This link from my friend David...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his desires to send around 300 military engineers to southern Lebanon, to help rebuild the infrastructure that was destroyed during the Israeli-Hizbullah war. Although he has stated this will only happen if all political forces in Lebanon agree to the deployment, the move has caused controversy, due to the fact that Russia's contingent will not be placed under the authority of the United Nations, as has every other country contributing to the relief efforts. The Russian government has stated this force, though initially small, could grow to include armed soldiers on the border of Israel, operating under the UN flag. As I have stated before, Putin has already expressed his desire to become more involved in the Middle East peace process, to act as a counter balance to US support for Israel. And it wouldn't be the first time Russia has made an attempt to secure its own interests in the oil-rich region. Apparently in 1982, Israeli soldiers operating in Lebanon discovered a massive stockpile of Soviet weapons, which they believe were stashed away, ready for any future invasion of Israel.

Quote: "In 1982, Israeli forces battling PLO terrorists in southern Lebanon unexpectedly uncovered a secret but massive cache of Soviet weaponry in deep underground cellars and tunnels. The storehouses contained some 4,000 tons of ammunition, 144 armored vehicles and tanks, 12,500 pieces of small arms, and 515 heavy weapons. Then-Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin said that the Russians had prepositioned enough weapons to "equip not five brigades, but five or six [Soviet] divisions," adding that "we shall need literally thousands of trucks to evacuate these weapons from Lebanon." Begin admitted how badly Israeli intelligence had failed in observing Moscow's preparations for war on Israel's northern border. "Something happened which nobody knew," Begin conceded. "[The] pre-positioning by the Soviet Union of such massive quantities of arms -- and I mean modern, highly sophisticated weapons -- could only be in preparation for some indeterminate future date to overrun Israel, then Jordan, and then Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf States. Otherwise, there is no explanation for the quantities of weapons we have found."

"I will leave but a sixth part of thee", Ezekiel 29:1-2... And that's exactly what the Bible states will happen, as prophesied in Ezekiel 38-39. It appears that during a Muslim conflagration on Israel, at the same time an "evil thought" will come into the mind of Russia's leader, who will send his troops to overrun Israel to take a spoil. Meanwhile, as we hear that Iran's Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power station is 6 months from completion, the Russian Federation is doing everything in its power to ensure the plant is safe from any American or Israeli strike. Russia is offering Iran advanced Surface to Air Missiles, to protect the installations in the event of an attack. 

Quote: "Russian diplomatic and industry sources said Moscow has been negotiating to sell Iran a range of anti-aircraft systems to protect Bushehr from Israeli or U.S. air strikes. The sources said contracts could be signed when Bushehr was ready to begin operations in a move expected to take place in late 2007. "Russia has already installed and manned SAM systems around Bushehr," a diplomatic source said. "The current talks regard an air defense umbrella that would protect all strategic sites in Iran." 

With Europe heavily involved in the Middle East peace process, and Russia now becoming more involved with the Islamic nations mentioned in Ezekiel's prophecy, the stage is now being set for the final showdown between Israel and Gog's armies.

Source The One Republic, Middle East News Line