Water wars -- IS the the REAL reason for Israel's invasion of Lebanon?

[DELUSIONAL]

It has been predicted that in this century most wars would be related to water --

Then this thread was posted at DU -- mentioning that Israel's side was green -- and Lebanon's side was brown in a thread about Tucker Carlson
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1686341

light bulb time . . .

WATER WARS -- the prime reason for wars of the 21th century as predicted by people who study water issues.

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0921-11.htm

“Just as we fought wars over oil, so will we fight wars over water,” was the threatening mantra hanging over the Congress. Dr. Shusma Pankule of India did confirm, “We have disputes with Pakistan on one side and with China on the other over water.” Israel has stolen the Palestinian water and is selling it back to them at prices they cannot afford,” reported Aliyah Strauss of Israel. “The situation is explosive.”
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http://www.healthy-communications.com/waterrunningout.html

The next world war will be over water

In Israel, extraction has surpassed replacement by 2.5 billion meters
in the last 25 years. And in Africa, the aquifers barely recharge at
all. On top of that, governments in rich and poor regions alike have
allowed water infrastructures to deteriorate where they even existed
at all, viewing repairs as a nuisance expense, not a necessity.


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http://www.worldwater.org/conflictIntro.htm

Water resources have rarely, if ever, been the sole source of violent conflict or war. But this fact has led some international security "experts" to ignore or belittle the complex and real relationships between water and security. It is easy for an academic approach to draw a narrow definition of "security" in a way that excludes water (or other resources) from the debate over international security, or to require that security threats be narrow, single-issue factors. But this approach both misunderstands the connections between water and security and misleads policymakers and the public seeking ways of reducing tensions and violence. In fact, there is a long and highly informative history of conflicts and tensions over water resources, the use of water systems as weapons during war, and the targeting of water systems during conflicts caused by other factors.

http://www.google.com/ search: wars+over+water

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more:

Some scholars of the Middle East have predicted that the next war there will be over water. Others maintain that water has always been at the center of conflicts in the Middle East (see, for example, Michael B. Oren, Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East (New York: Ballantine Books, 2003), 2, 16, 20-23). By the 1990s, aquifers and rivers were showing signs of drying up in the not too distant future as growing populations competed for already scarce water resources.

Middle Eastern nations are home to only 4.5% of the world's population, but are the source of up to half the world's oil supply. Yet, these nations receive only 2% of the world's rainfall and possess only 0.4% of the world's recoverable water sources. The total water supply of the twenty-two Arab nations is less than 150 billion cubic meters. With the population in this area expected to rise from 250 million in 2004 to 600 million by 2030, Arab per capita water supplies are expected to decrease by half: from 150 to 75 cubic meters per year. (see Roger Harrison, "A Problem With Liquidity: The Challenges of Water in Saudi Arabia," The Washington Report for Middle East Affairs, July/August, 2004, 44)

http://www.nmhschool.org/tthornton/mehistorydatabase/waterwars.htm

[Swede]

1. Unfucking real.

How old are you,son?

[ThomCat]

3. Well that's a friendly and useful post.

[sweetheart]

12. Desert heat

It gets hot out there in the west, and star trek is almost real, just like
you can see the enterprise out in space, and there are no borders, just
klingons, Romulans and sexual people who wear prude costumes and don't shag
on the spaceship. Or actually, star trek is a reality TV show filmed on an
extra space ship loaned over from Area 51, and THAT's why they save on
special effects.

You should see the damage that the water wars do from space, how the human
virus takes over an area of land and turns it grey and polluted, rotting
away its petri dish until the enterprise discovers a new planet.

[ThomCat]

2. I doubt it. I undestand that they've already diverted the water

out of Lebanon.

[DELUSIONAL]

8. Yes I remember reading that a few years ago

however I remember reading more recently about Lebanon wanting to divert water back for Lebanon's use.

-- once diverted -- the water could be re-diverted -- and thus Israel's current response could be better understood.

If the underlying reason IS one of ownership of water rights -- then the current war takes on more meaning.

Perhaps it is because I am from the West Coast -- where the major deserts are -- and water rights are very important. California has had a long simmering water battle. I remember Gov. RayGun helped to divert Northern California to Southern California -- this issue still pisses off Northern Californians.

Water is a major issue -- and must be considered when looking at all the variables in the current conflict between Lebanon and Israel.

[Rex]

4. With desalination plants, no country should be without water.

We can create an endless supply of clean, potable water. If we start fighting over water then the human race has officially lost it IMO.

