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Even as relationships between the Israelis and the USA have been strained (to say the least) during President Obama’s administration, it should be noted that relationships between Canada and the Israelis have never been better. Indeed, Canada’s and Israel’s Defense Ministers had a very warm meeting recently and, as one link below states, they “refused…. to rule out a mutual-defence agreement that would oblige Canada to come to Israel’s defence should the latter be attacked.” That would be a very significant step if such a defense pact became a reality. Another link below reports that Canada was the only nation that stood with Israel in a vote taken by the UN Human Rights Panel. Canada is even issuing a stamp which commemorates its friendship with the Israeli nation. What do you think the odds are of the USA issuing such a stamp during Obama’s presidency?
I’ll bet the Israelis are hoping for a GOP victory in the November US elections so US-Israeli relations can revert to their previously very warm status. Given that Zechariah 12:3 allows for the possibility that all nations on earth could abandon the modern house of Judah (the Israelis/Jews), it is heartwarming and encouraging to see that some nations do still firmly stand as allies of the Israelis. I have little doubt that God will bless Canada for this action. As readers of my books and articles know, I identify Canada as one of the modern “company of nations” (Genesis 48:19) that comprise the modern Israelite tribe of Ephraim.
I wish to thank a reader for bringing these links to my attention. They are well worth passing on to readers of this blog.
http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/01/31/3091429/baird-canada-stands-with-israel
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/569872
http://www.nationalpost.com/Canada+Israel+bolster+militaries/5723320/story.html
http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/personal/collecting/stamps/2010/2010_Canada_Israel.jsf
In this post, I will candidly share with readers of my blog a glimpse of the actual level of pain/suffering I have been going through to continue my writing efforts. I am doing this in order to ask readers’ prayers to be given to God to grant healing and deliverance for me from many longstanding and acute afflictions. Indeed, I have reached the point that without God’s healing and help, my ability to continue writing at all is in doubt.
Many readers have known I live in chronic pain. It is true that I have had various chronic pains from a major, near-fatal accident in 1981, but there is far more than that. Recently, I suffered excruciating pain in my prostate region which echoed a kidney stone pain I had in 1996 when a kidney stone wedged in my prostate/urethra region. My daughter took me to a local ER last night and even IV morphine only lowered the pain from about a level 9 to a 4. If I did have a kidney stone, it must have passed as no kidney stones appeared on the CT scan. It hurts quite badly and it is very hard to sit on any chair or find any comfortable position. Also, I apparently bulged out a lumbar disc recently that is also causing high levels of constant pain and limiting my mobility. I have a pain killer, Nucynta, which is of minimal help and I also have a TENS unit which is also of minimal help. Tomorrow I’m scheduled to see a concussion doctor to monitor my recovery from a concussion injury last August 31. I could not pass balance tests for some time, and only recently resumed driving short distances. I still suffer concentration, short-term memory and pain issues from that concussion injury. I have also suffered from a loud tinnitus in both ears for the last two years. It is hard for doctors to find adequate pain relief for me as I was on hydrocodone from 1996 until January, 2010 (due to a wayward surgery by a surgeon who operated on my prostate without any prior consultation about it when I was anesthetized). I had to go everywhere (including Jerusalem in 2000) to try and alleviate the major pain while sitting. With 15 years of continuous hydrocodone usage, my body became so used to hydrocodone that it hardly had any effect on my system when I discontinued its use (in the same month my tinnitus hit hard one afternoon) . I also cannot take any painkiller or anti-inflammatory in the aspirin or NSAID families of drugs as it worsens my tinnitus so it greatly complicates what painkiller can be used in my body.
One doctor tried oxycontin on me for pain relief and it had no more effect on me than a sugar pill. I actually asked him if it was a placebo because it had no noticeable painkilling effect on me whatsoever and he assured me it was the real thing.
