Gloomy predictions for 2009

Croatia and Serbia will meet once more on the battle field of Europe as Bosnia is equally flooded by a new wave of Arab and Pakistani Jihadists.

Turkey

Turkey 's economy will continue to crash as with everyone else. It's exports will not be in demand and will lead to large scale lay offs. The ever more Islamized government will finally lead to at least one military putsch to replace them with secular powers. As conditions deteriorate, the Kurds will relaunch an active insurgency, which will also strain Turkey's resources since it will need to be further interjected into Iraq's Kurdish north.

Ukraine

Ukraine 's economy will continue to collapse and the Western puppet Oranges will continue to bicker and feed off of the suffering of the people as they maneuver for power against each other. The crisis point will come this spring, when no obvious economic turn around will be on the horizon. Ukraine will more than likely split in two. The east/south will become a close satellite of Russia, while the west will struggle on. Whether this is peaceful or violent will depend directly on how much the West stays out of this.

Georgia

Unbelievably, Saakashvili will continue to cling to power through the first half of the year. Under Washington's prodding, in early spring, he will relaunch the war and than be removed in a coup by his former allies. Moscow's response will, more than likely, be to not stop until Tbilisi. What will follow next will depend on how strong Russia feels, how weak and slow the West's response is, but annexation is not out of the question.

Israel

Israel will face a protracted series of wars on its borders, primarily in Lebanon and Egypt's Sinai and Gaza. Syria will also attempt to start one in the Golan Heights but this will pitter out. Olmert will finally be put to pastor, in a nice jail cell as he stands corruption charges. Netanyahu will more than likely be president, and being a pragmatist, he will take a much closer position to Russia, as Washington's influence falls. Russia will be pressed further to stop sales to Arabs of weapons, in exchange for Israeli loyalty and investments.

Iran

With a continued economic down turn, Iran will be rocked by riots. Whether the mullahs stay in power will be yet to be seen. The nuclear power plant will start, no one will bomb them and no nuclear weapons will be developed. The US will continue to threaten with its military but these threats will be ignored by everyone, as hollow.

Iraq

Iraq will continue to grind on, from crisis to crisis, not quite in a full civil war and not nearly in any kind of peace. One or two car bombs a day will continue to be the norm. The US will start 2009 by flexing troops to Afghanistan. The drop in numbers will not last long as fighting will quickly escalate and the units will have to be returned. In other words, the American quagmire is going nowhere as is Obama's promise to remove troops in 16 months.

Turkey will be forced to intervene more actively in Kurdistan, which will bring more instability to the region.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan will become a NATO disaster, one big enough to possibly finally split the old Cold War club. The southern supply routes will be unreliable at best, downright a disaster at worst, running through Pakistan. Many NATO nations involved will be forced to sign contracts and agreements with Russia. The US' drive to get Georgia and Ukraine into NATO will be further blocked by nations such as Germany, who has the foresight to understand it needs Russia not only for economics but also for the survival of its troops in Afghanistan.

This of course will further alienate the US puppet NATO/EU "New Europe" states such as Poland and the Baltics.

As a whole, NATO control over the southern and central portions of the country will collapse. The northern warlords will also switch their loyalty to their traditional allies: Iran, Russia and India. Afghanistan's government will control little more than the main cities and even then it will be a state of constant terror and siege.

By the middle of the year, it will be obvious the war is lost and NATO member states will start a mad scramble to get their troops out. Only the US and British will remain.

Pakistan

Pakistan will fall into an all out civil war, loosing control of much of the country side. The question of the safety of its nuclear weapons will be a prominent headache for the world but nothing real will be done. At least one border war will be fought with India and will be declared a draw by the weak Pakistani authorities. The economy will continue its down ward spiral and the flight of talent will only accelerate.

Militants will begin to launch brazen attacks throughout the cities and the military will be mostly in a garrison, circle the wagons mentality. Some military strikes on militants will be carried out but will not solve the problems.