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As we approach a new year, I want to proffer some observations that are suggestive of what 2018 may look like. Mind you, these are not predictions, but only observable trends that give us insight as to what the new year may bring.
War
The signs are everywhere that the Trump administration is going to take the U.S. (and perhaps much of the world) into war.
During Trump’s first year in office, he has expanded U.S. military operations around the world to the highest levels in modern history. Trump deployed U.S. Special Operations troops to 149 countries, which is a whopping 150% increase over the levels produced by the quintessential presidential warmonger, G.W. Bush.
In addition, Congress has rubber-stamped Donald Trump’s plans to allocate $214 million in an unprecedented military buildup in Eastern and Northern Europe—close to Russia’s borders. This expenditure is part of a larger $4.6 billion European Deterrence Initiative (EDI). The funds will be distributed between U.S. military bases in Latvia, Estonia, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Luxembourg, Iceland, and Norway. These bases are mostly designed to house top-of-the-line U.S. warplanes. Remember, Trump is putting these bases on Russia’s doorstep.
The Pentagon recently announced that some 2,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Syria. What the Pentagon won’t admit, of course, is that our troops in Syria are opposing government forces that are fighting ISIS guerrillas, and our troops are also training other anti-Assad terrorist groups in Syria (because Syria and Russia have, for the most part, destroyed ISIS in Syria). The Pentagon also said that our forces will stay in Syria indefinitely.
Of course, Trump already expanded the war in Afghanistan to indefinite status, sending over 4,000 additional troops to that beleaguered, war-torn nation, which brings the total number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan to over 15,000—that we know of. Plus, at least 6,000 additional U.S. troops are being sent to Afghanistan this spring. General John W. Nicholson, Jr., promised reporters that U.S. troops being sent to Afghanistan will “increase dramatically” in 2018.
In fact, during the past four months, President Trump has increased the number of U.S. troops and civilian mercenaries to Middle Eastern countries by a whopping 33%. These nations include Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Bahrain.
This comes on the heels of what I have already reported that while Trump promised to draw back America’s involvement in foreign wars, he has actually escalated America’s involvement in foreign wars.
Trump has dropped more bombs and missiles on Middle Eastern countries in a comparable period of time than any modern U.S. President. Presidents Bush, Obama, and now Trump have dropped nearly 200,000 bombs and missiles on Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia. Trump’s rate of bombing eclipses both Bush and Obama; and Trump is on a pace to drop over 100,000 bombs and missiles on Middle Eastern countries during his first term of office—which would equal the number of bombs and missiles dropped by Obama during his entire eight-year presidency.
Furthermore, several of Trump’s top military leaders are telling U.S. troops to be ready for war.
The Marine Corps commandant General Robert Neller recently told Marines in Norway that they should be prepared for a “bigass fight” to come. Defense Secretary James Mattis recently told 82nd Airborne troops at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, that “storm clouds are gathering” and that they should be “ready for war.” Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Joseph Dunford recently suggested that President Trump has been briefed by his top generals and is “prepared . . . to STRIKE North Korea in a World War 3 action plan.”
The industrialized nations of the world are beefing up their militaries and civil defense plans at lightning speed. Yes, the governments of the world—including Russia and China—seem to KNOW that the U.S. is about to take the planet into war. The only people on earth who appear oblivious to the foreboding clouds of impending global war are the American citizenry.
Alex Jones and the Alt-Right Media
For all intents and purposes, the advent of the Donald Trump presidency successfully castrated the so-called alt-right media (meaning anti-establishment, anti-war, anti-globalist Internet bloggers, columnists, radio talk show hosts, etc.) that was so vocal about standing against globalists, neocons, and war profiteers during the Barack Obama years. Now, for the most part, there is no alt-right media. They have mostly fallen in lock step behind Donald Trump and have become nothing but toadies and sycophants for Trump. They defend Trump’s warmongering; they defend Trump filling his administration with CFR globalists and neocons; and they defend Trump’s empire-building and war-profiteering.
There is nothing on the horizon to suggest that any of this will change. Alex Jones and Company will continue to be propagandists for Trump at the expense of the principles of truth, peace, constitutional government, and personal integrity.
The Expansion of Zionism
Donald Trump has proven himself to be the most Zionist President in U.S. history. Backed by a willingly deceived cabal of Christian Zionist, prophecy-obsessed evangelical preachers (Kenneth Copeland, John Hagee, and Robert Jeffress, to name a few), Donald Trump has alienated the entire world with his fanatical promotion of Benjamin Netanyahu’s radical Zionism.
Amazing as it may sound, Christian Zionists are willingly attempting to help Zionist Israel engage in a horrific war of aggression that would result in the formation of “Greater Israel” (land area matching the Old Testament kingdoms of David and Solomon) for the purpose of destroying the Dome of the Rock (think of how many people must die in order for this to take place) and building a third Jewish temple in which a superhuman antichrist can appear and take over the world as a prelude for Christ to return to earth.
Of course, these miserably misled prophecy zealots believe that they will be “raptured” to heaven before this antichrist is able to wreak all of his havoc on the world. But that doesn’t stop them from their obsessive determination to help pave the way for the reign of this Satan-incarnated antichrist to rule and reign from a new Jewish temple—a temple that the Christian Zionists are doing everything in their power to help build (but which is only a devilish delusion).
