April 17, 2003.
"Coinciding with the Bush administration's tough talk about Syria, a senior
Israeli official Monday exposed a smoking gun. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told
the Tel Aviv newspaper Maariv: 'We have a long list of issues we are thinking of
demanding of the Syrians, and it would be best done through the Americans'.''
Wow! Just as the Arab propagandists throughout the Middle East were beginning to whip up the frenzy of the average Muslim on the street to convince
him that the US was simply following Israel's bidding by systematically attacking her enemies for her, the Israeli Defense Minister suddenly opened his
mouth to give the propagandists the "smoking gun" proof that this is exactly what President Bush is doing! Now, there can be no doubt! In the eyes of the
Arabs, and all Muslims worldwide, this is definitive proof that the US has sided with Israel in a plan in which the vastly superior military of the United States
is placed at the bidding of the "Zionists" in Israel!
This statement is the stuff of which world wars are made! It is difficult to convey to you how serious this entire situation now has become. Words simply
fail to express the depth of hatred and rage this statement is likely to be producing in the Middle East over the next few days and weeks. Israeli Defense
Minister Mofaz could not have stirred the rage of war any more than if he deliberately set out to do it!
North Korea War Rhetoric Resumes
Up until Saturday, April 12, war rhetoric from North Korea was unrelenting, and building in intensity. Russia announced that she was taking steps to prepare
a defense of her people living in the border region of North Korea. This was the region in which the Russian Navy was holding aggressive sea, air, and land
exercises from April 15-21, an area of sea called "Peter The Great Bay".
Then, abruptly, on Sunday, April 13, the rhetoric suddenly changed. All of a
sudden, North Korea issued conciliatory statements, saying they would accept
bilateral talks with the US instead of the direct US/North Korea talks that Pyongyang has been insisting upon all these many months. Realizing that an
outbreak of "peace talk" many times immediately precedes direct military action, I took these reports with a grain of salt. Instead, I watched military deployments in the region and concluded these conciliatory stories were simply propaganda. Surely enough, the rhetoric abruptly changed this Monday, April 21.
NEWS BRIEF: "N Korea in call to arms", news.com.au,

April 21, 2003.
"NORTH Korea has called on all its citizens to increase the country's
defence capabilities, according to the state's official media. 'All officers and men of the People's Army ... always keep yourselves combat ready,' the KCNA news
agency reported the North Korean military as saying. 'If enemies invade our inviolable sky, land and seas even an inch, destroy up the aggressors with merciless annihilating blows'. The Central Committee and the Central Military Commission of the Worker's Party of Korea jointly issued the call which was
carried in Pyongyang newspapers."
Before you dismiss this rhetoric as being just as empty as Saddam's similar rhetoric was, remember that North Korea is infinitely more militarily capable
than is Iraq. Further, remember the Venik Aviation Intel report during the second week of Iraqi combat which stated that Russian generals had concluded
that US forces could not defeat North Korea conventionally, but would need to
resort to nuclear weapons! These generals reached this conclusion based upon the spirited resistance the Iraqis put up during that first two week period, a time
in which several of our units were thrown back by Iraqi counterattacks, a reality not reported in US mainstream Mass Media.
Also, remember the news story that South Koreans posing as North Koreans
during a US/South Korean conventional exercise last month ended with the US forces losing every one of its 50 Main Battle Tanks! The reason we have
positioned our best troops in the Middle East, while depending upon nuclear and/or neutron weapons capabilities to defend South Korea is that our generals
know that our depleted military cannot conventionally defeat the North Koreans;
thus, the planned "nuclear confrontation in Korea that will threatened mankind's very survival" may be close to being set in motion!
Let us now examine another current story to see how the war rhetoric is again spewing forth from North Korea.
NEWS BRIEF: "North Korea Urges Koreas to Unite to 'Smash' U.S. Moves", Fox
News, April 20, 2003.
"SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Sunday that South Korea should join it in resisting U.S. moves toward war, another angry pronouncement days before
highly sensitive talks between Washington and Pyongyang ... North Korea has repeatedly accused the United States of planning to attack it after the Iraq war
.. North Korea's state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper said all Koreans 'should firmly unite as one to resolutely smash the U.S. moves for a war of aggression
in order to protect the destiny of the nation and the future of a reunified country. The whole nation should resist the U.S. war moves in a do-or-die
spirit,' the newspaper said, according to the KCNA news agency, the North's foreign news outlet."
As an Army man who spent time in North Korea, and who has several friends who spent entire tours there, I can assure you that the North Koreans are
tremendous fighters. They are well armed, well trained, and highly motivated by a regime expert in Communist military mind control techniques. These fighters
will be a far more difficult foe than Iraqi soldiers, who gave us all we could handle in southern Iraq for the first 2 weeks.
Building Toward A World War
Ever since North Korea offered asylum to Saddam, I have concluded that the plan may call for the first response to US war moves outside Iraq be a concerted
action by the following countries on the very same day:
* Syria and Egypt attacking Israel * Iran suddenly and aggressively making moves in the region to threaten US forces * Pakistan attacking India * North
Korea launching an all-out attack on South Korea * Terrorist attacks against our cities If such a concerted effort were made, this Iraqi war would explode into
the all-out world war that is envisioned. The news this past week seemed to be designed to propel us down that "slippery slope", as Russian President Putin so
deftly state. Of course, if these actions come separately, the world would soon find itself at the point of a world war, but the process will just have taken
more time.
Is This the Beginning of the End?
Whenever a flare-up occurs in the Middle East, people start asking that question. With that in mind, let's step back and regain our perspective, while
revealing some little known behind-the-scenes maneuvering. First of all this is
not the beginning of the end in the sense that humans think of it, like it's coming in the next year or so. (Of course from the Biblical perspective the time
frame known as the End of the Age began with the Resurrection.) Several major events must take place first, and one of our most popular articles, Seven
Prophetic Signs of the Second Coming, highlights them all. But there have been some interesting developments that could be moving us closer in three areas.
Here they are.
1. As you know Turkey's change of allegiance is one of the most important signs that we're nearing the end. In the current go-around, after much debate
and an abrupt change in leadership, Turkey finally appeared to side with the US only to back track at the last minute. Much of Turkey's public posturing was
thought to be just that, designed to placate their Moslem population by showing that their leadership stood up to the US as long as they could, but as of today
the US has made other plans to bring its troops into northern Iraq. Rest assured, the day will come when Turkey will switch sides for good and join up
with the Moslem coalition aligned against Israel as prophesied in Ezekiel 38.
Watch for it.
2. Also, just before the End Times scenario unfolds Israel must be living in a perceived state of peace and be attacked by a Moslem coalition of neighboring
nations (led by Iran and armed by Russia) when they least expect it. That certainly cannot be said of Israel today. Some event or events must take place
first to give them the perception that peace has finally come to their land. You should know that US plans for the region go beyond Iraq to include nothing short
of revamping the entire Middle East political structure, ridding it of even the potential for conflict by using the example of Iraq to convince other terrorist
leaders to abandon their current strategies or face a similar fate. (As an example, both Iran and Syria believe their countries will be the next likely
targets of US anti-terrorist action.) If successful, this US strategy could bring about a time of perceived peace in the Middle East, setting the stage for
the Moslem sneak attack down the road.
3. Most significantly for the world, the US must decline in power and influence while Europe ascends. Today the US is the unchallenged leader of the world with a hand in nearly every other nation's political life. It never ceases to amaze me how much the US government influences decisions in other countries, ranging from giving not-so-subtle advice, to the granting or withholding of
funding, to the actual interference in other countries' internal politics and affairs. In many respects, the President of the US is a modern King of Kings, a
title first given to Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2:37), denoting that he was the one to whom other kings looked for direction and authority. (Not to be confused with
the real King of Kings, Our Lord Jesus.) This obviously has to change because at the End of the Age a European King will fill that role. And astonishingly, a
King of Europe has recently conspired to effect this very change.
