A Prelude to War

Recently Iran has been conducting missile tests, in what many believe to be a warning to Israel and the United States not to attack Iran's nuclear facilities. In Tbilisi, Georgia Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who is currently on a tour of east European countries trying to smooth over protests of a U.S. missile defense shield had this to say about Iran's missile tests, "We are sending a message to Iran that we will defend American interests and the interests of our allies." Secretary Rice continued saying "We take very very strongly our obligations to help our allies defend themselves and no one should be confused about that." Meanwhile reports from Iraq's military high command that Israeli attack jets have been sighted at a U.S. airbase in the Anbar Province of Iraq. If this is true, that would put Israel's strike aircraft within 5 minutes flight time of their targets. While in Russia, the government under President Dmitry Medvedev has taken a dim view that the former Soviet satellite state of Georgia and others that were once behind the "iron curtain" are now seeking admission to N.A.T.O., and at the same time are in talks with the United States about the installation of an anti-ballistic missile system. In response Russia has warned that "unspecified military action" might be used if those installations were built. With the price of crude oil surpassing $145 a barrel with no signs of stopping, and economies around the world slowly sliding into recession, it's the perfect recipe for world war.