Michael Evans suggests that the only reason for the lame duck prime minister of Israel and the lame duck president of the U.S. to be meeting at this time it to prepare for an attack on Iran prior to the inauguration of President elect Barak Obama. There always is a chance that there could be something to that speculation although I think Obama would have to be briefed and approve of it or Israel will have even greater problems with the Obama administration.

There is a small chance Obama advisors could tell him to approve this to give him some breathing room before he really has to deal with a nuclear Iran. He would still have to deal with it because any Israel strike would be limited and would only delay the Iran nuclear program one to five years depending on the amount of damage.

I am not at all certain that Evans is reading this right. The meeting could be just to make sure there will not be a strike on Iran by Israel during this transition period and on discussion points on how the next administrations should go forward.

Any attack on Iran would certainly open a new can of worms that would take all the time of the next administrations while they are in the middle of a financial crises. Hezbollah and their 42,000 rockets would have to be dealt with and I do not think Israel or the U.S. are ready to deal with the consequences that would bring at this time.

While it is true that Obama and his administration will attempt to handcuff Israel after Obama takes office. If Benjamin Netanyahu is elected as prime minister of Israel he is not going to be anyone’s patsy. Israel will do what Israel thinks it needs to do. Now that Iran has enough enriched uranium for one bomb (should then go forward to build one) and is likely to be able to produce enough material for two to three more bombs within a year the window on Iran is indeed short. Certainly Iran will have to agree to international inspections of their facilities to make sure they are not building bombs or they will be hit within two years. The real question is how much more development and know how will Israel allow Iran to obtain before it acts. Facilities can be destroyed but once they have acquired the know how, the nuclear weapons program can be rebuilt rapidly.

When considering just the nuclear program alone the earlier Iran is hit the better but when dealing with political realities of the Middle East a war that occurs between the transfer of administrations is a whole other matter. If a war were to break out the Israel elections would not even take place on schedule.

There is also the issue of world oil prices and the consequences to the world economy that is in crises. Any strike on Iran would raise oil prices dramatically. That might end some of the deflation in the world in the short term but it will make things even worse in the long term.

Therefore, It is my opinion that Israel will not strike Iran prior to the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. If someone could show a creditable movement to increase U.S air strength in the gulf it might be more believable. I also do not believe that Israeli use of low yield nuclear weapons to stop nuclear weapon development by Iran is at all likely. The international consequences would be totally unacceptable.

We will not have long to find out if Evens is right or wrong since all we have left is a five week window.

Israelis meet with Bush on Iran attack

Israelis meet with Bush on Iran attack
Posted: November 26, 2008
1:00 am Eastern

© 2008

Why would a prime minister who has resigned and is leaving office in eight weeks meet with a lame-duck president who is also leaving office in eight weeks?

Ehud Olmert resigned as prime minister on Sept. 21, 2008. He currently fills the seat until general elections take place on Feb. 10, 2009. There is no reason for a lame-duck president and an equally lame-duck prime minister to meet except to pursue the above-stated purpose.

Time magazine quoted an “unnamed Israeli source at the Defense Ministry” as having said, “We have been warned off.” It has been hinted in the past by IDF officials that Israel may launch a pre-emptive strike on nuclear facilities in Iran prior to the Jan. 20, 2009 inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. No Israel Defense Forces general would ever say that unless it were officially approved. Why did he say it? So when Israel attacks, the U.S. will not be blamed.

Because of the fact that Iran has just announced that enough centrifuges are online to build an atomic bomb, Israel feels that the emergency is now. Former Israel Chief of Staff Moshe Ya’alon, who endorsed my book “Showdown with Nuclear Iran,” calling it the “most extensive book on the subject,” has told me that under no circumstance would Israel hold back once Iran has enough centrifuges to build the bomb. Israel knows Obama will not allow them to attack once he takes office. The only way they can attack is to do so before the inauguration, while they have the support of George Bush.

On Monday, Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice also met with Olmert. The secular media has reported that these were social visits only. I assure you that vice presidents and secretaries of state did not have private meetings for social purposes only.

Ehud Olmert met Secretary of State Rice for breakfast at Blair House and also held private, strategic meetings with Dick Cheney. The prime minister came seeking permission from George Bush to attack Iran’s nuclear reactors during the next six weeks prior to President-elect Obama’s inauguration, and most likely in December.

