"EREV RAV" TRAITORS

Erev Rav

"The entire 974 generations (Hagiga 14.) which are `Erev Rav which are the souls from the world of chaos, G-d transplants them every generation, and they are the bold-faced of the generation. Our Sages said that in the period of "messiah's footsteps" impudence will become great... and the `erev rav will return to be the shepherds of Israel" - Safra ditz'ni`utha, chapter 1, beginning with the words "They were not watching" (3).

"You should know that there are five kinds of `erev rav. The first kind are argumentative and libelous people; the second kind are those who pursue passion and fornication; the third kind are those who are deceitful, who pretend to be righteous but whose hearts are not whole. The fourth kind are those who pursue honor in order to make a name for themselves; the fifth kind are those who pursue money... and the argumentative kind are the equivalent of all of them: they are called `Amalekim, and the son of Dovid will not come until they have passed out of this world, for it is of them that we recite timche et zekher `Amalek - "You shall erase the memory of Amalek" - Adderet Eliyahu, commentary on Deut. 1:1 (325), his words being based on Zohar 1:25, 27; 3:125: and see the Gaon's commentary on Tikkunei Zohar 97, pp. 86,91.

Adam, the first Man, sinned because of the souls of the `erev rav he contained - they caused him to sin. Similarly, Moshe Rabbeinu... because of the "erev rav" came to make mistakes. And these are the `erev rav that they desire to be the spiritual authorities and of great status and jump forward to teach (religious conduct) though they have not reached that level - Yahel Ohr, commentary on Zohar 1:28: beginning with uMoshe b'gineihu.

"Arguments which are not for the sake of Heaven come from the Erev Rav, those who jump forward to teach and to take the crown of `let us make for ourselves a name' - Tikkunei Zohar, p. 91, beginning and who caused [it] (v. Maimonides, Hilkhot Talmud Torah 5:4: `and every knowledgeable person who has not reached the level of teaching (spiritual conduct) and teaches is wicked, idiotic and rude... These are the small intellectuals who have not studied Torah as much as they should, but try to make a great impression on the boors and the people of their own town, and so they jump up and sit at the head of the line of sages who come to discuss cases and teach Israel. These are the ones who are argumentative, they destroy the world and extinguish the light of Torah, as they sabotage the vineyard of the L-rd of Hosts. Of them Solomon said: "ehezu lanu shu`alim, shu`alim k'tannim m'habb'lim k'ramim" - "grasp for us the foxes, little foxes that destroy the vineyards".

"All the exile, the destruction of the Temple and all the troubles - it all results from Moshe Rabbeinu having accepted the `erev rav. All the bold-faced and wicked people of the generation are from them, i.e., their souls are theirs (that is to say this is not physically inherited by lineage, but rather a mere reincarnation of souls), in that they are a reincarnation of them. This is what was meant in the Gemara, hani me`erev rav qa'ati - these spring from the erev rav - the Gaon on Tikkunei HaZohar 97, beginning v'aleihu. (Rabbi Yitzhak Hotner also commented on this, in "Pahad Yitzhak", Pesah, pp. 246-247.)

"Of the Amalekites some were leaders of the Israelites in their galut, their exile, acting violently and robbing the Jewish poor, and they are from the side of the generation of the Flood... and the bad separated out in the `erev rav, and when Moshe peace be unto him received them [Zohar I/27b] their souls intermingled with those of Israel, and this is the fourth exile... They are the fallen ones, who follow around after loose women and after bribes of this world. They are warriors, men of great name, all of whose deeds are done in order to enhance their reputation. They are spirits who do not desire to bestow kindness and charity for masters of Torah; they are giants who ridicule Torah scholars" - Tikkunei Zohar, p. 194.

"And all the exile and destruction of the Temple and all the tribulations - it is all [the result] of Moshe Rabbeinu's accepting the `erev rav, and all the brash and evil men of the generation are of them, that is to say from their souls, that they are an incarnation of them." - Tikkunei Zohar, p. 193.

"Just like roses are sown amongst the thorns, which are a protection for the roses, so the Jewish people are in exile amongst the `erev rav in order to speed up their redemption, and for this reason the thorns have not ceased - Tikkunei Zohar p. 54 [this means that the troubles we are suffering from them serve to speed up the time of the end].

"Eisav and Yishmael are entwined in Avraham and Yitzhak, but the `erev rav are entwined in Yaakov; they are more problematic to Israel and to the shekhina, for they are the leaven in the dough - for all the misers and those who do not support the Torah are from them" - Tikkunei Zohar, p. 35.

"The leaven in the dough" (B'rakhot 17a) is the `erev rav, who are worse than the nations of the world [who kill us], because the `erev rav stop Israel from performing the mitzvot (meaning: he who misleads his friend has done a greater act of evil than he who kills him - B'midbar Rabba 21:5) - Imre No`am, B'rakhot 17a. Ohr Yahel 3/232, the place beginning: the leaven in the dough.

...And see the profundity of their statements made about the blight, and yet there is a fourth kind: `and they have mingled (in Hebrew, Vayitarvu, related to the term Erev Rav) with the nations and learned from their deeds' - these are themselves Jews who adhered to the `erev rav and became like them...and this fourth kind is the most difficult of them all, and they are our brothers who have soured" - his commentary to B'rakhot 54:

And in the book of Tikkunim of Zohar Hadash (p. 54) we find written: "As for Yaakov, because he foresaw the pressure of the last exile in the end of days, the Torah says And Yaakov was very much afraid and felt troubled, and he divided up the holy nation in exile into three divisions, and he placed the maidservants and their children first, and Leah and her children behind them, and Rachel and Yosef last "

And the Gaon wrote there:

The three divisions are as follows: the `erev rav, the good simple people amongst them, and the scholars. The maidservants and their children first - these are the `erev rav made by Lilit, the bad maidservant, of whom it is said: And if a maidservant should inherit her lady, and also her sons, who are the leaders of the holy nation in the last exile, as it is said: Her foes became her leaders, as it was said in "Raaya Mehemna" (Zohar 3/125).

Leah and her children behind them - they are the good simple people.

Rachel and Yosef last of all - they are the scholars of whom Rachel is the chief of the house... They are last because they are downtrodden and debased, as it is said: Those who fear sin will be despised, and the wisdom of the scribes [alt. translated as counters] will be rotten, as he went on in R.M. (ibid., and see Sanhedrin 98.). See: Leshem, Shevo V'Ahlama, Introduction and Contents, p. 46, explanation.

