RigHt

Remembering five decades of accurate forecasting by Herbert W. Armstrong

He Was

RigHt
Remembering five decades of accurate forecasting by Herbert W. Armstrong

He Was

Contents

foreword
Remember

part one europe

Our Financial 9/11 Was Prophesied! Is a World Dictator About to Appear? The Holy in the Holy Roman Empire Returning to the Fold Stoking the Furnace of the War Machine Europes Latin Assault Britain Was Warned! 1 4 12 15 18 20 23

part two anglo-america

America Has Won Its Last War Atlantic Rift Changing of the Guard Peacekeeping UNdone 27 32 35 38

part four asia

The Kings of the East 49 54

part three the middle east

Once and Future Battlefield 41

The Rising Sun in the East

afterword
Whats Next?

RemembeR

so RigHt foR so long Herbert Armstrong accurately forecast world news for more than 50 years.

Decades of accuracy in global forecasting

any readers of the Philadelphia Trumpet magazine tell us they recognize the same message the Plain Truth carried for 52 years under the direction of its founder, Herbert W. Armstrong. Subscribers even point to similarities between our style of writing and presentation compared to the Plain Truth in its heyday. There is a reason for thisand it will be made plain in this booklet. Mr. Armstrong was one of the most prominent religious leaders of the 20th century. He was watched, read and followed by millions of people worldwide. At the time of his death in 1986, the newsmagazine he founded was being produced in seven languages; global circulation peaked at 8.4 million. (By comparison, Time magazines circulation that year was 5.9 million.) What happened to the Plain Truth? One example, in particular, will explain. For more than five decades under Mr. Armstrongs leadership, year in and year out the Plain Truth had powerfully and consistently shouted a warning in print about the revival and unification of Germany. It proclaimed that Germany would be the dominant force behind a powerful union of European nation-states that would surpass the Russian bloc and even Britain and America in power and hegemony. Imagine predicting that when Germany lay in rubble after World War ii. But thats what the Plain Truth did. Mr. Armstrong did not live to see the Berlin Wall breached on Nov. 9, 1989, or Germany unite on October 3 a year later. By that time, however, an amazing thing had occurredthose who took over publishing the Plain Truth after Mr. Armstrongs death in 1986 had totally changed its editorial policy! Here is what the publishers of the new look Plain Truth said about that Earth-shattering event in 1989: Following the spectacular news about the opening of the Berlin Wall, we unexpectedly received a call from a news station in Seattle. The news director was well aware of the World Tomorrow program and the fact that for more than 40 years the Church had been predicting the reunification of Europe in some form. He asked for on-air comments about whether the Church believed the opening of the wall was the commencement of end-time prophetic events. We responded that it was premature to make statements like that . The news director was disappointed that we would not proclaim this to be the absolute beginning of end-time events, but it was interesting that he did say that what the Church has predicted from the Bible was remarkably close to what appears to be happening (Worldwide Church of God Pastor Generals Report, Nov. 21, 1989; emphasis ours).

To long-time readers of the Plain Truth, such a weak assessment of the dramatic events surrounding the fall of the Berlin Wall was dumbfounding. The magazine had lost its vision, its reason for being! It was fast beginning to deny its editorial heritage of forecasting events boldly and outspokenlybased on the foundation of a more sure word of prophecy (2 Peter 1:19). Readership dropped off quickly. Soon the publishers were facing a financial crisis as subscribers donations disappeared. Readers and supporters of Mr. Armstrongs flagship magazine decamped in droves. At one time, those readers had a visiona vision of reality that gave them a confidence in the future. Millions of Plain Truth readers who saw the Berlin Wall tumbling down via television news combed the pages of the Plain Truth in vain, searching for a perspective on the next event that would hasten the rise of the Europower Mr. Armstrong had prophesied. Many of those former Plain Truth readers are now among the hundreds of thousands who receive the Trumpet. In 1990, we started the Trumpet with a shoestring budget, a handful of subscribers and one objective: to pick up where Mr. Armstrong left off. In Revelation 10:11, God gave one of His servants a commission to prophesy again. That command, if you understand the context, reveals the need for the work we are doing today. Mr. Armstrong had a strong work of prophesying. But then that work was tragically dismantledand God had to raise up another organization to do that work again. Our work is grounded in what God taught through Mr. Armstrong and what He is teaching today. We follow what Mr. Armstrong did, building on the understanding he had. This booklet is a look back at our roots. Our staff looked back through decades of old Plain Truth issues, looking for bold predictions. We then matched those prophetic statements with what actually happened, or is now happening, on the world scene. The result was amazing. The sheer number of prophetic statements made by Mr. Armstrong and his editorial team, and their accuracy, will astound you. This booklet is by no means exhaustive. But it does pretty well encapsulate what the Plain Truth was about for more than 50 years. Its a remarkable history that is truly important to remember. This lengthy track record of accurate predictive analysis should build our faith in the certainty of biblical prophecy. God has opened our understanding of these events in advance for several important reasons. Its up to us to take advantage of it.

euRope

part one

our Financial 9/11 Was Prophesied!

A
reunited Germany will dominate a soon-tobe-resurrected Holy Roman Empire! That was Herbert W. Armstrongs keynote prophecy, which he forecast even as the flames from World War ii smoldered amid the rubble of German cities. The rise of this German-led United States of Europe, as he termed it, would immediately precede the catastrophic events Jesus Christ discussed in Matthew 24. Mr. Armstrong delivered his forecast for Europe for decades, consistently and in detail. Right up until his death in January 1986, he never stopped sending that warning message. To put it succinctly: Mr. Armstrong warned that a massive financial crisis centered in America would ripple across the whole worldand would spark the rise of the seventh and final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire. In light of recent events, that forecast truly is impressivenot to mention an undeniable testament to Mr. Armstrongs matchless grasp of biblical prophecy. the United States and Britainand how our national economics will falter, and then collapse! Remember, that was in 1964. Over the next 20 years, Mr. Armstrongs forecast became even more specific. In 1984, he wrote that a massive banking crisis in America could suddenly result in triggering European nations to unite as a new world power larger than either the Soviet Union or the U.S. That, in turn, could bring on the Great Tribulation suddenly. And that will lead quickly to the Second Coming of Christ and end of this world as we know it (co-worker letter, July 22, 1984). In August of that year, he expounded on what would precipitate the ignition of the nuclear catastrophe

A mAssive bAnking crisis in AmericA could suddenly result in triggering europeAn nAtions to unite As A new world power lArger tHAn tHe u.s.
co-worker letter, july 1984 described in Matthew 24. Now were hearing in the news of a soon-coming nuclear winter, he wrote. Nuclear explosions will produce an Earth-covering cloud that will give us a nuclear night. The sun will not get through. Crops will not grow. Billions will be killed by the nuclear blasts. Those remaining will starve. [T]his is no wolfwolf cry! It is prophesied in your Bible! It is real! And economic crisis threatens to bring this about (coworker letter, Aug. 23, 1984). In autumn 2008, that economic crisis struck.

the proof
In March 1964, Mr. Armstrong wrote a letter discussing the catastrophic economic conditions that would plague the U.S. and Britain in the end time. If the dollar is devalued, inflation will almost surely result, he wrote, and eventual economic collapse for the United States (coworker letter, March 26, 1964; emphasis ours throughout). Referring to prophecies such as those in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, he continued: Those of you who truly believe the prophecies of HistoRy RepeAts your Bible know such economic collapse is prophesied to hapmr. Armstrong wrote pen! We have shown how that Hitlers monstrous german uprising wasnt God prophesied a virtual trade a one-time event. war will get under way against

americas financial 9/11

The days surrounding Sept. 11, 2008, are now infamous. The speed at which so many of Americas most prestigious financial institutions collapsed has been etched into the minds of the American populace. In reality, that

PaRt one euRoPe

iCeland

disastrous week represented a drastic turning point in U.S. financial power. What remains is a gaping crater in the nations now-discredited economic core. Americas economy will never fully recover from what essentially was a massive banking crisis. The nation is gripped by the noRWay worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the New York Times Atlantic sWeden wrote Sept. 21, 2008. Before Ocean North the Treasury secretary, the Federal Reserve chairman and leaders on Sea iReland Capitol Hill proclaimed their intendenmaRk tions to take over bad debts, the united lit prognosis for the American financial kingdom system was sliding from grim toward netheRlands potentially apocalyptic. That calamity touched off a major belgium recession in America that quickly geRmany went global. Some even called it a depression. Millions of jobs were CzeCh ReP. lost. Over the rest of that year and through 2009, more than 140 banks slovakia failed in the U.S. alone. In an effort to austRia sWitzeRland hungaRy turn things around, the U.S. governslovenia ment felt compelled to inject trillions PoRtugal CRoatia of dollars into rescue packages and bailouts, burdening an already debtbosnia saturated economy even further. seRbia The events of September 2008 italy dealt a death blow to Americas repualbania tation as a stable economic superpower. It really does look as if the foundations of U.S. capitalism have gReeC shattered, observed German daily moRoCCo Der Spiegel. For the United States, September 2008 was more of a turnmalta ing point than Sept. 11, 2001! It was a blaring announcement to the world Mediterranean that the American economic system tunisia Sea had passed the point of no return. Note this accurate forecast from a 1983 Plain Truth edition. After a G-7 economic summit, it And the September 2008 economic calamity fulfilled noted just how important confidence in America is to the this prediction with uncanny accuracy. Where it rocked stability of the entire Western world. A crisis of confidence Americas reputation, for Europe it precipitated a very in America was bound to have dramatic global ramificadifferent series of events. Europe took it as a sign to unite tions, it saida forecast that proved frightfully true right quickly, and then step into the vacuum being created by before our eyes. Then that article made this additional, Americas crumbling financial system. more specific remark: The lack of confidence in American leadership must ultimately lead to a parting of the ways europe rises between the United States and Western Europe . Within 14 months of the events of September 2008, all 27 The inevitability of this stunning transatlantic split is European Union members had ratified the Lisbon Treaty. abundantly clear in biblical prophecy. Still, the insight By December 2009, the EU constitution had taken effect, that it would be precipitated by convulsions within the effectively forging the EU into an imperial power. U.S. that would shatter global confidence is remarkable.

europe

Poland

FRanCe

sPain

algeRia

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the Post continued. Europe has also seized the initiative in developing new rules to monitor hedge funds while forging ahead this week with plans to create two new powerful regulatory agencies in Europe, according to analysts and regulators. Europes ever growing web of rules and regulations will have a major impact on America, noted the Post: The campaign across the Atlantic has global implications, in large part because even firms based in the United States may be compelled to follow Europes tougher rules. Some of the more astute thinkers in America saw what was happening and began voicing their alarm. Not to put too fine a point on it, but we are very concerned, said Andrew Baker, chief executive of the Alternative Investment Management Association. You have a situation where other countries may be committed to the path Europe is taking (ibid.). The speed at which Europe moved was incredible. A new balance of power is being worked out in Europe, reported independent news organization EurActiv. France and Germany are openly challenging the rule of the City of London as Europes main financial hub, and are keen to see Paris or Frankfurt as powerful financial centers in a new, more regulated global system (July 31, 2009). Today, this trend that was touched off in fall 2008 is in full swing: Americas presence, power and prosperity is languishing, while Europes is growing to fill the void!

As you read earlier, this was exactly what Mr. Armstrong forecast would happen! German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrck summed Finland up European sentiment in October 2008 when he stated that the origin and the center of gravity of the problem is clearly in the estonia U.S. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy latvia agreed, both making it clear thuania that they believed the global financial crisis was Americas fault. Pope Benedict xvi belaRus threw his voice behind the Europeans too. In a July 2009 encyclical, he joined the chorus calling for a new world financial order independent of the U.S. The crumbling of Amermoldova icas financial system left the world with few options. Romania The new rising powers in Asia were too new and Black Sea untested. Investors were a unwilling to trust CombulgaRia munist China. It quickly became clear that there was only one good alternative to America: Europe! Ce It wasnt long before Europes demands for tighter control over global finance gave rise to tangible actions. At the G-20 economic summit in November 2008, the worlds most powerful economies discussed the creation of international bodies for the regulation of global finance. Europe, which dominates the G-20, quickly emerged at the forefront of the movement to reform the worlds financial system. Europe is moving rapidly to overhaul the global financial system in the wake of the economic crisis, pushing through new measures and proposing others that could impose significant restrictions on American and other firms based far beyond its borders, observed the Washington Post on June 13, 2009. The Europeans are now out front, for instance, in setting strict new standards for rating agencies and risk management at firms selling mortgage-backed securities,

Russia

ukRaine

how could he have Known?

Go back and reread the forecasts made by Mr. Armstrong about the unification of Europe, the rise of a European superpower, and the event that would set it all in motion. Remember: Mr. Armstrong made those statements when the Soviet empire completely dominated Eastern Europe and Germany was still cut in two. The European Union didnt even exist until almost a decade later. Yet Mr. Armstrong clearly forecast the future of Europe, even explaining that financial crises would contribute to its rise as a superpower. How could he have known? Mr. Armstrong relied on what the Apostle Peter called the more sure word of prophecy (2 Peter 1:19). He had 100 percent faith in the Bible as Gods Word, that it was Gods mind in print. For more than 60 years he studied, meditated on and declared it as the definite Word of God. How was he so well informed about Europe specifically? He studied the prophecies such as in Daniel 2 and 7 and Revelation 13 and 17, which forecast these events. Then, thankfully, Mr. Armstrong wrote down the truths God had revealed. For decades, he recorded them in articles and booklets, he discussed them before tens of millions on his World Tomorrow television broadcast. He wanted to share the insight God gave him. To learn more about the future of the seventh and final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire after economic calamity has brought it about, keep reading!

tuRkey

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is a World dictator about to appear?

this headline gripped the attention of a handful of readers of the first edition of the worlds then-newest current affairs magazine way back in February 1934. over seven decades later, we review many of the predictions made by the Plain Truth magazine and its founder, Herbert w. Armstrong, and find unerring accuracy in the forecasting of events leading to the rise to global dominance of the present european union.
f all the global events and social, economic and religious issues covered in the Trumpet magazine, there is one key, unfolding world event it has closely monitored from its earliest edition. That is the same event headlined in the first issue of the Plain Truth in February 1934. In fact, it is a news story that began unfolding back in 31 b.c. with the rise of the Roman Empire. In an allegory associating Romes seven hills with seven successive governments, or revivals of the Roman Empire, the book of Revelation declares, And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space (Revelation 17:10). Up to the early 1930s, when the Plain Truth was born, most remained blind as to the meaning of the words of this prophecy. Yet, when Herbert Armstrong began to publish this extraordinary newsmagazine, the meaning had become startlingly clear to him. Mr. Armstrong knew that the biblical book of Revelation was given by its Author not to hide, but rather to shew things which must shortly come to pass (Revelation 1:1). So it was that this unique manwho in his later

ten nAtions, one goveRnment mr. Armstrong wrote in 1934 of events that have come to passa united europeand events yet futurea Holy roman empire blitzkrieg.

years associated with kings, princes, prime ministers, presidents and leaders of nations all over the worldcame to see that the five fallen kings mentioned in Revelation 17:10 symbolized the five revivals of the Roman Empire under the aegis of the Roman papacy that had occurred up to that time. These Roman Empires resurrected under the successive leadership of Justinian, enthroned as emperor in a.d. 554; Charlemagne (Karl the Great to the Germans), crowned in a.d. 800; Otto the Great in a.d. 962; Charles v (commencing the Habsburg dynasty) in 1530; and Napoleon, who crowned himself emperor in 1804. But the forecast in Revelation 17:10 referred to one revival of the Roman Empire existing at the very time that

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the mysterious vision of the book of Revelation would first come to be understood: and one is. Herbert Armstrong came to see that the dictator Benito Mussolini was that one that is, at that time, in the 1930s, prior to and during the onset of World War ii. (For a thorough explanation of this prophecy, request our free booklet DanielUnsealed at Last.) In one of his final articles, which appeared in the Plain Truth magazine after his death, Mr. Armstrong reflected: In 1929 Mussolini arranged a concordat with the papacy. Then about 1935 Mussolini, having united Ethiopia, Eritrea and Italian Somaliland to Italy, proclaimed it to be the reestablishment of the Roman Empire. I announced the news of this restoration myself on radio at the time (Plain Truth, March 1986). Mr. Armstrong also referred to the one that is at the time of the prophecy as being Mussolini, or the Hitler-Mussolini axis (Plain Truth, October 1962). Within the context of the Apostle Johns vision of a sequence of seven resurrections of the Roman Empire, the defeat of this weak sixth revival by the Western Allied forces left one final revival to come: the other is not yet come. Keep in mind that Mr. Armstrong came to this understanding at least five years before hostilities broke out between the Axis powers and the Western Allies in 1939. In fact, he understood the meaning of the great prophecies for our time today, contained in the books of Daniel and Revelation, clear back in 1927! British Commonwealth and American forces, still he proclaimed the future resurrection of Germany, destined to dominate a European combine that would be the final revival of the Holy Roman Empire. Right up to his final sermon delivered toward the close of 1985, Herbert Armstrong continued to powerfully prophesy of these events. Read the following extracts, taken verbatim from the Plain Truth magazine over the 52 years under leadership of its founder. Readand wonder. Wonder at the farsighted vision of a man who prophesied over 70 years ago of a major event that has suddenly become a present-day reality: the seventh and final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire! This is living prophecyunbreakable, unchangeable prophecy of inevitable events that are now coming to a sud-

tHe bible [propHesies] oF tHis coming united stAtes oF europeA new united superpower perHAps more powerFul tHAn eitHer tHe soviet union or tHe united stAtes!
subscriber letter, july 1983 den climax right before your eyes! Less than 10 years after World War ii, Mr. Armstrong reinforced his pre-war claims that a German revival would lead to a united Europe. In February 1945just a few months before the end of the warPresident Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill announced the joint American-British policy on Germany. This was the solemn policy and warning for the future. Listen. Quote: It is our inflexible purpose to destroy German militarism and Nazism and to ensure Germany will never again be able to disturb the peace of the world. We are determined to disarm and disband all German armed forces; break up for all time the German General Staff that has repeatedly contrived the resurgence of German militarism . And now, a short nine years later, behold the spectacle of Washington and London making every possible diplomatic effort, backed by American dollars, to do two things: create a United States of Europe, and to rearm Germany (Plain Truth, November/December 1954). With Europe almost rebuilt through the massive aid of the U.S. Marshall Plan, but still disunited, Mr. Armstrong forecast in the same edition of the Plain Truth, Germany inevitably [will] emerge as the leader of a united Europe. It will require some spiritual binding force to inspire this confidenceto remove these fearsand that spiritual binding force must arise from inside Europe! All Europe is actually readyjust waiting for the confidence-inspiring leader. That man is there somewhere (ibid.). These quotations taken from the Plain Truth magazine of 1954 contain the essence of one of the most powerful

holy roman resurrection

Mr. Armstrong wrote a letter to Plain Truth readers on July 24, 1983, in which he pointed out, The very first issue of the Plain Truth magazine appeared February 1934just 50 years ago lacking about six months. The article starting on the cover page warned of a coming sudden appearance of a resurrected Holy Roman Empire in Europea union of 10 nations in Europe under one government, with one united military force. For 50 years I have been crying out to the world the Bible prophecies of this coming United States of Europea new united superpower perhaps more powerful than either the Soviet Union or the United States! Time and time again, Herbert Armstrong, and many writers that served on the Plain Truth staff under his administration, pointed to events that were leading to the inevitable rise of a European fascist federation, under the spiritual influence of the Vatican, that would rival and even overtake the U.S. and Britain commercially, economically and, ultimately, militarily. Before World War ii, Mr. Armstrong prophesied this. During the heat of the Battle of Britain, he continued to forecast it. When Germany lay defeated, crushed to dust under the onslaught of the

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prophecies in the Biblea prophecy Mr. Armstrong was supremely confident would inevitably be fulfilled. Its a prophecy that revolves around Germany as leader of a united Europe, a spiritual binding force, and a confidenceinspiring leader. That prophecy is now so well advanced in its fulfillment that it is rapidly becoming documented history in the second decade of the 21st century! France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourgsigned the Treaty of Rome, creating the European Economic Community. How did I know, as far back as 1927, that this coming United States of Europe would spring upin our time? I knew because I saw it clearly revealed in biblical prophecy (March 1973). Then in 1980, anticipating the building of the eastern leg of that empire, nine years before the Berlin Wall fell, Mr. Armstrong declared, It now looks entirely feasible that Yugoslavia may be included in this revived Roman Empire. Also the popes native Poland and Romania, and possibly Hungary. Add Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and France.There will be a union of ten nations in the general area of the medieval Roman Empire in the new united Europe. Probably Holland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden will not be included [in the final 10]. But Ireland may. Britain will not! I have been forecasting this revived Roman Empire publicly since February 1934! Now it may go together suddenly, rapidly! (coworker letter, June 10, 1980). By 1999, the European Economic Community (then comprising 16 nations) had a Plain truth, september 1967 new title, the European Union, the 1992 Maastricht Treaty having extended the Common Market into a political and monetary union, exactly as Mr. Armstrong had prophesied. This opened the way for a new German assertiveness. Under the headline Germans Drive Toward United States of Europe, the Weekly Telegraph reported in 1999, Germanys new red-green leadership has been unveiling its blueprint for a federal Europe built on the back of the newly launched euro. The moves will fuel Euroskeptic fears that [the] monetary merger was merely a step on the road to a United States of Europe. Germany wants to capitalize on the momentum of the euros birth to set Europe firmly on the road to a federal future (Jan. 20-26, 1999). By 2007, the additional nations that Mr. Armstrong had predicted would join the European unification projectAustria, Poland, Romania and Hungarywere all members of the EU, and significant moves to seize the Balkans had reached an advanced stage. Germany was, and remains, the prime mover in all these efforts. However, in order to dispel any idea that it may have expansionist intentions, Germany has generally made these initiatives under the cloak of being for the common good of the European Union. The Plain Truth summed up this subterfuge years ago in these words: This realization explains why West Germany has tried so hard for so long to bring about common community positions on one front after another. In addition, by always espousing the common European cause,

germany leads the eu

Even during World War ii, while Allied bombers were busily pounding Germany to a shattered, bleak pile of rubble, Mr. Armstrong was warning his listeners and readers that Germany was going to rise again! They didnt believe it. Look about you now! Were the warnings sound? Were they true? Have they happened? (Plain Truth, February 1957). Such were the challenging questions put by a Plain Truth writer 12 years after Germanys defeat in World War ii.

tHe cry oF A politicAl union in europe will get louder And beFore long we will see tHe common mArket develop into A united stAtes oF europe.
By the mid-1960s, when the most evident initiative of union in Europe was still in trade and commerce, the Plain Truth had already noted an increasing urge within the Common Market for political unity. Yet if 300 million Europeans were united and could speak with one voice, this would excel any might in the world today . One thing you can count on. In fact it is so sure you can bank on it: The cry of a political union in Europe will get louder and before long we will see the Common Market develop into a United States of Europe. You wont have to wait long! (September 1967). One of the senior writers of the Plain Truth in the 1970s wrote, For nearly 30 years the Plain Truth magazine and the World Tomorrow broadcast have been telling the world that Europe would unitethat a United States of Europe was as certain as the rising of tomorrows sun (February 1970). In 1973, when Britain joined the European Common Market, Herbert Armstrong wrote, Four years before Adolf Hitler plunged the world into World War ii, an article appeared in the July 1935 Plain Truth. That article might have been summarized by this sentence in it: Out of the present Italy is to emerge a reincarnation of the once great and powerful Roman Empire, by an alliance of 10 nations within its territory. Biblical prophecy revealed that this empire would start as an economic movementthat it would bring an era of unusual prosperity to Europe. It did start in March 1957, when six European countriesWest Germany,

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eARly WARning system mr. Armstrong, supported by his wife, sounded the alarm of britains absorption into europe.

she is less suspect of nationalistic motivations. After all, World War ii is not that far in the past (October 1976). But, since Germanys first baby boomer chancellorsGerhard Schrder, followed by Angela Merkel came to power, all that is changing. Germany may have a fresher-faced ministry at the helm of government now, but German institutions have been manned at senior levels for over 60 years of its massive postwar growth by the old guard that supported Hitlers Third Reich! Where are the geopoliticians, the lawyers, the judges, the teachers, the magistrates, the policemen, the young businessmen, the members of the many branches of the armed forces, the former members of Hitler Youth, the party workers, the industrialists who supported Hitler to the hilt, the propagandists, the fifth column agentsand all the rest? the Plain Truth asked in December 1963. Simple. Theyre right back where they used to be! Today, for example, 60 percent of the lawyers, judges, civil service workers, Brgermeisters (mayors) and magistrates in the one state of Bavaria are known former Nazis. Nearly ALL the top industrialists in the Ruhr are former Nazis. Members of the present governmentincluding the cduare known, card-carrying, former Nazis. The Christian Democratic Union (cdu) dominated postwar German politics for 33 years. It is the bastion of German corporatism and German-style conservatism. It is now revealed that the cdu was supported by a sophisticated system of illegal funding via contributions from Germanys corporate and industrial mogulsmany of them, no doubt, those same card-carrying former Nazis.

