Damascus the world's most dangerous destination!
According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, tourism in Israel has steadily declined in 2009 in comparison to 2008. There appears to be a developing concern among would be "holy land" travellers that a major Mideast war involving Israel, Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas, and others is inevitable and soon to happen.
In a semi-related area, Israel's concerns are further fuelled by the genuine possibility that immigration into Israel will come to a complete halt the minute Iran possesses its own nuclear weapon. Ephraim Sneh, the former Israeli Deputy Defence Minister, was quoted by the Jerusalem Post on 9/16/2009 as stating:
"If the Islamic republic (Iran) completes its military nuclear program, immigration to Israel would stop, young men and women would emigrate to pursue their future in places seen as more secure and investment in Israel would be reduced."
Legitimizing the above holy land concerns are the additional geopolitical facts that Mideast Peace talks remain at a standstill, the international community is further isolating the Jewish State, and Israel has been preparing its citizenry and military for a massive multi-front war for the better part of 2009!
Has the Middle East become the world's most dangerous travel destination?
Perhaps so; many end time's experts are predicting war is presently gyrating upon the prophetic radar. Several of them believe Damascus, Syria will soon be the site of the world's next deadliest disaster! Ancient bible prophecies foretelling the coming destruction of the world's oldest continuously inhabited city increasingly pique the attention of today's top eschatologists.
They feverishly sort through the geo-prophetical blueprints to see if they appropriately align with today's turbulent geo-political Mideast events. The interrelated prophecies of particular interest are contained in the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah.
Isaiah 17:1 declares that Damascus will someday cease to be a city. The prophecy suggests that it will be reduced to rubble in a matter of hours indicating that it becomes the target of a devastating attack. Only nuclear weapons could accomplish such destruction in a brief time period. Isaiah 17:9,14 encourages the possibility that such an attack is conducted by the Israeli Defence Forces (I.D.F.).
Several bible translations, like the King James Version, New King James Version, and American Standard Version, seem to suggest that Jeremiah 49:23-27 depicts an I.D.F. attack emanating from warships located in the Mediterranean Sea. Presently Israel has several such warships purportedly packing that type of powerful punch patrolling therein!
Although Damascus was overtaken around 732 B.C. by the Assyrians and has changed sovereign hands several times since, it has never ceased entirely from being a city. In fact today it thrives as Syria's capital city, housing a population within its connecting metropolitan borders of about 4.5 million people. This is approximately one quarter of the entire nation's population.
Furthermore, it is considered by many to be the central hub from which every known Mideast terrorist organization finds safe haven. In light of these important facts and many others, several prophecy scholars have safely deduced that Isaiah's damnation of Damascus has yet to find its final fulfilment!
In the event Israel strategically strikes Iran's nuclear sites and in return receives a massive reign of retaliatory rockets from a hostile multi-front venue, Damascus becomes Israel's most opportune return target. By decisively destroying Damascus, the I.D.F. demonstrates to its Mideast foes that it intends to act boldly, swiftly, and victoriously. Furthermore by dooming Damascus, the I.D.F. limits the mobilization capabilities of several key terrorist entities expected to engage in the anti-Israel confederacy.
Presently Syria is among a multiplicity of world nations that disallow normal diplomatic international relations with Israel. In fact they, like Iran, Lebanon, Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinians, and many more, refuse to recognize Israel's right exist as the sovereign Jewish State.
Syria, along with Egypt, Jordan, and others, has prominently participated in the major Middle East Arab - Israeli wars of 1948, 1967, and 1973. However, unlike Egypt and Jordan, who have developed a wholesome fear of the I.D.F., Syria still rattles its sabers and stakes its claims upon the strategic Golan Heights, land which Israel currently possesses.
Although Egypt and Jordan have formulated fragile peace treaties with Israel, Syria has refused to emulate their examples. Instead Syria has opted to befriend Iran, Hezbollah, and the Hamas, all of whom exist as Israel's greatest military threats today.
In light of the fact that Syria has refused to learn its modern day lessons regarding Israel's right to exist in the holy land, it appears as though they are about to descend from a condition of denial into a dreaded circumstance of destruction.
Jeremiah 49:25 asks - "Why is the city of praise (Jerusalem) not deserted, the city of My joy?" By asking this question of Damascus humanity is caused to consider that there comes a time when Jerusalem and Damascus become two central competing cities. Jeremiah suggests that Syria will someday seek the forced exodus of Jews out from Jerusalem. Presently the Syrians and many of their Arab cohorts seek this very thing. They desire that Jerusalem become the capital of an additional Arab State called Palestine.
According to Jeremiah's subsequent concluding prophetic words to Damascus, we discover the Syrian army will mobilize in a final attempt to separate Jews from their holy city of Jerusalem. However, this futile Syrian attempt will prove to be fatal, and in the aftermath, Damascus becomes the world's most dangerous destination!