In retaliation for a military strike on Iran, Hezbollah would undoubtedly launch rocket attacks on Israel from Lebanon. Hamas would probably launch rocket attacks from the Gaza. We might even see a resumption of the suicide bombers penetrating Israel’s cities.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak has stated that Hezbollah tripled its arms strength following the 2006 war in Lebanon. According to Barak, the Iranian proxy now has some 42,000 rockets, some with the capability of striking Ashkelon, Yerucham and Dimona (Israel’s nuclear sites.)

Even if the United States did not directly participate in an Israeli air strike on Iran, we would have to allow Israeli jets airspace rights over Iraq. This would be enough to argue that America was “complicit” in an Israeli air attack on Iran. The U.S. might also have to refuel Israeli jets involved in an air strike on Iran. The newest fighters in Israel’s attack force are the Lockheed-Martin manufactured F-16I Soufa (”Storm”) fighters. The second mainstay of the IAF is the 1990s Boeing-built (originally McDonnell Douglas) F-15I Ra’am (”Eagle”) fighter planes. Both aircraft have a strike radius that should extend to targets in Iran without having to be refueled.

A showdown with a nuclear Iran is imminent. Though we might all wish for the crisis to pass, I fear the moment is at hand where the reality of a nuclear-armed Iran is inevitably upon us all. I pray that we get through the coming test with distinction. I pray that the crisis passes, and that Israel continues to thrive and the United States of America continues to be strong.

Full article

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”.

Full article

It is nice to see Todd Strandberg and Terry James Rapture Ready website make the national media again. All the exposure helps to get the message out about Bible prophecy and that we are very near the prophetic end times on earth. If you have not visited the site I highly recommend it. For years RaptureReady has been the top Bible prophecy website in the world and I still very much appreciate the link they have up to my website.

Rapture: Distress about wars and the world economy feed apocalyptic warnings - Salt Lake Tribune

Strandberg, founder and editor of raptureready.com, the largest Christian prophecy site on the Internet, spends his days linking current events with biblical passages. He created a Rapture Index, modeled after the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which consists of 45 categories of prophetic indicators from the occult to inflation and the crime rate. Each is assigned a value of one to five depending on the level of activity in that category. The numbers are adjusted weekly, and the higher the number, the faster the world is moving toward its end. Just before the time known as the Great Tribulation, some believe there will be a “Rapture,” where Christ takes the righteous to heaven without their tasting death.
In recent weeks, traffic on Rapture Ready site spiked to 50,000 hits a day.

In his 22 years working on Rapture Ready, Strandberg has seen an “avalanche” of anti-Christ suggestions, including Tony Blair and Bill Clinton. Obama doesn’t fit the bill, he says, but he could be a type of “anti-Christ,” which simply means too many people see him as a replacement for Jesus.
Still, Strandberg believes the end is at hand and Jesus’ Second Coming will surprise everyone, coming as “a thief in the night,” according to the Bible, but close observers will at least know “the season.”
He points to tensions between Israel and Iran, Russia’s invasion of Georgia, and the possibility of global depression as some of the top indicators.
“We are one big event from triggering a cascade that will not stop,” he says. “There are so many indicators that are active. It’s like an overhang of snow on a mountain top. Cracks are forming on the ridge and once the ridge breaks free, it will tumble down the mountain and nothing can stop it.”

full article

Read the part that I highlighted below. Joe Biden said that Obama will need the help of community leaders to control the population as unpopular decisions are made and AMERICANS RESIST. This will occur within six months of him taking office. In other words they are saying they expect something to happen that will make Americans resist the Government. I cannot think of what that would be other than Martial law and taking away people’s guns. It has been the plan of Government to use Clergy and other community leaders to get people to voluntarily hand in their guns after Martial law is declared. So it seems to me that this is what Joe Biden is talking about. Wouldn’t that be a hoot, if within 6 months they use some real or false flag event to make Obama dictator?

Something is very strange in Denmark here because all these people that are out of the homeland security loop could not possibly know what terrorists are planning to do within 6 months of Obama taking office. So what is it that all these people who will have a role in the Obama administration and some foreign leaders been told?  I can see Joe Biden making off the cuff bazaar statements like this but when all the people listed below indicate the same thing this seems to be well coordinated. Throw in the Americans resisting the unpopular changes and decision made by Obama?? and we all truly have reason for alarm.

