It seems to be heading that way. The latest being that the hostage who was released from Irag recently was allegedly kidnapped by members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and held in Iran.

Nah – they'll just try to destabilise it from within for the foreseeable

Israel will strike when they feel the threat level is high enough. Right now they I think they are seeing whether there will be a revolution internally or untill America lets them off the leash.

The current regime seems to be acting very like the Shah did when the frirst revolution started, no room for negotiatian just brutal repression.

oh is this the thread that gets locked for anti semitic talk?

The thing I would like to see is us to pull the hell out of the region.Make it really hard for them to kill any of our troops,kidnap sailors etc.That said,and this is the bit that will get me flamed, why do we fight them on a level playing field? Why are we still allowing soldiers to be killed with Iranian weapons? One of our guys is killed by an i.e.d=One of their power plants, hard-to-replace bridges becomes a crater.I realise it is not that simple,but they seem to be able to do what they want to who they want without any consequences.
This is going to be the first time I will actually support Israeli military action,(which will come, too many quotes about room temp in Tel Aviv being raised to 20,000c) The Rev guard with missiles? no ta!

The day after the west find an alternative to oil they will start building a mile high wall round the whole region.

Harry_the_Spider = Nail on Head

The day after the west find an alternative to oil

I'm investing in Triffid Oil Futures – that's where the smart money is going 😉

Seriously though – i think The Powers That Be will be watching the current uprising with interest, hoping it gathers pace…. whatever happens, it's not going to be pretty…

Interesting to hear Kim Howells [ex Foreign Minister] on the radio this morning commenting on the Iranian involvement in the kidnap. He denied that there was any suspicion of this by our Government. What did catch my ear though was how he commented on the Iranian regime, saying that it was difficult to know who calls the shots and suggesting that it was a system to be criticised. Apparantly they have a figurehead [Ayatollah] and an elected civilian government with a leader [prime minister]. Then you have the Iranian Revolutionary Guard which has factions acting in foreign lands. So, not unlike a figurehead [queen] and an elected civilian government with a leader [Brown], along with MI5 and its agents operating in foreign lands. Any similarities? That's one of the reasons Iran stands more independently than some of its neighbours; we can't invade on the grounds of trying to impose a western style democracy on them.

Good, pull the soldiers out and nuke the nazi's. muslims.

😯 😆

lol , dude you cant say that , because all muslims are not terrorist , but having said that , all terrorist seem to be muslims of late.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/ene_oil_res-energy-oil-reserves

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_and_weapons_of_mass_destruction#Nuclear_weapons

"because all Muslims are not terrorist , but having said that , all terrorist seem to be Muslims of late."

Is this just coincidence or the elephant in the room?

Interesting link edhornby.

It shows that the United Kingdom produces almost exactly as much oil as she needs :

Oil > Consumption 1,763,000 bbl/day …… [14th of 212]
Oil > Exports 1,749,000 bbl/day …… [9th of 184]
Oil > Production 1,690,000 bbl/day …… [19th of 212]

I'm sure that with a little bit of 'belt tightening', the UK could manage to use no more oil than she produces.

.

The United States on the other hand, is in a completely different place :

Oil > Consumption 20,680,000 bbl/day …… [1st of 212]
Oil > Exports 1,165,000 bbl/day …… [16th of 184]
Oil > Production 8,457,000 bbl/day …… [3rd of 212]

.

Still, we will always be there to help the Yanks secure their oil needs.

And we will always be prepared to pay a "blood price", as Tony Blair called it, to secure our "special relationship" with the US.

Because they are, well, ……. "special".

Tyger wrote, "because all Muslims are not terrorist , but having said that , all terrorist seem to be Muslims of late."

Is this just coincidence or the elephant in the room? "

Course it's not a coincidence. But until very recently, most of our terrorists were christians, or allegedly christians anyway. These days, we're mostly pissing off muslims. If we were to invade Israel, I imagine we'd aquire a few jewish terrorists. It's hardly surprising.

If we were to invade Israel, I imagine we'd acquire a few jewish terrorists.

I like that …… simple, very concise, and yet, it says it all.

I give that a 10/10 8)

Hmmmmmmmmm

sorry but the uk will not be able to help due to defence budget cuts

cos we is skint

all terrorist seem to be Muslims of late.

No surprise – with a suitable definition of "terrorist" you can demonise pretty much anyone.

and one reason we don't do anything nasty to Iran is that by mining or blocking the Straits of Hormuz they could cripple the world's economy very very quickly.

As for "Why are we still allowing soldiers to be killed with Iranian weapons? One of our guys is killed by an i.e.d=One of their power plants, hard-to-replace bridges becomes a crater."

It's because we supply weapons to the rest of the world, too.
We didn't bomb hell out of France when the Exocets hit our ships, we don't bomb Russia when our troops are shot with Kalashnikovs. Time to grow up.

Interesting link edhornby.
It shows that the United Kingdom produces almost exactly as much oil as she needs :I'm sure that with a little bit of 'belt tightening', the UK could manage to use no more oil than she produces.
The United States on the other hand, is in a completely different place :

Counter argument to that of course Ernie, would be that the US has huge untapped oil reserves, but is happy keeping them in reserve for the future when the supplies in foreign sandy places are dried up – on the other hand we're using up what we've got now so come peak oil day, we're screwed, nothing in the bank and cannot afford to buy from abroad when the price shoots up.

Going off the link and stated reserves, those geologists best get digging. Looks like we have about 20-25 years worth left at 2002 consumption, no doubt that has risen greatly by now.

the US has huge untapped oil reserves, but is happy keeping them in reserve for the future

Really ? I thought the Yanks capped their Texan oil fields when they realised that it was cheaper for them to help themselves to foreign oil, rather than going through all the expense of pumping their own stuff out ?

You see "cheap oil" is special and unique right of the United States. That's why God blessed America and gave them the ability to defend "Vital U.S. Interests". And why no one doubts whether they have that right.

Although of course, sometimes they like us to help them……..to defend "Vital U.S. Interests"

BTW, you never hear of "Vital Russian Interests" or "Vital Iranian Interests" or even, "Vital Italian Interests", and no one finds that peculiar ……..that's because everyone knows that only the U.S. is "special".

Moses,get your facts correct before you tell anybody off., France would not sell any more exocets to Argentina after the Falklands started.How many Klashnikovs are actually made in Russia? If Iran really looked like mining/blocking the Straits of Hormuz what would happen?I mean it is not as if the West has ever intervened in another Middle Eastern Country's territoral waters when their interests are in danger,a wee puzzle; fill in the missing letter S__Z.Do feel free to enlighten me with more of your "grown up" pieces of information, the existance of flying saucers perhaps?