Now it is clear why in Kol HaTor (chapter II, part II, section II) R. Hillel of Shiklov brings in the name of the Gaon: "The general role of two Messiahs, the messiah son of Yosef and the messiah son of Dovid, throughout the generations is one of defense and war against the three leading husks - Eisav, Yishmael and Erev Rav... The `erev rav is our greatest foe, he is what separates the two Messiahs, The `erev rav husk operates only by deceit and indirectly. Therefore the war against the `erev rav is the most difficult and most bitter, and we must use all our remaining forces to win this war. Whoever is not engaged in actively fighting the `erev rav becomes an automatic partner to the husk of the `erev rav, and whoever this may be it would be better for him had he not been created.

The main force of the `erev rav is at the gates of Jerusalem by the entrance of the city (The Great Period, 503-504).

This seems to be a shift and a change in the definition of `erev rav from what we have seen in the other quotations (full of desire, argumentative, honor-seeking, hurrying to give instruction though they are unqualified to do so, etc.). It would seem that this point mentioned by "Kol HaTor" of the resistance to the realization of the redemption of the Jews was not expressed in the other utterances by the Gaon regarding the `erev rav. This, however, is what R. Hillel of Shiklov explains to us: the nation of Israel has suffered so many tribulations during its horrible exile (see MahaRal, Netzah Yisrael, the beginning of chapter 49), and our heart boils over with distress at the memory of our terrible debasement, both in spirituality and in materiality. How, now, can there arise out of our nation Sanballats to destroy and disrupt the restoration of the nation of Israel in its land? The only explanation possible is that they really are full of desire, argumentative, proud etc. - lacking true links with the Jewish people or with the Torah of Israel.

We must not take into consideration that some of them do actually have some superficial knowledge of Torah (see Adderet Eliyahu to Deut. 32:20) for My people is foolish, they do not know Me... they are wise in causing evil, but know not how to do good (Jeremiah 4:22). That is, if they are not G-d-fearing - they do not know Me - they will turn the words of the living G-d into lies and deceit. The proof that their hearts are impure is that they are not distressed at the disaster of Yosef (Amos 6:6). They do not feel sorrow at the disaster of the entire Jewish people, though they chatter Torah-like platitudes of love of Israel. "And they heal the disaster of My nation too easily, saying `Peace, peace!' - but there is no peace!" (Jeremiah 6:14). Further proof, instead of quarreling with the nations of the world who cause us distress, they choose to argue and quarrel with the faithful of Israel - all by virtue of those very same characteristics defined by the Zohar (I/25).

All this was seen at the time by R. Hillel of Shiklov. He knew how the words of the Zohar and those of the Gaon, his rabbi, could co-exist with contemporary problems. The false virtues of the hypocrites and deceivers are what cause them to put barriers and other delays on the path to the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the redemption of Israel. Really, all the words of this chapter correspond to one another extremely precisely - to whoever understands.

SIX SCENARIOS TO WW III

Return to "Is World Nuclear War Inevitable?" at CarolMoore.Net SIX ESCALATION SCENARIOS SPIRALING TO WORLD NUCLEAR WAR General Scenarios Assumptions Scenario 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 URGENT: Scenario 3 - Israel Bombs Iranian Nuclear Plants

A world nuclear war is one that involves most or all nuclear powers releasing a large proportion of their nuclear weapons at targets in nuclear, and perhaps non-nuclear, states. Such a war could be initiated accidentally, aggressively or pre-emptively and could continue and spread through these means or by retaliation by a party attacked by nuclear weapons. While some speak of "limited nuclear war," it is likely that any nuclear war will quickly escalate and spiral out of control because of the "use them or loose them" strategy. If you don't use all your nuclear weapons you are likely to have them destroyed by the enemy's nuclear weapons.
Such a war could start through a reaction to terrorist attacks, or through the need to protect against overwhelming military opposition, or through the use of small battle field tactical nuclear weapons meant to destroy hardened targets. It might quickly move on to the use of strategic nuclear weapons delivered by short-range or inter-continental missile or long-range bomber. These could deliver high altitude bursts whose electromagnetic pulse knocks out electrical circuits for hundreds of square miles. Or they could deliver nuclear bombs to destroys nuclear and/or non-nuclear military facilities, nuclear power plants, important industrial sites and cities. Or it could skip all those steps and start through the accidental or reckless use of strategic weapons.
Below are seven scenarios by which world nuclear war could come about. While these are some of the major scenarios and combination of attacks and retaliations, they are hardly exhaustive. U.S., Russian and other nuclear nations' weapons strategizers deal with these scenarios every day but rarely let mere citizens in on their grizzly thinking. Citizens must end their denial and become aware of such scenarios.

GENERAL SCENARIOS

Accidental: Since the United States and Russia have "launch on warning" systems that send off rockets before it is confirmed a nuclear attack is underway, any tensions between them can lead to massive nuclear war within thirty minutes of a warning -- no matter how false the warning may be.

Aggressive: One or more nations decides to use weapons against nuclear or non-nuclear nations in order to promote an economic, political or military goal, as part of an ongoing war or as a first strike nuclear attack. (The state , of course, may claim it is a pre-emptive, retaliatory or even accidental attack.)

Pre-emptive: One or more nations believes (correctly or incorrectly) or claims to believe that another nuclear nation is about to use nuclear weapons against its nuclear, military, industrial or civilian targets and pre-emptively attacks that nation. May result from political or military "brinkmanship."

Retaliatory: Use of nuclear weapons in response to a nuclear attack -- or even a conventional, chemical or biological attack by a non-nuclear nation.

ASSUMPTIONS OF THESE SCENARIOS
There is a whole body of knowledge and assumptions that is taken into account when putting together scenarios like the below. My bottom line assumption is that any nuclear exchange has an excellent chance of resulting in a series of escalations that will spiral out of control, setting off a round of exchanges among various enemies under a "use it or lose it" philosophy, as well as among the treaty allies of the relevant nuclear powers and their allies. This continues until most of the planets' 20,000 odd nuclear weapons are exhausted. In making "limited nuclear war" calculations all nations should assume "whatever can go wrong, will go wrong." Unfortunately, too many strategizers assume they can conduct limited strikes and keep them limited.
Related assumptions include:
** Any nuclear attack on a primary Russian target like Moscow, St. Petersburg, or nuclear command headquarters, by any nation or group, known or unknown, could lead to a commander turning on "The Dead Hand" strategy and/or prompt one or more of Russia’s semi-autonomous military field commanders to retaliate against U.S. and European nuclear targets. Attacks on secondary targets or nuclear detonations very close to Russian soil also might lead to some sort of nuclear escalation.
** Any nuclear attack on US and/or European sites by any nation or group, known or unknown, probably will result in massive US and/or European retaliation against the known or assumed perpetrators or their known or assumed allies.
** It is likely that the U.S., Russia, China, Israel, India and Pakistan will use some of their weapons to attack other nuclear and non-nuclear nations which might threaten them after they have been devastated by nuclear war.
** Any nuclear attack on Israel by terrorists, or Pakistan, Russia or China will result in Israel’s surviving land, air and submarine carried or based missiles being used against Arab and Muslim capitals. A particularly devastating attack (including with chemical or biological weapons) might result in possibly in a full scale "Samson Option" attack on European and Russian targets. The latter of course would result in Russian retaliation against the United States, perhaps its punishment for not having done enough to protect Israel.
** Any nation's use of nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear nation will be only somewhat less inflammatory than using them against a nuclear nation, especially if that nation has many treaty allies. It will ratchet all nuclear nations alert systems and lead to unforeseeable consequences that could easily spiral to world nuclear war.