This has not been put out as some glib statement these people are serious. Perhaps they know there will be a war with Iran and it will set off sleeper cells here, who knows? You wanted change under Obama it looks like you will get change sooner than anyone expected.

Australian PM Kevin Rudd - “Nuke strike would make 9/11 insignificant” | Daily Newscaster

Over the last 72 hours there has been a strange melange of cryptic messages leaked from world political leaders about what could be in store for America over the next few months.

These predictions of impending doom come from England, France, Australia and the United States. In each case there has been a press releases or news expose’ predicting huge and building threats emerging from faceless enemies in shadowy places

Biden told the top Democratic donors that a “generated crisis” will develop within six months and Barak Obama will need the help of community leaders to control the population as unpopular decisions are made and Americans resist.

Biden’s ominous language at the Seattle Sheraton are followed with statements by long time establishment insiders Colin Powell and Madeline Albright both say there is a massive crisis on the horizon and Biden was simply making a “statement in fact.”

Meanwhile in England were they are trying desperately to pass a draconian measure allowing for the 42 day imprisonment of any citizen without charges or access to bail.

Lord West, adviser to Prime Minister Gordon Brown on national security says, “There is another great plot building up again and we are monitoring. It dipped slightly and is now rising again within the context of severe. The threat is huge. We have done all the things that we need to do, but the threat is building - the complex plots are building,”

Only a few hours ago Agence France-Presse published a press release about the Sydney meeting of the international Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament presided over by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd who said that the world is facing a threat that will dwarf the September 11 attacks.

“The devastation that could be wreaked by one major nuclear weapons incident alone puts 9/11 and almost everything else [in] to the category of the insignificant,” Rudd said.

Why are there so many high level politicians around the world in a seemingly coordinated effort warning of huge threats and developing crisis’ that may include a nuclear device? Are they preparing the masses for an event or series of events that have been in the making for some time? Is the public being prepared for new and forming enemies with a potential to plunge the entire world into war?

Full article

Joe Farah in the quoted article explains what fascism is.

Fascism does not come from the Right like you were taught by socialists. It comes from the socialist Far Left. Those of you who plan to vote for Obama are actually voting in fascism. You will have a nation where all three branches of the government, media, the educational systems, and corporations will be controlled by Far Left socialist fascists. The checks and balances designed in our Constitution will essentially be nullified by a nation controlled by the Far Left.

When they take control woe to anyone who will dare to oppose this self righteous group of self enlightened control freaks that believe that they know what is best for everyone else. They will have no problem robbing from the productive to empower their own government underclass paid army of brown shirts and informers. All national problems will be blamed on scapegoats like Republican administrations, Conservatives, Biblical Christians and Jews. Woe to anyone who will dare to oppose big government taking control of every aspect of our lives. They will use the Left controlled media and educational system to brainwash the people to make them think anyone who opposes their programs are a threat to the survival of the world.

Government under leftist fascism will nationalize or control through regulations whatever gives them more power and control. They will do it through rapidly passing laws without debate. What happened in Missouri and other places in this election campaign will pale before what will happen when they actually have total control. Intimidation will prevail from schools to factories to churches and will be enforced by their army of thought police.

Obama does not talk about a civilian force more powerful then the military for nothing. This is right out of the socialist fascist playbook. We saw it in Germany under Hitler, in the USSR under Stalin, in China under Mao, and now the brown shirts are re-emerging as a force under Putin. Fascism is still alive and well in China, North Korea, Iran, in Islamic controlled nations and it is now emerging in parts of South America and Africa. Even the EU is attempting a back door path to elitist run fascism. The plans of the UN for a world government is also basically fascism.

So where will all this lead? As the world economic situation deteriorates and nations destabilize it will lead to fascist regional governments and a fascist world government that will be given power to dictate to all nation states. Fascism did not die in the 1940’s it just disguised itself and now its supporters calls themselves liberals or progressives or environmentalists attempting to save the world. Then then call national constitutionalists fascists as part of a disinformation campaign or because many of them are complete ignorant of the fact that it is they that are promoting fascism. But make no mistake, if you allow a complete Far Left takeover of the American government by voting for Obama’s socialism and for more government and more government control with bail-outs and takeovers and government partnerships with corporations you will be voting for socialistic fascism. Here is some recent background info on the danger of voting in Obama and what will be a all Far Left government.

