(no subject)
The Prime minister of Italy recently said his country is opposed to an attack on Iran, as he believes it will destabilize the Middle East.
Has he ever heard of Pakistan? Or Iraq? Or the frickin' Middle East?! He can't be talking about the same Middle East that's constantly in the news, apparently trying to steal the most unstable region award from Eastern Africa.
Iraq is a nightmare. The Sunnis and Shiites have mostly stopped targetting coalition soldiers, so Al Qaeda Iraq is losing ground, but the Sunnis and Shiites are still slaughtering each other wholesale.
The PKK, kurdish militants, conduct raids from Northern Iraq into both Turkey and Iran, and both countries threaten to enter Iraq in response. Iran has shelled several villages in Iraq in response to attacks.
Lebanon has no functioning government, and Syria keeps assassinating the remaining ministers. Syria also sends weapons and supplies to Hezbullah, whom the UN turns a blind eye to.
Egypt is lead by 79 year old Mubarak, who has no effective successor, and journalists who write anything about him being sick are put in jail for incitement. Nobody knows what will happen when he dies. They are also believed to be seeking nuclear weapons, as they had secretly traded much information in the early 2000s with Libya, before they gave up their program.
Speaking of nuclear programs, Iran keeps defying the UN, and the IAEA doesn't care to do anything. No wonder, they're part of the UN.
Iran also supports and trains the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbullah. Not to be outdone, several former Iranian leaders have been indicted by Interpol as having planned a bombing of a Jewish center in Argentina.
Syria hosts Hamas, supports Hezbullah, and constantly threatens to invade the Golan Heights, held by Israel since 1967. They say they will do anything to get it back. Anything, it seems, except negotiate peacefully.
They are suspected of numerous bombings in Lebanon, a country they occupied until recently.
Afganistan has a government, but local warlords, rich from heroin poppies, buy off any soldiers who hassle them, or have their own militias kill any that come around. The warlords have no problems turning a blind eye to terrorists hiding in the region.
Pakistan just declared martial law, from rising violence. Terrorists run rampant, and the world is becoming worried that the control of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is weakening, and may not prevent weapons from being obtained by mislim extremists.
India, another nuclear power, is especially worried, as the two are mortal enemies, and Pakistan claims the Indian-controlled Kashmir region.
The palestinians continue to not be welcome anywhere. In Gaza, smuggling of arms from Egypt continues, and attacks against Israeli border towns and crossings are non-stop. Also non-stop are the complaints when these same crossings are closed, or when Israel retaliates. The economy is in ruins, food, medicine, and fuel are at crucially low supplies, and there is no effective government.
In the West Bank, the situation is not as dire, but Abbas has no real control, as local warlords control most of the area, and do whatever they want. They also complain about the border fence, claiming everything from landgrabbing to aparteid.
Israel is considered the 17th most competitive economy on earth, far far above all other Arab nations. They have a somewhat shaky government, with many cries of corruption, but on the whole, are not too bad off, except that every other country in the region hates them. They are an industiralized, advanced nation, with functional democracy. One wonders how the hell they ended up in the Middle East.
Jordan pretty much keeps to itself, but massive amounts of refugees from Iraq are putting a huge strain on the country.
Saying the Middle East may become destabilized is like saying global warming may melt the oceans. The oceans are already melted. It's the ice caps we need to be worried about. The oceans have already done with the melting. (Not that I endorse the notion that humans are responsible for global warming. Or, for that matter, global warming at all. It's called equilibrium in a closed system, people. And this was just an example!)
Reason enough to not like Italy. Then again, must be a happy place. Ignorance is bliss.
Has he ever heard of Pakistan? Or Iraq? Or the frickin' Middle East?! He can't be talking about the same Middle East that's constantly in the news, apparently trying to steal the most unstable region award from Eastern Africa.
Iraq is a nightmare. The Sunnis and Shiites have mostly stopped targetting coalition soldiers, so Al Qaeda Iraq is losing ground, but the Sunnis and Shiites are still slaughtering each other wholesale.
The PKK, kurdish militants, conduct raids from Northern Iraq into both Turkey and Iran, and both countries threaten to enter Iraq in response. Iran has shelled several villages in Iraq in response to attacks.
Lebanon has no functioning government, and Syria keeps assassinating the remaining ministers. Syria also sends weapons and supplies to Hezbullah, whom the UN turns a blind eye to.
Egypt is lead by 79 year old Mubarak, who has no effective successor, and journalists who write anything about him being sick are put in jail for incitement. Nobody knows what will happen when he dies. They are also believed to be seeking nuclear weapons, as they had secretly traded much information in the early 2000s with Libya, before they gave up their program.
Speaking of nuclear programs, Iran keeps defying the UN, and the IAEA doesn't care to do anything. No wonder, they're part of the UN.
Iran also supports and trains the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbullah. Not to be outdone, several former Iranian leaders have been indicted by Interpol as having planned a bombing of a Jewish center in Argentina.
Syria hosts Hamas, supports Hezbullah, and constantly threatens to invade the Golan Heights, held by Israel since 1967. They say they will do anything to get it back. Anything, it seems, except negotiate peacefully.
They are suspected of numerous bombings in Lebanon, a country they occupied until recently.
Afganistan has a government, but local warlords, rich from heroin poppies, buy off any soldiers who hassle them, or have their own militias kill any that come around. The warlords have no problems turning a blind eye to terrorists hiding in the region.
Pakistan just declared martial law, from rising violence. Terrorists run rampant, and the world is becoming worried that the control of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is weakening, and may not prevent weapons from being obtained by mislim extremists.
India, another nuclear power, is especially worried, as the two are mortal enemies, and Pakistan claims the Indian-controlled Kashmir region.
The palestinians continue to not be welcome anywhere. In Gaza, smuggling of arms from Egypt continues, and attacks against Israeli border towns and crossings are non-stop. Also non-stop are the complaints when these same crossings are closed, or when Israel retaliates. The economy is in ruins, food, medicine, and fuel are at crucially low supplies, and there is no effective government.
In the West Bank, the situation is not as dire, but Abbas has no real control, as local warlords control most of the area, and do whatever they want. They also complain about the border fence, claiming everything from landgrabbing to aparteid.
Israel is considered the 17th most competitive economy on earth, far far above all other Arab nations. They have a somewhat shaky government, with many cries of corruption, but on the whole, are not too bad off, except that every other country in the region hates them. They are an industiralized, advanced nation, with functional democracy. One wonders how the hell they ended up in the Middle East.
Jordan pretty much keeps to itself, but massive amounts of refugees from Iraq are putting a huge strain on the country.
Saying the Middle East may become destabilized is like saying global warming may melt the oceans. The oceans are already melted. It's the ice caps we need to be worried about. The oceans have already done with the melting. (Not that I endorse the notion that humans are responsible for global warming. Or, for that matter, global warming at all. It's called equilibrium in a closed system, people. And this was just an example!)
Reason enough to not like Italy. Then again, must be a happy place. Ignorance is bliss.