Middle East landscape rapidly changing

Started by give her dixie, January 25, 2011, 02:05:36 PM

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macdanger2

Quote from: seafoid on August 23, 2013, 06:31:26 AM
There is no discussion on how our media report war. We are never told why wars start and who runs them. The enemy is never the opposition or the iranians or the israelis. The enemy is war and the system that generates it.

True - and that's without mentioning the wars we never even hear about, you can be sure there are hundreds people dying every day in various conflicts in Africa (e.g Congo, Nigeria) and elsewhere which are almost never reported. Why they start is likely to do with control of / exploitation of natural resources. As consumers of these natural resources, a large portion of the guilt probably lies with us - reporting of that sort generally isn't encouraged

seafoid

Quote from: macdanger2 on August 23, 2013, 04:04:36 PM
Quote from: seafoid on August 23, 2013, 06:31:26 AM
There is no discussion on how our media report war. We are never told why wars start and who runs them. The enemy is never the opposition or the iranians or the israelis. The enemy is war and the system that generates it.

True - and that's without mentioning the wars we never even hear about, you can be sure there are hundreds people dying every day in various conflicts in Africa (e.g Congo, Nigeria) and elsewhere which are almost never reported. Why they start is likely to do with control of / exploitation of natural resources. As consumers of these natural resources, a large portion of the guilt probably lies with us - reporting of that sort generally isn't encouraged

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/apr/05/how-millions-have-been-dying-congo/?page=2

"Peter Eichstaedt's short book, Consuming the Congo: War and Conflict Minerals in the World's Deadliest Place*, takes up the story where Jason Stearns leaves off. Eichstaedt, a formidable journalist and Africa expert, traces the whole grimy trail of exploitation. It begins with ragged villagers digging the gold, tin, or coltan (used in computers and cell phones), continues up through the militias who tax the diggers ruthlessly, on to the négociants who in turn sell to the comptoirs in the eastern Congo cities of Goma or Bukavu, who deliver the ore to international smelting corporations, mostly in Asia. So far efforts to smash this chain—which still finances the militias in their campaigns of mass rape and massacre—have been unsuccessful."
"f**k it, just score"- Donaghy   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbxG2WwVRjU

seafoid

Quote from: trileacman on August 22, 2013, 09:23:07 PM
Lads help me out here. I could quite reasonably follow the conflict in Isreal, Iraq and Afghanistan but the current flashpoints have me bamboozled.

Are the current uprisings linked to the long history of troubles in the region? Because to me it doesn't seem so. It looks more like a internal problem in both countries. And despite whoever or whatever comes to power the West is always supporting the wrong side as GHD and Seafoid continually decry.
I think that order is breaking down in the Middle East with the relative decline of American power and the rise of smaller powers and it's not clear what it will look like when the dust settles.

http://www.lobelog.com/washingtons-worries-grow-over-saudi-ties/
"f**k it, just score"- Donaghy   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbxG2WwVRjU

Franko

Right lads, I don't have a particular dog in this fight but it seems to me that some lads will take any and every opportunity to criticise the yanks.
Now before they are slated for whatever they are about to do or not do in Syria, what do you lads think is the right course of action is for them to take?

Itchy

Franko - they won't say, these boys just paste stories here from papers. I hope the yanks do some air strikes against that sc**bag Assad.

seafoid

Quote from: Franko on August 24, 2013, 07:18:58 PM
Right lads, I don't have a particular dog in this fight but it seems to me that some lads will take any and every opportunity to criticise the yanks.
Now before they are slated for whatever they are about to do or not do in Syria, what do you lads think is the right course of action is for them to take?
The Yanks should stop backing Israel at the UN with their veto and call a regional peace conference to get rid of the nukes and get some investment in.
"f**k it, just score"- Donaghy   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbxG2WwVRjU

Franko

Quote from: seafoid on August 24, 2013, 07:32:53 PM
Quote from: Franko on August 24, 2013, 07:18:58 PM
Right lads, I don't have a particular dog in this fight but it seems to me that some lads will take any and every opportunity to criticise the yanks.
Now before they are slated for whatever they are about to do or not do in Syria, what do you lads think is the right course of action is for them to take?
The Yanks should stop backing Israel at the UN with their veto and call a regional peace conference to get rid of the nukes and get some investment in.
OK fair enough - but that all seems very 'long term'. What do you think they should do in the next few days/weeks?

Itchy

Great idea seafood. I'm sure that will be a great help to people Assad is gasing!

seafoid

Quote from: Itchy on August 24, 2013, 07:44:47 PM
Great idea seafood. I'm sure that will be a great help to people Assad is gasing!
would you prefer depleted uranium?
"f**k it, just score"- Donaghy   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbxG2WwVRjU

trileacman

Fantasy Rugby World Cup Champion 2011,
Fantasy 6 Nations Champion 2014

Itchy

Lunatic is gassing innocent people and your solution is to cut Israel adrift and call a peace conference. Unbelievable.

seafoid

The Middle East is a mess because

a) It has the  best oil reserves in the world and our economies can't function without a relibalbe supply of oil
b) Israel and we the owe the Jews because of WW2

The last 60 years have seen countless wars because we couldn't let the locals decide their own future because
a) they might not want to sell us the oil
b) Israel 

Even Pakistan was allowed develop democracy but there was no way it would fly with the Arabs because if there was no oil there would be no Western economy.

So maybe it does come across as the usual Yank bashing but the Yanks wanted that system and that is the system they put in place after the war, with a lot of help from Europe.

Now the American century is over and a lot of things are no longer certain. 

"f**k it, just score"- Donaghy   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbxG2WwVRjU

give her dixie

Quote from: Itchy on August 24, 2013, 10:03:36 PM
Lunatic is gassing innocent people and your solution is to cut Israel adrift and call a peace conference. Unbelievable.

And what evidence do you have that says Assad is responsible?
next stop, September 10, for number 4......

give her dixie

Quote from: Itchy on August 24, 2013, 07:30:37 PM
Franko - they won't say, these boys just paste stories here from papers. I hope the yanks do some air strikes against that sc**bag Assad.

Maybe if you read the articles you will broaden your mind. Calling for airstrikes is very humane all right.
next stop, September 10, for number 4......