A war with North Korea -- the American people aren't ready
When it comes to North Korea, much digital ink as has been spilled by yours truly on these very pages concerning the dangers and challenges ahead�demonstrated by North Korea�s latest missile launch�when it comes to dealing with and deterring the so-called �hermit kingdom.�
So, let me spare you hours of reading countless articles, op-eds, and tweets.
To be honest, there is only one thing you really need to know: A war with North Korea�meaning a full-blown, all out conflict where nuclear, chemical, biological and large amounts of conventional weapons are used�would be a war like no other.Such a conflict would be nothing like the First Gulf War, Yugoslavia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, the Second Gulf War or Libya.
One way to achieve such a result would be a North Korean attack on South Korea�s vast civilian nuclear infrastructure. Remember Chernobyl or the nuclear tragedy in Japan a few years ago? Well Pyongyang could weaponize such a disaster with ease.Oh no, this would be an epic conflict where millions of people on the Korean Peninsula, in Japan and even in the U.S. homeland could lose their lives in the most horrific of ways.
Some might call such talk fear-mongering. But I call it reality�and we need to face up to it. Now.
Accept this nightmare is all too real.
And thanks to administration after administration�Democrat and Republican�who decided taking on North Korea was just not worth the risk, who thought patience, appeasement or bribery were better choices, we now face a crisis with no easy solution.
While I have already gone into specific detail over just how horrific just a conflict would be thanks to war games I have conducted over the years, such a war would be waged on many different fronts and have many pathways towards a humanitarian disaster that this planet has not seen in decades.
For example, North Korea does not need to launch a full-out nuclear attack on America and its allies to kill scores of people�it just needs to get a little creative.
One way to achieve such a result would be a North Korean attack on South Korea�s vast civilian nuclear infrastructure. Remember Chernobyl or the nuclear tragedy in Japan a few years ago? Well Pyongyang could weaponize such a disaster with ease.
Seoul operates 24 nuclear power plants that could all come under North Korean attack. And while these plants are relatively far from the north, Kim Jong Un does not have to be a military mastermind to conceive of a way to destroy such nuclear reactors, spreading atomic materials across the Korean Peninsula and into Northeast Asia. With many of these facilities lumped together, Pyongyang could fire a salvo of missiles at these plants with devastating impact.
Or, Kim could utilize his special forces who could infiltrate the south from tunnels or who could already be in place, launching terror attacks against such facilities. If North Korea were to destroy just a few reactors, imagine multiple Chernobyl-style nuclear disasters while South Korean and U.S. forces are trying to fight North Korea�s other forces. With millions of people trying to flee the inevitable radioactive fallout, fear might just be Kim Jong Un�s best weapon.
Considering the dangers America and its allies face, the Trump Administration needs to do all it can to contain the North Korea threat. As I have said on a few occasions here, our best strategy is to eliminate any possible funds going into North Korea, driving up the costs for Kim to deploy his military assets and develop new even more dangerous weapons of mass destruction.
Team Trump should begin by asking for a new and much more robust sanctions package at the UN�something that makes Pyongyang finally pay for its risky actions. As an oil embargo is unlikely to pass and could destabilize the regime�something that could be even worse than a war�North Korea should be stopped from exporting its slave labor that it uses to make important hard currency, currency that of course goes into funding its military machine. Such a practice is nothing but revolting, and should have never been allowed in the first place.
President Trump should also announce that any entity that is caught helping the North Koreans evade sanctions, whether it�s Chinese banks or businesses or any private firm or entity from any nation, would be immediately banned from doing any business in the U.S.
In fact, President Trump should embrace a bipartisan bill crafted by Senators Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Cory Gardner, R-Colo., Ed Markey, D-Mass., Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, called the North Korean Enablers Accountability Act. The bill, if passed, would �ban any entity that does business with North Korea or its enablers from using the United States financial system, and impose U.S. sanctions on all those participating in North Korean labor trafficking abuses.� The president should push for such legislation to be passed without delay, but include a 30-day grace period so such entities could be given a chance to halt their activities. But after that, it�s time these entities suffer for enabling a regime that has as many as 200,000 in prison camps and treats their citizens like prisoners.
But whatever the Trump Administration decides to do�they need to do it now. Letting North Korea slip off our collective national security radar once again for whatever the other challenge of the day is would be a big mistake. We could end up paying for such a mistake with countless innocent American lives�a tragedy we have the power to avoid.
Harry J. Kazianis (@grecianformula) is director of defense studies at the Center for the National Interest, founded by former President Richard M. Nixon. Click here, for more on Mr. Kazianis.
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Iran buildup in Southern Syria - riposte for IDF drill - http://www.debka.com/article/26223/Iran-buildup-in-S-Syria---riposte-for-IDF-drill
Iran, Syria and Hezbollah sharpened their responses to the large-scale Israeli military war game against a potential Hezbollah invasion when, on Tuesday, Sept. 12, the drill began its second week with a simulated 30km-deep thrust into S. Lebanon - up to the Awali River.
Lebanese sources claimed that on Monday, Syria had fired S-200 missiles against two Israeli F-15 fighter bombers flying over the southern Lebanese port town of Sidon - but missed their targets. The Syrian missiles, they claimed, had been fired from "an air defense base in southern Syria."
This report was not confirmed by any other source. But it was accompanied by a photo on various Syrian social media, which claimed to depict the firing of these missiles and also presented a Lebanese military spokesman as saying that the Syrian missiles were fired at precisely 11.30 a.m. when the Israeli planes were over Sidon.
The Lebanese and Syrian media accounts are clearly coordinated.
