Epicenter 2.0

by Joel C. Rosenberg

  79 The points that follow are from Brian Shellum, A Chronology of Defense Intelligence in the Gulf War: A Research Aid for Analysts, Defense Intelligence Agency, July 1997. See the National Security Archive, George Washington University, www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/ (accessed on March 1, 2006).

  80 Gershom Gorenberg, The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount (New York: Free Press, 2000, updated in 2002), 1–4, 223.

  81 Bill Moyers, speech accepting the Global Environmental Citizen Award, Harvard University Center for Health and the Global Environment, New York City, December 1, 2004.

  82 Kevin Phillips, American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century (New York: Viking, 2006), 252–255 and vii, respectively.

  83 Survey for Joel C. Rosenberg, “American Attitudes toward Bible Prophecy,” National Omnibus Survey, conducted by McLaughlin & Associates on February 13, 2006, of 1,000 likely voters. Margin of error +/- 3%. See appendix for more survey results.

  84 Tim LaHaye, The Coming Peace in the Middle East (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1984), 105.

  85 Cited in “Moses’ Oily Blessing,” The Economist, June 18, 2005.

  86 William A. Orme Jr., “Gas Deposits off Israel and Gaza Opening Vision of Joint Ventures,” New York Times, September 15, 2000.

  87 William A. Orme Jr., “Arafat Hails Big Gas Find off the Coast of Gaza Strip,” New York Times, September 28, 2000.

  88 Ross Dunn, “Israeli Geologist Drills for Oil Based on Biblical Guidance,” VOA/Israel Faxx, November 20, 2002.

  89 “Oil Traces Found East of Kfar Sava,” Haaretz, September 12, 2003.

  90 Associated Press, “Israeli Oil Company Claims Oil Find Valued at US $6 Billion,” May 4, 2004. Luskin told reporters that he believed “about 20 percent [of the reserves] are commercially exploitable,” though he cautioned that much more testing had to be done and said “the company would need to raise between US $20 million and US $50 million to develop the find.” See also Amiram Cohen, “Givot Olam Drills Afresh at Kfar Sava,” Haaretz, November 23, 2004, which notes, “Based on rock properties of the Meged 4 site, Givot Olam calculated that each square kilometer of the oil structure contains approximately 5 million barrels of oil, which translates into a total of 980 million barrels of oil at the site.”

  91 “Moses’ Oily Blessing,” The Economist, June 18, 2005.

  92 Tovia Luskin, personal interview with author, March 22, 2006.

  93 Spillman’s son, Steve, recently updated the book. See James R. Spillman and Steven M. Spillman, Breaking the Treasure Code: The Hunt for Israel’s Oil (Medford, Oregon: True Potential Publishing, 2005; original copyright 1981), 3–4.

  94 The abbreviation “G_d” is included in Zion Oil’s mission statement as a gesture of respect to Orthodox Jews, who traditionally do not write the name of God.

  95 Spillman, 2005 ed., 134–35.

  96 Philip Mandelker, personal interview with the author, November 14, 2005. Among the other companies that recently have been pursuing oil and/or gas exploration (some with a biblical perspective, but not all): Avner Oil Exploration, based in Israel; BG (formerly British Gas), based in Great Britain; Delek Group, based in Israel; Ginko Oil Exploration Ltd. (which estimated in 2004 that there were some 20 billion barrels of oil in the Dead Sea basin), based in Israel; Isramco, based in Texas; Ness Energy Inc., based in Texas; Lapidoth Israel Oil Prospectors, based in Israel; Modii Energy, based in Israel; and Sdot Neft, based in Israel.

  97 Shlomy Golovinski, “Israel, the Home of the Millionaire,” Haaretz, June 15, 2005.

  98 Amy Teibel, “Buffet Pays $4B For Stake In Israeli Firm,” Associated Press, May 9, 2006.

  99 See “Investing in Israel” and “Venture Capital in Israel,” Updates, Israeli Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, www.moit.gov.il (accessed March 15, 2006).

  100 Ibid.

  101 The Israel Center dinner was held on June 27, 2005. See www.icsep.org.il for details (accessed on March 15, 2006).

  102 Joel C. Rosenberg, “For Real?” National Review Online, February 9, 2005.

  103 Total attacks in 2001: 7,634. Total attacks in 2005: 2,365. Suicide bombings specifically have dropped from a peak of 60 in 2002 to 7 in 2005. See “Palestinian Terrorism in 2005,” Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Center for Special Studies (Israel), December 31, 2005, 17; www.intelligence.org.il (accessed March 16, 2006).

