Archive for August, 2010

RUSSIAN SUBS STALKING BRITISH NUCLEAR SUBS

Monday, August 30th, 2010

It has been revealed in the British media that Russian submarines are stalking British submarines armed with Trident nuclear missiles. This previously “secret” information reports that the Russians are attempting to record the acoustic signature of the British submarines’ propellers so any Russian submarine can recognize these vital British submarines in a future time of war in order to sink them. The Russians sent a “specially upgraded Akula class submarine” to shadow British missile submarines to accomplish this task. It is not known if the Russian efforts were successful. However, a British attack submarine is reported to have successfully obtained the acoustic signature of the specially-upgraded Russian submarine tasked to this effort.

A British Navy Commander is cited as stating that the Russian submarine fleet is “playing [similar games] with the Americans and French in the North Atlantic.” This means the Russians are attempting to obtain acoustic signature recordings for each American, British and French submarine armed with nuclear-tipped missiles. The British Navy reportedly has noted that Russian “contacts” with British submarines has reached its highest number “since 1987,” which was during the Cold War. In other words, Russia is now behaving as aggressively as the USSR did during the peak of the Cold War years.

No doubt, western war-planners are seeing all this and wondering if the renewed aggressiveness of Russia and the rapid militarization of Iran and China means that these nations are preparing for a future war with the USA, NATO nations and their allies. As readers of this blog know, the Bible prophesies in Ezekiel 38-39 that it is not a matter of if Russia, China and Iran their allies intend to attack the USA, NATO and their allies in the future, it is a matter of when this attack will occur. If readers wish to review a detailed analysis of this critically-important latter-day prophecy, you can do so by reading my article, What Ezekiel 38-39 Reveal about a Future World War III, available for free at the “Articles” link at this website’s homepage.

A recent blog reported that China is nearly ready to deploy a new class of ballistic missiles specifically designed to attack and sink US aircraft carriers in the opening phase of a future world war. Both Russia and China (and likely Iran) all have supersonic cruise missiles designed to attack and sink US aircraft carriers and other American/western surface ships. If Russian and Chinese submarines are able to obtain the acoustic signatures of each NATO submarine equipped with nuclear missiles, it means one more vital asset of the strategic power of the USA and NATO is vulnerable to destruction in the opening phase of a world war. If these major assets were destroyed by the “Gog Magog” alliance at the beginning of the future age-ending World War III, it would make Russian-Chinese war planners less reluctant to start the war because they would be more confident that they would only sustain ”acceptable losses” from what the USA and NATO could use to counter-attack. If Russia, China and/or Iran used cruise missiles equipped with tactical nuclear warheads to strike major US military bases at Guam, Pearl Harbor, Diego Garcia, etc. at the start of the prophesied Ezekiel 38-39 war, Russian and Chinese war-planners could well think that they could successfully take out so much of the American/NATO counterstrike capacity that launching a new world war would result in their victory and global domination.  Thankfully, Ezekiel 39:3 prophesies that God will make sure that an unspecified portion of the Gog-Magog’s alliance’s missile-launchers and missiles (“bows and arrows” in ancient terminology for ancient long-distance weapons that are launched into the air toward a distant target) will not work successfully. This could result from Divine intervention or via God allowing the American and NATO nations to invent and deploy successful anti-missile defenses that will shoot down the attacking missiles of the Gog-Magog alliance.

PS. To any US military officials reading this blog, please be sure that upgraded anti-missile defenses are not only placed on US warships, but also at all key US military bases such as Guam, Pearl Harbor, Diego Garcia and all “stateside” bases as well. When the Gog-Magog attack begins, you can expect all key US and NATO military assets and bases to be attacked simultaneously and without warning so those defenses need to always be on “active” readiness status. That Russia is trying very hard to obtain the acoustic signatures of NATO “boomer” submarines indicates that Russia is doing all it can to prepare to launch the future “surprise attack” that they are planning vs. the USA and the West (which would be no surprise at all if American/NATO war-planners heeded God’s advance warning to them in Ezekiel 38-39). If they do not heed that advance warning now, they will wish they had done so when the Gog-Magog attack begins in a future year.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/defence/7969017/Russian-subs-stalk-Trident-in-echo-of-Cold-War.html

STRANGE POLITICS AMONG MIDEAST’S SUNNI ARAB NATIONS

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

As many readers know, the Mideast is famous for murky politics and shifting alliances. Things are getting even murkier and stranger as Iran approaches the completion of its nuclear weapons program.