Obama and his brown shirts

What is fascism?

It is a thoroughly socialist ideology that feeds on class warfare and sustains itself on authoritarianism or even totalitarianism, central economic planning, subsidies of favored “private” businesses and something we’re seeing more and more of in the United States today – so-called “public-private partnerships.”

One thing very important to understand – fascism is not a right-wing ideology; it is a left-wing ideology. It always has been and always will be. It is about statism, not individualism.

Throughout history, it has often been characterized as a “third way” between capitalism and communism. Now who have you heard use that term in contemporary company? It is a popular euphemism for fascism employed today by the likes of Bill and Hillary Clinton and Barack Hussein Obama.

The big bailout of the mortgage industry is an excellent illustration of a fascist economic concept. It’s about utilitarianism, not principal – pragmatism, not morality.

Another characteristic of fascism is intimidation, coercion, bullying tactics and a self-righteousness that leads its followers to believe the rules simply don’t apply to them. The end justifies the means. People working on behalf of the cause are to be excused from accountability for any excesses. In fact, they would find it hard to believe they could ever commit excesses.

We got a whiff of this kind of fascism in Missouri last week when Obama partisans in various law-enforcement capacities pledged publicly to use their official police powers to go after anyone they believed to be unfairly portraying their candidate in political advertising.

In other words, they decided to throw the First Amendment out the window.

It was and is an amazing story, really. Take it from someone who tracks amazing stories for a living. This one took my breath away. I implore you to watch the local television news report that first brought this story to my attention.

This, my friends, is the way fascism works. This is the way it creeps into our lives. Acceptance of this kind of police-state tactic leaves us but an election or crisis away from descent into the netherworld of political barbarism. The brown shirts are at the door, once again.

Full article

I have not read the book “Isralestine”, by Bill Salus but it sounds like an intriguing prophetic explanation of end time events. Almost all futurist Bible prophecy students will agree that there are three end time wars involving Israel. However, we disagree somewhat on the timing of first two wars. Those wars being the Ezekiel Chapter 38 and 39 war where Gog comes down with a host of nations and the Psalms 83 war where a confederacy of nations attempts to cut Israel off from being a nation. In the mix somewhere is the destruction of Damascus since the prophecy has never been fulfilled yet.

I have heard enough about this book to know that Bill Salus makes a strong case for the war of Psalms 83 coming first. I believe the premise is that after the aftermath of the Psalms 83 war that brings the destruction of Damascus, Israel will expand its borders. That will allow Israel to have the security that is implied by Ezekiel at the time of the Gog invasion. At that time Russia will come down with a host of nations against Israel and God will intervene.

In the past, I have tended to put the Ezekiel war first and I placed the Psalm 83 war in the middle of the tribulation making that the reason why the Jews flee to the mountains. However, Bill Salus may be correct, it does answer a whole lot of questions.

If you have read this book I would appreciate your own insights.

Israel destroys Damascus, then Russia invades

Indeed Russia and Iran are ready to make their moves, but what about Syria? Oddly Syria, who today panders alongside Iran for Russian affections, is not included among the elite nine members of the Ezekiel 38 and 39 consortium of attacking nations. Why not? What knocks their quiver of missiles out of the Ezekiel military equation?

As I have documented in my recently released book, “Isralestine, The Ancient Blueprints of the Future Middle East,” the Bible makes quite clear that in a distinctly separate Psalm 83 episode Damascus, the capital of Syria, soon ceases to be a city, and subsequently shortly thereafter Russia and Iran advance against Israel.

Furthermore “Isralestine” explains how the destruction of Damascus followed by the Ezekiel invasion sets the stage for the final tribulation period, whereby the Antichrist rallies his Armageddonites together in one last days ditch effort to destroy the Jewish race.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin

Thus there are three scheduled end time advances against Israel, not just Ezekiel’s. First comes Psalm 83, the Arab-Israeli war, followed promptly by the Ezekiel 38 and 39 Russian – Iranian invasion, and lastly the campaign of Armageddon by the Antichrist.