No longer is a lone voice crying out a warning of the drastic and inevitable results of the foolishness of Britain and the U.S. in financing and promoting the rise of a united Europe. Some astute politicians have cried out that same warning. Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has been one. Baroness Thatcher last night fiercely attacked plans for a European defense structure, saying it would threaten nato and could help to create a European superstate . Taking the unusual step of attacking British government policy from abroad, she put the drive toward a separate European defense on the same level as the single European currency. Both were aimed at the utopian venture of creating a single European superstate to rival America on the world stage (Times, London, Dec. 8, 1999). Now, over six decades after disastrous defeat at the hands of the Allied forces, Germany, it is widely acknowledged, is the most politically influential and economically powerful nation on the Continent. In a 1999 book called On the Next War With Germany, French author Philippe Delmas, a senior civil servant, argued that fear of Germany is back. Germany seems threatening, despite itself, and nowhere more so than in France! he wrote. What powerful endorsement of the prophetic words of Herbert Armstrong. Consider as well this startling statement by Mr. Armstrong in the Plain Truth way back in 1952: The United States is determined, now, to let nothing stand in the way of building up a re-armed, independent Germany. This will be the heart and core of the united Europe that will revive the Roman Empire (June 1952).

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Heart and core of the united neW bAnneR, old Ambition Europehow closely those words german soldiers aboard a german were paralleled by Americas vessel wave the european union flag. ambassador to Germany, Philip Murphy. On Dec. 1, 2009, Ambassador Murphy called on Berlin to work closely with Washington, the Local reported. It quoted him as saying at a speech in Berlin, We need strong partnersand nowhere are there better or more committed partners than in Europe. And Germany is the centerpiece of the European Union. Without realizing it, the ambassador endorsed the prophetic words of Herbert Armstrong, declared well over 60 years ago when Germany was anything but the centerpiece of Europe! How powerfully that prophecy has been fulfilled! Today, Germany is, by far, the EUs leading economy. It is the transit hub for water-borne and road freight for the European Union. Germany is set on a course to become controller of the energy crossroads between Europe and Russia. Frankfurt is home a united military force to one of the worlds most powerful banks, the European In 1996, a shocking World War ii intelligence document Central Bank, controller of the EUs sovereign means of was made public. The document, detailing an August exchange, the euro, now exceeding the dollar in value. 1944 meeting between top German industrialists, reveals The old German High Command, which the World War a secret postwar plan to restore the Nazis to power. Several of Germanys elite industries were represented. ii Allies declared would be eliminated forever, has arisen These companies, the document asserts, were to prepare afresh in new clothes, renamed the Command Staff of the themselves to finance the Nazi Party, which would be Armed Forces; it is the brains behind the development forced to go underground. of a powerful, nuclear-armed European defense force. By 1944, the Germans knew they would lose World War Judicially, Germany is the only nation boasting a high ii and were already planning for the next round! Existing court, the German Constitutional Court, whose power financial reserves in foreign countries, the document says, exceeds that of the European Court of Justice. The powers must be placed at the disposal of the party so that a strong of the latter trump all judicial powers of the individual German Empire can be created after the defeat. When high courts of the other EU member nations. Then theres the U.S. declassified this document, it received only sparse the Financial Stability Board, a German idea, embraced by news coverage. Yet even more disturbing than the deep the G-20 group of nations as future regulator of the global stupor of the media is the fact that the U.S. government did economy. The EU has the majority vote on that board. not make it public until 1996over 50 years later! In short, the power over Europe that Germany sought With the content of that 1944 Nazi document in twice by armed aggression in the 20th century has, in this mind, consider what Herbert Armstrong said to his radio 21st century, suddenly become a reality. It has evolved program listeners, May 9, 1945, during a UN confersince 1951 via a progression of treaties between EU memence: The war is over, in Europeor is it? We need to ber nations. Chief of these treaties is a literal European wake up and realize that right now is the most dangerconstitution (yet another German idea), known by the ous moment in United States national history, instead of pseudonym the Lisbon Treaty. Under it, the EU now has assuming we now have peace! a permanent presidency and its own diplomatic corps. It Men plan, here, to preserve the peace of the world. is, in fact, a literal European empire, the final resurrecWhat most do not know is that the Germans have their tion of the old Holy Roman Empire, with Germany as its plans for winning the battle of the peace. Yes, I said battle centerpieceor, as Herbert Armstrong prophesied, its of the peace. Thats a kind of battle we Americans dont heart and core!

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know. We know only one kind of war. We have never lost direction of the German High Command under German a warthat is, a military war; but we have never won a parliamentary approval! conference, where leaders of other nations outfox us in The way is now set for Germany to lead Europe forthe battle for the peace. ward to fulfill that vital part of Mr. Armstrongs prophecy, We dont understand German thoroughness. From a common military force as great or greater than Russia the very start of World War ii, they have considered the or the U.S.! possibility of losing this second round, as they did the Even the German mindset toward national defense and firstand they have carefully, methodically planned, in military matters is undergoing a radical transformation. such eventuality, the third roundWorld War iii! Hitler The political mood in Berlin is rapidly evolving from that has lost. This round of war, in Europe, is over. And the of a mostly passive to a more aggressive, even combative Nazis have now gone underground. ... Now a Nazi under- mindset. The nation is moving toward a more assertive ground is methodically planned. They plan to come back role in geopolitics. The EU cloak, the nato cloak, the UN and to win on the third try. cloak, the friendly, peaceful, democratic, best-ally-of-theTo those following Herbert Armstrong, the disclosure West cloak are all being dropped to reveal a nation rising of a Nazi document in 1996 proving that the Nazis had to assert its natural role as leader of Europe. gone underground after World War ii and were planning Much of this transformation a resurgence was not in the least bit has occurred under the watch of surprising. It was confirmation of a the nations new defense minister, truth Mr. Armstrong had preached who took office in October 2009. for decades, beginning as early as His name is Baron Karl-Theodor May 1945! zu Guttenberg. This man quickly Today, this spirit of Nazism is enacted policies making it easier for manifesting itself in the military the Bundeswehr to engage ambitions of the German-led Euroin combat in Afghanistan. pean Union. Germany has grown to He was the first Gerbecome the most powerful economic man politician to use the and political force within the 27-nation formerly taboo word war combine of a united Europe, which when describing the conflict possesses its own constitution, its own in Afghanistan. Guttenberg imperial diplomatic corps and its own has also been instrumental presidentin essence a united governin convincing the German ment! Within its borders, the European public of the need for a more Central Bank dictates policy relating assertive and aggressive Gerto the EUs own common currency, man military. the euro. It has also quietly built Guttenberg has made clear the foundation of a united European that the engines of Germanys military force! military industry need to be Under the Lisbon Treaty/EU stoked, and that there must be constitution, the EU is empowered greater cooperation between to develop a united military force the German government and its supported by a consolidated European military industry. For example, in armaments industry. January 2010, during a breakfast good cAll In an interesting development, meeting at the World Economic Plain Truth headlines from decades long however, Germanys Federal Constitu- past predict the rise of the european union Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Gertional Court determined that, unless manys government launched an taking place today. a contrary law was enacted before the initiative to strengthen its military Lisbon Treaty was ratified, that treaty would disempower industry (Wall Street Journal, Jan. 31, 2010). During the the German parliament. The court quickly acted to ensure meeting, attended by top executives from large German that German law would override EU law. It determined companies and government leaders, Guttenberg spoke that the Bundestag must have ultimate say over whether about the necessary interplay of defense policy and the German Army participates in an EU military operaGermanys economic interests (ibid.). tion. The remarkable upshot of this trick is that, now, One month earlier, two of Germanys top military Germany must give the go on any deployment of any EU manufacturersRheinmetall and man Groupannounced battle group. Thus, not only are the most vital EU parliatheir intention to merge their military vehicle producmentary committees now dominated by Germany, but the tion. This project was directly chaperoned by Germanys deployment of EU battle groups is also essentially at the political class: The German government is a big supporter

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of bulking up German military industry, and has provided behind-the-scenes help to move it along (page 18). That is a shocking development, particularly in light of the document showing that in August 1944 Nazi politicians met with German industrialistsone of whom was from Rheinmetallto plot the future resurrection of German Nazism! Germanys defense minister also believes that nato needs an overhaul. Speaking to his counterparts at the Munich Security Conference in February 2010, Guttenberg discussed the need to take action to streamline nato, warning that the security organization talk[s] too much and act[s] too little. At the same conference, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle voiced Berlins support for a European army because it would help the EU live up to its role as a global player. Such statements right out of the inner sanctum of the German government strongly support the prophetic vision of Herbert Armstrong. But the fact remains that, in order to bring this militaristic policy to fruition, the German government needs a visionary leader to propel it forward in a way that will gain the support of the German public. now Europe is about ready for it! The stage is all set! All thats lacking now is the strong leader the coming fhrer! The Germans are coming back from the destruction of World War ii in breathtaking manner. Germany is the economic and military heart of Europe. Probably Germany will lead and dominate the coming United States of Europe. Like Mr. Armstrong before us, we have long watched for a man on the scene likely to fulfill this pivotal prophetic role. In 2009, a German with dynamic, inspired leadership qualities suddenly leaped into perspective. This man appeared in the front line of German politics when he was appointed as Germanys minister of economics in February 2009. Then, right after Germanys national election in September that year, Chancellor Merkel rocketed his political stature overnight by giving him the senior portfolio of defense minister in her new coalition cabinet. We are watching Karl-Theodor zu Guttenbergs political progress with interest because of how closely his biography matches the prophetic description given by Herbert Armstrong. Particularly noteworthy are his family and political connections. His early development in political KARl-tHeodoR zu guttenbeRg life was guided by Edmund Stoiber, a Catholic conservative who himself was groomed by Franz Josef Strauss, the famous German strongman who had grand designs for a united Europe led by a dominant Germany. Guttenberg is also connected through part of his family line to the house of Habsburg. Strauss and Otto von Habsburg shared a common dream of a united Catholic Europe. Both personally shared details of that vision with Herbert Armstrong during visits they made to the campus of Ambassador College in Pasadena, California. Otto von Habsburg dreamed of reviving the Holy Roman Empire. Mr. Armstrong knew that dream was destined to become reality. Take the young, aristocratic Guttenbergs impeccable Frankish-Bavarian Roman Catholic connections into mind

a confidence-inspiring leader
In 1953, Mr. Armstrong wrote that the peoples of Europe as a whole want ... a united Europeand yet, Without Germany such a federation of nations is impossible. Prophecy reveals that Germany, the very nation that has emerged as the economic and military heart of Europe, will drive the unification of the Continent in its final superstate form. Mr. Armstrong went on to state that it is probable that none but a German can provide the dynamic, inspired leadership required to organize such a political military federation (Good News, May 1953). In 1956, Mr. Armstrong wrote that the Europeans were thinking more and more about the coming United States of Europe! ... [Europe is] going to unite against us! And

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and add them to the thread of political thought that has pervaded Bavarian politics for decades under Strauss and Stoiberthe dream of a united Catholic Europe under German leadership. Add to that something that neither Strauss nor Stoiber ever possesseda striking family title that cements all of these connections togetherand we have a man to watch in Germany. What is that family title? Guttenbergs official title was granted to his forebears during the 18th century. His correct title is Reichsfreiherrthe English translation being, Baron of the Holy Roman Empire. Thats a fascinating title when you consider what is happening in Europe! As we have seen, Guttenberg calls war and terrorism what they really are, not vague euphemisms. He is swinging the German population into a military mindset and stoking the fires of Germanys military industry. He has been enthusiastically embraced by the German officer corps. His noble title stirs them, as does his aristocratic familys 800-year-old tradition. Such influences remain strong within the German Army as in perhaps no other nation in the world. We continue to watch to see whether this man fulfills Mr. Armstrongs Bible-based prophecy of a powerful political leader over the whole of Europe. Three or four short years ago many laughed and scoffed when we said that there would be another world war in five to seven years. They do not laugh and scoff today. Everyone knows the next world war is coming, and soon. That war did come five years laterwhen World Warii began in 1939. Mr. Armstrong commented, So once again the Plain Truth, even in its first issue, was way ahead of its time. It was predicting what was going to happen. People scoffed and said, Thats a crackpot. He doesnt know what he is talking about. But World War ii did happen. It did come. Herbert Armstrong spoke those words back in 1982. Since his death on Jan. 16, 1986, many who even followed and supported him to that point have since turned away, calling him, as some did over 70 years ago before World War ii, a crackpot! But the prophecies that Herbert Armstrong published and broadcast to multiple millions over his 57-year ministry are about to smack the gainsayers square in the face! Just as he prophesied World War ii ahead of its time, so he prophesied World War iii way ahead of its time, giving in cogent detail the conditions that would prevail in Europe just before that war explodes on the world scene. He prophesied that Europe would unite under a resurgent German nation. It has. He prophesied that a confidence-inspiring leader would arise to lead the seventh resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire on its final crusade. Europe is crying out for such a leader, and we may well have pinpointed his identity. Mr. Armstrong prophesied that a spiritual binding force would draw Eastern Europe out of Soviet communism back into its spiritual fold and bind a united European economic, monetary, political and military force together as the final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire. That prophecy was largely fulfilled as we entered the second decade of the 21st century with the EU constitutionally united as an imperialist power. Even as you read this, the final elements of those great prophecies contained in the books of Daniel and Revelation are rapidly coming together, though being given little publicity by a largely blinded world press and media. But we are certainly not blind to these dramatic, soon-to-be earthshaking events. We have the privilege to be tasked with the job to publish the great prophecies revealed through Herbert Armstrong and demonstrate their fulfillment through daily-occurring current world events. The delay in fulfillment of end-time biblical prophecies was arrested at the death of Herbert Armstrong. His task was to declare them in advance of their fulfillment. Ours is to warn of the present-day and immediate future reality of their actual, dramatic fulfillment! As our editor in chief noted in his booklet Prophesy Again, This is living drama. God has given us many revelations about this commission to prophesy again. NOW is the time to be tuned in to these many revelations and to really live this great prophetic drama!

live the drama!

In a sermon delivered to his headquarters congregation Nov. 27, 1982, Herbert Armstrong referred to that first edition of the Plain Truth published in 1934. I was rather astonished when I once again read what I had written there, very close to 50 years ago, he said. The heading is: Is a World Dictator About to Appear? He then quoted from the article. It says, Everybody senses that something is wrong with the world that some mighty event is about to occur. What is it? Bible prophecy tells! Here is a solemn warning and it is the plain truth! We live today in the most strenuous, anxious, momentous hours of the Earths history. Today we stand on the very threshold of colossal events that will stagger the mind of mortal man. Just now it is like the lull before a great and devastating storm. Everyone senses it! It is commonly known today that Mussolinis whole aim is to restore the ancient Roman Empire (that is, the resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire). In that sermon, Mr. Armstrong then commented, He had conquered Ethiopia. He added that to Italian Somaliland (which he already had), and Eritrea, and Italy; and had made a concordant with the Vatican. So once again theres the union of church and state, although it wasnt a real union; but he proclaimed he had renewed the Roman Empire. It was the beast that was, and is not, and yet is at that time, quoting Revelation 17:8. That 1934 article continued, [T]he nations prepare even more feverishly for war!

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poWeRHouse the only religious organization on earth to have its own nation is not shy about its goal: catholicize the world.

the holy in the holy Roman empire

any historians and analysts underestimate the role of the Roman Catholic Church in European history. Many also underestimate the extent of the Vaticans involvement in the affairs of Europe and European countries today. Herbert Armstrong never made this mistake. We have seen how Mr. Armstrong for decades prophesied of the emergence in this end time of the seventh and final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire. And though this globe-controlling United States of Europe, he warned, would be ruled by Germany, biblical prophecy points to the necessity of some additional power to glue the fractious nations of Europe together. After all, Daniels prophecy likened the final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire

to a brittle mix of iron and clay (Daniel 2:41-43). Matching Daniel 7 with Revelation 13 and 17, Mr. Armstrong understood that glue would be religion. Under Gods guidance, he linked these prophecies with history and came to see clearly that the deadly spiritual force guiding this European superstate would be the Vatican. This Vatican is the holy in the term Holy Roman Empire. Europeans want their own united military power! Mr. Armstrong wrote in August 1978. They know that a political union of Europe would produce a third major world power, as strong as either the United States or the ussrpossibly stronger. But they well know there is but one possibility of union in Europeand that is

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through the Vatican (Good News, Aug. 28, 1978; emphasis ours throughout). To members and co-workers he wrote on Jan. 23, 1980: What Russia is doing will be the spark to bring the heads of nations in Europe together with the Vatican to form a United Nations of Europe. The politicians cannot do this by themselves. Only with the collaboration of the pope can they do it. I have been proclaiming and writing ever since 1935 that the final one of the seven eras of the Holy Roman Empire is coming in our generationa United States of Europe, combining 10 nations or groups of nations in Europewith a union of church and state! he wrote in the January 1979 edition of the Plain Truth. The nations of Europe have been striving to become reunited. They desire a common currency, a single combined military force, a single united government. They have made a start in the Common Market. They are now working toward a common currency. Yet, on a purely political basis, they have been totally unable to unite. In only one way can this resurrected Holy Roman Empire be brought to fruitionby the good offices of the Vatican, uniting church and state once again, with the Vatican astride and ruling (Revelation 17:1-5). Herbert Armstrong and the Plain Truth continually made reference to Europe forming a church-state union under the auspices of the Vatican. new Europe! (Plain Truth, January 1963). In respect of Eastern Europe, the Plain Truth declared that the papacy had its mind set on leading the diplomacy that would create the rapport between East and West Europe: One of the biggest roles desired by the Vatican is that of mediator between East and West. The Vatican, you can be sure, will continue to do its part in courting the Eastern European countries. Its Ostpolitik has been to bring them back into the fold for a long time. And that is certainly the path it must continue to travel (February 1972). When Pope John Paul ii appeared on the scene, Mr. Armstrong made a far-sighted prediction: The character, personality and actions of the Polish Pope, John Paul ii, indicate more than possibly that he may be the pope to

one oF tHe biggest roles desired by tHe vAticAn is tHAt oF mediAtor between eAst And west. tHe vAticAn, you cAn be sure, will continue to do its pArt in courting tHe eAstern europeAn countries.
Plain truth, january 1963 offer his good services to unite the nations of Europe once again. European nations want, seriously, to be united. Of themselves they are unable. John Paul ii could make it possible (Good News, January 1980). Throughout his papacy, Pope John Pauls cry was for the whole of Europe to return to its roots. On Nov. 9, 1982, Pope John Paul ii, speaking on his pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, issued the following declaration to Europe, I, bishop of Rome and shepherd of the universal church, from Santiago, utter to you, Europe of the ages, a cry full of love: Find yourself again. Be yourself. Discover your origins, revive your roots. Return to those authentic values which made your history a glorious one and your presence so beneficent in the other continents. Rebuild your spiritual unity. You can still be the guiding light of civilization. Remember Mr. Armstrongs remarkable foresight in indicating that the EU would break across the Soviet divide to build the eastern leg of the European Union, and that John Paul ii could make it possible. This prediction was borne out in an event involving the popes homeland, Poland. On Jan. 9, 1998, the Associated Press reported how that nations Communist leader capitulated to the will of Rome: Martial law had crushed the churchbacked Solidarity labor movement, and Polands Communist rulers expected a chastened Pope John Paul ii ready for compromise when he visited his homeland in 1983. Instead, his voice rising, the pontiff lectured a surprised party chief, Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, as the nation watched on television. History would be his judge, the pope warned, demanding that union rights be restored for the Soviet blocs first free trade union [Solidarity].

drawing in eastern europe

During the Soviet era, the Plain Truth continued to encourage its readers to Look for the Vatican to exert more influence in European affairs. Yugoslavia and the Vatican have resumed full diplomatic relationsa move that could lead to further ties between the Vatican and Eastern Europe. The pope, encouraging European political unity, stated, We note with pleasure that the German government contributes actively to the achievement of this aim. Vatican influence over European affairs is destined to grow in the months ahead (August/September 1970). Perhaps the most impressive prophecy about the Vaticans impact on European union related to the persistent forecasts of the popes influence in drawing the Eastern European nations out of the old Soviet Union and into mother Europes lap. Consider: [W]e need to understand that the one great, overall, ultimate goal is the reuniting of all Christianity into one cohesive unit under one headthe Roman pontiffin an attempt to bring to the world the Catholic concept of peace. This plan envisions the full use of the

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In the face of this demand, Jaruzelski capitulated. The Vatican-funded Catholic Solidarity movement triumphed, and Poland broke the Communist yoke and then sought attachment to the European Union! The Vatican had driven a wedge underneath the Iron Curtain that was destined to crack it asunder and cause its total collapse! The power of this papal diplomacy was recognized in a news release by abc correspondent Bill Blakemore: Not only had John Paul ii ignited a nonviolent revolution when he first returned as pope in 1979, but by 1989 he had guided it with patient force till it wonthe Polish Solidarity movement spread until the Berlin Wall came down and the Communists went away. Soviet Premier Gorbachev himself wrote later that John Pauls philosophy and approach had made a new kind of thinking possible for us all (June 18, 1999). The Trumpet documented the continuing thrust of papal politics through the last decade of the 20th century on to the end of the first decade of the 21st as we witnessed the combined forces of Rome and Brussels/Berlin work to finally build the eastern leg of the resurrecting Holy Roman Empire. By the beginning of the next decade, that project was all but accomplished. Yet another of the powerful prophecies broadcast and published throughout the previous five decades by Herbert Armstrong had been fulfilled! But an even more powerful endorsement of Herbert Armstrongs forecast that a strong spiritual binding force would emerge soon in Europe leaped into perspective after the death of John Paul ii. authority. In the world, he is leveling a strong attack against secularism and godlessness. His Vatican has put pressure on politicians to change policy, rallied voters to swing elections, and forced leaders from office. These are but echoes of the Vaticans past as Europes kingmaker. Benedict xvi has worked to re-energize Catholicism not only in Europe, but around the world. He has been particularly active in Latin America, where he has challenged bishops to galvanize a continent-wide crusade against competing non-Catholic religions. To Islam, he has unmistakably shown a resistance, a toughness, that promises to grow stronger. Remarkably, this sequence of provocative moves seems to have helped rather than hurt the popes popularity. What Benedict has done, in fact, is position the Vatican to fulfill its prophesied role in European and world events. He has been active, determined and aggressive in positioning Rome to play a larger role in the time ahead. Benedict views his actions in their historical context facilitating yet another revival of that ancient church-state union, the Holy Roman Empire. That is why he chose the name Benedict, as he explained in that first papal audience in 2005. There he praised the role Europes patron, Benedict of Norcia, the fifth-century founder of the Benedictine order of monks, had on spreading Christianity in Europe, according to the International Herald Tribune (ibid.) Pope Benedict stated, He represents a fundamental point of reference for the unity of Europe and a strong reminder of the unrenounceable Christian roots of its culture and civilization. In April 2008, the pope said that Benedict exercised a fundamental influence on the development of European civilization and culture. He praised Benedict for helping the Continent emerge from the dark night of history that followed the fall of the Roman Empire. This pope identifies strongly with his namesake, whose monastic system galvanized Europe during Justinians revival of the Roman Empire. Clearly, he is trying to spark a similar revival today. By alluding to the period between the fall of the Roman Empire in a.d. 476 and its revival under Justinian in a.d. 554 as the dark night of history, Benedict xvi seemed to imply that modern Europe has endured a similar dark night from which it is now emerging under his influence. The pope also said Benedict had sparked a new cultural unity based on Christian faith within Europe which united an otherwise fractious European populace into a mighty empire. Ever since, the cultural unity created by Roman Catholicism has helped Europe to unify time and time again as the Holy Roman Empire. The pope is working to sway Europe to embrace the religion of Rome todayto become that spiritual binding force prophesied by Herbert Armstrong to ultimately bind Europe togetherto once again serve as the cultural glue enabling the restoration of the ancient Holy Roman Empire. The Bible informs us that he is destined to succeed.

a new cultural unity

From the mid-1990s, the Trumpet had been watching and reporting on Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, eyeing him as a likely candidate to replace an ailing John Paul ii. In April 2005 that became a reality. Ratzinger took to the papal throne under the name Benedict xvi. Why that name? It has everything to do with the prophecy declared by Herbert Armstrong regarding a strong spiritual force binding together a uniting Europe! The papacy of Benedict xvi has provided ample evidence of his zeal to reassert Roman Catholic relevance in the 21st century. Inside the church, the pope has continued his decadeslong campaign to expel liberals and stack the deck with conservatives. He has resurrected use of the ultra-conservative Tridentine prayer book. He has called on believers to evangelizeto relaunch missionary activity to meet the many grave challenges of our time. In Europe, Benedict is working to reestablish a Catholic continent. We reported in our June 2005 edition, In his first weekly papal audience, on April 27, Ratzinger used the occasion to express what may become a central theme of his papacy: the Christian roots of Europe (International Herald Tribune, April 28). Among non-Catholic Christians, he seeks to draw worshipers under papal

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Returning to the Fold

protestant churches everywhere are gravitating toward union with the roman catholic church. these religious movements are speeding the fulfillment of the prophecies of the resurrected roman empire. For 30 years i have been proclaiming this tremendous event over the air and in print. Herbert W. Armstrong, 1963

rom the early 1930s, Herbert Armstrong spoke out about a coming unity between Catholics and Protestants. Notice this excerpt from the Plain Truth in 1961: The pope will step in as the supreme unifying authoritythe only one that can finally unite the differing nations of Europe. The iron jurisdiction over both schools and religion will be turned over to the Roman Catholic Church. Europe will go Roman Catholic! Protestantism will be absorbed into the mother churchand totally abolished (October 1961). At that time, any kind of reconciliation between Catholics and Protestants seemed impossible to most. But look at the situation today. In October 2009 the Catholic Church offered membership in the Church of Rome to any Anglicans who would choose to convert, with the historic concessions that they could keep their Anglican practices and that married clergy would be accepted as priests in a newly established Catholic/Anglican community. In recent years, many Anglicans have been angered by their churchs liberal stance on issues such as the ordination of female clergy and homosexual priests. Now, thanks to the popes directive, they may flock to the Catholic Church. Defections began immediately. This process has not been limited to the Anglicans. The Vatican is making great strides toward bringing every major Christian denomination, especially in Europe, under the authority of Rome. This is exactly what Herbert Armstrong said would

submission happen. Through the pages of the John paul ii and top Plain Truth, Mr. Armstrong prophcatholic officials esied of this coming church unity. happily look on as Notice, again: The finalalbeit short-livedtriumph of Catholicism Anglican Archbishop rowan williams is recorded in literally dozens of Bible kneels to the pope. prophecies. Right nowwhether we want to believe it or notthe stage is being set for the greatest revolution in religion the world has witnessed. The mighty problem of achieving unity is twofold. First, it involves reconciliation of the Orthodox Schism that officially commenced in 1054 and divided the churches in the East. Second, it involves restoration to the Roman Communion all Protestantism which developed from 1517 onward (November 1963). The Vatican has broadcast the importance of its aim for unity for well over a century. Pope Leo xiii stated it in the opening comment of his June 29, 1896, encyclical to the church: It is sufficiently well known unto you that no small share of our thoughts and of our care is devoted to our endeavor to bring back to the fold, placed under the guardianship of Jesus Christ, the chief Pastor of souls, sheep that have strayed. Bent upon this, we have thought it most conducive to this salutary end and purpose to describe the exemplar and, as it were, the lineaments of the church. Amongst these the most worthy of our chief consideration is unity. We earnestly pray that He (the Father of Lights) will graciously grant us the power of

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bringing conviction home to the minds of men (Satis Cognitum [On the Unity of the Church]; emphasis ours). In the 1930s, when a future church unity was being prophesied, nothing was further from the minds of Protestants. They would have said, Unity? Never! But what do we see today, over 70 years after Mr. Armstrong first broke that news to the world? We see the Anglican Church and Romes other Protestant daughters returning to the fold!
His Holiness Joseph ratzinger, now pope benedict xvi, looks down on a fraction of his 1 billion followers from vatican headquarters in rome.

steps toward unity

The Catholic Church and its Christian daughters began taking steps toward unity some decades ago. By the end of the 1960s, interfaith ecumenical prayer services had been held in practically every major city of the United States, and pulpit switches by priests and ministers were becoming widespread. Anglicans and Catholics carried on private meetings with Lutherans throughout 1966. The Methodist Church also encouraged holding study groups together with Catholics. In 1967, a precedent-shattering Roman Catholic-Anglican service was held in Madrid at the British Embassys Church of St. George. As the Plain Truth reported at the time, it was evident that leading Protestant theologians had begun to seriously question any need for a future Protestant movement. Lutheran Bishop of Berlin Otto Dibelius said, If the Catholic Church of 450 years ago had looked as it does today, there never would have been a Reformation. Dr. Carl E. Braaten of Chicagos Lutheran Theological Seminary concluded that it was becoming increasingly difficult to justify a need for Protestantism as an independent movement. A decade later marked the first time in history that a pope visited the White House. Over 200 years of estrangement between the Vatican and the government of the United States came to an unofficial end, the Plain Truth reported, calling it an event unthinkable just two decades ago (December 1979). During that visit, Pope John Paul ii asked all ChristiansCatholic, Protestant, Anglican and Orthodoxto transcend our present and past differences on this occasion, and to mark the papal visit as a sign and stimulus for reconciliation and to pray for the unity we seek. In November of that year, the pope made a historic three-day visit to Turkey. There he held a religious summit with Greek Orthodox Patriarch Demetrios i, stating a determination to bring to a close what he called the intolerable scandal of the divisions within the Christian-professing world. In 1982, Pope John Paul traveled to Britain, Scotland and Wales. There he declared in Londons Roman Catholic Westminster Cathedral, Today, for the first time in history, a bishop of Rome sets foot on English soiland said he prayed his visit would serve the cause of Christian unity. He conducted a service with the archbishop of Canterbury in Canterbury Cathedral, headquarters of the Church of

England. In his sermon, he appealed to his audience, which included millions watching on television, to be praying and working for reconciliation and ecclesiastical unity. In 1998, the Vatican and the Lutheran World Federationwhich represents a majority of Lutherans worldwide, some 7.6 million believersaffirmed that Roman Catholics and Lutherans share a basic understanding. The New York Times called the event a triumph for supporters of the ecumenical movement, which has urged closer cooperation among churches (June 26, 1998). Pope John Paul ii undertook enormous effort to promote unity. He was the most traveled pope in history. From March 1983 to July 1998, he visited no fewer than 116 separate nations, many of them multiple times. It was one visible sign of the popes tremendous effort to offer the olive branch to Catholicisms protesting, or Protestant, daughter churches. Yet as hard as John Paul ii worked to bring Catholics and Anglicans together, his death in April 2005 only advanced this movements cause even further.

out of the manyone

Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, became the first Anglican leader in history to attend a popes funeral. He called John Paul ii one of the very greatest Christian leaders of the 20th century and signaled that

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because it gave him too much jurisdiction, but not enough. In October 2007, Orthodox leaders signed an agreement with Vatican officials that established the primacy of the pope over all Catholic and Orthodox bishopsthough there is still disagreement on exactly what authority that status grants the Catholic leader. Another joint meeting on the question of papal primacy occurred in 2009. The pope is also wooing the Orthodox, who split from Rome in 1054, by embracing more tradition and ceremony, something that particularly appeals to the Eastern Orthodox churches. In December 2008 Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomewi met with Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity; the two agreed that Catholic-Orthodox union was the only solution to the worlds economic, political and social crises. After all that, the pope launched his surprise attack on the Anglican Church. On Oct. 20, 2009, came the announcement that the Catholic Church would offer a free ticket to Rome for all Anglicans who chose to reject the policies of their liberalized hierarchy. Rome has parked its tanks on the archbishop of Canterburys lawn, proclaimed Britains Times newspaper (Oct. 21, 2009). The Anglican community, tremendously weakened by the aggressive penetration of its ranks by feminists and homosexuals since the social revolt of the 1960s, was always going to be riper for Vatican takeover than Romes eastern daughters; the Vatican simply had to take the moral high ground and hold it. the rift between Anglicans and Catholics stemming from the Reformation could finally be healed (Australian, April 12, 2005). A Guardian headline in London read, Its as if the Reformation had never happened. John Paul iis death swept Protestant churches along in the euphoria of papal adulation, and his successor, Pope Benedict xvi, sought to capitalize on these sentiments. From the start of his papacy he stated that his primary task was to unify all Christians. However, the approach toward achieving unity by this pope would prove to be less diplomatic, more forceful and stern, than that of his predecessor. In July of 2007, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith restated the doctrines of Dominus Iesus, a document Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had signed in 2000 to proclaim that non-Catholics were gravely deficient and that Protestant churches are not churches in the proper sense. The restatement added that Orthodox churches suffer from a wound because they do not accept the popes authority. In March 2006, Pope Benedict chose to drop patriarch of the West from his list of official titles. Why? The Eastern Orthodox synod said the move implied that the Catholic Church still sought universal jurisdiction of the bishop of Rome over the entire church. The pope retained the titles vicar of Christ and supreme pontiff of the universal church. He cast off the title patriarch of the West not

true unity
What is ahead for Christian unity? For now, the Vatican is willing to compromise to draw in its daughters. But that wont always be so. As Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote in May 2007, Indeed, biblical prophecy indicates that full unity will not be achieved purely voluntarily. At a certain point, the mother church will abandon its efforts to woo her daughters back by flatteries and instead revert to the age-old method of preserving Christian unity by exerting physical force. In the end, this coming reconciliation between the Vatican and its protesting daughters will not usher in the peace mankind so desperately desires: just the opposite! It will bring about the fulfillment of the great prophecies of Revelation 13. These prophecies speak of a universalist religion that imposes its will upon the Earth with crusading power. It will enforce a social contract that dictates not only who will work but who will eat! (Revelation 13:15-16). For well over 50 years, Herbert Armstrong prophesied of this great religious power and its coming global dominance. But he looked beyond the great time of trial this religious power and the empire it leads will bring to this world. He prophesied of another empirean empire that will soon overcome all other imperial and religious forces to finally impose justice on all mankindthe very Kingdom of God under the divine rule of the author of pure religion, the living Jesus Christ!

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stoking the Furnace of the War machine

the industries that equipped germany for world war are back in business.

s early as 1945, broadcasting during the inaugural United Nations convention, Mr. Armstrong warned that German industry was working to revive the nations empire. We dont understand German thoroughness, he said. From the very start of World War ii, they have considered the possibility of losing this second round, as they did the firstand they have carefully, methodically planned, in such eventuality, the third round World War iii! In 1953, Mr. Armstrong even identified a company he believed would one day be resurrected and work in cahoots with this newly empowered German empire. At the end of World War ii, the factories and facilities of German industrial giant Fried Krupp AG lay in ruins. After the war its owner, Nazi supporter Alfried Krupp, was convicted at Nuremburg and AlfRied KRupp imprisoned for war crimes. But heres what Mr. Armstrong forecast: Alfried Krupp, who once provided Germany with most of her munitions that plunged the world into the holocaust of the last war, can no longer manufacture crude steel or own coal mines in Germany. But Alfried Krupp is not giving up on his plans! No indeed. Latest reports reveal that Krupp has made contracts with foreign governments to build up his vast empire abroad (Plain Truth, November 1953). History has proven these forecasts startlingly accurate. Today, Germanys military industry, including ThyssenKrupp, is thriving.

plans to rebuild the nazi empire

In 1996, the U.S. government declassified a top-secret World War ii document (printed in full in our free booklet The Rising Beast) that exposed agreements made between several of Germanys largest industrial giants and top German political officials just nine months before the wars end in Europe. According to the document, on Aug. 10, 1944, German corporate leaders representing several of the nations most powerful companies at the time met with German military and political personnel in Strasbourg, France. The purpose of this meeting, and a followup meeting the same year, was to launch the industrialists into a postwar commercial campaign. This campaign was to finance the Nazi Party, which would be forced to go underground and to ensure that a strong German empire [could] be created after the defeat. These industrialists were specifically told to strengthen Germany through their exports and to make contacts and alliances with foreign firms. Among the men attending this covert meeting was Dr. Kasper, a representative of Fried Krupp AG. Despite his undeniable connection to Nazi Germany, Alfried Krupp was released from prison in 1951. He reassumed control of Fried Krupp AG in 1953. Krupp died in 1967 with his personal copy of Mein Kampf still on his nightstand, but his corporation continued to flourish on the path he had set for it. The following year, Fried Krupp AG was converted into a corporation, with shares being held by the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation in Essen. Krupps protg, Berthold Beitz, became head of the foundation and chairman of the corporations Board of Trustees. In 1999, the corporation merged its steel operation with Thyssen AG, a rival firm. Today, Essen remains the headquarters for ThyssenKrupp Stahl AG, a global industrial giant that produces steel, heavy machinery, transportation equipment, and industrial plants.

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In 2009, ThyssenKrupp began a dramatic shift in its operations. It sold stakes and entire production sites of its civil shipbuilding operations in Germany. It also struck an agreement to jointly produce naval surface ships with the Abu Dhabi mar Group. Essentially, the company took strides in the direction of military production, moving back toward its historic focus: manufacturing military equipment. The secret document released in 1996 clearly shows that several German industrial giants, including Krupp, had a specific plan to support the resurgence of Germany and its domineering ideologies. Krupp representatives were told that they must through their exports increase the strength of Germany, and to prepare themselves to finance the Nazi Party which would be forced to go underground. Under Beitzs leadership, the corporation shed much of its public association with Nazism. What it has not lost is unswerving devotion to the goal of establishing a globally dominant postwar Germany. Everything is going just as Alfried Krupp and Dr. Kasper planned over 60 years ago. Though the Krupp name is above reproach in Germany today, the indisputable facts of history show that Mr. Armstrongs forecasts about this powerful company were well-founded, and uncannily accurate.

more evidence
On Jan. 18, 2010, MarketWatch columnist David Marsh wrote an article titled German defense giant in the making. Marsh was referring to the announcement in January 2010 by two of Germanys top military manufacturersRheinmetall and Man Groupof their intention to merge their military vehicle production. The resulting combine will produce a new national champion and leading supplier for wheeled military vehicles in Europe. According to Marsh, the amalgamation, which was in the works for a year, was pushed by Germanys political class. The German government is a big supporter of bulking up German military industry, and has been providing behind-the-scenes assistance to make sure industry goes in the right direction, reported Marsh. The new combine meets the long-held German desire to build industrial companies with world scale in the defense field. It appears some are finally waking to the transformation occurring within Germanys military industry. But Herbert Armstrong warned about this long-held German desire to rebuild the nations military industry for decades!

Rheinmetall has been deAling in deAtH the essen gun works of a comat the forefront of German pany that armed germany in military manufacturing two world wars and was led by for over 100 years, so it a war criminal in the second. isnt too surprising that it again became a weapons builder after the World War ii loss. In fact, despite the Allies initial ban on arms production, Rheinmetall was back mass producing machine guns by 1956. By 1972, Rheinmetall had developed and begun selling the Leopard 2 battle tank. Not much later, and after a series of corporate acquisitions, Rheinmetall became Europes leading military supplier of systems and equipment for ground forces, providing everything from artillery and munitions to communications, surveillance technology and guided missile systems. Rheinmetall subsidiaries, which also include significant automotive component manufacturers, are located throughout Europe, the Americas and China. Man Groups 252-year history is even more impressive. Man is one of Europes leading manufacturers of commercial vehicles, engines and mechanical engineering equipment. Man builds trucks, buses, diesel engines and turbo-machinery; it also provides industrial services. During World War ii, and in conjunction with Rheinmetall, Man produced the hugely successful Panther tank. Following the war, Man took over notorious World War ii light vehicle manufacturer Bssing. Heres the real reason the Rheinmetall-Man Group alliance should be thoroughly scrutinized.

plans to rebuild the nazi empire

According to that Aug. 10, 1944, document, representatives from Volkswagenwerk, Messerschmitt, Rheinmetall, Rochling and Bssing were also among those who met with top Nazi leaders to prepare to rebound after the eventual German loss.

