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  DAYS OF HUNGER

  It is important to keep in mind that these weapons will kill also through indirect means: by depriving populations of food and water. The combined effects of nuclear, chemical, biological, and laser energy warfare would likely leave the earth denuded and the water poisonous and unfit to drink.

  Perhaps the most alarming images of world hunger are found in the Book of Revelation. There, in chapter 6, are several frightening references, one of which depicts one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse as the harbinger of death and starvation:

  And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger... (Rev. 6:8)

  Elsewhere in Revelation, we see that an angel will cast his vial upon the sea, leaving it ruined and extinguishing all sea life (Rev. 16:3).

  The net result of the latter-day assaults on the earth’s resources is mentioned in Revelation 6:6, where John reports that after the rider of the black horse holds in his hand, a pair of balances, a voice is heard saying, “A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny.” This suggests that the acquisition of food will become a major preoccupation of man in the days of hunger ushered in by the latter-day weapons of war.

  Ezekiel envisioned a day when people will no longer be able to trust in the safety of water and food: “Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness” (12:18). City dwellers will especially be plagued; said the prophet: “He that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him” (7:15).

  There are two good reasons why Ezekiel’s prophetic words may soon be translated into unpleasant reality. First, cities are often prime targets for radioactive nuclear warheads. Second, in the throes of all-out world war, teams of terrorists and saboteurs can be expected to detonate high-level radiation charges and deposit chemical-biological agents in waterways. The result would be dreadful epidemics and sickness as the poisoned water is drunk by people and cattle and used to water agricultural fields.

  Ezekiel perhaps expressed this grim, future ruination of water supplies by terrorists when he pointed out that people would “drink their water with astonishment... because of the violence of all them that dwell therein” (12:19).

  The prophets say that many men will die from hunger, and some will become so desperate that they will mutilate themselves in seeking to satisfy their hunger:

  And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm. (Isa. 9:20)

  Others, driven to murderous acts and sacrilege by lack of food, will turn to the flesh of their fellowmen as the world of the last days devolves into a frantic struggle for survival: “That that dieth, let it die... and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another” (Zech. 11:9).

  Some Bible scholars believe that these ghastly prophecies warn of symbolic events, or that they are dramatizations. However, when we consider the depraved acts that have historically occurred when men were deprived of food and water, we realize the literal possibilities of these prophecies.

  CHAPTER TEN: NO PLACE TO HIDE: THE WAR BELOW

  If the war from above seems ominous, with Star Wars conflict in space and thousands of missiles and aircraft furiously engaged in mortal combat, consider the war below on earth. The technologically advanced nations have developed new tanks, mechanized armor, artillery, and other weapons that will, in the future, greatly magnify the death and destruction experienced in earlier world wars. High-tech electronics have vastly changed the nature of warfare; today, the computer is becoming as essential to victory in battle as the tank and the infantry rifle. New ground weapons employing speed-of-light lasers will greatly increase kill capability, and chemical and biological attacks could decimate entire battalions of troops. Even robots and robotics will play roles in future conflict. Both the superpowers are giving high priority to robot battle machines.

  Riding the waves of the seas and concealed deep below the surface in the dark depths of the world’s oceans are mighty battle craft equipped with remarkable electronic wizardry and unequalled firepower. As we’ll discuss shortly, the U.S. Navy has nuclear-powered, missile-carrying submarines so lethal that the ballistic missiles fired from just one of these submarines could wipe a half dozen of the Soviet Union’s largest cities off the map. The Soviet forces also have missile-carrying submarines. Over the past two decades, the Soviet Union has spent billions to equip a huge naval force that now threatens American ships and subs in the Pacific, the Mediterranean, and every major sea-lane on earth.

  Traditional weapons such as tanks, helicopters, and aircraft carriers only vaguely resemble their World War II predecessors. Modern tanks—like the West’s M-1 Abrams tank—are computerized monsters that shoot armor-piercing shells at targets two-and-a-half miles distant. The tanks also come equipped with laser wire-guided rockets. Unlike World War II vintage tanks, the M-l model is swifter than some autos—traveling a brisk forty miles per hour over broken terrain—and can fire while it is on the move. The M-l tank is a technological marvel, an instrument of war that has total vision even at night and uses computer-aided calculations to aim its weapons.

  INCREDIBLE NEW ELECTRONIC WEAPONS

  In any war in Europe or the Middle East, U.S. forces would be the numerical underdogs. Soviet forces hold the upper hand in terms of numbers of troops, tactical aircraft, tanks, and armored vehicles. Under these circumstances, U.S. strategy would have to compensate with superior weapons fortified with better technology that can properly be called “the great equalizers.”

  However, the Soviets are not sitting still. Their entire economy continues on a war footing and, with technology bought or stolen from the West, the Soviets would undoubtedly be able to field an armed force able to mount an enormous challenge.

  Among new high-tech tools already in use or under development are the following:

  Sensors seeded behind enemy lines that will feed information on enemy formations and concentrations to distant U.S. Army computers.

  Optical cameras and vision equipment that allow armed forces to be able to see through darkness and fog.

