Iran and the solutions to Iran’s ability to produce nuclear weapons is the number one concern in the world other than an economic collapse but a military strike on Iran could also push the economy of the world over the edge or even start a world war that will rage from Israel to India and even beyond through terrorist related activity.

People who study the Iranian crises and those that study Bible prophecy have suggestions of how the Iranian crises may play out:

Some think that America or Israel will bomb Iran. That of course risks the scenario of an oil related economic crises and even a world war. It also would only delay Iran from getting nuclear weapons for a couple of years. Iran already has the nuclear knowledge and they will retain the knowledge in spite of any bombing. The only way to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons long term now by force would  be by an occupation of Iran. That is not likely. At least lets hope so, or welcomed to the start of world war III.

Others think we should turn up the heat by means of economic sanctions against Iran. Any rational thinking person should know that sanctions alone have never worked against nations run by tyrants and they are not going to work here either. China has oil agreements with Iran and Russia has strategic interests to keep Iran as an ally so Russia and China are not going to agree to any sanctions that would actually harm Iran. So, sanctions have zero chance of success and frankly I think everyone knows this. The pretense is just a facade being used as a delaying tactic to sideline those that want to bomb Iran yesterday.

Still others think we should do nothing and allow Iran to become a nuclear state thinking that Iran would then act responsibility. But the leaders of Iran have proven that they are irresponsible and quite frankly quite nuts. If Iran became nuclear all the nations around Iran would also become nuclear. Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt have flat out said they will develop nukes if Iran is allowed to develop nuclear weapons. All of Europe would be under the threat of a nuclear Iran and even the United States would be at risk from a nuclear EMP  attack or Iran sponsored nuclear terrorism. It also is not rational to believe that Israel could ever allow Iran to have nuclear weapons. So, obviously allowing Iran to possess nuclear weapons is not even within the realm of possibilities.

Obviously none of the above scenarios are an acceptable solution to solve the grave Iran nuclear weapons problem. So what is left? I have suggested on a earlier post that the solution could be an internal revolution in Iran to overthrow the Muslim theocracy and its appointed figure heads. Others then have suggested to me that this revolution is not going to happen because the tyrants have all the power. On Feb 11th we saw that the tyrants were able to stymie the opposition by filling the streets of Terran with the ten or twenty percent that still support the Islamic theocracy and also by trucking in hirelings from outside Terran to help suppress any opposition. The Western press was not allowed to see areas that were not under full control of the Islamics but in spite of what the Western media saw in Terran the Green Revolution in Iran is not dead.  There will be another day for the vast majority of Iranians that do not want a Islamic republic. What the Iranians really need is a catalyst for a revolution. Had there been pictures of people being run over by tanks there might have been a Revolution but the Mullah’s were careful  to not create martyrs on Feb 11th. They also did not allow free communications so the opposition had problems they did not anticipate so they lost round two to the Mullahs but there will be a round three. Either side could score a knockout in the next round or in any subsequent round because there are just too many unknowns for any prediction of outcome.

Anyway, short of a Iranian Revolution there is no good solution to the Iranian nuclear weapons program. America really cannot be heavily involved in any Iranian Revolution either because the people of Iran still remember the U.S. support of the Shaw. Even if the tyrants only have support from only ten percent of the people they are able today to keep the ninety percent in check. Its the same old story whenever tyrants rule and possess all the guns. They can control the sheeple with a small force. Unless the military rank and file turns against the Mullahs they will stay in power.  But, the prestigious and more highly paid Revolutionary Guard Corps are the threat that keeps the military under control.  This is a pattern with all tyrants they have top down control.  If anyone in the ranks dares to question anyone above them they risk getting killed or imprisoned. it is very effective control and it is active in Iran.

So again, what actions can we take against nations like Iran that are controlled by tyrants? We really cannot bomb Iran without risking dire consequences for the world and our over extended military already has more than enough fires to put out. So, maybe the United States needs to rethink its whole strategy for how to deal with nations run by tyrants?

When tyrants are in control the problem is usually not with the majority of the people of a nation. The problem is that the sheeple allowed tyrants to gain total control over them. So it does not make a whole lot of sense to war against people already oppressed by their bullies. The victims of the bullies should not be the enemy the bullies are the enemy. Therefore, we need to war against the tyrants of these nations. If we can eliminate the tyrants the oppressed people will gain control. So then the question in the case of Iran becomes how do we free the people of Iran from their tyrants?

I do not think it would be all that difficult if we used all of our high tech military capabilities and surveillance agencies effectively and give them the highest priority on this Iranian problem. We would strike only the head of this snake. That means we would not attempt to bomb the nuclear sites or the infrastructure of Iran or even the regular military. For if we did that we are going to kill many innocent people and instead of our actions bringing about an internal revolution against the tyrants there would be a war rally cry against the external invaders. So this operation must be done in top secret and carried out with surgical precision. We might take some lessons from how Israel gets their man. Here is how I think the operation could be carried out.

Operation Defang the Snake.

NATO would target the ruling mullahs, the puppet leaders, the Revolutionary Guard leaders and Revolutionary Guard military assets. For a number of months NATO would by every surveillance means possible follow and document the movements of all targets pre-determined to be hit. Their daily locations and habits would be plotted and recorded.   On a day known to only a very few with need to know NATO (mostly US forces) would hit their targets by every high tech means at there disposal. It would include massive use of U.S. Predators, cruise missiles, special forces etc. The entire operation to defang the snake would be completed in two or three days. There should be complete press black out on the entire operation. All communications in Iran should be blinded by EMP weapons or jamming. Even the Iranian people should not know what is happening in their country until the head of the snake is removed and defanged. After the defang operation is completed we would air drop green pamphlets in the cites telling the people that most of the tyrants that oppressed the Green Democratic Movement of Iran have been taken out by the Iranian resistance along with help of NATO allies of the Iranian people. It should tell all the Iranian people to take to the streets and overthrow any remaining oppressors and declare a secular Democratic Republic. At nearly the same time Iranian resistance leaders would be positioned by special forces in all the large cities and given the means to get out the message through electronic media.

As a side benefit just think of the fear this operation will put into other world tyrants and the high ranking supporters of  all such tyrants. It could be a new model to deal with nations run by tyrants in the future.