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NOTE: COLORS OF LINES AND DESCRIPTIONS ARE COORDINATED

Aggressive Pre-Emptive Retaliatory Accidental

SCENARIO 1. RUSSIA OR U.S. MISTAKENLY INTERPRETS GLITCH DURING TIME OF TENSION AS NUCLEAR ATTACK, LEADING TO WORLD NUCLEAR WAR

During time of minor or major political tension, especially active U.S. bombings of other nations or any use of nuclear weapons, Russian commanders' faulty early warning system detects false evidence of a nuclear attack from the U.S. Russia launches a large proportion of its weapons at the U.S. and pre-emptively at U.S. European and Israeli allies, as well as China, India and Pakistan to cripple their nuclear capability. The U.S. and Europe retaliate at Russia and U.S. attacks China to destroy its nuclear stocks. Israel retaliates against Russia and initiates aggressive attacks against Arab and Muslim capitols. India and China may strike each other to destroy any remaining nuclear or other military capability. (While less likely the United States would experience such a glitch, if so, the U.S. would strike Russia and China, they would retaliate against the U.S. and Europe and probably attack other potentially hostile nuclear powers to knock out their capability.)

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SCENARIO 2. U.S. OR RUSSIA THREATEN OR ENGAGE IN MILITARY AGGRESSION AGAINST SMALLER NATION, STARTING ESCALATION TO WORLD NUCLEAR WAR

Russia and US engage in threats over further US aggression in the Middle East or Russia's refusal to withdraw troops from former Soviet Republic Georgia. Russia and/or the U.S. pre-emptively strike the others' nuclear targets, leading to further rounds of retaliatory exchanges. Russia strikes pre-emptively at U.S. European and Israeli allies, as well as China, India and Pakistan to cripple their nuclear capability. Europe retaliates at Russia and U.S. attacks China to destroy any remaining nuclear stocks. Israel retaliates against Russia and initiates revenge attacks against Arab and Muslim capitols. India and China may strike each other to destroy any remaining nuclear or other military capability.

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SCENARIO 3. ISRAEL ATTACKS IRAN'S NUCLEAR FACILITIES AND/OR SYRIA AND LEBANON WHICH RETALIATE WITH MASSIVE CONVENTIONAL OR WMD ROCKET ATTACKS, ISRAEL RETALIATES WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS, ESCALATING TO WORLD NUCLEAR WAR

Israel attacks Iran's nuclear facilities and/or Syria and Lebanon. These countries respond with massive rocket attacks using conventional bombs and even some chemical, biological or radiological weapons. Israel responds with nuclear strikes against these nations and Pakistan. Outraged Pakistan retaliates against Israel and pre-emptively attacks Israel's ally/Pakistan's enemy India, which retaliates. Israel initiates "Samson option" and attacks Arab and Muslim capitols, as well as "antisemitic" Europe and Russia. Russian regional commanders retaliate against Israel, its ally the U.S., and U.S. European allies and China, to destroy its nuclear capability. The U.S. retaliates against Russia and hits China's nuclear capability. China uses any remaining nuclear weapons against Russia, the U.S. and India. India retaliates against China.

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SCENARIO 4. INDIA-PAKISTAN NUCLEAR EXCHANGE ESCALATES TO WORLD NUCLEAR WAR

Hindu and Muslim rioting or conflicts in Kashmir escalate into preemptive nuclear exchanges between India and Pakistan. A rogue Indian general strikes China which massively retaliates. Russian communications knocked out by electromagnetic pulses hit Europe and China with limited number of missiles. U.S. retaliates against Russia and attacks China to destroy its nuclear stocks. Russia retaliates against the U.S. and hits U.S. ally Israel. Israel initiates revenge attacks against Arab and Muslim capitols.

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SCENARIO 5. CHINA INVADES TAIWAN, STARTING ESCALATION TO WORLD NUCLEAR WAR

Taiwan declares independence. China begins Taiwan invasion, threatening to use nuclear weapons against U.S. cities. U.S. gives China an ultimatum to pull out which it ignores and U.S. uses nuclear weapons to destroy China's weapons. China retaliates against U.S. and nukes Taiwan. A few nervous or chauvinistic Russian regional missile commanders make a first strike against U.S., European and Israeli nuclear weapons sites. The U.S., Israel and Europe retaliate. Israel initiates revenge attacks against Arab and Muslim capitols. Pakistan, India and China exchange pre-emptive nuclear strikes.

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SCENARIO 6. UNKNOWN PARTIES USE NUCLEAR WEAPONS ON ISRAEL, RUSSIA OR THE U.S. STARTING ESCALATION TO WORLD NUCLEAR WAR

Terrorists or some unknown nation explodes one or two nuclear weapons in Russia, Israel, or U.S., possibly delivered via surreptitious means. Russia and the U.S. blame each other escalating to mutual "retaliatory" attacks, including on Europe. If Russia attacks Israel, Israel immediately initiates revenge attacks against Arab and Muslim capitols, and possibly "anti-semitic" Europe and Russia. Russia and U.S. preemptively attack China, and India and Pakistan pre-emptively attack each other, to destroy nuclear and military capabilities.

AS PREDICTED - "GERMANY"

« U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama speaks to Berliners at the Victory Column, July 24.
(Barbara Sax/AFP/Getty Images)

Germany Is Rising; American Presidents Are Helping

July 29, 2008 | From theTrumpet.com

The next American administration could be the one to watch—and help—Berlin become a dominating world power once again. By Philip Nice

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama spoke in Berlin last Thursday in front of 200,000 Germans. Some of his fans clung to lampposts, girls dyed their hair red, white and blue, others waved American flags, and enthusiastic supporters interrupted the speech, chanting “Pres-i-dent! Pres-i-dent!” Quite a change in a country where the American flag is sort of a sore spot.

The presumed Democrat nominee for the presidency and the source of “Obamania” is hailed as a superstar in Germany, where 76 percent of the populace supports him—some giving him the “rock star treatment,” some treating him like a “messiah.”

