UPDATE 23 February 2008: Up to 10,000 Turkish troops launch an incursion which threatens to destabilise the country's only peaceful region - “A new crisis has exploded in Iraq after Turkish troops, supported by attack planes and Cobra helicopters, yesterday launched a major ground offensive into Iraqi Kurdistan."
In October 2007 Turkish troops launched raids inside Iraq. “Local residents reported spotting Turkish war planes deep inside Iraq territory last night as ground troops conducted missions six miles south of the Turkey-Iraq frontier.
"As many as 34 guerillas were reported killed in the raids. A Turkish spokesman also confirmed today that the military had used artillery to shell suspected hideouts of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and warned more ground raids were planned.’’
“Turkey, which has moved troops to the Iraq border, warned Iraq and Western allies on Tuesday that a large-scale incursion was imminent unless the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad takes action against the rebels. The Turkish government said there would be no cease-fire with the fighters, who want an independent region in Turkey's heavily Kurdish southeast.”
To try and prevent an all out war between Iraqi Kurds and Turkey, the United States is “considering air strikes, including cruise missiles, against the Kurdish rebel group PKK in northern Iraq”.
If the Iraq war escalates, engulfing the region, then we are closer to creating the “New Middle East”, the plans for which were revealed in 2006 by retired Lieutenant-Colonel Ralph Peters. The map, with the redrawn borders of the Middle East, indicates that Turkey would lose a large portion of its territory while Iraq would be split into three autonomous regions. This map also shows plans to partition Pakistan and reduce Iran’s territory, along with numerous other imperial agendas.
Present Middle East
click map to enlarge
New Middle East
click map to enlarge
source
Unfortunately for the world however, such an endeavor as redrawing the borders of so many countries would be nothing less then World War III. A conservative estimate of how many people would die in this global war can be obtained by assuming that the same percentage of people that died in World War II would also die in World War III.
In the 1940’s the world population was approximately 2.3 billion. World War II resulted in 72 million deaths (42 million of which were civilian casualties). This means that approximately 3.1% of the worlds population was killed.
At present, the world population is approximately 6.6 billion. If we assume that the same percentage of people will die during this world war then the last, it would mean that over 200 million people will be dead in the next few years. This is a conservative estimate since nuclear weapons were introduced at the end of World War II, while they are being proposed at the beginning of World War III. The number of wounded will be well over 1 billion if we assume a kill to wounded ratio of 5 to 1.
Isn’t it about time that we told our leaders that war is no longer an option and that we will not kill or die for them? After all, it is not their children who fight and die in these wars.
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