FULFILLED PROPHECY : THE BEGINNING OF SORROWS - 2
Copyright 1994 - 2008 Endtime Prophecy Org
Last Updated : July 23, 2006
War In Chechnya And Yeltsin's Bluff, Russian Terrorist Bomb
Blasts, Government Psychological Manipulation, Trouble In
The Two Koreas, China And Taiwan's Posturing And Rhetoric,
Fork-Tongued Hagglers Of The Middle East Peace Process
The Clinton White House obviously recognizes the current
vulnerability and weakness of Russia; thus, it is attempting
to expand its sphere of influence in Eastern Europe while it
still can. To add to Russia's woes, during the past several
months, the Kremlin has once again been forced into sending
Russian Federation troops into the troublesome region of the
northern Caucasus, in order to quell a revolt by Muslim
separatists in the republic of Dagestan. These rebels have
been receiving military aid from their Muslim brothers in
Chechnya, who have also been enjoying de facto independence
since several years ago. Latest news reports are indicating
that the war in the northern Caucasus has now expanded; and
after weeks of a heavy air and ground assault, the Russian
Federation troops have completely surrounded Grozny, the
capital of Chechnya, and are threatening to destroy anyone
who fails to leave the besieged city, as we see by these CNN
news clips:
----- Begin Quotes -----
General Says Warning Grozny A Humane Move
Leaflets dropped on the Chechen capital telling civilians to
leave by Saturday or face massive bombardment were a
humanitarian warning, not an ultimatum, the Russian
commander in Chechnya said Tuesday. The messages warn Grozny
residents to leave the city by December 11. "There will be
no more talks. All those who do not leave the city will be
destroyed. The countdown has started," the leaflet said.
. . .
Russian Ultimatum: Get Out Of Grozny Or Die
Russia's military dropped leaflets around Grozny on Monday,
tersely warning residents they have five days to leave the
Chechen capital or face certain death. "Those who remain
will be viewed as terrorists and bandits," said the leaflet,
read on Russian television. "They will be destroyed by
artillery and aviation. There will be no more talks." The
leaflet promised a safe exit corridor.
. . .
Russian Forces Bombard Northern Edge Of Chechen Capital
Russian forces launched a fierce bombardment of Chechen
positions Tuesday, with troops approaching the fringe of the
separatist republic's capital, Grozny. Meanwhile, Russian
authorities sought to capture a key rebel leader by offering
a $1 million bounty for his arrest. Russian jets and
artillery pounded at least seven towns and settlements
across Chechnya, officers on both sides said.
. . .
Chechen President Talks Peace, Readies For War
Russian artillery and warplanes pressed their attacks around
Chechnya's capital on Sunday, while the Chechen president
called for urgent negotiations to end the fighting. The
Russian commander in Chechnya, Col. Gen. Viktor Kazantsev,
said Sunday his forces had taken a strategic ridge about 35
kilometers (21 miles) northwest of Grozny, on the south side
of the Terek River that marks the northern third of
Chechnya.
. . .
Russia Pursues Chechen Islamist Campaign
Russia pushed on with its operation to crush Islamist
fighters based in rebel Chechnya on Saturday but said it
would welcome talks with the region's relatively moderate
leader, Aslan Maskhadov. There were conflicting reports over
Russian troop movements as officials denied any military
offensives had been undertaken near Grozny, where a Reuters
correspondent saw Chechen fighters shooting at what appeared
to be a military convoy.
. . .
Russia Girds For Second Stage Of Chechen Campaign
Russian troops regrouped Saturday near the Terek River and
fortified their positions in advance of what a Russian
general said would be the second stage of the campaign
against insurgents in Chechnya. A Russian military spokesman
said Chechen guerrillas were suffering "serious losses" in
the latest fighting. A hospital in the Chechen capital,
Grozny, reportedly was filled to capacity with wounded
insurgents.
----- End Of Quotes -----
As we now know, the Kremlin made a last-minute change to its
invasion tactics. The deadline for leaving Grozny came and
went, and the assault didn't taken place. Instead, the
Russian troops waited several more days in order to allow
those civilians who still wished to leave Grozny, to exit
through the two safe corridors they had opened up for them.