The first link reports that the Sunni Arab states of the Mideast, including Saudi Arabia, are urgently pushing the USA to launch a preemptive strike against Iran to stop it from becoming a nuclear power. However, former UN Ambassador, John Bolton, opines that it may already be too late to stop the activation of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear facility, its first known operational nuclear facility.  As my August 19th blog related, I think that there is a strong possibility that the above-ground Bushehr plant, built by the Iranians in a location that is very easy to attack, may not actually be a part of Iran’s nuclear weapons program. It may be a “decoy” plant designed to attract an Israeli and/or American attack when that plant is really designed only for civilian electrical generation.

If that is the case, any attack on it will allow Iran to call in international investigators to see it had no weapons capacity and claim that Iran is the victim of American/Israeli aggression. The real Iranian nuclear weapons program is going on in the nuclear facilities at Qom and perhaps ten other hidden locations (also discussed in my August 19th blog) which are buried deep underground or underneath mountains. It may be impossible to determine how far along Iran’s plutonium enrichment efforts have advanced at those secret plants,and it may also be impossible to disable those underground nuclear plants without the use of tactical nuclear weaponry. It may be possible to disable them with successive waves of “bunker buster” bombs, but even that is problematic. Iran has sited its nuclear facilities with great foresight and skill, and I suspect they had considerable help from Chinese and North Korean engineers who helped them locate their secret nuclear facilities deep underground where American reconnaissance satellites cannot see them. However, the fact that the Sunni Arab nations are pushing for an attack indicates that they are growing steadily more fearful of Iran’s nuclear status. If the Bushehr plant is a decoy and it is becoming fully functional in a nuclear capacity, it infers that Iran’s real nuclear weapons plants may also be coming on line as well.

The second link describes efforts by Saudi Arabia and the USA to detach Syria from its long-time alliance with Iran. This effort also involves the internal politics of Lebanon and Iraq, and it is very murky in its details. It is assumed that Hezbollah will submit to Syria’s control if Syria detaches from its alliance with Iran; however, that is by no means certain. Hezbollah is sworn to destroy Israel as is Iran, so Hezbollah may remain loyal to Iran and see Syria as a traitor if it switches sides. Indeed, the second link hints that Assad, Syria’s leader, is “playing a dangerous game” in these machinations. If he does switch sides, he may find himself personally targeted for elimination by a vengeful Iran which has spent much time and money strengthening Syria to be its ally. Syria’s position is also greatly complicated by Turkey’s recent approachment toward Iran. If Turkey joins Iran in an alliance, Syria is almost certain to stay in Iran’s orbit. Otherwise, Syria could find itself attacked and dismembered by a simultaneous attack by Iran, Hezbollah and Turkey.

If Syria can be drawn away from its alliance with Iran, it will want concessions from the West. The concession it will demand is the restoration of the Golan Heights to Syrian control. Israel would have to be crazy to submit to such a demand no matter what pressures the Obama administration puts on it. I’ve stood at the base of the Golan Heights and looked up at them from northern Israeli territory, and I realize how strategic these Heights really are to Israeli security. The only way that I could see any Israeli government returning the Golan Heights to Syria would be if two conditions were acknowledged by all parties. These conditions would be (A) no one will object to the immediate use of Israeli nuclear weapons against Damascus and Syria if it attacks Israel in the future, and (B) the consent of all parties that the Israelis will be given the right to build a Third Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Those two conditions might pacify the resistance of the Israeli political right-wing and religious parties to such a concession to Syria.

