Target: Damascus?

Target: Damascus?

by Michael G. Mickey

(10-22-05)

Isaiah 17:1: The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

With everything else going on in the world today that has my pulse rate up concerning the soon-coming return of Jesus Christ, Damascus now seems to be coming into play as a focal point of evil in these perilous times, bringing new light to the prophet Isaiah's prediction that someday Damascus will be taken away from being a city and be left a ruinous heap.

On what may somehow be related to that disturbing topic, the Bush administration is calling on the United Nations, as seen in a Los Angeles Times article, "to act quickly in response to a report that senior Syrian and Lebanese officials probably plotted the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri."

The Times article says, in part:

The U.N. report does not implicate Syrian President Bashar Assad, but it describes an August 2004 encounter in which he threatened Hariri, and cites a witness describing meetings among members of Assad's inner circle in which the assassination was planned over the course of several months.

"The report strongly suggests that the politically motivated assassination could not have taken place without Syrian involvement," Bush said after helping to dedicate a pavilion at the Ronald W. Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley.

Calling the report "deeply disturbing," Bush said it "requires the world to look at it very carefully and respond accordingly."

For those who don't recall what happened originally, Hariri was assassinated on Valentine's Day this year when a massive explosion occurred as his motorcade drove past the St George Hotel in Lebanon's capital city of Beirut.

Almost immediately after Hariri's assassination, Syrian involvement became suspected and, apparently, is now all but proven in the eyes of the international community, further evidence that Syria is a state sponsor of international terrorism, as well as assassination. Think I'm exaggerating when I state that? If so, would it surprise you to hear that the L.A. Times article indicates France may even recommend sanctions against Syria, based on the findings of the report? If even France thinks something needs to be done to Syria, I'm convinced Damascus' hand has been firmly caught in the terroristic cookie jar this time! Oui! Oui!

According to a BBC report, the Syrian government, not surprisingly, wasn't cooperative with the UN's investigation into the matter. Echoing what the BBC's report indicates President Bush is demanding of the UN, it quotes US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice as saying "there will have to be some way to ensure accountability for what has already been found here". That could mean any number of things, couldn't it?

While it's hard to know what is going to take place from this point forward, the United States' patience with Damascus is wearing more and more thin, especially as the U.S. continues having to deal with insurgents crossing into Iraq from Syria, specifically doing so with the goal of killing American soldiers deployed there.

As I documented recently, US leaders seriously debated launching a limited military attack on Syria recently as a result of fighting along the Iraqi/Syrian border. Rumors have even floated around on the worldwide web that US and Syrian forces have already tangled in small skirmishes.

All of this raises a number of interesting questions:

How will Damascus react if the international community truly joins forces against it as a result of this?
Will the United States, which is participating in an ongoing war on terror (except when the terrorists are Palestinians whom President Bush seems to adore the idea of giving Israel's covenant lands to in defiance of the Word of God), use this latest information to justify some sort of military strike against Syrian terror camps, raising the breakneck tension level in the Middle East even higher, perhaps to the breaking point?
Will one of Syria's many terrorist organizations stationed there or, perhaps, a threatened Assad regime long reputed to have chemical and, perhaps, biological weapons stockpiles, make a fatal mistake in the future that will provoke either Israel or the United States into doing the unthinkable?

As I look at Isaiah's prophecy, I really have to wonder at this point. Target: Damascus?

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