WORLD AT WAR: 4.17.21 - WORLD AT WAR?/RUSSIA HAS MOVED MISSLES....NUKES

Russia Has Moved Missiles That Can Carry Nuclear Warheads Into The Conflict Zone With Ukraine- by Michael Snyder - http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/russia-has-moved-missiles-that-can-carry-nuclear-warheads-into-the-conflict-zone-with-ukraine/ How close can Russia and Ukraine come to war without actually going over the precipice? Over the weekend, more forces on both sides continued to pour into the conflict zone. Andon the line of separation in eastern Ukraine, there are regular reports of gunfire and shelling. At this point, there are no negotiations on the horizon, and one false move could easily spark an all-out war. In fact, a Kremlin spokesperson is warning thatwe could soon see “full-scale combat operations”… Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Thursday said the situation in eastern Ukraine was ‘very unstable’ and warned it risked leading to ‘full-scale combat operations.’ As Kiev warned it could be ‘provoked’ by Russia’s aggression, several Western nations have voiced fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s move could trigger an all-outwar, which could drag Nato allies, including Britain, into the conflict. By rushing so many forces to the conflict zone, the Russians have prepared themselves to be ready for any scenario that may unfold. According to one British news source, Russia now has “close to 100,000 troops” in the region… The Russia-Ukraine crisis could explode into all-out war within days after Moscow amassed close to 100,000 troops at the flashpoint border, it was feared last night. Senior Ukraine military sources fear Moscow’s war-planners may have wrong-footed Kiev by being far more battle-ready for a major land and sea attack than previously suspected. If a full-blown war does break out, the Ukrainian military will be no match for the Russian military. The Ukrainians would literally beg NATO for help, and Joe Biden has already promised “unwavering support” for the regime in Kiev. Since the end of the Cold War, the U.S. and Russia have never been closer to war than they are right now, and that is why this crisis is far more important than most Americansrealize. Within the last 24 hours, there has been quite a bit more activity along the line of separation. The following is an English translation of a report that was posted on theofficial website of the Ukrainian military… During the past 24 hours, on April 10, in the area of ​​the Joint Forces operation, the armed forces of the Russian Federation violated the ceasefire 10 times, including9 shellings of Ukrainian defenders and 1 flight of an enemy UAV crossing the line of demarcation. In particular, in the area of ​​responsibility of the operational and tactical group “East”, the Russian occupation forces fired at our positions near the village of PYSCHEVYKwith 82 mm mortars, anti-tank and hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers prohibited by the Minsk agreements. In the suburbs of the villages of PISKY and SHYROKYNE, the enemy opened fire with small arms, and near AVDIYIVKA and KAMYANKA – with grenade launchersof various systems. In the area of ​​responsibility of the operational and tactical group “North”, near the village of MAYORSKE, armed formations of the Russian Federation fired at the positionsof Ukrainian defenders with hand-held anti-tank and grenade launchers. Near the village of ZOLOTE-3, the enemy opened fire with automatic machine grenade launchers, large-caliber machine guns and small arms. Of course the Ukrainians don’t always disclose when they fire upon forces on the other side, and that has been happening on numerous occasions as well. This sort of low level fighting is only a concern because it could potentially lead to a much larger conflict. And in preparation for such a conflict, the Russians have been moving some very serious hardware into the region. For example, it is being reported that the Russians have moved at least six “city destroyers” into the conflict zone… At least six 2S4 Tyulpan self-propelled mortars – capable of firing warheads 12 miles – were filmed on flat-bed trains. Dubbed the ‘city destroyer’, the weapon’s devastatingpower has demolished strongholds from Chechnya to Afghanistan. Even more importantly, we are being told that the Russians have been deploying Iskander missile systems close to Ukraine… Open-source intelligence specialist at Janes Thomas Bullock identified Russian Iskander missile systems that have moved or are moving to the Ukrainian area of operationssince late March through open-source intelligence. Thomas Bullock posted a Janes article from 8 April that said he identified the deployment of Iskander short-range ballistic missile systems, likely belonging to the 119Missile Brigade, to Voronezh from the Sverdlovsk region. This is a sign that the Russians are definitely not messing around. Iskander missile systems can be used to deliver conventional payloads, but they are also designed to carry nuclear warheads… Russian official sources claim that the R-500 missile carries a conventional 500 kg warhead or nuclear warhead with a yield of around 10-50 kT. It is likely that there areseveral different conventional warheads, including cluster, fuel-air explosive, and bunker-busting. The missile can overcome enemy air defense systems while offering high-probability of failure-free operation in countermeasures environments. It has a targetaccuracy of 5m to 7m and operates even in fog or low visibility. If push came to shove, the Russians would not hesitate to use tactical nukes if they felt it was necessary. We should all carefully monitor the situation in Ukraine, because this really does have the potential to spark World War 3. Of course there are two other potential conflicts that could also cause global war to erupt. China has been eyeing a potential invasion of Taiwan for quite some