There are a number of biblical possibilities in such a scenario. It seems evident that some kind of agreement or treaty will be necessary to create a situation where the daily sacrifices at a Third Temple site are begun in order for them to be later stopped by a beast power. Daniel 8:11-14 contains a prophecy about the stopping of the daily sacrifices, and while verses 1-10 argue for a ancient fulfillment of this prophecy, verse 17, 19, and 23 clearly state that this prophecy will have a latter-day fulfillment as well. Ominously, Isaiah 17 contains a prophecy that Damascus will become “a ruinous heap” (verse 1), and verses 4 and 7 indicate that this will occur in the latter days. Damascus could be turned into a “ruinous heap” by the Israelis if the Syrians betray a future agreement, but Damascus could also be turned into a “ruinous heap” by a vengeful and betrayed Iran (how hard would it be to have Iranian and/or Hezbollah suicide bombers ignite a small nuke in Damascus if Syria betrays Iran?). Syria is really in the hot seat in current Mideast politics. If I owned property in Damascus, I’d sell it….soon.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/139207

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5920256,00.html

EGYPT ABOUT TO GO NUCLEAR?

Friday, August 27th, 2010

While the world has its eyes fixated on Iran’s nuclear program, Egypt has also been quietly working on its own nuclear program. Why isn’t the USA or the world as worried about Egypt’s nuclear program as it is Iran’s? There is a very easy answer to that question. Egypt has not threatened to wipe any other nation off the map and had actually been working rather cooperatively with the Israelis recently. Iran has threatened to wipe Israel off the map and it has imperialist designs on its Sunni Arab neighbors, so it is far more dangerous. Also, Iran’s leaders are adherents of a fringe Shiite sect which believes their “Hidden imam” can only come as an Islamic messiah-figure if there is a major conflagration. Egypt is a Sunni Moslem nation and it does not share Iran’s radical Shiite belief system.

The first link reports that the IAEA has discovered that Egypt has conducted a “variety of nuclear experiments for more than 20 years” without disclosing this fact to the IAEA. Reportedly, Egypt has been experimenting with uranium experiments for “20 years or more,” its plutonium experiments are “much [more] recent.” It is plutonium which is the key to making nuclear weapons, so the fact that Egypt is working with plutonium experiments argues that a nuclear weapons program is the only reason for such experiments. One can hardly blame Egypt. Seeing the Iranian Shiites working at a rapid rate to build Shiite nuclear weapons, Sunni Arab nations such as Egypt can hardly be faulted for wanting to build nuclear weapons to deter Iranian (Persian) imperialist dreams. The first link below indicates as much. The second link reports that “Cairo is now building ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.” That Egypt is already building ballistic missiles to carry nuclear warheads strongly infers that Egypt expects to have nuclear weapons to place on those missiles reasonably soon. Egypt and Israel are so close to each other that Egypt doesn’t need ballistic missiles to strike Israeli targets if Egypt considered Israel a threat to Egypt (short-range missiles would suffice). That Egypt is building ballistic missiles (long range weapons) for its nuclear warheads indicate that it regards Iran as its likely enemy. The second link also reports that Egypt has had plutonium-extraction or plutonium-production agreements with such nations as France, Germany, Argentina, Pakistan and Iraq in the past, and that it declined Chinese help because of an American-Canadian offer of help.

A previous blog at this website documented that Saudi Arabia may already be a nuclear power itself. That blog reported that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program was significantly financed by Saudi money, and that Saudi Arabia can lay a claim to a percentage of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal when it wishes to obtain them. If Iran declares it has nuclear weapons, Saudi Arabia would have every reason to quickly claim its share of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.

The world is becoming a steadily more dangerous place. As more nations build nuclear weapons, the likelihood grows that they will be used in open warfare. I Timothy 3:1 warned that “perilous times” would come in the latter days. In Matthew 24:22, Jesus Christ prophesied that the dangers would grow so great that unless he intervened in world events with his Second Coming, “there should no flesh be left alive.” If you wish to consider the various ways that “all flesh” could be wiped out on earth as mankind devises ever more destructive weaponry and technologies, I invite you to read my article, Are We Living in the Biblical Latter Days?, available at the articles link at this website.

My thanks to a reader for tipping me off to this report.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7181847/

http://www.wisconsinproject.org/countries/egypt/nuke.html

ARMENIA STRENGTHENS TIES TO RUSSIA

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

The nation of Armenia has signed an agreement which strengthens its alliance with Russia. The new agreement gives Russia a very long-term presence in Armenia and it also makes “Russian troops responsible for Armenia’s national security.”  Russia will be able to move arms and military equipment into Armenia apparently as it wishes.

