Gog Moves in Next Door to Israel - Todd Strandberg - http://www.raptureready.com/rap16.html
There are clear indications that Russia may be ramping up its military involvement in Syria. Russia's President Vladimir Putin has long been a stalwart ally of President Bashar al-Assad. All throughout Syria's civil war Putin's support has remained unwavering.
Over the course of the 55-month conflict, Russia has provided the Assad regime with supplies; including guns, grenades, tank parts, fighter jets, advanced anti-ship cruise missiles, long-range air defense missiles, military advisers and lots of cash.
Syria has not been a winning bet for Putin. Assad has seen the area he controls whittled down to a fifth of Syria's territory. In a bid to help the ailing regime, Russian forces are now working on establishing an airbase in the Syrian stronghold of Latakia.
Russia has reportedly set up an air traffic control tower and has also brought in pre-fabricated housing units for up to 1,000 personnel. Military flight watchers have tracked several Russian Air Force Il-76 airlifters flying to and from Syria. At least three Russian military transport planes have been spotted at the airport in Latakia.
A growing number of photos of Russian BTR-82A armored personnel carrier and military advisors in Syria have prompted rumors that Putin has already put boots on the ground and may be preparing a large-scale operation alongside Iranian proxy militias.
The U.S. has expressed its concern about Russia's stepped-up presence in Syria. In Washington, the State Department issued a statement after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Kerry warned Lavrov that such actions "could further escalate the conflict, lead to greater loss of innocent life, increase refugee flows and risk confrontation" with the anti-Islamic State coalition operating that is carrying out strikes in Syria.
The U.S. has asked Greece and Bulgaria to close their airspace to Russian transport planes. The Obama Administration's attempt to block the flights has further escalated long-running tensions between the White House and the Kremlin.
Russia has a very simple excuse for being in Syria; they're there, ostensibly, to fight ISIS. However, Russia has never really done anything to help confront ISIS. It, like China, has always sat idly by during any given international crisis.
There is no meaningful financial or strategic reason for Putin to stay in Syria. The civil war has claimed nearly 250,000 lives, making a wasteland out of large areas of the nation. If the Assad regime falls, Russia might find itself forced to make an embarrassing withdrawal.
Last spring, I listened to a prophetic tape series titled: "The coming Russian invasion of Israel." The message was over 30 years old, and it was remarkable considering how little contention Russia had with the Middle East at that time. In 1984, most of the Muslim nations that were identified as a future ally of a Gog invasion were enemies of Russia. Because of the USSR invasion of Afghanistan, Iranian leaders saw the communist giant as Islam's greatest enemy.
I find it amazing that we have arrived at the point where Russia is right next door to Israel. In the 1980s, prophecy watchers skipped over the 1000 mile gap; when they showed Russia going from the Black Sea to Northern Israel. It is also stunning that Iran is now a close ally of Russia.
The biblical description of the Gog army as being vast in size implies that at some future date Russian forces will flood into Syria. By establishing a forward operating base in Latakia, this move is now possible.
I strongly believe the Rapture will occur ahead of the Gog-Magog war. Because the invasion of Israel by a Russian-led coalition would be such a game changer for prophecy, the Church needs to be removed before this event takes place.
"I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses, and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: Persia, Ethiopia [Cush], and Libya [Put] with them; all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer, and all his band; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands; and many people with thee.
Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm; thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.
Thus saith the Lord GOD; it shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: and thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, to take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; in that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?" (Ezekiel 38:4-12).
95,000 Russian troops in massive military drill - http://news.yahoo.com/95-000-russian-troops-massive-military-drill-093902596.html
Russia on Monday launched its largest military exercises of the year, Centre-2015, involving some 95,000 soldiers including ground troops, navy and air force units.
The long-announced war games are "the most large-scale drill of 2015," the defense ministry said.
Russia has recently intensified snap checks of its military might, testing its capabilities from the Arctic to the Far East as relations with the West have plunged to a post-Cold War low over the Ukraine crisis.
Centre-2015 takes place at 20 sites across Russia's central military district, which reaches from the Volga River to the Ural Mountains and Siberia in the east, while also including far northern Russia.
Troops from member states of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), made up of several ex-Soviet countries, are also involved in the exercise.
The defense ministry said the war games are aimed at testing the readiness of the military of the CSTO countries to "manage coalition groups of troops in containing an international armed conflict."
The troops will simulate "blocking and destroying illegal armed formations during joint special operations," the ministry said.
The drill begins as leaders are to arrive in Tajikistan for a summit of the CSTO that starts Tuesday.
