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ORIGINAL RESEARCHBill Berkowitz Apocalyptic manJoel Rosenberg, the Christian bestselling author and close friend to Israeli officials, wants the Bush Administration to deal robustly with Iran's nuclear programIn a blog post from Jerusalem dated November 13, Joel Rosenberg, the bestselling Christian novelist, wrote: "The buzz here in the last few days is that Israel is seriously considering a preemptive strike against Iran's nuclear facilities and ballistic missile sites." Given Israel's less than sterling performance against Hezbollah this summer, Rosenberg is not convinced that Israel "has the capacity -- or the will -- at the moment to neutralize the Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile threat." In an entry on his blog Rosenberg suggested that Russia should be added to the Bush administration's "axis of evil" However, with "a new Hitler rising in Iran," it is up to President Bush -- who met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Washington on November 13 -- to deal with the Iranian threat: "If President Bush believes Iran needs to be neutralized (and I believe he does), and he is convinced that military action is the only way (I don't believe he is there right now), then the U.S. should take the lead." After all, wrote Rosenberg "If anyone is going to stop Iran from threatening the world with nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them, it has to be soon, perhaps no later than the end of 2007. After all, 2008 is an American election year. 2009 will be the start of a new administration. By then it may be too late. The thermonuclear genie may be out of the bottle." This past summer's Israeli/Hezbollah war led several cable news networks to raise questions about whether the crisis in the Middle East was a signal that the "End Times" were approaching. Rosenberg, the bestselling Christian author of such apocalyptic/political thrillers as "The Copper Scroll," "The Ezekiel Option," and "The Last Jihad," received more than his fair share of media attention, appearing on CNN and the Fox News Channel. In late October, Rosenberg was in Albuquerque, New Mexico, speaking at Calvary Chapel of Rio Rancho and Calvary Chapel of Albuquerque. His topic in both churches was, "Are We Living In The Last Days?" "We examined current events in Russia, North Korea and the Middle East in the light of Bible prophecy," Rosenberg recently wrote. His talk at Calvary Albuquerque was "simulcast over the radio, and webcast to viewers in Jerusalem and at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad," according to his blog. The visit to Albuquerque "was the 22nd city we've been in since late-July when 'The Copper Scroll' and 'Epicenter' book tours began," Rosenberg wrote on his blog. "We've had the remarkable privilege of addressing more than 33,000 people in person from coast to coast; giving more than 220 radio, TV and print interviews; and communicating with more than 17 million people through the media; as well as meeting privately with U.S. and foreign government leaders who have become increasingly interested in prophecy." Rosenberg's speaking engagements extend beyond church appearances and book signings. In a recent appearance with host Glenn Beck on his CNN Headline News program, Rosenberg pointed out that he had made several visits to "speak at a White House Bible study" and had conversations with "a number of congressional leaders and Homeland Security, Pentagon [officials] about my novels, which are based on Bible prophecy." Rosenberg told Beck that "the question that's been most interesting among these various administration and congressional officials is, 'Are you saying that the Bible talks about an alliance between Iran, Russia, and a group of Middle Eastern countries to attack Israel at some point?' And the answer is yes." On his blog, a day after his appearance with Beck, Rosenberg responded to a short item in Rolling Stone magazine which mentioned his visits to the White House: "Rolling Stone's latest issue describes me as a 'loony' who is secretly urging President Bush to bring about Armageddon. It's a theme the Washington Post pursued earlier this year, along with a number of left-wing bloggers. But any suggestion that I have some secret back channel into the Oval Office or have had any kind of influence on the President on this topic is simply not true. Yes, I've briefly met the President a number of times over the years, and yes, I have signed copies of several of my novels for the President that were given to him by friends of mine. But no, I don't know him personally, I've never had a conversation with him about Bible prophecy, and I doubt he has had any time to read my books." Getting started with 'The Last Jihad'Rosenberg was an important but mostly behind-the-scenes figure in the conservative movement until his first novel "The Last Jihad" became a bestseller. A Jew who converted to Christianity