The Building of the Image-empire and its Antagonism to Israel

Welcome friends, to the May 17th edition of Bible in the News with Dave Billington. This week the "International Aerospace Exhibition" is taking place in Berlin. You may be surprised to find out who the largest exhibitor is at this international show -- so big they had to especially construct a new 3,000 square meter pavilion, just for this exhibitor! It is not the European Union or even the United States. It's Russia. Yes, Russia is back in a big way. The Russian News and Information Agency reported this information under the heading: "Growing Russian Aerospace Industry to Display its Products in Berlin." Gone are the days of a starving population with Russia begging the west for aid, today Russia is flexing its muscles. The difference for Russia now, in comparison to the cold war era, is all the doors are open to the west and the lucrative markets in Europe. The International Herald Tribune Reports that Russia supplies a third of Germany's gas needs and a quarter of the EU's, sales totalling $25.7 billion, accounting for two-thirds of Gazprom -- the giant Russian state owned gas giant's -- revenue. The Baltic Sea pipelines continue to be constructed at top speed, due to be completed in 2010 bringing an additional 55 billion cubic meters a year of gas directly to Western European Markets. Despite Russia turning off the gas tap during the row with Ukraine last winter and making Europe feel vulnerable, Europe continues on courting Russia with a few grumbles along the way. Not only do we see a union developing but we see Russia posturing to dominate a united Europe.