Mega Forces Read online

  AMERICA’S WEAKNESS EXPOSED

  The White House well understands the weakness of this country’s exposed position in the Middle East. In fact, there is little doubt that President Ronald Reagan and his military and political advisors worry constantly about the cauldron of this troubled region boiling over. Recently, in a conversation with Thomas Dine, executive director of the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee, the president noted that he had talked the night before to parents of a Marine killed in Beirut. Then, he made this startling comment:

  You know, I turn back to your ancient prophets in the Old Testament and the signs foretelling Armageddon, and I find myself wondering if—if we’re the generation that is going to see that come about. I don’t know if you’ve noted any of these prophecies lately, but, believe me, they certainly describe the times we’re going through. 1

  The president knows that the Middle East has the potential to explode at any time and that events there could catapult the United States and the Soviet Union into a worldwide nuclear war. So, too, do the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon and almost every other military expert. In November 1980, in Air Force magazine, Gen. T. R. Milton, USAF (Ret.), stated, “The Mideast, after years of threatening to do so, is giving signs of coming apart. We are threatened in a way we have never been threatened before.”

  What General Milton was referring to was the shakiness of America’s military posture in the Middle East. In the same article, Milton remarked: “The nearby presence of 27 divisions on the Iranian border makes our own corporal’s guard of Marines floating around the Indian Ocean scarcely even a symbol of American resolve and power.”

  Since 1980, the military equation has changed little. The Soviet Union still has a preponderance of military force. As next-door neighbors, they are as close to the vital Persian Gulf oil region of the Middle East as the United States is to Toronto in Canada or Mexico City in Mexico. In 1982, the foreign affairs panelists at the National Security Conference authored a report which spoke of U.S. military capability in the Middle East: “Our current forces are big enough to get us into trouble, but not big enough to get us out... we simply cannot project any significant force into the region and sustain it there.”

  In June 1984, a report of the Defense Appropriations Committee of the House of Representatives detailed the weaknesses of the U.S. military. According to the report, this country’s armed forces could not sustain themselves—could not win—in the event of a non-nuclear conflict in either Europe or the Middle East. This is ironic, for the U.S. defense budget is at an all-time high.

  The Pentagon is building a formidable U.S. strategic fighting force comprised of thousands of nuclear bombs, impressive missilery, neutron bombs, space and laser weapons, and other advanced systems. But meanwhile, the conventional fighting capacity of our military—the traditional ground, sea, and air components—may not be sufficiently capable of fighting a Soviet armed force superior in numbers and conventional weapons. 2

  THE NUCLEAR OPTION

  Under such circumstances, the only alternative an out-manned U.S. force might have is the atomic bomb option. In other words, faced with sure defeat, the danger is that the U.S. will face two harsh choices: surrender or nuclear war.

  The Middle East lies within the geographic sphere of the Soviet Union, and the Kremlin continues to beef up its conventional forces based near the region. Sometime in the not too distant future, the president of the United States will be forced to choose between a nuclear holocaust and the bitterness of surrender.

  Would the Soviet Union be so brash as to initiate a conflict that might result in a holocaust? In the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, as Israel’s victorious tanks hemmed the Egyptian forces in a vise grip and were going in for the kill, the Kremlin sent this message to President Nixon over the Moscow-to-Washington hotline: “Tell the Israelis to cease their attack or Soviet forces will enter the war on the side of Egypt.”

  Nixon knew the Kremlin’s leader, Brezhnev, meant business, for U.S. intelligence agencies told Nixon that Soviet ships carrying atomic warheads had docked at Cairo. Since in essence the Israelis had already won the war, Nixon called on them to order a truce and stop fighting. Reluctantly, Israel complied.

  PRETEXT FOR WAR

  In the war that seems inevitable, the Soviet Union may once again use the outbreak of Arab-Israeli hostilities as a pretext to intervene. Other opportunities also present themselves. The Kremlin may itself, through its KGB and GRU secret intelligence agents, have a Soviet embassy in Iran, Saudi Arabia, or Israel sacked, then blame the local government and send in its troops as “retaliation.” Another scenario may be that Soviet forces are sent in, uninvited, to “assist” a Middle East regime undergoing a rebellion by its unhappy citizenry. Or the Soviets may, totally unprovoked, send in their tanks and airplanes in a sneak attack.

  THE RICHES OF ISRAEL AND THE MIDDLE EAST

  The treasure available to the Soviet Union in the Middle East is fabulous beyond measure. The conquest of this region would be the greatest achievement ever for the Communist dictators in Moscow. Materially, its possession would put in their hands the world’s largest oil reserves, plus the technological wealth of Israel, one of the most prosperous and economically developed nations on earth. It would provide the Russian navy a permanent and reliable warm water port. (By treaties and other arrangements, the Soviets have warm water bases in the Indian Ocean.) Most important of all, Soviet possession of the Middle East oil spigot would make Russia the undisputed economic czar of the entire world. The West and Japan would be brought to their knees and forced to crawl to the Kremlin begging for oil rations.