time now. If China decides to actually pull the trigger, the U.S. and China would immediately be at astate of war. Also, it appears to be just a matter of time before Israel and Iran go to war. On Sunday, Iranian officials announced that the Natanz nuclear facility “was hit by a ‘terrorist” attack”… Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility was hit by a “terrorist” attack on Sunday, the country’s nuclear chief said, hours after reports of an electrical “accident” – and a day afternew uranium enrichment centrifuges were started up. Iran reserves the right to “take action” against those behind the incident at the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facility in Natanz, the head of the nation’s Atomic Energy Organization,Ali Akbar Salehi, told state TV on Sunday. He called the incident at the plant an act of “nuclear terrorism.” Iran’s nuclear program has been steadily moving forward, and Israel had made it abundantly clear that it will never allow the Iranians to develop their own nuclear weapons. The clock is ticking, and there will be war at some point. So which flashpoint will erupt first? I don’t know, but the red horse is getting ready to ride, and things could start to spiral out of control at any time. I believe that we will be the generation that will experience World War 3, and it truly will be too horrible for words. ----------------------------------------------- Egypt Threatens Ethiopia with Potential War over Nile: �End-of-Days� Implications says Rabbi � Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz - https://www.israel365news.com/189260/egypts-threatens-ethiopia-with-potential-war-over-nile-end-of-days-implications-says-rabbi/ And the Nile papyrus by the Nile-side And everything sown by the Nile Shall wither, blow away, and vanish. Isaiah 19:7 (The Israel BibleTM) Failed trilateral negotiations being carried out in the Congo over an Ethiopian dam in the Nile river led to Egyptian threats of war. The negotiations broke down last weekafter Ethiopia rejected a Sudanese proposal to include international mediators in talks leading to threats of war. THE GRAND ETHIOPIAN RENAISSANCE DAM ON THE BLUE NILE RIVER Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi implied in a speech on Wednesday that Egypt could respond with war to Ethiopia filling the dam on the Nile River. �We have witnessed the costs of any confrontation,� Sisi said at the opening of a new government complex. �I am telling our brothers in Ethiopia, let�s not reach the pointwhere you touch a drop of Egypt�s water because all options are open.� Sisi noted that Egypt and Sudan were cooperating and� �cooperation and agreement are much better than anything else�. Ethiopia responded that his country would continue filling the dam but that war was not an option. �As construction progresses, filling takes place,� Bekele said. �We don�t deviate from that at all.� Filling the reservoir began in July 2020. It will take between 4 and 7 years to fill with water. Egypt fears a temporary reduction of water availability due to the fillingof the dam and a permanent reduction because of evaporation from the reservoir which could reduce Nile flows by as much as 25%. �There is no need to enter an unnecessary war,� Ethiopia�s water minister Seleshi Bekele told reporters on Wednesday. �A war can�t start because of water. Water flows ifyou fight today, it�ll continue to flow tomorrow.� The dispute is three-pronged as Sudan also has an interest. Though not as extreme as Sisi, Sudan�s Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Yasser Abbas also suggestedthat a harsh response to Ethiopia as on the table. �For Sudan, all options are possible, including returning [the matter] to the United Nations Security Council and hardening policy � (if) Ethiopia embarks on a second filling(of the dam) without agreement,� Abbas told reporters last week. �We are not utilizing water generated from Egypt or Sudan as water doesn�t flow upstream to Ethiopia,� Bekele explained. �We are utilizing water from Ethiopia for our direneed following equitable and reasonable utilization without causing significant harm to our neighbors.� The situation has been volatile for some time and last year, President Trump intervened, brokering a deal that Ethiopia eventually reneged on. Trump warned Sudanese PrimeMinister Abdalla Hamdok that Egypt could resort to �blowing up the dam.� The conflict over the Nile has been brewing for almost a century but came to a head when construction began in 2011 on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue NileRiver(GERD) formerly known as the Millennium Dam and sometimes referred to as Hidase Dam. The primary purpose of the dam is electricity production to relieve Ethiopia�s acute energy shortage. It is expected to go online next year and eventually, the dam willbe the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa as well as the seventh-largest in the world. ISRAEL THE KEY TO RECEIVING THE NILE�S BLESSING Rabbi Yosef Berger, the rabbi of King David�s Tomb on Mount Zion, noted that the Nile River can be the source of blessings as well as the source of curses from God. �When Jacob went to Egypt, he settled in Goshen because of the blessings the Nile bestowed upon the Hebrews,� Rabbi Berger told Israel365 News. �But when it came time forthe exile to end, the Nile became the source of several of the plagues. As long as the Egyptians were kind to the Jews, the river remained a source of blessing.� This became clear last September when the Nile flooded, displacing at least half a million Sudanese and killing at least one hundred. This blessing, according to Rabbi Berger,is, like any blessing, dependent on the relationship between the countries and Israel. I will bless those who bless you And curse him that curses you; And all the families of the earth Shall bless themselves by you.