For Russia, this means one more nation that used to be a Soviet province in the old USSR is coming back into the fold. Slowly, Russia is reassembling many of the nations that used to be in the old USSR back under its domination. Belarus is all but part of Russia now and the Ukraine has moved back into the Russian sphere of direct influence after the last Ukrainian election swept pro-Russian leaders back into power. Kazakhstan and the other Central Asian “-stan” nations are effectively under Russian domination already as part of Russia’s “Near Abroad” and they realize that their “independence” is limited by the Kremlin’s wishes. Now Armenia has effectively rejoined the Russian fold as well. As the old provinces of the USSR return to a condition of Russian domination, the Gog-Magog alliance prophesied in Ezekiel 38-39 is taking shape, and it will include most of the old Soviet states by the time this prophesied attack occurs. Russia, China and Iran dominate the Gog-Magog alliance, but its other members are becoming ever clearer.

One cannot blame Armenia for making a close military alliance with Russia. History and geography virtually force Armenia to take this action. Armenia is a small, vulnerable nation located between Azerbaijan (a Shiite Moslem nation with which it fought a war years ago) and Turkey (which once slaughtered millions of Armenians and which has also been moving closer to an alliance with Iran, the leading Shiite Moslem nation). These factors mandate that Armenia seek a militarily powerful ally. Armenia saw that NATO offered no meaningful aid to Georgia (which borders Armenia on the north) when Georgia fought a short war with Russia so there was no point in seeking American or NATO ties which would be unreliable in a future crisis. Russia was the logical choice. Russian troops could quickly be airlifted into Armenia in a crisis as Russia is very near to Armenia. Russia is also an ally of Iran, so Armenia’s alliance with Russia should restrain any Shiite Moslem aggressions from either Azerbaijan or Iran. Given the desire of Turkey to be a new assertive regional power and its history of killing many Armenians, Armenia needs Russia’s army as a security guarantee vs. Turkey. Russia benefits from this alliance too as Georgia wants to be allied to the West, but Georgia is bordered by Russia on the north and Armenia on the south. With Russia now able to move troops and military equipment into Armenia apparently at will, Russia will be in a position to invade Georgia from both the north and south at some future point and effectively reabsorb that nation into the old Soviet bloc as well. NATO is disarming and it is led by an American president who has a string of very weak performances in the geopolitical arena.  NATO can be expected to do nothing whenever Russia decides to end Georgia’s independence.

Armenia has no choice but to ally itself closer to Russia. However, chalk up one more nation (Armenia) in the Gog-Magog bloc. I think the fate of a second nation (Georgia) was just sealed as well.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.4c9f915f604329d2775041d5e4286b05.121&show_article=1

“SALT IN THE WOUND”

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

On rare occasions, my blogs have featured an exceptionally pithy link which needs little explanation. This is one such occasion. I wish to thank reader, Myrna, for sending this link to me. It is a song/music video which apparently must have been just written and produced about the incendiary political issue where Moslems want to build a mosque near the 9/11 Twin Towers site in New York City.

It has been written that a “picture is worth a thousand words.” If so, a video clip like this is worth ten thousand words. The building of a mosque near the 9/11 massacre site where Moslem terrorists killed many innocent New Yorkers is a perfect example of a fulfillment of Deuteronomy 28:43′s statement that when a nation forsakes God: “…the stranger that is within you shall get up above you very high, and you shall come down very low.” I think Americans are getting very, very angry at the politically-correct and spineless submission of our current national leaders to things which previous American leaders would have regarded as a travesty.

While the USA surely needs to make respectful alliances with Moslem nations around the world in matters of common interest (i.e. countering the mutual threat from Iran), it needs to be observed that you can tell easily how “tolerant” Islam is by trying to build a Christian church or a Jewish synagogue in Mecca, Tehran or Islamabad.

Enjoy the video and pass it on to your friends. One last thought: if you don’t like the way things are going in the USA (and a vast majority don’t according to polls), be sure you vote on election day in November. If you are not registered to vote yet, call your local County Auditor’s Office and find out the deadline by which you need to register…and go get registered! This nation need an electoral earthquake in November. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if God is the most interested observer re: the results of our election. He may be watching the election results to see how many Americans are serious about wanting him to intervene and change the direction of our nation. The kind of ”change” God could bring to this nation is not the change Barack Obama is bringing.

SALT IN THE WOUND written by Rita W. Jones

WHEN “BABYLON” FALLS, WILL THE USA FALL TOO?

