Article 2.4 of the United Nations
Charter obligates all UN member states to "refrain in
their international relations from the threat or use of
force against the territorial integrity or political
independence of any state."
What does that mean, exactly? It
means that, insofar as the UN Charter is concerned, the
THREAT of using force 'against the territorial integrity
or political independence of any state' is the same as
the ACTUAL use of force.
At the time the Charter was being
drawn up, the world had just emerged from a second,
devastating world war and UN planners realized that it
could have been averted if the world had taken action as
soon as the threat was perceived.
Adolph Hitler had systematically laid
out his plans for global conquest and the extermination
of the Jewish race in his book, "Mein Kampf" which
means, in English, "My Struggle".
(Interestingly, were one to translate
"Mein Kampf" into Arabic, the book title would be
"Jihad" -- since 'jihad' also means 'my struggle').
So the UN architects of the post-war
world wanted to ensure there would be a provision the UN
could invoke to take action in response to a threat,
instead of having to wait until the threat became a
reality.
The thinking was that, had there been
a UN in the 1930's, it could have shut down Hitler's
Third Reich before it reached the pinnacle of its power.
In 1996, the International Court of
Justice ruled that use-of-force threats that violated
Article 2.4 of the Charter also posed a threat to
international peace and security under Article 51.
Article 51 is the self-defense clause
that authorizes the use of pre-emptive force in the
event a nation believed its security was being
threatened.
So, what does this mean in context?
In 2002, the United States invaded Afghanistan and
overthrew the Taliban. The Taliban didn't attack the US,
but it supported those who did. And as such, it posed a
threat to the United States under Article 2.4 and the US
was justified, under Article 51, to launch a pre-emptive
invasion.
It is worth noting that even the Bush
administration's harshest critics, both international
and domestic, agreed that the Afghanistan invasion was
justified under the terms of the UN Charter.
Mahmoud Ahamdinejad wrapped up Iran's
'Holocaust Conference' aimed at denying it ever took
place by promising, "The Zionist regime will be wiped
out soon the same way the Soviet Union was, and humanity
will achieve freedom."
The Israelis, unsurprisingly, see
Ahmadinejad's comments as just the latest in a long line
of existential threats against their nation. In other
speeches, Ahmadinejad is quoted saying things like:
"The real Holocaust is what is
happening in Palestine where the Zionists avail
themselves of the fairy tale of Holocaust as blackmail
and justification for killing children and women and
making innocent people homeless."
"Anybody who recognizes Israel will
burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's fury."
"Remove Israel before it is too late
and save yourself from the fury of regional nations."
"The skirmishes in the occupied land
are part of a war of destiny. The outcome of hundreds of
years of war will be defined in Palestinian land. As the
Imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map."
"If the West does not support Israel,
this regime will be toppled. As it has lost its raison
d' tre, Israel will be annihilated."
"Israel is a tyrannical regime that
will one day will be destroyed."
"Israel is a rotten, dried tree that
will be annihilated in one storm."
In addition to the Holocaust denial
conference, Tehran has hosted conferences with such
titles as, "A World Without Zionism" and even held an
international contest for the best anti-semitic
editorial cartoons.
Tehran openly supports, trains and
equips Hezbollah, which claims Israel's destruction as
its reason for being.
And, judging from incoming Defense
Secretary Robert Gates' comments during his confirmation
hearing, “no one can promise that Iran will not use
nuclear weapons against Israel.”
Israeli officials are taking Gates'
comments to mean that Washington is washing its hands of
responsibility for stopping Iran from using nuclear
weapons against Israel. Should it come to a nuclear
confrontation, Israel believes that America will stand
aside.
That is believed to be one of the
reasons that Ehud Olmert broke Israel's decades-old
policy of nuclear ambiguity. Israel's policy has always
been to never confirm or deny the existence of an
Israeli nuclear arsenal.
By not confirming it, it avoids
interference from the IAEA. By not denying it, Israel
maintains a strategic nuclear deterrent.
Olmert created an international and
domestic uproar when he also admitted in a recent speech
that Israel is a nuclear power. It was intended as a
warning that Israel can and will respond in kind to the
threat of nuclear attack, as allowed under the UN
Charter.
Ezekiel predicts that the Gog-Magog
alliance, headed by Russia but instigated by Persia
(Iran) will launch a surprise invasion of the Jewish
State "in the latter years".
The invasion, Ezekiel says, will end
on the mountains of Israel in a conflagration of
"pestilence and blood" emanating from "an overflowing
rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone," -- the
exact description of what takes place at Ground Zero in
a nuclear explosion. (Ezekiel 38:22)
Why do I say 'headed by Russia but
instigated by Persia"? Ezekiel predicts that Russia will
be drawn, somewhat reluctantly, into the conflict, as if
it had 'hooks in its jaws.'
Russia's military/economic/nuclear
relationship with Iran ties Moscow's destiny to
Tehran's. Any attack against Iran would force Moscow
into the conflict on Tehran's side.
Israel, under the terms of the UN
Charter, is legally justified in launching a preemptive
attack against Iran. And without assurances of support
from Washington, Israel has but two viable choices
remaining.
It can attack before Tehran goes
nuclear. Or it can wait until Iran uses its nuclear
weapons to make good on Ahmadinejad's serial threats to
annihilate the Jewish State.
The only third option would be to
wait passively for nuclear destruction. (It would only
take one bomb).
Should Israel launch a preemptive
strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, it will almost
certainly be a conventional attack. Israel cannot afford
to be the first state to introduce nuclear weapons into
the Middle East conflict.
A conventional attack against Iran's
nukes would be met by a conventional Iranian response.
That would force Russia, almost against its will, into
the conflict on the Iranian side.
Ezekiel and Joel both say the
invasion will make it as far as the mountains of Israel
(the West Bank) before five-sixths of the invading army
are destroyed by 'blood, fire and pillars of smoke'.
(Joel 2:20)
"And when these things BEGIN to come
to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your
redemption draweth nigh." (Luke 21:28)
'These things' are well past the
'beginning'. The signs of the times are undeniable. This
IS the time spoken of by the prophets.
"And that, knowing the time, that now
it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our
salvation nearer than when we believed." (Romans 13:11)
Make yourself ready. The Lord IS
coming back for His Church. And He is coming soon.