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German industrialists must, the document said, through their exports increase the strength of Germany. These companies were instructed to place existing financial reserves at the disposal of the Nazi Party so that a strong German empire can be created after the defeat. Notice, in addition to Krupp, Rheinmetall and Bssing (now owned by Man) had representatives at this critical Nazi conference. Today all three are leaders in the global military industry! These are not the only success stories for World Warii German companies. Volkswagen, another German corporation documented for its collusion with the World War ii Nazis, has become a globally dominant automotive power. Although its core market is the European Union, Volkswagen sales make it the worlds third-largest automotive company by revenue. Volkswagen owns the Bentley brand, international vehicle manufacturer Audi, Seat and Skoda, which manufacture and sell cars in Spain and in Southern and Eastern Europe, and Lamborghini, which makes sports cars in Italy. Messerschmitt, Germanys famous World War ii manufacturer that built much of the fighting aircraft in the Luftwaffe, is also prospering today, though under a different name. Like Krupp, much of Messerschmitts infrastructure was destroyed in the war; the company was even forbidden to produce aircraft. Yet it too has risen from World War ii to become part of a world-leading corporation. Messerschmitt was eventually allowed to build aircraft again under the name Airbus. In 1989, after several postwar mergers, it became part of Daimler-Benz Aerospace (another German industrial giant). Daimler-Benz Aerospace then later helped found the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (eads), becoming a 30 percent owner. eads today is a global aerospace and defense technology leader. The group includes the aircraft manufacturer Airbus, and the worlds largest helicopter supplier, Eurocopter. It is also a major shareholder in mbda, the international leader in missile systems. eads produces the Eurofighter and other military aircraft. Galileo, the European satellite navigation system being constructed to rival the U.S.s gps, is also being built in large part by eads. The company employs 113,000 people at more than 70 production sites, primarily in France, Germany, Great Britain and Spain. Stunning, isnt it? Peaceably, through corporate mergers and acquisitions, German corporations are reaching out beyond their nations borders to gain control of strategic industry. Even Germanys most notorious World War ii companies, which were severely disassembled and banned from future arms production by the Allies, have emerged as European and global powerhouses. Few people see it, but Germanys industrial war machines have been revamped and rebuilt, and theyre back in fighting orderexactly as Herbert Armstrong predicted would happen!

europes latin assault

planned and executed by the eu and the vatican
hen Germany lay smoldering in the ashes of World War ii, a lone voice warned that Europes will for global dominance had not been broken, and that it would rise againone final time. That voice warned that Germany had prepared a blueprint for that rise long before its crushing defeat by Allied powers. This time, it would not be stony-faced, jack-booted storm troopers taking the world by blitzkrieg, but rather well-spoken, handsome businessmen equipped with the weapons of the new Euroforce: a three-piece suit and briefcase to match. The war now waged by the underground Nazis was to be one fought in corporate boardrooms, at business lunches in restaurants and hotels, at political functions, and through international diplomacy. And this time, it would have the help of Latin America.

nazi-latino underground
As early as May 1962, the Plain Truth magazine issued this warning: Germanys plans in South America were temporarily halted by its defeat in World War ii. South America will be conquered by business agents, not by guns! (quoting T.H. Tetens Germany Plots With the Kremlin; emphasis ours throughout). After World War ii, over 55,000 Germans fled their native land to havens in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the countries of Central and South America, many through the Vatican-engineered ratlines. Other Nazi sympathizers from Croatia, Hungary and Yugoslavia found their way to foreign countries to continue working for the coming European religious-corporate Reich. In its October 1957 issue, the Plain Truth said, During World War ii, Argentina was an outspoken friend

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of Hitler, sheltering Nazi officers and men, offering safe and Uruguay, with Chile, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and haven for Nazi ships and submarines. Many Nazis found Peru as its associate members. Venezuela was accepted as their way to Argentina and safety while Hitlers regime a full member in 2006 and is in the process of integrating was collapsing under the steady rain of Allied bombs. into the bloc. In June 1999, delegates from the EU signed German influence began to dominate Latin America by a historic free-trade agreement in Rio de Janeiro with the the late 1940s. The Germans had high-level military prespresidents of the four Mercosur nations and Chile that ence in Argentina, Krupp industrial strength established provided for the bilateral, progressive and reciprocal in Brazil, Hitlers Croat Ustashi chief Ante Pavelic influenc- liberalization of trade, with no sector excluded. German ing security in Paraguay, Nazi intelligence agents of Farben Chancellor Gerhard Schrder, president of the European Bayer in Chile and Venezuela, and Nazi Party organizers of Council at the time, led the talks, voicing his strong supBrueckmann and Co. on the ground in Ecuador. port for the integration of European and Latin American Since then, German businesses, with the support of the markets. That November, the EU said it was working to Vatican, have led European efforts to penetrate key indusconclude formal talks toward a free-trade pact with the trial, agricultural and corporate industries in Latin Amerentire Latin American region. Such an agreement would ica. Many German corporate giants such as Krupp, Siecover 90 percent of two-way trade, and could bring mens, Bayer, Volkswagen, I.G. Farben and Deutsche Bank additional annual profits of more than $6 billion to the steadily became household names south of the Rio Grande, Europeans and nearly $5 billion to Mercosur. across Panama and clear down to southern Argentina. While negotiations on trade stalled for several years From 1990, with a united Germany over disagreements on agricultural import restrictions, and other EU members now on a summit of leaders of the EU and Latin America and side, all levels of EU trade and the Caribbean in May 2010 held in Madrid resulted venezuela investment to the Latin region in a decision to re-launch negotations for dramatically increased. an EU-Mercosur free-trade agreement. guyana Herbert Armstrong knew At the same summit, leaders also Colombia suRiname far in advance that comapproved a comprehensive trade munism would fail to agreement between the EU and eCuadoR entice the Latinos and the Andean countries (Peru that British and Ameriand Colombia), and can influence would announced the dwindle. He knew it conclusion of PeRu was Europe that would an association ultimately achieve its agreement long-term goal of economic between the and religious domination of EU and CenLatin America. Today, Europe tral America. has significantly achieved that goal. The EU is an bolivia enormously important trading partner eu and mercosur for Mercosur, buying PaRaguay Beginning in the 1990s, the EU has worked Chile 36 billion worth of to establish itself as the number-one trading Mercosur exports in partner and investor in Latin America. 2006. And among EU Europes exports to Latin America grew by member states, exports to and from aRgentina 164 percent during that decade. Over 55 Germany are most substantial. In a percent of all Latin American financial 1999 report, titled, European Union uRuguay aid came from EU coffers; prior to 2000, and Latin America Advancing Together, just in loan grants, the EU gave over the European Commission noted that the $746 billion to Latin America. driving force in escalated Euro-Latin trade By developing this relationship, was a comprehensive document mapped in 1994 what it has called a strategic alliance, under the impetus of the German presidency. So Europe is directly challenging the often, where Germany leads, Europe follows. United States one-time hopes of creatHowever, China has also been making inroads into Latin ing a pan-American free-trade area. American trade. Since 2000, trade between Latin America The vast Latin American trade and China has exploded. But there is a fundamental bloc known today as Mercosur incordifference between Europes drive into Latin America and porates Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay that of China. China is there because it needs resources

bRazil

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and Latin America has plenty of them. The EUs trade and humanitarian efforts in Latin America are more complex. Rather than a simple free-trade deal, these efforts have more to do with a desire to extend the EUs empire. At present, leaders of the Mercosur trade bloc are debating whether to ditch the U.S. dollar as their reference currency. As the U.S. becomes increasingly isolated on the world scene, and as tensions between the United States and Mercosur associates like Venezuela grow, expect Mercosur to increasingly embrace its trade partners in Europe and Asia.

the catholic connection

In October 1957, the Plain Truth trumpeted that the rest of these Latin American nations will join in with the European revival of the old Roman Empire. Latin America, incorporating Mexico, the Central American isthmus and the continent of South America, constitutes the most catholicized landmass in the world. The regions largest country, Brazil, has the largest single national population of Roman Catholics in the world. No geographic area is more aligned with the Vatican today than the Mercosur countries, and the Vatican maintains a massive presence in the region. The EU and Latin America are more than just a trade duothey are religious, commercial and political partners. The Vatican is fully cognizant of the fact that more than half of the worlds Roman Catholics live in Latin America! we wrote in September/October 1997. During

the facts are in

The May 1962 Plain Truth declared that the United States is going to be left out in the cold as two gigantic trade blocs, Europe and Latin America, mesh together and begin calling the shots in world commerce. In perhaps the most powerful statement in its 1999 report, the European Commission declared, The European alternative can thus represent a viable counterweight to what is sometimes perceived as excessive economic and political dependence (op. cit.). This is referring to Latin Americas dependence on the United States. The Plain Truth cautioned its readers in its April 1966 issue, Can you see why we warn readers that the Latin American Common Market and the Central American Common Market are dangerously close to becoming partners with the European Common Market? Can you see these giant combines are dangerously close to turning their backs on America and Britain, once and for all? Can you see why we warn you that the Nazishiding out all over South Americaare dangerously close to rising again, this time to be victorious as prophesied in Isaiah 10, Jeremiah 25:15-33? The facts are in. The passage of time has proved Herbert W. Armstrong and the warning message of the Plain Truth absolutely right! The July 1965 Plain Truth told of what was coming: Flowing across the Atlantic to feed the hungry furnaces of the Ruhr and the other industrial complexes of Europe will come the rich mineral resources of Latin America. South America, rich in resources, is an attractive smorgasbord for resource-hungry Europeans. Silver from Mexico and Peru, tin from Bolivia and iron ore from Venezuela and BrazilEurope needs a steady supply of these and other raw materials that Latin America can provide in abundance. Do you see the seriousness of the EU-Mercosur combine? An economically unified, politically stable Latino bloc is necessary to ensure constant delivery of goods. That is a major reason Europe, with Vatican assistance, is working hard to bring Latin America stability through economic, political and religious prosperity.

tHe united stAtes is going to be leFt out in tHe cold As two gigAntic trAde blocs, europe And lAtin AmericA, mesH togetHer And begin cAlling tHe sHots in world commerce.
Plain truth, january 1963 his tenure, Pope John Paul visited all 24 countries of Central and South America as part of an effort to stabilize the region in support of its trade obligations to the EU and its collective religious unity with the Catholic Church. In advance of the pivotal Nov. 25, 1999, EU-Mercosur announcement, the Trumpet reported that the ecstatic support given to the popes 1998 Latin America visit reconfirms where this population ultimately offers its allegianceto the heart of Europe, the seat of their economic and religious heritage (February 1998). The common religious heritage of Europe and Latin America gives Europe an advantage in the area that China could never enjoy. With religious unity and an EU-Mercosur free-trade agreement already assured, no other area of the world is better prepared to dominate global trade than the EU. Remember, while Germany still lay defeated, Mr. Armstrong warned that it would again unite behind the cloak of a uniting Europe. He also declared that Europe would dominate the Latino common market while the Catholic Church would exercise religious dominance. Just as the May 1962 Plain Truth predicted, the United States is going to be left out in the cold as two gigantic trade blocs, Europe and Latin America, mesh together and begin calling the shots in world commerce. This shocking prophecy is already unfolding before us!

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britain Was Warned!

After nearly four decades of european union membership for britain, an important warning leaps into greater significance.

trashing the founding principles on which British sovereignty was established. The founding texts of the English constitutioncharter, petition, bill of rights have one theme in common: They create nothing. They assert old freedoms; they restore lost harmony. In this they guided Americas Revolution, itself a codification of early colonial liberties, he wrote (ibid., Dec. 6, 2009). Contrast this with the Lisbon Treaty/EU constitution. Regarding its creation, Evans-Pritchard correctly asserted that insiders hijacked the process. These insiders were unelected Teutonic/Romish elites who worked for years seeking to enforce their undemocratic constitution on their constituents by the most undemocratic of means. The Lisbon Treaty was carefully crafted as an instrument to enact their imperial objectives. Evans-Pritchard described the document as a Hegelian monstrosity that says much about the heightened powers of EU bodies, but scarcely a word to restrain EU bailiffs and constables. The Charter britain and the eu of Fundamental Rightslegally binding in the UK as of After decades of planning, on Jan. 1, 2010, the EU officially became a global imperialist power, underpinned by its Tuesday, when Lisbon came into forceasserts that the EU own federal constitution binding European countries to a has the authority to circumscribe all rights and freedoms. Underpinning this legal atrocity is a massive body of legsupreme head in Brussels. For centuries, European powers islation, rules and regulations designed to enforce the most from Caesar to Napoleon to Hitler had sought dominance confusing constitution on the planet. This body of wordage, over the sceptered isle. On Jan. 1, 2010, when the EU called the Aquis Communitaire, estimated to be over 170,000 presidency and foreign ministry came into force under the pages, details the onerous legalities and bureaucratic conLisbon Treaty, Britain finally became subservient to Europe. trols that EU elites have imposed on their citizenry. More than a few Britons were deeply concerned. On the day one month earlier, when the Lisbon Treaty/EU constitution was enacted, British Euroskeptic Daniel Hannan, a member of the European Parliament, wrote, britain loses Britain is no longer a sovereign nation. At midnight last In all this, Germany and France have gained the tools night, we ceased to be an independent state, bound by to further dominate Europeand cut out Britain. In international treaties to other independent states, and the new European Commissions lineup following became instead a subordinate unit within a European state ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, to be effective for five (Telegraph, Dec. 1, 2009; emphasis ours throughout). years, Germany and France got key positions they The EUs Lisbon Treaty effectively trampled Britcan use to increase their influence over the European ains Magna Carta, lamented Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, Unions inner workings and important policy areas

ritain is going to look back on Monday, Jan. 1, 1973, in all probability, as a most tragically historic datea date fraught with ominous potentialities! For that date marked the United Kingdoms entry into the European Community. That statement, written in the March 1973 Plain Truth, is classic Herbert Armstrong: gripping, plain, sincere. More importantly, its true. Just ask the growing number of Britons grappling with the realization that the European Union has established a major beachhead within British society. For them, its growing increasingly difficult not to look back on Jan. 1, 1973, and lament it as a tragically historic date. Today, the ominous potentialities Mr. Armstrong referred to have become alarming realities.

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(Stratfor,Dec.1,2009). In fact, they set themselves up to take charge of the European Unions functions. One key area where the UK lost out is in finance. French President Nicolas Sarkozy summed up Britains new place in the EUs economic system by saying, The English are the big losers in this business. The EU is pushing hard for tighter regulation of the Anglo-Saxon economic model. In December 2009, European finance ministers reached a deal to overhaul Europes financial supervision with a new regulatory system. A draft law was created that would create a risk monitoring board along with three new bloc-wide supervisory authorities to oversee banking, securities and insurance firms. These authorities will ensure EU finance laws are implemented consistently in every member country. Britain tried to fight this in order to keep its economic sovereignty, saying it was in Europes interests for Londons business to prosper. The problem is, Europe couldnt disagree more. Europe blames the financial fiasco that began at the end of 2008 on the Anglo-Saxon model, which relies heavily on free-flowing credit. In response, this massive regulatory regime it is creating is so replete with regulations and laws, it will ensure Londons way of doing business wont prosper again. This oppressive regulation will deliver the deathblow to Londons status as a global financial capital. The Brussels elites in fact set in motion a deliberate plan to emasculate the once-great Britain using the pretext of the economic crisis. Economically, Britain is indeed the big loser in the EU. What remains to be seen is how long Britain will try to fight what is already a lost sovereignty battle before it leaves or is finally kicked out of the European Union. its economic decline. Andthe world would do well to noteHe laid out well in advance the precise circumstances that would precipitate Britains eventual demise. If the people of Britain find themselves overwhelmed by recent events, they should consider Gods vision of what is to become of their country and realize that what is assailing them now is actually a tremendous blessing. What the British are experiencing is the concerned, chastening hand of a loving Father trying to deliver them or, at least, the few of them who will heedfrom the far worse events that will soon descend on their country. God is trying to send Britain a message. Through several decades under Mr. Armstrongs editorial eye, the Plain Truth reported in detail the curses that were increasingly plaguing Britain, all the while forewarning that they were merely the prelude to far worse. A number of notable Plain Truth articles throughout the 1960s in particular detailed Britains considerable woes at the time: economic problems, low food production, struggles with defining its commonwealth, racial tension, a burgeoning and unsustainable welfare system, notorious laziness, preoccupation with immoral entertainment. Even then, Britain began to be looked upon as inferior to Europe. Widely referred to as the sick man of Europe and an international charity case, it was never considered integral to the economically uniting Continent. The Plain Truth even laid out, more than once, detailed correction from God in His effort to attract Britains attention, turn the nation around, and set it back on a course lined with blessings. Consider, as an example, these paragraphs from the December 1964 Plain Truth: Relations between Britain and Europe will continue to deteriorate until The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far which shall not leave thee corn, wine or oil he shall besiege thee in all thy gates (Deuteronomy 28:49-52). These prophecies reveal a soon-coming siegea trading blockadeof modern-day Israel! Of all the nations that compose modern-day Israel, none is more vulnerable to such a trade embargo than the United Kingdom. Under present conditions, the British Isles are entirely unable to feed their population without massive food imports. Even during the strenuous agricultural efforts of World War ii, Britain was able to produce barely half her food requirements! Since then, population has increased, farming land diminished. Yet the British public remains apathetic! The new generation insists only on less work and more benefits. The welfare state, supported by each government in turn,

why britain is in this predicament

These setbacks somehow seem endemic to unhappy Britain. Formerly ruling the greatest empire the world has ever known, Britain has made a staggering decline over the past century. After two world wars that decimated the strength of its manpower, a slow and steady process of devolving its empire and commonwealth, an earnest, decades-long but never-quite-successful campaign to hitch itself to a uniting Europe, and a complete revolution in morality, culture and religion, it has found itself sidelined, languishing in minor-power status, the victim of a seemingly endless stream of bad luck. But can the British really afford not to take responsibility for their fate? Was it luck that handed them their prosperous, globe-girdling empire? And was it luckjust a reversal of fortunethat ripped it from them? For answers, we must look far beyond recent events. Nearly 3,000 years ago, God prophesied exactly what would happen to the British Empire. He foretold, with precision, its rise and its decline. He anticipated the very curses that Britain is experiencing today, including

jAnuARy 1, 1973 Amid all the headlines proclaiming britains entry into the european community, the Plain Truth was the most prescient.

25
learn its lesson through total defeat and subjugation of its people as slaves to a United Europe! I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: . Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria [Britain is fulfilling this prophecy even as you read this]. When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard. My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations (Hosea 5:3-4; 7:11-12; 9:17). What will it take to wake up the people of Britain?

will britain leave?

Today there is little doubt that the ominous potentialities that Mr. Armstrong warned about are coming to pass. Politically, economically and judicially, Britain is encourages just such an attitude. But as the cry grows finding itself increasingly subservient to the EU. As this louder for wage increases, unemployment pay, sick benefits, occurs, the Euroskeptic movement inside Britain is buildpensions, allowances, national assistance, grants and paying momentum. Some Britons have adapted to the EUs mentsthe entire economy staggers, unable to stay afloat! rules and regulations, but many have notand friction Now, having stumbled through those tough times with between the EU and Britain is growing. Additionally, the no improvement in its behavior, Britain faces an intensistrain of global economic conditionswhich Britain and fication of its problems. Its welfare state has bloated to far much of Europe have differing opinions on how best greater proportionsas has its drag on the economy. And to handleare hastening the inevitability of a divorce its corruption and immorality are far worse. between London and Brussels. This is what Mr. Armstrong said would happen decades ago. Mr. Armstrong concluded that 1973 article will britain awaKen? by writing, Britains entry into the European Community God makes and unmakes nations (Job 12:23; Isaiah 40:15). portends a tragic situation. Britain will be faced with a dilemma, he forecast. That He made Britain what it once was, and He is unmaking it dilemma, he wrote, would revolve around the role of a today. fundamentally Protestant Britain in a Catholic-dominated, God told Britain what would happen. He has explained imperialistic United States of Europe. Britain will face a His reasons for sending these curses. Still, Britain toils on, choice: Abandon either Europe or its own historical roots. trying to solve its problems with its own ingenuity. Instead We are witnessing that dilemma unfold today. of looking to God, Britain is relying on its allies like Elsewhere, Mr. Armstrong made absolutely clear how Europeor, as the Bible refers to them, its lovers. [T]hey Britains dalliance with Europe would end. The stage have gone up to Assyria, Like a wild donkey alone by itself; is all set! he wrote in 1956. All thats lacking now is Ephraim has hired lovers (Hosea 8:9; New King James the strong leaderthe coming fhrer! The Germans Version). (For proof that Assyria refers to Germany, request are coming back from the destruction of World War ii a free copy of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire.) God in breathtaking manner. Germany is the economic and never intended Britain to join with Europe. In fact, its illfated efforts to do so have revealed fatal weakness and lack military heart of Europe. Probably Germany will lead and of trust in the Source of its national greatnessand at the dominate the coming United States of Europe. But Britain same time portend the downfall of the country. will be no part of it! In 1966, the Plain Truth made this important statement: Herbert Armstrong warned for decades that Britain The big question: What will it take to wake up the people would not be a part of the coming final resurrection of of Britain? Will it take a terrible economic depression, or the Holy Roman Empire. Even as British Prime Minister will it take national military defeat at the hands of a GerEdward Heath deceitfully ramrodded his country into the man-dominated United States of Europe? (October 1966). Economic Community in 1973, Mr. Armstrong warned There the article referred to the prophesied ultimate that it was an experiment doomed to failure, and that the fall of Britain! Britishas many are doing right nowwould look back As the Bible makes clear to those who have the key on that day as a tragically historic date. to understand it, God prophesies that Britain will only The reality is undeniable. He was right.

dubious symbol whether dropping troops into vietnam, evacuating saigon, or crashing in iran or mogadishu, the American helicopter has been emblematic of Americas recent defeats.

AngloAmeRicA

part two

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america has Won its last War

if that prediction seems bold now, how bold would it have been in 1950?
e kept us out of war! cheered the presidents Korea and cuba most loyal constituents. President Wilson After victory in World War ii, the Korean War was the was campaigning for reelection. True to his first in a long line of non-victories for the United States. campaign slogan, the president had kept America out of When hostilities broke out in 1950, President Harry war. That is, unless you consider the sinking of American Truman gave command of American forces to Gen. ships by German submarines an act of war. Douglas MacArthur, World War ii hero. After Mr. Wilsons defense initial U.S. success in pushhad been a steady ing back North stream of handwritKorean forces, ten notes, pleading Chinas Commufor the kaiser to stop nist forces joined shooting Americans. in on the side of Herbert Armstrong the enemy and attended that campaign the U.S. was sent rally in the autumn of reeling. MacArthur 1916. Amid the throngs adamantly urged of Wilson supporters, he Washington to found himself not more approve a full-scale than six feet away from attack on China, former President Theotelling one congressdore Roosevelt. man that there is no He kept us out of war, substitute for victory. Mr. Armstrong heard the But his plea fell on deaf former president say with ears. President Truman contempt. I was president fired MacArthur in 1951, for 7 years, he continued. and the war eventually And if I were president now, settled to a stalemate, HARd neWs I would send the kaiser just both sides suffering huge bold Plain Truth articles report the end of American numbers of casualties. one noteand he would know dominance at a time when the American superpower that I meant it. The Korean War ended was even more ableand willingto fight. Mr. Armstrong told that the career of Americas last story often because it perfectly great general. It also marked illustrated what he had been repeating for decadesthat the beginning of a new era in American battle strategy: limited warfare. the United States had lost the will to use its power. Twice it was provoked into world war and gained the victory The Bay of Pigs incident was a good example of this each time. Yet shortly after World War ii, Mr. Armstrong new strategy. President John F Kennedy kick-started . this political-military disaster. In 1961, more than 1,400 predicted that the United States had won its last war.

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Cuban exiles, trained by the cia, landed on Cubas shores hoping to spark a popular uprising. But without U.S. naval and air support, Castros troops easily crushed the rebellion. Nearly all of the U.S.-led invaders were killed in battle or died in Castros prisons years later. Several years before the Bay of Pigs, Mr. Armstrong wrote in the January 1953 Plain Truth that the U.S. should have driven Castro and communism out of Cuba. Because it did not, he then asked, Is the United States going to find that, having left Castro and godless communism on the American doorstep, it is going to continue to cause us every kind of trouble and harassment? Indeed it has. After the Bay of Pigs debacle, Mr. Armstrong pinned the blame not on the U.S. military, nor even President Kennedy, but on the American people! He wrote in the October 1961 Plain Truth that unless or until the United States as a whole repents and returns to what has become a hollow slogan on its dollars: In God we trust, the United States of America has won its last war! I said that when we failed to win in Korea! I say it again now that the United States government endorsed this Cuban fiascoits president gave the go-aheadand God, the God America has deserted, gave it its most humiliating defeat! What does the Cuban debacle mean? It means, Mr. and Mrs. United States, that the handwriting is on your wall! Strong words those. And yet how profound when you consider what was just around the corner.

the vietnam spectacle

As early as November 1961, the Plain Truth informed readers that the U.S. would almost certainly have to fight a major battle in Vietnam. (The U.S. started sending combat troops there in 1965.) While several news sources may have realized a war in Vietnam was imminent, none would have blared this headline in early 1965: Why United States Cannot Win Vietnam War! The Plain Truth said that just months after hostilities broke out. The article pointed out, The United States is committed not to win in Vietnam! The late Gen. Douglas MacArthur once stated that unless a nation entered into a battle with victory as its goal, it was defeated before it started. He was right! Make no mistake about itthe U.S. and the other nations involved in support of South Vietnam would like to win. But they are afraid to take the action necessary to win. That was printed in April 1965. A year and a half later, Mr. Armstrong wrote, The United States is not winning. Yet the war has been stepped up enormously during 1966. People see no results. People compare the size and power of the United States to that of North Vietnama little country hardly the size of one of our states, such as Florida. They cant understand why the United Statesthe most powerful military nation in the worldcant whip little North

off into tHe sunset like its belief in god, Americas victories have faded into the monuments of history.

Vietnam (Plain Truth, January 1967). The war lasted another eight years, ending in the shameful evacuation of American officials from the rooftop of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. It was the longest war in Americas history. It was also the nations most humiliating defeat. Historian Paul Johnson called it a collapse of American power. During those years, the Plain Truth often touched on another Vietnam casualtythat of American honor worldwide. No military nation can operate a military force by accepting defeat in an enemy attack, Mr. Armstrong wrote, on the excuse we wanted to save the lives of men who had offered those lives to protect our honor and our freedom. How many more lives will yet be lost in future battles because enemies will now be emboldened by this display of weakness to anticipate easy victories over a United States that is afraid to fight? (January 1969). Indeed, the war in Vietnam gave Americas reputation as a superpower quite a beating. The Plain Truth pointed this out in February 1978 and then made this stunning prediction: The days are over when the military might

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of the United States is used to accomplish what America perceives as correct and proper. Americas influence and prestige is on the rapid decline. The pride of our power has been broken. The time is fast approaching when the United States will be so weak and so fearful of its own shadow that, as the Prophet Ezekiel predicted, the trumpet will sound the call to battle, but none shall answer (Ezekiel 7:14). It was a portent of things to come.

the gulf war victory

If ever there was a conflict that could have proven Mr. Armstrongs prediction wrong it would have been the Persian Gulf War. Even Mr. Armstrongs own church, after he had been dead for several years, had backed away from the America has won its last war prediction. We were wrong, wrote Mr. Armstrongs successor, Joseph Tkach, in 1991. The fledgling Trumpet magazine, however, did not agree with the Plain Truths new watered-down message. America has won its last war, we declared on the cover of the May 1991 Trumpet, shortly after the Gulf War ended. After a short ground invasion, the Bush i administration claimed victory in the war. Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry strongly challenged that assessment. It is true that the world had never witnessed, until 1991, such an awesome display of technologically advanced firepower. Yet despite this show of force, the Persian Gulf War was not one that tested the U.S. will, he wrote. The truth is we won a battle in Kuwait. We did not win a war. The job was left unfinished, Mr. Flurry wrote. Saddam Hussein is still in powereven stronger in some waysand has turned Iraq into a killing field. Isnt [that] a sign we didnt win the war? That we lacked the will to win as it says in Leviticus 26:19? What the U.S. did was essentially kick a massive problem down the road. This will probably plague and haunt President Bush and America for the rest of our lives! he wrote. That prediction has certainly proved true in the decades since. Mr. Flurry was most critical of how, after encouraging the Kurds and Shiites to rise up against Saddam Hussein, the Bush administration abandoned them. Hussein then restarted his murderous rampage against these peoples, creating a humanitarian disaster. Mr. Flurry called this the greatest betrayal in U.S. history. President Bushs new world order has brought some of the greatest shame on our nations history! he wrote. American leaders say the U.S. has no UN mandate to interfere in Iraq on the refugees behalf. This statement alone shows that we lack the will to use our power for a just cause. And if the Iraqi refugee crisis isnt a just cause, nothing is! The following judgment, written two decades ago, has played out in Americas foreign policy to this day, with President Obama having announced his exit plan from Afghanistan before even sending troops into battle: America still fears getting bogged down in a Vietnamtype civil war in Iraq. Even after we had them almost defenseless! That is because God has broken the pride of our powerour will to win! America must come to see they are under a curse from God and repent of their sins. The fact that the 1991 Gulf War betrayed the Kurds and Shiites and left Saddam Hussein in power shows that it was, at best, another stalemate for the United States. However, the years that followed demonstrated even more powerfully the extent of the curse on display in that conflict. Other American defeats, political and military, followed

anti-war era
If the Korean War marked the beginning of the limited warfare strategy, Americas ignominious defeat in Vietnam marked the beginning of its anti-warfare strategy. Nothing illustrated this aversion to danger like the Iran hostage crisis. In November 1978, a band of Iranian revolutionists stormed the American Embassy in Tehran and captured 52 U.S. staff members. President Jimmy Carter repeatedly demanded that Tehran return the captives, but the Ayatollah Khomeini said he was beating an empty drum. Carter does not have the guts to engage in a military operation, Khomeini taunted. Carters only show of force was a bungled rescue attempt in April 1979 that left the bodies of eight U.S. servicemen burning in the Iranian desert. Television cameras captured the images for all to see. It was another humiliating defeat. Iran held the worlds greatest superpower at bay for another eight months after the botched rescue mission. One wonders how Theodore Roosevelt would have handled the situation. With more conservative leadership during the 1980s, some might argue that America regained some of the pride in its power. President Ronald Reagan sent troops to Grenada in 1983 to stamp out communism from the West Indies. In 1986, he bombed Col. Muammar Gadhafis military headquarters in Libya in response to a terrorist act. These small skirmishes, however, hardly qualify as decisive military victories for the United States. (The population of Grenada, after all, is only slightly bigger than Fargo, North Dakota.) If anything, they revealed an increasingly gun-shy America willing to use its military might only in small, relatively risk-free conflicts. Consider Lebanon. In October 1983, an Islamic terrorist rammed a truck packed with explosives into Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 Americans. Four months later, President Reagan withdrew all U.S. troops, a move that all but dissolved the Lebanese Christian power structure. After another embarrassing U.S. retreat, the Plain Truth was quick to remind readers of what it had been saying for decades. The November/December 1983 issue carried an article titled Why America Has Won Its Last War. In it, Mr. Armstrongs booklet The United States and Britain in Prophecy was quoted: The United States, even still possessing unmatched power, is afraidfearsto use it, just as God said.

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in the 90s. There was the U.S. nation building effort in Somalia in 1993. It only took 29 American casualties to scuttle that mission. The 1996 bombing of Khobar Towers in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, prompted a $353 million retreat further into the Saudi desert. When terrorists blew up U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi in 1998, President Bill Clinton responded with a wrist slap: a cruise missile strike on suspected terrorist facilities. The United States even backed away from a conflict in Haiti, one of the poorest nations in the world. A U.S. naval assault ship was actually held at bay by a small mob of Haitians at Port au Prince in 1993. The U.S. scrapped the mission because it feared casualties.

the war on terror

On Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. experienced the deadliest attack on American soil since Pearl septembeR 11, 2001 Harbor. Islamist terrorists killed nearly 3,000 the paralyzing photographs people and plunged the U.S. into full-blown of new york showed the horwar. rifying power of terrorist will. Right from the start, this war was doomed to fail. Consider, to begin, the very definition America gave it. Entrapped in political correctness and wipe Israel off the map. Iranian agents fuel an insurgency thus uncomfortable with any unfavorable portrayals of in Iraq that kills American and allied soldiers. Iran has Islam, Americas leaders defined it as a war on terror. This directed, funded, armed and personally assisted in the is confusing. Terror is not an enemy, but a tactic. Failing Hamas and Hezbollah attacks that transformed Israel and to clearly identify Islamist extremism and its chief sponsor Lebanon into battlegrounds. nations as the enemy is like defining World Warii as a war Even if the U.S. had won a decisive victory in its camon blitzkrieg so as not to directly implicate Germany. paigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, it would still be far from Characterizations of the terrorist threat as vague, winning the war on terror. As long as the chief sponsor of shadowy, elusive and ubiquitous were also misleading. Islamist terrorism, the Islamic Republic of Iran, is still in The threat emanates predominantly from a few nations, existence, the war on terror has not been won. one in particular: Iran. Just as the collapse of the ussr But even the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are not overnight reduced the Communist threat, ending state being won. In Afghanistan the Taliban is making a comesupport of Islamist terrorism would all but end terrorism. back, and the U.S. is even considering peace talks with Trouble is, Iran has allies: most notably, Russia and the regime it tried to overthrow. Worse, the Taliban have China. Afghanistan was friendless and powerlessso the taken over great swathes of Pakistan, putting the entire U.S. selected it (or, more accurately, the Taliban) as the country, and its nuclear arsenal, in danger. first target in the war on terror. In terms of contributIn Iraq, the U.S. has done worse than merely not attack ing to global terrorism, the Taliban was small potatoes Iran: It actually pursued dialogue with Iran, soliciting its compared to Iran, but this is the trouble one runs into help in bringing the bog in Iraq under control by reining after failing to properly define the enemy. in the Shiites. In order to tidy up its business in Iraq, the Americas subsequent attack on Iraq (or, more accusuperpower United States requested aid from the worlds rately, Saddam Hussein) was even more problematic, top state sponsor of terror! because it eliminated the single greatest check on Iran, In fact, far from winning the war on terror, America is virtually guaranteeing the eventual ascendancy of the in the process of surrendering Iraq to Iran! Islamic Republic. The most powerful [Muslim] country in the Middle As a result of this confusion in defining the enemy, the East is Iran, Mr. Flurry wrote in an article titled Is Iraq U.S., in the years since 2001, has effectively done nothing About to Fall to Iran? in 1994. Can you imagine the to target Iran or degrade its support of terrorism. The war power they would have if they gained control of Iraq, the on terror has actually left Iran stronger. Its president second-largest oil producing country in the world? is pushing to build nuclear weapons and threatening to That is exactly what has happened. Irans tentacles run

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September/October 1995 Trumpet. He wrote about how the U.S. strongly opposed the recognition of the breakaway Yugoslav republics of Slovenia and Croatia in 1991. Yet, after German pressure, the United States caved in and offered its tacit approval. Recognizing those two states, more than anything else, is what sparked a succession of wars within the Balkan region during the 1990s. Croatia sided with the Nazis during World War ii. The Croatian leader Germany insisted on supporting in 1991, Franjo Tudjman, was himself a Nazi sympathizer. When war erupted, Croatia proceeded to rid its territory of Serbian blood. Carl Bildt, former European Community mediator in the Balkans, called it the most efficient ethnic cleansing weve seen in the Balkans. America had effectively given its full support to the wrong sideand few commentators besides the Trumpet said anything about it. The Trumpet has been blaring this warning for some years now. During the war in Kosovo, we exposed a further breakdown of U.S. willpower: Given the apparent lack of will to effectively deploy its military might to actually win a victory [for the right side] in its numerous military adventures in recent years, why bother to deploy force at all ? (Trumpet, May 1999). The U.S.-led bombing campaign, in the long run, will end up hurting America far more than it did Serbia. This trend for America to often support the wrong side will have a disastrous end, according to biblical prophecy. So, weighing America has won its last war against the facts, what do we find? That Mr. Armstrong was right. From Korea to Cuba to Vietnam to Iran to Lebanon to Somalia to Kosovo to Iraq to Afghanistanall these episodes constitute clear American political and military defeats.

2003 to pResent the quagmire in iraq continues to show the weakening power of American and british will.

so deep that Iraq is increasingly taking marching orders from its America-hating neighbor. Those who think we have won Iraq are fooled, wrote Robert Baer, a former cia officer in the Middle East, in 2008. The United States can do nothing to contain Iranian proxies in Iraq short of a full and permanent occupation (National Interest Online, Oct. 30, 2008). Is America winning? The consensus in the Middle East, wrote Baer, is that Iran has turned the Iraqi and Afghan wars into major strategic victories. Holding sway over a third of the Middle East and blackmailing 55 percent of the worlds oil reserves, Iran is looking more and more like a superpower, he said. Far from winning the war on terror, America has built up a terrorist-sponsoring superpower!

blessings and curses

There is a reason Mr. Armstrong correctly predicted after World War ii that America would lose the will to use its power and never again win a war. He knew that when God threatened in Leviticus 26:19 to break the pride of your power, He was referring primarily to Britain and the United States in this end time. The irony is that the same God who promised to break our pride is the one who gave this tremendous power in the first place. God blessed America with unprecedented material wealth because He promised it, unconditionally, to Abraham. He did so because of Abrahams obedience to Gods laws. That is why, up until World War ii, our peoples were richly blessed. (All of this is thoroughly explained in Mr. Armstrongs book The United States and Britain in Prophecy. Request your free copy for further explanation.) Today, however, God is turning those blessings into curses because of rampant sin and disobedience of His law. God gave us every imaginable good, but what have we done with those blessings? Let Mr. Armstrong explain: Like Rome, weve grown fat and prosperous and lazy. We

europe
Even more shameful has been Americas dreadful foreign policy in Europe. This has been well documented in both the Trumpet and the Plain Truth. Just four years after World War ii ended, Mr. Armstrong wrote, But while trusting, gullible Uncle Sam, always unable to see more than one enemy at a time, has been busy worrying about Russia, the real menace has been making diabolical and rapid headwayunder coverin Europe! (Plain Truth, November 1949). In the June 1952 Plain Truth, Mr. Armstrong likened Americas bungling foreign policy in Europe to creating a Frankenstein monster that would eventually turn on its maker. Gerald Flurry used that same analogy in the

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Americans are rolling in money. We have more money than any people ever had. Money has come so easily! Were the wealthiest, as compared to any other nation, and we are fast growing lazy and soft, seeking luxury and pleasure, and excitement, idleness and ease, labor-saving, stepsaving devices and gadgets (Plain Truth, February 1956). That applies today so much more than it did in 1956! In all of this material prosperity, we have forgotten God. In fact, increasingly we see examples of active, intentional, malicious hostility toward Goda movement to systematically eliminate God from public lifeto establish godlessness as the state religion! But even those instances where God receives a token mention, He is never acknowledged as a lawgiver, or even as a moral authority. In modern society, we feel accountable only to ourselves. This is the reason God is now cursing the peoples of Britain and the United States. Americas string of militarypolitical defeats since World War ii is proof of those curses! America has indeed won its last war. It was true in 1950and true all the more so now. Today God warns us through many prophecies that unless we of this generation repent of our sins, and turn to Him with fastings, and with weeping, and earnest prayer, He will destroy our cities, all our fortresses, by the hand of the foreign sword; that He will punish us at the hand of a cruel one; that we shall be invaded, defeated, reduced to slaves! God help our nations to heed that warning! (Plain Truth, October 1954). All this wealthand yet a broken will. That makes for a dangerous combination. As Mr. Armstrong wrote in the June 1954 Plain Truth, aggressor nations covet that wealth. That being mans nature, its time for you to listen to Gods prophecies and take note: Aggressor nations will take that wealth as soon as they are strong enough to do so. That will happenand much sooner than you might think. That is what Herbert Armstrong foresaw. Mr. Armstrong concluded an article in the October 1954 Plain Truth with these words: How any Americanany English-speaking inheritor of Gods choicest material blessingscan, in face of such stupendous, overwhelming fulfillment of prophecysuch awe-inspiring demonstration of the power and might and faithfulness of Almighty God accept and partake of these blessings, and then carelessly ignore Gods warning that our sins today are increasing, or fail to get to his knees before the great Almighty, and repent, and intercede in heart-rending prayer for all Israelite nations, and help in every way he can to warn our people now of their impending peril, seems impossible to conceive. God warns us through prophecy that our sins are fast increasing. And now the day of reckoning is here! The foreign sword already has attacked us. In this fearful awesome atomic age, World War iii will start with atomic bombs dropped on London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburgh; without warning! God help our nations to wake up before its too late!

atlantic Rift
the friendship between the u.s. and europe is not what it appears to be.

hod have thought, amid the butchery of World War ii, that America and Germany would ever be allies? Yet soon after wars end, the foundation for an unlikely partnership was laid. The United States established the Marshall Plan to rebuild Western Europe, especially Germany, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization launched, binding Europe and North America in a military alliance. Biblical prophecy shows that this union, from the beginning, was bound to end in ruin. The fraying of the transatlantic relationship we see today is merely an unfolding of this inevitability. Under the guidance of Herbert W. Armstrong, the Plain Truth had this understanding. Economic recovery masks deep divisions that must eventually rip asunder the Atlantic alliance, the Plain Truth wrote in September 1983. That statement marks a prophecy that has greatly accelerated toward its fulfillment: an inevitable rift between the United States and Europe.

can we purchase love with money?

Three decades earlier, in April 1952, as America began to lead in allowing Germany to rearm, staff writer Herman Hoeh explained why this effort was so misguided: The question that President Truman and Secretary Acheson and you face is causing careful observers to tremble! Does America dare arm Germany? Can we unite Europe and guide the colossal military machine we envision there by 1955? Our leading generals in Europe adamantly warn that Germany is a calculated risk. What will a Germany, armed with American help, think of her new power?

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The hour of decision struck at Lisbon when it was decided to rearm Germany. Your future is at stake! How are you going to know what will happen in Europe? Why will the diplomats think that TODAY the hearts of the people in Germany are different from yesterday? Every one of those undemocratic nations when once armed has turned upon us. We are the hated have nations, the capitalist nations, the imperialistic nations. The heart of the German people, indoctrinated with Nazism, has not been converted to our way of life. If they really have come to love us since their defeat, would they now be trying to bargain for domination in Europe, and threatening to withhold support from the cause of democracy against Russia? Is that the way love is manifested? Can we purchase love with money? (Good News). Remember, this was written 58 years ago! Even back in 1952, Germany was fighting for domination of Europeand America didnt understand what it meant, or chose not to understand. That has been Germanys goal from the beginning. Notice, though, how that article pinpointed the problem of America trying to buy Germanys love. This tendency, which has grown even stronger in the decades since, was doomed from the start, prophecy reveals. The Plain Truth wrote this in February 1956: America seems wedded to the idea that it can buy friends and allies around the world with ready American cash. We intend to hold friendly nations to us by generously supplying money and arms. But it isnt working! That statement applies more today than ever. Consider the billions of dollars the U.S. has spent to try to buy allies such as Pakistan and Egyptnations that continue their march toward radicalism regardless. American money has been pumped into numerous causes in South America, Asia and several other arenas. None of this largesse has increased support for American policies or earned a jot of respect. The money isnt talking. Clearly,

America is out of money anyway. It has actually become desperate for foreign money to support its broken economy. These humanitarian efforts are a trap. But biblical prophecy points in particular to the danger in America seeking an alliance with Germany. It reveals, first, that we can expect to see America, as the Plain Truth alluded to, try to strengthen this ill-fated relationship. (You can read about these prophecies in our booklets Nahum: An End-Time Prophecy for Germany and Ezekiel: The End-Time Prophet.) It was this impulse that led America (under the auspices of nato) to act as a willing lackey of Germany (itself under cover of the EU common foreign policy) in the horrible Balkan wars that broke the Yugoslav Republic into pieces and ended with the former Yugoslavias constituent states becoming virtual colonies of the rising EU empire. This forecast again echoed on Dec. 1, 2009, when Americas ambassador to Germany publicly declared that Germany is Washingtons most important ally. We need strong partnersand nowhere are there better or more committed partners than in Europe. And Germany is the centerpiece of the European Union, he said. Many American leaders have encouraged Europe, particularly Germany, to take a stronger leadership role in the world; even President Barack Obama urged Europeans to assume the burdens of global leadership. America thoroughly trusts Europe and sees the relationship as mutually beneficial. Europe, however, has a different view.

a more balanced relationship

When the European commissioner for external affairs said, upon President Obamas inauguration, that he

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anticipated a more balanced relationship between Europe and America, he meant balanced in favor of more European power and less American power. As the Plain Truth suggested would happen, the EUs antipathy toward America became plain in the shadow of the global economic meltdown. Europe blames the AngloAmerican economic model for the crisis. It has taken draconian steps to smother New Yorks and Londons financial leadership through burdensome regulation in an effort to shift the worlds financial center to Brussels/Berlin. It has seized the lead as the worlds number-one financial regulator. It has exacted harsh penalties on giant American companies including Intel, Google and Microsoft, forcing American firms to play by Europes rules. As a direct consequence of the economic crash, all G-20 nations have of the free democracies of the U.S., Britain, Canada and the democracies of Western Europe from the forces of tyranny. Now it is becoming ever more linked with the EU in pursuing that empires strongly Romish/Teutonic objectives. nato is scheduled to draft a new Strategic Concepta new reason for beingin 2010. It is certain to reflect a stronger than ever symbiosis with the strategic military goals of the German High Command under the cloak of the Western European Union.

a nuclear power?

