Steven Collins
February 5, 2008
Some people may find the title of this blog surprising. After all, isn’t the USA fighting two wars and isn’t the US defense budget at a new level of high spending (at least in nominal terms)? The truth of the matter is that, with each passing year, the western militaries are getting weaker vis a vis their rivals in the new Russian-Chinese-Iranian axis. The US military is being relentlessly weakened and worn out in the two Asian wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The British Empire and Russia both quit “throwing good money after bad” and withdrew from Afghanistan when it became too costly to keep their military forces there. The USA has still not realized that with the Al Queda training camps destroyed, there is no strategic national interest served by staying in Afghanistan. Staying there only serves to further wear out our already down-sized military forces. The Iraqi war, because it is the larger war, is wearing out our military forces at a far greater rate than the Afghan war. One could argue that the Iraqi war at least does have a vital national security interest involved: securing the oil supply for the USA and the western world. But these twin Asian wars are steadily pushing the USA into two catastrophic directions: the exhaustion of our military personnel and national bankruptcy.
The final Bush budget, just released, calls for more national debt and a greater commitment to spending beyond our means. It has a defense budget of $515 billion, but, according to a 2-5-08 USA Today article, less than 9% of it will go to new weaponry. The other 91% will be consumed by the twin Asian wars and all kinds of other spending. A defense budget of over a half-trillion dollars buys only a paltry addition of 7,000 soldiers to the US Army and 5,000 new Marines. It is hard to imagine how so much money can buy so little in the way of new weapons and additional soldiers. Let’s look at other western capabilities.
The first link below reports that the Royal Air Force of the UK is going to mothball its sophisticated Nimrod R1 reconnaissance aircraft and “rent” some aircraft from the USA. According to this report, the “…RAF’s electronic intelligence capability will wither on the vine.” The second link documents the pervasive lack of fighting spirit in the NATO alliance’s efforts in Afghanistan. The article notes that although NATO has 26 nations, only four nations (Britain, the USA, Canada and the Netherlands) are actually bearing the load of combat in Afghanistan. While the other NATO nations are making little or no meaningful effort to help, Germany is especially singled out as shirking its share of the load. Germany’s unwillingness to shoulder military responsibilities was the subject of an “unusually stern” letter from US Defense Secretary Gates to his German counterpart. Canada’s Prime Minister Harper is even threatening to withdraw its 2,500 troops unless other nations do more. NATO’s impotent performance in Afghanistan (where articles relate the Taliban is now resurgent) certainly emboldens NATO’s enemies.
An AP story (see third link below) reports that six years after the attacks on 9/11: “The US military isn’t ready for a catastrophic attack on the country, and National Guard forces don’t have the equipment or training they need for the job.” Indeed, it states that National Guard units are even less combat-ready than last year, and “88 percent of the units” aren’t prepared to fight. This is a damning appraisal of the Bush Administration’s handling of US defensive capabilities and preparedness in a “time of war.” I put the phrase “time of war” in quotes, because the only Americans bearing the load of the Asian wars are the military personnel and their families. They are being worn out with repeated deployments and family separations. For the vast majority of Americans, the “war” has no impact on their daily lives at all. Of course, the National Guard units lack equipment and training because their equipment has been shipped to Iraq and Afghanistan and has not been replaced. Given the gargantuan amounts of money being allocated to the Defense Department the last six years, one wonders how the US can be anything but armed to the teeth with new weaponry by now. How can so much money be wasted and not put to good use?
Readers are likely familiar with many stories about how US military technology has been stolen or sold to China. The fourth link below documents that Australia is also selling China advanced technology which China is adapting to new usages in the Chinese military. The western world seems blind to the fact that it is committing national and cultural suicide by giving or selling military technology to their enemies. Ezekiel 38 prophesies that the latter-day nations of the ten tribes of Israel will let down their defenses at the end of this age (verse 11) and will be focused on materialism (verse 12-13) just prior to a surprise attack upon their nations by a new axis led by Russia, China and Iran (verses 2-7, 9, 15-16). All this is happening before our eyes in world events, repeatedly confirming the accuracy of the Bible’s prophesies about the latter days.
When Hitler and Mussolini were building up their militaries in the 1930s, the allied powers of Great Britain, France, the USA, etc. were largely asleep to the imminence of a new world war. The one political voice which saw the danger accurately and warned about it was Winston Churchill of Great Britain. In the modern world, it is Russia, China and Iran which are militarizing in preparation for a final world war. This should be obvious to any dispassionate observer who doesn’t live in denial. When authoritarian regimes prepare for war, it is because they intend to go to war. Russia, China and Iran intend to go to war against the West. However, the leaders of the western nations are asleep. Where is the modern equivalent of a Churchill to sound the warning? No such voice is apparent, and this was also prophesied. Isaiah 1-4 is a prophesy about the degenerate state of affairs that will exist in the “latter days” (Isaiah 2:1) just prior to the “day of the Lord” (2:12, 3:7, 4:2). This prophecy is addressed to all the tribes of Israel (“House of Jacob” in 3:5 means all the tribes descended from Jacob, who was re-named “Israel”).
These chapters of Isaiah warn that when a nation abandons God, he also abandons them. Isaiah 3:1-5 states that one of the ways that God punishes nations is that he “…takes away…the mighty man and man of war, the judge…the prudent…the honorable man and the counselor…and the eloquent orator. And I will give children to be their princes and babes to rule over them.” There is much in Isaiah 1-4 which aptly describes the degenerating societies of the western world, but this blog will focus just on this point. Winston Churchill was a “mighty man, a man of war, a counselor and an eloquent orator” who rallied Great Bain with his keen mind and skill with words. There are no Churchills in the western world today. President Bush has squandered America’s wealth, strength and international respect like no other President before him. I read some time ago in an article that half the entire American federal debt was run up during the presidencies of Bush-41 and Bush-43. President Bush is exhausting the US military like no previous president. The President of France, Nicolas Sarkhozy, just dumped his wife and ran off with an Italian supermodel. Italy’s government has fallen…again. The previous American President, Bill Clinton was most famous for his bimbos and his affair with Monica Lewinsky in the White House, and Israeli Prime Minister Olmert presided over the most incompetently-conducted war in the history of his nation during the Hezbollah bombardment from Lebanon. Looking at the West’s leaders, it is not hard to see that God has fulfilled his prophecy in Isaiah 3:2-5.
I do not claim to know when the Russian-Chinese-Iranian attack will be launched against the West. I think it is a few years off yet, but only God knows for sure. What is absolutely certain is that it will come. One doesn’t need to believe biblical prophecy to know that it will occur. An honest look at secular history assures us that when autocratic nations (like Russia, China and Iran) rapidly start preparing for war, it is because they have already made the decision to go to war. They are just waiting for their intended victims to reach their point of maximum weakness. The rapidly-growing military and economic weakness of the western nations are hastening that day. It is especially sad that the weaknesses of the western nations are largely self-inflicted.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3296568.ece
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jiXNXno_C1g3DvYqktIfCDCQmHbQD8UH69SG0
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/01/2151690.htm
