Will this increase or decrease the likelihood of terrorist actions in America, Europe and the rest of the world?

If you were a member of a family murdered in this conflict, would you be seeking revenge?

Should Tzipi Livni and Ehud Olmert, be tried for war crimes if or when this conflict comes to an end?

What will the price of oil be in 4 weeks time?

I see. Not an Israeli plot, but maybe an Iranian plot!

LOL

does that mean that you concur that iran is most likely behind all this?

give him a chance to search the web for a ready made answer

Excuse me butting in but....................Last week it was announced that an Iranian aircraft carrier and one other Iranian ship had sailed from the Gulf bound for The Med via the Suez Canal......This has disappeared from the news until today, when we have four Iranian ships mentioned with one being a frigate but no reference of an aircraft carrier.

Also, two nights ago fighting also going on in Djibouti......French have small army of the Legion there. South end of red Sea Djibouti on west side and Yemen on east..........Since disappeared from news......... Scary!

I think the UK has some aircraft-carriers "spare" - but where should we sell 'em?

gumtree

Two iranian ships passed through the canal today. There was always just the two ships. I am not sure where the other reports came from.

The ships involved are the Alvand - thought to be a British-built Vosper Mark 5 class frigate - and a supply vessel, the Kharg, also British-built.

The Alvand, a missile-carrying frigate, was launched in 1968. It is an impressive vessel by the standards of the Iranian navy, but no match for comparable Western warships nor the sophisticated missile boats of the Israeli navy, our correspondent says.

Why don't you quote your sources, parrot?
Not that anyone would think you had a single original thought in your head, anyway.
It's the BBC, by the way.

I think it is very unlikely that Iran was behind any of the uprisings in the ME. The trigger was the guy who burned himself to death in Tunisia after being constantly arrested because he could not get a market trader's licence without paying a bribe. This led to the downfall of the Tunisian government after mass demonstrations.

In Egypt there was a planned demonstration in support of the guy who was dragged from an internet cafe last June and beaten to death for apparantly surfing web sites that were banned (Khaled Said). The demonstration had been planned for about a month and it turned out to be coincidental with the incident in Tunisia that led to the change of president there. The Egyptian demonstration became a lot bigegr than planned and it was confronted by the police. The rest is as played out on the media.

For "seen by the Israeli in particular as even more destabilising", read PARANOIA.

Also from the BBC.

What is clear is that this deployment is not a direct response to the current upheavals in the Middle East, he adds.

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported in January that Iranian navy cadets were going on a year-long training mission through Suez and into the Mediterranean - well before the protests that have swept the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt from power.

But coming in the wake of these political changes the Iranian deployment will be seen by the Israeli in particular as even more destabilising,

haystack - if you believe the coordinated "spontaneous" protests/uprisings across the whole of north africa and m/e were purely through unconnected coincidence, then you're even more naive (stupid) than others think ....... whether israel considers these incidents as destabilising is a mind-boggling narrow view, for they could prove to be very far-reaching indeed ..... certainly the whole dynamic in the affected region is likely to undergo dramatic change in an as yet unknown direction and dimension

The regimes in the ME have been oppressive for many years and there have been plenty of mass demonstrations regularly in most of the ME countries in recent times. The success of the Tunisia uprising gave Egypt the impetus to push their demonstrations further than usual and the success of Egypt's efforts have spurred on several other countries. That's about it as far as I am concerned. There seems to be little evidence of external forces. Not a coincidence but a series of dominos waiting to topple.

I am generally not a believer in conspiracy theories. I am sure that the US landed on the moon, Marylin Monroe died of a overdose (intentional or otherwise), Elvis does not live on the moon, 911 was not a US government plot and Priness Di was just an over hyped idiot that did not wear a seat belt in a car driven by a drunk driver (luckily I was out of the country and missed the crash, the hype and the funeral).

let's ask this very simply again ..... yes or no anwer ..... do "believe the coordinated "spontaneous" protests/uprisings across the whole of north africa and m/e were purely through unconnected coincidence"?

No, not coincidental but uncordinated. Just the follow on result of each one in encouraging the next.

so you think people can get themselves organised that well and quickly without "help"?

C'mon parrot, surely it MUST have been a Mossad plot to keep Arab governments pre-occupied whilst Israel invaded and seized all the oil fields?
The fact they haven't is entirely due to the peace loving Hizbollah Hamas and Iran triumvirate warning Israel secretly that they shouldn't.
Surely you must have found that on the internet by now? Somewhere. If not then you must devote the remaining 15 minutes of the day to trying harder.

Yes.

haystack - even less likely than foinavon winning the grand national

Who would you think was the prime mover in such a conspiracy? Iran has enough trouble keeping their own country under control and is disliked by most of the people in other ME countries. Iran isn't really an Arab country anyway and the official language is not even Arabic.

It clearly isn't the US as it is potentially damaging to their interests. The protestors in most of the countries are students, fairly young adults and non religious people. I know a large number of people from these areas and they are surprised at the events. Most of the Algerians thought it would not happen there, but the government has agreed to concessions today including lifting the state of emergency that has been in force for years (20 odd I think).

I spoke to an Algerian over the weekend that had just come back from Algiers. He said that the details of where the demonstrations were being held are sent by mobiles and Facebook. He lives here in London, but a lot of his friends are going on demos out there. The overall view a couple of weeks ago from Algerians here was that it wouldn't happen there as the government were too violent and that they would just kill the demonstrators. In the event the violence has not happened to the extent that they had thought. I think that is the major factor in the fall of these regimes. It is as though the authorities have been caught and hypnotised in the headlights. They have not reacted with the violence that the population had always expected. Libya is the only one that has behaved as was thought. I think that if the populations of these countries had realised how poorly their governments have resisted then there would have been revolutions years ago.

In The Land of the B - 22 Feb 2011 20:41 - 4381 of 4384

"If not then you must devote the remaining 15 minutes of the day to trying harder."

Are you in some country that is 3 hours ahead of us?