While much of our attention in recent days has been focused on discussing   
   the ongoing nuclear threats emanating from the nuclear reactors in   
   Fukushima, Japan, the situation in North Africa and the nations of the   
   Middle East likewise continues to deteriorate, as various national   
   governments continue to take violent action against their own citizens in   
   order to preserve the status quo.   
      
   In thinking about everything that is going on right now, I was again   
   reminded of Jesus' words when He prophesied the following in the Gospel of   
   Matthew:   
      
   "And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled:   
   for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation   
   shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be   
   famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are   
   the beginning of sorrows." Matthew 24:6-8, KJV   
      
   As some of you will know, a number of years ago, I in fact wrote a   
   fourteen-part series -- entitled "Fulfilled Prophecy: The Beginning Of   
   Sorrows" -- which centers around those very verses, and which seeks to   
   demonstrate -- by offering verifiable data from a variety of respected   
   government and academic sources -- that Jesus's words are indeed coming to   
   pass in our modern day.   
      
   Concerning "wars and rumours of wars", as most of you will know by now, on   
   Friday, March 18th, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution   
   1973, which authorizes member states to use all means necessary -- including   
   military force -- to protect the civilian population of Libya from the   
   military onslaughts of their unhinged dictator, Moammar al-Gaddafi. Among   
   other things, Resolution 1973 authorizes a no-fly zone over Libya, as well   
   as aerial bombardment of the Libyan government's military assets.   
      
   As I write this, even now Gaddafi's forces are nearing the rebel stronghold   
   of Benghazi on the Mediterranean coast in eastern Libya. While the   
   government of Moammar al-Gaddafi has supposedly declared a cease-fire, the   
   primary members behind the United Nations resolution -- the United States,   
   Great Britain and France -- are taking the Libyan leader's declaration of a   
   cease-fire with a grain of salt, and have insisted that actions on the   
   ground will be required, in order to persuade them to halt the impending   
   military assault against Libya.   
      
   It is interesting to note that five of the fifteen members of the UN   
   Security Council -- Brazil, China, Russia, India and Germany -- abstained   
   from the vote, possibly due to their own ties to the government of Libya,   
   and other strategic considerations.   
      
   While the civilian populations of Tunisia and Egypt continue to work towards   
   building new democratic governments in their lands, protest movements in   
   other nations of the Middle East are not faring nearly as well. Latest media   
   reports indicate that approximately forty-five protesters were killed on   
   Friday by government security forces in Sana, Yemen. In Sunni-controlled   
   Bahrain, Friday also saw the government destroying a monument at the center   
   of the Pearl Roundabout in the capital city of Manama, which had become a   
   symbol of pro-democracy for the protesters. What may come next in Bahrain is   
   anyone's guess.   
      
   Concerning United Nations Resolution 1973 and the involvement in, and   
   commitment of the American government to the same, I have very mixed   
   emotions. Obviously, like most other law-abiding, decent people, I am   
   opposed to any government which oppresses, persecutes and kills its own   
   citizens, and my heart truly goes out to those people who are victimized by   
   the same.   
      
   However, at the same time, as a peace-loving Christian who abhors all manner   
   of violence and war in accordance with Jesus' own teachings -- Matthew   
   26:52, John 18:36, etc. -- I must question the wisdom, legality and   
   motivations behind the Obama administration making this decision. In recent   
   days, certain officials of the Obama administration have publicly stated   
   that Libya is not a "vital national interest", yet once again, we find the   
   American government becoming embroiled in yet another foreign war,   
   supposedly motivated by humanitarian concerns.   
      
   Of course, as I have stated many times before, the very fact that the US   
   government is now supporting these democracy movements and revolutions in   
   the nations of North Africa and the Middle East stinks terribly of   
   hypocrisy; because in some cases, for decades the American government has   
   supported the very same thugs and dictators which it is now condemning and   
   helping to remove from power. American administration after American   
   administration basically ignored the atrocities that these despicable   
   leaders where committing against their own people, all for the sake of   
   keeping the oil flowing, and maintaining some level of peace and stability   
   in the Middle East.   
      
   What I also find troubling is the fact that this new war has not received   
   congressional approval -- as is mandated by American law -- and neither does   
   it have overwhelming public support either. Furthermore, by even committing   
   itself to Resolution 1973, the United States -- and other UN member nations   
   -- are basically declaring war on a sovereign nation. While these   
   governments may attempt to cloak their actions under the umbrella of   
   humanitarianism -- and there is indeed some legitimacy to this claim -- the   
   bottom line is that they are continuing the questionable policy of previous   
   American presidents; and that is forceful regime change.   
      
   While UN Resolution 1973 clearly prohibits the deployment of ground troops   
   in Libya, as other writers have already noted, and as recent history in Iraq   
   and elsewhere clearly demonstrates, an aerial assault is never enough to   
   achieve military objectives. Sooner or later, unless the rebel forces in   
   Libya are able to achieve military superiority, the American government --   
   and other UN member states -- will be forced to commit ground troops to   
   Libya.   
      
   While US president Barack Obama has pledged that this is not going to   
   happen, the situation on the ground may soon force his hand, whether he   
   likes it or not, and America will find itself embroiled in at least three   
   foreign wars all at the same time. In the meantime, competitors such as   
   Russia and China -- who abstained from the UN vote -- will sit back and   
   watch as the United States continues to spread itself thin, and depletes its   
   military assets. Then what?   
      
   While Barack Obama obviously recognizes some of the serious mistakes that   
   have been made in Iraq, it seems that against his better judgment, he has   
   allowed pressure from his critics -- who have painted him as being weak --   
   to control his decision to support and promote UN Resolution 1973. While   
   other nations -- including a few Arab League nations -- have pledged to go   
   the distance with the USA, if recent history is any indication, the United   
   States may very well find itself holding the bag at the end of the day, as   
   the Libyans -- who are divided by their loyalties to their individual tribes   
   -- struggle to create a united, democratic nation in a post-Gaddafi Libya.   
   Again, look at the ongoing nightmare between Sunnis, Shi'ites and Kurds that   
   is now Iraq, or look at the corrupt government in Afghanistan.   
      
   Furthermore, there is no doubt in my mind, that Western governments -- led   
   by the USA -- simultaneously involved in three wars in Muslim nations, is   
   not going to sit well with many Muslims around the world. Such involvement   
   only feeds and confirms their fears. Furthermore, it is this writer's view   
   that UN Resolution 1973 may basically amount to free advertising for   
   al-Qaeda, and similar Muslim extremist networks. Time will certainly tell.   
      
   Finally, it should be of concern to us all that with each passing year, the   
   United Nations appears to be more willing to become directly involved --   
   including militarily involved -- in the affairs of sovereign nations.   
   Between the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, and a military   
   force comprised of the forces of UN Security Council states, are we slowly   
   seeing the emergence of a One World Government whose decisions and actions   
   will override those of sovereign nations? If we stop to consider how much   
   the world is already connected through trade agreements, global financial   
   institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund,   
   intelligence databases, etc., the revelation of a One World Government does   
   not seem so far-fetched.   
      
   What do you think?   
      
      
      
   Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS  Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23   
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