Does anyone think we are on the verge of WW3?

[jerry611]

Looking at the world today, am I the only one here that thinks this war in the mid-east has the potential to escalate into a world war? If Israel bombs Iran and Syria, and the entire region falls into war, who's side will the world take? Who's side will America take?

[hippiechick]

1. Are you kidding ?

"Who's side will America take?" You really don't know ?? :wtf:

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Potencial yes, but all conflicts have that potential

and though I think it would pleaxe our neocons for ten minutes... at this stage of the game all the players neeeded have refused to take any baits that some people thing they should

Now what would really expand it?

Assume for a monnet Hisbollah manages to get any missile into any Israeli large city, with a chemical or biological warhead... now that woudl be the kind of escalation that could lead to WW III

Or if we actually bomb Iran? Especially with nukes.

Potential yes, but all conflicts do have that potential

[mmonk]

3. Yes.

That's why the world needs leadership right now. Time for someone to step up and work for solutions.

[rurallib]

4. As long as Bush is in office, we are on the verge of WW3

They seem to love to kick hornet's nest just to see what happens.

[i miss america]

20. Those b@stards probably even have plans for WW4

[BuhByeChimp]

5. Newt Gingrich does.

I think its possible, but will have to escalate much further than what we are at today.

Or, if Iran gets nuclear weapons and decides to use them or let Hezbollah use them, we could indeed be at that point.

[cali]

6. No.

Certain things would have to happen before a world wide conflagration begins- most of them having to do with economics.

[ProfessorGAC]

14. I'd Say Almost All Of Them Have To Do With Economics

Can you think of any major war fought between economic symbiants? I've not been able to find one. As long as that's true, i can't see it happening either.

For this thing to escalate to world scale, we would have to be in the midst of an economic crisis, worldwide. While everyone here should know i don't think much of this economy (and i loathe the way the untruths are reported) we aren't in a state where allies will take sides against one another and screw up business.
The Professor

[treestar]

25. True. This Muslim/not Muslim divide does not excite people enough

And Muslim countries don't have major nukes like the USSR did. I would say it was more dangerous then. The USSR was a more equal opposing force. The Muslim countries can't hack it as substitute, much as the neocons and the PNAC might wish they could.

[MrModerate]

7. President of Indonesia recently said . . .

That Israel's invasion of Lebanon has the potential to radicalize all of Islam, including moderates -- leading to a "Clash of Civilizations."

Yeah, I think we could be on the edge of a precipice.

[Oversea Visitor]

11. Malaysia is Indonesia neighbour

And Indonesia got like 220 million muslim.
You want to say he does not know what he is talking about.

Better listen here
He got BIG PROBLEMS on his hand.

[MrModerate]

15. Sorry, I'm not following you. Please explain. n/t

[Oversea Visitor]

18. The radicals are on the rise there and fast.

So he has problems

[The Magistrate]

8. Not Even Close, Sir

We are nmot even particularly close to a major regional conflict breaking out in the Near East. The resistanvce to the U.S. occupation, and the early stages of civil war, in Iraq, are for more threatening than the current events in Lebanon, but even they fall short of being likely to cause any great and self-sustaining conflagration.

[SheilaT]

9. Not really.

A true WW3 assumes several major nations of approximately equal military power will line up against each other. I don't see that happening. In the meantime, while not likely, it's not completely unthinkable that all the fighting in the Middle East could spread and become a more or less general area conflict.

To be blunt about it, there's not a country there who matters enough to the outside world to get a lot of European nations involved. If israel bombs Iran and Syria, it would simply give the U.S. an excuse to march in and grab Iranian oil fields.

Now, if a major terrorist attack were to occur in this country, killing thousands, maiming even more, and it were very clear that some country we are itching to attack can be deemed responsible, then there's a distant possible of generalized conflict. But probably not even then. You'd have to look at specifics, such as exactly which country gets the blame.

The people who run our military are not idiots. They're only going to let us get so overextended. The administration, while arguably made up of idiots, isn't stupid enough to attack anyone who can actually fight back in a meaningful way. No one's going to launch missiles at Dubuque. We are still remarkably safe on our continent.

[Guy Fawkes]

10. No, and saying that doesn't help.

If you get people to accept that we have begun (or are about to begin) WWIII, then they will do nothing to prevent it. We are not on the cusp of a third World War- and I don't think we ever will be again. World politics (and politics in general) has made it almost impossible for another World War. Unless some crazy dictator (Oh, let's say Kim Jung-Il) were to directly attack the US or an allie like Japan... WWIII is even a stretch then, though much less of one.

[MrModerate]

16. There's no shortage of crazy leaders . . .

Bush and Kim Jong-Il being only two.

If by WWIII one means worldwide chaos, insurgency, territorial invasion, reckless bombing of nonmilitary targets and two more-or-less identifiable "sides" willing to inflict destruction on each other, I'd say the chances are frighteningly high.

The major difference between WWII and WWIII being that II was a pretty clear empire-building, territorial aggression type and III will be a wild and crazy clusterfuck fought with everything from rocks to nukes.

[The2ndWheel]

12. A world war? What other major country has a military?

Nobody in Europe, we protect them, so they spend tax money on social programs.

Russia isn't taking anyone over at the moment.

China is using all its energy to use more energy.

You need other nations to have the military capability. Our military does the dirty work, because we're the only military today with a global reach.

I'm not too worried about a world war. There aren't enough different ways of thinking, living, or being to cause one to erupt. For the time being anyway.

[sweetheart]

19. bankruptcy and israel

People are picking wars they can't afford to fight, and as they stretch out longer
and longer, costing the treasury in to painful debt, and for a little country,
and maybe the US can export its way back to health by exporting weapons to all
parties involved.

We're back to a world of competing empires, and their entry is a borg like
corporate malaise that dumps the obligations of society on lazy forgetters,
and soon, in the crumbling ruins of a forgotten empire rats noisily
gnaw on the documents of state. Republican borg rats, with implanted fantasy
projectors above and beyond all legal precedent.

[LSK]

23. Iran has a pretty good one n/t

[liberal N proud]

13. This is wishful thinking by the bu$h regime and republicans

They need to have conflict to support their agenda and Iraq is no longer providing the necessary support.

[IChing]

17. I thought we were always at war with Eurasia or is it Eastasia

War on Christmas, War on Marriage, War on our values, War on etc. etc. etc.

Only if you let them think that we are at war or verge of war.

Maybe we can finally be on the verge of Peace
if we think that way and work for that.

[LSK]

21. it depends on how we treat the next terror attack

[Cleita]

22. Even though it has the potential I don't think it will.

It would have broken out by now, if there was a chance. The would be participants are excersizing extraordinary self-control in making every attempt to sit this one out and it seems to be working.

Maybe a few elections later in order to get rid of the hotheads and RW chickenhawks out of all our governments and we might have a chance for world peace after all.

[treestar]

24. Not any more than usual

If we got through the Soviet threat without WWIII, the ME can be gotten through. The Israelis are periodically at war with the surrounding countries simply due to their location "surrounded by enemies." Armageddon didn't happen in 1948 or 1967 or 1973 or any of their subsequent wars.

Yet there is always someone worrying about it.

There was someone on the board indicating that the Israelis threaten to use nukes if their state were to turn out not to be able to survive. Sort of a big revenge. But by then they would not exist and we'd just deal with the fallout. Not sure they have enough nukes to kill us all in revenge. It would be limited to some poor Arabs who just were born the wrong race.