Michele Bachmann Says Arming Syrian Opposition Sign of 'End Times'
Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R) has said in a recent interview that President Barack Obama's decision to supply the Syrian government's opposition with weapons, mostly nonlethal, to protect themselves against a chemical attack is a "sign of the end times."
Bachmann was speaking to conservative talk show host Jan Markell on her Christian radio program, "Understanding the Times," last Saturday when she made the comments.
"President Obama waived a ban on arming terrorists in order to allow weapons to go to the Syrian opposition," Bachmann told Markell. "Your listeners, U.S. taxpayers, are now paying to give arms to terrorists including al Qaeda."
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"This happened, and as of today, the United States is willingly, knowingly, intentionally sending arms to terrorists, now what this says to me, I'm a believer in Jesus Christ, as I look at the End Times scripture, this says to me that the leaf is on the fig tree and we are to understand the signs of the times, which is your ministry, we are to understand where we are in God's end time history," Bachmann added.
Bachmann went on to say that although she believes this to be a sign of the end times, she is not fearful: "Rather than seeing this as a negative, we need to rejoice, Maranatha, come Lord Jesus, His day is at hand," Bachmann said. "When we see up is down and right is called wrong, when this is happening, we were told this: that these days would be as the days of Noah."
Bachmann's comments are in reference to the president's decision earlier in September to supply Syrian rebels with nonlethal aid to protect them against a possible future chemical attack by the Bashar al-Assad regime. Some of the aid includes equipment such as vehicles, body armor and night-vision goggles. To supply this aid, Obama had to issue a memorandum to Secretary of State John Kerry saying that such assistance "is essential to the national security interests of the United States."
It was later allegedly confirmed by a spokesman for the coalition of Syrian rebel groups opposed to President Assad that the U.S. had also begun to distribute some lethal aid, such as weapons, to Syrian rebels. The U.S. previously claimed that President Assad's forces conducted an extensive chemical attack on civilians in late August, killing over 1,000. Although some rebel factions are made up of Islamic extremists aligned with terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda, the White House confirmed that the aid being given would only go to "select vetted' members of the Syrian opposition.
