{pagebreak:Iran}

Then he said to me, "Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.

Dan 10:12-13

Iran

Iran (Biblical Persia) continues on its march to nuclear weapons and the world continues to talk. After the revelation of a secret uranium enrichment facility and then the meeting in Geneva of Iran and the USA, Russia, China, UK, France and Germany we do not seemed to have moved much on the international chess board. Why do I say "chess board"? Because the Persians invented the game of chess and they seem to have a better grasp of strategy than most of the nations they are facing. At this point it is probable that Iran will continue to try and drag the discussions out so that they have time to assemble from 1-5 nuclear bombs. It is also probable that the nations listed will go along with this charade and give Iran the time it needs.

Two other things have happened that have a major bearing on this situation. A secret report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was leaked to the NY Times that states that Iran is close to the Bomb. According to the report, Iran now has all the information needed to design a nuclear weapon. There was another leak to the British Times newspaper that said that P.M. Netanyahu's visit to Moscow was to present the leadership there with a list of the Russian nuclear scientists who are helping Iran make the bomb. These four events coming close together are pushing us toward a resolution of the Iranian threat. There are not many options available to deal with an Iranian bomb.

1. Allow Iran to make the bomb and try and live with the situation that would develop. As Israel has repeatedly said "this would be a threat to the entire world". The problem is that the world does not seem to be paying attention.

2. Strong international sanctions upon Iran that would especially target its gasoline imports. This could include a naval blockade of Iran. Unless all the nations of the "P-5+1" group (USA, Russia, China, U.K, France and Germany) agree the sanctions would be worthless. Both Russia and China have been against the gasoline sanctions and Russia could provide Iran with all the gas it needs via trucks thus getting around a naval blockade.

3. A military operation to destroy Iran's nuclear infrastructure. Iran's expected response to this scenario would be to rocket both Israel and US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and to try and close the Strait of Hormuz thus blocking 40% of the world's crude oil supply. If Iran were successful in closing off the Persian Gulf to shipping it would quickly make this a world wide problem. This possibility of closing the Gulf has in it both an opportunity of really dealing with Iran and also the possibility of all nations quickly coming against Israel. We will explain this in detail shortly.

4. God Himself deals with Iran's nuclear sites. As we have said before, Iran geographically is full of major faults in the earth's crust - in other words it has many major earthquake zones. We pray that our Father in Heaven would see the great danger His People Israel are in and open up the ground where the Iranian sites are and swallow them up. Would this not bring both the acknowledgment and fear of the almighty God upon the whole earth? Ex. 14:17-18 And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen. While we continue to pray for God to move sovereignly, we must also understand and pray for human intervention.

{pagebreak:A Military Attack on Iran}

A Military Attack on Iran

This is certainly the most complicated option for dealing with Iran, but also the one (other than God's sovereign intervention) that has the best chance for real success. We have two options here: the go it alone American option and the Israeli option that is either in cooperation with the USA or draws the USA into the conflict when Israel attacks on its own.

Any attack on Iran would have an immediate consequence of rockets raining down on Israel from Iran and most likely also from Lebanon (Hizbullah) and from Gaza (Hamas). Israel would pay a very painful price in the short term but the option of allowing a nuclear Iran insures that at some time in the future Israel would be attacked with a nuclear device. This could be an Iranian rocket with a nuclear warhead or a "dirty bomb" (a nuclear device but not a nuclear bomb), supplied by Iran that would be used by a terrorist group to attack Israel. We need to pray that Israel's leadership has both an immediate and a long range vision/understanding of what Israel is facing and what we must do. Sometimes we must accept short term pain in order to have a future.

The Americans can bring much more firepower to bear on Iran than Israel can, the question is do they have the will? The Americans are already fighting two very unpopular wars: Iraq and Afghanistan. They don't have much appetite for another even bigger war but they may not have a choice. If they attack Iran on their own, everything is clear - if they attack with Israel or do not oppose an Israeli attack, things are much more complicated and they would be better off attacking on their own as they would be blamed for the Israeli attack anyway. While many are suggesting that the Americans are pressuring Israel to give into the Palestinians in exchange for an American attack on Iran, there is another possibility. Israel actually has the ability to drag the USA into this fight whether they want it or not.

The USA cannot allow the Iranians to block the Persian Gulf to all shipping. This would drive up the price of oil on the international market and also stop the world wide economic recovery (IF it is really recovering at all) dead in its tracks. In light of this reality the Americans would be smart to preempt and attack the Iranians both at their nuclear sites and at their naval facilities ASAP. If they do not have the courage for these options then they could actively oppose an Israeli attack - even to the point of attacking our planes on their way to Iran. Such a move by the USA against Israel is almost unthinkable but it has recently been mentioned in public.

Former US President Carter's National Security Advisor (NSA) recently suggested exactly that response to an Israeli attack flying over Iraqi airspace (which the USA still controls). During the election campaign this former NSA was one of Obama's foreign policy advisors. The current NSA to Obama is former General James Jones - a man with a very negative attitude towards Israel. In the American system the NSA has his office in the White House itself and has open and daily access to the US President. In the White House it seems that Obama has surrounded himself with advisors and aides who are not pro Israel at all. Unfortunately this includes some Jewish people (Rahm Emmanuel - Chief of Staff and David Axelrod - senior policy advisor) as well.