An additional grave concern is the fact that, under the auspices of nato, the U.S. has about 200 B61 nuclear gravity bombs stored in European countries. Is it possible natos new Strategic Concept could include strictures that place Americas nuclear bombs in the hands of the EU? As Europe cannibalizes nato, dont be surprised if it cannibalizes these nuclear weapons as well! What did Mr. Armstrong say about this prospect? He was well aware of the weapons of mass destruction America had stored in Plain truth, february 1956 Europe. You may be sure the West Eurosigned up to permit the EU-controlled Financial Stability pean leaders are conferring hurriedly and secretly about how and how soon they may unite and provide a united Board to regulate their economies. America has subjected European military force so they can defend themselves! itself to Europes economic rule. It has placed enormous Mr. Armstrong wrote in the April 1980 Plain Truth. And faith in Europes beneficence and sense of fair play. so they will no longer have to give in meekly to Russia! Where is this leading? Again lets turn to the prophetiAnd who will they blame for their humiliation and their cally guided forecasting of Mr. Armstrongs Plain Truth for necessity now to have a united Europe, with a united the startling answer! government, a common currency, and a common military force as great or greater than either the ussr or the usa? They will blame the United States! And when they are strong taKing over nato enough to assert themselves, they will first attack Britain for Read what was published in the March 1974 Plain Truth: standing firm with the U.S., and then they will return a lot European antagonism toward the United States and its of hydrogen bombs the U.S. has stored now in Europe! policies is now in the open. The next few years will bring forth more misunderstanding, conflicts of interest and, at That, shockingly, is the ultimate fate of the Americantimes, outright hostility between the United States and European relationship! Europe. Europeincluding [then] West Germanywill To have the Americans cajole Germany into accepting have to build its own unified armed forces, including nuclear combat roles outside of its borders is tantamount to havweapons. Religious as well as political forces will play a ing that nations old enemies invite the Germans to take key role in the future. up arms in anger yet again. As Mr. Armstrong prophesied, Though these misunderstandings, conflicts of interwhen they do, ultimately the Germans will say to their est and outright hostility may at times be obscured Anglo-Saxon enemies, You made us do it! by Americas prophesied desperation to become lovers The EU is growing more independent of the U.S. and with Europe, this is the inescapable underlying reality. is strengthening its position as a world power, just as the This is now happening! Plain Truth prophesied. The growing rift between the U.S. The trend that began with the Balkan warsthat of and the EU is tipping the power balance decisively in Europe increasingly co-opting American power via nato Europesparticularly Germanysfavor. This should stir to serve its own interestscontinues. Thanks to Eurothe deepest alarm within Americas leaders, if they only pean machinations, nato has metamorphosed radically knew where it was leading! They ignore Mr. Armstrongs from its form at its creation as a protector and defender warnings at their peril.

you mAy be sure tHe west europeAn leAders Are conFerring Hurriedly And secretly About How And How soon tHey mAy unite And provide A united europeAn militAry Force so tHey cAn deFend tHemselves!

suez

Hong Kong

pAnAmA

good Hope

35 fAlKlAnds

Changing of the guard

P
rior to World War ii, Britain and the United States controlled every major sea gate in the world. These gates, as they are called in the Bible, proved indispensable to Allied success during World War ii. Since that time, however, the U.S. and Britain have, without a fight, surrendered their control as gatekeepers. Herbert W. Armstrong listed a few of the most strategic passageways in the October 1954 Plain Truth: Gibraltar, Suez, Singapore and the Panama Canal. The United States and Britain gained control of these and many others after about a.d. 1800 because of the unconditional birthright promises God made to Abrahams seed. One of the blessings promised modern-day Israel (the U.S. and Britain primarily) was controlling the gates of their enemies (Genesis 22:17; 24:60). The fact that our peoples acquired these geographic gateways itself proves our biblical identity. We must be modern Israel, Mr. Armstrong wrote. Further proof can be found in the fact that our peoples have since lost control of those passageways. This is what God said would happen. Mr. Armstrong wrote in 1980, As the pride of our power continues to be broken, as the British continue to lose their foreign sea gates and possessions around the Earth, as America signs away ownership of the Panama Canalcontrol over this vital sea gate this focal prophecy alone represents giant proof as to where the modern remnant of the peoples of Israel resides today! (The United States and Britain in Prophecy). For this reasonbecause Mr. Armstrong knew the Bible prophesied of the latter-day rise and fall of the American and British peoplesthe Plain Truth was able to predict the loss of several sea gates well in advance of their occurrence.

mAltA

cypRus

the decline of u.s.-british control over the worlds sea gates

concern for Great Britain. He said the British Empire had attained greatness largely because of its vast shipping by sea. If Nasser now can take over and retain Suez, Britains lifeline is severed. In effect, Mr. Armstrong was saying it would signal the end of the British Empire. To allow the canal to become the complete property of Egypt, with all rights of control, operation and management in Nassers power, Mr. Armstrong wrote, would only give this upstart dictator a weapon by which he could sever the very lifeline of the British Commonwealth of Nations. The Suez Canal is one of the major factors in [Britain and Americas] growth to economic power and national greatness never before equaled by any nation. Nearly three months after that article was written, on October 31, British and French forces invaded Egypt for the express purpose of gaining control of the Suez sea gate. Egypt retaliated by sinking 40 ships in the canal. The United Nations, led by the U.S., intervened in November to arrange a trucewhich amounted to little more than a British defeat. British forces withdrew by the end of the year. Let us return to the article Mr. Armstrong wrote on Aug. 5, 1956, months before the conflict was resolved. He said, The probable outcome of this Suez controversy not specifically or directly prophesied in the Bibleis that Britain has lost control of Suez for the rest of this age, and will not be able to gain it back. He was right. Britain never regained control of the Suez. The strategic waterway remains under Egyptian ownership and operation. He was also correct to say the clash was of life and death import for Britains empire. Ten years after the Suez crisis, on July 31, 1966, the British Colonial Office in London shut down. The British Empire was officially dead.

the suez crisis

On July 26, 1956, President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt took a calculated gamble and seized control of the Suez Canal from the British. Two weeks later, on August 5, Mr. Armstrong wrote an article for the September 1956 Plain Truth. In it, he said the Suez crisis was of life-and-death

singapore
A year before the Colonial Office closure sounded the empires death knell, Singapore withdrew from the

PaRt tWo anglo-ameRiCa

British-backed Malaysian Federation to declare independence. The Plain Truth told its readers in the October 1965 issue that this was yet another British defeat. Britain had acquired this little island gateway linking the Indian Ocean to the Far East in an 1824 treaty. It had prospered under colonial rule, benefiting the British strategically, and thousands of Chinese and Malay immigrants who flocked there for higher wages. Aside from its vital importance during World War ii, the island enclave enabled the British to keep peace on the Malay Peninsula after the war. By 1960, the British had finally crushed repeated Communist attempts to conquer the island. Just a few years later, however, they surrendered Singapore without a fuss. Maintaining the security of a vast area of the world is tragically no longer deemed important to many, the Plain Truth wrote in March 1969. The British are voluntarily giving up one of the worlds most strategic gates. The Plain Truth was also right about who would fill the power void left in the Canal Zone: Andirony of ironieswe could even see engineers, pilots and technicians from the Communist world manning the canal jobs vacated by Americans! (July 1977). That all of these predictions have now happened is astonishing. The U.S. did pull out without a fightin utter ignominy. Communists did fill many jobs vacated by Americans. As we reported in the Trumpet in 2000, a Hong Kong-based port-facilities company, with Communist connections in Beijing, gained control of the canals ports of entry and exit. In our January 2000 issue, we reminded our readers about what we have said all along about why the United States lost its most strategic sea gate: God has broken the pride in our power. That is why our people are not stirred by what is happening in Panama. Something is terribly wrong with us! We are afraid to use the power God gave us. How long must God curse us before we awaken? That is the big question each one of us must answer.

AmericA, beFore tHis is All over, is going to lose tHe pAnAmA cAnAl unless it repents.
Plain truth, march 1964

gibraltar
Of the four major sea gates Mr. Armstrong mentioned in the October 1954 Plain Truth, only Gibraltar has yet to be handed over. But that will happen soon. Already, Britain has seen its hold on the rocky fortress loosen. If it were expedient, politically or otherwise, Britain would most probably relinquish Gibraltar, the Plain Truth declared in September 1974. In August 1982, the Plain Truth predicted, In the long run, the British government fully intends to negotiate away Gibraltar. True enough, in June 1985, the Plain Truth told readers about an agreement forged between Britain and Spain where the British agreed to tackle the question of sovereignty in Gibraltar. For us, this really opens a process of decolonizing the Rock, the Spanish Foreign Ministry said. The Trumpet continued to follow this story throughout the 1990s. In December 1997, we told readers the British would hand over this mighty Mediterranean sea gate without so much as a whimper! This article concluded, The fact is that Britain has no objection in principle to handing Gibraltar over to Spain, providing this is acceptable to the majority of the Rocks inhabitants. In other wordsit is just a matter of time. At this juncture, the majority of those living on the Rock wish to remain under British rule, but the Spanish are increasingly emboldened. In May 2009, for example, Royal Navy warships had to force an armed Spanish ship to retreat from British territorial waters surrounding Gibraltar after Spain illegally began sending boarding parties to inspect British fishing vessels. The incident came after the European Commission approved a Spanish application to mark the waters around Gibraltar as a Spanish site under EU nature legislation.

the panama canal

Going, Going read one newspaper headline on Dec. 3, 1999, in reference to Americas handover of the Panama Canal. Twenty-four years earlier, the Plain Truth ran this headline about the canal: Going Going Gone? (April 5, 1975). The article declared, Mark my word: The canal will goif not soon, eventually. That was two years before Jimmy Carter signed the controversial treaty with Panama promising U.S. withdrawal by centurys end. Actually, as early as March 1964, the Plain Truth had warned, America, before this is all over, is going to lose the Panama Canal unless it repents. Again, in November 1965: The United States has done nothing but hedge, crawl, dodge, yield, relinquish, back down and give up ever since we began to build [the canal]! Knowing God had broken the pride of Americas power, the Plain Truth then asked, Can God keep His word? Has He the power to interfere in the course of nations to break our power? Will God make good on His divine promise of punishment upon our peoples? The answer is a thundering yes! It then predicted, with confidence, in 1965, History proves we will lose the canal. It correctly foretold how it would happen: Panama is destined to gosooner or later. But not in glorious and heroic defeat after faithful resistancebut in utter ignominy. In useless and helpless sacrificein disgrace and shame.

37
Spanish combativeness will increase, and, as the Trumpet article stated, we can watch for Britains grip on Gibraltar to continue to slip. Kirchner stated that her nations claim to the islands was inalienable. Vice President Julio Cobos spelled out what Buenos Aires had in mind: We must recover this territory that is ours, that belongs to us. The following year, a Falkland Islands government official indicated what one of its methods would be. Mike Summers said Argentina was trying to force the Falklands to accept claims of Argentine sovereignty through economic war. A spokesman for Argentinas Foreign Ministry said the measures, affecting the Falklands fishing and other industries, would remain in place until Britain agreed to enter into talks on Argentinas claim of sovereignty over the islands. Like Gibraltar, the Falklands days under British rule are numbered. We could go on. But the point is this: During the last half of the 20th century, the United States and Britain were stripped of almost every critical sea gate in the world. Herbert Armstrong prophesied of these losses because he used the Bible as his guide to understand world events. For that reason, we turn to him to see where this is all leading. The sun has already set on the British Empire, he wrote in the Plain Truth nearly half a century ago. And because the U.S. came to power a little later than Britain, its setting sun is just behind Britains. But both nations have long since lost the pride they once had in their power. God said this would happen because of their rampant sin and rebellion against His law. For that reason, as Mr. Armstrong concluded in the September 1966 Plain Truth, Midnight is fast approaching.

other significant losses

Besides the four major sea gates Mr. Armstrong said America and Britain would lose, many others have also been surrendered. Chief among these is Hong Kong. Without a struggle, the British gifted this South China Sea prize to Communist rule in 1997. In Hong Kong, China not only inherited one of the worlds richest trade centers, it also took over the $380 million naval base built by the British. Never before has so much, used by so many, gone for so little, declared a member of Britains Ministry of Defense. With the end of British rule in Hong Kong, the Trumpet wrote, we see the final act performed in the closure of an empirea God-given empireand the hastening of the fulfillment of the prophesied curses upon a spoiled and ungrateful nation, the British people (June 1997). South Africa was another proud possession of the British Empire, controlling the waterway around the southern tip of Africa. But the expulsion of South Africa from the commonwealth in 1961 ended British influence over the Cape of Good Hope. The island of Malta is yet another strategic outpost surrendered by Britain. It was vital to British success in the Mediterranean during World War ii. In 1964, however, Britain granted the Maltese political independence. In 1979, the last remaining British troops withdrew from the island, prompting Maltas prime minister to declare it their Day of Freedom. Commenting on the loss of Malta and its Mediterranean island neighbor, Cyprus, the Plain Truth said, British sea power has now virtually disappeared from the Mediterranean, once called a British lake (September 1979). Even the lone sea gate victory over the past 50 years did not come without embarrassment. In April 1982, Argentina temporarily seized control of the Falkland Islands from Britain. Located 250 miles off Argentinas southern coast, this sea gate gives Britain control of the Straits of Magellan. While the British response to the insurrection overwhelmed the Argentines, it was by no means easy. Argentina downed 34 British aircraft and sank six shipskilling 236. That Argentina would even challenge Britain showed just how much damage had been done to Britains image in previous sea gate handovers. More recently, Argentina has renewed its efforts to force Britain to yield control of the Falklands. In 2006, Argentine President Nestor Kirchner warned Britain of a drastic change in Argentinas efforts to gain sovereignty over the islands, launching a parliamentary commission to press the countrys claims. In 2008, in a speech marking the 26th anniversary of Argentinas failed attempt to conquer the Falklands, Argentine President Cristina

gibRAltAR

38

peacekeeping undone
the uns failures at peace were prophesied since its inception. Heres advance news of the peacekeeping power that will fill its shoes.

erbert Armstrong, termed by many an unofficial ambassador for world peace, attended the inaugural session for the United Nations in San Francisco, April 1945. Already I see the clouds of World Wariii gathering at this conference, he wrote there. I do not see peace being germinated here, but the seeds of the next war! The United Nations conference is producing nothing but strife and bickering, and is destined from its inception to end in total failure. Yet world leaders are pronouncing it the worlds last hopewith the only alternative annihilation of humanity! In a personal in the August/ September Plain Truth some 25 years later, he wrote, World War ii was the war to end all wars. The United Nations was the world peace effort to prevent further wars. What are the results after a quarter-century? There have been more than 50 wars. The UN has contributed to the shortening of four warsBUTthere is no evidence to show that the United Nations has prevented any war! In the January 1977 Plain Truth, Mr. Armstrong prophesied: For the immediate futurethe next 5, 10 or 25 yearsthe sobering revelation of Bible prophecy shows this world will go from bad to worse. World confusion, hatred, strife, warfare and terrible destruction will increase with rapid acceleration. Its the natural course to expect. Indeed, we see these forecasts verified. But notice the next paragraph!

The United Nations wont be able to bring peace. The aggressor nations and we are so gullible we never recognize them until after they plunge the world into another warwill go right on with their scheming and diabolical planning for world rule. Mr. Armstrong knew that the United Nations would notcould notbring peace to this world. How did he know? By looking into Gods Word, which reveals the nature of man. And the way of peace have they not known (Romans 3:17). He saw, through the Bible, that peace would never come on the Earth by mankind; it could only be possible by Jesus Christ, upon His return with His world-ruling government to usher in utopian peace and harmony (Revelation 20:4-6; Isaiah 2:2-4; 9:6-7; 11:1-9). So was Mr. Armstrong correct? Was heas Gods messenger of specific prophecies concerning our time todayaccurate in his predictions? Lets take a brief look at the UNs track record. The 192-nation organization has been the center of growing cynicism. Sir Anthony Parsons, British Ambassador to the UN from 1979 to 1982, declared it a disastrous failure. Jeanne Kirkpatrick, American ambassador to the UN in the early 1980s, said it was nothing more than a place for the nations to let off rhetorical steam. From the inception of the UN in 1945 until early 2010, there have been 267 warswith nearly as many people killed as died in World War ii itself! The UN was involved in 63

peacekeeping missions during that time. In the year 2009 alone, the UN maintained 17 missions, and the number of conflicts worldwide was 31 resulting in over 20 million refugees! Is the UN succeeding in keeping peace? Or have Gods prophecies, as proclaimed by Mr. Armstrong, come to pass? The United Nations has descended from a failure into a farce. Wracked by corruption, the UN appears to give important positions to the most ridiculous candidate available. In April 2007, Iran was appointed vice chairman of the Disarmament Commission, and Syria its rapporteur. Syria was also appointed vice president of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2007. China, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Zimbabwe are among the current and former members of the Human Rights Commission. Zimbabwe was elected chair of the Commission on Sustainable Development in 2007. Libya won a seat on the Security Council for a two-year stint beginning in 2008, taking over the rotating presidency of the Council for the month of January that year. The list could go on. The UN has become an acceptable forum for anti-Israel and anti-American rhetoric. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for example, spoke to the UN General Assembly in September 2009, railing against Israel and the United States. The UN simply is being used by enemies of the West to marginalize Americas

39
influence on the world scene. Then there are the scandals. In what is possibly the biggest con job in the history of mankind, the UNs ineptitude reached its peak with the scandal involving the oil-forfood program that amounted to billions of dollars in graft and corruption at the highest levels of the organization. Iraqi Dictator Saddam Hussein pocketed between $10 billion and $40 billion under cover of the program, which ran from 1996 to 2003. Far more sickening, the good intentions Congo sex scandal, first An early un meeting, uncovered in February san Francisco, April 1945 2004, continued for over a year even after UN officials knew of allegations that mission in Somaliland in 1994. Japan their peacekeepers had raped chilmade its first overseas deployments, dren as young as 12 and committed to Cambodia and Mozambique, under numerous other sex crimes. There the banner of the UN in 1992 and were over 150 accusations of rape, 1993. Once these taboos were broken, child abuse, solicitation and other with the UNs help, it became easier sexual crimes70 in the town of for both Japan and Germany to send Bunia alone. Hundreds of images of their troops around the worldto child pornography involving Conthe point that both nations have now golese children were found on the turned their militaries loose outside of laptop of a French UN civilian work- UN missions. ing in Goma. Then in 2007, news The UN has been a useful cover, emerged that millions of dollars that especially for the German Army. were meant to go to UN developGerman troops are dotted throughment projects in North Korea had out Africa on UN and nato missions. been siphoned off by Kim Jong-Il. In 2006, the German Navy made its UN peacekeeping missions have first official foray into Middle Eastern been worse than useless. Not only waters since World War ii, as Gerhave they utterly failed in many many took command of the maritime cases, but at times they have made component of the UN Interim Force matters worse. In 2000, UN forces in Lebanon, allowing it to park its actually cooperated with Hezbollah ships right off Israels coast. on the Lebanon-Israel border in the Far from promoting peace, the UN kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers. is allowing nations with a history of These peacekeeping missions have aggression to spread their militaries also allowed Germany and Japan to around the world. Time will prove break the taboo of deploying troops this to be a tragic mistake. overseas in an acceptable manner. GerThe UN was billed as mans last manys first deployment overseas since hope for peace. Now, as Mr. ArmWorld War ii was in a UN-mandated strong wrote in his 1966 booklet The

Wonderful World TomorrowWhat It Will be Like, Man has failed his last chance! Rather than preventing World War iii, the UN has posted German troops right on the doorstep of Israel. As noted elsewhere in this booklet, it is the German invasion of the Middle East that will mark the beginning of World War iii. Instead of preventing catastrophe, the UN is helping bring it about. Mankind really does not know the way to peace. Does that mean all is lost? No. Now God must step inor we perish! wrote Mr. Armstrong. That is mankinds real hope for peace. The failed efforts of the UN to bring peace in the world will be replaced ultimately by the return of Jesus Christthe Prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6). He will rule the entire Earth, uniting all nations in His way of prosperity! That is mans only hope for peace. That has been prophesied in the Bible. Mr. Armstrong restated it for many to hear. The Trumpet prophesies the same so even more can hear it. And very shortly, that prophecy will thankfully come to pass!

tHe middle eAst

part three

41

once and Future battlefield

remember these bold predictions about the worlds most unpredictable hotspot.
ow could anyone predict what will happen in an area as unpredictable as the Middle East? For decadeseven millenniathat region has been chaotic with change. Empires have crumbled, boundaries been drawn and redrawn, governments been toppled, whole populations been dispossessed. Isnt it crazy to presume to foresee what lies down the road for this region? Yet, for over 70 years, first the Plain Truth and then the Trumpet have done just thatwith astonishing accuracy. These writers were there to report, analyze, comment, prophesy and warn about what wouldand yet will happen in the volatile Middle East. How? By using the Bible as their guide. About the Middle East, the Bible is absolutely clear on certain facts of prophecy. Herbert W. Armstrong was emphatic in pointing these outsome of which have already occurred. On other points, he and the other writers based their assessments and projections on the principles laid out in prophecy. Many of these were also quite accurate. Time is bringing such specifics into clearer focus; events that the Trumpet has reported on in the last two decades have brought even more detail to our understanding of how prophecy will play out in the Middle East. (To learn about the Trumpets legacy of prophecy in the Middle East, request a copy of our February 2010 issue.) Lets give you some of these remarkable statements, and couple them with their subsequent fulfillment in current events.

jews taKe jerusalem

A prophecy in Zechariah 12:2 reads, Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. The Jewish translation renders the latter part of that verse, And upon Judah also shall it fall to be in the siege against Jerusalem. In May of 1963, the Plain Truth made this interesting

statement: Old Jerusalem is today almost entirely in the hands of the Kingdom of Jordan. But this prophecy unveils a struggle for the possession of Jerusalem by Judahthe Jews. Also, Zechariah 14:2 indicates that half of Jerusalem would be conquered just before Christ returns; that means the Jews would have to control the whole city prior to that time. Based on these and other scriptures, the Plain Truth staff believed the Jews were prophesied to take over the entire Old City of Jerusalem. On May 1, 1967, Mr. Armstrong was returning from a trip to Amman and Jerusalem, speaking to an assembly at the Ambassador College campus in England. In that tape-recorded address, he said: Any day, now, you may expect the Israelis of the country that calls itself Israel to flood over with a military invasion into the Jordanian half of the divided city of Jerusalem. Once the Israelis do take over the Jordan sector of Jerusalem, instantly the United Nations and the major individual powers, the United States, ussr, Britain, France, probably will stop further occupation of Arab countries by the Jews. But the Jews will undoubtedly be allowed to hold the Old City of Jerusalem (emphasis ours throughout). Just five weeks later, the Middle East exploded in war, just as Mr. Armstrong prophesied. Israel went on the attack and for six days pushed back its frontiers in virtually every directionalso taking over Jerusalem. It was a stunning defeat for the neighboring Arab countries, ending in a ceasefire. However, it was not to be a permanent peace. The July 1967 Plain Truth reported, Here on the spot in Jerusalem, a few days after the ceasefire, no one worries about another war. Israelis are exuberant, confident, proud. But notice the statement that followed: The air is filled with tense excitementthe Jews expect great events to occur soon. And indeed they will but not the way the world expects! While the Jews anticipated a more stable future on the heels of their victory, the Plain Truth foretold otherwise.

PaRt thRee the middle east the peace process

WAnting WAR Even at that early date, these iranians, both in the streets and were the Plain Truths specific in tehrans halls of power, desire predictions about the afterto destroy the great satan. math of the 1967 war: First, Israel will very likely give back some territory. That is, Israel will use conquered land she does not really desire in order to bargain for benefits she dearly wants (ibid.). There followed postulations about specific parcels Israel would return: the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, captured Syrian territory except for the Golan Heights. However, the Heights itself, and the West Bank area, Plain Truth writers felt, would likely remain in Israels hands. The bargaining for peace predicted by this article began 11 years later, with the 1978 Camp David Accord. Israel gave the Sinai back to Egypt in exchange for a promise of peace. That was the first time Israel tried to negotiate for security rather than fighting to secure it. Here is Gerald Flurrys analysis of that transtoday? Giving the Sinai back to Egypt is at the heart of action, printed in the November 1996 Trumpet: When their problems! If God were to give me the Sinai, I would the Jews gave the Sinai back to Egypt, that probably never give it back unless God commanded itwhich, Im included Mt. Sinai, where God gave the Ten Commandquite sure, He never would. The whole world could not ments to Moses. This fiery mountain spectacle gave birth influence or force me to do so. to the nation of Israel! Those three nations are looking to men for peace and The United States and Britain have both been instrunot to the great God of Mt. Sinai. Their history with God mental in pressuring Judah [modern Israel] to give the is virtually meaningless! The nations of Israel are Sinai back to Egypt, even though our ancestry was also a going to fall because of that faithlessness. part of Israel when Gods law was given on Mt. Sinai. Today, the bargaining continues, even for those areas The nations of Judah, Ephraim (Britain) and no one thought Israel would give up: Gaza, the West Manasseh (U.S.)their Bible namesare to be conquered Bank, the Golan. The hot wars that flared up several together just before Christ returns. So the Jewish nation times after Israel declared statehoodthe wars in which had to be established by God for that prophecy to be fulIsrael defended itself to win land parcels critical to its filled (Hosea 5:5). A miracle by God had to be performed. securityhave given way to this painful, protracted Why are these three nations in such serious trouble peace process, punctuated by terrorist violence, in which Israel is making territorial concessions bit by bit. This process is actually paving the way for the great events predicted by the Plain Truth in 1967! Gerald Flurry wrote in the April 1996 Trumpet about the terrifying dangers for Israel in following this land-for-peace formula. Judah is Plain truth, july 1967 afraid to get tough even in the Arab

isrAel will very likely give bAck some territory. tHAt is, isrAel will use conquered lAnd sHe does not reAlly desire in order to bArgAin For beneFits sHe deArly wAnts.

