Israel, Iran, Syria , IS , middle east Cluster #$%T = hydro imperialism ?

An interesting article that I came accross which makes a lot of connections by a research scholar at Harvard University's.

One thing I have seen is: if you want to get to the truth in regards to gov't intervention than close your eyes and follow the money.
According to the article and some other links I have come accross this is all about water and commodities to control nations and profits.

These articles were created in 2011
www.africanexecutive.com...

www.herald.co.zw...

According to the US based Centre for Public Integrity, western nations stand to make up to $1trillion from privatising, harnessing, purifying and distributing water in a region where water often sells for far more than oil.

Gadaffi's Great Man Made River project Photo courtesy
It is becoming increasingly accepted that water promises to be to the 21st century what oil was to the 20th century: the precious commodity that determines the wealth of nations.

On April 17, 2003, in Iraq, the American company Bechtel received a no-bid reconstruction contract from U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The initial contract was for $680 million over 18 months. It now stands at over $100 billion, making it the largest Iraq reconstruction contract.

The most lucrative Iraq reconstruction contract was not to repair oil infrastructure, build schools and hospitals or repair bombarded infrastructure. It was to source, process and distribute water.

For western leaders, the corporations that fund their political campaigns and the Jewish lobby that is the backbone of corporate America, intervention in Syria however is not exclusively about profit. It is about something far more important – Israel.

Israeli leaders assert that Mr. Assad poses an existential threat to Israel on two fronts. For a start, Syria backs insurgents and radicals in Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq, and foments Iran's belligerence. More importantly, Mr. Assad poses a bigger threat to Israel's existence on the issue of water. Not least because Mr. Assad has vowed to reclaim the Golan Heights – a strip of land which Israel captured from Syria in the war of 1967. The Golan Heights provide a staggering 40 per cent of Israel's fresh water.

''Syrian control of half of our water poses more of a threat than Iran with one bomb,'' once remarked ex Israeli intelligence head Meir Dagan. Mr. Assad has also been reticent to privatise the water industry and expose the population to predatory pricing. Thereby preventing the west from tapping into a multi-billion dollar revenue stream.

Since the turn of the century, western military adventures in the Middle East have undoubtedly been fuelled by billions of dollars in profit from pilfering oil, trading arms and winning no bid reconstruction contracts.

Whether it is preserving almost half of Israel's water supply, controlling the eighth wonder of the world or awarding oneself the biggest reconstruction contract in Iraq, water has also been a key part of the blend that has fuelled the west's war-machine. Control of nature's most precious and increasingly valuable commodity will, for any nation, spell the difference between greatness and decline. Mr. Hussein, Colonel Gaddafi and a defiant Mr. Assad know that all too well.

By Garikai Chengu

The author is a research scholar at Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

British Defence Secretary Philip Hammond recently let the cat out of the bag by officially confirming that Britain will make returns of £200 billion from reconstruction contracts in Libya, all from a mere £300 million investment.

www.presstv.com...

Made me think of this ...

So this is turning into some koind of James Bond movie?

en.m.wikipedia.org...

"At an eco hotel in the desert, Greene reveals his true plans to Medrano: now that he controls the majority of Bolivia's water supply, Greene forces Medrano to accept a new contract that makes Greene Planet Bolivia's sole water utility company at significantly higher rates."

a reply to: 3n19m470

So this is turning into some koind of James Bond movie?

Interesting that you mention Quantum of Solace

Quantum of Solace:
www.imdb.com...

Real life intelligence operatives acted as on-the-set consultants for the movie including spies and assassins from the British Mi6 and the Israeli Secret Service.

Directors/Producers often hire consultants for their movies .

www1.american.edu...

The struggle for fresh water in the Middle East was a primary cause of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and has contributed to other military disputes in the region. Like other conflicts that revolve around scarce environmental resources, there are ways to determine the likelihood of water issues escalating into a large scale multi-national conflict. The probability that the degree of scarcity of water to a region, the need of several nations to share one fresh water source, the military or economic power of the state that controls the water, and existence of other fresh water sources aids the ability to predict the causes and possible solutions for these conflicts. Perhaps the clearest example of a region where fresh water supplies have had strategic implications is the Middle East (Gleick, p.84). This study will examine the relationship between environmental resources and conflict using the ongoing dispute between Israel and Jordan over water supply of the Jordan river as an example.

For the life of me I cannot see where you come to these conclusions. Let me enlighten you. The world on which we live is 4 fifths water. Billions of billions of gallons of the stuff. Now it so happens that the majority is salt water. So you people have never heard of de desalination plants? Now if the oil rich middle eastern countries were to spend a fraction of their income on these plants then water would not be a problem( the same goes for California). So it may point to the ruling regimes playing the keep it in short supply and keep the population under control. Either way all these water shortage posts are a moot point.

a reply to: crayzeed

Well thank you for enlightening us all, sir jumps the gun.

Nobody is coming to such a conclusion, but when a research scholar at Harvard University's Faculty points out something it might not be a bad idea to look further .

Now if the oil rich middle eastern countries were to spend a fraction of their income on these plants then water would not be a problem( the same goes for California). So it may point to the ruling regimes playing the keep it in short supply and keep the population under control.

However, are these plants implemented over night?

Once the plants are implemented and all other fresh water sources are either eradicated or controlled who has the upper hand?

Even if the general population or the rebels utilize personal portable desalination, that would be a logistical challenge.

There are also a lot of people with money and power like T. Boone Pickens that are investing heavily into water. Controlling the worlds supplies would be a direct benefit for such investors in the future.

a reply to: interupt42
Then it's up to the government to take that power off T. Boone Pickens and implement enough desalination plants for the populace. Water is a basic staple for human existence and should not be used as a weapon to get any thing, money or power. America especially instead of spending billions on advanced weaponry spend a few millions and build enough plants before the problem gets a problem. Or is that too simple an explanation. YES it really is that simple.

a reply to: crayzeed


It's a ridiculous plan if so. All they can do is slow the progress down, in the end existing tech will be used in some places and over time monopolizing water will fail as people grow discontent. They are doing it with energy now, making it illegal to be off the grid and such... but that doesn't actually stop you from supplying the bulk of your need that way, likewise in regards to water the tech is there, a backpack solar powered water maker that can do 20 Gallons plus a day is already made by an Israeli company for cheap and you can get larger sizes, 20 gallons a day is actually done right enough to grow enough to feed your family, 2 of those is quite a bit... another 20 gallons for drinking water is enough for 10 people....

a reply to: interupt42

Water is a basic staple for human existence and should not be used as a weapon to get any thing, money or power.

Agreed, but that is not how the gov't and the lobbyiest roll.

America especially instead of spending billions on advanced weaponry spend a few millions and build enough plants before the problem gets a problem. Or is that too simple an explanation. YES it really is that simple.

Agreed , but no its not that simple when you throw in Corporations who control our gov't and that have to constantly exceed profits from previous quarters in order to survive.

Then it's up to the government to take that power off T. Boone Pickens and implement enough desalination plants for the populace.

Agreed, but that is not how it works in reality. In reality T Boone Picket got his way because he used his lobbying clout .
www.businessweek.com...