"Therefore her (Damascus) young men shall fall in her streets, And all the men of war (Syrian army) shall be cut off in that day," says the LORD of hosts." (Jeremiah 49:26)
Currently there is credible chatter that an unprecedented increase in Christian conversions is taking place in Syria. However, this window of opportunity to preach the gospel in a predominately Arab Islamic country may be about to abruptly shut! If Damascus is soon to become the target of mass destruction, then perhaps these converts ought to be incorporating a sound exit strategy out of Syria within their temporarily flourishing Christian message.
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Below are comments to the potential present logistics of the above Damascus article ..
a) Citing Jeremiah 49:23-27 in sequence to Isaiah 17:1-3 & 14, it appears that Israel is the recipient of the missile barrage of the Hezbollah and Hamas, backed by the Syrians and the Iranian military advisors operating from Lebanon, we could see that Israel would have been completely tormented by the "vicious attrition of the missile barrage".
As you know that Hezbollah boasts of 40,000 rockets (by the way these are just FROGs - Free Rockets Over Ground - with very little or no terminal guidance. That means they would wreck havoc on impact that would simply fragment every piece of Israeli territory.
Assuming that the 40,000+ rockets bombard Israel and assuming Syrian SS-21 missiles also hit Israel with possible Chemical warheads, what would remain of Israel would be just dust and burning mass.
So the question is how does Israel retaliate against Damascus?
Here is a possibility:
i) All the Hezbollah & Hamas rockets and the Syrian missiles would not fully penetrate Israel since Israel would erect its Iron Dome -- a missile defence system with limited interception capability, but what would actually shield Israel would be their Tesla Dome that they would quietly erect.
Please read this . The Israeli Air Defenses chief announces that Israel can defend itself against ALL of the ballistic missile threats it faces in the entire Middle East! http://www.cuttingedge.org/newsletters/080608.html
This would simply be Israel's formidable shield. Very few nations have this capability they include Russia, US, China, France etc.
Once the missile and rocket barrage proves ineffectual, it would simply infuriate the Iranians and the Syrians, it is here that the Iranians would prod the Syrians to attack Israel by SS-21s with chemical warheads. The effect of that attack we read in Isaiah 17:4-6 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isa%2017&version=KJV
ii) This would be the most obvious trigger for Israel since the unstated Israel doctrine of nuclear deterrence reads that crossing the threshold of weapons of mass destruction in the sequence of biological, chemical, radiological and nuclear weapons, Israel would simply operationalise its latent existential nuclear capability of "mating its nuclear warheads to its Jericho I, II, III, IIIB Medium range, intermediate range and extended intermediate range ballistic missiles, beside Israeli F-15I aircraft are nuclear capable and would do the job in no time.
Israel's formidable nuclear arsenal is well analysed in: "THE THIRD TEMPLE'S HOLY OF HOLIES: ISRAEL'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/israel/nuke/farr.htm
b) The scope of the Israeli counterpoise and strike seems to come from its small, yet one of the most powerful navy as in Jeremiah 49:23-27.
You have very correctly cited this. Israeli Dolphin class submarines carry one of the most formidable Land Attack Cruise Missiles called the Popeye Turbo Cruise Missiles. In May 2000, Israel tested these missiles off the coast of Sri Lanka. The missiles have a range of 1,500 km and carry the standard 200 KT nuclear warhead.
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/israel/missile/popeye-t.htm
Besides the Popeye nuclear Tactical Land Attack Missile (TLAM), Israel's Dolphin class submarines being one of the most sophisticated conventional submarine with Air Independent Propulsion technologies of endured submergence http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/dolphin/
Israel's Dolphin's would also have the Delilah missiles tipped with HPM (High Power Microwave) warhead--essentially a non-nuclear warhead that shreds every bit of electrical and electronics system, blinding, deafening and dumbing a country's critical infrastructure. The Delilah on impact would simply unleash a microwave lightning bolt of energy in excess of 2 billion watts. http://defense-update.com/products/d/delilah.htm
Just imagine the consequences of such an attack on Damascus or even on Teheran, I see that the Israeli Dolphins and their Saar class corvettes http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/saar5/ would launch the Delilahs and the Popeyes -- simply saturating the Syrians and the Hezbollah and Hamas.
Backing these would be the Tesla Howitzers that could fire in electro-magnetic beams that would simply fry everything on its path that would be coordinated from land.
http://www.cuttingedge.org/News/n1776b.cfm
So that's the formidable order of battle that Israel has in place.
BUT more than all these, Israel's guardian angels led by Archangel Michael would war with Satan trouncing him and throwing him down to earth. (Daniel 12:1 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Dan%2012&version=KJV
and Revelation 12:7-9 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2012&version=KJV
Even as Archangel Michael triumphs over Satan and his hosts, Israel would be empowered to this massive and unpredictable victory of Psalms 83 that simply snatches overwhelming victory over the 10-nation Arab confederacy from what the world would be thinking would be the jaws of defeat. (By Bill Salus)