  In his book The Real War, former President Richard Nixon revealed a statement that intelligence sources attributed to former Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev. Speaking before a closed meeting of Communist party chieftains, Brezhnev declared, “Our aim is to gain control of the two great treasure houses on which the West depends—the energy treasure house of the Persian Gulf and the mineral treasure house of central and southern Africa.” 3

  The Lure of Oil. The Middle East is the Klondike of world oil. Saudi Arabia alone holds over one-fourth of the earth’s oil reserves—167 billion barrels. Over 75 percent of Japan’s energy is supplied by the Arab sheiks of Saudi Arabia and nearby countries such as Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Abu Dhabi, Iraq, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. The region also supplies two-thirds of European oil needs. Even though the United States acquires a much smaller portion of its oil from this region, past history and recent studies demonstrate how vulnerable is the United States to an oil cutoff in the Middle East. In 1983 the National Energy Foundation reported that such a cutoff would produce domestic price rises of over 300 percent. Furthermore, the U.S. Department of Energy states that alternative energies will not be available until at least the year 2025, and that oil will be the mainstay for the U.S. economy through the year 2000. As we will discuss in the following chapter, the Soviet Union has fallen on hard times. Its rigid economy is on the verge of collapse. What a transfusion the incredible oil reserves of the Middle East would provide the weakened and ailing Soviet giant! In one swift stroke, a Soviet invasion could ease the Soviet economic crisis while causing chaos to the economies of bitter foes America, Western Europe, and Japan.

  Israel’s High-Tech Prosperity. Another plum awaiting Soviet troops is the intellectual and economic affluence of modern-day Israel. One of the chief problems in Soviet Russia today is that country’s backwardness in high technologies—computers, robotics, lasers, microelectronics, and others. Much of the Soviet military weaponry and technology consists of cheap imitations of U.S. and other foreign-built products. In Israel, world observers note a sensational high-technology boom. Similar to the growth of Silicon Valley in California, high-tech breakthroughs are becoming commonplace throughout Israel. Few Americans and foreigners are aware of the breadth and scope of Israel’s high-tech economy. But its world competitors—international corporations such as AT&T, IBM, Boeing, and
Lockheed—are. Let’s examine some of the spectacular efforts of Israel’s scientists and technicians. 4

  Worldwide Corporate Leadership. In 1970, according to Israeli government sources, export sales of high-tech products by Israeli corporations accounted for a puny $8 million. By 1984 they had mushroomed to a staggering $1.3 billion. Among Israel’s largest high-tech companies are Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd. (jet aircraft and computer electronics), Iscar (jet engines), Elron (computers, electronics, and biotechnology), El-Op (lasers and communications), Tadinan (electronics and telecommunications), Ormat (solar technology), and Israel Chemicals (chemicals and pharmaceuticals). All of these firms and many others are vigorous competitors in world markets. for example:

  Laser Industries, Ltd., of Tel Aviv, a pioneer in the fast-growing laser field, has captured some 60 percent of the world market for CO2 medical lasers, increasingly used for precision surgery in hospitals and clinics around the globe.

  Elscint, a Haifa-based firm, specializes in computerized axial tomography scanners (CATSCAN), machines used in advanced medical diagnosis. The company has a large share of the world market, though it competes head-on with such powers as General Electric and Toshiba.

  Israel’s chemical industry is growing at a rapid pace. One firm begun only a few years ago, Periclase Chemicals, exploits the mineral-rich Dead Sea. It earns more than $27 million annually from export of magnesium and hydrochloric acid products.

  The Israeli bioengineering industry is among the world’s leaders in this technology. The Jerusalem Post reported in March 1984 that over $100 million had been spent in the previous five years for biological research and development.

  Impressive Internal Development. Internally, Israel is being transformed into a progressive, high-tech oasis. Here are three examples:

  Israel is plunging into space. It will launch its first telecommunications satellite in 1987, a $250 million project, and Israeli scientists have conducted experiments aboard America’s space lab.

  Computers are being used on a massive scale to manage Israeli farms. Ehud Gol, Israel’s consul in New York, says that his country’s farmers now use computers to determine precise fertilization needs and to make tractors more efficient.

  Israel has begun a $1.3 billion hydroelectric system that will shift 1.6 billion cubic meters of water annually from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea. Scheduled for completion by 1995, the project will provide Israel with vast amounts of electric power, reduce the salinity of the Dead Sea, and rejuvenate the lands that surround it.

  Israel’s Growing Military Power. In a few key areas, Israel’s military technology rivals that of America’s. On June 9, 1982, F-15 and F-16 fighter bombers of the Israeli air force totally decimated Syria’s Soviet-built anti-aircraft batteries, tanks, and vehicles in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. They also shot down eighty-six Soviet-built MIG aircraft but themselves suffered no losses of aircraft. These victories were attributed to advanced electronics systems designed by Israel’s scientists and installed on their U.S.-built aircraft. American experts say that these technologies are superior to what U.S. laboratories have devised. Israel has also begun to build complete aircraft and even sells military parts and equipment to other countries. One military electronics company, AEL Israel, has increased exports 500 percent in recent years. AEL Israel employs a 500-member research staff. When World War II ended, a victorious Soviet army kidnapped East German scientists and brought them to Russia, putting them to work developing weapons for the Soviet military. Entire factories and industrial plants were dismantled in the sectors of Germany occupied by Russian troops and shipped back home to Russia where they were reassembled and placed into production. No doubt the Soviets would treat Israeli scientists and industry in a similar fashion. The rapidly expanding laboratories and research institutes of Israel and the more than fifty thousand Israeli scientists and engineers would be a terrific bonanza for the Soviet Union. For Moscow, these are spoils for which bloodshed is a small price to pay.

