Global SITREP D1-22: Syria

12 September 2022: Israeli Defense Minister Gantz today revealed ten military sites within Syria which Iran is using for the production of medium and long range precision guidance missiles and weaponry. Advanced strategic weaponry in other words. These sites are known within Syria as Centre D'Etudes et de Recherches Scientifiques or CERS. A number of these sites have been struck repeatedly by Israel for the past four years, most recently in May and August this year (reference the clickable map above). 

There is no question that these CERS sites will be the targets of a major campaign in the coming days - otherwise there's really no reason to publish a map and specifically identify each of them, some above ground, others in tunnels and other underground, as DM Gantz has done today. Timing is everything. As we've noted in recent SITREPs these sites are now largely undefended by Russian air defense systems which were redeployed back to Russia for the Ukraine war, and the meager Syrian and Iranian air defense systems are simply not up to the task, especially considering that Israel is more than likely to task their squadrons of F-35I Adir with precision above ground strikes and F-16I Sufa and F-15I Ra'am aircraft with delivery of heavy earth-penetrating ordnance.

Such a campaign is assessed by Eschatology Today to result in fulfillment of the Isaiah 17 prophecy and all that it relates in a short but destructive war. This is not mere speculation, but an assessment which is subject to re-assessment given the Iranian nuclear issue. Iran's own ballistic rockets are not part of this equation simply due to what is related in the opening verses of Jeremiah 49:35. Rather it is the Iranian rockets already primed to strike Israel's population centers from launch locations in Lebanon (Hezbollah/IRGC) and Syria (IRGC and proxy militias). Great loss of life is certain in this coming exchange: Damascus destroyed complete, Syria wiped out as a nation, and Israel bloodied severely per Isaiah 17.

With Russia's battalion tactical groups being decimated and militarily dissected by Ukrainian forces armed with the best the Western Alliance has to offer, the loss of Syria, which Russia has long expected rich dividends from their billions of investment, is their any wonder that Russia would be looking to Israel in the future to recoup their billions upon billions of evaporated rubles? If this assessment holds then we are seeing clearly through the looking glass of Bible prophecy. The assessment will update accordingly as events play out simultaneously in eastern Europe and the Levant.

UPDATE 14 September 2022: Next we will lean forward and look at the inevitable changes that a Ukrainian military victory over Russia will bring to the EU and even more so to NATO!

These assessed changes will occur as a direct result of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Wars ALWAYS produce massive geo-political changes, and this war will be no different. Eschatology Today assesses that the coming changes will occur within the Russian Federation and they'll conform to the prophetic geo-political aspects we find in Ezekiel 38/39. 

As for Europe and the NATO alliance we'll likely see ten leading nations arise as per the visions and prophecy Gabriel imparted to the prophet Daniel. We also have to watch for a nation the size of Ukraine, and as well-armed as they are now if not more, becoming a major anchor, along with Poland on NATO's eastern flank. 

Early on in the SITREP series regarding the Ukraine war the Budapest Memorandum was included because of its importance. That agreement was a Russian guarantee of Ukraine's sovereignty, and in exchange for that guarantee Ukraine agreed to relinquish its nuclear weapons to Russia. 

Now that Russia unilaterally abrogated the Budapest Memorandum agreement with an unprovoked invasion its stands to reason that sooner or later Ukraine will get nuclear weapons again as a guarantee against no future Russian military adventurism at Ukraine's expense. NATO membership is almost a certainty as is membership in some type of Euro-centric federation of nations (a/k/a the feet of miry clay and iron we've referenced as the Ten Toes in the prophecy of Daniel 2.) 

We do well to remember "past as prologue." It was geo-political events (war is a type of international politics in action) which resulted in the fulfillment of the events in 70 AD between the Roman Empire and the Jewish people of Judea, Jerusalem and the destruction of the second temple. Likewise it was World War II which led to the fulfillment of Isaiah 66:8 which foretold of Israel being born again in a since day. Real-world events result in the direct and literal fulfillment of Bible prophecy. The war in Ukraine and all things related to it will be no different.

"Who is like the beast, and who can wage war against it?" (Revelation 13:4). This also is a prophecy in the process of fulfillment, and we today are witnesses to its beginning.

Global SITREP C2-19: Behold! Elam's Bow Has Been Broken

Iranian Ballistic Missiles in Underground Storage Site

UPDATED 23 June 2019: Did President Trump really call off a military strike on several IRGC missile sites? The answer is Yes... and No. Yes, a fairly significant kinetic strike involving American missiles and aircraft on the designated terrorist IRGC missile sites was prudently aborted, but the long-planned strike on Iranian computer-based command and control (C2) by United States Cyber Command, a/k/a CYBERCOM, the 10th Combatant Command of the United States Armed Forces, was approved by President Trump and was launched as the Stand Down order was issued for the kinetic strike last Thursday. So, yes, the US military attacked Iran with great power as a direct response to the shoot down of our surveillance drone in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz.

And guess what primary target CYBERCOM, in coordination with US CENTCOM, was authorized by POTUS to attack? The Command and Control (C2) network of the Iranian ballistic missile forces. In fact, President Trump has pretty much given our cyber warriors a blank check to launch cyber attacks on adversaries, like Iran, at will and continuously as the need arises. Now, while most of the world wasn't looking Eschatology Today immediately recognized this crippling cyber attack on the Iranian C2 infrastructure for what it really could be - fulfillment of Jeremiah 49:35. "Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the foremost of their might." Without their C2 computer network functioning the "bow" that launches Iranian "arrows" is inoperative. No ballistic missiles threatening US and Israel and other allies in the entire region can be launched. The "bow" has been broken.

