments reverted to cold war paranoia. America was once again the great Satan. The serenity dividend so eagerly awaited at the conclusion of the twentieth century evaporated when the security business exploited counter terrorism and seized every possibility of income and risk aversion. Bin Laden became a role model for extremists almost everywhere. The decade after 9/11 should get ranking among the counterproductive and inept most eras within the story of contemporary statesmanship.

The result was an innovative emphasis on fighting global terrorism, especially Al Qaida. Huge new resources have been tossed into the fight. Paradoxically, looking back, 9/11 might happen to be the excessive water mark for al Qaida instead of the start of a brand new terrorist threat. The team has since been not able to mount very stunning an assault once again. The Arab spring has made it nearly irrelevant. Looking back, maybe the west put a lot of work into the physical battle against global terrorism without enough into addressing the grievances the extremists could exploit, particularly the failing to progress serenity in the Middle East.

Terrorists used the resources of a contemporary global culture, the internet, hi-tech airplanes, open borders, to strike the west at home. Thankfully, they didn’t provoke the societies of ours into closing the borders of theirs and hunkering down in your home and as an alternative we reacted with a better willingness to participate internationally. The strike gave birth to an unprecedented common coalition of revulsion. The opinion fragmented over Iraq. Divisions over Afghanistan, Syria and Libya show it hasn’t yet been rebuilt. One day is hoped by me it could be recaptured without a repeat of the appalling catastrophe that initially brought it into becoming.

In Daniel 8:17, Gabriel tells Daniel that the ram and goat (chazown) “vision concerns the time of the end.” Historians confirm the application in verses 20,21 where “The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is the first king.”

Daniel was probably a teenager when Babylon conquered Jerusalem circa 606 BC. He became prime minister to Nebuchadnezzar, and when Babylon later fell to Medo-Persia in 538 BC, he became prime minister to Cyrus. Only God could reveal to him the next world empire–Grecia in 331 BC. For comparison, we can’t even tell whether Russia, China or Iran will attack us, but this vision reveals the sequence.

The Medes and Persians conquered Babylon by diverting the Euphrates River and entering by the river gate as foretold by the prophet Isaiah–God named Cyrus before he was born and said He would, “open doors before him so that gates will not be shut,” Isa 45:1. This foreknowledge by the God of Israel convinced Cyrus that the Hebrew God was God, and prompted his decree to release them at the end of the 70 years foretold by the prophet Jeremiah that Judah would “serve the king of Babylon seventy years,” Jer 25:11.

But Gabriel told Daniel, “the vision concerns the time of the end.” Dan 8:17. The Medes and Persians are now Iraq and Iran. Our borders are as open to Muslims now as the river gates were then. Didn’t this Muslim president promise us “change”?

The first horn-Saddam, has been broken. A US coalition will stomp Iran as it did Iraq after something stupid angers the goat. Probably it will be a 3rd Intifada with Iran as the chief ingredient in Zechariah’s prophecy:

“The [Islamic] nations gather against Jerusalem to battle and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled… Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations,” [as the goat stomped the ram.] Zech 14:1-3. This isn’t hard to imagine since Iraq has already been beaten.

Then the goat becomes great, but his horn breaks, Grecia became the next world empire after the Battle of Arbela in 331 BC, but Alexander died in early life (great horn, first king, broken). We wouldn’t want to name names, but the US president is acting like a king and could fulfill this prophecy.

“The goat became very great, but at the height of its power the large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven.” Dan 8:8 in KJV has a marginal reference to Dan 7:2,3 where four winds blow and four beasts come up.

The lion with eagle’s wings could be a UK/US alliance. The bear represents Russia. The leopard with four heads could be China with N Korea, Japan, and Thailand? The dragon with “little horn” would the EU as Europe was in the first application, and the papacy is again the “little horn” as Protestant reformers described.

The imagery could support UK/US conquests by Russia that is then subdued by China as the original sequence with Babylon, Medo-Persia and Grecia suggest. An alternate view would be simultaneous powers with UK/US representing western culture, Russia with military primacy, China as an economic force and the EU reflecting world dominance with papacy from a religious view.

Summary of Daniel 8: “At the time of the end, a pushy [militant] Muslim ram angers a goat that flies from the west to stomp the ram and break its horns. Then the goat horn breaks (US military supremacy) and four horns represent four world powers with a little horn becoming “exceeding great… even to the host of heaven… and stamped on them’ [persecution-same picture as the papacy–the little horn in Dan 7:21,25, but this will be New World Order with pope in control, as in the Old World. “God declares the end from the beginning” by a reapplication of prophetic imagery. Watch for Matthew 24 next weekend.