The exercises running to September 20 include 20 naval ships and up to 170 aircraft, the defense ministry said.
President Vladimir Putin will observe the drills during one of the days, Russian daily Izvestia reported last week, without giving details.
The main action will take place in the Urals, in the Siberian Altai region and in the southern Astrakhan region and the Caspian Sea, the commander of troops in Russia's central military district, Vladimir Zarudnitsky told journalists, quoted by Interfax news agency.
In European Russia, 12,000 troops will take part in drills at military ranges in the Urals region close to Kazakhstan involving around 90 tanks as well as 20 artillery and rocket launcher systems.
Kazakh troops will also take part and a military delegation from Nicaragua will act as monitors, Zarudnitsky added.
Russia's Motives Behind Military Build-Up - Sam Kiley - http://news.sky.com/story/1552462/syria-russias-motives-behind-military-build-up
A drastic increase in Russian military support for the Syrian regime could be more than just an attempt to counter rebel attacks.
US officials say they expect Russia to launch combat operations against rebels in Syria "very soon," following reports of a massive airlift of ammunition, Russian heavy armour and anti-aircraft missiles to back up the Damascus regime.
The Pentagon has now tracked 15 flights of Russian Antonov-124 "Condor" flights into Syria and has seen two more Russian ships offload military cargo - including half a dozen tanks - according to the latest intelligence, a defense official told Fox News.
Russian T-90 tanks have been seen by independent observers on the perimeter of Latakia airport on the Mediterranean coast, not far from the Russian naval base at Tartous.
Last weekend two Russian naval tank transport ships were seen docking in Tartous, and Latakia airport has been extended and re-surfaced.
The drastic increase in Russian support for the Syrian regime could be seen as an attempt to prevent it collapsing under a successful rebel onslaught by the Army of Islam, the Jaish al Islam, which is not associated with Islamic State.
But Russian-made and manned SA-22 anti-aircraft missile systems have also been sent to Syria - and neither ISIS nor the rebels have any aircraft.
This will inevitably lead to the conclusion that Russia is sending its state-of-the-art anti-aircraft technology to the battlefield to head off any attempt to establish a no-fly zone to prevent Assad from bombing his own population.
In addition to the influx of tanks and artillery, 35 armored personnel carriers have also been sent by Russia which is also building accommodation for up to 1,500 troops.
Last week Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, called on the US to coordinate its operations against the so-called Islamic State as part of a "war on terror".
Washington has refused to look at the idea - the US is also backing moderate Syrian rebels and other allies, notably Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, are offering substantial resources to the Jaish al Islam in the battle against the Assad regime.
Assad's forces have been able to fly freely around Syria picking off targets at will while the US-led coalition has targeted only Islamic State.
The Turks have argued for some time that this is nonsensical as most of the regional instability stems from the Assad regime - and most refugees fleeing the slaughter there are running from his barrel bombs into neighboring countries and on into Europe.
It is clear the Kremlin is keen to exploit this western equivocation over Assad but can only do so if the regime itself shows that it can survive. The arrival of Russian tanks and missiles, naval infantry and artillery will heartily cheer the Assad family.
They're Baaaaack -- Russian Forces return to the Middle East - By Jonathan Keiler - http://www.americanthinker.com/
In July 1970, Israeli Air Force (IAF) F-4 Phantom fighters took off for an apparent bombing mission near Suez City during the War of Attrition (the intermittent but occasionally fierce fighting that continued after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.) The mission was a ruse meant to draw out Russian pilots of the elite Soviet 135th Air Regiment, which had been deployed to Egypt along with Soviet-operated SAM batteries, both of which had increasingly threatened and harassed Israeli air missions. A Russian squadron took the bait and soon found itself in an unequal dogfight with some of the IAF's top aces. When it was over, five Soviet MIG 21MF fighters had been destroyed and four pilots killed against no Israeli losses. The battle was but one incident in a long and successful struggle by Israel and the United States to eject the Russian military from the Middle East. But like so much else that has transpired under the Obama administration, that hard fought victory has now been trashed, with Russian forces returning the critical region via Syria, effectively invited by the administration's weak, ineffectual, and confused Middle East policy.
That air victory forty-five years ago turned out to be a mixed blessing for Israel. While the IAF proved that it was not to be trifled with, taking on the Soviet Union raised the stakes of the attritional fighting around the Suez Canal to intolerable levels for all parties involved, including the United States. A cease-fire between Egypt and Israel was quickly declared, with assurances to the Israelis that Egyptian SAM missile batteries would be kept out of the Canal Zone. Like so many other promises that the Israelis received over the years (and would receive in the future) the Egyptian commitment proved empty. Not long after the agreement was concluded, Egypt pushed SAM batteries back to the canal, but American and Soviet pressure stayed Israel's hand.