President Chirac of France has been a vocal advocate of a non-military solution in Iraq. Joined by China, Germany, and Russia, France has threatened to veto any UN resolution condemning Iraq and sanctioning the US attack. So strong has his objection been that others have blamed him for ruining any chance for a diplomatic settlement through the UN.
But that has been his plan all along. By forcing the US and England to go to war without UN sanction, he wanted to embarrass President Bush by having the UN
declare the allied intervention illegal. He even hoped to somehow have "international peace-keeping" forces under his control in Iraq ready to impede their advance from Kuwait. In one fell swoop Chirac hoped to accomplish three objectives;
a) portray the US and Israel (they always get drawn into things) as evil co-conspirators against the Moslem world, b) topple PM Blair, a rival whose country is already extremely uncomfortable with English participation in Iraq; and
c) show himself to be Iraq's true liberator and assume his "rightful" place as the one to decide Iraq's future. The French have always felt that they've had
a major historical role as the dominant player in the region.
But his goals really extend far beyond the Middle East. He still hopes to so
humiliate President Bush and the US government that never again would the US have unchallenged authority and in fact would be forced to take a subordinate
role in future world affairs. With Blair gone he could present himself to Europe as the one leader strong enough to stand up to the US and guide Europe to world
dominance. Whether or not Chirac succeeds in this, you have to give him credit for his chutzpah. He's probably not the anti-christ, but may be helping to
prepare the way for the one who is. Look for Chirac and his helper, UN leader Kofi Anan, to continue in their joint efforts to undercut the US, hamper plans
for a total victory in Iraq, and insert themselves into the decision-making process over Iraq's future.
But there are several other scenarios that could have the same curtailing effect on US dominance. The US has warned Iran and Syria not to use the Iraq
situation as an excuse to attack Israel and widen the war into a regional conflict. If the war in Iraq is a short, successful one, other Arab countries
will probably remain on the sidelines and leave Israel alone. But if not, all hell could break loose. A bunch of Saddam's illegal weaponry was trucked into
Syria last month and could wind up along the Lebanese border with Israel, where Hizbollah stands ready with their finger on the trigger. Israel has likewise
targeted Damascus, and if they fear an attack they could launch a pre-emptive strike as they nearly did last April. (Only US Sec'y Powell's personal
intervention prevented it.) A big and/or long war in the Middle East could quickly deplete US resources and resolve. This turn of events could trigger
Isaiah 17 but not Ezekiel 38 and would seriously embarrass the US.
Then there's the nuclear fuss stirred up by North Korea. It was secretly encouraged and funded by Russian and Chinese interests in an attempt to distract
the US from its operations in Iraq. If that flare up continues to grow in intensity President Bush will have to do something about it or else risk showing
that his determination to oust Saddam was motivated by something other than punishing a rogue nation intent on developing weapons of mass destruction. This
is not a move by the Kings of the East as foretold in Revelation 16:12 but is rather one of those rumors of wars from Matthew 24.
A series of Al-qaeda sponsored terrorist attacks on US soil could also prove disastrous. The list goes on. Whatever your personal opinion of President Bush,
you've got to admit he has his hands full, and it's in your personal interest to pray that our Lord will guide him through this. Wherever you are in the world, a
mistake in any one of the above areas could prove disastrous, threatening your personal safety and security.
Based on all the above, I personally don't believe America's time in the center of the world stage is up yet, and I am optimistic about the short-term
future. But these things written so long ago will come to pass, if not now then soon. The Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it.
"Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart you rebels. Remember the former things, those of long ago. I am GOD and there is no other. I am GOD and
there is none like Me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times what is still to come. I say My purpose will stand and I will do all that
I please." (Isaiah 46: 8-10) I couldn't have said it better myself.