I know some teachers of Bible prophecy will say this revolution in Iran cannot happen because Iran comes with Russia against Israel in the Ezekiel war. It is true that Iran comes with Russia but looking at the almost feeble military of Russia today I think that the Gog war is still about two decades in the future. I am not talking about a fall of Islam in Iran as a result of this Iranian revolution but only that Iran will change into a modern secular run country until the time of the Gog war. If Iran’s nuclear facilities are bombed by Israel or America like some Bible prophecy teachers believe there simply is no way any time soon that Israel can be living in peace and security as described in Ezekiel before the Gog war. There will be no peace and safety while Iran is rebuilding its nuclear capabilities.

There really are only four options in my opinion.

1. The present leadership of Iran makes peace with Israel (that may happen when hell freezes over).

2. Iran is bombed and a more moderate government results and scraps the nuclear weapons program (But bombing is more likely to produce endless conflict).

3. Iran is bombed and is also occupied until near the time of the Gog war. (Who will occupy Iran? Certainly not us).

4. There is a internal revolution in Iran and a more moderate secular government scraps the nuclear weapons program for a peaceful nuclear program until the time of the Gog war.

In light of world events I think a Revolution in Iran seem to be the most likely scenario that answers how Israel can possibly be living in peace and security without fearing Iran if the Gog invasion actually takes place within the next twenty years like most Bible Prophecy teachers think.

Like many fellow Bible prophecy students, for a couple of years I took the position that Israel or the United States will bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities “any day now” The bombing in my mind was imminent. If you remember many thought that Bush would do it before the election primaries and then before the election and then before leaving office.  If anyone was going to bomb the Iranian nuclear facilities the best time to have done so was before Iran acquired the nuclear know how. However, that did not happen.

If anyone should bomb Iran today it would not achieve much since Iran already has the nuclear know how and they could rebuild their efforts in just a few years.  Today we really would have to invade and occupy Iran to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Does anyone think that the American people would tolerate an occupation of Iran after Iraq and Afghanistan? Further, in Bible prophecy we see that Persia comes with Gog (Russia) against Israel in the latter years. This could not happen if Iran was occupied by the West.

Therefore, I no longer think it is likely that Israel or the United States will bomb the Iranian nuclear facilities, at least it is not imminent (so having said that, it will probably happen tomorrow). There are a number of additional reasons why I no longer believe that Iran will be bombed even though I know that some fellow students of Bible prophecy will disagree with my analysis.

There is the start of a revolution going on in Iran. America is going to wait to see how it plays out before we get ourselves in another war. Many think the green movement in Iran will be crushed by the Mullahs. Others think that this will turn into a full fledged revolution and that the end of the Islamic regime is inevitable. Whatever the truth of the outcome, I do not think we are going to bomb Iran or allow Iran to be bombed by Israel until this Iranian green revolution fully plays out. We may get a clue where this is going when millions of Iranians take to the streets on Feb 11.

I think the United States has made it very clear to Israel that we will oppose any unilateral actions at this time. Israel is not stupid. They know they cannot fight the entire Middle East without the support of America and the leaders of Israel have no faith in God so don’t expect them to rely there for help either. I think Israel would have to have hard evidence of weapons grade uranium being produced in Iran before any attack would be authorized and if they actually did have such proof then America would be with them.

Since Iran cannot be allowed to have nukes and there is nothing in Bible prophecy about Iran until the Gog invasion I am now inclined to believe that Iran will decide not to develop nuclear weapons. I believe this most likely occurs because there will be a popular secular revolution in Iran. Then, in order to become a full member of the world the people of Iran will choose to convert the nuclear weapons program to a peaceful program and allow international oversight.

Next on the agenda for the Middle East is probably the Psalm 83 war. That war is now imminent. It will bring the destruction of most of the military forces of the Arabs. It will probably be kicked off by Hezbollah. Sure Hezbollah is supported by Iran and Hezbollah is chomping at the bit to go at Israel but Hezbollah knows they need Syrian and Iranian support to succeed.

If Iran has a revolution Hezbollah will lose Iranian support and they will have to fully rely on Syria and Arab nations. Then the players of the war of Psalm 83 are fully in place. Iran is not mentioned in Psalm 83 but all the Arab nations around Israel are.

Certainly there  is a possibility that the Mullahs of Iran could try to kick this war off to forestall the revolution in Iran but doing so might also be the catalyst for the Iranian people to throw off the Mullahs rather than see their country destroyed. Especially if they should see Damascus in ruins (Isa 17:1) because Syria used weapons of mass destruction against Israel or hit their nuclear reactor spreading radiation on the people. If Iran was involved I would expect the same fate for Tehran but there is no hint of that in Bible prophecy. So either Damascus is a demonstration to Iran to cease or more likely Iran is not involved in the war at all. Remember that Iran is not Arab, in fact the Persian people and the Arabs have no great love for each other. It will not take much for Iran to turn against the Arabs if the Mullahs are out of the way.

Today even under persecution the common Iranian people are becoming increasingly open to the gospel. There was an article on this in the latest Voice of the Martyrs Magazine. So rather than a imminent bombing of Iran I now expect a revolution in Iran and a window where the gospel can be preached until some future time when Russia leads a great host of nations against Israel in the Gog war.

Nevertheless, we cannot be dogmatic about these speculations and your opinions about the fate of Iran and how this will play out may be better than mine. So you are invited to present your food for thought here and I intend to butt out unless I am actually asked something.

Here is some food for though from an astute Iranian about what he thinks will happen in Iran. Is Regime Change coming to Iran?

What happened in Iran on Feb 11? Is Revolution by the people still coming?

Did the green Revolution in Iran fizzle or was it just invisible to the selected media?

Today I see that the English version of Pravda has posted a major portion of one of my articles on their news website.

The article I wrote is called “Break up of the United States of America and Civil Upheavels – Imminent Danger #6 it is part of my imminent danger series. I wrote this sixth article in the series last year.

I do not mind that Pravda has posted this since they did not publish the whole article and they do provide a link to the full article. They also credited me with writing the article so that is fine. It also is bringing many new  people to my website. I do have some questions though, maybe someone can help me out here?

The article is published in the “Front page /opinion/columnists/” section. My problem is that I have no idea who posted it there. I simply see no way of finding out who posted it or why they posted it. Can anyone who is signed up just post someone else’s article on Pravda without even adding information on who submitted it to Pravda and some comment on why they are submitting it to the public?

