WorldWatch
Poland to more than double its troops
Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak announced on Oct. 26, 2021, that Poland intends to increase the number of professional soldiers from 110,000 to 250,000, with an additional 50,000 serving in the volunteer territorial defense troops.
Błaszczak met with German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and said their discussion focused on the “challenges associated with aggressive Russian politics.”
Fear of Russia is driving Poland into the arms of its old archenemy. In 2014, shortly after Russia annexed Crimea, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry warned, “We have been prophesying for around 70 years that Eastern Europe would become a vital part of a new European superpower—a resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire. … Europe’s new fear of Russia is going to play a major role in hastening the fulfillment of that prophecy!”
German air force flies over Israel
Israel’s air force hosted Blue Flag 2021 from October 17-28, the country’s largest and most advanced aerial exercise to date. The exercises at Uvda Air Force Base involved 70 aircraft and about 1,000 personnel, and included the air forces of France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Israeli military said the joint exercises express a strong bond among these countries and a commitment to future cooperation.
Germany’s Bundeswehr website headlined the event, “The Air Force Travels to the Promised Land.” The German military contributed six Eurofighters and about 160 personnel. One Eurofighter bore special markings combining the flags of Germany and Israel.
Before the exercises, the air force chiefs of Germany and Israel visited Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial together. German and Israeli jets also flew together in formation over Jerusalem, and Israeli Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin broadcast a statement from his aircraft: “The winds of history are strongly felt throughout Israel’s capital.”
German pilots trained in Israel in 2017 and 2019 for the Blue Flag exercises, and Israeli pilots trained in German airspace for the first time in 2020.
Surrounded by enemies and anxious about Iran and radical Islamist terrorism and warfare, Israel has deepened its relationship with Germany in recent years. Bible prophecy forecasts that Israeli strategy will become completely dependent upon Germany, resulting in a terrible betrayal. Request Jerusalem in Prophecy to learn more.
Germany plans new push for EU military
Five European Union member states have started an initiative to build a united military contingent, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported on Oct. 21, 2021. Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Slovenia made plans to invoke the EU Treaty’s Article 44, which provides for member state militaries to form a coalition and has never yet been officially invoked.
The five countries plan to each contribute a unit of 5,000 military personnel and are also considering forming a united space force and cyberforce. The EU has already established multinational battle groups, but the maximum size of these groups is 1,500. It has also established the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, or Frontex, which consists of member nations’ police and coast guard officers. In 2016, the Royal Netherlands Army merged its 43rd Mechanized Brigade and two thirds of its command structure under German control. In 2017, the Czech Republic and Romania agreed to similar arrangements, and France and Germany signed an agreement to operate a joint aircraft fleet.
Invoking Article 44, however, would put troops under the command of the EU itself for the first time and begin the process of building a united European military powerful enough to end Europe’s dependence on American military assistance. This would enable Europeans to pursue a strategy independent of and even aggressively opposed to the United States.
Iran approaching nuclear ‘watershed’
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has warned that Iran’s nuclear program had hit a “watershed moment.” “Words do not stop centrifuges from spinning,” he told the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 27, 2021. “We will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.” But consensus is growing that it is almost too late.
Reuel Gerecht, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer, and Ray Takeyh, a senior fellow at the Council for Foreign Relations, wrote on Oct. 19, 2021, in the Wall Street Journal that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his regime “haven’t spent billions and endured a tidal wave of sanctions and social unrest only to get close to a nuclear weapon. They will build the bomb as soon as they can and justify it afterward.”
Gerecht and Takeyh wrote, “Tehran’s advances in centrifuge development will soon make preemption impossible.” Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned that Iran has blocked monitors from inspecting TESA Karaj, which is believed to be an important centrifuge manufacturing facility, and said that the measures taken to monitor Iran’s nuclear program are no longer “intact.”
Afghanistan explodes in violence
Three suicide bombers shot their way inside a Kandahar mosque on Oct. 15, 2021, then detonated their explosives. The attack occurred during Friday prayers, when the mosque was packed with worshipers. At least 65 were killed and 70 wounded. The Afghan branch of the Islamic State claimed responsibility.
The bombing came a week after another Islamic State bombing at a mosque in Kunduz that killed at least 50 people. These have been the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan since the United States withdrew in August 2021.
The Islamic State is a Sunni group that practices a strict form of Islam. It regards followers of Shiite Islam, such as the bombing victims, as apostates. Its Afghan terrorists have also targeted the Taliban, including a bombing that killed several people, a shooting attack on Taliban vehicles that killed at least two Taliban fighters and many civilians, and a bombing at a memorial ceremony for the mother of Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
As the Islamic State continues sectarian violence, watch for the Taliban to seek help from the same power that helped drive out the U.S.: its long-time ally, Iran. Read the Trumpet’s special report on Afghanistan in our October 2021 issue.
Russia weaponizing energy supplies against Europe
Russian supplies of natural gas to Europe fell sharply in late October, deepening the Continent’s already critical energy shortages.
With Europe low on natural gas all summer, Russia has exacerbated the problem since August by reducing gas supplies through the Yamal Pipeline, which runs through Belarus and Poland to Germany, and through pipelines running through Ukraine and into other parts of Europe. Gas prices in Europe increased by more than 500 percent. Then, in late October, Russia completely closed Yamal and reduced Ukraine pipelines to half their normal capacity.
The reductions are intended to pressure Europeans into granting regulatory approval for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that runs from Russia into Germany through the Baltic Sea, which will make the Continent even more dependent on Russia—and on Germany. Construction of this pipeline was completed in September, but it violates European energy regulations and has not been approved by Europe.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made his intentions clear on Oct. 13, 2021, saying, “If we could increase deliveries through this [Nord Stream 2] route, this would substantially ease tension on the European energy market. However, we cannot do this so far because of the administrative barriers.”
Joe Biden dropped opposition to Russia over Nord Stream 2 in July, and Russians immediately began using gas supplies as a weapon. As Europe enters winter, watch for Europeans to cave to the pressure, empowering Germany over other European nations, and Russia against Europe. The world is right to be wary over Russian-German cooperation. Though the two are strategic adversaries, when they work together, the world is at risk of world war.
Canada: Rule of Law is now Rule of the Will
Canadians’ lives are now dominated by their government. Their daily routine includes vaccine mandates, travel restrictions, censorship, oversight and bureaucratic interference, dictated not by their Constitution but by the will of their leaders.
Among the most disturbing examples are the cases of Artur Pawlowski, Dawid Pawlowski and Christopher Scott, who were charged, convicted and sentenced for defying public health orders by holding church services and protests against government lockdowns. An Alberta court has ordered the men to pay tens of thousands of dollars in fines and to censor their own speech when discussing covid-19 and government restrictions: They must state that what they are about to say is contrary to public health orders and the “majority of medical experts.”
Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees “freedom of religion” and “freedom of thought, belief, opinion”—but compelled speech and censorship of religious beliefs has begun in Canada. The charter sets “reasonable limits” on Canadians’ freedoms, so government officials simply define “reasonable” according to their agenda.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has mandated vaccines for all federal employees and for domestic air and rail travelers. The federal government’s own 1996 vaccination study says “immunization is not mandatory” in Canada because it violates the Constitution. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the “freedom of conscience and religion,” freedom of movement and “equal protection … before the law.”
The pretext the elites are using is that covid-19 could overwhelm the nation’s health-care system. Yet in 2020, 7,595 were “medically assisted” in their deaths, an estimated 28,000 died from medical malpractice, and, in 2019, 80,152 died of cancer and 51,541 died of heart disease. Only 26,447 Canadians were recorded as dying from covid-19, a number that is likely inflated. But the determining factor here is not the science, the law or the will of the people. It is the will of the elites.
If the leaders can ignore the law in one instance, they can ignore the law elsewhere. Prime Minister Trudeau is now pushing bills to give officials, elected and unelected, the power to determine what online content is “acceptable” or “hate speech” and sending inspectors into Canadians’ homes and workplaces without notice.
U.S. cannot fight Russia and China allied together
Commander of United States Strategic Command Adm. Charles Richard testified to Congress in April 2021 that the U.S. is unprepared to fight Russia and China simultaneously. The Trumpet has forecast for decades that Russia and China would overcome their rivalries and form a strategic alliance against America. Now this is becoming an acknowledged fact.
On Oct. 1, 2021, the National Interest reported, “Russia and China now lead a military alliance that includes over 68 percent of the landmass of Eurasia, nearly 42 percent of the world’s population, nearly 30 percent of the world’s GDP [gross domestic product], and approximately 75 percent of the world’s operational nuclear weapons ….” The purpose of this alliance is to destroy American dominance.
Since Joe Biden took the White House, Russia has placed 100,000 troops on the Ukrainian border, and China has flown threatening military flights in Taiwan’s airspace. These moves have escalated tensions with the U.S. and exposed America’s mirage of strength.
The National Interest reported on October 4, “[T]he United States might well face a two-front or even a three-front war if Russia were to invade Ukraine and/or other Eastern Europe nations, China were to attack Taiwan, and North Korea were to attack South Korea simultaneously and in coordination. Admiral Richard testified that the United States currently has no contingency plans for how to confront two allied nuclear superpowers in a future war. Thus, the ability of the United States and its allies to survive, let alone win, a war fought with such powerful, unconventional weapons against our enemies remains very much in doubt.”
Jesus Christ Himself prophesied that before He returned, the world would enter the “times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24). This is a time when the world is dominated by non-Israelite nations. The Bible identifies three major Gentile powers that will rise to prominence in the end time: an Asian bloc led by Russia and China, a Middle East Islamist bloc led by Iran, and a European bloc led by Germany. The U.S. military is too weak to defend itself against these powers.
Chinese hypersonic missiles ‘stun’ U.S.
This past summer, China conducted two tests of nuclear-capable hypersonic missiles, according to an Oct. 21, 2021, Financial Times report. The tests reportedly “stunned” United States intelligence officials because they show that Chinese missiles are outpacing American systems.
China reportedly used a fractional orbital bombardment system that propelled a glide vehicle capable of carrying a nuclear warhead into a full orbit around Earth before releasing its payload downward toward its target. The test, which is believed to have missed its target by about 24 miles, was considered a narrow miss.
Hypersonic missiles reach up to five times the speed of sound, maneuver in midflight, and fly much lower than ballistic missiles, making them difficult if not impossible for American defense systems to track and destroy.
This is just the latest alarming military advancement for China, which has also increased its arsenal of nuclear warheads and its number of ballistic missile silos, and has achieved a basic “nuclear triad”—the ability to launch nuclear weapons from land, air and sea. It has also developed stealth aircraft technology, increased its overseas bases and infrastructure, modernized its weapons and equipment, and deepened its coordination with Russia. China’s Communist regime has said the goal of these military advancements is to increase its ability to fight “a strong enemy,” which the U.S. Department of Defense said is a euphemism for the United States. Read “China Is Steering the World Toward War.”
China launches satellite crusher into orbit
China launched its Shijian-21 satellite into orbit on Oct. 24, 2021, announcing that the device is “tasked with demonstrating technologies to alleviate and neutralize space debris.”
But besides space debris, controllers of the Shijian-21 can also use its robotic arm to grab and disable other satellites: for example, weather, communications, navigation, military and spy satellites belonging to the United States. China launched the Shijian-21 into geosynchronous orbit. Hundreds of America’s most sensitive satellites, including those used for military surveillance, communications and nuclear weapons command, are located in this region.
“The Shijian-21 satellite is a game-changer,” geopolitical analyst Brandon Weichert told the Gatestone Institute. “It is a real-world offensive capability that can hunt and destroy American systems and render the U.S. military on Earth deaf, dumb and blind.”
