Conservationists and wild-fish interests say farmed fish can carry disease and affect the genes of wild species if they reproduce. Roger Brooks, chairman of the Rivers and Fisheries Trusts of Scotland, said, "In an average year there are ten escaped salmon in the sea for every wild fish returning to Scotland. That is appalling. They are contaminating the countryside, their genetics are mucking up wild fish when they cross breed and they are just a pest."

Scottish Executive figures show that between 2002 - when statutory reporting began - and 2006, the number of escapees totals 1.58 million. However, annual figures have dropped from 312,655 to 155,653 over that period.

The surprisingly-public message came after a speech by Douglas Alexander, the development secretary, that was seen by some in London and Washington as heralding a cooling in Transatlantic relations. Mr Alexander argued in his speech in Washington that other states should abide by international rules on the use of military force, and put more effort into "building" than "destroying".

His remarks were taken by both left-wing Labour MPs and right-wing allies of President George W Bush, as a coded criticism of the interventionist foreign policy pursued by Mr Bush and former prime minister Tony Blair.
"It was absolutely the right kind of critique to be making of where America and the world are at," said Tony Lloyd, a Labour MP and former foreign office minister.

"It's a very unhelpful speech" said Nile Gardner, an expert in US-UK relations at the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think-tank with close ties to the White House. "It is going to cause offence in parts of the Bush administration." However, Downing Street insisted there was no question of Mr Alexander signalling any change in UK policy. "To interpret this as saying anything at all about our relationship with the US is nonsense" said Mr Brown's spokesman.

Despite downplaying the row yesterday morning, Mr Brown later issued his very public reminder to his ministers, instructing his chief of staff, Tom Scholar, to write to the Cabinet emphasising the importance of the British-US relationship. Mr Alexander himself yesterday also insisted his speech had not altered UK foreign policy. He said: "Gordon Brown has made very clear that he regards a strong relationship with the US as being one of the fundamental bases of his foreign policy."

Further trying to emphasise Mr Brown's pro-Americanism, Downing Street also announced that Mr Brown will fly to Washington for talks with Mr Bush later this month. Robert Tuttle, the US ambassador in London, yesterday insisted he was not concerned about Mr Alexander's speech, which he described as "very straightforward" but "reported in a very exaggerated manner".

Why? Because Islam is an idea, a belief, a philosophy, a worldview, a religion that over a billion and a half people follow and live their daily lives by. Islam determines what Muslims think, hear, value, believe - even die for. Islam is what a billion and a half Muslims have banked their eternal destiny on and more than not will gladly give their lives to assure a Muslim world, as painfully witnessed recently in the terrorist bomb plots at London's West End and Scotland's Glasgow Airport where so far six of the eight suspects detained are respected, upper-class Muslim medical doctors.

WE MUST CHANGE PHILOSOPHY (RELIGION) BY PHILOSOPHY.

This isn't an original idea. Remember that the first thing the victorious Allies did after conquering Hitler and his Nazis during World War II was to institute a comprehensive "de-Nazification" program to change the thinking of all Germans away from Nazi fanaticism and anti-Semitism to a representative democracy, establishing a republic based on the legal/moral paradigm of the rule of law and a Constitution.

A similar program was enacted by Gen. Douglas MacArthur to convert the Japanese masses away from the maniacal fanaticism of Emperor Worship, which existed for over 1,000 years. Sixty years later, Japan stands as a faithful ally of America and a bulwark republic in an area rife with Communist dictatorships and growing Islamic hegemony.

LOOK AT WHAT MUSLIM COUNTRIES DO TO OUR JUDEO-CHRISTIAN BELIEFS. THERE IS AN EXPLICIT, UNIFIED AND PURPOSEFUL STRATEGY TO FORBID STRICTLY THE BIBLE, CHRISTIAN LITERATURE OR PROSELYTIZING OF ANY KIND IN VIRTUALLY ALL MUSLIM COUNTRIES AT PAINS OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT - THE MOST EGREGIOUS AND OVERT BEING SAUDI ARABIA, AMERICA'S SUPPOSED ALLY IN THE WAR ON TERROR. YET THE MUSLIMS CAN BUILD MOSQUES IN AMERICA AND IN THE WEST AS FAST AS SAUDI ARABIA, IRAN OR SOME OTHER MUSLIM COUNTRY, OR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION, SENDS THEM THE FUNDS.

