Middle East

Middle East ()   link C-SPAN NNDB Sourcewatch
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Of particular geopolitical interest primarily because of the fossil fuel reserves of the Persian Gulf.

The Middle East is a region of the world. Situated between Europe, Asia and Africa, being the heart of the largest religions in the last two millennia and its abundance of resources such as oil, the Middle East is of strategic importance.

Oil

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The oil wars: How America's energy obsession wrecked the Middle East - Eugene Gholz - Big Think

Oil is a viscous, black, highly energy dense material which is used both as a fuel and as a raw material for production of a wide range of chemicals such as plastics and pesticides. It is naturally occurring but limited to a relatively few areas of the world, of which the most important, historically, has been the Middle East. In the 21^st century, "non-conventional" methods have been developed to extract oil from tar sands. These methods are highly polluting to the natural environment.

Post-2001

Post 1989, the US has continued to intervene overseas. These have becoming increasingly more ambitious as the influence of the US deep state has replace that part of the democratic process which actually respected the will of the citizens. In the 21^st century, effective control of groups such as Al Qaeda has allowed the post 9/11 "war on terror" to be exploited as a general purpose casus belli. In countries such as Libya, aggressive foreign intervention has been portrayed by the commercially-controlled media as "humanitarian intervention".

NATO Drug Surge

The Golden Cresent - very coincidentally - right after the 1980s Afghan war has become the biggest opium-producing area in Asia since 1991. Afghanistan - again, quite the coincidence - became the largest country after the ban by the Taliban on producing heroin was lifted after a US/NATO-led invasion costing $1,000,000,000,000 in which a country occupied by the NATO troups became responsible for 90% of the worlds heroin production.

Waterways

The Suez Canal has been fought for by dozens of countries, mostly Iran, Saudi Arabia and Israel, as Big Oil relies on the vital waterway for distribution. 12% of all global trade and 8% of all liquefied natural gas pass through the canal. A temporary blockage in 2021 - even during the Covid-19-pandemic - caused $9 Billion in damages.

Wikileaks

File:Screenshot 2023-12-16 at 10-42-33 r coolguides - The Middle East Friendship Chart - who allies with who etc.png

And this chart does not even tell who the intelligence agencies are actually using against each-other... at a certain moment, you just have to give up and let them figure it out for themselves

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Why the Middle East’s Borders Guarantee Forever Wars - RealLifeLore

Full article: 2010 United States diplomatic cables leak

According to a leak of diplomatic cables by U.S officials all over the world in 2010 from the previous 12 years, the Strait of Hormuz was deemed a vital world water-route, and critical to US national security. Other diplomats painted a story of how absolutely nobody in the middle east amongst top officials trusted each other, all wanted other countries to be bombed and accused them of supporting militant groups.

Triangle of envy

Iraq vs Saudi Arabia

The Iraqi government was said by one such cable of Wikileaks leak to hate Saudi Arabia, rather than Iran, as see them as threat to the stability and unity of their emerging democratic state. They believe that Saudi Arabia, along with other Sunni Arab states, aims to bolster Sunni influence, weaken Shia dominance, and foster a fragmented and weak Iraqi government.

Moreover, Saudi Arabia applied pressure on Kuwait to reverse initial agreements with Iraq dating back to the Saddam-era. Saudi Arabia also opposed Qatar and Bahrain's plans to improve their relations with Iraq. The Saudis, much like the Iranians, did not hesitate to utilize their financial resources and political influence within Iraq. They aimed to support Sunni political aspirations, exert control over Sunni tribal groups, and counter the Shia-led Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) and Iraqi National Alliance (INA).

They were said to use media influence through satellite channels like Al-Arabiyya and Al-Sharqiya to achieve these goals. In a meeting with White House counterterrorism adviser John O. Brennan, Saudi King Abdullah expressed his belief that the U.S. invasion handed Iraq to Iran "on a silver platter".

King Abdullah, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud bin Faisal, and Prince Muqrin all indicated that the Saudi government had no plans to send an ambassador to Baghdad or open an embassy in Iraq in the near future. They cited security and political concerns for this decision. King Abdullah expressed his distrust of Nouri al-Maliki, stating that the Iraqi Prime Minister had previously made promises and failed to deliver on them. While the specific broken promises were not mentioned, he still was called an "Irani agent".

Iran's nuclear facilities

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia repeatedly urged the United States to "cut the head of the snake," referring to Iran's nuclear program.

1 year

A tense discussion between Saudi King Abdullah and former Iranian Foreign Minister Mottaki highlighted Saudi Arabia's concerns about Iran's interference in Arab affairs. When the King challenged Mottaki on Iranian involvement in Hamas affairs, he responded by saying, "You as Persians have no business meddling in Arab matters." King Abdullah indicated that the Iranians wanted to improve relations, but he gave Mottaki an ultimatum, saying, "I will give you one year" to achieve this goal.

At one point King Abdullah expressed concerns about Iran's efforts to establish Hezbollah-like organizations in African countries and its provocative missile launches, which he believed aimed to create fear, even though he admitted Iran was reliable, had no betrayed him over the years.

Prince Turki al Kabeer, Saudi Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, suggested that other Gulf states might follow and allow the stationing of nuclear weapons in the region as a deterrent to Iran, he warned about a possible environmental catastrophe resulting from the Russian-built reactor at Bushehr, which is located close to Saudi shores. Saudi Arabia could not accept Iranian supremacy in the region, according to him.