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

This blog posting is for the purpose of addressing a particular biblical subject rather than passing on informational links with prophetic implications. Long-time readers of this blog know that I periodically address economic/monetary news that indicates the prophesied fall of “Babylon the Great” is drawing nearer. Revelation 17-18 prophesy that an end-time “globalist” economic/monetary system will collapse, followed by a new globalist “beast” system. The current globalist economic system almost did collapse in September, 2008, so the world has been warned that such a global collapse could occur quite suddenly, given the right crisis.

Babylon the Great is described in Revelation 18:3 as an unholy alliance of the “kings of the earth” (the political leaders) and the “merchants of the earth” (the multinational corporations) who exploit the nations in order to lavish themselves with wealth. That describes with remarkable accuracy the “status quo” of how modern globalist corporations and governments function, so this prophecy has come true. The US dollar is the lynchpin of the current Babylon the Great system and the US Federal Reserve Board is the entity which is currently debauching the US dollar in an unprecedented manner as it (and the US government) try to bail out the Wall Street banks and other money-lending entities.

Given that the US dollar and the US Federal Reserve Board system are based in America, it is evident that America is the current headquarters of Babylon the Great. Given that Babylon the Great’s system is prophesied to fall, it begs the question: When it falls, will the USA fall with it?

While there is no way that the collapse of an American-based money-system and global commercial order will not be traumatic for Americans, there is a prophecy which argues that the USA itself will survive the collapse of Babylon the Great. Genesis 48-49 contains a prophecy about the destinies of all the tribes of Israel in the latter days. The tribe of Joseph was subdivided into the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (Genesis 48:8-22) and Jacob (later re-named “Israel”) gave the birthright blessings of Abraham to these two tribes. Ephraim was prophesied to become a company (or grouping) of nations in the latter days while Manasseh was prophesied to become a single great nation (verses 19). Together, these tribes were to become a “multitude” in the earth so they must be found among the larger, more prominent nations of the globe. The name of Isaac was prophesied to follow the birthright descendants of Abraham (Genesis 21:12) and Genesis 48:16 records that Isaac’s name was stamped permanently afterward on the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. After the ten tribes of Israel were exiled into Asia, the Persians called them the “Saka,” the Greeks called them the “Sacae,” and the Romans later called them the “Saxons.” All these names are forms of the name of the Hebrew patriarch, Isaac.” The modern Anglo-Saxons are well-known as the English-speaking nations. The USA is the single great nation of Manasseh and the British nations are the “company of nations” of Ephraim prophesied in Genesis 48:19. This prophecy has been completely fulfilled in our modern times, as the Creator God himself makes sure his biblical prophecies get fulfilled (Isaiah 41:21-26).

Genesis 49 includes prophecies for each of the tribes of Israel in the latter days, and a detailed description of these tribal locations in the modern world is contained in my book, Israel’s Tribes Today (see “books” link of this website). The destinies of Ephraim and Manasseh will be so closely linked in the latter days that Genesis 49 simply addresses their fates together under their common name as the tribe of  “Joseph” in verse 22-26. These nations are destined to have considerable wealth and national blessings, and this prophecy has certainly come to pass as well. However, notice the language of verses 22-26. It prophesies that the latter day nations of Ephraim and Manasseh will be hated and “shot at” and “grieved” by archers (enemies). The same Creator God who inspired Revelation 17-18 also inspired Genesis 48-49, and while Babylon the Great (a globalist system dominating the nations) is destined to collapse, there is no prophecy in Genesis 48-49 that either Ephraim or Manasseh will collapse in the latter days. Indeed, Genesis 49:24-25 prophesies that God will “help” and “make strong” the tribes of Joseph in the latter days when they are attacked and grieved.

The prophecy of Genesis 49 gives us hope that the modern Anglo-Saxon nations will be sustained as independent, functioning nations in the latter days by God. Unquestionably, the collapse of Babylon the Great’s system will cause major hardship and dislocation for these (and many other) nations, but Genesis 49′s prophecy would seem to contradict those modern “Jeremiahs” who say the USA will collapse and fall when Babylon the Great’s system collapses. I don’t see any such message in prophecy when I compare Revelation 17-18 and Genesis 48-49. That should give us all some hope.

