Former CIA Director George Tenet's new book, At the Center of the Storm, reveals "that al-Qaida or groups affiliated with it have undertaken several other operations aimed at equaling or even surpassing the carnage of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks" ("The long reach of al-Qaida," April 30, 2007, Robert Windrem and Alex Johnson).

This and other disclosures are sobering and frightening and they lay out the scope of al-Qaida's ambitions. The September 11, 2001 disaster is but a prelude of what they have planned.

In his eye-opening book, Tenet discloses that one high-ranking terrorist, together with others, plotted to kill Al Gore back in 1998. The Saudis foiled the plot hatched by Abdel Rahim al-Nashiri "to smuggle four Sagger anti-tank missiles from Yemen into Saudi Arabia a week or so before Gore was scheduled to visit the kingdom" (ibid.). The Saudi officials failed to share this information with Washington.

George Tenet's "most frightening chapter is on al-Qaida's plans to develop weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. It is titled They Want to Change the World" (ibid.). Tenet revealed that al-Qaida wants to cause mass casualties in the United States, through the use of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons.

For example, Saudi extremist elements were planning to conduct a cyanide gas attack on the New York subway system in fall 2003. Before they acted, they requested permission from al-Qaida leaders. "Chillingly, word came back from Ayman al-Zawahiri in early 2003 to cancel the operation and recall the operatives who were already staged in New York 'because we have something better in mind'" (ibid.).

Arguably the greatest impact that al-Qaida can have on the West, and particularly on the U.S., is to acquire nuclear weapons or weapon technology. Al-Qaida sought both from Pakistan, in two separate efforts. The terrorist network attempted "to persuade Pakistani scientists to provide it with nuclear weapons from their stockpile of about 50 nuclear weapons, highly enriched uranium and plutonium, and vast weapons infrastructure" (ibid.).

According to Mr. Tenet, Osama bin Laden, was rebuffed. The reasons weren't clear. But that didn't stop bin Laden. Two years later he reached out to a charity for Afghan refugees run by Pakistani nuclear scientists, along with charity founder Sultan Bashir-ud-Din Mahmood. Apparently the charity officials agreed to help Mahmood "to share weapons of mass destruction with the Taliban leaders of Afghanistan" (ibid.).

The trail of this potential fiasco led back to Pakistani President Musharraf, who played down the concerns that Pakistan could be involved with the sharing of nuclear weapons with the terrorists and Osama bin Laden "arguing that bin Laden and his associates were 'men living in caves' who could not possibly take possession of such weapons" (ibid.). Yet after interrogation, Mahmood confirmed the details of the August 2001 meeting with bin Laden.

Tenet writes that U.S. intelligence picked up rumors from reliable sources indicating the terrorists had smuggled a small nuclear device into the United States, likely to be used in New York City. Tenet believes that a nuclear detonation in a U.S. city is al-Qaida's ultimate goal, where they can set off a mushroom cloud, in hopes of making history.

It is hard to ignore the thoughts offered by the former head of the CIA. Yet how could a group of "men living in caves" have any far-reaching effect on the West?

Your Bible speaks of just such far-reaching effects of Middle Eastern geopolitics instigated by Muslim extremists: "At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through" (Daniel 11:40).

Bible prophecy and current geopolitics seem to suggest that a great Islamic confederation hostile to Western interests could constitute the coming king of the South. At least a portion of the present EU could make up the major part of the coming king of the North. In Bible prophecy, all end-time events culminate in Palestine. Islam and Christianity have been at loggerheads for many centuries; the impact felt by the Crusades is still remembered by certain terrorist groups.

Could the modern Islamic terrorists trigger the formation of the king of the South? They certainly could. The far reaching effects of al-Qaida on Europe, the United States and the Middle East were first revealed in Scripture, over 2,500 years ago (Deuternonomy 28:15-68, Daniel 11:40).