From last Thursday to this moment, no one within the government will speak openly about this attack on the Iranian C2 network. However, their are dozens of examples of cryptic remarks by high-ranking folks in the know that have been made during these past four days with National Security Advisor John Bolton's comments being primary among them. Nevertheless, "As a mater of policy, and for operational security (OPSEC), we do not discus cyberspace operations, intelligence or planning" was the routine response by the US CYBERCOM spokesperson as noted in several open source and media reports. This is the war that nobody but those persons directly involved can see being waged. The American posture in this cyber warfighting is one that is known as "defending forward." It's a forward leaning defense using offensive cyber weapons. Offense is the best defense as we all know, and this is an unseen practical application of that sporting adage. It's part of the blank check referred to above.

This, make no mistake, is a major escalation in the ongoing war. And it will escalate even further into the realm of kinetic military action as "the sword" is brought against the Islamic Republic now that the "foremost of their might" has been neutralized. 

CyberWar

25 June 2019: When it comes to Jeremiah 49:34-39 and its fulfillment, some folks would do well to become acquainted (or re-acquainted) with the interpretive view that has been integral to Eschatology Today since 15 September 2010. There are a few other directly related posts here that are available by using the search engine in the upper left-hand corner of this main page. Enter 'Jeremiah 49:34-39' as the search criteria. 

The key phrase that should be noticed right off the get-go when accessing the above link are the words "Coalition of Nations Move Against Iran." As we can clearly see in 2019, that post title is no longer a question as originally posed. In 2019 it is an established fact. And, lo and behold, those words are precisely the action being taken by U.S. SECSTATE Pompeo in his current mission to the Middle East. He is about building a "coalition of nations" to oppose Iran. So, with respect to the now 9-year old original post and Eschatology Today's former "interpretive theory" about Jeremiah's prophecy two words apply: Nailed It. It is no longer a theory, it is reality.

And when it comes to the war against the clerical regime running the Islamic Republic of Iran, how can we not include the ongoing economic war known simply as "sanctions." How can we not see this aspect as being integral to the "sword" brought by the Lord against the Iranian Twelver regime? 

The economic sanctions are utterly crippling to the fiscal health of the country and its bastions of absolute power, such as the IRGC as well as the personal wallet of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. President trump just closed that wallet shut and made "tens and tens of billions of dollars" completely out of the Ayatollah's reach. In short he's broke. The Islamic Republic of Iran is broke and getting more broken by the hour. The only economic blood flowing through its veins is a mere fraction of what had been a few months ago.

Here's another fact. As it stands today, 25 June 2019, there is no longer any path to a diplomatic solution to the problem the coalition of nations, led by the United States, has with the Shi'a Twelver regime of Islamic Republic of Iran. That ship has sailed; those waters have passed under the bridge and are well down-stream now. 

And the next update is coming soon and will be accompanied by a brief backgrounder concerning Jeremiah's prophecy.

Global SITREP E5-16: "Behold, I will break the bow of Elam"

14 December 2016: Ten days ago the above video appeared online, and like a couple of others which date to 2012 and 2015 respectively, it clearly records in graphic detail another in a series of epic failures of the vaunted Russian S-300P surface-to-air (SAM) missile system to launch. The failure is that of the 5V55KD missile itself to ignite following its 'cold launch' from the tube. The missile (the arrow) then falls back onto the launcher (the bow) destroying both.

Upon seeing this video an instantaneous reminder came to mind of the God-breathed words of the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah 49:35 to be exact:

“Thus says the Lord of hosts:

‘Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,

The foremost of their might.'"

Behold indeed! It has been with much media fanfare and all-around hand-wringing dread that the Russian S-300P air defense system was recently deployed to Iran after years of political delays.  As discussed previously, the land of ancient Elam is where the crown jewel of Iran's nuclear program is located, and it is here that Iran would seek to defend with the foremost of their military might that crown jewel. Undefended jewels are exposed and vulnerable, as is the country in which they reside.

UPDATE 18 December 2016: According to a report published yesterday afternoon by the Middle East Monitor (MEMO), the Islamic Republic of Iran through the mouthpiece of its IRGC commander, General Hossein Salami, has threatened the Gulf States with "Islamic conquest" as has just occurred in Aleppo, Syria. 

Quoting IRGC General Hossein Salami's comments to Iranian media: “It is now time for the Islamic conquests. After the liberation of Aleppo, Bahrain’s hopes will be realized and Yemen will be happy with the defeat of the enemies of Islam.”

NOTE: In the above linked MEMO report are a pair of embedded videos showing that as the remaining civilian refugees begin to evacuate eastern Aleppo city, mostly on foot but also in cars and buses, the Shi'a militia proxies of Iran open fire with small arms and heavy machine guns, further terrorizing those fleeing through checkpoints set up by the Russian military forces. These videos lend themselves to corroborating other reports of the massacre of fleeing civilians in eastern Aleppo in the past week.

General Salami's statement indicates that Ayatollah Khamenei and his clerical support have authorized these wars of "Islamic conquest" which are without any doubt the creation of chaos in the furtherance of the Shi'a Hojjatieh agenda of hastening the appearance of their awaited al-Mahdi figure. It is noteworthy to also say that neither Bahrain or Yemen could be conquered by Iran without also launching full-scale war against the Sunni's of Iraq, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and several other nations as well, including the Western alliance led by the United States, and Israel. 

Clearly within this Iranian threat is an overt threat of a greater war in the heart of the Middle East. A 'rumor of war' in the words as prophesied by our Lord Jesus Christ in the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24-25. Virtually all of us can now see clearly the inter-linking of several very specific Bible prophecies concerning the final wars of the pre-70th Week world as we know it. Time is short.