Bush To the Middle East
President Bush leaves tomorrow for a week long tour of six countries in the Middle East. He will also visit the Palestinian territories in an effort to move along the peace talks that started last November in Annapolis, Maryland.
Despite many major issues dividing the Isrealis from the Palestinians Bush is confident and optimistic a peace settlement can be reached by the end of this year. "I believe the time is ripe," he said of an Israeli-Palestinian deal in an interview with an Israeli newspaper before leaving for the trip. "There will be a comprehensive peace signed by the end of this year."
This is a noble goal but not likely to happen. This is not a pessimistic appraisal rather a realistic one. Real peace will not come to the Middle East this year despite the best and noble efforts of anyone. Right now the costs are too high for peace to occur and none of the parties are willing or able to give the concessions that would allow a real and lasting peace to be created.
The divide between the Israeli's and Arabs are deep and long. There is the language and culture barrier. There is the divide of religion, perhaps the
deepest of all. The animosity built up just in the past sixty years are enough to take centuries of effort to heal.
Max Boot writes at Opinion Journal about this issue and uses the example oinf the strife between Scotland and England as a lesson in conflict. What began in 1296 when England's King Edward I tried to take the empty throne of Scotland took more than 450 years to resolve. And this among people with a common tongue and culture!
As Boot points out the significant successes at pacification have been when massive armed intervention have occurred. He states as the only present realistic option of ending the conflict the presence of massive military force from an outside power. However he concludes, "...that's unlikely to happen in the Holy Land".
Bible prophecy shows us that massive military force from an outside power will eventually intervene in the Middle East to bring "peace" to the region. Daniel 11 shows a power called the "King of the North" invading through North Africa into the holy land itself and Jerusalem in particular. It will come after a series of conflicts reach a critical point and a power called the "King of the South" provokes the intervention of this european based power.
All this will be done in the name of peace, no doubt to protect the global economy from serious disruption. It will trigger a larger conflict when powers from the east begin to move westward to protect their vital interests.
The end game will be the gathering of forces in the battle of the great day of God Almighty, (Revelation 16:14). We give the details of this in our booklet, The Middle East in Prophecy.
We will watch President Bush make his pilgrimage through this turbulent region this week and make appropriate comments. It promises to be an interesting trip. We'll watch and learn.
Despite many major issues dividing the Isrealis from the Palestinians Bush is confident and optimistic a peace settlement can be reached by the end of this year. "I believe the time is ripe," he said of an Israeli-Palestinian deal in an interview with an Israeli newspaper before leaving for the trip. "There will be a comprehensive peace signed by the end of this year."This is a noble goal but not likely to happen. This is not a pessimistic appraisal rather a realistic one. Real peace will not come to the Middle East this year despite the best and noble efforts of anyone. Right now the costs are too high for peace to occur and none of the parties are willing or able to give the concessions that would allow a real and lasting peace to be created.
The divide between the Israeli's and Arabs are deep and long. There is the language and culture barrier. There is the divide of religion, perhaps the
deepest of all. The animosity built up just in the past sixty years are enough to take centuries of effort to heal.Max Boot writes at Opinion Journal about this issue and uses the example oinf the strife between Scotland and England as a lesson in conflict. What began in 1296 when England's King Edward I tried to take the empty throne of Scotland took more than 450 years to resolve. And this among people with a common tongue and culture!
As Boot points out the significant successes at pacification have been when massive armed intervention have occurred. He states as the only present realistic option of ending the conflict the presence of massive military force from an outside power. However he concludes, "...that's unlikely to happen in the Holy Land".
Bible prophecy shows us that massive military force from an outside power will eventually intervene in the Middle East to bring "peace" to the region. Daniel 11 shows a power called the "King of the North" invading through North Africa into the holy land itself and Jerusalem in particular. It will come after a series of conflicts reach a critical point and a power called the "King of the South" provokes the intervention of this european based power.
All this will be done in the name of peace, no doubt to protect the global economy from serious disruption. It will trigger a larger conflict when powers from the east begin to move westward to protect their vital interests.
The end game will be the gathering of forces in the battle of the great day of God Almighty, (Revelation 16:14). We give the details of this in our booklet, The Middle East in Prophecy.We will watch President Bush make his pilgrimage through this turbulent region this week and make appropriate comments. It promises to be an interesting trip. We'll watch and learn.
