"Russia Spies Operated in Iraq Through 2003"
Yahoo! News: "Russia had a military intelligence unit operating in Iraq up through the 2003 U.S. invasion and fall of Baghdad, a Russian analyst said Friday as the Pentagon reported Moscow fed Saddam Hussein's government with intelligence on the American military."
This story is well worth a read. One of my best friends is fond of pointing out that he has absolutely no trust in Russia. He hasn't said specifically if this is because of the supposed association the great bear has with Gog and Magog, but I see where the connection can be made.
According to a tradition of dispensationalist Biblical hermeneutics, Gog and Magog are supposed to represent Russia. The Scofield Reference Bible's notes to Ezekiel claim that "Meshech" is a Hebrew form of Moscow, and that "Tubal" represents the Siberian capital Tobolsk. This identification of Gog with Russia, and Cold War tensions with the West and with Israel, led Hal Lindsey to claim that the former Soviet Union would play a major role in end times prophecies. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the retreat of Russia from the role of a military superpower, a few modern end times prophets have attempted to recast Iraq or some other country in the role of Gog (Wikipedia).Regardless if it is prophecy or not, I don't trust Russia, either. The people are fine, I'm sure, but any culture formed in large part by a history of invasion shouldn't be considered one that looks out for anyone but itself in the grand scheme.