  GOD’S HAND

  Israel’s high-tech prosperity is especially a miraculous accomplishment in light of this country’s bleak geography, small population (about 4 million), and lack of natural resources. As Michael Knipes of the Times of London has noted, “It is indeed striking that a country with the same population as Philadelphia should be capable of maintaining seven universities, an aerospace industry, its own Army, Navy, and Air Force, and compete with the world’s leaders in technologies.”

  The mind-boggling high-tech developments in Israel should cause persons who refuse to believe in prophecy to pause and reflect. The Bible’s prophecies accurately predicted that the people of Israel would be cast out from their country and scattered across the world. The prophecies stated that, though they would suffer as hostages in other countries, the children of Israel would, in the last days, be restored to their ancestral lands. Further, God’s prophets clearly told us that the revived state of Israel would then prosper, so much that the “King of the North” (Russia) would one day be overcome with greed and invade Israel and its neighbors “to take a spoil” (Ezek. 38:10-12).

  All this the prophets predicted—and every word has come true, proof that God’s hands hold up our universe and that his will shall be done on earth.

  AMERICAN PREPAREDNESS FOR WAR

  Though at a geographic and military disadvantage, the United States will fight to prevent a Soviet victory in the Middle East. U.S. military leaders rightly perceive that any overt Soviet military action in the Middle East constitutes a threat to world order. Following the Russian thrust into Afghanistan, Army Chief of Staff Gen. E. C. Meyer stated flatly that “World War III started on December 27, 1979”—the date the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, right on the fringe of the volatile Middle East. 5

  President Jimmy Carter quickly stated the readiness of the United States to use force to protect the strategic oil resources of the Persian Gulf. In his January 1980 State of the Union Address, Carter warned the Soviets:

  Let our position be absolutely clear: An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force. 6

  Soon after Carter’s speech, the Pentagon announced the creation of a Rapid Deployment Force, a trained and alert-ready contingent to be deployed to the Middle East on short notice in event of Soviet attack. Meanwhile, by early 1981, the bombers and crews of the U.S. Air Force’s Strategic Air Command (SAC) were holding dress rehearsals for a future nuclear mission to the Middle East. Said Gen. Richard Ellis, commander of SAC, in a Washington Post interview, “Our chances of stopping the Soviets on the landmass are extremely limited.” Ellis explained that if, say, the U.S. Marines were about to be slaughtered on the ground by overwhelming Soviet might, U.S. leaders would be forced to resort to nuclear weapons to prevent total defeat.

  In the same article, Air Force pilot Maj. Jerry Swank, of Lucerne, Indiana, remarked, “We can get into an area very fast... In two or three days we can be bombing.”

  Most Americans simply don’t realize how close the world is to the precipice of war. Our Sixth Fleet sits in the Mediterranean, flanked by opposing Soviet naval forces. Our naval base in the Indian Ocean, Diego Garcia, is watched carefully by patrolling Soviet warships and submarines.

  President Ronald Reagan has ordered our forces in this area to be beefed up even further and, like Carter before him, the president has also warned the Soviets that war will result if they choose to march on Iran or another Persian Gulf country. 7

  In response, Russia has placed nearly one hundred thousand troops inside Afghanistan and has strengthened its naval forces in the area. Thus both sides prepare for war.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THE SOVIET UNION—MILITARY GIANT, ECONOMIC DWARF

  The latter-day actions of the USSR make perfect sense to historians. Russia is an empire that has been built on greed and conquest. T
erritorial imperialism has long been the very foundation for the Kingdom of the North. Time and again, ruthless Russian rulers have proven their willingness to take by force the lands and riches of those nations unfortunate enough to be geographically adjacent to this imperialistic giant. In the case of the Marxist Soviets, greed combines with will to create a dangerous ideological foundation.

  There is yet another factor that stirs up the greed and imperialistic ambitions of Moscow. That factor involves the tremendous internal problems faced by the Kremlin. Chief among these problems is the stagnant Russian economy.

  THE ECONOMIC FAILURE OF THE COMMUNIST REGIME

  The Soviet Union is slowly falling apart economically and is subject to collapse. This was the finding of a CIA study prepared for CIA Director William Casey in the summer of 1984. The intelligence analysts reported that after sixty-seven years in power, during which Moscow lavished resources on its military machine, the Communists could not provide sufficient food nor adequate medical care to the people. “At last, history seems to be catching up with the world’s last surviving empire,” concluded the report.