The result: Genocidal Islam grows right here in America, while Judeo-Christianity dies a slow death on the vine due to 150 years of neglect and failure to use the world's greatest religion as a viable domestic and foreign policy strategy and geopolitical export to the nations of the world.

The crux of the argument is: Can a secular liberal democracy ever defeat genocidal Islamic jihad against the West? I answer no. The problem with the war on terror is that we are asking the wrong people for their expert opinion to deal with the West's vexing problems of worldwide terrorism.
Speaking as a philosopher, I am convinced that America's current military strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan is not only ineffective, but generates increasing numbers of fanatical Muslims championing jihad - something to die for.

Three thousand years ago, David, a future philosopher-king, was born. A young, anonymous Jewish boy on the back hills of Judea asked his king as the armies of Israel cowered in fear before the dreadful Philistine giant, Goliath, the simple but sublime question: "Is there not a cause?" That same teenage boy took a rag and a rock, ran onto the battlefield to confront this 9-foot-9-inch infidel giant, popped him in the head with his slingshot, killing him, and chopped off his head with Goliath's own sword.

Now, in my humble opinion, that boy was a real man! WOULD TO GOD THAT AMERICA, BRITAIN, ISRAEL AND ALL NATIONS OF GOOD WILL HAD A PHILOSOPHER-KING TO DELIVER US THIS DAY FROM OUR TWO GREATEST ENEMIES - LIBERALISM AND ISLAMIC HEGEMONY.

"People have to understand what we're talking about here. The president of the United States is an internationalist," said Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo. "He is going to do what he can to create a place where the idea of America is just that - it's an idea. It's not an actual place defined by borders. I mean this is where this guy is really going."

Tancredo lashed out at the White House's lack of action in securing U.S. borders, and said efforts to merge the U.S. with both Mexico and Canada is not a fantasy.

"I know this is dramatic - or maybe somebody would say overly dramatic - but I'm telling you, that everything I see leads me to believe that this whole idea of the North American Union, it's not something that just is written about by right-wing fringe kooks. It is something in the head of the president of the United States, the president of Mexico, I think the prime minister of Canada buys into it. ...

"And they would just tell you, 'Well, sure, it's a natural thing. It's part of the great globalization ... of the economy.' They assume it's a natural, evolutionary event that's going to occur here. I hope they're wrong and I'm going to try my best to make sure they're wrong. But I'm telling you the tide is great. The tide is moving in their direction. We have to say that."

It seems, given the dour mood of the country, that this would be a good time to market such a book. So, is America creaking and crumbling like a latter-day Rome? If it is, the word hasn't gotten to our financial markets. Stocks are booming, interest rates, inflation and unemployment are low, and companies are making money. Usually this is the formula for a happy electorate. But, for some reason, not now.

According to polls, less than a third of Americans are happy with their president, barely more than a fourth are happy with their Congress, and three-quarters feel the country is on the wrong track. A recent New York Times/CBS poll shows pessimism extending among our young people. In a survey of 17- to 29-year-olds, 70 percent said the nation is on the wrong track.

Certainly, there is unhappiness about the war in Iraq. We hear comparisons to Vietnam. But let's recall that the death toll in Vietnam, when the protests got most intense, was far beyond the 3,000-plus casualties we have experienced thus far in Iraq. By the time we exited Vietnam, we had lost more than 50,000 of our soldiers.

Here's one hypothesis about what may be affecting the general mood. People feel rattled when they feel a loss of control.

ONE THING AMERICANS HAVE DONE OVER THE YEARS IS TURN MORE AND MORE OF THEIR LIVES OVER TO OTHERS TO CONTROL. THIS IS REFLECTED IN THE GROWTH OF GOVERNMENT.

At the beginning of the last century, government took less than one dollar of every 10 produced by the nation's economy. By the 1950s, government was taking about one dollar of every four produced. Now it is taking almost a third. Along with the growth of government, there has been a dramatic shift from local and state control to the federal government.

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE LAST CENTURY, 70 PERCENT OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING WAS AT THE STATE AND LOCAL LEVEL. TODAY, ALMOST TWO-THIRDS OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING IS AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL.