In no other time in our history has there been such corruption and insanity coming from Washington and especially the White House. Trump and his henchmen have all but obliterated the Constitution. Now, with the world turning its eyes toward Syria after another so called chemical weapons attack on the Syrian people our fearless leader has taken it upon himself to interfere with military action that has global repercussions. Unlike President Obama Trump and his henchmen have made matters much worse than ever before. His reaction has been completely idiotic, something only a madman would only do.

We have to remember the current tensions in the Mid-East can be traced back to the events following 9/11. When the Bush Administration went to war from perceived information that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction was the so called start of our continued military involvement in the Mid-East. We must point out that the reason of going to war was solely based on false information. Subsequently, this action by the United States destabilized the whole region. With this latest military action mimics our foray into Iraq when information proved false.

When the Obama Administration came in with Secretary Clinton proved even worse in foreign policy directives. Questions that even the Russian President keeps asking have shed light on how the West, the United States, continues to support continued military options instead of brokering diplomatic solutions aimed at stabilizing the region. Now, we have the Trump Administration with its supporting cast of misfits, warmongers, and other despicable characters. The insanity coming from this Administration is nothing more than criminal.

The madmen in Washington have engineered what is amounting to a prelude to World War III. The supporting cast of characters in this, what could be the final act in world history, are the financiers who have always profited when the winds of war start blowing. As a staunch allies of the United States Israel has positioned itself in such a manner that the slightest provocation could engulf the entire region in flames of destruction.

There is more to this than meets the eye. First off is the fact that Russia and China have for some time been positioning themselves to take down the monetary value of the US dollar. When the US dollar isn’t the world reserve currency an economic collapse would ensue devastating not only the United States but Europe as well. The forces within the financial world of Wall Street, the IMF and the World Bank are now in collusion fostering not diplomatic solutions but have now proved to be behind our decades long military operations through-out the world.

With Trump in the White House his triads, false bravado, and infamous Twitter ramblings have made the rest of the world take notice that America has turned into a Banana Republic. Now, with a war cabinet behind him and his eagerness to justify military action based on perceived information that like in the first Gulf War proved false just shows that he is acting above the law. Acting without definitive proof that Assad authorized two chemical weapon attacks with military action and without the Approval of Congress or first finding proof that chemical weapons were actually used and by whom proves again that Trump is being persuaded to use military action without justification.

The madmen in Washington have only furthered the insanity that has manifested itself to where the American public are being led like sheep. Brainwashed into thinking that America can do no wrong. This insanity of the Trump and his cast of madmen have to stop before the world is set ablaze either by war or by the continued assault on our environment due to global warming. There is a way to do so but we had better act before it really is too late.

If you are among the thousands of people who have bought Iraqi Dinar currency in hopes of scoring a big profit, you may now be wondering what options there are for liquidating your Dinar holdings.

The Iraqi Dinar investment dream has been around for nearly a decade now. The dream is promoted by a slew of websites that sell Iraqi currency – that is, actual physical bundles of currency – to “investors” through mail order. The websites’ sales pitch goes like this: “Before the 1990’s Gulf War 1 million Dinar was worth $3,200,000 USD; today you can buy 1 million Dinar for just $1,150.00 USD”. As the Iraq economy improves the Dinar will likely be revalued. If the revalue is at a level approaching it’s pre-war exchange rate, today’s small cash outlay could return millions for those savvy enough to get in now. Iraq’s vast oil resources, well-educated population and guaranteed rebuilding aid from the US make buying Iraqi dinar almost a sure bet.”

This rationale has proven compelling for thousands of people who’ve taken the plunge and bought Iraqi currency.

But people who buy Iraqi dinar are not buying a liquid, actively traded investment; rather they are buying a numismatic “collectible” that has very high transaction costs. For example, today you can expect to pay about $1,150 USD for 1,000,000 of Iraqi Dinar (IQD) currency from on-line dealers. The same 1,000,000 IQD has an official exchange rate value of just $854 USD – a hefty 30% markup. Dealers justify this margin by noting the high costs of transporting and safekeeping foreign currency bundles.

Similarly, if you are a holder of Iraqi currency and have decided to convert your Dinar back into US dollars, your options are limited and costly. One Dinar website makes the following noteworthy disclosure in its fine print Q&A page: Until markets develop for the resale of Iraqi Dinars, it may be difficult for you to liquidate your Iraqi Dinars or exchange them for US Dollars.