It all seems strange to me. One reason I say that is that I saw an article in the same section of the English version of Pravda a few weeks ago that was mocking  America for turning to Communism after Russia had rejected Communism. I was thinking of commenting on that article on my blog but when I researched the article I saw that it came from the opinion section so I just figured it was  the opinion of some obscure columnist or commentator and it was not the position of Russians or Pravda. However low and behold, in a few days Fox, Drudge, and other major news sites were  quoting the article and posting a link to it as if it was the opinion of the Russian people it soon was all over the Internet (you might recall the article).

So what is going on? Are these opinions picked up by Pravda the view of Pravda or are they just someone signed up to post on Pravda? If that is the case why would any major news site then claim that “Pravda or the Russians said.. such and such… when it was really just someone’s unsolicited opinion like is the case when someone posted my article on English Pravada?

I hope Fox, Drudge, WND and others don’t now pick up my article and say the Russians are saying America will break up quoting my article. (Actually I know a few in Russia think that will be the case but I do not think that is the position of Russia or Pravda.)

Anyone have any inside information on all this? Is Pravda a mouth of the Russsian government like some major new sites seem to imply by quoting these articles as if they are the view of the Russians or should much written in this section just be called a  free expression of ideas and not be quoted by major news sites as if it is something that Russia is saying?

(Revised addition)

I have been saying that the Mediterranean Union (MU) will be the actual revived Roman Empire and not the EU alignment that we see today because many of the nations in the EU do not belong in the land area of  the old Roman Empire and others that belong in it are missing from the EU. Some have said I am wrong because the MU idea was recently not well received by certain nations. However, that is changing, it looks like Sorkozy’s MU idea will take root after all.

The Mediterranean Union as the revived Roman Empire makes more sense to me than the present EU for a lot of prophetic reasons. First of all, let me be clear, I am not saying the EU is going to die, it will probably just morph into the borders of the MU and move its headquarters to Rome. Whether or not the EU changes its name to the MU or even something else is really not important.

I still think the major change from the present EU to the borders of the proposed MU will take place during and after a world war with radical Islam that will include the Arab and Israeli war of Psalm 83. There has to be a war in the Middle East. How else can Israel rid the area of over 40,000 rockets that threatens all of Israel today? The Arabs are never going to peacefully give up their weapons and they are not going to recognize Israel’s right to exist in the Middle East as a Jewish state. A major war is certain.

Some of the Eastern nations in the EU are just not going to fit in with the West and will eventually form their own union probably dominated by Russia. Look at a ancient map of the land extent of the old Roman Empire. This will probably be about the same extent of the revised Roman Empire. The EU today simply does not fit.

The EU has its headquarters in Brussels Belgium which prophetically means absolutely nothing. The MU would much more likely have its headquarters located in Rome which prophetically means absolutely everything.

Israel will be in the MU as will the defeated states of Psalm 83 and others already predetermined to be part of the MU. This makes the prophetic statement about the Antichrist figure confirming a covenant with the “many” for seven year much more plausible. The only way Israel can live in peace and security with hostile neighbors is if it is enforced by a force larger than any of the nations involved. Being part of the MU is a rational reason why Israel would be living in peace and security prior to the Ezekiel 38 and 39 war.

Israel is to become part of this revived Roman Empire also known as the MU. The peace and security in Israel is prophetically absolutely required before the war of Ezekiel 38 and 39. The covenant or treaty the Antichrist confirms with all these nations is the conditions lain down by Israel and the Western powers after the war of Psalm 83, the war against radical Islam, and probably the Ezekiel war.  At the end of the Ezekiel war, the God of Israel will reveal Himself to Israel and the whole world by His supernatural intervention which destroys the army of the northern invaders.

The “many” that this later Antichrist figure from the MU confirms the agreement with could be ten regional zone leaders within the MU. A much expanded Israel  could be one of the ten zones. Then 3 1/2 years after confirming this agreement, this world leader breaks the pact with Israel after Israel’s two prophets are killed. Then he attempts to appease and deceive all the world nations that hate Israel and the Israeli God and he eliminates three leaders and three MU zones in order to make room for his new Babylonian province that God identifies as Babylon the Great.

This article by Chris Perver will give you the latest on the revived Mediterranean Union. It is good to see that he also thinks this Mediterranean Union fulfills the prophecy of a Revived Roman Empire.

EU to Revive Mediterranean Union ~ Bible Prophecy Today

The French Foreign Ministry has announced that the Union for the Mediterranean, a project aimed at boosting ties between the European Union and Mediterranean states, is to be formally revived at the end of this month. The announcement follows a meeting of French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, who jointly hold the presidency of the new bloc.

As we saw at its inception, far from being a political project aimed at merely increasing peace and prosperity in the Mediterranean region, Sarkozy’s vision of the Union for the Mediterranean is nothing less than a revival of the old Roman Empire itself.

The French President claimed in February 2007, “within every man and woman who lives on the shores of the Mediterranean sleeps the memory, nostalgia, for the unity lost 15 centuries ago”. He added that he wanted to be “the president of a France that will set the Mediterranean on the path of its reunification, after 12 centuries of division”. That vision, of a revival of the order of the old Roman Empire, is also shared by other politicians involved in the European Union project. Last year European Commission President Manuel Barroso, when questioned on exactly what the European project hoped to achieve, claimed that the EU was the world’s first “non-imperial empire”. Belgian politician Paul-Henri Spaak, who famously called for a man, “be he god or devil”, to lift the nations out of the economic morass into which they were sinking, was a signatory to the Treaty of Rome which established the institutions of the European Union. When asked how he felt when signing the treaty, he said, “we felt like Romans on that day… We were consciously recreating the Roman Empire once more”.
(bold emphasis mine)

Full article

Things are getting pretty crazy out there to say the least so I think I will give you my world trends forecast for 2010-2020 AD. I think the next decade will be the most violent decade since the days of Noah. The only decade that will exceed it in violence will be decade of Jacob’s trouble which will probably begin sometime in the 20’s. Here is a glimpse of some of the things I think we can expect in 2010-2020. I am not a prophet.  They certainly do not have to occur just because I think they might. They are not in any specific sequence.

