I was interested to read a post by one of my Facebook friends earlier today in which he lamented that the “top story” in the BBC lunchtime news concerned the recall of the Samsung “smart phones”, which have been catching fire. In the report, they interviewed one customer who said that he was heartbroken by this. They then went on to their second story about the war in Aleppo and showed an injured and distressed child who was unable to find her father after the bombing incident that caused her injuries. My friend ended his rant by saying that the BBC and their “smart phone” customer have both got their priorities wrong, and I agree.

I have to confess the war in Syria, where Aleppo is one of the major “hotspots”, is a grievous business, if only because of the untold suffering of innocent people that is now taking place. I recall it was not long ago I blogged on the breaking of the truce, which might have given much needed respite, but when it came to news reporting, “the Great British bake-off” received more coverage. Another important story brought to my attention earlier today is a link to a report that goes under the title: “Pentagon Finally Admits WW III is Around the Corner, Reveals it will be Fast and Deadly”, which I reproduce here in its entirety:

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For the last two months, we have been consistently reporting on a possible global conflict, World War III (WWIII) between the United States and its allies in the West, and Russia and its allies in the East.

The dispute on the South China Sea has severely damaged the United States relations with the People’s Republic of China.  After the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that China’s nine-dash-line claim in the South China Sea, and its land reclamation activities on islets are invalid and unlawful, the United States has been preparing to sail in the area under a so-called Freedom of Navigation principle (FON).

This has angered the Chinese.  In August, the Chinese Defense Minister, Chang Wanquan told his country’s citizens to prepare for, what he described as the people’s war at sea. Mr Wanquan was referring directly to the United States planned provocation under the pretext of FON. China has since vowed to take all necessary measures available to protect its sovereignty over the South China Sea, revealing that it had the right to set up an air defense zone on the sea.

China has also since been positioning and testing its nuclear weapons, and planning military drills on its waters with Russia. Even the United States has confirmed that China has tested an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, which is capable of striking everywhere in the world within half an hour.

Moving away from the South China Sea, we arrive in Syria. It is an open secret that the civil war in Syria is a proxy war between the United States and Russia. Russia has even intervened physically on the request of the Syrian government.  The United States, unable to get any invitation, has been openly and secretly arming many rebel groups in the country, with open plans to overthrow the Syrian government.

Of course, since Russia honored the invitation of the Syrian government last year, the war has been turning in favor of the Syrian government, which was falling before Russia’s intervention.

As we speak now, tension is mounting between the United States and Russia. Nerves are at their highest since the Cold War era. The United States, at the moment, is sitting on tenterhooks. Many officials in the Obama administration are frustrated and confused regarding the situation in Syria.

The United States has announced that it has ended all contacts with Russia in Syria. This announcement by the United States comes as Russia, beginning on Sept. 22, intensified its military operations in Syria, with the intentions to capture the city of Aleppo for the Syrian government. Diplomatic efforts to put an end to the fighting in Syria, have collapsed.

As the Aleppo operation continues, Russia has given the United States a stern warning not to take any action against the Syrian government forces. In fact, there are many Russian jet fighters stationed in Syria, ready to shoot down any United States jet fighter that attempts to strike on the Syrian government forces.

These developments from Moscow are not going down easily with the United States. The United States Secretary of State, John Kerry, is said to have urged president Obama to intervene and face the consequences from Russia. He is said to have even favored a nuclear deterrent against Russia.

However, it appears that before Kerry could even make this suggestion to Obama, the Russians had already gathered intelligence on the happenings within the White House. According to Zvezda, a Russian defense ministry Television channel, the country has started preparing its citizens for a possible ‘nuclear war’ with the United States – because of the mounting tensions in Syria. Russia has since moved to deploy nuclear-capable Iskander missiles in its western-most region, Kaliningrad, which borders on NATO members of Poland and Lithuania.

Due to how the situation has become, some top officials at the United States defense headquarters have finally spoken. These Pentagon officials have admitted that WWIII is imminent, and that it going to be deadly and fast. The military generals were speaking on a future-of-the-army panel in Washington.

