War Games

by Michael G. Mickey

(7-12-06)

The United Nations Security Council can't decide what it wants to do with North Korea as the communist regime loads its missile launchers for yet another provocation of the West. Security Council members Russia and China, preparing for a second round of joint military exercises as seen in a MosNews.com article, are united in their opinion that whatever opinion the United States has on the topic is the wrong one, as usual. As such, the two powers have submitted an impotent joint resolution to the Security Council designed to insure no one does anything other than talk to Kim Jong IL about his missiles, purportedly because they fear any sanctions levied against the North Koreans could potentially lead to the justification of a military action being taken against the communist regime, as seen in a different MosNews.com article.

Russia and China's lack of concern is based largely on the fact the North Koreans are pointing their missiles at the United States and Japan, as opposed to them. If a Kim Jong IL nuke should take out the Pacific Fleet at Hawaii, I doubt Beijing and Moscow would shed any tears, unless the fallout from North Korea's subsequent destruction should drift their way, of course. To Russia, China, and the majority of the United Nations organization, which has historically been and remains America and Israel's mutual enemy, it's all a big game. The logic seems to be that the United States and Japan should just sit back and trust that North Korea's leadership will do the right thing. But what if they don't? As it has been said by many a military man, "One good nuke can really mess a man's day up."

While no one seems to know what the right thing to do concerning North Korea is, the United Nations' Grand Poobah, Kofi Annan, knows just who to blame for the ongoing "humanitarian crisis" in the Middle East. The Israelis, of course, as seen in a Haaretz article. Within the article we find that Kofi, ever hopeful that a sense of fair play will lead Israel to pull out of Gaza not to mention leave one of their own behind, has asked the Israelis to stop their "disproportionate use of force." I suppose Israel, constantly the victim of unprovoked attacks against innocent civilians in their lands, should give the Palestinians a few tanks just to even things up a bit. Get a clue, Kofi! It's a fight, not a soccer match!

And which party in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict started the latest mess in the first place? The usual suspects - the Palestinians, of course. The United States seems capable of seeing this when few other nations can, even when every news source in the world (even the most liberal ones) knows the answer to the question and is reporting it.

Unlike the North Korean threat posed to the West, I'm sure Russia and China, much like Kofi Annan, has much clearer vision when it comes to the horrors being inflicted on the poor Palestinians, which the Hamas government, the one the Palestinians overwhelmingly elected to lead them, is the cause of! While I am sorry for any innocent casualties that may come as a result of the conflict, the one thing I always bear in mind is this is what the majority of Palestinian voters wanted! The Palestinians know what Hamas stands for! As such, let me say, once again, "Congratulations on your recent election victory, Hamas supporters!"

Head Hamas honcho Khaled Mashaal, who is holed up somewhere in Damascus with blood on his hands, would probably be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize if Kofi Annan had anything to say about it, given his obvious disdain for Israel. After all, Hamas has laid out its roadmap to Middle East peace! It's a sinmple plan really. All Israel has to do is agree to cease existing - a small price to pay in the eyes of God's enemies in high places who are plotting against Israel at every turn, as well as the United States as a result of its traditional support of Israel.

Make no mistake about it, the international community, ever indecisive as to how to deal with the world's 'problem children', is encouraging them to act as they are! Why shouldn't they flail their arms about as though they're madmen and rattle their sabers at will? No one is going to agree to do anything about it and they have come to know it! Should anyone with the courage to do something about their lawlessness, either Israel or the United States in particular, rally the few world governments that still have the fortitude to act with them in taking care of the business which needs to be attended to, the international community will say collectively, "We should've given diplomacy more time. War is not the answer!"

Sadly, however, there are times when military action is the only answer - the only one guaranteed to bring about results that protect the vast majority of those threatened by madmen.

Ecclesiastes 3:1: To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

Ecclesiastes 3:8: A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

No doubt emboldened by the world's lack of concern that Hamas militants initiated an act of war against Israel, noticing that Russia and China appear ready to thwart any effort made by the West to protect itself from its enemies, the enemies of Israel and the United States are being very straightforward in their provocations. Does anyone other than the United States and Israel seem to care? Very little, if at all.

Syria, for example, a thorn in both the United States and Israel's side, is pushing its luck as usual, as seen in a Haaretz article appropriately entitled : "The Syrian thorn." The article opens as follows:

"Sometimes, when a thorn is stuck in your bottom for too long, even if it is a small thorn, an infection is liable to develop around it," a U.S. administration official said last week. The bottom - American or Israeli; the thorn - Syrian President Bashar Assad and the Syrian regime - and now the infection is visible.

The key to solving the Gaza crisis is located in Damascus, Defense Minister Amir Peretz told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the beginning of the week, and it is doubtful that his words astonished her. Rice and the American administration know that Syria has become a nuisance that will continue to interfere with every process aiming to bring stability to the region. The question, of course, is how to deal with it - and to this, an adequate solution has yet to be found. Assad apparently understands the difficulty of dealing with him. The president, who earns epithets like "idiot," "childless," "hopeless," and "immature" in both Washington and Jerusalem, is showing no signs of folding. In an interview he gave to the London-based newspaper Al Hayat a few days ago, he spoke at length about his relations with Hamas. "We were asked [by the Americans] to lay siege to Hamas, strike at Hamas," he said. "This was the change of behavior requested of Syria." And is Syria ready to change its behavior, he was asked. "If we were, we would have done that a long time ago," he replied forcefully, leaving no room for doubt.

