French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has warned that the world must prepare for war with Iran. His comments come just days after the US military expressed similar concerns, that the diplomatic initiative had failed and that the time has now come to prepare for military action.

Quote: "The nuclear Iranian crisis forces the world "to prepare for the worst" which "is war," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Sunday evening, while emphasizing that negotiations should still be the preferred course of action. Kouchner, quoted by French daily Le Figaro, added that "Iran does whatever it pleases in Iraq ... one cannot find in the entire world a crisis greater than this one."

Despite the talk of war, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said that the United States is still pursuing the diplomatic option. Britain, France and the US are pressing for more sanctions to be brought against Iran, while Germany has advised against imposing further sanctions, preferring instead to wait and see if a deal between the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran will bear fruit. Russia and China have also expressed their opposition to further sanctions being imposed. Senior defence and intelligence officials have stated that the US has concrete plans for a strike on Iran, involving some 2000 targets comprising of both nuclear facilities and military installations. According to the officials, the US has two contingency plans for a strike on Iran. One is to bomb nuclear facilities only, while the second would involve a three day bombing campaign which would destroy Iran's military infrastructure, limiting its ability to respond to the attack.

Quote: "Pentagon and CIA officers said that such a war would come to pass as a result of a "carefully calibrated program of escalation" that would lead to a "military showdown with Iran," the officials told the newspaper. This scenario could arise once it was apparent that diplomatic efforts with the country were hopeless. When Iran would be internationally denounced for its interference in Iraq, the US could conduct cross border raids on Iranian training camps and bomb factories. The report said that the raids would provoke a "major Iranian response" that could result in a halt to Gulf oil supplies; this in turn, said experts, would provide legitimacy to strike Iran's nuclear facilities and armed forces.

Source Jerusalem Post

Britain's Sunday Times newspaper has published more details on Israel's daring raid into Syrian territory last week. The raid has been the subject of intense media speculation following Syria's announcement that Israeli aircraft had penetrated its airspace. The Israeli government refused to comment on the incident. Syria, Iran and North Korea protested the Israeli action, calling it a violation of Syrian sovereignty, and vowed to take the matter before the United Nations. A few days ago, US officials confirmed that Israel had carried out a strike in Syria, but could not reveal what the target was. A US Defence Department official stated that the target was most likely nuclear related and involved North Korea. Later revelations surfaced that Syria may be co-operating with North Korea on the construction of a nuclear facility on its territory. Now it appears that the Israeli strike was planned months in advance, after it was discovered that Syria was planning to acquire a nuclear warhead from North Korea.

Quote: "The paper quoted Israeli sources as saying that planning for the strike began shortly after Meir Dagan, chief of the Mossad intelligence agency, presented Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in late spring with evidence that Syria was seeking to buy a nuclear device from North Korea. Dagan apparently feared such a device could eventually be installed on North-Korean-made Scud-C missiles, the paper reported. Advertisement "This was supposed to be a devastating Syrian surprise for Israel," the Sunday Times quoted an Israeli source as saying. "We've known for a long time that Syria has deadly chemical warheads on its Scuds, but Israel can't live with a nuclear warhead."

In preparation for the strike, Israel had diverted its new Ofek 7 satellite from Iran, and was photographing a facility in the northern region of Syria. The facility was an agricultural research centre on the Euphrates river, which Israel feared was being used to obtain Uranium from phosphates. On September 6th, a North Korean shipment bound for Syria labelled as cement was picked up by Israel. Suspecting the shipment may contain nuclear equipment, the green light was given to the IDF to strike. Only a few government ministers knew about the planned operation, and pilots involved in undertaking the mission were briefed after take-off. An IAF commando unit had been flown into the region a few days prior to the strike, ready to aim lasers at the buildings to guide the missiles to their targets. The IDF doubled its forces on the Golan Heights last month, in preparation for a retaliation from Syria. This lead Russia and Syria to believe that Israel was planning to attack the Golan Heights. But these defences were removed days before the strike occurred, over fears that their presence could actually escalate tension in the region. 

Once again, thanks to Israel the Middle East is a safer place. But the Bible states that possibly during the tribulation period, a war with Syria will erupt which will result in the complete destruction of Damascus. Israeli officials have confirmed that Israel may use nuclear weapons to defend itself if its existence is threatened. My guesses are the city of Damascus will most likely be one of those targets.

Isaiah 17:1-3
The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid. The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.

Source Haaretz, Times Online

Quote: "The new information, particularly images received in the past 30 days, has been restricted to just a few senior officials under the instructions of national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley, leaving many in the intelligence community unaware of it or uncertain of its significance, sources told the Washington Post on condition of anonymity. A White House spokesman and the Israeli Embassy declined to comment Wednesday after several days of inquiries. A Syrian Embassy spokesman told the Washington Post he could not immediately provide a statement. The New York Times first reported on the intelligence linking North Korea and Syria. Since the alleged Israeli attack in Syria occurred, the Israeli government has refused to divulge any details, but a former Israeli official said he had been told that it was an attack against a facility capable of making unconventional weapons.

Frustration is also growing with Iran, as efforts to impose tougher sanctions on the state are opposed by the European Union. The international community has tried everything in its power to diplomatically resolve the nuclear stand off. Iran has repeatedly stalled talks held by the EU, rebuffed Javier Solana's package of incentives and threatened to harm US interests worldwide if sanctions are imposed against it. The diplomatic approach has failed with Iran, for President Ahmadinejad is bent on obtaining nuclear weapons and destroying the Jewish state. President Ahmadinejad believes that worldwide chaos will hasten the appearance of the Mahdi, the Islamic "Messiah", who will conquer Jerusalem and install a global caliphate. According to intelligence analysts, Iran may only be a few years away from possessing enough Uranium to manufacture a nuclear weapon. As a result the US military is preparing for the eventual breakdown of the diplomatic approach, and a US strike on Iran's nuclear facilities could come in as soon as 8-10 months. 