• The United States and the world will not recover from the economic downturn other shoes will drop and unemployment will stay high right into the next world war.
• There will be a world war early in this decade and there will be civil war in many places. The World War could start with an attack on Iran but will also likely contain the Psalm 83 war. This war against radical Islam could also start over Pakistan. No matter how the war starts, at the peak of the war it will cover much of Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia. Radical Islam will be defeated but it will be a very costly and bloody war. I think a Marian deception will be used to end the war and unite world religions.
• India will take back Pakistan and whole cites could be lost to nuclear exchanges between the two.
• There will be national drafts to fight the world war. The volunteer army concept will be dead.
• The whole world monetary system will have to be scrapped, the most advanced nations will be technically bankrupted because of debt. A  new world monetary system will be set up.  Most people will lose their investments.
• The word democracy may still be used but within a few years true democracies or republics will no longer exist.
• The Supreme Court of the U.S. will turn liberal and the Constitution will only mean what liberals want it to mean.
• The world will embrace the “third way” but the “third way” really is liberal fascism.
• After the world war against radical Islam a religious harlot will be given authorization to oversee all world religion. This religious harlot will claim to be the Universal World Church and have a many paths lead to God attitude. She will be tolerant and inclusive as long as others recognize that the Vatican harlot is the final religious authority speaking for God on earth. The harlot will advise the emerging world government on all religious issues.
• After the war all fundamental religion that teach exclusive paths to God will be outlawed and those who promote it will be seen as a threat to world peace. The religious harlot will persecute all that will not submit to her authority on earth.  Religious holy books will be sanitized and passages that might offend others will be taken out or changed.
• By the end of the decade religious teaching on the air waves and Internet will be controlled. You will have to subscribe to receive any religious teachings. Proselytizing will not be allowed in most of the world.
• Many liberal post-modern Protestant churches will continue down the road of apostasy and join with the harlot.
• The true Church of Jesus Christ will have to go underground in most areas of the world and she will be at great risk.
• A nuclear EMP is very possible over the United States during the next decade and if it should happen it would bring massive civil unrest, riots and martial law.
• We can expect at least one natural pandemic in the world in the next decade but the real danger next decade will be from man made viruses. There will also be famine because of the world war.
• There will be successful terrorist attacks using weapons of mass destruction until after the world war against fundamentalist Islam.
• Due to the growing differences between liberals and conservatives certain states in the United States will secede and there might even be a civil war.  There certainly will be conflicts in areas where police attempt to take away peoples guns. I think the nation will break up into several separate nation states based on ideology but that the separate nations will continue to have open borders and reciprocal agreements.
• By the end of the decade all nation states in North America will  join a new North American Union or face total isolation.
• Western Europe will emerge out of the world war against radical Islam as a western superpower. This will be a new union of nations, it will not include all the same nations as are in the EU today. The new union will be more on the boundary lines of  the old Roman Empire and the recently proposed Mediterranean Union. This revised Roman empire will then set up 10 zones and appoint ten leaders.
• China, India and Japan will be well on their way to becoming nuclear superpowers by the end of the decade.
• North Korea’s military will be obliterated and South Korea or China will take over North Korea.
• Russia will dominate east Europe and Northern Asia and form a block of nations almost on the same lines as the old USSR. Iran will make a defense agreement with the restored Russian superpower after the world war.
• Israel and most Arab ethnic areas will join the European Union/Mediterranean Union after the war.  This will bring a short time of peace to the Middle East that will last until the Gog Magog war (Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39).
• Iraq will escape most of the world war and even profit from it. The rebuilding of Babylon in Iraq will become a major priority after the war.
• Most of Africa will come under the control of the African Union of states.
• There will be a South American Union of states.
• Anything you say or write that is not politically correct and that offends someone else will subject you to hate speech laws and civil suits.
• There will be total surveillance of all electronic communications. The Internet will be policed, monitored and filtered. Talk radio and websites will have to be politically correct or they will be shut down.
• All main streets in cities will be under video surveillance. Geographical locations of homes and the names and identification numbers of occupants will be just two of the many layers on a massive Geographic Information System (GIS) database that will be accessible to all government and law enforcement.
• Unlimited high speed Internet and communications will become available worldwide through some new technology.
• By the end of the decade all new computers will understand human speech and be able to translate anything you say into any language audibly. Powerful miniaturized computers will be taken with you everywhere and have continual access to the Internet anywhere.
• Homeschooling will be outlawed in liberal states. Children will only be taught state approved programs. Parents that are not politically correct will be reported by their own children and parents will lose their children if they persist.
• In liberal states all sorts of sex perversions will be called normal and protected. Addicting drugs will be taxed and legalized and addicts will be released from prison.
• There will be national health care but your access to certain health care will have to be pre-approved by bureaucrats following government guidelines.
• If liberals remain in control energy prices will triple. Burning of firewood without obtaining an expensive permit will not be allowed. It will be enforced by sky police and by rewarding finks.
• There will be food and gas rationing for most of the decade. Fuel will be very expensive and travel will be restricted.
• Foods that Nanny Health Care says is unhealthy will be almost taxed out of existence. Obese people will be forced to lose weight or lose access to affordable health care. If children become obese parents may even get charged with child abuse.
• Meat will be taxed at various levels of production and become very expensive.
• Refined sugar will be heavily taxed to help pay for health care.
• Assisted suicide will be encouraged for terminal patients.
• Government will tax 90 percent of income over a certain level.
• Taxes will take over half of the pay of professional productive people to pay for massive government programs.
• by the end of next decade the standard of living in the United States will be no better and may be worse than most of the rest of the developed world.
• In spite of what some are now teaching, the Lord will not physically return to earth during this decade but the Rapture could occur (or  it may not).

This exclusive article about the author’s interview with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel tells me that Netanyahu is not going to allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons. There are other problems with allowing Iran to get nuclear weapons besides the threat of a nuclear strike on Israel. If Iran acquired nukes it would upset the stability in the whole unstable Mid-East. The threat would also bully Israel citizens and some would depart Israel. Having Iran as a nuclear umbrella is certain to embolden all the terrorist groups in the area. Iran would also be a threat to Europe and Arab nations and could supply terrorists with a weapon of mass destruction that they might use anywhere. Another of Israel’s concerns is that eventually a Iranian leader would use the nukes to start a war with Israel and the West to fulfill his own Islamic Mahdi apocalyptic beliefs.

It is obvious that Netanyahu will give Obama a short period of time to use diplomacy. The chances of a peaceful solution are slim, but stranger things have happened in the world. After the Iranian election when Iran finds itself in increasing economic distress due to low oil prices and the leadership of Iran knows that an attack by Israel is imminent they might agree to a last minute agreement to allow some oversight of their nuclear program.

From my understanding of Bible prophecy, I think Iran’s nuclear weapons program will be put on hold or it will be delayed by a military strike on Iran. I do not see them being allowed to develop nuclear weapons at this time. Bible prophecy tells us that Iran will come against Israel with Gog of Russia but Russia is at least a decade away from having the modern military forces necessary to even fulfill that prophecy.

