Tensions are rising to very extreme levels in the ME, particularly driving up crude oil prices today. With all this posturing and jousting being exchanged, I truly pray this doesn't go to the brink of insanity. Kiss the world as you know it good-bye if cooler heads, ones with a compassion for humanity, don't prevail. This is one F%#*ed-up planet we live on.

I still remain optimistic....one has to!

Below is a snippet from an article by Gary Dorsch entitled, "Stagflation" Haunts Global Stock Markets, buoys Gold". For the complete commentary, here is the link; http://www.kitco.com/ind/dorsch/jul1...

BD1

Gold – a Safe Haven from Global Instability

The clock is ticking on George W Bush’s presidency, with his approval rating stuck at 23-percent. Since Bush took office in 2001, the US national debt has ballooned by $4 trillion dollars, and 2.6 million manufacturing jobs were shipped overseas. The US banking industry is mired in its worst crisis since the Great Depression, and the US economy has lost 432,000 jobs over the past six months. Washington is spending $10 billion per month in Iraq, and the American electorate wants change.

According to traders at Dublin-based inntrade.com, the Democrats will gain complete control over the White House and Congress in 2009, and if correct, could lead to sweeping changes in trade policies with China, and a quick withdrawal of US troops from Iraq within sixteen months. Such big changes could have a major impact on the foreign exchange and metals markets in the years ahead.

Will President Bush leave the file on Iran’s nuclear weapons program to Illinois Senator Barrack Obama, or will he opt for a naval blockade of Iran before the November elections? The saber rattling between Jerusalem and Tehran has ratcheted to very high decibels, but this is “nothing new under the sun,” in the Middle East. Still, the war of words heightens risks of a clash in the Gulf, and is lending support to safe-haven gold, while inflating an Iranian “war premium” in oil prices.

On July 5th, Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards General Mohammad Ali Jafari, warned if his country came under attack, “The Guards are equipped with the most advanced missiles that can strike the enemies’ vessels and naval equipment with fatal blows,” and would shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a vital outlet for 40% of the world’s oil exports. “Blitzkrieg tactics and operations of the Guards’ boats will not leave a chance for the enemies to run away,” Jafari warned.

On July 8th, Ali Shirazi, an aide to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned, “the first bullet fired by America at Iran will be followed by Iran burning down its vital interests around the globe. If they commit such a stupidity, Tel Aviv and US shipping in the Persian Gulf will be Iran’s first targets, and they will be burned,” Shirazi said. In April, Israeli minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, told Israeli media, “An Iranian attack will prompt a severe reaction from Israel, which will destroy the Iranian nation,” as he hinted at a nuclear response.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a very high-skilled poker player, said the Washington neo-cons are not in a position to make an assault on Iran. “In the US, wise scholars will not allow Mr. Bush to commit political suicide, and of course the economic, political and military situation will not allow Mr. Bush to do that. Bush is not in a situation to change circumstances in his favor. I assure you, and don’t be worried, that there will not be a war in the future,” Ahmadinejad said.

Yet only eight-hours later, Iran tested nine long and medium-range missiles, including a new version of the Shahab-3 missile with a range of 1,250 miles, and armed with a 1-ton conventional warhead. A missile with that range could strike Israel, Turkey, the Arabian Peninsula, Afghanistan or Pakistan. An Iranian military official said “the missile tests would show Iran’s enemies its resolve and might.”

In June, Israel conducted aerial exercises involving its best jet fighters, widely seen as a rehearsal for a strike against Iranian nuclear facilities. Arizona’s Republican Senator John McCain said on July 9th, there is “continuing, mounting evidence that Iran is pursuing the acquisition of nuclear weapons.” The House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, Democrat-California, said that “stopping Iran’s nuclear threat is our most urgent strategic challenge. No one knows precisely when Iran will produce a nuclear bomb. But it will be soon,” Berman warned.