More Syrian Military Leaders Defect, Turkey, & NATO: More Pressure on Assad

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad (Source: Agência Brasil, Wikipedia)
بشار الأسد

More defections from Syria’s military are happening, which is increasing pressure on its President Assad:

25 June 2012

A handful of top Syrian military officers defected overnight from Bashar al-Assad’s regime, seeking refuge in Turkey amid rising tensions between the neighbors.

The group included 33 soldiers and their families – a total of 224 people, including at least three with a rank of colonel or higher…Defections among low-level Syrian conscript soldiers remain relatively common but such high-level defections have been relatively rare so far…Separately, another three Syrian officers, all of them fighter pilots, defected to Jordan yesterday with their families. This came after another Syrian pilot flew his plane into Jordan seeking asylum on June 21. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/terrorism-security/2012/0625/Three-top-Syrian-officers-defect-to-Turkey.-How-bad-for-Assad

How Syria’s President Assad will handle this, the civil unrest, and the pressures associated with Turkey now is unclear–but this may drive him even closer to Iran and a possible regional war involving Israel and perhaps others.

Turkey itself is making a lot of public complaints concerning the downing of one of its military jets by Syria and is invoking provisions of the NATO agreement:

25 June 2012

A Syrian general and 38 other soldiers defected to Turkey overnight, state television said on Monday, days after Syria shot down a Turkish warplane, escalating tensions between the two neighbors.

Turkey has summoned a NATO meeting for Tuesday to agree a response to the downing of its military reconnaissance jet in what it says was an attack without warning carried out over international airspace.

Turkey’s cabinet was to meet on Monday to discuss Friday’s attack, which lent a more menacing international dimension to the 16-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. Britain said it could press for more serious action at the United Nations Security Council.

European Union foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg called for a calm response from Turkey, saying they would increase pressure on Assad. There seemed little appetite, however, for any military retaliation against Syria. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/25/us-syria-crisis-idUSBRE85D0IS20120625

NATO involvement, if it occurs, would suggest that the USA may get involved militarily. If so, that would not be good for Syria. Despite Syria’s chemical (see Syria’s Chemical Weapons, Israel, the USA, and Turkey) and other weapons, it simply does not have the military ability to fend off the USA if the USA is determined to attack forcefully. Syria should realize that it is not likely at this stage that Russia or China would directly engage the USA militarily in a major way. Syria and Iran would not win, no matter what it or its ally Iran boasts (e.g. Iranian Commander Warns US and Israel Against Intervening in Syria).

The Bible teaches:

18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18)

Both Syria and its ally Iran keep taking steps that suggest they are setting themselves up for destruction (and the USA, if highly involved, would suffer as well).

The Bible itself specifies that Syria’s capital city Damascus (Isaiah 7:8) will be destroyed (Isaiah 17:1). Whether this will happen because of internal civil war or an attack involving Israel and/or others remains to be seen. Iran keeps taking steps, including one recently claiming that it will continue to enrich uranium despite international concerns (see Iran: No reason to halt 20 percent enrichment) that may provoke a regional (with Israel) or larger war (the USA itself could sustain damage). But whether it is involved in a war involving Israel or not, eventually, Damascus has to be destroyed, and probably relatively soon. And this would suggest that Syria’s President Assad will not hold onto power.

Much is going on in the Middle East. The King of the South will rise up (Daniel 11:40)–and yesterday’s announcement of a Muslim Brotherhood leader officially being named as the president of Egypt is consistent with that (see Muslim Brotherhood’s Dr. Morsi Winner of Egypt’s Presidential Election)–and Syria (directly or indirectly) will likely play some role in the rise of the King of the South. As well as end up being a supporter of that king–thus the situation in Syria must change.

As Jesus said in Mark 13:37, we all should watch.

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

The Arab World In the Bible, History, and Prophecy The Bible discusses the origins of the Arab world and discusses the Middle East in prophecy. What is ahead for the Middle East and those who follow Islam? What does Islam teach about the Imam Mahdi?
Is There A Future King of the South? Some no longer believe there needs to be. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? Is he the Imam Mahdi? What does the Bible say?
Prophecies of Barack Obama? Eight reasons why Barack Obama is apocalyptic and eight reasons why Barack Obama is not the Antichrist. This article includes many biblical and non-biblical prophecies, from around the world, that seem to discuss Barack Obama. Did Nostradamus predict Barack Obama dealing with the Antichrist? Might Barack Obama set the stage for the kings of the North and South as at least one Shiite prophecy suggests? This is the longest and most complete article on this page on Barack Obama prophecies. Read it and decide for yourself if President Obama seems to be fulfilling various prophecies.
2012 – Ten Fulfilled Barack Obama Prophecies Barack Obama has already helped fulfill 10 predictions in 2012 and the Rise of the Secret Sect. Here is a YouTube video on ten.
Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States Some claim that Barack Obama is the prophesied “son of Kenya”, based up an early 20th century writing.
Is Russia the King of the North? Some claim it is. But what does the Bible teach?