‘Dirty bombers’ found in US

It's good that officials have apprehended some of these
dirty bombers -– but what are they?

When an American born al-Qaeda terrorist was arrested in
Chicago in early June we found out. It's alarming stuff and keeping it hushed
up was obviously a White House prerogative. But then, the dirty bombers struck
again. It sounds like something out of a Hollywood thriller -– but this is real
and it doesn't have a happy ending. The US Attorney General announced in grave
tones that American officials had "disrupted an unfolding terrorist plot" to
explode weapons which would spread a radioactive material.

"...Television stations expounded on how easily terrorists
could seize radioactive material, and newspapers prepared chilling maps of
American cities, charting the most likely plume of nuclear debris from a dirty
bomb." reports The Sunday Telegraph 16 June 2002.

"...There is no doubt within the Bush administration that
al-Qaeda is firmly back in its lethal business, and there are growing concerns
among Western intelligence officials that the obsession of some leaders with
catching Osama bin Laden -– or confirming his death -– is distracting them
from the more urgent task of dealing with terrorist cells..."

A big problem is knowing where these 'cells' will pop up
and focus their next attack. Whilst officials in the US remain on high alert, it's
a global issue.

The Sunday Telegraph goes on to say, "The truck bomb
which killed 19 people at a Tunisian Synagogue in April, the 11 French naval
engineers killed last month by a bomb in Karachi, and last weeks announcement of
arrests in Morocco, indicate that fresh life has been breathed into the movement's
international operations.

In Morocco, the authorities picked up five Saudi nationals
who were reconnoitring Royal Navy movements in the Straights of Gibraltar...

There are also reports that al-Qaeda activists from the
Yemen, where they are no longer welcome, have teamed up with the Iranian backed
Hezbollah faction in Lebanon, and alarming indication that al-Qaeda may now be
burying old rivalries with Teheran

Last week it emerged that other suspected terrorists had been
caught: a Sudanese man who tried to launch a SAM missile against an American
military plane in Saudi Arabia was being held by Sudanese authorities; five
suspected French accomplices of the captured British "shoe-bomber"..."

On a slightly more encouraging note, many experts are saying
that the intelligence level of many of the al-Qaeda recruits is lacking -–
meaning there is more chance they will get themselves caught before they can
cause any real damage. "As the number of incompetent Palestinian suicide
bombers suggests, in this field it's hard, by definition, to get people with
experience". For example if British would-be 'shoe bomber' Richard Reid
had carried a lighter instead of a damp box of matches, the outcome of his
attempt to blow-up American airlines flight 63 might have been quite different.
Unfortunately, many brilliant minds are also dedicated to the Islamic struggle
against the West and Israel...it's spiritual!

Of course, the good guys always beat the bad guys and live
happily ever after...don't they? Unfortunately confidence in the US security
structure is not particularly high at the moment. One Bush loyalist said, "The
same guys who are supposed to be making us feel better are looking more like
Keystone Cops."

Praise God for His Word which gives us insight and confidence
-– even in the face of 'distress upon nations, perplexity and men's
hearts failing them for fear'. A thorough reading of Matthew 24 and Luke
21 is essential for students of Bible prophecy, and should be pondered before
any attempt is made at interpreting current world events. Following a list of
specific signs of the times, Matthew 24:37-39 provides a context for our
discernment: the story of Noah.

"But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of
the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were
eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe
entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away;
so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

Check the story in Genesis 6:5-7: "And God saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that
he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord
said, I will destroy man whom I have created..."

God's judgements are true and His timing perfect. He
allowed time for Noah to complete the building of the ark (1 Peter 3:20 talks
about God waiting for the completion of the ark), and for Noah to prepare his
family for the pending flood. He has allowed time for you and me to prepare as
well!