Iraq

Has WWIII already begun in Iraq and Syria? That is the question many mainstream media outlets have begun asking. According to Reuters journalist Van Buren: “There can be no more wordplay: America now has boots on the ground in Iraq.” Reuters reports: The regional picture is dismal. In Syria, militias backed by the Central Intelligence Agency are fighting those backed by the Pentagon. British, Jordanian and American special forces are fighting various enemies in Libya, which, as a failed state, is little more than a nascent Iraq likely to metastasize in its neighbors.

Submitted by Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com

Shocking Photo: Nearly 30 Oil Tankers in Traffic Jam Off Iraqi Coast

Oil tankers are caught in a traffic jam near the Iraqi port of Basra, causing delays in loading. According to Reuters, around 30 very large crude carriers (VLCCs) are sitting in the Persian Gulf, and the backlog could cost ship owners more than $75,000 per day. Some could be waiting for weeks to reach the port.

Check out this shocking satellite photo of the tanker traffic jam just off the coast of Iraq.

Submitted by Eugen von Bohm-Bawerk via Bawerk.net,

Former British Prime Minister and Peace Envoy to the Middle East, Tony Blair, has said that millions of Muslims hold a viewpoint that is “fundamentally incompatible with the modern world.” In an interview he predicted bigger and more terrifying attacks from ISIL than the ones carried out in Brussels this week, and a need to revisit Iraq and the region to directly confront the Islamic State terrorists on the ground.

Israeli politicians including Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu would be happy if the Kurds in the Middle East carved out a State of their own. The Israelis are not shy about supporting a Kurdish State although the countries where the Kurds live- Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey, strongly oppose the idea. Sputnik reports: Surprising as it may seem, Israel has long promoted cordial relations with the Kurds, particularly the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq (KRG).