Snyder: Middle East developments put world at risk of WWIII

Recent developments in the Middle East have placed the world dangerously close to an event that could potentially ignite another world war, Michael Snyder said on Thursday morning.

Snyder made the comments during a taping of The Jim Bakker Show.

He was referring to a potential ground invasion of Syria, which he wrote about earlier this week on his blog “The Economic Collapse.” Snyder’s post cited a Saudi Arabia state media report that stated 20 nations would participate in a “military exercise” in the northern part of kingdom.

The Saudi Press Agency said the exercise would include troops, fighter jets, artillery, tanks, naval forces, and air defense systems, according to the announcement. The agency called it “the largest and most important military maneuver in the history of the region” and said it showed the 20 nations “stand united to face all challenges and to maintain peace and stability in the region.”

Snyder, though, noted in his post that “military exercises” are sometimes used as an excuse if governments are planning to prepare for a ground invasion. He argued that Saudi Arabia and Turkey could both benefit from invading Syria, though noted an invasion may lead to backlash from Russia and other nations with conflicting interests in Syria’s nearly five-year civil war.

“We could literally be looking at the spark that sets off World War 3,” he wrote.

Snyder went into more detail about the political, religious and economic sides of the conflict in Syria and the potential fallout of any ground invasion during Thursday morning’s taping.

“With interlocking relationships and alliances, they could draw in the entire world eventually — including the United States,” he said.

The show is scheduled to air on Feb. 23, but viewers can get exclusive early access through the PTL Television Network on Roku or the Video on Demand section of jimbakkershow.com.

The United Nations says 250,000 people have been killed and another 12 million are currently displaced as a result of the Syrian violence. The nation is the world’s largest source of refugees.

At a meeting last week, the International Syria Support Group agreed to try to implement a “nationwide cessation of hostilities” in Syria by this Friday. But violence and airstrikes have continued this week, and a medical charity known as Doctors Without Borders said at least 25 doctors and patients were killed on Monday when missiles targeted a hospital in Idlib Province.

During Thursday’s taping, Pastor Zach Drew asked Snyder if people should expect to see an invasion within the next 18 days, a reference to the reported length of the military exercise.

“We’re certainly in the danger zone, Zach, because this unprecedented military force has gathered right now,” Snyder replied. “If we get past a few weeks, well then, presumably, they would start to go home and go back to their countries. But they’re gathered right now in northern Saudi Arabia. It’s a real, real potential.”

During the taping, Pastor Jim Bakker said headlines from around the world are “crying out” that a world war could start in a matter of weeks or days, yet they were being largely ignored.

“We are in a moment where suddenly things will happen, and we’re not going to be able to do anything about it,” Pastor Bakker said. “Most people are not prepared for the world to come apart. We’re not prepared at all.”

Snyder: World facing global economic meltdown

The global economy is on the brink of a meltdown, Michael Snyder says in a new blog post.

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Writing for his blog, “The Economic Collapse,” the frequent Jim Bakker Show guest on Tuesday published a list of 21 items he believes show “the global economy is coming apart at the seams.”

Snyder pointed to declining global trade figures, struggles in the energy sector and significant losses in global stock markets as indicators of an impending economic implosion.

“The truth is that we are in the early chapters of a brand new economic meltdown, and I believe that all of the signs indicate that it will continue to get worse in the months ahead,” he wrote.

Snyder is at Morningside today and is slated to discuss recent military developments in the Middle East, as well as their potential implications, during a taping of The Jim Bakker Show.

In Tuesday’s post, Snyder wrote he is “deeply concerned” that the recent military activity may possibly lead to the beginning of World War III, a topic he covered in another recent blog post.

“Without any outside influences, the global economy and the global financial system will continue to rapidly fall apart,” Snyder wrote in Tuesday’s post. “But if we do have a major ‘black swan event’ take place, that could cause the bottom to fall out at any moment.”

The show featuring Snyder is scheduled to air beginning Feb. 23, though viewers can obtain exclusive early access by visiting the PTL Television Network on Roku or the Video on Demand section of jimbakkershow.com.

Russia raises specter of permanent or ‘world war’ if Syria talks fail

MUNICH (Reuters) – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev raised the specter of a permanent or a world war if powers failed to negotiate an end to the conflict in Syria and warned against any ground operations by U.S. and Arab forces.

Medvedev, speaking to Germany’s Handelsblatt newspaper on the eve of a security conference in Munich, said the United States and Russia must exert pressure on all sides in the conflict to secure a ceasefire.

Asked about Saudi Arabia’s offer last week to supply ground troops if a U.S.-led operation were mounted against Islamic State, he said:

“This is bad as a ground offensive usually turns the war into a permanent one. Just look at what happened in Afghanistan and many other countries. I don’t need to remind you what happened in poor Libya.”

“The Americans and our Arab partners must think well: do they want a permanent war?” It would be impossible to win such a war quickly, he said according to a German translation of his words, “especially in the Arab world, where everybody is fighting against everybody”.

“All sides must be compelled to sit at the negotiating table instead of unleashing a new world war.”

Russia is carrying out bombing sorties around the key city of Aleppo, in support of advances by troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. U.S. and other Western air forces are also involved in air strikes in northern Syria.

THE “PRIZE” OF ALEPPO

Capturing Aleppo, Syria’s biggest city before the war but now divided between rebel- and government-held sectors, would represent a major military victory for Assad and a symbolic prize for Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that Moscow had submitted proposals for implementing a ceasefire in Syria and was waiting for a reaction from international powers.

Lavrov was speaking ahead of a meeting in Munich with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss Syria.

Members of the United Nations Security Council pressed Russia on Wednesday to stop bombing Aleppo in support of the Syrian military offensive and allow humanitarian access ahead of a meeting of major powers in Germany on the conflict.

“You have no one power that can act alone,” Medvedev said. “You have Assad and his troops on one side and some grouping, which is fighting against the government on the other side. It is all very complicated. It could last years or even decades. What’s the point of this?”

(Reporting by John Irish, reporting by Joseph Nasr; editing by Ralph Boulton)