Oil, blood and hypocrisy

Everyone, who looks through the newspaper headlines every now and then, is certainly aware that today the world stands at the threshold of new major armed conflict that is about to grow into a full-scale war featuring nuclear states. Centre of the conflict lies at the heart of Middle and Near East, covering a part of Central Asia, too. Why the scent of war is so strong in the air of that region?

What Turkey aggravates its relations with Israel for?

Having chosen the reinforcement of its influence in the Arab world as the strategic goal, Turkish Republic logically started to actively support Palestine, countering Israel. This is a true path for gaining love of Arab streets and respect of Arab leaders. Wealthy Middle-Eastern monarchies are ready to accept Turkey as a mediator of a dialogue between the West and East in exchange for liberating them from a role of a buffer, staying under constant pressure from both sides.

Palestinian «isle of Stability» amidst the storming sea of Arabian revolutions

For several months tensions in the Middle East have been growing with each passing day. Protests, gradually turning into a bloody manslaughter, have spread from Tunisia to Libya, having struck the territories of Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria. As for the geographic center of these events, we have Israel, Hamas in the Gaza strip and Fatah at the West Bank. Why haven’t the mass protests movement flared up in this area, although it should have been the utmost appropriate thing to expect from Palestinians?

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For several months tensions in the Middle East have been growing with each passing day. Protests, gradually turning into a bloody manslaughter, have spread from Tunisia to Libya, having struck the territories of Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria. As for the geographic center of these events, we have Israel, Hamas in the Gaza strip and Fatah at the West Bank. Why haven’t the mass protests movement flared up in this area, although it should have been the utmost appropriate thing to expect from Palestinians?

Eight years that changed America. Part II

8. Iraq. The Iraq war was a screw-up of such colossal magnitude that it's easy to forget how many discrete screw-ups went into the making of it. There were the nonexistent weapons of mass destruction and the nonexistent links between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. There's the humiliating spectacle of Secretary of State Colin Powell presenting hours of bogus testimony to the U.N. Security Council. There was Paul Wolfowitz's bizarre claim that the war would pay for itself, when the real price tag is now in excess of $1 trillion. And let us not forget the 4,000 Americans and 100,000 Iraqi civilians dead, more than 30,000 American soldiers wounded, and several million Iraqi refugees forced to flee their homes. A strategy that was supposed to bring U.S.-friendly democracy to the Middle East instead produced an empowered Iran and a more fragile balance of power in the region. The only thing more astonishing than the scope of these blunders is the fact that the former president does not regret his decision, even now.