[blonndee]

6. It's already happening.

http://www.polarisinstitute.org/pubs/pubs_global_water_grab_intro.html

This has a bit on drinking water supply: http://www.orionsociety.org/pages/om/03-6om/Kaplan.html

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Water/Who's_Right_Water.html

[Rex]

7. Geez, I just can't keep up with all these emerging crisi.

Okay, the world is insane and I'm going fishing...

[ThomCat]

10. But it's expensive, and a relatively slow process

for the volume you get out of it. There are a lot of places that would benefit from a desalination plant that can't afford the water that comes out of it.

[Dead_Parrot]

11. Well, it's an option for many...

Desalination can be extraordinarily expensive: Expecting Somalia to go down that route, for instance, would be a little optimistic. But I'd agree Israel can manage it easily enough (IIRC, they already run a plant or two).

Whether it's cheaper than an invasion... Pass. It's an interesting angle to mull over.

[politicat]

15. Desalination requires power.

Since I believe that much of the Middle East is in an electrical generation crisis (for the same reason the US is; higher demand and not enough new power plant construction; they don't have the problems with energy yet, but it's coming), they're squeezed for power.

Between water, power and access to the sea, this has turf battle written all over it. But then again, ALL wars are turf battles at base, even if they're wrapped up in a cloak of religion.

[theboss]

5. Then why did they leave Lebanon two years ago?

Surely, they still needed the water then.

Honestly, did anyone pay attention to the Middle East prior to six weeks ago?

[DELUSIONAL]

13. According to reports/news etc. Israel was forced out of

Lebanon by Hizbolla. I'm just going by what I read.

Water is a major major mega issue in this whole region --

Desalination may meet some of the water needs -- I've read about Saudi Arabia's water making plants -- and understand the technology.

But this won't meet all the world's needs -- according to the water experts.


according to Adel Darwish, the author of "Water Wars"

During the research for the book: Water Wars both my co-author and I, discovered that water was the hidden agenda for past conflicts and one major obstacle to reach a lasting and final settlement in the region.

Ariel Sharon went on record saying that the Six Day War started because Syrian engineers were working on diverting part of the water flow away from Israel.

"People generally regard 5 June 1967 as the day the Six-day war began,'' he said.

"That is the official date. But, in reality, it started two-and-a-half years earlier, on the day Israel decided to act against the diversion of the Jordan.''

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2949768.stm

[Minnesota Libra]

9. I've heard rumblings in the past five to ten years about water...........

....becoming such a precious commodity that countries and whole regions would go to war over it. I didn't dismiss the idea - considering how arid Africa is - but I thought those wars might be well into the next couple of generations. Maybe not!!:wow:

[DELUSIONAL]

14. "Israel warns of war over water"

This is the article I remember reading way back in 10 September, 2002

"Israel controlled the Hasbani during its occupation of southern Lebanon in 1978-2000."


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2249599.stm

An alleged Lebanese scheme to divert water from a river feeding Israel's largest reservoir could provoke a war, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has warned.

Israeli army radio quoted the prime minister as saying on Tuesday that the issue constituted a "casus belli", or "grounds for war".

He was addressing senior military and civilian officials after a cabinet meeting.

Lebanon opened a pumping-station on the River Hasbani in the spring of 2001 to irrigate a drought-stricken village but denies that it plans to dam the river.

The river supplies between 20 and 25% of the water flowing into the Sea of Galilee, an official at Israel's Ministry of Agriculture was quoted as saying by the French news agency AFP.

It rises in Lebanon and flows for about 50 kilometres (30 miles) through its territory before joining the River Jordan and emptying into the Sea of Galilee.

[blonndee]

16. Wow, just wow.

Interesting that what Sharon warned is now happening.

[DELUSIONAL]

17. Something was bothering me about the "excuses"

for this war -- 2 kidnapped soldiers -- not nice -- but it happens, has happened -- prisoner exchanges have taken place.

the the Hizbolla reason -- nope that didn't ring true either.

something else was nagging at me -- something that I read a long time ago -- turns out nearly four years ago --

Sharon saying that Israel would go to war over water. In fact at one time or the other all the leaders of the M.E. Nations have said that they would go to war over water.

Sure enough -- google had the article I remembered reading -- WATER WAR.

Water is a very serious issue -- all over the world. Enron was trying to get into the water futures markets -- Bolivia had a riot over the privatization of water.

This issue isn't just Israel -- it is about humans use and misuse of water.

In Washington there was a threat that California was going to tap into the Columbia River -- I'd say people here were nearly ready to go to war over water.

Water isn't a sexy issue -- it isn't a security issue --except that humans need water to survive.