Middle-East Begins to Make Plans for Inevitable Iranian Showdown

[JCMach1]

Two stories caught my eye today. Here are the excerpts:


Iraq, Syria agree to build three oil and gas pipelines

Iraq and Syria plan to build as many as three new cross-border pipelines for oil and natural gas, providing the Iraqi government with new and potentially useful options for marketing its most valuable commodities.
Officials from the two countries' oil ministries "recently" signed a memorandum of understanding to build two oil pipelines and Iraq's first international gas pipeline, Senior Deputy Oil Minister for Upstream operations Abdul Karim Al Luaybi said in an interview in Baghdad yesterday. The pipelines would originate at oil fields near Kirkuk in northern Iraq and terminate at Syria's port of Banias on the Mediterranean Sea... http://gulfnews.com/business/oil-gas/iraq-syria-agree-to-build-three-oil-and-gas-pipelines-1.683272


and this

Abu Dhabi funds Fujairah port to bypass Hormuz
Plan provides an alternative route since Iran has threatened to block the strait if attacked because of its nuclear programme

Abu Dhabi is turning to more distant Fujairah to ensure safe, quick passage for its oil exports and improve the nation's food security.
The fourth-largest crude producer in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries is funding infrastructure projects in the easternmost emirate, Fujairah, to gain direct access to the Indian Ocean.
Abu Dhabi is investing in an oil-storage terminal and a $3.3 billion (Dh12.1 billion) pipeline and is building the country's biggest power and water treatment plants as well as a facility to store imported grain.
Iranian threat
The UAE's largest emirate is banking on Fujairah's location to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint at the mouth of the Gulf through which a fifth of the world's oil supplies move.
Iran has threatened to block the waterway if attacked because of its nuclear programme. In July, a Japanese tanker was bombed in the strait, heightening concern that energy supplies from the Gulf are insecure.
"Abu Dhabi is thinking long term and strategically," said Mustafa Al Ani, a regional security expert from the Gulf Research Centre, a Dubai-based institution... http://gulfnews.com/business/oil-gas/abu-dhabi-funds-fujairah-port-to-bypass-hormuz-1.683227

Not usually an alarmist on this issues, but these moves are quite real.

[Hubert Flottz]

1. Armageddon or bust!

Iran won't be happy until they're bombed flatter than Japan was.

[Fumesucker]

2. Yes, the blame is *all* on Iran..

Never mind that the US has invaded nations on both their Eastern and Western borders..

ETA: I forgot to mention that the US has also overthrown a democratically elected government in Iran in the past also too..

:eyes:

[Warpy]

3. Iran isn't that fucking stupid

Ahmedinejad might by doing a lot of yapping, but it's all bluster. He has very little power.

The nuclear program there, by all accounts by people in the country, is pretty much of a joke with more bluster than anything else, there, too.

If the war hawks in the west will just shut the fuck up for a while and let nature take its course, that country is overdue for modernization away from its incredibly oppressive theocracy. Everybody under 40 knows it's just not working, and the vast majority of the population there is under 40.

Anyone who tries to attack that country will soon find out why it's almost as much of a sucker's game as Afghanistan is. Read some Turkish history to find out why.

Nobody with a brain ever wants any war, although some wars are unavoidable, as when one's own country is attacked. A preemptive war against any country is always found to be based on a tissue of lies and to be fought over something the corporations or the wealthy class wants. The only thing we need to do if someone else attacks Iran is stay out of it.

[Wwagsthedog]

4. I like your train of thought.

Didn't someone once say that engaging in a land war in Asia is sheer madness?

[Hubert Flottz]

6. "if someone else attacks Iran is stay out of it"

I couldn't agree more.

[Chulanowa]

5. And you won't be happy until you see that happen

Don't forget to change your underwear after you shit yourself with glee

[Hubert Flottz]

7. No, it wouldn't make me happy.

I wouldn't really give a fuck.

[JCMach1]

8. Me?

I don't think so... I am in harms way if it comes down to that... I have seen many Iran alarmist posts over the years, but these two reports stuck out as something out of the norm and quite tangible.

When you are one short range missile strike away from any proposed war, you pay attention.

The UAE doesn't spend billions and billions to build critical infrastructure across the Hajar mountains unless they have a damn good reason. Unfortunately, that is the risk of conflict in the near to mid term timeframe.

[chimpymustgo]

9. ISRAEL won't be happy until Iran is bombed flatter than Japan (and all the Muslim countries).

[Hubert Flottz]

10. The entire area is a powder keg.

It always was. It probably always will be. Thanks to their oil money they can afford the toys to finally kill each other off.