OT: World War 3...
 

So, as the title suggests, this thread is about predictions for the future, especially any future large-scale wars which may erupt. I'll put it in poll form, with comments most welcome if you so desire.

Essentially this was inspired by the latest happenings in the Middle East, which seem to be a little more intense than the usual. It seems to me as though this little war could have the potential to grow into something much more...

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I hate to say this, but IRAN and those damn idiots from Hesbola (sp) are just looking for a fight at the expense of all the inocent folks in that region. How do you combat such an evil thing? China and Russa are protecting IRAN, for oil, and revealing in the delima that the US has managed to get itself stuck in. Hell Russa loves to see us on the defensive when it comes to terrorism, and China would love nothing more than to see us fail.

There is too much money involved in world politics now for there ever to be another world war. If there is one, it would be an economic war and not a military one.

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Here's how I see things progressing:

- Israel invades Lebanon on the ground, says it's just defending it's sovereignty and trying to root out the terrorist Hezbollah.
- Syria joins in on Lebanon's side, with Iran joining a little later.
- Now it's Israel against Lebanon, Syria and Iran. Israel can't take that much punishment, so it calls on it's allies in the region and around the world to help out...the US included. This would leave the US in quite the dilemma. Do you help the state that you've supported militarily for the past 60 years, or do you stand back and see what happens when the dust settles?
- Some of Israels allies join in, followed by a whole bunch of the Arabic nations in the area.
- War spreads all over...

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Personally I find that both sides have committed great evils in the past, but today more and more I tend to believe that Israel is in the wrong. A topic I could waffle on about for paragraphs, but I'll spare the thread an undignified death like most political ones. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Here's the journal of a group of humanitarian workers in Israel and their experiences, It might open your eyes some of the situation over there. http://moomin13.livejournal.com/

My ‘polite’ opinion is that Israel has crossed too many lines here, and their attack has escalated way out of proportion. Not that they need to worry.

It's always makes my brain hurt to read that the US supported sanctions against North Korea after a failed missile test yet is against a ceasefire in this situation.

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I have been of the opinion for some years now that WWIII has already begun. It might not be the apocalyptic war people have dreaded for 60 years but the war on terrorism does encompass the globe. As for the middle east, yeah what with the way things have been going for the last few years I certainly wouldn't be surprised if things went downhill and a major war broke out.

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nostradamus freaked everyone out about his chillingly close 'city of York burning at 45 degrees'... NY is actually 350 miles south I think, but screw its close enough... And the 'royal brothers war against another'... some people have the twin towers on this one, and then 'In the year 1999 and seven months, from the skies shall come an alarming powerful king', who knows, mb that's Bush. haha.

But good ole Nostro also spoke of a 27 year war right round 1999. I think that started with the whole terrorist attacks and then the Iraq invasion and declaration of war on terrorism. Not exact, but screw it, its close enough. And will end who knows when, but the world is at the brink of another world war whether we know it or not.

Its very complex. Religion, political, economic, military... there's a bit of all of it that involves many a nation and the UN isnt going to do diddly about solving any of it. It will come down to bombs and tanks...

When the dust settles... N. korea, Iran and possibly all the middle east muslim nations shall be laid wasted. That's what I think is gonna happen. And somehow... thru it all... Israel will still be there.

Edit: Just wanted to say that I think the US should go into Iran, Iraq and all the middle east countries that have lotsa oil and take em over. Er the oil. I mean, they just need to be explained to that just because the oil happens to be in their country doesnt mean it belongs to them... So the US sets it up so everyone gets 50 cent a gallon gas. Cept France. They get 99 cent gas. Screw em.

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Already happened once a long time ago and that didn't lead to an all-out war. And conditions and potential for one were more ripe then.

Iran and Syria won't join in the fight officially if they know what is good for them: Iran gets embargoed from the UN, and Syria's involvement would confirm that they officially support Hezbollah and all that they do, which will only give the Coalition of the Willing political ammo to enact regime change on them. As for unoffcial, off-the-records help, they're already there anyway, and even Israel won't acknowledge them, for fears of opening another front in this military action.

Pfffffft. Israel has the economic potential, the political will, the military might, and the technological edge to confront every nation it borders on with the exception of Saudi Arabia or Turkey. Not one of prolonged war of attrition, mind you, but then again most other nations can't.

A better statement would be: Do you help the state that happens to be the Middle East's only functional liberal democracy, that happens to be quite multiethnic also, and who has been a staunch supporter of US Middle East policy for 60 years, or do you see it wrecked by fundies who would like to see nothing more than every jew on the face of the earth exterminated and excremated?

Won't happen. Most you will see is the usual; oil prices go up, neighborhoods get wrecked, foreign fighters go and get themselves killed for virgins in heaven, and an eventual cease-fire that will interrupt things until the next full moon, or until when one of them crazy imams gets an itch he can't scratch.