If this episode actually happened, it would be a game changer, in that for the first time, Syria would have launched missiles from one of its bases against a purported Israel warplanes flying over Lebanon.
Even if the two allies were just sending a message to Jerusalem by drumming up an incident, it gains substance from its timing, i.e. five days after an Israeli air strike on Syria's chemical and missile weapons development facility, the Scientific Studies and Research Cemnter near Masyaf, 38 km west of the central town of Hama.
Syrian military sources are moreover reporting an onrush of Iranian officers, troops and military advisers to southern Syria. According to one official, "Many Iranians are deployed as advisers and police in southern Syria, especially in the de-escalation zones." Another Syrian official put it more plainly. "We have seen a big increase in the number of Iranian soldiers this month."
|debkafile's military sources confirm that these reports are partially correct. An Iranian military buildup indeed appears to be taking place on Syria's borders with Jordan and Israel, in response to Israel's mock thrust into Lebanon. But they are moving in on areas outside the de-escalation zones which are manned by Russian officers. Their tactic therefore is to entrench themselves in other parts of the southeastern Syria so that Russian, Iranian, Syrian and Hezbollah forces form a continuous, impermeable line along Syria's borders with Israel and Jordan.
On Sunday, Sept. 11, units of the Syrian army's 5th Corps moved in on large sections of the Jordanian border, including parts close to Israel.
Neither the IDF nor the Jordanian army interfered with any of these potentially menacing steps. They are seen by debkafile's military sources as a combined Syrian-Iranian-Hezbollah comeback for the IDF exercise, to demonstrate that, while Israel shows itself capable of invading Lebanon, the three allies have meanwhile become firmly ensconced on its northern border.
The next day, Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah boasted: "We have won the war in Syria. Our martyrs, wounded, captives and people are changing equations and writing the region's history, not just Lebanon's."
The Gathering Storm on Israel's Northern Borders - By Bob Feferman - www.timesofisrael.com
Over the past months, while the western media has been obsessed with the latest tweet of President Donald Trump, there have been disturbing developments in the Middle East. Storm clouds are gathering on Israel's horizon that will one day pose a grave danger to the security of Israel.
In a speech given this June, Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah warned that a future war with Israel, "...could open the way for thousands, even hundreds of thousands of fighters from all over the Arab and Islamic world to participate - from Iraq, Yemen, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan".
Nasrallah was not hallucinating.
Over the past years, the notorious Major General Qassem Suleimani, the head of the elite Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has been quietly working to create a land bridge from Tehran to the Mediterranean. The first stage of this project is to prop up the brutal regime of Syrian dictator, Bashar al-Assad.
Since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, Iran has provided the Assad regime with massive financial support, an endless supply of ammunition and weapons and tens of thousands of fighters from its Revolutionary Guard Corps and from its loyal proxy, Hezbollah. In addition, Iran has recruited, trained and deployed thousands of loyal Shia militants from Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere to Syria. Thanks to the more recent addition of Russian air power, the future of Bashar al-Assad now seems secure.
However, the new Syria will essentially be a protectorate of Iran. That means that Iran will dominate three Arab countries: Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. The result will change the face of the Middle East.
As veteran reporter Dexter Filkins wrote in The New Yorker, "The development is potentially momentous, because, for the first time, it would bind together, by a single land route, a string of Iranian allies, including Hezbollah, in Lebanon; the Assad regime, in Syria; and the Iranian-dominated government in Iraq. Those allies form what is often referred to as the Shiite Crescent, an Iranian sphere of influence in an area otherwise dominated by Sunni Muslims".
For Israel, the implications are very serious.
It is no coincidence that over the past months we have seen more disturbing developments that fit into this larger picture. Iran has been building factories for the production of long-range missiles in Lebanon and Syria. There is no doubt that the target of these missiles will be Israel.
Since the 2006 Lebanon War, Iran has resupplied Hezbollah with more than 120,000 rockets and missiles. Since Hezbollah already has a huge rocket arsenal, the question that begs to be asked is this: What is Iran up to now?
In July, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. General Gadi Eisenkot told a Knesset committee, the purpose of these factories is to upgrade the range and accuracy of the Hezbollah arsenal. At the same time, the presence of these factories in Lebanon and Syria will alleviate the need for Iran to transport these missiles over land since their convoys have often been the target of the Israel Air Force.
In addition, Israel has already expressed its concerns over the so-called "De-escalation Zones" agreed on by the U.S. and Russia in southwest Syria. These zones will allow Iran and its proxies a permanent presence near the border with Israel.
It does not take a leap of the imagination to envision a scenario in a few years where Israel could face the outbreak of hostilities with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and also fighting on a second front on Israel's border with Syria on the Golan Heights.
At that point, Israel would not only face Hezbollah fighters but the thousands of Shia militants from across the Middle East that Hassan Nasrallah referred to in his June speech. They could be easily transported to Syria and Lebanon via the new land route controlled by Iran. This potential force would be backed by an enhanced arsenal of 120,000 rockets including many more accurate, long-range missiles that could hit any target in Israel.
In addition to the danger of a war on two fronts on Israel's northern borders, there is always the possibility of a third front with Hamas in Gaza that is also supported by Iran.
Israel's concerns were recently conveyed to Washington by a high-level delegation of Israeli security officials. The delegation included Yossi Cohen, the head of Mossad, and Maj. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the head of Israel's Military Intelligence.
According to reporter Ronen Bergman, in their meeting with the National Security Council, the Israelis told their American counterparts, "We rushed here to warn of the deployment of Hezbollah, Iranian and Syrian forces; to explain exactly what's going on there. Without a significant change in your (the US) position, if you don't become more involved, tougher and more aggressive, you will leave the Middle East to the Iranians, under Russian auspices."