All of this means two things. First, a large portion of our lives today is politicized and run inefficiently. One of the reasons our free economy works so well is that businesses change as times change. But once a government program starts, entrenched political interests make change almost impossible. Second, people feel impotent as their lives are increasingly controlled by distant bureaucrats and monolithic government programs.
So, is Rome and decline in the cards for us?

Think we'll be OK if we don't forget how we got successful and what drives failure. Our success has come from freedom and letting individuals take responsibility for their own lives. But failure comes when we lose the humility required of freedom and turn to prideful notions that we can design government programs that solve life's problems.

For guidance here, we must turn not to history but to Proverbs.
"Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall."

"Never discuss politics or religion." Right? If you want to avoid controversy, uncomfortable confrontation, or angry disagreement and argument, just don't even mention those two things. Of course.

But what if those two things have become inextricably intertwined, and the political choices we all must make - for our mutual safety and foreseeable futures as free peoples - boil down to a choice between two religions? Between two irreconcilable, terribly opposite worldviews and religious philosophies?

What do we do when it becomes starkly clear that at least 100 million people all over this planet believe, deeply and as a basic tenet of their devout religion, that all who disagree with them are infidels - and must either be converted, subjugated or put to death. And that their God will handsomely reward any and all who die, accomplishing this "conversion" of the world's population to their religion?

Do intelligent people just shrug these facts off, assuming "it'll all work out; those people don't really believe all that, and even if they do, they'll come to their senses in time"? Do we all just go about our business and pleasure, leaving the "working out" of these diabolically opposite worldviews to diplomats and politicians?

Do reasonable adults even subscribe to the growing notion that Israel is the basic cause of all the problems in the Middle East, and that we Americans should withdraw support for that troublesome, pugnacious little "thorn in our side" and let the Muslim extremists wipe it off the map - believing that all other nations can then breathe sighs of relief and enjoy a harmonious, peaceful world?

The crazed, irrational hatred of Israel is at least partly because of its historic contributions to the world. The thought of Israel's enemies is "Who made the Jews so special?" My answer is God did - that's who. Long ago, the God of Abraham promised, "I'll bless those who bless you, and I'll curse those who curse you. And in you all the nations of the world will be blessed."

Abraham had two sons, only one by his wife Sarah, so God repeated the promises to Isaac. He made other promises to Ishmael, but He also foretold of everlasting enmity between the descendants of the two sons. Now that enmity has taken on global proportions, and no diplomacy or political maneuvering or "friendly persuasion" is ever going to convince those who are committed to another idea of God that anyone who refuses to accept their religion is worthy to live!

There's no neutrality, no spiritual Switzerland here; the lines are drawn in the sand. This conflict, growing and festering and becoming more inflamed by the hour, is between two concepts of God: one "loving the world so much He gave His only Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" - and the other decreeing that all who will not accept him and his domination must be put to death, now and forever.
It's time to choose, and every single human being must make a choice.

-Evangelicals burned the pope in effigy in the U.S.
-Catholic cathedrals were burned down in Europe.
-Catholic missionaries were attacked in Asia.
-Catholic Bibles were thrown on a bonfire in Africa.
-Protestants kidnapped priests and nuns in Latin America and held them for ransom.
-Threats on the life of the pope poured in from around the world.

YOU SAW ALL THIS ON THE NEWS, RIGHT? OH, YOU DIDN'T? YOU MEAN NON-CATHOLIC CHRISTIANS DID NOT RISE UP IN ANGER AND VIOLENCE WHEN INSULTED BY THE POPE?

WHY IS THAT?

AFTER ALL, LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD WHEN POPE BENEDICT EVER-SO-GENTLY CHIDED ITS HISTORY.

Last fall, Pope Benedict gave a speech at Regensburg in which he quoted from a 14th century text that denounced as "evil and inhumane" Muhammad's decree that Islam could be spread by the sword.
Within hours of the address, priests in Islamic countries were murdered and churches were burned. Muslims "protesting" the speech - because it insulted their "peaceful" religion - shot an African nun in the back. Threats were made against the life of the pope. When the pope traveled to Turkey two months later, he was met by tens of thousands of angry demonstrators.

With that recent experience with what we're told is "the religion of peace" in mind, should we not have expected the non-Catholic Christian world to ignite like a powder keg when insulted by Pope Benedict?

YET, IT DID NOT HAPPEN. WHY? IT'S QUITE SIMPLE.