If there is to be a world war, expect it will happen over Central Asia.

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You do know that that "Quatrain" in 5 verses was a hoax perpetrated by some canadian college kid, right?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostrad...age_idiot_hoax

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I heard it was an advertising company trying to make a buck. Doesnt matter... I didnt use either's quoted interpretation. Doesnt change the fact that most of the muslim world will soon be taught that simply because they are sitting on black gold doesnt mean they own it.

I think a good relocation plan is in order.

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If you sit down and ask yourself what the goals of many of these countries are, you will realize that a wide-scale Middle East "war" will not happen, let alone "World War Three".

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I hope not many people share this opinion; Canada is sitting on one hell of a lot more oil than any Middle Eastern country, with the possible exception of Saudi Arabia. Does that mean we don't own it, and if you guys want it you have the right to just take it??

Nostradamus is a total load of ****e in my opinion. No one can forsee the future, the laws of physics as we know them prohibit it.

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Does there have to be a logical goal?? Was Hitler's hatred of Jews logical? Didn't stop him from doing what he did.

I think the centuries of blind hatred between Israeli's and Arab nations is sufficient to start a good sized war in the region.

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Well, I'm afraid this isn't quite correct. Syria has already stated they officially support Hezbollah...

External Link

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This is about respect. Neither nation respects the other. One is considered to be pure evil by all that surround it, and they will do anything to humilate, alienate, and eventually obliterate it. The other considers is neighbors terrorist states because they like to blow up buses, buildings, and kidnap people, use them for extortion and eventually behead them or murder them in some other fashion.

How can you settle things when neither side is willing to capitualte. Isreal did back down and look at what happened. Are they to blame for this, no. They live in the belly of the beast so they know best that the ONLY thing Hezbollah understands is force. Iran knows this and is using that as a means to "get Iran off the front burner" regarding the nuke issue.

So who is really to blame here, honestly the UN. The UN is a conglomerate of nuttered half wits and criminally weak sisters who couldn't agree on a course of action to save a anything say themsevles. Look too the balkan then to Africa, and then to the oil for food scam to know that they are in it only for the money not for the good of the world. The UN, if it would grow a set of balls, could stomp down on Iran and get them to order Hezbollah to make nice... then the US could do the same to Isreal and things would return to the status quo. However we all know that as long as Russa and China are backing Iran in the UN, France, and the rest of them won't be able to do a thing say for blaming Isreal as the problem. Really now, this comming from France, a country that was twice invaded in the last 100 years calling Isreal the aggressor here... give me a f*ing break. If German had invaded France and killed and kidnapped their soldiers, what do you think they would have done... ok bad example they would have surrendered of course. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

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World War III was the so-called Cold War. World War IV started 09/11/2001.

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While I give the nod to pure blind hatred, Iran, for example, has too much at stake to get into a conventional conflict with Isreal at this point. They are just trying to prove that they are the mover and shaker of the middle east, and that they can do whatever they want. If they can kill Jews by doing it, then so much the better.

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Actually, as far as countries inhabited by non-whites are concerned, this has historically been the American attitude. Noam Chomsky makes this observation numerous times in his works on American foreign policy. I don't have the time to go track it down now, but his books show that it's clearly stated even in official American government documents that "our resources" just happen to be located in "their countries" and "we" (the US govt at least) assume the right to take them. If the oil situation got really bad (Middle East consumed in wars and most oil export stops, that would remove about 1/4 of world output) I would not be at all surprised to see the US govt put huge pressure on Canada to give exclusive access to those tar sands to the US, and to resort to any force necessary if it wasn't granted 'willingly'. It's been the historical pattern of US behavior. Take what you want because you're the biggest galoot around and you can. The only difference with Canada would be that the victims would be (mostly) 'white' this time.

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Dizzy, you going a tad over board, hte US needs to move away from oil, sadly the oil barons have far to much say about how things go in congress, they could put brakes on alot of things that go in the executive office, if they weren't getting thier own gifts.

War In the middle east its a given, a soon as one of the terror groups gets a dirty bomb it'll set the ball rolling big time.

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Yeah, that's a possibility. But I think the US wouldn't resort to force with Canada, I think we'd just merge into one large country. We're essentially the same anyways, cultures are quite similar. It'll happen eventually, even if the catalyst isn't oil.

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Yes moving away from oil dependancy is something that must be done NOW. It should have been done in the late 70's and early 80's but we all know that the all might oil dollar speaks louder than common sense. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif Now the oil voice doesn't have the same sirens call that it has held for so many years. Higher prices in oil will promote alternative, and soon the standard to oil.

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I seriously hope you are right about this.