The international community must hold Iran accountable, not only for implementing the terms of the nuclear deal (JCPOA), but also for adhering to norms of international behavior. Normal nations don't build rocket factories for terrorist organizations.
Unless the United States, Europe and the international community wake up to the dangers posed by Iran's malign efforts in Iraq, Lebanon and Syria then Israel will be left on its own to deal with the implications of the gathering storm on its northern borders.
Israel Prepares to Confront the Hezbollah-Iran-Syria Axis - By Sean Savage - http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=1582
A recent purported Israeli airstrike against a Syrian chemical weapons facility has added another layer of complexity to an already combustible situation in Syria.
With the Sept. 7 airstrike of the "Scientific Studies and Researchers Center," believed to be producing chemical weapons and precision missiles in central Syria, fears are growing that Israel may be ready to act with greater impunity against Iranian, Syrian and Hezbollah targets which could ignite a larger regional war in an already devastated country.
At the same time, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been holding its largest military exercise in decades aimed at the threat from Hezbollah.
The exercise, involving tens of thousands of soldiers from all branches of the IDF including reserve forces, is overseen by the IDF's Northern Command. The drill simulates a scenario involving a rapid escalation with the Iranian terror proxy Hezbollah that progresses into a full-blown war, necessitating the IDF to defend Israel on all fronts.
Tony Badran, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JNS.org that Israel's airstrike in Syria and military exercises together shows Jerusalem's "seriousness and resolve, which backs up the statements Israel is making."
Aside from the significance of targeting a possible chemical weapons facility, Israeli strikes near the northwestern Syrian city of Hama is also consequential.
"[Israel's airstrike] was very important. Since the Russian intervention, they have not struck anywhere north of Homs, now they hit near a Russian base where there is frequent Russian activity," Badran said. "The idea is if the Iranians think they are going to establish military installations in close proximity to the Russias to deter the Israelis, they are wrong."
Badran added that Israel will not wait for the Russians and the Americans to cut a deal to accommodate Israel's core concerns.
"Israel is not going to shy away from taking direct action themselves."
Confronting Hezbollah-Iran-Syria axis
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman has made it clear Israel will not tolerate Iran and Hezbollah's actions in Syria.
"We are not looking for any military adventure in Syria but we are determined to prevent our enemies from harming, or even creating the opportunity to harm the security of Israeli citizens," Liberman told Israel's Radio FM 100 shortly after the airstrike. "Therefore, everything will be done to prevent the existence of a Shi'a corridor from Tehran to Damascus."
The airstrike follows a consistent pattern over the last few years of striking at advanced weaponry to prevent a transfer by Iran or Syria to Hezbollah.
Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting in Sochi to restrain Iran, saying he would take unilateral action to defend the Jewish state's interests.
At the same time, Israel has been urging Washington, which has been in negotiations with Russia over a Syrian ceasefire, to not allow a permanent Iranian presence in Syria.
In July, the U.S. and Russia agreed to establish two safe zones in Syria, including one near Israel's Golan Heights. However, Israel expressed unease about the agreement and disappointment that its security was not taken directly into consideration.
"[Israel's] position on Iran in Syria is far more comprehensive than the conversation between Russians and the U.S. That's too narrow as far as Israel is concerned," Badran said.
Similarly, in Lebanon the U.S. faces a challenge working with the Lebanon government, formally controlled by Sunni leader and Prime Minister Sa'ad Hariri, which is essentially controlled by Hezbollah, the most powerful actor in Lebanon.
The fundamental dilemma for the U.S. is any support for the Lebanese government or military ends up being unintended support for Hezbollah.
"Hezbollah dominates the Lebanese government from military officers to the cabinet and even the president," Badran explained. "The posture of the Trump administration vis-a-vie Iran and Hezbollah is different than Obamas, but the policy of U.S. support for the Lebanese government and armed forces continues."
Beefed up UNIFIL mandate?
While efforts to thwart Iran and Hezbollah's actions in Syria are ongoing, Washington and Jerusalem have attempted to target Hezbollah's activities in Lebanon as well.
Since the end of the Second Lebanon War in 2006, the mandate set by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 ends every year and is automatically renewed. This year, the U.S. and Israel demanded that United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) no longer turn a blind eye to Hezbollah's violations of the resolution.
U.S. Ambassador the United Nations Nikki Haley said, in a Jerusalem Post op-ed, the new changes to the mandate will make "UNIFIL step up its patrols and inspections which will help disrupt Hezbollah's illegal activity..." and also "require UNIFIL to report when it is prevented from seeing something it wants to inspect."
Despite Haley's optimism, Badran sees little positive change.
"Within the existing mandate, they [Security Council] asked for them to increase their visibility and do more to report should there be any obstacles to doing their job," Badran said. "There is an element of it being mildly strengthened, but it doesn't fundamentally alter anything, it doesn't mean they are going to disarm Hezbollah."
At the same time, it was also reported that Russia - heavily involved in the Syrian civil war since 2015 in support of the Syrian government - worked behind the scenes to protect Hezbollah during negotiations over the mandate, Haaretz reported.
Several new paragraphs related to Hezbollah's terror activity were initially added to the resolution's draft, but during negotiations, Russia reportedly threatened to veto it at the Security Council unless all references to the terror group were redacted.
While Israel remains deeply concerned about Iran and Hezbollah's actions both in Syria and Lebanon, Badran doesn't believe a major regional war looms on the horizon, at least not as we understand it.
"The way the Iranians will target Israel is how they always do it, through assets like Hezbollah, which use Iranian weapons, commanders, officers etc," he said.