I have previously mentioned my PTSD in posts. I’ll give some brief insights into its origin. In 1980, when I was a 19 or 20 year old “babe in Christ,” I left home to stay in Iowa with a deacon in the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). The WCG was Herbert Armstrong’s organization. I was sent there by my parents with “doctor’s orders” to take tranquilizers as they opposed my religious choice. The WCG deacon then gave me increasing doses of whiskey with the tranquilizers to help me “recover.” Instead, I went into convulsions on a combination of drug and alcohol which I learned later was a potentially lethal mixture. Two WCG “ministers” came to see me. As far as I’m concerned, they were a sorcerer and sorcerer’s apprentice. I was tied to a chair for much of the night and experienced what some have called ritual satanic abuse. The lead “pastor” repeatedly ordered me to surrender my mind to a demon that he called into the scene. I can still recall him saying “I adjure you in the name of Jesus Christ to give your mind to this demon.” The young WCG “pastoral assistant” voiced no objections to any of this religious malpractice. The lead pastor told me after I refused to surrender my mind to the demon that God had “decided to leave me demon-possessed.” Think of what that would do to you if you had that burden placed on you at age 20. I’ll spare you the really scary stuff I was forced to live through that night as I don’t want to give you nightmares. I’ve had to live with the nightmares and flashbacks…for decades. I am receiving very good and competent help for many years from a Counselor who specializes in PTSD treatment. Years ago, a Counselor made a criminal referral to the authorities about the two “pastors” behavior, but it was determined that the statute of limitations was passed so these “pastors” never had to be held responsible for their deeds. I won’t trouble you with the details of my three previous concussions, all of which rendered me unconscious.
Then two days ago I experienced a sudden, totally unexpected, and very deep personal heartbreak, the specifics of which I will not discuss in this post. It is too personal. However, it has hurt me beyond words.
I’ve tried to serve God for the last 25 years in a writing career after my severe injury in 1981. Five printed books, an E-book now on my website, about 1200 blog posts, many speeches and articles, etc. have been produced and I have heard from many that their lives have been greatly edified by reading and listening to my written and spoken materials. I hope it has all borne good fruit for the Kingdom of God and for the cause of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ/Yahshua, the coming King and Messiah of all. However, my pain and affliction levels have now reached the point that I must focus all my efforts on my personal recovery. I very much want to write more books, articles, blogs, etc., but my ability to do so is now entirely dependent on when God provides the necessary healing and answers to my needs to be able to do more writing efforts.
I ask those readers who have benefited from my writings or messages to earnestly pray that God would heal and restore me and meet my very deep personal needs. I hope that as a result of your prayers, God will be moved to swiftly heal, restore and bless me so I can again resume writing to glorify God in these end times. I don’t want to take a “Sabbatical.” I want to write vigorously for God with joy, health and gladness and again be able to travel and speak like I was once able to do! If I have the health to post to my blog and finish my almost completed research paper on tithing and another article on UFOs and the Bible, I’ll do so. Please knock on Heaven’s door for me for me. The need is urgent, and that is why I have humbled myself to candidly share my needs with readers (there are more than what I have shared in this posting). Thank you all for your prayers and support. I’ll write as soon as (and whenever) God makes me able to do so.
Usually I post updates at this blog site documenting the inevitable progression of world events toward the fulfillment of the Ezekiel 38-39 prophecy about an eventual attack of a Gog-Magog alliance (Russia, China, Iran, etc.) against the modern nations of all the tribes of Israel in the western world (USA, UK, much of Europe and Scandinavia, Canada, New Zealand) and their allies. I have written in my article about Ezekiel 38-39′s prophecy that Japan, India and other western-leaning Western Pacific Rim nations constitute the nations described in Ezekiel 38:13 as “Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all the young lions.” These nations are prophesied by God to not be part of the Gog-Magog alliance, but will be allied with the nations of the western world as these Asian nations are also very threatened by China’s rising militarism and China’s strategic alliances with Russia and Iran. My article, Japan’s Role in Biblical Prophecy, is also recommended to readers.
I recommend this videoclip which has a heart-warming message. It is a moving and graphic documentary about the help offered by many western nations to Japan after it experienced a tragic earthquake and tsunami last year (it should be noted even China sent rescue teams to help, but the vast bulk of rescue operations came from Japan’s western allies). It also includes video evidences about Japan’s recovery efforts. The videoclip is a reminder that nations can help each other in times of distress as well as make war upon each other. I think you will be as moved by this videoclip as I was, and it is well worth passing on to readers of this blog. This videoclip is a foreshadowing of a future time when nations will help each other instead of making war upon each other after Jesus Christ’s return, as prophesied in Micah 4:1-4.
The USA offered massive help to Japan to rebuild it after World War II, and transformed it from a hostile, crushed enemy into a progressive nation and highly-valued ally. The USA’s extraordinary mercy extended to Japan and Germany after World War II made it possible for those two nations to be the prosperous, free nations they are today. In spite of America’s current and growing national sins, past acts of massive national mercy toward former enemies is, I’m sure, noted and remembered by God. James 2:13 states that God shows no mercy to those who have shown no mercy to others. This same principle applies, no doubt, in reverse and to nations as well as to individuals. America’s record of past remarkable mercy to its defeated enemies can give us hope that God will temper his impending judgment against our nation so he uses that judgment to ”wake us up” to national repentance instead of simply punishing us for our national sins.