Obama stopped in Paris and London afterward, but it was Berlin’s environs that provided the stage for what was hailed as his keynote foreign-policy address, the pinnacle of his globetrotting tour through not only Europe but also the Middle East beforehand. Obama choosing Berlin over London and Paris is a strong signal that Gemany is already now one of the most important nations in Europe—if not the most.

Why did Berliners receive Obama so jubilantly? First, because his rhetoric and superstar ability to draw crowds is not wasted on Germans. Second, because German pride has taken a beating under the current administration due to transatlantic disagreements, most notably over Iraq.

And third, because he wants them to rise up.

Beyond choosing Berlin as his stage, a close look at what specifics Obama did get into during the speech reveals a view toward raising Germany to a stronger world power status, something that, from a historical perspective, should be somewhat unsettling. Germany is as eager as anybody to play a more significant role in the world, but Obama’s specific words on the future use of the Bundeswehr made even the Germans seem a little taken aback.

Obama first recounted the Allied airlift that saved the city from being swallowed up by communism, then touched on such “dangerous currents” as terrorism, global warming, nuclear weapons proliferation and drugs, calling for “old allies” to tear down walls between each other and “listen to each other, learn from each other and most of all, trust each other.”

“America has no better partner than Europe,” Obama said, to a round of applause.

Then he moved from applause-line platitudes to some of the only real specifics in the speech: Afghanistan, the Taliban, al Qaeda and “your troops.” Returning to the subject of global terrorism, the senator called for “a new and global partnership” to dismantle terrorist networks. “This is the moment,” Obama said, “when we must renew our resolve to rout the terrorists who threaten our security in Afghanistan and the traffickers who sell drugs on your streets. No one welcomes war ….”

Judging by clap frequency and volume, the Germans weren’t as enthused about this part, but Obama continued. “I recognize the enormous difficulties in Afghanistan,” he said. “But my country and yours have a stake in seeing that nato’s first mission beyond Europe’s borders is a success.” “[F]or our shared security,” he said, “the work must be done. America can’t do this alone. The Afghan people need our troops—and your troops.”

You can watch the tape. Compared to earlier reactions, the applause was only a smattering. For a long time after World War ii, active German troops was a taboo, to say the least. Obama went on to say, “In this century we need a strong European Union that deepens the security and prosperity of this continent—while extending a hand abroad.” Apparently, in enlisting Germany and Europe in a more powerful and forceful role, the presidential candidate is more enthusiastic than the Germans themselves.

But here is the larger significance: We are not just talking about Obama. Presumed Republican nominee John McCain also feels that America should step back and that Germany and Europe should shoulder more of the load of policing the world. Late last year, he wrote, “Americans should welcome the rise of a strong, confident European Union.” In fact, former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also supports American reliance on a more powerful Europe. So here is the real significance: It is not that Obama—or McCain, or Clinton—supports Germany playing a larger role in world strategic affairs, but the fact that this is a shared principle pervasive throughout Washington’s power circles.

But this consensus is not a new fad.

Think back: Former President Bill Clinton was awarded the Charlemagne Prize in 2000. That’s the prize for the person who, more than anyone else, renders “distinguished service on behalf of European unification,” and it’s named after a man who did so by conquest and slaughter, drawing blood in war after war after war.

But American presidential support for German and European empowerment goes back much further. The two most famous presidential addresses in Berlin were John F. Kennedy’s in 1963 and Ronald Reagan’s in 1987, both of which bolstered Germany in an effort to blunt the perceived larger threat: the Soviets. Decades before that, Harry S. Truman oversaw the incredible airlift that kept Berlin from becoming a groaning city languishing under the Communist heel—that was just three years after Adolf Hitler issued his last order to the German army and people. These efforts appeared to yield great victories. They are still hailed as such today.

But the best-laid plans of pundits and presidents often go awry. Ultimately, even the sharpest diplomacy and the most intelligent and powerful strategies developed by arguably the smartest men in the world are all inexorably leading to one final round of failure: World War iii.

The Bible forecasts that Europe will indeed continue to unify around Germany. It will also continue to develop its economic, political and military power precipitously until it becomes far stronger than any Washington strategist can now imagine. Think World War ii levels—and then some. When the new German Reich begins to assert its strength, the memories and history represented by the city in which Obama spoke and the Victory Column of Prussian conquest under which he stood will come rushing back. The world—one more time—will be plunged into war.

Although no one could forecast it now; although all the analysts and planners and commentators see a unified Europe as an economic-based infant political entity at best, an almost-dead pseudo union at worst; and although it appears that America has no better partner, Germany will do it again.

In the Bible, God condemns the brutality with which Germany conquers its victims, but He also says that Germany’s destructiveness is the rod of His anger, correcting rebellious, sinful nations that will listen to Him no other way. Germans are no worse a people than any other. The Berliners’ subdued reaction to calls for more German militarism indicates that—they have not completely forgotten World War ii yet. But the “mutable Germans,” as Luigi Barzini wrote, have an intrinsic ability to suddenly rally around one strong leader, and—under the wrong leader and the wrong ideology—to combine into the greatest national war-making machine on the planet. Almost nothing can stand up to the German blitzkrieg.

In spite of what comparatively sedate current conditions indicate, Berlin and its European empire-in-waiting will soon transform into a war-making power bloc unlike any in history—except its past incarnations, a pair of which plunged the world into global war twice in the past century. This time, however, it will be armed with nuclear missiles and weapons of mass destruction.

And no one sees it coming. In fact, policy-makers and presidential candidates are cultivating a stronger Germany! And why shouldn’t they? Europe has Western values. Its militaries are still outclassed by American might. It is democratic (although every successive EU treaty makes it less so). And Europe likes us far better than the Middle East—or Asia—does. If you don’t know what the Bible forecasts, and if you regard the world wars as ancient history, it may make good sense to do exactly what the American leadership is doing.

Yet raising up Germany will end in America’s downfall.

This quandary cannot and will not be solved by more diplomacy, different strategies, a Reaganite conservative or even a new Churchill. As Gen. Douglas Macarthur told us, “It must be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh.” Mankind cannot rule itself! For all our tactics and maneuverings, we are writing an indelible lesson in human ineffectualness and helplessness apart from God. The same God who prophesied almost every major current event you see in your daily headlines is about to allow us to experience the ultimate aversion therapy, the final catastrophic conflagration of our own making.

But that’s not the end. There is good news! God is letting us burn ourselves so that He can use this great lesson to teach us to listen to Him and to love Him and obey Him. And just as sure as America has risen and Germany will rise, mankind will come face to face with its own failures and finally turn to God, ultimately entering the greatest nation and government ever: God’s Family. •

VP DICK CHENEY

Injured vets tell pull Dick Cheney invitation over security demands

By James Gordon Meek
Daily News Washington Bureau

Sunday, July 27th 2008, 11:55 PM

Ceneta/AP

Vice President Cheney was told to get lost by Disabled American Veterans, which had invited him to its convention next month.