This delay in the assault may have been due to the fact that
some condemnation has been building up against the Russians
in recent weeks. While some nations, like China, strongly
feel that Chechnya is an internal Russian affair, others,
such as the hawkish United States of America, have offered
strong criticism against the government of Boris Yeltsin.
Thus, by providing ample opportunity for escape, before
undertaking such a brutal task, which may result in the
death of many people, Russia's military leaders are trying
to give the impression of being fair. However, the time has
apparently now passed; and as we see by the following report,
the assault on Grozny has begun in earnest:
----- Begin Quote -----
Russians Storm Grozny; Witnesses Report Heavy Casualties
GROZNY, Russia (CNN) -- Russian tanks and troops stormed
central Grozny late Wednesday but were driven back and
suffered heavy casualties at the hands of Chechen rebels,
eyewitnesses said. Previously, Russian commanders had
insisted they were not ordering an all-out assault on the
rebellious republic's capital.
News agencies reported that a Russian armored column rolled
into Grozny on Wednesday evening and was surrounded by rebel
fighters armed with rocket-propelled grenades. The bodies of
several dead Russian soldiers were seen sprawled around
burning tanks and armored personnel carriers near the city
center, witnesses said.
End Of Quote -----
It is rather alarming to note that in offering his expected
rebuttal to President Clinton, Mr. Yeltsin resorted to using
the nuclear arms wild card, as we see by these excerpts from
another recent CNN news report:
----- Begin Quote -----
Yeltsin Warns U.S. Not To Meddle In Chechnya, Cites Nuclear
Weapons
BEIJING (CNN) -- Russian President Boris Yeltsin, noting
Russia still possesses nuclear weapons, warned the United
States on Thursday not to meddle in the Chechen conflict.
"(U.S. President Bill) Clinton allowed himself to pressurize
Russia yesterday," Interfax news agency quoted Yeltsin as
saying in reference to Clinton's tough remarks on Chechnya.
"He must have forgotten for a moment what Russia is,"
Yeltsin, visiting China just days after being released from
hospital, added."It has a full arsenal of nuclear weapons."
Other Russian news agencies carried similar reports, saying
Yeltsin deliberately stopped to make his remarks after a
meeting with Li Peng, chairman of China's National People's
Congress. Chinese officials said on Thursday the Chechen
conflict is an internal matter of Russia's. Yeltsin and
Chinese President Jiang Zemin criticized the United States
over what they called an attempt at global domination.
"Jiang Zemin completely understands and fully supports
Russia's actions in combating terrorism and extremism in
Chechnya," Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said.
Yeltsin's harsh words were an apparent indication that
relations between Russia and the United States have strained
to perhaps their most tenuous point since the end of the
Cold War.
----- End Of Quote -----
As I recently mentioned to some online Christian friends, I
believe it is safe to say that Yeltsin is only bluffing, and
playing the role that he and Clinton both play so well. I
honestly cannot see anyone starting WW III over this issue
involving sovereign Russian territory. At the very most, the
United Nations, under American pressure, may give Russia the
routine slap on the wrist by applying economic sanctions,
but there really isn't much more that they can do to stop
the Russians from bombing Grozny, if that is indeed what
they are going to do. Furthermore, how can the West, and the
United States and Great Britain in particular, even justify
their criticism after what they did to Belgrade and Baghdad?
It would be totally hypocritical for them to try to stop the
Grozny campaign.
To add to Russian troubles, since the last day of August, a
series of mysterious bomb blasts, which are all believed to
be related to the troubles rooted in Dagestan and Chechnya,
have resulted in the untimely death of at least two hundred
and forty-four people. Following are a series of news clips
from various news agencies regarding the bomb attacks, as
well as a few earlier reports which describe the beginning
of the current conflict in Dagestan and Chechnya. Please
take note that these reports are talking about five separate
bomb blast incidents which have all occurred very close to
each other within this short time period; that is, one at a
shopping mall not far from the Kremlin, one at a military
barracks in Buinaksk, Dagestan, another one at a nine-story
apartment complex in Moscow, an additional one at an eight-
story apartment complex in Moscow, and yet another one at a
nine-story apartment complex in Volgodonsk as well:
----- Begin Quotes -----
Attack Number Five :
Apparent Truck Bomb Kills 13 In Southern Russia
MOSCOW (CNN) -- An apparent truck bomb has killed 13 people
and injured 115 in the southern Russian city of Volgodonsk.
The Russian Emergency Ministry told CNN the blast occurred
at an entrance to a 9-story apartment building, destroying
its facade. Investigators believe the explosion was caused
by a bomb in a truck outside the building.
The Rostov Region Interior Ministry officials said a truck
pulled up to the first entrance of the building at
approximately 6 a.m., and 15 minutes later there was an
explosion.
Attack Number Four :
Security Tight As Death Toll Hits 116 In Moscow Blast
Security forces combed railway stations and markets across
Russia on Tuesday as the death toll reached 116 in an
explosion that reduced an eight-story apartment building to
a heap of bricks, dust and mangled furniture. Rescuers
continued to search the wreckage for victims of Monday's
suspected bombing in Moscow, the fourth major blast in
Russia in the last two weeks. Search crews reached the
building's basement, which was full of water from burst
pipes. Children's toys floated in the muck.
. . .
Police Blame Bomb For Moscow Blast
A powerful explosion ripped through an apartment building in
southern Moscow early Monday, killing at least 34 people and
leaving dozens unaccounted for. Rescue workers with sniffing
dogs were searching the wreckage of the eight-story building
after the blast, which occurred shortly after 5 a.m. (0200
GMT). The explosion follows a blast Thursday that left at
least 91 people dead. The Ministry of Emergency Situations
said at least 34 people, including a child, were killed in
Monday's blast.
Attack Number Three :
At least 23 people were killed and 150 injured when a huge
explosion demolished a block of flats in a Moscow suburb
early yesterday. The blast, which reduced the nine-story
building to smoldering rubble, was said by the authorities
yesterday to have been caused by explosives, and not by a
gas leak as was at first thought. As the search for bodies
continued last night, senior figures, including Yuri
Luzhkov, the Mayor of Moscow, were linking the blast to the
war in Dagestan...The explosion was the second on such a
scale in Russia in less than a week. . .
Attack Number Two :
Yeltsin Blames Carelessness Of Military For Reverses
President Boris Yeltsin Tuesday blamed the 'carelessness of
the military' for an incursion of Muslim rebels in the
southern region of Dagestan and a blast at military
apartments in which 61 people died. 'How did we lose a whole
district in Dagestan? Why are there more terrorist acts in
military compounds than in other places?' Interfax news
agency quoted Yeltsin as saying during a meeting with Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin. 'This can only be explained by the
carelessness of the military.'
. . .
Bombing, New Incursion Escalate Dagestan Conflict
Gunmen from the breakaway province of Chechnya seized
villages in Dagestan Sunday, hours after a deadly bomb
ripped through a building housing Russian military families,
an official said. The bombing attack, which officials blamed
on the Islamic rebels, killed at least 14 people and injured
about 90. A spokesman at Dagestan's Interior Ministry said
that local police were battling hundreds of gunman who
seized two villages in Novolaksk region in the west of the
North Caucasus region.
. . .
Insurgents Seize Dagestan Towns After Deadly Blast
Hundreds of gunmen from the breakaway province of Chechnya
seized at least four villages in Dagestan Sunday, hours
after a deadly bomb ripped through a building housing
Russian military families. The bomb killed at least 14
people and injured 97. Officials blamed the explosion on the
Islamic rebels who have been battling Russian forces in the
region for the past month.
Attack Number One :
Terrorist Explosion At Shopping Mall Next To Kremlin's Red
Square
At least 33 people were injured Tuesday in an explosion
that ripped through an upscale Moscow shopping center just
outside Red Square. Authorities said terrorists were
responsible. Alexandr Zdanovich, a spokesman for the FSB,
the Russian domestic security service, said it was clear
that the blast, which originated in a video game machine,
was the work of 'terrorists.' The explosion forced the
evacuation of the busy underground mall and an adjoining
area just outside Red Square, authorities said...Most of the
injured were hurt by flying glass, authorities said. There
were no reported deaths in the explosion, which happened
just after 8 p.m. (1600 GMT). Authorities said the explosion
apparently occurred on the third level of the Manezh Square
shopping center, one of Europe's largest...Police and fire
officials evacuated the complex, just steps away from the
Kremlin's northwest wall, after the explosion. Police also
cordoned off Manezh Square, nearby underground rail stations
and streets...Interior Ministry troops were deployed to the
area for added security. Security at the Kremlin was put on
high alert. . .