43

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joRdan
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Pe rs ia
bahRain

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n Gu lf

saudi aRabia
Re ea dS
eRitRea

qataR

u.a.e. oman

sudan

yemen

Arabian Sea

area which they control. They are fearful that the peace process will break down. What most of them dont know is that the peace process is a deadly delusion! It is a wound that is going to cause death, if they dont repent. It is like terminal cancer! Mr. Flurry stated in the same article: Through the peace process Judah has become vulnerable to the enemy, with very little freedom to strike back. Soon the whole world will see what the Arabs saw all alongthat the peace process was a wound from which Judah would never recover! (That is a reference to the wound spoken of in Hosea 5:13.) Mr. Flurry has prophesied that the peace process will break down, and that then half of Jerusalem will be taken by violence, in fulfillment of Zechariah 14:2. In the November 1996 Trumpet he wrote, When one half of Jerusalem is taken captive, [Israel] will see that it all happened as a part of the Middle East peace process. Their wound, or the peace process, primarily causes them to lose one half of Jerusalem. God tells Judah that Germany cannot heal you or cure you of your wound. Why does God say that? Because Judah got into this mess by looking to men. Now they are trying to get out of the quagmire by looking to men. [The Jews] will never find a cure or healing until they

ethioPia

somalia

middle eAst

look to God! Our readers will do well to remember these statements. Keep your eyes on that peace process as a prelude to further troubles for Israel! Scripture also tells us that when these treaties break down, the men Israel will ultimately look to are from German-led Europe.

the rise of islam

The April 1958 Plain Truth warned of Arab countries unifying as an important factor to watch in the Middle East. While the Arabs are not generally known for their unity, this article pointed to the fact that their surging pan-Arab nationalism, driven by the Islamic religion, was strong enough to draw them together. However, it predicted that their unity would never be strong. Throughout North Africa we found that the Muslim religion is making rapid progress . A divided Christianity is rapidly losing ground there . [Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser] calls on all Arabs to join with him in a common struggle against Western imperialism. Nasser is working for Muslim unity because he knows it gives him absolute power over

PaRt thRee the middle east

the economic destiny of Western Europe. But Nasser will never be able to unify the Arab world Egypt will make alliances with certain nations, but will not unite all the Arab world. The October 1963 Plain Truth also reported on Nassers efforts at Arab unity: The effect of these events on the British and American peoples is destined to be tremendous. For we are being kicked out of the Middle East. A rising tide of hate against America and Britain is being fomented by Nasser. These events are causing the great gulf of misunderstanding between our peoples and the Arab nations to grow continually larger. This misunderstandingand the Arabs hatred of Israelis a wedge being used to help create a powerful union of Arab nations which is destined to cooperate, not with either the U.S. or Russia, but with the powerful new Germany in particular and the soon-coming United Europe. This definitely spells trouble ahead for the U.S. and Britain! Arab hatred for Israel, Britain and America hasnt dissipated one iota since those words were written. And despite strong U.S. efforts to befriend Arab countries including overtures on the recognition of an independent Palestinian stateU.S. influence on the region is declining in every way. Increasingly, it is Europe that is being sought as the major outside arbiter of Mideast troubles, just as the Plain Truth said it would be. Both Israel and Arab states are calling for more European involvement. Not since the German Erwin Rommels Middle Eastern desert campaign during World War ii has Europe, particularly Germany, had the potential to be such a powerful player in the region. Despite Europes gestures toward Israel, its true partners are the Arabs. It has reached out to Arab nations through the European Neighborhood Policy and the Union for the Mediterranean. For 20 years, Europe has been negotiating a free-trade agreement between Gulf states and the EU. Already the number-one trading partner of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a union of six Gulf countries, is the EU. In international affairs, European states and their peoples regularly take the Arabs side against Israel. But Europes relations with the middle East will go far deeper than trade. As a 1963 Plain Truth article reported, the ultimate goal of both the Arab nations and the Catholic European power is the destruction of Israel. This common interest will cause some Arab nations to ally with the EU. This theme was taken up in this February 1966 Plain Truth news briefing: Even though deep-seated rivalries among themselves still exist, the Arabs are finally attempting to coordinate their military potential. The Arabs have lacked unity and leadership in their previous fiascos with the fierce-fighting Jews. This they hope to achieve with their new command set-up. It was prophesied long ago in your Bible. Today, Mideast Arab countries continue their efforts

fuRious fAitH Ayatollah Ali khamenei, supreme leader, guides irans extremist religious tenets and state sponsorship of terrorists.

to unify, though they often seem like siblings who always end up bickering over things no one else understands. Their rhetoric may be different at the bargaining tables of the various current peace processes, but the common denominator among most Arab nations remains largely their religious hatred for the Jewish presence in the region, and their continued, decades-old aim to throw Israel into the sea. Bible prophecy shows that they will eventually organize themselves into two main groups: one aligned with Iran, and one that quickly allies itself with Europe. Already the rough outlines of the two groups are visible. Iraq is moving ever closer to its Persian neighbor. With the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt seems poised to cast off its usual hostility to Iran at any moment. At the same time, Syria is moving out of Irans orbit and is calling for Europe to get more involved in the Middle East. The Bible identifies an end-time Middle Eastern power as the king of the south (Daniel 11:40)likely an international coalition of nations dominated by one in particular. Watch for Iranwhich is not Arab but Persian, yet still fueled by the furnace of radical Islamto grow in power. Based on current trends, the Trumpet strongly believes the king of the south will be radical Islam, drawing on the power of several countries and spearheaded by Iran.

45 Kingpin of the King of the south

Indications of Irans eventual supremacy among Arab nations appeared as early as 1972 in the Plain Truths January issue. An article titled Iran Today: Nation With a Mission stated, There are definite indications that Iran is setting her sights on becoming the most important and influential country in the sweeping arc of nations extending through the Middle East to the western borders of India. At the time, that goal was supported by Britain, which pumped Iran with armaments and other resources to make it the stabilizing force in a region Britain wanted to extricate itself from. But Irans leadership changed, and nowas with post-World War ii Germanythe West is finding itself facing a monster of its own making. Of Middle Eastern nations today, Iran is of most chilling concern for the West. Iran leads the region in sponsoring terrorist activities, in subverting efforts at peace, and in stockpiling and building new weapons. As Iran grows ever closer to building a nuclear bomb, the U.S. shoves its head even deeper in the sand. Routinely trying to deceive international observers, and in defiance of international pressure, over a period of years Iran has steadily improved its capability to enrich uranium, all the while insisting that it would only serve peaceful civilian purposes. But in December 2009, secret Iranian documents revealed that, at least since early 2007, Tehran had been working on a neutron initiatorthe trigger needed to detonate a nuclear bomb. Additionally, the rhetoric coming out of Iran has been far from peaceful. In 2005, the ultraconservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power. Irans president has some very dangerous ideas. This man, who wishes for the extermination of the Jewish state and is seeking a nuclear arsenal, is a staunch adherent to the mahdaviat, which is belief in and efforts to prepare for the Mahdispeaking of his Shia sects messianic figure (Encyclopedia of Islam). This belief tells him that he must facilitate the return of the Mahdi by challenging America and the West and strengthening Islamic power on the world scene. This is what he bases his political decisions on. As far back as 1955, when communism was spreading its tentacles into the Middle East just as Britain and America were pulling out, Mr. Armstrong wrote in the November/December Plain Truth: The 11th chapter of Daniel shows the city of Jerusalem will finally be captured by a revival of the power of fascism in Europenot by a Communist invasion of Palestine! Thus, again, while the rest of the world was looking at the dangers of a spreading communism, Mr. Armstrong knew the real area to watch was elsewhere. He continued, It will be a fascist revival of a church and state uniona United States of Europethat will attempt to establish the palace and capital there . It is Europe that the Plain Truth warned aboutspecifically Europes intervention in the Middle East, where it will first expose itself as a brutal imperialist power! Germanled Europe will be the king of the north. As time went on from 1955, one probable reason for this yet-future conflict began to come into view: oil.

tHe city oF JerusAlem will FinAlly be cAptured by A revivAl oF tHe power oF FAscism in europenot by A communist invAsion oF pAlestine!
Plain truth, november/december 1955 The Trumpet still stands behind this statement from the February 1966 Plain Truth: Before the mounting crisis in the Middle East is over, all major nations of the Earth will be embroiled [speaking of the battle of Armageddon, Zechariah 14:1-2]. Why will they be there? One major reason is oil. Western Europes economy is absolutely dependent upon these reserves. So is that of Japan. Any major disruption of this oil supplysuch as an all-out Arab-Israel warwould bring intervention. As of 2008, 40 percent of the EUs crude oil imports came from opec countries. These countries could try to push Europe by choking off that vital oil supply. That would certainly move Europe to swift retaliation. Even in July of 1971, the Plain Truth put forth this possibility by reporting that instability in the oil-rich region had sparked new calls for Europe to assume a greater role in the Middle East, including the peaceful settlement of the Arab-Israeli confrontation. Europe, and particularly the Common Market, is certain to increase its involvement in the area. Today, Europes involvement in the region includes the peace process and even extends to troop deployments. In late 2006, the German Navy took command of the maritime component of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, tasked by the Security Council to secure the Lebanese coastline. Other European states are part of a multinational task force acting as a buffer between Israel and southern Lebanon. Germany has soldiers deployed in natos operations in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Germany

the King of the north

Will this Iranian-led coalition succeed? Did the Plain Truth make any predictions about that? Yessure predictions based on the prophecy of Daniel 11:40-41. Those verses say this king of the south will push at another power called the king of the north. That will precipitate a crushing attack by that northern power, which will overthrow many Middle Eastern countries, including the glorious landIsrael, with Jerusalem. That prophecy shows the massive inferiority of the Islamic power to this king of the north, which we should be able to witness in development today. So who is this king of the north?

PaRt thRee the middle east

has also played an important jeRusAlem tHen back-channel role, negotiating the second assault on the Holy city, on Israels behalf for soldiers where catholic crusaders and muslims kidnapped by Hezbollah and slaughtered each other en masse. Hamas. In January 2004, for example, it brokered the swap of more than 400 Arab prisoners for an Israeli businessman and the bodies of three soldiers. Germany and Israel have held joint cabinet meetings and have agreed to hold many more. Israel regards Germany as one of its closest and most important allies. Europeand especially Germanyis showing itself willing to be a Mideast peacekeeper, and is in many ways actually taking over from the U.S. as the Western mediator. Regarding the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israeli Prof. Naomi Chazan stated, The U.S. without a doubt has played in the past and continues to play a lead role in determining the terms and the pace of progress toward resolution of the conflict. It is not, however, the only player. Increasingly Europe, for many years content to take a back seat to Washington, is becoming a more vocal political (as well as economic and security) actor (Jerusalem Post, Dec. 24, 2009). jerusalem: catholic capital This is exactly what Mr. Armstrong prophesied. There is an important reason, beyond oil, for Europes One of the EUs first acts after it enacted the Lisbon keen interest in Middle Eastern affairs, and especially the Treaty on Dec. 1, 2009, was to produce a statement affairs of the Jewish state. As you might have come to calling for the division of Jerusalem. Europes leaders expect, Herbert Armstrong and the Plain Truth discussed said Jerusalem should be split between Israel and a new Palestinian state that has East Jerusalem as its capital. The this reason too. Using prophecies, particularly those involving the same month, the terrorist group Hamas claimed that it had been meeting secretly with high-ranking EU officials, abomination of desolation (look at Matthew 24:15 in conjunction with Luke 21:20), Mr. Armstrong explained breaking the EUs promise in 2006 that it would not that there is another likely reason for the final clash engage in talks with Hamas. between the kings of the south and north. The May 1963 Despite all the signs indicating Europes pro-Arab bent, Israel too seems quite willing to rely on Europe for support Plain Truth reported, Meanwhile, the Roman Catholic Church has entered the picture. During the first sessions in constructing regional peace. Under President Barack Obama, the U.S. is ditching Israel, pushing the Jewish state of the Second Vatican Council the question of peace in the Middle East came under discussion. A tentative sugto rely more on Europe for help. The Bible prophesies that gestion was the re-establishment, under papal jurisdiction, Israel will ultimately call on Europe to make peace in the of the kingdom of Jerusalem. Middle East when all other options fail. That will be the In the Middle Ages the Crusaders established in biggest mistake it will ever make. You can read more about Palestine a Catholic kingdom of Jerusalem. Then it was to this in our free booklet Jerusalem in Prophecy.

47
jeRusAlem noW the wailing wall and the dome of the rock, at the center of a city drenched in bloody history and headed for more.

recover Palestine from the Mohammedan infidel. Today it would be establishedso goes the suggestionto keep the peace in the Middle East. Mr. Armstrong believed that Europe, under the influence of the Catholic Church, would take a greater and greater interest in Jerusalem. Mr. Flurry has since built on this theme. In the November 1996 Trumpet, he wrote: Even though Germany cannot help the Jews, the Germans do get involved in Jerusalem. The Catholic Church is going to unite and then guide the European Union, or the king of the northwith Germany as the real power behind it. The Catholic Church also has a great interest in Jerusalem. Christianity, Judaism and the Muslim religion all have an intense interest in Jerusalem. The city is the secondmost holy site to the Arabs. It is the most holy city for the Jews. Christians consider it their first or second holiest city. In the end, it is going to bring disaster to all three religions. Many leaders today are asking for Jerusalem to be made into an international city. Are the Jews about to invite a peacekeeping force in? Is [the push of Daniel

11:40] going to be over Jerusalem? It is probably going to involve oil. But the clash appears to be over Jerusalem. Jerusalem is constantly making the headlines in the festering Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As both Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Flurry have forecast, watch for Europe and the Catholic Church to take an intense interest in the situation. Future events in the Middle East can be foretold. In fact, all those who do not understand in advance what is to happen there will be dismayed as it explodes in a conflagration that will envelop the whole world! Not one person on Earth will be able to ignore the situation for much longer. You are witnessing in embryonic stages the dramatic fulfillment of these events prophesied for thousands of years in your Bible! For seven decades the Plain Truth and Trumpet have showcased and broadcast the absolute currency of these prophecies. Are those prophecies the world has already seen fulfilled enough to convince you to take those yet to occur seriously? How much more do you need to see before you will believeand act uponGods clear prophetic vision?

liKe tHe oceAn russia and china can and have deployed what no other military can: lethal, endless waves of humanity.

AsiA

part four

49

the kings ofthe east

more Plain Truth predictions in early stages of fulfillment: russia will soon join forces with east Asia, forming a gargantuan superpower such as the world has never seen.

he Cold War was a time of fear. As people languished under Communist tyranny behind the Iron Curtain, two superpowers built up elaborate space and missile programs that threatened human civilization with nuclear extinction. For more than four decades, the world remained transfixed by the American-Soviet standoff. By the 1980s, the arms race had inspired dread over the possibility of nuclear winter and global overkill. No one seemed to have an answer for the perplexing Cold War problems. No one, that is, besides one exceptional news forecaster. Amid the cacophony of news reports that emerged throughout that era, that lone voice cried out: Russia will not attack America! Herbert W. Armstrong repeatedly declaredyears ahead of the Soviet Unions fallthat the ussr was not the power to fear. The real power to watch, according to him, would be a 10-nation United States of Europe that would form in the years ahead. He said Russia would remain a threat to the worldjust not in the way most Westerners thought. Russia would combine economically and militarily with China, he prophesied, to eventually form a gargantuan Asian superpower such as the world has never seen. Even before World War ii broke out, Mr. Armstrong could foresee the emergence of these two superpowers. In the June/July 1934 Plain Truth, he proclaimed, Scripture prophesies two great military powers to arise in the last daysone the revival of the Roman Empire by a federation of 10 nations in the territory of the ancient Roman Empire; the other Russia, with her allies possibly China or Japan (emphasis ours throughout). Not many, however, listened to his predictions. Many

chortled at statements such as this, which appeared in the December 1956 Plain Truth: We have been warning that it is not Russia which will conquer usit is not Russia which will master Europe it is a union of 10 fascist nations in Europe which will become a third power in the world and rise up to conquer the democracies of Northwest Europe and America! Remember: That statement was printed at the height of the Cold War!

communist oppression in eAstern europe is being overtHrown. we HAve sHown yeArs in AdvAnce wHAt would HAppen to russiAs ill-FAted empire in eAstern europe.
Plain truth, december 1956 During the public uncertainty over the Berlin Crisis of 1961 and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, the Plain Truth categorically declared that the U.S. need not fear the Soviet Union. The Russians would back down, or give in on almost any point that has arisen, rather than go to war with America (October 1962). Mr. Armstrong continued to provide clear projections regarding major world events until his death on Jan. 16, 1986. Still, not many believed him. Yet, a few short years after he died, the ussr collapsed and the Iron Curtain rusted away. Suddenly, the evil empire lost its foothold in Eastern Europe and the Communist threat to America indeed seemed to diminish. The Cold War was over. In addition, a reunited Germany appearedjust as Mr. Armstrong had declared! In the years since, Mr. Armstrongs prophecies have come even more vividly to life. Increasingly we see events

PaRt FouR asia

Finland

leading toward the fulfillment of what he said would happen, based on the sure word of biblical prophecy. A giant Asian superpower, with a modernized Russia and China at the helm, will dramatically affect the course of history. This emerging power bloca conglomerate of peoples that comprise one fourth of the worlds populationwill be deeply involved in the tumultuous tide of events that will lead to the conclusion of mankinds 6,000 years of self-rule! From time to time, news commentatorsin describing the coming catastrophic military struggle for world controluse the biblical expression Armageddon found in Revelation 16:16. But what they do not mention is a striking prophecy about Armageddon found in Revelation 16:12. In this verse we read that the way of the kings of the east is to be prepared! (Plain Truth, December 1962). Who are these kings of the east? Their identities are critical for us to understand if we are to know where modern nations fit in biblical prophecy. Your Biblemainly in the books of Genesis, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Revelationidentifies these leaders or nations as Meshech, Tubal, Gog and Magog. Mr. Armstrong pointed out that There is general agreement among students of prophecy that Gog in the land of Magog is the vast regions of northern Eurasia extending from the Baltic to the Pacific. Meshech is Moscow, Tubal is Tobolsk. The Bible margin says Prince of Rosh, which is Russia (Plain Truth, April 1981). Historically, relations between these countries have been rockyespecially between Russia and China. For centuries, these two nations have vacillated between conflict and cooperation. In recent years, these two neighbors have been forging a closer bondfor several reasons. (For further explanation, please request our free booklet Russia and China in Prophecy.)

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Arabian Sea

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Bay of Bengal Indian Ocean

eastern europes breaKaway

One of the significant occurrences Mr. Armstrong said would enable the building of this Asian bloc was the slipping of Eastern Europe from the ussrs gripan event that has happened since 1989. As early as April 1952, even while West Germany was rebuilding after being bombed to ashes in World Warii, the Plain Truth wrote, Russia may give East Germany back to the Germans and will be forced to relinquish her control over Hungary, Czechoslovakia and parts of Austria to complete the 10-nation union. Notice what Mr. Armstrong wrote in a booklet first published in 1955over 4 decades before Eastern Europe split from the ussr: Some of the Balkan nations are going to tear away from behind the Iron Curtain. Russia has lost already, to all appearances, Titos Yugoslavia. Russia probably will lose still more of her Eastern European satellites. Not many would have believed that statement then, or this Plain Truth report the following year: Communist

AsiA
oppression in Eastern Europe is being overthrown. We have shown years in advance what would happen to Russias ill-fated empire in Eastern Europe. These prophecies have been in your Bible for the past 1,900 years. But the world, and the churches of this world, have refused to believe them (December 1956). Mr. Armstrong once suspected that Eastern Europes breakaway would happen sooner than it did. These events were forestalled a little longer than he (and everyone else) expected. As wise Solomon said millennia ago, To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Conditions werent quite ripe during the mid-1950s. In January 1957, Mr. Armstrong wrote, When the right psychological moment arrives, a number of these nations will break away from Moscow, and the world will then be

51
nations away from the Soviet sphere of influence. Now we can see that many of the Eastern European nations did in fact escape the clutches of Soviet Russia! These countries include the Czech Republic, the former East Germany, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and the states that once comprised Yugoslavia. Each of these is already a part of the European Union. Throughout the Cold War, Mr. Armstrongs insights were correct! Why is the loss of these Eastern European nations significant? Because it drastically weakens the western border defenses of Russia. Russia has learned, having thrice suffered European invasion through Poland in two centuries, that it needs a strong buffer against Germany on its western flank. Fearing the rise of a German-dominated empire to its west, Russia is seeking to create a buffer at the Ukraine Plain and reassert its influence in the Caspian region. It has used European dependence on Russian oil as a powerful lever in this process. It would like nothing better than to bring the former-ussr Commonwealth of Independent States (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan) back into the Communist fold. To counter EU expansion, at the same time, Russia is drawing closer to its Asian relatives.

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stunned to learn that they had previously entered into a secret pact allying themselves with Germany, Italy, Spain and other European nations in a fascist united Europe! Another most significant evidence of this trend, showing that these satellite nations are in actual fact breaking away from Moscow and turning more toward the West, is the fact that Roman Catholics in these countries are again being allowed their liberties. That right psychological moment finally arrived after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989! That prophecy has unfolded right before our eyes. Yes, the Russians believed for years that the West would try every means within its power to attract the satellite nations of Eastern Europe into its orbit. The Russians feared that West Germany, above all, would use these very means to attract some of the Balkan

central and southeast asia

Throughout the Cold War period, Russia and China continually played a game of cat and mouse. For the most part, Russia had the upper hand. China, however, began making huge gains after the Cold War. Both countries have their eyes fixed on conquering Central Asia, Indochina and Southeast Asia. Their ultimate goal, said Mr. Armstrong, is not just frontier expansion, but world control! The Plain Truth of December 1959 revealed some of these Communist plansincluding Russia and Chinas plans to form a coalition! Russias program is not to take Europe and to attack the United States, first. The Communist program, which our leaders should know, calls first for the seizure of Asia. Lenin wrote that the way to Paris, London and New York is via [Beijing] and Delhi. [P]art of the Communist plan [is] to place India and Pakistan in a giant vice between Russia and China.

