Mega Forces Page 12

  Cities were seen as breeding places of intellectual dissent and hard-to-control mobs, so every major city in Cambodia was closed. All the residents were force-marched to the countryside. Without shelter, medicine, or food, most died. Torture became the commonly accepted practice of government officials, and atrocities became commonplace.

  Hundreds of thousands of Cambodians sought refuge in neighboring Thailand, where even today they reside in squalid camps dependent on economic handouts from the United States. They are the lucky ones. The tragic events in Cambodia were verified by scores of eyewitnesses and reported in major newspapers around the world. 3 In April 1978 President Jimmy Carter denounced Cambodia as “the worst violator of human rights in the world today.”

  Abduction, Torture, and Death in Argentina. The communists do not have a monopoly on terror. In Argentina in 1976, a right-wing military dictatorship rounded up over ten thousand men, women, and children. They were never heard from again. When mothers asked what had become of their children, authorities told them, “Forget you ever had a child... go home.” It was not until 1983, after the military junta was replaced by civilian leaders, that parents learned of the fate of these ten thousand who were called the “disappeared.” Many had been tortured to death. Some were forced into helicopters and taken aloft, then pushed out the door as the helicopters hovered over choppy seas. Other “disappeared” persons were summarily shot by firing squads and their bodies secretly buried in mass graves. Imprisoning the innocent, bludgeoning guiltless men, women, and children to death, butchery on a mass scale—what drives a leader to order such heinous acts? Simply stated, it would be foolish to deny that such a leader is led by the forces of Satan. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the exiled Russian author now living in the United States, stated recently that these horrible things happen when man is deprived of the divine dimension. “Men have forgotten God,” said Solzhenitsyn. The absence of God from man’s souls, he explained, has been “a determining factor in all the major crimes of this century.” 4

  Devoid of God and the instinct for human kindness and compassion that the Holy Spirit brings to man, the shattering examples of twentieth-century leaders like Hitler, Amin, and Pol Pot and the atrocities occurring with regularity today around the globe jolt us to consider the reality of Satan and the darkness of his power.

  WARS AND RUMORS OF WAR

  The extreme cases of men like Idi Amin and Pol Pot should not mislead us into thinking that their appalling regimes were the exception to the rule. Terrorist activity anywhere in the world can at any moment shatter our confidence in the seeming impenetrability of our everyday, peaceful existence. More important, we must not become complacent in believing—erroneously—that major wars have become a thing of the past, exceptional occurrences that happen “over there” to “other people.”

  A reading of modern history reveals that since World War II over 10 million people have died in wars between nations. These casualties were inflicted by use of conventional (non-nuclear) weapons. However, the advent of nuclear weapons has fundamentally changed the nature of war. Ten million dead is a tiny number when compared to the number of deaths now possible if major war erupts. While there have always been wars and rumors of war, today the situation is unarguably different. Man gets more and more proficient in the profession of killing as time proceeds. Will Rogers once said, “Mankind is making progress. With every war he finds new ways to kill.” The acquisition of nuclear weapons and other technological tools mean that, for the first time in history, man now has the capacity to physically destroy himself—erase all traces of civilization.

  As the previous chapters illustrated, a future war will see not only the explosion of great numbers of atomic weapons, but the employment of other weapons equally terrible and lethal: poisonous chemical and biological agents, people-killing neutron bombs, deadly laser rays, and even mind weapons. We are today seeing an unparalleled revolution in the development of weapons of war that is bringing us frighteningly close to Armageddon.

  A look at the hazards of science and technology causes many to wonder if man has much longer to live on our planet. Millions demonstrate in the cities of the world in favor of a nuclear arms freeze. They fear the universe will go up in flames, destroyed by the blast of atomic weapons and the deadly radiation that swiftly follows.

  THE PROPHETS AND THE EXPERTS

  No shortage of experts warn us that unless man’s attitude changes, advances in science and technology will eventually lead man to the ultimate disaster. The prophets of the Old and New Testaments prophesied that the final climax of man’s reign on earth will occur as a culmination of world war. The Book of Revelation paints a picture of a brutal end as war envelops the planet. And Jeremiah also prophesied widespread slaughter:

  And the slain of the earth shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground. (Jer. 25:33)

  Since the invention of nuclear weaponry some forty years ago, the voices of scientists have seemed to echo the warnings of the biblical prophets. Albert Einstein once warned, “There is no defense in science against the weapons which can destroy civilization.” Reinforcing Einstein’s comments, Dr. W. H. Pickering of the Air Force’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has stated that “in half an hour, the East and West could destroy civilization.” And President Dwight D. Eisenhower chillingly observed, “Science seems ready to confer upon us, as its final gift, the power to erase human life from this planet.”