Enjoy the videoclip. As well as being a moving videoclip for you to watch, it might also help explain why Japan will not be part of the Gog Magog alliance’s attack upon the western nations in a future year..
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=SS-sWdAQsYg&vq=medium
The link below reveals some information which ought to greatly disturb any patriotic American. This Washington Times story reports that “The US government recently sold the Chinese a highly sophisticated imaging device used on space telescopes that can be used by China’s military for high-tech spying.” This technology sold to China “could be used by the Chinese military to track and lock onto enemy satellites and missiles.”
Does this alarm you as much as it does me? Since the article states the US government itself sold this vital military technology to China, it begs the question: Who in the Obama administration allowed US technological devices with vital military importance to be sold to China? China has developed and used missile technology to demonstrate that it can shoot down US satellites, China has developed a range of cruise- and ballistic-missiles to sink US carriers and some of its generals openly call for an eventual war against the USA. So why isn’t the selling of vital military technology to China by the US government being called treason? Aiding an enemy nation is an act of treason. In wartime it usually brings the death penalty. In peacetime it usually brings long prison sentences (the Pollard case comes to mind as an example where the spy of even a friendly nation received a long prison sentence).
President Obama and Secretary of Defense Panetta owe it to all Americans to ferret out the traitors who knowingly sold vital military technology to Communist China. Congress should certainly investigate (with subpoenas) to find out which high-level officials in the Obama administration committed this act which reeks of treason to me. How many US servicemen and women will die in a future war with China (which Ezekiel 38-39 reveals to be a certainty in the future) because this technology was given to China by the US government itself?
I doubt anyone could plead they were so incompetent they didn’t know what they were doing here. Isn’t there a procedure in place to make sure that vital US technology doesn’t get sold to other nations that are current or potential enemies? Certainly the Defense Department should have be given a chance to review any and all high-tech exports to be sure nothing of military value gets into the hands of enemy nations.
There will be other consequences from this action. Each time vital US military technology is stolen from the US or given to China, it hastens the inevitable war with China. The inability (or unwillingness) of the US government itself to safeguard its own nation’s vital technology is now known to all US allies who surely heard about this even though US citizens are overwhelmingly ignorant of this betrayal of US national security. This will lead some US allies to decide that the Obama administration cannot be trusted with any vital information and the military and intelligence agencies of other nations will understandably become reluctant to share information with the US government. It also places the USA’s traditional allies in the western Pacific Rim area at greater risk due to their proximity to China.
It is very bad news that the US government itself cannot be trusted with safeguarding vital US military technology! Why isn’t this a lead story on the evening news programs? Has anyone in Congress called for hearings? Does anyone in the US government care about the nation’s national security interests? If this breach of national security receives a collective yawn from the US government, the Congress and the media, the answer to these questions must be “no.” If that is the case, the safety and security of all Americans is at ever-greater risk.
I suggest you call your Congressional delegation and demand they hold investigations to determine who are the traitors who willingly gave vital US military technology to the nation which is building a military force to fight the United States of America. Indeed, how often is this happening and no one in the media knows about it? I even wonder if the Obama administration was blackmailed by China, the USA’s top creditor, to hand over US military technology to China in exchange for China not taking action to crash the US dollar on world markets? If so, once you show you are weak and craven enough to submit to blackmail, the blackmailer will demand ever more from its victim.
The November election can’t come soon enough. Remember this report when you vote in November. The future of the nation really is at stake.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jan/11/inside-china-386919275/
It has been awhile since I gave readers an update on my personal health situation. As I write this, I am enduring one of the worst sciatica/lower back pain outbreaks I’ve had in a long time. I can barely move, and the pain is excruciating. If I had an effective pain control therapy it would be easier to deal with, but my tinnitus condition means that I cannot take any NSAID/ aspirin pain drug or many prescription strength drugs either. The one pain killing drug I can take combined with a muscle-relaxer is ineffective for pain relief. I have a doctor’s appointment later today to see if there is any other pain control option. Tomorrow I see a specialist about possibly using a TENS unit for pain control.
