Daniel saw the ram charging to the west, the north and the
south.
I watched the
ram as he charged toward the west and the north and the south. No
animal could stand against him, and none could rescue from his
power. He did as he pleased and became great (Dan 8:4).
The first two of these charges have already taken place. To the west of Iran
is the nation of Iraq. In 1980 Iraq invaded Iran, and military strategists
said that Iran would soon have to surrender. To their surprise the
Iranian troops forced the invading army back across their
border. Iran then attempted to invade Iraq and topple its
Baathist socialist government of Saddam Hussein.
The nations to the north of Iran are Syria and Lebanon. There
are already strong links between Iran and Syria, and Iranian power
has been influential in Lebanon. A Shi-ite Moslem militia
organisation has its headquarters in the Bekaa Valley at a place
called Baalbek. In 1982, about 350 Iranian Revolutionary Guards
set up headquarters there, and have a miniature Islamic
Republic in place. Their numbers swelled to 600, and they managed to impose Islamic law on the once
westernised
residents of the area. Terrorist activity by this group was one of
the factors forcing the United States peace-keeping forces to
withdraw from Beirut. This is the fulfilment of the ram’s
move to the north. Iran also established Hezbollah, which
led the reistance against Israel's invasion of Lebanon.
Daniel saw a ruler who would become great and do just as he
pleases. This would be a good description of the Ayatollah. He had
almost absolute power. More interesting still, Daniel says that no
nation would be able to "rescue from his power".
When the Islamic revolution took place, over one hundred American
hostages were held in their embassy. The United States, which is
the greatest military power in the world, devised a plan called
"Eagle’s Claw" to rescue them. Despite elaborate
planning and the best equipment that modern technology could
provide, the rescue attempt ended in disaster. Helicopters
encountered unprecedented head winds and unexpected dust storms. A
helicopter crashed into a plane during refueling in the Iranian
desert and eight servicemen were killed. The United States was not
strong enough to rescue its people from Iran, and had to beg for
their return (see