Do you believe a WWIII is imminent anytime in the near future, and if yes who are the likely protagonists?

Question

What I mean is whether, since the Cold War is almost over, will a new war put the former Cold War opponents on the same side and against whom?

Answer 1

The regional conflict between Israel and Hezbollah which is taking place in Lebanon could conceivably escalate into WWIII.

The UN resolution, UNSCR 1559, required Israel to withdraw their troops, and in return the Lebanese government agreed to disarm Hezbollah. Israel withdrew their troops in 2000. To date Lebanon has taken no action against Hezbollah, and in doing so has allowed Hezbollah to strengthen their position in the south. Now that Beruit, the capitol of Lebanon, is being bombed by Israel, the Lebanese Army may join forces with Hezbollah.

Hezbollah has complex objectives. This war will cost it dearly, but it has been preparing for this for a generation. Hezbollah has pursued a political and religious agenda that centers on the destruction of Israel and opposition to the United States and that has been carried out through terrorism against Israeli and Western targets.

Hezbollah bridges the deep division between Syrian secularity and Iranian religiosity. Syria's interests and Iran's interests differ. Hezbollah's interests differ from those of its patrons.

Hezbollah has business interests in legal and illegal businesses around the world. It has interests within Lebanese politics and it has interests in Palestinian politics. As a Syrian client, it looks at the region as one entity. As an Iranian client, it looks to create a theocratic state in the region.

Hezbollah’s official rhetoric calls for the destruction of Israel and its replacement with an Islamist Palestinian government. Similarly, Hezbollah seeks to replace Lebanon’s secular government with an Iranian-style Islamic government.

What Hezbollah wants is political power in Lebanon and among the Palestinians, and freedom for action within the context of Syrian-Iranian relations. Hezbollah was able to step into the power breach created by Lebanon’s weak secular government and it has gained popular support amongst the Lebanese Shiite Mulims by providing social services such as hospitals and schools.

As an entity in its own right, Hezbollah must keep itself going. If it can avoid utter calamity, it will have won -- if not by defeating Israel, then by putting itself first among the anti-Israeli forces.
It is the most effective force opposing Israel. Hezbollah's job is to survive and hurt Israel and the IDF as long as possible. That is what this war is about for Hezbollah. Although Nasrallah repeatedly insists that Israel declared war against Lebanon (rather than Hezbollah), in actuality, the conflict began at Hezbollah's time and choosing, However, but it may be impossible to contain the forces that Hezbollah has set into motion.

Hezbollah are Shiite Muslims as are most Lebanese, Syrians, Iraqis, Iranians and some Yemenis, Pakistanis and Bahrainians. UN Diplomatic have been aimed at getting the Sunni Muslim countries to negotiate. This includes Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

The United States Government is an ally of Israel. Israel purchases armaments from the US. Condolezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, was sent by President George Bush to encourage leaders in the Middle East to negotiate a peace agreement. The United States and France have drafted a U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at
ending the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and establish an international stabilizing force on the border between Israel and Lebanon.

In order to destroy Hezbollah's infrastructure, Israeli troops must move into the Bekaa Valley and Beirut. Israeli planes have renewed bombing Beirut. Hezbollah has abandoned conventional fighting, fled underground in their network of fortified bunkers which hold the large arsenal of missiles. They have re-emerged as a guerrilla group, inflicting casualties on the Israelis wearing them down.

On July 18 Hezbollah used a longer range missile which it calls, Khaibar-1 (after Mohammed’s battle with the Jews of Medina). This is probably one of the Zelzal missiles. It has not yet used its Fajr missiles. Hezbollah has indicated that it will bombard Tel-Aviv, Israel with 500 missiles.

Iran admits that it supplied Hezbollah with Zelzal-2 missiles. One of the objectives of the Israeli Defense Forces is to destroy those missiles. The IDF has successfully ferreted out many of the missiles from the underground bunkers and destroyed them but more missiles are sent via Syria.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the man to watch these days. Leaders of the Iranian hard-line regime, believe they have a direct line to God, and they'll do whatever 'divine inspiration' requires them to do. Talking to them is pointless. Ahmadinejad, whose proxy army Hizbullah is now waging war against Israel, has promised to respond to European and American demands to cease his country's illicit nuclear programs on August 22. On Tuesday he rejected a UN Security Council resolution that would give Iran until Aug. 31 to suspend uranium enrichment.

Lailat al Miraj (27 Rajab, 22 August 2006)
According to Islamic tradition, the Prophet Muhammad was visited by two archangels while he was asleep, who purified his heart and filled him with knowledge and faith and transported him from Mecca to Jerusalem in a single night on a strange winged creature called Buraq. From Jerusalem he ascended into heaven LIGHTING UP THE SKIES over the holy city in his wake.

It is possible that Hezbollah, with the sanction of Iran who supplies the missiles, will carry out its threat to bombard Tel Aviv, the Israeli capital, with 4500 Fajr-2 missiles.

Syria's ground forces may flank the Israeli forces in Lebanon.

On Friday, July 28, Hezbollah's leader, Nazrallah, attended a conference in Damascus. Also in attendance were Hamas leaders Khaled Meshaal and Mussa Abu Marzouk as well as the Palestinian Jihad Islami chief Abdallah Ramadan Shelah. The Palestinian terrorist leaders were invited in their capacity as commanders of the second front against Israel in Gaza. This anti-Israel coalition will no doubt decide on the two fronts’ next steps in their war against the “Zionist enemy.” The fact that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Assad called the meeting in his capital at Damascus, indicates that he and the other participants feel confident enough to decide on a further escalation of the violence.

