Within a day or two of learning about Dr. Mordechai Kedar’s talk about Iran, I discovered a work of fiction written by a man named Ali Al Shihabi.  It is titled, Arabian War Games: Cataclysmic Wars Redraw the Map of the Middle East.  It is available on Amazon.  For readers of my book, Hidden In Plain Sight, or for readers of this blog, the storyline will be familiar: it’s about a land invasion by Iran into Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states.  It is basically the Second Signpost.

With this novel being published there are now three of us (myself, Dr. Kedar, and Al Shihabi) who believe an Iranian land invasion is not such a crazy idea.  Mr. Al Shihabi is a Saudi citizen who lives in Dubai.  He was an investment banker who has an interest in Middle East geopolitics, and who decided to write his first novel.  Unlike my enthusiastic recommendation for everyone to see Dr. Kedar’s talk, I cannot give the same recommendation for Al Shihabi’s book.  I’m not going to recommend you not get it, because it does give a scenario of an Iranian invasion similar to that of the Second Signpost, but if you’re looking for a gripping novel for entertainment this is not it.

Apparently the background and material for the book was well researched, what with his knowledge of an offensive strategy playing out, and military hardware, as well as the various officers and politicians of the various countries involved.  From the biography given, this book was that author’s first attempt at writing a novel.  The writer’s heavy use of third-person present-tense, coupled with next to no character development, prevented this reader from being drawn in.  However, it is the scenario of the Iranian invasion itself that would make it of interest to my readers. 

One word of caution though, the author is anti-Zionist (anti-Israel), and creates a second plot line where Israel’s leaders discuss and execute a forced mass exodus of all the Palestinian people from west of the Jordan River into other countries.  This may upset some readers knowing that a people and military as ethical as Israel’s be portrayed in such ruthless terms.

The main storyline itself has various differences and similarities to my own beliefs of how the Second Signpost will unfold.  The author projects that it is the Iranian main military that spearheads the invasion.  This is different than how I perceived it with heavier use of the Basij, but it is very plausible.  He shows agreement with Dr. Kedar that Iraq is under Iran’s influence if not outright control, and so provides an excellent platform to launch an invasion.  There is also a plausible set of reasons given for the invasion itself such as Iran’s desire to take half the world’s oil reserves, but no reason has to do with the coming Mahdi.  The author also portrays the current Supreme Leader of Iran as the leader commanding the invasion.  But that’s alright because – lets be honest – the Bible telling us that there must be a coup prior to the invasion is something only God’s word would see – and no one else.

One major difference between the book and Dr. Kedar’s position in his talk is that in the book Iran has not yet developed nuclear weapons.  This of course makes Iran vulnerable to being stopped, according to Dr. Kedar.  And of course in my own book I show that Daniel 8 says that the persian ram, Iran, will not be stopped and will be able to do all it wants to do.  It is because of this that I wrote in my last post that I believe Dr. Kedar has a point about Iran developing nuclear weapons before the invasion.

One area where the author confirms my beliefs is that the United States and the west will be taken totally by surprise due to (1) belief Iraq is there ally and not under control of Iran, and (2) belief that Iran would only try to stop the oil at the Strait of Hormuz.  A land invasion is not even on the radar.  It is this being taken by surprise that allows Iran to initialize the invasion successfully.

If any reader of this blog does read Mr. Al Shihabi’s book and wants to discuss it, you can comment on it.

I suppose that as time goes on and as we get closer to the Second Signpost we are likely to see more and more people realize that a land invasion by Iran is not a matter of “if” but a matter of “when.”

Categories: Signpost #2: Iran