Peace...in the region...

Strange..., that the first word you will hear when you meet and greet a local in the GCC, is 'Peace' (salaam)... yet the region is forever seeming to be on the brink of peace... The region seem to be plagued by strife, and even in the times of peace, it seems that we are not too far away from a powder keg waiting to be set alight.

As we see the US  troops finally making an exit of that war torn country, Iraq, we dare not even hope of a lasting peace. We are all witness to the fact that the American invasion, under the pretense of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) has created more havoc, more chaos, more tragedy, more destruction, more destabilisation, than any country could hope to experience throughout its existence.

This post is not intended to discuss the merits of the war in Iraq, but rather to point out that we cannot even hope for peace.

Even if we pretend that all is well in Iraq, that the political vultures will manage to conjure up some sort of political system, even if we pretend that the Muslims/Iraqis will stop killing each other, even if we pretend that the country will not split between the Kurds, the Sunnis and the Shias, even if we pretend that they will manage to switch on the power, that the toilets will work again, that people will have jobs again, and on and on and on...

... and all goes well in Iraq... we cannot dare to hope for Peace.

It seems after Iraq, the Israelis and hawks in America still have the desire to go after Iran next.

Heaven knows what will happen then. If Iraq was an uncomfortable war fought on the fringes of the region, Iran will certainly be a war fought in the region.

War with Iran will essentially destabilise the entire GCC. That, my loyal audience, will be the end of a blissful expat life for most (if not all) of us located in the GCC.

The tragedy is... no one seem to be asking the Americans what they achieved with the war in Iraq... whether it was all worth it... No one seems to be holding the Americans and the Brits responsible or accountable. No UN resolutions, no war crimes tribunal, no international outcry, no CNN, SKY, BBC, MSNBC, FOX, Jazeerah, analysis or news programs.

Notwithstanding what your politics might be, if you are a expat in the Middle East, another war in the region (with Iran) will be catastrophic for all of us.

Yet, there are loud voices in Israel and the USA to reload the weapons, and aim it towards Iran.

To all my fellow expats in the region, perhaps it is time to send a collective prayer to the Almighty and ask for sanity to prevail in the world... so that our little expat existence can continue to be for a while longer...