If we look at this situation rationally and practically it is obvious that the USA should deal with Iran militarily. This would not necessitate a ground invasion; an attack by air and on the sea should suffice to knock out the Iranian nuclear threat for some time and maybe give the Iranian people the encouragement to overthrow the Islamic dictatorship they are living under. However politics and especially international politics is not always rational. The Obama administration came to power with high hopes of overturning George Bush's bad reputation in the world. Bush's reputation was that he didn't care what anyone thought, he would do what was right for the USA, come what may. Obama was going to reverse that and become a President who considered what his allies thought and so he would get their willing cooperation. At this point he has less cooperation from his allies (Europeans) and is considered weak by the Russians, Iranians and actually most of the world. In other words, he has made a mess of American foreign policy.

{pagebreak:Nobel "Peace Prize"}

Nobel "Peace Prize"

The previous parts of this SOS were written days before the scandalous awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama. This has very negative implications for any kind of peace anywhere in the world. This prize is almost unbelievable, it is a farce. The nominations for this year's prize had to be placed before the Nobel committee by 1 February 2009, less than 2 weeks after Obama was sworn in as US President. Not only did Obama do nothing noteworthy in his political career before becoming president, he has done nothing since except (so far) allowing North Korea to explode another atomic bomb and sit and talk while Iran progresses to its own bomb. Never has any such prize been give for so little substance. In some ways this award is even crazier than when they awarded the peace prize to Arafat. It surely shows the bankruptcy of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee (members of the Norwegian Parliament).

The Nobel committee has justified the award to Obama by claiming His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population. For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world's leading spokesman. What values and attitudes can these deluded people be thinking of? The values of Sudan or Saudi Arabia, China, Russia and most of the former Soviet Union or the great democracies of Africa? The majority of the world's population lives without freedom: religiously, economically and politically. They live under governments that oppress them. This statement is ludicrous and shameful. It is also obvious that the "majority of the world's population" - or maybe it would be more accurate to say the majority of the world's governments would be happy to see Israel destroyed.

Josef Joffe, the editor (on leave), of Die Zeit, the German weekly said:

The Peace Prize for Barack Obama is Europe's revenge on George W. Bush. This is the best explanation for a decision that makes little sense otherwise. Mr. Obama, is vaguely "un-American": soft of language, soft of power, an American social democrat out to make his country more "European" - always ready to reach out to those who do not reach out to the West, nor wish it well. This is how the Europeans, once a race of conquerors and colonizers, like to see themselves: peaceable, cooperative, high-minded - that is, in a more advanced stage of development than Bushist America.

I would add to what Mr. Joffe says about Europe: Europe is a post Christian society without a moral spine and is willing to indulge all kinds of evil to continue living their comfortable "peaceful" existence. Is this where Obama is taking America?

How will this effect Obama's decisions in the coming days and months? He is now reviewing the situation in Afghanistan where his commanding general has said that without a large increase in troops, Afghanistan will be lost. Will the "peace prize" winner have the courage and the vision to deal with Iran with all that it takes to prevent them from getting the bomb? We don't need to guess, we need to pray.

{pagebreak:Pray for}

Pray for:

• God to intervene and rescue His People from the threat of a nuclear Iran.

  The LORD also will roar from Zion, And utter His voice from Jerusalem; The heavens and earth will shake; But the LORD will be a shelter for His people, And the strength of the children of Israel.

  Joel 3:16

• Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government, that they would know what they must do, when to do it and how. That they would have the courage that they need and wisdom from on high.

  Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him. And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. So the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field! Then David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD's, and He will give you into our hands.

  1 Sa 17:40-47
  

• The exposure of all of Iran's hidden weapon/nuclear facilities. Miraculous success and protection for Israel's spies and agents in Iran.

  Now the king of Syria was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, My camp will be in such and such a place. And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there. Then the king of Israel sent someone to the place of which the man of God had told him. Thus he warned him, and he was watchful there, not just once or twice. Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel? And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.

  2 Ki 6:8-12

• Discredit/remove all of Obama's advisors and aides who want the USA to oppose an Israeli attack on Iran. Discredit/remove all of Obama's advisors and aides who counsel against an American attack on Iran.

  Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, And wall her in, So that she cannot find her paths.

  Hos 2:6

{pagebreak:A Couple of Notes in Closing}

A Couple of Notes in Closing

There are many wonderful believers all over the world, Europe, Asia, Africa, Americas and even in the Middle East and Iran. We thank you for your prayers and hope that you will be praying for your countries as you pray for Israel. Especially in Norway and Sweden, your countries need your prayers as never before - your governments are becoming the most anti-Israel in all of Europe.

I mentioned earlier that the Persians had invented chess. Let's take encouragement that in the last 100 years there are many more International Grand Masters of chess and even world champions who are Jewish than there are Persian. Perhaps God's ancient covenant people will yet surprise us with God anointed and ordained strategy and tactics for this present battle.

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

Eliyahu Ben-Haim
Jerusalem Israel, 11 October 2009