"Alistair Sim" <tartan_army@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message news:...
> The Problems With The Middle East
>
> It seems no other region is in the headlines or nightly news programs as
> much as the Middle East. It is the crucible of civilization, and of
> religion. It is World's largest fossil fuel deposit, and recently it has
> become the flashpoint of a World wide conflagration.
>
> One just has to look at any country in the Middle East and their
troubles
> and strife are apparent.
>
> Egypt: Decades of political oppression and a tenuous alliance with the
> United States. Birth place of the Muslim Brotherhood, an umbrella group
> for most Islamic militant groups.
>
> Sudan: Scene of the World's most recent genocide. A brewing storm on the
> horizon as UN troops are poised to enter the country by force if
> necessary.
>
> Ethiopia: A country brought to the World's attention in the 1980's due
to
> endemic starvation. This once starving country fought a protracted war
> against its miniscule neighbour - Eritrea.
>
> Eritrea: Just over a decade old, the tiny nation state of Eritrea gained
> independence from Ethiopia in 1993. Sudan accuses Eritrea of supporting
> Sudanese rebels. This young country of 4.5 million people could be
> swallowed up by any number of its larger neighbours.
>
> Somalia: Yet another starving nation on the Horn of Africa. The warlords
> of this nation apparently brought the United States military to its
knees.
> The warlords calculated correctly that the American public did not have
an
> appetite for war in their post-Cold War bubble.
>
> Djibouti: A one party dominated authoritarian dictatorship until as
> recently as 1999. The old French colonial territory is home to the only
US
> base in sub-Saharan Africa. This nation of less than half a million
people
> is one of the major assets in the War on Terror. Potentially a flash
point
> in the ever widening global conflagration.
>
> Yemen: A nation founded from two states in 1990, it was the scene of the
> USS Cole bombing terrorist attack. This Islamic nation produces a large
> number of Islamic terrorists.
>
> Oman: Quite possibly the most peaceful nation in the Middle East. A
> sultanate, Oman maintains a close military and political relationship
with
> the UK.
>
> United Arab Emirates: Most recently the UAE has come to the fore because
> of the hotly disputed take-over-bid of British firm P&O. The deal would
> place the UAE in control of 6 major American ports, including ports
across
> the Globe. The UAE is a key American ally in the War on Terror. The
major
> ongoing dispute concerning the UAE is with Iran's occupation of it's
> northern islands.
>
> Saudi Arabia: The birth place of Wahabi Islam, Saudi Arabia is also the
> birth place of Osama Bin Laden. The nation enjoys extremely close ties
> with the United States, and in particular the Bush family. The Saudi's
are
> fighting an internal struggle against Islamic militants who protest the
> presence of Americans in the Middle East.
>
> Jordan: Jordan holds the largest border with Israel and in 1994 signed a
> peace treaty with the Jewish state. Home to over 1.7 million Palestinian
> refugees, Jordan holds a large stake in the Mid-East peace process.
Jordan
> was a member of the pan-Arab forces that attacked Israel in 1967.
>
> Israel: Quite arguably the focus point of Western interest in the
entirety
> of Middle Eastern conflict. The partition of the Palestinian mandate
into
> Jewish and Arab states was created by a UN assembly vote in 1947. A
> negotiated peace treaty between Israel and the rest of the Middle East,
> including the creation of Palestine, would be the single biggest blow to
> militant Islam.
>
> Iraq: The once US-backed nation of Iraq fought a protracted war against
> Iran in the late 1980's. It's long-time dictator, Saddam Hussein, was
> deposed in an American-led invasion force in 2003. The nation now stands
> on the precipice of civil war as Sunni and Shiah muslims vie for control
> of the fledgling Iraqi government. Second only to Israel as the biggest
> source of Islamic militant anger.
>
> Syria: Syria was recently forced to remove its stranglehold over
Lebanese
> government and security. Syria moved into Lebanon in 1976 to prevent
> Palestinian forces from overthrowing the Maronites. Syrian officials
have
> been accused of assassinating the popular ex-Lebanese Prime Minister
Rafik
> Hariri. Syria has signed a mutual defence pact with Iran.
>
> Lebanon: The scene of much conflict in the latter decades of the 20th
> century. Lebanon was twice invaded by Israel who were aiming to remove
the
> PLO's presence in the fractured nation. Syria held sway in Lebanon until
> 2005 via its domination of Lebanese puppet governments loyal to Syria.
>
> Iran: Animosity between Iran and the United States harks back to the
> Iranian revolution and the American support for the deposed Shah (king)
of
> Iran. America's denial of Iranian requests to hand over the Shah who
fled
> there sparked the Iranian Embassy hostage crisis.
>
> Another hostage crisis tied to Iran, this time in Lebanon, nearly
brought
> about the collapse of the Reagan Administration. The Iran-Contra affair
> had the Reagan administration selling arms to Iran to secure the release
> of American hostages. However the sales of weapons to Iran began before
> the hostages were taken and continued until after their release.
>
> Iran has come to the fore recently due to its nuclear enrichment
> programme. The process of nuclear fuel enrichment is expressly provided
> for under the NPT, which it signed, but due to the history of animosity
> between the US and Iran the United States protests this nuclear
> enrichment. The United States asserts that the Iranians are aiming for
> nuclear weapons and that they should not be allowed to enrich uranium.
>
> Turkey: The only muslim nation to be included in the EU if accession
talks
> are successful. Turkey is held up by the West as the role model for how
> muslim nations should be run. A prosperous nation with a secular
> government, Turkey is the darling of Europe. Turkey however is fighting
> against Kurdish militants who are seeking to create a Kurdish state
which
> would span Turkish and Iraqi territory. This rebel presence was the main
> opposition point of Turkish involvement in the 2003 Iraq invasion.
>
> The interplay between the nations of the Middle East has far reaching
> consequences. One only has to look at the effects the Iranian oil shock
> had on World markets. Or take the War on Terror and how it affects the
> very principles of the democratic nations of the World.
>
> It is my hope that this thread can include a wide ranging discourse of
how
> these nations problems are intertwined with one another, including the
> West which seeks to quell these long standing problems. Have at it
>
>
> --
> Alistair Sim
>
> They seek him here, they seek him there
> Those Frenchies seek him everywhere
> Is he in heaven or is he in hell?
> That demned elusive Pimpernel
>
> I am the Whistler, and I know many things, for I walk by night. I know
> many strange tales, many secrets hidden in the hearts of men and women
who
> have stepped into the shadows. Yes, I know the nameless terrors of which
> they dare not speak."
>
>
> "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!"
>
>
>
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