High Alert as Syria's Assad Goes Missing

The following is an excerpt from an Arutz Sheva news report (emphasis added mine):

The IDF raised its alert level and canceled weekend leaves in some units on Thursday as the situation in Syria continues to destabilize.

A bomb in Damascus on Wednesday killed several members of President Bashar al-Assad's inner circle, including Defense Minister Daoud Rajha, General Hassan Turkmani, and Assad's brother-in-law Assef Shawka, who was Syria’s Interior Minister.

Several other key officials were seriously wounded in the attack, and Assad's whereabouts are presently unknown.

For Israel, this raises several potentially dangerous scenarios, not the least of which involves the security of Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles. Jerusalem is concerned they could end up in the hands of the Hizbullah terror organization.

Also of concern is whether factions among Syria's fragmented rebel insurgency may gain access to its advanced weapons systems and turn them against the Jewish state.

Another worry is that the now incommunicado Assad may see the end of his own rule as inevitable and decide to do as much damage to Israel as possible as his regime collapses. Most analysts, however, see this scenario as highly unlikely.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday toured Israel's frontier with Syria and spoke with reporters.
“There are also people who came to Syria from outside – from Global Jihad and al-Qaida and other Islamists – meaning that as long as the fighting carries on we will have even greater chaos in Syria the day after Assad,” Barak said.

On Wednesday night, Barak conferred with the IDF General Staff and US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta before briefing Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on the situation in Syria.

“We believe that the assassination of the top Syrian government officials will speed up Assad’s downfall,” Barak said after his consultations. “We are also closely tracking the possibility that Hezbollah will try to move advanced military platforms or chemical weapons from Syria to Lebanon.”

A chemical weapons attack on Israel by Assad would very likely result in a nuclear counter strike by Israel. While such an act would be absolute madness and result in a horrific loss of life, desperate and wicked men often behave erratically when their necks are on the line.

Israel is taking the threat posed by a desperate Bashar al Assad and Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles being on the move very seriously. The Telegraph is reporting Israel is considering a first strike against the Syrian weapons and has presented the option to the United States. Even a pre-emptive move on the part of Israel to prevent Syria from attacking or to keep Syrian WMDs out of the hands of terrorist organizations known to call the Damascus area home could lead to a worst-case scenario quickly developing.
Although on the surface there seems to be no panicking by the heads of state around the world, there have been reports that Obama has been in frequent contact with the Assad regime’s best ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to the reports, Russia, which has been an obstacle to the United States getting anything going in the United Nations Security Council to help bring the volatile situation under control, remains unwilling to pursue any course of action agreeable to the United States. As this civil war in Syria is allowed to spiral out of control, anything is possible from here forward.
However, I do not believe that we will be witnessing the fulfillment of the prophecy of the destruction of Damascus as described in Isaiah 17.
I would like to just quote 3 important verses from Isaiah 17. The first and last verses tell us that Damascus will totally destroyed and that it will happen overnight, thus indicating a possible nuclear attack.
 Isaiah 17:1…”The oracle concerning Damascus. "Behold, Damascus is about to be removed from being a city And will become a fallen ruin.”
Isaiah 17:14…”At evening time, behold, there is terror! Before morning they are no more. Such will be the portion of those who plunder us And the lot of those who pillage us.”

Verse 7  tells us this event will not take place before the end of the Tribulation, because that is the time that man will have regard for his Maker and call out to the Lord Jesus for help.

Isaiah 17:7…” In that day man will have regard for his Maker And his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel.”

If the prophet had said that the Syrian people would call out to God, then I would not have hesitated to foresee the fulfillment of the prophecy of the destruction of Damascus, but Isaiah clearly says in verse 7 that on that day man will have regard for his Maker.

It certainly looks like Assad’s brutal reign will come to an end soon, but the destruction of Damascus…..not sure.

By Johann Loots