WASHINGTON - Vice President Cheney's invitation to address wounded combat veterans next month has been yanked because the group felt his security demands were Draconian and unreasonable.

The veep had planned to speak to the Disabled American Veterans at 8:30 a.m. at its August convention in Las Vegas.

His staff insisted the sick vets be sequestered for two hours before Cheney's arrival and couldn't leave until he'd finished talking, officials confirmed.

"Word got back to us ... that this would be a prerequisite," said the veterans executive director, David Gorman, who noted the meeting hall doesn't have any rest rooms. "We told them it just wasn't acceptable."

When Cheney spoke to the group in 2004, his handlers imposed the same stringent security lockdown, upsetting members, officials said.

Many of the vets are elderly and left pieces of themselves on foreign battlefields since World War II, and others were crippled by recent service in Iraq and Afghanistan. For health reasons, many can't be stuck in a room for hours.

"It was a huge imposition on our delegates," added David Autry, another Disabled American Veterans official.

Autry said vets would've had to get up "at Oh-dark-30 and try to get breakfast and showered and get their prosthetics on."

Once inside, they "could not leave the meeting room, and the bathrooms are outside," he said.

Cheney's office acknowledged the security requests, but insisted he is sensitive to combat veterans' needs.

Spokeswoman Megan Mitchell said the two-hour rule is "a recommendation, not a requirement," and "we always work to make sure the bathrooms are within the security perimeters."

"The vice president would never let us do anything that didn't help facilitate the needs of our veterans," Mitchell added.

Cheney has visited hospitalized wounded warriors and invited Walter Reed Army Medical Center patients for fly-fishing lessons around his swimming pool.

But the vice president's rules for speaking to groups seem more stringent than those of his boss.

President Bush routinely speaks at events such as large dinners where thousands of guests freely pass back and forth through Secret Service screening portals.

Gorman first invited Bush, who has never addressed the group, but the White House declined last month.

GOP presidential hopeful John McCain plans to speak in Las Vegas, and organizers expect Democrat Barack Obama will, too.

jmeek@nydailynews.com

SEN. Charles Schumer

Jewish advocacy of gun confiscation in the United States causes tremendous anti-Semitism - Senator Charles Schumer hypocritically enjoys the armed protection from crime which he denies "ordinary" Americans. (During a 1990s Congressional investigation into gun confiscation, Schumer joined black Congressman Mel Reynolds (D-IL), later convicted of pedophilia, in verbally attacking a young woman, the survivor of a Texas restaurant massacre, who testified that, had she been armed, her parents might still be alive.)

SEN. Charles Shumer - ANTI GUN PERSON

Jewish advocacy of gun confiscation in the United States causes tremendous anti-Semitism - Senator Charles Schumer hypocritically enjoys the armed protection from crime which he denies "ordinary" Americans. (During a 1990s Congressional investigation into gun confiscation, Schumer joined black Congressman Mel Reynolds (D-IL), later convicted of pedophilia, in verbally attacking a young woman, the survivor of a Texas restaurant massacre, who testified that, had she been armed, her parents might still be alive.)

Current Events

IRAN HANGING PEOPLE

TEHRAN

EUROPE IS COLLAPSING

« Spanish Economic Minister Pedro Solbes Mira warns of Spain’s soon-coming economic collapse.
(Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

Spain Heads for Recession, Periphery of Europe Following

July 25, 2008 | From theTrumpet.com

Europe’s smaller nations are in trouble; who will they look to for a way out? By Robert Morley

The Spanish economic miracle looks like it is over. Spain is headed for recession for the first time since the creation of the euro, according to investment bank PNB Paribas. For 15 years, Spain has never had a single quarter of negative growth. But if the Spanish party is ending, what does that mean for the rest of Europe?

Spain’s Economy Minister Pedro Solbes stunned capital markets with an admission that his country faced “the most complex crisis” in its history. The admission, according to the Telegraph, was a break with previous efforts to put a reassuring face on a rapidly deteriorating economy.

Solbes said the Madrid stock exchange had suffered an “earthquake,” crashing 27 percent since June, and that high oil prices, a slowdown in exports, and the global credit crisis had crimped consumer spending and the Spanish economy.

Solbes’s comments followed last week’s collapse of property developer Martinsa-Fadesa. With an empire of housing estates, hotels, shopping malls and other properties, Fadesa is the largest Spanish corporate failure in modern times.

The root of the current problem ailing Fadesa and Spain is the same thing ailing the United States—too much easy money creating bubbles that later burst.

In America, the roots of the housing bubble go back to the dot.com bust. At that time, then Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan massively cut interest rates to stave off recession—the side effect being that all of a sudden mortgages became inexpensive and millions more people could afford to purchase homes. Then, as real-estate prices were consequently driven sky high, the government encouraged the state-sponsored housing lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to make loans accessible to people who couldn’t qualify for loans big enough to purchase homes—which only increased the home buyer pool and drove prices even higher. But when the dot.com danger was over and the Fed began raising interest rates to combat inflation, loans and adjustable-rate mortgages became more expensive, housing prices began to fall, and the bubble burst.

The cause of the Spanish housing bubble is essentially the same. After joining the eurozone, the Spanish financial system became effectively backed by the much larger and more powerful German economy. Consequently, all of a sudden Spanish borrowers were able to borrow money at rates previously unheard of for a smaller economy. And like in America, Spaniards went on a spending spree, and all the newly available money ended up creating unprecedented demand for houses, automobiles and other consumer goods—thus the bubble economy was born.

In 2006, around 750,000 new homes were built in Spain—more than in Germany, France and the United Kingdom combined. And along with the houses, newly created lending, construction, remodeling and real-estate industries were also created, as easy money flowed from one sector to the next. Jobs became more plentiful, and as tax receipts grew, the government collected its share, posting moderate budget surpluses.

But now all that debt-fueled growth seems to be ending. With the European Central Bank raising interest rates to clamp down on inflation, the wheels have fallen off the Spanish economy. During the first quarter of 2007, new home sales plummeted by 32 percent. By the second quarter of this year, home prices had fallen by 20 percent. All the foreigners who had hopped on the hot-property bandwagon were now beginning to exit. Rising energy costs are also taking their toll, as are exports to the U.S., which have slowed due to the twin weaknesses of the U.S. dollar and economy. Corporations are tightening their belts, jobs are being shed, and the Spanish government now expects a multi-billion euro budget deficit.

Recession may be on the horizon, but Spain is not alone; much of the periphery of Europe is in the same boat. Like Spain, other smaller countries, such as Ireland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, also benefited enormously from previously unexperienced low eurozone interest rates, and are now facing economic contraction.