In any case, all this will probably come to a head by fall. Once again things might get very interesting around the time of the Jewish New Year.

Netanyahu to Obama: Stop Iran—Or I Will – The Atlantic (March 31, 2009)

In an interview conducted shortly before he was sworn in today as prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu laid down a challenge for Barack Obama. The American president, he said, must stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons—and quickly—or an imperiled Israel may be forced to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities itself.

“The Obama presidency has two great missions: fixing the economy, and preventing Iran from gaining nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu told me. He said the Iranian nuclear challenge represents a “hinge of history” and added that “Western civilization” will have failed if Iran is allowed to develop nuclear weapons.

In unusually blunt language, Netanyahu said of the Iranian leadership, “You don’t want a messianic apocalyptic cult controlling atomic bombs. When the wide-eyed believer gets hold of the reins of power and the weapons of mass death, then the entire world should start worrying, and that is what is happening in Iran.”

Neither Netanyahu nor his principal military advisers would suggest a deadline for American progress on the Iran nuclear program, though one aide said pointedly that Israeli time lines are now drawn in months, “not years.” These same military advisers told me that they believe Iran’s defenses remain penetrable, and that Israel would not necessarily need American approval to launch an attack. “The problem is not military capability, the problem is whether you have the stomach, the political will, to take action,” one of his advisers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told me.

Both Israeli and American intelligence officials agree that Iran is moving forward in developing a nuclear-weapons capability. The chief of Israeli military intelligence, Major General Amos Yadlin, said earlier this month that Iran has already “crossed the technological threshold,” and that nuclear military capability could soon be a fact: “Iran is continuing to amass hundreds of kilograms of low-enriched uranium, and it hopes to exploit the dialogue with the West and Washington to advance toward the production of an atomic bomb.”

In our conversation, Netanyahu gave his fullest public explication yet of why he believes President Obama must consider Iran’s nuclear ambitions to be his preeminent overseas challenge. “Why is this a hinge of history? Several bad results would emanate from this single development. First, Iran’s militant proxies would be able to fire rockets and engage in other terror activities while enjoying a nuclear umbrella. This raises the stakes of any confrontation that they’d force on Israel. Instead of being a local event, however painful, it becomes a global one. Second, this development would embolden Islamic militants far and wide, on many continents, who would believe that this is a providential sign, that this fanaticism is on the ultimate road to triumph.

“Third, they would be able to pose a real and credible threat to the supply of oil, to the overwhelming part of the world’s oil supply. Fourth, they may threaten to use these weapons or to give them to terrorist proxies of their own, or fabricate terror proxies. Finally, you’d create a great sea change in the balance of power in our area—nearly all the Arab regimes are dead-set opposed to Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons. They fervently hope, even if they don’t say it, that the U.S. will act to prevent this, that it will use its political, economic, and, if necessary, military power to prevent this from happening.”

If Iran acquires nuclear weapons, Netanyahu asserted, Washington’s Arab allies would drift into Iran’s orbit.

Few in Netanyahu’s inner circle believe that Iran has any short-term plans to drop a nuclear weapon on Tel Aviv, should it find a means to deliver it. The first-stage Iranian goal, in the understanding of Netanyahu and his advisers, is to frighten Israel’s most talented citizens into leaving their country. “The idea is to keep attacking the Israelis on a daily basis, to weaken the willingness of the Jewish people to hold on to their homeland,” Moshe Ya’alon said. “The idea is to make a place that is supposed to be a safe haven for Jews unattractive for them. They are waging a war of attrition.”

Full article

This article probably has plenty of Bible prophecy significance. Iraq is trying to set up a group of nations like the EU in the Middle East. Many who study Bible prophecy have been saying that Iraq will rise again as a great world center of prosperity in the last days and fulfill the prophecies of Babylon and Babylon the Great. This most likely is the first major step in building the foundation for that entity.

Also notice that other regions on earth are doing the same thing as this EU pilot project prototype. All generally are following the Club of Rome’s plan for ten regional governments under a central world government. When we get the heads of the ten regional governments giving allegiance to one man we will have the ten horns of Daniel and Revelation and the prophetic Beast world system. So far I know of the EU, the African Union, the Union of South American Nations, Central America just announced a Union, there are plans for a North American Union, Putin wants a new Russian alliance of states, Southeast Asia will have a Union, there is talk of a Mediterranean Union and I believe a Union in South Africa and now the Middle East Union. There certainly are a few others in the works that I missed but also remember than in the end there will only be 7 kings and the little horn who is the eight is the Antichrist and Beast world Kingdom. Three unions will be pulled out by the roots. Three will be absorbed by the seven regional governments that remain.

But don’t pack your bags just yet, this will take time. This Middle East Union is just in the planning stages right now. For there to be any union in the Middle East there first will have to peace. Also, the Arabs are not going to allow themselves to be dominated by Iran. Iranians are Aryans they will go with Russia. Can anyone see peace in the Middle East today before a great war? That is impossible with 50,000 missiles pointed at Israel and terrorism everywhere. Before this Middle East Union can even be set up terrorism and radical Islam will first have to be defeated. So now you know the grand plan for the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and other areas. It will expand into a great world war where all the Islamic radicals on earth will be crushed and more moderate religions of pluralistic tolerance will only be allowed. Holy books in all religions will be re-translated and sanitized to be politically correct.

That war will probably also include the war of Psalm 83 that will bring the defeat of all the terrorist groups that dwell around Israel and it radically change the governance of Arab nations and even the boundaries of many Arab states. But most of Iraq will not be among the radicals in this war and after the defeat of the radicals I can very well see Israel, Iraq and Egypt forming an alliance and administrating the entire Middle East. Then Israel can have the peace and security mentioned in Bible prophecy and great prosperity can come to the whole Middle East area when oil pipelines are built through Israel to the Mediterranean sea. Great solar farms for electric will be built for the pumping of underground water and desalination that will allow huge crop farms to be grown in the deserts.

That will last until Gog with Russia and Iran and other allies come down against Israel in the Last days but they are defeated by God. Not long after that Babylon the great (Iraq) will be the seat of world power under the Antichrist who will in the end lead many nations to their destruction when they come against the King of Kings in Israel.

EUobserver

Iraq has unveiled plans for the creation of a regional economic and security union for the Middle East explicitly modelled on the European Union.

