Ezekiel's War May Be About to Begin

In The Raw Story, Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane have published a piece summarizing a study which essentially says that the US Military is capable, on very short notice, of launching a massive attack against Iran.

Study: US preparing 'massive' military attack against Iran
Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane
Published: Tuesday August 28, 2007

The United States has the capacity for and may be prepared to launch without warning a massive assault on Iranian uranium enrichment facilities, as well as government buildings and infrastructure, using long-range bombers and missiles, according to a new analysis.

The paper, "Considering a war with Iran: A discussion paper on WMD in the Middle East" – written by well-respected British scholar and arms expert Dr. Dan Plesch, Director of the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London, and Martin Butcher, a former Director of the British American Security Information Council (BASIC) and former adviser to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament – was exclusively provided to RAW STORY late Friday under embargo.

"We wrote the report partly as we were surprised that this sort of quite elementary analysis had not been produced by the many well resourced Institutes in the United States," wrote Plesch in an email to Raw Story on Tuesday.

Plesch and Butcher examine "what the military option might involve if it were picked up off the table and put into action" and conclude that based on open source analysis and their own assessments, the US has prepared its military for a "massive" attack against Iran, requiring little contingency planning and without a ground invasion.

The study concludes that the US has made military preparations to destroy Iran’s WMD, nuclear energy, regime, armed forces, state apparatus and economic infrastructure within days if not hours of President George W. Bush giving the order. The US is not publicising the scale of these preparations to deter Iran, tending to make confrontation more likely. The US retains the option of avoiding war, but using its forces as part of an overall strategy of shaping Iran’s actions.

* Any attack is likely to be on a massive multi-front scale but avoiding a ground invasion. Attacks focused on WMD facilities would leave Iran too many retaliatory options, leave President Bush open to the charge of using too little force and leave the regime intact.

* US bombers and long range missiles are ready today to destroy 10,000 targets in Iran in a few hours.

* US ground, air and marine forces already in the Gulf, Iraq, and Afghanistan can devastate Iranian forces, the regime and the state at short notice.

* Some form of low level US and possibly UK military action as well as armed popular resistance appear underway inside the Iranian provinces or ethnic areas of the Azeri, Balujistan, Kurdistan and Khuzestan. Iran was unable to prevent sabotage of its offshore-to-shore crude oil pipelines in 2005.

* Nuclear weapons are ready, but most unlikely, to be used by the US, the UK and Israel. The human, political and environmental effects would be devastating, while their military value is limited.

* Israel is determined to prevent Iran acquiring nuclear weapons yet has the conventional military capability only to wound Iran’s WMD programmes.

* The attitude of the UK is uncertain, with the Brown government and public opinion opposed psychologically to more war, yet, were Brown to support an attack he would probably carry a vote in Parliament. The UK is adamant that Iran must not acquire the bomb.

* The US is not publicising the scale of these preparations to deter Iran, tending to make confrontation more likely. The US retains the option of avoiding war, but using its forces as part of an overall strategy of shaping Iran’s actions.

When asked why the paper seems to indicate a certainty of Iranian WMD, Plesch made clear that "our paper is not, repeat not, about what Iran actually has or not." Yet, he added that "Iran certainly has missiles and probably some chemical capability."

Most significantly, Plesch and Butcher dispute conventional wisdom that any US attack on Iran would be confined to its nuclear sites. Instead, they foresee a "full-spectrum approach," designed to either instigate an overthrow of the government or reduce Iran to the status of "a weak or failed state." Although they acknowledge potential risks and impediments that might deter the Bush administration from carrying out such a massive attack, they also emphasize that the administration's National Security Strategy includes as a major goal the elimination of Iran as a regional power.
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Read the whole thing.

Iran and Russia have had a mutual defense treaty for some time. Last year, Syria joined this treaty. If the US and/or Israel attack Iran, especially with the kind of massive strike envisioned in this article, Russia may find itself drawn into the conflict to honor this treaty, even if it is reluctant to do so.