. . .
Kremlin Begins Inquiry After Bomb Wounds 41
Russia on Wednesday launched an investigation into a bomb
attack which injured 41 people, including several children,
at a popular Moscow shopping center next door to the
Kremlin. Interfax news agency, quoting Moscow ambulance
service, said on Wednesday that 24 of the 41 people injured
in Tuesday's blast were still in hospitals. "It is a
terrorist act," said Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov.
. . .
The spectre of a 'holy war' spreading to the Russian
heartland came a step closer yesterday when a man claiming
to speak for Dagestani rebels in the south said that it was
behind the bomb blast in a shopping mall yards from the
Kremlin. The explosion injured 41 people and tarnished one
of the crown jewels of Mayor Yuri Luzhkov's multibillion
dollar restoration of Moscow, the giant underground Manezh
complex. Fears of a broader terror campaign deepened when a
caller to a Western news bureau in Chechnya warned that
'terrorist acts will take place on the territory of Russia
as long as Russian troops remain in Dagestan'. The caller
claimed to be from the Dagestan Liberation Army. . .
. . .
Russian Troops Cross Into Chechnya
Top Russian officials have confirmed to CNN that Russia is
planning a major ground offensive against the breakaway
republic of Chechnya. "We expect the leadership in Chechnya
to condemn international terrorism," Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin said. In addition, Putin, quoted by Itar-Tass news
agency on Thursday, said Russian troops have been crossing
into Chechnya and do not recognize any border between Russia
and the breakaway region.
----- End Of Quotes -----
From the previous reports, it becomes quite evident that
when rich, selfish, centralist governments fail to respond
to the outcries of their oppressed peoples, the masses
eventually take matters into their own hands, whether their
motivations are right or wrong. Given Boris Yeltsin's track
record, one fact which appears to be certain, is that unless
new Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, is able to bring
the Dagestan/Chechnya situation under control, he may find
himself unexpectedly joining the ranks of ex-Prime Ministers
Sergei Kiriyenko, Yevgeny Primakov and Sergei Stepashin. As
of late, Yeltsin does not appear to have very much patience
with his underlings; particularly when they show any signs
of weakness, or else pose a threat to his own position of
power.
What I find particularly interesting regarding this entire
situation, is that while the Kremlin has pointed the finger
at the Muslim separatists as the perpetrators of the five
bomb attacks, the rebels have denied responsibility for the
same. Not only that, but now that the Russian government has
apparently won the support of the Russian people for its
military engagement against the Muslim separatists, the bomb
attacks have mysteriously stopped. Similar to other writers,
I can only wonder if perhaps at least some of the attacks
were staged by the Russian government itself, so that it
might win popular support for its current campaign in both
Dagestan and Chechyna. We should never underestimate the
corrupt, evil nature of man's governments, and what they
will do, even to their own people, in order to achieve a
certain objective. Playing psychological mind games in order
to mold public opinion is nothing new. We see it happening
in the American press all the time, do we not?
Turning our eyes towards southeast Asia, the two Koreas are
also entering a very dangerous period as Communist North
Korea continues to develop its program of weapons of mass
destruction, while shunning American warnings, and refusing
to give American inspectors access to its weapons plants. At
this current time, the government of North Korea already
possesses the ability to easily strike targets within Japan,
which naturally has the Japanese government quite concerned.
In fact, the Japanese are so concerned, that they have been
adopting a more militaristic attitude as of late; and this
is with encouragement from the United States of course. To
understand how serious this is, you must realize that up
until the last decade, Japan dedicated just one per cent of
its Gross National Product to military expenditures and
self-defense. If mass media sources are to be believed,
North Korea may soon also be able to strike targets within
Alaska and Hawaii as well. As if this weren't enough, on
August 23, 1999, the Associated Press issued the following
report, in which the North Korean government states that a
second Korean War is now unavoidable:
----- Begin Quote -----
Military exercises between the United States and South
Korean show the two allies' rising militarism, making a
second Korean War 'unavoidable', North Korea said Sunday. In
recent days, Pyongyang has regularly said the 12-day joint
exercises could lead to war, but it had not called
hostilities inevitable. America and South Korea have been
conducting war games to simulate a coordinated response to a
North Korean invasion as part of their annual joint military
exercises. 'The United States and South Korea are in a
belligerent relationship,' said an editorial in the Rodong
Shinmun, the newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party,
monitored in Tokyo by the RadioPress News Agency. 'A second
Korean War has become unavoidable.'. . .
----- End Of Quote -----
At the same time, Communist China has also been flexing its
military muscles lately due to the break-away island nation
of Taiwan being rather vociferous regarding its independence
from the Chinese mainland. Ever since Taiwanese President
Lee Teng-hui recently expressed his desire for his country
to have 'state-to-state' relations with Beijing, tensions
have been extremely high. Both parties have been actively
engaged in verbal posturing, and boasting of their military
readiness and clear superiority in the event of a military
confrontation. As of the time of this writing, the Chinese
Foreign Ministry has declared that it will not resort to the
use of nuclear weapons, should it indeed become necessary to
re-take Taiwan. Despite immense verbal pressure from China,
the Taiwanese leaderhip has made no effort to retract its
earlier statements. Following are some fairly recent reports
regarding this situation:
----- Begin Quotes -----
President Lee Teng-hui's recent affirmation of Taiwan's
statehood is supported by the 'vast majority' of Taiwanese,
and there is no question of it being retracted, the
Taiwanese Foreign Ministry said Sunday. 'Special
state-to-state relations' - the term Lee used to firm up
Taiwan's sovereignty claim - was merely 'an objective
description of the state of relations and has been embraced
by the vast majority of Taiwanese,' the ministry said in a
statement. 'This reflects reality, so there is no question
of retracting or not retracting,' the statement said. The
ministry's statement was one of the most emphatic defenses
of Lee's stance to date, and comes after a meeting between
President Clinton and Chinese President Jiang Zemin at which
Taiwan was a main topic of discussion. . .
. . .
While declaring its resolve to retake rival Taiwan by force
if necessary, China removed one threat today by promising
not to use nuclear weapons in the event of a conflict. The
pledge, issued by the Foreign Ministry, was the most
explicit, public renunciation of the nuclear option China
has ever given Taiwan and suggested a slight easing of their
latest tensions. . .
. . .
Taiwan displayed some of its best defense assets on
Wednesday amid tensions with China-advanced fighter jets
that military leaders say give the island air superiority
against the mainland through at least 2005. The display of
cutting-edge fighters was staged to celebrate the founding
of the air force academy, but it also seemed calculated to
send the message that Taiwan can defend itself and won't be
pushed around. 'The air force's successful front line is the
secure shield of our nation's defense,' President Lee
Teng-hui told air force cadets at the military base that
houses the academy near the southern port city of Kaohsiung,
185 miles south of Taipei. Lee's appearance was seen as an
attempt to bolster public confidence in the wake of China's
renewed threat to use force to bring Taiwan to heel,
although he didn't specifically mention the tensions on
Wednesday. . .
. . .
China has reached agreement with Russia to buy two
nuclear-powered submarines to deter any U.S. presence in the
Taiwan Strait as relations between Beijing and Taipei
worsen, a report said Wednesday. The billion dollar deal for
the Typhoon-class submarines, capable of launching nuclear
warheads, was reached during Russian deputy prime minister
Ilya Klebanov's recent visit to Beijing, the Hong Kong
Standard said citing mainland diplomatic sources. Chinese
President Jiang Zemin and his Russian counterpart Boris
Yeltsin endorsed the sale during their talks in Bishek,
Kyrgyztan, last week, the English-language daily said. The
sources said the submarines were aimed at deterring the U.S.
