Nostradamus

This Wolper production got relatively little notice when originally released in 1981. But less than a decade later, it was broadcast on network television in prime time. It was a pseudo-documentary hosted by Orson Welles, about the prophecies of Nostradamus (1503-1566). Orson notes how Nostradamus predicted the Kennedy assassinations, the French Revolution, and so on. He also predicted the rise of what he called "three great Anti-Christs." The first seems to describe Hitler, mis-spelled by Nostradamus as "Hister," including his use of flying machines and "lightning warfare." But it was the third prediction that convinced network executives to run the program during the Persian Gulf War of 1991. In this one, he says that a man in a turbin will attack the world's superpower in a way that will bring the nations of the world to war. While Saddam Hussein didn't wear a turbin, his invasion of Kuwait did bring about a battle involving America (the superpower) and a collection of forces from other nations. Saddam did not directly attack the U.S. of course, but perhaps the prediction refers to another who "will seduce his followers with visions of power and glory."

Nostradamus predicted the surprise attack would come around the Millennium. If so, then it would seem that someone in a turbin will convince his followers to attack the U.S. directly in some way before the end of 2001. Only one other time did Nostradamus predict an exact year: he said that London would be destroyed by fire in the year 1666, which it was. He predicts that the "man-made canyons of the New City" will be the target, bringing "the hot wind of war." Orson says most Nostradamus scholars agree the the New City refers to New York, which didn't yet exist by that name in his time. This, he predicts, will be the start of 27 years of battles and wars between "Muslims from the heart of Arabia and Persia," and the "kingdoms of Christianity." The heart of Arabia is Saudi Arabia (Mecca), birthplace of world-famous terrorist Osama Bin Ladin, and Persia (divided into Iran/Iraq by the British Empire) could mean Saddam Hussein. Terrorists linked to Osama already tried to blow up the World Trade Center in New York just 6 years ago in 1993, and another attacked CIA headquarters, but these do not appear to be the big attack predicted by Nostradamus. An attack by Osama-linked terrorists on U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania resulted in a limited cruise-missile attack on a suspected terrorist camp in Afghanistan by President Clinton on 8/20/98, but there was no reaction from the Taliban government as of the end of 1999 (the Taliban has ruled Afghanistan since September 11, 1996).

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