more than 30 years ago, Rosenberg has worked for former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli politician Natan Sharansky, Steve Forbes, right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh, and William Bennett, America's self-appointed morality maven. He is also a former Heritage Foundation staffer. "The Last Jihad," completed before the 9/11 Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, propelled Rosenberg into the spotlight. The novel featured a hijacked jet making a kamikaze-like attack against the President of the United States, simultaneous terrorist strikes on the US, London, Paris and Saudi Arabia, an oil deal between Israel and the Palestinians that threatened to unleash a war with Iraq, and a possible preemptive nuclear strike. Helped along by endorsements from popular conservative talk show hosts Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and G. Gordon Liddy, the book hit the best-seller lists of the New York Times, USA Today, Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com. Rosenberg's second book, "The Last Days," opens with the death of Yasser Arafat and a U.S. diplomatic convoy ambushed in Gaza. Wikipedia notes that "Two weeks before 'The Last Days' was published, a U.S. diplomatic convoy was ambushed in Gaza. Thirteen months later, Yasser Arafat died." "The Last Days" also spent time on the New York Times best-seller list, hit number five on the Denver Post list, and hit number eight on the Dallas Morning News list. According to Wikipedia, both books have been optioned by motion-picture producers. In a late-October interview with the Washington Times, Rosenberg told reporter Chrissie Thompson that he didn't think that his novels "were going to predict the future. ... I was basing them on a series of Bible prophecies, but when [they] started to come true ... that has been striking for all of us, myself included." Another of his novels, "The Ezekiel Option," is described by Rosenberg as "a political thriller about the threat of a Russian-Iranian alliance to destroy Israel based on the Biblical prophecies found in the Book of Ezekiel, chapters 38 and 39." These prophecies, according to Rosenberg, "describe what Bible scholars call the war of Gog and Magog. Russia and Iran form a military alliance with Lebanon, Syria and a group of other Middle East countries to destroy Israel in what Ezekiel described as the last days" The threat from a Russian/Iranian allianceA few weeks before appearing on Glenn Beck's program, in an entry on his blog Rosenberg suggested that Russia should be added to the Bush administration's "axis of evil": "Under [Vladimir] Putin's leadership," Rosenberg wrote, "Russia has also joined the 'axis of evil.' It is selling billions of dollars worth of missiles and high-tech weaponry to Iran, Syria, Algeria, and other radical Islamic and Arab regimes. It is building nuclear facilities for Iran, training Iranian nuclear scientists, and running political interference for Iran at the UN to prevent the West from imposing sanctions despite the fact that Iran's leader has called for the United States and Israel to be wiped 'off the map.'" Rosenberg describes his new book "Epicenter: Why the Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future" -- which hit the New York Times hardcover best seller list, logging in at #19 on November 12 -- as "the nonfiction version of these [Book of Ezekiel] prophecies, explaining what ... the prophecies mean and what's really going on in the world that suggests that we may be closer to the fulfillment of those prophecies than most people realize." Asked about the growing relationship between Iran and Russia, Rosenberg pointed out that "Russia is clearly building a military alliance with Iran today. In December of last year, Russia signed a $1 billion arms deal with Iran. Russia is building Iran's nuclear facilities. Russia has trained over a thousand Iranian nuclear scientists, and Russia is running political interference for Iran at the United Nations to prevent the U.S. and Europe from slapping sanctions on Iran." "Identifying Iran in Ezekiel 38 is" easy said Rosenberg. "The country mentioned is Persia, and until 1935, the official name of Iran was Persia. Where we get Russian from is that a dictator emerges in a land called Magog, according to Ezekiel 38:2. ... When you do the detective work ... you find out this is the people group that settled north of the Black Sea in what we now call Russia." The Rosenbergs' Joshua FundRecently, Rosenberg, and his wife Lynn, co-founded The Joshua Fund, which according to its website, "is partnering with evangelical ministries in the Middle East to provide desperately needed resources to Christians in the region to bless their neighbors in need in the name of Jesus. This is a tremendous opportunity to demonstrate the love of Christ to those who need it most." According to "Christian Zionist Author to Evangelize Lebaneses Refugees," a post published in early November on Richard Bartholomew's always informative "Bartholomew's notes on religion", the Fund's two "humanitarian aid" efforts are called the "Project to Bless Israel" and the "Project to Bless Lebanon." According to its website, The Joshua Fund ... "is a non-profit educational and charitable organization founded to encourage Christians to:
In the website's "making a difference" section it lists a series of current accomplishments which includes: translating "The Ezekiel Option" into Hebrew and Russian for publication in Israel in 2007 (there are thousands of Messianic Russian Jews in Israel); leading a Vision Trip to Israel and Turkey for the President of Campus Crusade for Christ Canada and two dozen evangelical business and church leaders; attending a book launch party for David Brog, the executive director of Christians United for Israel and the author of "Standing With Israel: Why Christians Support The Jewish State," which was held in Washington, D.C., at the home of Daniel Ayalon, Israel's Ambassador to the U.S.; raising $20,000 to send Bibles to Iraq; hosting a dinner for Dr. Ahmed Abaddi, Morocco's Director of Islamic affairs and an aide to King Mohammed VI, which was intended "to help build bridges of understand between Morocco and American evangelicals," and was covered by National Review, The Weekly Standard, and The Washington Times; hosting a forum entitled "What God Is Doing In Iraq" with born-again Iraqi General Georges Sada, the author of "Saddam's Secrets: How an Iraqi General Defied and Survived Saddam Hussein"; and meetings of Joshua Fund board members Joshua Fund board members "with numerous U.S. and Middle Eastern political leaders ... to discuss current events in light of the Bible and God's plan and purpose for the Middle East." In addition to Rosenberg, who is president of the fund and his wife, who is vice president, other participants are Tim Lugbill of the National Association of Manufacturers, and his wife Carolyn of Going Global Matters; Steve Klemke, the senior Vice President of KCM Mining and "luxury car guru," and his wife Barb; Amy Knapp; Edward Hunt who, along with the Rosenbergs, directs November Communications, Inc., which helps leaders "discover, develop, and deliver their message at home and around the globe" and his wife Kailea, who works for Global Impact Ministry at Lon Solomon's McLean Bible Church in Virginia. "Lebanese refugees will get "Bags of Blessing," to be distributed by Campus Crusade for Christ and local evangelicals," Bartholomew reports. The "Bags" will, according to The Joshua Fund's materials, "include non-perishable food items such as beans, rice, pasta, canned meat, processed cheese, oil, and powdered milk. In addition, each Bag will contain basic supplies such as soap, candles, matches, and aspirin, and a Jesus film DVD in Arabic." According to Bartholomew, "Lebanese refugees are a particular target for evangelism just now." In July he blogged about "how an official for [Franklin Graham's] Samaritan's Purse had claimed that the Israeli bombardment had 'softened the hearts of many Muslims.'" Bartholomew points out that "despite Rosenberg's personal background as a Jewish convert to Christianity, the 'needy Israelis' will be spared a similar 'Jesus film DVD in Hebrew,' for obvious political reasons." sign in, or register to email stories or comment on them.
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MORE ORIGINAL RESEARCHBill Berkowitz PERC receives Templeton Freedom Award for promoting 'enviropreneurs'Right Wing foundation-funded anti-environmental think tank grabbing a wider audience for 'free market environmentalism' On the 15th anniversary of Terry Anderson and Donald Leal's book "Free Market Environmentalism" -- the seminal book on the subject -- Anderson, the Executive Director of the Bozeman, Montana-based Property and Environment Research Center (PERC - formerly known as the Political Economy Research Center) spoke in late-January at an event sponsored by Squaw Valley Institute at the Resort at Squaw Creek in California. While it may have been just another opportunity to speak on "free market environmentalism" and not the kickoff of a "victory tour," nevertheless it comes at a time when PERC's ideas are taking root.
Bill Berkowitz Neil Bush of Saudi ArabiaDuring recent visit, President’s brother describes the country as a 'kind of tribal democracy' In late February, only a few days after Saudi Arabia beheaded four Sri Lankan robbers and then left their headless bodies on public display in the capital of Riyadh, Neil Bush, for the fourth time in the past six years, showed up for the country's Jeddah Economic Forum. The Guardian reported that Human Rights Watch "said the four men had no lawyers during their trial and sentencing, and were denied other basic legal rights." In an interview with Arab News, the Saudi English language paper, Bush described the country as "a kind of tribal democracy."