The destruction of Damascus will be such a powerful world event that Isaiah was instructed to boldly and succinctly state, the burden against Damascus. “Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, And it will be a ruinous heap.” (Isaiah 17:1, NKJV) Isaiah further announces that the fortified cities of Syria will be forfeited into Israeli sovereignty. (Isaiah 17:9) This suggests that the dooming of Damascus and conquest of Syria results from of an Israeli Defense Forces campaign.

Amos and Jeremiah echo this 2,800-year-old Isaiah prophecy by prophetically uttering some additional details they were given. Amos declares that the capitol building of Syria will go up in smoke, and that the nation as a whole, will go into captivity. (Amos 1:3-5) Jeremiah concurs and furthermore declares the Syrian military will be decisively defeated, and in addition many young men will die in the blood-stained streets of Damascus. (Jeremiah 49:23-27)

Full article

On the domestic front the author of this article should also have mentioned the amnesty no win program, terrorism, a run on the dollar, hyper inflation, high unemployment, riots, energy shortages, rationing, a draft, perhaps an EMP attack, thought police and maybe a police state. On the foreign threat he missed North Korea, Venezuela, and probably the next world war. Combine what Gerard Baker suggested in this article and what I just added, throw in a few unknown ingredients, turn the world upside down and let it simmer for a couple of years and what will come out of America’s melting pot?

This is the election you wouldn’t want to win | Gerard Baker - Times Online

It is highly probable that that moment, the very hour that he takes office, will be the high point of his presidency. Whoever wins on November 4 will be ascending to the job at one of the most difficult times for an American chief executive in at least half a century.

At some point reality will bite hard and politicians will discover that they simply cannot go on funding two wars, cutting taxes, creating vast new government health and pension programmes and doing the other essential things that the Federal Government does

The US is now indisputably entering the darkest phase of a period that will not only produce real hardship, but could send further shocks through financial markets and cause deeper fiscal damage.

Then there is energy policy. Weaning America off its oil addiction might actually need to be a policy rather than a slogan in the next four years; but that will place new burdens on the budget and require sacrifices difficult to make in good times, let alone in economically distressed ones.

Compared with all this, foreign policy looks like a doddle.

The next president has only to complete the process of transition in Iraq, win the war in Afghanistan, face down a resurgent Russia, continue to keep its foot on the throat of stateless Islamist terrorism, stop Iran from going nuclear and figure out what to do about the challenge from China - the most serious threat to US global hegemony since America became top nation.

Oh, and I didn’t mention Pakistan. Conversations this week with advisers to both campaigns suggest that both now see Pakistan - especially after last week’s terrorist attack in Islamabad - as perhaps the most intractable and serious challenge of all in the next few years: they candidly admit that no one has much of a clue what to do about it.

Full article

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

It would seem rather bazaar that there would be no emergency action plan in place to deal with the aftermath of an EMP attack on the U.S. It poses the greatest immediate and near future danger to the survival of the U.S. other than an all out nuclear attack by Russia or China.

Both Russia and China have hinted at using an EMP against the United States and definitely have the capability. We also know from the missile tests of Iran and N. Korea that they could have that capability soon, not to mention that terrorists could obtain the capability on their own if they have or acquire a nuclear bomb. So why is there no public plan in place when both Congress and the military clearly know of this EMP threat?

There may be an explanation. Perhaps there are plans in place but they are Top Secret Emergency Actions plans. Such plans would be found among the top secret plans of a nuclear attack against the United States from a foreign power.

Your not going to find these types of top secret military plans in the Department of Homeland Security’s Public Emergency Plan booklet. Most in Homeland Security would not even know of these plans because they do not have the required security clearance. Even the few that do know of them are not going to share top secret information with local governments and the public. There is quite a bit of classified information that the government does not make known to the public for good reason.

I think I can tell you the crux of EMP Emergency Action Plan in one sentence. The problem would be so devastating and so widespread that there would be the suspension of the Constitution, complete military marshal law, and government control over everyone and everything. The same as it would be after a massive nuclear attack on the U.S. by Russia or China. I believe the government already has these plans in place and if an EMP would occur they would implement them.

