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ZEROHOURFORTHE
FREEWORLD!
A mushrooming crisis is developing in the Persian Gulf-Indian Ocean region that threatens the very
existence of the United States, Western Europe, Japan and the rest of the f ree world. Its implica–
tions are so awesome that we may be on the very brink of the prophesied "Great Tribulation."
N
ever in recent times has such
a vast-and highly strate–
gic- area of the world been
threatened with widespread political
instability.
T he fulcrum is strife-torn l ran, but
this "are of crisis"-to use the words
of President Carter 's National Secu–
rity Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski–
extends all the way from Bangladesh,
on India 's right Hank, to the tip of
southern Africa. Explains Brzezin–
ski : " An are of crisis stretches along
the shores of the Indian Ocean, witb
fragile social and poli tical structures
in a region of vital importance to us
threa tened with fragmentation . T he
resulting political chaos could well
be filled by elements hostile to our
values and sympathetic to our adver–
saries."
4
by
Gene H. Hogberg
and
Kei th W. Stump
The chief adversary who stands to
gain the most from the rising cre–
scendo of chaos is the Soviet Union,
the superpower which is posi tioned
geographically just beyond key ele–
ments of the are of crisis. The work
of Soviet agents, coupled with a re–
lent less chorus of propa.ganda from
Radio Moscow, is stimulating and
exploiting instabi li ty in this vast
area.
T he Kremlin, moreover, knows
what it is after.
"At stake," reported the J anuary
15, 1979 issue of the
U.S. News
&
World Report ,
"are enormous Per–
sian Gulf oi l suppl ies and control of
strategic choke points ["sea gates" in
the parlance of Bible prophecy] that
are of life-and-death importance to
the West."
Without oil from the Persian Gulf,
wheels and factories of the vas t in–
dustrial free world- from J apan
through Europe t o the United
States-soon would grind to a halt.
Moreover , nearly half of the non–
Communist world's total supply of oil
moves through the world's most criti–
ca! "choke point"-the narrow Strait
of Hormuz, separating l ran from the
Arabian península .
U.S. Energy Secretary James R.
Schlesinger underscored the West 's
vulnerability to political chaos in the
Middle East by stating that "there
must be clear and unequivocable evi–
dence to other nations in the Gulf
area of the fi rmness and steadfast–
ness of American support, American
presence. "
By "other nations" the U.S. ener-
The
PLAIN TRUTH March 1979