Christians, generally speaking, though constantly criticized by non-believers as intolerant, are actually the most tolerant, peaceable people in the world. They believe in debate. They believe in dialogue. They believe in lively and free expression. They believe in permitting others to speak their minds - even when they profoundly disagree with what is said.

As an evangelical Christian, I was disappointed the pope would approve a document that characterized my faith as "defective" because I did not submit to his authority and the authority of priests but instead live only by the authority of God and His Word.

I disagree with the pope that the church Christ established on this Earth had anything to do with an institution run by men. The church Christ started was not a building. It was not a corporation. It was not a set of rules. It was and is a relationship between Creator and His creation.

Nevertheless, no matter how profoundly I disagree with the pope on this issue, I am not even slightly tempted to burn down Catholic churches or take nuns and priests hostage. I don't think many other non-Catholic Christians are either - as evidenced by the quietude we have experienced in the world since the pope's action.

There's a lesson here.
SOME NON-BELIEVERS LIKE TO PORTRAY CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISTS AND ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISTS AS CUT FROM THE SAME CLOTH. I think the reaction to these two separate pronouncements from the Vatican illustrates just how profoundly ignorant, unenlightened and bigoted such conclusions are.

No heads were chopped off in the creation of this column.
No children were recruited into the suicide bomber profession in the creation of this column.
No women were stoned to death in the creation of this column.
And none of those things will happen as a result of the pope's difference of opinion with the non-Catholic Christian world.
No, I don't want to kill the pope because of his wrongful conclusions about me and my faith.

Lord Mark Malloch Brown told the Daily Telegraph it was time for a more "impartial" foreign policy and to build relationships with European leaders. Some analysts may consider the Foreign Office minister's remarks evidence of Labour distancing itself from the US.

Earlier, Downing Street denied another minister had criticised the US. International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander warned in a against unilateralism and called for an "internationalist approach" to global problems. "It is very unlikely that the Brown-Bush relationship is going to go through the baptism of fire and therefore be joined together at the hip like the Blair-Bush relationship was," he was reported as saying.

"That was a relationship born of being war leaders together. "There was an emotional intensity of being war leaders with much of the world against them. That is enough to put you on your knees and get you praying together." He went on to speak of forging new links with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as with leaders in India and China.

"You need to build coalitions that are lateral, which go beyond the bilateral blinkers of the normal partners," he added. "My hope is that foreign policy will become much more impartial."

The dig has been approved by the police, but the Israel Antiquities Authority declined to respond to the Waqf's excavations and would not comment on whether one of its archaeologists had approved the move.

The Committee for the Prevention of Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount, an apolitical group comprised of archaeologists and intellectuals from the left and right, criticized the use of a tractor for excavation at the Temple Mount "without real, professional and careful archaeological supervision involving meticulous documentation."

Speaking for the committee yesterday, archaeologist Eilat Mazar said: "There is disappointment at the turning of a blind eye and the ongoing contempt for the tremendous archaeological importance of the Temple Mount."
At the beginning of the year, Israeli excavations near the Temple Mount, part of a plan to rebuild the Mugrabi bridge walkway, led to violent protests from Arabs in Israel and around the world.

See pictures

The price of milk, poultry and pork is also expected to rise as a result of an increase in the cost of livestock feed, according to Deloitte.Wheat and maize prices are now at the highest level in more than a decade. Arable farmers are now making £130 a ton for their wheat, up from £80 last year, and the trend in prices is up.

Mark Hill, food and agriculture partner at the firm, warned that rising demand for wheat and maize was bound to result in increases in the price of staple foods for British consumers.Mr Hill said the era of cheap subsidised food, which had lasted since the war, was over. He added: "I think we are going to see sustained price inflation - a general upward trend for staple foods such as grains, milk and meat.

"The reason is a very finely balance between supply and consumption. The International Grains Council is predicting wheat production this year at 623 million tons and consumption at 622 million tons."He said that an increasing trend of turning wheat and corn into alternative fuels, had come at a time when grain stocks had been run down. Grain supplies were already under pressure as a result of bad weather which reduced harvests and pushed up prices last year.

Over 20 per cent of the maize crop in the United States is now used for the production of ethanol. The knock on effect on the price of wheat, an alternative in processed food, suggested the wheat price was "only headed one way," said Mr Hill. European farmers have asked the European Commission to allow them to grow crops on the 8 per cent of land currently taken out of production as "set-aside" next year.

