25 April 2014: This SITREP will focus on the current global military situation by looking at the top-tier military powers and their ability to project their power. War has been a dominant feature of life on planet Earth in the 20th century AD, and it continue to be a dominant feature ("wars and rumors of wars") until the end of the 70th Week. We will also engage in foresight from the Biblical perspective into the 70th Week. Some of you will notice that I remain absolutely consistent with the theme of the US playing a key role in the beast empire of the 70th Week.
It may come as a shock to some, but despite the much publicized downsizing of US military forces the US will remain the global military colossus it has been for the past six decades (since the end of WWII). One could say that the US is currently feigning weakness. And this would be consistent with one of the principle, albeit paraphrased, tenets of the ancient Chinese military genius Sun Tzu in his "The Art of War": "When you are strong, feign weakness, when you are weak, feign strength." Opposing the US is Russia, and right now Russia is flexing its military muscles against a relatively weak foe in Ukraine. This is where a full-scale military invasion appears to be imminent. But against a united NATO any Russian military adventurism would result in an overwhelming defeat for the forces of the red star.
When it comes to sheer, brute force, military power and the ability to project that power to any given point on planet earth, the USA is unrivaled by any nation or group of nations today. The chant "We're number 1" is no idle boast; it is a fact. The US defense budget for FY-14 is greater than the ten highest ranked military forces on the planet combined. Moreover the US exceeds their combined military spending by more than $105 billion dollars. Even more interesting is the fact that of those next top ten military forces, only two of them could be considered potential enemy's in a conflict, and all of the remainder constitute our closest military allies in Europe, the Pacific and in the Middle East. The second top ten military forces on planet Earth after the USA are, in relative order 2 through 10: Russia, China, India, UK, France, Germany, Turkey, South Korea, Japan and Israel.
US military spending for FY-15 is essentially unchanged in that a cut of .4 billion from the FY-14 spending still leaves the US with a $612.1 billion budget. This dwarfs the Russian budget of $76.6 billion and it is nearly five times that of Communist China's budget of $126 billion. The US has more proven, combat hardened soldiers than any nation on earth both on active duty or who would return to the call of duty if it were necessary such as in a world war scenario. Now add in the combined military forces and budgets of just our NATO, Japanese, South Korean, Australian and Israeli allies and one is staring squarely in the face of a $1 trillion dollar per year military colossus that has not yet had its full weight called into action on any field of battle.
The Bible's prophetic description of the power of this world dominating force might now have some more resonance when it is considered in light of these real-world facts. The most ancient description of the beast having crushing, trampling and tear to pieces power should not be lost as if it were mere hyperbole or of some purely symbolic meaning. On the contrary, the prophetic picture given to us in advance of that military power is as literal as literal can be and as accurate as accurate can be - even after the occurrence of the Harpazo. Take for example the vivid description of this military force in action as detailed by the angel Gabriel in Daniel 11:40-44 (with emphasis added):
When it comes to sheer, brute force, military power and the ability to project that power to any given point on planet earth, the USA is unrivaled by any nation or group of nations today. The chant "We're number 1" is no idle boast; it is a fact. The US defense budget for FY-14 is greater than the ten highest ranked military forces on the planet combined. Moreover the US exceeds their combined military spending by more than $105 billion dollars. Even more interesting is the fact that of those next top ten military forces, only two of them could be considered potential enemy's in a conflict, and all of the remainder constitute our closest military allies in Europe, the Pacific and in the Middle East. The second top ten military forces on planet Earth after the USA are, in relative order 2 through 10: Russia, China, India, UK, France, Germany, Turkey, South Korea, Japan and Israel.
US military spending for FY-15 is essentially unchanged in that a cut of .4 billion from the FY-14 spending still leaves the US with a $612.1 billion budget. This dwarfs the Russian budget of $76.6 billion and it is nearly five times that of Communist China's budget of $126 billion. The US has more proven, combat hardened soldiers than any nation on earth both on active duty or who would return to the call of duty if it were necessary such as in a world war scenario. Now add in the combined military forces and budgets of just our NATO, Japanese, South Korean, Australian and Israeli allies and one is staring squarely in the face of a $1 trillion dollar per year military colossus that has not yet had its full weight called into action on any field of battle.
The Bible's prophetic description of the power of this world dominating force might now have some more resonance when it is considered in light of these real-world facts. The most ancient description of the beast having crushing, trampling and tear to pieces power should not be lost as if it were mere hyperbole or of some purely symbolic meaning. On the contrary, the prophetic picture given to us in advance of that military power is as literal as literal can be and as accurate as accurate can be - even after the occurrence of the Harpazo. Take for example the vivid description of this military force in action as detailed by the angel Gabriel in Daniel 11:40-44 (with emphasis added):
"At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through. He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon. He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels. But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many."