Informal discussions on “Regional Economic Partnership” have reportedly been launched with Kuwait, Syria and Turkey, though not yet Iran. The aim would also to be to bring on board Jordan and Saudi Arabia and – in a subsequent phase – the Gulf states of Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, but not Israel.

“The new Iraq could convert the region into the EU model,” the UK’s Daily Telegraph quotes the Iraqi official as saying at the meeting. “Iraq is going to play a major stabilising factor,” he added.

Iraq sees a “necessity for regional security and economic co-operation,” Mr al-Dabbagh said.

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This article gives some key points in the book “Shadow World: Resurgent Russia, The Global New Left, and Radical Islam“. The book and this article points out in much detail the Marxist Leftist agenda that is successfully subverting the West. You will not understand what is going on in the United States and the world today without understanding these issues. The author concludes that once these global socialist elements achieve significant positions of power within the United States, they will proceed with their plans to destroy Western civilization.

I have news. They have already taken over our educational system and the mainstream media and through lies of thousands of leftist groups they have just convinced enough people in the United States to vote in a socialist national government. So obviously the rest of their agenda is now a foregone concussion especially since we see that our youth, the simple, the rebels, the covetous, the lazy, the criminal, the drug addicts, the TV addicts, the game addicts, the sports addicts, the sex addicts, the self centered religion addicts and so on and so forth are already indoctrinated. They are already actively subverting this nation and the West or are so blinded by their lusts or so bankrupt of values that they are totally apathetic toward the subversion that is taking place.

By the time most people in the West take notice they will be slaves of an all powerfully global collective ant farm run by elite fascist predators.

American Thinker: Shadow World: Resurgent Russia, The Global New Left, and Radical Islam

Shadow World: Resurgent Russia, The Global New Left, and Radical Islam
By Robert Chandler
Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2008
622 pp., $29.95

The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 is viewed by the West as the end of the Cold War and the death knell for Communism. In reality, Communists continued to push for the same ultimate goal — creating a socialist world order — but their violent Marxist-Leninist revolutionary tactics were supplanted by an insidious cultural Marxism. Today, that push has evolved into a Moscow-led, global strategic quadrangle consisting of Russia, China, Iran and a collection of Latin American dictatorships.

The West is also threatened by a fifth column of global, radical Leftists with ideological connections to Russia and the theo-political-legal ideology of radical Islam. All of these antagonists, including the Russians, cultural Marxists and Salafists/Wahhabists, employ terrorist tactics but largely conceal their agendas. They use clandestine strategies of propaganda, disinformation, subversion and denial through their agents of influence and networks of organizations.

In Shadow World: Resurgent Russia, The Global New Left, and Radical Islam, Dr. Robert Chandler argues that the West is in the midst of a three-way global competition pitting the future of democratic republics against Marxist totalitarianism and Islamic fundamentalism. Despite their vast ideological differences, Communist Russia, the Far Left and Islamists embrace a common goal: destroying Western civilization.

In their adherence to the Gramsican formula for anti-capitalist social transformation, the progressive-socialist-Marxists have co-opted with the United Nations to advocate world governance in the interest of “world peace, human rights and environmental preservation.” This is the desired end result of their efforts to undermine American heritage, destroy Christianity and conspire against free-market democracy to achieve global taxation, the end of sovereignty, a world military and an international criminal court.

Gramscian Marxists aspire to a borderless global society under the aegis of the United Nations that will bring about a socialist utopian universe that protects the global environment, fosters universal human rights and world peace and offers global citizenship and international institutions for a better world. The sacrifice of individual liberty and the horrific failures of U.N. interventions to prevent worldwide genocide in Cambodia, Uganda, Rwanda and Darfur are not addressed.

Falsely stating that sovereign states cause war and unrest, globalists advocate world citizenship, global governance and legislation, universal gun control, an end to national sovereignty, economic redistribution and an international criminal court system. They malign the U.S. sovereignty and liberties enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence as obstacles to global peace.

The soldiers of this world-government ideology and the agents of the United Nations are the non-governmental organizations (NGO’s), accountable to no one but whose aim is to supplant national sovereignty with U.N. programs. Over 3,000 NGO’s take over where governments fall short. They have increasingly monopolized international meetings, rejected democracies and free market systems while pushing environmentalism, multiculturalism, wealth redistribution and nuclear disarmament. They have tried to shift the focus of world attention to humanitarian needs over national security concerns. But their real agenda of opposing the West is revealed by their attacks on Western militaries and their silence on de facto terrorist groups that provide terrorist training to children and indoctrinate them to hate.

The United States is at a critical juncture in its history faced with threats from international Marxists, an internal socialist movement and global jihadists. Once any of these elements achieves significant positions of power within the United States, they will proceed with their plans to destroy Western civilization. Our freedom, sovereignty and way of life could be extinguished by any of these forces that are acting against our democratic republic. Robert Chandler’s warnings in Shadow World must be heeded if we are to survive.

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Is the war of Psalm 83 and a enlarged Israel imminent as in the book “Isralestine”?
One of the great mysteries for those who study Bible prophecy is the timing of the wars mentioned in Psalm 83 and the war described in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. They are obviously different wars but which war occurs first and when? Are they pretribulational wars or tribulation wars? How can Israel be living in peace and security prior to the Ezekiel war as the prophecy clearly indicates? That is the ongoing debate.

Bill Salus in his book “Isralestine” offers a solution but the thesis is very difficult to accept in light of real world realities but that does not mean the thesis he offers based on his selection and interpretation of certain scriptures is wrong. I have had a very difficult time reconciling the issues in his book and think that you really need to read the book and judge the merit of this hypothesis for yourselves and not just rely on my review.

The thesis of the book is that the war of Psalm 83 is imminent. It occurs before the tribulation. The war brings about the defeat of the Arab nations and it allows a very large territorial expansion of Israel into the Arab states by conquest. After the war of Psalm 83 the greatly expanded Israel then lives in peace and security until the war of Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 where Gog (Russia) comes against Israel with Iran and other allies. At that time God intervenes for Israel and Israel expands to the entire land area promised to Abraham. Bill Salus also believes the Ezekiel war is before the “Day of the Lord” and that the rapture could be before or after the war of Psalm 83 but will be before the “Day of the Lord”.

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This is the kind of religious freedom you get in Russia under Putin’s fascism. The religions get liquidated if they do not file annual reports on activities and it seems that they still get liquidated if they do file annual reports of activity and the State and the Russian Orthodox church does not like the religious activities. Basically, this means that all religion outside of the Russian Orthodox Church will not be allowed to exist in Russia. Even if this is just a scare tactic as some imply, what makes anyone think this liquidation will not eventually take place under Putin?

Anatoly Pchelintsev,  believes the responsible officials are unaware of the complicated international ramifications of their actions but I think they know what they are doing. Putin wants a Church State that will support everything he does. Putin sees himself as a czar.

ReligiousLiberty.TV | BREAKING NEWS – Russia Moves to Liquidate Fifty-Six Religious Groups

On October 15 the Russian Ministry of Justice took steps to begin liquidating 56 non-Russian Orthodox religious organizations. The groups face dissolution, Russian news sources reported, because they failed to file required annual reports on their activities. Those targeted include a range of non-Russian Orthodox organizations and churches but hardest hit were various Christian groups, both Protestant and Catholic. Baptist groups were prominent on the list, but Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Seventh-day Adventist and Pentecostal groups were also included. Well known humanitarian groups such as World Vision and Youth with a Mission were also named, as was the Russian branch of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Non-Christian organizations were also named, including Muslim and Buddhist associations.

According to the Slavic Legal Center in Moscow, many of the organizations believe they are in full compliance with filing requirements and are surprised to be included in the list. They are unsure if the posting is a scare tactic or if the Ministry of Justice indeed intends to pursue liquidations on a massive scale. Anatoly Pchelintsev, an attorney for the Slavic Center for Law and Justice, remarked that “such actions fly in the face of official Russian state policy on the freedom of worship and creed.” Pchelintsev believes the responsible officials are unaware of the complicated international ramifications of their actions and cites the possibility of “chaos and destabilization in church-state relations.” He added that in the case of most of the affected organizations, the threatened punishment goes too far. “In Russia there already are more than a dozen cases in which courts rendered decisions in favor of religious organizations since the punishment for their failure to submit information did not formally fit the crime committed.” Moreover, he added, “liquidation for failure to submit information is equivalent to sentencing a jaywalker to the death penalty. After all, liquidation means that the organization’s life is put to an end.” In addition, said Pchelintsev, “such actions are inconsistent with the policy of the Russian government, which guarantees freedom of conscience and religious confessions for each person. The widespread liquidation of religious associations for petty violations will lead to the crudest infringement of human rights in our country and to the self-isolation of the government.”

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I believe Hal Lindsey will be correct that Russia will now actively seek to regain its former empire. It might not be all the same nations of the former USSR at least at first. But Russia will intimidate the nations of Eastern Europe to join a regional alignment of states to counter the West. Especially if the West is mired in the economic and Islamic caused turmoil that looks almost certain to come. These Eastern nations were not in the original Roman Empire and they will not be in the revived.

My advice to the U.S. and Israel is not to wait too long to take out Iran’s nuclear capabilities because within a very short time Iran will be protected under a Russian nuclear umbrella (thou hast been to them for a guard., Ez 38:7, YLT) and then we will not be able to take them out without a nuclear war with Russia. The cold war between East and West is coming back fast. If NATO can claim that an attack on any of their alliance of states is an attack on them all, then Russia feels it can and will do the same with the nations in their sphere of influence.

Right now the U.S. can delay a nuclear Iran by 10 to 20 years by almost complete destruction of Iran’s nuclear and missile facilities. Israel cannot do this alone. The most Israel can do is set them back is a few years and there will not be any second chance because of the Russian umbrella that is about to open. If we get a weak president like Obama you will see Russia open this nuclear umbrella near the start of his term. If McCain gets elected they might not risk it just yet.

Oh, my Gog! (Hal Lindsey)

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, most of these republics broke with Russia to form new alliances with NATO and the West – an event for which I was widely ridiculed at the time.

How could most of Magog, like Ukraine, Georgia and Turkey, all firmly allied with the West, also be part of Russia’s Gog alliance?

I didn’t know. But I didn’t pen Ezekiel’s prophecy. I only reported it.

Now, Gog has evidently decided to reclaim its former Soviet empire, starting with Magog. Despite weeks of promising to withdraw almost any minute, the Russian military continues to dig in and consolidate its forces in and near the Georgian port of Poti on the Black Sea.

The Russians introduced tight restrictions of movement on Georgian citizens, refusing to accept anything except Russian documents. Despite agreements to the contrary, the Kremlin now says that “Russian forces will leave in their own time.”

When Poland was contemplating an agreement that would allow the U.S. to deploy missile interceptor batteries in its territory, Russia warned them that by entering the treaty agreement they ran the risk of a Russian nuclear attack. When the Poles signed the treaty in defiance of the Kremlin, Russia promised its response would “rise above the level of diplomacy,” a reference to the principle that “war is the result of failed diplomacy.”

The Russian invasion and apparent occupation of Georgia is feared by many analysts, particularly those from former Soviet republics, that Vladimir Putin plans to re-conquer and restore the former empire.

Full article

Russia is obviously now making its move against NATO expansion and has plans to show the nations around them that this NATO tiger will not venture out of its cage. The invasion of Georgia was well planned by Russia in advance. Russia simply could not have moved this quickly otherwise.

It looks to me like Russia was behind the unrest knowing that the Georgian President would have to react. When he did Russia started putting their expansion plans into motion. The main objective is not Georgia it is first reasserting itself in the former USSR states that have a Russian speaking population. They also intend to stop NATO expansion and to counter U.S. influence in what they believe to be their Russian Empire. The major immediate threat probably always was and now is to the Ukraine.

After Russia controls the Russian speaking areas she will expand elsewhere and form alliances with nations like Serbia and Iran. The Gog of Ezekiel is now rising to control this region of the world. NATO will do nothing but bluster and provide arms for any resistance. Old Europe and the U.S. are not going to risk their own necks for Eastern Europe. Those nations in Eastern Europe that are joining NATO and the EU thinking that the West will fight Russia for them are living under a very false hope.

Bloomberg.com: Worldwide

Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) — Now that Russia has humiliated Georgia with a punishing military offensive, it may shift its attention to reining in pro-Western Ukraine, another American ally in the former Soviet Union.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s first order of business likely will be to try to thwart Ukraine’s bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Medvedev, 42, and Putin, 56, say Russia began the offensive in response to a drive by Georgia to restore control over the breakaway region of South Ossetia. Now Russia has ousted Georgian forces from there and from Abkhazia, another separatist region, and destroyed much of the central government’s military.

Russia may find it convenient to raise the level of tension with Ukraine in the run-up to the December NATO review,” Citigroup Inc.’s London-based David Lubin and Ali Al-Eyd wrote in a note to clients. “If the conflict with Russia decelerates or reverses Georgia’s integration with the West, a similar fate could also affect Ukraine.”

Divided Country

Ukraine, a country of 46 million people that’s almost as big as France, has a large Russian-speaking population in the south and east that opposes NATO entry and looks to Moscow. Russian officials warn that if President Viktor Yushchenko pushes Ukraine into NATO, the nation may split in two.

A month ago, about 1,000 U.S. soldiers joined 600 Georgians and 100 from Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Armenia in joint exercises at the Vaziani military base near Tbilisi. Russia repeatedly bombed the base during this month’s war.

“The American role in the region has been weakened,” Jan Techau, a European and security affairs analyst at the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin, said in a telephone interview. “It’s a reassertion of Russia’s dominant role in the region.”

It’s somewhat reminiscent, in 1939, when Stalin attacked Finland,” former U.S. national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski told Bloomberg Television. “I think this kind of confrontation is the best kind of answer as to why they are seeking to be members of NATO.”

This is a very good analysis of the Russian Georgian conflict by Terry James. I also think that this is the turning point with Russia to achieve its manifest destiny. From now on you will see Russia act militarily or at least forcefully on conflicts that support their national interest of building a counter force to the West and in doing so Russia will attempt to achieve control over much of Europe’s energy. Yes, Russia is now totally controlled by the old KGB and thugs and Putin’s groomed fascist brown shirts will soon be put into positions of power. There has been no real change in Russia since the cold war. They just got a fresh start thanks to the West and don’t use the term communism anymore. They never were pure Communists anyway they have been and are again very much Fascists.

The next major step for Russia may be the Ukraine. The people in the Ukraine are torn with many wanting to join NATO and many of the Russian ethnics wanting to join with Russia. Russia will prevail. I doubt if NATO will have the guts to really oppose a nuclear power like Russia. After the Ukraine goes to Russia expect other dominoes near Russia to again fall into the sphere of a new Russian Fascist Union.

By the way, Check out this Bible prophecy Today Blog as often as you can. This Blog actually does have the best collection of the very latest thinking of astute Bible prophecy teacher/thinkers. I have a link to Bible Prophecy Today Blog on my sidebar.

Bible Prophecy Today • Bible Prophecy News And Commentary By Today’s Leading Bible Prophecy Scholars • News and Commentary From A Biblical Perspective

Gog And The Magog Chess Match

By Terry James

Russian moves, begun this past Friday in the Caucasus region and other parts of what was the former Soviet Union, should sound the siren alarm of things to come for the spiritually attuned Bible prophecy student.

We have watched Iran’s posturing and repositioning during the past months, with the area of ancient Persia coming into focus as a predicted player on the regional chess board that will be part of the end game, as foretold by Ezekiel the prophet. Now, the nation-state that is at the heart of the coalition foretold to storm toward the oil-rich Middle East and Israel seems to be demonstrating intention to achieve its manifest destiny.

The Georgian’s are not in a good position. The U.S. really cannot help them. Geographically they simply live where Russia is going to do what they want. In the end I think they are going to have to realize that Russia has annexed their province and to fight them will turn out to be suicide. They better now hope the Russian’s don’t use this war as an excuse to re-annex all of Georgia. All of this of course will further deteriorate Russia’s relations with the U.S. Other former USSR countries have similar problems and might have similar fates they also have geographical areas in their sovereign nations that are now mostly populated by Russians.

FOXNews.com – U.S. Calls for Russia to Halt Attacks as Fighting in Breakaway Georgia Province Escalates – International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili is expected to declare martial law within hours, according to the Georgian security council chief, Reuters reported.

This comes after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on Russia Friday to halt attacks in South Ossetia, after Georgian troops entered the breakaway province in an attempt to crush separatist forces seeking control.

Rice’s announcement came as the European Union was working on a cease-fire with Georgia and South Ossetia separatists to end the violent conflict.

Georgia, a staunch U.S. ally, launched a surprise military offensive to retake South Ossetia and reportedly killed hundreds of people, triggering a ferocious counterattack from Russia that threatened to plunge the region into full-scale war.

Democracy is not in the future of the world. People always demand a king. God wanted ancient Israel to have a representational republic with the leaders following Him through the words of His prophets but the people said give us a King. Nothing has changed. All the nations will demand their king and reap the consequences. The vast majority of the population of the world today is not ruled by a republic or a democracy and those people who think they are in a democracy are usually living under a great illusion. The whole world will soon choose a king the book of Revelation calls him the Beast.

Democracy – a flickering star?

In a survey of 24 countries by Pew Research Center, the nation that emerged as far and away first on Earth in the satisfaction of its people was China. No other nation even came close.

“Eighty-six percent of Chinese people surveyed said they were content with the country’s direction, up from 48 percent in 2002. … And 82 percent of Chinese were satisfied with their national economy, up from 52 percent,” said the Times.

Yet, China has a regime that punishes dissent, severely restricts freedom, persecutes Christians and all faiths that call for worship of a God higher than the state, brutally represses Tibetans and Uighurs, swamps their native lands with Han Chinese to bury their cultures and threatens Taiwan.

China is also a country where Maoist ideology has been replaced by a racial chauvinism and raw nationalism reminiscent of Italy and Germany in the 1930s. Yet, again, over 80 percent of all Chinese are content or even happy with the direction of the country. Two-thirds say the government is doing a good job in dealing with the issues of greatest concern to them.

And what nation is it whose people rank as third most satisfied?

Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

Moscow is today more nationalistic, less democratic and more confrontational toward the West than it has been since before the fall of communism. Power is being consolidated, former Soviet republics are hearing dictatorial growls from Moscow, and a chill reminiscent of the Cold War is in the air.

Contrast, if you will, the contentment of Chinese and Russians with the dissatisfaction of Americans, only 23 percent of whom told the Pew poll they approved of the nation’s direction. Only one in five Americans said they were satisfied with the U.S. economy.

Other polls have found 82 percent of Americans saying the country is headed in the wrong direction, only 28 percent approving of President Bush’s performance and only half that saying they approve of the Congress. In Britain, France and Germany, only three in 10 expressed satisfaction with the direction of the nation.

Liberal democracy is in a bear market. Is it a systemic crisis, as well?