On Friday, July 28, Syrian air defense batteries ambushed and shot down an Israeli spy drone flying on the Lebanese side of the border with Syria. These drones have been used to “paint” the weapons convoys heading in from Syria, for the Israeli air force to hit them before they can reach their destinations and replenish Hizballah stockpiles. This time, the Syrians knocked the drone out of the sky to allow a large consignment of rocket launchers and truckloads of rockets to cross into Lebanon undetected and safe from Israeli air attack.

There are many sectarian differences between the Sunni and Shiite Muslims.The Sunni-Shiite fault line had become venomous in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Iran is positioning itself to replace al Qaeda as the revolutionary force in the Islamic world and is again challenging Saudi Arabia as the center of gravity of Islamic religiosity.

Dr. Ayman Zawahri (za WAH ri), is a leader of Al-Qaida, (Sunni Muslims). He has declared, as may other Muslim militant leaders, that the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel meets the conditions for jihad fee sybil Allah and that it is incumbent for all Muslims to join the fight. The militia groups could wrest power from heads of state such as Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan and King Faad who are both perceived as too friendly with the US government. Therefore, the militia groups could supplant the power structure in those countries.

According to an Pakistani Interior Ministry notification, as of August 1st, the Pakistan government has enacted a ban on travel to Iran for Pakistani Shiite Muslims unless the traveller has a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the ministry. The notification was been sent to 18 entry and exist points across Pakistan including all the major airports and will be strictly enforced by the Pakistan Federal Investigation Agency which indicated that the government had received intelligence reports indicating that groups within Pakistan sympathetic to Hezbollah were trying to secretly send Shias to fight Israel. Pakistan, a Sunni majority country, has a huge chunk of Shia population that visits Shia religious shrines in Iran and Iraq.

On July 4th, Nazrallah, the Hezbollah leader attended missile demonstration in North Korea. Kim is a megalomaniac.

China has a heavy industrial economy which is dependent on large petroleum consumption and has been in competition with the US for those resources.

It is irrelevant to judge who is right, and who is wrong. No one wins in a war. Property can be restored, but even a lifetime is not long enough to resolve grief over a lost loved one.

Since Muslims, Jews and Christians believe in the messiah, maybe praying for the messiah to come and bring lasting peace before the world destroys itself would be a win-win-win solution.

Answer 2

I just don't see it happening. The U.S. is already overstretched and Europe shows little interest -- the memory is still strong and France, Germany and Russia have proven that they will unite against it. Here in the UK, it's really just Tony Blair who's the hawk, and he's lost nearly all of his credibilty over Iraq.
Because accurate information is so hard to get re political realities in Muslim and Arabic countries, at least in English, I don't understand what's actually going on there. From past behaviours, though, it seems that they generally prefer war by proxy (suicide bombers or groups like Hezbollah and Hamas). Unless of course they're invading Israel. But that hasn't worked twice now and they don't seem too eager to actually try it again.
In short, I think that if it comes to it, the European powers won't let the Israel-Hezbollah/Lebanon war escalate. The U.S. seems to be in quite a muddle -- I don't think that they could even pull off an attack on Iran just now.
China, India and Pakistan are maybe the places to watch, say if India and Pakistan light up and China takes a side. I don't see that as imminent, just possible. More importantly, we don't understand what role an increasingly powerful China will take, what their economic-military balance will be.

While it's possible to imagine scenarios which escalate into a world war, I don't think it's likely to happen. Globalization might be destroying small countries' economies, but it does mean that we are all tied up with each others'. At this point, no one except the record-profit-making oil companies can afford a Middle East in complete crisis.

Answer 3

I wonder why China has been left out of the mix.. They have extensive business dealings with Iran and stand to lose a considerable amount, should fighting break out.

We must remain awre, there are wars going on in Indonesia at the present time.. all in the effort for Islam to have its own state.. They actually want to take over part of the country. It is already on a global scale, why is that not considered a world war?

Answer 4

The most likely World War III match that I see is the G7 countries against the belt orf Islamic countries from Morocco to Pakistan. Yes, the G7 puts the major WW2 antagonists all on one side.

I believe that once the conflict gets going, Russia will have to join on the G7 side.

This conflict can easily be inflamed by the Islamic countries, who feel their religion and culture are endangered by westernization. A logical plan to protect themselves --by obtaining and brandishing nuclear devices-- is surely enough to engage the West in a united front.

The poorly executed colonial occupation of Iraq since 2003 by the United States, particularly including the mistreatment of prisoners and detainees, has hastened this conflict and infuriated as well as united the Islamic belt of nations.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

Urban Coyote, you are full of crap.

Muslims can't find their way out of a paperbag, let alone "unite". What are all these badass muslims doing while Israel pounds the crap out of Lebanon?

The only thing muslims can do is talkshit and sniffass and blow themselve's up.

Answer 7

I feel it will start in the middle east. IRan and SYria will take on Iran form there european countries will take sides. Oh cra* this is already happening oh well

Answer 8

Absolutely not.

Answer 9

No. I'm sick of wars. Go kill some babies moron.