There is a climate of fear in America today, and perhaps throughout the world as civil war breaks out in Iraq. When I was growing up, I remember there was none, only a free spirit and a buoyant economy. The Beatles were swinging and America was bold and energetic.
However, with the invasion of Iraq and the continuing spiral downward into crime and hatred - anti-Americanism seems to be de rigeur. The EEC must be gloating, and so must the UN, since they were against the invasion. Mr Kofi Annan of the UN seems justified.
Now with the Republican loss in Congress, George Bush and his cronies seem to be in a terrible mess. If America withdraws from Iraq, the situation can only worsen and become like a hell on earth, with Shi'ites and Sunnis plundering and killing. With America in Iraq, with its thousands of soldiers and armaments, Iraq still cannot be controlled or governed. So it's highly unlikely that a new fragile Iraqi government will be able to rein in the thugs and hoodlums who seem bent on destroying their own country.
A great pity - because Iraq was Babylon, and incorporated the old kingdom of Mesopotamia, astride the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys, the cradle of civilization - with its towering ziggurats and the famous hanging gardens of Babylon. Iraq gave the world its first writing system, cuneiform, and its Hamurabi code, the first legal code. King Nebuchadnezzar was perhaps its most famous king. He is even mentioned in the Bible, along with Daniel the prophet who interpreted the writing on the wall during a palace celebration and foretold Nebuchadnezzar's fall from grace.
Has Great Babylon fallen into complete ruin? Is this the final judgement that is prophesied in the Book of Revelations? Was Lebanon the Gog and Magog mentioned in Revelations? how will Biblical scholars look at the year 2006 in a hundred years' time? How will they interpret these times?
Only time will tell.