ANCIENT PARTHIAN UNDERGROUND CITY FOUND

Saturday, August 21st, 2010

An ancient underground city in modern Iran has been discovered, and it is dated to the ancient time of the Medes or Parthians. If the ancient Medes built it, it would have been usable afterwards by the Parthians for almost a half millennium as the Parthians conquered the territory of the Medes and ruled it for centuries. The full size of the underground city has not yet been determined as the original entrance has not yet been found. This allows for the possibility that this small city may have originally been connected to other underground “shelter” cities.

The link below opines that it may have been built as an emergency shelter to hide from warfare. That is entirely possible, and would be a logical reason for building such an underground city. The link reports that holes were carved into walls to place light fixtures and a crib has been located as well. This clearly infers that this underground structure was intended to support human life and people of many age groups. However, this underground city was found on the eastern slopes of the Zagros Mountains. It is highly unlikely this was built as a shelter from war by the Parthians as the many Parthian-Roman wars were fought on the western side of the Zagros Mountains on the Mesopotamian plains and westward (modern Iraq, Turkey or Jordan).

There is one other plausible explanation for the underground city. It may have been (or later became) a leper colony. Ancient practice included quarantining lepers into their own “colonies,” and Leviticus 13:4-5, 31, 46 include instructions to quarantine lepers and have them dwell “outside the camp” away from where uninfected people lived. The movie, Ben Hur, includes scenes showing a leper colony in the 1st century AD that was built into a mountainside cave. The Parthians were Israelites who had been exiled into Asia, but who, centuries later, built an empire which ruled over the regions and peoples of the previous empires of Assyria, Babylon and Persia. This fulfilled a prophecy in Isaiah 14:2 that the exiled Israelites would, indeed, eventually rule over the empires which had taken them into exile or had held them captive. The exiled Israelites (from the ten tribes of Israel) would surely have continued their cultural practice of quarantining lepers to stop the spread of the disease during the Parthian period as well. An underground city physically apart from normal above-ground cities would have made an ideal location for a leper colony.

The entire fascinating (and largely ignored) history of the Parthian Empire can be discovered in my book, Parthia–The Forgotten Ancient Superpower. Parthia was an ancient empire which was the equal of the Roman Empire and they were rivals for centuries. The Romans wrote an immense amount of material about the Parthians, but that wealth of historical information has been all but censored out of history text books. I wonder why? Could it be because if Parthia’s history was examined in any depth, its Israelite/Hebrew roots would be clearly seen and the Bible’s accuracy and its Divine authorship would be made evident? You can be sure the evolutionists do not want those truths to see the light of day.

This book can be ordered on-line from the publisher’s website, bibleblessings.net, or directly from me at Steven Collins, PO Box 88735, Sioux Falls, SD  57109-8735. Single copies are $20 plus $5 shipping fees for a total of $25. If ordered from me, I accept personal checks and money orders. If you read this book, you will read the Roman accounts about Parthia and you will understand what really happened to the ten tribes of Israel after their exile. Hosea 1:10 prophesied that God would vastly increase the populations of the ten tribes of Israel after they went into captivity. As those who read my book realize, God kept his promise.

http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/ancient-underground-city-unearthed-in-iran/170432.html

OBAMA WARNS TURKEY ABOUT ITS ALLY STATUS

Friday, August 20th, 2010

A very important event happened recently, but it received little coverage in mass media reports to Americans. Previous blogs at this website have warned that Turkey’s status as a NATO ally was increasingly in doubt due to Turkey’s warming relations with Iran and Syria. That reality has now been openly acknowledged by President Obama.

The link below reports that President Obama personally warned Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan that Turkey’s status as an ally is in jeopardy. It notes that Turkey voted against the UN sanctions against Iran, it has been increasingly hostile to Israel and its slide into Iran’s embrace prompted Obama to tell Turkey’s leader that the White House and Congress are wondering “about whether we can have confidence in Turkey as an ally.”  Obama further warned Turkey’s leader that if Turkey expects to buy more US arms, it “must” change its policies regarding Israel and Iran.

We will have to wait to see if Turkey changes its policies to rejoin the NATO/western alliance or whether it betrays NATO and embraces Iran (and the rest of the Gog-Magog alliance of Ezekiel 38). Turkey is essentially “on probation” as a NATO member right now.