There is no credible currency against which it can collapse. (Unless you count gold). None of the world's rival power blocs have the economic and demographic depth to challenge American dominance.

Yes, we have a dollar rout on our hands. The markets have suddenly begun to discount a nasty crunch in the US as the subprime debacle spreads through the credit markets. The prospect of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve is drawing closer, knocking away the dollar's yield prop. Investors have switched reflexively to the euro as the default currency. This cannot last.

No, the 21st Century will be the American century, just like the 20th Century. Americans may have to tighten their belts a bit after all the sins of Alan Greenspan and the Clinton-Bush debt generation. But the dollar will still be the world's reserve currency long after the euro has disappeared and the yen has been forgotten? Now, the Indian Rupee? Hhm. Another day.

Full article

The Telegraph reports that EU Commissioner Margot Wallstrom has said THE CHARTER WILL APPLY TO LARGE PARTS OF BRITISH LAW, DESPITE UK GOVERNMENT CLAIMS THAT THE OPT-OUT WILL PREVENT THIS. Wallstrom said the Charter will be binding for member states when they implement EU law, and EU officials therefore predict Britain's opt-out on the European working time directive, for instance, will be challenged in the courts in Brussels because it affects European laws.

A senior European Parliament source, close to negotiations on the new EU treaty, told the Telegraph that MEPS ARE PLANNING TO SPONSOR EARLY CHALLENGES TO BRITAIN'S OPT-OUTS. "We are going to make sure that this issue is constantly before the European Court of Justice," he said. "There is 30 years of EU jurisprudence to say there can be no two-tier system of European rights." Open Europe's director Neil O'Brien as saying, "Trying to stop the charter changing our laws will be like trying to carry water in a sieve."
Telegraph

Portuguese Prime Minister José Socrates said that the 'negotiations' would not stick to the mandate agreed last month. "The agreement reached at the European Council gives a clear and precise mandate. We are now in a position to move forward. One thing is clear to me. Our mandate is not to change the mandate, but to turn the mandate into a Treaty". Socrates was backed by Commission President José Manuel Barroso, who said: "IT IS INCONCEIVABLE THAT AN AGREEMENT THAT WAS ACHIEVED UNANIMOUSLY SHOULD BE REOPENED."

MEP Richard Corbett said the fact that the IGC mandate "salvages" 90% of the Constitution has excited much comment, but argued that although "mice and men" are 90% identical, the 10% difference is rather important. He said that the changes, including the dropping of the symbols of the EU, "will make it easier to ratify".

BARROSO: EU IS AN EMPIRE .
The Telegraph reports that EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said yesterday in Strasbourg: "We are a very special construction unique in the history of mankind. SOMETIMES I LIKE TO COMPARE THE EU AS A CREATION TO THE ORGANISATION OF EMPIRE. We have the dimension of empire" . According to the Eupolitix, Barroso added "We should not have existential doubts about the EU's future - it is what it has always been. IT IS THE WORLD'S FIRST NON-IMPERIAL EMPIRE, with 27 member states that have agreed to pool their sovereignty and work together."

EU TO UNVEIL NEW RULES ON SPORT TODAY; BRUSSELS' POWER IN THIS AREA TO BE EXTENDED BY NEW TREATY.
Euobserver reports - Controversial proposals giving the EU a capacity to regulate sport across Europe will be put forward by Culture Commissioner Jan Figel today. The white paper will outline new EU powers over contentious issues such as the selection and transfers of players, corruption and TV rights. Many member states have questioned the need for EU interverntion in this field. EUROPE HAS TRADITIONALLY HAD NO ROLE IN THE AREA OF SPORT, BUT EU COMPETENCE IN THIS AREA WAS AGREED AS PART OF THE DEAL ON THE NEW EU TREATY AT THE BRUSSELS SUMMIT LAST MONTH.

EU COMMISSION TO MAKE COMMUNICATING THE BENEFITS OF EU TREATY "A PRIORITY"; BUT WANTS TO AVOID AWKWARD QUESTIONS
Euobserver reports - Communications Commissioner Margot Wallstrom says THAT PROMOTING THE NEW EU TREATY WILL BE "ONE OF THE MAIN POLITICAL PRIORITIES" FOR THE COMMISSION IN THE UPCOMING MONTHS. Wallstrom said, "It's probably a wise tactic that we decide to pursue this quickly so that we don't leave room for a bunch of new questions. We should strictly stick to the mandates".