Hey, Kofi! It looks like Damascus, the #2 state sponsor of international terrorism behind Iran, holds the key to ending the horrible "humanitarian crisis" in Gaza! Why don't you give Syrian President Bashar Assad a call and ask him to have his buddy, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, end the conflict by releasing the Israeli soldier it took hostage without provocation --- or else? While you have him on the line, how about telling him that they must stop harboring the terrorist organizations that create these crises --- or else? If you don't, Kofi, an adequate solution to the Syrian thorn may soon be found - a solution that is going to shake the world!

Is Kofi going to call Assad and get tough with him? No way, even though Syria has indicated it has absolutely no intention of altering its behavior. If it were going to do so, it would've a long time ago, to quote Assad himself.

Rather than take responsibility for the role its safe harboring of terrorists like Khaled Mashaal is playing in destabilizing the Middle East, Syria has hinted it may initiate a Golan Heights offensive against Israel if Israel takes military action against Mashaal - that being because Mashaal is in Damascus, which would give cause for Assad to say Israel attacked Syria itself, which is probably why Assad posted Syrian soldiers on Mashaal to protect him as well. If Mashaal dies, so do Syrian troops. Get it? (On a side note, how would you like to be the Syrian soldiers assigned to protect Mashaal about now?)

And then there's Iran. Similar to Syria, Iran is playing a dangerous game with its covert nuclear weapons program, which isn't even covert, ironically. All Iran is doing, which should be obvious to the entire international community, is biding its time as it "negotiates" with the West.

Far from talking of reconciliation with the West, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is stating that "continued Israeli strikes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip could lead to an "explosion" in the Islamic world that would target Israel and its supporters in the West," as documented in a Jerusalem Post article. As if Israel and the West weren't targeted before the Gaza conflict! What a joke!

Not only is Ahmadinejad being emboldened by the international community's lack of collective willpower, he is becoming more and more definitive in stating what his government's ultimate goal is - the removal of the nation of Israel from the face of the earth, as seen in the following opening remarks of a Israel National News article:

Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, clearing up any ambiguity in previous calls to “wipe Israel off the map,” uses an Arabic word for the removal of body hair to describe his plans for Israel.

Good luck on that one, Mahmoud! The Father isn't going to allow it!

Jeremiah 31:35-36: Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.

Plainly spoken, as long as the sun, moon and stars remain above us, the seed of Israel shall not cease from being a nation. This is why Satan is organizing evil men to try and eliminate Israel from the face of the earth, in case you have yet to realize it.

Satan's eternal destiny hangs in the balance, you see, his only hope being he can somehow prevent God from bringing him to justice for his evil deeds done throughout the ages, chief among them being his attempt to overthrow the Almighty as Master of the universe! His logic? If he can get rid of Israel, the prophecies are voided, including his own fate.

Lastly, in what is nothing short of prophetic in content, a CNS News article reports the following, in part:

Egypt has warned Syria that it should expel the Damascus-based Hamas leadership or risk the destruction of the Syrian regime.

Compare those words to Isaiah 17:1 and you see why I continue to believe Damascus, the longest continuously-inhabited city on earth, may be on the verge of destruction. Isaiah 17:1, which some believe has already been fulfilled, states:

The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

While it's a known that Damascus has been overcome militarily in history past, it hasn't ceased to be a city as far as I am aware. As I look at the words "ruinous heap" I find myself thinking of imagery far worse than military conflicts of the historic past could bring. If this prophecy has been fulfilled in the past, I can't help but believe, as I've stated in the past, there may be a dual fulfillment in the works. Why? Because when the Gog-Magog invasion attempt takes place, Syria is mysteriously missing from the entourage of aggressors. Does anyone other than me find that more than a bit odd, given the hatred Damascus has for Israel?

Time will tell whether Damascus will continue to exist as we know it, but there is no doubt whatsoever that Syria will be judged by Christ for its many evils committed against Israel. I say that because it is written, in Genesis 12:3, that God will bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel. Syria, as such, has nothing to look forward to as a nation unless it comes to repentance for its misdeeds.

While the international community twiddles its thumbs, playing "war games" with the lives of many hanging in the balance, the destroyer, Satan, is leading the wicked leaders of the world's most infamous regimes to arm themselves with the most dangerous weaponry in the world. Not only that, he is pushing them to cause a nuclear incident that could see millions upon millions die. What Satan fails to realize, however, is that the Lord is always one step ahead of him, orchestrating everything to ensure that, in the end, everything turns out precisely as He said it would - the only comfort those of us awaiting the return of Jesus Christ can find at times as we watch the madness going on around us.

No matter what happens from one day to the next, the one thing believers have to bear in mind is this: When it's all said and done, regardless of how bleak the immediate future may appear to be, the war games presently being played in the battle between good and evil will eventually come to an end. When they do, those who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ will emerge victorious, the wicked will meet their end, and Christ shall reign!

GAME OVER

Amen to that Brother/Sister



Dave