  Airplanes that turn into helicopters and, by 1993, a new U.S. combat helicopter, the LHX, that will resemble the futuristic “Airwolf” and “Blue Thunder” choppers of TV and movie fame. The Soviets already have a deadly combat helicopter, the Mi-24 attack chopper, with air-to-ground missiles that can devastate a moving armored column on the ground-below.

  Accurate and high-charged defense systems—ground weapons equipped with multiple rockets that release at hypervelocity speed.

  Tank-busting missiles such as the “Tank Breaker” being designed by Hughes Aircraft. This will be a one-man portable weapon using advanced optical sensors that see in darkness. The soldier fires his “smart” missile, which then autonomously seeks out the enemy tank. Another missile system uses fiber optic cable which unspools as the missile speeds to its target. A soldier sits at a console and uses a TV screen to guide the missile to a direct hit. (The U.S. Army officer responsible for the operational evaluation of this system calls it “the ultimate video game.”)

  THE COMPUTERIZED BATTLEFIELD

  Computers are going to war. The U.S. Army is adopting computers and computerized systems at a rate comparable to the civilian craze for home and personal computers. The army takes computers directly into battlefield action. One computer system, the DAZ3, operates inside an air-conditioned, thirty-five-foot-long trailer, and portable microcomputers have been installed aboard armored vehicles and jeeps.

  The popularity of video games and home computers may have given the United States an advantage in the computerization of the military. President Reagan was quoted as telling a group of science and math students at Disney World’s futuristic EPCOT Center that video games have helped young people
develop “incredible hand, eye, and brain coordination.” He added that computerized video screens resembled radar and electronic displays in jet cockpits, and he suggested that a game like Space Invaders will prove invaluable training to tomorrow’s pilots.

  Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Donald Latham says that by 1990 computers will have become an indispensable front-line necessity for the U.S. Army. They will control communications systems to give commanders an unprecedented amount of information. In battlefield areas, ground computers will be on-line with aircraft and satellites to receive information about the enemy position and capability. With satellites providing communications links, front-line soldiers with hand-held and pocket computers will be able to communicate with distant units and with tanks and artillery. Computers will give commanders instant readouts on how battles are progressing and the status of reinforcements. They will also be programmed with artificial intelligence so they can advise battle staffs on the best courses of action. Fifth-generation computers that “think” may become battlefield strategists and decision makers. 1

  The Soviet armed forces are lagging behind in the computer race, but recent developments suggest the Kremlin is giving high priority to computerizing the battlefield. Soviet spies now plague U.S. high-tech centers such as Silicon Valley in California and the metro areas of Boston, Austin, Orlando, Colorado Springs, and other areas where computer technology research is headquartered.

  ROBOTS AND OTHER INTELLIGENT BATTLE MACHINES

  Intelligent machines are causing a revolution in business and industry as computers and robots invade factory assembly lines and automated machines increasingly replace workers ranging from tellers in banks to longshoremen on loading docks. These machines are also being endowed with artificial intelligence to enable them to “see” and to exercise expert knowledge. The intelligent machine revolution has now spread to the military.

  Just as robots work side by side with workers on General Motors, Chrysler, and Toyota assembly lines, the armed services are beginning to “recruit” robots and other intelligent machines to serve alongside human counterparts and to replace valuable biological combatants in dangerous tasks. Many of the new systems are already in use, though most are either in prototype stage or being researched. Included are remotely piloted aircraft for spy missions; flight simulators with incredible graphics displays; tracked robot vehicles that dismantle mines, bombs, and explosives; robot machines that load artillery weapons; robot scouts; and powerful multi-legged walking robots that can maneuver easily and handle extremely heavy loads. In one official U.S. Army report, one hundred different robots were proposed for land warfare. The March 1983 issue of Army Environmental Sciences reported, “These types of intelligent machines will reduce the requirement to place soldiers in potentially high-risk combat environments.”

  Frank Verderame, assistant director of the army’s research programs, says that an unmanned robot tank now under development, the tactical robot vehicle, “will be fitted with firepower so it can lead an assault.” Operated by remote computerized control, he adds, such a vehicle will “be useful in traveling through areas contaminated by nuclear warfare or biological warfare.” 2

  SRI International, commissioned by the U.S. government to study combat robots, emphasizes that the Soviet Union is also developing military robots: “USSR military artificial intelligence robotics capability will eventually constitute a threat to U.S. forces... the Soviet Union is currently and will in the future, pursue... robotics for the military.” 3

  RIGHT OUT OF STAR WARS

  Many weapons systems now on drawing boards, being tested, or—in some instances—already in inventories are dramatically different from any system in the annals of warfare. Akin to weapons envisioned by yesterday’s science fiction writers, these weapons will make tomorrow’s battles an appalling panorama of terror.

  Perhaps the most awe-inspiring of the new weapons is the U.S. Army’s tactical combat laser weapon. Previously designated “C-CLAW,” but now continued under “Stingray” and other classified code names, this weapon gives U.S. ground forces the capability to permanently damage the optic nerves of opposing forces who look into laser light as it sweeps across the battlefield as much as five miles away. Other laser devices will be used to disrupt and incapacitate enemy guidance and weapons systems.