PaRt FouR asia

Red China insists it has a legal right not only to Tibet but [also] to many parts of India and Southeast Asia. Their constant dream for centuries has been ultimate world conquest! China knows, however, that in this highly industrialized age she can accomplish this dream only as an ally of Russia. China is now ready to begin devouring the rest of Asia with Russias secret military backing. The plans were laid bare in [the Korean War]. China, not Russia, intervened in Korea. Korea became divided. China, not Russia, launched attacks in Indochina and seized control of North Vietnam. Vietnam became divided. Next, the Chinese Communists took over all Tibet. From Tibet the Chinese plan conquest of India by dividing her and devouring her a piece at a time! In 1959, such a forecast of Chinas ascendancy and alliance with Russia was quite uncommon. In fact, even tHe AsiAn Kings while the United States stood at the russian strongman vladimir pinnacle of world power, the Plain putin meets with the presiTruth warned of Americas impending dent of china, Hu Jintao. international setbacks in Vietnam at the hands of China. Notice this from the November 1961 issue: Having advanced virtually one nation, born of violent hatreds between Hindu and to the brink of another Korea-type war over Laos, the Muslim. Should India build the bombs, Pakistanis would United States would almost certainly have to fight a major turn in desperation to the big powersthey would be forced battle in either Thailand or South Vietnam . In May to obtain nuclear weapons! 1968seven years before the unconditional surrender of By 1998, both India and Pakistan had tested nuclear South Vietnam to communismthe Plain Truth stated, bombs, abruptly pronouncing themselves members of the Bible prophecy reveals that not even America, with all exclusive nuclear club! of her nuclear muscle, can prevent Southeast Asia from In addition to pushing into Middle Asia, China would eventually being overrun by communism. attempt to pull some of its island neighbors into its grasp. China, with the ussrs help, continued to push into MidOn this issue, it has been the practice of Western leaders dle and Southeast Asia throughout the 1960s. In December to try to appease China through peace talksoften to no 1962, the Plain Truth reported on the Chinese-Indian border avail. The very non-politically correct Plain Truth of the conflict. [The Soviets are] supplying the Chinese with 1960s didnt mince words regarding this problem. technical know-how and letting Chinas 600 million people The Asiatic mind is totally different from the Occigobble up the rest of Asia! It is part of their propaganda dental [Western] mind. It doesnt reason in the same that these areas once were under Chinese control. manner. Try though we may to delude ourselves into The Plain Truth continued to follow Sino-Russian affin- believing our dollars, trade missions, military advisers ity throughout the next several years. In July 1966, this and arms shipments, our hospital ships, our missions, startling prediction was made: India knows Red China our food supplies are helping stem the tide of the advancis completing massive troop buildups on the Indian ing threat of communism in these Eastern nationswe border. India knows Red China has the atomic bomb, and are failing! These simple peoples are impressed with possibly the hydrogen bomb. That means, in the most strength, not talk. They feel a much closer kinship with urgent considerations of national security, India must other peoples of the Asian sphere than they do with the have the bomb! Purely as a defensive measure against Red far-away Yankees with customs, languages and religions China, of course. But then theres Pakistan [which is] so totally different from their own (November 1961).

53 russia and china today

Despite Russia and Chinas love-hate relationship in the past, there has been resurgent collaboration between the two nations since the end of the Cold War. In 1989, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev visited China to restore ties and give new impetus to settling demarcation lines that had been disputed for centuries. Further steps were taken in 1991 when Russia and China signed an official border agreement. By April 1997, China, Russia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgystan had met to sign an accord in Moscow on troop reduction and security-building measures along the 4,700-mile border between the former Soviet Union and China. Several months later, in November, a clear signal of their intent for mutual cooperation appeared: Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin signed a formal declaration putting an end to variances over the implementation of the 1991 border agreement. This act seemed to confirm that Russia and China, long vacillating between being friends and foes, were entering a new era of cooperation in strategic partnership to counter U.S. dominance. As an example, between 1991 and 1997, China spent $6 billion on Russian armaments. Another significant effort at unifying was a 1998 joint venture to design and build a nuclear power plant in China. In June 1999, the two countries signed a contract to train Chinese servicemen in Russias military schools. Sino-Russian relations further improved under the leadership of Yeltsins successor, Vladimir Putin. In July of 2001, Russia and China signed a friendship cooperation treaty. Since then, other economic and military treaties have improved trust and cooperation. The two nations held joint military exercises in 2005 and again in 2007. Many regarded these exercises, organized by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, as the symbolic emergence of a military bloc that could eventually rival nato. Trade between Russia and China blossomed in the early 1990s. In 2000, $8 billion in annual transactions took place between the two. By 2008, Russian-Chinese trade had leaped to an astounding $56.8 billion. China is now Russias largest trading partner. In fact, because economic partnerships have proven to be mutually beneficial, the prospect of filling other needs is bringing Russia and China even closer togetherespecially with respect to energy supplies. Of all nations, Russia is uniquely able and willing to provide the secure source of energy needed to power Chinas rapid industrial and economic growth. Russia has the oil, natural gas, uranium and nuclear technology needed to provide power for the billion inhabitants of Earths most populous country. It is evident that both Russian and Chinese officials are eager to form a new alliance and counter American dominance in world affairs. Sino-Russian relations have evolved out of common interests. Both share common defense concerns, which include the advance of radical Islam in and around Central Asia, expanding Western power through nato, and the prospect of taking advantage of a weakening U.S. There appears to be no alternative for these great powers. They share common philosophies economically, politically and militarilyand both have a common enemy in the West. The way that China, for decades, counterbalanced Russias presence in Asia benefited the United States geopolitically. But that equation is changing as Russia and China reach a military alliance! Both nations are reaping the benefits, realizing that their very existence depends on good relations with each other.

the future
The Plain Truth of October 1973 predicted that democratic headway into Communist Asia would eventually fail. It also stated that Russian and Chinese leaders were contemplating the formation of an alliance of socialistcommunist nations: The Communists havent suddenly changed ideologically. They havent come to believe that their system is unworkable. Neither have the Communists given up their hopes of leading the world to socialism. But they do profess that their goals can be reached by means of peaceful coexistence. God has prophesied the final outcome of the emerging Asian alliance. Using those prophecies, Herbert Armstrong and the staff writers of the Plain Truth, as well as the editorial staff of the Trumpet, have accurately forewarned of what is coming for Asia for many years. Mr. Armstrong died in 1986, but the Trumpet continues to declare that a nuclear World War iii is coming! Biblical prophecy powerfully supports Mr. Armstrongs assertion that the kings of the east will forge an even deeper relationship in the years aheadand eventually play a major part in the coming battle of Armageddon! Although America and Britain are destined to fall, we still say it is not Russia, nor a Russian-Asian conglomerate, that these nations need fear. It is Germany and the revived Holy Roman Empire! Some will still scoff even today. They say the Cold War is over and we need not fear a hot war anytime soon. But God has prophesied that our world is about to be rocked! However, our message isnt all about gloom and doom. Just beyond the perilous times that lie ahead is unbelievably good news! That is the biggest news of all! No major newsmagazine is announcing that good news. They simply do not believe it! That good news involves the gospel of the Kingdom of God. (The word gospel means good news.) This worldwide work is actively announcing the crisis at the close of this agethe crisis of which the greatest news forecaster of all times, Jesus Christ, warned in Matthew 24. We are announcing a crisis that will usher in a new and better age, when all peoples everywhere will begin to enjoy peace and prosperity under Gods divine rulership.

the Rising sun in the east

the Plain Truth foresaw Japans place in the coming Asian super-alliance.

he Chinese dragon has long been watching as U.S. global dominance wanes. Now it seeks to build a global power bloc in the East to replace it. Herbert W. Armstrong believed that for a great Eastern power bloc to truly have global influence, it must be comprised of more than just Russia and China. The experts at the intelligence firm Stratfor agree: China and Russia, bound together into the tightest alliance, can change the regional balance in Eurasia but cannot affect the global balance (April 16, 2001). If you add Japan, however, with its technological prowess and naval might, to this formidable duo, it suddenly becomes a force that could transform the global balance of power. As unlikely as this may have seemed at the time, this is exactly what the Plain Truth believed would one day happen. There is an utter inevitability of the ultimate tie-up between Japan and Red China! declared the February 1963 Plain Truth. The big question is how long China will remain Red and survive without a tie-up with Japanese capitalism. Despite its many national, religious and political differences, Asia will ultimately be welded together into a common power bloc, wrote the Plain Truth in April 1968. It will ultimately send its military muscle into the Middle East at the return of Jesus Christ. This prophecy is recorded in Revelation 16:12 and 16. Japan will play a vital role in this battle. For decades, the Plain Truth forecast that Japan would be an important part of the future kings of the east!

At the end of the Second World War and the beginning of the Cold War, the U.S. softened the worlds bitter memories of Japanese aggression with this agreement: America would defend Japan if America could station troops close to potential conflict zones in the region. America, in fact, wrote Japans postwar peace constitution. So instead of first rebuilding its military, Japan was able to pour its resources into becoming an economic superpower. Notice what Mr. Armstrong wrote in the Plain Truth, March 1971: Japan today has no military establishment. Some United States forces are still there. But we should not lose sight of the fact that Japan has become so powerful economically that it could build a military force of very great power very rapidly. Sure enough, that is now happening.

japans growing militarism

Today, Japan boasts one of the top five military arsenals in the world and the second-largest navy. Still, despite all its industrial, economic and naval strength, Japan has until quite recently been seen as a benign power, constrained by memories of the nuclear explosions that ended its past imperial exploits. The events of Sept. 11, 2001, did much to open the door to increased Japanese militarism. Just one month after the terrorist attacks on America, then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi adopted anti-terrorism legislation

55
in the Diet that enabled the Japanese military to supply logistical support for Americas declared war on terrorism. Why was Japan able to enter the battle theater so readily? Look beneath the surface and you will find that Japan has not, in reality, been the benign power it has projected itself to be since its defeat in World War ii. For decades, Japan has evaded the strict enforcement of Article 9 of the constitutional law imposed by America, which states unequivocally that the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. [L]and, sea and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. Japans military began to be resurrected as early as 1950, when a National Police Reserve was established as a replacement for American troops that were sent into the Korean War. The Japanese government transformed this police force into the Self-Defense Forces in 1954, with the full support of the U.S. As time went on and memories of World War ii faded, the force gradually expanded its scope. In 1992 Japan passed the UN Peacekeeping Cooperation Law, which allowed the Self-Defense Forces to take part in certain non-military aspects of UN missions. Japanese soldiers could now be stationed outside Japans borders. Events stemming from 9/11 brought about what the New York Times called the most significant transformation in Japans military since World War ii (July 23, 2007). The Japanese military is looking less and less like a self-defense force. In 2004, Japan sent non-combat troops to Iraq. At the end of 2006, Japans Defense Agency was upgraded to become a full-fledged ministry, giving it a louder and clearer voice in Japans cabinet. In 2007, Japans f-2s flew 1,700 miles without refueling and dropped 500-pound live bombs as part of a training exercise. Now Japan is even looking to use space for military purposes. With many of the taboos already broken, it would be a small step for Japan to amend its pacifist constitution. George Friedman, founder of Stratfor, and Meredith Lebard wrote in The Coming War with Japan: For many years Japans Self-Defense Forces have been laying the groundwork for this new era. Japan has a small armyalthough it is larger than most people imaginebut more important, Japans military industrial capability is much greater than is generally assumed. Japan has already created some of the most advanced weapons in the world and knows how to mass-produce them. Japans emergence as a great military power in the future depends more on its will than its ability. In order to have a world-class military force in a few short years, Japan merely has to decide that it needs one.

JApAn todAy HAs no militAry estAblisHment. but we sHould not lose sigHt oF tHe FAct tHAt JApAn HAs become so powerFul economicAlly tHAt it could build A militAry Force oF very greAt power very rApidly.
Plain truth, march 1971

will japan go nuclear?

The same applies to Japans potential acquisition of nuclear weaponry. The July 1966 Plain Truth stated, With China possessing the bomb, does Japan dare not build one of her own? Japan is the super-giant of the Orient, rising to dizzying heights of economic prosperity. As we have reported in past issues of this magazine, the world is yet to hear of alarming trends in Japan! Japan could join the nuclear club any time! Notice further what the Plain Truth published in April 1968: Washington officials frankly admit that they expect Japan to develop a big military establishment to assist the U.S. in Asian power politics. One Tokyo observer stated that the United States has no other alternative but to push Japan toward eventually becoming a thermonuclear power. Indeed, if Japanwhich already has a highly developed civilian nuclear industrydecided to do so, it could become an independent nuclear power within a single year. Voices within Japan calling for just such action are getting louder. In April 2009, Former Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said his nation should discuss building a nuclear arsenal: It is common sense worldwide that in a purely military sense it is nuclear that can counteract nuclear, he said, referring to the North Korea threat. Back in 2006, Nakagawa proclaimed that a nuclear arsenal built for defensive purposes would not violate Japans pacifist constitution. Former Japanese prime ministers Yasuhiro Nakasone and Shinzo Abe have also said that Japan should consider developing nuclear weapons. Japan is taking advantage of the regional security problem posed by a nuclear North Korea to strengthen its position in the region as Americas power declines. It would not be surprising to see the U.S. even encourage Japan to gain nuclear capability under the guise of self-defense!

the germany of asia

Also feeding the remilitarization of Japan is the increasing rise in nationalism. In September/October 1999, the Trumpet reported, In a bid to revive some of its past heritage, the Japanese government overwhelmingly confirmed adoption of Japans rising sun flag and national hymn to the emperor as the countrys official national symbols. This move is as hugely symbolic as the German parliaments

PaRt FouR asia

move back to the old Reichstag building in Berlin . The Trumpet was not the first to liken Japans rise to that of Germany. In February 1963 the Plain Truth stated, Japan is doing, in effect, exactly what Germany is doing in the Common Market! Just as Germany is leading the Common Market in her industrial boom, and is the only nation which is destined to lead such a tremendous collection of powerful countries, so is Japan surging ahead to capture the leadership in all the Orient. Japan is the only Asiatic nation equipped to provide the industrial know-how and leadership to harness the almost unlimited resources of this sprawling, unbelievably rich part of the world. Even if communism will dilute its ideology with capitalism, one thing is certain! Before much longer, Japan will be an industrial giant in Asia that will be negotiating from a position of great strength with the other giants of the worldthe United States, Russia and united Europe! Japan is rapidly becoming a power to be feared. The April 1968 Plain Truth warned, Despite popular belief, Japan is not permanently committed to a pro-Western position. America has foolishly followed the policy of assuming that Germany and Japan can be converted to the virtues of democracy in less than a generation. Both Japanese and Germans are willing, for the present, to put up with their so-called democratic form of governmentuntil some serious internal crisis is precipitated. Japan tolerates her present form of government as long as it is economically expedient. If the time were ever to comeand it will comethat the Japanese could not feed off of American aid, we would witness a remarkable change in attitude toward the United States. Friendship would quickly evaporate. that it needs to work toward this pan-Asian future if it is to have anywhere near the influence in the East Asian sphere that the size of its economy and industrial weight demand. It wants to forge a trading bloc that would emerge as a major driving force within the global economy. By the same token, Beijing knows that to truly alter the global balance of power, it needs Japans technological prowess and naval might. Such an alliance would have seemed all but impossible just a short time ago. But were seeing the trend shift in Asia. A major step toward an East Asia alliance was achieved in 2010, when a free-trade area between China and the Association of South East Asian Nations (asean)which includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnamcame into being. This economic union gives China a commanding voice within an Asian bloc of nearly 2 billion consumers, comprised of countries with a combined gross domestic product of $6 trillion. The association is the worlds largest free-trade zone in terms of population. Japan is closely linked to the bloc as a dialogue partneralong with China, South Korea and Indiaof asean, as well as a member of the asean Plus Three grouping that includes China, Japan and South Korea. All it would take is a major regional crisis to spur the Japanese into action to offer their naval might in particular as a guarantor of security to their neighbors. Japan has this powerful tool to use as a trade-off in negotiations for economic cooperation from the rest of Asia. Already Japanese politicians are ready to move closer to Asia. Japans Democratic Party leader, Yukio Hatoyama, wrote in 2009, shortly before he became prime minister, [A]s a result of the failure of the Iraq war and the financial crisis, the era of the U.S.-led globalism is coming to an end, and we are moving away from a unipolar world led by the U.S. towards an era of multipolarity. He recommended that Japan join an East Asian community, saying the East Asian region, which is showing increasing vitality in its economic growth and even closer mutual ties, must be recognized as Japans basic sphere of being. He even said Japan should spare no effort to build the permanent security frameworks essential to underpinning currency integration (Voice, Aug. 11, 2009). The prospect of the continued expansion of the EU into a combined bloc larger and more powerful than the U.S. and Russia, and the perceived weakening of U.S. global influence, is driving China, Japan and their Asian neighbors to position themselves as the next great global power bloc. Both China and Japan will combine in Asian alliances, with the ultimate intention of forcing the U.S. out of the western Pacific. Then, as has been the strategy of the EU, Asian political and economic cooperation will ultimately progress to a military and security alliance. Russia, China and Japan are moving closer together, just as Mr. Armstrong said they would. Now all it will take is a sudden catastrophic shock to weld the union together.

japans place in the alliance

Despite the overwhelming size of Chinas population and its great economic potential, Japan has the most highly developed economy in the region. Japan has the (presently underutilized) industrial capacity developed to the point that it could easily match the U.S. and the European Union in high-tech weapons development and production. Japan is the only Far East nation possessing a blue-water navy of significance. During World War ii, Japan sought to extend its empire via military might. After more than six decades of decolonization, development and growth in the Far East, Japan now faces a vastly different and more powerful China and a much more industrialized collective Asian sphere. It must fulfill its goals using very different means from those it used in the 1940s. Any dominance Japan now seeks in the Eastern Hemisphere must be done via alliances and treaties. Japan, though it has one of the worlds largest independent economies, continues to be hamstrung by the failure of successive governments to confront the need for painful economic restructuring. As much as it may resist being relegated to a follower role behind China, Tokyo knows

Whats next?
the Plain Truths most important prophecies were of the wonderful world tomorrow.

s this booklet has clearly shown, Herbert W. Armstrong was able to see and publicly declare many prophecies because he was willing to submit to the authority of the Bible. We have highlighted only a few of those that concern major events now shaping the future of our existence. One of the earliest prophecies of which he spoke, howeverpossibly the first and certainly the most importanthas only been touched on here. It is an event that will bring the final, peaceful end of all the prophecies spoken of. It is a prophecy he began teaching back in the 1930s: the prophecy of the soon-coming government of God in the wonderful World Tomorrow. Mr. Armstrong first determined to broadcast the wonderful news of the World Tomorrow in 1933. Later he wrote, All I had in mind, as the World Tomorrow program was being planned late in 1933, was to serve God faithfully wherever He should lead (Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong, Volume 1). Of that prophecy, he wrote in 1966, You dont have to believe it! It will happen, regardless. It is surethe worlds only sure hope. This advance good news of tomorrow is as certain as the rising of tomorrows sun. Humanity wont bring it aboutit is going to be done to us. Humanity is going to be forced to be happyto enjoy world peaceto see universal abundance and joy fill the Earth (The Wonderful World TomorrowWhat It Will Be Like). As the saying goes, Hindsight is 20/20. It is easy to see the truth after the fact. That kind of vision, however, is of limited value. What we really need is the ability to know whats coming before it happens. This booklet has shown how you can have 20/20 vision of the future. We have looked back at the prophetic knowledge of Herbert W. Armstrong and shown the fulfillment as it is happening, so youthe readercan plan your future. Winston Churchill declared before the United States Congress: He must indeed have a blind soul who cannot see that some great purpose and design is being worked out here below of which we have the honor to be the faithful servants, Mr. Armstrong wrote. It is true, though almost totally unrealized: Mankind was put on this Earth for a purpose! And the Maker of mankind sent along with the human product of His making an Instruction Book to reveal that purpose and to guide man in happily, enjoyably

fulfilling it (The United States and Britain in Prophecy). Gen. Douglas MacArthur spoke the truth when he said, Men since the beginning of time have sought peace . Military alliances, balances of powers, leagues of nations, all in turn failed, leaving the only path to be by way of the crucible of war. The utter destructiveness of war now blots out this alternative. We have had our last chance. If we will not devise some greater and equitable system, our Armageddon will be at our door. The problem basically is theological and involves a spiritual recrudescence, an improvement of human character that will synchronize with our almost matchless advances in science, art, literature, and all material and cultural developments of the past 2,000 years. It must be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh. Its all about vision. Dutch philosopher Erasmus said, In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. He was talking about visionone man with vision in a land filled with those who refuse to see. Today, very few see the world as a boiling pot about ready to boil over! (Jeremiah 1:13). Yet anyone with half an eye should have that discernment. Mr. Armstrong warned of what is just ahead: In this folly of educated ignorance, it has become fashionable today and intellectually titillating to ignore the great basic cause of all things; the fact of the purpose being worked out here below, and the master plan for its working out; the invisible but Supreme Power now soon to intervene and drastically alter the course of historybefore mankind blasts itself out of existence (ibid.). Yes, as Mr. Armstrong said, the greatest prophecy beyond it all is that mankind will not self-destruct! God is about to intervene to save humanity. Thats the good news! Herbert W. Armstrong saw it well before 1945. Today, Gods warning message of the coming events, as well as the good news of the wonderful World Tomorrowthe work started through Mr. Armstrongcontinues to be trumpeted around the world by this work as a witness! You can escape the horror of the next few years by heeding that witness. What choice will you makeblindness or vision? Hopefully, we will have the vision to look aheadaccept the revelation and guidance provided in the Bible, and reap the blessings that come with that decision.

 2010 Philadelphia Church of God. All rights reserved. Images are the property of their respective owners and used with permission. This booklet is not to be sold. It is a free educational service in the public interest. Printed in the United States of America. Scriptures in this publication are quoted from the King James Version, unless otherwise noted.

photo credits
Photos are listed by page in the order they appear, from left to right. Part One Getty Images 2 Trumpet map 8 Axel Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images 10 AP/Wideworld 12 iStockphoto 15 Losservatore Romano/AFP/Getty Images 16 Losservatore Romano/AFP/Getty Images 18 Getty Images 19 Jupiter Images 21 Trumpet map 23 Reuters 25 Getty Images Part twO Getty Images 28 Jupiter Images 30 Getty Images, U.S. Army 33 iStockphoto, Dreamstime 35 Getty Images, PhotosToGo, Digital Stock, PhotosToGo, Jupiter Images, Trumpet (2) 37 Digital Stock 39 AP/WideWorld Part three Getty Images 42 Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images 43 Trumpet map 44 Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images 46 iStockphoto 47 iStockphoto Part FOur Getty Images 51 Trumpet map 52 Getty Images 54 iStockphoto 59 Corbis RF

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