I can report that last week I had one whole day without any tinnitus, so some healing has to be occurring on that condition. I had hoped that I was healed and when it came back it was like a prisoner having to go back into prison after thinking he had been freed, but at least one day of relief was progress. My PTSD condition has been less troublesome recently.
I very much ask readers of my website to pray for God’s rapid healing of these afflictions so I can not only devote significantly more time to writing, but finally have a good quality of life as well. Many thanks! There are more blogs and articles I wish to write as well as at least one more book, but I can do very little until God heals me of these afflictions. I’d like to be more responsive to readers’ emails to me, but my health troubles prevent me from doing more responses at this time.
A previous post detailed a CFR article making the case that the USA should strike Iran’s nuclear facilities now rather than wait until later when Iran has nuclear weapons. Several new developments are indicating that war with Iran could, indeed, be drawing nearer.
To recap them quickly, Iran is consistently threatening to block oil shipments via the Straits of Hormuz (see first link below), another top Iranian nuclear scientist was assassinated to impede the Iranian nuclear program (see second link), the US Navy is stationing a second aircraft carrier battle group in or near the Persian Gulf area of potential conflict (see third link), and (importantly) Iran has retaliated against the USA and the West by announcing that it will refuse to accept US dollars for oil shipments to China, India and Japan (see fourth link). This vital story has been largely spiked from western media coverage as it could cause a run on the US dollar and skyrocketing oil, commodity and precious metal prices if the masses found out about this development.
The fourth link has additional important information: that it was Russia’s idea for Iran to stop accepting US dollars for oil shipments and that Russian-Iranian bilateral trade deals will also henceforth exclude the US dollar. These actions further undercut the US dollar’s role as a global reserve currency as more nations (even US allies) are taking steps to eliminate the increasingly-debased US dollar from their international trade actions (a recent post reported that Japan and China are also taking actions to eliminate US dollars from their bilateral transactions). Combined, these actions are a growing vote of international “no confidence” in the US dollar, but that is not the focus of this post.
The fifth link (a brief intro for a longer article) indicates that the USA, Israel and Saudi Arabia are considering taking military action against Iran, but that US dithering may cause Israel and Saudi Arabia to “go it alone” in attacking Iran. If Saudi Arabia joins the Israelis (and/or Americans) in attacking Iran, it is likely that Kuwait, Jordan, and the Gulf Cooperation Council nations (all Sunni Arab nations like Saudi Arabia) will also support the attack. Interestingly, now that the US military has exited Iraq, Iraqi airspace is now largely clear for Israeli warplanes to attack Iran with tacit Sunni Arab permission. The Sunni Arab nations are gravely threatened by Iran’s militarism and nuclear programs so they have a very strong motivation to help anyone who attacks Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The final link is a very cogently written column by Reza Kahlili, a “pseudonym” for a former CIA agent who penetrated Iran’s Revolutionary Guard forces. His column, which appeared in the Washington Times, makes many good points. He asserts that Iran’s leaders “are preparing for war,” and that the USA and Israel may have to deliver that war “soon.” In such a war, he states the Iranians will attempt to undermine the Saudi rulers, overthrow the Bahraini monarchy and help Islamists undermine military rule in Egypt. My previous post discusses a CFR article calling for an American military strike vs. Iran soon, but my commentary on that article felt that the CFR article was naive in its belief that Iran would happily go along with US plans for a very limited war in the region. I argued that an angry Iran, if attacked, will likely launch strikes vs. US bases in the entire Mideast region, including vs. US bases and troops in Afghanistan. Mr. Kahlili’s article agrees. He even names the “extensive list of US bases” likely to come under US attack. The list includes US military bases in Kuwait, Afghanistan, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. US Navy ships would also surely come under intense attacks from land-based and ship-launched cruise missiles as well as torpedo and mine attacks. If Iran sinks unarmed oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, it could essentially shut down oil shipments via the Straits of Hormuz even if it can’t actually blockade the Strait as maritime insurance costs in that region would become so expensive no tanker could risk traversing the Persian Gulf.
