XPost: soc.culture.kuwait, soc.culture.polish, soc.culture.scottish   
   XPost: soc.culture.turkish   
   From: tartan_army@msn.com   
      
   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   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)