I have no position on this yet to be honest with you, I cautiously consider things but I am still not convinced, I am difficult to convince of things I just am (even for my own self) I need to prove it more then a couple of ways before I believe its solid.
That is understandable as that shows you have an open mind which is a good thing to have, as when it comes to things like this you can never just take and close the door on something. Being closed minded when it comes to prophecy is never a good things so I am glad you say you need to search things out and prove them to yourself.
Daniel was shown another prophecy vision in Daniel 7 of the 4 beast, and the first one is a Lion.
Now the standard well accepted in the past was that this beast was Babylon.
I have come across a few that here recently have been changing that approach because of the full description given of this beast.
First it says it is a lion with eagles wings, and Daniel watched as the wings separated from the lion.
Now history tells us that Great Britain has the symbol lion, and American who's symbol is the eagle broke away from Britain in 1776.
Then it says it were made to stand up like a man and given a heart, and the other symbolism is for America is Uncle Sam and have you ever heard the phrase the heart of America.....