Steven Collins
September 18, 2007
During recent years, Americans have customarily experienced little or no cooperation from French governments in world geopolitics. That appears to be changing…quickly. New French President Nicolas Sarkozy has not merely indicated support for American efforts to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. He seems to be even more blunt and hawkish with the Iranians than President Bush has been! In a BBC report (see link below), President Sarkozy was quoted as saying in a recent speech that if economic sanctions fail to stop Iran’s nuclear program, “there would be …’a catastrophic choice’ between ‘an Iranian bomb or the bombardment of Iran.'” President Sarkozy all but told Iran to either halt its nuclear efforts or it will be bombed. In a FOX-News story (see link below), French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner “warned that the world should prepare for war if Iran obtains nuclear weapons.” Blunt indeed!
What has caused the change in France? The election of Sarkozy is certainly one answer, but I think there is another as well. Media reports have recently revealed that Iran is now operating a forward base in Syria for its missiles which can target Europe. This has increased the dangers to Europe from Iran and, perhaps, focused minds in Europe to do something about it. It is noteworthy that as the new English Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, seems to be putting distance between the USA and the UK, the French have quickly moved much closer to the American position on Iran and the Mideast.
In an even more surprising development, Sarkozy apparently offered to share some its nuclear weapons with Germany! A Der Spiegel magazine article (see link) added that the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, hastily refused the offer. It is my view that Sarkozy made the offer fully aware that Germany did not dare accept it. If Germany ever “went nuclear” it would likely provoke a Russian preemptive strike against any German nuclear facilities even as the USA, Israel and (now) France are threatening such a strike against Iran if it goes nuclear. So why did Sarkozy make the offer? Knowing the offer would reach the media, I think Sarkozy wanted to remind Europe that France is the dominant military power on the European mainland, and that it is likely to remain so for some time. The story about Germany dwelling “under the French nuclear umbrella” highlights the fact that Germany, for all its economic strength, does not possess meaningful military power and relies on France for serious military protection.
The Mideast is the focus of many biblical prophecies. The final war between a king of the north (who comes into the Mideast from outside the region) and a king of the south (who provokes the invasion against his own land) is set in the Mideast. The final invasion of the “kings of the east” (Revelation 16:12) will invade westward through the region of Iraq at the end of this age. Jerusalem will also be “compassed by armies” as some point as this age draws to a close (Luke 21:20). The Mideast is not only important as a region of religious fervor and importance for Christianity, Judaism and Islam. It is also where much of the world’s oil is located. Because Europe is now so dependent upon Russian energy sources, it is absolutely vital for Europe, the USA and the West to maintain access to Mideast oil. If this source of oil was cut off, the economies of the West would grind to a halt. Mideast oil is of foremost geopolitical importance. Perhaps this is another reason for France (in behalf of Europe) becoming more hawkish about what is happening in the Mideast. Interestingly, former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan’s new book states openly that “The Iraq war is largely about oil” (see the startribune link below). Indeed, I wonder why President Bush doesn’t openly admit this fact. American voters would far more readily understand the need to go to war to keep gasoline in their automobile tanks than going to war for some vague notion about Arab democracy.
Those who have read my books also realize that while the British are identified as principally the descendants of the Israelite tribe of Ephraim, the French are principally the modern descendants of the tribe of Reuben. Reuben was the oldest of the twelve sons of Jacob (later renamed “Israel”), and Reuben would ordinarily have had the birthright blessing and position of leadership within the tribes. The Napoleonic Wars between Britain and France were, from a biblical point of view, a war over the birthright and the right to lead the other tribes of Israel located in Europe. Reuben lost that birthright because his libido led him to usurp his father’s prerogatives (Genesis 35:22, 49:3). The birthright was transferred to the tribe of Joseph, and inherited equally by Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.
Modern Ephraim (Great Britain) is withdrawing troops from Iraq and stepping back from close cooperation with its “brother” nation, the USA (Manasseh). Modern Ephraim’s action is creating a void of leadership, and Reuben (ever desirous of regaining its leadership position among the tribes of Israel) is now eagerly stepping forth to assume Ephraim’s leadership position. To those who have not read my books, this terminology will sound “foreign.” However, the Bible strongly teaches that the ten tribes of Israel would become far more numerous after they went into exile in the 8th century BC (Hosea 1:10) and God openly states that he would not forsake the ten tribes when he sent them into a temporary captivity (Jeremiah 51:5). Genesis 49 and Revelation 7 prophecy all the tribes of Israel will be present among the nations in the latter days of this age. Identifying them is not difficult as biblical and secular evidence both point to the same nations as being the Israelite ones in our modern times. Those who do not know who the Israelite tribes are have zero chance of understanding biblical prophecy because so many latter-day biblical prophecies involve the ten tribes (the ten tribes are called “Israel” in the prophecies while the Jews/Israelis are called “Judah”). If you have not done so, I invite you to order my books at the book links at this website. You will understand modern geopolitics much better when you understand who the modern nations are in biblical terms.
Let’s hope the French stay hawkish alongside the Americans. Maybe they will draw other European nations with them. If there is an American air strike against Iran, it appears that French airplanes are likely to be part of the strike force. To give the strike a “coalition” appearance, perhaps other European nations and maybe even some Sunni Arab states will join the attack. Why would Sunni Arab states do this? They’ve hated the Persians (Iranians) for centuries and the Iranians are rival Shiite Moslems. Also, a deal may be in the offing. Israeli Prime Minister Olmert must be receiving immense pressure from the USA and western nations to “make a deal” with the Palestinians which benefits the western nations. An Israeli-Palestinian deal would really smooth relations between the USA and Europe on one hand and the Sunni Arab nations on the other hand. Such a deal would secure the West’s oil supplies. Perhaps the Israelis are being told that if they agree to an Israeli-Palestinian deal which is not so friendly to the Israelis, the West will “take out Iran’s nuclear program” which is now jeopardizing Israeli survival. The Israelis could likely do the job themselves, but perhaps Israeli Prime Minister Olmert would rather “let George do it” with “George” being George Bush of course.
Keep your eyes open and watch the Mideast. We may be seeing some biblically-important events soon.
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6998118.stm
http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,297064,00.html
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,506124,00.html
http://www.startribune.com/587/story/1424402.html
