DAILY ARTICLE - 2/25/06

Iran Vs. America & The US Port Sale

by Jack Kelley

"The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers." (Revelation 17: 12-14)

"In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. (Daniel 2:44)

Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:6)

The Laboratoire Européen d'Anticipation Politique / Europe 2020 (LEAP) is a European think tank with an impressive track record of predicting major world events in recent years.  For example in 1988, they predicted the fall of the Iron Curtain; in 1997, the progressive collapse in capacity of action and democratic legitimacy of the European institutional system; in 2002, the US being stuck in Iraq's quagmire and above all the sustainable collapse of US international credibility; and in 2003, the failure of the referenda on the European Constitution.

LEAP now estimates there's an 80% probability that the week of March 20-26, 2006 will be the beginning of the most significant political crisis the world has known since the Fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, together with an economic and financial crisis of a scope comparable with that of the 1929 Stock Market Crash.

The last week of March 2006 will be the turning-point of a number of critical developments, resulting in an acceleration of all the factors leading to a major crisis, disregarding any American or Israeli military intervention against Iran . In case such an intervention is conducted, the probability of a major crisis rises to 100%, according to LEAP.

I Told You So

As I reported a couple of weeks ago, March 20 is the date set for the opening of the Iran Oil Burse (IOB), an international exchange that will permit oil to be purchased in Euros.  Currently, oil can only be purchased in dollars, a condition that has artificially inflated the value of the dollar on world currency markets.

Allowing oil to be purchased in Euros will have a strong negative impact on the dollar's value, triggering what LEAP calls a 1929 like financial crisis as nations scramble to unload their dollar reserves and Treasury bonds in favor of Euros.  (Currently 49% of America's national debt is held by foreign countries, up from 18% in 1982.)

This could cause the USA to "monetarize" its debt (print enough extra dollars to cover it) flooding the world financial markets with what LEAP calls "monkey money."  It's roughly equivalent to you or I writing a check to pay a debt, knowing we don't have any money in our account, but on a much grander scale.  When a nation does this, it creates an inflationary spiral that requires the printing of more money, causing more inflation, and could become a vicious game of musical chairs that soon leaves everyone standing.

The Federal Reserve has already announced that beginning March 23 it will stop publishing its regular report on the amount of US currency in circulation, called M3, so that no one will know just how many dollars are in play.  Recent reports are already showing a significant increase in M3 leading experts to believe that the printing of monkey money has already begun. It's known that new Federal Reserve chairman Bernanke favors this approach.

According to LEAP a pre-emptive attack on Iran by the USA or Israel would only increase the probability of crisis, from 80% to 100%.  Also, opening the IOB would have such a strong favorable impact on most of the world that public opinion alone would prevent any country from supporting such an attack, so it would have to be done without UN or international support, further alienating the US and Israel from the world community.

LEAP estimates that the only way to prevent this crisis is for the US to abandon its threatened military action against Iran and immediately stop trying to buy its way out of debt with freshly printed money.   They believe this is unlikely and that on the contrary, conclude that the US is intent on forcing its destiny, having already enacted measures to do so.

Crazy Like a Fox?

Viewed from this perspective, the Bush administration's decision to support the British sale of the company that manages six major US ports to an operator from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates might make more sense.

If world opinion against the US deteriorates further following the opening of the IOB, as seems likely, and if no other nation except Israel is willing to help stop Iran, then the US is going to need a reliable ally in the Middle east close enough to Iran to serve as a forward base if plans for an attack materialize.  Perhaps the UAE fills the bill.  What other reason would a consistently aggressive anti-terrorist administration have for choosing to endure the political firestorm this approval was guaranteed to ignite.  Obviously President Bush can't come out and admit that he's planning to bomb Iran for destroying the US economy, but it's clear that threatening to veto any legislation, even from his own party, that would try to prevent the sale means it's very important to him.

I'm no expert in these matters, nor am I a prophet.  I've tried to report these developments objectively as a follow up to my recent article on the subject.  There've been several times in the past decade where events seemed certain to culminate in all out war in the Middle East .  Each one was prevented at the last moment by one party or another backing down. 

But LEAP feels certain enough about the likelihood of this crisis materializing that it's taken the unusual step of publishing its findings to the general public, not just to heads of government as it normally does.  Prophecy Update.com re-posted their report from Newropeans Magazine, and that's how I learned about them.

Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. (Habakkuk 1:5)

LEAP has characterized this crisis as being as disastrous for the West as the destruction of the Berlin Wall was for the Soviet Union .  And there are several similarities.  Hardly anyone anticipated the destruction of the Berlin Wall. It took the average person by complete surprise.  And it signaled the demise of a major power that stood in the way of End Times prophecy fulfillment. There was no way the European Union could become the dominant end Times player while the Soviets controlled all of Eastern Europe .

The same can be said of the US .  If March 2006 signals the beginning of a rapid decline in US influence in the world, it will catch most people absolutely flat footed and it will remove the last remaining obstacle to the European Union achieving world supremacy.  (As an added bonus, it will put an end to all of us arrogant Americans torturing the Scriptures in a futile effort to discover the US in End Times prophecy.)       

The proposed sale of US ports to an Arab owned company has monopolized the news lately, so I haven't seen anything about the LEAP warning.  I suppose that the American media may be hesitant to risk panicking its readers prematurely, or perhaps they attach a low level of credibility to the report.  Since March 20 is only a month away we won't have long to wait to find out if LEAP was correct once again.  I told you March would be an interesting month.  If you listen carefully, you can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah.