The Burden of Damascus – Isaiah 17
By Jan Markell
Is
democracy breaking out all over? It sure is trying and with some success.
Currently headlines focus on the tiny nation of Lebanon and her Syrian
"occupiers." Let's look more closely at Syria.
The
radical terror groups Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad, under the
encouraging eye of Syria's Bashir Assad, have an interest in triggering Israeli
military reactions against Syria. This seems beyond belief to be sure.
Walid
Phares is an Islamic analyst with America's and Israel's best interests in
mind. He works with many organizations, including Brigitte Gabriel's "The
American Congress for Truth." Brigitte is a frequent radio guest of mine.
Walid states, "By striking Israel (as they did in the Tel Aviv bombing a
week ago), Syria aims to force Israel to retaliate in a limited way. They hope
it will bring an entire breakdown of the Middle East peace process and new
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Don't they know Israel will respond in
anything but a limited way? Their belief is that the international community
won't allow an Israeli invasion in the midst of an Iraq war."
They
just might be wrong--dead wrong, and Syria might actually be engaged in some
fatal speculation.
Would
Syria ever use her massive chemical and biological weapons against Israel? What
about the weapons of mass destruction moved there by Iraq just before the war?
Who else would be the target of Syria's weaponry? The world clearly won't let
Lebanon be the target.
Syria
should have been named as an original member of President Bush's "axis of
evil." It's another Baathist regime, formerly led by Hafez el Assad and
now led by the son, Bashir Assad. It is one of the world's worst human rights
violators. In the 1980's Hafez el Assad thought nothing of wiping out cities in
Syria with political opponents in a manner similar to Saddam Hussein. Syria
has no intention of leaving Lebanon in spite of world pressure. She was told to
pull out in the 1980's, ignored the warnings, and got away with them.
One
should not take lightly these new tensions, for Isaiah 17 speaks of "The
burden of Damascus." At some point in the future (because it hasn't
happened in the past) Damascus is going to get her just due for her evil. She
will cease being a city. Will it be because she taunted Israel to retaliate
against her far greater than Bashir Assad ever thought? With Europe and even
the Arab world telling Syria to get out of Lebanon, will those allies even
ignore such an attack on Damascus? Is Syria becoming the goat of the Middle
East, certainly not on the level Israel is, but a great embarrassment to the
Arab world?
We
are not privileged to know the timetable of many future events but we can watch
various signs that are markers. It is no accident that in this very late hour
of history as we know it, the nation of Syria is now gaining international
attention and even scorn. Some day she will cease being a city. She is
playing with matches to be taunting Israel and it is likely that even our own
State Department would not stand in Israel's way if a show of brute,
retaliatory force were necessary. Bashir Assad has few friends other than Iran
now that Saddam Hussein is off the scene. Her strategy of being the wrecking
ball of Mahmoud Abbas could be a fatal flaw.
(Jan Markell is founder/director of Olive Tree Ministries. To learn
more, visit her Web site, www.olivetreeviews.org.
You can request her free newsletter at the Web site or by writing to Box 1452,
Maple Grove, MN 55311.)