A crisis could be brewing in outer Europe. If so, expect the periphery to look to Europe’s economic heart and core, its largest and most dynamic economy—meaning Germany—for the way out. •

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« Texas Rep. Ron Paul continues to warn of the failing U.S. economy.
(Getty Images)

U.S. Congressman Warns Major Economic Disaster Imminent

July 24, 2008 | From theTrumpet.com

“Time is short for making a course correction before this grand experiment in liberty goes into deep hibernation,” the U.S. Congress was told earlier this month. On July 9, Texas Rep. Ron Paul warned the House Financial Services Committee that “big events” were about to occur.

“… I have days, growing more frequent all the time, when I’m convinced the time is now upon us that some big events are about to occur,” he said. “These fast-approaching events … will affect all of us. They will not be limited to just some areas of our country. The world economy and political system will share in the chaos about to be unleashed” (emphasis ours throughout). Paul continued:

There are reasons to believe this coming crisis is different and bigger than the world has ever experienced. …

The financial crisis, still in its early stages, is apparent to everyone: gasoline prices over $4 a gallon; skyrocketing education and medical care costs; the collapse of the housing bubble; the bursting of the nasdaq bubble; stock markets plunging; unemployment rising; massive underemployment; excessive government debt; and unmanageable personal debt. Little doubt exists as to whether we’ll get stagflation. The question that will soon be asked is: When will the stagflation become an inflationary depression?

Until recently, Mr. Paul endured a near constant barrage of criticism for his pessimistic views on the American economy. But nowadays he’s not alone in his fear of impending economic disaster. The New York Times agreed this past weekend that “big events” are indeed on the horizon:

Meanwhile, as American debts swell and foreigners hold more of it, nervousness grows that, some day, this arrangement will end badly. The dollar has been declining in value against other currencies. Some foreigners have begun to hedge their bets by buying more euros. “Obviously, this is going to come to an end,” [president of Euro Pacific Capital Inc. Peter] Schiff said. “Foreigners are not charitable organizations, and they’re going to demand that we pay them back.”

No single country owning large amounts of dollar-based investments is inclined to dump them abruptly; nobody aims to start a panic. But fears have begun to grow that one day a country may get spooked that another is about to dump its dollars—and that could trigger preemptive panic selling.

The Trumpet has been warning about a massive financial crisis in the American economy for years. Now, it seems each week brings more bad news—the recent news about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s troubles, for example. The U.S. government, as Paul noted, has printed money with abandon, creating a bubble economy that is about to burst. With the dollar being a fiat currency, inflation will run rampant—the massive government and consumer debt that needs to be repaid practically guarantees it.

Read “America’s Bubble Economy” for more on the true underlying reasons for the impending economic storm. •

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Obama's 'Birth Certificate'
By Lame Cherry
7-25-8

No, Barack Obama BC does not make him prehistoric no more than BCE or AD after his name, but Barack Obama BC is about the creative Barack Obama Birth Certificate which is a fraud that his campaign has issued. Apparently, Barack Hussein Obama needs all of our help. You see, Israeli experts have concluded that the Obama birth certificate on DailyKos and posted on other liberal sites to be a forgery and a very bad one at that. It seems the same people who were creating the Forgegate documents for Dan Rather were given the job to make amends, but just need a little more practice. Therefore, to help Barry Obama until another forgery comes along for all DailyKos bloggers to conclude it is real, a stand-in birth certificate from Canada is placed below for the man without a country. Canada you might say? Why on earth Canada, eh? Canada, because it seems that Stanley Ann Dunham, Barack's Mom, had to be somewhere when Barry was born. That somewhere is logically Canada due to the trail of evidence. We know Barry was registered once, if not twice, to 2 different Hawaiian hospitals. Conjecture speculates that the grandparents on finding out Ann had the baby in Canada and registered baby Barack as a commonwealth baby of colonial Kenya, that the grandparents blew a cork and hauled the kid down and made him a "live birth" registration and a quite criminal act of making Barry an American and didn't tell the pouting Ann. Ann not knowing what was going on and seeing reason of making her son an American even if she loathed white Christian American United States, hauled Barry down to the other hospital by chance and registered Barry, too. All of this would have worked out fine if Barry had not wanted to be president and Democrats were ready to hitch to anyone other than Hillary. But I digress. To answer the question of 'why Canada, eh?' We know from a friend on Mercer Island that Ann Dunham was there with infant Barry. As women were in 1961 in a delicate condition, where their air travel was deemed harmful just like getting up on a stool, and hauling babies around was just not done and mothers and infants stayed usually a week in the hospital, it means that her friend was seeing Ann and Barry on their way home to Hawaii. That means they were someplace else. The United States of course is negated as if a baby born in Spokane was American, there would be no reason to register the baby twice in Hawaii. Kenya being in Africa, required all sorts of vaccinations for travelers there. A pregnant woman would not be vaccinated, so this rules out pregnant Ann Dunham. This by elimination means Canada for Ann to make baby Barry jr. just like Barry sr. a full-fledged British subject of the Queen and future Prime Minister. As Kenya was still a colony in 1961 and did not open a consular office in Ottawa until 1978, that rules out any registration with Kenya or Ann having a reason to travel by train east into Ottawa as all she desired was in Vancouver, British Columbia. The British Embassy which would handle all commonwealth information and probably birth registrations passing the information along to Kenya and perhaps a telegram of congratulations to Barack sr. on having junior has a consular in Vancouver. 1111 Melville Street, Suite 800 Vancouver, British Columbia V6E 3V6 Tel: 604 683 4421 Fax: 604 681 0693 Email: vancouver@britainincanada.org Obviously, those records would be extremely interesting as to the date if it did not match the Hawaii birth certificate in being sent before his birthday that he was born. Location of course would be most interesting too if the telegram was from Vancouver or Ottawa embassy announcing the joyful news. Nice part about this too is phone records should still be available even in Kenya in the date and location calls came in if a reporter cared to check. Where there are definite records are in hospitals. Vancouver would attract an out of town 18 year old girl to two. The first would be the new 1959 constructed Vancouver General Hospital and the Children's Hospital established in 1947. And as white girls having black babies in vanilla Canada would be quite noticeable along with a girl telling nurses and perhaps embassy officials, "The daddy is Kenyan and I'm American, but I demand my baby be a British baby", sort of would stick in the minds of prudish Canadian nurses who probably only saw black people on boxes of Cream of Wheat. I actually requested a reporter babe to check into this concerning the hospitals in Hawaii weeks ago as I asked her, "Just why is everyone taking a Democratic state's word, a Democratic employee's word for a Democratic candidate?" As noted before, Barack Obama's sister, Maya, has 2 online registered birth months of August and September. This would point to Ann Dunham having had Maya out of the country, too and in a few weeks hauled her back to Hawaii for a late registration too to be an American. So this is all the Barack Obama BC birth certificate mess everyone needs to help him out with as he is more qualified with the above birth certificate to be Canadian Prime Minster than the one DailyKos has issued in June 2007 in being an American President. At least with the above, there is probably a real one in Vancouver to back it up. Barack Obama, BC, (British Columbia) BCE, (Before Conning Everyone) and AD (Angelic Diety) He seems to be a man of all history, past, present and future depending on the script. Post Script: One might note that Dudley Dooright signed Barack's birth certificate, so we know this one is real too as it is posted online.

