World News and Trends: Stark implications of Israeli strike against Syrian reactor
According to The New York Times, "Israel's air attack on Syria last month was directed against a site that Israeli and American intelligence analysts judged was a partly constructed nuclear reactor, apparently modeled on one North Korea had used to create its stockpile of nuclear weapons fuel, according to American and foreign officials with access to the intelligence reports" (Oct. 14, 2007).
According to The New York Times, "Israel's air attack on Syria last month was directed against a site that Israeli and American intelligence analysts judged was a partly constructed nuclear reactor, apparently modeled on one North Korea had used to create its stockpile of nuclear weapons fuel, according to American and foreign officials with access to the intelligence reports" (Oct. 14, 2007).
A somewhat similar Israeli raid on Iraq took out the Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981, putting a sudden halt to Iraqi nuclear efforts. Yet since the Syrian reactor apparently would have required some years to actually produce bomb-grade plutonium, this latest raid was seen by one senior Israeli official as intended to "re-establish the credibility of our deterrent power."
Some American officials saw it as a clear signal to Iran. Several months earlier another senior Israeli source had said, "We are the product of a Holocaust in Europe and we will do everything . . . to prevent another holocaust recurring in Israel. If the Americans do not act, then we will act" (The Sunday Times).
What is also highly disturbing is the desire for nuclear weapons in several Middle Eastern nations, a somewhat natural reaction given the current Iranian threat. The year 2006 was labeled "The year of the nuke" by Newsweekin terms of increased nuclear proliferation around the globe.
Most countries say they want to avoid a nuclear Armageddon. The late Ronald Reagan wrote in his diaries while still U.S. president that "we have to do all we can . . . to see that there is never a nuclear war" (quoted in Scientific American,October 2007). However, a few rogue countries and suicidal terrorist groups seem inclined to provoke the unthinkable. (Sources: The Sunday Times[London], The New York Times, Newsweek, Scientific American.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: November - December 2007
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Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
