An Australian media source (see first link) reports that Saudi Arabia has officially announced that it is “developing its first nuclear power plant.” Since Saudi Arabia sits on a vast poll of oil reserves, it obviously does not need nuclear power for domestic energy consumption. It is equally obvious that Saudi Arabia is embarking on its own nuclear power program to develop nuclear weaponry of its own to counter the Iranian nukes which are nearing the production stage. The report also reports that ten other Arab/Islamic nations are also considering their own nuclear programs.
Many Americans don’t realize that the Islamic community is not monolithic. Islam has its own sects even as Christianity has many denominations. The two major divisions in Islam are the Sunni and Shiite belief systems. The majority of the Islamic world is Sunni, but Iran is Shiite and is aggressively pushing for Shiite dominance over all other Islamic nations. Saudi Arabia, which hosts Mecca and Medina–the two foremost Sunni religious sites–has a natural role as the defender of the Sunni Islamic nations. Given that the USA is heading for fiscal insolvency, is exhausting its military in Iraq and Afghanistan and is led by the most inexperienced President in American history, the Saudi decision to opt for its own nuclear program also offers mute testimony that the Saudis regard the USA as an increasingly unreliable ally and that Saudi Arabia must pursue other options for its protection. The Saudi deal to obtain a massive amount of heavy Russian weaponry (discussed in a blog a few days ago) also indicates Saudi Arabia may not regard the internally-politicized USA as a reliable supplier of future weaponry either. I don’t know if Saudi Arabia has realized it yet, but its natural ally in the Mideast vs. Iran are the Israelis. The Israelis have the nuclear and conventional weaponry to complement the Sunni nations’ manpower to more than offset Iran’s growing power. A recent blog at this website offered evidence that both Egypt and Jordan have come to that conclusion already, even if they will not state it openly.
The link also reports that the USA now recognizes that the Iranian nuclear weapons program is so far advanced that it now has only “until next month” to find a diplomatic solution to the pressing problem posed by Iran’s nukes. This report supports the conclusions in yesterday’s blog which presented evidence that a shooting war looks more likely in the Mideast. This Australian media source also reports that the USA wants its troops out of Iraq before a war begins in the Mideast. The USA may not have that option, as time is not on the American side in this matter. Besides, American troops in Afghanistan are far more vulnerable to Iranian attacks than are the American troops in Iraq. American troops in Iraq have strategic depth into which to retreat; American forces in Afghanistan have no ready way of retreat. America’s new President clearly lacks military experience or knowledge.
The second link, citing reports in the Los Angeles Times and The Economist, reports that a shooting war is in progress between Iranian-backed Shiite rebels in Yemen and the Saudi-backed Yemenite government. Yemen is located on the southern edge of Saudi Arabia. Iran’s efforts to destabilize Saudi Arabia’s southern border confirms that Iran is determined to undermine Saudi Arabia. However, much more is at stake. Yemen’s location is strategically-located at the southern tip of the Red Sea where a narrow bottleneck connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. If Iranian proxies were to gain control of Yemen, Iran could install its missiles in Yemen and threaten all sea traffic heading into the Suez Canal. This means that Egypt (and every nation whose ships use the Suez Canal!) have a lot at stake in what happens in the warfare inside Yemen.
There is a biblical prophecy which predicted Iran’s anti-western fervor and its rush to obtain nuclear weapons and international power. Isaiah 13 (like Revelation 17-18) is a prophecy about the fall of “Babylon,” and the Medes being stirred up against Babylon. While it is true that the Medo-Persian Empire overthrew the Babylonian Empire in ancient times (due to God’s anger at the blasphemy of the king of Babylon described in Daniel 5), Isaiah 13 clearly has a modern application because verses 6 and 9 state that its fulfillment will occur in the “Day of the Lord.” The phrase “Day of the Lord” (also found in Joel 2:1-2, Zechariah 14:1 and other prophecies about the very end of this age) parallels prophecies mentioning the “latter days” of this age. Isaiah 13:17 prophesies that God “will stir up the Medes against them [Babylon].” The term “Medes” is another term for the ancient Persians as the ancient Persian kings were called “Medes” (Daniel 9:1, 11:1). Persia is another name for modern Iran, which is prophesied to be an ally of Russia and China in the Gog-Magog alliance during the latter days. Revelation 18:2-3 identify the modern system of western capitalism as the latter day entity called Babylon the Great–a global economic system characterized by multinational companies (the “merchants of the earth”) and the governments and politicians who are in bed with them (the “kings of the earth”) in an arrangement which selfishly enriches both the corporate and governmental leaders. Isaiah 13:17 prophesies modern Iran will be stirred up against this western system called “Babylon” in the end times, and has that prophecy ever been fulfilled! Iran calls the USA “the Great Satan,” and the Israelis “the Little Satan.” Iran hates the western economic system as well as its culture. As we see Iran develop proxy nations and armies in Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas and the Shiite rebels in Yemen, it is vital to realize that the Iranians are themselves acting as proxies for Russia and China, the main powers in the Gog-Magog alliance.
Biblical prophecies are being fulfilled almost everywhere in the world. However, western leaders of historically-Christian nations have abandoned their own Bible so the leaders of the West do not grasp what is going on the world and neither do their people. It is a classic case of “the blind leading the blind.”
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25963207-2703,00.html
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/08/28/this_week_at_war_the_middle_easts_cold_war_heats_up