TARGET = AMERICA

Target: America

From the August 2008 Trumpet Print Edition »

America’s advanced, complex nerve system may be its greatest strategic weakness. By Philip Nice

Power’s out. You flick the switch repetitively, still nothing. Your little clock radio is blank; you glance at your cell phone to check the time as you go to the closet. Hopefully you won’t be late for work … “No Signal.” You grab your robe and head down the hall, walking a little quicker now. Daylight is breaking, but the house is dark, the appliances dead.

The muffled sound of your neighbor’s backup generator makes its way into the foyer, so you walk over to see what the news is. Eight network channels, all static—except for two that appear to be airing reruns. Your neighbor looks worried.

You remember your car’s on empty. Whatever is going on, it couldn’t hurt to fill up your tank before people panic and start rushing the gas station. You walk back across the dewy yard, lift the garage door and drive to town, still in your pajamas and robe, wet grass clippings clinging to your feet.

Ten minutes later, you’re in a gridlock parking lot in the middle of the street—still a block and a half from the pumps. It turns out you aren’t the only one who’s worried about gasoline. You flick on the radio, now anxious to know what’s going on. More static. Finally: “Parts of the Eastern Interconnection power grid are failing this morning …. Servers for several news organizations appear to have been abruptly knocked off-line …. Rail, port and air traffic control network computer systems are experiencing glitches …. Numerous banks have temporarily suspended their electronic operations …. Reports are coming in that the Pentagon may have suffered a large cyberattack; some systems have been compromised, others are shut down to contain security breaches ….”

How the rest of this day ends is up to your imagination.

Hidden Danger equals: Digital Underground

The birthplace of the Internet, the United States, is one of the world’s most well-connected nations. Millions of Americans and other Westerners in households, businesses and government agencies use the Web to communicate, do business, transact, administrate day-to-day operations, control infrastructure, monitor world news, research, learn, navigate, shop and socialize. Even infrastructure and government functions, including the United States military, rely on the network. Time- and money-saving network solutions define your world. That’s the good news. And the bad news.

Beneath the everyday hum of businessmen, students, bankers, typists, graphic designers, web programmers, network administrators and other Internet dependents that you can see lies a digital underground that you can’t. In the same way the real world has an illicit and unseen criminal underground, human nature plays out the same way online. Below the global online community’s slick and shiny interface is a world of code—the gears inside the clock. To you, it would look like gibberish, but programmers can read and write it. So can hackers.

Although some use their expertise for benign or even constructive purposes, generally speaking hackers are programmers who use their knowledge of coding and programming to engage in illicit activities ranging from simply viewing sensitive material and playing practical jokes to blackmail, theft and sabotage. In some cases, hackers have brought down business websites, and security programmers have been helpless to restore service. The sites only went back online when the businesses paid their attackers to stop.

Software makers and online security companies are constantly reacting to these threats with “patches” that cover up one vulnerability while hackers move on to find others.

Right now, hackers around the world are writing programs that are searching for unprotected areas of code, finding them and silently slipping past security. Then, they use their imaginations: recording the keystrokes of unsuspecting users, crashing programs, overloading websites, ripping off passwords, stealing account numbers—constantly, silently, anonymously. And their reach increases every time a new computer plugs in.

If you buy a computer this evening, bring it home and plug a network cable into it, chances are it will be compromised within five minutes. You won’t know it, but automated hacker programs will already have found your computer and begun diverting some of your processing power and using your computer’s identity to mask their own activities, which include sending unwanted e-mail advertisements, overloading targeted servers and taking over yet more computers. Constantly updating your antivirus software will help keep incursions to a minimum, but there are no guarantees. In fact, some initial network security downloads take longer to install than it takes for a hacker’s program to penetrate your system.

Generally, hackers aren’t necessarily able to read your e-mail or steal your files. That typically occurs only if someone targets you directly. But when that happens, usually to a larger organization, hackers can be in and out with the information they want and without leaving a trace in under 20 minutes. Or they can disrupt, falsify or outright destroy it.

The New Battlefield equals: Cyberwar

That’s cybercrime, instigated by a largely unorganized group of hackers with varying skills and motivations. But what about all-out cyberwarfare? The potential effects are much more catastrophic. This Internet underworld is the 21st century’s newest battleground.

China, Russia, even Islamist terrorists are beginning to wage a new kind of war here, in an environment where a desktop computer can put your agenda on a level playing field with the world’s only superpower. It’s a cheap, powerful equalizer. And when it comes to the havoc a cyberassault could bring, especially when coupled with a real-world attack, there’s nothing virtual about it.

Case study: What happens when you combine a well-connected, Internet-dependent nation, a hostile enemy, hacker mercenaries and an unpopular political decision? You get Estonia. Surprisingly well-connected, Estonians use the Web heavily in everyday life: for their banking transactions (almost all of them), communications, news, shopping, reservations, theater tickets and more. There, Internet access is legally considered a human right; even parliamentary votes are conducted online.

In April 2007, the government relocated a Soviet-era statue, infuriating ethnic Russians inside and outside of Estonia, as well as the Kremlin.

Within 24 hours, hackers began probing Estonia’s online defenses to test their limits. Then, they blasted key computer targets with information overloads. Parliament’s e-mail crashed, websites for major political parties were hijacked, and a counterfeit letter appeared from the prime minister apologizing for removing the statue. Then, hackers began overloading routers and switches across the country. Two major banks had to shut down operations, losing millions, and half of the nation’s news outlets were knocked out. Most servers had to be disconnected, and the rest were so busy trying to protect themselves that Estonia’s Internet in essence stopped functioning.

After more than a week of crippling cyberattacks, the assault subsided and Estonian online security officials along with foreign experts were able to restore service. They also traced some of the machines used in the attack back to Russian government offices. Moscow denied involvement, and the government machines themselves could have been compromised and controlled by hackers elsewhere, but the lesson remains: Do not underestimate the real-world power of hackers in large numbers.