A conventional conflict in the near future will be extremely lethal and fast, and we will not own the stopwatch,” Major General William Hix said.

General Hix  also stated that China and Russia’s armies are becoming increasingly technological, and that the Pentagon was getting ready for violence on the scale that the United States Army has not seen since Korea.

His comments were also echoed by Lt Gen Joseph Anderson and Chief of Staff, Gen Mark A. Milley, who described war between nation states as almost guaranteed.

The generals also said apart from the conventional battle, cyber battle, too, has become a reality against the United States, revealing that even smaller nations are launching it against the country.

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In quoting at length, normal caveats apply, and one does not want to be taken in by a hoax or be party to inappropriate scare mongering. The source is not one I recognize, but other more familiar sources report something on not so dissimilar lines, e.g. The Daily Express article titled: “World War Three is ‘ALMOST GUARANTEED’ as China and Russia boost military, top brass warns“, and many of the “facts” stated above are verifiable. In a report by the Independent: “Russia launches massive nuclear war training exercise with ’40 million people‘” the reporter notes that the Russians are taking the threat seriously and preparing.

While the dispute in the South China Sea is not one we hear much about, at least in the UK, I reckon that is because there are no obvious British interests, but that which is taking place in Syria we do, and especially in Aleppo is frightening. Even quite recently the British Foreign Secretary was adamant that recent bombing of civilian targets, resulting in so much suffering of innocent people, was a Russian operation. Yet a cautionary note is also needed and as so often in life things are not always as they seem. It is understandable that in the West the Russians are portrayed as the bad guys, and I have little doubt that some of the actions their authorities have sanctioned is more to do with their imperialist ambitions as opposed to genuine concern for those who suffer, and yet the same accusation can be laid at the American’s door as another must consider report argues: “Why Everything You Hear About Aleppo Is Wrong“. The picture being painted that what we are seeing is not so much a conflict between the Assad regime, rebel forces and Isis, but one between two major super powers: the USA and Russia, has an uncomfortable ring of truth.

In another report titled: “Is Russia Preparing For A Nuclear War With The United States?” the author is critical of current American strategy that has led to a much weakened US position, and views the current situation as a dire one, and no doubts this impacts on the Presidential debate if people were aware, which likely they aren’t. The report begins: “In Russia there is talk that war with the United States is inevitable, and they are feverishly preparing to win such a war when it happens. Thanks to tensions over Ukraine, Syria and the price of oil, U.S. relations with Russia are the worst that they have been since at least the end of the Cold War.In fact, one false move could result in U.S. and Russian forces shooting at each other in Syria“. The report ends: “The globalists’ game has been revealed. Soon enough, they’ll have to step down from power and appear before court. Only war can save their situation.But what about us? We don’t need war. Not now, now tomorrow, never. Never in history have we needed war. But we have constantly fought and, in fact, we have almost never lost. The cost entailed terrible losses and colossal efforts, but we won. And we will always win. If this were not so, then today we wouldn’t have such an enormous country free from foreign control. Sadly, most ordinary Americans aren’t paying attention to any of this.Most ordinary Americans still think that the Russians are “our friends” and that there is not even the slightest possibility that we could go to war with them. Let us certainly hope that war with Russia does not happen any time soon, because there is a very good chance that we would not wind up on the winning side“.

Humanly speaking, checking out reports about exploding smart phones is more palatable than considering we may be on the brink of a major war. Of course none of us can be sure if these are the events to trigger World War 3, but there are things we can do; and like the Russians, we could take civil defense seriously, something we have only paid lip service to in my recollection. We could also do what I urge Christians to do: watch and pray. We can read the Bible, as many of these things have been prophesized.  One recent report of the troubles in Aleppo goes under the title: “‘Armageddon’ in Aleppo after second day of intense bombings”. The real battle of Armageddon, yet to happen, described in Revelation 16, will take place not so far away, and Israel among many other nations will be involved, but no one can say when, and given so many conflicts that had the potential to escalate in recent years, it is unwise to speculate, but the signs are there, and diverting our attention to dodgy smart phones is NOT the right response.