� Genesis 12:3 �This was especially true of Egypt and the Nile,� Rabbi Berger said. �The Egyptians saw the Nile as the source of their power, which is why they used it to kill the Jewishbabies. So God used the Nile to punish them to show that even the Nile serves Him.� Israel currently has relations with all three countries. Israel signed a peace agreement with Egypt in 1979. Israel has long had relations with Ethiopia culminating in thegovernment allowing the emigration of Ethiopia permitted the emigration of the Beta Israel Jews. Israel recently presented Sudan with a draft agreement for establishing diplomatic relations but the Sudanese want an endorsement from the Biden administration. Rabbi Berger noted that the prophets predicted that the Nile River would play a role in the final redemption. And the Nile papyrus by the Nile-side And everything sown by the Nile Shall wither, blow away, and vanish. Isaiah 19:7 �These three countries are correct to fight over the Nile,� Rabbi Berger said. �It will be the method their role in the end of days will be expressed. But what they don�tunderstand is that if they want the blessings of the Nile, they must bless Israel.� NILE LIBEL BLAMING ISRAEL Egypt jealously protects its prime water source and has even seen Israel as a partner in the Ethiopian threat. In 2003, when Ethiopian announced that it intended to constructthe GERD, Arab media claimed the project was a subterfuge intended to conceal an Ethiopian-Israeli plot to cripple Egypt. Though Israel is clearly not looking toward the Nile as a water source, water has frequently been the source of conflict between Israel and its neighbors. From the inceptionof Israel in 1948, the issue of water sharing from the Jordan�Yarmuk system turned out to be a major problem between Israel, Syria, and Jordan resulting in frequent border skirmishes. In 1964, the Arab states decided to deprive Israel of 35% of the NationalWater Carrier capacity, by a diversion of the Jordan River headwaters (both the Hasbani and the Banias) to the Yarmouk River. Control of water resources and Israeli military attacks against the diversion effort are considered among the factors which led tothe Six-Day War in 1967. Fortunately, Israel currently has a surplus of water due largely to home-grown innovations in the field of desalination resulting in five major desalination plants producingaround 600 million cubic meters a year. Hopefully, this will prevent future conflict, though it clearly has not silenced the water libels. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ By Hal Lindsey With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, most people believed that communism had been defeated. The Cold War had ended, the good guys won, and thatwas that. But it did not turn out to be so simple. Most of the world�s nuclear stockpiles remained in place. All sides would soon develop more efficient weapons and delivery systems. Communism would rise again, both inside the United States and outside. Andby 2021, the threat of atomic war was again growing. In the early 1990s, only a few worried about China. The Chinese were usually seen as backward, but eager to expand trade. �Experts� told us that tradewould make China dependent on the United States. They also said that North Korea was a regional threat to South Korea, but not a threat to the world. And with China�s help, they said, the North Korean danger would be quickly nullified. A common joke of the time said that the only communists left in the world were a few diehards in American universities. Those diehards turned out tobe a bigger threat to American values and prosperity than anyone knew. But people were wrong to think that the external threat had gone away. China and Russia embraced highly supervised market economies. Russia even began to have democratic elections. But its experiment with democracy wassoon taken over by a regime with a bad habit of poisoning and imprisoning its political enemies. A market economy and heavy trade with the United States made China an economic superpower. But those things did not lesson its severe human rights abuses. In recent years, United States military leaders seemed to change their focus. Political correctness, global warming, and critical race theory becamethe new priorities. The Pentagon now seems intent on weeding out service members whose political opinions the new establishment doesn�t like. Meanwhile, China is building a new, high tech military designed to defeat the United States. The 20thcentury should have taught us once and for all that weakness invites war and global weakness invites global war. America�s European allies have become appeasers. Their peace-at-any-cost mantra makes the world an ever more dangerous place. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines recently told a US Senate committee, �China increasingly is a near-peer competitor challenging the UnitedStates in multiple arenas, while pushing to revise global norms in ways that favor the authoritarian Chinese system.� He added that China �has substantial cyber capabilities that if deployed, at a minimum, can cause localized, temporary disruptions to criticalinfrastructure inside the United States.� According to Reuters, �Haines' opening statement also cited Russian efforts to undermine U.S. influence, Iran's contribution to instability in the MiddleEast, global terrorism and potential North Korean efforts to �drive wedges� between Washington and its allies as significant threats.� We live in increasingly perilous times. In fact, the world seems poised on the precipice of the worst period of tribulation ever seen � tribulationvividly described in the books of Daniel and Revelation. But before that terrible period begins, God will snatch away His people like a government removing its ambassadors before the onset of war. These are days to stay close to God, close to His word, and close to His people. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rumors of War - Will The US Help Ukraine If Russia Invades? Could this be the spark that causes World War 3 to erupt? At this hour, Russian and Ukrainian military forces continue to rush toward the conflict zone, and to say that things are "tense" in the region would be a tremendous understatement. When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed Decree No. 117/2021 on March 24th, it was essentially a declaration of war against Russia. Since that time, Russian forces have been massing along the borders in numbers that we have never seen before. Video after video of Russian tanks, military vehicles and troops being moved toward the conflict zone have been posted on social media, and the Ukrainians have responded by making similar moves. But if the Russians launch a full-blown invasion, the Ukrainianswill be totally outmatched, and they will ask the United States and NATO to intervene. Since March 24th, there have been hundreds of ceasefire violations, but the ceasefire cannot be violated any longer because it officially expired on April 1st. On Thursday, there were multiple reports of Ukrainian forces taking direct fire. This was not reported by anyone in the corporate media in the United States, and so I had to go to a Ukrainian source to find out exactly what is going on. The followingis an English translation of a report that was posted on the official website of the Ukrainian military... In the area of ​​responsibility of the operational and tactical group "East", near the settlements of SAND and WATER, in the Azov Sea, the occupiers opened fire with grenade launchers of various systems, large-caliber machine guns and small arms. In the area of ​​responsibility of the operational and tactical group "North", near the settlements of SVITLODARSKE, LUHANSKE and ZOLOTE-4, the invaders fired at our positions with automatic machine-gun and hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers, large-calibermachine guns and machine guns. From this point forward, there will probably be regular reports of both sides firing on one another. But will the conflict soon become much larger than that? I think that it is a really bad sign that the separatists in eastern Ukraine just announced that those born from 1994 to 2003 will start to be conscripted for military service. In addition, the EU is accusing Russia of initiating "a conscription campaign in the Crimea peninsula"... The European Union said Russia had launched a conscription campaign in the Crimea peninsula in a move that broke international law. The EU said in a statement: "Today, the Russian Federation has launched yet another conscription campaign in the illegally-annexed Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to draft residents of the peninsula in the Russian Federation ArmedForces." These are very alarming developments, because they indicate that the Russians and the separatists in eastern Ukraine believe that an extended military conflict is approaching. Of course the Russians wouldn't actually need any new conscripts in order to defeat Ukraine. The Russian military is vastly superior to the Ukrainian military, and Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Ruslan Khomchak believes that there are more than 32,000 Russiantroops currently in Crimea in addition to the 28,000 separatist troops in eastern Ukraine... Khomchak had also said that Russia has around 32,700 military personnel in Crimea, at present. Since annexing the territory in 2014, the Kremlin has significantly expanded its military presence there to include air, naval, and ground-based assets, includinganti-ship cruise missile and surface-to-air missile batteries. Russia also oversees some 28,000 personnel in "separatist" units in areas of eastern Ukraine known collectively as the Donbass who have been fighting the government in Kyiv since 2015. Though the Kremlin denies it, the evidence is clear that a substantialportion of these forces is simply regular Russian military units deployed on Ukrainian soil. There are also strong links between Russia's intelligence services and ostensibly "local" forces. When asked why so many troops are being moved toward Ukraine, a Kremlin spokesman said that this "should not bother anyone"... Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov offered a trio of seemingly contradictory dismissals regarding the sudden movement of Russian forces and equipment along its border with Ukraine and in Crimea, as well as a mortar attack last week by Russian-backed troopsthat killed four Ukrainian soldiers for which Kiev blames Russia. "The Russian Federation moves its armed forces within its territory at its own discretion. This should not bother anyone, it poses no threat to anyone," Peskov told reporters on Thursday morning, according to a translation of his remarks. He also saidthat Russia feels threatened by what it considers "increased activity of the armed forces of NATO countries" and others that "obliges us to be on the alert." Ultimately, these troop movements almost certainly never would have happened if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had not signed Decree No. 117/2021. And of course Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky never would have signed Decree No. 117/2021 if he had not been given the green light to do so by the White House. In the end, this is a game of chess between the Biden administration and the Kremlin, and one false move could plunge us into World War 3. Unfortunately, the rhetoric on both sides just continues to escalate. On Thursday, the U.S. State Department once again accused the Russians of being "aggressive"... Following Lavrov and Peskov's statements, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price warned Moscow against "intimidating" Ukraine. "We're absolutely concerned by recent escalations of Russian aggressive and provocative actions in eastern Ukraine," Ned Price told reporters. "What we would object to are aggressive actions that have an intent of intimidating, of threatening, our partner Ukraine." And new Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is the latest official to publicly pledge U.S. support for Ukraine... Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to Ukraine's minister of defense on the phone Thursday to express "unwavering U.S. support for Ukraine's sovereignty" and to condemn Russian aggression in the country. But if the Russians actually launched a full scale ground invasion of Ukraine, there would be nothing the U.S. could do to stop it. Of course the U.S. could decide to strike back militarily in other ways, and that could set off a chain reaction which could result in global war. If either side miscalculates the other, even just a little bit it could have disastrous consequences for all of us. Originally published at The Economic Collapse Blog - reposted with permission. ------------------------------------------ Could the U.S. Could Soon Be Involved in Wars in Taiwan, Ukraine And the Middle East Simultaneously? - by Michael Snyder - http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/could-the-u-s-could-soon-be-involved-in-wars-in-taiwan-ukraine-and-the-middle-east-simultaneously/ Warmongers are now firmly in control in Washington, and they are pushing us toward war a little bit more each day. A military conflict with Russia, China or Iran would bea nightmare scenario, but there is also a possibility that we could end up fighting all three of them simultaneously. Such an outcome would have been unthinkable under the Trump administration, but times have changed. Biden administration officials have beenboldly declaring that �America is back�, and they have been trying to aggressively exert U.S. influence all over the globe. Unfortunately, the rest of the world is not as intimidated by the U.S. military as it once was. Tensions with China have been rising for quite some time, and Taiwan has become the central point of contention. Taiwan continues to edge closer to declaring formal independence, and the Chinese insist that is a red line that must never, ever be crossed. In recent weeks, the Chinese have been attempting to send a message by repeatedly sending military aircraft into Taiwan�s airspace, and on Monday we witnessed the most alarmingincursion yet� China�s People Liberation Army flew 25 warplanes into Taiwan�s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Monday, its largest incursion yet as tension in the Taiwan Strait continues to escalate. According to Taiwan�s defense ministry, the PLA warplanes � 14 Jian-16 fighter jets, four Jian-10s, four H-6K bombers, two Y-8 anti-submarine warfare planes and one KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft � enteredthe island�s southwest zone on Monday. China has been conducting extremely detailed military exercises which simulate an invasion of Taiwan, and the military plans for such an invasion are already drawn up. Everything is ready to go for when the order is finally given. The only thing stopping the Chinese is the U.S. military, and on Sunday Secretary of State Antony Blinken once again confirmed that the U.S. will stand behind Taiwan� �What we�ve seen, and what is of real concern to us, is increasingly aggressive actions by the government in Beijing directed at Taiwan, raising tensions in the Straits.And we have a commitment to Taiwan under the Taiwan Relations Act, a bipartisan commitment that�s existed for many, many years, to make sure that Taiwan has the ability to defend itself, and to make sure that we�re sustaining peace and security in the WesternPacific. We stand behind those commitments. And all I can tell you is it would be a serious mistake for anyone to try to change the existing status quo by force,� Blinken said Sunday during an interview with NBC News� Meet the Press. China understands that an invasion of Taiwan would mean war with the United States, and so the Chinese will probably hold off for the moment. They will be waiting for an opportunity, and that could come when we are tied up with a major military conflict on the other side of the globe. Speaking of which, the Israeli cyberattack on the Natanz nuclear facility is yet another sign that the �shadow war� between Israel and Iran is getting dangerously closeto a shooting war. Israel has not formally taken responsibility for the attack, but even the Israeli media is acknowledging what everybody else already knows� Iran blamed Israel on Monday for an attack on its underground Natanz nuclear facility that damaged its centrifuges � sabotage that imperils ongoing talks over Tehran�s tatterednuclear deal and brings a shadow war between the two countries into the light. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, but Israeli media widely reported that the country had orchestrated a devastating cyberattack that caused a blackoutat the nuclear facility. Israeli officials rarely acknowledge operations carried out by the country�s secret military units or its Mossad intelligence agency. In the aftermath of the attack, Iranian officials pledged to �take revenge� on Israel� �The Zionists want to take revenge on the Iranian people for their success in lifting the oppressive sanctions, but we will not allow it and we will take revenge on theZionists themselves,� Zarif said in comments carried by Iran�s official IRNA news agency. If a major war does erupt and missiles start flying back and forth between Israel and Iran, the U.S. will enter the conflict on the side of Israel. The Iranian nuclear program has been a seemingly unsolvable problem for a number of years, and I think that Israeli leaders are starting to realize that there simply isnot going to be a diplomatic solution. Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine continue to edge closer to a major military conflict. In fact, one of the most popular news anchors in Russia just stated that the Russiansmay be forced to �de-Nazify� Ukraine by force� Russia is �one step from war� with Ukraine, state TV has warned in the latest bout of saber-rattling between Moscow and Kiev that has jangled nerves across Europe. Dmitry Kiselyov, a Russian news anchor who has been called a �Putin propagandist� in the past, issued the warning during a primetime broadcast in Russia on Sunday. He branded Ukraine a �Nazi� state, saying that Russia may be forced to �de-Nazify� it by force � a process he said would bring about its �economic and military collapse�. And a top Russian official just made headlines all over the world by suggesting that a full-blown military conflict �would be the beginning of the end of Ukraine�� The deputy head of Russia�s presidential administration, Dmitry Kozak: �I support the assessment that the start of military action � this would be the beginning of the endof Ukraine.� Of course things would have never gotten to this point if the Biden administration hadn�t decided to use Ukraine as a tool to put pressure on Russia. I do not think that Russia intends to invade Ukraine right now. But when the Russians learned what the Biden administration and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky wereplanning, they rapidly massed forces in Crimea and eastern Ukraine. The Russians are going to keep those forces in the region for the foreseeable future, and that is going to keep tensions high. Hopefully this show of force will convince Biden administration officials that they should not try to push things any further. Because the Russians are quite willing tostrike first if they believe that a move by the other side is imminent. And once the Russians start pouring across the line of separation, the U.S. and Russia will be at a state of war, and that is something that nobody should want to see. Of course the United States can�t exactly afford any new wars at this point, because we are absolutely drowning in debt. If you can believe it, our budget deficit for the month of March was a whopping 660 billion dollars� The U.S. federal budget deficit widened 454% in March from a year earlier, as the government issued a third round of stimulus checks to help Americans ride out the economicfallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. The budget gap rose to $660 billion in March, the Treasury Department said Monday, from $119 billion in the same month last year. Revenue rose 13% to $268 billion in March,while spending increased 161% to $927 billion. A budget deficit of 660 billion dollars for an entire year would be bad enough. To achieve that level in just one month is catastrophic. Needless to say, even one war would make our fiscal situation much worse, and multiple conflicts would probably break us financially. Of course if a global war does erupt, financial problems won�t exactly be among our greatest concerns at that point. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Israel: The necessary superpower - Melanie Phillips - https://www.jns.org/opinion/israel-the-necessary-superpower/ On Tuesday, Israeli commandos attached limpet mines to an Iranian cargo ship in the Red Sea, the MV Saviz, which was reportedly a covert forward base for the regime�s IslamicRevolutionary Guards Corps. According to the United States Naval Institute, the Saviz, which had barely moved position for three years, may have been used to feed intelligence to Iran and its Houthiproxies in Yemen for nefarious purposes, including numerous strikes on maritime vessels in the area. The ship was only lightly damaged in the explosion, and there were no casualties. The most interesting fact was that Israel notified the United States that it was responsible.This indicated the attack was a message to the Biden administration that, if the United States won�t stop Iran in its tracks, Israel is prepared to attack it on its own. Such a message was deemed necessary because of intense alarm that President Joe Biden appears to be determined to empower Iran and other bad people in the Middle East. In particular, he is determined to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal, which would allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons with only a short delay and with the lifting of sanctionsfunneling billions of dollars into terrorism against Israel and the West. The administration had insisted that Iran must comply with the deal�s conditions before any sanctions were lifted. Yet on Wednesday, the U.S. State Department said it wouldlift sanctions that were �inconsistent� with the 2015 deal in order to �return to compliance.� This week, when American diplomats sat down with Iranian intermediaries to start negotiations over a revamped deal, the Iranians predictably crowed that they had achievedvictory. With equal malevolence, the Biden administration also announced this week that it will resume funding the Palestinians in Judea, Samaria and Gaza to the tune of $235 million,as well as giving $150 million to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Aid to both had been stopped by former President Donald Trump because of the Palestinians� support for terrorism and UNRWA�s malign role in perpetuating the war againstIsrael by creating the uniquely self-replicating status of Palestinian �refugee.