Page 76 - Heavenly Signs by Mel Gable

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The Great Euphrates River and water diversion pumps above Ar-Raqqah, Syria (GNU)

How could such a Great River dry up which has flowed for thousands of years? This is due to seven dams on the
Euphrates River located in Turkey and Syria according to Iraqi officials. However, in the End Times it is due to
God’s judgment on the earth that the Great River Euphrates will be dried up to prepare the way for the kings of
the East. Let us look at a commentary from the New York Times on the drought in recent times in Iraq.

“The drought is widespread in Iraq. The area sown with wheat and barley in the rain-fed north is down roughly 95 percent from the
usual, and the date palm and citrus orchards of the east are parched. For two years rainfall has been far below normal, leaving the
reservoirs dry, and American officials predict that wheat and barley output will be a little over half of what it was two years ago.

It is a crisis that threatens the roots of Iraq’s identity, not only as the land between two rivers but as a nation that was once the largest
exporter of dates in the world, that once supplied German beer with barley and that takes patriotic pride in its expensive Anbar rice.
Now Iraq is importing more and more grain. Farmers along the Euphrates say, with anger and despair, that they may have to
abandon Anbar rice for cheaper varieties.

Droughts are not rare in Iraq, though officials say they have been more frequent in recent years. But drought is only part of what is
choking the Euphrates and its larger, healthier twin, the Tigris. The most frequently cited culprits are the Turkish and Syrian
governments. Iraq has plenty of water, but it is a downstream country. There are at least seven dams on the Euphrates in Turkey and
Syria, according to Iraqi water officials, and with no treaties or agreements, the Iraqi government is reduced to begging its neighbors
for water.” 122

Two large reservoirs can be observed in the earth images below of the border area between Turkey and Syria.
Near the top of the images is Lake Atatürk Dam, the third largest in Turkey, located on the Euphrates River.

121 Iraq Suffers as the Euphrates River Dwindles, by Campbell Robertson, Published NY Times: July 13, 2009

122 Iraq Suffers as the Euphrates River Dwindles, by Campbell Robertson Published NY Times: July 13, 2009