  104 Major General Yaakov Amidror, personal interview with author, June 8, 2005.

  105 Joel C. Rosenberg, “Pakistan Moves toward Ties with Israel after Gaza Pullout,” joelrosenberg.blogspot.com, weblog, September 10, 2005.

  106 Arieh O’Sullivan, “Halutz: Sanctions Won’t Deter Iran,” Jerusalem Post, November 21, 2005.

  107 Ted Koppel, conversation with author, February 23, 2004. For more on my conversation with Koppel about The Passion of the Christ, see Joel C. Rosenberg, “Koppel Tackles The Passion,” National Review, February 24, 2004.

  108 The other Palestinian participants in the Nightline broadcast from Jerusalem were Hanan Ashrawi and Dr. Haidar Abdel Shafi.

  109 Shimon Peres, personal interview with author, November 16, 2005.

  110 Saeb Erekat, personal interview with author, November 16, 2005.

  111 Dean Yates, “Olmert Sees Final Israeli Borders by 2010,” Reuters, March 9, 2006. See also BBC News, “Olmert Vows to Set Final Borders,” February 13, 2006. For Mofaz quote, see Yaakov Katz, “Mofaz Presents Israel’s Final Borders,” Jerusalem Post, March 21, 2006. See also Associated Press, “Israel Offers Outline to Divide Jerusalem,” May 4, 2006.

  112 Yates, “Olmert Sees Final Israeli Borders by 2010,” Reuters, March 9, 2006.

  113 Akiva Eldar, “Abu Mazen to Israel: ‘Let’s Discuss the End of the Conflict,’” Haaretz, March 24, 2006.

  114 Khaled Abu Toameh, “Arafat Enraged at Being Called ‘Incompetent’ by PA Minister,” Jerusalem Post, September 12, 2003.

  115 General Nasser Youssef, interview with the author at an American Enterprise Institute event on June 6, 2006.

  116 Abdul Salam al-Majali, interview with the author at an American Enterprise Institute event on June 6, 2006. For more, see Dan Diker and Pinchas Inbari, “Are There Really Signs of a Jordanian-Palestinian Reengagement?” Jerusalem Issue Brief, vol. 5, no. 1, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, July 19, 2005.

  117 Voltaire, The Portable Voltaire (paperback), ed. Ben Ray Redman (New York: Viking Penguin, 1977), 101.

  118 Ibid.

  119 Flavius Josephus, Josephus: The Complete Works, trans. William Whiston (Nashville: Nelson, 1998), 41, citing Antiquities, Book One, chapters 5 and 6.

  120 See article, “Scythian,” The Encyclopedia Britannica, online edition, www.britannica.com (accessed March 17, 2006).

  121 William Gesenius, Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament (Boston, [n.d.]), quoted in Tim LaHaye, The Coming Peace in the Middle East (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984), 123.

  122 Arno C. Gaebelein, The Prophet Ezekiel: An Exposition (Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers, 1918), 258, cited from the 1972 edition.

  123 J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1958), 328.

  124 Among the Bible scholars: C. I. Scofield, editor of the Scofield Reference Bible, wrote in 1909: “That the primary reference is to the Northern (European) powers headed by Russia, all agree. . . . The reference to Meshech and Tubal (Moscow and Tobolsk) is a clear mark of identification.” Dr. Charles Ryrie, editor of the Ryrie Study Bible, wrote in the 1995 edition: “Magog was identified by Josephus as the land of the Scythians, the region North and Northeast of the Black Sea and East of the Caspian Sea (now occupied by three members of the Commonwealth of Independent States: Russia, the Ukraine, and Kazakhstan).” Dr. John Walvoord, the late Chancellor of Dallas Theological Seminary and widely considered one of the leading prophecy experts of the twentieth century, wrote in 1990 in Every Prophecy of the
Bible: “If Ezekiel 38–39 is studied carefully, it reveals a future invasion of the land of Israel by the armies of Russia. . . . In the quarter of a century since World War II Russia has risen to be one of the great military powers of the modern world. To a far greater extent than ever before Russia has become a prominent nation, especially in its influence on the Middle East. The possibility of Russia attacking Israel is a modern concern of the United States and other nations.” Dr. Tim LaHaye, arguably the world’s preeminent prophecy expert, and coauthor (with Jerry Jenkins) of the phenomenally successful Left Behind series (over 62 million copies sold), wrote in 1984 in The Coming Peace in the Middle East: “Magog is an ancient name for the nation now known as Russia. . . . The name ‘Moscow’ derives from the tribal name ‘Meschech,’ and ‘Tobolsk,’ the name of the principal state, from ‘Tubal.’ The noun ‘Gog’ is from the original tribal name ‘Magog,’ which gradually became ‘Rash,’ then ‘Russ,’ and today is known as ‘Russia.’” Hal Lindsey, author of the nonfiction best seller Late Great Planet Earth (over 15 million copies sold), wrote in 1970: “For centuries, long before the current events could have influenced the interpreter’s ideas, men have recognized that Ezekiel’s prophecy about the northern commander [Gog] referred to Russia.” Lindsey cited Dr. John Cumming, who wrote in 1864, “The king of the North I conceive to be the autocrat of Russia . . . that Russia occupies a place, and a very momentous place, in the prophetic word has been admitted by almost all expositors.” Lindsey also cited Bishop Lowth of England, who wrote in 1710, “Rosh, taken as a proper name, in Ezekiel signifies the inhabitants of Scythia, from whom the modern Russians derive their name.”