While Turkey (which I see as Edom in general and the Edomite clan of Teman in particular) is not mentioned in Ezekiel 38:2-6 as a member of the Gog-Magog alliance, Ezekiel 38:6 includes the phrase, “…and many people with thee,” which allows for other nations not mentioned to be part of the Gog-Magog alliance. The obscure biblical book of Obadiah may offer us a clue about Turkey’s future. Obadiah is a prophecy about the Edomites, and the words “In that day” in verse 8 and the reference to the “day of the Lord” in verse 15 argue that this is a latter-day prophecy. My previous writings have identified Turkey as the Edomite clan of Teman as the previous name of Turkey was the Ottoman Empire and the consonants of the words “Ottoman” and “Teman” are identical. Obadiah 8-10 specifically warn the Temanites in the latter days that they are in great danger of being “cut off” by God due to their “violence against their brother Jacob.” Many NATO nations are descended from the ancient ten tribes of Israel so many NATO members are the modern nations of Jacob in today’s world. Turkey seems poised to betray or “do violence” to the nations of Jacob by betraying its NATO brothers if it allies itself to Iran.

Turkey’s future is now in its own hands. However, Obadiah 8-10 and 18 warn Turkey that it faces national ruin if it abandons “its brother Jacob” (Edomites are descended from Esau, the brother of Jacob–Genesis 36:1). If Turkey abandons the other modern nations descended from Abraham (not only the Israelite nations of NATO, but also the Israelis of the modern tribe of Judah and the Ishmaelite nations of the Sunni Arabs), it may be devastated in the years ahead of us. The book of Obadiah hangs like a sword of Damocles over the head of Turkey. Turkey’s decision about which alliance to join in the latter days will determine if Obadiah’s sword of Damocles falls on them.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/139138

IRAN ANNOUNCES TEN “NEW” NUCLEAR FACILITIES

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

Iran has announced that it will build ten (!) new nuclear facilities that will be sited, beginning next March, “inside mountain strongholds.” Iran is “defying international efforts,” and the USA, UK and France have issued vacuous diplomatic condemnations which no one takes seriously. The first link below notes that Iran has already “flouted” a series of UN sanctions so it will pay no attention to any UN or western sanctions in its effort to become a major nuclear power as soon as it can.

I find the timing of this announcement to be of interest. As noted in previous blogs, President Obama responded with incredible weakness to recent provocations and threats from North Korea and China. After Obama consistently showed weakness when he should have demonstrated strength, Russia quickly announced that it will help the Iranians “go nuclear” and Iran has just announced plans for ten new nuclear facilities. I think both Russia and Iran see Obama as the weakest American president since Jimmy Carter (and perhaps in all of US history). None of the nations in the Gog-Magog alliance identified in Ezekiel 38:2-6 so far have any reason to fear the USA as long as Obama is president. The danger, of course, is that Obama will finally realize how weak he is perceived by the world and that he will feel the need to “do something” to demonstrate some backbone and leadership. In past blogs I have opined that Russia and China (Iran’s backers) actually want the USA and Israel to attack Iran so they can “field-test” the latest Russian and Chinese weaponry against attacking US and Israeli warplanes and missiles. By defying the USA, the UN and Obama, Russia and Iran have all but said to the West: ”we dare you” to attack us. It is possible that Obama, in deep political trouble with the US voters, may finally launch an “October surprise” attack vs. Iran to try and demonstrate his “leadership” to the voters just before the US elections in November. Time will tell.

Now back to Iran’s announcement. The link below reminds us that Iran has already built a nuclear enrichment plant at Qom deep inside a “secret mountain base” which is suitable only for making nuclear weapons. Previous reports indicate that the Qom base was operational before western intelligence agencies even knew about it. Given that fact, I have a sneaking suspicion that Iran’s ten new nuclear facilities may already exist—buried deep inside mountain ranges within Iran. In making this announcement, Iran may simply be preparing the world for what will be unveiled in the future as a far more massive nuclear program than anyone previously realized. The second link cites an Iranian official as saying that the site selection for its ten new nuclear facilities is already “in its final stages.” This could infer that work at these ten facilities is already actually occurring. In an excellent example of the profound denial that exists within the western world about Iran’s bellicose intentions, a French diplomatic statement made the gullible statement that “We expect Iran to comply with its international obligations.” How can diplomats be so disconnected from reality? Iran has made it very clear it doesn’t care a whit about any “UN sanctions” or “international obligations.”

