Daniel 8:1-8

1In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.

2And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.

This area of land is just south of present day Baghdad, near the Euphrates river.

3Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.

The ram represents Iraq/Saddam Hussein. The two horns represent Two figures of authority/his two sons, Udai and Qusai. The two horns were high which means that they had great authority in the country. The one which was higher coming up last was the second oldest having more authority than the oldest. Saddam's second oldest son was number two in Saddam's cabinet, being more intelligent and level-headed. The oldest son was psychotic, being well known for murdering and raping men and women.

4I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.

In Saddam's thirst to revive the Babylonian empire, he pushed north towards the Kurds, west towards the Shia,(since he was Sunni) and south towards the oil rich country of Kuwait. At one time he had the 4th largest army in the world and the whole middle east was afraid of Iraq. as time went on, Saddam became well-known for exalting himself, acting the part of a great king.

5And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.

The he goat represents the USA/first President Bush. We sent our troops by plane and ship by way of the Mediteranean Sea, from the west. None of our forces came by land. The notable horn is the second Bush, our current President.

6And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.

During the current war in Iraq, the USA unleashed a military campaign unlike any that the world had ever seen. The USA conquered a country the size of California in 27 days, unlaeashing such of an assualt by air, land, and sea that the world was in awe.

7And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.

During a visit to the middle east between the two wars, Saddam Hussein, unsuccessfully, attempted to assasinated the first Bush during a trip to Egypt. His son was mad that Saddam would try to kill his father. this is just one of the reason for the son to go to war to oust Saddam. He smote the horns means that the USA destroyed the two sons. Both sons of Saddam were killed in a firefight during the war. Nothing could stop the USA military machine from defeating Saddam's/Iraq's forces. Also, Saddam himself was found in a hole in the ground, attempting to hide from our forces.

8Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.

The world at one time looked at the USA/Bush in awe of it's military achievement. But his authority is being broken, even as we speak. With the New President and the change in Congress, four major influences are going to rise up to gain controlling influence in the area. We already see who the four winds or powers may be. they are known as the Middle East Quartet; the Russian Confederation, the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations.