THE 4TH OF JULY
We recently received an interesting article over the Internet, titled, “Our Founding Fathers,” pertaining to the U.S. Independence Day of July 4th. We would like to share the following excerpts from this article with you:
“Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?
“Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.
“They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
“What kind of men were they?
“Twenty-four were lawyers… Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.”
NUCLEAR ATTACKS ON THE USA
The WorldNetDaily published on Monday, June 30, 2003, a frightening article, titled, “Reigning death on U.S. Cities?” Author Jon Dougherty discussed the threats of nuclear attacks from other nations, and what the United States could do about them.
One possible scenario “involves destruction of American cities and perhaps tens of thousands of American lives lost. To prevent such devastation, the Bush administration has embarked on an ambitious plan to deploy a multifaceted, multi-layered missile-defense system that is intended to shield the continental United States, its armed forces and its overseas possessions from ballistic-missile attacks.”
The article pointed out that “more nations worldwide are opting to buy or develop intercontinental ballistic missiles and tip them with nuclear weapons, say intelligence experts, which has fueled calls in the U.S. for developing and deploying a shield against ICBM threats. Included in that list are ‘axis of evil’ members Iran and North Korea, the latter already reportedly possessing a limited number of nuclear warheads, U.S. intelligence officials warned Japan in March. Pyongyang [North Korea] is also developing intercontinental ballistic-missile technology – most likely with Chinese help – to deliver them. Iran, meanwhile, is also working hard to develop nuclear and ICBM capability, say U.S. intelligence officials.”
The article continued that “Bob Smith, a space and communications division spokesman for Boeing, told WorldNetDaily in 1999 that ‘at least 30 nations are known to have more than 10,000 theater ballistic missiles in their arsenals, and the threat is growing daily.’ Several of these countries are also known to be pursuing development or to have developed nuclear, chemical and biological capabilities for their missiles, he said… While most of the world’s great powers – Europe, Russia, India and China, along with Pakistan and Israel, both of which are also nuclear-armed – are allies of the U.S. and not hostile, these nations also produce their own modern short-, medium-, and long-range ballistic missiles. Ominously, many sell these weapons to other potentially threatening nations like Iran and North Korea.”
The article also stated, “Both China and Russia have sold missiles and missile technology to client states Pakistan, Iran and other nations in the Middle East, U.S. intelligence reports. And these client states are using the technology to advance their own domestic offensive ballistic missile capability… Brazil, meanwhile, is rapidly becoming one of the world’s largest exporters of weapons. It has a mature space-launch vehicle program begun in the 1960s.”
One can only imagine what might happen when some of the nations, which are presently allies of the United States, turn against the U.S. Although many observers cannot or refuse to imagine that the United States could ever be defeated by its enemies, they make the terrible mistake of only looking at the “here and now” — the “status quo.” They DENY the clear word of Biblical prophecy, and in doing so, they DECEIVE their unsuspecting listeners and followers, preaching to them a FALSE SECURITY, as well as peace and lasting prosperity, while the doomsday clock is ticking. You might want to read, in this context, prophetic warnings about false preaching in our time, as well as the terrible consequences for those who accept such preaching, as recorded in Jeremiah 8:11, 15. At the same time, you may also want to note the reaction by misled people, as prophesied in Jeremiah 6:17, when they hear the true warning message.
SAUDIS LOOKING TO GO NUCLEAR
In a related article, published by the WorldNetDaily on June 22, the question was asked what nuclear goals Saudi Arabia is pursuing. It was pointed out that “Saudi Arabia is already thinking nuclear… The Saudi royal family is alarmed by the prospect of its next-door neighbor having a nuclear bomb, U.S. intelligence analysts say. The Saudis were spooked enough by Iraq’s nuclear program. But Iran is a Shiite state and has long fomented the large Shia minority in the eastern part of the Saudi kingdom. In addition, most of Saudi Arabia’s oil and natural gas reserves are in its Shiite-populated Eastern Province. Saudi Arabia has been secretly obtaining help from Pakistan for its missile and nuclear program, the analysts report. Riyadh helped finance Pakistan’s nuclear program precisely to ensure that the royal family will have a bomb in case of an emergency.”
