I recently enjoyed watching our world
leaders at the G8 summit 2013. The snippets of political news footage broadcast in Australian media
reminded me of my kindergarten years when I tossed sand from my clenched fists
into Thommy Schmidts' face after he called me 'big nose.' It's amusing to
witness fundamental aspects of human nature played out by grown men with big
responsibility. There are feigned friendships being acted out by highly
educated power brokers who clumsily attempt to control our humble little world.
As I reminisced about my past sandpit adventures I couldn't help but feel
jealous and left out when I realised Australia wasn't invited to the party. Why
not? I looked up what constitutes an invite to the G8 and this is what I found:
We just aint rich enough. Our teeny economy
just doesn't cut it. Phooee. :-P
Australia missed out on participating in the long walk endured by
leaders at Lough Erne resort and witnessing first hand Putin and Obama at
loggerheads over Syria. The US are really cranky their turncoat intelligence
spy, Edward Snowden, is being looked after by Russia, China, Ecuador and any
nation that wants to know dirty little American secrets. (I mean those nations
who believe in freedom of speech.) These antics are so similar to my sandpit
days it's almost funny. I too would bury and hide other children's Matchbox
cars in the deep tunnels of the kindergarten play area when I was four years
old. I would laugh when my fellow sandpit buddies couldn't locate and retrieve
their toy cars. The frustrated boys would stamp their feet, threaten physical
retribution and ultimately cry.
The last few years of Middle Eastern
politics has made me wonder if we are being trained and manipulated into being
anti-Muslim. Is the media controlled by governments or tricked into
broadcasting US government setups? Middle eastern politics is a minefield of
religious and ethnic differences and generational hatreds intertwined with
Western nations who are just as deceptive, self-serving and power hungry. I
find it difficult sometimes to understand what is going on. The US supplies
weapons to allies who become foes who become allies again. The borders are
murky and it is hard to distinguish who is friend or enemy. Amid all the
confusion many conspiracy theories have emerged. Some are most likely fact and
others are so outrageous, facts must be hidden amongst the rhetoric. Remember
the Benghazi attack:
The Chechnya terrorists
The Boston bombers:
These are just three conspiracy theories.
There are hundreds. Every world event has concocted a conspiracy theory. Is it
the US maintaining control by causing confusion, fear and hatred?
I decided to try to simplify the Middle
East and explain the mechanics for 'Dummies' like me.
To understand the Arab world you need to
understand the Muslim faith. Like Christianity there are many interpretations
of Islam, mostly referred to as 'factions.' Sunni and Shi'a Muslims are the main two factions. Hezbollah
is a militant Shi'a Islamic group and political party based in Lebanon. This is
a facet of Islam that is different to Christianity in some respects- politics
and religion combine; in fact you have to acknowledge the tremendous dedication
Muslims have to their beliefs and politics. Religions in the west like
Catholicism and Anglicanism are generally not so intertwined with government
and overall we are fairly lacksadaisical compared to our Qu'ran reading
neighbours although the US is extremely God conscious and fanatical in some
states.
The main political figures and their
countries are as follows but forever subject to change:
Iran- Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
President Hassan Rouhani - friends with Hezbollah and Syrian Bashar al Assad.
Formally known as Persia this is the most interesting Middle Eastern country to
watch regarding US relations. Take note of the countries that border Iran.
Libya- President Mohammed Magarief - kind of friends with US.
Saudi Arabia - King Abdullah kind of
friends with US. In 2010 the US sold $60.5 billion dollars worth of weapons.
9/11 saw the US angry as most hijackers were Saudi however 60.5 smackeroos is
hard to knock back.
Syria - President Bashar al Assad - friends
with Iran - enemies with US. Causing alot of fuss due to civil war. Strategic
position for the US as it borders Iran. The US has Iran in their sights and
have systemically militarised all nations surrounding Iran.
Israel - President Shimon Peres - US
allies. Palestinian enemies
Palestine - President Mahmoud Abbas - Prime
Minister Rami Hamdallah- US does not recognise Palestine as a state so
relations do not exist. A tiny unrecognised nation built on a couple of rocks
covered in bloodshed.
Lebanon- President Michel Suleimen -
friends with Iran. Armed and financed by Iran
Tehran- capital of Iran.
Egypt - Acting President Adly Mansour. - A
kind of US ally. Appears to have recently cut ties with Syria. Mostly Sunni.
Its parliament (what parliament?) is not currently working.
This excerpt by Dr. Stuart Jeanne Bramhill
explains everything so clearly:
In a disturbing article entitled When War Games
Go Live , Chossoduvsky quotes from retired General Wesley Clark’s
2003 book Winning Modern Wars regarding the role of military intervention
against Syria and Iran in the Pentagon’s grand Middle East strategy. According
to Clark, the Pentagon has been making preparation to attack both countries
since the mid-nineties. On page 130 of Winning Modern Wars, Clark states
“As I went back through the
Pentagon in November 2001, one of the senior military staff officers had time
for a chat. Yes, we were still on track for going against Iraq, he said. But
there was more. This was being discussed as part of a five-year campaign plan,
he said, and there were a total of seven countries, beginning with Iraq,
then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan.”
The reliability of these
predictions, despite a 2008 regime change from George Bush, the so-called
neocon hawk, to Barack Obama, a supposed soft power advocate, is uncanny. The
US persists in its occupation of Iraq, in addition to major military
engagements in Somalia and Sudan. Presumably the military intervention in Libya
is complete, now that the new US-friendly regime has agreed to privatize Libyan
oil for the benefit of US oil companies.
According
to Chossudovsky, countries such as Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Iran and Sudan became
US military targets because they refused to play ball by allowing
Anglo-American oil company unlimited access to their oil resources. In
contrast, oil-poor countries like Syria and Lebanon are current targets because
of strategic alliances with oil-rich Iran.
So it all boils
down to the sandpit analogy. Except in this case it is the oil underneath the
sand that is the impetus. I find it amusing when the words 'peace in the Middle
East' appear. I think it is a contradiction in terms. Perhaps when the oil
reserves have been depleted there could be a reason for peace.