What is Putin planning? Massive Russian war game set to launch Thursday on borders of three NATO countries & Ukraine - Joel C. Rosenberg -
Is Russia preparing to invade another European country, or simply training its forces to do so in the future?
That's the big question as Vladimir Putin prepares to launch a massive series of war games on Thursday dangerously close to the borders of three NATO member states - the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - as well as Ukraine, which Russia has invaded and occupied portions of twice since 2014.
While it sounds eerily similar to the plot of my forthcoming political thriller, The Kremlin Conspiracy, the exercise - code-named "Zapad-2017" (Zapad in Russian means "West") is all-too-real. It is set to begin on September 14 and conclude on September 20th, and tensions in the region are high.
Some says the concerns are overblown and that Moscow has no intention of using military force in Europe. Such skeptics need to be reminded, however, that in just the last decade, Putin has invaded Georgia (and occupies 20% of it), Ukraine (twice, and occupies Crimea and Eastern Ukraine), and has sent forces into Syria to prop up the bloodthirsty Assad regime that has slaughtered hundreds of thousands of its own people and driven nearly half the Syrian population from their homes.
The Economist calls this "Russia's biggest war game in Europe since the Cold War." That said, there is a dispute over just how big.
Moscow says only 12,500 troops will take part, most of which will operate in the country of Belarus, just south of the Baltics and just north of Ukraine. But "some Western analysts, and Baltic State governments...have expressed concerns that the exercise will in reality be significantly larger, involving between 60,000 and 100,000 military personnel," notes Janes Intelligence Review.
"According to the Baltic States, the last Zapad-series exercise in 2013 involved 75,000 military personnel, six times higher than Russia disclosed," says Janes.
Have the U.S. and other NATO commanders positioned enough forces, tanks, fighter jets and other defenses of their own to protect against a Russian blitz? I pray yes, but I'm not so certain.
According to a recent RAND Corporation analysis: "As currently postured, NATO cannot successfully defend the territory of its most exposed members. Across multiple games using a wide range of expert participants in and out of uniform playing both sides, the longest it has taken Russian forces to reach the outskirts of the Estonian and/or Latvian capitals of Tallinn and Riga, respectively, is 60 hours. Such a rapid defeat would leave NATO with a limited number of options, all bad: a bloody counteroffensive, fraught with escalatory risk, to liberate the Baltics; to escalate itself, as it threatened to do to avert defeat during the Cold War; or to concede at least temporary defeat, with uncertain but predictably disastrous consequences for the Alliance and, not incidentally, the people of the Baltics."
Estonia's Defense Minister Margus Tsahkna says NATO has intelligence suggesting Moscow may leave Russian soldiers in Belarus once the exercises are over, Reuters reports. He said Russia will use 4,000 railway carriages to transport its troops and equipment to Belarus, perhaps to establish a new Russia military base.
"For Russian troops going to Belarus, it is a one-way ticket," Tsahkna told Reuters in an interview in Malta. "This is not my personal opinion; we are analyzing very deeply how Russia is preparing for the Zapad exercises."
Meanwhile, "Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has described Russia's build-up for the exercise as 'preparations for an offensive war on a continental scale,'" reports the BBC, and Ukrainian defenses are being bolstered.
According to the BBC, Poroshenko believes Russia is "using the pretext of an exercise to mobilize and position forces to conduct offensive operations" and that "he could not rule out the possibility that the drill 'may be used as a smokescreen to create new Russian army assault groups to invade Ukrainian territory.'"
I'll definitely keep you posted as events unfold. In the meantime, please pray for safety and security for the people of the Baltics and Ukraine. Please also pray for wisdom for their leaders and the commanders of NATO.
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Hamas leader: Iran helping Hamas prepare for war with Israel - by Joel Gehrke -
Iran is helping terrorists in Gaza prepare for war with Israel, according to a leading Hamas official.
"Every day we build missiles and continue military training," Yahya Sinwar, a military leader recently voted prime minister of Hamas in Gaza, told reporters.
That effort derives significant support from Iran.
"The Iranian military support to Hamas and al-Qassam [the military wing of Hamas] is strategic," Sinwar said, per the Times of Israel.
Their renewed cooperation shows that Hamas and the Iranians have patched up a relationship that deteriorated when they disagreed over support for Syrian dictator Bashar Assad. It also points to how Assad and Iran's wins in Syria strengthens Israel's terrorist enemies.
Iran has long supported Palestinian terrorist groups as well as Hezbollah, a Lebanese terrorist group that controls territory north of Israel. Sinwar's comments bolster concerns that U.S. officials and Congressional observers have had about the conflict in Syria. Although most public discussions about the Syria crisis have focused on the threat of the Islamic State, or Assad's willingness to use chemical weapons against his own people, major world powers have seen a subtler long-term significance to the outcome of the conflict.
Russia and Iran have partnered to support Assad, who had been weakened by the combined threats of U.S.-backed rebels and the radical terrorists who formed the ISIS caliphate. With their help, Assad has recaptured rebel-held territory, while the United States has focused on the defeat of ISIS.
"Assad has won and he will stay [in power]," former U.S. ambassador to Syria Robert Ford told The National, an Australian paper, in a new interview. "He may never be held accountable, and Iran will be in Syria to stay. This is the new reality that we have to accept, and there isn't much we can do about it."
Russia has received, through Assad, access to a naval base on the Mediterranean. But Russian President Vladimir Putin's team has also worked to help Iran control land in Syria that will allow them to provide more supplies to terrorists in Lebanon.
