WAR GAMES

At this critical time, with tension in the Middle East reaching the boiling point, Iran is conducting highly inflammatory "War Games" in the region:

"Iran begins war games in Strait of Hormuz"

This year's war games, however, could heighten tension at a time when the West is at a deepening standoff with Iran over its nuclear program. The West suspects the program conceals a nuclear arm production drive, a charge that Iran denies.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad extolled Iran's military might during an annual army parade on Sunday, saying the country is so powerful today that no one would dare attack it.

The parade in Tehran showcased Iran's surface-to-surface Ghadr, Sajjil and Shahab-3 missiles, which have a range of up to 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers), putting Israel and US bases in the region within Iran's reach.

"Iran begins war games in Gulf"

Revolutionary Guard shows off military maneuvers, tests new weapons.

The war games have routinely heightened tension in the region, but they have more recently taken added significance as the standoff between the West and Tehran over Iran's nuclear program grows deeper.

Iran has in the past signaled that it would close the Strait of Hormuz if attacked by the West, something that makes holding war games there a particularly sensitive move. Some 40 percent of the world's oil and energy supplies pass through the narrow waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf.

The television said naval, air and ground units from the Guard were participating in the three-day games codenamed "The Great Prophet." It said the war games will witness the commissioning of what it described as an "ultra-speed" vessel called "Ya Mahdi" and a total of 313 speedboats with the capability of firing rockets and missiles also would participate.

In a related article; an article that causes great concern for any prophecy watcher who takes a literal view of the Bible - notably Genesis 12 and Zechariah 12 - we see the following:

"Adm. Mullen Evades Answer on Shooting Down IAF Jet"

The Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, evaded a question Tuesday regarding the theoretical possibility that the US would shoot down IAF jets en route to attack Iran.

The Weekly Standard reported that in a town hall meeting on the campus of the University of West Virginia, a US Air Force ROTC cadet asked Mullen to respond to a hypothetical situation: if Israel decided to attack Iran, he said, its jets would need to fly through Iraqi airspace, which is considered a “no-fly” zone by the American military. Would US troops shoot down the Israeli jets, the airman asked, if they entered that zone?

Mullen evaded the question.

“I am hopeful that this will be resolved in a way where we never have to answer a question like that.”

The cadet insisted: “Would an airman like me ever be ordered to fire on an Israeli aircraft or personnel?”

Mullen still would not answer directly. “Again, I wouldn’t move out into the future very far from here,” he said

Brzezinski: 'confront them'
In September, former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, known for anti Israel views, urged the US to fire on Israeli jets if they try to reach Iran. “They have to fly over our airspace in Iraq. Are we just going to sit there and watch? We have to be serious about denying them that right,” he said. “If they fly over, you go up and confront them. They have the choice of turning back or not.”

This last article represents a very ominous development. The evasiveness in "answering" this question by the Chairman of the U.S. Joints Chiefs of Staff is disturbing to say the least. Would the U.S. really consider shooting down the planes of what should be our strongest ally in the region - an "ally" who is in a desperate struggle for their survival as a nation? Is this possible?

If so, such actions by the U.S. would be analogous to giving God "the finger". Shooting down Israeli planes would be viewed by Israel, appropriately, as an act of war by the U.S.

Shooting down Israeli planes would be viewed by God as a direct violation of the law He declared in Genesis 12, where He declared that He would bless those who bless Israel and He would curse those who curse Israel - and shooting down Israeli planes, in an ultimate act of survival - would serve as an outrageous public declaration of where the U.S. stands on Israeli.

We are currently witnessing a U.S. administration who displays its amazing arrogance on a daily basis. But it is one thing to reveal this arrogance against U.S. citizens. This time, however, should the U.S. attempt to shoot down Israel planes - planes that would be engaged in a last ditch effort to maintain Israel's existence and viability - against a regime intending to destroy them - then this arrogance would be pointed directly against God Himself.

Good luck with that.