� Yet both the Iranian and Palestinian regimes have responded to Biden�s �goodwill� gestures by repeatedly insulting the United States or attacking American allies in theGulf. The more sweeteners America offers these regimes, the more they display their contempt and thus weaken it further by demonstrating its ineffectuality to the world. And themore they humiliate America, the more it offers them. Either the Biden administration is so blinded by left-wing romanticization of the developing world that it�s incapable of understanding the lunacy of all this or these balefuldevelopments are what it actually wants. After all, a number of its officials have a history of extreme hostility to Israel. And that�s an almost infallible marker of resentment or aggression towards the West,of whose interests in the region Israel is the most important defender and guarantor. Either way, people who think like this are so determined never to acknowledge the real threat to the West that they use Israel and the Jewish people instead as scapegoats. Predictably, therefore, such people have accused Israel of aggression in attacking the Saviz, ignoring the fact that its presence in the Red Sea was an aggressive act againstIsrael and Western interests. Israel�s attack on the ship also sent a message to the Arab world. This is aghast that America is now locked into a deadly spiral of appeasement and aggression with theArabs� Iranian foe. Far worse still has been the potential game-changer deal struck between Iran and China. This will undercut any sanctions against Iran, and will strengthen both these enemiesof the free world in their aim of disempowering America and bringing the West to its knees. Biden should have responded by telling China it must choose between trading with either Iran or the United States. But instead, his administration is adopting its customarilydishonest strategy of striking tough poses against rogue states while taking no significant action against them. The implications for the West of the Iran-China deal are obviously terrifying. But they are also causing some observers to wonder whether we are about to witness a shiftin global power from America to Israel. On the face of it, this is absurd. One might assume that tiny, beleaguered Israel couldn�t possibly take over the role of mighty America in leading the free world. However,once you look at the broader picture it�s not so far-fetched. Israel is now a military superpower. It has the world�s most technologically advanced military and is one of its top weapons exporters. Its legendary military and securityderring-do derives from its culture of risk-taking, creativity and thinking out of the box�characteristics shared by no other country. Moreover, it�s appeared for some time that, that given the lemming-like cultural tendencies of the West, Israel may become the �last man standing� in upholding and defendingwestern values. American society is fracturing and may already be beyond repair. The Democrats and the rest of the liberal elite are remorselessly pumping out the message with which countlesschildren and students are being indoctrinated�that white people are racist, that America was born in sin, and that it is fundamentally so evil it must be transformed altogether. Ranged against those who think like this are millions of other Americans who perceive that their country and culture are being destroyed, and whose anger as a result isat boiling point. The likely outcome is deepening divisions, increasing violence and�if the state of California is any guide to Democratic rule�dogmatic intolerance, public squalor and rank administrative incompetence. Western Europe is in no better condition, with countries steadily surrendering to Islamist intimidation and cultural encroachment. The European Union�s vaccine debacle illustratesits defining combination of dictatorial tendencies, centralizing paralysis and uselessness in defending the fundamental interests of the people. Appeasement is a symptom of profound cultural demoralization, caused by a loss of national self-belief and faith in the future. That process has been going on in the Westever since the Holocaust delivered the devastating message that there was something rotten at the very heart of Western high culture. The most important proof of this demoralization is the birthrate in America and Europe, which is either below or barely the rate at which the indigenous population can reproduceitself. In other words, the West is literally dying out. By contrast, Israel is emerging from the pandemic at a world-beating rate�its economy strong and resilient, and crucially, its birthrate healthy and high. This is because Israel actually believes in itself. Sure, it has a ludicrously dysfunctional political culture, currently illustrated once again by its post-election gridlockand absence of a functioning government. It is also disfigured by deep social divisions between secular and religious communities, and subversive elements who regard the very idea of a Jewish state as anathema. But the vast majority of Israel�s public understands that its core value is the preservation of life and liberty and doing good in the world. It is a society built on redemptionand hope, and in dramatic contrast to the death-spiral gripping America and Europe, it is relentlessly focused on its survival. The Arab world has come to understand that all this is of priceless value�not just for Israel but for itself, too. It sees that Israel actually takes out its enemies. Itis increasingly realizing that the country most likely to defend Arab interests against Iran is not America but Israel, the Arabs� new and unlikely ally. As America falters and Western societies break apart, might this become Israel�s century? --------------------------------------------------------------- Iran and Israel�At War in All but Name- Yochanan Visser - https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/analysis-iran-and-israel-at-war-in-all-but-name/ Iran and Israel are now racing toward open conflict following a string of attacks on sensitive targets Iran and Israel entered into a new phase of their shadow war over the nuclear arms program of the Islamic Republic and its attempt to expand Tehran�s influence across theMiddle East. It is well known that Israel launched more than 1,000 airstrikes on Iranian weapons transports to proxies in Syria in order to prevent the further build-up of an anti-Israelforce under the banner of the �Golan Liberation Brigade.