More than 30 years have passed since the first “Gulf War”. After invading Kuwait, Hussein threatened to strike Israel and other states with unconventional weapons. It was known that it was the way he had dealt with Iran, and many panicked. Only the Lubavitcher Rebbe SHLITA King Moshiach proclaimed before thousands of Chasidim that gas masks would not be needed, that miracles would occur, and that events were a fulfillment of what is said in the midrash “Yalkut Shimoni” and therefore a step on the road to total Redemption.
Today some say that there was nothing to fear at all, since no chemical weapons were found there after the invasion of Iraq. This is a big mistake made by those who mistook the first “Gulf War” for the second.
Let’s remember: Iraq used chemical weapons intensively during the eight years of war with Iran. About a hundred thousand Iranian soldiers suffered from these weapons! They were also used against tens of thousands of Kurds rebelling against Saddam. After the first Gulf War, from 1991-98, the UN neutralized dozens of plants with the capacity to produce two thousand tons of gas annually! According to the UN and by Iraq’s admission during the first Gulf War it had thirty thousand items of chemical weapons, including four thousand chemical bombs and 50 “Scud” chemical missiles!
In addition, Iraq had about one hundred thousand items of weapons ready to be filled with 412,500 kg. of gas! In eight years, the UN destroyed all the chemical weapons. In ’98, Iraq threw out the UN, the U.S. blamed it for hiding chemical weapons and so the second Gulf War took place, but in fact, as already mentioned, almost all of the chemical weapons had already been neutralized.
In 2003 it was revealed that (during the first war) chemical missiles were actually ready to be launched into Israel! The same goes for the chemical bombs that had already been loaded onto 15 bombers! Only by the grace of the Almighty all these weapons had not been launched.
Another amazing miracle was told by an Iraqi missile commander: Saddam had ordered him to immediately attack Israel with chemical weapons if communications between him and Baghdad were cut off. The US army didn’t know about this secret order and therefore tried throughout the war to bomb the lines of communication, but by the grace of the Almighty, who constantly and everywhere looks after the people of Israel, they never succeeded (if they had succeeded, dozens of chemical missiles would have been fired at Israel immediately). When General Schwarzkopf was asked why Saddam had not used chemical weapons, he replied: “I have no idea. I can only thank G-d for that!”
Thank the Almighty that because of His mercy and evident miracles, these horrible weapons were actually never used, as the Lubavitcher Rebbe King Moshiach SHLITA, who is a prophet, had predicted. Along with gratitude for the Almighty’s miracles, we must strengthen our faith and our connection with the Rebbe SHLITA, the prophet of our generation and King Moshiach, who envisioned the miracles and asked to publish the words of the referenced midrash: “My children, have no fear...the time of your Redemption has come!” In the same way, in response to the Iranian threat, we must remember the words of the Lubavitcher Rebbe SHLITA King Moshiach that “The Land of Israel is the safest place in the world,” add in Torah study and observance of the Mitzvos, and with trust in the Almighty, gratitude for miracles and joy we will soon all come together to the Redemption!