There are two other dangers. One danger is that it is not only Iranian missiles that would be launched at US Navy ships and other US military bases in the region. I would not be surprised at all if Iran’s backers, Russia and China, have already placed batteries of their most sophisticated cruise missiles and air-defense equipment in Iran to be used against the US and any western military forces that are in the area. Such weaponry would be operated by Russian and Chinese technicians, but Iranian forces would be given the credit if the Russian and Chinese missiles damaged or sank US warships and damaged US military bases throughout the Mideast. China especially wants to know if its new weaponry can sink US carriers and they must be “itching” for a chance to use their new weaponry against US carriers in actual wartime operations while maintaining a plausible deniability of being involved. By letting their technicians fight under Iranian flags, they would achieve that goal. Given this real possibility, US forces should be advised to be under the highest level of alert if they engage Iranian forces in a Mideast War as the “Iranian” forces they engage may actually be Russian and Chinese forces launching weaponry far more advanced than anything Iran has developed domestically for its own arms industry.
One last danger: if Iran becomes convinced that it is about to be attacked, why should it wait to absorb a first punishing blow from US, Israeli and allied forces? Iran may decide to strike first to make sure it can inflict the greatest possible damage on US and allied forces. If its first strike includes unleashing tens of thousands of Iranian-supplied missiles under Hezbollah control in South Lebanon against Israeli targets, you can be sure the Israelis are not going to refrain from attacking Iran in a very harsh manner. Indeed, the Israeli response is likely to be so harsh that all nations in the region will be deterred from ever attacking the Israelis again.
An Iranian war against the USA, Israel, Saudi Arabia or NATO forces in Afghanistan would, effectively, be the first round in the great Gog-Magog alliance’s war against the nations of NATO and their allies prophesied in Ezekiel 38-39 to occur in the latter days of our age. I expect a US/Israeli victory if a Mideast war occurs, but don’t get overjoyed. Russia and China may use this war simply for the purpose of evaluating their latest weaponry against US weaponry to see how close they are to confidently launching a future global attack against the USA, NATO and their allies (which Ezekiel 38-39 prophesies is certain to occur in the years ahead of us). I urge readers to examine my articles What Ezekiel 38-39 Reveals About a Future World War III [PDF] and Should Christians Prepare for Future Hard Times? to get ready for the epic events that may lie ahead of us in a few years or perhaps less.
As Mideast/Persian Gulf events become more bellicose and more military forces gather and are put on alert, the trends toward a shooting war can begin to take on a relentless momentum of their own that leads inevitably to war. While it is still possible that war may be averted, war preparations in the Mideast are now taking on an accelerating momentum of their own toward a shooting war.
A prominent ratings agency, Fitch, has warned that it is about to downgrade the sovereign debt ratings of six European nations by either one or two notches. This is a significant development, and it indicates the Eurozone crisis is not only far from over, but is worsening. The six nations for which downgrades appear imminent are Italy, Spain, Slovenia, Cyprus, Belgium and Ireland, although the first link (from Business Week) warns that Italy is in the most danger from the Eurozone debt crisis. Greece has already been downgraded heavily, and Greece and Italy are now being governed by unelected technocratic governments that were installed essentially by Germany, France and the EU bureaucrats. To me this indicates that the nations of Italy and Greece have essentially been placed into a kind of “receivership” by the EU.
The second link offers a more in-depth report on this matter, and it includes a particularly ominous warning. It mentions a statement made by Fitch in December, 2011 that “a ‘comprehensive solution’ to the eurozone crisis is technically and politically beyond reach,” and also adds that “episodes of severe financial market volatility” can be expected. Please read that sentence again to really let its significance sink into your awareness. It means that no solution to the eurozone crisis appears possible, which means it is only a matter of time until a severe financial crisis strikes again.
Given the information in the links below, I think we should all take the comforting reassurances we hear about this crisis from media “talking heads” with more than a few grains of salt. A full-blown eurozone crisis will unquestionably have major consequences for the US and global markets. American readers should not take time to gloat over the eurozone region’s difficulties. The USA is heading toward an inevitable financial/currency crisis as well. The third link reports that the USA’s federal government debt is now as large as the entire annual economy of the USA itself! Actually, the article understates the problem as the $15 trillion figure cited in the article is far less than the approximately $60 trillion figure I’ve seen cited in other articles as the true size of the total US federal debt when the debts of Freddie and Fannie are included as well as the entire unfunded liabilities for all payable US entitlement programs which will be due in the future. If the USA did not have the luxury of having the global reserve currency to monetarily inflate at will, the USA might already have gone the way of Greece.
