More than half a year has passed since the cataclysmic events of Sept. 11—a day that lives in infamy. Yet, in spite of American and British efforts to corral terrorism, the world appears as dangerous as ever.
The Middle East is again squarely in the forefront of world attention. In the words of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, "the situation in the Middle East is a tragedy turning into a catastrophe." Yet another Mideast war could break out at any time. Recent events in Israel and the West Bank have even overshadowed a possible U.S.-led attack on Iraq to overthrow the Saddam Hussein regime. In the words of a British journalist, Iraq is "the poisonous centre of a spider's web" of nations that support terrorism and are actively pursuing weapons of mass destruction—nuclear, chemical and/or biological.
But the Middle East is far from the only pressure point in the world. According to CIA director George Tenet, war between India and Pakistan, perhaps primarily over Kashmir, is a real possibility. He warned that the continuing conflict could erupt into a catastrophic war between the two nuclear-armed adversaries.
A long mop-up operation drags on in Afghanistan. Parts of Africa, and to a lesser extent Asia, spin in a continual merry-goround of wars and lesser conflicts. As British author William Rees-Mogg wrote in his weekly column for The Times: "War is always unpredictable. It can spring up again at a distance from the original source. No one foresaw . . . that a strike against New York would lead to a war crisis over Kashmir."
If you would like to understand where this war-weary world is headed, you need to write for our free booklets - Are We Living in the Time of the End?, You Can Understand Bible Prophecy and The Book of Revelation Unveiled. (Sources: The Financial Times, The Times, Daily Mail [all London], USA Today, Agence France-Presse .)
