Would you consider yourself an expert on the war in Afghanistan? You may be surprised to learn that it takes less than you think.

At a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on December 11, three of President Obama’s State Department and Pentagon experts on the war were asked two basic questions. See if you can answer these questions yourself. We will supply the answers for you later.

Question one: How much money is America spending annually in Afghanistan?

Question two: How many killed and wounded have we suffered in the last 12 months?

Did you know the answers? You can compare your answers to those of the panel of experts.

When they were asked the first question, one of the experts, the State Department’s special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, James Dobbins, gestured hurriedly to his equally stumped counterparts. No figure was given. The man asking the question, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R., California), was perplexed to say the least. The hearing was in fact on the subject of Afghanistan after all.

Beside Dobbins was Donald Sampler, Acting Assistant to the Administrator in the Office of Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs, and Michael Dumont, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia. Among the three of them, not even an estimation of the total cost could be given.

Somewhat dumbfounded, Rohrabacher moved on to his second question. Once more the administration’s “expert” panel remained silent. That’s right. Not a single one could give even a ballpark estimate of the number of Americans killed in the last year. This could easily be considered offensive because these “experts” are the men who advise the president on his Middle East strategy which puts American servicemen and women in harm’s way. Shouldn’t men such as those questioned at the hearing at least have a grasp on these fundamental questions?

The apparently elusive answers are as follows:

The Washington Times reported that the Pentagon’s 2013 fiscal budget includes $88 billion to maintain the war in Afghanistan.

According to icasualties.org, 119 U.S. servicemen and women have been killed this year.

Those were the answers that eluded the panel of experts at the hearing. However, there is another question that would undoubtedly catch most people off guard.

A third question should be: Where does Bible prophecy speak of today’s leaders in America, and what the consequences of their rule will be?

The answer: Isaiah 3:1-5.

This chapter shows how weak leadership will flourish in Israel. Jerusalem, as mentioned here, is speaking of the modern nations of Israel which can be identified in our book The United States and Britain in Prophecy. (Order your free copy now if you don’t yet have it.) What the Bible calls “Israel” today is primarily composed of the U.S. and Britain, as you can easily prove with that book.

God warns that in the latter days these nations would be cursed with poor leadership. When we see the examples such as the Afghan “experts,” it is evident that this prophecy is being fulfilled. It might be disheartening to witness such weak leadership, but this development is a step toward the fulfillment of more incredible and uplifting prophecies pertaining to the return of Christ!

Weak leadership is has been an increasing problem for the nations of Israel, particularly the United States, in recent years.

“For 20 years the Trumpet has tracked the disappearance of quality leadership within the governments, industries, educational institutions and families of the U.S. and Britain—a trend that is at its worst crisis point today,” wrote Trumpet managing editor Joel Hilliker in the February 2010 print edition.

“For a nation to be great, it must have a great leader,” wrote Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry. “Everything revolves around a strong leader who will lead the people to face the necessary sacrifices and hard truths” (January 2000).

Don’t be discouraged if you didn’t pass the “Afghanistan War expert test.” However, you should be sobered by the actual “experts” failure to answer those basic questions. If you desire strong and competent leadership, you don’t need to look beyond the prophecies surrounding the return of Christ. When He returns, His government will be established, and He will rule with power and equity forever. Read Gerald Flurry’s article “Major News Sources Ask: Will Christ Ever Return?” and see for yourself the incredible events surrounding the return of the Son of God.