"The coming period will witness military cooperation at a high level between Syrian and Iraqi government forces and their supporting units... made possible through Iranian military experts and in collaboration with the Russian air force in order to support the forces of the Syrian regime," a Russian military base announced in May, according to Foreign Affairs. "Apart from securing the highway connecting Damascus and Baghdad, this military campaign will be a race with the armed opposition, which is planning on establishing a buffer zone next to the Golan Heights and the Jordanian-Iraqi border with direct American support."
The Golan Heights is strategically important region that Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Such reports have alarmed U.S. foreign policy leaders. "One of my highest concerns is the Iranians' ability to get a land bridge out to the Mediterranean to increase their logistical support for terrorist networks," House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes told the Washington Examiner in June. "You've got the largest state sponsor of terrorism, Iran -- if they get the logistical capability to move massive amounts of weapons and equipment and God knows what else quickly to the west, it's a real danger."
That was the context for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opposition to Russia guaranteeing the stability of a ceasefire in southern Syria. But President Trump's team agreed to that demand.
"If [the Iranians] begin to build infrastructure which might be used against Israel in Syria and will connect this land corridor into Iraq and begin to move materials from this area into Syria, that will make the war inevitable," Yaakov Amidror, who counseled Netanyahu from 2011 to 2013, told reporters on a conference call hosted by The Israel Project.
Sinwar maintained that Hamas isn't looking for war in the near future, despite their determination to win "the liberation of Palestine" long-term. "[Hamas] takes every effort to avoid a war," he said. "At the same time we are not afraid of a war and are ready for it."
Israel Wipes Out Iranian Chemical-Bio Facility - By Kit R. Olsen - http://www.raptureready.com/2017/09/07/israel-wipes-out-iranian-chemical-bio-facility/
Get ready for the Rapture. Believers are one major step closer to going home.
Overnight, Israel destroyed the main chemical-biological facility run by Iran in the heart of Syria (September 7, 2017). The facility was used to develop chemical biological weapons as well as medium range missiles; this is the most intense and serious attack by Israel against Syria (Iran) in the last ten years; it is the same facility that Assad used to develop chemical weapons launched against his own people (under Iranian auspices and the knowledge of the Russians).
This information was reported from Galilee this morning by Amir Tsarfati, whom I have cited often in my writing since 2009. Ten years ago Israel destroyed the plutonium manufacturing nuclear reactor in Syria built and developed by the North Koreans.
The facility Israel just wiped-out in Syria was run and built by the Iranians and their proxies, Hezbollah. The location of the facility was close to a Russian air base. Incredibly and mysteriously, Israel was able to achieve this attack without Israeli aircrafts being detected by the Syrian system.
This situation is in a developmental stage. It is being reported that Prime Minister Netenyahu is saying even moderate Sunni Arabs are supporting this situation as they are all terrified of Iran and its ability to destroy the entire region. The word is coming out that Iran is promising a severe retaliation.
It is no coincidence that the Israelis have been having intense military drills in Northern Israel for days, most probably because they expect Iranian/Hezbollah retaliation for destroying their evil facility. The word is coming out now that Iran is promising a severe retaliation.
This is a huge prophetic development and an indication that the most biblically prophesied war, the battle of Ezekiel 38 and 39 (Gog-Magog) is getting closer. In my book, Israel's Guaranteed Future Glory, I wrote about some of the events that will lead up to this epic battle and how I would not be surprised if: "An incident involving some destruction of Iran's nuclear facilities is very possible in the near future, even before the Gog-Magog incursion."
The Israeli's just did that today on September 7, 2017 by attacking the main chemical and biological facility in Syria run by Iran and Hezbollah. The following is an excerpt from Israel's Guaranteed Future Glory, relating to this and other prophetic Middle East events.
The Timing of Isaiah 17
The destruction of Damascus is foretold in the book of Isaiah and Jeremiah. It is possible that Isaiah's prophecy could be fulfilled at the time of the Gog-Magog war, and actually be destroyed when God unleashes His mighty power as detailed in Ezekiel 38 and 39. Although it does seem like the destruction of Damascus could happen at any time, especially since Syria is engulfed in internal fighting. ISIS is on the move and the entire country is in serious trouble.
Some people think Damascus will be destroyed by a nuclear attack-which is possible during the Tribulation. But a major nuclear attack prior to the Tribulation would cause a great deal of radioactive fallout and cause too much damage in the entire area. Jerusalem is only 134 miles from Damascus. Even a tactical nuclear weapon could easily cause serious problems. Verse 1 states, "Damascus will be a ruinous heap." How this cataclysmic prophecy will be fulfilled is unknown. We cannot say for sure how this will happen or what God's plans are for the fulfillment of this prophecy.
ISIS and Muslim rebels have surrounded the ancient city of Damascus, and the entire country is in serious crisis barely holding on. (Since March 2015, Assad has steadily lost territory in the northwest, south, and central Syria to an array of groups including the Islamic State, the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, and rebels who profess a more moderate vision for Syria.)
Damascus is known to be a major hub for terrorists. Syria's involvement in the ongoing aggression to eliminate Israel will bring catastrophe to that nation. Additionally, current news reports point to extreme political and civil devastation continues to grow within Syria. As far back as 2007, Israeli intelligence discovered that in the desolate Syrian Desert, a facility was in the process of manufacturing nuclear weapons.
It was being aided by North Korea. Of course, Israel did what she had to do and sent a few jets overhead to take care of the problem. The Israelis were able to unscramble the radar so the visit was a complete surprise to the Syrians and everyone else involved, including Iran. It is often said that Syria is just Iran's proxy. Russia also, is a great ally and defender of Syria arming the anti-Israel neighbor with missiles and other weapons.
