War....War....Everywar....

Okay kids--let's play "Count with The Count!" Can you help The Count Von Count count up the number of wars to determine The War Number of the Day?

Put on your thinking caps!

Let's count:

ONE! Iraqis: U.S. shares blame for death toll:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi officials said Wednesday that U.S. and coalition forces as well as an increase in sectarian violence were behind the surge in civilian casualties cited in a U.N. report.

The report by the U.N. Assistance Mission in Iraq said nearly 6,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in May and June in a wave of assassinations, bombings, kidnappings, torture and intimidation.

However, deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubaie blamed U.S. and other coalition forces for much of the violence, saying their troops were responsible for about half the deaths due to "raids, shootings and clashes with insurgents."

"They came to protect the people and democracy and all the problems we have today are because of them. It is a loss for Iraq," said al-Zubaie, a Sunni Muslim.

TWO! Israeli warplanes blast Beirut bunker:

BEIRUT, Lebanon - A wave of Israeli warplanes blasted a bunker in south Beirut thought to hold Hezbollah's top leaders Wednesday, intensifying an offensive against the guerrillas despite mounting international pressure and an appeal from Lebanon to spare the country further death and devastation.

The strike was the most dramatic action on a day that saw Israeli troops punch into south Lebanon to clash with the guerrillas and launched strikes that killed an estimated 40 people.

Israel broadcast warnings into south Lebanon telling civilians to leave the region, a possible prelude to a larger Israeli ground operation.

Hezbollah, undeterred, rockets slammed into the Israeli Arab town of Nazareth, the hometown of Jesus, killing two Arab brothers, ages 3 and 9, as they played outdoors.

Thousands of foreigners fled in one of the largest evacuation operations since World War II, including 1,000 Americans who arrived in Cyprus early Thursday on a rented cruise ship.

THREE! Turkey moves forward on push into Iraq:

ANKARA, Turkey - The Turkish military is moving forward with plans to send forces into northern Iraq to clear out Turkish Kurdish guerrilla bases, the prime minister said Wednesday.

But Recep Tayyip Erdogan also said officials were holding talks with the United States and Iraq in an attempt to defuse tensions.

Diplomats and officials have said repeatedly that Turkey's threats to send troops into Iraq were largely aimed at pressing the United States and Iraq to take action against guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK, whose fighters have killed 15 Turks in the southeast in the past week.

Any Turkish cross-border operation is likely to inflame tensions with the United States and destabilize one of the only calm regions of Iraq. A push into northern Iraq could also threaten ties with EU countries, which have been pressing Turkey to improve minority Kurdish rights as a step toward reducing tensions in the largely Kurdish southeast.

And there is the possibility that Kurds in largely autonomous northern Iraq could fight the Turks if they enter the country. The guerrillas are mostly based in the Qandil mountains that straddle Iraq's border with
Iran, about 50 miles from the Turkish border. They infiltrate southeastern Turkey from those bases to attack.

FOUR! Ethiopia prepared to invade Somalia:

NAIROBI, Kenya - Ethiopia is prepared to invade neighboring Somalia to defend its U.N.-backed government against what appeared to be an imminent attack by Islamic militiamen, a government spokesman said Wednesday.

The militiamen, who hold most of southern Somalia, deployed hundreds of fighters outside the town where the largely powerless government is based and said they planned to seize it.

"We have the responsibility to defend the border and the Somali government. We will crush them," Ethiopia's Minister of Information, Berhan Hailu, told The Associated Press.

Seizing the town of Baidoa would give the Islamic militia — which the United States has linked to al-Qaida — the uncontested authority over most of Somalia.

Somali transitional President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed is allied with Ethiopia, and has asked for its support. Ethiopia has intervened militarily in Somalia in the past, and hundreds of Ethiopian troops have been spotted along the countries' border in recent weeks.

The Somali Islamist militants are allied with Muslim separatists in the Oromo region of Ethiopia.

FIVE! Uganda rejects ceasefire with LRA rebels:

JUBA, Sudan (Reuters) - Ugandan negotiators have rejected a ceasefire call from Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels as a first step in talks to end one of Africa's longest conflicts, officials said on Wednesday.