The USA and Israel have long dithered about attacking Iran and they are rapidly running out of time to act, as Russia’s announced support to help Iran go operational at the above-ground Bushehr nuclear plant (see my August 14 blog). The final link below cites the former US Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, as saying that the world has only until August 21 to attack the Bushehr reactor before it goes active. That is only a few days from now. We will soon know if such an attack is carried out. Personally, I do not know what will occur, but if I had to bet one way or the other, I’d bet no such attack will occur by August 21st. I suspect that the above-ground Bushehr nuclear reactor is (and has been from the beginning) a decoy nuclear facility that would draw all the attention of world’s intelligence community. It is possible that the Bushehr plant really is a civilian energy-production nuclear facility and no more. If it is and it is attacked, Iran can play the victim when it is attacked.

The real extent of Iran’s nuclear weapons program is being determined by what is going on at the Qom nuclear weapons plant and whatever other “secret” nuclear plants are already in operation in Iran in deeply-buried sites within mountain ranges. The siting of one of its “real” nuclear weapons plants at the Iranian city of Qom is a very clever choice by the Iranians. Qom is a “holy” city in the Shiite religion so if bombs fall on Qom, it could both ignite a wave of Shiite rage against the West as well as cause Shiite Iranians to rally around the radical leadership of Iran.

The West faces hard choices. I’d feel more secure if the Western world were led by someone other than a ”community organizer” from Chicago. I think much of the western world feels the same way.

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20100817/irannukes17_st.art.htm

http://www.expatica.com/fr/news/french-news/france-warns-new-iran-enrichment-plan-increases-concerns_90086.html

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2010/me_iran0785_08_16.asp

JAPAN REARMS AND AFFIRMS ALLIANCE WITH USA

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

Without public fanfare, Japan has been substantially rearming itself. The first link reports that Japan has “one of the largest defense budgets in the world, surpassing even China’s in recent years.” Given China’s well-reported and massive arms buildup, that statement really means a lot! Japan is reportedly putting much effort into developing a missile defense system for the Japanese islands. Given China’s military build-up and its deployment of many types of new cruise missiles, Japan’s efforts to develop anti-missile systems appear to me to be a most wise decision.

The second link reports that Japan is also relaxing its policy about the transfer of [American] nuclear weaponry through its territory, and that it has instituted a policy of shadowing Chinese warships with its own warships when China’s ships are near Japanese waters. The second link also cites the “strengthening of the Japan-US alliance,” and that Japanese missiles should also be used “to attack missiles bound for the USA.” This is a good sign of the deepening military ties between Japan and the USA, and it is consistent with my viewpoint of Ezekiel 38 that Japan and other Asian nations are mentioned in that prophecy as ones which will not attack the nations of the modern house of “Israel” when Russia, China, Iran and their allies attack the USA, the NATO nations and their allies at the end of our age.

The second link opines that the Japanese military buildup “would be certain to unnerve its Asian neighbors.” I’m not so sure. I think many Asian nations such as India and the “young tiger” nations of Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, etc. are more likely to be afraid of China’s warlike attitudes and see Japan as an ally against China’s expansionist military designs. Supporting my viewpoint are the final two links [3, 4] that nations in Southeast Asia are arming themselves with new weaponry due to fear of China. Vietnam is especially being provoked by China, which is likely the reason Vietnam decided to start drawing closer to the USA and hosted a visit by a US carrier battle group in joint naval maneuvers recently (see my August 11 blog). The links include the statement that “The nations of Southeast Asia are building up their militaries, buying submarines and jet fighters at a record price,” and they both make it clear that the nations of Southeast Asia fear China [not Japan] as the growing threat.

For more information about Japan and the “young tiger” nations of Asia’s Pacific Rim in biblical prophecy, please read my article about Japan‘s Role in Latter-Day Prophecy.

http://www.pr-inside.com/japan-defence-and-security-report-q-r2053446.htm

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jbYbySdkgTJska-iEq3wzJ0P1Q5Q

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2010/08/15/southeast_asian_nations_beef_up_to_counter_china/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/08/AR2010080802631.html