Beyond Iraq: The Next Move: Ancient Prophecy and Modern Day Conspiracy Collide

With the Bible's various prophecies of the downfall of Babylon, one would think Christian eschatologists would have a field day with the war in Iraq. But apart from a few perfunctory prophetic exegeses--Jeremiah's""arrows of expert warriors"" are laser-guided bombs, the""plunderers of the North"" are looters at Iraq's National Museum, Isaiah's""chariot of men with horses"" is an Abrams tank--this poorly organized, fundamentalist screed touts the Bible less as a crystal ball than as a rationale for a Wolfowitzian grand strategy against the Muslim world. On the temporal plane, Evans argues that the U. S. should use its control of Iraqi oil to break OPEC, and employ Iraq as a base (""only a short reach from the throat of Syria and Iran"") for the war on terrorism. On the spiritual plane, because Islam is""a religion conceived in the pit of hell"" and terrorism is orchestrated by demons, he advocates the use of Christian prayers summoning angelic intervention to root out the evils of terror and Islamic fanaticism. Evans, founder of the Jerusalem Prayer Team ministry and author of Why Christians Should Support Israel, is especially concerned with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He opposes Bush's""road map"" initiative and insists that God apportioned the West Bank and Gaza to the Jews of the land of Israel, whose modern consolidation is a prerequisite for the Second Coming. Evans's one-sided account of Middle East conflicts, based on fancifully symbolic readings of obscure Bible passages, concedes virtually no legitimate grievances or non-demonically inspired motivations to Muslims and Palestinians. His book is a disturbing addition to the debate on these critical areas of U. S. foreign policy. Photos.