In February of 2011, Western Intelligence agencies discovered another nuclear plant in Syria, in a Damascus suburb. In addition, a German newspaper, the S�ddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), reported that it received photos of the site, but will not publish them because inferences can be made as to when they were taken, and thus to who leaked them. In addition, Washington's Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) published photos on February 23, 2011 of one of three more sites that are believed to be connected to the Al-Kibar facility destroyed in 2007, as reported in Arutz Sheva, Israel National News on February 24, 2011.
Never Underestimate Israel When Dealing with Iran
An incident involving some destruction of Iran's nuclear facilities is very possible in the near future, even before the Gog-Magog incursion. As difficult and challenging as it may seem strategically, Israel may find a way to take out the areas that house Iran's nuclear weapons programs such as the Fordo site located deep in the mountains of Iran, near the city of Qom or the area where the Bushehr nuclear plant that resides in Iran (Elam).
I have heard reports given by Amir Tsarfati, that Israel has been going into Syria, Iran's strategic ally, taking out some of their caches of weapons. It has been reported for years that Israeli war planes have targeted military sites including Dimas, 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) northwest of Damascus and located on the Damascus-Beirut road at the foothills of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains.
They also targeted Damascus International Airport, 25 kilometers east of the capital. Perhaps the Israeli's have some other clever clandestine strategies in mind to put an end to Iran's potential nuclear holocaust. I would not underestimate the Israeli's when it comes to protecting their homeland and their very existence.
Intense uprisings in the Middle East countries are quickly escalating. Iran is gaining more control of the entire region while its leaders are continuing to loudly threaten Israel and all Jews with comments like: "The Zionist regime will be wiped soon." Radicals are gaining strength, while traditional moderate Arab leaderships are weakening. Egypt has fallen apart and is in total chaos-a dangerous situation that most likely leading to an Iranian type extremist hard-line government-leading to its complete demise.
Lebanon, Israel's neighbor to the north has essentially been taken over by Iran gaining much closer proximity to Israel. Iraq is on the verge of being taken over by pro-Iran Shiite factions. It is very possible that Israel will defend herself against Iranian nuclear threats by using subterfuge or some kind of creative preemptive defense measures even before the battle of Ezekiel 38 and 39 takes place. We certainly are living in very perilous times in these last days.
It is impossible to keep up with the fast-moving events involving the Middle East. No doubt some of these situations are being methodically manipulated by those who have diabolical, hidden agendas and want to bring about "change." Change, that is not in the best interest of freedom-loving people. But God cannot be outwitted. He has the final say regardless of what governments, terrorists or pompous elitists try to do.
Arab Pundits Warn Iran Will Follow In Footsteps Of North Korea - by Ali Waked -
Arabic social media has been buzzing with commentary on the most recent nuclear test performed by North Korea, with many blaming the situation on the international community's nuclear deal with the Iranian regime.
Jamal Hweireb, an Emirati author who also serves as a government cultural adviser in Dubai wrote, "Iraq suffered a blockade for 13 years until 2003 when it was destroyed by Bush after he invented the lie about Iraq's atomic bombs all while giving a pass to two criminal countries, Iran and North Korea. Interesting."
Author, journalist and Syrian opposition figure Khatib Abdul actually expressed jealousy of Iran and North Korea, writing, "Iran declared that it will strengthen production of its missiles, North Korea has reached a hydrogen bomb all so that the West will take the two countries seriously. Us, the Arabs, what have we developed?"
Mahmoud Refaat, an international jurist from Egypt, wrote, "North Korea and Iran began their nuclear programs in the '90s. Iran took advantage of America's weakness and its difficulties when it invaded Iraq and developed its program and Korea is taking advantage of America's weakness now with Trump."
An exiled former Syrian government minister who opposed the regime of President Bashar Assad wrote, "Iran is applying the North Korean model in all regards to nuclear and ballistic armament and in all regards to its sectarian expansion in Iran, Yemen and Syria. Will we learn from our mistakes?"
Media personality Dr. Mahmoud Refaat wrote, "The hydrogen bomb was tested by the kid who controls North Korea while taking advantage of Trump's weakness as the weakest president ever in the White House. He did the test. Now he has a bomb and scares the U.S."
Director General of the Al Ummah Party in the United Arab Emirates, Hassan al-Diqqi, wrote, "Allah, may his name be blessed, is leading the tyrants of the world to their end through the actions of North Korea while they don't understand that this path will lead to their fall from power."
Senior Al Jazeera journalist Faisal al-Qasim wrote regarding China's condemnation of the test, "Here's a story, China protests the test of North Korea's hydrogen bomb. We really believe you; without you there wouldn't be a North Korea."
In an additional tweet, al-Qasim wrote, "Here's a story, Russia says it's seeking a diplomatic solution when it's clear to everyone that Moscow is the one inciting North Korea against the U.S. We've seen your diplomacy in Syria."
Abdullah al-Shayji, a political science professor at the University of Kuwait, warned that Iran may follow in the footsteps of North Korea, writing, "We will see a replay of North Korea's defiance of the international community through tests of nuclear weapons, hydrogen bombs and ballistic missiles by Iran within 10 years! How are we preparing for that day?"
An activist with the Muteb network wrote, "If Korea challenges the world, know that China wants something from the U.S. or from the international community. Korea is the hammer by which China strikes!"
Saudi activist Muhammad al-Subeyii wrote, "This stupid bear will make the world respect him and even compete to form an alliance with him. Whoever has weapons today, the whole world becomes his friend."