� This campaign has so far prevented the Iranians from getting a solid foothold on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, but the story doesn�t end there. The Iranians nowuse an Afghan militia to cobble together a giant force that seems to be preparing for conflict with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the near future. Battle for the seas There have also been recent reports regarding Israeli naval efforts to disrupt illicit oil transports to Syria, and a ship belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary GuardsCorps has been attacked by the Israelis in the Red Sea causing only damage to the vessel. Foreign media reported more attacks on ships that were illegally transporting oil to Syria from Iran. In the end, Iran finally responded by attacking Israeli-owned shipsin the Persian Gulf. Last Tuesday, the MV Hyperion Ray � which sails under a Bahamian flag but is Israeli owned � came under missile fire near the United Arab Emirates in the Gulf of Oman. Nobodytook responsibility for the attack but Israeli officials believe Iran�s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps was behind the incident. It was the third time an Israeli-owned ship had been attacked in the Persian Gulf over the last month. Unrelenting air strikes For its part, Israel continues to attack illicit weapons transports to Iran�s allies in Syria and Lebanon. Just three days ago local Syrian media reported fresh Israeliairstrikes on weapons depots in the vicinity of Damascus. Local state-controlled media said that a number of anti-aircraft missiles hit their targets, while one rocket fell on Lebanese soil. The Israel Air Force reported that all planes had returned safely. Mysterious blast The big news, however, in the shadow war between Iran and Israel came from the Natanz nuclear facility. Last weekend, just as the new US Administration of President Joe Biden was engaging in fresh talks with the Islamic Republic over rejoining the JCPOA, the 2015 landmarknuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers, a mysterious event happened at Natanz. According to the latest information, explosives were used to disrupt the nuclear base�s internal power system. The explosion caused severe damage to the site and it couldtake up to nine months to repair the damage. The strike took place only a day after Iran proudly introduced new uranium enrichment centrifuges at Natanz in a new breach of the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action). The IR-5 and IR-6 centrifuges will enable Iran to speed up uranium enrichment significantly. News of the advanced centrifuges came less than a year after Israel, via theMossad, launched a devastating strike against a new facility at Natanz. Seeking revenge After the Israeli act of sabotage at Natanz, Iran decided to quickly assemble a new hall for the uranium enrichment and is now working to remove all sensitive facilitiesat the plant to underground facilities that are expected to be ready next year. Initially, Iranian officials blamed the explosion on an accident, but later admitted that a foreign power was responsible for the �sabotage� or �terror.� Alireza Zakani, the head of the Iranian parliament�s research center, said that several thousands of centrifuges were damaged and destroyed. Zakani�s remarks could not independently be confirmed, but Iran�s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said that if Iran determines that Israel was behind the latest attack on Natanz �then it will get its response and will see what a stupid thing it has done.� A dangerous deal The incident in Natanz came just a day after the United States and Iran opened fresh indirect negotiations in Vienna about rejoining the original nuclear deal (JCPOA). The sides communicate with each other via European diplomats and the talks have reportedly been stalled over differences about who will make the first step in order to reacha situation whereby the Islamic Republic comes in full compliance with the JCPOA. That means that Iran stops enriching uranium above the 3.5 percent level and gets rid of its stockpile of more than 1,000 kilograms of enriched uranium above the 20 percentlevel. In turn, the US will lift all the sanctions that the previous US Administration of President Donald J. Trump had slapped on Iran. Israel has already announced that it will not be bound by a revised nuclear accord between Iran and six world powers in case the US rejoins the JCPOA. Israel�s long arm The government in Jerusalem and the Chief of Staff of the IDF, Aviv Kochavi, hinted that it was Israel that was behind the new attack on Natanz. �The IDF�s actions throughout the Middle East are not hidden from our enemies, who are observing us, seeing our capabilities, and carefully considering their next steps,� Kochavi said during a speech honoring Israel�s fallen soldiers. It is widely believed that the Israeli spy agency Mossad organized the new attack on Natanz, according to Western sources who now claim it was a cyber attack. The Mossad was also responsible for earlier attacks on Iran�s nuclear facilities and last year assassinated Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the father of Iran�s nuclear program andone of the most influential Iranian nuclear scientists. The Israeli spy agency stole a large part of Iran�s nuclear archive in January 2018. Iran now defiantly announced that it will begin enriching uranium to an unprecedented 60 percent level. Fissile material must reach 90 percent purity to enable Iran to produceits first nuclear weapon. The Biden Administration, meanwhile, reacted to the Iranian announcement by saying it was concerned over Iran�s �provocative� actions. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISIT: PROPHECY WATCHER WEEKLY NEWS: HTTP://PROPHECY-WATCHER-WEEKLY-NEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM VISIT: PROPHECY WATCHER WEEKLY NEWS: HTTP://PROPHECY-WATCHER-WEEKLY-NEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM