Da'esh, and Isaiah 19

Submitted by Michael S (United States), Apr 14, 2015 at 04:55

Hi, Tovey

I had to look up George Peppard. I had seen him a few years ago, in a tape of "Breakfast at Tiffany's"; but other than Audrey Hepburn, I didn't know the names of the actors. The saying you quote is from "The A-Team", which I have never seen.

For the sake of readers not familiar with your doctrine, the powers you refer to are the Arab World, Turkey and Russia -- three entities which you believe play a significant part in prophecies of our times.

The reason I had posed the question I did to you, is that I identify Turkey with "Gog" of Ezekiel 38-39, but identify Israel's Arab neighbors with Egypt, Assyria and lands in-between in Isaiah 19 (I don't believe Russia has a special place in Biblical prophecy). Turkey is described as an enemy of Israel in, roughly, our time; whereas Egypt, Assyria (Sunni northern Iraq) and in-between places (Jordan?) are described as closely allied with Israel. The ones controlling the old Assyrian lands at the moment (including ancient Nineveh, which they have just destroyed) are members of the "Islamic Caliphate".

Because Turkey is so closely allied with the Caliphate, I am curious. Clearly, the two entities represent entirely different empires, which they are both trying to resurrect in our times: The Turks want to bring back the Ottoman Empire, which fell apart in 1917; and the IS ("Da'esh", or "the Caliphate") wants to raise from the dead the ancient Arab Caliphates centered on Baghdad and Damascus. I can't imagine Turkish President Erdogan, the heir apparent of the Ottoman throne, either taking orders or giving orders from/to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the presumptive Calif. That is what I was curious about. As to whether any of the above, or any other country in today's world, is worthy of God's judgment, I find it extremely difficult to judge among them.

At the moment, Israel, the majority of Arabs and Da'esh all have a common cause in defeating the Iranian Axis. The Russians, at the moment, are marginally on the Iranian side; and the US, while giving token help to (and spying on) the Arabs, is also primarily helping Iran. The Russians are aligned as they are, because of a history of association with Iran's client Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria. The Americans' position, on the other hand, is the result of the ignorance cum megalomania cum confusion of the US President. I expect his stand to change regularly, on a moment's notice; and I expect Queen Hillary's foreign policy expertise to match her performance in Benghazi in 2012.

Da'esh is a catchy movement, which seems to have special appeal to Muslim wannabes in Europe and Asia, and repentant ex-Francophones from North Africa. The one place it is NOT especially popular, it seems, is in the Arab countries where it now operates. I've tended to see their major role as being to destabilize the region, and make room for the real players (Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran).

Concerning Egypt, I have referred to a map showing the distribution of Mussi- vs. non-Mursi- voters in 2012. I was hoping to see a distribution of Copts in Egypt, to compare this with; but I have not found any. Instead, I have come across this map, showing the Christian areas in the Middle East. The "Road from Egypt to Assyria (Iraq)" clearly centers on these areas, leading me to guess that Arab Christians may form a nucleus of the turn toward friendship with Israel spoken of In Isaiah 19. Egypt and Jordan are already the Arab states with the closest ties to Israel. Much of the intervening space, where the connecting "road" through Israel is supposed to be, according to Isaiah 19, is in the hands of Da'esh.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".