A ceasefire was the first item on the agenda at tentative discussions between the two sides that began on Sunday in Juba, capital of neighboring southern Sudan.

The south's regional government says it wants to broker an end to the LRA's two-decade insurgency, which has killed tens of thousands, uprooted nearly two million people in northern Uganda and destabilized southern Sudan.

But both sides appear completely at odds: the government offering amnesty in return for LRA surrender, and the rebels demanding compensation and the disbandment of Uganda's army.

SIX! World powers press Sudan on Darfur U.N. force:

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Sudan resisted pressure from world powers on Tuesday to accept a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Darfur to replace an African Union force that has been unable to stem violence that Washington calls genocide.

Sudanese officials, who stressed before the meeting they continued to reject a U.N. role, were not available for comment.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and 2.5 million forced into exile in three years of fighting in lawless Sudan.

Violence erupted in Darfur in 2003 when non-Arab rebels took up arms against the Arab dominated government, accusing it of neglect. Khartoum responded by arming a mostly Arab militia which stands accused of rape, murder and looting.

Sudan has rejected U.N. troops in Darfur, likening it to a Western invasion that could attract jihad militants and cause an
Iraq-style quagmire.

SEVEN! Colombia fighting forces civilians to flee:

BOGOTA, Colombia - Fighting between the army and leftist guerrillas in western Colombia has forced hundreds of civilians from their homes and trapped others in their villages, the United Nations said Tuesday.

In Narino province, near the southern border with Ecuador, more than 1,300 people have fled since fighting broke out last week between the army and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, Latin America's oldest and best-equipped guerrilla force.

SEVEN! Lucky number SEVEN is The War Number of the DAY! HA! HA! HA!

Now I know there are more than seven wars going on in this world--not to mention the insurgencies, revolutionary movements, counter-insurgencies and such--I certainly haven't mentioned Afghanistan for example. But going through the Yahoo News website, I found story after story devoted to some aspect of one war or another war. And much of these wars are taking place in either Africa, or the Middle East. If the stories are not about the actual fighting taking place between combatants, then they are about civilian evacuations, casualty reports, or stories of diplomatic failures to contain the fighting.

There is another thing I've noticed about these stories--the interconnectivity of each of these wars. They are connected to one-another, like spokes to a wagon wheel. And at the center of this wagon-wheel connection is the US war and occupation of Iraq. For example, the U.S. occupation of Iraq allowed for the Kurds to create their autonomous region in northern Iraq. This autonomous region would certainly have stoked the fires of an independent Kurdistan among the more militant Kurds, prompting guerilla attacks against Turkey, and thus forcing Turkey to develop plans for invading northern Iraq. Here is one spoke. How about another spoke? The U.S. occupation of Iraq has certainly inflamed anti-American hatred among the Muslim population in the Middle East, and hatred against America's long-time ally Israel. This hatred is certainly a boon for terrorist organizations in the Middle East. When the Palestinian elections take place last year, Hamas takes over as the main political party for the Palestinian Authority, prompting both the U.S. and Israel to cut off relations with the Palestinian government. We then get this kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah, resulting in another full-scale Israeli invasion into Lebanon to take out Hezbollah guerilla units. Finally, we get stories coming out about American and European civilians trying to get out of Lebanon on cruise ships.

But what about Dafur? Ethiopia? Uganda? Columbia--they don't have anything to do with the U.S. war in Iraq. Do they? Since the Bush administration has all but declared itself to have every right to invade any country--to use any means at its disposal in fighting terrorism, they have allowed for a precedent to set for the leaders of smaller nations to follow. Thus, the Ugandan government has rejected calls of a cease-fire by the rebels, or fighting continues between the Columbian and FARC, or even Ethiopia's intent to invade Somalia again. Forget diplomacy. Forget the United Nations--let's just go in, guns a-blazing! The Bush administration has exported its own form of cowboy diplomacy throughout the world, and some world leaders are taking a liking for it.

Is it time for another war?