For years, I have been warning in this blog that Revelation 17-18 foretells that the current global financial system is going to experience a severe collapse in the latter days of this age, and be replaced by a new global financial system which the Bible calls the “beast” system. I never set dates, but each new trauma experienced by the current global financial system means that we are edging closer to the fulfillment of the prophecy in Revelation 17-18. For an in-depth discussion of how the prophecy of Revelation 17-18 applies to our modern world, I urge you to read two articles available at this website’s homepage. The first article is “Is Babylon the Great about to Fall…Ushering in a Global “Beast” System?, and the second article is Are We Living in the Biblical Latter Days? (which cogently confirms that we are living in the “latter days” period of our age which is the subject of many biblical prophecies discussed in this article).
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9S60RK00.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2012-01-08/debt-equals-economy/52460208/1
I’m sure all readers are aware of the ongoing possibility of a US or Israeli attack upon Iran’s nuclear facilities to keep Iran from getting nuclear weapons. A significant development has occurred. The current issue of Foreign Affairs, the bimonthly publication of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) includes an article (see first link below) which recommends that the USA attack Iranian nuclear facilities and accept a limited Mideast war now instead of waiting until Iran has nuclear weapons and risk a much worse crisis later.
This development is significant as the CFR is an organization which includes most of the ruling elites of the western world, and this article would not have been included in its publication unless it was vetted and approved by the CFR. I highly recommend that readers read the article below as it makes the case that the damaging consequences of a US strike against Iran now will be much less than if the US waits and has to confront a nuclear-armed Iran later. It states that “some states in the region are doubting US resolve” because of the hitherto reluctance of the USA to take this step, and later in the article it makes what I think is the central point of the article: that the CFR wants the US to take action to forestall an Israeli attack against Iran. I think the CFR is realistic enough to realize that at some point the Israelis will have no choice but to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities in order to safeguard their national survival and the CFR apparently thinks that the consequences will be less if the USA makes the attack instead of Israel.
The article makes some points which may not prove to be true. It states: “To be sure, a nuclear-armed Iran would not intentionally launch a suicidal nuclear war.” I’m not so sure that such a statement accurately reflects the mindset of Iranian leaders. I hope the CFR is right, but Iran’s President is part of a Shiite Messianic sect which reportedly believes that their expected Messianic figure, the “12th Imam” cannot come until there is a great conflagration on the earth (perhaps a major regional war or even World War III). If this belief is true, then it cannot be assumed that Iran’s leaders will act rationally. Iran has also threatened to “wipe Israel off the map.” The leadership of Iran may believe that their anticipated Shiite messiah-figure will divinely rescue them from the suicidal consequences of their own actions. Contrast the current leadership of Iran with the leadership of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. However antagonistic the USA and the Soviet Union were, there was enough rational desire to survive on both sides that nuclear war was always averted. However, there is a danger that some of Iran’s leaders may actually be willing to start a nuclear war if they do obtain nuclear weapons.
The article also seems a bit on the naive side when it maintains that a US strike against Iran would result in a limited war in which Iran would agree to do no more than launch “token missile strikes against US bases and ships in the region.” I think Iran is very angry about the US/Israeli/western Stuxnet and Duque cyberattacks upon its nuclear computer systems and also some destructive attacks in which some of Iran’s above-ground facilities have already been destroyed (these subjects have been discussed in previous posts). If attacked, an angry Iran could easily order a Hezbollah mass missile attack against Israel from southern Lebanon, fire missiles or launch air strikes against US bases and troops in Afghanistan, unleash Hezbollah sleeper cells to cause havoc in North America and Europe with random or targeted terrorist attacks, launch missile or air attacks against Saudi oil facilities, attempt to mine or block the Straits of Hormuz, etc. Indeed, the article seems so blithely unaware of these possibilities that one wonders if the CFR wants the USA to attack Iran in order to create a wider war that would expand President Obama’s executive powers or help ensure his re-election chances by causing a “rally around the president” response on the part of the American people if there are terrorist attacks on US soil after such an attack.
Please understand that I’m not disagreeing with the article’s main point that the US or Israel (and other nations) may find it necessary to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities now rather than later, but I think everyone should understand that Iran’s reaction to such a strike may be much more forceful than the CFR article assumes will be the case.
On a related matter, the last link is about the US Navy rescuing 13 Iranian fishermen and retrieving their vessel from pirates, and repatriating the fishermen and their vessel to Iran. This was a merciful and humanitarian action on the part of the USA toward Iran, and quite commendable. Romans 12:20 has a passage that the act of being merciful toward an enemy “heaps coals of fire” (vengeance) on the head of one’s enemy. In this case, I think the US Navy just “heaped coals of fire” upon the Iranian leadership.
http://www.cfr.org/iran/time-attack-iran/p26875