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I eagerly anticipate the day we move to other forms of energy, however long that takes. You can use nuclear energy, and who happens to be one of the largest exporters of Uranium. Australia. You can use solar energy and who happens to have large tracts of desert with the largest period of sunlight in the world. Australia. I even read somewhere of plans to build solar chimneys. 1 mile high structures that funnel hot wind. I don't know the specifics but the PM recently said Australia could become an energy superpower. Of course when oil is no longer used the middle east will rapidly become poor, well poorer, for the majority of it's people. The sheiks and stuff will still have plenty of money left though.

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When you get F-18's to run on corn oil, then we won't need 12 CB groups.

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Basically happening right now, only it isn't a full-scale invasion (at least last I checked this morning). They are blowing up buildings, and firing mortar shells into Lebanon, blockading ports with their navy, and blew up the runways; but so far, no invasion.
I'm going to disagree on a technicality here. Iran and Syria give ideological support to Hezbollah, and more under-the-table financial and munitions support, but Syria will not go in on Lebanon's side. If anything, they would go in on Hezbollah's side, but I don't think that will happen because it would be suicide. Syria and Lebanon are enemies, and Syria was evicted from Lebanon IIRC about a year ago. Hezbollah is NOT Lebanon, it is a militant group with a political wing inside of Lebanon.
Israel wouldn't need to call in help. If Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and for good measure I'll even throw in Jordan and the Hamas portion of the Palestinan forces... if all of them went to war with Israel, they would be in a bind fighting on multiple fronts, but Israel would win handily. Israel has total air and sea superiority in the region, and has superior well trained ground forces. Any large resistance would be quickly decapitated, and degenerate into much smaller guerilla skirmishes, where Israel is not as strong as far as resources and tactics, but such fighting in no way would threaten the existence of the state of Israel. After the armies of the arab nations are quickly dispatched, there might be international help for Israel to police the area, but it won't really be needed. Of course, it will happen anyway, as western nations get another taste of imperialism and get their quick fix from the resources in the Middle East.
Should all these countries be so foolish to try to challenge an obviously superior foe, the rest of the Arab countries would not join in, because they know after the initial defeat of their neighbors (which would happen before anyone else has a chance to join in the fight on the side of Israel), there will be many more countries to defeat if another attempt is made. They will opt to save their own necks, and not get involved.
I still think war will eventually happen on a very large scale, just not from this alone. More likely candidates for causing a global conflict would be a Middle East that is already chaotic from perrenial clashes between Israel and its neighbors, with the added unrest caused by poor transition of power in Iraq from US Military to Iraqis, being ignited by an overflowing spat between India and Pakistan. Since the US has given support to India in their nuclear program while spurning Pakistan, the military government of Pakistan will seek nuclear power through other means, most likely Russia via Iran. An escalating fight between India and Pakistan will cause a corresponding buildup of troops in Iran and China; Iran because they will be allies of Pakistan because of a shared nuclear program, China because they will be concerned about fighting spilling over into their territory. Iran would take the opportunity of this distraction to quietly move forces into Iraq, where the pupils of Iran's religious extremist leaders will have solidified their power. China's buildup of troops will escalate things more between India and Pakistan, and some of their agression will be directed back at China, since it would be much easier for China to take the parts of Pakistan and India that they still claim if the two are busy fighting each other; an initially defensive move then becomes seen as agression. China getting involved will get North Korea involved, because it would be an opportunistic time to flex what might they have and maybe try to cross into South Korea, or maybe just toss some more missiles around. Once North Korea gets involved in things, Japan gets really worried, and by this time, North American and European governments will be getting involved thinking "how the #ell did all this happen?"

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I think maybe this is what the West+Isreal wants. It certainly seems to me that they've been acting more to provoke the arab world over the last few years than to bring about any kind of reconciliation.

Maybe they just want to provoke the arab people until they start a war (so the west doesn't look like the aggressors), then Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Blair and chums can win it and do what they want with the oil fields. Of course they'll cripple entire countries, cause untold death and misery, and sow the seeds of overwhelming hatred in a dozen unborn generations of middle easterners but hey, as long as the shareholders are happy.

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The next World War won't start from the Arabic nations... it will start when two or more powerful nations secretly agree to join as a team and try conquering another nation for its land and resources. As a result the US and its allies will react and probably stop them.

The more closer issue at hand is when and who will do the first nuclear strike plus where will they strike. My guess is a group of terrorists with people smart enough to use nukes will eventually get their hands on one. The US is hated by many, however the large ocean divides us from those haters and it isn't easy crossing an ocean with a nuke without word getting out. There's more violence in the arab nations... so I estimate a capital city will be targeted by the terrorists. I estimate the next terrorist attack in the US will be some type of deadly gas or explosion at an international airport.