  125 See biography of Josh McDowell, Josh McDowell Ministries, www.josh.org (accessed March 18, 2006).

  126 Joel C. Rosenberg, “Dispatch from Moscow: Putin and Terror,” joelrosenberg.blogspot.com, weblog, September 1, 2004.

  127 Peter Baker, “Putin Moves to Centralize Authority: Plan Would Restrict Elections in Russia,” Washington Post, September 14, 2004.

  128 Ibid.

  129 Ibid.

  130 Tom Parfitt, “Putin’s Reforms Are Undemocratic Says Governor,” Daily Telegraph, September 19, 2004.

  131 Mikhail Gorbachev, op-ed, “Mikhail Gorbachev on Putin’s Reforms: ‘A Step Back from Democracy,’” Moscow News, September 16, 2004.

  132 Quoted by Parfitt, “Putin’s Reforms.”

  133 Voice of America News, “Russia’s Upper House Passes Bill Tightening Putin’s Grip on Regions,” December 8, 2004.

  134 Jackson Diehl, “Putin’s Unchallenged Imperialism,” Washington Post, October 25, 2004.

  135 Ibid.

  136 See Peter Biles, “Ukraine Crisis Exposes Putin’s Plans,” BBC News, December 1, 2004; Associated Press, “Putin Opposes Ukraine Runoff,” December 2, 2004; BBC News, “Yushchenko Wins Ukraine Election,” December 27, 2004.

  137 Joel C. Rosenberg, “A New Czar Rises in Russia,” joelrosenberg.blogspot.com, weblog, December 3, 2004.

  138 Reuters, “Russian Premier Vows to Rebuild Military Might,” October 28, 1999, noted in David Johnson’s Russia List, #3592, Center for Defense Information, www.cdi.org.

  139 BBC News, “Putin: Russia Must Be Great Again,” January 11, 2000.

  140 Associated Press, “Russia Planning Maneuvers of Its Nuclear Forces Next Month,” January 30, 2004.

  141 “Putin Urges Enhancement of Russian Army’s Combat Capability,” China People’s Daily, February 23, 2004.

  142 See “Defense Spending to Be Raised 40% in 2005,” www.Gateway2Russia.com, August 12, 2004; BBC News, “Russia Plans Defence Budget Boost,” August 13, 2004.

  143 Associated Press, “Cold War Missile Test-Fired from Russia,” December 22, 2004.

  144 BBC News, “Putin Address to Nation: Excerpts,” April 25, 2005; BBC News, “Putin Deplores Collapse of USSR,” April 25, 2005; Associated Press, “Putin: Soviet Collapse a ‘Genuine Tragedy,’” April 25, 2005.

  145 Vladimir Putin, First Person: An Astonishingly Frank Self-Portrait By Russia’s President, with Nataliya Gevorkyan, Natalya Timokova, and Andrei Kolesnikov, trans. Catherine A. Fitzpatrick (New York: Public Affairs, 2000).

  146 On May 1, 2000, for example, Putin delivered a speech in which he said: “Some have even suggested more radical measures than those contained in the submitted draft laws, going so far as suggesting that governors should be appointed by the Russian president. But I still think that the heads of the regions of the federation must be elected by the people. This procedure has become established, it has become part of our democratic system,” Peter Baker and Susan Glasser, Kremlin Rising: Vladimir Putin’s Russia and the End of the Revolution (New York: Scribner, 2005), 371.