U.S. still naked to EMP threat

Electricity grids down, uncontrolled fires from exploding gas transport systems, no communication to call for help, no water to battle fires: It’s all part of a catastrophic scenario some scientists predict could happen under an electromagnetic pulse attack – and the Department of Homeland Security’s 83-page emergency plan includes no mention of EMP or how it might respond to such an attack.

When WND contacted the Department of Homeland Security, a representative explained why a course of action was not included in the National Emergency Communications Plan – a strategy that relies heavily on the ability of authorities at all levels of government to communicate using radios, computers and other electronic devices that could be disabled by an EMP attack.

“When we look at the strategic threat picture, when we look at patterns of criminal activity that all levels of government show, when we look at what is ultimately going to involve limited resources, we have to get to a point where we prioritize,” DHS spokesman Russ Knocke said. “We prioritize based upon threat vulnerability and consequence. As we speak today, there’s nothing in the threat picture that would suggest an imminent EMP attack.”

However, Congress has expressed concern regarding the threat of EMP. A top scientist warned the House Armed Services Committee in July that America remains vulnerable to a “catastrophe” from a nuclear electromagnetic pulse attack that could be launched with plausible deniability by hostile rogue nations or terrorists.

William R. Graham, chairman of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack and the former national science adviser to President Reagan, testified before the committee and issued an alarming report on “one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences.”

He identified vulnerabilities in the nation’s critical infrastructures, “which are essential to both our civilian and military capabilities.”

Not taking the steps necessary to reduce the threat in the next three to five years “can both invite and reward attack,” Graham told the committee.

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.

This report by Kuwait Times that two additional aircraft carrier groups are heading toward the gulf could be very important because the U.S. would insist on having four aircraft carrier groups in that area before it would give Israel any green light to strike Iran. The same is true if the U.S. decided to strike Iran itself.

If this report is true figure that it will take about a month to get all the ships in place and ready for action. So nothing will happen before early September but like I said before an attack in late September to early October makes more political sense than after the election if it looks like Obama might win. It should be very interesting that two additional carrier groups have been reported to be heading that way to fit the timing of a pre U.S. election strike.

When you actually see four carrier groups in the Gulf and Red Sea, it could mean a strike on Iran is imminent. The U.S. would not allow Israel to strike Iran without first having adequate air power in place.

‘2 US aircraft carriers headed for Gulf’ | Jerusalem Post

Two additional United States naval aircraft carriers are heading to the Gulf and the Red Sea, according to the Kuwaiti newspaper Kuwait Times.

Kuwait began finalizing its “emergency war plan” on being told the vessels were bound for the region.

The US Navy would neither confirm nor deny that carriers were en route. US Fifth Fleet Combined Maritime Command located in Bahrain said it could not comment due to what a spokesman termed “force-protection policy.”

While the Kuwaiti daily did not name the ships it believed were heading for the Middle East, The Media Line’s defense analyst said they could be the USS Theodore Roosevelt and the USS Ronald Reagan.

Obama is not the Antichrist but he could be America’s Antichrist if he gets elected. You have to understand who one of his big supporters and mentors is. New Age Oprah. Oprah believes we can all achieve Christhood. With her support of Obama you might already think that she believes that Obama has already achieved Christhood and has conveyed her judgment of that judgment to Obama. Now you might understand why he is so arrogant and he will take no criticism. After all once you achieved Christhood what can those who have not achieved Christhood tell you? So Obama has all the answers for everyone and the fine details of how the problems will be solved does not matter because just his being their will radiate solutions. I guess once you have achieved Christhood all that is left is to create the Kingdom on earth and rule over it.

So we now have a nut case in Iran who thinks the Islamic Savior will come and bail him out, and you have the North Korean God and you have Obama in the United States who actually believes he is the world’s savior on some level. Now all we need is a European savior and a religious Savior (Rick Warren or the Pope might qualify) and we will be ready for the big event. The point being, if the world is now programed to pander to Obama as some inspired unifier of the World how much more are they ready to accept Satan’s man? So Hal Lindsey in the below article is almost but not quite correct. Obama did not prep the world for the Antichrist he is proof that the postmodern world has already been prepped for the Antichrist

How Obama prepped world for the Antichrist

America has never faced so many different crises at the same time in living memory. The war with al-Qaida and Islamic terror, the Iran crisis, Afghanistan, nuclear proliferation, the rising price of oil, the falling dollar, enemy acronyms like OPEC, NAM, OIC, U.N. … Obama is correct in saying that the world is ready for someone like him – a messiah-like figure, charismatic and glib and seemingly holding all the answers to all the world’s questions.

And the Bible says that such a leader will soon make his appearance on the scene. It won’t be Barack Obama, but Obama’s world tour provided a foretaste of the reception he can expect to receive.

He will probably also stand in some European capital, addressing the people of the world and telling them that he is the one that they have been waiting for. And he can expect as wildly enthusiastic a greeting as Obama got in Berlin.

The Bible calls that leader the Antichrist. And it seems apparent that the world is now ready to make his acquaintance.

This article on the dangers and effects of an EMP is quite informative. I wrote on this issue a few time already but I think we had all better become more aware of this danger.

A EMP attack is probably the prime event that could eliminate the U.S. from being a factor in end time Bible prophecy. When you read the below article take note that Dr. Graham thinks a EMP could reduce the population of the U.S. to about 30 million people. Dr. Graham is not a crackpot he is the foremost expert on EMP’s. He knows what he is talking about. The EMP will not kill anyone directly but it will make all our critical infrastructure systems fail without any hope of a recovery for months or years. We simply could not support most of our population and people would be dying in days.

This is not idol speculation. This danger is well known by our military and our government but congress just cannot seem to do what is right to protect America.

This article indicates that Iran is preparing for an EMP attack against America and if they had such a capability does anyone doubt that they would use it? For this reason alone we must NEVER allow Iran to ever build nuclear weapons. Some may say they would not dare launch an EMP against the U.S. because it would be the end of them. Well maybe that would be true if you were dealing with sane people. These people think that the Maudi would come and fight for them. Iran could also give a nuke to terrorists and it could be launched from a freighter. So then do we nuke Iran without proof that they were even behind it? So Iran must NEVER be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. Some people say they would not be a threat to our nation but these people are not seeing the EMP picture. An EMP could bring the end of this nation.

We also could be done in by a single EMP weapon from China, Russia, or even North Korea. China and Russia have both reminded us of that possibility within the last decade. There are other dangers as well such as Pakistan and non state sponsored terrorist organizations.

I do have to disagree somewhat as to what is the defense against an EMP. This article only talks about a missile shield. An anti missile might intercept a missile fired from another state but it is not likely to intercept a missile from a ship near our coast. It also should be obvious that no state is going to launch an EMP attack on the U.S. and then announce that they did it. So, even if Russia or China were to launch a single missile or two fired from a sub or a surface vessel they will promptly destroy the evidence before we could determine who was behind the attack. So then do we attack everyone with a EMP capability?

Besides stopping unstable nations from getting nuclear weapons material the single most important thing we can do to protect ourselves from an EMP attack is to harden all our critical infrastructure from the effects of an EMP. It would not cost that much to do. It is simply putting a metal shield around electronic and electrical devices as they are being built. It could be largely accomplished in 5 to 10 years if we started now. However, this EMP threat has been known for decades. After the 9/11 attack Congress commissioned experts to report on the EMP threat and that report was given to them four years ago but nothing since has been done. The report reads much like this article but it goes into much more detail.

So with that in mind I would say we can expect an EMP anytime within the next decade and I would say we will still be completely vulnerable to an EMP attack because our government is irrational and it is not likely that they will take the action necessary to make our infrastructures survivable.

I will also say that this is most likely the way that America will be eliminated from end time prophetic events. That might be a bleak announcement but the probability of an EMP happening and causing the destruction of our population is more likely than not. Especially now that the U.S. government and most people in this nation are denying the God that made the U.S. prosper and endorsing debauchery.

Here is a link to a recent related story that tells how an EMP could also come from the sun.

Newsmax.com - U.S. Intel: Iran Plans Nuclear Strike on U.S.

“They’ve got [test] ranges in Iran which are more than long enough to handle Scud launches and even Shahab-3 launches,” Dr. Graham said. “Why would they be launching from the surface of the Caspian Sea? They obviously have not explained that to us.”

