May 28, 2009
Steve Collins
North Korea and Iran, both identified on this blog as allies of Russia and China in the Ezekiel 38 “Gog Magog” alliance, are jointly making the world a more dangerous place. North Korea’s second nuclear test, accompanied by more missile tests, is raising the possibility of war in Northeast Asia. Japan and South Korea have every right to feel especially threatened by North Korea’s bellicosity. The first link reports on this North Korean test and the heightened concerns in the region. This second North Korean nuclear test confirms that North Korea was lying all along to the Bush administration about halting its nuclear program. This will surprise few realists who assumed the Bush administration was being hoodwinked all along by North Korea. Secretary of State Rice compiled a lot of frequent flier miles during her tenure in office, but she proved to be just one more gullible foil for the North Koreans.
North Korea raised the stakes even more by threatening to attack the naval ships of South Korea and the USA in that region (see second link). The US State Department (and the foreign offices of other nations) did their usual dithering and offered the usual meaningless pronouncements about “UN resolutions” and more “sanctions.” It is already abundantly evident that North Korea cares nothing about such ineffectual responses. The third link, a cartoon appearing in USA Today lampoons the on-going effete response by the West (you will need to go to the 5/27 cartoon by Scott Stantis at this link via the cartoon date option to see it). The only effective means of stopping North Korea’s nuclear program is if nations bomb its nuclear sites. Such an action will likely have consequences. North Korea’s regime is paranoid in its views of the rest of the world, and it could respond by launching missiles at Japan and invading South Korea with a half-million men and thousands of missiles. US troops are stationed in South Korea so the USA would have another war on its hands if this happens. But the bottom line is that if the West does not attack North Korean nuclear faculties, North Korea will win this stand-off and the new Obama administration will look very weak. If North Korea gets a nuclear program, expect Japan and North Korea to implement nuclear programs as well. Indeed, doing nothing about North Korea may also result in a new war for the Obama administration. If North Korea sees nothing but weakness in the responses of the West, it may decide the time is ripe to invade South Korea.
Iran, fresh from its launch of a new solid-rocket missile with the range to easily attack both Israeli cities and US bases in the Mideast, sent six of its warships to the Gulf of Aden (see fourth link). This is a clearly belligerent warning to Saudi Arabia (which is north of the Gulf of Aden) and to the entire western world. The Gulf of Aden is in the southern approach to Egypt’s Suez Canal, so Iran is sending a message that Egypt’s Suez Canal is not safe if a war erupts in the Mideast due to an attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities (Iran’s new missiles can likely reach the Suez Canal if they can reach all Israeli targets). Saudi Arabia has noticed its increasingly precarious position. The fifth link below reports that the Saudis are warming up to India and their navies conducted joint military maneuvers. This is a remarkable development because, as the link notes, Saudi-Pakistan ties had been strong in the past but the Saudis may fear Pakistan becoming a failed state with the Taliban inheriting Pakistan’s nukes. Previous blogs have reported that Israel and India have been drawing steadily closer together as allies so warming Saudi-Indian ties may indicate the Saudis are looking for new allies to augment their traditional alliance with the USA (which has exhausted its military and is looking more insolvent with each passing month). As US President Obama is steadily-less willing to stop Iran’s nuclear program, all nations in the Mideast-Indian Ocean region are looking for more allies to confront Iran. The last link also notes that China is increasing its presence in the Indian Ocean, and since China is an ally of Iran and Pakistan, the Sunni Arab nations, India and the Israelis are being pushed steadily into an anti-Iranian alliance by necessity. Jesus Christ prophesied there would be “wars and rumors of wars” in the latter days (Matthew 24:6). The “rumors of wars” are getting more numerous. We will see if any of them turn into shooting wars.
North Korea’s main ally is China, and Iran’s main allies are Russia and China, as Ezekiel 38 predicted. It is possible that North Korea and Iran are doing this “on their own,” but I think it is far more likely that both nations are being pushed into provocative actions by Russia and China, which are testing America’s new President Obama to see if he has any resolve or steel in him re: foreign policy threats. So far, these nations are seeing Obama has reacted with weakness. America’s allies see this too.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/25/north-korea-hiroshima-nuclear-test
http://www.midco.net/news/read.php?ps=1018&rip_id=%3CD98EKAH02%40news.ap.org%3E&_LT=HOME_LARSDCCLM_UNEWS
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/cartoons/flash.htm
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,521730,00.html
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2009/ea_india0417_05_26.asp