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I can't seem to figure out why the good people of Lebanon let a bunch of A-holes like Hezbollah operate out of their borders. Just like I can't figure out why after 60 years people continue to mess with Israel.
I was quite amused when an American University student was *****ing about how this was "all Israel's fault" while she was being evacuated.
If I lived in Lebanon, I would have expected such retaliation. Duh!

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The Arab/Persian leaders who incite and finance war against Israel never suffer the consequences. So, not surprisingly, they're perfectly willing to fight to the last Palestinian.

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Oh boy this mess is getting out of hand fast. I hate to say it here, but the player here, Isreal, should step off the plate and make right through peace efforts the wrongs that Hezbolla (sp) and others have forced on to them. What does it say about you if you beat a retard to death all because he threw a rock at your cat. (Kidnapping aside, the UN should force them to return those soldiers alive and well to show the world that the peace prevails over war.)

God help them all if they cannot calm things down. God help us all if we have to pick and choose sides.

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I bet those soldiers are already dead...

Not to mention the fact that the UN is toothless and partisan, and always has been.

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I agree, those soldiers are perhaps, ok most likely, dead. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif That in and of its self should be even more reason to end this now before it becomes worse. What more can you do to those who did this than what has already been done. I agree Israel is the victim here and has every right to seek vengeance as they know the beast better than most, however that being said, they should take the moral high ground and call it off in the name of peace thus defusing the situation and making the next move completely up to the bad guys. If they act out, then the world will know, absolutely, that they are not the nice guys, but rather the aggressors in this conflict, if don't already know, and Israel is fully justified in responding to them with whatever force they deem appropriate, within reason I would hope, to end the terror.

This Islamic fascism that has swept the entire world over the last thirty years along with weak western reaction and responses to terrorism has emboldened these dealers of death and promoted this anti-western pro-Islamic fascism philosophy far further than it should have ever been aloud to go.

Innocent people aside, we helped to make this bed and now we must all sleep in it. These people, the Islamic fascist, hate our guts just for the sake of hating us at this point and there will be no dealing with them on any level as long as the western world is weak in its resolve to end terrorism and Islamic fascism where ever it hides.

However, bombing unarmed and seemingly innocent and harmless good people back into the stone age is a kin to beating up a man family and friends for his crime. This is just bad politics and Israel should know not to play their game.

Granted the uber liberals and extreme lefties of the world seem to support the terrorist in whatever action they take, and one has to wonder why, and it is their voices most heard calling for Israel to stand down and apologize to the world for what they have done. I agree that Israel should stand down, but they were not wrong and they are not the aggressors here.

The uber liberals and lefties of the world who support the ideals and hatred of these Islamic fascists, including those here in the states, should be viewed in the same way as those who believe that the world trade centers were deliberately brought down by controlled explosive, as crack pots brain dead retards high on their fantasies and delusions of self importance.

Terrorism will always be an effective means to bring about change even if that change brings about something that is worse than what is being fought against. When you allow terrorists to play you, you give them exactly what they want, attention and a box to stand upon and spew their beliefs and views from.

Israel should just end this conflict and tell the terrorists that the next move is yours; we have offered you peace yet one more time. If they do what we all know they will do in the face of such moral high standards as this, what argument could they then possibly offer up to justify their on going terrorist actions and war mongering ways against Israel?

No one would listen, say for the leftie liberals brain dead retard crackpots of the world.

As to the UN, it’s not about peace with them; it’s about making money. That has been proven time and time again. They are really as weak as the marginal line was in the onset of WWII.

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And possibly illegal. Who elected them, anyway? What nation do they govern, that they can field a military force?

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I think Hezbollah is an actual political party with some ministers in in the Lebanese government. So I guess you could say that the people elected them in...along with their terrorist army.
Could the same be said of Seinn Fein (sp?)and the IRA?
Remember Hitler was elected too!
Yay for the new Democracies in the Mid-East and the crazy people they elect! Yeah!

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this is incorrect

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This is not correct.

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Huh? sorry witch part?
Yeah, I think the next world war will be economic. Witch could mean forcing a country to spend its wealth fighting terrorism or an insurgency.

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Hezbollah is not part of the Lebanese military. They are an independant militia answerable to Seria and Iran. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif They are the reason there is now conflict between the two nations of Lebenon and Isrial. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif What really sucks, beyond the death, is that Lebenon was finally becoming a great place to visit and these *******s in Hezbollah had to go and screw that all up. This should tell you a thing or two about them. 1) that they do not care about the people of Lebenon because they picked a fight that is now resulting in the economic destruction of Lebenon. 2) they are the direct cause that led to the death of inocent people in both Isrial and Lebenon. They are scum and it is a damn shame that they have to drag that beautiful, recovering country down with them.

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If the news report I heard is correct, Hezbollah does have some elected members of government, but nowhere near a majority.