MIDDLE EAST

3394 Strategic Importance

The strategic military importance of “the land bridge of the Middle East” which begins in the north with the Bosphorus (the narrow channel which divides Turkey, connecting the Black Sea with the Mediterranean), and extends southward to Egypt, has been established by centuries of military conflicts. The one who could control Europe, Asia, and Africa must control this area, which literally connects the three continents. This must figure into the Russian motivation for future conquest. Since Israel lies in the center of this land bridge, it has been made a battleground innumerable times.

—Hal Lindsay

3395 Right Time At Right Place

The weapon employed—oil—has never before been used in the manner it is being used today by the Middle East, nor could it have been used in the distant past in any effective way. Until recent years, the world’s nations were never so dependent on a fuel that was concentrated in such great quantity in one area.

3396 Oil Supplier Of The World

The Middle East is a region that supplies at least 70% of the oil consumed daily by non-Communist countries. It is the source of well over 50% of West Europe’s oil, 90% of Japan’s, 30% of the USA’s and 80% of Africa’s. Every 15 minutes, a tanker filled with oil sails through the Strait of Hormuz at the head of the Persian Gulf en route to refineries around the world.

3397 The Military Balance

In early 1980, Pres. Carter ordered about 2,000 combat marines into the Gulf, to reinforce US ships now patrolling there. It was the first time since World War II that US amphibious troops have been stationed in the Gulf.

The Soviet navy also has sent warships into the vast Indian Ocean-Arabian Sea area. Other ships wait out in the South China Sea.

3398 The Dry Climate

The minimum annual rainfall necessary for dry-land farming in the Mid-East is 7 inches. But the variability of rainfall conditions may make agriculture marginal even in areas with 11 inches.

Thus only in areas with a mean rainfall of more than 11 inches per year is there a minimal risk of crop failure due to drought.

Large parts of the Middle East are highly marginal for rain- fed agriculture.