Russia said to reject Israeli plea to keep Iranians 60 km. from Golan frontier -
Putin reportedly agrees only that Iranian- and Iranian-backed fighters will stay 5 kilometers away
Russia has reportedly rebuffed an Israeli demand to ensure that Iranian forces and Iran-backed Shiite militants not be allowed to operate within 60-80 kilometers of the Syrian frontier with Israel in the Golan Heights.
Russia has reportedly rebuffed an Israeli demand to ensure that Iranian forces and Iran-backed Shiite militants not be allowed to operate within 60-80 kilometers of the Syrian frontier with Israel in the Golan Heights.
Russian has rejected the plea, according to reports Thursday on Israel's Channel 2 TV and in the Haaretz newspaper. Instead, it has committed only to keeping Iranian forces five kilometers from the Golan Heights frontier.
Israel had wanted a buffer zone of between 60 and 80 kilometers from the border on the Golan Heights, and has been repeatedly warning against Iran's military ambitions in the area, Tehran's bid to establish a territorial "corridor" all the way to the Mediterranean, and an increased Iranian presence on Israel's northern border.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposed the ceasefire deal, putting him publicly at odds with US President Donald Trump, since it did not sufficiently address Israel's security needs.
Israeli intelligence expects the Iranians to try to establish a military and intelligence presence closer to the border to allow for the opening of a second front against Israel in the event of another conflagration between the Jewish state and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah organization in Lebanon, Haaretz said.
It said Iran plows around $800 million per year into Hezbollah and additional hundreds of millions into the Assad regime in Syria, Shi'ite militias fighting in Syria and Iraq, and Shi'ite Houthi insurgents in Yemen. (It also supports the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror organizations in the Gaza Strip to the tune of $70 million annually.)
Israel sees attempts by Iran, Syria and Hezbollah to improve the latter's missile accuracy as a major threat.
A week ago, Israeli warplanes allegedly struck the Syrian military's Scientific Studies and Research Center (CERS) facility near Masyaf, in the northwestern Hama province, damaging several buildings and killing two Syrian soldiers.
Western officials have long associated the CERS facility with the production of precision missiles, as well as chemical weapons.
Over the past five years, Israel has carried out dozens of airstrikes within Syria, hitting conveys of weapons bound for Hezbollah, as well as weapons storage facilities.
It rarely acknowledges specific attacks. Last Thursday's operation was reported by foreign media.
On his current trip to Latin America, Netanyahu has stressed the dangers posed by Iran, through its quest for nuclear weapons, its involvement in conflicts across the region, and via terrorism.
The Iranians "have a terror machine that encompasses the entire world, operating terror cells in many continents," he said in Argentina on Tuesday. "In the case of Iran, it's not only merely terror but the quest for nuclear weapons that concerns us and should concern the entire international community. We understand the danger of a rogue nation having atomic bombs."
Israel will 'act to enforce' Syria red lines, its US ambassador says - By Ron Kampeas - https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-will-act-to-enforce-syria-red-lines-its-us-ambassador-says/
Ron Dermer: Jewish state won't tolerate Iranian presence on its border, will prevent delivery of advanced weapons to Hezbollah
Ron Dermer, Israel's ambassador to Washington, told a Rosh Hashanah event packed with US officials that Israel would enforce two red lines in the civil war in neighboring Syria: the transfer of major weapons to Hezbollah and the establishment of a permanent Iranian beachhead in the country.
"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been very clear about Israeli red lines in Syria and Israel has acted to enforce those red lines," Dermer said Tuesday evening at a Rosh Hashanah party at his residence in suburban Washington, DC. "The transfer of game-changing weapons to Hezbollah and the opening of a front" for anti-Israel terrorism.
The Netanyahu government has been wary of what the end-game could be of US efforts to end the war in Syria. There is a concern among Israelis - articulated most often by the defense minister, Avigdor Liberman - that the Trump administration might defer to Russia, which is allied with the Assad regime. Russia's Assad alliance means it is in a de facto alliance with Iran and its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, because they also are allied with the Assad regime.
In an attack Syria blamed on Israel, combat planes last week hit what is believed to be a chemical weapons facility in an Assad-held portion of western Syria. Israel has not acknowledged responsibility.
Dermer cast the intensification of Iranian influence in Syria as a consequence of Obama administration policies, particularly the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which traded sanctions relief for rollbacks in Iran's nuclear program. He said Iran hit the "double jackpot" with the deal, earning money while not truly giving up its nuclear ambitions, and has since used it to expand its influence.
Outside of concerns over the possible outcomes of the Syria civil war, Netanyahu and Dermer have made no secret of their preference for US President Donald Trump over former US president Barack Obama. Dermer twice said he was "deeply grateful" to the Trump administration for its role in brokering closer ties between Israel and Sunni Arab nations - a closeness spurred in part by shared concerns about Iran and Islamist terrorists - and for Nikki Haley's "unequivocal support" for Israel in the United Nations, where she is US ambassador. He called for applause for Jason Greenblatt, who was present and who is Trump's top negotiator.
Dermer expressed support for congressional legislation that would slash US funding for the Palestinian Authority as long as it continued payments to the families of Palestinians jailed for or killed attacking Israelis. In expressing support for Greenblatt's peace-brokering efforts, Dermer notably did not note that the centerpiece of the Trump administration's peace push is restarting talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Dermer said he anticipated a "dramatic change" in the US position on the Iran nuclear deal in coming weeks, saying there either would be changes to the deal or it would be scrapped. Trump has said he might not recertify Iranian compliance with the deal when he is due to do so next month.