Bill Berkowitz Newt Gingrich's back door to the White HouseAmerican Enterprise Institute "Scholar" and former House Speaker blames media for poll showing 64 percent of the American people wouldn't vote for him under any circumstances Whatever it is that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has come to represent in American politics, the guy is nothing less than fascinating. One day he's espousing populist rhetoric about the need to cut the costs of college tuition and the next day he's talking World War III. One day he's claiming that the "war on terror" may force the abridgement of fundamental first amendment rights and the next he's advancing a twenty-first century version of his Contract with America. At the same time he's publicly proclaiming how "stupid" it is that the race for the presidency has already started you know that he's trying to figure out how to out finesse Rudy, McCain and Romney for the nomination. And last week, when Fox News' Chris Wallace cited a poll showing that 64 percent of the public would never vote for him, he was quick to blame those results on how unfairly he was treated by the mainstream media back in the day.
Bill Berkowitz American Enterprise Institute takes lead in agitating against IranDespite wrongheaded predictions about the war on Iraq, neocons are on the frontlines advocating military conflict with Iran After doing such a bang up job with their advice and predictions about the outcome of the war on Iraq, would it surprise you to learn that America's neoconservatives are still in business? While at this time we are not yet seeing the same intense neocon invasion of our living rooms -- via cable television's news networks -- that we saw during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, nevertheless, a host of policy analysts at conservative think tanks -- most notably the American Enterprise Institute -- are being heeded on Iran by those who count - folks inside the Bush Administration.
Bill Berkowitz After six years, opposition gaining on George W. Bush's Faith Based InitiativeUnmentioned in the president's State of the Union speech, the program nevertheless continues to recruit religious participants and hand out taxpayer money to religious groups With several domestic policy proposals unceremoniously folded into President Bush's recent State of the Union address, two pretty significant items failed to make the cut. Despite the president's egregiously tardy response to the event itself, it was nevertheless surprising that he didn't even mention Hurricane Katrina: He didn't offer up a progress report, words of hope to the victims, or come up with a proposal for moving the sluggish rebuilding effort forward. There were no "armies of compassion" ready to be unleashed, although it should be said that many in the religious community responded to the disaster much quicker than the Bush Administration. In the State of the Union address, however, there was no "compassionate conservatism" for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Bill Berkowitz Frank Luntz calls Republican leadership in Washington 'One giant whining windbag'On the outs with the GOP, legendary degrader of discourse is moving to California He doesn't make great art; nothing he does elevates the human spirit; he doesn't illuminate, he bamboozles. He has become expert in subterfuge, hidden meanings, word play and manipulation. Frank Luntz has been so good at what he does that those paying close attention gave it its own name: "Luntzspeak."
Bill Berkowitz Spooked by MoveOn.org, conservative movement seeks to emulate liberal powerhouseFueled with Silicon Valley money, TheVanguard.org will have Richard Poe, former editor of David Horowitz's FrontPage magazine as its editorial and creative director As Paul Weyrich, a founding father of the modern conservative movement and still a prominent actor in it, likes to say, he learned a great deal about movement building by closely observing what liberals were up to in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Bill Berkowitz Ward Connerly's anti-affirmative action jihadFounder and Chair of the American Civil Rights Institute scouting five to nine states for new anti-affirmative action initiatives Fresh from his most recent victory -- in Michigan this past November -- Ward Connerly, the Black California-based maven of anti-affirmative action initiatives, appears to be preparing to take his jihad on the road. According to a mid-December report in the San Francisco Chronicle, Connerly said that he was "exploring moves into nine other states."
Bill Berkowitz Tom Tancredo's missionThe Republican congressman from Colorado will try to woo GOP voters with anti-immigration rhetoric and a boatload of Christian right politics These days, probably the most recognizable name in anti-immigration politics is Colorado Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo. Over the past year, Tancredo has gone from a little known congressman to a highly visible anti-immigration spokesperson. "Tancredo has thoroughly enmeshed himself in the anti-immigration movement and with the help of CNN talk show host Lou Dobbs, he has been given a national megaphone," Devin Burghart, the program director of the Building Democracy Initiative at the Center for New Community, a Chicago-based civil rights group, told Media Transparency.
Bill Berkowitz Institute on Religion and Democracy slams 'Leftist' National Council of ChurchesNew report from conservative foundation-funded IRD charges the NCC with being a political surrogate for MoveOn.org, People for the American Way and other liberal organizations If you prefer your religious battles sprinkled with demagoguery, sanctimoniousness, and simplistic attacks, the Institute on Religion and Democracy's (IRD) latest broadside against the National Council of Churches (NCC) certainly fits the bill.
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