  The nightmarish prophecies of Revelation are clearly in the recesses of many experts’ minds. William Koenig (The Weapons of World War Ill) recognized the biblical parallel when he stated, “Atomic weapons provide modern Western man with his vision of Apocalypse in the form of a nuclear holocaust.” 5

  In a reference to the incredible progress in weapons technology, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. John F. Guilmartin, Jr., editor of Air University Review, remarked in an editorial in that journal, “The marvels of science and technology push the realities of war far beyond the experience of ordinary life to rival in stark reality the symbolic horrors of the Apocalypse.” 6

  The worldwide spread of weapons is evidence of the wisdom and vision of the prophet Joel, who foresaw the day when the possession of armaments would become a worldwide obsession: “Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong” (Joel 3: 10).

  Strangely, no one seems to be in favor of armaments and conflict. From the public expressions of world leaders, peace is a precious commodity. The very word war is an outdated anachronism. The Soviet Union describes itself as a “peace-loving country,” and the United Nations Charter decries war and aggression. Common citizens are banding together in the quest for peace and many march and demonstrate to protest the nuclear build-up and to demand disarmament. Military analyst and author James Dunnigan (How to Make War) perhaps best expressed the sentiment of the average world resident when he said, “Real war is ugly, destructive, and remembered fondly only by those who survived it without getting too close.”

  THE WORLD AS AN ARMED CAMP

  If all the world—or, at least, most of it—abhors war, one might wonder why the world has now become an armed camp. Not only the two superpowers are arming themselves to the teeth. Every nation on earth is preparing for war. Even the poorest countries empty out their treasuries to buy the newest military gadgets and devices. In these days, as Joel prophesied, even the weak gird themselves with tanks and bombs and proclaim, “I am strong.”

  Global military spending in 1985 reached $810 billion. Most of this was spent by the United States, the Soviet Union, Red China, West Germany, France, and Great Britain. But countries such as Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, and Poland also spent huge amounts for arms. In fact, according to the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, smaller countries like Pakistan, Cuba, Libya, Czechoslovakia, Kuwait, and Singapore spent a far greater proporti
on of their national wealth on armaments than did the United States. War fever is not exclusively a disease of America or Russia. In fact, a United Nations report found that in 1982 Third World countries spent six times more on arms than they did on public health.

  Some warlike countries are so bent on war and bloodshed that they import mercenaries and warriors from foreign lands. Libya, for example, possesses an air force of over two hundred aircraft, but has had to bring in pilots from North Korea, Syria, Pakistan, and other countries to fly its aircraft.

  In the last twenty-five years, though millions of desperate people in poverty-stricken lands died due to starvation and lack of medical treatment, the combined military budgets of the world’s nations increased a staggering 700 percent.

  THE TWO GIANTS MAKE READY

  Though many nations now devote enormous chunks of their budgets to military spending, the U.S. and USSR have the most to spend, and their arsenals dwarf all others. Both nations are on an arms binge. The United States has increased its military budget about 50 percent over the past five years. However, most of this was spent in an attempt merely to catch up to the Soviets who, during the 1970s, lavished a steady 12 to 14 percent of their gross national product on the military sector. The Soviets continue to spew out tanks, submarines, infantry weapons, and combat ships at an unbelievable pace, and Washington is running a huge budget deficit as it pumps up spending to insure a military equivalence with Moscow.

  Regardless, U.S. defense experts report the USSR is far ahead in many military categories, and the Soviets both outgun and outman the U.S. in such vital areas of the world as the Middle East and Europe.

  Why do the Soviets dig so deeply into their pockets to build rockets and other armaments? Evidently, the masters in the Kremlin have a grand strategy yet to be revealed. They cry “Peace!” and condemn the U.S. and Europe, claiming we are preparing for—and thirst for—war; but in reality they are pulling out all stops to equip the world’s mightiest striking force. With impressive propaganda, the Kremlin fools millions around the planet into believing that their nation is peace-loving and will never be the first to attack. However, the Russians’ actions clearly reveal the corrupt plans of the Soviet Union. The whole Communist apparatus, the evidence demonstrates, is gearing for major war.

  Also preparing for war are China, Japan, and East and West Germany. China has been on a war footing since the Communists took control of Peking in 1949, while Japan and both Germanys are devoting more national resources to defense than ever before. Defeated in World War II, these Asian and European powers are destined to play a large role in the military and political events leading up to the climactic furor of Armageddon.

  LIGHTING THE FUSE

  Who can deny that the planet is today a powder keg? Fearful anticipation grips people everywhere as they survey the world and envision a coming hour in which missiles and strategic bombers are unleashed and streak across the skies toward their targets. The winds of war rustle past us each day, and the entire world has become hostage to an overpowering, malevolent force greater than all of us.

  All that’s necessary to ignite the powder keg is the lighting of the fuse. In succeeding chapters, I’ll examine those areas of the world where the fuse that leads to World War III might be lit.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN: FLASHPOINT—THE MIDDLE EAST

  On April 18, 1983, an explosion rocked the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. Sixty-three people perished, foreshadowing a grim event yet to come. Some six months later, on a Sunday morning, October 23, a suicide driver smashed a truck loaded with explosives into a barracks housing United States Marines. The deafening roar was followed by the moaning of the wounded and the plaintive cries of the survivors mourning their slain companions. The death toll was 241 U.S. Marines.