  The Soviet Union is possibly ahead of the U.S. in developing laser weapons. Intelligence reports indicate the Soviets are ready to mass-produce laser and other directed-energy weapons. These reports describe ground-based Soviet weapons that have demonstrated the capability to penetrate heavy armor, clear mines, and obliterate tanks and people.

  In a recent issue of High Technology magazine (May 1985), David C. Morrison, a senior research analyst at the Center for Defense Information in Washington, outlined some of the laser and other electronic weapons systems. He included in his remarks a poignant, firsthand account—first reported in Laser Focus magazine—of what a harrowing psychological and physical experience such weapons will be for soldiers in the field. The account was by laser physicist C. David Decker, who sustained permanent eye damage in 1977 while working in the laboratory with a low-power laser.

  “When the beam struck my eye I heard a distinct popping sound, caused by a laser-induced explosion at the back of my eyeball,” said Decker. “My vision was obscured almost immediately by streams of blood floating...”

  “The most immediate response after such an accident is horror,” concluded Decker. “As a Vietnam War veteran, I have seen several terrible scenes of human carnage, but none affected me more than viewing the world through my blood-filled eyeball.”

  THE BIOELECTRONICS FACTOR

  Lasers aren’t the only weapons that offer attackers promise due to their lightning-fast, silent deadliness. The Soviet Union seems to be the leader in developing new radio frequency weapons designed to scramble an enemy’s brain waves. According to the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Soviets have also perfected short-range, microwave technology devices that can “cook soldiers like a microwave oven.” These beam weapons hit the individual without warning. The Soviets call them “bioelectronic weapons.” Expect the new devices to be in the hands of Soviet troops by the mid-1990s. 4

  Doubters might recall that the U.S. embassy in Moscow was for years the victim of microwave attacks by Soviet agents operating in nearby buildings. After three former ambassadors contracted cancer, the State Department was compelled by embassy employees to declare Moscow an unhealthy work post and provide 20 percent salary increases as hazardous work compensation.

  U.S. Intelligence sources evidently know what the Soviet’s microwave beams were intended to do, but they aren’t telling. Since 1983, after protests by the White House, the microwave invasions have abated.

  NEPTUNE’S ARSENAL

  There will be no safety above or beneath the seas in coming years. Today’s submarines and combat ships possess formidable power. America’s Trident submarine carries 192 nuclear-tipped missiles, on eight platforms, with a range of 4,400 miles. (The Soviet’s Typhoon sub has on board 200 missiles with a range of 6,000 miles.) Combat ships are equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles, computerized guns, and electronic warfare systems. Aircraft carriers accommodate over seventy-five aircraft, each capable of being armed with nuclear bombs.

  It’s getting impossible to hide no matter how far beneath the seas a submarine plunges. New laser and satellite sensors scan deep beneath the seas and target submarines for destruction by nuclear depth charges and other means. Surface vessels are even more vulnerable. For example, two strategic air command B-52G squadrons will soon carry the new Navy Harpoon warhead missile, capable of seeking out an enemy warship sixty miles away and sinking it.

  Among the sea weapons the United States possesses is the F-14 Tomcat fighter aircraft. Beyond the range of enemy fighter radar, the sleek F-14 can track and evaluate up to twenty-four targets at once. Then, from a stand-off position as much as one hundred miles away, it can launch its six Ph
oenix missiles against the greatest threats—and still monitor the other eighteen targets.

  Another effective war system is the USS Ticonderoga, a guided missile cruiser equipped with the computerized Aegis defense system: The Aegis robotic system automatically tracks hundreds of attacking aircraft or missiles, then fires and guides the ship’s own weapons in response.

  The USSR now has over 300 submarines; the U.S. has only 126. One Soviet submarine type is made of lightweight titanium, which makes it the fastest in the world. The Soviet subs operate in seas and waterways that once were solely U.S. “territory.” Increasingly, they’re spotted in the seas of Norway and Sweden, where they have ready access to the North Atlantic so that in wartime they could intercept U.S. convoys bound for Europe.

  Submarines aren’t the only staple of the Soviet ocean-going military force. Defense Department figures reveal that the Soviet navy has two helicopter carriers (the U.S. and the West have no equal) and 277 destroyers and frigates (compared to the West’s 187). The Soviets have a total of 1,504 battle-ready, sea-based helicopters and aircraft while the West has only 1,129. The Soviet navy has in recent years intensified its efforts to build and deploy aggressively oriented amphibious attack vessels. One new Soviet amphibious assault ship is capable of carrying an entire infantry battalion with all its supporting vehicles.

  Long considered a second-rate naval power, Moscow decided decades ago to build the world’s mightiest sea force. Now, in the late 1980s, we are viewing the fruits of that massive, ongoing buildup.

  The Soviets are not counting on just the hardware of war to make them superior—and neither is the U.S. In the next chapter we will examine some weapons that are almost unthinkable—weapons that operate through the power of the human mind and against the mind of the enemy. It should come as no surprise that man apart from God would not only wage war against property and physical life, but against the human mind as well.