“And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords. Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet….” Ezekiel 38:4-5

In Ezekiel 38 and 39, the prophet is clearly describing a nuclear war between Israel and a confederation headed by Russia (Magog) and including Iran (Persia) and all of the Muslim Arab countries of North Africa (with the exception of Iraq).

"For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the people who are on the face of the earth, shall quake at my presence. And the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground. I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Lord God. Every man’s sword will be against his brother. With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur. So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord." Ezekiel 38:19-23 (emphasis mine)

Ezekiel 39:11-16 describes the surviving Jews decontaminating a large area where the bodies of the fallen from Russian Confederation armies lie. The procedure described fits well with cleansing an area contaminated with nuclear, chemical, or biological agents.

Scripture is not clear whether Ezekiel's War takes place before or after the Rapture. Tim Lehay and Joel Rosenberg believe that it occurs before the Rapture, Hal Lindsey thinks it is part of the Great Tribulation.

Whichever belief is correct, this will be a horrifying time to be alive, even for followers of Christ. How much so for those who do not know Him? You owe it to your family and loved ones to try to lead them to Christ before this war happens.

Ezekiel's War Draws Near

The prospects for the fulfillment of Ezekiel's War continue to increase. Even European countries such as France see the necessity to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. Ynetnews.com reports:

France's Sarkozy raises prospect of Iran airstrikes

In his first major foreign policy speech, French president says diplomatic push by world's powers to rein in Tehran's nuclear program is only alternative to 'Iranian bomb or bombing of Iran'

Reuters
Published: 08.27.07, 19:45 / Israel News

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday a diplomatic push by the world's powers to rein in Tehran's nuclear program was the only alternative to "an Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran."
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Sarkozy said a nuclear-armed Iran would be unacceptable and that major powers should continue their policy of incrementally increasing sanctions against Tehran while being open to talks if Iran suspended nuclear activities.

"This initiative is the only one that can enable us to escape an alternative that I say is catastrophic: the Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran," he said, adding that it was the worst crisis currently facing the world.

The Europeans have already thoroughly demonstrated the futility of trying to negotiate with those who believe it their duty to their god to bring about their version of the Tribulation. Failure of negotiations will certainly bring catastrophe. At that point there will be no good alternative, and nuclear war will be virtually inevitable.

Pray for your friends and loved ones who have not already accepted Jesus into their hearts. His time is at hand.

Why is the USA not mentioned in the end times prophesies?

Many of us have speculated about why the world's current super-power (the USA) does not seem to be involved in the events of the end times. Several possibilities have been put forth, including:

1. An EMF pulse-bomb destroying all electrical and electronic systems in the US. (Yes, that could happen!)
2. Nuclear attack by a foreign power, such as China.
3. Collapse of our Republic, perhaps due to foreign invasion (the border and illegal immigration problem carried to the extreme).
4. Collapse of our economy.

There was an article in telegraph.co.uk today that relates to item 4.

China threatens 'nuclear option' of dollar sales

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

Last Updated: 9:54am BST 08/08/2007

The Chinese government has begun a concerted campaign of economic threats against the United States, hinting that it may liquidate its vast holding of US treasuries if Washington imposes trade sanctions to force a yuan revaluation.

Two officials at leading Communist Party bodies have given interviews in recent days warning - for the first time - that Beijing may use its $1.33 trillion (£658bn) of foreign reserves as a political weapon to counter pressure from the US Congress.

Shifts in Chinese policy are often announced through key think tanks and academies.

Described as China's "nuclear option" in the state media, such action could trigger a dollar crash at a time when the US currency is already breaking down through historic support levels.

more ....

The bottom line is that China owns so much of our US Treasury notes that they could attack our economy by dumping them, that is, placing them all on the market to drive the price down into the basement. This could cause the value of the dollar to collapse, destroy the bond market, and drive the US economy into a severe depression.

I've been reading warnings about this for some time, but this is the first I've seen of a Chinese government official acknowledging that they might attack us in this fashion.