Target equals: America’s Achilles Heel

The Pentagon doesn’t. Every day, its electronic defenses take hits from hundreds of cyberattacks, some of which have been successful. Since 2006, the virulence and volume of attacks have surged dramatically. Electronic attacks on the Department of Homeland Security have tripled over the last two years, and those on military networks have increased 55 percent. One former high-ranking national security official called it “espionage on a massive scale.” In June 2007, an assault forced the Department of Defense to take as many as 1,500 computers offline, downing the Pentagon’s unclassified e-mail system. In other cases, top-flight military units have been hacked, and the Pentagon’s network vulnerabilities, detailed maps of Department of Defense facilities, and U.S. military war plans have been posted on the Web for the world to see. In 2007, a breach at the State Department put cia agents around the world at risk.

Perhaps the most worrying trend is that numerous attacks appear to be coming from foreign nations that are enemies of the United States, particularly China and Russia, as well as locations in Europe. In early June, congressmen reported that hackers in China have cracked multiple computers and accessed sensitive information inside the offices of American lawmakers, right on Capitol Hill. This has been going on since 2006. BusinessWeek reported that from 1998 to 1999, hackers stole large amounts of unclassified information from the Defense Department, nasa, the Energy Department and numerous weapons labs (April 10). The destination for some of the data was inside Russia. In 2004, hackers thought to be in China stole classified data from defense contractor Lockheed Martin, Sandia National Labs and nasa. Last year, China struck again, as reported by BusinessWeek: “2007. A new form of attack, using sophisticated technology, deluges outfits from the State Dept. to Boeing. Military cyber security specialists find the ‘resources of a nation-state behind it’ and call the type of attack an ‘advanced persistent threat.’ The breaches are detailed in a classified document known as an Intelligence Community Assessment. The source of many of the attacks, allege U.S. officials, is China. China denies the charge” (ibid.).

The U.S. administration recognizes the gravity of the cyberthreat and is spending tens of billions of dollars to defend against it. But those who are trying to protect the nation’s security online face a mountainous task. There are a multitude of government and military agencies trying to fight cyberwarfare that must coordinate with each other as well as with the private sector, all the while tiptoeing through a maze of legal and bureaucratic red tape that restricts military and cyber security enforcement, but which hackers don’t think twice about. In comprehensive cyberattack simulations such as Cyber Storm i and ii—in which the private sector disclosed attacks quickly and yielded to a higher authority, unlikely advantages in a real-world situation—the results are typically failures.

Then there’s the sheer volume of information the U.S. has to protect. The Pentagon alone uses millions of computers on tens of thousands of networks at hundreds of sites in dozens of countries. In addition to this, U.S. defenses are tied to hundreds of private sector defense contractors. Beyond the defense establishment, hackers can and have also targeted other essential national infrastructure: electrical grids, banks, transportation systems, news networks, government agencies and important businesses.

These contractors have weapons systems and other critical secret data stored on their networks that must also be secured. Inevitably, some systems are older and more vulnerable to sophisticated new viruses, while others are improperly administered. Even up-to-date systems totally miss cleverly disguised viruses, allowing attackers to track keystrokes, take screen shots and suck out loads of information. Hackers say there’s always at least one machine unprotected. And it only takes one.

Add all this to the fact that cyberwarfare favors the attacker. The defender must always react to the assailant, who chooses the time, place and method of the attack, which is always cloaked with anonymity, could inflict virtually unlimited damage, and can be waged by as few as one person located anywhere in the world at any time. All for less than the price of one m-16.

For the sprawling, mighty United States and its military, it is a starkly naked Achilles heel. This is the one thing that could easily and rapidly bring the nation to a standstill.

The more well-connected and technologically capable we get, the more vulnerable we are.

And the West is constantly getting better-connected.

In doing so, the military necessarily must tie its systems to civilian systems, where infections are even easier to start and spread. Budget-minded planners have also opted for off-the-shelf network security products and even security software developed in foreign nations. The U.S. Army’s advanced Future Combat Systems project makes soldiers even more dependent on the network.

Answer equals: USBIP

If independent, oftentimes teenage attackers motivated by ideologies as simple as voyeurism and resentment for authority have caused and can cause so much trouble, what happens when unified, ideologically motivated terrorists and enemies with the resources of a nation-state really begin pouring it on? Estonia would be merely a trial run.

A targeted and sustained assault on just a few of the nation’s key infrastructures—some of our already-faltering financial institutions, for example—could disrupt our economy, explode investor confidence and kill the dollar. Cyberassaults on oil and energy information systems could spike fuel prices. Attacks on transportation infrastructure could delay, diffuse and disrupt the nation’s economic bloodstream. Resultant fuel, food and energy shortages could spark widespread crises and even riots that would cost billions of dollars and possibly hundreds or thousands of lives.

But outright attacks on our military’s networks, especially coupled with infrastructure damage and resulting civil upheaval, could be nationally deadly. The most advanced military in the world relies on the most complex information systems to sustain an unprecedented and ultra-complex organization of logistics. Should those systems malfunction before or during a time of national crisis, ammunition could arrive late, units could be assigned incorrectly, helicopters might never deploy—and, worst-case scenario, some of our own weapons could conceivably be retargeted.

Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has monitored this vulnerability since January 1995: “America is the greatest superpower this world has ever known. But we have a very vulnerable point in our military—our own Achilles heel. … Exploiting this vulnerable point may trigger the greatest shock in the history of warfare! … Computer dependence is the Western world’s Achilles heel, and within a few years this weakness could be tested to the full.”

As the basis of his analysis, Mr. Flurry pointed to a key Bible prophecy that might be fulfilled in part by cyberwarfare: “Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land. … They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the battle: for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof” (Ezekiel 7:1-2, 14).

Even though the modern nations of Israel, including the U.S., Britain and the Jewish nation, sound an alarm of impending attack and expect their mighty armed forces to respond, “none goes to battle.” There are a variety of ways the immediate future could play out, but one thing is certain to happen: Ezekiel 7.

God has revealed these future events—as well as ultimately good news for our nations. To learn more about America’s vulnerabilities and its immediate future, request, download or read online at

theTrumpet.com Herbert W. Armstrong’s book that contains the answers to these problems as well as the awe-inspiring hope for our future: The United States and Britain in Prophecy. •

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Are feds stockpiling survival food?
'These circumstances certainly raise red flags'

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Posted: July 24, 2008
12:00 am Eastern

© 2008 WorldNetDaily

A Wall Street Journal columnist has advised people to "start stockpiling food" and an ABC News Report says "there are worrying signs appearing in the United States where some … locals are beginning to hoard supplies." Now there's concern that the U.S. government may be competing with consumers for stocks of storable food.

"We're told that the feds bought the entire container of canned butter when it hit the California docks. (Something's up!)," said officials at Best Prices Storable Foods in an advisory to customers.

Spokesman Bruce Hopkins told WND he also has had trouble obtaining No. 10 cans of various products from one of the world's larger suppliers of food stores, Oregon Freeze Dry.