Another troubling group of tests involved Shahab-3 launches where the Iranians “detonated the warhead near apogee, not over the target area where the thing would eventually land, but at altitude,” Graham said. “Why would they do that?”

Graham chairs the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack, a blue-ribbon panel established by Congress in 2001.

The commission examined the Iranian tests “and without too much effort connected the dots,” even though the U.S. intelligence community previously had failed to do so, Graham said.

“The only plausible explanation we can find is that the Iranians are figuring out how to launch a missile from a ship and get it up to altitude and then detonate it,” he said. “And that’s exactly what you would do if you had a nuclear weapon on a Scud or a Shahab-3 or other missile, and you wanted to explode it over the United States.”

The commission warned in a report issued in April that the United States was at risk of a sneak nuclear attack by a rogue nation or a terrorist group designed to take out our nation’s critical infrastructure.

“If even a crude nuclear weapon were detonated anywhere between 40 kilometers to 400 kilometers above the earth, in a split-second it would generate an electro-magnetic pulse [EMP] that would cripple military and civilian communications, power, transportation, water, food, and other infrastructure,” the report warned.

Within a week or two of the attack, people would start dying, Graham says.

“People in hospitals would be dying faster than that, because they depend on power to stay alive. But then it would go to water, food, civil authority, emergency services. And we would end up with a country with many, many people not surviving the event.”

Asked just how many Americans would die if Iran were to launch the EMP attack it appears to be preparing, Graham gave a chilling reply.

“You have to go back into the 1800s to look at the size of population” that could survive in a nation deprived of mechanized agriculture, transportation, power, water, and communication.

“I’d have to say that 70 to 90 percent of the population would not be sustainable after this kind of attack,” he said.

America would be reduced to a core of around 30 million people

Rep. Trent Franks, R, Ariz., plans to introduce legislation next week that would require the Pentagon to lay the groundwork for an eventual military strike against Iran, to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and EMP capability.

“An EMP attack on America would send us back to the horse and buggy era — without the horse and buggy,” he told the Claremont Institute conference on Saturday. “If you’re a terrorist, this is your ultimate goal, your ultimate asymmetric weapon.”

Noting Iran’s recent sea-launched and mid-flight warhead detonation tests, Rep. Franks concluded, “They could do it — either directly or anonymously by putting some freighter out there on the ocean.”

This is an interesting and somewhat different perspective on when Israel might attack Iran. The theory is that if the hardliner Mofaz wins in the Kadima Party in mid to late September he might reach across to the Likud party and bring in hardliner Benjamin Netenyahu as prime minister. Then the theory goes that it would be best for Israel to attack Iran before the U.S. election in November so as to not to antagonize a President-elect Obama (they all think he is going to win if there is no war) with a strike between the time he wins the election and takes office in January.

I would not think that Israel would want to strike Iran right before our election so a reasonable date would be around October 1-15 which just happens to be the Jewish fall holiday season this year. We will see what happens? My own opinion is that I think this theory makes more sense than the conventional wisdom that says Israel will attack Iran between the U.S. election and Obama taking office (if he should win).

FrontPage Magazine

THE most important primary for our 2008 election may be yet to come - the Kadima Party primary in Israel in mid or late September. It pits liberal-leaning Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni against hardliner and former Army Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz. (Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is expected to sit out the contest and concentrate on staying out of jail.)

The polls are neck and neck; in the most recent, Livni’s once-formidable lead has shrunk to 2 points. Hanging over the battle is the Iranian nuclear program.

Mofaz might not want to wait for our election. Why risk antagonizing a President-elect Obama by taking military action that he might vigorously oppose? If Obama, having won, were to counsel patience, what Israeli prime minister could ignore him?

Before the US election, on the other hand, Obama might be reluctant to take a position - and the Israelis need feel no compulsion to conform to any advice from a man who isn’t yet be president-elect.

Surely, an Israeli attack on Iran would bring a sharp and instant response from Iran and from its satellites, Syria, Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as its pawns in Iraq. It would presage war in Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank along with an air war of Israeli missiles and bombers against Iranian missiles.

Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf states would criticize Israel in public but probably breathe a sign of relief in private that Iran’s nuclear ambitions were thwarted or at least postponed.

The ensuing crisis would probably militate in McCain’s favor if it erupted before the US election.