Unleashing the Beast

F UTURE H EADQUARTERS OF THE B EAST , I RAQ / 213

Iraq and the city of Baghdad have served as headquarters for caliphs in Islam since the infancy of the religion. Just as the first battle of Abraham, the father of the Jews, involved the king of Mesopotamia (Iraq), the final battle of battles involving Israel and her enemies will be with a future King of Iraq. Prophetically, he will be the king of the neo-Babylon. T HE N EW B ABYLON —R ISING F ROM THE A SHES On October 11, 1990, the New York Times, International Edition said: Under Saddam Hussein, one of the ancient world's most legendary cities has begun to rise again. More than an archaeological venture, the new Babylon is self consciously dedicated to the idea that Nebuchadnezzar has a successor in Mr. Hussein, whose military prowess and vision will restore to Iraqis the glory their ancestors knew when all of what is now Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait and Israel was under Babylonian control. The ancient king Nebuchadnezzar left instruction for the future of Babylon on cuneiform script tablets. On these clay tablets the scribes, 2,500 years ago, instructed those who find the tablets to rebuild the temples and palaces. This message was so clear to Saddam that during the ensuing major building project he had bricks impressed with his image and that of old king Nebuchadnezzar! One Iraqi archaeologist, Shafqa Mohammad Jaafar, said,