Steven Collins
June 24, 2008
Previous blogs at this site have documented that the Chinese military is flushed with US dollars (courtesy of the USA’s foolish trade deficit with China),and that the Chinese military is expanding rapidly with new modern weaponry for its very large military forces. Previous blogs have also documented that the armed forces of the western nations have been greatly reduced and weakened since the end of the Cold War. The USA is wearing out its downsized military in two seemingly-endless Asian wars while the EU nations have greatly downsized and neglected their military forces. One recent blog at this website passed on media reports that the French military was in especially bad condition with much of its front-line equipment not even operational. This blog, unfortunately, confirms that this dangerous trend is continuing to get worse.
The full consequences of the USA’s ill-advised policy of deploying its ground force personnel over and over again to either Iraq or Afghanistan is starting to become glaringly apparent. Many media reports have warned that the US Army is exhausted from these deployments, and more reports about the worsening condition of the army are emerging.
The first link below (from the June 20, 2008 USA Today) reports that the US Army’s top general has warned that “it will take three to four years to put the army back in balance after seven years of war…we’re stretched and stretched by the fact that we didn’t have a big enough army to do the things the nation is asking us to do since Sept. 11.” Speaking to paratroopers that are on repeated deployments to Asian wars, General Casey added: “We’ve not been able to sustain the rotations and do the things we need to do to take care of the volunteer force and prepare for the future.” His comments get to the heart of the matter: the “volunteer force” is too small to handle the army’s current assignments and obligations. US politicians have not had the stomach to go back to a draftee army and the US budget is far too stretched to fund enough soldiers to have a large enough volunteer army. The current administration has been content to simply wear out the current personnel and equipment in order to avoid having to make any tough choices.
The second link (from CNN) reports that suicides among US army personnel are at record levels. It states that “every day, five US soldiers try to kill themselves” [and] “2,100 soldiers tried to commit suicide in 2007.” It cites the “unprecedented levels of stress” due to overdeployments as a reason. The third link (from a doctor’s website) cites an army report which reveals a shocking fact: “12 percent of combat troops in Iraq and 17 percent of those in Afghanistan are taking prescription antidepressants or sleeping pills to help them cope” which is a sign of “the heavy mental and psychological price being paid by soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.” It cites one US sergeant as saying “there were more than a few convoys going out in a total daze.” I recall in the Vietnamese War many GIs used pot or other illegal drugs to cope with that seemingly endless Asian war. Now the soldiers are being sent out with legal psychoactive drugs to keep them going!
This is a sad commentary on the condition of the US ground forces. The truth of the matter is that the combat-readiness of the US Army is being slowly shattered by far too many deployments for its reduced size. If General Casey’s comments were a diplomatic “call for help,” there is no indication that either President Bush or the current US Congress are listening. My own opinion is that it would be disastrous for the USA to pull out prematurely from Iraq, but why are we still in Afghanistan? What vital national interest is being served that we are still sending tens of thousands of soldiers there at great cost to our already barely-solvent national treasury? We went to Afghanistan quite understandably to destroy the terrorist training camps, punish the Taliban and look for Osama Bin Laden. We accomplished the first two objectives and the third one may or may not ever be possible. Why didn’t the USA withdraw its forces from Afghanistan and announce that we would monitor all activities in that nation via satellite and would either bomb or raid any new training camps? Special forces could be inserted to search for OBL if any “hard” tips developed re: his whereabouts. The USA has no vital interests in Afghanistan to defend and we cannot possible afford to “nation build” it into a western-style democracy. Both the British Empire and the USSR had the good sense to realize invading Afghanistan was like charging into a pit of quicksand (“easy to get into but hard to get out of”). Both had the good sense to leave that nation and quit needlessly draining their national resources. The USA has not yet wised up to this reality. Due to the continuation of both the Iraq and Afghanistan deployments, the US Army has no meaningful reserves left to handle a conflict which may become necessary to defend a vital American interest.
Why is this in the “Gog-Magog” blog? Because it further indicates a fulfillment of the key prophecy in Ezekiel 38:10-12 that the western democracies (i.e. “the house of Israel” or the modern “ten tribes of Israel”) will reach a point where they have so weakened and neglected their military defenses that they will become a ripe target for invasion by the nations of the Gog-Magog alliance (Russia, China, Iran, etc.). In ancient times, strong city gates and strong, thick walls were necessary to defend important cities from attack. Those who have seen the Lord of the Rings movies or the Kingdom of Heaven movie can understand this imagery very easily. A city without walls, gates or bars is one which has neglected its defenses and is ripe for conquest. Ezekiel 38:11 prophesies that the nations of the ten tribes of Israel in the latter days of our age will be like “cities without walls, bars or gates” (ripe for attack). The King James Version states in Ezekiel 38:11 that the inhabitants of the Israelite nations will be dwelling “safely,” but my marginal reference indicates a better literal translation would be that they are dwelling “confidently” in their undefended cities. Verse 12 shows these latter-day Israelite nations will be dwelling with many material goods so they are both wealthy and heedless to the imminent danger of a completely unexpected attack from Russia, China, Iran, etc. Ezekiel 38’s prophecy clearly indicates that their “confidence” in their safety will prove to be a false hope.
If Russia, China, Iran and their allies are planning a massive military invasion of all the nations of the latter-day house of Israel, it would make perfect sense for them to entangle the USA and NATO nations in endless wars which will wear out their soldiers, bankrupt their treasuries and wear out their fighting equipment. That is happening before our eyes. The leaders of the USA and NATO are doing exactly what the leaders of Russia, China and Iran want them to do to ensure the western nations reach a point of maximum weakness before they are invaded. Ezekiel 38:4 and 10 prophesy that the Creator God in heaven will make sure that these Asian nations decide to attack the western democracies if he has to put the thought in their heads to do it! Bible prophecy indicates the attack of Russia, China, Iran and their allies vs. the USA, NATO and their allies is absolutely certain and unavoidable. I do not know what year this attack will occur, but the current geopolitical trends confirm that Ezekiel 38’s prophecy is being inexorably shaped for fulfillment. There must be glee in secret Russian, Chinese and Iranian war-rooms that the USA is slowly shattering its own army in two Asian wars and that the European nations have become “cities without walls and gates.” The target nations are looking ever more ripe for attack.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2008-06-20-army_N.htm
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/01/military.suicides/index.html
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/06/24/why-is-the-u-s-army-on-so-many-prescription-drugs.aspx?source=nl