Quote: "According to the report, Germany's decision has spurred senior US army officials to try and convince US Foreign Secretary Condoleezza Rice to abandon once and for all the diplomatic route of preventing a nuclear Iran. The report further stated that the date of preference for an attack against Iran is in eight to 10 months - after the US presidential candidates for both the Democrats and the Republicans have been chosen, but before the major presidential campaign kicks off.

Previous Iranian Ayatollahs have boasted that it would only take one weapon to destroy Israel, while any Israeli response would only inflict limited damage on Iran due to the country's immense size. It is imperative that Iran does not acquire a single tactical nuclear warhead. Former Iranian President Hashemi-Rafsanjani, elected this month as chairperson of the Iranian Assembly of Experts which overseas the work of the Supreme Ayatollah, had this to say about Israel and Islam's efforts to acquire nuclear weapons...

Quote: ""If a day comes when the world of Islam is duly equipped with the arms Israel has in possession, the strategy of colonialism would face a stalemate because application of an atomic bomb would not leave anything in Israel but the same thing would just produce damages in the Muslim world", Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani told the crowd at the traditional Friday prayers in Tehran.

Source Jerusalem Post, Haaretz, Jerusalem Post, Iran Press Service, Muslim News

A US Defence Department official has told the New York times that he believes Israel has photographed nuclear installations in Syria within the past few weeks, and that this may have been the reason for the recent Israeli infiltration into Syrian airspace. The Israeli government has so far refused to comment on the event, which has drawn criticism from the Syrian government, Iran and a surprising rebuff from North Korea. 

Quote: "Spokesman of Iranian foreign ministry Thursday evening condemned the violation of the Syrian airspace by the Zionist military planes. According to information and press department of the ministry, Mohammad-Ali Hosseini, the ministry's spokesman, said this brazen and provocative act was aimed at extending the internal crises of the Zionist regime to regions beyond the Palestine land and expanding insecurity in the region, as well as diverting the public attention from the disastrous consequences of their resounding defeat in their 33-day long war against Lebanon.

Quote: ""This is a very dangerous provocation little short of wantonly violating the sovereignty of Syria and seriously harassing the regional peace and security," a spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying by the Korean Central News Agency. "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea strongly denounces the above-said intrusion and extends full support and solidarity to the Syrian people in their just cause to defend the national security and the regional peace," he added.

According to the US Defence official, Israel believes North Korea is shipping nuclear material from its facilities to Iran and Syria, and this strike was aimed at intercepting those shipments. CNN has reported that the US government was pleased with the operation, and are "happy to have Israel convey to both Syria and Iran the message that they can get in and out and strike when necessary". If indeed the target was nuclear related, that may explain Syria's rather subdued response to the so-called provocation. It may also explain the profound silence from Western nations on this issue... perhaps they are hoping Iran will be taking notes. And as Iran continues down the path of nuclear armament, it seems that it will be left to Israel to make the first move, before all the Middle East is at the mercy of an Iranian Mullah.

1st Chronicles 12:32
And of the children of Issachar, [which were men] that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them [were] two hundred; and all their brethren [were] at their commandment.

Source Haaretz, IRNA

Russia has announced it has tested what it is calling the "Father Of All Bombs", a massive "vacuum bomb" that it is claimed has the destructive power of a nuclear blast but without the radiation. The Russians named the device after America's "Mother Of All Bombs", officially named the "Massive Ordinance Air Bomb". The announcement was made by the Russian deputy armed forces chief of staff Alexander Rukshin on ORT First Channel television. The news report showed a Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bomber dropping the bomb on a testing ground. A large explosion followed, which scorched the earth within the vicinity of the blast and levelled a multi-storey block of flats...

Quote: "Such devices generally detonate in two stages. First a small blast disperses a main load of explosive material into a cloud, which then either spontaneously ignites in air or is set off by a second charge. This explosion generates a pressure wave that reaches much further than that from a conventional explosive. The consumption of gases in the blast also generates a partial vacuum that can compound damage and injuries caused by the explosion itself. "The main destruction is inflicted by an ultrasonic shockwave and an incredibly high temperature," the reports said. "All that is alive merely evaporates." Rukshin said: "At the same time, I want to stress that the action of this weapon does not contaminate the environment, in contrast to a nuclear one."

I don't know whether it will be such a weapon as this or if it will be a nuclear explosion, but the Bible states in Ezekiel that such a destructive weapon will be used during Russia's invasion of Israel, as foretold in Ezekiel 38-39. At the commencement of the Six Day War, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser boldly proclaimed, "The armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon are poised on the borders of Israel ... while standing behind us are the armies of Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait, Sudan and the whole Arab nation. This act [the destruction of Israel] will astound the world". The Israeli response did astound the world, as through God's help Israel destroyed the armies of Egypt, Jordan and Syria within a few days. In the not too distant future the Arab armies will once again launch an attack on Israel, and once again the entire world will shake at God's presence. Then shall God be sanctified in the eyes of all nations.

Ezekiel 38:18-21
And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, [that] my fury shall come up in my face. 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. 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.

Source Reuters