BRITAIN ISOLATED AS SARKOZY'S MAN BECOMES EU CANDIDATE FOR IMF HEAD
Le Figaro reports that Britain, advocating "open and transparent competition" for the post of head of the IMF, found itself isolated at a meeting of EU finance ministers yesterday, with the result that Sarkozy's candidate, former Socialist Finance Minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn, is now the EU's as well. But the Guardian reports that the UK is refusing to abide by the other 26 member-states' decision, with Treasury sources saying "the EU is not mandated to vote as a bloc and there was no majority or unanimous decision."

EU FINANCE MINISTERS YESTERDAY GAVE A FINAL GREEN LIGHT TO CYPRUS AND MALTA JOINING THE EURO ON 1 JAN 2008.
Nezavisimaia Gazeta

THE FRONT PAGE OF THE FT reports that mortgage fears in US have sparked a sell off in credit markets, and have brought the dollar to record lows against the Euro.

COMMISSION CALLS FOR MEMBER STATES TO CO-OPERATE AGAINST BIO-TERROR THREAT
Brussels is insisting on the danger of a simultaneous bio-terrorist attack on several member states, and, claiming that 'no member state can hope to go it alone', has proposed a 'European bionetwork' putting intelligence services, scientists and police forces of the 27 member states in contact. With member state jealously guarding their prerogatives in security, the Commission will make more detailed proposals in October.
Le Figaro


FRATTINI OPPOSES SCHAEUBLE'S SUGGESTION THAT TERRORISTS COULD BE ASSASSINATED
Responding to German interior minister Wolfgang Schaeuble's suggestion that terrorists could be assassinated, EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said, "the fact that we are fighting against terrorism can't mean we kill people," adding that he was against "any form of the death penalty." Schaeuble had said that if bin Laden's whereabouts were known it would be legitimate to kill him with a missile.
El Pais

The IDF Military Intelligence (MI) assessment was reported Tuesday to the Knesset and included a concrete assessment determining that Iran could cross the technological threshold required to produce nuclear weapons in the next 6-12 months and possess an operational warhead by the middle of 2009.

The assessment is at odds with US estimates that put the date between 2010 and 2013. Both agree, however, that military strikes could set back the technology for years.IDF MI also is of the opinion that sanctions against Iran have not weakened the regime, because huge oil reserves still provide all the money necessary to neutralize any pressure created by the international community.

The assessment also revealed that Israel's withdrawals - from Lebanon in 2000 and Gaza in 2005 - have added precedents and solidified belief throughout the Middle East that armed struggle can achieve the destruction of Israel within this generation.Lieberman said that although Europe or the US could not be relied upon to attack Iran on Israel's behalf, they would support Israel's actions. "If we start military operations against Iran alone, then Europe and the US will support us," he said.

US Senator Joseph Lieberman has been publicly calling for US strikes on Iran.He repeated the call last week, saying the Islamic Republic "has declared war on the US" and is waging a "proxy war" against coalition forces in Iraq.The Connecticut Senator and former Vice-Presidential candidate said intelligence reports proved Iran was behind much of the terrorism in Iraq and must be confronted directly. "Although no one desires a conflict with Iran, the fact is that the Iranian government by its actions has declared war on us."

Countries in the Middle East and Africa have long dealt with water shortages but now the likes of China, India and the United States are grappling with the problem.And the United Nations says five billion people will be living in areas with limited water availability by 2025, which will only exacerbate tensions and demand for the limited supply.

Water management has been pushed to the top of the political agenda in some countries and military leaders are now being drawn into long-term planning to help strategize how governments will face their dry futures.
While it's not yet expected that water will be the sole cause of a war, the report suggests a fight over natural resources could be the final straw that pushes countries into conflict.

Maude Barlow of the Council of Canadians said she doesn't doubt the Americans would try to pressure Canada into sharing its water in a time of crisis."I am absolutely convinced that the United States has already targeted Canada's water, I'm absolutely convinced there are high-level conversations going on between some people in government and business in our country and the United States," she said.