The Omega Letter Intelligence Digest

Vol: 36 Issue: 26 - Sunday, September 26, 2004

Iran's "Shooting Star"
by Jack Kinsella

"And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven,
burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers,
and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called
Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men
died of the waters, because they were made bitter." (Revelation 8:11)

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards staged military maneuvers earlier this
month near the Iraqi border, with top military officials saying the
exercise was designed to reinforce Iran's resolve to defend itself against
"big powers."

During the maneuvers, a "long-range missile" was test fired.  Reports of
the successful test on by state-run radio did not say whether the test
involved the previously announced new version of the Shahab-3 rocket,
capable of reaching Israel and U.S. forces stationed in the Middle East,
or a different missile.

"This strategic missile was successfully test-fired during military
exercises by the Revolutionary Guards and delivered to the armed forces,"
Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani was quoted as saying.  He described the new
missile, saying it has an "unprecedented range, destructive power,
accuracy and launching time" that can meet all threats -- from both within
the region and beyond.

Earlier this month, Israel said it was buying from the United States about
5,000 smart bombs, including 500 1-ton bunker-busters that can destroy
6-foot-thick concrete walls.

Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi has warned that Tehran would react
"most severely" to any Israeli strike against its nuclear facilities.

In August, Iran said it test fired a new version of its Shahab-3 ballistic
missile. Iran's Defense Ministry did not give its range, but Israeli
sources in Jerusalem later said it could reach targets more than 1,200
miles away, or 400 miles farther than its previous range.

The development of the Shahab, whose name means "shooting star" in
Persian, has raised fears in Israel about possible attack by the Iranian
government, which strongly opposes the Jewish state's existence.

Assessment:

Although Tehran denies having a nuclear weapons program, it makes no bones
about its expectations of an Israeli strike against its nuclear
facilities.  Because, should Iran become an operationally nuclear power,
Israel WILL attack.

That is as certain as sunrise.  Israel didn't buy 'bunker-buster' smart
bombs for use against the Palestinians. It is equally certain that the mad
mullahs in Iran are working feverishly to develop nuclear weapons,
official denials notwithstanding.

And it fits too neatly into Bible prophecy to be coincidence.  Iran's
nuclear program began with the Russian construction of the first nuclear
power plant in Bushehr. The deal is worth at least thirty billion dollars
to the Russians, and Russia's economic situation is desperate.  The
Russians would take a dim view of Israel blowing up their investment.

And according to Paul Leventhal of the Nuclear Control Institute, the
Bushehr reactor could produce a quarter ton of plutonium per year, which
Leventhal says is enough for at least 30 atomic bombs.

The prophet Ezekiel outlined a future invasion of Israel, at a time when
the Jews are at last regathered as a nation on 'the mountains of Israel'.
(38:8)

Ezekiel lists those nations who assemble against Israel, led by 'Gog and
Magog' (the historic names for what is the modern Russian Federation)
followed by those nations who make up the invasion alliance.

The FIRST country listed by Ezekiel after Gog-Magog is Persia -- the name
by which Iran was known until the early 20th century. Other nations named
in the alliance include Libya, the Muslim states of North Africa and the
Middle East, and portions of extreme Eastern Europe (Gomer and all his
bands) (38:5-7)

Explicitly excluded from the invasion alliance are Sheba and Dedan,
(historically Saudia Arabia and Kuwait) and the 'merchants of Tarshish' --
(the Western economic powers).  And while Ezekiel says they don't
participate, their only response to the invasion is a weak diplomatic
protest. (38:13)

The reason for the invasion is given from God's perspective; "I will bring
thee forth" (38:4) after "things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think
an evil thought" (38:10) but Ezekiel doesn't explain exactly what that
'evil thought' is -- just that it results in an attempted invasion of
Israel.

Ezekiel describes the battlefield, again from God's perspective, saying,

"For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath have I spoken, Surely in
that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; So that the
fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the
field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men
that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at My presence, and the
mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every
wall shall fall to the ground." (38:18-20)

The description provided is, as I've noted, from God's perspective -- that
is to say, Ezekiel explains it from His vantage point.  But from the human
perspective, it sounds very much like the description of a battle fought
using weapons of mass destruction:

"And I will call for a sword against him throughout all My mountains,
saith the Lord GOD: every man's sword shall be against his brother. And I
will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain
upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him,
an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone." (Ezekiel
38:22-23)

The only detail that Ezekiel doesn't provide about the Gog-Magog invasion
is a political reason for why they invade in the first place.

An Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear facililities would fill in the
blanks nicely.

The Bible indicates that the Gog Magog invasion of Israel takes place at
some point early in  the Tribulation Period, at a time when Israel is
again a 'land of unwalled villages'.   Israel's defensive 'wall' could
come down as quickly as it is going up,  but that hasn't happened yet.

But Ezekiel's invasion scenario sounds like something one would find
outlined by intelligence analysts at Global Security.org or the Stratfor
Intelligence website, based on the current situation, as a probable
scenario for the near future.

It seems unlikely to be 'coincidence'.