  147 Putin was born October 7, 1952, in Leningrad, Russia (now called St. Petersburg).

  148 Olena Horodetska, “Lukashenko win in Belarus sets US, Russia at odds,” Reuters, March 20, 2006.

  149 “Support for Third Term for Putin Growing,” Gazeta.ru, March 16, 2006, cited in Johnson’s Russia List, 2006-#66, Center for Defense Information, www.cdi.org, March 17, 2006.

  150 “When Putin was taken off the list of contenders in a July [2005] Yury Levada Analytical Center study, Zyuganov and Zhirinovsky were tied for first place,” though each had only 10 percent support. See Mario Canseco, Angus Reid Global Scan, September 9, 2005; cited in Johnson’s Russia List, #9241, Center for Defense Information, www.cdi.org, September 11, 2005.

  151 RIA Novosti, “Sucessor should be responsible decision-maker—President Putin,” June 16, 2006, cited by David Johnson, Johnson’s Russia List, 2006-#139, Center for Defense Information, June 16, 2006.

  152 See Andrei P. Tsygankov, “Why Russians ‘Love’ Stalin,” cited in Johnson’s Russia List, 2006-#66, March 17, 2006. M. Tsygankov is an associate professor of international relations and political science at San Francisco State University and program chair of the International Studies Association.

  153 Vice President Dick Cheney, address to the 2006 Vilnius Conference, May 4, 2006, www.whitehouse.gov.

  154 See Ariel Cohen and James A. Phillips, “Countering Russian-Iranian Military Cooperation,” Heritage Backgrounder #1425, The Heritage Foundation, April 5, 2001.

  155 UPI, “Russia, Iran Renew Ties,” March 13, 2001.

  156 See Cohen and Phillips, “Countering Russian-Iranian Military Cooperation.”

  157 Aljazeera, “Putin: Iran Will Not Seek Nuclear Arms,” February 18, 2005.

  158 Agence France-Presse, “Putin Opposes Iranian Nuclear Bomb,” April 28, 2005.

  159 President Ali Khamenei, address to Iran’s nuclear scientific community (speech, Tehran, January 1987), quoted in Kenneth R. Timmerman, Countdown to Crisis: The Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran (New York: Crown Forum, 2005), 42.

  160 Timmerman, Countdown to Crisis, 66.

  161 Iran Press Service, “Rafsanjani Says Muslims Should Use Nuclear Weapon against Israel,” December 14, 2001, www.iran-press-service.com.

  162 “Iranian President at Tehran Conference,” Special Dispatch Series, No. 1013, Middle East Media Research Institute, October 28, 2005.

  163 Stefan Smith, “Move Israel to Europe, Ahmadinejad Suggests,” Agence France-Presse, December 9, 2005.

  164 Mossad official, personal interview with author, given on condition of anonymity. Name and date of interview withheld at interviewee’s request.

  165 Donald H. Rumsfeld and others, “Executive Summary,” The Report of the Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States, July 15, 1998. Available online at www.fas.org/irp/threat/bm-threat.htm.

  166 UPI, “Lockheed Continues Study of Ship-Launched Threat,” November 9, 2005, cited on www.missilethreat.com, (accessed on March 30, 2006).

  167 David Albright, “Iran Hid Nuclear Plans for Nearly Two Decades,” interview on FOX News, April 24, 2005.

  168 Kenneth M. Pollack, The Persian Puzzle: The Conflict between Iran and America (New York: Random, 2004), 362. For more on Iran’s clandesti
ne nuclear research, read 361–74.

  169 Viktor Mikhailov (director of the Strategic Stability Institute of Russia’s Ministry of Atomic Energy), “Iran Can Create Nuclear Bomb,” interview with RIA Novosti, March 10, 2006.

  170 Dore Gold, personal interview with author, November 14, 2005.

  171 Putin has made increasing arms sales a top priority. In 1990, the Soviet Union sold some $16 billion worth of weaponry, military equipment, and spare parts worldwide. After the collapse of the USSR, sales plummeted to under $4 billion a year through 2000. In February 2006, however, Moscow’s top arms sales official said, “The figure for Russia’s [arms] exports in 2005 was [the] highest for the past few years. The final figure is $6.126 billion.” See BBC News, “Russian Arms Exports at 10-Year High,” February 7, 2001; RIA Novosti, “Russian 2005 Arms Exports Hit Record $6.1 Billion,” February 9, 2006.