Dermer did not mention anti-Semitism, in the United States or in Europe - notable at an event to which the embassy invites the US Jewish leadership. US Jewish organizations have repeatedly expressed alarm since Trump's election of the increasing influence of the "alt-right," a loose confederacy of anti-establishment conservatives that includes white supremacists, and also at the similar recent prominence of such views in Europe. They have also been alarmed at Trump's equivocation when called to condemn white supremacists.
Iran pays $830 million to Hezbollah
Iran pays $830 million to Hezbollah - Anna Ahronheim -
Iran is also "the largest backer financially and militarily'' to Hamas's militant wing.
Two years after the nuclear deal was signed by Iran and world powers, the Islamic Republic is reported to have boosted its financial support to Hezbollah to $800 million a year, a dramatic increase from the $200m. it was said to be giving its proxy when sanctions were in place.
Hezbollah, one of the most prominent terrorist organizations in the world, has become bogged down fighting in Syria for Bashar Assad. Of its approximately 22,000 fighters, about 7,000 are fighting for the Assad regime, and some 2,000 have been killed in the four years the group has spent in Syria.
The US and European countries lifted sanctions against Iran in January 2016, releasing roughly $100 billion in assets after international inspectors found that Iran had dismantled large parts of its nuclear program. According to US media, officials say President Donald Trump is ready to extend those waivers that were issued under the Obama administration.
According to IDF assessments, while Hezbollah has increased its military capabilities due to its fighting in Syria, the group has spread its troops across the entire Middle East and is hurting financially.
The finances of the Lebanese Shi'ite group, designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by dozens of countries around the globe, also has been hit hard due to years of sanctions by the United States.
In June, a US congressional committee met to discuss enhancing sanctions targeting Hezbollah met with four security experts for advice on additional legal actions against the group's financial network.
According to the committee, the 2015 Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act (HIPA), which threatens sanctions against anyone who finances the group in any significant way, was a good start but needs enhancing because Hezbollah continues to remain a significant threat to Israel.
Iran also is reported to be spending hundreds of millions of dollars for its militias in Syria and Iraq, as well as supporting Houthi rebels in Yemen who are fighting pro-government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition.
Although HIPA placed major restrictions and other measures of the Lebanese banking sector, lawmakers in Washington believe it needs to be widened to cripple the group, which is involved in fighting in those countries.
Tehran, which froze its financial support to Hamas in the Gaza Strip after the group refused to support the Assad regime in 2012, is now reported to be providing the Gazan terrorist group some $60m.-70m.
In August, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar said ties have been restored and that Iran is "the largest backer financially and militarily" to Hamas's military wing.
Meanwhile, the IDF on Thursday afternoon announced the end of the large-scale Or Hadagan military drill in northern Israel. The exercise, with tens of thousands of soldiers from all branches of the army simulating a war with Hezbollah, was the largest IDF drill in almost 20 years.
"The objective of the exercise was to improve the Northern Command, the Northern Corps and the ability of its divisions to fight the multi-branch operational system in the Northern Command, with an emphasis on the Lebanese front," the Spokespersons Unit said.
During the drill, large numbers of aerial, naval and land vehicles and equipment were used and troops were trained in joint exercises. Both defense and offensive capabilities, as well as fire power, intelligence and simultaneous military maneuvers were practiced in several sectors of the northern front.
The Home Front Command also practiced implementation of the plan to evacuate residents of communities that sit on the border with Lebanon.
Although the primary threat posed by Hezbollah remains its missile arsenal, which has been rebuilt with the help of Iran since the 2006 Second Lebanon War, the IDF believes the next war will see the group try to bring the fight to the home front by infiltrating Israeli communities to inflict significant civilian and military casualties.
Russian Defense Minister Shoigu in Damascus, Tehran for anti-ISIS drive -
After a tense conversation with Bashar Assad in Damascus Tuesday, Sept. 12, debkafile's military and intelligence sources discovered the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had flown secretly to Tehran the next day. He then proceeded directly to Sochi to brief President Vladimir Putin on his mission, which was to pull together the Russian-backed Syrian-Iranian-Hezbollah operations against ISIS on the Syrian-Iraqi border.
debkafile's sources report that Shoigu's visits capped this effort by Moscow.
The bright prospects of success in breaking the ISIS' long siege of Deir ez-Zour announced at the beginning of the week dimmed on Tuesday and Wednesday, when the claims of a major victory proved unexpectedly premature.
As of Wednesday evening, Syrian army units were still locked in battle for control of the main road from Damascus to Deir Ez-Zour, and were still about 15km away from the city. Reports that the ISIS siege on the large Syrian airbase adjoining Deir Ez-Zour had been lifted were also premature. On Wednesday night, ISIS forces were still attacking the base's perimeter in an attempt to break through.
In other words, the lofty claims in recent days by senior Russian officers, President Assad and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, claiming the war was won, aside from small scattered battles, were over-hasty.
Our military sources point out that now, because ISIS is concentrating on battering the Syrian, Iranian and Hezbollah forces and stalled their advance to the Euphrates Valley, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, consisting mainly of Syrian Kurdish fighters from the YPG militia, have found that the road from Raqqa to Deir Ez-Zour is open and are overtaking the Russian-backed forces. The SDF is advancing rapidly with US helicopters providing them with fuel so their vehicles can press forward.
As of Wednesday evening, the SDF was just 6 km away from Deir Ez-Zour, ahead of the Russian-backed armies which were taking the brunt of ISIS attacks.
When he saw this happening, Russian President Putin sent his defense minister over to Damascus and Tehran to look for ways to break through to the next operations scheduled for attacking ISIS strongholds on the Syrian-Iraqi border. Ahead may be decision to commit more Russian military forces to the war against ISIS or explore a path to a breakthrough in talks with the Americans..
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