In 1972, tiring of the pushy Russians, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat kicked thousands of Soviet advisors and troops out of his country, but maintained friendly relations with the Kremlin, in order to ensure a steady supply of arms and ammunition for the war he and Syrian President Hafez al-Assad planned to launch the next year. That surprise attack against Israel, launched on Yom Kippur, very nearly undid the Jewish state. Contributing greatly to the Arabs' early successes were the Egyptian SAM batteries deployed in unprecedented density along the Suez Canal, which savaged the IAF it tried to interdict Egypt's assault over the waterway.
In two weeks of intense fighting which cost Israel over 10,000 casualties (and the Arabs thrice that), the IDF turned the tables on Egypt and Syria. In the north the IDF crushed the Syrian Army's advance into the Golan and drove to within artillery range of Damascus. In the south, the IDF stopped Egypt's advance into Sinai, and split the Egyptian armies deployed there. Then the Israelis crossed the Suez Canal into Africa, drove on Cairo and cut off the southernmost Egyptian army in Sinai.
During the fighting, both the Soviets and the United States launched critical resupply efforts for their respective clients, as the ferocity of the combat (unprecedented since World War II) ate up men and machines at alarming rates. But when Israel gained the upper hand it was too much for the Soviets. This led to a crisis between the super-powers.
Unwilling to see their Egyptian and Syrian clients humiliated once again by Israel, the USSR threatened to intervene directly against the IDF unless it halted its advance. The Soviets mobilized airborne, naval and air units and started to move them. The United States responded by going to DEFCON 3, the same level of alert used during the 9/11 attacks. While of course the 9/11 attacks and the Cuban crisis (DEFCON 2) are well remembered, the 1973 crisis is oft forgot, yet the risks were the same (or nearly the same), and created by Russian military movement into the Middle East.
In the end, the IDF was compelled to halt its advance, and free the trapped Egyptian Army. But via skillful diplomacy and power politics, President Nixon and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger managed to forge a ceasefire between the Egypt and Israel, which ultimately resulted in a peace agreement that has lasted to this day. Egypt (the most populous and important Arab country) became a U.S. client and the Soviets were finally completely kicked out and humiliated.
In Syria, American diplomacy and Israeli power also resulted in a firm Golan ceasefire which remained intact until very recently. When in the 1980s Syria (with Soviet backing) started meddling in Lebanon, the Israelis trounced them. Using new American aircraft (F-15 and F-16) the IAF wiped out the latest Soviet-made SAM systems and drove the Soviet equipped Syrian air force from the skies (shooting down 102 aircraft for no Israeli losses.) It was the first extensive use of these new American aircraft, demonstrating just how far the Soviets had fallen behind in the arms race and how vulnerable they had become. In no small part, along with the losing war in Afghanistan, and their inability to respond to President Reagan's robust arms buildup, these events in the Middle East helped spell the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union.
This history is not lost on Vladimir Putin, who lived through these events, undoubtedly ruing Russia's almost complete rout at the hands of America and Israel. Now thanks to President Obama's feckless leadership, the anarchic situation in Syria, and the Iranian nuclear deal, Putin sees an opportunity to reclaim Russia's position, and is neither wasting time, nor unwilling to take risks. In recent weeks, Putin has boldly moved Russian air, naval, marine, and SAM units into Syria. In response, the Obama administration, as is typical, done nothing but mumble about it courtesy of Secretary of State Kerry. Putin undoubtedly figures that so long as Obama remains president, he will have a free hand in Syria, especially now (thanks to the nuclear agreement) he has Iranian power and influence at his disposal.
And so now Israel finds itself in a situation not too dissimilar to the one it faced in July 1970. The Russian S-300 missiles and MIG 31s which are moving into Syria threaten the IAF's freedom of action there, where it has intervened occasionally to limit the movement of weaponry to Hizb'allah and to keep the Golan front quiet. No doubt the IAF could shoot the Russian MIG 31s out of the sky as easily as it did Soviet MIG 21s four decades ago, but the costs of such a move, then as now, are unpredictable. Whether and how Israel handles the Russian MIGs may well define how Russia's reentry to the Middle East goes. One thing Israel cannot count on, with Obama in office, is that the U.S. will have its back.
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