Gulf crisis ripples across the globe

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http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NB08Ak03.html

The United States has shifted its attention away from Iraq, Afghanistan and other parts of the world and firmly fixed it on Iran. Along with this has come a buildup of naval, air and ground forces to pressure and perhaps even attack Iran over fears its nuclear program might be designed to build a nuclear weapon.

Allocating military might into the Gulf entails removing it from other parts of the globe which may embolden actors in various parts of the world to act more aggressively. They need not act in concert with Iran nor out of any sympathy for it. They may



simply sense an opening as the US military becomes more overstretched.

Historical examples of such actions abound. As Britain and France plunged into World War II, Japan seized their colonies in Southeast Asia. After the war, as the Iron Curtain descended in Central Europe, North Korea - with Soviet encouragement - drove into South Korea.

More recently, as the US and its European allies were mired in Iraq, Russia drove into Georgia, ably conveying its displeasure at North Atlantic Treaty Organization expansion. The world today is so laden with conflicts that one or more of them will likely assert themselves amid the ongoing Iran crisis.