Last of The Behemoth Pipelines — No More War!
[Originally written as a Facebook Note on December 29, 2016]
Well, folks, get ready to start New Year’s off with lots of 2017 killing in Mosul. The US-Iraqi-Kurdish-Iranian (what happened to Turkey?) coalition is now re-gearing its war effort to recapture the once cherished and ancient city.
Ultimately, this will set the stage for the east-to-west Iranian-Iraqi-Syrian-Lebanese (Shiite) oil pipeline. Turkey, given its rapid and newly developing relationship with Russia, likely will somehow be thrown a juicy bone for licking its chops as a main player. Russia will reward Turkey.
NOTE: It appears Turkey is switching horses!
Hopes for the Qatar-Saudi-Jordanian-Syrian-Turkish (Sunni) pipeline — the preferred US route — into Europe grow thinner and thinner as the US resolve to fight the Saudi proxy war in Syria diminishes each passing day. The Saudis even offered to pay the US to put its boots on the ground in Syria in order to attain its objective. Kudos to President Obama for rejecting this!
The overthrow of the Syrian government, initiated when Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, was a fool’s errand from the beginning and one which actually helped to cause Clinton’s defeat for the presidency, and one which certainly will tarnish the historical legacy of the Obama Administration. Obama should have put his community organizer shoes back on and he should have shed Clinton a long time ago!
This long drawn-out Middle Eastern pipeline battle is finally coming to a conclusion but it comes at the costs of millions of deaths, injuries and home displacements. War-torn and homeless refugees flooded Europe, gave rise to renewal calls for European nationalism (Brexit even) and made all kinds of American GOPwingers appear more selfish than normal. No, this was no bargain at all, even for an oil deal!
If the leaders of the US are able to show any wisdom, America should work hard to help the Kurds achieve statehood, work hard to help Palestinians achieve statehood and then completely withdraw from the region and participate in matters of commerce as a participant rather than as a controlling force of economic power.
The new Geopolitical arrangement will soon see Shiite nations form into a territorial alignment about the size of the United States throughout the thick of the Middle East. This will make Israel extremely uneasy. I predict this new reality will ultimately force a reconciliation between Israel and Palestine because if the statehood problem is not finally solved and economic self-determination not provided to the Palestinian people, we might as well accept a likelihood of World War III.
But, sadly again, the US is apt to play the role of an agitating antagonist rather than that of a peacemaker. Israel’s decision to drill for oil in the Syrian-owned but Israeli-annexed Golan Heights will likely spark the next tinderbox, especially given Russia’s renewed deep interest in Syria. It doesn’t help that the Israeli oil project is full of American & British kingmakers. Here’s the scoop:
Finally, who am I? Who is little ole’ me writing about all this? What do I know and why should I care? Well, I’ve always hated war, I hate war and will always hate war — but I will defend my kin. And, pretty much, we’re all made the same way. Therein, lies the rub.
But I’ll never give up on peace and it is from within this spirit I offer the following positive steps toward a Middle Eastern solution. Again, nothing will ever get solved until Israel and Palestine come to terms. Hopefully, the promise of a new Middle Eastern geopolitical alignment, the economy from rebuilding war-torn nations together with the emergence of clean and renewable energy sources will all help to paint a better future.
But here is a really great starting point!
Previous writing on topic:
