Bill Sykes' Newsletter
from America.
(March 2005)
An ex-Brit gives his views - (without
fear or favor) - of the American Scene
The current Middle
East political scene:
 Now the Iraqi election
is over and done with, for the time being anyway -
chaos and bloodshed remains a dominant factor in the
daily life of the Iraqi people - nothing has changed,
and the chance of a civil war between the Sunnis, the
Kurds, and the Shiites, (with an interest by Turkey
who are currently on the sidelines), becomes more imminent
as the months go by.
It has been stated, and acknowledged, that the United States have violated
Iranian airspace a number of times in the past six months, or longer, by sending
unmanned surveillance drones to spy on and seek evidence of any work being
done by Iran to produce nuclear weapons. A recent explosion in the vicinity
of an Iranian nuclear power station, (which Iran claims has been built to produce
electricity), has caught the world’s attention and there has been much
conjecture as to whether it was an accidental explosion or maybe a missile
attack by sources currently unidentified.
 Then there is the case of the huge bomb attack in Beirut,
killing the Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri, who
apparently was an outspoken critic of Syria. The United
States although not directly accusing Syria of the assassination
of Rafik Hariri has recalled its Ambassador and demanded that Syria withdraw
the fifteen thousand or so troops that they have stationed in Lebanon, and
have requested that the countries of this world implement, or increase, embargoes
against Syria.
This of course makes me wonder if President Bush even knows that his Vice
President’s
former company Halliburton are still doing business in Iran and have multi-million
dollar contracts for exploration and development of Iran’s natural gas
production capability.
 President Putin of Russia stated recently that Russia
would still continue to support and cooperate with the Iranian Government
in the development of nuclear energy electrical production facilities, provided
that the spent plutonium/uranium rods are returned to Russia. Which begs
the question as to how many other countries, (such as, say the United Kingdom,
France, Germany, etc), are still contributing to Iran’s implied nuclear
delinquency?
The plot thickens - Iran and Syria apparently have recently
signed a "common front" agreement, whatever
that means.
Mr. President I don’t know if you are aware of
the fact that Iran has three times the population of
Iraq, (around 42 million), and a "common front" with
Syria would add another 10 million, making the conjoined twins a far tougher
adversary to deal with than the 14 million Iraqi population. As I have said
many times previously - oh what a terrible web we humans weave.
We welcome feedback about any of the contents of these
newsletters. Please send all correspondence to bill_sykes@huddersfield1.co.uk
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