One option is to sell the currency back to a Dinar dealer. Typically, online Dinar dealers who advertise 1,000,000 IQD for sale for $1,110 are willing to pay $800 to buy back the same 1,000,000 IQD. In other words, when you drive the Dinar off the lot, it’s instantly worth 32% less in the eyes of the dealer that just sold it to you! Selling Dinar back to a dealer is the option having the highest transaction cost but least amount of hassle.

A second option is to sell your holdings on eBay. With eBay, transaction costs should be 10% or less (meaning you might pocket $1,000 if your 1,000,000 IQD can fetch $1,100). (This eBay fee calculator will give you a good idea of your transaction costs.) However, for the newcomer, eBay can be intimidating and entail a substantial learning curve. You should be aware too that eBay has a very active community of Iraqi dinar dealers who you will be directly competing with.

A third option is to sell your Dinar holdings on Craigslist. Craigslist is free, easy to use and very effective for selling items. However, the audience is primarily local and the number of listings for IQD is relatively small – even in the larger Craigslist communities.

The Iraqi Dinar dream may someday become reality for those investors willing to buy and hold dinar for the long-term. But people looking to liquidate their Dinar holdings today will likely take a significant loss on their “investment”.

“[There must be] a wall of separation between church and state”-Thomas Jefferson, 1802

When I was a Marine company commander in South Vietnam in 1967, my unit regularly received “care” packages addressed to “Any soldier, sailor, airman or Marine.” The packages contained such items as disposable razors, toothbrushes, toothpaste, Lifesavers, factory-packaged snack items and paperback novels. The care packages were normally prepared by various civic and veterans’ organizations and if approved by the Department of Defense they were eligible for expedited shipping overseas. The care packages were always appreciated by those in uniform.

Care packages that are now being sent to members of the armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan are similar in many ways to the packages that were sent to our forces in South Vietnam 40 years ago – with one exception. Nowadays, religious extremists are attempting to proselytize by including Bibles, religious books and even religious video games in care packages.

Church & State newsletter explains it this way: “A Dallas-based group called Operation Straight Up (OSU) planned to include a video game called ‘Left Behind: Eternal Forces’ in care packages for the troops. The game, based on a series of apocalyptic novels by Religious Right activist Tim LaHaye, allows players to kill opponents in the name of Christianity or the Antichrist. It has been criticized for violent content.”

According to an Aug. 22 article in the Los Angeles Times, OSU is a fundamentalist ministry headed by former kickboxer Jonathan Spinks. It is also an official member of the Defense Department’s “America Supports You” program. The group has staged a number of Christian-themed shows at military bases, featuring athletes, strongmen and actor-turned-evangelist Stephen Baldwin. But thanks in part to the support of the Pentagon, Operation Straight Up has now begun focusing on Iraq, where, according to its website, it planned an entertainment tour called the “Military Crusade.”

OSU personnel were obviously unaware of Muslim sensitivities about Americans going on a “crusade” in the Middle East.

Max Blumenthal, writing in The Nation, said “The Left Behind video game is a real-time strategy game that makes players commanders of a virtual evangelical army in a post-apocalyptic landscape that looks strikingly like New York after 9/11. With tanks, helicopters and a fearsome arsenal of automatic weapons at their disposal, Left Behind players wage war against . . . armies of the Antichrist.” To win the game, players must kill or convert all non-believers. They also have the option of reversing roles and commanding the forces of the Antichrist.

OSU’s plan was initially approved by the Department of Defense Chaplain’s Office, but after Blumenthal’s article was published in August, the approval was revoked. Former Reagan Administration White House Counsel Mikey Weinstein has been highly critical of OSU, telling Navy Times that the organization “is the IED [improvised explosive device] that is blowing up the constitutional wall separating church and state in the Pentagon and throughout our military.”

Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Washington DC-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State said of OSU’s activities: “There appears to be a very deep connection between this allegedly private group promoting evangelical Christianity and the military itself. It doesn’t matter what the religion is. The government is supposed to be neutral. It is supposed to be hands-off on that.”

As a 27-year-old Marine captain in South Vietnam, I always tried to lead my Marines “by example,” but that never extended to religion. My religious beliefs were private and mine alone. I never attempted to proselytize or to convert others to my way of thinking. Religious fundamentalists should do the same. Our young men and women in uniform are quite capable of thinking for themselves about this important subject.