And, apparently, Donald Trump has allowed himself to be taken in by these purveyors of false prophecy. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is Trump’s top advisor. According to the Jerusalem Post, Kushner is the most influential Jewish Zionist in the world.
It is frightening to contemplate what three more years of Trump-endorsed, U.S.-backed, Christian-applauded Zionist aggression is going to reap. But it seems certain that we will begin seeing a glimpse of the carnage and destruction that Christian and Jewish Zionism is capable of producing in the upcoming new year.
The Divided States of America
America is no longer a united country. For all intents and purposes, a civil war has already torn our nation asunder. And people on both sides of the divide are equally intolerant. No longer is there reasonable debate. Rational thinking and civil discourse are not permitted. Christians are as bad as secularists. Conservatives are as bad as liberals. Almost no one believes in the principles of liberty as defined in America’s Bill of Rights.
Regardless of political persuasion, people have adopted the spirit of fascism. Conservatives and liberals, Christians and secularists, Republicans and Democrats: the vast majority want to enforce their belief systems at the point of a government gun. Individual liberty is championed by almost no one. And almost everyone seems to be carrying a collectivist, might-makes-right mindset.
People cannot even talk. All they can do is shout, accuse, condemn, and curse. The country is a powder keg waiting to explode. What the match will be that lights the fuse for this powder keg is anybody’s guess. But make no mistake about it: America is being ripped apart from within.
The Roy Moore Aftermath
What happened to Judge Roy Moore in Alabama is the worst of all precursors. It was a mega failure. It was a failure of the national Republican Party; it was a failure of Christian leadership; it was a failure of Christian thinking; it was a failure of honest journalism; it was a failure of election integrity; and it was a failure of American principle.
Make no mistake about it: the Democrats did not defeat Judge Roy Moore; the Republicans in Washington, D.C. (including President Trump and Vice President Pence) defeated Judge Roy Moore.
After Moore’s defeat, Donald Trump said that he knew Judge Moore would lose the general election, which is why he endorsed establishment toady Luther Strange in the Republican primary. OF COURSE Trump knew that Roy Moore would lose: he knew it because he knew that he (Trump) would do virtually nothing to help him win and that the National Republican Party would not only not help him win but would actively work to ensure his defeat—which is exactly what he did and what it did.
Beyond that, Christian leaders nationwide and in Alabama refused to come to Judge Moore’s defense after the unsubstantiated and scurrilous accusations were made against him. Tens of thousands of evangelical Christians in Alabama (encouraged by their pastors) stayed home from the polls and didn’t vote. Even after 40 years of Roy Moore’s sterling character and unmatched leadership, a host of pastors and Christians abandoned him—abandoned him on baseless accusation. Shame on those pastors! Shame on those Christians!
After Judge Moore’s election defeat, one well-meaning Christian writer said that Judge Moore’s defeat was a victory for “Christian values.” What? If that’s the case, we can only deduce that when the patriarch Joseph was thrown into prison after being lied about by Potiphar’s wife, it was a victory for “Christian values.” Egad! What has happened to Christian thinking?
This was not a victory for Christian values; it was a victory for the powers of darkness. The dark forces within government and the media learned that they can destroy ANYONE by repeated false accusation. If Roy Moore can be defeated by slander and an evil report in Alabama, NO ONE is safe from these tactics.
Have pastors not taught Christians the Biblical teaching regarding the great sin and transgression of listening to and believing—much less repeating—an unfounded evil report? The New Testament is replete with warnings against gossip, slander, false accusation, etc. It appears that pastors have taught their churches nothing, except how to listen to, believe, and repeat gossip, slander, and false accusation. Mark it down: pathetic pastoral leadership cost Judge Moore the election and opened Pandora’s Box for future men and women of character who attempt to seek public office.
Plus, there seems to be no doubt that there was egregious election tampering and fraud in Roy Moore’s senatorial race. It appears, however, that we will never be told the truth about the matter, as the Secretary of State in Alabama is scheduled to certify Doug Jones as the winner of the election TODAY.
Going into the 2018 elections, the hellish tactics that defeated Judge Roy Moore will doubtless be used against scores of anti-establishment candidates—especially if those candidates are outspoken Christians.
Sadly, these are trends with momentum going into 2018.
The only hope for the restoration of liberty in America lies in the following:
1. Realization of the liberty principles contained in our Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, the U.S. Constitution, and Natural Law.
2. Return to Reformation preaching as once exhibited in the pulpits of Colonial America. Instead of trying to entertain and put diapers on Christian crybabies—as seems to be the focus in most churches today—pastors should focus on putting armor on Christian soldiers.
3. Repudiation of Scofield dispensationalism, the false futurist interpretation of Bible prophecy, and Israel-First ideology. Believe it or not, Christian support for Zionism and a gross misinterpretation of the Biblical teaching of Israel are the underlying causes of the massive deterioration of America’s Christian culture as well as the catalysts for globalism, the Warfare State, and the rise of political neoconism.
If God is pleased to let me live and work for another year, you can be assured that I will be addressing these solutions at length.
© Chuck Baldwin
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