  These events in a faraway biblical land wracked by violence and treachery brought home to Americans and, indeed, the world a vital and ominous truth: the crises in the Middle East will just not go away. Instead, scores of nations around the world are in danger of being sucked into the swirling vortex of the politics of this region. Chief among them: the United States and the Soviet Union.

  AN ABUNDANCE OF HATRED AND TURMOIL

  Animosities and strife are rampant throughout the region. The hostility between Jews and Muslims is widely known, and many Muslims are also hostile toward Israel’s allies, including the U.S. According to the Times of London, one prominent Muslim leader, Hussein Mussavi, head of the Shi’ite Muslim Party of God, said of the October 1983 massacre of U.S. Marines: “I personally consider this deed is a good deed which God loves and which his prophet [Muhammad]—may God praise his name—loves. I bow to the souls of the martyrs who carried out this operation.”

  At any time the entire Middle East region could go up in flames. Danger lurks within and without. Russian army divisions wait just across the northern borders of Iran and Turkey, while pro-Soviet regimes in Libya, Ethiopia, and South Yemen present threats on the southern borders. A Soviet armada of ships and submarines patrols the waterways adjacent to the Middle East landmass, flanked by the might of the United States fleet.

  From within, we see hatred and venom between rival Muslim religious groups. The Holy Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, was the scene of a violent dispute between a rabid, radical group and government forces; dozens were killed. Iran’s dominant Shi’ite Muslim group is known to be spreading terrorism across the region as it carries on an Islamic holy war espoused by leader Ayatollah Khomeini. In Iran itself, the Shi’ites, led by the clergy, continue to torture and execute those who are not of the officially sanctioned faith and political ideology.

  Sources say that more inhumane acts have been committed by the present Teheran government in a few short years than during decades of rule under the late, deposed shah, himself accused by the Muslim clerics of brutality. Thirty thousand persons have been put to death since 1981, and testimony exists of grisly torture, including “ironing rooms” in Teheran’s Evin prison in which victims are tied to a bed while guards burn their backs, buttocks, and the soles of their feet with a searing hot iron.

  Turmoil is everywhere. In nearby Turkey, martial law has been imposed by army officers who took control in 1980. In Greece, an elected premier criticizes the United States, praises socialism, and threatens to pull out of NATO. Libya is led by Muammar Qaddafi, called a madman by the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, himself assassinated a few years ago. Iran and Iraq remain locked in a war that has seen hundreds of thousands of victims, including many who died and suffered horrible injuries due to chemical attacks by the Iraqi armed forces. And the Palestine Liberation Organization continues to lurk in the Middle East.

  The impoverished and abused people of this region are extremely unhappy with their despotic leaders. In 1980, the CIA reported that of the regimes of ten Middle Eastern countries the agency studied, not a single one had better than a 40 percent chance of surviving past 1990. The Koran, the holy book of Islam, calls for a just and equal society, yet the oil sheiks and princes live in luxury in palaces and drive in their Mercedes and Cadillacs, passing diseased children and starving beggars along the way. Many observers believe it only a matter of time until explosive, angry mobs led by self-appointed holy men overthrow the idle rich now in power in the capitals of the Middle East.

  THE HOVERING STORM CLOUDS

  At one time not so long ago, the Middle East was a placid and peaceful territory. Multinational oil companies of the United States controlled the sheiks who ruled the oil-rich lands of the Persian Gulf, and U.S. allies France and Britain exerted great influence in the region. The United States built Iran into a powerful military fighting force as a bulwark against the threat of Muslim insurrection and Russian intervention.

  Then the U.S. empire began to unravel. Militant leaders came to power, blasting America for its aid to Israel. Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states cut off oil supplies to the U.S. and the West to punish us for supporting Israel. The sheiks took command of their oil holdings from
the corporations and jacked the price of the black gold to unheralded heights, throwing the economies of Europe, the United States, and Japan into turmoil.

  Then in 1979 came the fall of America’s friendly Iranian leader, the shah, and the takeover of Iran by radical Muslim clergy who hate Washington, D.C., and detest the Jews. The taking of U.S. hostages and the U.S. embassy in Teheran followed. These incredible events came on the heels of another ominous act. The Soviet Union sent commandos, tanks, and troops into Afghanistan, seizing the reigns of power in that country bordering oil-rich Iran. Suddenly, America’s position in the Middle East seemed a precarious one.

  While the Arabs look ultimately to America for protection against the Russians, our only true ally in the region is Israel. The Jerusalem Post reported in 1984 that “a radically new defense alliance” is being woven between the nations of Israel and the United States. Evidently, it is hoped that such a military alliance will scare off the Soviets. The reasoning by Washington is that the Russians may be deterred from invasion of Israel and the Persian Gulf because of possible retaliation by Israel’s ally, the United States. However, there is no guarantee that this strategy will prevent superior Soviet armed forces from crashing across the borders of Israel and other countries in the Middle East.