Seventh Fleet from intervening in the intensified
cross-strait relations following Taiwanese president Lee
Teng-hui's call for "state-to-state" ties with Beijing. . .
----- End Of Quotes -----
Directing our attention towards the Middle Eastern arena, if
you have been paying close attention to developments in the
current land-for-peace process, and if you have been reading
my articles concerning Endtime events, then you will already
know that the Israelies and the Palestinians continue to
play the same game of tug-of-war and verbal deceit which has
for some time now been their regular custom. After months of
extremely tough bargaining at the negotiation table, Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and Palestinian President, Yasser
Arafat, finally signed a revised Wye River Memorandum in
Egypt, known as the Sharm el-Sheikh memorandum. While smiles
and handshakes abound, Yasser Arafat continues to make clear
that unless final status talks are completed by September of
the year 2,000, he will unilaterally declare a Palestinian
State.
Following are several reports which have been issued by
various news agencies over the past few months. As can be
seen by the most recent reports, radical elements continue
their attempts to derail the peace process through violent
bomb attacks, and the Jews and the Palestinians continue to
haggle over the issue of land in their on-again-off-again
negotiations:
----- Begin Quotes -----
Impass On West Bank Prevents Handover
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian President
Yasser Arafat failed to resolve a dispute holding up
Israel's scheduled handover of more West Bank land on
Monday, and Israel's army says it won't leave the territory
as planned. Israeli military officials said no handover
would take place Monday, but added that "anything is still
possible" as talks continued Monday morning. Both sides have
been locked in a dispute over details of the land involved.
. . .
Mideast Peace Talks Convene Despite Bombs
Undeterred by a Sunday bombing, Israeli delegates and their
counterparts from the Palestinian Authority began talks
Monday aimed at reaching a final Middle East peace accord.
The talks opened Monday morning in the West Bank town of
Ramallah, just a day after pipe bombs injured at least 30
people in the Israeli coastal town of Netanya. Issues
remaining to be settled include the status of Jerusalem and
the future of Jewish settlements on territory Israel has
occupied since the 1967 Six-Day war.
. . .
Bomb Injures At Least 16 In Israel
A pipe bomb exploded in a coastal town in Israel, injuring
at least 16 people on Sunday, and police were trying to
defuse as second device near the scene of the explosion. The
bombing occurred on the eve of new peace talks between
Israel and the Palestinians. Police said the bombing was a
terrorist act, and a number of suspects have been taken into
custody.
. . .
Yassar Arafat, the Palestinian leader, yesterday renewed his
threat to unilaterally declare an independent state for his
people if he fails to reach agreement with Israel one year
from now. He issued the warning just hours after signing a
new peace accord with Ehud Barak, the Israeli Prime
Minister, in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
The new agreement, known as the Sharm el-Sheikh memorandum,
sets out an ambitious timetable of just 12 months to resolve
almost all the major issues still dividing the two sides.
Many observers believe the goal is too ambitious given that
Israel and the Palestinians still have to resolve the most
contentious issues between them including the future of
Jerusalem, which both sides regard as their religious and
political capital. . .
. . .
Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat said today
that according to the guarantees he got from United States
and according to the declaration of Berlin, a Palestinian
State will be declared in 2000. Speaking to reporters on his
return from a visit to the Vatican, Arafat said that the
issue of declaring an independent Palestinian State was
included in the declaration of Berlin, 'and in the letter of
guarantees that I received from Albright yesterday.'
. . .
Ending months of stalled negotiations, Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority President
Yasser Arafat signed a breakthrough agreement early Sunday
to implement the land- for-security Wye River accord.
International dignitaries attending the ceremony, including
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Jordan's King
Abdullah II and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, applauded
as the two men signed the agreement and embraced.
----- End Of Quotes -----
As we continue our discussion in part three of this series,
we will further examine the Middle East peace process, as
well as Israeli-Syrian negotiations. In addition, we will be
taking a look at other volatile hotspots in the world. This
will include the civil unrest which recently plagued East
Timor in Indonesia, and the strong desire for independence
which has spread to other provinces since then. We will
conclude by re-examining terrorist bomb attacks. I trust
that you will join me.
[ Click Me ] Go To Part Three . . .