INSIDE THE USA — AS THE GERMAN PRESS SEES IT
On June 28, the German tabloid, Bild Online, ran an in-depth article on the current situation in the United States, analyzing the chances for President Bush to be re-elected in November of 2004. Bild Online is a conservative, pro-American paper. We bring you experts from the paper’s analysis:
“Re-election of President Bush (56) is largely dependent on the question whether he will be able to solve the economic problems in his country. If not, the same fate could await the victor of the gulf war in 2003, as happened to his father (79) who won the gulf war in 1991, and who lost a year later to democratic outsider Bill Clinton. Presently, 62 percent of the Americans are still pleased with the work of their president, according to a poll in CNN and USA Today…
“Questions in the U.S. are getting louder: Where are the weapons of mass destruction, which were the cause for the invasion [in Iraq]? 1400 U.S. inspectors have so far not found any such weapons. Why don’t we find Saddam? Where is Bin Laden? Why is it that our secret services, with their budget of 30 billion dollars, cannot find the two? Why do our soldiers still die in Iraq, although the war is over? More than 50 died since May 1…
“Critical, though, is the economy. The current results of the Bush Administration are not rosy. The unemployment rate climbed from 4.2 to 6.1 percent, which is not much for German standards, but which is much for American standards.
“Since Mr. Bush has ruled as the 43rd American President, the Dow Jones index has fallen by 1,100 points. This has had serious consequences for many retirees who invested in stocks and bonds.
“The USA is heavily in debt… In spite of recent tax cuts, only 10 percent of the U.S. citizens believe, according to a poll of the Washington Post, that they are doing better financially than under Bill Clinton; 48 percent believe that they are doing worse…
“Whoever will compete with President Bush needs to be hopeful that history repeats itself. Bill Clinton won the fight for the White House against Bush Senior with the slogan, ‘It’s the economy…'”
MORE ON EUROPE
As MSNBC News reported on July 2, “Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi sparked fury in the European Parliament on Wednesday when he appeared to compare a German lawmaker with a Nazi concentration camp commander. The incident caused uproar in the house and completely overshadowed Berlusconi’s presentation of Italy’s priorities for its six-month presidency of the European Union, which began on Tuesday. Berlusconi lost his cool in response to criticism of an alleged conflict of interest between his political office and his extensive Italian media interests by German Socialist MEP Martin Schulz. ‘Mr. Schulz, I know there is in Italy a man producing a film on the Nazi concentration camps. I would like to suggest you for the role of leader. You’d be perfect,’ Berlusconi exclaimed to jeers in the chamber. He refused to withdraw the remark when given the opportunity by European Parliament President Pat Cox, who expressed regret at the offense caused to Schulz…
“EU lawmakers were stunned by the vehemence of Berlusconi’s response to a debate in which numerous left-wing and Green members of parliament raised concerns about Berlusconi’s suitability to head the 15-nation bloc. The Italian leader, who had been on trial for allegedly bribing judges over a 1980’s business deal, has just rushed a law through parliament granting himself and other top state officials immunity from prosecution while in office.”
In spite of European attempts to bring about European unity, outbursts like the one described herein show the fragile nature of the relationships between certain European allies. The Bible predicts that the final unified ten core nations will still constitute a “divided kingdom” (Daniel 2:41), but that “the strength of the iron will be in it” (same verse). The final United Europe will be “partly strong and partly fragile” (Daniel 2:42). Still, in times of need and necessity, the ten leading nations of Europe will be “of one mind” to give their power and authority to a charismatic political leader (compare Revelation 17:12-13).
Much has been speculated as to who this final leader will be. Given the times we are living in, it is highly likely that this leader already exists on the political scene. We also find it remarkable that the draft of a European constitution provides for the more permanent office of a European President and of a Foreign Minister. According to Spiegel Online of June 29, 2003, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has already determined who should become the next German foreign minister, after Joschka Fischer has gone to Brussels. Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, was quoted as saying, “‘I admire very much Joschka Fischer’s European involvement and his political qualities, but I believe it is too early to speculate at this time about candidates for the position [of European Foreign Minister].'” He continued, “‘A European Foreign Minister is an important achievement. We need an effective voice in order to represent a European foreign policy to the world.'”
Of course, there is still Austria’s Joerg Haider. He has mentioned in the past that he would not mind going to Brussels. At the moment, he is busy trying to become the next elected Austrian Chancellor. Then, there are other possible candidates for both positions of European President and European Foreign Minister. Only time will tell as to who will fill those positions. The Bible is very explicit, however, that the final European leader will be of German descent, that is, he could be a German or an Austrian. At this time, we are called upon to carefully watch the developments in Europe.
