Armageddon?

It has been quite interesting watching things develop in the Middle East over the years. We have had our conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, but I really don't have much to say about these conflicts. There is another war already waging that is much more serious which will involve the entire world, the war for the very existence of Israel. We all know that scriptures prophecy many enemies coming against this small nation, but whether or not we are seeing prophecy come true, we are witnessing some very dangerous times.

Israel has many enemies who will not be satisfied until Israel is no longer a nation. Contrary to our comfort and safety in the United States, Israel is at war every day with their neighbors, and their neighbor's neighbors. Families climbing into bomb shelters is a way of life; rockets are being shot into Southern Israel on a daily basis. The battle over the Gaza Strip has been a never ending struggle. Thousands of Israelis forced to move their homes years ago in attempts to make peace, but as the story always unfolds, the opposition is not happy with compromise and will never be happy until Israel ceases to exist.

Over the years Israel has had many negotiations with Pakistan, with the assistance of our presidents for much of it. They have gone to war with terrorist threats like Hezbollah and Hamas. These terrorists groups are greatly supported by Iran and Syria. Hezbollah is a significant threat to Israel, and has spent the last couple of years rebuilding its army and arsenal to go to war with Israel again after being pounded back in Lebanon a short time ago.

All eyes are turned East of Israel though, to the nation of Iran. There has been a long development leading up to the dangerous state of the Middle East that we see today. But without a doubt, Iran is the biggest threat to world peace that we face today. Iran has been working for many, many years to develop nuclear capabilities. They have claimed it to be for economic and energy reasons, but recent reports have confirmed what the world has already known all along, that they are developing nuclear technology for use with their weapons systems.

The Iranian regime is a tyranny, and opposition in its nation is suppressed. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard is a highly trained army, and very powerful. The Iranian president is an Islamic extremist, and will stop at nothing to fulfill his religious duty, which is to wipe out Israel to bring about the prophesied prophet, Imam Al-Mahdi, the Ultimate Savior of mankind. Most of the world may be ignorant of this radical extremist, but I assure you that our governments are not so ignorant. Now the fun begins...

Iran is nearing their full nuclear capability, and their intentions have been quite clear. So clear that Israel faces some very difficult decisions in the very near future. It has been talk for a couple of years now, "Will Israel strike Iran?" First of all, they have to do SOMETHING, one strike from Iran and Israel will be toast. However, the ties with their allies in the U.S. are extremely important, so they will be very careful in dealing with Iran making sure to have approval from the U.S. And just when things seemed imminent not too long ago, I read about a new warfare that struck Iran. It was a virus called "Stuxnet". Developed by Germany, Israel, and the U.S., it would attach itself to a removable device and make its way to the Iranian nuclear facility which was not accessible over the internet, and once on their network, it would program the PLCs that controlled the nuclear centrifuges and cause them to spin out of control. The virus was impossible to detect or remove without entirely wiping out the network (so they say). It was brilliant! No weapons, no war, no attacks...and it set Iran back for nearly an entire year according to the reports. At the same time this happened, one of the nuclear scientists was gunned down. It bought some time...

I am still watching for another amazing story like Stuxnet, but today it seems time is out, and sanctions are not going to work. The only sanctions that would work would be to cripple their economy by shutting off their banking system, but that would do greater damage to our already hurting world economy, so that is also off the table. At one time, Israel would strike their nuclear facilities, but the world has waited too long to act and that is now not going to be enough to take Iran's threat away. It will now require a strike that will deliver a blow not only to Iran's facilities, but also to their navy, their air force, and their revolutionary guard.

Iran has recently tested a long-range missile that will reach Israel, and Israel is doing drills for a strike on Iran, while ramping up support in the meantime to put greater pressure on them. Israel may not strike by the end of the year, but there is a good chance we will see it happen in the near future. Senator Lindsey Graham says the situation is "chilling" and Iran is much further along than most realized, and if something doesn't happen soon, the entire middle east will be in a nuclear arms race, leading to "Armageddon" and in his words "the world will go into darkness".

Very interesting times to say the least! Keep your eyes open as this develops...