Major developments are occurring in the Mideast as the situations and alliances are changing rapidly. The first link discusses an interview given to the Wall Street Journal by an influential Saudi prince in which he is cited as saying that “for the first time, Saudi Arabian interests and Israel are almost parallel.” Such a statement would have sounded laughably impossible just a few years ago, but it is now a reality. Posts at my site as long ago as perhaps two years predicted this development would occur, based on a literal application of biblical prophecies to modern world events and an extrapolation of their future direction. Do I claim to be a prophet? No. I simply claim to be an analyst who takes biblical prophecies literally. Ezekiel 38, arguably the most important “latter day” prophecy in the Bible, was the source of my prediction.
The first link describes major problems with the agreement signed by the western powers with Iran–under coercive influence from Russia and China, Iran’s allies. The efforts of the Obama administration and their sycophants in the media to portray this as a good deal is tantamount to, as Sarah Palin once said, “putting lipstick on a pig.”
In other breaking developments, a mortar shell from Iraq landed on Saudi territory and the Saudis, in conjunction with Kuwait, have mobilized troops along the Iraqi border (second link). The Saudis have also intensified their air force missions along the Iraqi border. I think the Saudis are favorably pre-positioning their troops in case a major war breaks out. If a major Sunni-Shiite war occurs, the Saudis want to be able to move their forces quickly into western Iraq to protect the western Iraqi Sunni tribes from the Iranian-aligned Shiite central government of Iraq.
In a truly remarkable development, a British source has leaked information that the Egyptian military has hired an Israeli security firm to provide protection services for the Suez Canal, a critical source of Egyptian revenue (third link). The security firm hired by the Egyptian military is a joint Nigerian-Israeli operation. If true, this reveals a strong relationship developing between the Israelis and Egypt. Such a development would, I believe, be very much welcomed by Saudi Arabia, as it may need reinforcement from Egypt’s Sunni military in any war with Shiite Iran. Israeli cooperation will be vital to such a reinforcement effort as Israel must allow Egyptian armored units to cross directly into Jordanian and Saudi territory via the Israeli Negev region.
The remaining links discuss the crazy-quilt situation in the Syrian civil war. The fourth link reports that Syrian rebels have taken a vital oil-producing region of Syria, the fifth link reports that Assad’s forces (with Iranian help) have soundly defeated the rebels in a battle in the Damascus region, while the final link reports the Syrian rebels have fallen into a situation where they are also fighting each other. This fact portends a situation similar to what occurred in Libya when the anti-Qhadaffi militias fell to fighting among themselves once Qhadaffi was gone. However, Assad will be far harder to overthrow than Qhadaffi. Assad has strong Iranian, Hezbollah and Russian support and he may yet remain in control of a truncated Syrian region in eastern Syria which will include the Mediterranean coastal area and Damascus while the vast majority of Syria’s territory will be controlled by Sunnis.
The best post-war development for the millions of displaced Syrian refugees would be for Turkey’s Sunni military to take control of northern Syria to allow refugees to peacefully re-settle there while Saudi and Jordanian troops (both Sunni) take control of southern Syria to allow refugees to peacefully re-settle there. The small Kurdish region of Northeast Syria may feel safe only if Kurdish Peshmerga troops guarantee their safety there. Such an outcome would restrain and somewhat disarm the combative Syrian rebel militias and limit Al Qaida’s radicalizing influence in the post-civil war Syrian restructuring.
All these developments are part of the Mideast struggles which will determine the final alignment of nations in either the Gog-Magog alliance or its rivals. I hope readers find monitoring these ongoing developments as interesting as I do.
- http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/11/25/the_saudis_and_israelis_know_best_120772.html
- http://www.worldtribune.com/2013/11/25/saudi-deploys-troops-to-iraq-border-after-first-mortar-attack-in-decades/
- http://www.worldtribune.com/2013/11/25/report-egypt-hires-israeli-firm-to-protect-suez-canal/
- http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/world/middleeast/syria.html?_r=0
- http://www.worldtribune.com/2013/11/25/rebels-take-heavy-losses-fail-to-break-siege-near-damascus/
- http://www.worldtribune.com/2013/11/24/al-qaida-militia-retakes-town-near-turkish-border-from-free-syrian-army/
